Windows XP Gigabook for Dummies. Wiley

by Peter Weverka
Mark Chambers,Greg Harvey,Woody Leonhard,
John Levine,Margaret Levine Young,Doug Lowe

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Windows XP Gigabook for Dummies

Acknowledgments
Wiley Publishing, Inc. gratefully acknowledges the contributions of these authors
and contributing writers: Peter Weverka, Woody Leonhard, Mark L. Chambers, Greg
Harvey, John Levine, Doug Lowe, and Margaret Levine Young.

 We would like to thank Peter Weverka for editing this book, Jean Rogers for copy
editing it, and Linda Morris for serving as project editor. Thanks as well go to
Kerwin McKenzie for his technical edits, Richard T. Evans for his index, and Rich
Tennant for the witty cartoons you will find in this book. Thanks are also due to
the many page layout technicians, graphic artists, proofreaders, and others in
Composition Services who worked to bring this book to fruition.

 Peter Weverka wishes to thank Steve Hayes for the opportunity to work on this and
other For Dummies books for Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book;
please send us your comments through our online registration form located at
www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Linda Morris
Acquisitions Editor: Steven Hayes
Copy Editor: Jean Rogers
Technical Editor: Kerwin McKenzie
Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron
Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves
Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth
Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Production
Project Coordinator: Courtney MacIntyre
Layout and Graphics: Amanda Carter, Lauren Goddard,
Lynsey Osborn, Jacque Schneider, Julie Trippetti
Proofreaders: Andy Hollandbeck, Carl W. Pierce,
Christine Pingleton, Dwight Ramsey
Indexer: Richard T. Evans
Special Help: Joni Burns, Erin Zeltner
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

This book is a general-purpose guide to computers. It takes on a variety
of subjects — PCs, the Windows XP operating system, the Internet, and
the Microsoft Office 2003 software suite. Don’t look into this book to find
out how computer stuff works. Look here to find out how you can make the
most of the time you spend with your computer.

What’s in This Book, Anyway?
This book is like four different books wrapped up in one convenient volume.
It’s jam-packed with tips, advice, shortcuts, and how-to’s to help you squeeze
the last drop of fun or profit from your computer. It’s a reference book. It isn’t
meant to be read from start to finish. Dip into it when you need to solve a
problem, you want to investigate a new use for your computer, or you want to
find out if there is a better way to do a task. Here’s a bare outline of the four
parts of this book:
✦ Book I: Windows XP: Looks into the far and near corners of the
Windows XP operating system, including how to customize Windows,
manage files and folders, and use Windows as a multimedia device.
✦ Book II: PCs and Peripherals: Explores how to install and maintain your
computer’s hardware, make your PC double as a toy, and create a home
network. You will also find advice here for using scanners, digital cameras,
and other cool peripheral devices.
✦ Book III: The Internet: Explains how to surf the Internet, handle e-mail,
and create Web pages, as well as chat online and download music files.
✦ Book IV: Office 2003 and Money 2004: Describes how to use these software
programs in the Office 2003 suite: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and
Outlook. Book IV also explains how to manage your finances with Money 2004.

What Makes This Book Special
You are holding in your hands a computer book designed to make learning
as easy and comfortable as possible. Besides the fact that this book is easy
to read, it’s different from other books about computers. Read on to see why.

Easy-to-look-up information
This book is a reference, and that means that readers have to be able to find
instructions quickly. To that end, the authors that contributed to this book
have taken great pains to make sure that the material in this book is well tion
quickly. The bulleted and numbered lists make following instructions
simpler. The tables make options easier to understand.

The authors want you to be able to look down the page and see in a heading
or list the name of the topic that concerns you and for you to be able to find
instructions quickly. The contents of this book were organized such that
you can find topics in a hurry.

A task-oriented approach
Most computer books describe what the software is, but this book explains
how to complete tasks with the software. I assume that you came to this
book because you want to know how to do something — print form letters,
hook up a home network, build a Web site. You came to the right place.
This book describes how to get tasks done.

A Greatest Hits Collection
The material in this book was culled from For Dummies books published
by Wiley Publishing, Inc. You can think of this book as a kind of greatest hits
collection of computer books. If you stumble upon a topic in this book that
intrigues you and you want to know more about it, I suggest looking into one
of the books from which this book was created:
✦ Windows XP All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, by Woody Leonhard.
✦ PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, by Mark L. Chambers.
✦ The Internet All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, by Kelly Ewing,
John Levine, Arnold Reinhold, Margaret Levine Young, Doug Lowe, Greg
Harvey, Viraf Mohta, Jennifer Kaufeld, John Kaufeld, Peter Weverka,
Brad Hill, and Lee Musick.
✦ Office 2003 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, by Peter Weverka.
✦ Windows XP Timesaving Techniques For Dummies, by Woody Leonhard.
Foolish Assumptions
Please forgive me, but I made one or two foolish assumptions about you,
the reader of this book. I assumed that
✦ You have a PC (not a Macintosh computer).
✦ You use a Windows operating system, preferably Windows XP. Book I
explains how to use Windows XP, but all people who have the Windows
operating system installed on their computers are invited to read this
book. It serves for people who have Windows 95, Windows 98, and
Windows NT, as well as Windows XP or higher.
✦ You have Microsoft Office 2003 installed on your computer. Book IV is
devoted to Office.
✦ You are kind to foreign tourists and small animals. 2

Conventions Used in This Book
I want you to understand all the instructions in this book, and in that spirit,
I’ve adopted a few conventions.
To show you how to step through command sequences, I use the ➪ symbol.
For example, you can choose File➪Save to save a file. The ➪ is just a shorthand
method of saying, “From the File menu, choose Save.”
Yet another way to give a command is to click a toolbar button. Often when
I tell you to click a toolbar button, you see a small illustration of the button
in the margin of this book. The button shown here is the Save button, the
one you can click to save a file in most programs.
Where you see boldface letters or numbers in this book, it means to type
the letters or numbers. For example, “Enter 25 in the Percentage text box”
means to do exactly that: Enter the number 25.


