Microsoft Outlook

32

Quick e-mails Send out a quick e-mail without launching Outlook. Right-click an empty area on your desktop and select New > Shortcut. Type mailto: in the Shortcut wizard. Then name your shortcut. Now you can just double-click the shortcut to open a blank e-mail message.

33	Create archives Avoid reaching your mailbox's memory capacity by archiving your messages. Go to Tools > Options and select the Other tab. Click the AutoArchive button, and make your selections.

34

Reduce or eliminate spam To decrease your daily dose of spam, select Tools > Options > Junk E-mail and click the High radio button. To eliminate spam completely, select the Safe Lists Only radio button to receive e-mails only from the people you allow. If you're concerned about missing any e-mails, check your Junk E-mail box regularly.

35	Save multiple attachments... To save multiple file attachments in an e-mail message all at once, click File > Save Attachments, then select Save All Attachments.

36	...but get rid of the large ones Free up your in-box by deleting messages with large attachments. Go to the View menu, click the Arrange By drop-down list and select Size. Now you can delete e-mails with the largest attachments first and work your way down.

37	Create multiple signatures You can specify a different signature based on whether you're sending a new message, a reply or a forward. Go to Tools > Options > Mail Format. Under Signatures, select the signature you want to use from the "Signature for new messages:" drop-down menu.

38	Make your boss blue Colour-code incoming messages based on who they're from by highlighting a message from that individual, clicking Tools > Organize > Using Colors, and selecting a colour from the drop-down list.

39	Schedule appointments To turn an e-mail message into an appointment, drag it over to your Calendar bar until it turns orange. This automatically opens an appointment window, in which you can set up the time and the place and set a reminder.

40	Speedier searches Speed up your Outlook searches by installing Lookout. This plug-in installs its own search box into the Outlook user interface and indexes all your e-mails for instantaneous search results.

Microsoft PowerPoint

27

E-mail slides PowerPoint lets you resize, crop and e-mail individual slides. To begin, open the slide, and click View > Notes Page. The file will appear on the notes page as an image. Next, right-click the slide image and click Copy. The image is now on your clipboard and you can paste it into your program of choice for e-mailing or resizing.

28	You're out of order While viewing a slide show, you can call up any slide out of order. Just type the number of the slide and hit Enter.

29

PowerPoint albums You can use PowerPoint to create an impromptu photo album. Select Insert > Picture > New Photo Album. Under the "Insert picture from:" heading, click File/Disk, select the pictures you want to include and hit Insert. Next, you can specify the look of the album you want under Album Layout. Finally, click Create.

30	Secure your presentations Prevent others from modifying your PowerPoint file (or any Office file, for that matter) by enabling password protection. Select Tools > Options > Security, enter a password in the "Password to modify" box and hit OK.

31	Scribble some notes To make annotations on a presentation, open the file in Slide Show view. Right-click in the window, point to Pointer Options and select a writing implement. When you're done, press Esc.

Microsoft Excel

19

Insert date and time To insert the current date in a cell, hold Ctrl, then press the colon/semicolon key. To insert the time, hold Ctrl and Shift, and hit the same key.

20	Colour coordination You can colour-code the tabs on your Excel spreadsheets for easier navigation. Click the tab you'd like to colour, then select Format > Sheet > Tab Color. Select the colour you want and click OK.

21	Hide your sheet You can hide Excel worksheets to reduce the number of sheets on your screen. Just select the sheets you'd like to hide and select Format > Sheet > Hide. To restore them, click Unhide.

22	Clear formatting To clear the formatting in an Excel spreadsheet, highlight the cells you want changed and select Edit > Clear > Formats.

23	Keep a close watch The Watch Window lets you monitor cells on other workbooks. To add a cell to the Watch Window, right-click it, then select Add Watch. You can then position the Watch Window above or below Excel's standard toolbar.

24

Instant quotes Excel can recognise stock symbols and fetch stock quotes using MSN MoneyCentral Investor. First, enable Smart Tags by selecting Tools > AutoCorrect Options > Smart Tags. Make sure "Label data with smart tags" is checked and hit OK. Log on to the Internet and enter a stock symbol (in all caps) into a cell. A small green triangle appears in the lower right corner of the cell. Hover your cursor over the cell, click the icon that pops up and choose "Insert refreshable stock price." Select "On a new sheet" to display the quote on another worksheet or "Starting at cell" to display the stock price in the current cell.

25	All together now To change the typeface or point size of all cells in a spreadsheet at once, click the box in the top left corner to select the entire spreadsheet, then make your changes.

26	Sort things out You can rearrange the data in a spreadsheet any way you like by clicking the box in the top left corner and selecting Data > Sort. In the Sort window, select the column you'd like to sort by and whether you want the data in ascending or descending order.

Microsoft Word

11

Use bookmarks Word's Bookmark feature lets you navigate quickly through lengthy documents. Simply go to a page you'd like to bookmark and, from the Insert menu, click Bookmark. Name your Bookmark and click Add. To find your bookmark, hit Control+F, then click on the Go To tab. Select Bookmark from the menu on the left and enter the bookmark name to jump straight to it.

