By PC Magazine Staff - GCSU Faculty Web Server

By PC Magazine StaffThere's a ton of information in your computer's user manual,but it's also hundreds of pages lonji. To become a realpower user, you could read through the entire thing, memorizingthe details on each page. Or you could turn to thisissue of PC Magazine.For this very special issue, we've boiled down that manual'shundreds of pages into hundreds of tips—501, to beexact—carefully organized into nearly three dozen categories.This should take the hard work out of being an expert!Crafted by our analysts and editors and tested in PCMagazine Labs, our tips compendium starts with the fundamentalsof computing: operating systems and basic produetivityapplications such as Microsoft Word and Exeel.Then we delve into multimedia, mobility, and business,with hundreds of tips in each section. And here's a bonustip: We've stored them all online. From hardware upgradesto software secrets, all 501 tips are waiting in the wings atgo.pcmag.com/tipsuperguide.—Jeremy A. KaplanWorking with Windows 64 | Maxing Mobility 71 | Improving Multimedia 74 | Going Online 79 | Boosting Business 83Typography by Michael PerryJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 63

Windows Vista1. Partition unused spaceVista has a built-in hard-drive partitioningtool that'll let you take unused space fromyour main partition and form an extra partition,say, a D: drive for storing photos andvideos. It can also consolidate extra spaceInto a single partition. The utility residesin the Computer Management consolelocated in Vista's Administrative ToolsControl Panel.2. Watch TV on your Vista PCIf one is not already built in,youeanbuyan external TV tuner and use WindowsMedia Center to watch TV and recordthrough the handy program guides. Forbuildings or homes that are cable-ready,high-definition channels are unscrambledor ready to watch without a cable box.3. Send faxes and scan documentsThe odds are good that your PC has anintegrated fax modem. Take advantage ofit by using Vista's built-in Fax and Scanutility (found in Vista Business and Ultimateeditions). This same utility can alsotake advantage ofthat old seanner to imagedocuments without your purehasing new,Vista-compatible software.4. Have kids? Use parental controlsGo to the Control Panel and select UserAccounts and Family Safety. Next, click thelink that says Set up parental controls forany user. From there, you can block inappropriateWeb sites, set up a time schedulefor playing games, limit use of instantmessagingsoftware, and create boundariesfor browsing the Internet. You can evenprint out an activity report for your child.5. Conserve battery powerIn addition to setting up a Power scheme.Vista can automatically crank down thebrightness of the screen (via a slide baror by percentage points) when a laptop isrunning on battery. Go to Control Panel |Power options \ Advanced Settings \ Displayand set the brightness to 50 percent. Thiscan add an extra 20 to 30 minutes' worth ofbattery time for your commute home.6. Turn off annoying promptsVista added the "A Program Needs YourPermission to Continue" prompt to helpprevent you from inadvertently installingmalware or making unauthorized changesto your computer. It's annoying to see thatdialog box constantly pop up. If you'recomputer savvy, you can turn it off bydeactivating User Account Control in theUser Accounts Control Panel.7. Two clocks for two time zonesIf you work in different time zones, you canadd up to two additional clocks on the systemtask tray. Left-click on the clock, selectChange date and time seffings, and go tothe Additional Clocks tab. You can thenenter the display name for the clock(s) andchoose its time zone.8. Boost compatibilityBefore throwing your computer againsta wail because a particular piece of legacysoftware is not working in Vista, trycompatibility mode. Right-click on theprogram's EXE file and choose Properties.Then click the Compatibility tab, check thebox that says Run thisprogram in compatibilitymode for:, and select the operatingsystem that worked best with the software.9. Expanded shortcut menuYou can add useful options to the rightclickmenu on any file or folder. By holdingdown Shift as you right-click an item, addany file to the Start menu or Quiek Launchtoolbar, eopy the entire path of the file orfolder to the clipboard, or open a commandprompt window.10. Get a health report from VistaPeople get physical checkups, and so docomputers. Vista can run a complete andwell-organized diagnostic report highlightingpotential problems. In the ControlPanel, click System and Maintenance \Performance Information and Tools. In theTasks list along the left, click Advancedtools. The last item on the resulting list isGenerate a syntem health report.11. Remove metadata from picturesPictures and documents have hidden dataabout the type of equipment used, as wellas personal information about you. You canremove these details by right-clicking thefile icon and selecting Properties. On theDetails tab, click Remove Properties andPersonal Information. You can remove severalproperties at a time or all of them bythe check boxes next to a property.12. Create a shortcut to lock a PCSlice steps off your system log-off routineby putting a log-off shortcut on yourdesktop. Start by right-clicking an emptyspace on the desktop and then selectingNew shortcut. In the space below Type thelocationof the item, type in rund 1132.exeuser32.cin , LockWorkStati on (rememberto watch your spacing and case). Finally,create a clever name for the icon in lieu ofthe default "rundll32"—how about "LockPC"? Then click the shortcut to lock yourcomputer with ease.13. Virtualize your keyboardIf you're running Vista on a Mac viaBoot Camp, you won't be able to find thePrintSern key—a Mac doesn't have one onits keyboard. Good thing Vista has a virtualon-screen keyboard built in. It's in theEasT of Access folder, under Accessories, inthe Start menu. You should see the psc keynext to the F12 key.14. Bypass the iog-on screenYou don't have to be confronted by thateyesore of a iog-on screen every time youboot up. Make Vista log in automatically bytyping netplwiz into the Start menu searchbox. That will bring up the Advanced UserAccounts Control, where you can uncheckthe box that reads; L/sers musí enter a usernameand password to use this computer.15. Take smarter screen shotsWindows could always capture an imageof your desktop (with the PrintSern key) oran active window (press Alt-PrtSc). Withthe Snipping Tool, in the Accessories folder,you can snip a portion of the screen, or partof a Web site, doeument, or picture, andsave it as an image file. Keep it handy bychecking the option to display an icon of itin the Quick Launch toolbar—Cisco ChengMicrosoft Office 200716. Never leave the keyboardLearn mouseless control of everything!Tap the Alt key while in any Office 2007application and the ribbon is instantlycovered in small letters indicating the keystrokes.Type the letter for the differentribbon tabs (H for Home, N for Insert, andso on) to access individual ribbon controlsand more key shortcuts.17. Extend Office's abiiitiesThe Office SharePoint Server 2007 runningon a server in your office stores documentsfor modified use later or for collaboration.Eor example, a PowerPoint 2007 presentation(or just one slide) in a SharePoint SlideLibrary could be the template for futurepresentations. SharePoint's Excel servicescan render a spreadsheet as an HTML doc.18. Adjust the Quick Access TooibarThe Quick Access Toolbar takes up space in64 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

the left side of the title bur in an Office 2007application window. You can move it belowthe ribbon (right-click next to Add-Ins toget a menu) and customize it to include justabout any button you can fathom.19. Hide and restore the ribbonTo hide the ribbon in Office 20Ü7, doublechckthe tab, hit Ctrl-Fl, or right-chck andselect Minimize the Ribbon. Now the ribbonwill be treated almost like a menu,hidden until you click the tab or use theAlt key to bring up keystrokes, as indicatedabove.20. Change default save locationAll versions of Office have their owndefault locations for Save As. To changeit in any Office 2007 application, click theround Ojjict.'button (upper left) and chooseOptions I Save. In Word, you can thenchoose Browse to find and specify a newdefault file location; in Excel and Power-Point, you have to paste in the drive path tothat location from Windows Explorer.21. Make buttons with WordArtWordArl is a different animal from Smart-Art. It creates wacky-shaped text stringsthat you can't edit. In Excel and Power-Point, it's a powerful tool for embeddingtext with special effects. It's on the Inserttab in all three, but in Excel and Power-Point you use the Format tab to change thetext's iooks. or even make buttons.22. Add tab for getting startedConfused by changes in Office 2007?Download the "Get Started Tab" sets forWord, Excel, and PowerPoint at www.microsoftcom/downîoads. Each puts a newtab on the respective program with links toonline interactive guides, demos, and trainingvideos on how to master the software.23. View documents sans OfficeYou can open, view, and print (ífñce 2007documents without owning Office. liownloadthe individual viewers for Word,Excel, or PowerPoint from www.microsoft.com/downloads.—Eric GriffithOutlook 200724. Create a Personal FolderA Personal Folder appears in Outlook andresides on your local drive, not the server.To create one, go to File \ New \ OutlookData File. Then select Personal Folders File(.pst) and click OK—it will appear in yourOutlook Folder List. Archive to it often.25. Distribute in styleDo you e-mail the same group of peopleover and over again? Instead of typing out26. Increase File Compatibility•MC*—1 -^tlit••»••1: ».OFFICE If you're alone in usingOffice 2007. save files in the olderOffice file formats so others canopen them. You can set this bydefault: In Word, for example, goto the Office button, select WordOptions I Save, and then in Savefeiles in this Format select Word97-2003 documer^t C.doc). RichText Format (Vrtf) will work evenoutside of Word.the recipients' names, create a DistributionList. Go to File \ New | Distribution List. different colors to easily distinguish themand meetings? Set up your calendar to useName the list and press Sf iecf Members, orfor external e-mail addresses, select AddNew. When you want to e-mail that groupof people, just type in the list's name.27. Create e-mail wizardsOutlook's Rules Wizard can be a friendor foe. You can direct messages automaticallyfrom a specified sender to an existingfolder, or move messages accordingto keywords in the subject or body of themessage. But beware—messages thatautomatically go into a folder can easily bemissed! Before you know it. you've missed30 e-mails from Mom! Not. Good,28. Find enormous attachmentsTired of getting the "Your mailbox isover its size limit" message? Go to ToolsAdvanced Find \ More Choices. In theSize (kilobytes) drop-down menu, selectgreater than, enter a kilobyte variable (say},000. for 1MB), and click Find Now. Thendrag those giant messages to your PersonalFolder or delete them.29. Reunite with long-lost e-mailsAdvanced Find can uncover e-mail youthought was long lost. Under Too/.s click onAdvanced Find. From there you can searchby folder, key-words in frequently used textfields (such as To, Cc, and even the messagebody). Sender, or addressee.30. Schedule meetings on the flyWant to schedule a meeting with yourcoworkers. but not sure when everyoneis free? Meeting Request lets you viewyour invitees' calendars all at once. Toschedule a meeting, go to File j New \ MeetingRequest. Click on To and invite therecipients. To view their schedules, clickthe Scheduling button. Don't worry aboutinvading your colleagues' privacy: Youwon't see the details of their appointments,just areas of time that are blocked out.31. Color-coordinate your calendarCan't keep track of all your appointmentsfrom one another. Within the calendarview, go to View \ Current View \ CustomizeCurrent View, and add Automatic Formattingto coiortzc your appointments.32. Print only relevant pagesSave some trees! For HTML or Rich Texte-mails, you can easily designate whichpage you want to print, either by page numberor by range. For Plain Text messages.you can print All or only Odd or Evenpages. To get better control over the printout,open the message, select Edit \ Editmessages, and then select Formaf | HTML,which change.'; your printing options.33. Do some spring-cleaningWhen you delete a message, it doesn'tevaporate into the ether—it's moved toyour Deleted Items folder. If you like livingon the edge, permanently delete an itemfrom any folder by highlighting the messageand pressingSíií/t then Delete.34. Compare your e-mail sizesBonus spring-cleaning tip! Within anyfolder, just above the messages where itsays Subject, right-click and select FieldChooser. Click and drag the Size field anddrop it between the Subject and Sent/Received fieldson the bar. It will now displaythe size of each message and helpyou determine which messages shouldbe deleted or moved to your PersonalFolder.—Yun-San TsaiWord 200735. Compare docs the smart wayYou don't need tvvt> windows to comparedocuments in Word 2007. Go to ReviewCompare, and click Compare one moretime. Enter two document names andyou'll see the differences.36. Ensure changes are acceptedThere may still be tracked changes in adocument, even after you have turned theJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 65

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with an already-formatted total row, clickon the last data cell to the right abovethe totals. Hit Tab once and a new row isinserted. All the new cells will be formattedto suit the table.58. Color code for visual cluesApply Conditional Formatting (from theStyles section on the ribbon's Home tab)to get color coding, icons, and integrateddata-bar graphs (or a mix) on each ceil.These visual clues provide an instant viewof highest and lowest numbers in that columnor row, even if it's unsorted.59. Seek out duplicate valuestx>nditional Formatting can identify duplicatevalues. When you highlight a list andclick Conditional Formatting, pick HighlightCell Rules and specify Duplicate Vallit'.'i.The dupes will be highlighted.60. Paste info as an objectData from Excel can be pasted as an object.In PowerPoint or Word, go to the Hometab, click the arrow under Paste, and selectPastL'Special. In the menu, select Microsoftso they will be available when you makechanges. To do this, choose File \ SaveOffice Excel 2003 Spreadsheet Object. If theAs, choose Tools \ Save Options, and clickradio button on the left just .says Paste, thedata is inserted so that when you click it.it becomes editable as if you're in Excel. Ifyou select Paste Link, any updates to thedata in the spreadsheet show up in thetorm in Word or PowerPoint.—£GPowerPoint 200761. Be a quick-change artistThemes, under the Design tab, will changen Killer Excel 2007 ShortcutsTO DO THISApply the outline border to the selected cellsApply the Date format with the day, month, and yearApply the Time format with the hour andminute, and AM or PMEnter the current timeEnter the current dateHide the selected columnsAlternate between displaying cell valuesand displaying formulas in the worksheetDisplay the Find and Replace dialog box, withthe Replace tab selectedDisplay the Print Preview windowSwitch to the next workbook windowDisplay the Macro dialog box to create, run, edit,or delete a macrothe entire look and feel of your presentation,assuming you used a theme to startwith, or at least utilized Styles on your text.73. Use universal fontsAvoid font hassles when you move a Power-Point tile from computer to computer byusing fonts like Arial, Verdana, or TimesNew Roman. t;omputers with older versionsof Office won't always have thePowerPoint 2007 default fonts (Calibri.Corbel, and so on).74. Keep layouts for yourselfIf you want to keep some slide layouts toyourself, make only a subset of them availableto others to use by choosing ViewSlide Master and from the slide layout liston the left of the screen delete any layoutsnot applicable to this presentation.75. Embed fonts for easier editingWhen transferring a presentation toanother computer to edit it, make sure toembed the fonts inside the presentationEmbed fonts in the file cheek box.76. Leave comments for coworkersIf you're working collaboratively on aslide show and need to communicate withsomeone, or if you need to remind yourselfof something, use a comment. SelectReviewing | New Commeni and type yourcomment before dragging it into positionon the slide.77. Customize more than fontsFonts aren't the only eustomized items.CLICK THISCtrl-Shift-&Ctrl-Shift-#Ctrl-5hift-@Ctrl-Shift-:Ctrl-;Ctrl-0Ctrl-"Ctrl-HCtrl-F2Ctrl-F6Alt-F8Pictures can he given shadows, newshapes, styles, and effeets, and they ean beeropped as needed. On the Insert tab, clickPicture to add an image. Select it and theFormat tab becomes available, where youcan experiment with Picture Styles or makeup custom st>'les.78. Stylize tables of dataTables also have style in PowerPoint 2007.Select any table and contextual TableTools tabs (called Design and Layout) willappear on the ribbon. Click Design to entera gallery of premade Table Styles. Makeyour own with the controls on those tabs.79. Compress each imageInserted pictures can be compressed individuallyto reduce the size of your overallPowerPoint file,depending on how it willbe displayed (in print at 220 dpi, on screenat 150 dpi, or in e-mail at 96 dpi). On theFormat tab, available when you select animage, click Canipress Pictures.80. Make a presentation templateTurn any PowerP(tint presentation into atemplate for reuse by first removing anyunnecessary slides or information from it.Choose Save A.s, then Other Formats, andchoose the PowerPoint Template C.potx)option from the Save as type list to saveyour custom template.81. Use Excel to format chartsTo use an Excel chart template to formata PowerPoint chart, click the chart objectin your presentation to select it. ChooseChart Tools \ Design \ Change Chart Type,click the Templates option, and select theSaved template from the list.82. Align objects on a slide7b align multiple objects on a PowerPointslide, click the first objeet and Ctrl-clickeach additional object in turn. ChooseDrawing Tools \ Format and click the Alignbutton. Erom the menu select an optionsuch as Align Left or Align Bottom.83. Use a grid for layoutYou ean display a layout grid for aligningelements on slides by choosing View |Gridlines. To configure the gridlines. go toDrawing Tools \ Format \ Align and ehooseGrid Settings.84. Show a rulerTo adjust indents for individual paragraphson a PowerPoint slide, first make rulersvisible by choosing View j Ruler. Select theparagraphs to change, and drag on the FirstLine Indent and Left Indent markers on theruler to change the indents.85. Free-form a shapeTurn a shape into a free-form shape byJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 67