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Contents at a Glance
Introduction
Book I: Windows XP
Part I: Getting to Know Windows XP
Chapter 1: Introducing Windows XP
Chapter 2: Upgrading to Windows XP
Chapter 3: Finding Your Way around Windows XP
Part II: Customizing Windows XP
Chapter 4: Personalizing Your Desktop
Chapter 5: Organizing Your Windows XP Interface
Chapter 6: Setting Up Personal Accounts
Part III: Managing Files and Maintaining Order
Chapter 7: Managing Files and Folders
Chapter 8: Locating Stuff with Windows XP
Chapter 9: Adding and Removing Software
Chapter 10: Maintaining Your Windows XP System
Part IV: Exploring Windows XP Multimedia
Chapter 11: Jammin’ with Windows Media Player
Chapter 12: Lights! Action! Windows Movie Maker
Chapter 13: Working with Digital Pictures
Book II: PCs and Peripherals
Part I: Hardware
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics
Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy
Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware
Part II: Peripheral Equipment
Chapter 5: Scanning with Gusto 
Chapter 6: Dude, MP3 Rocks!
Chapter 7: Making Movies with Your PC 
Chapter 8: I Can Make My Own DVDs?
Chapter 9: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera
Part III: Upgrading and Supercharging
Chapter 10: Determining What to Upgrade
Chapter 11: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod
Chapter 12: Scotty, I Need More Power!
Chapter 13: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System
Chapter 14: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs
Chapter 15: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video
Part IV: Home Networking
Chapter 16: Do I Really Need a Network?
Chapter 17: Ethernet to the Rescue
Chapter 18: Going Wireless
Chapter 19: Sharing Your Internet Connection
Book III: The Internet
Part I: Going Online with an ISP
Chapter 1: Hooking Up with the Right Service
Chapter 2: Managing Your Online Security
Chapter 3: America Online
Part II: Getting Caught in the World Wide Web
Chapter 4: Browsers and What They Do
Chapter 5: Customizing Your Browser Settings
Chapter 6: Printing and Saving Web Information
Part III: E-Mail
Chapter 7: E-Mail Basics
Chapter 8: Sending and Receiving E-Mail with Outlook Express
Chapter 9: Organizing E-Mail Addresses and Messages
Chapter 10: Mailing Lists
Part IV: Other Online Communications
Chapter 11: Chatting Online
Chapter 12: Instant Messaging
Chapter 13: Keeping Up to Date with News
Part V: Creating Web Pages
Chapter 14: Getting Started with Web Publishing
Chapter 15: Elements of Web Page Design
Chapter 16: Working with Graphics, Sounds, and Videos
Chapter 17: Publishing on the Web
Part VI: Can’t-Miss Stops on the Internet
Chapter 18: Finding Your Way with Google
Chapter 19: Getting Bargains on eBay
Chapter 20: Planning Your Next Vacation Online
Chapter 21: Researching Investments Online
Chapter 22: Listening to the Music
Book IV: Office 2003 and Money 2004
Part I: Word 2003
Chapter 1: Entering, Editing, and Formatting Text
Chapter 2: Speed Techniques for Using Word
Chapter 3: Laying Out Text and Pages
Chapter 4: Word Styles
Chapter 5: Constructing the Perfect Table
Chapter 6: Getting Word’s Help with Office Chores
Part II: Outlook 2003
Chapter 7: Getting Acquainted with Outlook
Chapter 8: Handling Your E-Mail
Chapter 9: Managing Your Time and Schedule
Part III: PowerPoint 2003
Chapter 10: Getting Started in PowerPoint
Chapter 11: Entering the Text 
Chapter 12: Advanced Formatting Techniques 
Chapter 13: Giving the Presentation
Part IV: Excel 2003 
Chapter 14: Up and Running with Excel
Chapter 15: Refining Your Worksheet
Chapter 16: Formulas and Functions for Crunching Numbers
Chapter 17: Making a Worksheet Easier to Read and Understand
Chapter 18: Seeing Data in Charts
Part V: Money 2004
Chapter 19: Introducing Money
Chapter 20: Setting Up Your Accounts
Chapter 21: Recording Your Financial Activity 
Chapter 22: Categorizing Your Spending and Income
Chapter 23: Reconciling, or Balancing, an Account
Chapter 24: Money for Investors 
Index

