Use the Keyboard to Copy a URL

A lot of you like to send URLs to your friends or save them to a file. You
can click the address bar in the browser and select the entire URL, but some
of them get awfully long and it makes drag selecting a real bummer. Try this
out:

  1.. Go to a Web page in Internet Explorer.
  2.. Press the F6 key on your keyboard. That will cause the entire URL to
be highlighted in the address bar.
  3.. Press the CTRL key and hold it down. Now press the letter C on the
keyboard (this is the CTRL+C keyboard combination). This copies the
highlighted text to the clipboard
  4.. Go to where you want to save the URL and hold down the CTRL key and
then press the V key (the CTRL+V keyboard combination). This pastes the URL
into the document.

Restoring Outlook "Special" Icon on the Desktop

A few of you have written in about the special characteristics of the
Outlook icon on the desktop. You've noticed that this icon isn't like the
other ones on your desktop and you're right. This icon actually takes you to
the program properties dialog boxes when you right click on them and click
the Properties command. Sometimes an errant program can wipe out these
special icons. Here's what you need to do to get them back:

  1.. Open the Registry Editor (regedt32) from the Run command.
  2.. Navigate to the following Registry key:
  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \
Explorer \ Desktop \ NameSpace
  3.. Once you're there, click the Edit menu, point to New and click Key.
  4.. Change the name of the key to (make sure you include the curly
brackets):
  {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
  5.. Close the Registry editor and right click on your desktop and click
Refresh. You should see the Outlook icon appear on your desktop again.

How to Restore Backed Up Outlook Express Message Files 

A couple of weeks ago I showed you how to back up your Outlook Express files. 
If you missed that issue, find it here. Once you have your files in a backup 
folder, you can copy that folder to a CD-R or a removable hard disk. The key 
is to put the folder in a safe place. When you're ready to copy those files 
to another installation of Outlook Express, just perform the following steps: 

1. Open the Windows Explorer and create a folder on the C: drive called MailFiles. 
2. Copy the .dbx and .wab files you backed up into the MailFiles folder you created 
   on the C: drive 
3. Open Outlook Express. Click on the Tools menu and then click the Options command. 
4. In the Options dialog box, click on the Maintenance tab. On the Maintenance tab, 
   click on the Store Folder button. 
5. The Store Location dialog box appears. Click the Change button in the Store 
   Location dialog box. 
6. The Browse for Folder dialog box appears. Make sure the C: drive is expanded and 
   then click on the MailFiles folder. Click OK, then click OK in the Store Location 
   dialog box. A dialog box appears asking you if you want to switch the store 
   location. Click Yes. Note that you need to switch your store as soon as you start 
   using the new Outlook Express, as the old message store will replace the current 
   one. Since you're starting with a new Outlook Express, you don't have to worry 
   about losing any messages. 
7. Click OK in the dialog box that tells you the store location won't be changed 
   until you restart Outlook Express. 
8. Click OK in the Options dialog box. 
9. Close Outlook Express and then open it again. You'll now see your old messages. 
10. Now let's get your address book back. In Outlook Express, click the File menu and 
    then point to Import. Click on the Address Book command. 
11. In the Select Address Book File to Import from dialog box, navigate to your 
    MailFiles folder and click on the .wab file in that folder. Click Open. Click OK 
    in the dialog box that tells you the import completed successfully. 

Now you have all your old messages and your complete address book! Make sure to 
back up your .dbx and .wab files on a regular basis and then copy them to a safe 
place. If you do, you'll never lose your important messages or contacts again! 

How to Backup Outlook Express Messages and Windows Address Book 

Your email messages are probably the most important data you keep on your computer. 
The worst computing disaster most people experience is the loss of their email. 
Here's some easy steps you can take to back up your messages and address book: 



1. Right click on the Desktop, point to New and then click Folder. Rename 
   the folder to My Backup Files. 
2. Click Start and then click Search. In the What do you want to search for? 
   balloon, click on the All files and folders arrow.
3. In the Look In box, click Local Hard Drives.
4. In the Named box, type *.dbx, and then click Search. When the search 
   is completed, you should see a list of all the files with the .dbx 
   file extension in the Search Results window.
5. Click the Edit menu and then click the Select All command.
6. Click the Edit menu and then click the Copy command.
7. On your desktop, double-click the My Backup Files folder.
8. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
9. Repeat steps 4 through 9, but this time search for files with the *.wab 
   file extension. Those files will be for the Windows Address Book.