86. Make SmartArt from What's Availableselecting it and choosing Drawing ToolsFormat From the Insert shapes group clickthe Edit Shape button and choose Convertto Freeform. Select Fdlt Points and you canchange the shape by adding nodes, deletingthem, and dragging on shape handlesto create Bezier curves.87. View and edit a presentationTo display a presentation on the screenas you work, click the View tab and holdthe Control key as you click the Slideshowbutton. This displays the presentation inthe top left of the screen, allowing you tomove between viewing the presentationand editing it.88. Use Kiosk mode to autopiayTo play a presentation automatically, selectall slides in the thumbnail pane; chooseAnimations, and set Automatically afterto an appropriate transition. Choose SlideShow I Sei Up Show, select Browsed at aKiosk (full screen), and in the Advance slidessection, select Using timing.^, if present89. Add the Deii'e/opertabThe Developer tab is required to do thingssuch as run macros and add Flash filesto apresentation. To configure it to appear onthe ribbon, click the Microsoft Office button,choose PowerPoint options \ Popular,and enable the Show Developer tab in theRibbon checkbox. Click OK.90. Insert Flash into presentationsTo play a Flash file,click the Developer tab,in the Controls section click More Controls,and select Shockwave Flash Object. Clickthe left mouse button and drag on the slideto create a rectangle where you want toadd the control; right-click it, choose Properties,and set the Movie property to theFlash file'sfull path.91. Export to PDFSave your PowerPoint presentations toPDF filesusing the Microsoft Office Addinfor saving fiies as PDFs. Download itPOWERPOINT Only inPowerPoint 2007 canyou create a SmartArtobject from existing text.To do this, select the textand. from the Home tab'sParagraph group, selectthe Convert to SmartArtGraphic button and choosea SmartArt style.by searching microsoft.com/download for"Save as PDF."—Helen BradleyApple Leopard92. Use fast file previewsNeed to findthe right filefast? Select a filein the Finder and press the space bar ortype Conimand-Y. You'll get an instant previewof the file'scontents without havingto launch the application. If it's an audiofile, the sound will play. too. Pretty neat.93. Uncover long filenamesIn a Finder window set to column view,click the tab at the bottom of the verticaldivider to expand the column to the widthof your longest filename. Do it once tooptimize for the length of your typical filenames.Hit Option and double-click the tab.and all columns will expand, too.94. Send the Web pageWhy send a link when you can send thewhole Web page? In Safari, findyour page,press Command-I, and a dialog will askyou for an e-mail address. Fill it in and yourrecipient will sec the page, complete withlive links and images, right in his or here-mail app—if Mail is your e-mail client.95. Get the fuil file 411To findout more about a file,select it, typeCommand-J, and check the Show item infobox. Instead of just a folder icon, you'll seethe number of items inside it, below thefolder name. For a photo, its size will bedisplayed; for an audio file, you'll see thelength, and so on.96. Stealth surfingUp to no good at work? Type Command-Hto hide an entire application instantly—nomatter how many associated windows youhave open. When the coast is clear, clickthe app's icon in the dock to get it back.Command-Option-H will banish all otheropen programs except for the one selected.97. Rearrange your desktopIs the dock cramping your style? PressShift and select the divider line at the rightend of the dock (next to the Recycle bin—provided the dock is at the bottom of yourscreen to begin with), and drag the dock tothe left or right side of your screen. Do thesame thing to drag it back to the bottom.98. Find your favorite Finder viewTo customize your Finder view, type Command-Ifor icon view, Command-2 for listview, and Command-3 for column view.Command-4 switches the view to CoverFlow, where you can visually flipthroughyour filesas if they were CDs in a jukebox.99. Zoom with a viewUsing your Mac for a presentation? Zoomin on your desktop so everyone can see:Open System Preferences, click on UniversalAccess, and select Zoom ] On. Command-Option-Equals zooms in and Command-Option-Hyphen zooms out. Repeat toincrease or decrease the magnification.100. A look-up hook-upNeed a quick definition? If you're readinga puzzling passage in Stickies, TextEdit,or Microsoft Word, highlight and drag thetext to the Safari Icon in the dock to serveup Coogle search results. Like what yousee? Highlight the text in Safari, drag it tothe dock's Mail icon, and open up a newmessage with the text.101. O file, where art thou?Spotlight can find filesin a flash,but wheredo they live? Move your cursor over thesearch result and a dialog will appearshowing you the path. Click the result andyour file will open. Hold the Commandkey down while clicking to open a windowshowing where your fileis.102. Visit shortcut centralIf you prefer key combos to clicks, you canfind a list of every keyboard shortcut availablein OS X at System Preferences \ MouseandKeyboard \ Keyboard Shortcuts. Checkthe box next to the description of a keycombo to enable it. or uncheck it to disable.You can even add your own combosby selecting the + button at the bottom lefthandcorner of the window.103. Put your Mac to sleep quickSend your Mac to bed fast: Press Command-Option and hold down the Eject key for afew seconds. Instant hibernation!104. System stats, stat!Monitor fun stuff like your Mac's processor,RAM. and hard drive usage right fromthe dock. Go to Application'; \ Utilities anddrag the Activity monitor to your dock.68 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

113. Your Digital BookshelfLaunch the program, then click and holdon the icon, and select the activities youwant to keep tabs on. You'll see a live graphfor each activity.—Wendy Sheehan Donnell105. Before beginning, back upThe most critical step you should takebefore upgrading your PC to any new OS isto back up your important data. Use Vista'sWindows Easy Transfer utility or simplydrag and drop your filesto an external disk.It's the cheap and easy way.106. Choose, but choose wiselySeeking Media Center functionality whenupgrading to Vista? Then remember thatonly the Vista Home Premium and Ultimateversions carry the feature. HomeBasic, Business, and Enterprise editions ofVista do not.107. Check your hardwareBefore upgrading to Windows Vista, knowthat your computer must have a DVD driveinstalled. Windows Vista doesn't eome onCD after all.108. Add more memoryAlthough you may have gotten by on512MB of RAM in your Windows XPmachine. 1GB i.s the realistic minimumfor Windows Vista. Ideally, consider runningWindows Vista with 2GB of memoryinstalled for more efficient performance.109. Find the iatest driversAfter upgrading your PC to WindowsVista, bo sure to run Windows Update,which can provide critical securityupdates to protect your system. It will alsoapply updated drivers for your installedhardware. But visit the manufacturer'sWeb sites, too, which often post new driversbefore Microsoft certifies them.110. Soive problems with a new BIOSUpgrading to a newer CPU? Check and runthe latest BIOS for your motherboard first.This may help you avoid any compatibilitybottlenecks.111. Graphics card5: Mad with powerWhen upgrading your video hardwarefor higher performance, always checkthe power requirements. Multipie-GPUconfigurations like Crossfire and SLI (aswell as graphic boards that have multipleCPUs) require a significant amount ofpower. It's almost a certainty that you'llneed to upgrade your power supply too.112. Antivirus apps trump installersWhen upgrading to Windows Vista, besure to disable any antivirus software mn-ning on the machine. Forgetting to do socan cause the antivirus software to conflictwith the installation and can result in systempauses—or a complete system hang.114. Convert IDE to SATAYou've decided to upgrade your motherboardbut findthat it doesn't have enoughIDE ports to support your old drives—acommon problem, actually. Eret not, IDEto-SATAadapters are readily available atplaces like www.newegg.com.115. Brace for troublePrepare yourself: much of your softwaremay not operate under Vista withoutupgrading. Run the Application CompatibilityToolkit (ACT) found in the downloadcenter on Microsoft's Web site. It'll pointyou to any tipgradcs you may need.116. Speed USB transfersIs that flashynew external USB hard drivetaking longer than expected to migrateyour data? Ditch that ancient USB 1.1 technologyon your XP machine by upgradingto a USB 2.0 card. They're available todayfor under $20.117. Check your hardware, part IIBefore upgrading your aging Windows XPPC to run Windows Vista, be sure to downloadand run the Windows Vista UpgradeAdvisor. It can help you determine whichversion of Vista best suits your needs, orif your Windows Vista PC is ready for amore powerful version of Vista. Note thatthe Upgrade Advisor works only with XPand Vista systems.—ßrian K. NealDigital Organization118. Don't browse, aggregateThe Web is too big to browse. Use a customfiltering service like iGoogle, MyYahoo!,or our favorite, NetVibes, to create a customportal with multiple e-mail addresses,news sources, and blogs all in one place.119. Clear your inbox every dayYou don't keep snail mail in your mailbox,so why keep e-mail in your inbox? Every e-mail needs to be filed,acted on, or deleted.DIGrTAL ORGANIZATIONCreate easy-to-use digital recordsof your CDs, DVDs, books, andvideo games with Libra (wwwgetlibra.com). This free app usesthe product's bar code to retrieveinformation that you can thenarrange on your digital shelf. Youcan even use your webcam tocapture the bar code.120. Search your files with GoogieSure, Outlook comes with a search function,but Google Desktop (desktop.google.com) is much faster and can also be usedto search fileson your PC.121. Create separate accountsIf you share a computer, make sure thatevery user—coworker. child, or spousehasa separate user account. You can createthem in the User Accounts Control Panelin Windows XP and Vista. And make surechildren don't have Administrative rights.122. Take the perfect pictureThe speed and inexpensive nature of digitalphotography means you can take multipleimages to get just the right shot. Butyou don't need to have multiple photos ofthat sunset when you're back home. Pickthe best and trash the rest.123. Scan your personal documentsPaper is so 1908. In 2008, there is no reasonnot to have a searchable PDF of everyimportant document you own: your birthcertificate, driver's liccn.se, marriage certificate,tax forms, divorce certificate, andso on. Most scanners scan to PDF natively.124. Get a bigger monitorUsing a larger monitor could save the averageworker 2.5 hours per day. according toUniversity of Utah researchers. You canalso use two smaller displays to simulatea larger screen. Use one for constantlyupdated windows, like your e-mail Inbox,and the other as a primary workspace.125. Fiiter and tag your e-mailThink about who you get e-mail from (yourboss, your credit-card company, newsletterpublishers) and set your mail clientto move messages directly to a dedicatedfolder. Then you can respond accordingly;Ignore your boss, put off the bills, and readthis week's PCMag newsletters.126. Name that tuneStore-bought songs usually come withaccurate ID3 tags, but if you are tapping,ahem, other sources, use free apps likeTagScanner 5. They can help you add thecorrect artist and album info.—Dan CostaJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 69

