I read your column all the time. Thanks for all you help, Jayne

Dear Jayne,

Microsoft does have directions for setting up the default file for new documents, however, they are very technical, and a little hard to follow. You can read those directions here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822107

If you are looking for a solution that is a little simpler, I would suggest setting up a blank document in Excel with the header and footer they way you want it, then saving that file as a template. Once you have the template saved, you would be able to start a new spreadsheet based on that template. Here are the directions.

1. Open Excel, and set up the spreadsheet with the header and footer that you want to have in your new documents.

2. Click on the “File” tab, then click “Save As”.

3. In the Save As dialog box, find the line that says, “Save as type:” and click the drop down list in that line.

4. Click on, “Excel Template”, and type a name for the file.

5. Click the “Save” button.

Now that you have your template saved, all you have to do is open a new document based on that template…

1. Open Excel.

2. Click on the “File” tab, then click “New”.

3. Under “Available Templates” click on “My Templates”.

4. A small dialog box will open with a list of all the files you have saved as templates. Click on the template you just created, and click the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box.

I hope this helps you to quickly create just the type of document you are looking for.

Elizabeth

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Last week, I answered a question from Donna about creating curved text in Microsoft Word, and it got me thinking… I find it much easier to create artistic text in my favorite desktop publishing program, PagePlus.

So this week, I thought I’d show you how easy it is to create artistic text on a curve in PagePlus.

1. Open your document in Page Plus.
2. Click on the “Artistic text Tool” button on the left.
3. Click on your page to place the insertion point, and type your text.
4. With your text still selected, click the arrow on the “Path” button in the toolbar
5. In the drop down list that appears, click on “Path Circle” or whatever shape you desire.
6. You can make adjustments to the shape by dragging the different nodes (small boxes) around the curved text.
7. If you want to play with textures and colors in your text, click on the “Styles” tab and select a style that you like.

Elizabeth

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Donna in Michigan

Dear Donna,

It is a bit harder to figure things like this out in the newer versions of Word. Here are the directions:

1. Open the Word document that you want to create the circular text in.

2. CLick on the “Insert” tab, then click on “Word Art”, and click on the style of text you are interested in.

3. A “Drawing Tools” tab will appear above the “Format” tab. Below the format tab, click on “Text Effects”. (The button for this is the letter, A with a blue glow around the edges).

4. CLick on “Transform” in the drop down menu, then click on the shape you want your text to follow. If you are not sure what shape you want, just point to each one, and your text will change to reflect that choice.

Hope this helps, Elizabeth

PS: I find it easier to make creative documents like this in PagePlus at http://tinyurl.com/PagePlus2012

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Thank you so very much, Gladys

Dear Gladys,

Thank you, I’m glad you find my web site helpful.

In my opinion, the best anti virus program is AVG Internet Security. It is not free, but it protects you against more than just viruses.

In the past few months, I have not worked on a computer infected with an actual virus, instead, I have repaired dozens of computers that were damaged by fake antivrus programs and other types of malware.

If you can’t afford the full version, then AVG still has a free version. At the moment, it is AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012.

You can see the differences between the two programs on their website.

Elizabeth

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Christine

Dear Christine,

The AVG link on my main page is broken, sorry about that. You should be able to click on “More Questions” and use the AVG link located in the right hand column. Or you can just use this link:

Save 20% on AVG Internet Security 2012 1 PC 2 Years

I am working on a new design for my website, and will fix the AVG link with the new design.

Elizabeth

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As you know, I have been telling you about my new recipe program, Cook’n from DVO software, and how great it works. I have begun the process of gathering the recipes that I use the most, and putting them in my Cook’n program. I even have a few cookbooks that contain just a handful of recipes that I use, so I have been putting those recipes in Cook’n as well.

Last week, I received an email that the latest version of Cook’n was ready to be installed. I had been waiting for this version because it will, eventually be able to sync with my iPad which will make things even easier.

I downloaded and installed the new version, and when I went to run it, the program would not work. I was not too troubled, sometimes that happens, I just downloaded and installed it again. Well by the time I gave up, I had installed the program several times, and restarted it a half dozen times.

