Tips & Tweaks

Windows ace Gregg Keizer is glad you're taking the time to read his tips 'n' tricks; he just wants you to spend less time loading them. This week, he offers five ways that dial-up modem users (still the majority of surfers, despite cable and DSL chic) can get online quicker and more conveniently.

Whether you're double-clicking or right-clicking, knowing your way around Windows Explorer's file associations can mean the difference between a screenful of icons and quick, at-a-glance access to file contents. This week's tips 'n' tricks help make perusing files a pleasure.

Right-click the Windows desktop, and you'll see one of the operating system's handiest -- and least used -- features, the New menu. This week's tips 'n' tricks let you decide which document types and templates get this quick-start treatment, eliminating unwanted entries and making sure your favorite files are only a click away.

The system tray at the end of Windows' taskbar is a neat place to check the time or monitor a few essential utilities, but too many programs flood the tray with too many icons. This week's tips 'n' tricks help you clean up the system tray -- hiding icons from view, or perking up performance by getting rid of them altogether -- and keep those binary barnacles from coming back.

What time is it? If you glanced at the bottom right of your screen instead of your wristwatch, you're a real Windows pro. So is tips 'n' tricks guru Gregg Keizer, who's collected five ideas for optimizing, updating, or replacing the familiar system-tray clock (did you know you needn't switch to Outlook to check a monthly calendar)?

There's lots worth seeing on the Web, but Internet Explorer's handling of favorite sites or bookmarks leaves room for improvement. This week's tips 'n' tricks let you manage, sort, and shortcut all the Favorites and home pages you can collect, get your Favorites list out of the Start menu and onto your second PC, and more.

Gregg Keizer may be the king of tips 'n' tricks, but WinPlanet readers are the power behind the throne -- and this week, Gregg shares four nifty enhancements (and one, ahem, correction) suggested by Windows-savvy civilians. From forcing Explorer to honor your display preferences to sorting programs' File/Open document lists, the request lines are open.

Yeah, yeah, CD-R and CD-RW discs store up to 700MB of multimedia goodness. But if you're just moving a couple of word processing documents or spreadsheets from one PC to another (or to any old PC), the 3.5-inch floppy disk will never die. So this week's tips 'n' tricks offer quicker access, extra convenience, and even a bit more capacity for the faithful A: drive.

Today's huge hard disks are wonderful -- until you're looking for that crucial file that doesn't seem to be in your work folder with its fellows. Before you waste time ransacking My Documents and clicking on forgotten filenames, take a deep breath and take advantage of this week's tips 'n' tricks for using (and for times when you don't want someone using) Windows' built-in search tool.

If time is money, this week's tips 'n' tricks are pocket change -- they may not let you go home an hour earlier, but over time they'll save enough moments, keystrokes, and mouse clicks to make your Windows work a bit more productive. Besides, who wants to look at the same old startup and dial-up screens several times a day?