Safer Saving

In Microsoft Word, it is possible to make the progam save a backup copy of a document every time it is saved. This means that if you accidentally save a change that you didn't want, an earlier version can be recovered from a file that is saved alongside your current file.

To do this, open the File Menu and select Save As. In the dialogue that comes up, click on the Tools Button and, depending on your version of Word, select either General Options or Save Options from the list. When the Save dialogue box opens, tick the checkbox labelled 'Always create backup copy' and press OK.

How to filter email and prevent junk arriving in your inbox

Thunderbird users can customise how junk email is received and dealt with. If the Junk filter is enabled (go to the Tools menu, then Account Settings, then Junk Settings, then 'Enable adaptive junkmail controls for this account') all suspicious email will carry a green junk icon, leaving you the choice of deleting it, or clicking the button - 'This is not Junk'. In the case of the latter, future emails from that sender won't be treated as spam.

Within the Junk Settings menu, there are further options to move new spam to a Junk folder automatically, which I would strongly recommend, and to delete junk mail older than a specific period. To prevent trusted emails being marked as junk, there is also an option to 'Not mark mail as Junk' if the sender is in your personal address book.

It is also possible to train Thunderbird to identify what's spam and what's not. To do this effectively, you will need tomakr all mail as either Junk or Not Junk by right-clicking the message and selecting the corresponding option from the list. The associated keyboard shortcuts (we like them!) are J for Junk and Shift+J for Non Junk. The more you teach Thunderbird, the more Junk will automatically find its way into the Junk folder - but don't forget to periodically check the Junk folder.

Outlook Express can also be trained, but in a different way, using Message filtering. Rather than simply blocking a sender, you can instruct Outlook to deal with certain email in a certain way. Within the Tools Menu, click Message Rules, then Mail. Create a new 'rule' for the progam to follow by clicking the New button and selecting certain conditions and actions. For example, you could select the following condition:

'Where the Subject line contains specific words - loan, Nigeria, increase'
do the following Action: 'Move to the specified folder - Junk'

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