Table of Contents

Introduction ...........1
What’s in This Book, Anyway? ..................1
What Makes This Book Special .........1
Easy-to-look-up information ...........1
A task-oriented approach ............2
A Greatest Hits Collection .........2
Foolish Assumptions .............2
Conventions Used in This Book ............3
Icons Used in This Book ...............3
Book I: Windows XP .....................................................................5
Part I: Getting to Know Windows XP........................................................7
Chapter 1: Introducing Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
What Windows XP Does (And Doesn’t) ..................................................................................7
Hardware and software ...................................................................................................7
Why do I have to run Windows? ....................................................................................8
A terminology survival kit ..............................................................................................8
Where We’ve Been ..................................................................................................................10
The rise of Windows .....................................................................................................10
eNTer NT ........................................................................................................................11
NT and the “old” Windows ...........................................................................................11
Merging the branches ...................................................................................................11
Chapter 2: Upgrading to Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Upgrading — A Brain Transplant ..........................................................................................13
Windows Upgrade Advisor/Hardware Compatibility List ........................................14
Considering a clean install ...........................................................................................14
Using the Migration Wizard ..........................................................................................16
Product Activation ..................................................................................................................18
What if the Wheels Fall Off? ...................................................................................................21
Chapter 3: Finding Your Way around Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
The Desktop .............................................................................................................................23
Mousing ....................................................................................................................................26
Making the mouse behave ...........................................................................................26
Pointers on pointers .....................................................................................................28
Using the right button ...................................................................................................29
Windows ...................................................................................................................................30
Dialog Boxes ............................................................................................................................31
Files and Folders .....................................................................................................................34
Starting with the Start Button ...............................................................................................36
Internet ...........................................................................................................................38
E-mail ..............................................................................................................................39
Media Player ..................................................................................................................39
My Documents, Pictures, Music ..................................................................................39
My Recent Documents ..................................................................................................40
My Computer .................................................................................................................41
Control Panel .................................................................................................................42
Help and Support ..........................................................................................................44
Search .............................................................................................................................44
Run ..................................................................................................................................44
All Programs ...................................................................................................................44
Part II: Customizing Windows XP ...........................................................47
Chapter 4: Personalizing Your Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Recognizing Desktop Levels ..................................................................................................47
Setting Colors in Windows XP ...............................................................................................50
Picking a Background .............................................................................................................52
Controlling Icons .....................................................................................................................54
Changing Mouse Pointers ......................................................................................................56
Selecting Screen Savers ..........................................................................................................57
Seeing Desktop Text ................................................................................................................58
Activating ClearType ....................................................................................................59
Showing large fonts .......................................................................................................60
Using magnification and high contrast .......................................................................60
Using Desktop Themes ...........................................................................................................61
Customizing Folders ...............................................................................................................61
Chapter 5: Organizing Your Windows XP Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Customizing the Start Menu ..................................................................................................65
Genesis of the Start menu ............................................................................................65
Pinning to the Start menu ............................................................................................66
Reclaiming most recently used programs ..................................................................67
Showing recent documents ..........................................................................................69
Making minor tweaks to the Start menu ....................................................................70
Creating Your Own Shortcuts ................................................................................................71
Quick Launch Toolbar ............................................................................................................72
Activating .......................................................................................................................72
Customizing ...................................................................................................................73
Customizing the Windows Taskbar ......................................................................................74
Custom Startup .......................................................................................................................75
Chapter 6: Setting Up Personal Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Controlling Who Gets On .......................................................................................................77
Getting a warm welcome: The Welcome screen ........................................................77
Adding users ..................................................................................................................78
Changing user settings .................................................................................................79
Using account types ......................................................................................................80
Avoiding Microsoft Passport .......................................................................................81
Deleting yourself ............................................................................................................83
Logoff ........................................................................................................................................83
Part III: Managing Files and Maintaining Order ..................................87
Chapter 7: Managing Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Using Windows Explorer ........................................................................................................87
Creating Files and Folders ......................................................................................................88
Selecting Files and Folders ....................................................................................................89
Modifying Files and Folders ...................................................................................................90
Different Ways of Viewing Folders and Files ........................................................................90
Sharing Folders ........................................................................................................................92
Sharing on one computer .............................................................................................92
Sneak-in-any-time-you-like sharing ..............................................................................94
Sharing on your network ..............................................................................................94
Sharing an entire drive .................................................................................................96
Recycling Files and Folders ...................................................................................................97
Chapter 8: Locating Stuff with Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Introducing the Search Companion ......................................................................................99
What you can find .......................................................................................................101
What you can’t find .....................................................................................................102
Phrasing a search query .............................................................................................102
Looking for Files and Folders ..............................................................................................102
Searching for pictures, music, or video ....................................................................103
Searching for a document ..........................................................................................104
Searching for All Files and Folders ............................................................................105
Using Wildcards ....................................................................................................................106
Digging Deeper with Advanced Searches ..........................................................................107
Saving a Search ......................................................................................................................109
Chapter 9: Adding and Removing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Installing and Removing Programs .....................................................................................111
Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks ..........................................................................112
Installing and Removing Parts of Windows .......................................................................113
Chapter 10: Maintaining Your Windows XP System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Keeping Up-to-Date ...............................................................................................................117
Understanding Windows Update ...............................................................................117
Setting up automatic updates ....................................................................................118
Performing the update ................................................................................................119
Installing old updates .................................................................................................120
Performing Periodic Maintenance ......................................................................................121
Running an error check ..............................................................................................121
Scheduling Cleanups ...................................................................................................122
Defragmenting a drive ................................................................................................122
Backing Up and Restoring ....................................................................................................123
Scheduling Task Scheduler ..................................................................................................124
Zipping and Compression ....................................................................................................126
Part IV: Exploring Windows XP Multimedia .......................................131
Chapter 11: Jammin’ with Windows Media Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Starting with the Media Guide .............................................................................................131
Playing with Now Playing .....................................................................................................132
Playing a CD .................................................................................................................133
Changing the graphic area .........................................................................................133
Changing the size of the window ...............................................................................133
Copying from a CD ................................................................................................................134
Organizing Your Media Library ...........................................................................................135
Leafing through the Media Library ...........................................................................135
Finding the tracks you want .......................................................................................136
Playing tracks in the Media Library ..........................................................................138
Managing playlists .......................................................................................................138
Deleting tracks from the Media Library ...................................................................140
Radio Tuner ...........................................................................................................................140
Listening to a station ..................................................................................................141
Saving a station in the Media Library .......................................................................141
Copy to CD or Device ...........................................................................................................142
Understanding CD-Rs and CD-RWs ...........................................................................142
Burning a CD ................................................................................................................142
Copying to a digital audio player ..............................................................................144
Chapter 12: Lights! Action! Windows Movie Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
What You Need to Create Movies .......................................................................................147
Introducing Windows Movie Maker ....................................................................................148
Recording and Editing Video ...............................................................................................149
Choosing a camera ......................................................................................................149
Recording video ...........................................................................................................149
Assembling a movie ....................................................................................................151
Playing a clip or a movie ............................................................................................152
Viewing storyboard and timeline ..............................................................................153
Trimming a clip ............................................................................................................154
Fading ............................................................................................................................155
Splitting and combining clips ....................................................................................156
Finishing the movie .....................................................................................................157
Using Sound Clips .................................................................................................................158
Recording a sound clip ...............................................................................................158
Adding a sound clip to a movie .................................................................................159
