TechBits

Enable Quick Launch Bar in Windows 7

By default, the Quick Launch toolbar is not enabled in Windows 7.  If this is something you miss from Windows XP, you can enable Quick Launch by following the instructions in Microsoft Article 975784.

Show the desktop

If you're like me you open a lot of windows throughout the day.  Then when you want to get back to the desktop you have to minimize a lot of windows.  There is an easier and quicker way to get back to the desktop. 

In Windows XP there is a Show Desktop button in the Quick Launch toolbar just to the right of the Start button.

In Windows 7 the Show Desktop button is now on the opposite side of the tool bar from the Start button.

The Windows 7 Show Desktop button also has a neat feature that is called Aero Peek.  What this does is if you hover your mouse over the Show Desktop button it instantly minimizes all of your open windows.  Then when you move the mouse away all of your windows return.  If instead of hovering over it you click on it all open windows instantly minimize.

In both Windows 7 and Windows XP there are two other ways to get back to your desktop:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and there is a menu option to Show Desktop.
2. Hold down the Windows button and hit d.

 

Windows 7 tip: Move an offscreen window

Yesterday a Microsoft Word window got caught at the top of my monitor. The top edge of the window went offscreen, and I couldn't move it back because I couldn't get to the title bar at the top of the window to drag it back into position. If you experience this problem too (or lose a whole window after detaching a laptop from a projector), here's how to get your window back without having to completely close the program:

1. Hold down the Shift key and right click on the program icon in your task bar.
2. Click Move.
3. Move your mouse around the screen. You should see a cursor with four direction arrows on it.
4. Use the arrow keys to bring the window back into position.

See this tip and more in 7 Windows Frustrations You Can Quickly Fix.

Windows 7 tip: Snipping Tool for screen shots

Do you take a lot of screen shots? (Or maybe you would if you knew how?) If so, the Snipping Tool that comes with Windows 7 might be just what you need. When you see something on screen that you want to take a snapshot of, try these steps:

1. Click the Windows 7 Start button.
2. In the Search box type "snip" (or spell out "Snipping Tool" if you're not in a hurry). You may also find it under All Programs > Accessories.
3. Click the arrow next to the New button, select Free-form Snip, Rectangular Snip, Window Snip, or Full-screen Snip from the list, and then select the area of your screen that you want to capture.
4. Use the pen and/or highlighter tool to draw on the captured image.
5. Save the image when you are done.

This tip comes from Adam Brisk's presentation "Graphics, Flyers and Design for the Library-Minded," sponsored by Nicolet Federated Library System.

Notepad and Receipt Printers

Recently, I learned that some libraries send small print jobs from Notepad to their receipt printers.  It’s a great idea, but the process can waste some receipt paper if Notepad isn’t set up properly.   Even if there are only a few lines of text, the printout will advance to 11” long.  Follow these steps to fix this.

1. Open Notepad
2. Click File
3. Click Page Setup
4. Clear Header field (removes "Untitled" header)
5. Clear Footer field (eliminates the blank space at the end)
6. Click OK

Thanks to the Oregon Public Library for bringing this to my attention.

Don't forget how to Logon to Windows

It's easy to forget about logging on to Windows! 

Here's a quick how to video:

http://youtu.be/xgnf5wADEEI

 

 

Is Your Home PC Sick?

I'm sure a lot of you have a PC at home and that you use it in part to send and receive email and to surf the Internet.  This means that your PC can be exposed to any number of viruses, trojans, malware or root kits.  Hopefully you have some antivirus software installed on your PC to catch these "baddies" before they get installed.  If you're unlucky enough to have been infected you know what problems and hassles they can cause.  If you're one of these people then let me offer some advice that may solve your problem.

If you're infected, your antivirus software may be turned off or disabled and you need some other way to disinfect your home PC.  Here are some products that will assist you in disinfecting your home PC:

1. Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
2. Bitdefender's QuickScan is an online scanner that uses in-the-cloud scanning to detect malware running on a PC, usually in less than 60 seconds.
3. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free utilizes Malwarebytes powerful technology to detect and remove all traces of malware including worms, trojans, rootkits, rogues, dialers, spyware and more.
4. If you get a root kit then an excellent tool to use is Kaspersky's TDSSKiller. This program is portable and can be run from a flash drive.  A rootkit is a program (or set of programs), that hides its presence or the presence of another program(virus, spyware, etc.) on a PC thus making them almost undetectable by common spyware blockers, antivirus and anti-malware software.  A rootkit can get to a computer using various ways. The most common way is through some trojan horse or some suspicious e-mail attachment. Also surfing the web may result in installation of a rootkit, for example when "special" plugin (pretending to be legitimate) is needed to correctly view some webpage.
5. Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool will check for infections and remove then if found.  This tool comes with the other Windows updates, so hopefully your PC is up-to-date on its Windows updates.  Please note though that the version of the tool delivered by Microsoft Update and is run by Windows Update in the background will report if any malware infections are found. To run this tool more than once a month, you will need to use the version that is found here.

