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Would you like to see the total amount of physical memory on your computer and the amount available now? How about the brand and model of your removable disk drives (floppy drive, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.)? Or perhaps you wish to see the total space on each of your hard drives or
partitions and the space currently available. You can access your system information in more than one way in Windows XP, but here is one method.
1. Click on the Start menu, then "All Programs."
2. When the list of Program shortcuts appears, rest your mouse pointer on "Accessories," then on "System Tools" in the context menu that appears and click on "System Information." It will take several seconds for the System Information window to populate.
Click the plus (+) sign at "Components" to get information on the listed items. Click on any plus sign to expand that group. Click the resulting minus (-) sign to condense the group. The other Group headings will provide information relative to their groups.
When accessing a particular folder repeatedly over a period of time or when working on a project, why go to the trouble of browsing to your folder every time you want to open a file or make changes in the folder? You can create a handy toolbar on your desktop. Let's assume you wish to create a toolbar to My Documents. Here's how.
1. Right-click a blank space on the Taskbar (the blue strip across the bottom of the desktop containing the System Tray on the right end and the Start button on the left).
2. Select "Toolbars" on the popup menu and left-click on "New Toolbar" context menu that appears.
3. In the New Toolbar dialog box click on the plus sign (+) in front of "My Computer" to expand it and navigate to "My Documents" (or any other folder to which you wish the toolbar to point) and click OK.
The toolbar should now be on the Taskbar just to the right of the System Tray. Just click on the chevron (double arrows) and the folder will pop up so you can select the files you wish to open.
If you prefer that the toolbar be located on the large area of the desktop instead of the System Tray, do the following:
Right-click on the toolbar. In the list that appears, note whether or not the item "Lock to the Taskbar" is checked. If it is, uncheck it by clicking on that item. Now you can place your mouse pointer on the toolbar, hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the desktop proper.
How do you get rid of the toolbar when you no longer want it? If you right-click on it there is no Delete option. Use either of these two ways:
1. Right-click on the toolbar you created and select "Close Toolbar." In the "Confirm Toolbar Close" box click OK. OR
2. Right-click on the toolbar you created, rest your mouse pointer on "Toolbars." You will see the name of your toolbar in a list. It will have a checkmark by it. Just click on it to remove the checkmark and your toolbar is gone.
The default for pasting pictures into Microsoft Word is "In line with test." You can change that with Format Picture, but you can also change the default setting.
First, I'll show you how to use Format Picture to cause the image to act the way you want. In Format Picture, on the Layout tab, there are four options under Wrapping Styles. Horizontal alignment has four options also. Click the Advanced button and many additional options are available. All of this is on the Layout tab page of Picture Format. Other tab pages give additional formatting options.
1. To access Picture format, first click on the picture to select it.
2. Now right-click on the image and select "Format Picture" in the menu that appears. Alternatively, from the Format menu you can select "Picture" after you click on the image.
3. In the Format Picture dialog box click on the Layout tab. There you will see the choices, the default being "In line with text" which will lock the image to the left margin. I generally prefer the "Square" option, but that depends on the document type.
When you select any option other than "In line with text" you will be able to select the "Other" alignment and move the picture anywhere you wish. The other tabs also offer many options.
Now let's see how to change the default basic layout position.
1. On Microsoft Word's Tools menu, select "Options."
2. On the Edit tab, under "Picture Editor" be sure "Microsoft Word" appears in the space. If not, click on the little down arrow and select it.
3. In the "Insert/paste pictures as" space, click on the down arrow and select your choice. If you select "Square" for instance,
text will flow around the picture with straight vertical alignment on each side. The default position will automatically be "Other" and you will be able to move the picture anywhere in the document.
4. Click O.K.
Now when you paste an image, you can move the picture without going to Picture Format. That option is still available in case you wish to change the layout or features that are on the other tabs.
I am including this action simply because another article on this page deals with images and there may be a few readers who are new to computers and do not know how to insert an image into a Word document or to resize or move the picture once it is inserted.
