create a shutdown shortcut for both Windows XP and Vista

Q:
You’ve gone over how to create a shutdown shortcut for both Windows XP and Vista, but what about a restart shortcut? Is it possible to make one of those too?

A:
Oooh, great question! First of all, you’re absolutely right. In recent newsletters, we here at WorldStart have told you how to create a shortcut to shut down your Windows XP or Windows Vista computer. If you happened to miss out on those two tips, you can read here for XP and here for Vista. Both have similar instructions, but it’s very important to follow along with the directions for the operating system you use. Otherwise, who knows what you might create!

Now, since you now know how to quickly shut your computer down, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to restart it just as fast? You know, maybe your computer froze up on you and you need a speedy escape route. Or, perhaps you’re just trying to restart your computer after a program install. Either way, there is, in fact, an easy way to create a restart shortcut for your computer as well. I’ll go over the directions for XP first and then move on to Vista.

In Windows XP, right click on your desktop and go to New, Shortcut. In the wizard box for “Type the location of the item,” enter this in: %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r. (It may be best to copy and paste that into the box to make sure you have it correct). Click Next when you’re done and then Finish to complete the process.

In Windows Vista, right click on your desktop and go to New, Shortcut. You will then see the New Shortcut wizard pop up on your screen. The first box will ask you for the location of your shortcut. In the box, type “shutdown.exe -r -t 01″ (without the quotations). Then just simply hit the Next button to finish out the process.

No matter which operating system you use, you will now see a new icon on your desktop and you can test it out by double clicking on it. Once you do, your computer will restart for you, just like it would if you went to Start, Restart. You can also rename your shortcut by right clicking on it and choosing Rename. You can name it whatever you’d like. I went the simple route and named mine “Restart,” but I’m sure you can come up with something a little more clever!

Either way, you now have a restart shortcut for your computer, just like you wanted. I bet your computer has the fastest shutdown and restart times in town and I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it gets any better than that!

For More Keep Reading Computer Software Tips

Copying Links

Have you ever visited a Web site you just loved and you knew you had to share it with someone else? Maybe it had an awesome picture on it or maybe even a video you wanted to share. Either way, how can you manage it so that your friend can see the site? Well, there are a couple things you can do and they’re both so easy!

First, you can just do a simple copy and paste. Go up to the address bar in your Web browser, highlight the link, right click on it and choose Copy. Then go to your e-mail program and open up a brand new message box. Place your cursor in there, right click again and click on Paste. The Web link will then appear in the e-mail. You can then write a little message to your friend and tell them to click on the link to go to the site. If you want to paste the link in another program (like MS Word, for instance), just do the same exact thing.

Now, if you’re on a site and you see a link within it that you want to share with someone, right click on it and choose Copy Shortcut or Copy Link Location. You can then go and paste that link in an e-mail or wherever you’d like (just like I explained above). You can also use that method to copy a photo link from a Web site. If the picture has a link included with it, you can right click on it and choose the same options. Then just paste it and everyone you send it to will be able to see the image. Pretty cool, huh? Give it a try today!

Printing Tips MS Office

Print Some or Print All

Today’s tip comes from a reader who wanted to know how to print an entire MS Excel workbook all at once.

That’s a good question. After all, it’s a royal pain to print each worksheet individually.

So, how exactly can you print an entire workbook at one time?

The answer takes you back to the Print dialogue window (Ctrl + P).

Once again, you’re looking for the “Print what” section.

This time, you’ll want to select the “Entire workbook” choice and then proceed with the printing.

Now, let’s take this one step further.

What if you want to print multiple worksheets, but not all of them?

No problem!

Before you start the printing process, hold down the Ctrl key and select the tabs of the worksheets to be printed.

At this point, you’re ready to move on to the Print dialogue window (Ctrl + P).

In the “Print what” section, make sure the “Active sheet(s)” option is selected and then proceed as usual.

Print one, print some or print it all. It’s all up to you!

MS Office Tips Browse the Web from Outlook?

Browse the Web from Outlook?

Yep, you read that right! With the newer versions of MS Outlook (2002, 2003 and 2007), you can surf the Web, without ever leaving Outlook.

First, you need to display the Web toolbar. It’s located under the View menu, Toolbar submenu, Web choice.

To switch to the Internet from one of your usual Outlook functions, simply enter a Web address into the Web toolbar and hit the Enter key.

Immediately, the main screen becomes a browser, but the Outlook Bar/Navigation Pane on the left is still visible, like this:

To return to whatever Outlook function you choose, simply click in the Outlook Bar/Navigation Pane as usual.

Now, I’m sure there are several of you who are quite content with separate browser and e-mail programs, but it never hurts to know what can be done with the other programs you use. You never know when a little tidbit of information may come in handy!

~ April

It’s Official: Mozilla Sets Record

It’s Official: Mozilla Sets Record

I know I’m a little behind on this piece of news, but I still wanted to share it with all of you, just in case you haven’t heard yet. On July 2, 2008, it was announced that Mozilla has officially been added to the Guinness World Records for the most downloads of one application in one day. The new Firefox 3 Web browser was released back on June 18, 2008 and it was declared “Download Day,” because Mozilla was trying to make history. And needless to say, they passed with flying colors!

The final tally of downloads for that day came to 8,002,530. In one day? How cool is that?! Of course, the number of downloads to date has surpassed 28 million, but that’s a pretty amazing total for a 24 hour period. So, if you look up the latest version of Guinness World Records, you will see Mozilla’s accomplishment mixed in with all the other feats. The Mozilla company has to feel on top of the world right about now!

This is what the Records manager Gareth Deaves had to say about the whole thing, “As the arbiter and recorder of the world’s amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla’s achievement to our archives. Mobilizing over eight million Internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication.” It doesn’t get much better than that, now does it?!

~ Erin

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