Amal Nagm

First off all —before you open any attachment, make sure you know who sent it. Even if you do know the sender, if you aren't expecting it, you might want to send a quick note to your friend and make sure they really sent it—especially .pps files since they can contain viruses. Also, do not open any attachments with .exe , .scr or .pif file extensions.

Nothing worse than getting a file from a friend and you don't have the right program to open it. Here are some common file extensions and the programs needed to open:.doc - Microsoft Word
.pps - MS PowerPoint
.xls - MS Excel worksheet
.wpd - Corel WordPerfect
.pdf - Adobe Acrobat
.jpg - JPEG graphic file
.zip - Zip (compressed) file
.sit - Stuffit (compressed) file
.scr - Windows Screen Saver (DO NOT OPEN)
.pif - Program Information File (DO NOT OPEN)The good news is that most software developers offer freeware viewers that will allow you to see, but not alter, content..doc - Microsoft Word Viewer.pps - PowerPoint Viewer.xls - Excel Spreadsheet Viewer.wpd - WordperfectCorel no longer offers a viewer, but there is a third-party application called "Lightning" that includes a Wordperfect viewer..pdf - Acrobat Reader.jpg - You can view these in your web browser or most imaging software..scr - USE CAUTION if you receive a screen saver via email. They can contain worms or viruses..pif - DO NOT OPEN! This is most likely a virus. Clicking it will run a program or code that can mess up your computer.As for compressed files (.zip & .sit), I recommend 7 Zip, because it's free.There are also freeware/shareware programs for opening .zip files such as WinZip . In addition, with Windows XP you can save any zipped file to your desktop or a folder and access the files without unzipping (just click it like any other folder—drag items out to run them).So, next time you get an attached file in your email but don't have the program to open it, just grab a viewer.

Sorting by the Rows
We all know that we can get Excel to run a sort on columns of data; that is to sort the data in a column either ascending or descending. But, did you know that you can do the same thing to data that is in rows?
No?
Well, maybe that's because it's sort of "hidden" in the fine print of a Custom Sort.
Now I do realize that we most often put data into columns but sometimes the setup just makes more sense set up in rows. Or maybe you're someone who "thinks" that way and will naturally set things up from left to right instead of top to bottom.
In any case, Excel can sort data from left to right either ascending or descending so it's not a bad idea to know how.
To find Excel's setting for sorting from left to right we need to start in the Custom Sort dialog box.
Once again, different versions, different directions:

- In older versions of Excel it can be found in the Data menu, Sort choice.

- In Excel 2007 & 2010 you need to go to the Home tab of the Ribbon, click the Sort & Filter button and choose Custom Sort.
At this point we're all looking to click the Options button.
Select Sort left to right.


Click OK and proceed with your sort settings as usual.
This handy little tidbit combined with your previous abilities to sort in columns should allow you to manipulate the data just about any way that's necessary.
~April
That's a helpful way to sort my data! Rate or add to this tip here!
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Select an Entire TableWorking with a table in MS Word?
Finding out you need to select the entire table to oh, let's say, change the font or format the borders or whatever? The list could go on and on.
What do you do?
Do you select the first cell, hold the mouse button down and drag, hoping not to miss anything by releasing the mouse button too early or accidentally highlighting the lines below the table?
Or, maybe you like the Shift key technique. You know, where you select the first cell, hold down the Shift key and then select the last cell. That's not a bad plan, unless the last cell is pages and pages away and you've got to scroll to get there.
Looking for a better selection process?
Well, here are a couple of quick and easy selection processes for MS Word tables.
To select the entire table, you could:
Click on the move handle of the table (found in the upper left corner).


Click on the resize handle of the table (found in the bottom right corner).


And... in older versions of Word I found that I could use Alt key + double-click on the table. (Using Word 2007? Sorry but all I seemed able to accomplish was to open the Research task pane and have the cursor jump between left & center justified.)
Any way you choose, it beats the old drag and scroll methods!

Do you find yourself constantly drawing horizontal lines in MS Word? You know, using the drawing toolbar to draw lines as borders or dividers, in order to give your document a little extra pizzazz.Are you tired of all the mouse work involved in the drawing toolbar? You know, turning on the line tool, drawing the line and then changing the style.Wish you had a faster way?Maybe you'd like a way that involves only the keyboard?Well, if that sounds good to you, I have a quick list of divider/border line options that only take four keystrokes to accomplish.Ready to find out how?Good! Here they are.



Once placed in the document the divider line will extend from left to right margin. Oh yeah, here's the really cool part, once the line is drawn, you can use your mouse to move it up and down to alter its distance from the surrounding text. (You can't move it all over the place, but it is enough to let you have some flexibility in regards to the line's position near the text).Simply run your mouse cursor over the line, slowly, until it becomes a double-sided arrow (pointing up and down). Once you have that arrow, click and hold the left mouse button while dragging the line up or down as needed.Note: If this trick isn't working for you, you should check to make sure you have this option turned on. To do this, you need to go to the AutoCorrect options. (Tools menu, AutoCorrect choice - or - for newer version of Word: Office Button, Word Options button, Proofing options section and click the AutoCorrect Options button. Everyone should then look on the AutoFormat As You Type tab, make sure the Borders box is checked in the "Apply as you type" section of the window. Click OK when you're finished.)