Remove Outdated Entries in the Add/Remove Programs Applet 

Have you ever removed a program from your computer using the 
Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel only to find 
the entry for the program remains in the Control Panel? If so, 
you're not alone. If you try to remove the program again using 
the Add/Remove Programs applet, you get an error message. Ouch! 
Try this to remove this bogus entries from the list: 

1. Click Start and click the Run command. Type Regedit in the 
   Open text box and click OK.
2. Navigate to the following Registry key:
   HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
3. Expand the Uninstall node and you'll see the programs 
   installed on the computer. In that list will be the program 
   you uninstalled that's still hanging around in the Add/Remove 
   Programs applet. Click on the program's entry and press the 
   DELETE key. Confirm that you do want to delete the entry.
4. Restart the computer. Go into the Add/Remove Programs applet 
   the offending entry will be gone! 

Bullets In Spreadsheets

  To automatically apply a bullet to cells with a specific style:

  > Click inside a cell where you want a bullet

  > Click Format | Style. Excel brings up the Style dialog
    box, with the Style Name (probably "Normal") highlighted.

  > Type the name of your new Style, the one that'll be
    bulleted. Let's call it Bullet.

  > Click Modify.

  > Here's the tricky part: in the Category box, first click
    Text, then click Custom. You have to click both of those
    entries, in that order.

  > Excel puts a @ sign in the Type box. Click in front of the @ sign.

  > With the cursor in front of the @ sign, hold down the Alt
    key on the keyboard and type 0149 (that's the key code
    for a bullet in almost every font). Release the Alt key,
    then type a space. The Type box should look like this:

    . @

  > Click OK twice and you're done. The cell you selected is
    now formatted with the Bullet style. The contents of the
    cell shows up with a bullet and a space in front of the
    text.

  Any time you want to put a bullet on any other cell, simply
  select the cell, click Format | Style, pick Bullet from the
  drop-down list, hit OK, and your bullet shows up, slick as
  can be.

  By the way, you can use other key codes: 0151 will give you
  an em-dash, for example, 0187 will give you a right
  double-chevron.

Allow Multiple Users to Share the Same Address Book in Outlook Express

Several of you have asked for a way that will allow multiple users on the
same computer to use the same address book in Outlook Express. This is very
helpful for families who share the same computer and share the same contacts
in their address book. The solution is pretty simple and only requires a
small Registry edit.

Log in as a user who has access to the address book you want everyone to
share.
Click Start and click the Run command.
In the Run dialog box, type regedt32 in the Open text box. Click OK.
In the REGISTRY Editor, navigate to HKEY CURRENT
USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab File Name
Note the path to the WAB file. Write it down so you don't forget it!
Now logon as another user that you want to give access to the address book.
Open the Registry Editor again and navigate to the same Registry Key in step
4.
Double click on the entry you visited in step 4 and type in the new path.
Click OK to make the change. Repeat the process for every user you want to
have access to the address book.
Now everyone on the machine can use the same address book!

Partial Workaround For Product Activation

Don Lett was the first to send in this info. It's not a crack or a
malicious way to foil Windows Product Activation (WPA), but rather is a
way that legitimate users of XP software can avoid having to reactivate
the software after a full install:

The trick is to copy and re-use the c:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl file.
It's small--- mine is just 13K long--- so it will easily fit on a
floppy. Or, you can copy it to another safe location on your hard drive.
Once that's done, go about your reinstallation task normally.
After you've reinstalled XP, either boot to a DOS floppy or start in
XP's Safe Mode/Command Prompt (i.e. hit the F8 key when your system
"beeps" during the boot process). Then copy your original wpa.dbl from
its safe location back into the c:\windows\system32 folder, and then
reboot.

Because nothing on your system has changed--- it's the same BIOS, CPU,
RAM, etc., and because you're installing the same copy of XP that was
previously installed, the "old" WPA key should be accepted as valid,
saving you the hassle of re-Activating the software.

Note that this won't work if you try moving the file to a different
machine, so it's not a way to pirate software. But if you want to simply
reinstall a valid and already-activated copy of XP onto the same
hardware on which it was originally installed, this may save you from
having to re-Activate the new installation.

You removed a piece of software using the Add/Remove Programs applet, and
now you see that "thus and such thing didn't start up" error dialog box
every time you start up. It wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't seen the same
dialog box 500 times before! Here's how you get rid of it:

  1.. Click the Start button and click the Run command. Type Regedt32 in the
Open text box and click OK.
  2.. Navigate to the following key In the Registry Editor:
  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows
  3.. Click the Edit menu, point to New and click DWORD Value. Change the
name of the new value to NoPopupsOnBoot. Double click the value and change
the Value Data to 1. Click OK in the Edit DWORD Value dialog box.
  4.. Restart the computer.

