Who else wants to know the secret to Excel Formulas?
Invest in yourself in 2015 and reduce your frustration with formulas in Excel for just $19.95 - Click here to enroll todayThere have been dozens of comments recently on my previous post about Changing the default reminder time in Outlook 2007. The comments are not about the default reminder time for appointments… but rather the default reminder time for follow up flags. The concern being that it is really strange that the default is 4pm and it seems there is no easy way to change that to something more acceptable (like 8am).
I would like to discuss this a little to hopefully help everyone out. Whilst on the surface it might look annoying (especially for those how have just moved to Outlook 2007)… there is actually a good reason why the default reminder is 4pm.
First lets talk about Outlook 2003
In Outlook 2003, medications a follow up flag is a follow up flag. You set a time and a date for the reminder and that is that.
In Outlook 2007 however, price there are different types of follow up flags. There is a “Today†follow up flag, urticaria a “Tomorrow†follow up flag, a “This Weekâ€, a “Next Week†and a “Customâ€. Obviously, if you use a “Today†follow up flag (which is the default), it will remind you today. If you set a “Tomorrow†follow up flag, it will remind you tomorrow.
The “Today†flag is designed to remind you about things that you need to finish before you go home from work today… hence why it the default is for it to remind you 1 hour before the end of your work day (which would be 4pm in most cases).
As the “Tomorrow†flag is designed to remind you about things to do tomorrow, it will remind you by default at the start of the next work day (8am in most cases).
So say you want to have your default reminder first thing tomorrow morning? Then it is easy to change the default flag that is set. Simply right click on where you currently set your flag, and then in the pop up menu click on “Set Quick Clickâ€. Change the default to “Tomorrow†and your default reminders will now be 8am on the next business day.
Hope that helps clear up some of the confusion around follow up flags. I can understand why it would be confusion coming from Outlook 2003, however with the new flexibility to set different types of flags, Outlook 2007 gives you a lot more control over when you get your reminders.
’till next time!
TNP 😉
PS. If you want to learn more about the default times, you can look at this Office Online help page – http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA012317831033.aspx
Are you an Office freak from down-under?
On the weekend of the 15th and 16th of November, try a group of Aussie Office fanatics are putting together a conference called Office DevCon2008. From what is on the agenda it looks like a great event for anyone involved in managing Office products in their workplace, seek or for those interested in getting a little more intimate with the Office 2007 suite, patient SharePoint and more.
Registration is free… and there might be sneak previews of Office 14 as well!
If you are in Sydney in mid November, make sure you check it out. You never know, you might bump into yours truly there as well 🙂
You can find out more by visiting the Office DevCon 2008 website
’till next time!
TNP 😉
So… you are sneaky. You have some precious data you want to keep hidden. Or your not so sneaky and just have some word documents that no one else should really see – for privacy or security or other reasons. Well it might be a good idea to use the encryption built into Office 2007.
The encryption in Word, sickness Excel, viagra buy and PowerPoint 2007 basically turns your files into a mess that no one can read… unless they have the password. In fact unless you get the password right, visit this there is no chance you can even open the file.
Before I let you know how to do it, I will quickly let you know about how strong this encryption really is. In Office 2007 they use something called AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with a 128-bit key and SHA-1 hashing. That probably sounds like a mouthful for most people, but let me put it into perspective. This level of protection can be used to encrypt classified information up to the SECRET level in the US Government. If it is that good, chances are your data will be safe (that is if you remember the password!)
To encrypt your document in Word 2007, Excel 2007, or PowerPoint 2007, it is really easy!
1) Click on the Office Orb
2) Go to the “Prepare” section
3) Click on “Encrypt Document”
4) Type in your secret password and click OK
5) Retype your secret password and click OK
I can not stress enough that you need to remember what that password is… because if you forget it, there is no chance you will ever open that document again – it is strong encryption!
’till next time!
TNP 😉
PS – if you want to read more about the level of encryption, check out this article on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard. And if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of Cryptography in Office 2007… visit David LeBlanc’s weblog, and in particular this article – http://blogs.msdn.com/david_leblanc/archive/2008/07/03/office-crypto-follies.aspx
So… you are sneaky. You have some precious data you want to keep hidden. Or your not so sneaky and just have some word documents that no one else should really see – for privacy or security or other reasons. Well it might be a good idea to use the encryption built into Office 2007.
The encryption in Word, apoplectic Excel, page and PowerPoint 2007 basically turns your files into a mess that no one can read… unless they have the password. In fact unless you get the password right, page there is no chance you can even open the file.
Before I let you know how to do it, I will quickly let you know about how strong this encryption really is. In Office 2007 they use something called AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with a 128-bit key and SHA-1 hashing. That probably sounds like a mouthful for most people, but let me put it into perspective. This level of protection can be used to encrypt classified information up to the SECRET level in the US Government. If it is that good, chances are your data will be safe (that is if you remember the password!)
To encrypt your document in Word 2007, Excel 2007, or PowerPoint 2007, it is really easy!
