TipTalk: from Microsoft At Home & At Work

Tips to help you work less and relax more in 2009

Certainly, today's always-on-and-available-anywhere technology can lead to addictive work habits. We've all seen examples of that among friends and family.

But having a cheap, convenient, 24/7 global reach through technology can also efficiently enable you to live the life you've always wanted. The choice is yours.

Here are some affordable tools and ideas that harness technology's power to save you time and money.

1. Use Voice-over-Internet protocol phone service (VoIP) to create a virtual office.  
   To maintain a professional phone line and still travel, take time off or live abroad, VoIP telephone services are a terrific help. You've probably heard about such affordable services, which, basically, use the Internet to send and receive calls. Usually, you pay only for Internet access and not for calls, much the way e-mail works.
   
   There are dozens of VoIP providers to choose among. Try a Web search if you don't know one.
    
2. Use online services for office communications and banking.  
   If you host your company computers on external servers, you can access all e-mail, files, and financial information or transactions from any Internet café. (Of course, you do want to have privacy safeguards in place when working this way.)
    
3. Leverage the power of a professional Web site.  
   Setting up a Web site, more than any other technological helpmate, will shave considerable time and effort from your workdays.
   
   With a professional site, you can more efficiently conduct business, fulfill orders, organize contacts, share documents with employees or contractors, and market your wares or services, even when you're out of the office or on the road.
   
   For more about launching a site, see the Microsoft Office Live Small Business offerings. Once your site is up, you can bolster its effectiveness by keeping customers, stakeholders, or media up-to-date with an online media kit.
    
4. Use your site features to stay in touch with customers.  
   With so many marketing channels and consumer options these days, increasingly, it's the business that quickly responds to customer needs that gains a competitive advantage. You can use your Web site to "listen" and react to what your customers request.
   
   For example:
• Set up an online forum so customers can register and post comments to you and to each other.
  
• Set up a survey that customers can take online. This can be a focus group type of survey (say, about a new product) or a customer satisfaction survey. 
  
• Set up a special e-mail address and ask customers for specific feedback or advice whenever you launch a new product, service, or special promotion.  

To get more tips, read the full article by by Joanna L. Krotz.

Getting a new PC? Protect and purge files now

When you stop and think about it, your home computer holds a lot of information about you—credit card numbers, bank account details, passwords, medical information, Web sites you've visited, and those deep, dark secrets you share with your best friend via e-mail. 

There naturally comes a time when you're ready for an upgrade, whether it be a bigger hard drive or an entirely new PC. But what should you do with the old one? And what about the information on it? You need to remove this information whether you donate it, sell it, or trash it. The following tips will get you started:

Tip #1: Why "delete" isn't enough

Many people think that clearing their history, deleting files and cookies, and emptying their computer's recycle bin is enough. Not so, according to IT specialist Tony Lum. He says that's like removing the table of contents in a book. The chapters (or your files, in this case) are still there, they're just harder to find.

What you've actually done is remove a particular file from the disk's index. The file itself still exists on your hard disk. For the average person it's harder to recover, but an experienced programmer (or hacker) could easily locate the file. Previous or temporary versions of the file might also be saved under different names.

You need to go one step further and overwrite your data. Lum recommends you back up everything you want to keep on your hard drive and then run hard-drive wiping software, which will overwrite your information with random ones and zeros. He also recommends you use a program that overwrites your data more than once. The more it's overwritten, the harder it is to recover.

Tip #2: Select software to wipe your hard drive clean

Is it impossible to retrieve your information afterward? Not 100 percent, but Lum says that unless the CIA is after you, you should be in the clear after using one of these disk-erasing tools that are available for download online:

• Active KillDisk: This free hard-drive eraser overwrites data using zeros. You can upgrade to the professional version that conforms to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) standards.
• Softpedia/DP Wiper: IT consultant Daniel Gresser recommends freeware programs from Softpedia, like DP Wipter, which overwrites in from one to 35 passes and has DOD-compliant wiping.
• WipeDrive: WipeDrive overwrites your data as many times as you like and runs a verification test.

"Always keep a record of where all important files are stored," says Gresser, who recommends deleting each file by dropping it into DP Wiper and selecting the type of wipe required.

Unless you take the hard drive out and keep it, to get a PC ready for sale, Gresser suggests that PC users delete the following using DP Wiper or a similar program:

• Everything in My Documents folder.
• All temporary Internet files.
• All cookies.
• All files relating to personal and financial matters that may have been stored in folders other than My Documents.
• All e-mail: Outlook Express users need to search for and delete .dbx files and Outlook users need to search for and delete .pst files. This will send them to the recycle bin for secure deletion. Also, remember to remove all e-mail account settings and passwords.

Tip #3: Reinstall your operating system to overwrite files

Your operating system's installation CD should allow you to simultaneously reinstall and clear your hard drive. Lum says this should be enough to prevent the average person from obtaining personal information from your hard drive. However, he says he's managed to salvage data from computers using third-party software even after an operating system was reinstalled.

Read the full article by Alyson Munroe for more tips.

Secure your laptop while travelling this holiday season

Using your laptop to get work done away from your office or on the road is becoming widely accepted. But this rapid growth in laptop computing has made portable systems the target for theft around the world. If your laptop computer is stolen, company information can be exposed, as well as your personal and financial information. Use these tips to learn how you can keep your laptop more secure when you're on the road.

