Diana’s Tips

Here is a helpful little tip that you can use to quickly restart your Vista machine. Normally you would click start, click Shut Down and then select Restart. Alternatively, you can create a shortcut on your desktop. When you want to restart your computer, all you have to do is double click the icon you […]

Have you ever looked at your screen and wondered where the mouse pointer went? Most people who use a computer have probably experienced this at some point in time. The pointer is usually hidden on the sides of the screen but it takes a few moments to locate it. One option to avoid such […]

A distribution list (DL) is a grouping of contacts. It gives you a quick and easy way to send a message to a group of people. If you use Outlook as your e-mail client, you can create your own distribution lists. You may want to create a list that contains e-mail addresses of family members, […]

Keyboard shortcuts are a great way of performing little tasks more easily. Instead of having to reach for your mouse, you can press two or three keystrokes. You can use many different keystrokes when working in Excel. Below are some keystrokes used for performing common tasks.

CTRL+SHIFT+O — Selects all cells that contain comments

CTRL+P — […]

I have often stressed the importance of backing up your important folders and files. Given that Vista includes a backup program, there are no excuses for not performing regular backups.
Assuming that you have a backup of your folders and files, restoring a folder or file is a relatively simple process. To restore files in […]

When a left-handed user goes to use a mouse, the will immediately notice that it is set up for a right-handed user. Instead of struggling with the buttons, you can easily personalize the mouse settings to support a left-handed user.
To change mouse settings in XP for left-handed users:

Click Start and click Control Panel.

Double click […]

If you take screenshots of your computer, you might want to try Vista’s Snipping Tool. The tool is included with all versions of Vista, with the exception of Home Basic, and it makes taking screenshots simple to do.
The tool lets you take different types of screenshots including:

Free-form snip

Rectangular snip

Window snip

Full screen snip

To open the […]

If you work in Microsoft Word, you may be familiar with the comments feature. It allows you to add comments throughout a document to alert a reader or author to certain information. For example, an editor can leave comments by certain content in a document to alert the author about specific issues.
You can also […]

If you ever need to change your Vista product key, rest assured you can do so without having to reinstall the operating system. There is a command line tool included with Vista that lets you type in a new product key.
To change your Vista product key:

Click on the Start Button and type Command Prompt in […]

There are two ways that you can check the status of your Vista license: you can open the System screen or you can use a VBScript tool. To open the System screen, press [Windows] + [Break]. The Windows Activation section will tell you if your copy of Vista is activated.
To use the VBScript tool included […]

If you have two or more lists in Word, you can easily combine them into a single one. You do not even have to do any additional formatting because the second list is automatically formatted to match the first one.
To combine multiple lists in Word 2007:

Highlight the list you want to combine with another […]

You often read or hear that you should always proceed with caution when working with the Windows registry. Although this is very true, you can help alleviate some of the jitters of modifying the registry if you understand a little more about it.
First of all, a little about the registry terminology, keys, and values […]

When you open a new document, Word applies the font style, views, and so on found in the Normal.dot template. If you don’t care for the formatting and other options configured in the template, they can be changed.
To edit the Normal template in Word 2007:

Click the Microsoft Office button.

Click Open.

Click Templates

Double click the Normal […]

If you plan to bind documents, you may find after doing so that some of the text is not visible because it is hidden by the bindings. This is because there is not enough white space either on the side or top of the document.
Microsoft Word recognizes that you may want to bind printed documents […]

Another way that data theft can occur is through the installation of hardware such as removable storage devices. An attacker can install such a device on your computer with the intent of copying your data. Vista protects against this type of data theft through device installation restrictions.
You can control the installation of devices through […]

When you install a new program, it usually comes with its own fonts. For example, when you install Microsoft Office, it has its own fonts. If you search the Web, you will find numerous sites that offer several other fancy fonts, some available for free and some for a small charge.
What happens if you […]

Vista includes three firewall profiles: Domain, Private, and Public. A firewall profile stores the configuration information for a specific network environment.
The profile that is active determines the firewall rules that are used to protect your computer. If your computer cannot authenticate with a domain controller using any available interface or if all interfaces do […]

A dump file can be a useful troubleshooting tool when either the system or application crashes and causes the infamous Blue Screen of Death. However, they also can provide a hacker with potentially sensitive information such as application passwords.
You can disable the dump file by going to the Control Panel, System, Advanced, Startup and […]

Worried about whether your computer will run Windows Vista? Instead of taking a chance and installing one of the Vista versions, you can download and run the Windows Upgrade Advisor Utility. This utility will analyze your computer and tell you what versions of Windows Vista your computer will be able to run. It will also […]

Word lets you sort text, numbers, or data in lists and tables. You can sort in ascending order (A to Z, zero to nine, or earliest to latest date) or in descending order (Z to A, 9 to zero, or latest to earliest date).
When you are sorting data in tables, you can sort data in […]