In a feature in yesterday’s Computerworld (titled “The New Help Desk: Agile, Educational, Efficient”), writer John Brandon highlighted three IT departments and what they are doing to bring the help desk from where it’s stuck – the 1960s – to the present. One of the organizations featured, the University of Georgia, has put an emphasis on using calls to the help desk to educate users. We like that idea.

Click to see a video on creating charts in Excel.

The old way of working is myopic. If you keep fixing an issue that, with a little instruction, can be avoided, where is the long-term value? And, if you cannot – or do not — track where problem spots are, how can you plan for the future?

At PC Helps, we fix stuff too; we’re a help desk, after all. But we also teach customers how to resolve issues on their own, and how to avoid having them crop up again in the future.

In that spirit, today’s post offers tips for creating Excel charts, a topic we receive many calls about. Happy charting.

Creating Charts

By PC Helps Staff

Data (n.) – raw, unorganized facts.
Information (n.) – organized and processed data that can be useful in some way.

When working with a large amount of data, it often can become an overwhelming task to extract information from the data. Excel provides a great tool to facilitate converting data to visual information through the use of charts.

Follow these steps to create a chart:

Excel 2003 and older:

• Select any cell within the data you want to chart.
• Click on the Insert menu, then select Chart to bring up the Chart Wizard.
• Choose the desired chart type, then click Next.
• Excel will show you a preview of the chart using what it has detected as plot data.
• Verify that the data is correctly organized by viewing the Series tab.
• Click Next to further modify your chart options. You can add titles to the chart or axes, move your legend, add data labels, etc.
• Click Next to set the location of your chart.
• Click Finish.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

• Select any cell within the data you want to chart.
• Click on the Insert Tab, then click on the desired chart type in the Charts group. Excel will generate the chart as soon as you click on the desired chart type, using what it has detected as plot data.

NOTE: Different chart types sometimes need different types of data. For instance, a pie chart is best for displaying a single series of data, but a column chart is capable of plotting several series.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2003.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2010.

Reordering Data Series in a Chart

By PC Helps Staff

You may find at times that you need to rearrange the order of your data series in a chart without changing your source data. This can be accomplished easily using the Format Data Series dialog.

Excel 2003 and older: 
Click on a series in the chart to select it. Right-click the series and choose “Format Data Series.” On the Series Order tab, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to re-order the selected series.

Excel 2007 and 2010:
 Click on a series in the chart to select it. Right-click the series and choose Select Data. Use the arrow buttons to re-order the selected series.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2003.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2010.

Creating a Dynamic Chart in Excel

By David McQueary

If you regularly update the data ranges for your charts, a dynamic chart will help you because it automatically shows data added to the end of a column.

First thing we need to do is create a dynamic named range.

Excel 2003 or older:

• Click on the Insert menu, select Name, and choose Define.
• Name the range, we will want two named ranges: one for our labels and one for our data. We will define the names as Label and Data, respectively.
• From here we will enter formulas to create the dynamic named range. The formula to do this, if you are starting in cell A1, is: =OFFSET($A$1,0,0,COUNTA($A:$A),1) 
Adjusting the column letter and number in the first part of the formula will allow us to change where the named range starts. For example =OFFSET($B$2,0,0,COUNTA($B:$B),1) would start the range in cell B2.
• Click OK.
• Repeat steps 2 – 4 to create the second range.
• Click Close.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

• Click on the Formulas tab, click Name Manager, and select New.
• Name the range, we will want two named ranges: one for our labels and one for our data. We will define the names as Label and Data, respectively.
• From here we will enter formulas to create the dynamic named range. The formula to do this, if you are starting in cell A1, is: =OFFSET($A$1,0,0,COUNTA($A:$A),1)
Adjusting the column letter and number in the first part of the formula will allow us to change where the named range starts. For example =OFFSET($B$2,0,0,COUNTA($B:$B),1) would start the range in cell B2.
• Click OK.
• Repeat steps 2 – 4 to create the second range.
• Click Close.

Now we create our chart.

Excel 2003 or older:

• Highlight our data and go to Insert menu and choose to insert a chart. Make all the settings that you want to the chart, and place it on the worksheet.
• Now we apply the dynamic settings to the chart. Click on one of the series in the chart and look at the formula bar.
• In the formula bar there should be something that looks like =SERIES(Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16,Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16,1). In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Label.
• In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Data.
• You now have a dynamic chart. If you add more data to the bottom of the column, it will automatically add that data to the chart.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

• Highlight our data and go to Insert tab and choose a chart. Make all the settings that you want to the chart, and place it on the worksheet.
• Now we apply the dynamic settings to the chart. Click on one of the series in the chart and look at the formula bar.
• In the formula bar there should be something that looks like =SERIES(Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16,Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16,1). In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Label.
• In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Data.
• You now have a dynamic chart. If you add more data to the bottom of the column, it will automatically add that data to the chart.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2003.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2010.

In the spirit of helping you get things done, we’re posting one of our favorite tips: How to create labels with mail merge. Whatever you use it for – holiday cards, end-of-year reports – it’s a time-saver and a headache-reducer. Plus, it’s the number one question our customers ask.

Mail merges make even the most nimble users shudder. That’s because they fail so often. 

Happy holidays.

Creating Labels with Mail Merge from a Data Source

Mail merges make even the most nimble users shudder. That’s because they fail so often. The most common type of merge involves taking data stored in Excel and bringing it into Word. 

If you are thinking of going beyond labels and writing full-on letters, this tip will still help you; the procedure for performing a mail merge to labels is similar to that of creating letters.

