Computer Tips

Gregory J. Cook, EA, CPA+ Accredited Tax Advisor Past President Alabama Society of Enrolled Agents Past President Alabama Association of Accountants

Tips, Tricks, and Explanations to Make Your Computer Life Easier


In the first section of this article, I will explain what all of the basic icons are on a new computer, and how you can use them. Later on, I will explain some computer tips and tricks to speed up your daily computer activities.

Your Desktop Wallpaper
When you first turn your computer on and you get to the main screen, you will notice the background of your desktop. This is called your wallpaper. You can change and customize your wallpaper to make it anything you want. All you have to do is right click on any empty space on the desktop, choose Properties, and within that menu, choose the Desktop tab and browse through the many background options available. If you prefer, you can also use any pictures or images that you have downloaded onto your hard drive to make truly unique wallpaper for your Desktop. Do this by either browsing your computers hard drive and selecting the desired image, or navigating yourself to the image, right-clicking on it and selecting ‘Set as Desktop Background’.

Taskbar on your Desktop
Your taskbar will be located at the bottom of your screen. It usually contains the time in the far right corner, the start button in the far left corner, and there will be tabs along the bottom showing you which program(s) you currently have open. The tabs on the taskbar assist you in easily navigating between open programs. You can customize your taskbar, by right-clicking on any empty area of the taskbar, and choosing Properties. You can lock the taskbar making it so the taskbar cannot be changed, or set the taskbar to hide when you are not using it.

Quick Launch Icons
On the bottom left on your task bar, there are small icons called Quick Launch icons. These icons can be placed there by you, by simply dragging a program shortcut into this area. You will most likely want to have program icons here that you use frequently, as they are quick and easy to use because all you have to do is click! No searching is necessary to find the programs you use frequently.

System Tray
In the far right corner of your taskbar, there will be an area that usually contains the time and a few icons of programs that automatically start every time your computer is loaded.

The Infamous Start Menu
The bottom far left corner of your taskbar contains your Start button. By clicking on the start button you open your start menu, which displays all of the programs and utilities you have on your computer. You will most likely also have a few shortcuts to the most frequently used programs, as well as the links to the Control Panel, which controls many of your computer’s settings, Search, which allows you to search for files or folders, your Help button, the button to restart or shut off your computer, and a few other links that you will find to come in handy.

System Icons
Many icons for standard system features appear on the desktop. For example, double-clicking on the My Computer icon will open a window displaying additional icons that represent different parts of your computer. Other standard icons often found on the desktop include a trash or recycle can that represents the Recycle Bin and a yellow file folder that accesses the My Documents folder. Icons with an arrow in the lower-left corner are shortcut icons. Double-clicking on them will open the related program or folder. You can delete a shortcut icon without deleting the program or folder to which it points.

When you start your computer, the first thing you see on the screen is called the desktop. This is the area you can use to navigate your computer. There are several useful and customizable features available from the Windows Desktop.

In the next part of the article, I will explain a few of my favorite computer tricks and program tips.

Document Scrap
Document scrap is a very easy trick you can use in Windows, but not many people know about it. Often times, you will run into a situation where you need to the same bit of text numerous times, and it’s annoying to continue retyping it every time you need it. To avoid this annoyance, you simply type the text into a document. Then click and drag your mouse over it to highlight all the text that you want to be included. Then you need to copy the highlighted text into the clipboard by selecting Edit from the top menu, then copy. Return to your Desktop and right-click on any area that is blank. If you choose past from the menu, you will then see a paper icon appear which holds the text you selected and copied. Double-click to open the text, and copy and paste the text as many times as you need into as many different programs as you need. Viola! No more repetitive typing!

To Copy or to Move?
If you have been using a computer for a quite awhile, I’m sure you have figured out a few of your own little computer tricks. One of those may be that if you drag a file from one place to another sometimes Windows will actually move the entire file to the new location, which deletes the file in the old location. Other times Windows may make a copy, or shortcut, of the file in the new location, leaving the original in the old location. I promise, Windows doesn’t have a mind of its own. You don’t really need to know why Windows does this on its own accord, just that you can control it if you want to. If you want to move a file from one place to another, do so by right-clicking on the file and holding it down, while you drag your file to its new destination. Once you release the right mouse button, you’ll notice that a small window will show up and ask you whether you want to Copy, Move, or Create a Shortcut to the particular file that you just moved. By moving files this way, it allows you to regain control from the Windows madness, and gives you the opportunity to decide whether to move it, copy it, or create a shortcut to it. Another benefit is that it will give you the chance to decide whether or not you really want to make a copy of that particular file, or if you just would like to move it.

Changing Program Toolbars to be more Useful to You
In most of the Windows programs, they contain toolbars that allow for quick access to commonly used functions, such as font, save, copy, center, etc… In many cases, you can choose to show or hide these toolbars allowing for more or less space, or showing only the toolbars that you use most often. You can also customize many of these toolbars to contain the functions that you use most often, and eliminate the ones that you rarely use. Having your toolbars customized to your individual needs can save you a lot of time and trouble when it comes to changing fonts or paragraph formatting.

In order to customize your toolbars, you’ll need to open the toolbar customization menu. This will vary between programs. In some of the more common Windows programs such as Microsoft Word or Internet Explorer, you can access the Toolbars menu, selecting whether they are shown, hidden, or selecting to customize them by selecting Toolbars from the ‘View’ menu across the top of your screen. In some cases, in order to select the toolbar choice you may need to look under Preferences or Options. You can even use a shortcut to access the toolbar menu; simply right-click on an empty part of a toolbar, and most of the time this will take you directly to the toolbar menu and its many options.

Making your Screen into a Full-Screen
I know sometimes I get sick of all my toolbars taking so much of my precious space on my screen that I’m using to navigate, or type. If you press the F11 function key, any document or screen that you are viewing will automatically change into a much bigger, full screen, without many of those space consuming toolbars. If you don’t want your screen to be full-screen anymore, simply press the F11 function key again, and your screen will resume to its normal size, with all the toolbars showing again that you originally had showing.

Last, but Not Least
To end this tutorial on the basics of Windows functions, icons, taskbars, toolbars, and tips and tricks for your computer, I’ll give you two bits of advice that I have learned the hard way. By hard way I mean losing everything I had ever saved on my computer. First, I recommend you have a good surge protector connected to your computer in an effort to protect it from any extra surges of electricity, which can damage your computer. Second, is I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to back up all of the important files you have saved on your computer. If anything happens, your computer crashes, it’s damaged in a storm, it gets attacked by a virus, ANYTHING, if you back it up on a disk you know you will always have it. Remember to do this on a regular basis, because doing it once will only save the information that you saved that one time.