Windows Mobile127. Know when to quitWindows Mobile doesn't quit programs,so you'll want to do that periodicallywhenever the handset seems slow. Fire upthe Task Manager—in WMó Professionalit's located at Start \ Settings \ System Tab(at bottom) | Task Manager \ Running Programs.Now click Stop A//. (On WindowsMobile ó Standard, the Task Manager hasits own Start menu icon.)128. The point is a better UIHave iPlione envy? Power up your handset'suser interface with the free PointUlBeta (www.pointui.cum); it's not only moreattractive, but it also lets you navigate withyour fingers instead of your having to takeout the stylus all the time.129. Pull a fast one on BillWindows Mobile 6 Standard devices canview and edit Microsoft Office documentsbut not create them. So fool the OS bytransferring blank Word and Excel documentsfrom your PC. Then open one andresavc it with a different name each timeyou need a new document.130. Upgrade and conquerSome Windows Mobile 5 devices—includingthe AT&T Blackjack, the Palm Treo750, and the T-Mobile Dash—can beupgraded to Windows Mobile 6. Visit www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/6 and clickthe Upgrades tab for details.131. Teach your phone to shareYour Windows Mobile handheld makesa great cellular modem for your laptop,particularly if it's on a carrier with a 3Gnetwork (AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon).Search for "modem tethering" at www.smartdevicecentral.com for step-by-stepinstructions for each carrier as well as anOS X-speciiic how-to.132. Synchronize important stuffIf you're a Vista user, you should grabthe latest version of Windows MobileDevice Center (www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx) forsynchronizing your handset with your PC.If you're running XP, check Microsoft'sWeb site for the latest iteration of Active-Sync, version 4.5.133. Know where you're goingDownload a free copy of Google Maps forMobile at www.google.com/gmm. It givesyou road-map and satellite views, plusturn-by-turn directions—it will even workwith your Windows Mobile handset'sbuilt-in GPS radio, if it has one. (Workswith Palm OS, too.)134. 500 channels and nothing's on?Why pay monthly for mobile TV? Ifyou have a Slingbox, the $29.99 Sling-Player Mobile lets you watch cable TVor recorded DVR programs—often near30 fps—right on your handset. Head towww.simg media .com/go/spm for details.(There's also a Palm OS version.)—/amieLendinoPalmOS135. Find what you need, fastTo findanything on your Palm smartphone,press Option and Shift/Find to open theFind dialog box. Enter the text you're lookingfor, click OK, and then scroll to findtheitem you want.136. Go dim—and go longPress Option and the Drop-Down Menukey to dim the screen to half brightness forlonger battery life. Press that combinationagain to return to full brightness.137. Boost your handset's enduranceTo improve battery life, take the followingsteps: (a) Set VersaMail to poll less oftenfor new mail; (b) Reduce screen brightnessin Prefs \ Power; (c) Turn off BeamReceive if you're not using it; (d) Turn offBluetooth in Prefs \ Bluetooth if you're notusing that either.138. Grab alternate symbols quicklyHere's a shortcut for keying in alternativecharacters. If you need to type d, for example,press A, then Alt, and select á fromthe list that will appear on your screen.This works for all the accented letters thatappear in European languages.139. Make a course correctionSometimes we all tap the wrong applicationicon witb the stylus. The next timeyou load a program, hold the stylus downas soon as you select something—thenslide the stylus up or down. Let go whenthe right icon is highlighted.140. Everyone loves a smileyPress and hold the center control pad buttonwhile writing a message; this will bringup a list of emoticons. (As if the worldneeds more of them.)141. Alt-Tab, Palm OS styleTap and hold the Home icon to bring up alist of the last applications you ran. TlioughPalm OS doesn't multitask, this lets youflip back and forth between a few key programsquickly142. Tame the overaggressive guardKeyguard, which auto-locks the keyboard,is very useful—except when the screendims while you're using the handset. Headto Prefs I Keyguard. Set Auto Keyguard to5 Seconds After Power Off This gives youa window to wake up the handset againbefore Keyguard locks the keyboard.143. Watch video on the goPlay virtually any kind of video on yourhandset by downloading TCPMP 0.72rclipicard.exceed.hu/tcpmp/test), the lastversion of the open-source media playerproject.—7LApple iPod/iPhone144. Save money traveling abroadIf you take your iPhone abroad, be sureto turn off EDGE service to avoid hugecharges. Go to Settings \ General \ Network,and turn Data Roaming off. You can stillsurf using Wi-Fi if you find a htit spot.145. Type numbers more easilySave yourself a tap when typing messageson the iPhone or iPod Touch. If you needto type a number or symbol, tap and holdthe "123," drag your finger to the numberyou want, and then let go. The iDevice willinsert your number or symbol and afterwardsnap back to the letter keypad.146. Type accented charactersIf you need to use an accented vowel onthe iPod/iPhone's keypad, tap and holddown your finger on the vowel in question.The various options for accents willpop up.147. Send picture messagesYou can send picture messages to othercell phones using the iPhone's or iPodTouch's e-mail application, if you know therecipient's service provider. Send an e-mailcontaining just one picture to your friend'sten-digit phone number at the appropriategateway. For Alltel, that's @message.alltel.com. For AT&T, it's (a)mms.mycingu/ar.com. For Sprint, it's @messaging.sprintpcs.com. ForT-Mobile, it's @tmomaiLnet. ForVerizon, it's @vzwpix.com. [ust beware;This doesn't always work.148. Teach names to your iPhoneMake sure to fill your iPhone's addressbook, including street addresses. TheiPhone's dictionary learns from theaddress book, so it'll learn all of thenames, street names, and such that you'vedropped in there.JUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 71

155. Gussy Up149. Scope out suspicious e-mailsThere may be no viruses for the iPhone,but you can get phishing e-mails. If you seea hnk in an e-mail, tap and hold your fingeron it and the full URL you're about to jumpt(i will pop up. Don't follow the link if theURL looks the least bit suspicious.150. Make free iPhone ringtoneswho wants to pay $1 for a ringtone? Not us.If you have a Mac with GarageBand 4.1.1,you can turn any non-DRM'd song into aringtone by dragging the song into Garage-Band, selecting up to 40 seconds, andpicking Send Ringtone to iTunes from theShare menu. Windows folks ean use EfikoSoftware's $15 iPhoneRingToneMaker todo the same thing.151. Sync with multiple PCsGet a new level of control over youriPhone or iPod by turning off automaticsyncing. Check Manually manage musicand videos on the Options section of theiPhone/iPod screen in iTunes. Then you'llbe able to fillyour iDevice with music andvideo from multiple computers withoutthat irritating "we're going to erase everything"message appearing.152. Fit your 'phonesMost headphones don't work with theiPhone because of its recessed jack. Youean get an adapter from Griffin or Shure, ordare a DIY solution: Take a sharp knife (likean X-Acto) and pare the rubbery housingaway from the quarter-inch area just abovethe plug on your headphones. Make surenot to dig into the hard plastic under therubber. That might give you just enoughextra room to plug in your 'phones.153. Fix the ¡Phone's receptionBelieve it or not, you can improve youriPhone's reception by holding it differently.Try just pinching it between two fingersatthe upper right-hand corner ofthe phone.The key is to avoid having your hand coverthe plastic part at the bottom ofthe baekofthe iPhone, which contains the antenna.That might get you just enough extra signalto make your call.154. Convert DVDs for IPodsIt's possible to watch your commercialDVDs on an iPhone, though transferringthem onto your deviee remains a legalgray area. PC users need two free products:DVD43 and HandBrake. Mac usersmay get away with just HandBrake, thoughthey may also need MacTheRipper toextract the DVD source files.Remember,don't share your DVD fileswith others!—Sascha SeganIPHONE You can maKe a Web applook more likG a real app by givingit an ¡con on your iPhone or iPodtouch's home screen. Go to a Webapp page (pick one from www.apple.com/webapps) in mobile Safari,press the + button at the bottom ofyour screen, and then click Add toHome Screen.Cell Phones156. Dry out a soaked phoneIf you've dunked your phone in water,don't despair. Try taking the battery outand packing the whole thing in dry whiteriee overnight. Sometimes the rice eandraw the water out ofthe phone.157. Get rid of old phonesDon't just leave your old eell phone in adrawer. You can recycle it at any Sprintstore or at www.racetorecycle.com, donateit to a good cause at www.exphone.org,sell it on eBay, or get cash for it at www.cellforcash.com.158. Rescue camera-phone shotsAre pictures "stuck" in your phone? Buya memory card (1GB cards cost $15) and aPC card reader (usually under $10). In yourphone's photo gallery, choose Move foreach photo to transfer it to the card. Pop thecard into the reader and you'll have yourpics. Or use picture-messaging to send thephotos to your e-mail address—but you'llprobably be charged per message.159. Fix reception problemsUpdate your CDMA phone's tower list forthe best eoverage. On Verizon, that meansdialing *228 once a month to update thephone's list. On Sprint, dial *2 every sixmonths and ask for a "PRL update," whichpushes down a new list of cell towers.160. Charge your phone in a pinchIf your phone eharges via a mini USB jack,you may be able to charge it by plugginginto any PC with a standard-USB-to-mini-USB cable, available for under $10 at manyelectronics stores. With Motorola phones,you'll need to download free driversfromdeveloper.motorola.com/docstools/USB^Drivers.161. Sync your phone and PCSyncing your cell phone's contacts andcalendar with a PC can make it even moreuseful. How to sync varies from model tomodel. Nokia and Sony Eriesson phoneseome with good, free syncing software.For other phones, try Spark Technology'sCellStik, the free Bitpim.org program, orMotorola's Mobile Phone Tools.162. Refresh your phone's coverageThere are several cures for poor ceil reception.First, make sure you aren't coveringyour phone's antenna (usually a bulgein the shell) with your fingers. A passiveadd-on antenna like the $32 ARC WirelessFreedom Antenna can give you a furtherboost. A powered amplifier like the Wi-ExzBoost ($300 to $400) ean pull out signalswhere they seem to be nonexistent.163. Search Google freeText GOOGL (46645) with a business categoryor name near an address to get localbusiness listings. Texting 4INF0 (44636)can get you weather, news, TV or movieshow times, or even Wi-Fi hot spot locations;findinstructions at www.4infu.com.164. Get free directory assistanceNever, ever pay for directory assistance.Use 800-FREE-411 instead. Yes, you'll haveto listen to an ad first,but it's free 411! If youcan't get the hang of its automated system,there are also live operators.165. IM without IMNo IM on your phone? You can do prettymuch everything possible on AIM throughtext messages. Check out mobile.aoicom/aolproducts/mobile-aim/aim-txt for the fullinstructions. That goes for Yahoo! Messenger,too. See mobile.yahoo.com/messenger/sms for those details.—SSLaptop Trickery166. Safer on a VPNGot VPN—a virtual private network? Useit, especially when you're at a publie Wi-Fi hot spot. It's safer than relying on yourfirewall and the benignity of strangers. Ifyou don't have a VPN, use liWire HotspotHelper (www.iiwire.com) to get one.167. Get off the grid sometimesKill your Wi-Fi radio antenna when you'renot using it and save even more batterypower. Also, kill any other applicationsyou aren't using. Every little bit helps!168. Save juice: Stop the spinWant to watch a movie on the plane? Load72 PC MAGAZrNE JUNE 2008

176. Not So Brightit onto a USB key (how you get the moviein the first place is none of our business).Watching a movie off a thumb drive meansno spinning disks (DVD, hard drive) andless batter\'drain.169. Close the bloatwareWhen your laptop starts to get old and slow,consider swapping out your bloated OS. Ifyou're using your computer only to accessthe Internet and check your e-mail, a lightversion of Linux is all you really need.170. Safer in a sleeveA laptop sleeve can .save your laptop fromthe dings and scratches it's bound to pickup jo.stling around in your bag. For the bestprotection, get one that's made specificallyfor your laptop mode!; the snugger the fit,the better the protection.171. Boost your screen real estateReap the many advantages of a dualdisplayworkspace by using your laptop'sscreen as one of the displays. Connect asecond monitor to your laptop and rightclickanywhere on your Desktop screen.Choose Properties, click on the Settings tab,and speeifyboth monitors as Affached.172. Privacy protectionWant some privacy on the plane? Shieldyour laptop screen from prying eyes witha screen filter—agood one is the 3M NotebookPrivacy Computer Filter (from $40).It's transparent when seen from straighton, but turns the screenblack when viewedfrom the sides.173. Other ways to increase speedSwapping out your OS for a lighter onemight be the most effective way to speedup an aging laptop, but there are other, lessinvolvedways to do it. For instanee, a RAMboost is the easiest (but most expensive)way to bump your laptop's speed. Anotherway is to go into Control Panel \ Add orRemove Programs and raze absolutelyeverything you can live without. And don'tforget to defrag your disk.—Kyle MonsonGoing Wireless174. Place routers up highA wireless router with an integrated accesspoint (AP) or an AP all by itself should beplaced as centrally as possible in a houseor office to provide the best signal. Put itup high—even mount it on the wall—notdown low, and definitely not under a desk.175. Avoid radio signal bounceMetal objects like big filing cabinets orcement walls can cause interference forwireless network signals, so try to keepnam I Owv I 5aw> Smw | tenrvc* ^"^f \[tie 9K nonw usni IB ««»I ÏH ifvaM «ingnwi d ytu nom«.|j MibgiB PAMOI) ^ ATI idftLITr RADEON 9WS iLAPTOP TRlCKERy Rucluce thoscreen brightness on your laptopto get 10 to 20 percent more juiceout of your battery. Browse PowerOptions in the Control Panel forother ways to increase uptime.your router/AP away from them. Even theslightest move could change the way theradio signals bounce.177. Limit Wi-Fi conflictsBe sure the channels on an 8ü2.nb/g networkare set to 1,6, or 11 (eheek your manualto findout how). Those are the only threechannels usable in the United States thatdon't overlap. Channels that overlap otherWi-Fi networks ean cause interference.178. Look for interfering networksIf you suspect interfere nee—for example,if your once fast network seems slooow^find out if your laptop can see networksother than your own. Someone nearbymay have a network on the same channel.Check with your neighbors about whichchannels they are using, and make a switchif needed.179. Upgrade to better securityIf you're concerned about security but stilluse Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) forencryption, you're not concerned enough.WEP is easily cracked by anyone with thetime and the easy-to-find tools. Upgradeyour software/firmware (and hardware ifnecessary) to use Wi-Fi Protected Access 2(WPA2), and use a long, strong password.That will make it almost impenetrable.180. Mix dynamic and static IPsMix your use of DHC P's rotating addresseswith static IP addre.ss: Assign static IPs foryour own computers, and reserve a limitedpool oi'DHCP addresses for guests.181. Skip the CD setupMany Wi-Fi vendors provide a CD foraecessing router features. You won't needit. If you know the router's IP address—typically l')2.168.1.1—just type that intothe Web browser of any PC that gets its IPaddress from the router. The Web-basedcontrols for the router will be at your fingertipsonce you enter the router's usernameand password.182. Firewalls can block shared PCsIf two computers on the same networkrefuse to see each other for sharing filesorprinters, temporarily deactivate any softwarefirewalls you've got running. If theconnection works, you know the culprit.Enter the IP address for the entire networkon each firewallto allow continued access.183. Reserve IP addressesUsing DHCP means sometimes your eomputerchanges IP addresses, dependingon when an address renews (192.I68.I.101one day, but .104 the next). You can usestatic IPs to solve this, but better yet, usethe "DHCP reservations" feature somenew routers provide. It matches a spécifieIP address with the unique MAC addressof a eomputer's network adapter, so theIP address, even though it's a dynamicIP. never changes.184. Find the MAC addressYou can findyour network adapter's MAC.address (called the "physical address") andthe IP address (either dynamic or static) byopening up a Windows command line (atthe Start menu, go to Run, then type cmd)and typing ipcon/iíí/üí/.185. Avoid 2.4-GHz competitionInterference ean eome from other itemsusing the same radio spectrum. 802.11b/guses the 2.4-GH2 frequency—and so domany cordless phones and even microwaveovens. If your Internet access goesout when you're heatingup a burrito, movethe laptop out of the kitehen. If you canafford it, switch to a router with 8Û2.11nsupporting both 5-GHz and 2.4-GHz,and reserve the 5-GHz side for your mostimportant connections.186. Third-party DNS adds featuresDNS servers are assigned by your ISP;they convert the IP addresses used toeommunicate over the Internet (suchas 63.87.252.186) into easy-to-rememberURLs. OpenDNS (www.openDNS.com)replaces a default DNS, speeding upqueries a touch, and provides extras likephishing filters.Find the DNS settings inyour router's Web-based interface andreplace them with 208.67.222.222 and608.67.220.220, then sign up for an accountto get the extras.—Fric GriffithJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 73

