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jumplists" by simply right mouse-clicking on the pinned app and
selecting from one of the options. For example, if Internet
Explorer is one of your pinned apps,right click to select your most
visited websites. If you've got Windows Media Player you can listen
to recently played songs. Not all pinned apps offer jumplists, of
course, but those that do let you get more done in less time.
Experimentto see what's available. Watch this short video to get
you started, too.Need more time?This is one of my favorites. If
you're using Windows or Microsoft Office and you'd like to extend
the activation period to the maximum 120 days instead of the usual
30-day period, it's possible if you use Windows Vista and Windows 7
and you're the administrator of the PC. Simply click on the Start
button and in the search window, type in cmd and you'll see the
Command Prompt at the top of the page. Don't press Enter yet
instead, right-mouse click on the shortcut and select Run as
Administrator. Now, after the Command Prompt loads up, type this:
slmgr.vbs-rearm and the hit Enter and reboot. That's it.Stop
YELLING at peopleHave you ever written an email to someone and when
you look up at the screen yourealize you accidentally tapped the
Caps Lock key? Now it seems like you're YELLING AT SOMEONE IN THE
EMAIL? It's happened to most of us especially those who look at
their keyboard while typing instead of the monitor. If you're
nodding rig
ht now, chances are you've manually deleted everything you wrote
in uppercase and wrote it all over again in lowercase. That's a
waste of time when you can simply highlight the text in question,
hold down the Shift button on the keyboard and tap F3. Doing so
will immediately change the case from lower to upper (or
vice-versa). Yes, really. Tap a third time to change the
highlighted text to Title case, Where The First Letter Of Every
Word Is Capitalized. This little-known SHIFT + F3 shortcut will
save you time and frustration and works in Outlook, Word and other
Microsoft programs.Shake it upEver glance at your computer monitor
and see a cluttered mess of open windows, such as a browser, media
player, IM window and word processor? A quick way to clo
se it all and focus on one application is to click and hold your
mouse on top ofan open pane and give your mouse a shake. Doing this
will minimize all your open windows, except for the one you're in.
Give your wrist a shake again and theyall reappear. Windows calls
this "Aero Shake" and it can be a fast way to get rid of the
clutter in a snap. Give it a shot. If your version of Windows
doesn't have it, you can download it for free here.Batch
renamePhoto takers should get to know the "batch rename" feature in
Windows Explorer.Instead of all your images having arbitrary names
like IMG_0339.jpg or DSC01121.jpg, you can highlight all your
photos in a folder, right mouse-click and selectRename; now type in
something relevant to the photos, like Spring Break 2012. A
nd hit Enter. Now, all of those files will be renamed with a
number at the end,such as Spring Break 2012 (1).jpg, plus you can
quickly see what's inside the photo file by changing from "list"
view to "large icons." This batch rename tip can also be used for
documents and other media.Encrypt itIf you share your Windows
computer with someone and have a folder or files you want to
password-protect, there's an easy way to do it with a built-in
encryptiontool. First select the folder or file you wish to
encrypt, right-click on it an
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d choose Properties. Now click the Advanced button and add a
check beside "Encrypt contents to secure data" option. Click Apply
and then Ok. To access this fileyou'll type in your Windows
password used to log into your account. If your version of Windows
doesn't offer this feature, there's always the free TrueCrypt
software.Get a boostIf you own Windows Vista or Windows 7, a
little-known feature called ReadyBoostcan give your PC a boost
without having to add more RAM (system memory). Instead, ReadyBoost
lets you use a USB flash drive or SD memory card -- which you
mightalready have in your desk drawer -- to improve performance
without having to install purchased memory. The flash memory you
connect externally serves as an additional memory cache -- meaning
the computer can access data quicker on this than on the hard
drive. You can choose to allocate part of a USB drive's memory
tospeed up performance and use the remainder to store files. More
information on ReadyBoost is here.Search meIt might be an obvious
one but be sure to use the search window to find what you're
looking for be it a program or file. Simply click the Start button
and you'll see a universal search window at the bottom of the
pop-up window. Start typinga few letters and Windows will try to
guess what you're looking for by showing
you matching apps or files near the top of the window (such as
typing C and U, and immediately seeing Cute FTP Professional as a
selectable option). This simplifies the search process that used to
take a while on older versions of Windows.