How to Change the Registered Owner Name in XP

Jon wrote to say that he was recently given a PC with XP as OS. He wanted to 
know if there is any way to change the system owner and the XP registration 
name without doing a full system restore. Jon, you're in luck. You can change 
the registered owner information by editing the registry. Always remember to 
back up the registry before making changes. 

Open your favorite registry editor 
In the left pane, navigate to the following registry key:
    HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion 
In the right details pane, double click the entry labeled RegisteredOwner. 
In the Value Data field, delete the name and type in the name you want. Click OK 

You can similarly change the company name (or make it blank) by double clicking 
the entry labeled RegisteredOrganization and editing the Value Data field 

VBA Excel Caption

Is there a way via VBA code to change the title string "Microsoft 
Excel" on Excel when the application is opened? Basically I am 
looking for a way to customize Excel to my liking. Thanks in advance.
 
Sub test()
    Application.Caption = "Blue Sky Airlines Reservation System"
End Sub
 
When i close the spreadsheet (code held in Module 1 of the workbook) 
the caption remains. Is there a way to restore the "default" 
Microsoft caption when the user selects another workbook and/or 
closes the spreadsheet which contains the coding ?
 
Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)
    Application.Caption = Empty
End Sub

Excel Imported Numbers Turned Into Text

>When importing data from a database the numbers are transformed to text.
>Can anyone tell me a simple way of turning them into numbers again. I
>tried the Clng function, but it doesn't work with decimal signs.

It's not pretty, but what you need to do is run the code

  "cell".value = "cell".value

for each cell containing the values.  This will convert them back to 
numbers.

XL2000: How to Programmatically Delete Defined Names with Links 

SUMMARY
This article shows you how to create a Microsoft Visual Basic for 
Applications Sub procedure (macro) that displays all the defined 
names in the active workbook that have an external reference to a 
defined name in a different workbook. With the macro, you can also 
delete the defined name if you want to. 

The following sample macro lists all of the defined names in the 
active workbook that have an external reference to a defined name 
in a different workbook. The macro asks whether you want to delete 
each defined name as it is found.

When you use the macro to delete a defined name, the error value 
"#NAME" is displayed in the cell or cells that use the defined name.

NOTE: External links not referenced by a defined name are not affected.

To create a macro that lists defined names that have an external 
reference to a defined name in a different workbook, use the steps 
in the following example: 
In Excel, press ALT+F11 to start the Visual Basic editor.

On the Insert menu, click Module.

On the module sheet, type the following code:

Option Explicit

Sub delete_external_names()
'variable declarations
Dim response As Integer
Dim msg As String
Dim flag As Boolean
Dim defined_name As Object
  flag = True
  ' Check if external links were found.
  ' Loop through each defined name in workbook.
  For Each defined_name In ActiveWorkbook.Names
     ' If a [ was found, then the name has a link.
     If InStr(defined_name.RefersTo, "[") > 0 Then
        flag = False ' set flag to False indicating a link was found
        ' Message displayed to ask if you want to delete name.
         msg = "Do you want to delete the defined name " & "'" & _
           defined_name.Name & "'" & Chr(13) & " that refers to '" & _
            defined_name & "' ?"
         ' Delete the defined name.
         If MsgBox(msg, 292) = vbYes Then defined_name.Delete
      End If
  Next defined_name  ' get the next defined name
  If flag = True Then  ' if flag was not set, display message below
     MsgBox "No defined names with external were links found."
  End If
End Sub 
In Microsoft Excel, workbooks can have two kinds of links: internal or 
external. Internal links are references to objects within (or internal 
to) the document (for example, another cell on a given sheet or another 
cell on another sheet in the same workbook). The following examples 
demonstrate how an internal link may appear on your worksheet: 
=C2 
-or-

=Sheet1!C2 
External links are references to objects outside the document (for 
example a cell on a sheet in another file). The following example 
demonstrates how an external link may appear on your sheet: 
='C:\EXCEL\[BOOK1.XLS]Sheet1'!$C$2 

Reactivating Office Xp On The Same Computer

   Office XP users who need to do a clean install find that
   after installing Office XP they have to reactivate it. That
   should be a simple over-the-Internet deal, but as we know,
   the real world doesn't always work the way it should. The
   solution? Take a simple precaution first and backup the
   file that stores your activation data before you reformat.

   After installing and activating Office XP for the first
   time, open an Explorer window, choose the "Show all files
   and folders" option, and browse to C:\Documents and
   Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Data.
   (This location may be slightly different for different
   operating systems; these instructions are for Windows XP.)

   Find the file called Data.dat. It should be about 4KB in
   size. Copy it to a floppy, a CD, a network drive, or
   another safe place.

