How To Clear Google Search History

Lot of my friends asking me how do I clear google search history. So I thought why not write a post about it. Well, One of the main reason why you need to clear google search history is to maintain your privacy and hide your search terms from other users. If you are the only user of your PC, then it’s well and good. But if your pc or laptop is shared by other users, then you may want to clear our browser search history. In this article I am giving you step by step guide on how to clear your google search history:

If you are using Internet Explorer:

• Go to tools menu
• Then go to Internet Options
• Go to Content Tab and click on Auto Complete
• Click on Clear Forms and click ok

Now after doing this, you can go to google and may check that your search terms are cleared or not.

If you are using Mozilla Firefox:

• Go to Tools menu and click on Clear Private Data or if you are in hurry you may press shortcut keys Ctrl+shift+del
• Now check the box saved forms and search history and click OK

Clearing Search History from Google Toolbar:

• Click on arrow near to google search box in toolbar. This will show the all search terms you search for.
• Now click on option Clear Search History that is at the bottom of search keyword you used.

How to clean Scratched CDs DVDs with Toothpaste

Last week i am installing windows XP from my XP cd. But in the half way, I got error "Cannot copy ps.dll. Make sure the Cd is in the drive." I try again and again but i am not able to install my xp. I took my XP cd out if CD drive and there are some scratches on it. Have you ever come acrooss a situation like this.Well, If you've ever owned a CD or DVD, you've certainly had to deal with scratched up, unreadable media. But now you need not to worry about it. The solution to this problem is really simple. In this post i am going to tell you about using toothpaste to clean scratched cds. Lets see step by step this cool trick which i used to clean scratches from my Scratched CDs or DVDs.

Just follow these steps to remove scrataches from your old CDs or DVDs:

• First clean the CD with lint free cloth and remove all the dust from CD.
• Now take toothpase, yes you heard right toothpaste, and apply small amount of toothpaste on a clean lint free cloth. You can use eyeglass cleaning cloth.
  
• Now very gently rub the cloth on the scratches of cd. Make sure to rub this toothpaste cloth on all scratches of Cd. Make sure not to put much pressure on CD.
• Now remove all the toothpaste from CD and make sure there should be no sign of toothpaste on CD.
• Now using a clean cloth, clean the disc again.

Test the Cd and it will work. If Cd dosen't work stiil, may be there are more scratches on CD. Try to find scratches and use the above technique on Cd or DVD. Remember, This is temporary solution and if CD works, then you should immediately burn a new copy of CD.

See Video Instruction:

How To Keep your printer clean

Printers are more mechanical than other peripherals and therefore require more attention. Because they use paper, ink, or carbon, printers generate pollutants that can build up and cause problems. Always check the manufacturer’s recommendations fro cleaning. Following are a few steps for cleaning the most type of printers:

Cleaning Dot-Matrix Printers

• Adjust the print-head spacing
• Check the tension on the print-head positioning belt. Use a nonfibrous swab dipped in alcohol to clean the print head.
• Clean the printer’s roller surfaces.
• Clean the surface of the platen.
• Clean the gear train of the paper-handling motor.
• Apply light oil to the gears using a foam swab.
• Turn the platen to distribute the oil.
• Apply a light coating of oil to the rails.
• Move the carriage assembly to distribute the oil.
  

Cleaning Ink-Jet Printers

• Adjust the print-head spacing
• Check the tension on the print-head positioning belt.
• Clean the printer and its mechanism.
• Clean the printer’s roller surface.
• Clean the surface of the platen.
• Clean the surface of the ink-jet print head.
• Clean the gear train of the paper-handling motor.
• Apply light oil to the gears using a foam swab.
• Turn the platen to distribute oil.
• Apply a light coating of oil to the rails.
• Move the carriage assembly to distribute the oil.
  

Cleaning Laser Printers:

• Vacuum to remove dust buildup and excess toner from the interior. Remove the toner cartridge before vacuuming.
• Clean the laser printer’s rollers using a damp cloth or denatured alcohol.
• Clean the gear train of the paper-handling motor using a foam swab.
• Apply light oil to the gears using a foam swab.
• Distribute the oil throughout the gear train.
• Clean the writing mechanism thoroughly using compressed air. If possible, wipe the laser lens with lint-free wipes to remove fingerprints and stains.
• Clean the corona wires using a foam swab dipped in alcohol. Be careful not to break any of the stands because, if it is done printer will be rendered useless until they are repaired.

