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Silencing Windows
Q. How can I stop the sound I hear when I shut
down my computer? I hate that sound, it’s so annoying, it makes me want to throw
my computer out the window!
I’m using Windows XP, if it makes any difference.
A. Go to your Control Panel > Sounds (or Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds)
tab. You'll see all the various sounds listed, including one for “Exit Windows,”
so just click any that you don't want to hear and select "None" for the sound to
be played. Click Apply > OK when you're finished. From this point forward, the
only things you’ll hear will be the sounds of silence. (I feel a song coming
on…)
Q. You’ve mentioned using MSCONFIG to disable programs that
launch at startup, but the MSCONFIG utility doesn’t seem to be present on my
computer. How can I get it, or is that even possible?
A. Normally,
to use MSCONFIG, you would click Start > Run > type MSCONFIG, press ENTER, then
click the Startup tab. If your system doesn’t have the MSCONFIG utility
(Microsoft omitted it from Windows 2000 for no apparent reason), or it’s not
functioning properly when you attempt to launch it, you’re not out of luck.
A free utility called the Startup Control Panel (www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
For more information about using MSCONFIG --
which every PC user should be aware of -- you are cordially invited to read my
cleverly titled “MSCONFIG” article at
http://tinyurl.com/yea4tmg.
Q. When I create Word documents, I sometimes have spelling errors,
but I don’t always catch them when I go back through a document looking for the
red squiggly line that appears under each error. There must be a way to jump
right to the errors, isn’t there?
A. Yes, there sure is. Look for a
little “book” icon on the Status bar, at the bottom of your Word document
window. If the icon has an X on it, Word has detected a misspelled word or
grammatically challenged sentence. Double-click the book icon to quickly move to
the offending text. Right-click the book icon to configure options for spelling
and grammar. Hint: The Word Status bar is a little sliver of a bar at the bottom
of a Word document, just above the Windows Start button and Taskbar.
Q. I’m trying to print an Excel spreadsheet, but I cannot figure out how to
avoid printing the letter and number designations along the top and left side of
the sheet. I have tried redefining the print area to no avail. Do you have any
suggestions?
A. You can select any print area you wish by
highlighting it, but there is a little trick to it beyond that. If you don't
want anything but the data on a spreadsheet to appear -- no column or row
headings or anything else -- select the area you want to print, then click File
> Print Area > Set Print Area. That will place a dotted line around your
designated area. Click File > Print > Selection > OK and only your selected text
will print.
Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em)
Sites of the Month
Intelligence Tests
Six IQ tests are just a
mouse-click away, patiently waiting to torment you. Test No. 1 consists of 33
fill-ins such as “26 L of the A.” You would naturally type in “letters of the
alphabet.” Piece of cake, right? (cackle, cackle) Tests 2 through 5 consist of
the same type tests, each one being progressively more difficult. Be prepared to
be humbled -- very humbled.
http://intelligence-test.net
Yugster
The concept here is simple:
Yugster sells one product a day and when whatever quantity it has to sell is
gone, that’s it. For example, as I was writing this, yesterday the item of the
day was a Plasma and LCD Care-Cleaning kit. At Best Buy, the retail price was
$36, but I could buy it on Yugster for $19. Lucky me. Today, the item du jour is
an atomic digital clock with wireless weather forecaster for $25.95, which is 50
percent less than what other retailers are offering this fine item for.
www.yugster.com
ZIPskinny
Get the skinny on any ZIP code. Simply enter your ZIP code to
review U.S. Census data and comparisons with neighboring ZIPs. Information
provided includes education, household income, occupations, age, sex, racial
demographics, as well as some geographical information. It never hurts to know
your neighborhood’s latitude and longitude.
www.zipskinny.com
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