Monthly computer tips

Below is a listing of computer tips that have been listed on Computer Hope over the last year. A complete list of computer tips are found on our computer tips page.

3/2009 - Microsoft Windows Explorer
Related Tips: Microsoft Windows

Speed up the display load time of Microsoft Windows Explorer by disabling the feature to search for network printers and folders. By default each time Windows Explorer is opened it'll attempt to locate any network printer or folder on your computer network. If your computer is not on a network and/or you have no network printers, folders, or shares disable this option by following the below steps.

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Click the Tools drop down menu and then Folder Options
3. Within the Folder Options tab click the View tab
4. Uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers"

2/2009 - Mozilla Firefox
Related Tips: Firefox tips

Remove that pesky download window that appears after downloading a file by adding the Firefox Download Statusbar Add-on to your browser. Alternatively editing the about:config settings as shown below can also disable this window from being displayed.

1. Open a new tab in Firefox.
2. In the address bar type: about:config
3. Locate browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting by copying and pasting the bold text into the Filter box.
4. Double-click the name or value to change the value from True to False. Once done close the tab.

If you've hidden your download Window it can still viewed by clicking Tools and then Downloads or pressing Ctrl + J.

1/2009 - Create your own web page icon
Related Tips: Web design tips

Create your own web site or blog icon by creating a favicon.ico file. Additional information about this file including the creation of this file can be found on document CH000410.

12/2008 - Internet
Related Tips: Internet

Backup your Internet browsers favorites / bookmarks before you lose them. Internet favorites are one of the most commonly things users forget to backup before it's too late. See document CH00524 for the steps on how to backup your Internet favorites.

11/2008 - Mozilla Firefox
Related Tips: Firefox tips

Quickly and easily highlight only certain rows, columns, or cells of an HTML table by holding down the CTRL key on the keyboard and click each cell individually, clicking and dragging the mouse up or down a column, or dragging a mouse left or right on a row. For example, if you wanted to select the data in the below second column of the HTML table hold down the CTRL key and while holding down the key click the "Example 2" cell and drag down to Four. Once selected press CTRL + C to copy the data and paste it elsewhere.

10/2008 - Internet
Related Tips: Internet

See who's linking to your blog or web page by searching for link: followed by your URL. For example, when searching for link:http://www.computerhope.com/ in Google the results will display pages linking to the Computer Hope page. For those of you linking to Computer Hope, thanks!

9/2008 - Microsoft Windows
Related Tips: Microsoft Windows

Easily create Windows desktop shortcuts to your favorite web pages by following the below steps.

1. Open the web page you wish to create a shortcut for.
2. Resize your browser window so it's not maximized.
3. Once in a window mode click the icon to the left of the Internet address in the address bar and drag it to your desktop and let go to create a shortcut.

7/2008 - Microsoft Windows
Related Tips: Microsoft Windows

Create a customized looking folder in Microsoft windows by saving one of the images or a copy of an image in the folder as folder.jpg. Once this has been done if you're viewing the folders in Thumbnail view that folder will display the folder.jpg image on top of the traditional folder.

Additional information about how to change the view in Windows including switching to Thumbnail view can be found on document CH0001015.

6/2008 - Internet
Related Tips: Internet

Below is a list of our top ten Google tricks many users don't know about.

1. Definitions - Pull up the definition of the word by typing define followed by the word you want the definition for. For example, typing: define bravura would display the definition of that word.
2. Local search - Visit Google Local enter the area you want to search and the keyword of the place you want to find. For example, typing: restaurant at the above link would display local restaurants.
3. Phone number lookup - Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number.
4. Find weather - Type weather followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions and forecasts for upcoming days.
5. Track airline flight - Enter the airline and flight number to display the status of an airline flight and it's arrival time. For example, type: delta 123 to display this flight information if available.
6. Track packages - Enter a UPS, FedEx or USPS tracking number to get a direct link to track your packages.
7. Pages linked to you - See what other web pages are linking to your website or blog by typing link: followed by your URL. For example, typing link:http://www.computerhope.com displays all pages linking to Computer Hope.
8. Find PDF results only - Add filetype: to your search to display results that only match a certain file type. For example, if you wanted to display PDF results only type: "dell xps" filetype:pdf -- this is a great way to find online manuals.
9. Calculator - Use the Google Search engine as a calculator by typing a math problem in the search. For example, typing: 100 + 200 would display results as 300.
10. Stocks - Quickly get to a stock quote price, chart, and related links by typing the stock symbol in Google. For example, typing: msft will display the stock information for Microsoft.

5/2008 - Mozilla Firefox
Related Tips: Firefox tips

Bookmark any web page form field and quickly access it from the browser address bar. Below is an example of how you could bookmark the Computer Hope search and quickly search for help anytime .

1. Right-click on the search box in the top left portion of this window.
2. Click Add a keyword for this search.
3. In the Add bookmark window, type any name or leave it blank and for the keyword make it something simple and easy to remember. For example, "CH" for "Computer Hope" and click Ok.

Now in your address bar you can type: "CH " and then anything you need help with. For example typing: "CH motherboard" would open the search results for motherboard.

Bonus all users tip

Computer Hope has released another free online utility called "Is it up", which allows you to quickly check the status of any website on the Internet and be able to identify if it's your computer or the website that is causing you problem. This utility can be found here.

4/2008 - Mozilla Firefox
Related Tips: Firefox tips

Oops did you mistakenly close a tab you didn't want to close? Press CTRL + Shift + T to undo a close tab. Pressing this more than once will undo multiple closed tabs.

Bonus all users tip

Computer Hope recently introduced a new web tool called: Computer Hope System Information, visiting this page you'll be able to quickly display all system information detected, installed browser plugins and their versions and much more information in any browser.

3/2008 - Microsoft Windows
Related Tips: Microsoft Windows

Quickly navigate and manipulate the Microsoft Windows command prompt by dragging and dropping Windows components into the command line window. For example, type: "cd " and drag and drop a folder located anywhere on your computer into the command line window to type the full path of that folder and press enter to quickly move to that location.

2/2008 - Microsoft Windows
Related Tips: Microsoft Windows

The Microsoft Windows command prompt is an invaluable tool that can be used in conjunction with Windows. Below are some helpful shortcuts and tips that can be used to improve your abilities while in the command prompt. Users not familiar with how to enter the command prompt can find additional information about this in document CHDOS.

1. Press the up arrow key to scroll through all previously typed commands at the prompt. This is helpful for when you need to type long commands in more than once. Note. If
2. Pres the tab key to auto-complete the names of directories or files. For example, at C:\ type: "cd wi", press tab and the command prompt should complete WINDOWS as the name of the directory.
3. Familiarize yourself with the top MS-DOS commands and each of their available switches.

• See our Computer Hope tips section for a complete list of all tips posted on Computer Hope.