We all have our favorite smart device apps. This would include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Reddit and others. What happens when you turn off your device, power off or shutdown? These apps are still active and readily available when your device is turned back on.
These apps offer you convenient access by keeping you logged in. When you log into a financial institution, say Bank of America or Morgan Stanley, you are logged out within two minutes of no activity.
Our favorite apps should do the same. By staying logged in, the apps are more subjective to hacks by others.
Of course, by logging out, means you have to reenter a UserID, Password and Passcode, if using Two Factor Authentication, to gain access. And that can be a pain but it’s worth it.
If you are selling or disposing a smart device, you should log out all apps. Also, you may consider erasing all data and/or resetting your device. Only do this if you no longer need the device.
I would like the app industry to follow the same logging out protocol as financial entities. What do you think? Please take the one question survey.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
I ran across this neat feature of Microsoft PowerPoint that I want to share with you. As a presenter, you are in control of what is being displayed. Instead of presenting all your bullet points at once lets dim there appearance one at a time. The “dim text” feature allows the audience to focus on one topic. For my example I am using a single slide with five bullet points.
This is for PowerPoint for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of PowerPoint will be similar.
Launch PowerPoint
Open PowerPoint on your Desktop/Laptop or Mac
Find a slide that contains bullet points or text you want to dim. See my example below:
PowerPoint Slide Bullet Points screen
Highlight a bullet point or text
Select the Animations tab and choose the Appear animation
Set Animations
The animation will be successfully applied if you see a number next to the bullet point or slide.
Repeat the above steps until you have applied an animation to each bullet point or text. Refer to the following image:
PowerPoint Slide with Animation applied screen
Select all the Animations by using the “Ctrl” key and clicking on each animation.
Select the arrow next to the right side of the animation
PowerPoint Animations screen
Set Effects
Select Effect Options. See following image:
PowerPoint Effects screen
Change Behavior for Dimming
We are going to change the behavior of the default Don’t Dim option by clicking the arrow next to the item (a drop down box selection) and select a color slightly different than your bullet points or text. You want your color selected to be visible to the audience. For my example, I selected a light red color:
PowerPoint Color Selection for Animation screen
Click OK
Test Your Slide
Now its time to test out your slide. You should see something like the following screen as you manually or automatically select each bullet point.
PowerPoint using the Dim Feature
This is a nifty feature for your next text presentation. Save your slide or presentation, you are finished.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Do you want to protect your Microsoft Excel workbook or a sheet in your workbook? If so, this blog post is for you. We are going to password protect a workbook, protect a sheet in a workbook and the Excel file itself.
This is for Excel for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Excel will be similar.
Protect a Workbook
I recommend you start with a blank Excel workbook, just in case you forget a password. To assign a password to an Excel workbook, do the following:
Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose. See my workbook below :
Select File>Save As
Select More options (underneath Excel Workbook drop down box)
Select the Tools drop down box
Chose General Options
Set the Password(s)
You will see notice two password boxes, one to open the workbook and one to modify the workbook
Enter one or both passwords. Make sure you write down these passwords and store them in a safe place.
You have two other options to set if you chose, Always create backup and Enable Read-only recommended. The first is self explanatory. The second option is an extra layer of protection by enabling the workbook to read-only status upon opening.
Confirm your password(s) by reentering the password(s)
Click OK
Click Save
Close or Exit Excel
Note! A user who doesn’t know the second password can open and view the data by clicking the Read Only option. This user can still modify the data, but they are unable to save their changes to the protected workbook. However, the user can save the workbook under a new name, which circumvents the protection process. Of course, password-cracking software will get you into the workbook.
Protect a Sheet
Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose.
Select the Review tab
Click the Protect icon
Click Protect Sheet icon. Refer to following image:
Enter your password in the Password to unprotect sheet box
Click OK
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again
Click OK
Save your changes
Close or Exit Excel
Tip! To remove a password, click Protect>Unprotect Sheet and enter your password. You can also select Protect Workbook icon to protect a workbook which follows.
Protect Excel Structure
Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose.
Select the Review tab
Click the Protect icon
Click Protect Workbook icon. Refer to the following image:
Select the Windows option if you want to prevent users from moving, resizing, or closing the workbook window or hide/unhide windows
Enter your password
Click OK
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again
Click OK
Save your changes
Close or Exit Excel
Protect the Excel File
To prevent users from accessing the data in your Excel file, we are going to protect the file with a password
Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose.
Select File>Info. Refer to my image below:
Click Protect Workbook icon
Chose Encrypt with Password option
Enter a password in the Encrypt Document dialog box
Click OK
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again
Save your changes
Close or Exit Excel
Be cautious when sharing files or passwords with other users. You still run the risk of passwords falling into the hands of unintended users. Remember to write down your passwords and store them in a safe place.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Drop down lists are used to select specific data, in our example, a list of Salutations. If the user tries to enter a Salutation that is not in the list, Excel rejects the entry.
