Get more from your machine

15 useful, timesaving, and just plain fun computer tips and shortcuts.

by Ward Lowe and Marty Kramer   Here’s a roundup of some of the best computer tips we’ve come across, many of which have appeared in previous issues and in the TAR member e-mail newsletter, Texas REALTOR® Focus. If you have a computer tip you’d like to share, e-mail it to us at: TexasRealtor@TexasRealtors.com.

Windows tips

Capture screen shots

If you’ve ever wished you could put an image of a Web page into a PowerPoint presentation or an e-mail, stop wishing and start doing. These images, called "screen grabs" or "screen shots," are easy to capture. With your monitor showing a Web page, a document, or any other image you’d like to capture, simply press the Print Screen key. You’ll find it on the top row of most keyboards. To insert the image into a PowerPoint slide, e-mail message, or just about any other program, use the Paste command (Edit > Paste from the menu or press the Ctrl and V keys simultaneously). Keep in mind that the image you capture will include everything you can see on your screen. Mac users can perform a screen grab by pressing the Command, Shift, Control, and 3 keys simultaneously.

Get it right

If you never right-click, you’re only using half of your mouse. Depending on the program, clicking the button on the right side of your mouse presents options to cut and paste, change fonts, look up synonyms, add a Web link to your favorites, delete an e-mail message, add a name to your address book, and other options. You can even right-click on objects without your mouse by hitting Shift + F10.

Sound advice

Does your PC have speakers? If you’ve ever been startled or embarrassed because your computer blared a CD, video, or sound clip, this shortcut to your PC’s volume control may help.

Look at the system tray at the bottom-right corner of your screen, next to the clock. Double-click on the icon that resembles a speaker. The box that pops up enables you to control the volume and balance for your PC’s speakers and any other auxiliary devices that may be running through your computer.

Put favorites on your desktop

Jump to your favorite Web sites with a click of the mouse. Using Internet Explorer, go to a Web page and, from the pull-down menu, select File > Send > Shortcut to Desktop. An icon identifying that Web page will appear on your PC’s desktop. When you want to go directly to that site, just double-click the icon; Internet Explorer will automatically launch and take you straight to that page. You can also use this tip to automatically launch other files, such as Word documents.

Sick of the double-click?

Ever wonder why you have to double-click to open a file or folder? You don’t. Cut your clicks in half by changing your mouse settings to single-click. Click the Start icon in the lower-left corner of your monitor, then go to Settings > Control Panel > Mouse. You will find additional mouse options here, like changing to a left-handed setup. (If you’re running Windows XP, visit Control Panel > Folder Options and click the General tab.)

Once you set your mouse to single-click, you can still highlight files and folders by simply holding the pointer over an object for a second or two.

Web browser tips

Save your place

One of the great things about the Internet is following a series of links to different Web sites. Unfortunately, you often can’t find your way back. If you’re on a page you want to quickly return to after jumping to another site, right-click the link to the new site and select Open in New Window. When you’re done browsing the new site, close that window, and the original site will still be there, right where you left it.

Keep tabs on your moves

When filling out a form online, you can move to the next input field by hitting the Tab key. To go to the previous field, hold down the Shift key and press the Tab key. You also can move from link to link on a Web page with these same maneuvers. When the link you want is highlighted, press enter to follow that link.

Stay safe

How do you know if a Web site is secure for online transactions and other sensitive information? Look for an icon of a closed lock at the bottom of the browser. Another clue is the letters https (rather than http) at the beginning of the Web address.

Move quickly

To get to the bottom of a Web page, hit your keyboard’s End key. The Home key takes you to the top of the page. Tapping the space bar will scroll down the page, as will the Page Down key. The Page Up key scrolls up the page. The backspace key (an arrow pointing left) takes you to the previous page.

Off-line viewing

Internet Explorer enables you to save Web pages to your hard drive for off-line viewing. This feature comes in handy for situations like showing prospective clients your Web site during a listing presentation without enduring the hassle of connecting to the Internet from their living room.

Open up the Web page you’d like to save and select Save As from the File pull-down menu. Choose where you want the file to go and select Web Archive, single file (*.mht) in the Save as type field. Later, you can view this file in Internet Explorer, even if you’re not connected to the Internet.

Microsoft Word tips

Rid yourself of squiggly lines

If you’d rather not have Big Brother putting green and red lines underneath text as you type, there is a way to disable Word’s automatic spelling and grammar checks. From the pull-down menus, go to Tools > Options and select the Spelling & Grammar tab. You can uncheck the boxes for Check spelling as you type and Check grammar as you type and customize other aspects of Word’s built-in proofing tools.

Compare two documents

You have two seemingly identical versions of the same document in Word and want to know what was changed from one to the next. Head for Tools > Compare and Merge Documents to see the differences and choose whether to merge them into the original file or save them as a separate document.

Take the shortcut

Like many computer programs, Microsoft Word contains keyboard shortcuts in addition to its pull-down menus. Actually, Word offers nine pages of keyboard shortcuts. Some of these are helpful and logical, while others seem more complicated than doing things the "long" way. Below are some that may save you some time:

• F1: help
• Shift + F3: toggles among lowercase, initial capital, and all capitals for the word or text selected
• F4: repeats your last action–formatting, typing, etc.
• F12: save as
• Ctrl + Enter: page break
• Ctrl + A: select all
• Ctrl + P: print
• Ctrl + S: save
• Ctrl + Z: undo

Get vertical

Normally, your mouse highlights text horizontally in Word, which is fine for most documents. But if you want to include only the first part of several lines, hold down the Alt key while you drag the mouse. This action enables you to vertically highlight text in Word documents.

Format quickly

To make a word bold or italic or underlined, you need only have the cursor somewhere within the word (it’s not necessary to highlight the entire word). To make these formatting changes with keystrokes, hold down the Ctrl key, then press the I key for italics, B for bold, and U for underline.

Photo © Comstock Images.

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