Organizing Your Clips ...........................................................................................................160
Chapter 13: Working with Digital Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Choosing a Camera ...............................................................................................................163
Understanding digital cameras ..................................................................................164
Using conventional cameras ......................................................................................167
Plugging Internet cameras ..........................................................................................168
Moving Images to Your Computer ......................................................................................168
Printing Pictures ....................................................................................................................172
Printing with the wizard .............................................................................................172
Advanced printing software .......................................................................................174
Troubleshooting ....................................................................................................................174
Book II: PCs and Peripherals ....................................................177
Part I: Hardware .......................................................................................179
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Defining Basic Terms ............................................................................................................179
Hardware ......................................................................................................................179
Software ........................................................................................................................180
Peripherals .............................................................................................................................181
The Common Components of a Desktop PC ......................................................................182
The computer ..............................................................................................................182
The monitor .................................................................................................................184
The keyboard and mouse ...........................................................................................185
Speakers .......................................................................................................................186
Desktop PCs versus Laptop PCs .........................................................................................186
RAM and Processors: The Keys to Performance ..............................................................187
Your Friend, Your Operating System ..................................................................................188
Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
Printers ...................................................................................................................................189
Inkjet versus laser printers ........................................................................................189
Photo printers ..............................................................................................................191
Label printers ...............................................................................................................192
Scanners .................................................................................................................................193
Keyboards, Tablets, and Pointing Things ..........................................................................194
Tickling keys wirelessly ..............................................................................................194
Putting a tablet to work ..............................................................................................195
Repeat after me: Buy a trackball! ..............................................................................196
Big-Time Game Controllers ..................................................................................................196
Video and Digital Cameras ...................................................................................................197
External Drives ......................................................................................................................198
Portable hard drives and CD/DVD recorders ..........................................................199
Backup drives ..............................................................................................................200
USB flash drives ...........................................................................................................200
Surge Protectors and UPS Units ..........................................................................................201
Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
Using USB Stuff ......................................................................................................................203
Riding in the Fast Lane with FireWire .................................................................................204
Your Antique Serial Port ......................................................................................................205
The Once-Renowned Parallel Port ......................................................................................206
Meet Your Video Port ...........................................................................................................207
Audio Connectors You’ll Likely Need .................................................................................207
Keyboard and Mouse Ports on Parade ...............................................................................208
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
When Should I Move My PC? ...............................................................................................211
Avoiding Dust Bunnies .........................................................................................................212
Watching Your Cables ...........................................................................................................213
Cleaning Monitors and Scanners ........................................................................................214
Cleaning Your Mouse and Keyboard ..................................................................................214
Cleaning and Maintaining Your Printer ..............................................................................215
Cleaning laser printers ...............................................................................................215
Changing inkjet cartridges .........................................................................................217
Calibrating your printer .............................................................................................218
Cleaning inkjet cartridges ..........................................................................................220
Should you refill used inkjet cartridges? ..................................................................221
Part II: Peripheral Equipment.................................................................223
Chapter 5: Scanning with Gusto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
What Happens Inside a Scanner? ........................................................................................223
Your Friend, the Flatbed .......................................................................................................224
Popular Scanner Features ....................................................................................................226
Basic Scanning with Paint Shop Pro ...................................................................................227
Acquiring the image ....................................................................................................227
Rotating and cropping images ...................................................................................231
Converting and saving the image ..............................................................................233
Scanning Do’s and Don’ts .....................................................................................................234
Those Irritating (Or Invaluable) Copyrights ......................................................................235
Adding a Copyright Line ......................................................................................................236
Chapter 6: Dude, MP3 Rocks! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
An MP3 Primer .......................................................................................................................239
Ripping Your Own MP3 Files ................................................................................................241
Listening to Your Stuff ..........................................................................................................243
Downloading to an MP3 Player ...........................................................................................245
Using Other Sound Formats .................................................................................................246
WAV format ...................................................................................................................247
WMA format .................................................................................................................247
AU format .....................................................................................................................247
AIFF format ...................................................................................................................247
MIDI format ..................................................................................................................247
Burning Audio CDs from MP3 Files .....................................................................................248
Chapter 7: Making Movies with Your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251
Getting the Lowdown on ArcSoft’s ShowBiz ......................................................................251
Rounding Up Clips and Images ............................................................................................253
Building Your First Movie .....................................................................................................254
Adding Transitions without Breaking a Sweat ..................................................................256
Adding Special Effects without Paying George Lucas ......................................................257
Adding Sound ........................................................................................................................260
You’ve Just Gotta Have Titles! .............................................................................................261
Previewing Your Oscar-Winning Work ................................................................................262
Saving and Burning before Traveling to Cannes ...............................................................263
Creating a digital video file on your hard drive .......................................................263
Recording your own CD or DVD ................................................................................265
Chapter 8: I Can Make My Own DVDs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
Welcome to MyDVD ..............................................................................................................267
Menus ’R Easy! .......................................................................................................................269
Changing the Look of Your Menus ......................................................................................274
Trimming Movies with Panache ..........................................................................................276
Time to Preview .....................................................................................................................278
Burning Your DVD and Celebrating Afterwards ................................................................279
Chapter 9: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
How Does a Digital Camera Work? ......................................................................................282
The Pros and Cons of Digital Photography .......................................................................284
Digital Camera Extras to Covet ...........................................................................................286
External card readers .................................................................................................286
Rechargeable batteries ...............................................................................................287
Lenses ...........................................................................................................................287
Tripods .........................................................................................................................288
The Lazybone’s Guide to Composing Photographs .........................................................288
The Rule of Thirds .......................................................................................................288
The Rule of Asymmetry ..............................................................................................290
Using lighting creatively .............................................................................................290
Organizing Your Pictures .....................................................................................................292
Downloading Your Images ...................................................................................................292
Part III: Upgrading and Supercharging ................................................297
Chapter 10: Determining What to Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297
Making Performance Upgrades: CPU, Motherboard, and Memory ................................297
Upgrading your CPU and motherboard ....................................................................298
Adding memory ...........................................................................................................298
Expansion Upgrades: USB 2.0 and FireWire .......................................................................299
Making Storage Upgrades: Internal and External Drives .................................................299
Adding a hard drive ....................................................................................................300
Adding a recorder or a tape drive .............................................................................300
Making Sound and Video Upgrades: Sound and Video Cards .........................................301
Sound cards on parade ...............................................................................................301
Deciding which video card is right for you ..............................................................302
Chapter 11: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303
Figuring Out What Type of Memory You Need ..................................................................303
Deciding How Much RAM Is Enough ..................................................................................305
Installing Extra RAM .............................................................................................................306
Chapter 12: Scotty, I Need More Power! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
Hey, Do I Need to Do This? ...................................................................................................309
Selecting a New Motherboard .............................................................................................310
Installing a Motherboard and CPU ......................................................................................311
Installing an Athlon XP or Pentium 4 CPU ................................................................311
Installing your motherboard ......................................................................................313
Chapter 13: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317
The Tale of Virtual Memory .................................................................................................317
Recognizing a Well-Dressed Hard Drive .............................................................................319
Size definitely does matter .........................................................................................319
How fast is your access? ............................................................................................319
What does rpm have to do with hard drives? .........................................................319
Internal versus External Storage .........................................................................................320
Adding a Second Internal Hard Drive .................................................................................321
Chapter 14: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325
Comparing USB Ports ...........................................................................................................325
I Vote for FireWire .................................................................................................................326
Or Do You Just Need a Hub? ................................................................................................327
Installing a Port Card ............................................................................................................328
Chapter 15: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331
Sound Card Features to Covet .............................................................................................331
3-D spatial imaging ......................................................................................................331
Surround sound support ............................................................................................332
MP3 hardware support ...............................................................................................332
Game and FireWire ports ............................................................................................333
MIDI ports .....................................................................................................................333
