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Windows: Guide for Aging Computer Users
Do you have difficulty seeing things on the screen, have difficulty hearing or have difficulty using the keyboard or mouse? Learn to ease computer use and take advantage of large desktop icons, high contrast schemes, size and color of the mouse cursor, the magnifier and more. The Ease of Access Center is a centralized place for accessibility settings and programs.
Windows 7 / Vista: Browse and navigate to folders quickly and easily
Did you know that the address bar in Windows 7 and Vista’s Windows Explorer serves as a file path and a navigational tool? You can get to any folder along the file path by clicking on the folder name along the address bar. In addition, pop-up menu options are also available when you click on the drop-down arrow beside any folder name in the file path to view a list of subfolders you can navigate into.
Searching in Windows Vista / 7: Find whatever you need, when you need it with Instant Search
You need to find information in a document you recently reviewed, but don't recall the file name or the location where you saved the file. Or, perhaps that information was actually in an e-mail message or need to search more information about it on the web. Windows Vista Instant Search doesn't care where your information is. Instant Search finds almost anything you seek. It provides you with a new approach to accessing programs, documents, accessories, e-mail, and system tools on your computer—plus searching the Internet.
The Snipping Tool in Windows 7 / Vista
Before Windows Vista, if you wanted a screen shot you had to use the print screen key on your keyboard and pasting the screen shot into a graphics program and save it. With Windows Vista, Microsoft has included a utility called the Snipping Tool to make capturing screen shots easier.
Is your Internet Explorer not displaying certain web pages properly?
You accessed a website using Microsoft Internet Explorer when you get an error stating “JavaScript is disabled on your browser” or received a pop-up security alert warning stating that “Your current security setting do not allow this file to be downloaded.” You were able to access this website before and it is critical for you to access this resource. What’s going on and what can you do about it?
Closing applications with a keystroke
In Windows 7/ Vista / XP, you can close your browser window by pressing Ctrl+W. The window closes immediately. You can also use this keystroke combination to close Windows Explorer and My Computer windows. To quickly close applications, use the Alt+F4 keystroke combination. Note: please be sure to save your work before using these keystroke combinations.
New Sort and Filter Options
Like most computer users, we often save a tremendous number of files in a single location. Windows Vista and Windows 7 have new tools and features to help you organize and locate folder content easily. One of them is the sort and filter option available to any folder.
When you open a folder in Windows Explorer, hover your mouse to any column heading (such as Name or Date modified) and you'll see a drop-down arrow to the right of the column name. Click that arrow for a pop-up menu of options including the ability to sort, filter, group and stack files / folders.
10 Tips to drive around your Windows computer
It is always great to find ways that help you get to the files and/or folders you are working on as quickly as possible. Here are a few time-saving tricks to help you navigate around your Windows computer more efficiently:
Embedding Fonts in Microsoft Word Documents in Windows
The fonts you use in a document determine how that document appears when viewed or printed. If you share your documents with others and they don't have the same fonts on their system, Microsoft Word will substitute your font with another. This affects the layout and formatting of the document, so the number of pages might not be the same as the original and line and page breaks will not be where you intended them to be. The worst thing that could happen is that your text may be unreadable with symbols and boxes substituting characters.