Word 2003:

1. Click the Tools menu, move your mouse cursor over Letters and Mailings, and select Mail Merge.
2. In the Mail Merge pane on the right, select Labels and then click Next: Starting document.
3. Click Label options and choose the label template you would like to use. Click OK. This should display the label gridlines on your document. If you do not see the gridlines, click the Table menu and select Show Gridlines.
4. Click Next: Select recipients.
5. Select Use an existing list, then click the Browse button.
6. Browse to and select your Excel workbook or Access database, then click Open.
7. A Select Table window will open. If you are using an Excel workbook as your data source, select the appropriate worksheet and click OK. If using an Access database as your data source, select the appropriate table or query and click OK.
8. The Mail Merge Recipients window will open. From here, you can clear the checkbox for any recipients you wish to exclude. You can also filter the list using the arrows at the top of each field, or click Advanced for more advanced sorting and filtering. Click OK when you are finished editing the recipient list, then click Next: Arrange your labels.
9. If you want standard address fields to appear on the labels, click Address block and under Insert recipient’s name in this format, select the name formatting you prefer. A preview will display how the selected option will appear on your labels. Once your labels look correct in this window, click OK.
10. Alternately, if you want to insert the fields in a specific order, click More items. An Insert Merge Field window will open; insert the fields by selecting them one by one and clicking Insert, then click Close.
11. Format the top left label any way you desire. Do not forget to add the appropriate spaces and punctuation.
12. Click the Update all labels button to update the changes to the rest of the labels. You should see <<Next Record>> on all but the first label, followed by the fields you inserted.
13. Click Next: preview your labels to view merged data. You can use the record selector arrows to switch between different records. Click Next: Complete the merge.
14. If you select Edit individual labels, the labels will be merged into a new document where you can edit the labels individually. You will not, however, be able to add more fields once this is done. The Print option will allow you to send the labels to the printer.

Word 2007 and 2010:

1. Click the Mailings tab.
2. Click the Start Mail Merge drop-down arrow and choose Labels.
3. Select the Label vendor and the product number for the label you are using and click OK.
4. Click the Select Recipients drop-down arrow and choose Use Existing List.
5. Browse to and select your Excel workbook or Access database, then click Open.
6. A Select Table window will open. If you are using an Excel workbook as your data source, select the appropriate worksheet and click OK. If using an Access database as your data source, select the appropriate table or query and click OK.
7. Click on Edit Recipient List if you would like to exclude any recipients.
8. If you want standard address fields to appear on the labels, click Address block and under Insert recipient’s name in this format, select the name formatting you prefer. A preview will display how the selected option will appear on your labels. Once your labels look correct in this window, click OK.
9. Alternately, if you want to insert the fields in a specific order, click Insert Merge Fields, and choose the fields you want.
10. Format the top-left label any way you desire. Do not forget to add the appropriate spaces and punctuation.
11. Click the Update Labels button to update the changes to the rest of the labels. You should see <<Next Record>> on all but the first label, followed by the fields you inserted.
12. Click the Preview Results button to view merged data.
13. Click the Finish & Merge drop-down arrow, choose Edit Individual Documents, select All, and click OK. Your labels will appear in a separate window; this document is editable, but you can not add additional fields to it.

For more merging tips, visit our eTips Library. 

Tips were compiled and written by PC Helps staff.

Long before there were apps, there was Excel.

Counting Days Between Two Dates

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

Do you need to know how many days are between two dates? If you ever have to figure out how long before a payment is due, how long it takes to manufacture a product, how many days shipping took, or how long before a perishable product is out of date, then this tip will help you.

For this example we will create a blank worksheet and enter the following data:

Excel 2003 and older:

1. To determine the difference between two dates simply subtract the earlier date from the later date. Using our example worksheet the formula would be =A2-A1. The result of the formula will display as a date; in order to display the number of days between the dates we need to change the cell format.
2. To view the result as a number, select the cell, then go to the Format menu and click Cells.
3. Click the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box.
4. Choose Number in the Category list box, change the Decimal places to zero (0), and then click OK.
5. To determine the number of days between the current date and a past date we can use the Today function to return the current date. Using our example data: if cell A2 contains the date our library books were due we would calculate the number of days overdue using the formula =TODAY()-A2.
6. Repeat steps two (2) through four (4) to format the result as a number.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

1. To determine the difference between two dates simply subtract the earlier date from the later date. Using our example worksheet the formula would be =A2-A1. The result of the formula will display as a date; in order to display the number of days between the dates we need to change the cell format.
2. To view the result as a number, select the cell and then go to the Home tab and click the Format drop-down in the Cells group, and choose Format Cells.
3. Click the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box.
4. Choose Number in the Category list box, change the Decimal places to zero (0), and then click OK.
5. To determine the number of days between the current date and a past date we can use the Today function to return the current date. Using our example data: if cell A2 contains the date our library books were due we would calculate the number of days overdue using the formula =TODAY()-A2.
6. Repeat steps two (2) through four (4) to format the result as a number.

How to Extract the Month from a Date

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

For this tip, enter a date in cell A1, for example 7/4/2010. In cell B1 you would like to return the month of that date, which would be 7. In order to return the correct month we are going to use the MONTH function.

In cell B1, type the formula =MONTH(A1) which would return 7 since that is the month of the date in A1.

The MONTH function takes a date or serial number as its argument:

• In the above example the date entered into a cell was 7/4/2010 which returns a 7.
• A date could also be entered as a formula such as =DATE(2011,1,15). Using MONTH to return the month from this value would result in 1.
• A date could also be entered as a serial number. 39000 formatted as a date would be 10/10/2006, and the formula would return a 10.

NOTE: To see an abbreviated or full name of the month you can make use of a custom format. Say you have the date 7/4/2010 in cell A1. In B1 you can write the formula =A1, which should return the same date. Now you can right-click on B1 and choose Format Cells. Click on the Number tab and choose the Custom category of the left hand side. If you want the see the abbreviated way to spell the month, type in mmm under the Type section. If you would like to see the full name, type mmmm.

How to Calculate the Last Day of the Month

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

From time to time it may be necessary to return the last day of a month in the future when calculating loan maturity dates or other due dates. Of course, knowing that September is two months from July is nice and those of us who paid attention in school know that September has 30 days, but the EOMONTH function in Excel does the work for us and is easily updatable.