Printers187. Improve ink yieldInk cartridges (but not toner) have a shelflife; that's why Epson, HP, and others puta "use by" date on the box. You'll get thehighest yield if you use up the ink withiniibout six months after that date.188. Keep your ink jet in shapeIt's in the nature of ink jets to eiog if youdon't print regularly. Print a page every fewdays to minimize the odds of the printergetting so badly clogged that you need toreplaee the cartridge or, worse, the printer(if print heads are permanently installed).189. Buy oniy what you needMatch the cartridge capacity you buy tothe way you print. Bigger ink tanks or bundledpaeks will give you a lower cost perpage, but not if you let them sit around pastthe end of their shelf life.190. Compare photo quaiityBecause paper characteristics affect howcolors transfer, photos printed on differentstock can turn out noticeably different. Tocompare, print several photos on both therecommended paper and the third-partypaper you're considering.191. Choose photo paper carefuiiyIf a photo's longevity is more importantto you than its eost. stick with the printermanufacturer's own paper. Wilhelm ImagingResearch, an independent lab whosetests are the de facto industry standard, hasrepeatedly found much longer lifetimes forprinter manufacturers' own papers thanmany third-party papers.192. Ease manual duplexingIf your printer doesn't have automaticduplexing, see if it has a setting, found onsome printers, to help with manual duplexing:It automatically prints every other pagein a document, then stops and waits for youto turn the stack over and reload them forprinting on the second side of each.193. Be wary of third-party inksApproach third-party inks with care; someare better than others, but many don'tdeliver on promised savings, with loweryields, more frequent failures, or both.Keep track of output, and compare thethird-party version with the original on aeost-per-page basis, not per-cartridge.194. Skip the draft photosDon't print drafts of photos on piain paperunless you're doing it to judge compositionor layout. With virtually all printers, colorswill vary depending im the paper you printon, often dramatically between plain paperand photo paper. In short, you can't judgethe quality of the photo from a draft.195. Kill a print jobSome printers have a cancel button thatstops the print job immediately and clearsthe print queue on your PC. But the cancelbutton on some AIOs doesn't stop a printjob, so don't assume that's what the buttonis for. Check now so you'll know how to killa job in the future.196. Look for an ink-saver modeConsider using the driver's ink-saver ortoner-saver mode ( if your printer has one).It can increase the cartridge yield anddecrease the cost per page, often withoutnoticeable effect—particularly for text.197. Run a water-resistance testConduct your own tests on your photosso you'll know how carefully you need tohandle them. Immediately after printingfour copies of a photo, handle one withmoist fingersto see if it smudges, and dripsome water on another, leaving the dropsto dry to see if they have any effect. Wait aday and repeat with the other two photosto see if they're more resistant when dry.198. Run a scratch-resistance testHow do your photos hold up to scratches?Print 10 or 12 photos and shuffle throughthe pack a few times—the way someonewould if you handed him or her a staekof photos to look at. Then examine themcarefully for surface scratches that mayshow up only from some angles.199. Compare 4-color with 6-colorFor printers that offer both four- and sixcolorprinting, don't just assume that sixcolors will give you a better-looking print.Print a few photos both ways, compare theresults, and then decide whether it's worththe extra time and effort to print with twoextra colors.200. Set the driver to the paperMake sure you set the printer driver forthe paper you're using. This is particularlyimportant for photos, since the settingswill affect the color results.201. Print just the pages you wantFor programs that don't offer a setting tt>print noncontiguous pages, look for anoption that ean print a fileto disk in a formatthat another program with the optioncan read. If your accounting program canprint a filein a format that Word can read,for example, you ean then print the noncontiguouspages froETi Word.202. Switching from color to monoInstall a second copy of your driver, set itto print in monochrome, and name it "myB&W printer." Switching to the alternatedriver is a quick and easy way to lower costper page when you print Web pages thatyou don't need in color,203. Buy smail near the endBefore investing in a "cost-effective," highcapacitytoner cartridge, consider, basedon your printer usage, whether or not theprinter will outlive the toner. If you printonly 100 pages per month and a replaeementfor your aging printer is on yourshort list, it doesn't make sense to buy a10.000-page cartridge.204. Increase photo longevityBe particularly careful about entrustingyour photos to third-party inks. Printermanufacturers have developed combinationsof inks and papers with photolifetimes measured in decades or longer.Photo lifetimes for some third-party inksare measured in months.205. Check out your printer driverGet familiar with your printer driver. Itsfeatures could very well extend to onesas sophisticated as a setting for printingbooklets, which prints two pages side byside on each side of the paper and reordersthem so you ean fold the stack inhalf, to read through like a book.206. Duplex vs. simplex made easyGot a duplex printer, which can print onboth sides of the page? Install one copy ofthe driver set to print in duplex and one setto print in simplex (on one side). Switehingyour choice of driver is faster and easierthan changing the setting in the driver.—M. David StoneDigital Cameras207. Disabie screen for quicker shotsMost cameras have somesort of start-upsereen that appears when you turn thecamera on and adds to the total time spentsnagging a shot. Although ;ül cameras havedifferent menus, the option to disable it isgenerally in the main menu. Do so and youwon't miss that precious shot.208. Prevent pixelationEvery point-and-shoot eamera, be it anentry-level camera or a high-end super-74 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

215. Tune to Your Tasteszoom, has a digital zoom. Unlike opticalzoom, digital zoom doesn't really bring youany closer to your subject; it simply duplicatesexisting pixels to fake higher levels ofzoom. Worse yet, some cameras automaticallyshift into digital zoom after you'vereached their optical zoom's physical limit.Turn off digital zoom for cleaner photos.209. Decide before buyingFeatures arc just as important as price.Learn about the features available—facedetection, image stabilization, and so on—;ind which ones you want, then sec v/hatcan fityour budget. It'll ensure you have thecamera and capabilitit's you w:mt most inline with your target price.210. Always shoot at highest resTry to shoot photos at the highest resolutionpossible. You can always compressphotos in Photoshop, but you can neveradd back detaii you didn't capture in thefirst place.211. Study EXIF informationEXIF data, or Exchangeable Image FileFormat, is stored when a digital camerashoots an image. It includes informationsuch as ISO settings, whether the flash hasfired, and exposure settings, among a hostof other values. TTiird-party software, suchas ACDSee or Pieasa. can expose this information:It will show you everything youwanted to know about your favorite photo.212. Go wide for better iandscapesIf you like lots of landscape shots, try tofind a point-and-shoot camera with a 16:9aspect ratio. A widescreen shot is great forlandscapes and will capture a panoramicview that regular 4:3 cameras just can't.213. Dodge the dark: Boost the ISOMany amateur photographers assume thatthe flash will solve all their lighting issueswhen they are shooting in a dark environment.This is simply not the ease. If a roomis too dark, the flash can overexpose yourshot and your images will look horrible.Instead, shoot at a higher ISO setting withouta flash. With a small amount of lightand a high ISO. shots will come out muchbetter.—David GussmanPhotography214. Get a good camera lensVirtually every camera review mentionsthe millimeter range of the lens, for goodreason: Its ability to capture clear images isdirectly related to focal length, which is (atleast in part) a measure of its size. A bigger,more versatile lens, and one of higher qual-it>'. can almost instantly elevate the qualityof your photos.216. Go manualMost enthusiast and some point-and-shootdigital cameras have manual modes. Youno longer have to deal with film costs, soyou can take as many pictures as you want.Find out how shutter speed and aperturesettings impact photos indoors and outdoors,as well as about action shots andportraits. Auto presets on your camera aresimply changing those settings for you.after all. Take control; you might like theresults.217. Compose your shotsWe're taller than they are. but why mustphotos of children aeecntuatc the tops oftheir heads? Kneel down, folks; make yourhead level with theirs. Once you have yoursubject in the frame, look at the LCD totake note of the surroundings. Have youpositioned your subject so that a post in thebackground is "growing" through the topof her head? Can you see the sky? Is thereanything in the photo to give it context?218. Turn off the LCDPeople forgo image composition whenthey use the LCD. because the stuff in theirperipheral vision distracts them. Try usingthe viewfinder instead. (Added benefit:You'll save loads of battery life.) If youreamera lacks a viewfinder, try using the"grid function" on the LCD. This places alittle tic-tac-toe grid over the image. Positionyour subject in one of the intersectionsfor better composition.219. Can the flashMuseum rules forbid flash photography, soyou'll have to frame your photos and standperfectly still to get deeent shots. Onceyou turn off the flash, your camera shouldautomatically slow down the shutter speedto capture the necessary light. Your imageswill look more natural, and you'll appreciatethe time spent getting it right.MUSIC SERVICES Slackercom has a wide array ofstations, but you might notlike all the artists in a certaingenre. Ban those youdislike from your station.Boycott all Britney, not justthe currently playing track,by clicking on the downarrow next to the Ban icon(the button that has acircle with a line throughit), and clicking Ban Artist220. StandstillOn a sunny day, hastily push your shutterand you're likely to grab a decent, clearshot. But the weather isn't always cooperative(and you're often indoors). This meansthat your camera's autoexposure will openup the aperture and slow down the shutterspeed. So if you move, your photo will beblurry. You need to stand still.221. No tripod? Learn to pausePractice holding the camera in front of yourface with both your triceps and elbowspressed against your chest. Hold yourbreath or exhale. Do not breathe rapidly orrock on your feet. Press the shutter slowlybut surely. Do not remove your finger untilthe shutter has gone off. This not onlyensures a clear picture, it gives the eameratime to autofocus, possibly fill or removered-eye flash, and then shoot the finalshot.222. Learn to move, tooYou don't need a '/uiod-sccond shutterspeed to capture action shots. Try this panningshot: Have someone stand to yourleft about 5 feet away. Point the camera atyour subject and press lightly on the shutteruntil your subject is in focus. Then tellhim to start running past you. Press theshutter and hold it, but pivot to follow hispath. The image you get should show thesubject in motion yet still in focus, with thebackground a blurred streak.223. Help your flashTo light your subject and room properly.raise your camera's ISO settings. Thisostensibly changes the speed of your CCD(charge-coupled device, which acts as thefilm medium). It's like changing filmspeedfrom 100 to 400: You'll capture light fasterat 400, but the shots will be grainier. Raisingthe ISO level digitally simply makes thepixels more obvious in your image.224. Take advantage of night modeIt sounds heretieal, but you can use the"night" photography preset on your cam-JUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 75

232. Boost the Bitsera (typically, it's the little icon of a personwith a star) during the day. This settinguses the tTash, but it holds the shutteropen for a fraction of a second longer thanthe typical 'Ao second. This may improvelighting in a dark scene.225. Find the magic hourI've taken some of my best photos at sunset.No,I wasn't taking pictures of the sun itself.I simply used the warm orange glow thatprecedes dusk to light my subjects. Everyonelooks good in this warm light.226. Get closerPosition your camera no farther than thedistance of your subject's total height andyou'll get a better, more intense shot. It'ssimple, it's easy, and best of all. it works.—Lance UlanoffDigital Music Services227. Create automatic playlistsNapster users should get to know theAutomix button- This feature finds andplays 39 more tracks like the one you'relistening to—bringing your playlist to 40total songs. The tracks chosen are basedon community recommendations.228. Run Rhapsody on campusIf you connect to the Internet through aVPN or a proxy server (such as those oncollege networks), you may not be ableto run Rhapsody. Set up the program torun through your proxy. .Seleet roo/.s | Preferences,click on Connection, check EnableProxy in the right-hand pane, and enter theproxy ser\'er and port.229. Fix Napster's P/ay buttonClicking the Play button next to a song inNapster stops the currently playing trackand starts whatever you've selected. Itdoesn't have to work that way, but changingthis basic function is one of the less obviousfeatures of the service. Set the player toplay now, play next, and so on by navigatingto the Tools I Play Options menu.230. Colorize your soundHow about a peach-colored interface forthe Rhapsody player? Hold down the Shiftand Ctrl keys from within the application,click the Tools menu, check Enabled, andthen slide the color bars to change theoverall theme.231. Start your own radio stationReally fond of modem new-wave rock? Orshoegazer? Or neo-psychedeiia? Createyour own custom station. Choose a preprogrammedstation from slacker.com, clickon Opti(ms I Current Station, and chooseAUDIO & MUSIC The bit rate is thenumber of bits per second (givenin kilobits) processed during audioplayback. The lower ¡t is, tbe worsea song sounds. A bit rate of 128kilobits per second is consideredacceptable for MP3s; in contrast,uncompressed CD audio is 1.411.2kbps. You can improve the bit ratefor songs you import in iTunesunder Edit I Preferences I AdvancedI Importing: in Windows MediaPlayer look under the Rip tab.Edit Station. Pick only your favorite musicians,then click the.Save As button on thebottom rifiht to name your station,233. Bridge your Web servicesLast.fm keeps track of the music you listento, creating personalized playlists andfinding people with similar taste. Pandorais a free Internet radio site that helps youdiscover new music. Make them both evenbetter by teaming them up: Import thetracks you play at Pandora into your profileon Last.fm. Download the Firefox extensionavailable at code.yerblog.com/lastfm.234. Show others what you hearIf you're a real music addict, show yourtrue colors; Add a Last.fm widget to yourfavorite social-networking site so yourfriends can see what you've been listeningto lately. Surf to www.laatfm.com/widgetsto add widgets to your MySpace, Facebook,or Livejournal page, as well as yourblog and Web site.—Erik RheyAudio & Music235. Avoid "virtual" surroundSome MP3 players come with surroundsoundor 3D-sound settings. Don't befooled—these effeets simply add reverband EQ^to make a song seem as if it's fartheraway or moving around. But almostall music is mixed in stereo and can't be"switehed" with the press of a button, soyou're really just degrading the quality ofthe original mix.236. Stick with wired headphonesWhy does Bluetooth audio sound bad?Bluetooth converts files to a "lossy" codec(meaningdata in the fileis lost) to transmitaudio wirelessly. Since most eodecs likeMP3 are already lossy formats, this is kindof like having a photocopy of a photocopy.Wired headphones deliver the best sound.237. Don't damage your drumsIf you hear, even occasionally, a highpitchednoise or ringing when you're notlistening to your iPod, take it as a messagefrom your eardrums: Turn that musicdown! There's no "Lasik" for the ears yet—once you lose your hearing, it's gone.238. Buy a gym-proof playerNeed a durable MP3 player for tbe gym?Always go with a flash-memory-baseddevice—hard drive players are far morefragile. Apple. Creative, Samsung, andSanDisk make small, cheap players that areperfect for the gym. and Sennheiser has aline of workout-friendly earphones.239. Find your sweet spotPlace your speakers on an imaginaryline, facing the same direction. Your headshould be in between them, as far fromeaeh speaker as they are from each other.Imagine an equilateral triangle and you'vegt)t the idea. Your cars should be at roughlythe same height as the speakers' tweeters.240. Rip files "losslessiy"There's another way to improve the qualityof your audio files: Most music managementsoftware, like iTunes or WindowsMedia Player, ean rip files "losslessiy." Thismeans the file compression treats a songthe way a ZIP eneoder treats a large attachment—noinformation is lost. In iTunes, goto Edit I Pre/erences | Advanced | Importingand, under Import Using, seleet Apple LosslessEncoder. In Windows Media Player, goto Rip I Format and choose either WMALossless or WAV Lossless.241. Take your LPs with youAudio Technica sells a turntable bundledwith software optimized to digitize yourbeloved LPs—and you can easily take theRCA stereo cable supplied and switch itover to your tape player's outputs to convertyour cassettes (if you still have any). Ifyou already have a turntable, all you needis software. (For more on converting oldmediato new media,see page94.)242. Revive an old iPodAs iPods age, they sometimes play possum.If yours is unresponsive, hold down76 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