12	Seal of approval Give your documents a professional look by adding a watermark to the background. To add one to your document, select Format > Background > Printed Watermark. Select "Picture watermark" or "Text watermark," then click OK.

13	Keep the right format Want to paste formatted text into Word without losing the original format? After copying the selected text, select Edit > Paste Special. You can choose among Formatted Text (RTF), Unformatted Text, HTML Format or Unformatted Unicode Text.

14	Lose the wrong format To quickly remove the formatting from your document, highlight the relevant text, then press Control+Shift+N.

15	Stop correcting me Speed up spell-check by preventing Word from grammar-proofing your documents. To disable grammar check, go to Tools > Options, and click the Spelling & Grammar tab. Clear the checkbox labeled "Check grammar as you type" and hit OK.

16

Count on Word To use Word's built-in calculator, select Tools > Customize > Commands. In the Categories column, highlight All Commands and, in the Commands column, scroll down to ToolsCalculate. Drag this command to the Tools menu, then rename it "Calculate" by right-clicking it and choosing Name. Calculate is available only when you've selected text with numbers in it. It ignores any text that isn't a number and is useful for adding numbers in tables or paragraphs.

17	Word-o-meter You can count the words in a document with a single click by adding a word counter to your toolbar. Go to View > Toolbars and check Word Count. Drag onto your toolbar the small bar that pops up. Now you can just click Recount whenever you want to know your word count.

18	Selective highlighting If you don't want Word grabbing an entire word when you make a selection, go to Tools > Options > Edit, and uncheck the box that reads "When selecting, automatically select entire word."

Microsoft Windows XP

1

Take shortcuts Create your own shortcut-key combinations to your favourite applications by right-clicking the app of choice and selecting Properties. Under the Shortcut tab, enter your own key combination, such as Ctrl+6, in the "Shortcut key" field. If the combination you choose is already taken, Windows selects something similar.

2	Eliminate animations Ending useless animations in Windows will improve performance. Right-click the desktop, choose Properties, and then the Appearance tab. Click the Effects button and make sure everything is unchecked in the next window.

3

Terminate indexing For a slight speed boost, try disabling Windows' Indexing, a feature that keeps a record of all files on your hard drive. Go to Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools, and double-click Services. Scroll down to Indexing Service, then double-click it. In the General tab, select Disabled from the "Startup type" pull-down menu and click OK.

4

Instant copies You can quickly burn a CD using Windows' integrated applet. To begin, go to Start > My Music, and navigate to the folder with the tunes you want to burn, if you're not already there. On the left side of the window, select "Copy all items to CD," or highlight the songs you want to burn and click Copy to Audio CD. You can also copy a single song by right-clicking the file and selecting Copy to CD or Device.

5

Custom slide show Windows XP lets you create your own slide-show-based screensaver. First, drag and drop the pictures you'd like to use into your My Pictures folder, located inside the My Documents folder. Now, right-click an empty space on your desktop and choose Properties. Click the Screen Saver tab, and from within the pull-down menu, highlight the My Pictures Slideshow option. The Settings button lets you adjust parameters such as size and transition effects. Click Preview for a quick demonstration or click OK to activate your screensaver.

6

A tidier taskbar You can lump open windows belonging to the same application within a single taskbar icon by right-clicking the taskbar, selecting Properties and checking the "Group similar taskbar buttons" box. Plus, if you want to close the program without having to close each window individually, all you have to do is right-click the icon and select Close Group.

7	Hide all windows For instant access to your desktop, hold down the Windows key and hit D.

8

Synchronise Windows' clock If your Windows clock has a habit of losing track of time, synchronise it with an Internet time server. Double-click the time located on your taskbar. Select the Internet Time tab and check "Automatically synchronise with an Internet time server." Don't bet your next job interview on it, though -- the time's synchronised only once a week. If you want to synchronise immediately, click Update Now.

9

Apps in an instant For one-click access to frequently used apps, right-click the taskbar, select Toolbars and check Quick Launch. Now drag your shortcut icons onto the Quick Launch bar to the right of the Start button. To view more of them, click the double chevron for a list, or hover your mouse over the dotted area until it turns into a double-sided arrow and slide it over to the right.

10

Disable balloon help To disable balloon pop-ups, click Start > Run, type regedit and hit Enter. In the left column, drill down to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version > Explorer > Advanced. Right-click anywhere in the right column, select New > DWORD Value, and rename it EnableBalloonTips. Double-click this new entry, and give it a hexadecimal value of 0. Then close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. Just be careful; Registry mistakes are irreversible.

Home networking

58

Set your preferred network To make sure you always connect to the same wireless network, open the Network icon in your system tray, click the Advanced button, and under "Preferred networks," move the network to the top of the list.

59	Go stealth Tighten your home network's security by disabling its Service Set Identifier (SSID) broadcast. By default, all access points broadcast their SSID or network name to anyone within range. Disabling this feature will deter hackers.

60	Change frequencies To avoid potential interference from your cordless phone, buy one that operates on a frequency different from your network's. Companies such as Uniden now offer phones that operate on a 5.8GHz frequency; most Wi-Fi networks operate on 2.4GHz.