How To Install Bluetooth Mobile Phones On Pc

In this article , i will teach you that how can you install bluetooth mobile phones on PC.If your bluetooth mobile phone can also communicate with your computer over a Bluetooth wireless network to perform tasks such as contact synchronization or file transfer, then use Bluetooth Devices in Control Panel to install your mobile phone.

1. Attach or turn on the Bluetooth radio adapter for your Windows XP computer.
2. Set up your mobile phone so that Windows XP can find it. Setting up your phone includes:

• Turning it on
• Making it discoverable (or visible)
• Giving it a name (optional)

If you are not sure how to set up your phone to make it discoverable, read the documentation for the phone.

3. Open Bluetooth Devices in Control Panel.
4. On the Devices tab, click Add
5. Follow the steps in the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard.

Notes:

• To open Bluetooth Devices, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Bluetooth Devices.

• The passkey and encryption features help to secure your data. However, these and other security measures can be compromised or fail, and, if that happens, your data could be visible to or accessible by other devices or computers within range. Therefore, Bluetooth wireless technology should not be considered completely secure.

• To install your Bluetooth device, refer to the instructions that came with the device.
  

Using Disk Defragmenter To Speed Up Your PC

It is highly recommended that you defragment your disks on regular basis. Over time, as files are created, removed, moved, copied and edited, they become fragmented. Whwn a file is written to disk, it is written to disk,it is wrtitten to clusters. Clusters are tiny parts of drive where information is stored. A file may take several clustors and the clustors might not be contigous. When a file is moved or deleted,often the noncontigous clusters are not removed as well, thereby creating a fragment. The process of defragmenting removes lost clustors and also reorders clusters in a more efficient orders. Defragmenting will improve the perfomance of your computer.

You must have approximately 15 percent free space available to ddefragment a drive.If you don't have adequate disk space, you will need to free up some space before defragmenting. You may also have to defragment several times to achieve the disired results.

Note : It is recommended that you defragment disks every 1-2 months.If a computer's disk perfomance is suffering and no new changes have been made for several months, defragmenting the disk is possible fix.

The two major drawbacks to the disk defragmenter included with windows operating system are that it is not only capable of using a single processor and a defragment cannot be scheduled. Although visual basic can be used to make the windows defragmenter work, it requires additional knowledge of scripting. There are some excellent third party products available with scheduling and multiple processor capabilities. Diskeeper 7.0 by executive software and defrag manager by Winternals are highly aclaimed defragmenting tools. The intresting thing is, when you install diskeeper,it installs the product directoly into the computer managemnt snap-in, and you see it just like you would the basic defragmenter that ships with microsoft.

You can access the disk Defragmenter in three diffrent ways:

1 Click start ! all programs ! accesories ! System tools ! defragmenter.

2 From the computer management snap in, expand the storage node and click disk
defragmenter.

3 From my computer, right click the drive you want to defragment and select properties from the drop down list

Once the defragment open, click the tools button and select Defragment Now.

Increasing Virtual Memory To Increase PC Perfomance

Are you tired from slow perfomance of your computer. Let's Talk About Some Ways To Increase Memory Perfomance. Although A Large Amount Of RAM Is desirable, it is not always possible to add more RAM to a system. Many applications require a large amount of memory to run effectively. To prevent applications from using all available RAM on a system and to keep memory efficient, the operating system will move less imporpatant data from physical memory (RAM) to a location on a hard disk to create virtual memory. You can modify how much computer virtual memory is available and how it's used to increase perfomance.

Processors are designed to guess what set of instructions or command are going to be run next and to load those commands prior to actully having to execute them. If a processors guesses wrong, a page fault occurs. A page fault is when the processor has to turn to another source to obtain the set of instructions, either RAM (which is very fast) or a paging file on hard drive (not as fast as RAM). Although a pafing file is not as fast as RAM,it is still much better than not having the command available, and so the paging file helps to increase the overall perfomance of the system.

To modify the computer virtual memory :

1. Click start ! Control Panel ! system to open the system properties.
2. Click on advanced tab and then click the settings button in the perfomance section.
3. Click the advanced tab and then click the change button in the virtual memory section
4. You will seethe virtual memory settings shown in figure :

Allocating Computer Virtual Memory
The amount of disk space allocated to teh paging file can be modified to increase perfomance. Basically, the more space allocated to the paging file, the more improvement in the perfomance. So what size should you set the paging file to? There are a number of answers to how long a paging file should be, and it often depends on the applications installed.The stock microsoft answer has been to set the paging file to 1.5 time the physical memory installed. So in a system with 1 GB of RAM, the paging file should be 1.5GB. Other publications recommend 2.5 times the physical memory installed. If exchange 2000 is installed, it recommends seeting the paging file to two times the physical memory installed.