To see how this function works, type a date in cell A1. In cell B1, enter the following formula: =EOMONTH(A1,2). The first argument in the formula, the A1 refers to the start date, or our starting point. The second argument indicates how far into the future to look before returning the last day of the month. For example, if the date in A1 is July 2, 2011, then the formula will return September 30, 2011 — the end of the second month from the start date. Replacing the 2 in our formula with a 3 would return October 31, 2011.

The formula will return the date as a serial number, so you may want to change the cell display formatting to either Short or Long Date, depending on preference.

NOTE: In Excel 2003, you may receive a #NAME? error upon entering the formula. If this happens, you need to enable the Analysis Toolpack add-in. To do this, go to Tools, Add-Ins and check the box for Analysis Toolpack and click OK. Once the add-in is enabled, Excel can make sense of the function.

The EOMONTH function can also be used to return the first day in the current month by using this formula: =EOMONTH(TODAY(),-1)+1. This formula will look at the current date (the TODAY function) and return the first of the month. It does this by finding the last day of the preceding month (that is the reason for the -1) and adding one day to it. Another way to return the first day of any month is with this formula: =A1-(DAY(A1)-1). This formula uses the DAY function, which returns the day of the month as an integer between 1 and 31. Subtracting this from the date in A1 gives the date of the last day of the preceding month; adding 1 day to that number gives the first day of the month containing the A1 date

How to Use the DATEDIF Function

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

Do you need to determine the number of years between two dates? For instance, it might be important to know how many years an employee has worked for you or to determine what age an employee is for benefits eligibility. The DATEDIF function combined with the TODAY function can provide this information and more for you.

In this tip we will specifically deal with years. The DATEDIF function can also give you results in months, days, and several other variations.

1. Enter the initial date, 1/1/1987 in cell A1.
2. Click in B1 and type the following formula: =DATEDIF(A1,TODAY(),”y”)
3. Press ENTER. You should get the result of 24.

See the extra tip below for a more informative result if you will not be doing any further calculations with the number.

The DATEDIF function has three parts, separated by commas. The first part of the formula contains the initial or start date. In this case, we substituted the cell reference (A1) containing that date instead. The second part of the formula usually contains the ending date. In our case, we substituted the TODAY() function which represents the current date since it is a function that updates as the function is calculated. The third part of the function determines the unit of measure for the result, in our example years (“y”). The function can also report months or days.

Extra Tip

If you would like the see the result as “21 years,” enter the formula with this variation:

=DATEDIF(B4,TODAY(),”y”)&” years”

We used the ampersand (&) symbol to concatenate the result with the text “years” to provide a more informative solution. Make sure you include a space inside the quotes before the word years. Adding text to the number has one side effect; you cannot use that number in further mathematical calculations easily.

To display the result of the DATEDIF function in months or days, simply substitute the appropriate letter “m” or “d” for the letter “y” in the formula.

For more tips on Excel and other applications, visit our eTips Library.

Are you the type who steps away from the grill for a sec to check your e-mail?

So why would work stop on a holiday like the Fourth of July? (It doesn’t.) If you are the type who steps away from the grill for a sec to check your e-mail, here are a few of our most popular tips that promise to make your holiday a little less work-infused:

iPhone

Easy punctuation

Inserting a period from the symbols box can become tedious. You want to send messages with proper punctuation, but deadlines get in the way. Here’s a quicker way: Double-tap the spacebar. Problem solved. Reputation saved.

Copy Web images

Do you often come across images in your Web travels that you’d like to save for later use? Try this shortcut: Press and hold your finger on the photo and you’ll be prompted to “Save Image.” Now it’s in your Camera Roll.

Making sense of time zones and meetings

Sometimes technology’s intuitive functionality can get the better of you, especially when traveling across time zones. Case in point: the Time Zone Support feature, which shows event dates and times in the zone you selected for your calendar. For example, if you scheduled a 10 a.m. conference call while at the home office in Philadelphia, and you are currently visiting Los Angeles, your meeting will still show up as scheduled for 10 a.m. Turning off the Time Zone Support feature can make your schedule a little clearer by automatically adjusting your calendar to the time zone you are in. To do so, go to Settings | Mail | Contacts | Calendar and toggle off Time Zone Support.

Easy Scrolling

Mobile devices are practical, yes, but not when it comes to screen size. Scrolling, in particular, can become tiresome on an iPhone, or any smart phone for that matter. Whichever screen you are on – your contacts, a Web site – you can quickly return to the top by tapping the status bar (at the very top of every iPhone screen).

For the BlackBerry

Filter incoming mail

Say, for example, you receive a daily report that you will not read or deal with on your phone and would prefer to just handle it back at the office. Can you create a filter for that?

Of course you can. Here’s how:

1. Click on the Messages icon to open your messages, then click the trackwheel or Menu button and select Options.

2. Select E-mail Filters.

3. Click your trackwheel or Menu button, select New and then type a filter name.

4. You have several fields you can filter on: From; Sent To; Subject; Message; Sent directly to me; CC to me; BCC to me; Importance; Sensitivity. You can choose more than one option here. For example, to take care of your daily report problem, create the following filter:

From: coworker@domain.com
Subject: Daily Report
Action: Do not forward

This will affect any e-mails from colleagues with “daily report” in the subject.

5. Click your trackwheel or Menu button and save the filter. By default, it is enabled and will function immediately with any new incoming messages.

If you want to temporarily allow filtered messages, simply click on the filter name to uncheck in the filter list. Take note, however, that filtering works only if your BlackBerry is activated on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server; to access filters with BlackBerry Internet Service you must check with your wireless carrier.

