- Date: November 19th, 2008
- Author: Greg Shultz
If you have created a favorite desktop theme and you work on more than one Microsoft Windows XP computer, you may have considered recreating that theme on your other computers. However, manually recreating the desktop theme can be a tricky and time-consuming operation. Here’s how you can easily copy your favorite desktop theme from one Windows XP computer to another.
This blog post is also available in PDF format in a TechRepublic download.
Steps
On the computer containing your favorite desktop theme, right-click the desktop and select Properties. On the Themes tab, with your theme selected, click the Save As button and save the file to the My Documents folder (or folder of your choice).- Launch Windows Explorer and access the My Documents folder.
- Look for files with the .theme extension, locate your file, and copy it to a floppy disk or USB thumb drive.
- Go to the other computer on which you would like to have your favorite desktop theme and copy the .theme file to My Documents.
- Right-click the desktop and select Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box.
- On the Themes tab, click the Theme drop-down list and select Browse.
- In the Open Theme dialog box, access the My Documents folder, locate discount cialis your theme file, and double-click it.
- Click OK to load the new theme and close the Display Properties dialog box.
- While Windows XP loads the desktop theme, you’ll see a Please Wait message in the middle of the screen. Your current desktop colors will fade to gray while the new settings are applied.
There is one caveat to this approach — if part of your theme involves wallpaper you created or other graphical elements unique to that particular PC, those elements will have to be copied over along with the .theme file.
Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.
- Date: November 17th, 2008
- Author: Susan Harkins
Your e-mail signature says a lot about you. If text doesn’t get the job done, add a graphic, or an electronic business card. Fortunately, it’s easy to add a graphic daily dose cialis to your signature, even though the process isn’t exactly intuitive. To add a signature, complete the following steps:
- In E-mail view, choose Mail Message from the New button or press [Ctrl]+N to open a blank mail window.
- Enter your signature’s text. Try to limit your signature to essential information. A signature should be only a line or two.
- Position the cursor where you want to insert a graphic.
- Choose Picture from the Insert menu, locate and select the file, and then click Insert. In Outlook 2007, click the Insert tab and choose the appropriate command from the Illustrations group. The file must be one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, or PNG. TIFF and BMP files are too large to include in the signature line.
- Press [Ctrl]+A to select the entire signature and the graphic.
- Press [Ctrl]+C to copy the signature to the Clipboard.
- Choose Options from the Tools menu on the main menu.
- Click the Mail Format tab.
- Click Signatures in the Signatures section.
- Click New.
- Name the signature and click Next. (Outlook 2007 groups the options together, so there’s no need to click Next.)
- Click inside the Edit Signature control and press [Ctrl]+V to paste the signature from the Clipboard. (If you’re using Outlook 2007, be sure to select the signature by name from the New Messages control.)
- Click OK twice. On the Mail Format tab, choose the signature from the Signature For New Messages drop-down list in the Signatures section.
- Click OK.
When creating a new message, Outlook will automatically include the signature, including the graphic you added.
- Date: November 18th, 2008
- Author: Mary Ann Richardson
Bullets and numbers that are out of proportion to your slide text can be distracting and ugly. This simple trick will ensure that those characters are sized just right.
Do your bullets and numbers overpower the text on your PowerPoint slides? Or are they so small you can hardly see them from the back of the room? You don’t have to settle for characters that distract from your message. For example, suppose too large numbers distract from the text as shown in Figure A.
Figure A
To daily cialis improve their appearance, just follow these steps:
- Select the numbered text.
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In PowerPoint 2002/2003, go to Format | Bullets And Numbering. In PowerPoint 2007, choose Bullets And Numbering from the Bullets And Numbering drop-down list on the Home tab.
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Click the Numbered tab.
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In the Size box, click the down arrow until 80 is displayed, as shown in Figure B, and then click OK.
Figure B
The numbers will now be 80% the size of the surrounding text, as shown in Figure C.
Figure C
- Date: November 18th, 2008
- Author: Mary Ann Richardson
If you repeatedly type the same text in the same field, you’re working too hard. See how to set up a combo box that will speed data entry and spare you a TON of tedious typing.
Do you find yourself constantly typing the same data in the same field? For example, say you work with an Employee Data form, and you find that you’re typing the same three Zip codes repeatedly. Since most of your employees live near your company’s three offices, you seldom need to type any other codes. By converting the Zip code text box into a combo box, you’ll eliminate the retyping. Follow these steps:
- Open the form in Design view.
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Right-click the Zip/Postal Code text box.
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Move to Change To and click Combo Box (Figure A).
Figure A
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Right-click the Zip/Postal Code combo box.
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Click Properties (Figure B).
Figure B
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On the Data tab, click the Build button in the Row Source field (Figure C).
Figure C
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Add the Employees table.
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In the field list, double-click Zip/Postal Code.
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Click in the Criteria box under Zip/Postal Code and enter Is Not Null (Figure D).
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Close and save the query.
Figure D
Now you can simply select one of the three zip codes from the drop-down list in the combo box, as shown in Figure E.
Figure E
- Date: November 18th, 2008
- Author: Mary Ann Richardson
Creating printed forms can be a hassle if you can’t get those blank lines to cooperate. Learn one of the easiest and most versatile ways to set up your form: using underlined tabs.
Word users often create printed fill-in forms that include underlined blanks spaces for writing in form data. While you can press Shift + – (hyphen) repeatedly to create these daily cialis dose underlined spaces, it’s difficult to line up the lines. Leader tabs make it easier to create even lines, as well as saving keystrokes, but you’re limited to four underline styles.
Using the Underline button to underline tab characters gives you all the advantages of leader tabs with a wider choice of underline styles. For example, say you have used tabs to lay out your form, as shown in Figure A.
Figure A
To create the lines, just follow these steps.
- Click the Show/Hide button on the Standard toolbar so that you can see tab marks in your document. In Word 2007, click Show/Hide on the Home tab in the Paragraph group.
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Select the first tab mark you want to underline, then hold down the Ctrl key while you select each of other tab marks (Figure B).
Figure B
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Go to Format | Font, choose the thick underline style from the Underline drop-down list, and click OK. In Word 2007, go to the Home tab, click the Underline button arrow in the Font group, and select a style from the Underline style list (Figure C).
Figure C
All lines will be printed, as shown in Figure D.
Figure D