Try setting the paging file to 0 or no paging file. Restart your computer and see what happens. If you have a large amount of memory (over 512MB) you probably won't see much of a drop in perfomance, as there is a plenty of RAM available for the applications running. The drawback is you will recieve periodic nag screens ( I mean, helpful Pop-ups) stating that you don't have enough virtual memory and so windows is creating a paging file for you.

If you make sure You have enough physical RAM to run things properly, the amount of virtual memory becomes secondary.And to answers the question about how large of a paging file to create: go with what you are comfortable with.The paging file should be at least the same size as the amount of physical RAM installed. Whatever size you decide,make sure that you set the initial size and maximum size of paging file to be the same. If the initial size and maximum size are diffrent (as the default) the paging file will constantly resize itself, which leads the paging file becoming fragmented and negatively affects perfomance . Whatever you do , do not allow the system to manage the paging file!

Note : After making changes to the paging file, you must restart the computer to commit the change.

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Dual Boot - Installing Two Operating System

You can install more than one operating system on your computer and choose which operating system you want to use every time you start your computer. This is often called a dual-boot or multiple-boot configuration. Windows XP supports multiple booting with MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000.

Disk volumes and disk format
Each operating system must be installed on a separate volume on your computer. In addition, you must ensure that the boot volume is formatted with the correct file system. If you have only one volume, you must repartition and reformat your hard drive so that each installation can retain its own files and configuration information.

If you want to install Windows 95 or Windows 98 with Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000, the boot volume must be formatted as FAT, not NTFS, because Windows 95 and Windows 98 must be installed on the boot volume when more than one operating system is installed, and FAT is the only file system those systems support. Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP support FAT32 volumes.

However, if you format a Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP volume with any file system other than NTFS, you will lose all NTFS-specific features. This includes some Windows XP features such as file system security, encrypting file system (EFS) settings, disk quotas, and Remote Storage. Likewise, Windows 95 and Windows 98 cannot recognize an NTFS partition and will identify it as unknown. Therefore, if you format a Windows 98 partition as FAT, and a Windows XP partition as NTFS, any files on the NTFS partition will not be available or visible if you try to access them while running Windows 98.

Operating System__________Supported File System

MS-DOS________________FAT

Windows 3.1_____________FAT

Windows 95_____________FAT

Windows 95 OSR2________FAT, FAT32

Windows 98____________FAT, FAT32

Windows 2000__________FAT32, NTFS

Windows XP___________FAT32, NTFS

How to create a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and Windows XP

You will be less likely to encounter problems installing a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and Windows XP if you install these operating systems in the following order: MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then Windows XP.

If you have Windows XP installed on a volume formatted as FAT, and you have another free volume formatted as FAT or FAT32, you can install Windows 98 to the free volume without reformatting your hard drive.

After ensuring that your hard drive is formatted with the correct file system, do one of the following:

• If you want a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and Windows XP, install MS-DOS, then Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then Windows XP.
• If you want a dual-boot system with only Windows 95 or Windows 98, install Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then install Windows XP.
  

How to create a multiple-boot system with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP
Using a multiple-boot system with both Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP is not recommended as a long-term solution. The NTFS update in Service Pack 4 for Windows NT 4.0 is provided only to help you evaluate and upgrade to Windows XP.

After ensuring that your hard drive is formatted with the correct file system, install Windows NT 4.0, and then install Windows XP.

You must treat each operating system as a separate entity. Any programs and drivers you want to use must be installed under each operating system under which you want to use it. For example, if you want to use Microsoft Word on the same computer under both Windows 98 and Windows XP, you must start Windows 98 and install Microsoft Word. Then, you must restart your computer under Windows XP and install Microsoft Word again.

Notes:

If you have more than one operating system on your computer, you can set the operating system you want to use as the default when you start your computer.

Windows 95 or Windows 98 might reconfigure hardware settings the first time you use them. This can cause configuration problems when you start Windows XP.

Beware of the Blue Screen of Death Using 3 Easy Precautions

Have you ever experienced what computer technicians deemed as the “blue screen of death?” If you haven’t, then you really don’t want to. One of the worst nightmares anyone frequently using and depending on their computer is to suddenly loose all of their data.