I am using a simple drop down list in an Excel sheet. This feature is not well known nor initiative.
Salutations was a BIG DEAL for a religious organization that I worked for as a Consultant. The company had a donor base of 25,000+ names/addresses. (Of course, I was using a database, not Excel, to manage the data.) If the Salutation was incorrect on a donor letter, some donors refused to give monies for the company projects. For example, do you address them as Mr. and Mrs. or Dr. and Mrs. or Mr. and Dr.? Some donors wanted no Salutation. I spent a lot time getting the Salutations correct.
This is for Excel for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Excel will be similar.
Setting Up the Excel Sheet
Enter the headings in Row 1 (Optional)
Create a list of cells E2:E5. Alternatively, you could put the list in another sheet.
Select the empty cell A2. (You can position the drop down list in most any cell or even multiple cells.)
Setting up Excel for a drop down list
Using Data Validation
Select the Data tab
Select Data Validation
Choose List from the Allow options drop down list
Click the Source control and drag to highlight cells E2:E5. Alternatively, you could enter the cell reference $E$2:$E$5 or use a sheet and cell reference if your list is in another sheet.
Ensure that the In Cell dropdown option is checked. If you leave this unchecked, Excel forces users to enter only the list values, but it won’t present a drop down list. The users would have to guess the values; not a good idea!
See the following screenshot:
Entering the Allow and Source option
Click OK
You can add the drop down list to multiple cells. Select the range of data input cells instead of a single cell. Also, you can select noncontinuous cells by holding down the Shift key while you click the appropriate cells.
You can copy and paste this drop down cell to any other cells in your sheet.
Below is a screenshot where Mr. was selected as a Salutation for cell A2:
Excel drop down list selection
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Google Chrome is adding a new feature for controlling media within your Chrome browse on a desktop or laptop. Instead of trying to figure out where the video/sound is coming from, you can hear and/or see it in your Chrome browser. The update is rolling out gradually and is for Chrome version 79+. Instead of waiting for the update you can always go to the flags menu (see below) and manually trigger the new media playback controls.
This is for any device that uses Google Chrome.
Check Chrome Version
First, let’s check what version of Chrome you have; just follow these steps:
Click on the Menu icon in the upper right corner of the screen, the one with 3 dots
Click on Help
Click on About Google Chrome
Your Chrome browser version number is displayed like the example below:
Chrome version screen
Close Chrome
Update Chrome
If you have a lower a version than 79, let’s try to update by doing the following:
Open Chrome
Click on Menu icon in the upper right corner of the screen, the one with the 3 dots
Click UpdateGoogle Chrome. Note! If you don’t see this button, you’re on the latest version.
Close Chrome
Setup Media Control
Open Chrome
Type in chrome://flags as the URL like the screenshot below:
Chrome URL for flags
Type in Global Media Controls as your Search, like the example below:
Click on the Default drop down box and select Enabled
Click the Relaunch button in the lower right of the screen
Type in chrome://flags as the URL
Type in Global Media Controls as your Search
Your screen should show the Global Media Controls Enabled like the screen below:
Close Chrome
After a browser restart, a Play button should show up whenever you have media playing.
If you don’t see the option, head to YouTube and play a video. A Play button should show up next to the address bar. Clicking on it will display the media content like title, source of the content, the play/pause and skip buttons. This feature works for lots of websites to include Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Dailymotion and Microsoft.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Just how big can a Microsoft Word document be? The short answer, it depends. The amount of text, photos, images and videos content determines the document size. Also, your computer system resources plays a part.
The maximum file size of an “all text” document in Microsoft Word 2007 or later is 32 MB. If you add photos, images or videos, the maximum file size jumps to 512 MB or a half of a gigabyte. Although Word can handle a very large file, it becomes more unmanageable as you approach the 512 MB limit.
Older file formats use the “.doc” file extension while the newer versions, Word 2007 and above, use the “.docx” extension.
This is for Word for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Word will be similar.
If you are working with the old format, “.doc” extension, you can covert the file to the newer format as follows:
Open Microsoft Word
Locate the file with a “.doc” extension
Click on File>Save As
From the drop down box, select Word Document (*.docx)
Click Save
Check Your Word Document File Size
There are several ways to check the size of your document. One way is as follows:
Open File Explorer
Locate the folder where the document resides
Click on View>Details
You will see the Size column denoting the file size
A second way is very similar.