Shopping for a Monster Graphics Card ..............................................................................334
Pray, what slot do you need? .....................................................................................334
Exploring the differences between chipsets ............................................................334
Other video card features that you’ll want ..............................................................335
Installing Sound and Video Cards .......................................................................................336
Part IV: Home Networking......................................................................339
Chapter 16: Do I Really Need a Network? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .339
Discovering the Advantages of a Network .........................................................................339
File transfer ..................................................................................................................339
Sharing that there Internet .........................................................................................340
One word: Games! .......................................................................................................340
Shared documents and applications ........................................................................341
What Can I Connect To? .......................................................................................................342
What Hardware Do I Need? ..................................................................................................343
What Software Do I Need? ....................................................................................................343
To Network or Not to Network . . . ......................................................................................344
Chapter 17: Ethernet to the Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345
A Quickie Ethernet Primer ...................................................................................................345
Hardware That You’ll Need ..................................................................................................346
Cables ...........................................................................................................................347
Hubs ..............................................................................................................................348
NICs ...............................................................................................................................348
Switches ........................................................................................................................349
Heck, let’s buy a kit! ....................................................................................................349
Doing the Cable Dance .........................................................................................................350
Configuring Windows XP for Your Network .......................................................................350
Ah, sweet DHCP ...........................................................................................................351
Browsing the neighborhood ......................................................................................354
Sharing folders and documents .................................................................................356
Printing across the Network ................................................................................................357
Using a Standard Hub with a Cable or DSL Modem ..........................................................360
Troubleshooting Your Network ...........................................................................................360
Windows XP doesn’t recognize my NIC ....................................................................361
No lights show up on my network card(s) or hub ..................................................361
Nothing shows up when I browse .............................................................................362
I can’t connect (or print) to a shared printer ..........................................................362
Chapter 18: Going Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365
Understanding Wireless Networking ..................................................................................365
How does wireless compare with wired? .................................................................365
The standards involved ..............................................................................................367
AC and phone line networking ..................................................................................370
Ensuring Security on Your Wireless Network ....................................................................371
Using Wireless Hardware in Windows XP ..........................................................................372
Preparing to install ......................................................................................................372
Installation tricks .........................................................................................................373
Making the connection ...............................................................................................374
Chapter 19: Sharing Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377
Why Share Your Internet Connection? ...............................................................................377
Sharing through Software in Windows XP .........................................................................378
Sharing through Hardware ...................................................................................................380
Wired sharing devices ................................................................................................380
Wireless sharing devices ............................................................................................383
Why You Need NAT ...............................................................................................................385
The Magic of Virtual Private Networking ...........................................................................386
Book III: The Internet ...............................................................389
Part I: Going Online with an ISP............................................................391
Chapter 1: Hooking Up with the Right Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .391
Selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP) .....................................................................391
Broadband or Dial-Up? .........................................................................................................392
Choosing an ISP to Host Your Web Site ..............................................................................393
Chapter 2: Managing Your Online Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395
Preventing Viruses from Infecting Your Computer ...........................................................395
Maintaining a Kid-Friendly PC .............................................................................................396
Supervising kids’ access .............................................................................................396
Using filtering software ...............................................................................................396
Screening Web Content with the Content Advisor ..................................................397
Chapter 3: America Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401
Installing AOL ........................................................................................................................401
Signing On to AOL .................................................................................................................401
A Short Geography Lesson ..................................................................................................402
Handling Incoming E-Mail ....................................................................................................403
Reading incoming mail ...............................................................................................403
Receiving a file .............................................................................................................405
Managing your e-mail ..................................................................................................405
Composing and Sending E-Mail ...........................................................................................406
Writing an e-mail ..........................................................................................................406
Replying to and forwarding messages ......................................................................407
Sending a file ................................................................................................................407
Maintaining an Address Book ..............................................................................................407
Exploring the Internet in AOL ..............................................................................................408
Part II: Getting Caught in the World Wide Web..................................411
Chapter 4: Browsers and What They Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411
ABCs of the Web ....................................................................................................................411
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) ....................................................................................412
Finding Your Way around the Web ......................................................................................413
Getting Started with Internet Explorer ...............................................................................414
Launching Internet Explorer ......................................................................................415
Accessing a Web site ...................................................................................................415
Elements of the Internet Explorer window ..............................................................416
The Explorer bar .........................................................................................................417
The toolbars .................................................................................................................418
Searching the Web ................................................................................................................419
Starting the search ......................................................................................................419
Limiting your searches ...............................................................................................420
Browsing in full screen mode .....................................................................................420
Displaying Previously Viewed Web Pages ..........................................................................421
Keeping Track of Your Favorite Web Sites .........................................................................422
Adding Web pages to your Favorites folder .............................................................422
Viewing pages from the Favorites folder ..................................................................423
Organizing your favorites ...........................................................................................423
Viewing Pages from the History Folder ..............................................................................425
Chapter 5: Customizing Your Browser Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .427
Changing Your Home Page ...................................................................................................427
Changing the Way Web Pages Look ....................................................................................428
Changing the text size .................................................................................................428
Selecting a different font ............................................................................................428
Changing the text and background colors ...............................................................429
Changing the way your browser displays hyperlinks ............................................430
Customizing Toolbars ...........................................................................................................431
Changing the size of toolbars ....................................................................................431
Hiding and unhiding a toolbar ...................................................................................432
Adding a button to the toolbar ..................................................................................432
Active Channels and Active Desktop Items .......................................................................432
Adding Active Channels or Active Desktop Items ..................................................433
Viewing channels with the Channels folder .............................................................434
Removing an Active Channel or Active Desktop Item ............................................434
Changing the History Settings .............................................................................................435
Specifying Mail, News, and Internet Call Programs ..........................................................435
Speeding Up the Display of Web Pages ..............................................................................437
Synchronizing Offline Web Pages ........................................................................................437
Customizing Your AutoComplete Settings .........................................................................439
Chapter 6: Printing and Saving Web Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .441
Printing a Web Page ..............................................................................................................441
Saving a Web Page on Your Computer ...............................................................................443
Saving a Web Graphic on Your Computer ..........................................................................444
Copying Web Page Information ...........................................................................................444
Viewing the HTML Source of a Web Page ...........................................................................446
Wallpapering Your Desktop with a Web Graphic ..............................................................446
Part III: E-Mail...........................................................................................449
Chapter 7: E-Mail Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .449
Choosing an E-Mail Program ................................................................................................449
Abbreviations and Acronyms ..............................................................................................449
E-Mail Addresses ...................................................................................................................450
What’s my address? ....................................................................................................451
Host names and domain names ................................................................................451
IP addresses and the DNS ...........................................................................................452
Top-level domains .......................................................................................................452
Port numbers ...............................................................................................................453
URLs versus e-mail addresses ...................................................................................453
Chapter 8: Sending and Receiving E-Mail with Outlook Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . .455
Checking for New Mail ..........................................................................................................455
Setting Outlook Express to check for mail ...............................................................455
Reading e-mail ..............................................................................................................456
Replying to a message ................................................................................................457
Forwarding a message ................................................................................................457
Composing E-Mail Messages ................................................................................................458
Drafting a message ......................................................................................................458
Attaching a file to an e-mail message ........................................................................459
Adding an image to your message ............................................................................460
Formatting Your Messages ...................................................................................................460
Rich Text (HTML) messages versus Plain Text messages .....................................460
Adding bold, italics, underline, and color to your text ..........................................461
Changing the font type and font size ........................................................................461
Sending an E-Mail Message ..................................................................................................462
Printing a Message ................................................................................................................462
Chapter 9: Organizing E-Mail Addresses and Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463
Organizing Your Messages with Folders ............................................................................463
Creating a new folder ..................................................................................................464
Moving e-mail into a folder ........................................................................................464
Organizing your e-mail with the Rule Editor ............................................................464
Deleting and compacting your e-mail .......................................................................465
Deleting and renaming folders ...................................................................................466
Adding Entries to Your Address Book ................................................................................466