Here is the problem. Every time you close the Cook’n program, it makes a backup of all your recipe files, and saves the 4 most recent backups in a folder on your computer. Before I knew it, I had saved 4 corrupt backups, and lost the recipe book that I had been working on over the pasts few weeks!

I did not work at my computer over the weekend, but I found myself wondering if I still had all the recipes that I had put in the program, some, I had thrown away the paper copy after putting them in the computer!

Monday morning, I searched my whole computer looking for some place where those recipes might have been stored, but could not find them anywhere. Then, I remembered my automatic backup software, Mozy. I remembered reading somewhere that they save older copies of your files for 30 days in case you need to go back to an older version. With this in mind, I logged into my Mozy account and sure enough, they still had my backups from last week. I downloaded the files and was thrilled to find that all my hard work was restored!

I also heard back from the folks at DVO software that they are aware of this error in Cook’n and their development team is working on solving this right now. For now, I am content to have all my recipes back on the old version of Cook’n.

Elizabeth

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Thanks for your help, Faye

Dear Faye,

There are two things on your label package that can help you figure out what product code to use.

First is the Avery product code that your labels are compatible with. Most label packages (I’m looking at a package of Staples brand labels right now) include not only their product code, but one or two of the more common Avery codes that the labels will work with. Most of the time, I can match that code with the available options in Word.

If that doesn’t work, you have one other option. Match the label dimensions.

On my package of labels, it tells me that the labels are 2 X 4 inches and there are 10 labels per sheet. When you are looking in Word, click on a label number and you will see the information listed for that label. Just find the information that matches your labels, and you should be able to find a code that works for your labels.

I hope this helps.

Elizabeth

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Thank you for your help, Palmer

Dear Palmer,

You cannot run Microsoft Security Essentials and AVG on your computer at the same time.

Both of these programs are antivirus programs. When you run two antivirus programs at the same time, they will either create conflicts that will crash your machine, or they will cancel each other out and leave holes in your security that will result in your computer becoming infected.

If it was my computer, I would remove the Security Essentials and install AVG Internet Security 2012.

I have been using AVG for many years now, and have never become infected with any viruses or malware.

Elizabeth

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I use my computer for work, and I love it when I find a tool that
helps me be more productive! Say The Time is a very helpful program
that I use on my computer every day!

For starters, Say The Time does just what the name says, it tells me
what time it is. I have it set to chime and speak the time every hour
between the hours of 7am and 7pm. I could have chozen any time for it
to chime, but these are the hours when I am usually working. I don’t
really need reminders of how much the time is passing in the evening.

The second most useful aspect of Say The Time is the timer feature. I
have to be honest, if it wasn’t for timers in my house, I wouldn’t get
anything done, my tea would always be oversteeped and the bread would
always be burned. I also use timers when I am writing. I will often
set a timer for 15 minutes and just type that entire time. It is a good
way to get past writers block, and a great way to not feel overwhelmed
when working on a big project.

Say The Time has a great timer that I can set, and it runs while I work.
I can pause the timer if I am interrupted. It also has a stopwatch feature
that I can use when doing hourly work for a customer like designing websites.

Say The Time has many other features like stick notes, a calendar, reminders,
a world time clock and internet time synchronization.

For More information, and a free trial version of Say The Time, just use
this link:

Get Say the Time 11

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Any ideas? Cathy

Dear Cathy,

It sounds like Excel is using AutoCorrect to change your stock abbreviation to a word that it finds in its dictionary.

If this is the case, you have a couple of options. You can either turn off AutoCorrect, or you can add the stock names to the custom dictionary.

I am using Excel 2010 on my computer, but the directions should be similar:

1. Open Excel

2. Click on the “File” tab, and click “Options” in the drop down list.

3. In the Options dialog box, click “Proofing” in the left hand column.

4. Click on the “Auto Correct Options” button.

5. Click to remove the check mark from, “Replace Text As You Type”.

6. Click the “OK” button in both windows to save your changes and close the windows.

Elizabeth

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