Open File Explorer
Locate the file
Right click on the file name
Click on Properties
OR
Open File Explorer
Locate the file
Click Home on the main menu
Click Properties
Click Properties from the sub menu
A third way is from the Word document itself as follows:
Either using Word to locate and open the document or using File Explorer to locate the file; then double click to open
From the main menu, click on File>Info
Under Properties is the Size of the document
Your screen should look like the below image:
File Info screenshot
File Info Properties
Document properties, also known as metadata, are details about a file that describe or identify it. They include details such as title, author name, subject and keywords that identify the document’s topic or contents. You can use these keywords for searching Word documents. For example, in Word, you can use the Keywords property (also called Tags) to add the keyword “customers” to your sales documents. You can then search for all sales documents with that keyword.
Some entries can be changed. At the bottom of the File Info screen is the Show All Properties. Click on this to see more detail about your document. The grayed out options are the ones you can update.
Other properties are automatically updated. You can also search for these entries. For example, you can search for all files created after January 1, 2020, or for all files that were last changed yesterday.
A Personal Observation
I have an autobiography Word document that is 356 pages with 375 photos and images. The file size is only 83.6 MB (see above image). You should be able to manage a Word document with 1400 pages and 1400 images/photos and still not reach the 500 MB limit. Currently, I have no videos in the document. If I did, that would drastically increase the file size.
How to Reduce the Size of your Word Document
One way would be to split the document into two Word files. Of course, this would result in two Table of Contents, Bibliographies, etc. This may not be the right choice.
Another way is to compress the size of your images/photos. First, you should covert a “.doc” file extension document into the new “.docx” format as mentioned in this post.
To compress your images/photos, do the following:
Make a backup copy of your original Word document. Although you are using the Save As option to Save the file with a new file name, I prefer working with a backup copy.
Open your backup Word document
Click on File>Save As>More Options at the top of the screen
A screenshot is below:
More Options screenshot
In the Save As dialog box, click Tools>Compress Pictures at the bottom of the screen
In the latest version of Word, you are presented with four Options as shown below:
Photos compression options
For the smallest possible size:
Click “Email (96 ppi) …“
Click OK
Click Save
This option will result in the poorest image quality. All your images/photos will be automatically compressed. Choosing any other option will result in a larger Word document.
Take a look at the results of your compressed document. Do you like the results? If not, then repeat the above steps with another backup copy of your document.
Once you are satisfied, then rename the compressed document back to the original file (overwrite the original file) or rename to a different file name.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Along with using the program Belarc Adivsor for a software inventory of your PC; there are two programs I recommend for a hardware inventory.
One is the freeware program called PC Audit; a system, hardware and software information tool. It extracts details of all components of the PC, shows installed software with version and product key. The free PC Auditdoes not require installation and can be used as a portable application. It can be run from a removable storage device such as a CD-ROM drive, USB flash drive or flash card.
This professional tool is designed to collect and present the maximum amount of information possible about your computer’s hardware and software which makes them suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufacturers, system integrators and technical experts as well.
The program is compatible with: from Windows NT up to Windows 10 and the Mac
Just click here to download PC Audit. Then click the Free Download button. You can either save the executable file to your download folder or just click the executable file (located in the lower left hand corner of your browser) to run. The program will present your machine’s hardware as shown below:
PC Audit Snapshot
In my limited research, I only found a trial network version for a hardware inventory of a Mac. You can check it out here.
The other program is also a free program called Speccy. (Their is a Pro version available for a price.) Speccy is the place to start if you need to know what’s inside your PC. See a quick summary, or dive deeper into every aspect of your PCs hardware so you can make informed upgrade and purchasing decisions.
Speccy gives you detailed information on every piece of hardware in your computer. Save time trawling through your computer for stats like CPU, motherboard, RAM, graphics cards and more. See everything laid out for you in one clean interface.
Speccy allows you to save your scan results directly as a snapshot, XML or text file for easy sharing. Handy for making sure your new computer has the right specs, or if tech support need to diagnose an issue with your computer.
My favorite of these two programs is Speccy. The program is from the same company that makes CCleaner discussed in an earlier post.
System requirements:
Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista and XP. Including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, but not RT tablet editions.
Installation
Click here to download Speccy; then click on the Download Free Version button. The screen will scroll to the bottom. Just click on the Free Download button. Finally, click on the Download button for the free version. They go through all these hoops in an attempt to get you to buy the Pro version.
To install, click on the executable file in the lower left hand of your browser and follow the install instructions. A shortcut will be installed on your desktop. Once installed, click on Run Speccy button as shown below:
Speccy Run screen
Viewing Speccy Results
Below is an actual screenshot of my Dell XPS hardware:
Speccy snapshot of my PC
From the Main Menu, click on File for loading, saving, publishing, etc a snapshot of your results. You can save the results to a XML or text file.
Just click on the various menu options to expand that section. Check on the CPU option to see how “Hot” your PC is running or the RAM option to see what brand and type of memory modules are installed. You may want to upgrade or add more RAM. The items in blue and the little blue arrows are expandable; just click on them to see more or less detail.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment about using these programs. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Many years ago I ran across this funny name program called Belarc Advisor. As an IT consultant, this program helped me a lot in ascertaining what hardware and software was installed on a machine.