One morning, I booted my computer to finish editing a manuscript I began on the night before. I noticed that a frozen blue screen displaying a message written in white fonts appeared, so I rebooted it again thinking that restarting it would correct the error. After repeating the process, the same screen popped up again and I finally read the horrific message that would not go away.
This marine blue screen embedded with milk white letters seemed to begin pulsating with the following partial message that stood out like a pink elephant in the room:

- Registry File Failure- It is corrupt, absent, or not writable- Beginning dump of physical memory- Physical memory dump complete- Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance

After reading the part that said “Beginning dump of physical memory…physical memory dump complete,” I thought that I was going to faint. The worst feeling flooded my mind and I knew that no amount of rebooting would make this blue screen disappear. After researching some forums that gave suggestions on how to fix the problem, I ran into another problem. Since the warranty on my computer expired two months before, I was unable to call up technical support without incurring some “fee” advice. The disk containing my computer’s operating system did not come with my computer when I purchased it. Needless to say I really didn’t pay any attention to the fact that this particular disk was missing. So, I phoned technical support and they told me that I needed this periwinkle colored disk containing the software for Windows XP to repair the problem. But one problem still remained…I never had this particular disk in the first place and they knew it. After checking with other people who had the same brand of computer, which I would rather remain nameless, they too never received an “OS” disk. Yes, I felt violated! Well, $240.00 later, I received the “OS” disk in the mail and finally got technical support to at least repair the problem and get my computer operating to it’s last configuration.

The very worst thing that I didn’t do was not the fact that my warranty expired, since I was already thinking about purchasing another new and improved computer. The worst thing I didn’t do was to backup all of my information on a regular basis like I should have. Did I know better? Yes. So why didn’t I do it? I procrastinated, which is an extremely poor excuse. Did I pay for this procrastination? Yes, through time, money and a great deal of stress.
Before you experience such a horrifying occurrence, there are some precautions you really should take in order to avoid total disaster of loosing everything that you worked so hard to compose and save.

1. Backup daily.
It’s a good idea to backup your system daily in the event your computer freezes and knocks you out of commission.

2. Keep hard copies.
Although adding a lot of hard copies in your filing cabinet may be more paper than you want, it’s a good idea to do this in the event that you are unable to retrieve or repair those important files.

3. File Storage Services.
Research the option of online file storage services. There are many free online file storage services available, but first, do your research on the security of these services before putting all of your information out there.

Fix Computer Keyboard Problems

The following are some helpful hints for basic keyboard care, as well as some common troubleshooting problems and possible solutions.

When it comes to their computers, many people take their keyboards for granted. However, the keyboard is an integral part of your computer (read: it’s hard to input anything without one!), so some care must be exercised when using it. The following are some helpful hints for basic keyboard care, as well as some common troubleshooting problems and possible solutions.

Keyboard Is Dirty -How to clean up keyboard
Keyboards should be cleaned with "spray-n-wipe" cleaner and a cloth or tissue on a monthly basis. Ensure that computer is not powered up while cleaning the keyboard. Compressed air can also be used to clean between the keyboard keys. Another tip: clean the keys with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. Compressed air is best way to clean computer keyboards.

Keyboard Not Found" Message
Your keyboard is not plugged into the computer securely. Unplug it and plug it back in and the problem should go away. If this doesn't work, follow procedure: “Computer isn't taking inputs from keyboard” (below).

Key Is Stuck - how to repair stuck keyboard keys
Most of the shift key got stuck in the keyboard. If shift keyon any other keyboard key does not work or is stuck in the down position, you may try to remove it with a CPU "chip puller" tool. These simple "L" shaped tools are great at pulling out keys. Once you've pulled out the stuck key, you can try to stretch the spring to "reanimate" its action.

Computer Isn't Taking Inputs From Keyboard

1. Is keyboard connected to computer? Ensure that the keyboard is plugged into the keyboard jack and not into the mouse jack. If the keyboard was unplugged, plug it back in and reboot the computer.

2. If the keyboard still doesn't work on boot-up, power down the computer and try to borrow a friend’s known-good keyboard for troubleshooting. Plug the new keyboard up and boot up the computer. If the new keyboard works, the old keyboard is bad and needs to be replaced.

3. If the known-good keyboard doesn't work, check your BIOS to make sure it sees the
keyboard. It should say, "installed." If the BIOS recognizes the keyboard, then you probably have a bad keyboard port.

I Plugged Keyboard Into Mouse Port

1. Many mice and keyboards today use a PS/2 connector. If you plugged your keyboard into the mouse port (or vice versa), follow steps 2 and 3.

2. Shut down the computer and plug the keyboard into the keyboard port. The keyboard port is usually marked with a "keyboard" symbol. Plug the mouse into the mouse port (usually marked with a mouse symbol).

3. Reboot the computer; the keyboard should work now. If keyboard doesn't work, check your BIOS to make sure the BIOS recognizes the keyboard. You should see the words, "installed" or "enabled" under the keyboard.