Creating a new address ..............................................................................................467
Importing addresses from somewhere else .............................................................468
Finding a recipient’s e-mail address ..........................................................................469
Chapter 10: Mailing Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .471
Addresses Used with Mailing Lists .....................................................................................471
Finding a Mailing List ............................................................................................................472
Subscribing and Unsubscribing ..........................................................................................472
Lists maintained manually .........................................................................................473
Lists maintained automatically .................................................................................473
Web-based lists ............................................................................................................474
Sending Messages to a Mailing List ....................................................................................474
Special Requests to Mailing Lists ........................................................................................474
Archives ........................................................................................................................474
Subscriber list ..............................................................................................................474
Privacy ..........................................................................................................................475
Going on vacation ........................................................................................................475
Open and Closed Mailing Lists ............................................................................................475
Receiving Digested Mailing Lists .........................................................................................476
Using Filters ...........................................................................................................................476
Starting Your Own Mailing List ............................................................................................476
Part IV: Other Online Communications.................................................479
Chapter 11: Chatting Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .479
Chatting Online ......................................................................................................................479
Following group conversations .................................................................................480
Safe chatting guidelines ..............................................................................................481
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) .....................................................................................................481
Starting IRC ..................................................................................................................482
Picking a server ...........................................................................................................482
Issuing IRC commands ................................................................................................482
IRC channels ................................................................................................................483
Types of channels .......................................................................................................483
Starting your own channel .........................................................................................484
Filing a complaint ........................................................................................................484
Getting more info .........................................................................................................484
Chapter 12: Instant Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485
AOL Instant Messenger ........................................................................................................485
Becoming a registered user .......................................................................................485
Engaging in a chat session .........................................................................................486
Adding and deleting buddies on your Buddy List ..................................................487
Yahoo! Messenger .................................................................................................................487
Logging on to Yahoo! Messenger ...............................................................................487
Adding and deleting friends .......................................................................................487
Engaging in a chat session .........................................................................................487
MSN Messenger .....................................................................................................................488
Logging on to MSN Messenger ..................................................................................488
Engaging in a chat session .........................................................................................488
Adding and deleting buddies .....................................................................................488
Chapter 13: Keeping Up to Date with News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .491
Newsgroup Basics .................................................................................................................491
Newsgroup “netiquette” .............................................................................................492
Newsgroup names .......................................................................................................492
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) .........................................................................493
Posting articles to newsgroups .................................................................................493
Reading Newsgroups with Google ......................................................................................494
Google and Usenet indexes ........................................................................................495
Searching Google Groups ...........................................................................................495
Replying to an article ..................................................................................................496
Posting a new article ...................................................................................................496
Reading Newsgroups with Outlook Express ......................................................................496
Viewing newsgroup messages before you subscribe .............................................496
Subscribing to a newsgroup .......................................................................................497
Unsubscribing from a newsgroup .............................................................................498
Part V: Creating Web Pages ...................................................................499
Chapter 14: Getting Started with Web Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .499
Guidelines for Creating a Successful Web Site ..................................................................499
Basic Steps for Creating a Web Site ....................................................................................500
Step 1: Planning your Web site ..................................................................................500
Step 2: Creating your Web pages ...............................................................................500
Step 3: Publishing your Web pages ...........................................................................501
What to Include on Every Web Site ....................................................................................501
Home page ....................................................................................................................501
Site map ........................................................................................................................501
Contact information ....................................................................................................501
FAQ ................................................................................................................................502
Related links .................................................................................................................502
What to Include on Every Page ...........................................................................................502
Title ...............................................................................................................................502
Navigation links ...........................................................................................................502
Author and copyright information ............................................................................502
Organizing the Content ........................................................................................................503
Sequential organization ..............................................................................................503
Hierarchical organization ...........................................................................................503
Combination sequential and hierarchical organization .........................................504
Web organization .........................................................................................................505
Finding Space for Your Web Site .........................................................................................505
Internet service providers .........................................................................................505
Online services ............................................................................................................505
Free Web servers .........................................................................................................506
Chapter 15: Elements of Web Page Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .507
HTML Basics ..........................................................................................................................507
Specifying Font Settings .......................................................................................................508
Entering Headings .................................................................................................................509
Formatting Text .....................................................................................................................510
Alignment .....................................................................................................................510
Bold ...............................................................................................................................510
Italic ...............................................................................................................................510
Color ..............................................................................................................................511
Creating Lists .........................................................................................................................511
Bulleted lists ................................................................................................................511
Numbered lists .............................................................................................................512
Inserting Horizontal Rules ...................................................................................................512
Specifying Page Settings .......................................................................................................513
Screen size considerations .........................................................................................513
Page length ...................................................................................................................513
Page layout ...................................................................................................................513
Working with Backgrounds ..................................................................................................514
Setting the background color ....................................................................................514
Using a background image .........................................................................................515
Adding Links ..........................................................................................................................515
Using text links ............................................................................................................515
Using graphic links ......................................................................................................516
Linking within the same page ....................................................................................516
Chapter 16: Working with Graphics, Sounds, and Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .517
File Formats for Image, Sound, and Video .........................................................................517
Image file formats ........................................................................................................517
Sound file formats .......................................................................................................518
Video file formats ........................................................................................................519
Working with Graphics .........................................................................................................519
Inserting a graphic .....................................................................................................520
Using image maps ........................................................................................................520
Adding Sounds .......................................................................................................................523
Inserting a link to a sound file ...................................................................................524
Embedding a sound file ..............................................................................................524
Using background sounds ..........................................................................................524
Working with Videos .............................................................................................................525
Inserting a link to a video file .....................................................................................525
Embedding a video ......................................................................................................525
Chapter 17: Publishing on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .527
Previewing Your Web Pages .................................................................................................527
Using the Web Publishing Wizard .......................................................................................527
Understanding FTP ...............................................................................................................529
The Windows 95/98/XP FTP Client ............................................................................529
FTP command summary ............................................................................................531
Promoting Your Web Site .....................................................................................................531
Part VI: Can’t-Miss Stops on the Internet.............................................533
Chapter 18: Finding Your Way with Google . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .533
Basic Search Techniques with Google ................................................................................533
Conducting a Good Search ..................................................................................................534
Advanced Searching Techniques ........................................................................................535
Using the Google Toolbar .....................................................................................................536
Installing the Google toolbar .....................................................................................536
Using the Google toolbar ............................................................................................536
Chapter 19: Getting Bargains on eBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .539
Registering with eBay ...........................................................................................................539
Signing In to Your My eBay Page .........................................................................................540
Searching for Items of Interest ............................................................................................541
A straight search .........................................................................................................541
Browsing eBay categories ..........................................................................................542
Browsing to and searching a single category ..........................................................543
Saving searches, categories, and sellers/stores ......................................................544
A Few Rules to Live By .........................................................................................................544
Bidding on Items ...................................................................................................................545
How bidding works .....................................................................................................545
Placing a bid .................................................................................................................547
Strategies for successful bidding ..............................................................................547
Closing the Sale .....................................................................................................................548
Chapter 20: Planning Your Next Vacation Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .549
