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Return 'print on one page' to Word 2010

Return 'print on one page' to Word 2010
A reader named Teresa C. contacted me yesterday to ask what happened to the "shrink to fit on one page" option in Microsoft Word 2010's Print Preview window. This useful feature is one of several that Microsoft chose to hide in an attempt to "simplify" the Word 2010 interface.

You can get fast access to Word 2010's option to fit a document on a single printed page (or at least attempt to) by adding this function to the Quick Access Toolbar. Click File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar to open the Customize the … Read more

Quick fixes for five Windows 7 shortcomings

Quick fixes for five Windows 7 shortcomings

Windows 7 is an unqualified hit, but it's not perfect. Here are five easy ways to make a good operating system better.

Show the selected folder in Explorer's left pane The first time I realized Windows 7's version of Explorer wasn't showing the active folder in the left pane, I thought I discovered a bug. In fact,  Microsoft disabled automatic folder tracking by default in Windows 7. To see the selected folder in Explorer's left pane, click Tools, Folder options,  and check "Automatically expand to current folder" under "Navigation pane&… Read more

Repeat text entered in Microsoft Word

Repeat text entered in Microsoft Word

The company I work for relies on Microsoft Word templates to create all sorts of documents, from one-page letters to reports several hundred pages long. The templates allow us to ensure all the documents we send to clients and partners share a similar look and feel.

One of the most-used templates in our collection is a multipage letter that shows the date on the top of the first page, just under the company logo, as well as in the header of subsequent pages. Unfortunately, the letters are usually composed several days before they're sent, and the send date often … Read more

Blend portrait, landscape pages in Word docs

Blend portrait, landscape pages in Word docs
The company I work for creates very technical reports. Many of the Microsoft Word documents I edit are loaded with complicated tables, charts, and other figures. The pages frequently switch between portrait and landscape orientation, so I have to relocate the page number and remove the other header and footer information on the landscape page and then add it back to subsequent portrait pages.

You might think a sophisticated program like Word would make it easy to reformat a single landscape page and revert to the original formatting afterward, but it isn't.

In Word 2003, the steps required to … Read more

How to update your GPS maps: TomTom edition

How to update your GPS maps: TomTom edition

We're back with another installment of our How to update your GPS maps series. This week, we're taking on TomTom's Ease, One, XL, and XXL models. The process is the same for any model in TomTom's line up, and  thankfully, it is much simpler than our last update was.

The relative ease with which you can update a  TomTom's software can be attributed to the TomTom Home software, a one-stop shop for updating map data, grabbing new firmware, downloading custom voices, and syncing Map Share, and IQ Routes data. Garmin could stand to … Read more

Don't let your PC wear out your eyes

Don't let your PC wear out your eyes

If you spend more than 2 hours a day peering at a computer display, you have at least a 50-50 chance of experiencing vision problems or other physical ailments related to your PC use. That's according to Dr. Wendy Strouse Watt, O.D., in her 2003 article Computer Vision Syndrome and Computer Glasses.

The advent of flat panels may have minimized the risk somewhat, but most office workers now spend more time each day at a computer than they did at the time of the study. In a series of articles on Computer Vision Syndrome, the American Optometric Association (… Read more