Annoyed With Microsoft?
Tips for getting your Microsoft keyboard to behave, tweaking your desktop, and keeping control of your Start menu. Plus, all about Sudoku.
I've been spending an inordinate amount of time lately getting annoyed with Microsoft. But rather than sit around and fume, I've dug up with some useful tips to cure what annoys me. Read on for a free utility that gets Microsoft keyboard function keys to behave like actual function keys, tips on tweaking your desktop and Start menu, and free viewers for Office apps.
But with all this, you're probably worrying that I've been working too hard. Never fear, I'm still taking plenty of time for myself--playing Sudoku. I'll tell you all about that, too.
It's pretty annoying to get a file that you can't read. Microsoft doesn't want you to be left out, so it's got free viewers for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
I get a fresh Sudoku each morning in the
Sudoku Tutorial and Solving SuDoku Puzzles have excellent tutorials and lessons. And if you want some help solving a puzzle, you can get it at Guy's Online Solver and Su Doku Solver.
I'm not alone in my obsession. Read our very own Laura Blackwell's September "Download This" for a review of a $15 game that's got a free trial version.
Some Microsoft keyboards use the function keys in two ways: as normal function keys and as special application keys that perform special tasks in Microsoft apps. Not everyone is happy with this arrangement--these keyboards default to the application keys rather than function keys when the system boots. You need to hit the special "F Lock key" to make the function keys work, well, like function keys.
Well folks, there's a solution: It's a small utility called F Lock Key that toggles the keys back to special functions.
It bugs me that to get to anything in My Computer I've got to double-click that silly icon or hunt through the Start menu. I found out that I can turn My Computer into a toolbar that gives me easy access to my drives, removable storage, the Control Panel, and so on.
It's easy to do in Windows XP--but be warned, your desktop icons might move around. Use SaveMyDesktop first. This freebie saves the location of your icons and restores them to their places after you've tweaked your desktop.
Okay, so here's how you do it: Open your Start menu and drag the My Computer icon across your desktop to the side of your screen. Voil
I just hate that silly touchpad on my notebook. It seems like whenever I use it to access the Start menu, I screw something up in All Programs--the touchpad often holds onto an item and I end up dragging and dropping it into another menu.
But it's easy enough to fix this: Right-click any empty spot on the taskbar, then elect the Start Menu tab, click Customize, and then go to the Advanced tab. In the "Start menu items" window, scroll to "Enable dragging and dropping" and remove its check mark.
Steve Bass