Insert an Image Into a Word Document:
Here's how.
1. Click on the location in your document where you wish to insert your picture to place the cursor there.
2. On the Insert menu of Microsoft Word rest your mouse pointer on "Picture" and select the location of the picture you wish to insert. If you wish to insert it from a camera, the camera software must be installed and the camera must be plugged into the computer (probably by a USB port). If from a scanner the scanner must be turned on and the picture in it. If your image is a file, when you select this option an Insert Picture explorer window will open. We will assume this is your choice.
3. In the Insert Picture explorer box navigate to the image you wish to insert and double-click on it or click on the file once and then click on the Insert button. Either action will place the image in your document at the location of the cursor.
Resize the Picture: When the picture is inserted, you may find that it is too large or too small for your purposes. You can easily resize it.
1. Click on the picture to select it. You will see little circles at the corners and midway on each side. These are called handles.
2. Move your mouse pointer over a handle. When you see the two pointed arrow, hold down the left mouse button and drag the handle in or out to reduce or enlarge the size. If you wish to keep the aspect ratio (the height/width ratio) unchanged, use a corner handle to resize. If you only want to change the height or width but do not care about the aspect ratio, use a handle on one of the sides.
Move the Picture: If you cannot move the picture in the following two steps, read the article on this page titled "Can't Move a Picture in Microsoft Word? -- Use Picture Format or Change the Default." Once the layout options allow moving the image, here are the simple two steps:
1. Click on the image to select it. You will see the handles appear at the corners and on each side.
2.Move your mouse pointer onto the picture. When you see the four-pointed arrow, hold down the left mouse button and drag the picture to the desired position in your document.
You may see the four-pointed arrow when the mouse pointer is over the picture without doing step one. If so, just hold down the left button and drag.
Delete a Picture: Sometime you may decide you do not want the picture you inserted into a document. As in the above two items, it only takes two simple steps:
1. Click on the image to select it.
2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. OR you may right-click on the picture and select "Cut." This option will move the image from your document to the Windows keyboard. You will be able to paste it elsewhere in that or another document.
If you are working on confidential documents, but someone else is going to use your computer, you may want to remove the list of your recent documents from their access. In Windows XP, here is how.
1. Right-click on the Start button and select "Properties."
2. In the Taskbar and Start Menu dialog box that appears select the Start Menu tab. Click on the Customize button.
3. On the Advanced tab of the Customize Start Menu pane that appears, you will see at the bottom an item with a checkbox labeled "List my most recently opened documents." Click the Clear List button. Now when you go to the "My Recent Documents" on the Start Menu it will say "Empty."
If in the future you do not want your recently used documents listed, uncheck the box by "List my most recently opened documents."
The Start Menu item will remain but your opened documents will not be listed in it.
4. Click OK, then OK again.
Internet Explorer7 has provided a search box, normally to the right of the Address bar. In it you can enter your keyword(s) and click the magnifying glass at the right end of the key word space. The search results will appear on a separate web page.
Note the small down arrow at the end of the search box. Click on it and in the drop down menu you will see some options.
The top section of the drop down menu will list the search providers (search engines) currently loaded with a checkmark by the default one. If you wish to search using a provider other than the default one, just click on it.
In the bottom section of that menu you can search for more providers. Click on that option and a list of search providers will appear in a search results web page with instructions for adding them to your list of available ones. There is even a box for adding providers not displayed.
From the drop down menu you can also change the default provider or remove providers from your list of available ones. Just click on "Change Search Defaults." In the Change Search Defaults dialog box that appears, click on (highlight) the driver you wish to be the default one and click the Change Default button. If you wish to remove search providers from the list, highlight those you want to remove and click the Remove button. Click OK.
You will notice a "Find on this Page" option in the middle section of the drop down menu. That can be very handy when you are exploring a number of web pages or sites for a particular item. Just select that option, enter the keyword(s) in the "Find" space and click next. You can also go back to previously located word(s) on the page by clicking the Previous button.
Well, that's about it for this time. Take care and go to church Sunday.
-- Don
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