High-priority e-mail notifications

You want to make sure you know when high-priority e-mails come in, and the standard notification doesn’t quite command your attention. To set up special notices, start at the home screen, go to Profiles, then Advanced. Here you can create a new profile or modify your current one. Set the desired notification for Level 1 Messages and save. Note: High-priority message notices will work even if you have disabled those for other types of messages.

Shortcuts

BlackBerry offers ample useful shortcut keys, most of which are only available on a device that has a full keyboard. They are performed by simply pressing the key or combination of keys listed below.

Open a message that was sent to you and try the following shortcuts:

R: Reply to message

L: Reply to all

F: Forward message

I: File highlighted message into a folder

Q: Toggle the display name and full e-mail address of a contact in an e-mail address field

G: Move to the last cursor position in a received message after closing and re-opening it

How to Mark an Email as Unread from Your iOS Device

Sometimes when you check your email on a mobile device, you might start reading a message and realize that it is better for you to deal with it later when you have more time. On a PC you can flag the message for follow-up in Outlook, but on a mobile device like an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, that feature is not obvious. Here’s a way for you to flag a message for later.

3 tips for setting up iPad email the way you like it.

NOTE: Messages that are marked as unread are indicated by a blue dot to the left of the message preview in your message list.

How to Mark an Email as Unread

1. Scroll to the top of your email message. If it is a long message, you can quickly do this by tapping on the time in the status bar at the top of your screen.
2. If the only email header you see before the subject is From, tap on the word Details to the right of that line. This will reveal the To and CC fields (if completed). The word Details will also change to the word Hide.
3. If you see the word Hide across from the From line, look below the address fields, at the subject line. You will see Mark as Unread in blue text across from the subject line.
4. Tap the blue Mark as Unread text. The text color will change to dimmed-out gray, but the message will remain open. This color indicates that the message will appear as unread in your inbox.
5. Once Mark as Unread changes to the gray text, tapping it again does nothing. If you change your mind and want the message marked as read again, simply read a different message, then read the first one again.

Adding an Email Signature on Your iPad

When sending mail, especially for business, it is a good idea to add a signature to your messages. The signature identifies you and provides information that will allow your recipient to contact you.

1. On the main screen of the iPad, tap the Settings icon.
2. In the left-hand menu, tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
3. In the second section under Mail, tap Signature.
4. Type whatever you would like to show as your signature, exactly as you would like it to appear.
5. When you are finished, simply tap another option or click the Home button to exit the screen.

The signature you enter here will be automatically added to all email messages you create on your iPad. If you would like to edit or delete the signature for one specific message, you can edit it as you would the rest of the text while you are typing the message.

Increasing the Amount of Mail and Calendar Items Synced to Your iOS Device

When setting up your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch to sync your email and calendar appointments, the default settings on the device limit the amount of information that will download to the device. Particularly in situations where there is potential for the loss of a reliable network connection, it is important that you have all of your email messages already downloaded to your device. Follow the steps below to ensure that more data is pushed to your iOS device.

Increasing how much mail syncs to your device:

1. Open the Settings app from the home screen.
2. Tap the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” category.
3. Under Mail, tap Show and change it to 200 Recent Messages to download up to 200 messages to your device’s memory.
4. Return to the previous screen by tapping the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” category again. Under Mail, tap Preview, then choose 5 Lines to maximize the number of lines of the message that will appear in the message list for quick scanning.
   NOTE: If you are not using an Exchange email account, you are now finished with the process. You can return to the previous screen by tapping the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” category.
5. If you have a work email account using a Microsoft Exchange server, return to the previous screen by tapping the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” category again. Scroll up and tap on your Exchange Server’s name under Accounts.
6. To increase how many days of email are synced to the device, tap Mail Days to Sync. Choose No Limit to allow email from an unlimited number of days to come to the device. Press the Exchange back arrow button at the top of the dialog box when you have finished making your selection.
   NOTE: This will not fill up your entire device memory if you have a large mailbox, since only as many messages as you chose in Step 3 will sync. However, it will allow you to find older messages via searching the server.
7. To specify that messages moved from Outlook to other email subfolders are automatically “pushed” to your device, tap Mail Folders to Push. Choose the folders you would like to see populated immediately when a message is moved to them. This will reduce delays with waiting for them to download later. Press the Exchange back arrow button at the top of the dialog box when you have finished making your selections. Press Done to close the Exchange dialog box.

Increasing the number of calendar appointments that sync to device:

1. Open the Settings app from the home screen.
2. Tap the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” category.
3. Under Calendars, tap Sync. Choose All Events to download all events from your calendar to the device.
4. Tap the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” category again to return to the previous screen.

Tips were compiled and written by PC Helps staff.

At PC Helps, we’ve helped dozens of companies upgrade from 2003 to 2010, and the call volume is steadily increasing.  Most calls are coming from customers whose IT departments skipped an Office 2007 migration and were holding out for 2010. As with 2003-to-2007 migrations, 2003-to-2010 promises a steep learning curve on the part of end users.

Here are a few sites we found with valuable tips and tricks for Office 2010:

Ultimate List of Office 2010 Tips & Tricks (Techie Buzz)

10 cool features to look forward to in Office 2010 (TechRepublic)

MS Office 2010: 10 Tips and Tricks (PC Mag)

And here are the top five challenges you can expect with an Office 2010 migration:

1. Adjusting to a materially different interface

The “ribbon” and other new aspects of the Office 2007 interface reflected major changes in the look and feel of the core Office applications. In Office 2010, these differences are carried forward and are combined with the incorporation of the ribbon into Outlook, impacting usability of this critical communications application.

User confusion and frustration is almost guaranteed when attempting to learn and work with the ribbon for the first time. Basic functions that were performed without effort in the past, such as opening and closing files, managing day-to-day calendar and meeting entries, and applying formats, require a relearning process with the new application versions. For some users, relearning these basic functions is fairly straightforward, and for others it takes a more effort and help. More complex tasks in PowerPoint, Excel, Word or Access often require a combination of training and support in the migration process.

