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 You may already be using the Windows Quick Launch toolbar - for the already set up buttons like Windows Explorer. It's a huge time saver for much more though.
I have added programs I use regularly like MSWord MSExcel etc. but also I use it for documents I use a lot - for example a spreadsheet with my Breezeworld prospects, the spreadsheet I did to look up international dialling codes (see earlier post) and the USA area code look up website. Here's a screenshot of my desktop with a close-up of the Quick Launch Toolbar:
If you need help in setting up shortcuts, customising the Quick Launch toolbar just go to Windows help or do a Google Search.
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 Thanks to John Bernard for recommending Roboform to me - it's excellent.
If you do a lot of logging in to Internet websites it takes up a lot of time putting in your user name and password every time. Robotform does all this for you with one click of the mouse.
There's a free version available by clicking below:
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 I had a dabble with the Breeze website builder a year or so ago. Because I use MSFrontpage for my web site I felt it was a backward step going for Breeze's template builder. Since then and with a lot more people joining the Breeze community I felt the need to do a proper review of the Breeze web builder. A few hours later and I think it is superb.
I resurrected a domain name I haven't used much before. It just took me a couple of hours to knock up a web site and - because it is 'Google friendly' - my search engine rankings will improve quickly. Have a look at it here:
I'm now a convert. With no previous experience you can have your own website up and running in just a few hours. Google site mapped, colour coordinated and ready to do business. If you are already a Breeze subscriber get yourself a domain name and get building. If you are not a Breeze subscriber and you want to see how Breeze can help you quickly jump on the Internet bandwagon, let me know or just visit my website: www.breezeworld.com/breeze/walltowall/. | |
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 There are a lot of things you can do to speed up your PC. One of them is to make sure you have a regular regime of Disk Defragmenting. A PC hard disk does not necessarily store a file as one unit... it will frequently store parts of the file in different parts of the disk. That makes the disk inefficient when reading and writing files. This is called fragmentation.
Windows has a utility built in to defragment - in Vista it might already be set to run automatically. In XP you can find it in Programs, Accessories, System Tools. In XP you can also get it to run automatically by setting it to run as a Schedule (Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks).
If you need more technical info just Google 'Windows Defragmentation' 
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 If you want a quick screenshot of something just hit the Print Screen (or PrtScn) key and that will copy (to the Windows Clipboard) whatever is showing on your screen. Then in any Windows program just Edit and Paste it in (or hit Ctrl + v).
If you have image editing software (see earlier post 'Free photo editing software' if you don't) you can paste the image into that and crop it accordingly.
Another tip... if you have multiple Windows open and you just want an image of the active Window, hold down the Alt key before hitting Print Screen and it will only copy that Window.
This is great for training people and also if you are in need of PC technical support it is very helpful for the techies for you to show them screenshots of your PC so they can see exactly what you are doing 
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 I've been using SpyBot for a number of years. It always finds SpyWare on my system - some of this is relatively harmless however some of it is horrible and is not only intrusive but often a significant drain on your PC's performance.
Download SpyBot free from www.safer-networking.org. If you don't use the always on option make sure you run the program at least once per week to help keep your PC safe.
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 For some reason my PC clock was keeping very bad time. If yours is not accurate did you know you can synchronise your Windows clock to an Internet 'time server' every day so you always keep accurate time?
All you do is double click on the clock in your System Tray - that should bring up a 'Date and Time Properties' window (if not go to Control Panel and double-click Date and Time).
Then select the Internet Time tab and make sure the box is ticked!
If you want a more elaborate clock synchronizer you can download a really good one called SymmTime. You can synchronize hourly and display world times etc. There are no Spyware or Advert problems with this free utility: www.ntp-systems.com/lp_SymmTime2008g.asp (if that page is unavailable do a Google Search for SymmTime and you'll find it.
I must dash, it's Friday evening and the time is 17:59 and 46 seconds... time for a glass of wine :0)
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 Do you ever have many Windows open and you want get back to your Desktop quickly?
Well, yes, you can minimise each active window until you eventually get back to the Desktop, however it is much quicker to hit the 'Show Desktop' button on your Taskbar.
Or - even quicker - just hit the Windows Key and D together. (Hit the Windows Key and D again and you go back to the Window you were in.)
Don't worry... if you don't have a 'Show Desktop' button on your Taskbar - even if you don't know what the Taskbar is - stay tuned :0)
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 Another handy tool for you. If you have multiple windows open in Windows (XP or Vista) I find it much faster than the mouse to use the keyboard when switching windows. All you do is hold down the Alt key with your left thumb and with your index finger press the Tab key and you'll get a window like this showing you the programs currently running:
Keep your finger on the Alt key and each time you press the Tab key you will scroll through the windows... when you let go that window will open. What fun!
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 I have been using a free utility called Shortkeys Lite for a few years now. If you do a lot of computer work you will find this so useful. To explain what it does, here is the blurb from their website:
ShortKeys is a macro utility allowing you to setup replacement text or paragraphs for any given number of user defined keystrokes. ShortKeys monitors the keyboard activity on a global nature and anytime a user defined keystroke combination is typed in, it will be replaced with the replacement text. |
An example: how many times do you type your email address out? All I do now is type rrrr and as if by magic richard@walltowall.biz is typed in.
That's just a small example... I use ShortKeys a lot in Emails. Many of my Emails are 'standardised' - I only need to personalise by 'topping and tailing' with the recipient's name and maybe a few other details. When I want to pull in the standard part I just type a few keystrokes and ShortKeys does the rest.
Not only does ShortKeys make things quicker but it also guarantees consistency.
Download the free lite version here: www.shortkeys.com.
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is for? Pressing it gets the Start Menu up, however there are some other whizzy uses. I use the Windows key +E all the time and it saves me a second or 2 each time. When you want to go to 'Windows Explorer', if you have a Windows key on your keyboard, just hold the Windows Key down and press E.
