Ever find that you need a little extra space between two paragraphs in an MS Word document?

Thinking maybe a quick way to add a 12 point space before a paragraph would be a nice little trick to have up your sleeve?

Well, to insert that extra space before a paragraph, all you have to do is simply place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph and use the Ctrl + 0 (zero) key combination.

Need the space above several paragraphs?

No problem! Just highlight all the paragraphs to be affected and again, use Ctrl + 0.

Spaces too big? Need to remove them?

Again, a very simple solution. Ctrl + 0 works as a toggle switch: once to add a space, what is cialis professional twice to remove the space.

So, just highlight the paragraph(s) affected and use the Ctrl + 0 combination to remove the extra space.

There you have it. Extra spacing with just a quick key combination!

by Deb Shinder | Sep 08, 2003 7:00:00 AM

Takeaway: Learn how Office 2003's Information Rights Management (IRM) works and how you can use it to control access and editing permissions on the documents produced by your users.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) has become a controversial subject as software companies, the music industry, and other producers of intellectual property have moved to use technology to prevent copyright infringement. With Office 2003, Microsoft has gone beyond the concept of protecting its own interests and built in a way for those who use its software to create intellectual property to protect enterprise copyrights, restrict the distribution of sensitive data, and control what can be done with a document by users who have been granted access.

This feature is called Information Rights Management (IRM), and it's supported by Word 2003, Excel 2003, PowerPoint 2003, and Outlook 2003 in Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003. When you create a Word document, for example, you can specify exactly who can view it, restrict users from redistributing it, and even set a date on which their access will expire. In this article, we look at how rights management works in Office 2003 and how you can put it to use in your organization.

Add-on for Internet Explorer

Microsoft also plans to provide a free add-on component for Internet Explorer that can be used to view IRM-protected documents (with rights intact) by those who aren't running Office 2003. This means your decision to use rights management protection doesn't depend on whether users have Office 2003 installed.

How IRM works

IRM is the Office 2003 component of a larger technology called Windows Rights Management (RM), which is implemented through the Rights Management Services installed on a Windows Server 2003 server. Thus, IRM doesn't work as a stand-alone feature; you need a server running RMS to use it (however, the RMS server doesn't have to be on your own network; you can use the service provided by Microsoft). This allows home and small office users of Office 2003 to benefit from some of the IRM features, but it doesn't provide the full control and functionality of having your own in-house RMS server.

You might be wondering how rights management improves on the access controls already available in Windows. After all, with modern versions of Windows and Office, you can already restrict access to your documents in a number of ways. You can restrict access:

• By setting share permissions on documents shared across the network.
• By setting NTFS permissions to protect documents accessed both locally and remotely.
• By encrypting documents stored on the disk via the Encrypting File System (EFS).
• By password-protecting your documents with Office's Security function.

The problem with all these methods is that they are, in essence, all or nothing solutions. Although you can use share and NTFS permissions to prevent someone from modifying the original document, there is nothing to prevent that person from saving it as a new document or copying its contents and redistributing it to others. This can be a major problem when you need to give access but also need to ensure that the material doesn't go any further than those to whom you specifically grant that access.

IRM gives you a way to protect e-mail messages, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, making it much more difficult for the recipient to pass them on. (Of course, someone who's determined enough could always use innovative methods such as capturing or even photographing the screen, but this would provide a graphic representation and not an electronic document.)

RMS uses digital certificates to validate the identities of users. The certificates are issued by the RMS server based on either Windows authentication (for in-house RMS servers) or Passport account authentication (for Microsoft's trial RMS service). The Rights Management Service is an ASP.NET Web service that uses the Extensible Rights Markup Language (XrML). Rights management protection works at the file level, so that even when the file goes outside the organization or network, the protection is still built into the file itself.

One of the benefits of having an in-house RMS server is the ability to create templates based on your permissions policies so that you can define a particular permissions configuration to apply to groups of documents.

Using IRM to protect your documents

You can't just begin using IRM immediately. There are several preliminary steps you must take to deploy the technology. First, if you're deploying rights side effects cialis management within the organization, you'll need to set up and activate a Windows Server 2003 RMS server and then install the RM Update on the client machines running Office 2003. Because IRM is certificate-based, users must obtain a certificate from the RMS server.

After the infrastructure is in place, using IRM is easy. We'll use Microsoft Word in our examples, but remember that you can also protect other Office documents (and e-mail messages). In fact, we expect that a common use for IRM will be allowing others to view your PowerPoint presentations without the fear that they will copy or redistribute them.

If you want to restrict certain people from accessing a Word 2003 document using IRM, start by clicking File | Permission or click the Permission button on the toolbar, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

Click Permission on the File menu to restrict access using IRM.