   After reinstalling Office on the same hardware, restore
   Data dat to the location where you found it. Open any
   Office XP program and voila! You're activated, no muss no
   fuss.

   Note that this workaround will not allow you to copy Office
   XP to a different machine. The Data.dat file contains
   details of your product ID and the hardware on your system.
   If either of these variables changes, Office XP will reject
   the file and force you to reactivate over the phone.

Preventing Duplicates On Entry 

 In Excel97 and 2000, you can use the Data Validation feature 
to prevent a user from entering a number (or text) in a cell, 
if that  number already exists in a list.  This feature is not 
available in versions of Excel before Excel97.

For example, suppose your worksheet will contain a list of ID 
numbers for employees, in cells A1:A50, and you want to prevent 
the user from entering duplicate numbers in the list. First, 
select the range A1:A50.  Then, go to the Data menu, and select 
the Validation menu item.  This will display the Data Validation 
dialog.  From the "Allow" drop down box, select Custom, and 
enter the following formula in the Formula box: 

=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$50,A1)=1

Then, select the "Error Alert" tab, and enter the message you 
want to display when the user enters a duplicate value. Finally, 
press OK.  You must use absolute references in the range, and 
relative references in the criteria, as shown in the example.

Remember, that Data Validation is in effect only when the cell 
value is changed by the user.  It does not catch changes made by 
VBA procedures, or as a result of a calculation in a formula. 

Windows 98's installer looks for additional
drivers it checks the wrong disk drive.

SOLUTION: The place where Windows looks for its source files can
change if you rearrange your disk drives or move your CD-ROM
drive. To change the default setting, open the Registry (be careful
and make a backup first) and go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath. Change the SourcePath value
to point to the new location (usually D:\WIN98, where D is your
CD-ROM's drive letter) or network share.

Find Excel Links

If Excel is not reporting any links in a file under Edit, Links then
technically there aren't any links in the document.  Now, if you are
still receiving this error and have verrified that there aren't any
links, do a search and replace for 'DRIVE LETTER:\FILE NAME.XLS'
include the single quotes.  Do this on all of your sheets, and it will
hopefully take you to the cell that has the link inside it.  Good luck.

Excel VBA Cheat Sheet

Application.DisplayAlerts = False
Application.DisplayAlerts = True

Application.ScreenUpdating = False 
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

How can I block those annoying Windows Messenger Service spam popups?
  
Now that spammers are beginning to discover this new method of sending 
their messages to random people who are running Windows NT/2000/XP just 
by scanning for open IP addresses (in fact Someone is selling a $700 
piece of software specifically to exploit this so the technological 
barrier is lowered fro people wishing to use this spamming technique) 
many people are looking for way to block those messages, and fortunately 
it's not even that hard to do.

If you're not connected to a network and don't need the "net send" 
command to send messages from one computer to another it's safe to 
disable the messenger service altogether this way:
__________________________

1. Click on the Start button and open the control panel.
2. Open the Performance and Maintenance control panel and go to 
   Administrative Tools.
3. Now double-click on Services, then scroll to Messenger.
4. Double-click Messenger and click Stop to stop the service.
5. Change the startup type to Disable
__________________________

Another option is to tell your firewall to block ports 131 and 139 if 
it isn't configured to do so already.

Speed-up Windows XP Startups

Allan Kelly wrote in and reminded us of a great tip on how 
to speed up your Windows XP start up times. Just clean out 
your prefetch folder. Windows XP keeps track of your 
frequently used programs and sets them up so that they start 
up faster. However, sometimes a lot of junk gets into the 
prefetch folder and can slow things down. Try this: 

Open the Windows Explorer and go to c:\WINDOWS\Prefetch folder. 
Click the View menu and then click the Select All command. 
This should highlight all the files in the folder. Once all 
the files in the Prefetch folder are selected, press the DELETE 
key on the keyboard to delete these files. Click Yes to send 
the files to the Recycle Bin. 

Restart your computer. You should find that Windows XP starts 
a lot faster! Do this once a week and your Windows XP startups 
will always be snappy. 