251. Know Your Backlight Controlsthe center and the top button simultaneously,for as long as 30 seconds. If it doesn'treboot, try connecting it to your PC overnight—itcan sometimes take hours torevive an old iPod.243. Drown out the noiseCan't afford gond active noise-cancelingheadphones? Shurc. Ultimate Ears, andEtymotic all make in-canal earphones thatpassively cancel out background noise andsound great—for a lot less dough.244. Forget EQ, upgrade your 'budsMost people rely on equalizer presets(like "rock" or "jazz") on their MI'3 playersto improve the sound. Upgrading thecheap earbuds that came with the playeris usually a far more satisfying solution. Ifprice is no object, consider Shurc or UltimateEars models, but Sennbeiser makessome relatively inexpensive options.—Tim GideonHDTVs & DVDs245. Say no to bad videoAvoid composite video (the yellow cable/port): it's the lowest form of life in thevideo food chain. If you must use an analogvideo connection, S-Video is superior, andcomponent video is the best. If the sourcedevice and the HDTV offer HDMI connections,always use them.246. Safer disc cleaningA Blu-ray player can have problems readinga Blu-ray disc that bas fingerprintsonit. Keep a clean microfiber cloth on handfor quick and safe disc cleaning.247. Push the menu buttonModern game consoles and DVD and Blurayplayers need to be configured to displayproperly on a widescreen HDTV. Checkthe setup menu on these devices to ensureit matches your current display hardware.248. Don't convert!Except in the case of a quality A A" receiveror standalone video processor, never usea converter to transform an analog signalinto digital (or vice versa); the image qualitywon't be any better than if you ran theunmolested signal directly into the HDTV.249. Preserve battery lifeRemove alkaline batteries from seldomusedremote controls to prevent damageto the battery contacts (or worse) fromcorrosive leakage.250. Can you hear me now?Audio quality is dependent on wbat connectoryou use. HDMI is tbe most convenient,but digital audio out (Toslink orcoaxial) may give you higher-quality surroundsound if you have an AA' receiver.252. TV Setup 101Reset all your picture settings to use asyour extra-bright daytime viewing mode.Eor viewing at night orinal ight-controUedenvironment, select a picture presetnamed something like "movie," "natural,"or "theater."253. Don't scratch that screen!Avoid using harsh cleaners on A/V equipment,and never spray a liquid directly ontoan HDTVs screen. Also, never use papertowels to clean screen surfaces or glossyfinishes—wood fiberswill damage the finish.A dry microfiber cloth is all you need.Lightly dampen the cloth with clean waterif the grime is particularly tough.254. Great A/V cables for lessSave a bunch of cash on quality A/V cablesby shopping online at stores such as www.monoprice.com and www.bluejeanscable.com. Pricesareoftena tenth of what youwould pay in most retail stores, and thequality is excellent.255. Speed surfingHaving an HD cable or satellite set-top boxconvert all standard and bigh-definitionsignals into one format (such as 1080i) usuallyspeeds up channel surfing. The HDTVwon't have to constantly sync itself to thedifferent video formats broadcasters use.256. Add more HDMINeed more HDMI ports? Consider pickingup an HDMI switch. lOGear has productstbat will automatically select theactive port, and otbers can be operated viaremote control. Tbe least expensive aremanually operated.—Robert HeronTiVo & DVRs257. Prevent overheatingRemember, a DVR has PC guts that arerunning 24/7: Make sure you keep someHDTVs & DVDs A flatpanelLCD's backlightcontrol directly affectsIts power consumption.Reducing an LCD'sbacklight level when viewingin a dimly lit environmentminimizes eyestrain,extends the life ofthebacklight system, and cancut power consumption byhalf or more.space around the box for ventilation. Andkeeping the DVR in a closed cabinet witblimited airflow can be just ;ts bad.258. Record from the roadUse yt)ur remote scheduling options: TiVocan schedule remotely from TiVo.com,Verizon FiOS is testing a scheduling featurefrom Verizon Wireless phones, andPC-based DVRs like Media Center andSnapStream have online schedulers.259. Buiid a long-lasting remoteUse a pair of lithium ion batteries (insteadof alkaline) for your remote: Tbey willlikely outlast the DVR's effective life (or atleast the remote's).260. Customize the skip settingsSome DVRs allow you to change the skipahead/skip back settings: 30 seconds forwardis enough to skip most commercialsone at a time, and skipping back 5 to 10 secondsis enougb to catch a bit of missed dialog.Cbeck tbe manual for how to fine-tuneyour remote control to your liking.261. Monitor what kids watchLike your TV, your DVR has parental controls.You can set the DVR to block TV-MAprograms or R-rated movies (or everytbing).You may have to change settings forbotb TV programs and movies, since theyuse different rating systems. Cbeck yourmanual or online belp for information.262. Pick the right quality levelsGot kids? Go for quantity rather thanquality: Gartoons (Disney/Pixar moviesexcluded) rarely look better in HDTV,so record afternoon programming instandard-def and bold more on your DVR(as mucb as 5 to 10 hours of SD for everyhour of HD). Just record the chatmel's "regular"feed; for example, in the NYG area,record Ice Age 2 on channel 340 (Starz)instead of Channel 835 (Starz HDTV).263. Fix problems: Pull the plugIf your DVR is acting up (it has a ierkypicture, or it's slow changing channels orJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 77

271. Killnavigating the menus), try power-cyclingit first: Unplug it, wait 10 to 15 seconds, andthen plug it back in. This process will clearup a multitude of problems.264. Make TiVo less annoyingYou can turn off those TiVo beeps if youthink they're annoying, or make themlouder: Go to Messages and Settings | SettingsI Audio I Sound Effects Volume. Youcan then set the beeps to Off (or high).265. Enable the 30-second skipThe most requested TiVo tip: the 30-second skip, which lets you use the skipbutton (-» to jump ahead 30 seconds (theaverage length of a commercial). Duringplayback of a recording, hit Select \ Play |Select 130 \ Select. You'll hear three bongfi.Then you ean skip ahead. Do it again toturn off the feature.266. Move video directly to an iPodTiVo has the ability to transfer shows fromyour TiVo to your PC or Mae, and automaticallytranscode them to play on youriPod or other portable media player. CheckTiVo.eom for the TiVo Desktop Plus forWindows software (TiVoToGo), or getRoxio Toast with TiVo Transfer for Mac.267. Get CableCARD—if you dareIf you're setting up CableCARD for yourDVR, you will likely have to do the finaltweaking yourself. Cable installers have alot of experience with fiat-panel TVs, butmay have only limited experience (if any)with TiVo or Windows Media Center Editionsetups. MCE PCs with CableCARDreaders are still a rarity.268. Watch TV anywhereNot at home when you want to watch?Consider the Siingbox. which lets you connectto your DVR from any notebook PCor mobile phone. A Siingbox can set upnew recordings on your DVR or check onexisting schedules. And it works with justabout all DVRs, whether they are cable-,satellite-, or PC-based, or a TiVo.269. Boost your storage capacityIf your DVK has an cSATA port on theback (like the Scientifie Atlanta 8300 orTiVo Series3/HD), consider an externaldrive for more storage. You ean addover 60 hours of HD programming with a500GB drive.270. Go from PC to TVYou ean view your home videos on yourDVR: It's easy for a Media Center PC orApple TV If your cable company suppliedyour DVR, you'll have to install a programon your home PC—ask your cable companyfor it.~Joel Santo DomingoMEDIA CENTER LefE. face it, skippingcommerciais is one of thereasons people buy and use DVRs(sorry, advertisers). But you're usinga computer, not just a TiVo. right?Put that power to use. DownloadLifextender (www.lifextendercom).which will cut ads permanently fromyour recorded TV shows.Windows Media Center272. Improve video qualityMost people use Windows Media Playerfor music. But Media Center depends onWMP for video playback, too. For thebest quality, let your video card do thechallenging decoding work. Visit ToolsOptions I Performance | Advanced inWMP and select the box next to Turn onDirectX Video Acceleration.273. Speed file sharingMedia Center can add files (such as photosand music) that you've shared from anotherPC. But its media discovery engine is slow.Force your PC to process your files byopening Windows Media Player, clickingthe Monitor Fo/ders button under library,and adding the directories there. When it'sdone, they'll show in Media Center.274. Queue clips in Internet TVThe neat new Internet TV feature has a biglimitation: When your file stops playing,MCE automatically picks something onlyvaguely relevant for you. Instead, pauseyour file, use the Back button, and browsefor something to watch next. Press Recordrather than OK on your remote to add thefile to a hidden play queue.275. Improve your audio experienceTo get the best sound from movies and 'I'V,configure your speakers twice. First, makesure your setup is correct in the Sound controlpanel. Highlight your speakers, clickConfigure, and set the number of speakersand quality. Then from the MCE menu,select Tasks and scroll to Settings. From theGeneral tab, select Windows Media CenterSetup and set up your speakers again.276. Use a secret themeWhen advertising Vista's MCE featuresway back in 2006, Microsoft ads showed a"eoral reef" theme that was unfortunatelynever distributed. Pick up the next-bestthing by searching for "Aquarium theme"at www.deviantart.eom. You may need toadjust security permissions to modify thebackground, u^hich is stored in a DLL.277. Put It to sleepFind your system awake in the middle of thenight? The guide is set to update in the weehours. Change it by right-clicking Computerand selecting Manage. In the TaskScheduler, expand the tree Task SchedulerLibrary \ Microsoft \ Windows, then selectMedia Center. In the right-hand pane you'llfind the recurring guide update, mcupdate.Select a better time^noon, perhaps?278. Schedule recordings remotelyMSN can talk directly to your PC, lettingyou schedule reeordings of showsremotely. Download the Remote Recordapp from tv.msn.com and install it on yourPC. Then MSN's TV listings will includean extra item for remote recording—say,from your P(] at work.279. POwn Netflix!Netflix users gained fantastically easyaccess to a world of streaming video withthe release of MyNetflix 2.1. Downloadthis plug-in at www.anpark.eom/Software.aspx. It lets you browse and update yourrental queue, but beyond that it gives youfull-screen remote control over Netflix'sWatch Now librar^'. Simply awesome.280. Hide unwanted imagesTell MCE to monitor the folder where youstore music and it'll add those songs to itsmusic library... and the cover.jpg albumimages to your photo library. Duh. Hidethose files to prevent this. Launeh CMD.EXE from the Kun dialog. EnterCDMy Documents(just Documents in Vista), thenCDMyMusic, and t>-peATTRIB +H folder.jpg /S toadd the Hidden attribute to those file in thecurrent direetory and all subdirectories.281. Play DivX, Xvid, and moreMCE plays DVDs by default, but notXvid, DivX, or the other file formats you'llencounter on the Web. Support those anddozens of other formats with the ffdshowpackage—www.ffdshow.info. Just downloadand run the simple, free application—which is under constant development, socheck back often for new versions.282. Add instant-messagingEarly versions of Media Center came withWindows Messenger, letting you chat withyour friends on sereen. Neat! Vista MCEdoesn't include this functionality, so get itback with the free Media Control Pluginidamienbt.free.fr).—Jeremy A. Kaplan78 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