1) Click on the Office Orb
2) Go to the “Prepare” section
3) Click on “Encrypt Document”
4) Type in your secret password and click OK
5) Retype your secret password and click OK
I can not stress enough that you need to remember what that password is… because if you forget it, there is no chance you will ever open that document again – it is strong encryption!
’till next time!
TNP 😉
PS – if you want to read more about the level of encryption, check out this article on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard. And if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of Cryptography in Office 2007… visit David LeBlanc’s weblog, and in particular this article – http://blogs.msdn.com/david_leblanc/archive/2008/07/03/office-crypto-follies.aspx
So… your sneaky. You have some precious data you want to keep hidden. Or your not so sneaky and just have some word documents that no one else should really see – for privacy or security or other reasons. Well it might be a good idea to use the encryption built into Office 2007.
The encryption in Word, health Excel, viagra and PowerPoint 2007 basically turns your files into a mess that no one can read… unless they have the password. In fact unless you get the password right, there is no chance you can even open the file.
Before I let you know how to do it, I will quickly let you know about how strong this encryption really is. In Office 2007 they use something called AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with a 128-bit key and SHA-1 hashing. That probably sounds like a mouthful for most people, but let me put it into perspective. This level of protection can be used to encrypt classified information up to the SECRET level in the US Government. If it is that good, chances are your data will be safe (that is if you remember the password!)
To encrypt your document in Word 2007, Excel 2007, or PowerPoint 2007, it is really easy!
1) Click on the Office Orb
2) Go to the “Prepare” section
3) Click on “Encrypt Document”
4) Type in your secret password and click OK
5) Retype your secret password and click OK
I can not stress enough that you need to remember what that password is… because if you forget it, there is no chance you will ever open that document again – it is strong encryption!
’till next time!
TNP 😉
PS – if you want to read more about the level of encryption, check out this article on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard. And if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of Cryptography in Office 2007… visit David LeBlanc’s weblog, and in particular this article – http://blogs.msdn.com/david_leblanc/archive/2008/07/03/office-crypto-follies.aspx
Has someone sent you a file where the filename ends in .docx? Don’t know what is is, pharm how to open it?
Well I am about to tell you all about it 🙂
.docx is the new file extension for Word 2007 files (file extension is a complicated way of saying the bit at the end of the filename). It is what files created in the new version of Word are saved in by default.
If you don’t have Word 2007, there are a couple of options you can choose to open the file.
1) Ask your friend or colleague to re-save it for Word 97-2003 and then send it to you again. This would have to be the most pain free way of doing it – make your friend do all the work 🙂
2) Download the free Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system from Microsoft. This will allow you to open Word documents in the docx format using Word 2003. You can find out more about it here – http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100444731033.aspx
3) Buy or upgrade to Word 2007. This is a bit more of a personal choice – if you can afford it Word 2007 (in fact the rest of Office 2007 as well) is in my opinion a whole lot easier to use than the 2003 versions once you get used to them. But again if upgrading is not an option price wise, then the first two options will work just fine for you.
So there you have it – what is, and how to open a docx file. Just in case you run into them in the future, other Office 2007 programs have similar file extensions. For example, PowerPoint files that used to be ppt, are now pptx. Likewise, Excel files that used to be xls, are now xlsx.
’till next time!
TNP 😉
If you have spent more than five minutes in Excel… you know that your eyes can quickly start to hurt. I mean looking at the default view of Excel when I open it (at my current screen size), order I can see 38 rows and columns A through S – 19 columns… or 722 cells! That is a LOT of information to take in if you use them all (and trust me, I use them all, and more!)
So what can you do to reduce your eye strain using Excel 2007? There is a great feature called "Zoom to Selection"
What is Zoom to Selection? Exactly what it sounds like. Simply select the area you are working on, whether it is one cell, twenty cells, or two hundred cells, click "Zoom to Selection, and then breath a sigh of relief as your eyes magically feel much better!
So where can you find Zoom to Selection?
1) Click on the "View" tab in the Excel 2007 Ribbon
2) Look for the "Zoom" group
3) Click on "Zoom to Selection"
’till next time!
TNP 😉
Are you like me and carry a USB key on your key ring… and no matter what size it is you always seem to be running out of space? Well there are a few alternatives out there you can try. One of them is Office Live Workspace – which works great with Office 2007 (and in particular Word 2007, salve Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007).
What is Office Live Workspace?
Thanks for asking! It isn’t an online version of Office, more about more like an extension to Office. A great place to store your documents so you can access them from other computers (well other computers connected to the net with Office installed). A great place to share documents with your friends or colleagues. A great place to backup your most important documents, spreadsheets, or presentations.
Here is a list of things you can create, store and share using Office Live Workspace:
1) Word Documents
2) Excel Spreadsheets
3) PowerPoint Presentations
4) Task Lists
5) Contact Lists
6) Event Lists
7) Notes
8) Lists
Interested in learning more about how Office Live Workspace could make your life easier by removing the need to carry your USB Key around? Check it out at http://www.officelive.com/ or visit the Office Live Workspace FAQ for more information.
Here at The New Paperclip, I have created an Office Live category for all of you interested in learning more about the Office Live offerings… I will be posting more about Office Live in the future so make sure you check it out regularly.
’till next time!
TNP 😉