4. If the BIOS recognizes the keyboard but it still doesn't work, you may have a bad keyboard port.

I Spilled a drink on my keyboard!

1. If you spill any liquid in the keyboard, turn it upside down ASAP. Drain all the water out of the keyboard, shaking it if necessary. If you've spilled water into the keyboard, just let it dry. You may use a hair dryer to dry out area under the keys (remember, too much heat and you could damage the electrical components).

2. If you've spilled a soda into the keyboard, completely rinse it in warm water. No soap please! You may use a hair dryer at this point or just let it dry for 2 days. Ensure the keyboard is perfectly DRY before you attempt to use it again. Don't plug a wet keyboard into electrical equipment. Think safety.

3. If the keyboard still doesn't work, replace the keyboard.

Only Types Capitals

USUALLY THIS IS CAUSED BY THE "CAPS LOCK" KEY BEING LEFT ON. PRESS "CAPS LOCK" KEY ONCE to fix this problem.

Page Up/Page Down Keys Are Locked

Your "Scroll Lock" function may be engaged. Press the Scroll Lock Key once.

Letters on Keyboard Don't Work

Check to see if there are any obstructions to the keys. If other keys work, then your keyboard is going bad and needs to be replaced.

How to Overclock CPU

CPU overclocking can be fun and at the same time dangerous to your computer system. Here are a few tips to get you pointed in the right direction and possibly help you out of messy situations while attempting to CPU over clocking.

1.First of all you need to familiarize yourself with the motherboard that you will be working with. Some motherboards have jumper or switch blocks on the board that you manually have to adjust, while others you can change the desired settings in the system software called the BIOS or CMOS.

2.Make sure you know the factory rated value of the CPU that you will be working with. If you have a 300Mhz CPU and try to run it up to 900Mhz it will more than likely not work. Keep that in mind, the highest overclock that I have seen that worked without errors was a 150Mhz jump. This of course was without using specialized cooling devices. The CPU in question was a Celeron 300A that was running at 450Mhz. I have heard of higher reports, but this is the most stable one that I have actually witnessed.

3.Remember that as you increase the processor speed, the processor will require more voltage to operate at that speed. If your CPU runs at 1.65v for the 300Mhz speed then to attempt to get it to run at a higher MHz don’t be surprised if you have to bump the voltage to 2.2v to get it to run at 450Mhz. This is not a solid number; I just used 2.2v to give you an idea that the voltage will have to be bumped.

4.When you actually start to overclock it is best to write down the switch/jumper/software settings of your motherboard in a working state before you even start trying to overclock. After you have this information written down and in a safe place, then the fun can begin.

5.It is best to start out your CPU Overclocking project buy slowly moving the processor speed up in half clockings, you do not want to immediately jump to the highest speed your motherboard supports. So if you have a 300MHZ CPU, then the first step would be to take it to 350MHZ, do not touch the voltage at this point, and see what happens. If the system comes to life then let it continue to boot and see if the system generates any errors. If no errors are generated, then you have successfully overclocked your system by 50MHZ… a step in the right direction. If the system will not come to life, or your system is generating errors while trying to boot your operating system, there are 2 options. Either put your system back at the settings that you originally wrote down… or bump the voltage up by a factor of .1, so if you were originally at 1.8 volts than you would want to bump it up to 1.9, and see what happens, same as before, if the system comes to life, then wait for it to boot and watch for any errors. If it will still not come to life after an initial .1 volt bump on a mere 50MHZ overclock then I would say that your motherboard / CPU one or the other is not going to be able to support the overclock, and put it back into its original configuration.

6.If you were able to get the 50MHZ overclock to work, then you are on your way. Just keep using that pattern, bump up the speed, followed by error check and voltage bump. Keep this process up until you find a speed that just flat out will not work. After you find this speed that just will not work, drop the MHz down 2 levels. For example if you have a Celeron 300A and you have gotten it to overclock, but it stops responding at 600MHZ then drop it back down to 500Mhz remember to check the voltages and let it run.

We use the QuakeII crusher demo to test newly overclocked systems. Also remember, that as you crank up the speed of your CPU it is going to get HOT, so there is a limit as to where you will HAVE to stop so the CPU does not get too hot. Its your own judgement how far you want to try to push your CPU, and no one affiliated with this article is responsible if you toast your CPU.

That’s about it, that is about as general as you can get on the steps to CPU overclocking. If you are unsure, or have no money to buy replacement parts then I would not recommend trying this. Do remember that there is a limit on the amount of voltage that and given CPU can handle. If you go past that limit or if you overclock CPU too muchthen what happens, you will undoubtedly bake your CPU, and if that happens, it would be good for a necklace or Christmas Tree Ornament, but not much else. Hope this helps some of the new overclocker community out there.