Google Tools283. Limit search to blogsTo findsomething in a blog—any blog, notjust thü.se using Google-ownod Blogger—search at blogsearch.google.com.284. Remove cached, dead sitesMany sites that die off stay cached inGoogle's search. If your late site is thereand you want the world to forget it, requestits removal via the Webmaster tools (www.google.com/webn^a.'iters/tools/removals).285. Print caiendars to PDFThere's a Print command in Calendar,but it doesn't print, technically speaking.It brings up a dialog box for customizingthe appearance (for example, setting it toblack and white instead of color). It thengenerates a PDF for each month, which isperfectly suitable for framing—or printing,e-mailing, or saving.286. Auto-update spreadsheet dataIn a Google Docs spreadsheet, you cancreate up to 250 cells that update automaticallyusing the GoogleLookup function;they could contain such data as stock tipsor population counts. Check the Functionslisting under Advanced Editing at www.google.Cüm/support/spreadsheets.287. Read Gmail in iMAP clientsGmail now supports IMAP so you canaccess it inacHent like Outlook or Thunderbird.In such an app, copy filesto your localfolders to back up Gmail messages locally.Likewise, copy files to Google folders toback up local e-mails in your Gmail space.288. Convert PDFs to editabie textWant to convert a PDF fileto text? Send itto your Gmait account and view the attachmentas HTML. You can then cut and pasteit, with formatting, into a word processor.289. Search single sitesRefine the power of Google's Web searchto just one single site. For example, typingtips site:pcmag.com wiW limit your searchto tips stories on I'CMag.com.290. Subtract search termsWhen you search, limit what's returnedby including the term you don't want witha minus sign. For example, eelebrities-Seacrest means celebs except the überhost.This works also for Google News.291. Get schedule by text messageSet up your phone with Google Calendar(under Settings \ Mobile). Send a text messagewith the word day to short code 48368to get back a text of your day's schedule.(Text next for tomorrow's schedule.)292. Nab more reading real estateIf you want more space to read articles inGoogle Reader, hit the U key—it'll get ridof the left-hand sidebar listing your feeds.(Another tap on U will bring it back.)293. Send exécutables by renamingGmail won't let you send executable fiies(EXE. DLL, others) even if they're compressedin a ZIP file—Google says it's toprotect against viruses. But you can changea file's extension to something benign(like .txt), send it, and tell the recipient tochange it back.294. Advanced message searchesIf you need to search your Gmail messages,limit how you search by using to:, from:,and subject: as operators. You can also uselabel: and even after: or before: to search bydate (formatted as beforiryyyy/mm/dd).295. Publish Google presentationsWhen you make a presentation in GoogleDocs, publish it to get code embeddablein a Web page (just like a YouTube video).You can also save it as a PDF fileto send toothers (though you can't save it as a PPTfile for use in PowerPoint—yet).296. See reader statsCurious how much you're reading in RSSfeeds? Google Reader will show you statson how many subscriptions you have,items you've read, shared, or e-mailed, andmore.297. Find full phrasesQuotation marks around a phrase (like"save the cheerleader") will findonly pageswith the full phrase. Couple it with individualwords (like "save the cheerleader"plus Heroes) to get more specific. In fact,using the plus sign (+Heroes) will bringback only pages with that word.298. Spell out Advanced SearchesGoogle's Advanc-ed Search (v^ww.google.com/advanced^search) spells out all theoperators, wildcards, restrictions, andmore you can use while searching.299. Weatherize a calendarAdd your loeal weather reports to GoogleCalendar. Go to Settings \ General, enteryour location, and choose degrees centigradeor Fahrenheit.300. Gmail your calendarIf your Gmail messages include date ortime information, click on that data. Gmailwill offer to turn the message into anevent in Google Calendar. If the messageincludes a date, Google Calendar will usuallyinterpret for you and put the event inthe right spot.301. Use Other addresses in GmailYou can associate a non-Gmail e-mailaddress with your Gmail account. This ishelpful if you get calendar invites at thenon-Gmail address. Upon receipt youcan associate them with your Google Calendar.Go to your Google Account Settingsat www.google.com/accounts/EditUserlnfo to add an additional e-mailaddress.302. Sync Office with Google DocsEnsure the filesyou edit in MS Office areavailable in Google Docs using DocSyncer(www.docsyncer.com). It works with Windows,migrates filesto Google for you, andlaunches Google Docs by clicking a file,asif it were a local application.—fric GriffithP.303. Pick the right feedMany big-name blogs offer multiple RSSfeeds; for example, you can read everypost or just get the feed for the stuff you'reinterested in. Check for a listing of feeds bycategory or tag before you subscribe.304. Speed-read with FirefoxMake Firefox Live Bookmarks as easy toaccess as possible. Store your favorite RSSfeed.s there so they'll be constantly andreadily available, rather than storing staticlinks in Bookmarks Toolbar Fiildcr.305. Make a feed where none existsIf your favorite column or writer doesn'thave an RSS feed, search for the namewith your favorite news search engine,like news.search.yahoo.com or nevi>s.google.com. Once you find a combination of termsthat provides what you want, subscribe tothe search's RSS feed.306. Import and back up feedsThe Outline Processor Markup Language(OPML) format is used for importing andexporting your big list of RSS feeds from areader. Use an OPML fileto move from onereader (say, desktop software like Feed-Demon) to another (an online reader likeBloglines or Google Reader, or even IE7).307. Read feeds as bookmarksYou can view an RSS feed as a set ofbookmarks—called Live Bookmarks—inFirefox. In the Tools menu, go to Optionsfeeds and choose live Bookmarks. TheJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 79

next time you click the orange RSS iconin an address bar, you'll have the option toadd the feed to your bookmarks, where itwill add new links as the feed updates.308. Subscribe with ITunesPodcasts arc csscntially RSS feeds with anaudio or video attachment. iTunes makesit easy to subscribe to them: lust searchfor the podcast you like, or browse in theiTunes store until you find one to subscribeto. iTunes will download the latestepisodes whenever you open the software.309. Make feeds mobileYou can make any site with an RSS feedmore mobile-friendly by going to www•google.com/reader/m/view/feedA'mscrtfeed address here]. Google will reduce thefeed to just the headlines for easy viewingon phones.310. Put feeds in your ScreensaverSome Screensavers will read RSS feeds sothe headlines are available when you returnto your desk. Macs have one built in calledRSS Visualizer. The free RSS Screensaverfor Windows {www.nuparadigm.com)shows your photos in the backgroimd.311. Reading shortcutsIn Google Reader or Bloglines, the J keywill cycle you from one article to the next,down, down, down; the K key will moveyou back up to previous articles. Tap thespace bar to move only one screen at atime, so you miss nothing.312. Turn e-mail into RSSUse Bloglines for "e-mail subscriptions":Create an e-mail address through theservice and use It for subscribing to newsletters(or even forward your e-mail to thataddress). Then read all the messages inBloglines' Web-based interface.11 Dynamite Shortcuts for IE7TO DO THISOpen a link ¡n a new tab in the backgroundOpen a new tab from the address barSwitch between tabsClose current tabSwitch to a tabOpen Quick TabsPut focus on the information barGive focus to the address barGo to the toolbar search boxOpen your search query in a new tabBring down the search provider menu324. Subscribe without iTunesiTunes links to most podcasts. but if youcan't find the one you want there, you cango to the podcast's site to find its feed,usually ending in .xml. Paste this into anRSS reader or podcast aggregation softwarelike Juice iiuicereceiver.sourceforge.net). Juice dumps the files it downloadsinto iTunes for playback.—Eric GriffithInternet Explorer 7325. Back up your FavoritesProtect your hard work—make a backup ofyour Favorites. Choose Import and Exportfrom the File menu, select Export Favorites,and follow the prompts to export to anHTML file. You can load this file back intoIE, import it into Firefox, or browse it like aWeb page and click on the links.326. Protect your passwordsIf you let IE memorize your username andpassword for secure sites, anybody withaccess to your logged-in user accountcan visit those sites. Turn off this feature:Under the Tools menu, select InternetOptions I Content, click the Settings buttonin the AutoComplete area, and uncheck thebox User names and pcLHSwords on forms.327. Ease viewing with CiearTypeClearType can improve the appearanceof many Web pages. To enable it, click theAdvanced tab in Tools | Internet Optionsand check Always use ClearType forHTML, then restart IE7.328. Let IE catch phishIE7's phishing filter won't screen out everyfraudulent site, but it does catch quite a few.Be sure it's on. Click Tools | Phishing FilterTurn On Automatic Web Site Checking,CLICK THISCtrl-ClickAlt-EnterCtri-TabCtrl-WCtrl-NumberCtrl-QAlt-NAlt-DCtrl-EAlt-EnterCtrl-Down Arrow329. Organize your FavoritesOrganize your Favorites into categories,making them easier to sort through. Holdthe Shift key while selecting OrganizeFavorites from the Favorites menu; thisopens the entire Favorites folder. Now createfolders for each category and drag individualFavorites into them—this is muchquicker than using the regular OrganizeFavorito within IE.330. Keystroke to launch a URLTo launch a URL of the form www.domain.com, just type the domain part in theaddress bar and press Ctrl-Enter. IE willput www. in front and add .com at the end.331. Don't search by accidentWhen you type a U RL incorrectly, IE7 mayredirect to a Microsoft search page. To preventthis, in the Tools menu, select InternetOptions I Advanced, and check the optionDo not search from the Address bar.332. Correct off-size windowsIf IE's windows appear in small or awkwardsizes, do this: Close all IE windows,relaunch IE, and click a link to create asecondary IE window. Size the secondarywindow as desired, and close it by holdingShift while clicking the close icon at the topright. Do the same for the primary window.333. Easiiy open link in new windowHold Shift while clicking a link to open it ina new window; hold Ctrl while clicking alink to open it in a new tab,334. Start IE at a blank pageTo make Internet Explorer start instantlywithout attempting to load a specific page,set your Home Page to ahoutiblank.335. Manage the Links toolbarTbe Links toolbar is a parking spot for yourvery favorite sites. Right-click any existinglinks that you don't want and chooseDelete. Drag from the address bar onto theLinks toolbar to add the current site, ordrag any link from the Favorites menu.336. Un-hide IE's menuIE7 normally hides its menu until you pressAit or FIO. To make the menu permanentlyvisible, as it was in IE6, select View | Toolbars\ Menu Bar from the menu.337. Eliminate pointless searchingIf you do not have a proxy server installed,keep IE from wasting start-up time lookingfor one. Under the Tools menu, click InternetOptions I Connections, click the LANSettings button on that tab, and uncheck allthe boxes in the diakig that appears.338. Make tiny text biggerIf the text on a Wob page is too small, holddown the Ctrl key while scrolling up with80 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

346.BeDiscreetthe mouse wheel (that is, away from you),or select View | Text Size from the menuand choose a larger size.339. Alphabetize your FavoritesCan't spot what you want from thefavoritesmenu? To alphabetize your Favorites,pull down the menu, right-click any item,and choose "Sort by name" from the popupmenu that appears.340. Remove AutoComplete ItemsIE's AutoComplete feature redisplays datathat you've previously typed into fieldsinWeb forms. If it displays an incorrect orunwanted value (PC World} Yuck!). usethe Down Arrow on the keyboard to highlightthe offending item and press the Delkey to delete it.341. Fill the screen with kiosk modeInternet Explorer's kiosk mode, toggledby pressing FlI, totally fillsthe screen andautohides the menu and toolbars. To puta public computer in display-only kioskmode with no menu or toolbars, go tothe Start menu and click Run. then enteriexplare -k followed by a URL.342. Back and forward shortcutsYou don't have to click toolbar buttons tonavigate baek or forward. Alt-Left Arrownavigates back one page and Alt-RightArrow navigates forward. Or hold downthe Shift key while scrolling the mousewheel toward you for back, away from youfor forward. (Works in Firefox too!)343. Two accounts, two windowsYou can't open two instances of someWeb-based mail accounts in two IE windows;logging in to one logs out the other.To get around this, launch WindowsExplorer, select Tools | Folder Options fromthe menu, click the View tab. and checkthe box titled Launch folder windows in asepara te process.344. Multiple home pagesIf one Home Page isn't enough, you canhave IE7 open multiple pages in tabs.Select a page you want to add, click thedown arrow next to the Home toolbar button,and select Add or Change Home Page.Check the option Add this webpage to yourhomepage tabs and click OK.345. Identify add-on problemsTo check whether an IE7 problem wascaused by an add-on, riglit-click the IEicon on the desktop and choose StartWithout Add-ons. If the problem goesaway, cliek Tools and select Manage AddonsI Enable or Disable Add-ons, thenexperiment to see which was the culprit.—NeilJ. Rubenking, H LJ#CHM«MUEK

359. Spell-check input fieldsFirefox has a spell-checker that works intext areas, the big parts of an online formwhere you write a lot. But it's turned offby default in regular input fields (such asthose for your name). Turn it on for both bygoing to abouticonfig, finding layout.speHcheckDefault, and setting the value to 2.360. Dismiss the Go buttonYou don't need a Go button taking up spaeenext to the address bar if you press returnevery time you type an address. In about:config find brow.ser.urlbar.hideGoButtonand SL't the value to true.361. Perfect URL cut-and-pasteSometimes you want to cut two lines oftext and paste them into a text field on aWeb page that takes only one line. Impossible?Nope. In Firefox, enter about.configin the address bar, scroll to editor.singleLine.pasteNewlines, double-click, and changethe value to 2. Next time you copy two lines,both will paste into a single field.362. Turn off page prefetchingFirefox prefetches Web pages to its cacheduring idle time based on links in the siteyou're looking at, so it loads faster i/youfollow the links. You can turn this off usingabouf.config. Find network.prefetch-nextand set its value to false.—Eric GriffithBlogging363. Keywords boost visibilityFruntload your headlines with keywords,such as proper names. Sure, it might meanusing the passive voice from time to time,but what's a possible style faux pas in lightof a big traffic upswing?364. More after the jump!'Fhere are many schools of thought on howmuch text should be offered in RSS feeds,ranging from simple headlines to entireposts. Compromise by offering all the pre-¡ump text: Anything that ean be read on thefront page ofyour blog without clicking the"more" link should be offered in your feed.365. Cite your sourcesAlways eredit your sources. There Is sucha thing as blog karma; most successfulbioggers subscribe to the "do unto others"school of thought.366. Post early—and oftenWhile it's not a great idea to post simply forthe sake of posting, even the best-writtenblogs have trouble retaining audienceswith sporadic or infrequent updates.367. Are questions useful?Ask questions in your posts. It will prompt368. My Keys M y Way1 Pfcftiii wiÉiinuiin- ^ÊÎÊimmm•••«Digt«^[-^1 .í^^t» 1UOPERA Opera users have a simpleway to reconfigure keyboard commands.Go to Tools I Preferences.then Advanced I Shortcuts. Clickon the Keyboard setup entry OperaStandard, then click Duplicate. Now.double-click on the copy (rename itif you want to) and you can edit thekeyboard setup.user discussion, and there's no better wayto build a community than hy fostering anactive comment section.369. Tags foster browsingInclude tags on posts as often as possible.Giving users the ability to seareh withinyour site will only serve to increase traffic.370. Flaunt your opinionsThey might scream "print media" to some,but columns expressing strong opinions area great way to develop voice and authorityfor your blog while generating feedback.371. Encourage bookmarkingSocial bookmarking sites such as Digg,de.lieio.us, and StumbleUpon are greatways to promote posts. Make submitting tothese sites a bit easier on your readers byincluding modules directly on your posts,372. Use movies, audio, and more!Adding multimedia files like MP3s andYouTube videos breaks up the monotonyof text-only posts. YouTube offers embedcode directly on its site; MP3 files can beposted to a sharing site and linked to.373. Dazzle them with fine artPictures, pictures, pictures! Nothing says"read this post" quite like an intriguingpiece of art. —Brian HeaterOpera374. Speed DialOpera's Speed Dial is awesomely useful.It contains nine blank slots into which youcan type URLs. Whenever you open a newtab. you see your top nine sites laid out in agrid for you to click and choose. But there'sone oversight: When you're done browsinga site and want to invoke Speed Dial,you can't do it from the tab you're in—youhave to open a new tab. Or, to avoid goingthrough the pointless steps of closing youractive tab only to open another immediately,you ean set a keyboard command(the command is Show Speed Dial ).375. Nickname a bookmarkInstead of clicking a button to bookmark apage, take a second to type in an intuitivenickname. In the future you can simplytype the nickname into the address barinstcadof finding the bookmark. Fallen inlove with nicknames? Go to BookmarksManage Bookmarks... and nickname yourexisting bookmarks as well.376. Edit the keyboard setupGetting your eurs{)r into the address bar inOpera requires you to press two keys (Ctrl-L), while IE requires just a Tab (assumingyou haven't clicked any fields on a page).Or just press the H key, for history; itbrings your cursor to the address bar anddrops down a URL history, so you can easilyscroll to a recently visited site.377. Come on and zoomNow even IK can zoom in and out on apage. But Opera did it first, and still doesit best—or at least makes it easiest, withsingle keystrokes. 0 zooms in, adding 10 tothe percentage (100,110,120, and so on); 9zooms out by 10 (90,80,70); 8 zooms in by100; 7 zooms out by 100; and 6 returns youto 100 percent.378. Jump aroundIf you're on a page with a Next link, pressingCtrl-Right Arrow should activate it.Unfortunately, this won't work on everysite—for example. Opera doesn't seem torecognize the Next links on PCMag.com—but it docs work on many.379. Do not click GoPress Ctrl-C to copy a URL, but instead ofgoing to the address bar and pressing Ctrl-V followed by Enter to launch it, go to theaddress bar and press Ctrl-B to copy andlaunch it alJ at once. Better still, copy a wordor phrase, move your cursor to the searchbar, and use Ctrl-B to launch the search.380. Search your wayOpera doesn't support those space-hoggingtoolbars every search engine wants toinstall. For easy access to Ask.com, Clusty,and the tike, right-click in the site's searehfield and select Create search.... Fill in thedialog box as you wish, to add the searchengine to the browser. Don't neglect thekeyword field, which lets you search fromthe main address bar.—SarahPike82 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

