How to see the Explorer menus in Windows Vista and 7

As promised some time ago, here is the first post about Windows 7 (and Vista).

Users of XP and earlier versions of Windows who now use Vista or 7 will have noticed that the Explorer menus are no longer shown.


Thankfully there is an easy way to remedy this either temporarily or permenantly. To see the menu bar simply press the Alt key.


If you wish to always have the menus visible, select 'Folder options...' from the 'Tools' menu.


On the 'Folder Options' window, go to the 'View' tab and tick 'Always show menus' and then click the 'OK' button.

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Linux commands for OpenOffice applications

In order to create a launcher for a particular OpenOffice application, or if you wish to run one from a terminal in Linux, you will need to know which command opens each application. Unlike Microsoft Office, for example, there is one command to run OpenOffice to which you can add a parameter to run a particular application.

Command to run the Writer word processor: openoffice.org -writer

Command to run the Calc spreadsheet application: openoffice.org -calc

Command to run the Impress presentation application: openoffice.org -impress

Command to run the Base database application: openoffice.org -base

Command to run the Draw vector graphics editor: openoffice.org -draw

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Three years of Bloody Computer!

Earlier this month Bloody Computer! reached its third anniversary, so I decided that I should mark the event by sharing a few statistics, as I did to mark 50 posts, 100 posts, and the first anniversary.

This blog has now had 166,042 visits and 189,489 page views from 181 countries.

Top 5 Most Read Posts
1. Keyboard shortcut of the week: undo and redo : 28,800 views
2. How to reboot Windows using the keyboard: 8,311 views
3. Mouse stopped working: how to reinstall: 5,255 views
4. Make any window stay on top: 3,545 views
5. How to save a list of files in a folder: 3,067 views

Data taken from the excellent Google Analytics

Many thanks to all my regular readers and a pox on those who keep leaving spam comments.
K

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How to fix Firefox backspace function

I recently installed Ubuntu 10.04, and found that pressing backspace no longer takes me to the previous page in Firefox. Thankfully, there is a way to fix this.

Type about:config in the address bar and press the Enter key. A warning page will open. Click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button.

In the filter type browser.backspace_action and then right-click on the entry and click "Modify". Enter 0 (zero) in the box and click OK.

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New posts soon

Apologies to my regular readers for not having posted anything in the last month or so. I have been busy with other matters, but I am glad to say that my summer holiday starts here and I will be able to dedicate more time to Bloody Computer!. So expect to see some new posts soon, including updates of previous tips for Windows 7.

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How to copy charts into a word processor

When copying charts into a word processor, whether in Microsoft Office from Excel to Word or in openoffice.org from Calc to Writer, the software embeds a special object that links back to the original spreadsheet. If you then change the details in the Excel spreadsheet the chart in the Word document will change accordingly. In many cases this is advantageous; however, it can cause problems if the Word document cannot 'see' the Excel file, for example, if you email the Word file to someone without the Excel file. It is generally better to paste the chart as an image in the first place using the 'Paste special' facility.

I will start by explaining how to do this in Microsoft Office:

Once you have created your chart in Excel you select it and copy it, as shown here.


In older versions of Word you pull down the 'Edit' menu and select 'Paste Special'. You may have to wait a moment for all the menu items to be revealed.


In the latest versions of Word, 'Paste special' is in a menu underneath the 'Paste' button.


A box will open, from which you select 'Picture (Enhanced Metafile)', and click OK.

This will then insert the chart as a picture, which you can manipulate like any other imported image.
In openoffice.org, the procedure is pretty much the same as above, with 'Paste special' is in the 'Edit' menu, or alternatively you can use a keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + V. The major difference from above is that the following box will open when you select 'Paste special'. Simply select 'Bitmap' and click OK to paste the chart as a picture.

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How to open a non-linked web address in Firefox

While most web addresses on sites are clickable links, you will have noticed that some are just text that you have to copy and paste into the address bar of your browser. Alternatively, Firefox offers you the facility drag and drop these into a new tab. Simply highlight the address, click on it and while holding down the mouse button drag it up onto the tab bar. Firefox will then automatically open the page in a new tab. I have included a video of this function to show you what I mean.

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