By default, Word and Excel list the last four files you opened at the bottom of the File menu. You can increase the number of files on this list to nine by changing a program setting.

Here’s how:

1. Select Tools | Options.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Change the number in the Recently used file list to 9 entries.
4. Click OK.

Word 2002/2003 lets you select multiple noncontiguous items in a document.

Although this feature has been available in Excel for some time, it was not introduced in Word until ver. 2002, and is still available in ver. 2003.

For example, you can select the headings of two or more sections in a document, without selecting the text in between.

Here’s how:

1. Select the first item (word, sentence, heading, paragraph, etc.)
2. Hold down CTRL.
3. Select any additional items you want.

Some programs automatically turn on an option during installation to open the program every time you turn on your computer. This annoying and arrogant feature can usually be disabled, sometimes by changing the Preferences within the program. If you can’t find this option within the program, you can usually prevent the program from starting automatically by changing your Windows configuration settings. (This is not as intimidating as it might sound, even for the novice user.)

Try the Easy Way First

The first thing to try is to open the program and look under Options or Preferences, etc. Most programs that start up automatically have a checkbox that says something like Start Automatically when Windows starts.

These instructions use Yahoo Messenger as an example:

1. Log in and then select Messenger | Preferences.
2. Select General from the category list.
3. The first item says: When I start up my computer | Automatically start Yahoo Messenger. Uncheck the check box.
4. Close Messenger and reboot your computer.

The Slightly More Complicated Way

These instructions assume you are running Windows XP:

1. Click the Start button, and then select Run…



2. Type msconfig in the Open text field.
3. The System Configuration Utility will appear. Select the Startup tab at the top, which will show a list of the programs that start automatically every time you boot up your computer.



4. Remove the checks from any programs you do not want to start automatically.
   Be sure not to uncheck an item unless you are absolutely sure what it does.

   In the example above, I have turned off the iTunes Helper, Windows Messenger, the Nokia cell phone utility, QuickTime movies, and the Yahoo Messenger Pager.

5. If you make changes, Windows will prompt you to restart your computer.



6. Restart your computer.
7. When you computer restarts, the following message will appear:



8. Check the box that says “Don’t show this message…” Otherwise, the System Configuration Utility will open every time you boot up your computer to remind you that you have changed your startup options.

Have you ever needed to emphasize a word or phrase during a presentation? You can do so in the middle of a presentation with PowerPoint’s virtual annotation “pen.”

To use the annotation pen during a slide show:

1. Open the presentation in Slide Show view.
2. Right-click on the slide, and select Pointer Options | Ballpoint Pen, Felt Tip Pen or Highliter.
3. When you are done using the pen, press ESC. (PowerPoint will prompt you to keep or discard your annotations.)

To change the ink color of the pen, right-click during a Slide Show, select Pointer Options | Ink color, and then select the color you want.

To change the default pen color, select Slide Show | Set Up Show…, and select the pen color you want in the Show options section.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can also access the annotation pen by pressing CTRL + P during a presentation, and return to the arrow (normal mouse pointer) by pressing CTRL + A.

When you are editing a large spreadsheet, you may want to lock the row or column headings into place so that they don’t scroll when you scroll the other cells in the worksheet. Excel calls this freezing panes. You can freeze any number of rows at the top of the screen or any number of columns on the left side of the screen, or both.

To keep row and/or column headings visible as you scroll:

1. To freeze one or more rows, select the row below the row you want to freeze.

To freeze one or more columns, select the column to the right of the column you want to freeze.

To freeze both rows and columns, click the cell below and to the right of the cells you want to freeze.

2. Select Window | Freeze Panes.

To remove “Freeze Panes” so that the worksheet scrolls normally:

1. Select Window | Unfreeze Panes.

When panes are frozen, you typically move in the bottom or lower right pane. However, you can click into any frozen pane and scroll around it.

2 + 3 * 4 =

Which is the correct answer?

a.) 24
b.) 20
c.) 14

If you were paying attention in junior high school math class, you know about the Order of Operations, which dictates that formulas evaluate multiplication and division before addition and subtraction.