How to Boot Windows XP Clean

Sometimes you need to start up Windows XP clean. By clean, we mean no 
extra services, no extra "start up" applications, nothing extra at all 
except what Windows XP needs to start up. You can use this clean boot 
to delete files that say that they're "in use" when you try to delete 
them, or install programs that will fix problems you're having when 
you boot normally. Remember, booting clean is for troubleshooting and 
fixing - it's not for running your day to day computing: 

Click Start and then click the Run command. In the Run dialog box, type 
msconfig in the Open text box and click OK. 
On the General tab, select the Selective Startup option. Remove the 
checkmarks from the Process SYSTEM.INI, Process WIN.INI, and Load Startup 
Items checkboxes. 
Click on the Services tab. Put a checkmark in the Hide All Microsoft 
Services checkbox. Then click the Disable All button. This disables all 
non-Microsoft services. If a Microsoft service is causing the problem, 
it won't disable that service and won't fix the problem. 
Click Apply and then click OK. In the System Configuration dialog box, 
click the Restart button. 
Logon to the system. You'll see a System Configuration Utility dialog box. 
Click OK. Move the dialog box off to the side and make the changes you 
need to make. Then click on the General tab and then select the Normal 
Startup - load all device drivers and services option. 
Click Apply and then click Close. Click the Restart button in the System 
Configuration dialog box. 

Where's that Share?

If you're on a home or office network, you probably use the network
browser service (accessed via the My Network Places icon) to find 
and connect to shared folders and printers on other computers. 
Sometimes, though, all shares may not show up here. Does that mean 
they're "gone?" and inaccessible? Not necessarily. 

If you know the name of a shared resource, you can try connecting 
to it via the UNC (Universal Naming Convention) path. To do so, 
click Start | Run and in the Run box, type \\servername\sharename. 
"Servername" is the name of the computer on which the share is 
located, and "sharename" is the name of the shared folder or printer. 
You will often be able to connect to a share this way even though it 
doesn't appear in the browse list. 

Langa Letter: Successful Updates Despite Very Slow Connections 

Fred Langa shows how some simple workarounds let you bypass bottlenecks 
when keeping your PCs up to date.

By Fred Langa,  InformationWeek 
Feb. 16, 2004 
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17603160 

Reader Randy Brooks has a problem. One of his PCs has a fast connection; it's 
easy and quick to keep that system up to date with all the necessary patches 
and downloads from Windows Update. But the other system is on an old, slow, 
unreliable phone line. It's almost impossible to keep it current: 

I spend a lot of time [where] the old, single phone line gets me 24 Kbps at 
best. Do you have any suggestions for keeping WinXP Home (which is running 
there) up to date, other than leaving the modem running for hours every time 
MS puts out a patch? When I update my XP Pro network in the city, it's all 
via cable and Auto update, so I don't have any files to copy to a cdrom.
-- Randy Brooks 

Randy's case actually isn't that unusual: Many of us have one or more PCs to 
support that are hindered by low-speed connectivity. Because some Windows 
Update items are huge, trying to install them via a slow connection can strain 
anyone's patience. 

But if you have access to at least one machine with a fast connection--your 
own system at home or at work, at a hotel or airport business center, at a user 
group, at a friend's, etc.--there's an easy answer. Even if the PCs use different 
versions of Windows, you can use the fast PC to download any needed patches for 
the slow one. You then can copy the patches to CD, floppy, or any other media 
you wish, and bring them to the slower PC for easy installation. 

In this way, you can keep a slower PC up to date without needing to perform any 
long downloads. Here's how: 

Find What Patches And Updates You Need
On the slow PC, use Windows Update only far enough to see what updates and patches 
that PC needs; but don't download or install any patches yet. You can launch Windows 
Update via the Start/All Programs menu, or by running WUPDMGR.EXE from the Start/Run 
line. Once on the Windows Update site, click "scan for updates," and let the Update 
site show you what the slow PC needs. Again, don't actually install or download 
any of the indicated updates; for now, just make notes of the names and numbers 
of any items the Update site says that PC needs. 

For example, if the Update site shows you need "Recommended Update for Windows XP 
SP1 (817778)," that's what you'd write down. 

In general, it's usually a good idea to plan to install every Critical Update, 
but you can be more selective about "Recommended" updates and "Driver" updates. 
Each Update item carries a "Read more..." link to help you decide which items are 
important enough to warrant making note of. 

When you're done--it'll only take a couple minutes--you'll have a list of all 
Critical Updates that the site suggested; plus whichever Recommended and Driver 
updates you've decided are worthwhile. You can then exit Windows Update without 
downloading or installing anything. 

Grabbing The Patches At High Speed
Bring your list of patches to a PC with a fast connection, and run Windows Update 
on that PC. But instead of clicking "scan for updates," select "Catalog" from the 
left navigation pane. The Update Catalog gives you access to almost every Update 
item for all versions of Windows, not just the version on the PC you're currently 
using. 

If the "Catalog" option doesn't appear, don't worry: It's easy to turn on. Select 
"Personalize" from "Other Options" in the left menu, and select the "Display the 
link to the Windows Catalog" option. The Catalog will then appear in the "See Also" 
menu on the left. 