This will open a Select User dialog box, as shown in Figure B. If you have no RMS server deployed and you have a Passport account, your account name will appear here.

Figure B

Select a user account (validated by the internal RMS server or a Passport account for the Microsoft trial service).

Figure C

Click Yes to install the Rights Management client (msDRMClient.msi).

Figure D

You can sign up to use Microsoft's IRM service if you don't have an RMS server.

Figure E

To receive an RM certificate from the Microsoft service, you must specify your Passport e-mail address.

Select the certificate type, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

You'll be prompted to select either a Standard or Temporary RM certificate.

When an RM certificate has been created and successfully downloaded to the computer, you'll receive notification that the wizard is complete, as shown in Figure G.

Figure G

When the certificate has been downloaded, click Finish to complete the wizard.

When you have an RM certificate installed on your machine, you can use rights management to protect documents and view protected documents.

Now when you click the Permission option in the File menu and select Restrict Permission As, you can select your account (for which you just downloaded an RM certificate) in the Select User box to create or open content. After you do, the Permission dialog box will be displayed, and you can enter the e-mail addresses of any users to whom you want to give Read or Change permission, as shown in Figure H. Typing the first few letters of the address will provide you with choices from your address book.

Figure H

You can select users to whom you want to give Read or Change permission, or click the More Options button.

Clicking the More Options button will allow you to set additional permissions for the selected users, such as:

• Permission to print the content.
• Permission to copy the content.
• Permission to access the content programmatically.

You can also set an expiration date, after which the user will not be able to access the document. In addition, you can choose to allow users who don't have Office 2003 to use their Web browser (IE with the information rights add-on) to read the document. Figure I shows these choices.

Figure I

You can set additional permissions after selecting More Options.

The permissions you've set on the document will now appear in the Shared Workspace task pane at the right of the document, as shown in Figure J.

Figure J

The permissions information appears in the Shared Workspace task pane, which automatically opens to the right of the document.

Reading IRM-protected documents

If a user tries to open an IRM-protected document in an earlier version of Word, he or she will see a notification that permission is restricted, as shown in Figure K. Note that the user will be able to see the document title.

Figure K

A user will not be able to open the document in an earlier version of Word.

Users will be notified of restrictions

Attempts to open the protected document in any other program (NotePad, IE without the Rights Management add-on installed, etc.) will result in the same notification that permission is restricted.

To open the document in Office 2003, the user might need to install the updated Rights Management client, create a Passport account, and download an RM certificate if these haven't been done previously. The first time the user tries to open the file, a dialog box might appear stating that Office must connect to the RMS server to verify the user's information, as shown in Figure L.

Figure L

Office needs to connect to the RMS server to verify the user's identity.

The user will be able to do with the document whatever you specified when you set permission. For example, if you gave the user Read permission, the user can view the document. But if the user tries to save the document, the Save, Save As, and Save As Web Page options will be grayed out, as shown in Figure M. Likewise, all options in the Send To menu are grayed out so that the user cannot forward the document to a mail or routing recipient, Exchange folder, or other location.

Figure M

A user with Read permission will not be able to save the document.

The IE Rights Management add-on

If a user tries to open an IRM-protected document and does not have Office 2003 installed, the user will be directed to the Internet Explorer Web site for the Rights Management add-on.

Download the add-on

You can download the add-on from Microsoft's IE Web site. This is beta software that expires Nov. 1, 2003. The final version is expected to be released later in 2003.
The same restrictions are enforced when the user opens a protected document with IE as when he or she uses Office 2003 applications. The currently available beta of the Rights Management add-on can only be installed on IE 6.0 running on Windows 2000 or Windows XP. The Rights Management client software must also be installed. Note that IE with the add-on is used only to view IRM-protected documents; it cannot be used to protect documents.

Built-in rights management

Protecting digital content has become increasingly important in today's business environment. Previously, protecting one's intellectual property required special programming skills or the use of specific third-party software. Now, rights management is built into the next version of Microsoft Office and can be used to restrict others from misusing the content without completely denying them access.

The rights management feature in Office promises to solve many of the problems associated with safeguarding the rights of intellectual property owners/creators and providing better security than ever for sensitive information.

Do you have an e-mail in MS Outlook you know you need to reply to, but you just don't have the time right now?

I know you hate to just leave the e-mail sitting there though, because let's face it, there's a very good chance you'll completely forget about it.

So, what can you do to ensure you address the situation on time?

Well, I can think of a couple of things. First, you could set up an appointment for the message.

Yep, that's right, I said appointment. You can turn that e-mail into an appointment so that Outlook reminds you to take care of the situation before it's too late.