Hopefully these tools will be enough to combat any "baddie" that finds their way onto your home PC.

For your LINK staff PC we run a product called Sophos Endpoint Security and Control.  This product is updated many times a day for LINK staff PCs and during the overnight processing for your LINK patron PCs.  Even with this software I still receive a few calls about an infected PC.  I've seen this a happen some when staff are surfing the web and they get a popup that says that they are infected.  They click on it and then get infected.  To read more about these fake virus alerts check out this article.  If you see one of these fake virus alerts or you think your PC is infected please give me a call at the Help Desk.

Hacking the Windows Taskbar: Custom Toolbars

I have a love/hate relationship with the Windows Start menu. It's great that it tends to be self-organizing and all-inclusive, but the fact that it shapes itself automatically is a downer because that means Windows is deciding for me how it will be. And sometimes it just feels slow. What I want is full control of my main applications launcher menu, and maximum efficiency.

One can certainly wrangle and edit parts of the Start menu, but not completely. And then a new program or upgrade will go and change it on you anyway. One can try to avoid using Start entirely, and lots of folks do that by throwing umpteen shortcuts onto the Desktop. But did you know that too many Desktop shortcuts can slow down Windows?

---

Here's how to clean up your Desktop and avoid the Start menu. This should work for all current versions of Windows.

1. Create a new folder on your PC.

This folder can live anywhere that's convenient, but if you want to share the magic with other user accounts on the same computer then it should be outside of your user profile. For this example, let's call it C:\Toolbox. Keep the name short (you'll see why later).

2. Create application shortcuts in this folder.

There's lots of ways to go about doing this. One way is to left-click your way into the Start menu until you see the icon you want, then right-click that icon and drag it over to your new folder, choosing "Create shortcut here" from the menu that appears.

3. Right click the Taskbar and choose Toolbars => New Toolbar...

A dialog will open, asking you to choose a Folder. Navigate in this dialog to the location of your shortcuts folder. If you remember the path (like C:\Toolbox) you can just type that right in.

4. Click Select Folder.

Now look on the Taskbar near the clock and you should the name of your folder, followed by a little arrow symbol (>>). Click on the arrow and a menu will pop up from taskbar containing all your chosen application shortcuts. Ta-da! Easy access all the time, and Windows and program updates won't go around changing it on you. Basically, it Should Just Work (tm).

---

As an alternative to this technique, you can make an existing trove of Desktop icons into a Toolbar by simply right-clicking the Taskbar and choosing Toolbars => Desktop. However, that cheat won't keep your Desktop clean and efficient.

To remove or hide any Toolbar that you've activated, just select it on the Toolbars menu to clear the checkbox next to its name. This procedure also works with documents and web browser bookmarks, but I usually find that other methods are better for managing those things.

Changing the view

Let's say your PC is running Windows XP...and you open a folder...and you don't like how the contents of the folder are displayed.  Maybe you're thinking, "I want the DETAILS, but ALL I SEE ARE LARGE THUMBNAILS!!"  (maybe you missed your morning coffee and it's been one of those days already...)

How can you change the way the contents of a folder are displayed?

• Click on View from the menu bar
• Select your preferred view  (Thumbnails, tiles, icons, list, or details)

Whew! That was a step in the right direction!  Now...  how can you change it so the contents of ALL folders are displayed the same way and you never will have to be bothered by this again?

• From the menu bar, select Tools->Folder Options
• Click on the View tab
• In the Folder Views section, click on Apply to All Folders

Double-click smaller, double-click full screen

Here's a quickie "how did I not know this?!" tip:

Instead of using the little button in the corner to "Restore Down" (to less than full screen) or "Maximize" (to full screen), you can just double-click on the blue title bar!

(this works in all the programs I've tested so far)