You can then use the Catalog to select whatever Updates and Drivers you want for 
the slow PC: Select the slow PC's version of Windows, and then select the specific 
patches and updates you made note of earlier. Items you select go into a "download 
basket" from which you can later retrieve them and place them wherever you want--on 
your hard drive, on a CD or whatever--for safekeeping and later use. (Note: The 
downloaded files will be executables--little setup programs--but don't run them 
yet. Just save them in a known location on the fast PC.) 

For reasons known only to Microsoft, the Update Catalog doesn't list all available 
patches. But if you can't find a patch you need in the Catalog proper, you usually 
can find it via the "Search" link at the top of the Update Window: Enter the name 
or number of the patch you're seeking, and the search tool will usually bring you 
to a Knowledgebase discussion of that patch, which will contain a link to the actual 
download. As with the Update Catalog items themselves, don't run the files you 
download this way; just save them in a known location on the fast PC's hard drive. 

And even if that search fails, there still are ways to find the downloads you need. 
For example, many Update items are listed with a six-digit number; you can use that 
number to search the Microsoft Knowledgebase for the patch. To do so, you use a URL 
in this format, substituting the number where you see the X's at the end of the line: 

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;XXXXXX 

Thus, to search for "Recommended Update for Windows XP SP1 (817778)," you'd use 
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;817778 

Or, you can use the more general search tools here. 

Once you've located and downloaded all the patches the slow PC needs, burn the 
downloaded files to a CD, or copy then to floppies, a Zip-disk, tape, or other media 
that the slow PC will be able to read. 

Installing On The Slow PC, And Other Patch Uses
Bring the saved files to the slow PC, and run each of the setup files, one by one, 
by double-clicking on them (they're usually EXE or MSI files). Install the Critical 
Updates first, then the Recommended and Driver updates. 

When you're done, rerun Windows Update on the slow PC, just as you did in the first 
step. Sometimes, patches must be installed incrementally, and installing one patch 
or update will then require a subsequent patch or update. (This is more likely to 
happen if you haven't patched the slow PC in a long time; several iterations may be 
needed to get the system fully current.) 

Don't throw out the saved updates; they can be reused in the future, should you need 
to reinstall the operating system or its patches again. 

In fact, you can use this method of saving patches on any PC, even if you're not 
moving files to a second machine. You can use Windows Update's "History" option to 
see what's been installed on any given PC, and then use the Catalog to re-download 
and save copies of those patches. If you ever need to reinstall the operating system, 
you'll then have the patches for that PC right at hand, and can run them from your 
hard drive without re-identifying and re-downloading everything afresh. 

Exceptions To The Rule
There's a "gotcha" lurking in some downloads: What appears to be an Update file may 
in fact be only a small loader file or the front end of a much larger download. If 
you run into these, note that many of these larger downloads--such as Internet 
Explorer 6--offer a "custom" install which includes a "save to disk" option. This 
lets you download and save the update files without actually installing them. Once 
the files are saved, you can then move them to a different PC for installation there, 
exactly as described earlier. 

Microsoft also offers some large updates by CD for just a few dollars. For example, 
you can order Internet Explorer and its Service Pack 1 patch on CD for $5. Poke around 
the Microsoft site to see what else is available. 

Some third-party sites also sell or distribute aggregated patches that can be downloaded 
on one PC, burned to CD, and carried to other locations. Although these are unofficial 
services not sanctioned by Microsoft--and which may carry their own security risks--they 
may be worth looking at, especially in extreme cases where huge numbers of files are 
needed. See, for example, the AutoPatcher service. 

Don't let a slow connection tempt you into running an unpatched or unprotected PC: With 
just a little effort and ingenuity, you can work around even the worst bottlenecks and 
still keep your PC fully up to date! 

Logon as Administrator
Once you have created regular user accounts, the default Administrator
account vanishes from the Welcome screen, which you see when the computer
starts up. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the
standard logon dialog. You can log on as Administrator from here. To switch
among accounts, just click the Log Off button on the Start menu. You'll then
see the Log Off Windows dialog box. Click the Switch User button, and you'll
be taken to the Welcome screen where you can select and log on to other
accounts.

Control User Accounts: start | run | control userpasswords2

System Configuration Utility: start | run | msconfig (or services.msc)

Get Rid of Annoying Balloon Notifcation

QUESTION: I have one niggling little complaint against XP SP2. I use 
ZoneAlarm as my firewall of choice so have the XP firewall shut off. 
XP installs a little icon in the lower left corner next to the time. 
It is in the shape of a red medallion with an X in it. How can I remove 
it from there. Every time I restart after an install, it pops up a 
balloon saying my machine is unprotected and this is starting to really 
tick me off! HELP!!! Otherwise, Service Pack 2 went in with no problems 
this time around. Could you include something about how to get rid of 
this annoyance in some future issue of WinXP News? Thanks. - James F. 

