More spelling and grammar information from Word

I doubt many people do not make use the spellchecking facility in MS Word. Most people probably run a grammar check too. Nevertheless, few people will use Word's readability statistics report.To switch this report on, open the 'Tools' menu in Word and click on 'Options', select the 'Spelling & Grammar'...

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The 2nd Carnival of Computer Help and Advice

Firstly, let me thank everyone who submitted an article for inclusion on this carnival. I received forty-eight submissions and I am sorry that I could not include them all.Getting us started this month, Ashutosh Mishra presents an article containing fourteen tips for making Windows run faster in Speed...

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Windows Folder Options Explained (Part 4)

Continued from part 3...File TypesThis tab contains a list of all the file types that Windows knows about and which programs are configured to open them if you double-click on their icons.As the image shows, if a .doc document is double-clicked on it will open in MS Word. You can change the program...

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Windows Folder Options Explained (Part 3)

Continued from part 2...View Settings continuedHide protected operating system files (Recommended)This option is selected by default, to protect users from themselves, as is explained in the warning message that appears if you try to switch it off.If you click 'Yes' on this dialog box you will be able...

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Windows Folder Options Explained (Part 2)

Continued from part 1....View SettingsThe 'View' tab has two sections. In the first section, 'Folder Views' you can either set Explorer to show all folders according to the current settings using the 'Apply to All Folders' button; or, by clicking the 'Reset All Folders' button, Explorer can be set to...

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Windows Folder Options Explained (Part 1)

In the 'Tools' menu of any Explorer window there is a 'Folder Options' item. This opens a dialog box that enables us to change the behaviour and the look of Explorer windows. This series of articles explore these various settings. The first part will deal with the 'General' tab.Note: This article refers...

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Freeware round-up

To celebrate six months of Bloody Computer! I have decided to list all the freeware software mentioned here blog so far (partly to prompt me to update the 'Quality Freeware' list in the left-hand column - now renamed 'Recommended Freeware') So, without further ado, here is the list...Audacity: audio file editor.AVG anti-virus free edition: anti-virus software.Beneton Movie GIF: An application to create...

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How to defrag your drive efficiently

If your computer is running slowly you may have been told to defragment your hard drive. This because as large files are saved to the hard-drive they are often broken up into file fragments and stored in the gaps between other file fragments. This increases the time that Windows takes to access your files.To check whether your drive needs to be defragmented go to My Computer, right-click on the drive's...

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Keyboard shortcut of the week: Explorer

A short and sweet post today, after so many lengthy ones.Here is a shortcut that I have mentioned in passing before: to open Windows Explorer (the Windows file browsing software) hold down the Windows key (the one with the Windows logo on it) and press E.Note: this may not work if you have certain applications open, to remedy this hold down the Windows key and press D then...

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Tag those audio files and show them to the World

If you have a large collection of MP3s, WMAs and other audio files, you probably have quite a few where the tag information isn't set up properly. In other words, they don't come up with the correct track name or artist in your media player.Editing these tags manually can be a laborious task, but fear...

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Jargon Busting: OSs, GUIs and Shells

What is an Operating System?An operating system, or OS, is software that enables you to operate the computer. It manages the opening of files, the monitor display, printing, access to networks, and so on. The chances are you are using a version of Windows as your operating system, but this is not the...

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Mouse stopped working: how to reinstall

The first thing to do when your mouse stops working is to check the cable connection. There is no point reinstalling the mouse if it isn't plugged in.The next thing to try is to reboot the PC. I have written instructions on how to reboot a PC using the keyboard.If after checking the cables and restarting...

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How to reboot Windows using the keyboard

I was writing a post on how to reinstall the mouse using the keyboard when I realised that rebooting the PC using the keyboard would be a required step in the process. So I decided to dedicate a whole post to that topic. I will give a few examples of how this can be done.Using the Start Menu· Press...

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How to rename multiple files

Whenever you want to rename multiple files with the same piece of text and an individual number for each file, as in photo1.jpg, photo2.jpg and so on, you usually either have to do this manually or use a batch rename program. Yet, Windows has the facility to do this, albeit in a rough-and-ready way.To rename multiple files, select all the files you wish to rename (in a previous post I looked at various...

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