Get A Faster, Safer PC (Part 3)
Make text easier to read
It’s easy to fix your Windows and monitor settings to make
documents, spreadsheets and photo editing programs more readable.
One simple way to make onscreen content larger in all
versions of Windows is to reduce the monitor’s resolution. Although images,
text and icons on the display will be sharper at the recommended resolution,
they’ll be larger at a slightly lower resolution. Experiment with the available
resolutions (you can find them via the Control Panel or by right clicking your
system’s desktop).
Windows 7 offers additional handy options to make your
display more readable. First, you can change the size of everything onscreen
from 100 to 125 or 150 percent by adjusting the display settings. Right click
your screen, choose Personalization, Display, and then go big, bigger or
biggest. Windows 7 also lets you establish a custom size for text in these
setting, while the ClearType Text Tuner can make text on LCDs sharper.
Another feature that promotes easy reading in Windows 7 is
the Magnifier tool (you can reach it through a link in the text describing the
Display options under Personalization). Although having this tool on all the
time can be somewhat annoying, the Magnifier is useful when you need to see
just one thing a little larger. You may want to rely on it occasionally instead
of enlarging all your text or your entire screen.
Disable a laptop touchpad
Whether you love touchpad or just tolerate them, they get in
the way at times. If your laptop lacks a physical switch or keyboard shortcut
to turn off the touchpad, you may be able to disable the feature through
software.
Look for a touchpad icon in the notification area; double
click or right click that icon to view the options and disable the touchpad if
possible.
If no icon is present, click Start, Control Panel, ‘Hardware
and Sound’. Click Mouse under ‘Devices and Printers’ (in Vista, click Start,
Control Panel, ‘Hardware and Sound’, Mouse). Mouse properties might have a tab
where you can disable the touchpad.
Still no luck? Look for a touchpad software entry in the
Start menu.
One other option is to click Start, type device manager in
the Search box, and click the Device Manager result. Expand ‘Mice and other
pointing devices’, then right click the touchpad’s entry. In the pop up menu,
click Disable. Confirm your choice.
Finally, if you have touchpad software on your laptop, you
may be able to adjust the touchpad’s behaviour without disabling it. For
example, you might change its sensitivity.
Make a bigger point
Still in the Mouse menu, you’ll see a variety of options to
enable faster scrolling and pointer customisation. Perhaps the most useful is
the option in the Scheme drop down menu to change from the default large
pointer option to ‘extra large’. This nearly doubles the onscreen pointer size.
There’s a wealth of pointer and input customisation options
within the Mouse driver menus to change colour schemes, responsiveness and
behaviour.
Tag it to find it
Tagging photos and files that are stored locally on your own
computer can make them much easier to find. Being able to search by subject,
location or quality rating speeds things up.
Ensure all the photos from a set are in the correct folder.
The menu at the top right allows you to select large thumbnails so you can more
easily view your images. When you’re ready to tag your photos, right click on
one of the images and choose Properties. Click the appropriate number of starts
to rate it. Now click in the blank space next to the Tag label. Type in
keywords as identifying tags. Click Apply to save your changes.
To add the same tags to all the photos in the folder, click
on the tag text, press Ctrl, A to select all the words, then Ctrl, C to copy
it. Now click the Up or Back button to view the whole photo folder. Select All,
right click as before and choose properties. Now paste the tags into the field
and click Apply. All the photos will now be tagged.
The same technique applies to Word and Excel documents as
well as other sorts of life.
Quick locator
Windows Search is now pretty sophisticated (at least by
comparison with that found in XP). You can refine searches easily without the
distracting digidog assistant and see at a glance where the located items have
been found. We also like the option to open a file’s location from the search
results.
Preview your work
Still in the explorer menu, there’s a very nifty little icon
just to the right of the thumbnail size menu that lets you toggle on and off
the Preview for documents. It’s useful if you need to quickly see what a
document contains or to view its contents without interfering with what you’re
typing into word.
Make use of news feeds
Should you need to keep abreast of developments about a
particular subject, setting up a news alert can help a lot. Try tools such as
iCurrent and Summly. For the latest tech news, of course, you can always turn
to the PC Advisor website.
Preserve browser tabs
If, like us, you often leave browser tabs open so you can
come back and read them later, you’ll probably appreciate a way of keeping
these tabs ‘live’ without having to make bookmarks for them all. Chrome and
Firefox each offer an easy way to keep tabs open from one session to the next,
without the need for plug-ins or extensions.
To enable the option in Chrome, click the spanner icon in
the upper-right corner. Select Option then, in the Basics section, enable
‘Reopen the pages that were open last.’
The process is very similar in Firefox. Click the orange
Firefox button, hold the mouse over Options, then click Options. (if your
version of Firefox doesn’t have the orange button, click Tools, Options.) in
the General tab, click the drop down menu next to “When Firefox starts’ and
choose ‘Show my windows and tabs from lat time’. Click Ok.
In both browsers, the change goes into effect immediately,
meaning that when you close the browser whatever tabs you have open will
reappear when you run it again.
Stick it in the calendar
A calendar is no longer just a glorified poster with a
series of photos of pretty landscapes or the latest pop star pin ups. It’s a
proper reminder mechanism, intended to help you keep track of appointments and
appear more organised than you may actually be. Email and onscreen alerts as
well as ones that can pop up on your smartphone are the saviour of the
routinely flustered office worker.
Take a break
You’ll be more efficient and won’t tire so easily if you
take regular breaks from your PC. Your eyes will appreciate it, too. If you
find it hard to regulate your breaks, use an onscreen prompt such as Screen
Break to remind you to do so. Opticians recommend that every 20 to 30 minutes
you turn away from the screen and instead focus elsewhere in the room,
preferably somewhere distant.
Set your clock ahead
It’s a well known fact that tasks expand to fill whatever
time slot you give them (and often overspill beyond it). Set your watch and PC
clock a few minutes fast and you’ll buy yourself a bit of time. This
psychological trick works well. Note, though, that Windows has a habit of
losing a few minutes all by itself, so check first that you’re not already
behind the times. Click on the time in the notification area to bring up the
options to adjust the current time.