2. Recreating and reformatting important documents

As with any new or changed software, incompatibility with prior versions may require users to manually rework documents. Compatibility of versions has been a focus for Microsoft over the years, and improves with every new release. But users don’t always follow the best practices when creating documents, and end up with versions which are not automatically converted with an upgrade.

Files received from outside the organization in older formats may not open properly and need some rework or, sometimes, may need to be resent. Files with links, Access databases (especially if they integrate with other systems or use extensive code), and custom animations in older PowerPoint versions may be corrupted or impacted by compatibility issues. In cases where users have documents they regularly use, often containing complex formulas or formatting, and which need to be updated to the new versions, there can be a significant amount of time spent on reformatting and recreating documents.

3. Dealing with deadlines and urgency

In reality, business cannot be put on hold while users adjust to a new software version. Critical deadlines loom, and day-to-day urgent matters still need to be handled. During a migration, end users may find themselves stymied by lack of familiarity with a new Office application just at a time when they are facing these deadlines.

Of particular note among these end users are administrative support staff, who are often managing calendars and communications for managers and executives. Downtime is not an option for them either. In these circumstances, self-help, training and tutorials often compound frustration.

4. Using Office across a range of mobile devices and computers

The proliferation of new and different mobile and computing devices is changing the corporate computing landscape. Employees now access standard Office applications across a range of devices and often from remote locations. Adapting to and syncing upgraded software and OS versions impacts end users in these mixed environments.

For example, to edit documents in the new Office 2007 file formats on a Windows Mobile device, an Office Mobile upgrade is required. Many users are not aware of this and don’t understand why they cannot successfully use the application. Another example, this one from the Apple side: The settings to sync an Entourage calendar to an iPad are not entirely obvious, and end users must also make sure they have the latest updates from Microsoft.

Many help desks have altered their policies to allow outside devices but are not able to offer support for these non-company issued devices. End users often search on their own for “how-to” support in online help communities and in-product menus. Even worse, they attempt workarounds that bypass updates and patches altogether, forgoing improved functionality or simply not making full use of the devices or applications.

5. Finding help when it’s needed

According to a Gartner report, one of the Windows 7/Office 2010 migration pitfalls to avoid is not seeking professional help early enough.

“Don’t underestimate the requirements for skills and services. It is often common to enlist an external service provider, especially for help with design and planning features,” writes Gartner researcher Michael Silver in Computerworld article about the report. “In addition to proper training for technical staff, make sure the service provider is contracted to transfer sufficient skills so staff can manage the new environment after the cutover.”

In addition to help with migration design and planning, help is needed on the end user side as well. As the migration process unfolds and users begin incorporating new or upgraded software into their everyday routines, it is essential that they quickly master tasks and processes relevant to their specific jobs in the new software environment. It is also important that they have access to additional help if they need it – which may be at points before, during or beyond the migration dates. Issues and causes users experience related to finding help include:

• Training was taken at the time of the upgrade, but a particular application or function has not been used since, and the user has forgotten how to use it. (Classic “use it or lose it” scenario.)

• Training and tutorials were planned by the user, but not completed due to limited time availability, and user now has an urgent need. Executives and higher level staff, or personnel who spend most of their time on the road, frequently experience this situation.

• General training and help tools may not be specific enough to the users’ particular needs.

• For a number of reasons, in-product help and search tools do not provide the help needed, or are considered inadequate by certain user groups.

• Some personnel may rely on an assistant for support, and with that person unavailable, may not know how to access certain critical documents or handle certain tasks.

When employees find themselves in these situations, they often need help right away. They can’t afford the downtime associated with submitting a help desk ticket or waiting for next-day follow up. If they can’t get the application expertise needed from the help desk, they will seek out help from their co-workers, struggle with generic help menus, look to hand off the work to a delegate if they have one, or just not complete the task.

Last week we offered tips for keeping email inboxes tidy. This week, we look at ways to keep the operating system clean.

At work, keeping a tidy space is just as important, and keeping a clean computer is even more so. Here are some cleanup tips compiled by our techs that will no doubt improve your computer’s performance, and possibly even your own.

Clearing Temporary Internet Files

Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8

We often get calls from people who want to know how to get rid of temporary Internet files, which accumulate as you browse the Internet to help pages load faster. From time to time they can cause problems, and deleting them usually solves the issue. Here’s how:

Internet Explorer 6 and older:

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Click the “Delete Files” button.
3. Click the checkbox to “Delete all offline content” if you will not be viewing pages offline.
4. Click OK.
5. Click OK again.

Internet Explorer 7:

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Click the “Delete files” button.
3. Click Yes.
4. Click Close.
5. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 8:

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Click the “Delete” button.
3. Check Temporary Internet files; uncheck the other categories if you do not want to delete them at the same time, and then click delete.
4. Click OK.

Clear Internet Cookies

Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8

Cookies are small files which contain information about preference on a particular site. They can track passwords or whether you are signed on to a site. In general they are not harmful, but it is a good idea to clean them out routinely.

Internet Explorer 6 and older

1. Click the Tools menu and choose Internet Options.
2. Click the “Delete Cookies” button.
3. Click OK.
4. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 7

1. Click the Tools menu and choose Internet Options.
2. Click the “Delete” button.
3. Click the “Delete cookies” button.
4. Click Yes.
5. Click Close.
6. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 8

1. Click the Tools menu and choose Internet Options.
2. Click the “Delete” button.
3. Check Cookies; if you do not want to clear other categories at the same time, clear any other checks, and then click Delete.
4. Click OK.

Shortening History in Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer (6, 7, 8 )

You can save disk space by reducing the number of days Internet Explorer saves pages in your history list. The fewer days you specify, the less space your system uses.

