COMPUTER TIPS

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RESIZE TEXT IN WORD WITH KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Using the Font menu or the Formatting toolbar to change a font size is fine it you only need to make a couple of font size changes in your Word Document. But if you're trying out different font sizes to see which one looks best, keyboard shortcuts can make resizing a little less cumbersome. For example, pressing Ctrl+Shift+P moves your cursor to the Font Size list box in the standard toolbar. Then, you can press the up or down arrow on the keyboard to cycle through the available font sizes, and press the Enter key on the keyboard when you reach the font size you want. If you already know what size you want your font to be, you can type the font size in the Size list box before pressing Enter. You can specify a size as small as 1 point or as large as 1638 points. You can even enter half-points, such as 15.5. If you just want to cycle through the available sizes without moving the cursor to the toolbar, press Ctrl+Shift+> to increase the font to the next larger size in the Size list box. Similarly, pressing Ctrl+Shift+< decreases the font to the next smaller size. If you wish to enlarge the font by one-point increments, press Ctrl+]. To reduce the font by one-point increments, press Ctrl+[. If you want more information or have a question, come to our Computer Question and Answer Session to learn how to do this.

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Restore the "Open Attachment Warning" Dialog Box in Outlook Express

The 'Open Attachment Warning' associated with e-mails in Outlook Express is displayed when the attached file name is clicked on. The user can then choose to 'Open it' or 'Save it to disk'. There is also a check box on the 'Warning' that says; 'Always ask before opening this type of file.'

The 'Warning' is directly associated to the file suffix - for instance: .jpeg, .gif, .eml, ..doc, etc. -- and this 'Warning' is coded for each type of file by the check in the check box. In the image on the right, note that the file extension is ".doc" or a Microsoft Word document. So that, if a user were to inadvertently uncheck the box for '.doc' files, the 'Warning' will still appear for the other file types, but not for .doc files.

How to restore the 'Warning' for a file type, once it has been 'unchecked'.

Windows XP
1. Open My Computer
2. Click the Tools menu
3. Select Folder options
4. In the Folder Options window, click the File Types tab
5. Scroll through the list of file types and select the file extension
6. Then, click the Advanced button
7. In the Edit File Type window, check the "Confirm Open after
Download" option.

Windows ME
1. Open My Computer
2. Click the Tools menu
3. Select Folder options
4. In the Folder Options window, click the File Types tab
5. Scroll through the list of file types and select the file extension
6. Then, click the Advanced button
7. In the Edit File Type window, check the "Confirm Open after Download" option.

Windows 95 / 98
1. Open My Computer
2. Click the View menu
3. Select Folder options
4. In the Folder Options window, click the File Types tab
5. Scroll through the list of file types and select the file extension
6. Then, click the Edit button
7. In the Edit File Type window, check the "Confirm Open after Download" option.

Note: Some file types are shown by their extension, some by the programs that the extension is associated with. For instance, the .doc extension in our example image above left is associated with Microsoft Word, so the .doc extension is found under Microsoft Word.

You will need to do this with each file type extension that has been unchecked.

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Horrible, No-Good, Nasty, Worst-Ever Virus

From Tony Bradley of www.about.com

Quick! Tell Everyone You Know And Even People You Don't Know

If you receive an email entitled "Bedtimes" delete it IMMEDIATELY. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer. It demagnetizes the strips on ALL of your credit cards. It reprograms your ATM access code and screws up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD's you attempt to play. It will program your phone auto dial to call only 900 numbers. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank. IT WILL CAUSE YOUR TOILET TO FLUSH WHILE YOU ARE SHOWERING. It will drink ALL your beer. FOR GOD'S SAKE, ARE YOU LISTENING?? It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are expecting company! It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine. If the "Bedtimes" message is opened in a Windows 95/98 environment, it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub. It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, it will also refill your Skim milk with whole milk.
******* WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. *******
And if you don't send this to 5000 people in 20 seconds, you'll fart so hard that your right leg will spasm and shoot straight out in front of you, sending sparks that will ignite the person nearest you. Send to everyone. For those who may not have caught on yet- THIS IS A JOKE!

I received the joke hoax above from a friend and thought it illustrated the point well. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Of course you wouldn't fall for that. Even if you were hooked into thinking that maybe there really is something called "subspace field harmonics" that can scratch your CD's from afar, you hopefully realized that this was a joke by the time you got to the part about it drinking all of your beer.
While this is an extreme example, it isn't that far off from some of the chain-mail and spam hoaxes that people fall for every day. The little boy in England dying of cancer does not want you to send him any more greeting cards. Congress will not be voting any day now on a bill to implement a modem tax. Neither Microsoft nor Disney has implemented any next-generation email tracking system that will make you rich if you just forward the email.
So- the joke cited above may be a little on the extreme side, but the fact of the matter is that people receive these messages frequently and for whatever reason- superstition, gullibility or just because they think its humorous- they propagate it to everyone they know and continue clogging the email boxes of the world with more junk.
The bottom line is this- if a message implores you to send it on to everyone you know there is a 99.9% chance it is a hoax or some other form of spam. Before you fall victim and continue the cycle of ridiculously meaningless email being propagated around the world, try validating the truth of the message at a site like the Snopes.com Urban Legends References or the About.com Antivirus Hoax Encyclopedia.

MESSAGE FROM COLLEEN:

Please heed the advice above about not sending these messages on to everyone you know. Take the time to verify if the email is legitimate or a hoax. There are many web sites that can provide that answer for you. Here are a few more: www.symantec.com Security Response, www.mcafee.com Virus Information, www.urbanlegends.com and www.vmyths.com. If you are still unsure give me a call here at the Senior Center and I can help you.

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ARCHIVED COMPUTER TIPS - Click here see tips from previous months.

On our Archived page you will find the following topics

About Windows Update

I can’t find a menu command, toolbar button, or dialog box option. Where is it?

What does it mean when you receive an email message that is addressed to "Undisclosed Recipients?"

Why do computers lockup or stop responding?

MICROSOFT WORD TIPS

HOW TO REMOVE OR ADD CLOCK TO TASKBAR (START BAR)

E-Mail Hoaxes or Pranks

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Have your own question for Colleen? Use this quick form:

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