Servers & Storage381. Use VMware's remote accessVNC is a remote-access technology optimizedfor virtual environments. If you'relooking to manage your servers fromoff-site, check it out before investing in apricey third-party solution; VNC is builtinto VMware and will let you connect toany of your virtual machines via the host'sIP address or DNS name.382. Restrict access for MacsRestrict Print Center acce.ss for your Macusers—they can .switch default printersand mess with print jobs by default, whichcan hurt the next user in line, Make sure nouser has root access, and restrict access sothat users can still initiate jobs and switchbetween printers, but that's it.383. Control the Time MachineIf you're frustrated that Time Machineslows down your Mac every time you startit (and again once every hour when it's takinga snapshot), take heart and look outsidethe Apple orchard for help. First, downloadthird-party widget Red Flag (www.lonelyeomputer.eom), which lets you keeptrack of when Time Machine has done abackup and when it's going to run the nextone. Then get TimeMachineSchedulerfrom www.fc/iefne.com. This app lets youedit your Time Machine backup moreeasily and more completely than TimeMachine's own scheduler.384. Store tape media rightIf you're using tapes for long-term storage,make sure they're not stored near electricalequipment or machinery, on windowsills, or near radiators. Also make surethey're stored on end, not lying flat. Tapedata should be tested every fiveyears andtransferred after ten—just to be safe.385. Manage mobiie ciientsNew Exchange Server 2003 administratorsresponsible for managing mobile devicesshould download the Exchange ServerActiveSync Web Administration tool fromwww.microsoft.com/download. It letsadmins manage multiple mobile devicesand ActiveSync accounts and parametersvia a handy Web console.386. Manage the iptables firewallLinux's firewall,called iptables, can showtraffic in real time—with the right commandfrom you. Just use the i pstate commandwith an appropriate refresh valueand you'll see traffic activity as it happens.387. Fast command line shutdownsTo shut down one or several Windowsservers or workstations quickly, both XPand Vista have a Shutdown command.Running it from the command line asshutdown -i will bring up a GUI. This letsadministrators add or delete machinesbased on name, IP address, or subnet. Becareful, though: It's a powerful commandthat will shut down a domain controller aseasily as it will an accounting workstation.388. Command line AD searchesFor administrators looking to run ActiveDirectory searches from their XP orVista desktops, run the following command:«SysteinRootSi\SYSTEH32\ rundl 132. exe. Hit Enter and follow it up withdsquery.OpenOueryWindow. This will openan Active Directory search GUI.389. Add tools to Quick LaunchYou can add the Administrative Toolsfolder icon to your Quick Launch toolbarby dragging it there from Control Panelnotthe Programs menu. Since admins usethose tools frequently, having this icon atyour fingertipsis a godsend.390. Cheat on disk quotasIf you're constantly running into userdisk quota problems, you can implementdisk limits, delete files based on date, anddo other standard stuff. But you can alsocheat. To reserve space for an emergency,just copy a few 1GB files (one or two pervolume, depending on file size characteristics)and you'll always be able to free up afew gigs in a pinch.391. Recover deleted partitionsYou can recover a deleted dynamic NTFSpartition as long as you know its exact originalvolume size. With that information,you ean re-create the partition via the WindowsServer 2003 Disk Management snapin,then use dskprobe.exe to recover thebackup boot sector. After that, hit RescanDisks in the Computer Management Actionconsole to remount the volume.392. Make a cheap NASBuild a low-cost home or SMB file serverout of an old PC and some spare harddisks. Just set up an Intel box with as manydisks as you can and with at least 512MBof RAM. Then download and installFreeNAS (.www.freenas.org), a FreeBSDbasedNAS app.393. Make an even cheaper NASIf you're considering purchasing a newrouter for your network, insist that the newmodel have one feature: a USB port. Plug aUSB hard drive into the router, then adjusta few settings in the router's firmware andyou've quickly turned it into a networkattachedstorage (NAS) device, with thedrive available to all of the PCs on yournetwork.394. Customize your command lineMake the Windows Server 2000/2003command line your own. Just open theCommand Line window, select Properties,and go to the Quick Edit Mode checkbox. If you increase the number of buffersto 5, you've increased the number of linesin the Command Prompt window to 5.000.Up the screen buffer size to 999 and youenable scrolling.395. Speedy Linux data securityFor fast data encryption on Linux servers,try cryptsetup. It's free and straightforward,though you'll need to compile ityourself (code and directions at cvs.saout.de/lxr/saout/source). You'll also need tocreate a new partition and move your datathere, because cryptsetup can't install overan existing partition.396. Check out Ubuntu's prefabsUbuntu isn't just for desktops. Similar toWindows 2003 with its "server roles" concept,Ubuntu has Prefab Server Stacks.Just click the tasks you need your server toperform during installation and Ubuntu'sinstaller sets up the needed tools automatically,including mail. Samba, DNS, printservices, and more.397. Watch for complianceIf you're managing storage in a regulatedvertical industry, like health care orfinance, make sure you're in compliancewith long-term data retention legislation. Ifit turns out you'll need to store data longerthan your hard disks can handle, consideroptical. Write-once read-many (WORM)drives hold up to 60GB per disk and have astorage life of 15 to 20 years.398. Map your Exchange serversIf you've got more than one ExchangeServer, you'll want to see them in a topologicalmap. Make this easy with theExchange Server Topology DiagrammingTool itechnet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/bb288471.aspx), which will findyour Exchange Server automatically andcreate the map. Just have either Visio 2000or 2007 or a Visio file viewer installed—you'll need it to see the map.399. Red Hat free = CentOSYou can get features comparable withthose in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, butJUNE 200B PC MAGAZINE 83

400. Improve Marketing with Video E-Mailsleyeiotwith a lower price tag (free) and a straightforwardinterface—it's all in the CcntOSdistribution of Linux. You can download itfrom www.centos.org.401. Find Exchange problemsHaving unexplained Exchange Server2U00 or 2003 problems? Before calling aconsultant, get a handle on the problem byrunning the Exchange Best Practices Analyzeror the Exchange TroubleshootingAssistant. They're both free downloadsfrom Microsoft's Download Center andcan identify the source of your problemwith surprising detail.—Oliver RistCollaboration402. Start TwitteringCreate a Twitter stream for all your businessupdates and invite your associatesto subscribe. This will let you contact thewhole team from wherever you are usingyour mobile communicator.403. Don't fear IMInstant messaging is an efficient methodfor getting answers quickly and cuts downon distracting ehatter. Encourage youremployees to use IM—but remind themnot to use it for anything confidential (conversationsare saved on servers, and themessages are very easy to intercept).404. Refrain from e-maii fiâmesNever send an e-mail in tlie heat of anger:Write your screed and save it as a draft, tellingyourself that you'll send it later whenyou've settled on your course of action.(You'll probably never send it.) This willresult in fewer burnt bridges that eouldhurt yonr business in the long run.405. Prioritize your Outiook inboxUse Outlook's flagfeature when you don'thave time to respond to an e-mail rightaway. In Outlook 2007 you can specify aCOLLABORATIONTo market yourproducts or services,make video e-maiis.Use your webcam orcamcorder to createa personai messageor demo and thensend it to yourpotential customersvia a service iikeEyejot or SightSpeed.time period to deal with it; the deadlinewill show up in your Task pane.406. Succinct subjects don't sucicMake the subject line of your e-mail reflect,well, the specific subject: Don't reply to ane-mail on an old, unrelated subject; start anew thread instead. It's good etiquette, andalso makes it easier to find a specific conversation.407. Use siiared caiendarsGoogle's calendars play well with lots ofother online services, so they make for agood beginning. Start by inviting two colleaguesyou work with often. Onee youhone your procedures, invite the rest ofyour office.408. Esciiew huge attachmentsNeed to share large documents or images?Use YouSendit or a similar Web storageservice. Your e-mail correspondents willthank you for not jamming their mailboxesfuil of storage-depleting attachments.409. Empower PowerPoint designFor your PowerPoint presentations, usesimple backgrounds, small amounts oftext, and large fonts. You want the peoplein the back of the room to be able to readyour text.410. Taiit to everyone at onceCot friends on AOL Instant Messenger,MSN Messenger, and Yahoo!? Don't keepseveral IM clients active on your desktop.That would just slow you down. Instead,download Trillian 3, a single messaging clientthat can communicate across the fivebiggest protocols, from Cerulean Studios(www.ceruleanstudios.com). Or better still,simply create an account at www.meebo.com and use Meebo's Web-based chatfunctions without installing any apps at alt.411. WebEx excelienceWhen recording WebEx meetings, useNBR (network-based recording—it's availablefor an extra fee) to get a much smallerfile size. You will also then get a streamingURL that you can forward to other people.NBR recording can be downloaded andconverted to Flash (.swf extension) using anetwork-based recording player.412. Vidéoconférence on the cheapBuy all your employees good webcams,and use low-cost videoconferencing fromooVoo iwww.oovooxom), which allowsup to six collaborators. It's helpful to seeyour colleagues' expressions as well ashear their voices during remote meetings.These services will save you thousandscompared with traditional turnkey videoconferencingsystems.413. Scheduie meetings efficientiyFrustrated by all the back-and-forth e-mailsfor scheduling meetings? Use the freeTimeBridge service to propose and settleon meeting times (www.timebridge.com).414. Share that screenConduct demos with CoToMeeting,WebEx, or other screen-sharing software.Be sure to practice with the service aheadof time, and make sure everyone's computersupports the software.415. WJkis ain't trickySet up a wiki where knowledge and proceduresabout your business can be storedand edited by all employees. You cando this through www.wiki.com or www.jivesoflrware.com.—Michael MuchmoreWindows ^^n/^r2008416. Event subscriptionsIT managers don't have to monitor serversindividually. Admins can set up a Vistaor Server 2008 system to subscribe to specificevents on other Win 2008 servers. Todo so. use Event Viewer to connect to thesystem you want to monitor, and selectthe Connect to Another Computer optionin the Event Viewer snap-in. When thoseevents are logged, they'll be forwarded inreal time.417. Set muitipie password poiiciesIn the past, you could have only one passwordpolicy per domain—for example,one rule for minimum password length,for expiration, or for complexity. In Server2008, you can set more- or less-strict rulesfor different groups to as granular a degreeas you want. Create a few for maximumflexibility.418. Avoid server downtimeWhen a network domain controller goesdown, you may want the domain con-84 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