Internet Explorer 6 and older:

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Reduce the number in “Days to keep pages in history.”
3. To immediately recover space and clear all history, click Clear History.
4. Click Yes to the prompt.
5. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 7:

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Click the Settings button in the Browsing history area.
3. Reduce the number in “Days to keep pages in history.”
4. Click OK.
5. To immediately recover space and clear all history, click Delete.
6. Click the Delete history button.
7. Click Yes.
8. Click Close.
9. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 8:

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Click the Settings button in the Browsing history area.
3. Reduce the number in “Days to keep pages in history.”
4. Click OK.
5. To immediately recover space and clear all history, click Delete.
6. Check History; uncheck other categories if you do not want to delete them at the same time, and then click Delete.
7. Click OK.

How to Delete a File and Bypass the Recycle Bin

Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7

One of the convenient features that Microsoft has put in Windows is the ability to use the Recycle Bin to hold deleted files, allowing you to restore a deleted file if needed. But there may be times when you want to delete a file and not recover it. You could always delete the file, then go into the Recycle Bin and delete it from there again, or even empty the Recycle Bin altogether.

There is a quicker solution. If you are deleting files and are sure that you will not want to recover them, you can delete them without sending them to the Recycle Bin by holding down the Shift key as you delete the files. When deleted, the selected files will not go to the Recycle Bin and thus cannot be recovered except by a restore from external backup media.

You can also accomplish the same result by holding down the Shift key and dragging and dropping the files onto the Recycle Bin.

Disk Cleanup

Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7

The Disk Cleanup feature allows you to free up hard drive space by deleting unnecessary files.

1. Close all open programs.
2. Double-click My Computer, right-click on the hard drive (C is the typical main hard drive for computers) you want to clean up, and then choose Properties. On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. You can also access this feature by clicking the Start button, choosing All Programs, selecting Accessories, choosing System Tools, clicking Disk Cleanup, then selecting the desired drive.
3. The computer will calculate how much space is available to free up. This may take a few minutes.
4. Check any boxes for the areas that you would like to clear out. Placing a check mark in the boxes next to each name means you want to get rid of files in this directory. We recommend putting a check in the following:

Downloaded Program Files
Temporary Internet Files
Offline Webpages
Microsoft Error Reporting Temporary Files
Recycle Bin
Temporary Remote Desktop files
Temporary files
WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files
Temporary Offline Files

5.  Clear the checkbox for Office Setup Files; these are important to keep.
6.  Several directories have options to view files, which will show you exactly what is located in each directory. You can do this if you are curious, but it is not necessary.
7.  Click OK. The program will now delete the files from your computer.

Run Hard Drive Defrag

Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7

Disk Defragmenter, or disk defrag for short, examines all fragmented data and program files, and reorganizes them into continuous storage places on the hard drive. The reason to run disk defrag is to optimize the time it takes to read and write files to and from your hard drive by maximizing the transfer rate, and using better data sectors than what you have currently. It is looking for fragmented data sectors and converting those into usable space.

Since disk defrag evaluates every sector of a hard drive, the time it will take to run is dependent on the size of your hard drive and the level of fragmentation. It could take 20 minutes, or it could take an hour to complete. In some cases, it could even take half a dozen hours. It is best to run defrag during a time when you are going to be away from your computer. If you are running it overnight, set up a password-protected screensaver.

Prior to running, you should always scan your disk for errors. This will prevent any errors from being skipped over in the defrag process. Close all files and programs prior to starting to defragment your computer.

Windows XP, Vista, 7

1. Right-click on the drive (“C” drive) you wish to defrag and choose Properties.
2. Click on the Tools tab and choose Defragment Now.
3. Click Analyze.
4. When the analysis is complete you will be informed whether your drive needs to be defragmented. Click Defragment.
5. The Stop button will be available if you need to use your computer before the process is complete. Always stop the defragmentation before opening programs or files.
6. Close the window and reboot when the process is complete.

This feature can also be accessed from the Start Menu.

1. Click the Start button (in Vista and 7 the Windows Button), choose All Programs, select Accessories, choose System Tools, and click Disk Defragmenter.
2. Choose the drive you wish to defrag and click Defragment. Continue with step 3 above.

Tips were compiled by PC Helps staff. Check our eTips library for more, and share any we missed in comments.

Tech tips: 3 ways to make life easier in Excel.

Here are three tips that will enable you to reset Excel 2010’s default formatting. Set them once, and never again.

1. Setting Formatting Options for Workbooks, Part 1

Excel does not offer many options that allow you to set formatting defaults for your workbooks. However, you can work around this by modifying the formatting in a blank workbook, then saving it as the default template.

Excel 2007:

1. Open Excel to a blank workbook.
2. Format the blank file with all options desired. For example, set margins, cell color formats, or set up a header or footer. Make sure to remove any values you entered in cells to test formatting unless you want them to appear in every blank workbook.
3. Once your changes are made, click the Office button and choose Save As.
4. From the “Files of type” drop-down list, select “Excel Template (*.xltx)” and change the file name to “Book.”
5. Set the “Save in” location to the XLSTART folder. This folder is typically located in a path similar to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\XLSTART.
6. Click Save.
7. Close and re-open Excel. The blank workbook should contain the formatting you previously set.

Excel 2010:

1. Open Excel to a blank workbook.
2. Format the blank file with all options desired. For example, set margins, cell color formats, or set up a header or footer. Make sure to remove any values you entered in cells to test formatting unless you want them to appear in every blank workbook.
3. Once your changes are made, click on the File tab and choose Save As.
4. From the “Files of type” drop-down list, select “Excel Template (*.xltx)” and change the file name to “Book.”
5. Set the “Save in” location to the XLSTART folder. This folder is typically located in a path similar to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\XLSTART.
6. Click Save.
7. Close and re-open Excel. The blank workbook should contain the formatting you previously set.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

2. Changing the Default Font for New Workbooks

We all have our quirks; that’s what makes us unique. One of these things can be the font you choose as your default. To change the default font used in new workbooks in Excel, follow these steps:

Excel 2007:

1. Click the Office button in the top left corner.
2. Select Excel options in the bottom-right of the menu that appears.
3. In the Excel options dialog box, under Popular options, scroll down to the section called “When creating new workbooks.”
4. Here you have the ability to set the default font and font size.
5. Click OK.