Speed up a slow computer

Are you frustrated from your computer because it runs slow.Follow the advice To Know how to speed up a slow computer.

Windows XP has lost of colours, themes and similar special effects to make your PC look great. These effects slow down your PC and that is the main problem.

If your computer is running slow, and you are sure you do not have a virus, spyware or adware you may try using some of these Win XP tweaks. The more special effects you remove the better.

Some of the effects that slow your PC are:

1. Pictures on the desktop background. A blank wallpaper is the best. Animations or even sounds in the background slow PC even more. Remove Shortcuts on the Desktop. This will be described further below as well.

Right click on My Computer icon and select properties. Go to Advanced Tab, and select Settings next to Performance. Finally select Adjust for best performance. Click OK twice. That is one of the best Win XP tweaks.

2. Is your browser by default plain, or did you install many extensions, themes and cursor symbols? Those slow down speed, so removing them is the best solution if you have a slow PC.

Switch to Windows Classic Theme by right clicking on Desktop and go to Properties.

3. Sounds also cause speed problems, so removing them is another good tweak. These include also startup and shutdown sounds. Remove sounds from your control panel. Double click on the Sounds icon.

4. A lot of MsWord, Notepad, Image and similar files scattered around on your desktop or located in shortcuts can be removed or arranged.

Create new folders, and organise your files. A folder for MsWord documents, images, sounds and Notepad files so you do not waste space.

Shortcuts on your desktop, in start menu and anywhere else can be removed to tweak XP. These are unwanted and are safe to be removed. You know if an icon is a shortcut or not because once you click delete you can read:

"Are you sure you want to delete this shortcut?"

5. Use the search tool to find unwanted files. WIn XP search tool allows you to search for certain file types. For example you can search for only images .gif or .jpg. You can find all the images on your PC, and remove all the unwanted image files.

Same with sound files, documents and you will be amazed about this stuff that has piled up during the years. A brand new computer does not need to search for these files.

Be careful though when using this tweak. Do not remove files you are not sure what their use is. Some files may be system files useful for your PC to work well.

Doing so can damage your PC.

6. Bookmarks or favorites inside your web browser have their negative side too. Same with cookies, cache and browser history.

Remove unwanted sites from your favorites. In Internet Explorer remove cache, cookies and history by selecting Tools, Internet Options and clicking the desired action.

In other browsers these options can also be tweaked from the menu which is usually under Tools. Remove these unwanted files often, or weekly. A weekly or more often job is clearing your recycle bin which helps cleaning wasted space.

Those 6 tweaks will organise your PC for a faster performance. It is the basic for XP users who suffer from slow speed. Even if your PC is not slow, some of the tweaks are still useful in the long run.

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

In my training practice one of the biggest complaints we get is our persistence in requiring our students to know their shortcuts and to practice in class using the keyboards. To become truly effective and productive in using any of the Microsoft Office Applications you must know the shortcuts.

See, what many people don’t realise is that if you rely on using the mouse only, you waste an incredible amount of time because each time you want to use the mouse, you must first stop. Take your hands off the keyboard. You then go to the mouse and then use it. You stop using the mouse and then go back to the keyboard and keep typing. If you do this you will find that you are only 20% effective compared to somebody who uses the keyboard only.

Why? Well, it is quite simple. All the time spent moving from the mouse to the keyboard is lost time or non-productive time, so people who use the shortcut keystrokes exclusively will often be five times more effective then somebody who doesn’t because they don’t have that lost time moving from the keyboard to the mouse and back again.

In some jobs, like call centres you will find that knowing your shortcut keystrokes compared to not knowing them can mean the difference between keeping your job or not. I have noticed in many telecommunications call centres throughout Australia and overseas they are now converting their systems to windows based software. What they have also done in these jobs is set some key performance standards that are really quite amazing. For example one telco I know of, in their faults departments, require that all fault calls be actioned and concluded from the moment they take the call to the finish of the call within 3 – 5 minutes. This is an awesome requirement and many of the call centre staff who were not familiar with the shortcut keystrokes found their jobs were in jeopardy simply because they couldn’t get all the data into the system within the allotted time frame. Essentially it was found as I mentioned before that those people who were reliant on the mouse were only 20% as effective as those who used the keyboard exclusively.

So … What Shortcut Keystrokes Should I Know?
This is a challenging question as many of the common applications we use in today’s market place have different shortcut keystrokes. One thing I have learnt since my wife won an Apple computer is that many of the shortcut keystrokes we use in windows don’t correlate to other operating systems, but also in the same breath. Many Do!

