Category: Windows

April Fools’ Tips & Tricks

 Happy April 1st.

First the tip: When leaving your PC unattended, press WINDOWS KEY + L to lock your screen and keyboard. This will prevent you from falling prey to any seasonal pranks (like these).

Now the tricks: Here is a short list of relatively harmless April Fools’ pranks you could play on a friend’s unlocked PC.

Windows

Change the Double+Click speed

“My mouse is broken”

  1. Click Start, type “mouse”, select Settings filter, then click Change Mouse Settings.
  2. Select the Buttons Tab.
  3. In the Double-Click area move the slider bar to the fastest setting.
  4. Click OK.

Flip the Screen

They might need to stand on their heads for a bit

  • Press CTRL + ALT + DOWN ARROW to rotate the display 180°
  • To return screen to normal press CTRL + ALT + UP ARROW

Excel

Cursor Up on Enter

Gravity will seem to have taken a holiday as Enter moves the cursor up instead of down.

  1. File/ Options / Advanced.
  2. In the Editing section, check After Pressing Enter move selection,
  3. For Direction select Up.
  4. Ok.

Ribbonus-Interruptus

Formula entry is problematic when pressing = moves the focus from the sheet to the Ribbon.

  1. File/ Options / Advanced.
  2. In the Lotus Compatibility section, in the Microsoft menu key field type  =.
  3. Ok.

 

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

MS Office: Insert Screenshot

Need to insert a screenshot into your presentation, document, spreadsheet or email? The Office 2010/2013 Insert Screenshot button makes this easy.

Watch this 60 second video to see all you need to know.


To Insert a Screenshot

  1. Display content window that has the material to capture. Do not minimize this window.
  2. Open or switch to destination application (i.e., MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or Outlook).
  3. Place cursor where you wish to insert the screen capture.
  4. On the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Screenshot button. The available (i.e. not minimized) windows will display as thumbnails.
    • To insert an entire window; select associated thumbnail from the drop-down.
    • To insert a portion of the window previously displayed; select Screen Clipping, then CLICK + DRAG cross-hair around the portion to insert.
Additional reading..

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

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Mobile: Capture Screenshot

Your on the go and need to capture or produce an image from your phone? Let’s say, for instance, that you are planning of finally redeeming that Groupon you purchased. Or, perhaps, you plan on flashing your e-ticket to the airline check-in attendants. These would be bad times for your 4G or WiFi connection to fail. In preparing for hi-stress situations you are best served if you plan for technology to fail. Sure; one way to mitigate against an awkward moment by printing is by producing a printout of your ticket or voucher. My, how old skool! 

Another, less retro, failsafe involvles capturing a screenshot of your  e-ticket or voucher prior to use, while your internet connection is rock-steady. That way, if you lose connectivity, you still have the image on your phone to present when needed. And, yes, these methods also work with instant messenger apps (e.g. Snapchat).

phone_androidAndroid phone

At the same time, press the On/Off switch and the Volume down buttons.
The image is captured and added to your Picture album/gallery.

Newer Samsung users: In addition to the above Android instruction, with newer Samsung phones (e.g. Galaxy 4) you can capture a screen with a hand gesture. The setting activated by going into your System Settings, under Motions and gestures.

phone_iPhoneiPhone

At the same time, press the Power and the Home buttons.
The image is captured and added to your Camera Roll

windowsphoneWindows 8 phone

  • At the same time, press the Start and the Power buttons.
    The screenshot is captured and added to the Screenshots album in the Photos Hub
note: The methods listed here are neither model nor version specific and may not apply to all makes and models: your mileage may vary 🙂
Additional reading..

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

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Happy Birthday, Windows

The year is 1985. Soviet leader Gorbachev meets with American President Reagan. Cocoa Cola unveils New Coke. Actor Rock Hudson dies of aids. Singer Madonna’s starts her first tour.

And on November 20, 1985, Microsoft releases Windows 1.0.

Unveiled in 1983, it would not be available for purchase until two years later. Arguably, that makes Windows 30 years old, but since many tricenarians, have a hard time with that milestone, we extend her two years grace..

Over time her share of sales and public favor has varied, as illustrated by this infographic.

Timeline: Windows Logo Evolution 

WindowsReleaseTimeline
(click to enlarge)

Going Retro

Like most twenty-somethings, the Windows logo has had her own experiments with style. Here’s a look back at fashions past.   

WinEvolution
animation by FORBiES

Flashback: notice how similar the current Windows 8 logo is to the original!

Sharing Win’s birthday:

Additional reading..

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

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Windows & iOS Tricks & Treats

Trick or Treat! 

In honor of Halloween I am handing out treats and tricks! So reach in and fill your bag with this odd collection of operating system tips!

Windows 8 Trick or Treats

TRICK TREAT
Hold windowsLogoKey (the Windows key) and Press M Shows DESKTOP
(aka Minimize All)
Hold windowsLogoKey and press R Opens RUN dialog
Hold windowsLogoKey and press E Opens Explorer window
Hold windowsLogoKey and press C Slide COFFEE CUP HOLDER out
(aka CD Tray)*
Hold windowsLogoKey and press Print Screen CAPTURE & SAVE SCREEN
The screen shot is saved automatically to your Windows Pictures Library; no filename/folder prompt

*requires Windows 8.1SB (Starbucks edition).

iOS Trick or Treats

TRICK TREAT
With two fingers on the keyboard, pull outward (left & right) Splits single keyboard into two for easier typing
On the lock screen, swipe the notification left to right After inputting your password/pin, opens the item from the notification
Tap and hold Number button, swipe and select punctuation, then release Select punctuation without requiring a switch between Numerica and Text keyboards
While holding down the menu button (the main button below the screen), press the power/lock button Saves screenshot of the active screen to your camera roll

And in case you missed it:
Google Celebrates Halloween With a Spooky Interactive Doodle

hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Windows 8.1-What’s new?

Give me back my Desktop and Start Button! 

Yes, we all complained, and millions of voices could not be silenced. Newer wasn’t necessarily better, so Windows 8.1 has returned some old features and improved some others. The desktop is now much easier to access (yay!), but the Return of the Start button, misses the mark. START is back, but only as a means to access the much maligned START screen (boo!).

Return of the DESKTOP

The only thing on my Windows 8 Start screen I ever used was the Desktop tile. So going from boot-up to START screen, and then clicking on Desktop was an extra and unappreciated step. Now, with 8.1, you can re-enable booting up with Desktop.

Windows81a

Additionally, you can

  • Share the Desktop background with the Start screen,
  • Control the Corner Navigation ‘aka: hotspopts’

To access, RIGHT + CLICK  on the Taskbar , and select Properties, Navigation.

Better SEARCH

With Windows 8.1 your Search includes not only your local drive and apps, but also your SkyDrive and web results. And speaking about SkyDrive, there is better integration and support for SkyDrive users.

Better CONTROL PANEL

The Windows 8 PC Settings was an abbreviated version of the familiar control panel. With limited settings available, To make a setting change one either had to search for it, or access the legacy windows Control Panel. Windows 8.1 has made more control panel applets accessible under Settings (although I still find it easier to use the search  option to locate the setting I am tweaking).

Easier TILING (aka ‘SNAP’)

The Windows 8 SNAP feature was (sorry) annoying, mostly in that you could not control the size of the windows you were tiling. Windows 8.1 improves this feature by allowing you to control the size of the tiled (oops, I mean SNAPPED) windows.

Additional articles to peruse:

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

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