After you restart Excel, any new workbook you create will be set for the new font properties you chose. Note that existing workbooks will not be affected.

Excel 2010:

1. Click on the File tab.
2. Select Options at the bottom left.
3. Under General options there is a section for “When creating new workbooks.”
4. Here you can select the option to change the font and font size for all new workbooks.
5. Click OK.

After you restart Excel, any new workbook you create will be set for the new font properties you chose. Note that existing workbooks will not be affected.

1. Setting Formatting Options for Workbooks, Part 2

Why does Excel always open up with three blank worksheets? If you’ve found yourself continually deleting those extra two, stop already. Excel offers a way for you to specify the defaults for new workbooks, which includes number of worksheets. Follow the steps below:

Excel 2007:

1. Click the Office Button and choose Excel Options.
2. In the Popular group, navigate to the section titled “When creating new workbooks.”
3. You can change the number of sheets created in a new workbook by changing the “Include this many sheets” option.
4. Click OK after making your selections.

Excel will use your options from now on when creating a new workbook, saving you time when setting up each new file.

Excel 2010:

1. Click on the File tab and choose Excel Options.
2. In the General group, navigate to the section titled “When creating new workbooks.”
3. You can change the number of sheets created in a new workbook by changing the “Include this many sheets” option.
4. Click OK after making your selections.

Excel will use your options from now on when creating a new workbook, saving you time when setting up each new file.

For more on these and to find other tips, visit our tech tip library. Have any Excel or general Office tips to share? Post them in the comments section.

Tips are compiled and written by PC Helps staff.

4 top tips for adding hyperlinks.

Creating a Hyperlink to Another Presentation or Web Page (Microsoft PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010)

During a slide show, you may find you need to either launch another presentation or access a web page. Here’s how you do it:

PowerPoint 2003 and older:

1. In your presentation, click an object or text that you want to use as the jumping off point or shortcut.
2. Click on the Insert menu and choose Hyperlink, or press Ctrl+K.
3. Enter the Web address or path and filename.
4. Click OK.

PowerPoint 2007 and 2010:

1. In your presentation, click an object or text that you want to use as the jumping off point or shortcut.
2. Click on the Insert tab and choose Hyperlink, or press Ctrl+K.
3. In the Address bar, enter the Web address or path and filename.
4. Click OK.

If you chose text to be used as the shortcut, you will notice that it is underlined. If you selected a graphic, you will not notice any difference.

Note: Although you created a hyperlink, it will not function as such until you are running the slide show.

Using Action Buttons to Navigate in a Slide Show (Microsoft PowerPoint 2003, 2007, 2010)

When you are presenting a slide show to an audience, you have several options on how to advance to a new slide. It is easy enough to click your way from slide to slide, but what do you do if you want to skip a slide, or move a few slides back in the sequence to emphasize a point?

PowerPoint lets you control navigation with action buttons. In this tip, we show you how to add buttons that let you navigate to wherever you want to go without having to disrupt your presentation. We also show you how to set up your show in kiosk mode so that others can control the presentation using the action buttons you have created.

First, creating action buttons:

PowerPoint 2003 and older:

1. Open your presentation.
2. Click on the Slide Show menu, select Action Button, and choose the blank button style, called “Custom.”
3. Click and drag your mouse to where you want the button to appear. The Action Settings dialog will appear once you stop dragging.
4. Click the “Hyperlink to” radio button.
5. In the “Hyperlink to” drop-down list, choose Slide; a dialog box will appear listing all the slides in the presentation. Choose the slide you want to link to, and then click OK twice to return to your current slide.
6. Now you will need to create a button to return to your original slide. Go to the slide you linked to in the previous step. Create an action button there. When the list of button designs appears, choose the one called “Return” (it looks like a U-shaped arrow). When you click on the slide to create the button, the “Hyperlink to” action automatically will be set to last slide viewed; if it is not, choose that action from the drop-down list. Click OK.

PowerPoint 2007 and 2010:

1. Open your presentation.
2. Click on the Home tab and click the Shapes button in the drawing section. At the bottom of the list of shapes, you will see action buttons; choose the blank button style, called “Custom.”
3. Click and drag your mouse to where you want the button to appear. The Action Settings dialog will appear once you stop dragging.
4. Click the “Hyperlink to” radio button.
5. In the “Hyperlink to” drop-down, choose Slide; a dialog box will appear listing all the slides in the presentation. Choose the slide you want to link to, and then click OK twice to return to your current slide.
6. Now you will need to create a button to return to your original slide. Go to the slide you linked to in the previous step. Create an action button there. When the list of button designs appears, choose the one called “Return” (it looks like a U-shaped arrow). When you click on the slide to create the button, the “Hyperlink to” action automatically will be set to Last Slide Viewed. If it is not, choose that action from the drop-down list. Click OK.

The “Return” button is not the only control that lets you quickly switch to a predefined slide. The list of preset action buttons includes buttons called “Beginning,” “End” and “Home.” “Beginning” and “Home” take you to the first slide in the presentation, and “End” takes you to the last. There are also “Next” and “Previous” buttons that will move you to the next or the previous slide.

You can also add text to the buttons if you want to make their operations clearer to people viewing the show. Simply right-click on the button, choose Add Text, and type your text.

Action buttons can make your presentation easy to follow if you set it up for other people to run. If you set your presentation to run at a kiosk, you do not have to run it yourself — you can let people run it on their own, and run it any way they wish. This is great if you are creating a presentation for a conference or a trade show. When the slide show is run, the viewers will have to make a series of choices. Depending on which buttons they click, they are taken to different areas of the presentation to receive the precise information that they are interested in.

