tutorials

Unlock toolbars to work with them

A toolbar is a collection of buttons or icons—usually displayed across the top of the screen—that represents the different tasks you can do within a program. For example, in Microsoft Internet Explorer, there is a toolbar for the standard Internet Explorer command buttons, one for entering an Internet address, and one for quick links you can set up.

When you open a toolbar, it will appear in a particular spot on the screen. If you want to change the location of the toolbar you can move it by dragging it to the new location. You can also resize the toolbar by dragging its edge. If you find a toolbar that cannot be moved or resized, the toolbar may be locked.

To unlock a toolbar

1.Make sure you have only one window open for the program. (You can look at the taskbar at the bottom of your screen to verify this.) Then, right-click the toolbar.

2. If Lock the Toolbars appears on the shortcut menu and is selected (a check mark appears to the left of it), click Lock the Toolbars to unlock the toolbar. If you see Lock the Toolbars, but no check mark appears to the left of it, the toolbar is already unlocked.


Note: If Lock the Toolbars does not appear on the shortcut menu, you may not be able to move or resize the toolbar.

If you are able move the toolbar, once you’ve moved the toolbar to the location where you want it, select Lock the Toolbars so that it isn’t inadvertently moved. To make sure the change is permanent, lock the toolbar, exit the program, and then reopen it. The toolbar should be locked.

Adding Programs To Stay On The Start Menu

Right click on any .exe file in Explorer, My Computer, Desktop and select 'Pin to Start Menu', the program is then displayed on the start menu, above the separator line. To remove it, click the file on the start menu and select 'Unpin from Start Menu'. Below you can check the before and after shots. 

Add a shortcut to your desktop

You can create shortcuts on your desktop that enable you to open your favorite files and folders by simply double-clicking your mouse. 
To add a shortcut from a file to your desktop
1. Browse through your My Documents folder, and find the file that you want to create a shortcut to. 

2. Right-click the file that you want to be able to open from your desktop, click Send To, and then click Desktop. 

You’ll see the shortcut on your desktop.

Note: The shortcut icon has an arrow in the lower-left corner to indicate that it’s a shortcut rather than the actual file. You can open a shortcut just like you would any other file by double-clicking it. However, if you delete the shortcut, you won’t remove the file itself.

Easy search a specific web page

It’s easy to search any web page you’re on. Just go Ctrl-A to highlight the whole page, the Ctrl-F to launch the Windows Find box. 

The Refresh button

Hitting the F5 button on your PC refreshes the web page you’re looking at. This can sometimes cure odd browsing problems, and also ensure you are viewing the very latest version of the page. (This can be important if the page has recently been updates and your browser has ‘cached’ the old page.) 

Navigation tips

To immediately go to the top of any Web page, press the Home key on your keyboard. This tip is especially useful if you are at the bottom of a very long Web page and you don't want to scroll back to the top. 
To immediately go to the bottom of any Web page, press the End key on your keyboard.

Saving a Web page

To save a Web page with graphics from Internet Explorer or Mozilla to your hard drive, click the File menu in the upper left corner of the browser's Menu Bar. From the drop-down list that appears, choose Save As (IE) or Save Page As (Mozilla). Pick a destination to save the file to in the Save in entry field, and in the Save as type entry field choose Web page, complete. Click the Save button and the Web page, including graphics, will be saved to your hard drive, and you won't have to go online to view it. If you just want to save the text of a Web page without any graphics, select Save Without Picture from the File menu in IE, choose a destination to save the file to in the Save in entry field, and click the Save button. In Mozilla select the File menu and then Save Page As. Choose a destination to save the file to in the Save in entry field, select Web page, HTML only in the Save as type entry field, and then click the Save button. Note that you will have to open the saved file from within Mozilla by dragging it onto the browser window, or by right clicking it with your mouse and choosing the Open With Mozilla command. 

Opening PDF files

Sometimes opening PDF (portable document format) files from Web page links can be difficult. One solution to this problem is to right-click directly on the link that contains the PDF and choose Save Target As from the menu that appears. Save the file to your desktop and double-click it to open it up. The PDF will open up in Adobe Reader.