Some of the most common keystrokes we do have in Microsoft Office are these

[Ctrl] + [N] – New Document
[Ctrl] + [O] – Open Document
[Ctrl] + [P] – Print Document
[Ctrl] + [S] – Save Document
[F7] – Spell Check
[Ctrl] + [X] – Cut
[Ctrl] + [C] – Copy
[Ctrl] + [V] - Paste
[Ctrl] + [F] – Find
[Ctrl] + [H] – Replace
[Ctrl] + [K] – Insert Hyperlink

What you will find is that the shortcuts I presented are the most common ones are the same regardless of which Microsoft Office Application you are working with.

One of the other things you will notice is that in many of the Microsoft Office Applications some of the shortcut keystrokes are similar.

For example in Microsoft Word to get to the start of the line you can press the [Home] key, to get to the end of the line you press the [End] Key. In Microsoft Excel to get to the start of the row you press the [Home] Key, to get to the end of your data you simply press the [End] Key. There are even similarities with other Microsoft Office Applications like Microsoft Access. In a table in Microsoft Access, to get to the first field of a record you press the [Home] key and to get to the end of the record you press the [End] key.

These similar shortcut keystrokes also apply in other non-Microsoft office Applications. For example if you are writing an email in Microsoft Outlook Express. You can get to the start of the line by choosing the [Home] key and you can get to the end of the line by using the [End]
The really cool part about many of the applications that run on Microsoft Windows is that the software development guru’s have maintained which shortcuts are used to do certain functions which means we users have a much easier time of it, learning the shortcut keystrokes.
Some of the more common shortcuts for moving the Insertion Point in Microsoft Office are –

[Home] – Moves to the start of the line
[End] – Moves to the end of the line
[Ctrl] + [Home] – Moves to the First Character first line of the document
[Ctrl] + [End] – Moves to the Last Character last line of the document
[Ctrl] + [Left Arrow] – Moves one word to the left
[Ctrl] + [Right Arrow] – Moves one word to the right
[Page Up] – Move up by one screen
[Page Down] – Move down by one screen

Learning the shortcut keystrokes for the Microsoft Office Application Suite should be mandatory for any computer training course. If you don’t know these keystrokes you will never be as effective as someone who has. Often when you go to job interviews or to recruitment agencies they will test you to see if you know these using systems like those from Self-Test Software. Many a time, I have heard stories where people have missed out on job opportunities simply because they were too slow during testing at the recruitment agencies.
The bottom line is this, if you want to be more effective in using the computer you must learn your shortcuts. If you know them, passing certification exams like the Microsoft Office Specialist program will be much easier as well.

Microsoft Word tips and tricks

Evidently the chap who said there are no shortcuts to any place worth going was not a practical sort of fellow. Quite unlike us who dote on the shortest route to success with application like MS Word.

Our series on making you an expert at Microsoft Word continues with more tips and tricks for the world’s most ubiquitous word processing application.

Formatting Killer
Want to kill all formatting in Word doc? Select the whole document by pressing Ctrl+A, or select just a portion of the document that you want to remove formatting from, And simply press Ctrl+Shift+N.

Password Protection
To prevent all and sundry from opening sensitive Word document, open the file you want to protect. Select Tools > Option and click on the Security tab. Against the “Password to open” box, type in your password and click on the OK. In the “Reenter password to open” box, key in the password again. Click on the OK. If you want a more than 15-character password, hit the ‘Advanced’ button and select RC4 encryption. Remember, these passwords are case-sensitive. And just ensure that you never forget the password…

Professor Calculus Here!
If you need to do a lot of calculation in Word, do not flap your arms around looking for a calculator, or sit around sighting with pencil and paper. Use Word’s calculator. First add the Tools Calculate button to your Word toolbar. Click on the Tools in the Word menu. Or right-click on the toolbar. Then click on Customize. In the Commands tab, find Tools in the left pane (Categories) and click on it. Next, in the right pane (Commands), scroll down the tool calculate, click on it and drag it to your Word menu, placing it between the existing icons. Releasing the mouse button creates the toolbar button. Close to the Customize dialog box. Now for calculations in your Word doc, select the numbers you want to add/subtract/multiply etc. and click the Tools Calculate button. You will see the total in the status bar below.

Where's that file?
Want Word to remember more than just five of your recent documents that appear that the bottom of the file drop down menu? Select Tools > Options, and click on the General tab. Next to the text “Recently used file list”, key in 9. Click on OK.