61	Channel surfing Too many wireless networks nearby? If you're experiencing trouble, try changing the Wi-Fi channel to avoid interference. Check your manual for instructions.

62	Repeat performance Adding a repeater is the quickest and easiest way to broaden the range of your wireless network. Just place the repeater halfway between your router and your computer.

63

Build a wall Create a virtual wall of protection between your network and the Internet by installing a firewall on every computer logged on to your network. This will keep Internet pests at bay. To enable Windows' built-in firewall, go to Control Panel > Security Center > Windows Firewall. Make sure the On radio button is selected and hit OK. For even better protection, another alternative is Zone Labs' free ZoneAlarm firewall application.

64	Opt for change Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) has been cracked before, but changing your WEP key often will add another level of protection to your network.

65	Restricted area If your access point supports it, use access lists to specify which machines can log on to

Maintenance

72

Use System Restore... Always create a restore point using System Restore when installing or deleting software. You'll find the applet in Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.

73	...unless you're infected If your computer has been infected by viruses or spyware, System Restore may actually preserve these Net nasties. Temporarily disable System Restore and perform a full system scan. After you've cleaned your PC, delete old restore points and start fresh.

74	Don't download from strangers Before you install anything, ask yourself if the software is trustworthy. If you don't have a good reason to trust it, pass.

75	Blast spyware Prevent browser hijacks and other Internet-related annoyances by keeping updated copies of Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and Spybot-Search & Destroy on your hard drive. Both are freeware and help immunise your computer against potential threats.

Google and GMail

53

Instant 411 You can perform basic Google searches from a mobilel phone in the US by sending text-message queries to 46645 (GOOGL). To search for general services in your vicinity, type a word of description followed by a period and your city/state or post code (sushi.10018). To get the weather, use the same format preceded by the word "weather," or for addresses and phone numbers, by the name of the business. You can even get driving directions by typing from followed by the post code of your starting point and to followed by your destination's post code -- for instance, from 10016 to 10018. You'll receive text-message responses free of charge (depending on your carrier's text-messaging plan) within seconds.

54	Create a virtual drive Turn your GMail account into an Internet hard drive with Softpedia's free GMail Drive shell extension 1.0.5. This app adds to your PC a virtual drive that uses your 2GB of GMail storage space.

55

GMail calling Can't live without e-mail? Have your GMail sent directly to your mobile phone as a text message. Log on to your US account and click the Settings page. Select the Forwarding and POP tab, then the radio button labelled "Forward a copy of Incoming Mail to." Enter your mobile phone's e-mail address, and click Save Changes. Verizon customers, for instance, would enter their 10-digit phone numbers, followed by @vtext.com. T-Mobile users would enter @tmomail.net, and Sprint customers enter @messaging.sprintpcs.com.

56	Lost in translation? Need to translate text? Head over to Google Translate, paste the text into the field and make a selection from the drop-down menu. You can also insert URLs to translate Web pages.

57

Personalise your news You can customise Google's news page at news.google.com by clicking "Customize this page." Delete sections, increase the number of stories shown, and even add news categories of your own. To view your customised page from any computer, click the link "Share your customized news with a friend" at the bottom of the page, and e-mail the URL to your Internet-based mail account.

Mozilla Firefox

44

Open tabs with one click Instead of right-clicking a link and choosing Open Link in New Tab, click a link with your mouse's scroll-wheel button to open it in a new tab. You can also click that tab with your scroll wheel to close it. (You may have to disable any function assigned to your click wheel for this to work, however.)

45	One-click combos Don't have a scroll wheel? Hold down Ctrl while left-clicking a link to open a URL in a new tab, or hold Shift and left-click to open a URL in a new window.

46

More on Autocomplete To eliminate your AutoComplete history in Firefox, go to Tools > Options > Privacy. In the Saved Form Information area, click the Clear button. To disable this feature entirely, click on the plus symbol next to the Saved Form Information area and uncheck "Save information I enter in web page forms."

47	Keep tabs on your tabs You can control how new tabs open in Firefox in one of three ways: Open the page in a new window, open the page in a new tab in the front window, or replace the current page in the front window. Click the Advanced section of the Options window to customise it to your liking.

48	Smooth sailing Put an end to jerky document scrolling by enabling Firefox's "Use smooth scrolling" feature in the Advanced section of the Options window.

49	Search in shorthand Type a word in the address bar, then hit Ctrl+Enter to automatically add http://www and .com to the beginning and end, respectively, of the word. (Ctrl+Shift+Enter adds .org, and Shift+Enter adds .net.)

50	Zoom in and out Hit Ctrl and the plus sign to increase text size on your current Web page or Ctrl and the minus to decrease it. To restore the original size, hit Ctrl+0.

51	Open a tab To open a particular tab in Firefox, hit Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9. Tabs aren't numbered, though, so you'll have to physically count them.

52	Use live bookmarks Get the latest headlines from your favourite RSS news sites and blogs. Just click the square, bright-orange icon in the bottom right corner of your browser and click "OK to save as bookmark." The Live Bookmark will now function as your RSS aggregator.