ANSWER: Unfortunately, there is no way to turn off only specific balloon 
notifications, but you can turn off all system tray balloon popups by 
editing the registry. We've covered that before, but since turning off the 
balloons is still one of the most common questions we get, we'll repeat 
the instructions here: 

Open your favorite registry editor 
In the left pane, navigate to:
HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. 
Right click an empty space in the right pane and select New, then select 
DWORD value 
Right click the new entry and select Rename. Give it the name EnableBalloonTips 
Double click the entry and in the Value Data field, give it a hexadecimal 
value of 0 
Close the registry editor 
You'll need to log off and log back on before the change takes effect, and 
the balloons will be disabled only for the current user. If you log onto the 
computer with a different user account, the balloons will still appear. 

Finding your MAC address in WinXP: 
1. Click on the Start Menu-> Programs-> Accessories-> System Tools -> System Info

Under components Select Network and adapter. There should be an item titled MAC 
Address containing a 12 digit hexadecimal number similar to: 00:01:45 :CD:B7:3F. 

Right-click My Computer
Click Manage
Under Storage in the Computer Management screen click into Disk Management.

# Tip of the Month: Customizing the Places Bar
From Scot's Newsletter
Last Updated: December 18, 2005

This is a two-part tip, the second half of which will appear in a future issue 
of the newsletter. In this first installment, the Tip of the Month explains how 
to customize the "Places" bar in the File Open and File Save As dialogs of your 
favorite Microsoft Office applications.

What's the Places bar? It's the gray column on the left side of the File > Open, 
File > Save, and File > Save As dialogs in Microsoft Word, Excel, and so forth. 
The column contains icons that give you shortcuts to common folders and containers 
on your computer where you might like to open or save documents. The customizations 
you make for the File > Open dialog will also apply to the File > Save As and 
File > Save dialogs. They will also apply to other Office applications that share 
these common dialogs.

There are a lot of possible variations on this tip since it applies to the last 
three versions of Office. The specific steps I'm offering are for Office 2003 
and Office XP (a.k.a. Office 2002). Microsoft offers several technical documents 
that seek to explain the tip, as well as another set of directions for Office 
2000. I've included links to those docs at the end.

In Office 2003, the default File > Open and File > Save As dialogs offer shortcuts 
to My Recent Places (called "History" in Office XP), Desktop, My Documents, My 
Computer, and My Network Places. Especially on computers that use large-screen 
displays, there is plenty more room in these user-resizable dialogs to add new 
folder destinations.

I have at least three folders within My Documents that I open from and save to 
frequently: One is for business documents, another is for personal documents, and 
a third is for this newsletter. I would also prefer to start in Drive C: or Drive D: 
than in My Computer, when I'm poking around the file system. Saves waiting for My 
Computer to open. So I like to add my drive or drives to the Places bar.

In Office 2003 and Office XP, Microsoft added basic user-interface-based controls 
for customizing the Places bar. Follow these steps to add a new folder or any 
container to your Places bar in those versions of Office:

1. Open the File > Open or File > Save As dialog. Navigate to the folder that 
contains the folder you want to add to the Places bar. (For example, to add Drive C:, 
open My Computer.) Then click once on that folder to select it without opening it.

2. Click the "Tools" item in the mini toolbar on the top, right side of the File > 
Open or File > Save As dialog box, which opens a drop-down menu.

3. Select the "Add to 'My Places'" menu item.

That's all there is to it. Repeat for other folders you'd like to add.

You can change the order of the icons on the Places bar by right clicking them and 
choosing Move Up or Move Down from the context menu. You can also delete any icons 
you add by right-clicking them and selecting Remove. (You can't, however, remove the 
Places containers that Microsoft includes by default.) There's even a Small Icons 
option on the context menu that does just what you'd think. It lets you cram more 
folders into the same space on the Places bar.

The process is a bit more complex in Office 2000, and yet it's still possible to 
accomplish. See the links below.

In the next installment of Tip of the Month, we'll look at how to modify Windows 
common dialogs (which control similar dialog boxes for Notepad, WordPad, and other 
Windows applets) in the same way.

# Tip of the Month: Customizing the Places Bar #2
From Scot's Newsletter
Tip of the Month: Customizing the Places Bar, Part II
In the last full edition of the newsletter I offered instructions for customizing 
File > Open, File > Save, and File > Save As dialogs in the last several versions 
of Microsoft Office applications. The modifications let you customize built-in 
shortcuts for specific file containers displayed in the "places bar," a column on 
the left side of Microsoft Office shared dialogs.

