January 2005

Cool Things You Can Do On Your Computer.....

By Teresa Lightle- Technology Coordinator                            Printable Version (pdf)

Print Screen-

If you have ever needed to copy something that appears on your screen, such as an error message or a dialogue box, you can do this by using the Print Scrn button on your keyboard. This button is in the top row next to the F12 button on a standard keyboard and labeled as prtscrn on a laptop. When the item is showing on the screen, simply press the Print Scrn button; although nothing appears to have happened, you have actually captured a copy of the screen to the clipboard in windows. Click on the Start menu, go to Programs then Accessories, and click Paint.

Paint is a drawing program available in Windows. Once the program is open, you will see a blank white area or palette. Click on Edit in the menu bar and click paste. Note: Right clicking and selecting paste or clicking Ctrl V works as well. The screen you captured will now be pasted onto the palette. You can use the tools, usually located on the left side of the screen, to cut or select just the section of the screen capture you need (ie: error message).

The Star tool allows you to freehand draw the area and select, and the Rectangle tool allows you to select a rectangle area such as a dialogue box. Once you have selected the item, you can use the Copy and Paste commands to copy the selected portion of the screen and paste it into an email, or other document.

Find Recent Document-

Working late one night you save the file, only to have trouble finding it the next morning. Did you know that you can locate the last 15 saved files regardless of where they were saved? Click on the Start button, and then click on Documents.

A sub menu will appear with a list of the last 15 files that were saved on the computer. The icon on the left side of the file name indicates the type of file that was saved. To open the file, click on the file name and the file will open. To find the location and path to where the file is stored, right click on the file name and select Properties.

 

Right Clicking-

I am often asked, when do you know to right click? The answer is, try it. The only thing that right clicking does is give the user options. These options are usually available under menu items, but using the right mouse button allows a user a “quick menu” of options. Right clicking will give a user options, but nothing will happen with the options until you left or right click on the option from the list. If the user does not want to use any of the options presented in the quick list, then left click anywhere off of the list or press the Esc key on the keyboard.

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For Questions or Comments about this newsletter please contact: tlightle@bcoe.org

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