Announcements

Attention Windows 95/98 & ME Users!

It's Your Turn!

A couple weeks ago, we featured Professor Teaches Windows XP. During the course of that promo, we had a ton of people ask if we had the CDs for Professor Teaches Windows 95, 98, and / or ME. Well, we did some digging and, sure enough, we found some!

If you want to run your Windows 95, 98, or ME computer better, then you're gonna love this! Each CD is crammed with explanations, tips, tricks, advice, and plenty of hands on, how-to material. Even if you've never used Win 95/98/ME (or never used it well :-), this will have you running it like a pro in no time. I am always pleasantly surprised with the number of tricks and ideas I pick up from this series!

The lessons are fantastic. They use audio, images, and interactive simulations to teach you what you need to know.

A typical lesson will go like this - First you get an overview of the topic, then as the lesson continues, you work in a simulated Windows environment trying the various steps.

Rather than just watching a video, you are actually using your mouse and keyboard to "try" the technique. You practice it first, so if you do something wrong you're not messing up your computer. It's like going to computer class and having Bill Gates right next to you! It's fantastic!

What does it cover? Everything from the very basics to advanced system management. I'd give you a full list, but there are hundreds of topics in the index of each program! Suffice to say, anything you'd want to do with Windows 95/98/ME is probably covered! Just pick a topic and go!

I love the technique this program uses to teach. In my opinion, the simulated Windows environment is genius and I don't know why more "how to" type CDs don't do it. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn Windows 95/98/ME.

The price on this is only $12.97 and US shipping is FREE! When you think about the expense of your computer and operating system, isn't it worth $12.97 to be able to make the most of your experience? Get rid of the frustration and make your computer fun again. Give it a try, you'll be glad you did :-)

For Windows 95/98, follow this link:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/professor-windows-98-95.htm

For Windows ME, follow this one:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/professor-windows-me.htm

PS - We've already had tons of positive feedback on the other Professor Teaches titles we've offered. People really seem to like them. These are fantastic programs - but hurry, quantities are limited.

MS Office 101

MS Green And Red Helpers?

I'm sure by now you've run into the red and green underlines in the MS Office Suite programs.

And I'm also pretty sure that you've figured out that the red underline is for a misspelled word and the green underline is for grammar problems.

But, did you know that the program could do more than let you know you have a problem, it can help you fix your problems too. (OK, so not all of your problems—nothing is that great—just your spelling and grammar problems.)

One way to get the help is to run the Spelling and Grammar check from the Tools menu (or hit the F7 key). This is a good way, but might there be a quicker and easier way?

Well, yes (at least I think it's faster).

Have you ever tried right clicking over one of the underlined items?

The next time you see a red or green underline, try it. You should get a pop-up menu with some suggestions at the top.

For example, when I type mistkes and then right click on the word I get this pop-up menu:

If one of the suggestions meets your needs then choose it and "poof" the program will fix the mistake for you.

Then, once again, without too much delay, you're on your way!

Now that you know how to optimize the way you use the underlines, let's take a look at how to control some of the green.

Office Tip of the Day

Controlling Runaway Clichés And Other Grammar Problems

Did you know that you have some control over the type of grammar mistakes MS Word looks for?

No?

I didn't either until I stumbled through some information about having Word's grammar check catch common cliches in my writing. As I started investigating the options I discovered just how many choices we really do have.

Want to know where to find your options? Yes?

Well, of course yes. (Don't we all love to have our options put before us?)

So let's get right to the point. (Or, in this case, the options.)

To find your grammar options you need to go to the program options. (Where else?)

That would be in the Tools menu, Options choice. (You could also use the keys Alt, T then O—not zero—one at a time.)

Once you have the Options window open, you're looking for the Spelling and Grammar tab.

On this tab you're looking for the Settings button with the Writing Style field.

(MS Word 97 and 2000 have things slightly rearranged but they're close in placement and the only Settings button on the tab.)

Click the Settings button.

Now that you're into the "Grammar settings" window it's time to make your choices.

If you're working in Word 97 then the window looks like this:

If you're working in a newer version of Word then the window should look something like this one.

Either way, the top section is to choose which type of writing style the grammar check applies to. (For most of us, the Standard writing style is what we need.)

It's the middle / bottom sections that we're interested in.

The checklist contains all your options.

Simply check any type of grammar mistake that you want the program to warn you about.

For example, if you want Word to warn you when you're using common cliches contained in the program's dictionary then you would scroll down to the Style section and check Cliches.

With that option checked, the following sentences are marked with grammar mistakes because of the cliches.

Now when you right click on the green underlines there will be a suggestion for the removal of the cliché.

There are also three drop down lists where you can set options relating to comma usage in lists, punctuation with quotes, and spaces between sentences.

These things can be set to your preferences or left on "don't check" so that Word leaves these issues completely alone.

At any rate, there's a lot to go through. Take your time—find the options that will be most useful to you.

I need to make a quick note here: If you find that you've made too many changes, and no longer find the grammar help useful, you can always use the Reset All button and return to the program defaults.

When you've made all the changes you need, click the OK button.

You'll be returned to the Options window where you'll need to click OK again.

And that's it.

Now your grammar check is (hopefully) working a little more to your liking—or at the very least behaving more like you believe it should.

Does that last part leave you wishing you had a checklist for the kids' behavior?

Yeah, that came to my mind too.

Oh well... we can't have everything.

~ April