troller locator to find and connect to thenext-closest DC, but the feature is off bydefauIt.Turn it on by enabling the TryNexi-ClosestSite Group Policy setting. Tech-Net provides the info at www.microsoft.com/technet when you search for "nextclosest."419. Stickiness preventionUse Group Policy to configure clients tocheck for "stickiness" (continuing to usethe next-closest domain controller, whenthe closest becomes available again). InServer 2008, a group-policy-configurabletime interval has the client machine doa new search to see if you're attached toyour local domain controller. If not, it willattempt to reattach to it. You can learnmore at this MSDN page: msdn2.microsoft. com/en-u.'i/library/ms675983.a.spx.420. Track eievated priviiegesOnly one person needs full-time adminprivileges: the admin. Other users, however,can elevate their privileges for certaintasks. Keep track of who's doing what byenabling auditing process creation, a subcategoryof the detail tracking category insecurity auditing. Get full instructions bysearching for "auditing AD DS changes" atMicrosoft's TechNet site: www.microsoft.com/technet421. Restore a wizardThe Initial Configuration Tasks wizardappears the firsttime you log in, and vanishesafter that. It's handy, though, walkingyou through common initial tasks likenaming the server and setting the timezone. Want to get it back again? Just typeoobe at the Run prompt.433. Shared configuration in 115In Server 2008 with Internet InformationServices 7.0, there's an option to exportthe configuration from a Web server to afile: It makes setting up server farms mucheasier. After you save that file onto a fileshare and point all the new servers to theshared config file,they'll configure themselvesautomatically. You'll find completesetup information here: learn.iis.net/page. aspx/2Il/shared-configuration.434. Enable desktop featuresIf your laptop runs Server 2008 but youneed it to look like a normal Windows system(say, for sales demos), do this: In theStart menu, select Server Manager, click onAdd Features, check Desktop Experience,click on Next and then Install. After theinstall, enable the Aero look; run ser\iccs.ntsc. right-click on Themes, choose Properties,select Automatic for start-up type,click on Start, and then click on OK. Rightclickon the desktop and choose PersonalizeI Windows Color and Appearance. PickWindows Aero in the resulting window,then click on OR',435. Never customize PowerShellThis one comes direct from Microsoft'sPowerShell team. PowerShell 1.0 installsseveral XML filesas part of the initial build.You can create your own XML files foryour personal use—that's fine. But manyfolks have been adding customizations tothe filesinstalled by Microsoft That's a nono,because when the software revs (and itwill^soon), Microsoft will simply wipethese out and exchange them for new ones.All your custom work will be lost. So keep11 Useful Windows Server 2008 ShortcutsTO DO THISClose the active item, or exit tbe active programCycle through items in tbe order in whichthey were openedCycle through programs on îbe taskbarCycle through screen elements in a window oron tbe desktopLock your computer or switch usersDisplay properties for the selected itemRefresh tbe active windowOpen tbe Run dialog boxSearch for computers (if you are on a network)Display tbe System Properties dialog boxOpen Task ManagerCLICK THISAlt-F4Alt-EscWindows-TF6Windows-LAlt-EnterF5Windows-RCtrl-Windows-FWindows-PauseCtrl-Sbift-Escapeyour own work in your own filesand saveyourself some frustration down the road.436. install the new backup utiiityTo install Windows Server Backup (whichreplaces the slower, less user-friendlyNtbackup.exe), go to Start \ AdministrativeTools I Server Manager, click on Featuresand then on Add a Feature. Add the WindowsServer Backup.—Gary Berline437. Use Skype to iower phone biiisUsing Skype from your PC lets you callother Skype users free, and call almost anylandline or mobile phone in the world for alow per-minute fee. It can make your businessappear international, too: Skype alsooffers low-cost phone numbers in othercountries.438. Do your own marketingWith a quality color printer, you can printyour own marketing materials. Visit www.hp.com/sbso/productivity/office to finda range of HP's downloadable businessidentity kits with coordinated designs forletterhead, envelopes, business cards, andbrochures-439. Train onlineHave to learn a new application quickly?Online learning can be undertaken at anytime and almost any place. Services suchas VTC offer Web-based video trainingfor a large range of business applications.Some 20 percent of VTC's video tutorialsare free; others are accessible for a smallmonthly fee.440. Track your timeUsing an online time tracker like 88 Miles(www.S8miies.nei), you can set up projectsand record the time you spend workingon them. Reports available include timesheets, staff reports, and project reports.Devote the time you would have spent atthe end of the week doing paperwork todrumming up new business, instead.441. Stay in touchCreate a blog using a tool like Google'sBlogger (www.biogger.com) to keep in contactwith your customers. Use your blog toprovide customers with information aboutyour products and how to use them, answercustomer questions, and so on. Blogging isfree and requires no programming skills—you can be up and running in minutes.442. Use online snail mailWhen you need to send a letter but can'tget to the post office, use esnailer.com.Type your envelope and letter online andJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 85

443. Take Your Office OnlineOffic« LJV« Add-In for Microsoft Offici:Op«n and »vs documanu dirtctty fromMicrosoft Ofnci Word, Otfict EKCII, andPo««rPolnt to Microsoft Offic« Uv«IwtBV fVp*» t-r***t u may have been scammed? TheNational Fraud Information Center (www.fraud.com). a program of the NationalConsumers League, provides informationon a wide range of online and telemarketingscams, helps you determine whethersomething is fraudulent, and lets you filecomplaints online,461. Pretty pictures sell productsAdding plenty of product photographsmakes a site appealing. First, get a goodphotographer to shoot them. Later, in aprogram like Adobe Photoshop, you canoptimize size, contrast, and brightness,and minimize filesize by saving as JPEGs.36 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

Keep images small (but linked to larger,better-quality versions) or your pages willtake forever to load.462. Make sure you're encryptedA safe Web site has SSL or similar encryption.Pages that ask for or display personalinformation should have a URL thatbegins with https://. You should also see alock icon (in the locked position) near theaddress bar or at the bottom ofthe page.463. Keep in touch with customersCollect e-mail addresses from customerswho wish to subscribe to newsletters orother mailings. You can do this by addinga form to your site or providing a link to aseparate subscription page.464. Create a privacy poiicyYour e-eommcrcc site should have a privacypolicy detailing what you will—andwon't—do with customer information.Examine the policies of Web sites you visitto see what they include. Still need help?The Direet Marketing Association providesa privacy policy generator at www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.465. Buy search termsYou cau advertise your business in searchresults from Google, Microsoft Live, orYahoo! for surprisingly low costs of entry:Google AdWords Starter Edition carries astart-up cost of just $10, with no minimummonthly spend on keywords. Yahoo! hasa $1 minimum per day, and Microsoft has•A $2-per-month minimum. All three offerlots of help and make it easy to get started.466. Recommend productsProvide a list of recommended productsand things "other customers also bought"with each item. You can do it in your databaseby connecting products based on customers'actual purchascs.^Tony HoffmanBusiness Software467. Convenientiy store HR dataThe HR Notes tool in SurePayroll lets youstore unique employee data. In addition toa list of suggested HR categories, you canadd 12 custom fieldsfor data such as Medical/DentalInformation, Education, SalaryHistory, and 1-9 Verification. Later, youcan easily access the information in theaccount center or download it in the HRNotes report.468. Save time viewing reportsIf you're viewing a report for a particularpay period in SurePayroll and want to seeanother from the same period, you don'thave to return to the main report center.469. Svnciicate Your ContentFeedForAtI S FeedForAn Mac Software toE-COMMERCE Create RSSfeeds. This way subscribers canautomatically (and quickly) getinformation delivered to themabout what's been updated onyour site. A program like Feed-ForAll ($39.95, www.feedforall.com) can help you create, edit,and publish your RSS feed.lust select the desired statement from thereport drop-down menu.470. Break out empioyee pay typeYou probably know you can select fromseveral earnings types for each employee.But to choose more than one of those paytypes, you need to click on the employee'sname. This will bring up a screen that letsyou view the amount of pay by pay type forthat worker.471. Create muitiday eventsTo get around the limitation of having tocreate events day by day, use the recurri ngevent option at the bottom ofthe page.472. Start taggingWith the Winter '08 release, Salesforce.com instituted personal tagging. Now youcan mark information with your own tags,sueh as "hot opportunity," and later searchby those tag categories.473. Don't reinvent the formBefore creating a form, check the SurePayrolllibrary, where you'll find dozens offorms—I9s, W-9s, direct-deposit authorizations,job applications, and more. Youcan download them and, when appropriate,populate some ofthe data.474. Tie benefits to earningsIfyou enter the benefit hours used by youremployees during a pay period, the systemwill calculate the earnings, subtractthose benefit hours from the regular hourstotal, and adjust benefit-accrual balances.You can also make other adjustments toaccrual balances without having to processa payroll.475. Get aierts for criticai tasksSo you won't forget important tasks, youcan set SurePayroll to e-mail you notes orhave alerts appear in your account center.Use the My Reminders feature to schedulealerts to occur at specified dates and times,either once or on a repeating basis.476. Proper bonus withhoidingTo avoid over-withholding when thebonus or commission earnings and payrollschedules differ, go to SurePayroU'spayroll entry screen, click Add Addifiona/Checks, selecting the employee, choose letthe system calculate taxes and deductions,and select the proper pay bonus or commissionfrequency (such as Quarterly).There! Problem solved.477. Suspend direct depositsIf an employee is switching bank accounts,you can stop direct deposit and issue apaper check until the worker's accountinformation is updated. Just click on thesuppress direct deposit box on the righthandside ofthe payroll-entry screen.478. Make audits simpleTo speed workers' comp audits, assign aworkers' comp code to each employee andthen pull workers' data by the dates youneed. In the reports center, go to the Workers'Compensation link, enter audit dates inthe "from - to" section, and print. For everyemployee paid during that time, you'll getinfo including hours worked (regular. OT.and other), eorresponding gross pay, andtotal wages.479. Get recommended contentTurn on Reco m mended Contefif insideSalesforce Content and Salesforce.com willsuggest documents for CRM users basedon information such as the industry andcompetitor related to a sales opportunity.The documents will show up as a relatedlist inside Opportunities.480. Surviving a service outageIf you're logged in to Salesforce.eom duringan outage, don't close your browser!You'll have to log in again, and if the serversare having difficulties, you'll be out ofluck. If you're not logged in, skip the mainlog-in page and try going straight to yourserver's homepage. If your server is fxinctional.you'll see a simplified log-in pageandean tr\'that.481. Use free appsAt the Salesforce,com AppExchange(www.appexchange.com), you'll findmanyJUNE 2008 PC MAGAZINE 87

482. Solve Negative Inventory Problemsi>—wwWBVOiH TintlHMijl IMBUm in Me rnPHOmfree applications for tasks such as expensereporting, time tracking, recruiting, andproject management.—GBWeb Traffic483. Sound structureMake sure your HTML structure is correct.While not as important as they usedto be to search engine spiders, metatags(the HTML tags at the top of the Webpage, such as title, keyword, and descriptortags) are a vital part of optimizing yoursite for SEO.484. Use trackbacksWhen you leave comments on a Website or blog or participate in a discussionforum, use the trackback feature to boosttraffic to your own site. A trackback isbasically a link back to your site that connectsto your comment, so participantsand visitors can click on it and "trackback" to your page.485. Link. Link. Link.You must link, but link properly and effectively.Google looks at links to and fromyour Web site when it determines yourPageRank (Google's formula for determininga Web page's importance). Andthe words you use in hyperlinks are of keyimportance; instead of saying, "Click hereto read more about Topic X," you shouldsay, "Read more about Topic X."486. Read all about ItA newsletter is one of the easiest ways todrive traffic. Visitors can opt in or out, andthey get exactly the content they're lookingfor. But make sure you create newslettersthat are focused and provide value. Spammingpeople will just irritate them.487. Tighten up your titlesPay attention to page titles. Keywords usedin the title tag often have more weight (inranking) than keywords used just in thebody of an article.488. Don't get too fancyFlash and JavaScript may make your siteQUtCKBOOKS Selling an itembefore it's m inventory causesproblems. To fix them, selectVendors I inventory Activities IPhysical Inventory Worksheet, thenadjust your inventory (with AdjustQuantity/Value on Hand), putting acheck in the Value Adjustment box.Then In your summary report, makesure the assets account equalstotal inventory.look cool, but overwhelming visitors withfiashy graphics and no substance won't getyou anywhere. Many experts believe thatsearch engine spiders still prefer HTML.489. Outside influencesPitch and plant your sttiries. Submittingyour stories to social media sites, blogs. andratings engines (like Digg and Yahoo! Buzz)can help drive lots of traffic to your site.490. Optimize for SEOOptimize your site for search-engine optimization(SEO). By implementing soundSEO practices on your pages, you can helpImprove your ranking in search-engineresults. lust one example of a very complexsubject: Choose words relevant toyour business and make sure they appearprominently in page headers and titles.491. Get listedYou need to get people to your site. Oneway to do so—and boost your organic, orunpaid-for, traffic—is by listing your sitein search directories (like Yahoo!) andsearch engines (like Google). Various servicesand companies will do this for you,or you can head over to the Open DirectoryProject {www.dmoz.org/help/submit.html) and submit your site yourself.—Vicki facobsonQuickBooks492. Print fringe benefits on W-2sIf the dollar amount of the Auto Fringe Benefitincreases other W-2 amounts, ratherthan printing as it should in box 14 of theW-2, the benefit may be set up incorrectly.The Type should be Company Contribution,and the Tax Tracking Type should beFringe Benefit.493. Many payments, one big checkYour system may become confused shoulda client pay off a few bills with one check.One way to deal with this is to create a maincustomer with separate jobs or locations.You can invoice each job individually, butif one check comes in for multiple invoices,you just select the appropriate customer,then choose the specific jobs being paid.494. Look behind the billsTo expose the general ledger entriesbehind an invoice, simple press Ctrl-Y.Now you can see all the Debits & Creditsbehind the scones of a form.495. Automate recurring chargesIf a bill recurs regularly at the sameamount, create the bill, go to Edit \ MemorizeBill (or hit Ctrl-M) and select theAutomatically Enter radio button. Set therecurrence frequency, the next time toeharge your aecount, and how many morecharges will occur, then click on OK.496. Insufficient fundsTo handle bounced checks. Go to ListsI Item List and click on the Item button.Select New, and Choose Other Chargeas the type. Name the item NSF, make itnontaxable, and direct it to your checkingaccount. When a check bounces, invoicingthe customer using the NSE item willdeduct the funds from your bank registerand set up the receivable.497. Create an invoice earlyWhen you don't have all the details toinvoice a customer, create an invoice withwhat you know, then pull down Edit \ MarkInvoice as Pending. To finishthe invoice, goto Reports \ Sales \ Pending Sales. Doubleclickon the appropriate invoice and youcan complete it.498. Expedite data entryRecord your transactions without takingyour fingers off your keyboard. Just hitGtrl-Enter and you won't have to fumblefor your mouse to click on SaveS: Next.499. Perform math in QuickBooksEroni any number or dollar amount field,press one of the math operator keys (+ foraddition, - for subtraction, * for multiply,/ for divide) and the completely undocumentedCipickMath calculator appears,allowing you to do the math without havingto use a ealculator or leave QuickBooks.500. Enter YTD payroll sneakilyIn some versions of QuickBooks, anundocumented feature lets you inputyear-to-date payroll info without usingthe payroll setup feature or entering eachemployee paycheck. Create the employees,then go to Product Information (HelpAbout QuickBooks) and press Gtrl-Shift-Y.The resulting wizard helps you enter summaryinfo for each worker—GB501. Save this issue!This much useful info is rarely found in oneplace. Be sure to stash this issue on a shelf!38 PC MAGAZINE JUNE 2008