Researching a Destination ...................................................................................................549
Deciding where to go and what to see ......................................................................549
Finding out how to get there ......................................................................................550
Weather and road conditions ....................................................................................551
Online Travel Services ..........................................................................................................552
Visiting an all-purpose travel site ..............................................................................552
Booking a hotel or motel room ..................................................................................553
Traveling by rail ...........................................................................................................553
Resources for Traveling Abroad .........................................................................................554
Eccentric Sites for Eccentric Travelers ..............................................................................555
Chapter 21: Researching Investments Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .557
Getting Lessons on How to Invest ......................................................................................557
Researching a Company Online ..........................................................................................559
Reading the Financial News .................................................................................................560
Major news services ...................................................................................................560
Financial newspapers and magazines ......................................................................561
Online newsletters ......................................................................................................562
Researching Mutual Funds and Stocks on the Internet ...................................................562
Researching a mutual fund on the Internet .............................................................563
Researching stocks on the Internet ..........................................................................564
Chapter 22: Listening to the Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .567
Why Not Get Music for Free? ...............................................................................................567
Touring Online Music Stores ...............................................................................................569
Book IV: Office 2003 and Money 2004 .....................................571
Part I: Word 2003.......................................................................................573
Chapter 1: Entering, Editing, and Formatting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .573
Getting Acquainted with Word ............................................................................................573
Creating a New Document ....................................................................................................575
Speedy Ways to Open Documents ......................................................................................576
All about Saving Documents ................................................................................................576
Changing the Font and Size of Text .....................................................................................576
Spell Checking a Document .................................................................................................578
Chapter 2: Speed Techniques for Using Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581
Getting a Better Look at Your Documents .........................................................................581
Viewing documents in different ways .......................................................................581
Zooming in, zooming out ............................................................................................583
Working in two places in the same document .........................................................583
Selecting Text in Speedy Ways ............................................................................................585
Tricks for Editing Text ..........................................................................................................585
Undoing a mistake .......................................................................................................586
Repeating an action — and quicker this time .........................................................587
Moving Around Quickly in Documents ..............................................................................587
Keys for getting around quickly ................................................................................587
Viewing thumbnail pages ...........................................................................................587
“Browsing” around a document ................................................................................588
Going there fast with the Go To command ..............................................................588
Hopping from place to place in the Document Map ...............................................588
Bookmarks for hopping around ................................................................................588
Inserting a Whole File in a Document .................................................................................589
Finding and Replacing ..........................................................................................................589
Finding a word, paragraph, or format .......................................................................590
Finding and replacing text and formats ....................................................................591
Chapter 3: Laying Out Text and Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .595
Paragraphs and Formatting .................................................................................................595
Inserting a Section Break for Formatting Purposes ..........................................................596
Breaking a Line ......................................................................................................................597
Starting a New Page ..............................................................................................................597
Setting Up and Changing the Margins ................................................................................597
Indenting Paragraphs and First Lines .................................................................................599
Putting Newspaper-Style Columns in a Document ...........................................................600
Numbering the Pages ............................................................................................................602
Putting Headers and Footers on Pages ..............................................................................602
Adjusting the Space Between Lines ....................................................................................604
Creating Numbered and Bulleted Lists ..............................................................................604
Simple numbered and bulleted lists .........................................................................604
Constructing lists of your own ..................................................................................606
Working with Tabs ................................................................................................................606
Hyphenating a Document .....................................................................................................608
Hyphenating a document automatically ..................................................................608
Hyphenating a document manually ..........................................................................609
Unhyphenating and other hyphenation tasks .........................................................609
Decorating a Page with a Border .........................................................................................609
Dropping in a Drop Cap ........................................................................................................611
Chapter 4: Word Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .613
All about Styles ......................................................................................................................613
Applying a Style to Text and Paragraphs ...........................................................................614
Creating a New Style .............................................................................................................615
Creating styles directly from the screen ..................................................................615
Creating styles using the New Style dialog box .......................................................616
Modifying a Style ...................................................................................................................617
Creating Templates ...............................................................................................................618
Attaching a Different Template to a Document .................................................................619
Chapter 5: Constructing the Perfect Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .621
Talking Table Jargon .............................................................................................................621
Creating a Table .....................................................................................................................622
Entering the Text and Numbers ..........................................................................................622
Aligning Text in Columns and Cells ....................................................................................623
Merging and Splitting Cells and Tables ..............................................................................624
Modifying the Table Layout .................................................................................................624
Selecting different parts of a table ............................................................................624
Inserting and deleting columns and rows ................................................................625
Moving columns and rows .........................................................................................625
Resizing columns and rows ........................................................................................626
Repeating Heading Rows on Subsequent Pages ...............................................................626
Sprucing Up Your Table ........................................................................................................627
Formatting a table with Word’s AutoFormats ..........................................................627
Borders, shading, and color .......................................................................................628
Chapter 6: Getting Word’s Help with Office Chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .631
Finding the Right Word with the Thesaurus ......................................................................631
Highlighting Parts of a Document .......................................................................................632
Commenting on a Document ...............................................................................................632
Showing Revisions to Documents .......................................................................................634
Marking the changes ...................................................................................................635
Marking changes when you forgot to turn on revision marks ...............................635
Reading and reviewing a document with revision marks ......................................636
Accepting and rejecting changes ..............................................................................637
Outlines for Organizing Your Work .....................................................................................637
Printing an Address on an Envelope ..................................................................................638
Printing a Single Address Label (Or a Page of the Same Label) ......................................640
Churning Out Letters, Labels, and Envelopes for Mass Mailings ...................................641
Preparing the source file ............................................................................................642
Merging the source file with the document .............................................................642
Printing form letters, labels, and envelopes ............................................................647
Part II: Outlook 2003 .................................................................................649
Chapter 7: Getting Acquainted with Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .649
What Is Outlook, Anyway? ...................................................................................................649
Navigating the Outlook Windows ........................................................................................650
Getting a Better View of a Folder ........................................................................................652
Finding Items in Folders .......................................................................................................652
Searching in the Find pane .........................................................................................652
Conducting an advanced search ...............................................................................653
Deleting E-Mail Messages, Contacts, Tasks, and Other Items .........................................654
Maintaining the Contacts Folder .........................................................................................655
Entering a new contact in the Contacts folder ........................................................655
Changing a contact’s information .............................................................................657
Finding a contact .........................................................................................................658
Chapter 8: Handling Your E-Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .661
Addressing and Sending E-Mail Messages .........................................................................661
The basics: Sending an e-mail message ....................................................................661
Addressing an e-mail message ...................................................................................663
Sending copies and blind copies of messages .........................................................664
Replying to and forwarding e-mail messages ..........................................................664
Distribution Lists for Sending Messages to Groups .........................................................665
Creating a distribution list .........................................................................................666
Addressing e-mail to a distribution list ....................................................................667
Editing a distribution list ............................................................................................667
Sending a File along with a Message ...................................................................................668
Including a Picture in an E-mail Message ...........................................................................668
Postponing Sending a Message ...........................................................................................669
All about Message Formats ..................................................................................................670
Stationery for Decorating E-Mail Messages .......................................................................671
Receiving E-Mail Messages ..................................................................................................672
Getting your e-mail ......................................................................................................672
Being notified that e-mail has arrived .......................................................................673
Reading your e-mail in the Inbox window ................................................................673
Handling Files That Were Sent to You ................................................................................675
Techniques for Organizing E-Mail Messages .....................................................................676
Flagging e-mail messages ...........................................................................................677
Being reminded to take care of e-mail messages ....................................................678
Earmarking messages as they arrive ........................................................................678
All about E-Mail Folders .......................................................................................................680
Moving e-mail messages to different folders ...........................................................680
Creating a new folder for storing e-mail ...................................................................680
Chapter 9: Managing Your Time and Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .683
Introducing the Calendar .....................................................................................................683
The Different Kinds of Activities .........................................................................................684
Getting Around in the Calendar Window ...........................................................................685
Scheduling an Activity ..........................................................................................................685
Scheduling an activity: The basics ............................................................................685
Scheduling a recurring appointment or event .........................................................687
Scheduling an event ....................................................................................................688
Canceling, Rescheduling, and Altering Activities .............................................................688
Getting a Better Look at Your Schedule .............................................................................688
Part III: PowerPoint 2003 ........................................................................691
Chapter 10: Getting Started in PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .691
