Thanks, Gram

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Dear Gram,

When you are typing in a word processing program like Word, your cursor becomes an, “insertion point”.

You can change several characteristics of the insertion point in the Control Panel. Here is how:

1. Click on “Start” then click on “Control Panel”.

2. In the Control Panel window, click on “Ease of Access”.

3. In the Ease of Access window, click on, “Optimize Visual Display”.

4. Scroll down and find the section that allows you to set the thickness of the blinking cursor.

5. Use the drop down list to select a number for the thickness, try a 3 or 4 to start.

6. Click the “OK” button at the bottom of the window to close the window and save your changes.

Elizabeth

Thanks, Holly

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Dear Holly,

What you need to do is set up a Signature file for your outgoing email messages. Here are the directions for setting up that file.

1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2007.

2. Click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click on “Options” in the sub-menu.

3. In the Options dialog box, click on the “Mail Format” tab.

4. In the, “Signatures” section, click on the “Signatures…” button.

5. In the window that opens, make sure the “E-mail Signature” tab is selected.

6. Click on the “New” button and in the small dialog box that appears, type a name for your signature and click the “OK” button.

7. Now, type your information in the bottom section of the dialog box, and click the “Save” button.

8. Click the “OK” button to save your changes and close the dialog box.

Now all your outgoing messages will have your information at the bottom of them.

Elizabeth

The Ribbon in Word and other Office 2007 programs takes up quite a bit of space in your window.

If you want to concentrate on your document for a while, just double click on the tab that is active at the top of your ribbon to minimize it.

You can easily tell which tab is active, it will be highlighted.

When you want to access your ribbon again, just click once on the tab to temporarily access the commands, or double click on the tab to put the ribbon back in its place.

You can also hide and restore the ribbon with the keyboard combination “Ctrl & F1″

Elizabeth

Thank you, Claudia

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Dear Claudia,

Yes, you will be able to use your documents from Office 2000 with the new Office 2007.

If you are upgrading on your current computer, you won’t have to do anything to transfer the documents. Just Install Office 2007, and it will open your files just like the old version did.

If you are transferring to a new computer with Office 2007, just copy your documents to a CD or USB drive and then copy them to the new computer.

Elizabeth

Thanks!
Liz in Dublin, Ohio

Dear Liz,

I’m guessing that MS means Microsoft Office since just about every new computer now comes with a 60 day trial of Office pre-installed.

When the 60 day trial expires, Office is still installed on your computer, but you will no longer be able to use the program. It sounds like that is the situation that you are finding yourself in now. Since you also stated that you purchased Office after the trial expired, you should be able to use the program, we just need to get things set up correctly.

If you purchased Office on a disk in the store, there are a couple of ways to get it set up on your computer. The easiest way is to find the sticker inside the package with the 25 digit product key, and type that key in the window that pops up when you try to open Office. In most cases, this should unlock the program that is already installed on your computer, and you will be all set.

The other option with a disk is to un-install the 60 day trial of office, then install Office again from the disk. You can remove the trial by clicking on “Start” then “Control Panel” in the start menu. In the Control Panel, click on “Uninstall a program” Click on the program you want to remove, then click the “Uninstall” button at the top of the window. I would suggest restarting your computer once this is finished before you put in the disk to install Office from the disk.

If you purchased Office online, then you would have received the 25 digit product key in an email. This key is really all you need, in fact, that key is what you payed over a hundred dollars for!

In a perfect world, you would purchase Microsoft Office on their web site, they send you an email with the product key, and you enter that key next time the trial version prompts you for a key. This should register your new purchase, and you can use Office to your hearts content without ever having to enter the product key again. It really shouldn’t matter what link you used to purchase Office, as long as it was a legitimate link to Microsoft’s website.

If you didn’t get an email with the 25 digit product key, you will need to contact Microsoft with some sort of information from your order so they can resend the key to you. If you did get a key and it is not working with the trial version on your computer, I would suggest that you uninstall Office using my directions above. In order to reinstall Microsoft Office, you will have to download it from their website. There should be a link in the email with the 25 digit product key.

I hope this helps you with your problem.

Elizabeth

Dick

Dear Dick,

I have not yet installed Open Office on my Windows 7 computer, and their website does not yet mention Windows 7 in the system but after doing a little research on the internet, I have learned that it is fully compatible with the 32-bit version of Windows 7, and it seems to work most of the time with the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

First, you should check and see which version of Windows 7 you are running. To do this, click on the “Start Orb” then right click on, “Computer” and click on “Properties” in the context menu that appears.

In the information window that opens, look in the “System” section next to, “System type:” It will say either 64-bit or 32-bit.

If your computer has the 32-bit version of Windows 7, you should be able to go ahead and install OpenOffice. It is always a good idea to backup your system before installing a new program.

If you have the 64-bit version of Windows 7, you really want to make sure you backup your system before trying to install OpenOffice.

Elizabeth

Thanks for your help, Rachel

Dear Rachel,

I had to get my magnifying glass out to look into this problem! Those product key codes keep getting smaller and smaller!

Although there are part numbers on both the Office CDs and the product key stickers, they don’t match up, so the only way you are going to figure out which product keys go with which version of Office, is going to be to try them one at a time.

Your question is a good reminder to everyone that software disks are useless without the product key that comes with them. Make sure that you store them together! There is nothing worse than investing a couple hundred dollars in an Office suite only to find that you can’t use it after your hard drive crashes because you didn’t save the product key.

Elizabeth

Get Office Software Now

Any ideas? Sue

Dear Sue,

Was this purchase a private sale, or did you buy it in a store?

If you bought it from a store, or directly from HP, chances are that it came with a trial of Word, and after the trial period you would need to purchase the code from Microsoft.

Most computers sold today do come with that “free trial” of Microsoft Office.

If you purchased Word with the computer, you would have it listed on your invoice with a separate charge for it.

If you bought the laptop in a private sale, the person you bought it from should have provided the paperwork with the 25 digit code on it. Often people don’t realize that they need something like this until they have the computer worked on years later.

So, what do you do if you find yourself without a licensed version of Word, and you don’t have the money to buy yourself a copy?

I would suggest that you give Open Office a try. It is a free program that you can download from:

http://www.openoffice.org

Open Office will do most of the tasks that Microsoft office can do, but without the cost.

Elizabeth

Is it possible to buy a computer that is loaded with MS Office instead of taking home MS Works and having to buy MS Office and remove Works and load Office.

Thanks, Sharon

PS: (I now have Office 2007, trying to get the nerve to remove the Works and load Office!  ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh wish I had known before I bought this laptop!)

Dear Sharon,

It is possible to purchase a new computer with MS Office already loaded on it. I recently purchased a laptop from HP with office loaded on it.

There are some advantages to purchasing Office with your computer, and some disadvantages.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 

http://www.openoffice.org

OpenOffice.org is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes a word processor that is compatible with MS Word, a spreadsheet, a presentation manager, and drawing program. 

I have installed Open Office for several of my customers, and my 18 year old Son is using it and telling his friends about it.

OpenOffice has a user interface and feature set that is similar to other office suites. Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office. 

Available in over 45 supported languages with more being constantly added by the community, OpenOffice.org runs stably and natively on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), Windows, Mac OS X (X11), and numerous other platforms.

This is a large download, so if you have a dial-up connection, you might want to order it on CD.

Elizabeth