Blog

February 6th, 2012
Microsoft Excel Tips

Excel Tips for Las Vegas

Microsoft Excel 2010 enables users to customize their ribbon. This is handy for arranging icons in a manner that maximizes your workflow. It also makes life a little easier.

To begin, simply scroll over any area in the ribbon. Right-click and select the option that says “customize ribbon.” This will take you to the customize screen where you can simply highlight icons and add them to a group in the column to the right. If you remove the check on any of the main tabs, the tab will also disappear from your ribbon.

Tabs are the main headings, and groups are the subdivisions that actually appear on the ribbon. Be aware of the pull-down menu on the top left side of the page, which shows all of the available icons in Excel. There are quite a lot of them, and they are worth exploring.

The quick access toolbar can be moved so that it is located either above or below the ribbon. The pull-down menu, which looks like a black arrow facing down with a single line above it, provides an list of items that can be checked or unchecked.

The quick print icon is very popular to have displayed on the quick toolbar because it does not appear anywhere else on the ribbon. Choosing the “more commands” option from the quick access toolbar will take you there. Anytime you need to have the items rearranged on your ribbon, make sure to remember your options.

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Topic Article, General, Tech Tips
February 2nd, 2012
Microsoft Access and Creating Business Cards

Microsoft Outlook: Attaching Files, Business Cards
Using Outlook email provides several advantages including the ability to send picture files that might be too large for other email applications to handle. Hotmail, yahoo and other email services are often unable to process certain files in email attachments for a variety of reasons.
Outlook is effective at providing users with functional and professional-looking correspondence.

If the file is formatted in rich text instead of HTML or plain text, the file will appear as an icon inside of the body of the message. It will probably be placed between the last line and the signature. Just drag it below your signature line to preserve that classic-letter look.

If the attachment is HTML or plain text, it will appear inside what is called the attached line, which exists underneath the subject line. You can also attach a picture file. The GIF file format often triggers a virus or junk filter alert, but JPEG files will usually get through.

Certain files types include programming code. Examples include HTML, GIF or moving picture files, which can still be sent through email. However, taking certain precautions will improve the outcome. Zipping up the files might help you get through these alerts. The zipped files render the file types inside invisible to the email system.

To attach a business card, just go to the insert tab and look at the three icons stacked to the left of the table icon. They are arranged vertically. Selecting the top icon will allow you to insert a business card.

Please give ITS a call for computer repairs in Las Vegas

Topic Article, General, General Tech, Internet Social Networking and Reputation Management, Tech Tips
January 23rd, 2012
Windows 7 Libraries

Find Freedom in File Organization!

Windows 7 Libraries: Powerful Organizational Tools

Computer users in Las Vegas can benefit from the advanced applications of the libraries in Windows 7. These libraries provide an increased sense of functionality and organization. They are essentially containers that point to various data that is located all over the hard drive. Files and folders are now stored and retrieved by new searching and indexing technologies.

The four default libraries are:

• Documents
• Music
• Pictures
• Videos

These virtual folders serve as pointers that automatically retrieve the specified files wherever they are on the hard drive. Many users are still unaware that there are two folders inside of each library. One of them is a public documents folder and the other is a private folder.

To access these libraries, just click on the file icon right next to the start button in Windows 7. This will take you into documents. You can also click the start button to get to documents. In the window labeled documents library, underneath this title there is a link that shows the number of locations where the files get retrieved. Open the link and you will see the private and public locations where your files can be stored.

Pay attention to the add button. This button will allow you to create another partition in addition to the public and private folders that are set there by default. This is a convenient way to organize documents that might not easily fit into the pre-defined categories set by Windows 7.

If you need computer help in Las Vegas or your small business is fed up with your computer problems, give one of our knowledgeable account managers a call to see what ITS can do for you to make your computer repairs easier!

Topic Article, General, General Tech
September 10th, 2011
Pop-Up Nightmares? Handle IE 8.0 Better!
Avoid Computer NightmaresControl How Internet Explorer 8 Handles Pop-Ups

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) has its own pop-up blocker. However, some pop-ups are actually useful. Unfortunately, they’ve gotten a bad rap because of overuse and lack of control, even though there are many legitimate purposes for them. 

One example of useful pop-ups use is in a shopping website where the content of an order shows up in a separate window. Other uses include separate windows that open as your files are downloaded from the site. Using IE 8 Controls, you can ensure IE displays helpful pop-ups, while suppressing annoying distracting pop-ups.

To make these choices within IE8, go to Tools-> Internet Options.

From the General Tab, find Settings underneath the Tabs section.

Here you’ll see a wide variety of controls that let you adjust how the browser handles tabs. Midway through this screen, find the “When a Pop-Up is Encountered” title. From here, pick the option that makes the most sense for handling pop-ups based on your specific needs. By doing this, you can truly use your browsing time most effectively.

Of course we can help you with issues like this when we are hired as your computer technicians in Las Vegas!
Topic Article, General, Tech Tips
September 6th, 2011
Excel Hyperlinks Showing Up as Text
Displaying Excel Hyperlinks as Standard Text

When using Microsoft Excel, you might notice that URL’s automatically change to hyperlinks. While this is usually convenient, there are many instances where you simply want to leave them as text. Perhaps you want viewers of your document not to click out of the document or you want to maintain a certain consistency of formatting. 

The standard method is to turn off Excel’s hyperlink auto-format. To do so, go through the following sequence:

1. Press Office Button -> Excel Options in Excel 2007 or File->Options in Excel 2010;
2. Choose Proofing on the left-hand side.
3. Click the “AutoCorrect Options”, and “AutoCorrect as you Type”. In the dialog box, remove the “Internet and Network Paths with Hyperlinks” check mark.
4. Click Ok, OK, and you’re set.

However, you might want to do this for specific cases only. If that’s true, there are two alternate techniques you can use. One is to simply use Excel’s auto text-format feature — the apostrophe — to demarcate the hyperlink as text. Thus, you’d prefix info@email.com as ‘info@email.com. Of course, this also applies to any formatting in Excel you want Excel to consider as text, including numbers, dates, and times.

Another is to simply undo your entry (either from the menu or through Ctrl-Z). Doing so removes the hyperlink from the entry you just made. Convenient.

Topic Article, General Tech, Tech Tips