Now, moving on.What about the "Oops Factor?"You know, the line you now need to remove.While I found that in Word 2007 I could just use the Delete or Backspace key to remove the line in older versions of Word it could be a bit of a pain and sometimes it's not as easy as simply hitting the backspace or delete keys.If you're finding that the Delete and Backspace keys aren't doing the trick then give this a try:First, highlight the text around the divider line so that you have the border contained in the highlight.



Next I had to go to the Format menu, Borders and Shading choice.Once there click to the Borders tab.



Make sure the None box is selected (top of the left hand column) and click OK.Poof! The line is gone!That's it. Divider lines with just four keystrokes.

Prioritizing and Deleting Preferred Wireless Networks
You've brought your laptop home after a long trip. You turn it on, expecting to connect to your safe and secure wireless network and find instead that your computer is trying desperately to connect to the wireless network of the hotel you stayed in, now thousands of miles away.

If something like this has ever happened to you before, there is an answer: you can prioritize the wireless networks that your computer remembers.



To find your network connections, first left-click on the Start menu, go to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click on Network Connections in the Control Panel menu.



This will display your network connections. Locate your Wireless Network Connection and right-click on it. Left-click on Properties.



This will open the Wireless Network Connection Properties Menu. Click on the Wireless Networks tab to view your preferred wireless networks.

This list of networks includes any wireless network you have connected to in the past. Sometimes, if two networks that you have connected to are present, Windows will connect to the network that is higher up on this list. Other times, it may not find any networks that it can connect to, and so it might search for the last network you used – which could be miles away.

This list can be prioritized and cleaned of old networks. If you see a wireless network that you won't use again or don't want in the list, click on it once and then press the Delete key on your keyboard. This will delete the network from this list. You can still reconnect to this network in the future – deleting it simply removes any preferences you had for connecting to that network.


Once you have deleted the networks you don't want, click once on the network that you want Windows to connect to first. Click the Move up button to move this network up on the list. Keep clicking until your most preferred network is at the top of the list. You can also use this function to set a second preference, a third preference, and so on.

That's it! Your computer should connect to the wireless networks you want more easily, especially when there is more than one that you connect to nearby

The FreeRip MP3 software is a utility that can easily be used in order to extract the audio files from music CDs to your computer in an efficient way. It functions reasonably fast on all types of operating systems, projects an uncomplicated interface packed with some useful options and also features easy to reach settings that work flawlessly.

After downloading and installing the program onto your computer, insert an audio CD into your PC's optical drive. A listing of the music files will be displayed on your screen. If nothing happens, simply press the Refresh icon at the top left side of the panel.



The next step is extracting the files to your computer by pressing the CD shaped icon on the top menu. A drop down list of options should then appear where you can choose the file extensions of the ripped files -although in most cases the MP3 standard will be the most commonly selected.



Upon choosing the MP3 format ripping option, a new pop-up window displaying the file extraction progress will show up. Remain patient for a couple of minutes as all the audio tracks get saved to your system.



One nice trick to employ, even before attempting to rip the audio disks files, is checking out the music samples with FreeRip's built-in audio player. Simply select any of the files from the list on the left pane and then press the "Play Track" option, available in the File drop down menu.



By default, all of the extracted files will be saved onto your desktop, but you can easily change this and set your own preferences by choosing other folders on your PC. To do this, simply click the yellow colored folder icon from the menu toolbar and choose where the ripped MP3 files should be saved.



Visit the following web address to download the latest version of FreeRip: http://download.cnet.com/FreeRip-MP3/3000-2140_4-10050140.html

In win XP

1. Open Explorer ( right-click the Start button and select Explore ) and head to a file you would like to either associate with another program or get associated with a program for the first time.

2. Once you get to the file, hold down your SHIFT key and right-click it. You will be presented with a menu that gives you an option to Open With... . Select that.

Oh, if you're using XP or Vista, you may not even need to hold down the shift key to get this to work. Both operating systems usually give you an Open with item on the right-click menu with a sub-menu full of options. If you want to change the association, you'll need to select the Choose Program option.

XP Open With picture:



Note - in the sample pictures, we'll re-associate a JPEG with Photoshop - it was original associated with Internet Explorer. So, in the photo below I hold the SHIFT key down and right-click a JPG file.



3. This will open up a screen where you can tell Windows what program to open that particular file with. Choose the program and make sure the little " Always use this program to open this type of file " checkbox is checked. Hit OK.


That should do it. Windows will now use the new file association when opening the file you just worked with.

In win Vista