Getting Acquainted with PowerPoint .................................................................................691
Creating a New Presentation ...............................................................................................693
Starting with a blank presentation ............................................................................693
Starting from a slide design or color scheme ..........................................................693
Starting from the AutoContent Wizard .....................................................................694
Starting from an Existing Presentation .....................................................................694
Advice for Building Persuasive Presentations ..................................................................694
Tips for creating presentations .................................................................................694
Start by writing the text ..............................................................................................696
Getting a Better View of Your Work ....................................................................................697
Inserting Slides and Choosing Layouts ..............................................................................698
Inserting a new slide and layout ................................................................................698
Stealing slides from other presentations .................................................................700
Moving and Deleting Slides ..................................................................................................701
Chapter 11: Entering the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .703
Entering Text on Slides .........................................................................................................703
Making Text Fit in Frames ....................................................................................................704
Making Your Own Text Frames ............................................................................................705
Changing the Look of Text ...................................................................................................706
All about Speaker Notes .......................................................................................................706
Making a Numbered or Bulleted List ..................................................................................707
Chapter 12: Advanced Formatting Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .709
Changing or Tweaking a Slide Design or Color Scheme ...................................................709
Slide Masters for Consistent Formatting ...........................................................................710
Changing formats on the Slide Master .....................................................................711
Removing a Slide Master item from one slide .........................................................713
Working with more than one Slide Master ...............................................................713
Handling Footers ...................................................................................................................714
Action Buttons for Going from Slide to Slide .....................................................................715
Chapter 13: Giving the Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .719
Rehearsing Your Presentation .............................................................................................719
Printing Handout Copies of a Presentation .......................................................................720
Showing Your Presentation ..................................................................................................720
Giving a Self-Playing, Kiosk-Style Presentation .................................................................722
Deciding how long to keep slides on-screen ............................................................722
Making the presentation kiosk-style .........................................................................723
Part IV: Excel 2003....................................................................................725
Chapter 14: Up and Running with Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .725
Getting Acquainted with Excel ............................................................................................725
Rows, columns, and cell addresses ..........................................................................727
Workbooks and worksheets .......................................................................................727
Entering Data in a Worksheet ..............................................................................................727
The basics of entering data ........................................................................................727
Entering text labels .....................................................................................................728
Entering numeric values .............................................................................................729
Entering date and time values ...................................................................................729
Entering Lists and Serial Data with the AutoFill Command .............................................730
Formatting Numbers, Dates, and Time Values ..................................................................732
Formatting Text and Numbers ............................................................................................733
Establishing Data-Validation Rules .....................................................................................733
Chapter 15: Refining Your Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .737
Editing Worksheet Data ........................................................................................................737
Moving around in a Worksheet ...........................................................................................737
Getting a Better Look at the Worksheet .............................................................................739
Freezing and splitting columns and rows .................................................................739
Hiding columns and rows ...........................................................................................740
Zooming in and out .....................................................................................................740
Comments for Documenting Your Worksheet ...................................................................741
Selecting Cells in a Worksheet .............................................................................................742
Deleting, Copying, and Moving Data ...................................................................................743
Chapter 16: Formulas and Functions for Crunching Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .745
How Formulas Work ..............................................................................................................745
Referring to cells in formulas .....................................................................................745
Referring to formula results in formulas ..................................................................747
Operators in formulas .................................................................................................748
The Basics of Entering a Formula .......................................................................................748
Speed Techniques for Entering Formulas ..........................................................................749
Clicking cells to enter cell references .......................................................................749
Entering a cell range ...................................................................................................750
Naming cell ranges so that you can use them in formulas ....................................750
Referring to cells in different worksheets ................................................................751
Copying Formulas from Cell to Cell ....................................................................................752
Working with Functions ........................................................................................................753
Manually entering a function in a formula ...............................................................754
Getting Excel’s help to enter a function ...................................................................755
Chapter 17: Making a Worksheet Easier to Read and Understand . . . . . . . . . . . . .757
Laying Out a Worksheet .......................................................................................................757
Aligning numbers and text in columns and rows ....................................................757
Inserting and deleting rows and columns ................................................................759
Changing the width of columns and height of rows ...............................................759
Decorating a Worksheet with Borders and Colors ...........................................................760
Choosing an autoformat .............................................................................................760
Decorating worksheets with colors ..........................................................................760
Slapping borders on worksheet cells ........................................................................761
Printing a Worksheet ............................................................................................................762
Making a worksheet fit on the page ..........................................................................762
Making a worksheet more presentable ....................................................................764
Repeating row labels and column names on each page .........................................765
Chapter 18: Seeing Data in Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .767
Building Charts from Your Data ..........................................................................................767
Creating a chart with the Chart Wizard ....................................................................767
Adjusting a chart’s position on the page .................................................................770
Editing a Chart .......................................................................................................................770
Choosing a different chart type .................................................................................770
Adding and removing chart elements ......................................................................771
The basics of changing a chart’s appearance .........................................................771
Part V: Money 2004...................................................................................775
Chapter 19: Introducing Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .775
Finding Out How Money Tracks Your Finances ................................................................775
Starting the Program ............................................................................................................776
A Fast Trip around the Money Windows ............................................................................776
The Home Page ............................................................................................................776
Going from window to window: The Navigation bar and Navigation buttons ....777
Personalizing the Home Page ..............................................................................................779
Chapter 20: Setting Up Your Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .781
Accounts and Registers for Recording Financial Transactions ......................................781
The Basics: Setting Up Checking and Savings Accounts ..................................................783
Setting up a checking or savings account ................................................................783
Listing contact names, phone numbers, and other account details ....................785
Setting Up an Account to Track Credit Card and Line of Credit Transactions .............786
Chapter 21: Recording Your Financial Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .791
The Basics: Recording Transactions in Savings and Checking Registers ......................791
Opening an account register ......................................................................................792
Recording checks, deposits, withdrawals, and debit card
purchases in registers .............................................................................................793
How’s your view of the register? ...............................................................................796
Splitting deposits and withdrawals that don’t fit in one category .......................797
Recording a deposit or debit card purchase with cash back ................................799
Transferring money between accounts ....................................................................800
Recording Transactions in Credit Card and Line of Credit Accounts ............................802
Recording credit card and line of credit charges ....................................................802
Recording a credit .......................................................................................................803
Recording a credit card payment ..............................................................................803
Fixing Mistakes in Account Registers .................................................................................804
Changing, or editing, transactions ............................................................................805
Voiding and deleting transactions .............................................................................806
Chapter 22: Categorizing Your Spending and Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .809
Looking at the Ways to Categorize Income and Spending ...............................................809
By category ..................................................................................................................809
By subcategory ............................................................................................................810
By classification ...........................................................................................................810
By tax-related status ...................................................................................................810
Setting Up Your Own Categories and Subcategories ........................................................811
Creating a new category .............................................................................................811
Creating a new subcategory ......................................................................................812
Getting Ready for Tax Time with Tax-Related Categories ................................................813
Correcting Transactions Recorded in the Wrong Category ............................................815
Moving all transactions from one category to another category .........................815
Reassigning transactions to new categories ............................................................816
Chapter 23: Reconciling, or Balancing, an Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .819
How Reconciling Works ........................................................................................................819
Balancing an Account ...........................................................................................................820
Telling Money which transactions cleared the bank ..............................................820
Fixing mistakes as you reconcile ...............................................................................823
Help! The Darn Thing Won’t Reconcile! ..............................................................................823
A checklist of things to do if you can’t reconcile ....................................................824
“AutoReconciling” an account ...................................................................................825
Forcing an account to balance ...................................................................................825
Chapter 24: Money for Investors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .827
Your Own Electronic Portfolio .............................................................................................827
Setting Up Investment, Retirement, and Employee Stock Option Accounts .................828
Setting up an investment account for tracking securities .....................................828
Setting up a retirement account for tracking retirement savings
and investments .......................................................................................................830
Setting up an account to track employee stock options ........................................832
Describing the Securities in Investment and Retirement Accounts ...............................833
Editing an Investment or Retirement Account Transaction ............................................836
Updating the Price of a Security .........................................................................................836
Recording Payments to and Disbursements from Brokers .............................................837
Handling Stocks and Bonds .................................................................................................838
Recording a purchase of more stocks or more bonds ...........................................838
Recording the sale of stocks and bonds ...................................................................840
Recording and reinvesting dividends .......................................................................841
Recording stock splits, short sells, margin purchases, and other esoterica .......842
Handling Mutual Funds ........................................................................................................844
Recording the sale or purchase of mutual funds ....................................................844
Recording dividends and distributions ....................................................................844
Analyzing and Comparing Investments ..............................................................................846
Charting the Performance of an Investment .....................................................................847
Index .......................................................................................849

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