To create an appointment for your message, simply drag and drop it into the Calendar section on the Outlook Bar (or drag it to the Calendar folder).

A new appointment will open up with the body of the message already there. Next, simply complete your normal steps for setting up appointments (don't forget to set enough reminder time for yourself to get the job done) and hit the Close and Save button.

With the appointment set, you'll be reminded to handle the message just like you're reminded about any other appointment you create.

A second way to get Outlook to give you a helping hand when it comes to that message you just can't forget is to use message flags.

To flag a message, select it and right click.

In older versions of MS Outlook, you'll see this:

From the menu that opens, choose Follow Up.

The Flag for Follow Up dialogue window will then open, allowing you to set up some basic information.

When you've set everything to your liking, click OK.

Now, for those of you working with Outlook 2007, here's what you'll find.

When you right click on the message, you'll find that the Follow Up choice opens as a submenu.

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You can quickly pick one of the Quick Flag times offered or choose Add Reminder, which will open the following dialogue window:

Set your preferences and click OK.

Outlook will remind you about this item if the flag has not been cleared by the due date/time you set. (That's right, this option isn't a reminder before the time you set, rather it actually lets you know right after the time it was due).

When a message has a Follow Up Flag, there's a red flag displayed with the message (in Outlook 2007, instead of a red flag, you'll see the text "Follow Up") as a visual reminder that the e-mail requires your attention.

Once you've completed the job, right click on the message again and choose Flag Complete or Mark Complete (depending on your version of Outlook).

To remove a Follow Up Flag, completely right click on the message and choose Clear Flag from the menu.

There you have it! Two ways you can deal with an e-mail message later on, without it slipping your mind. Yep, Outlook's got you covered!

I get a ton of e-mails asking for Web sites with desktop wallpaper that features the current month’s calendar. Well, I’ve gone one step further and I’ve found a site that offers a free download of a desktop calendar that is very customizable!

I have to tell you, I’m already in love with it! Not only can you have a moveable calendar on your desktop, but you can set up to-do lists and keep track of important upcoming events.

To download it, go to Downloads and select Rainlendar from the drop down menu. Or, you can just click into the section and download it from there. It is available for Windows (2000 and higher) and Linux. They even provide installation instructions.

You may have noticed on the drop down menu for Downloads that there was a listing for Skins. With those, you can customize your calendar even more by making it look the way you like it. I’m just using the default option, because I think it’s pretty sleek, but there are 26 pages of skins to go through, so if you decide to go that route, you have plenty to choose from.

If you run into a snag, try checking out the F.A.Q. section. There were a lot of really great questions answered there, but if you don’t find what you're looking for, you can also hit the forum and try asking there.

Basically, I installed the Rainlendar, double clicked its icon to start it and the calendar instantly appeared on my screen. Just drag the calendar where you want to put it on your desktop with your mouse.

To create a new event, just right click the calendar and choose New Event. That will open the event window where you can title your events, set the date and time and even set up an alarm so that you don’t forget to do something!

To make an entry on the To-Do list, right click the calendar and select New Task. Then just fill out the title. Also, in the large text list, you can put a listing or description of what all needs to be done. You can then mouse over that event on the To-Do list and it will bring up the details for you.

I hope you all love this Web site as much as I already do!

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Do you use MS Outlook primarily for something other than e-mail? Is your routine to boot up your computer, open up Outlook and immediately switch from your Inbox to the Calendar or maybe the Tasks section?

Wouldn't it be nice to bypass the Inbox and have Outlook start up in the place you use the most?

Yeah, me too! So, after a reader's question came in, I did some research and it seems as if we can take control of Outlook and choose which function appears at the startup.

Interested in the how-to?

Good. Then let's get started!

With Outlook running, you'll need to go to the Tools menu, Options choice.

When the Options window opens, you're looking for the Other tab, General section, Advanced Options button.

When you get to the Advanced Options window, at the very top (in the General Settings section), you'll see a field labeled as "Startup in this folder."

In older versions of Outlook, you'll find a down arrow to the right of the field, which will open a list of choices.

Use the drop down list to choose which Outlook function you want the program to open up to and then click OK.

In Outlook low cost cialis 2007, you'll find a Browse button. Go ahead and click it. A dialogue window will then open, called "Select Folder."

Choose your preferred starting location and click OK. Next, click OK again to exit the Advanced Options window.

In any program, you'll need to click OK again in the Options window.

Now, just to test it out, close Outlook and restart it again.

Voila!

Outlook should open to the spot you have chosen. No more wasting time waiting for something else to load, when you didn't even want to go there in the first place!