XP - Removing Read Only For Files Or Folders Copied From A CD

When you copy files off a CD you will have to remove the read only attribute, before you can edit the file.

There are a few ways to do this, but I will show you what I think is the easiest:

• In Windows Explorer, find the file / folder you copied from the CD.


• Right Click that file / folder and select Properties.


• Uncheck the Read-only box in the Attributes section.


• Click on OK.

Of course there are utilities out there you can use and commands that can be entered in DOS mode, but this should be the cheapest and easiest way for most people. If you do a lot of copying from CDs you might want to look for the alternatives.

If you want to make a file read only, so you don't make a change by mistake for instance, follow the same basic procedure outlined above, but place a check in the Read-only box, instead of unchecking it.

Internet - Firefox Multiple Home Pages

Would you like to have more than one home page automatically open when you start Firefox? Here is one way to do so:

• Open the pages you want to see in separate tabs.


• Go to the Tools menu.


• Select Options.


• Click on "Use Current Pages", in the Home Page of the General Tab.


• Clisk on OK.

I use this to show tabs with a blank page, the Broward Personal Computer Association home page, and the Boca Raton Computer Society, each time I open my Portable Firefox on my thumbdrive. That way I can see if there is any updated information for the user group pages and have a blank tab for anything else I want to check on.

See my July 17, 2006 entry for how to set your browser to open to a blank page and the reasons I like to do that.

XP - Lost Window?

For some reason, known only to the computer gods, every once in a while a window disappears. This tip should get it back for you.

• Hold down the Alt key and keep tapping the Tab key until you get to the icon of the program you want.


• Hit the Alt key and the Spacebar at the same time.


• Press the M key and use the arrow keys to position the window to the right place and the Esc key when it is where you want.


• Drag on the window edges to resize it as you like. (Caution: Do not use the Maximize button for this.)

Now the next time you open the window it should work correctly.

Actually, there are no computer gods of course, at least to my knowledge, somehow or other we must have inadvertently dragged the window beyond the accessible area of the screen. This doesn't happen often thankfully but can be really frustrating when it does happen.

I have only used this myself in both XP Home and XP Pro but, I believe it works the same in older versions also.

Internet - Open Browser To A Blank Page

To set your browser to open to a blank page:

In Internet Explorer:

• From the menu bar click on Tools then Internet Options.


• In General Tab / Home Page / Address type "about:blank" (without the quote marks).


• Click on Apply.


• Click on OK.

In Firefox:

• From the menu bar click on Tools then Options.


• In General / Home Page / Location(s)type "about:blank" (without the quote marks).


• Click on OK.

In other browsers there should be a similar method, though I have not tried in any others.

I set both Internet Explorer and Firefox to open to a blank page on the computers I use. My Portable Firefox on my thumb drives also is set to open to a blank page.

My reasoning for this is that a lot of times at work the server is down, yet the browser, in this case Internet Explorer, still goes and searches and then comes back with an error message. I find this waiting very irritating, especially as I am usually wanting to go somewherelse anyway.

Another advantage of using a blank page as the default is that a browser hijacking is immediately noticeable and can be taken care of right away.

I know this is a day early but, I have a bunch of meetings tomorrow at work, as well as the monthly BPCA SIG and General meetings.

Word - Random Text Generation

I sometimes have to generate some random text to test how a new layout looks for a newsletter or website. I know there are easier, and probably better ways to do it but, here are two methods I have used in Microsoft Word.

The first is to simply locate a document and copy what looks like the right amount of text and paste it into the new layout as plain text.

The second method I use is to randomly generate a number of paragraphs in Word and then copy them and paste them into the new layout as plain text.

To do the generation of random text paragraphs in Word:

• Create a new blank document.


• Type =rand(#) [insert 1 for 1 paragraph, 5 for five paragraphs, etc. in the place of #, inside the parentheses].


• Press enter.

This will insert the following paragraph the specified number of times:

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

This is another of those little things, that I seldom think about but, have been asked by others "How do you do that?".

Open XML Spreadsheet in Excel

I was at my Business Agent's office the other day and she was emailed a file, which she could not open after saving to her desktop.

The file in question contained spreadsheet information so she was double clicking on the file, thinking it would open up in Microsoft Excel but, it would not open.

She was on the phone with the sender, trying to resolve the problem.

I happened to see that the file had an .xml extension and when she hovered over the file name, the file properties showed it as being an "XML Spreadsheet". These clues told me that the file had been sent in an XML (EXtensible Markup Language) format, not Microsoft Excel.

I told her to:

• Open her Excel applications.


• Go to the File menu.


• Select Open from the drop down menu.


• Navigate to the file on her desktop that needed to be opened.


• Select the file (Change the File Type to All Files, if necessary).


• Click Open.

This opened the file in Excel and she was able to access the information. I say that she was able to access the information because the XML file only contains the information with minimal set up; she ended up having to go in and setting up the header, footer, repeating row, etc. to manipulate the information.

This worked because she had Excel 2003. From what I have found Microsoft Office 2003 and above includes XML reading capabilities. OpenOffice is also capable of reading XML files.

XML is a much more involved subject than can be handled in a blog like this. Also, I am just now reading about XML and doing a little experimentation on utilizing it.

From what little I have read about XML and its implementation, XML will be more prevelant in the very near future, as the information needs to be written only once and then can be presented in many different ways very easily. For an overview of XML check out this information at the Wikipedia site: Extensible Markup Language.

Web Resources - BPCA

I have been asked where I get a lot of my ideas and knowledge.

One of the resources I use is the Broward Personal Computer Association, Inc. Links
site.

This site has links to various resources, submitted by BPCA members and even non-members, conveniently categorized such as:

• Computer Hardware - Currently 3 listings.
• Computer Newsletters Free - Currently 1 listing.
• Fun Web Sites - Currently 6 listings.
• Computer Help / Support - Currently 3 listings.
• Computer User Groups - Currently 8 listings.

There are other categories as well and new categories are being added as necessary.

Some categories, such as Computer User Groups, also have sub categories.

All submissions are reviewed before being permanently displayed. You do not have to be a member of BPCA to submit a link.

Check these out and if you come across and interesting site yourself submit it so that others can check it out.

I will periodically post some of my other frequent web sources.

Enjoy and let me know how I can make this blog better.

Plain Text Paste

I have been getting a lot of complaints regarding my admonition to copy and paste text from the web to keep it for reference.

It seems that many of those who have tried doing this do not realize that if you do a straight copy and paste to a word processor, the formatting is also pasted.

This is my fault, as I tend to think everyone works the same as I do.

To paste the text with no formatting, in most applications, select Paste Special from the Edit or Insert menu, depending upon the application and then select either Plain text or Unformatted text, again depending upon the application.

If you somehow have a word processor which does not enable you to do a Paste Special, another way around this is to use a text only editor such as Windows Notepad as the place you safe the text.

I have just been so used to using Paste Special with Word, Publisher, email, etc., that I thought everyone knew to do it that way.

Remember, if you do not understand something in one of my posts or things do not work the way I describe, just let me know and I will research it and get back with you. It is probably me not being clear in the way I did the posting.

Happy 4th!!!!