How to block emails arriving from a specific sender or domain.

To do this in Outlook Express, click on a message from the sender that you want to block. then, in the Message Menu, click Block Sender. Now any email you receive from this sender will automatically find itself in your Deleted Items Folder.

Adding names to the Block Sender list in Outlook produces the same result, but requires a slightly different process. Click Options within the Tools menu and, on the Preferences tab, under Email, click Junk Email. Now click the Block Sender tab and then Add. Within the box "Enter an email address or internet domain name to be added to the list" type in the offending email address, then click OK. Alternatively, right-click the unwelcome email and click Junk Email to add the sender to the Block Sender list.

PowerPoint Black and White

When making a presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint, there will be moments when you like to have the audience's full attention. However, leaving a slide projected while you talk can be a distraction. To quickly stop the projection of a slide either press B on the keyboard to turn the display black, or tap W to have Powerpoint project a pure white screen. When you're finished talking, simply repeat the keypress to revert the display back to the slideshow.

Micrsoft Excel - It's a Wrap!

When entering lots of data into a cell in Excel, it can be annoying to press Enter and see the application create a single, straight line of text. A solution is found in Excel's ability to 'wrap' characters entered into cells, which automatically increases the height of the cell to accommodate the information, leaving the cell's width unaffected.

This can be achieved by pressing Alt + Enter simultaneously at the end of the entered data. This forces the entered data to wrap itself to the width of the cell.

Create a New Toolbar

Did you know that any folder can be turned into a toolbar on the Taskbar, and it can be used for all sorts of things!

For example, I have turned a folder containing my favourite music album into a toolbar - it's brilliant! I can now select and play any track from the Windows Taskbar.

Another more serious and work-like use - and we do all need to work :-( - is to create a toolbar for a folder that contains work documents, or other important files.

TO CREATE A TOOLBAR:
1. Right click on the Taskbar and select Toolbars/New Toobar.
2. Choose a folder on your hard drive, such as Documents or Music, or any other one that you might have created.
3. After adding the toolbar, click the double arrow on it to show the files and click one to open it. Simple! You can also open the folder in Explorer by right-clicking the toolbar name and selecting Open Folder.

Control Page Breaks in Word 2003

You don't necessarily have to put up with the line and page breaks that Word think you ought to have in a document. If you want a group of words to stay together and not be split up over a line break, hold down the Ctrl and Shift buttons when pressing the Space bar. If you want to force a page break, hold down the Ctrl button and press Enter.

There are several other options that can be set for paragraphs. Left click once in the paragraph, click on the Format menu and then on Paragraph. The Widow/Orphan option on the Line and Page Breaks tab prevents single line from a paragrapn appearing at the top or bottom of pages. 'Keep lines together' is even more powerful and makes sure the entire paragraph is kept together.

Author: Rita Lima (The Away PA) - Certified Microsoft Office Specialist

Quick Desktop Shortcuts

If you find the Favourites menu hard to access in Internet Explorer 7, there is an alternative that means saving the web links as shortcuts to the Windows Desktop. Then the website can be started just as you would a program.

First, go to the web page that you want to save as a shortcut. Press the left Alt key to make the full menus appear in Internet Explorer. Left-click on the File menu, then Shortcut to Desktop. Minimise the Internet Explorer and any other windows you have open and you will see the icon on the Desktop. Left-click on it once and press F2 if you want to change the name. Double-click on it to go striaght to that web page. Cool!

Named Range for Mail Merge

When using a Microsoft Excel sheet as the basis for a mail merge, it is possible to use a section of a worksheet, rather than a whole sheet.

Select the range you want to use in Excel and look for the text box underneath the File menu that shows the cells selected. When the selection is correct, left-click in this box and type a name for the range, such as 'addresses'. Save the spreadsheet and then return to Word.

Click on the Tools menu, then Letters and Mailing and then on Mail Merge. Follow the wizard that appears in the taskbar and click on Browse at step 3 and select the spreadsheet. The window that appears will no include the named range as well as the worksheets. Click on the name of the appropriate range than on OK. Continue the mail merge wizard as normal and it will use this specific range.