Therefore, Excel reads this formula as 2 + 12, not 5 * 4, and the correct answer is 14. (24 is not an option, but someone in class always guesses it, so I thought I’d throw it in).

If you need a handy mnemonic for remembering the Order of Operations, or the order in which formulas are evaluated, remember

PEMDAS, or

P lease Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

(P = Parentheses, E = Exponent, M = Multiplication, D = Division, A = Addition, S = Subtraction).

Have you ever wanted to use PowerPoint to show a collection of pictures? PowerPoint contains a Photo Album feature exactly for this purpose. There’s no need to insert the pictures one slide at a time. PowerPoint will even take the pictures directly from your digital camera!

Here’s how:

1. If you want to create the Photo Album from pictures on your computer, start by copying all the pictures you want to include into one folder. It will be easier to select them later.
2. Create a new blank presentation.
3. In PowerPoint 2003, select Insert | Picture | New Photo Album.
   In PowerPoint 2007, click the Photo Album button in the Illustrations grouping on the Insert tab of the ribbon and select New Photo Album…
4. PowerPoint will display the Photo Album dialog box:



5. Select File/Disk if the pictures are in a folder on your computer. (Select Scanner/Camera if the pictures are on your digital camera.)
6. Navigate to the folder containing your pictures, hold down the CRTL key, and click on each picture you want to include. If you’re including all the pictures in the folder, press CTRL + A to select them all.
7. Click the Insert button.
8. In the Album Layout section of the dialog box, you can make each picture fill the slide by selecting Fit to Slide. You also have the option to put 1, 2, or 4 pictures on a slide, with or without titles. If you choose to add titles, you will have to go into each slide and type the titles.
9. If you select 1, 2, or 4 pictures per slide, you can also select the Frame Shape that will border each picture and a
   Design Template for the slide background.
10. Click Create.
11. PowerPoint will create the presentation with the options you selected.
12. Navigate to the first slide and edit the title and subtitle, if you wish.

If you want to pause during a PowerPoint presentation for a break or for a discussion, you can black out the screen by pressing the B key. Press it again to return to the presentation.

In a light room, you can white out the screen by pressing the W key. Press it again to resume the presentation.

You can use the AutoContent Wizard to create a new PowerPoint presentation if your content is close to one of the AutoContent options, such as a marketing plan, a project overview, or an employee orientation package.

The AutoContent Wizard prompts you for information and then creates a complete presentation based on your responses. The presentation will include text and graphics that you can then modify to meet your own needs.

To create a presentation using the AutoContent Wizard:

1. Open the New Presentation Task Pane.
2. Select New | From AutoContent Wizard.
3. PowerPoint will open the first screen of the AutoContent Wizard:



4. Click the Next> button to start.
5. Select the options in each screen regarding presentation type, style and option.
6. PowerPoint will create the presentation.

As you work with a database, it can become fragmented so that it uses disk space inefficiently. Compacting the database rearranges the way the database file is stored on the disk so that it takes up less disk space and works more efficiently.

In addition, it’s possible that your database can become damaged or corrupted, although this is not a common occurrence. Typically, a damaged database will behave unpredictably. For example, a search may not display any records, new records may not appear, or deleted records may still show up in a table. In some cases, Access will inform you that your database is damaged when you try to open it.

To compact and repair the current database:

1. Select Tools | Database Utilities | Compact and Repair Database.
2. Access will compact and repair the database.

You can also compact and repair a database that is not open. For this to work, you must not have any database open. Also, when you compact and repair a database that is not open, Access will create a copy of the database and compact and repair the copy. The original will not be compacted and repaired.

To compact and repair a database that is not open:

1. Make sure that no database is open.
2. Select Tools | Database Utilities | Compact and Repair Database.
3. Access will display the following dialog box:



4. Select the database you want to compact. Change drives and/or folders, if necessary.
5. Click the Compact button.
6. Access will display the following dialog box:



7. Type a new name for the database. Change drives and/or folders if necessary.
8. Click the Save button.
9. Access will create a copy of the database, using the name you specified, then compact and repair the new database.

TIP: When Should You Compact a Database?

It’s a good idea to compact your database after you delete information.