After the newsletter mailed I revised the instructions on the Scot's Newsletter 
website. The original instructions weren't wrong, I just added some tips and made 
the instructions more clear for multiple versions of Office. So if you had trouble 
making this work, visit the link above for better instructions.

In this issue, I'm concluding the tip by extending it to the similar dialogs that 
are used by Windows applications, such as WordPad, Notepad, and several others. 
Some third-party applications use these dialogs too, so it may help you customize 
them as well. Firefox's File > Open File and File > Save Page As dialogs will be 
customized by this tip. Internet Explorer 6's File > Save As dialog is customized 
too.

I have only tested these instructions with Windows XP, and this specific set of 
instructions would only work with Windows 2000 or Windows XP (but I haven't tested 
to ensure Win2K compatibility, and my guess is that it might not work there.) There's 
a note you'll see in one of the screens that says this also works in Windows Server 
2003. While there may be a way to do this in Win9x/ME, if so, you'd probably need 
to directly edit the Registry. In Windows XP, this is the area of the Registry that 
is added and modified:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Comdlg32\Placesbar

What This Tip Does
The default containers mounted on the places bar of Windows common dialogs are: My 
Recent Documents, Desktop, My Documents, My Computer, and My Network Places. On my 
computers, I change them to: Desktop, My Documents, Local Disk (C:), Network 
Neighborhood, and C:\Downloads.

Unlike the last few versions of Office, Windows hasn't really been designed with 
the notion of letting inexperienced end users modify its common dialogs, but a basic 
user interface for accomplishing this does exist. One large limitation is that, 
unlike the later versions of Office, it's only possible to display five total items 
on the Windows common file dialog places bar. So you'll have to make the most of them.

Here are the steps to follow to put this tip in motion:

1. Click the Start button and select Run.

2. Type "gpedit.msc" without the quotations and then click OK to open the Group Policy 
Editor.

3. In the tree in the left pane, tunnel in by expanding each folder in this succession: 
User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer, 
and Common Open File Dialog.

4. Click once in the Common Open File Dialog folder.

5. On the right side of the screen, click the line that reads "Items displayed in Places 
Bar."

6. Important: Read the help text appearing in the middle; it explains the kinds of 
objects you can put on the places bar, and gives you the programmatic names for some 
of them that you'll need to use to get them to appear.

7. To add your customizations, double-click "Items displayed in Places Bar," which opens 
a dialog box offering five custom places you can add.

8. Enter the correct pathnames or program names for the container objects you want to 
mount on the places bar and click OK. Check that your customizations are correct by 
opening Notepad and choosing its File > Open dialog. If they are, close the GPEdit utility.

In addition to the five-item maximum, you're not able to edit the names of the items 
that you add. For example, when you add MyNetworkPlaces, the icon that shows up is labeled 
with the less intuitive "NetHood" moniker. It may be possible to add a setting that lets 
you specify the name. If you know a way to do that, please drop me a message.

Reversing Your Places Customizations
Despite what the help text says about choosing the "Not Configured" or "Disabled" settings, 
I found that the only way to return the default container destinations was by manually 
deleting the last folder in this key of the System Registry:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Comdlg32

To access the System Registry Editor, click the Start button, click Run, type "regedt32" 
without the quotations, and press Enter. Navigate to the location of the Registry 
described by the path above. (Note: HKCU stands for HKEY_Current_Users.) When you get 
into the Policies folder, select the Comdlg32 folder and press the Delete key. Close the 
System Registry Editor.

Hopefully, this tip will save you some time. It has definitely made my life easier.

How to "clean install" an upgrade copy of Vista

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, CNET Class Leader
02/22/2007

Microsoft has made it difficult for users to “clean install” Windows Vista (that is, 
install the operating system on a computer that doesn’t have a previous copy of Windows) 
if you’ve bought an upgrade version of the operating system.

Doing this is difficult, but not impossible, although it is a major hassle. Here’s how:

   1. Insert the Windows Vista upgrade DVD in the drive and boot up off it.
   2. Click on “Install Now.” This will begin the installation process.
   3. Now for the main trick: Don’t enter your Windows Vista product key.
   4. When asked, select the version of Windows Vista you bought (don’t think you can 
      trick the system--you can’t).
   5. Continue with the installation normally.
   6. When the installation has finished, access the DVD through Windows Explorer and 
      re-run the setup process and carry out another installation.
   7. When prompted, enter your product key.

Now continue with the installation. You now have a working installation of Windows Vista.