The Belarc Advisor program is a free download licensed for personal use at home or work on a standalone machine. (Their is a network version for a price.) The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, local network inventory, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, security benchmarks and displays the results in a Web browser. Sorry, their is no free Mac version but you can find alternatives, just click here.
Belarc Advisor excels at providing those hard to find product keys or serial numbers for your installed programs.
Belarc products are used world wide in over 50 million computers. All of the profile information is kept private on your computer and is not sent to any web server. Some requirements are as follows:
Operating Systems: Runs on Windows 10, 2016, 8.1, 2012 R2, 8, 2012, 7, 2008 R2, Vista, 2008, 2003 SP2, XP SP3. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows are supported. Their commercial products also run on all other versions of Windows and on the Macintosh OS X, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.
Browsers: Runs on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and many others.
Either save the installer executable file to your download folder and run from there or click the file located in the lower left hand corner to install.
You may get a popup dialog box about Windows is protecting your PC. If so, click on the More Info link then click Run anyway.
Follow the install instructions.
Click Yes to check for new Advisor definitions. When finished, click OK.
Advisor will now build a profile of your machine and check your local network.
A profile will be presented in your browser as noted in below screenshot:
Partial snapshot of my Dell XPS machine using Belarc Advisor
Your Machine Profile Results
In the upper left hand corner is a menu for the sections of the profile. Just click on one or scroll.
Under the section Software Versions and Usage, you can click on the “i” for details.
Your product keys are in the Software Licenses section. These are the ones the program was able to find.
Pay attention to the Virus Protection, Missing Security Updates and Installed Microsoft Hotfixes sections to see if your machine is up-to-date.
Since the profile is presented in your browser, you can right click anywhere and select Print to print the results.
You may be surprised at all the hardware and software installed on your machine.
My next post will deal with a detailed hardware inventory. Belarc Advisor is mainly for a listing of your installed software.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment about using Belarc Advisor. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
This is the first post in a series on “cleaning” your machine. The instructions are for a PC using the program CCleaner. There is a Mac version of CCleaner.
Your desktop and/or laptop needs a regular cleaning, like washing your car. When your system crashes, programs crash, your Internet browser fails to work properly, you perform lots of searches on the Internet; these issues leave junk files and traces of information on your Solid State Device (SSD) or hard drive(s). The more of these situations you experience, the slower your PC.
CCleaner can delete temporary files for Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Firefox. Some of the major options are built into Windows 10 latest update; you just have to find them. Some experts say that CCleaner is no longer needed. But I still find it useful. The details on how to use Windows 10 features similar to CCleaner will be available in a later post.
This tip explains how to get rid of these Junk files. You can do this manually or setup a schedule (Professional version only). I recommend you run this program for your PC desktop and/or laptop at least once a month.
The basic steps are to install the CCleaner program. The program is free or you can upgrade to a professional version for a price. Once installed (you only have to do this once), you can let the program Analyze your PC. Then you can Clean your machine.
I have used this program in many countries on all types of PCs. CCleaner has been in existence since 2004. By running this program at least once a month, your PC will be faster and smoother.
This is for Windows based operating systems
Install the program CCleaner (you only have to do this once).
Scroll down till you see the Download button (this is the Free version)
Click on Download
Follow the download instructions. Below is an image of what to expect:
CCleaner download
On your initial install you can immediately run the program. You are doing the Easy Clean option of CCleaner.
After downloading, click the Install button
Click the Run CCleaner button
Click the Start button
CCleaner may want you to close some programs. If so, click on the Close All button
The program analyzes your machine and presents you with the following screen:
CCleaner analyze
Do not be surprised if you see tens of thousands of Junk files.
Now you are ready to click the Clean All button. When the program has finished you will be presented with the following screen:
CCleaner results
Now close CCleaner and restart your machine.
That’s it. You are done! CCleaner will add a shortcut to your desktop.
There are other options available:
Custom Clean for a more robust cleaning by changing the settings. I do not recommend changing any of these settings. If you do change them, they will remain set for subsequent runs of CCleaner or until you download a new version.
Registry allows you to find and fix Registry issues (always backup the registry first). I do not recommend you use this feature.
Tools has many sub options. The most useful for me is the Uninstall option which allows you to uninstall a program. If you highlight and right-click on a program name, you are presented with other options. I recommend only using the Uninstall option or click on the Uninstall button.
Options has many sub options as well. Sadly the Scheduling option is only available in the Professional version. I use none of these options.
Upgrade option is for updating the Free version to the Professional version.
On any screen you can Check for Updates. Just click to check.
My next post with be a will cover the topic of disk fragmentation; how to check and resolve the issue.
I Would Like to Hear from You
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Tech Savvy Life 