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Look what happened to Steve, our main Computer Tips newsletter guy:

It Happened To Me - Windows Died.

You know how I'm always saying you need to backup your stuff? How I'm always trying to sell stuff to help protect you from disaster? Well, my Windows XP kicked the digital bucket yesterday. It became so severely crippled (even after multiple reboots), I could no longer use it. It was (sniff) gone.

My data was all backed up (and on a separate drive), so that wasn't a problem.

However, I did need to restore my system. You know how that can go. You grab the restore disk from your computer manufacturer, but it only puts you back to the way the computer was when it was new- all your software is history.

Well, fortunately I had installed Drive Image on my system back when I first purchased my computer. After installing all the software I regularly work with, I had made a backup "image" of the drive and saved it.

So, instead of spending hours locating and installing all my software, I just restored my hard drive with the backup image had I created. In less than a half hour, everything was back to normal, all my software was in place, and I was back in business.

I can't tell you how happy I am with Drive Image. I absolutely love it. It worked great and saved my behind. In light of this, I wanted to run it in this newsletter at a discounted price. Here's the info:

Finally! Backups Made Easy! (really easy)

OK, you know the drill. You should backup your computer. Now - be honest - do you "forget" to back up from time to time? It's OK, I have a hard time getting to it myself - it's such a pain in the digital rear.

Well, all that ended for me when I started using a fantastic program called Drive Image 2002. It makes backing up your entire computer incredibly easy. And easy is good, right?

What this software does is to make an "image" (exact copy) of your hard drive. Now, this image can be created on another hard drive, a partition of your current drive (it can painlessly create this for you - don't worry), or on a set of CD ROMS - whatever you prefer. It's fast and extremely easy to do.

The great thing? It only took me 20 minutes to back up my entire hard drive! Should my 20 month old son decide to push my laptop down the stairs, it won't be as bad as it could have been (I'll still be crying though :-)

Think about all the info and programs you have on your computer. If disaster strikes, what will happen? Will it take weeks to get back to normal - assuming you even can get back to normal?

With this fantastic software you can back up your computer with ease - insuring that when you experience the inevitable hard drive crash, destructive virus, nasty hacker, or even bad software install you can be up and running again in no time.

This current version of Drive Image sells for $69.95 at most retail stores, we normally sell it for $34.97, but between now and 02-17-2003 (Monday) your price is only $29.97! Yes - that's HALF OFF! And yes, US shipping is FREE! Here's the link for more info:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/drive-image-2002.htm

Warning - Don't delay - head to the site ASAP! Quantities are limited and these are going to be sold on a first come, first served basis. Be sure to get in on this one - I can't recommend it highly enough!

MS Office 101

But I Don't Want To Print The Whole File!

Have you ever found yourself trying to print only a few pages of a long file?

Maybe you made changes to only one page and need just it—not the other 42.

Sound like a familiar situation?

If your answer is "Yes!" then here's the solution to your problems.

Next time you go to print and need only a portion of the file use either the File menu, Print choice or Ctrl + P.

(The printer button usually just prints the whole file, with no options, so using that won't help us here.)

Now take a good look at the Print window.

See the section on the left - in the bottom/middle section?

Here it is - you do have an option!

By default, the All choice is selected.

• To print only the page with the cursor on it, select Current Page and then click OK.

• To print several non-consecutive pages list the page numbers separated by commas.

  For example - to print pages 1, 3 and 7 you would type 1, 3, 7 in the Pages field then click OK.

• To print a range of pages type the first page to be printed, then a hyphen, then the last page to be printed.

  For example - to print pages 2 through 7 you would type 2-7 in the Pages field then click OK.

• The Page field box will also let you mix the non-consecutive method with the range of pages.

  For example - to print pages 3, 7 though 9 and 12 simply type 3, 7-9, 12 in the Pages field and click OK.

Voila! Print what you want and only what you want!

Office Tip of the Day

Picture Perfect Envelopes

In connection to a tip I ran last week about changing the font, in MS Word, on an envelope or label, a reader wrote in wondering how to add pictures to envelopes.

Good question!

So this week I went in search of an answer—and thankfully, I found one.

(I also figured that if one person is interested enough to write in then there must be others that are interested too.)

So let's go to the business of turning this

into this

or any design that suites your needs (or your mood of the moment).

To begin you need to go to the ever-handy Envelopes and Labels window (Tools menu, Envelopes and Labels choice or use the keys Alt, t then e.)

Once in the window enter the delivery and return addresses as normal.

You can choose to change font here, as described in last week's tip, or you can wait until after the next step. (I know - decisions, decisions, decisions…)

Once you've got your addresses in click on the Add to Document button.

You will then be returned to your document - with one major difference - you should see an envelope at the top of the document (before the first page).

(If you don't see the envelope then you probably aren't in the Page Layout or Print Layout View - the name depends on the version of Word you're using - and you need to switch. Go to the View menu and select the correct view from the top section of the menu.)

Now you can click into the envelope and use the Insert menu, Picture choice to insert the picture of your choice. (The exact same thing you'd do in any document.)

It can be moved, resized, etc… just like clipart in all Word files. Right clicking on the picture will allow you to adjust its properties in the Format Picture choice.

(I found that I had to change the wrapping style and text alignment to get the text to start next to the top of the picture instead of the bottom.)

You can also highlight the addresses to change font or text content, using the menus the same as you would for any Word document.

I find it useful to have an envelope saved in a blank document. Now I can simply keep changing the delivery address on the envelope.

(For printing just the envelope I make sure I've got the cursor on the envelope and then choose Current Page in the Print window.)

This method will really allow you to dress your envelopes up - be creative - have fun!

~ April