To set your presentation to run in kiosk mode:

PowerPoint 2003:

1. Click on the Slide Show menu and select Set Up Show.
2. In the Set Up Show dialog box, click the “Browsed at a kiosk (full screen)” option.
3. In the Advance Slides area, select “Manually.”
4. Click OK.

PowerPoint 2007 and 2010:

1. Click on the Slide Show tab and select Set Up Show.
2. In the Set Up Show dialog box, click the “Browsed at a kiosk (full screen)” option.
3. In the Advance Slides area, select “Manually.”
4. Click OK.

Now run the slide show. Because you have chosen to manually advance the slides, your normal options for moving to a new slide, such as clicking on the slide’s background or using the page up and page down keys, will not work; in kiosk mode, you can only use action buttons to move between the slides. This makes the whole presentation truly interactive. If the user reaches the last slide, or if the presentation is inactive on a slide for longer than five minutes, PowerPoint returns to the first slide automatically.

How to Create a Hyperlink in Excel (Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010)

When you are working with data in a file you may need to refer to other information in another location. Hyperlinks make this a simple task.

Hyperlinks can take you to another location on the current worksheet, to a location on different worksheet, to a location in another Excel file, to another type of file, to an address on the Internet, or even an e-mail address.

Excel 2003:

1. Click in the cell where you want the hyperlink to appear.
2. Click on the Insert menu and choose Hyperlink.
3. Choose the type of place that you want to link to.
4. Enter the location and adjust the text to display, if you desire.
5. Click OK.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

1. Click in the cell where you want the hyperlink to appear.
2. Click on the Insert tab and choose Hyperlink.
3. Choose the type of place that you want to link to.
4. Enter the location and adjust the text to display, if you desire.
5. Click OK.

Note: You can also open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box by pressing Ctrl+K in any version of Excel. This would replace step two.

Handling Pesky Automatic Hyperlinks (Microsoft Word 2003, 2007, 2010)

A common nuisance when working with URLs and e-mail addresses is Office’s automatic creation of hyperlinks. For example, if you type a web or e-mail address in a document, you may notice that it is automatically colored blue and underlined, indicating that it is now a hyperlink. Sometimes this is helpful; but if you find it inconvenient, you can always disable the feature permanently or temporarily.

To make the change permanent:

Word 2003:

1. Click on the Tools menu and choose AutoCorrect.
2. Click on the AutoFormat As You Type tab and, in the Replace As You Type section, deselect the Internet and Network Paths with Hyperlinks setting.
3. Click OK.

Word 2007 and 2010:

1. Click on the File tab, select Options, and choose Proofing.
2. Click on the AutoCorrect Options button and click on the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
3. In the Replace As You Type section, deselect the Internet and Network Paths with Hyperlinks setting.
4. Click OK twice.

To make the change for a single instance:

All Versions:

To keep the option enabled but temporarily disable it for a newly created hyperlink, just press Ctrl+Z immediately after the link is generated.

Here are some tips:

Export Keynote for iPad presentations to your Mac or PC

1. Connect your iPad to your PC or Mac. In iTunes, select your iPad from the Devices list.
2. Select the Apps tab from your iPad Settings window.
3. Scroll down to the File Sharing section. Select Keynote from the apps list. You will now see a list of all the Keynote presentations on your iPad. Select the one you want to transfer to your computer, and click the Save To button.
4. Browse to the folder on your hard drive where you want to save the presentation. Select it and then click the Choose button.
5. Your file will be copied.

Import presentations to Keynote on iPad

1. Connect your iPad to your PC or Mac. In iTunes, select your iPad from the Devices list.
2. Select the Apps tab from your iPad Settings window.
3. Scroll down to the File Sharing section, and select Keynote from apps list. In the Keynote Documents section you’ll see a list of presentations available in Keynote on the iPad.
4. Select the Add button.
5. Navigate to the presentation you want to copy to your iPad to edit or view in Keynote for the iPad. Keep in mind that with Keynote for iPad, you can edit only Keynote 2009 or PowerPoint presentations.
6. Select your file and click Choose.
7. Your presentation will now appear in the Keynote Documents section.
8. Launch Keynote on your iPad and tap the icon that looks like a down-pointing arrow and a square bracket (it should be at the bottom of the screen in the center). Choose “Copy from iTunes.”
9. Select the PowerPoint presentation you just uploaded to your iPad.
10. Keynote will now import your uploaded presentation.
11. Depending on the presentation, you may get a warning about incompatible fonts or other features that will slightly change the look of the presentation. Click “Done” to get past the screen, and check your presentation to be sure.

Import documents to Pages on iPad

1. Connect your iPad to your PC or Mac. In iTunes, select your iPad from the Devices list.
2. Choose the Apps tab from the top.
3. Scroll down to the File Sharing section. From the Apps list in the File Sharing section, select Pages. In the Pages Documents section you’ll see a list of all the documents that Pages for the iPad has saved.
4. Click the Add button.
5. Navigate to the document you want to transfer, select it and click the Choose button. Keep in mind that with Pages for iPad, you can edit documents only with the following file formats: Pages 2009 for Mac, MS Word, Office Open XML and Office 97 (or later).
6. Your document will now be listed in the Pages Documents column.

(To export documents from your iPad to your Mac or PC, select the file from the Pages Documents column and click the Save To button. Browse to your destination folder and click Choose.)

Other useful iPad tips:

• Cut, paste, and more: To copy text on the iPad, simply double-tap a word. To copy an entire paragraph, tap a word four times.
• Hard reset: If the iPad freezes, press and hold the power and home buttons for a few seconds. To force quit a frozen app, press and hold the home button for a few.
• Mute: Hold the volume button down for two seconds will give you a quick-mute.
• Screenshots: Press and hold the power and home buttons for about half a second (the screen will flicker). The 768×1024 screenshot will be stored in your library.