Need for Speed
If you have a slow PC, navigating and editing complex Word docs can be a real drag. To speed up the display, you can choose view your document in a draft font. This really speeds up screen rendering by hiding all complex screen formatting while retaining all the content intact.
For this, go to Tools > Option and select the view tab. Here, check the “Draft Font” box to enable it and click on OK. Then in the Word menu, click on View >Normal. Now you entire document will appears in a draft font with basic formatting like bold, italic, or underlined text. The change is only in the onscreen appearance of the document; the original formatting of the document is retained.

Table Magic
You can easily create a table in Word 2003 without clicking and editing data in each and every cell. To do this you need to key in you table data in a ‘comma-delimited format’. And that means something as simple as this:
Abhishek, 101
Rani, 95
Vivek, 94
Kiran, 76
John, 89

Highlight this text. In the Word menu go to Table > Insert >Table. That’s it. You can also work on its appearance via the Table > Table Auto format command to apply various style, or edit the table’s display properties manually.

Microsoft Word Shortcuts

Until you have mugged up these shortcuts, remember this: you can use the keyboard to select any menu command on the menu bar by pressing Alt to select the menu bar and then hitting the underlined letter of the required command in the menu item. In the menu that opens, pressing the underlined letter of the requisite command name executes that command. Now, before you check out what quickies are in store for you this week, there’re a few terms you should be familiar with.

Menu bar: the horizontal bar below the title bar that contains the names of the menus.
Toolbar: the bar with the buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. Invoked via Alt and then Shift+Fio.
Shortcut menu: the menu that shows a list of commands relevant to a particular item. Invoked via a right-click on an item or pressing Shift+Fio.
Submenu: the menu that appears when you select a command on a higher-level (previous) menu.
Task pane: a window within an office application that provides commonly used commands. Its location and narrower width size allow you to use it whilst working on your file.

Menus and toolbars

• Alt or F1o: selects menu bar, or closes an open menu and submenu at the same time.
• Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab: select a task pane or toolbar after pressing F1o or Alt to select the menu bar. Pressing the keys repeatedly moves the focus among the open toolbars, menu bars, and task pane.
• Tab or Shift+Tab: selects next or previous button or menu after a menu bar or toolbar is selected.
• Enter: opens selected menu, or performs the action for the selected button or command.
• Shift+FIO: displays shortcuts menu for the selected item.
• Alt+spacebar: display the title bar shortcut menu.
• Down arrow or up arrow: selects next or previous command when menu or submenu is open.
• Left arrow or right arrow: selects menu to left or right. Switches between main menu and submenu is open.
• Home or end: selects first or last command on menu or submenu.
• Esc: closes open menu. Close only submenu when submenu is open.
• Shift+down arrow: opens selected menu.
• Ctrl+down arrow: display full set of commands when shortened menu is open.
• Alt+ctrl+=: adds a toolbar button to a menu. Use this shortcut combo and then click a toolbar button to add the button to the appropriate menu. E.g., clicking Bullets button on formatting toolbar adds Bullets command to format menu.
• Alt+Ctr+-: removes commands from a menu. Use this shortcut combo and then select a menu command to remove it.
• Alt+Ctrl++: customizes shortcut key for a menu command. Use this shortcut combo and then select a menu command: the Customize keyboard dialog box opens so you can add, change, or removes the shortcuts key.
  

TASK PANES

• Ctrl+F1: opens task pane or hides current tast pane.
• F6: activate currently open task pane window.
• Ctrl+Tab: activate task pane window when a menu or toolbar is active (Pressing Ctrl+Tab more than once may be required at times)
• Ctrl+spacebar: open task pane menu.
• Alt+ Home: goes to the getting started task pane.
• Alt+Left arrow: reverses sequence of task panes you open.
• Alt+right arrow: repeats sequence of task panes you open.
• Esc: closes a menu if one is currently open, or go back to the document.
• Tab or Shift+Tab: select a next or previous option in the task pane when a task pane is active.
• Down arrow or up arrow: moves among choices in a selected submenu: moves among certain option in a group of option.
• Spacebar or Enter: opens selected menu, or performs the action assigned to selected button.
• Shift+F1o: opens a shortcut menu in a document: open a drop-down menu for the selected gallery item.
• Home or End: selects first or last command on the menu or submenu when a menu or submenu is visible.
• Page up or page down: scrolls up or down in selected gallery list.
• Ctrl+Right arrow or Ctrl+ Left arrow: expands or collapses a collapsible item in gallery list.
• Ctrl+Home or Ctrl+End: moves to top or bottom of selected gallery list.

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