1. Avoid using computer bags. Computer bags can make it obvious that you're carrying a laptop. Instead, try toting your laptop in something more common like a padded briefcase or suitcase.


2. Never leave access numbers or passwords in your carrying case. Keeping your password with your laptop is like keeping the keys in the car. Without your password or important access numbers it will be more difficult for a thief to access your personal and corporate information.


3. Carry your laptop with you. Always take your laptop on the plane or train rather thaen checking it with your luggage. It's easy to lose luggage and it's just as easy to lose your laptop. If you're traveling by car, keep your laptop out of sight. For example, lock it in the trunk when you're not using it.


4. Encrypt your data. If someone should get your laptop and gain access to your files, encryption can give you another layer of protection. With Windows XP and Windows Vista you can choose to encrypt files and folders. Then, even if someone gains access to an important file, they can't decrypt it and see your information. Learn more about how to encrypt your data with Windows XP or encrypt your data with Windows Vista.


5. Keep your eye on your laptop. When you go through airport security don't lose sight of your bag. Hold your bag until the person in front of you has gone through the metal detector. Many bags look alike and yours can easily be lost in the shuffle.

For more tips, read the full article at www.microsoft.com/atwork/stayconnected/laptopsecurity.mspx.

Manage your family’s hectic holiday schedule with Windows Calendar

With Windows Vista, I can now plan and manage my own activities, as well as coordinate the rest of my family's activities, in a single calendar. Windows Calendar is built right into Windows Vista and offers automated integration features that make it the easiest calendar I've seen for groups of people to use. Windows Calendar lets you set up multiple calendars, and then gives you the option of viewing one calendar at a time or comparing multiple calendars. Calendar setup is fast and easy; you just select different colors for each person. When compared side by side, this color feature makes it easy to see who's doing what at any given time—a literal lifesaver for anyone who needs to manage a variety of schedules.

Set up and compare family calendars
I have set up a calendar for each person in my family, and the integration aspect of Windows Calendar lets me compare our day's activities side by side, which has been an immense help to me. Now, for example, when I need to know whether my husband can take our daughter to an activity, I just glance at the calendar to check his schedule. Setting up your calendar is very logical and simple.

Here's how to create calendars for each person in your family in Windows Calendar:

1. Click the Start button in Windows Vista. Type "Calendar" in the Start Search box.


2. Click Windows Calendar from the results under Programs.


3. A calendar will open with the name of the person assigned to the computer. If the calendar that opened doesn't have your name attached to it, that's okay. Just follow the remaining steps to create a new one for you or anyone else in your family who needs one.


4. In Windows Calendar, click File, and then New Calendar.


5. When the new calendar appears, type a name for it in the Calendars task pane on the left. Click Enter.

Note: All calendar names will appear in the Calendars task pane. Placing a check mark next to one allows you to see it along with other calendars. Remove a check mark and you won't see the calendar.

6. In the Details pane on the right, select the color that you want to use. This color will help you identify various calendars quickly. If you can't see the Details pane, click the View menu and then click Details Pane.
   

That's it! Now you're ready to create appointments and tasks. Click New Appointment or New Task in the toolbar and fill in the required information. When the details for tasks and appointments are filled in, the calendar will populate with the information in the appropriate color for the person involved.

There are lots of cool things you can do with Windows Calendar. Read the full article by S.E. Slack to find out how you can:

• Import information from calendar Web sites that use the iCalendar format
• Publish your own calendar to the Web
• Send e-mail appointments and invitations to friends and family directly from your calendar
  

Mobile blogging made easy

Who says you have to be stuck at the computer in order to post to your blog? If you have a mobile phone or PDA with e-mail capability, you can post blog entries to your MSN Space while you're on the road following two simple steps.

1. Create your MSN Space
If you don't yet have your own MSN Space, you can create one by going to http://spaces.msn.com and clicking Create your space. Or if you prefer, you can sign up for your space using your mobile phone. Just use your Web access setting on your phone to go to http://spaces.msn.com, and MSN Spaces will display a text menu that will walk you through the process of creating your space.
Note If for some reason the page doesn't load correctly on your model of cell phone (all cell phones are not created equal!), navigate to http://mobile.spaces.msn.com/ to access the Get your own space option.

2. Set up mobile posting
Posting to your MSN Space is really as easy as sending a message—including text and photos—from your phone to your MSN Space. Once you've set up your space to receive posts by e-mail, the rest is simple. Here are the steps for setting up your MSN Space to receive mobile posts:

1. Sign in to your MSN Space


2. Click the Settings tab.


3. Click the E-mail Publishing tab.


4. Click the Turn on e-mail publishing checkbox.


5. Enter the e-mail address from which you'll be sending your blog posts. You can type up to three different addresses.


6. Enter a secret word that is at least five but not more than 10 characters long (for example, secretwd). This word will be used to create an e-mail address that only you will know.


7. Let MSN Spaces know whether you want to save the received messages as drafts or post them directly to your site.


8. Finally, copy the e-mail address that MSN Spaces gives you and add it to the address book that you use on your mobile phone. Your e-mail address will look something like this:
   1234567890.secretwd@spaces.msn.com (this is used as an example only).


9. Click Save to save your changes. Now you can capture your thoughts and photos and e-mail them directly to your MSN Space—whenever inspiration strikes.

Read the full article from Katherine Murray and Mike Torres.

Personalize your PC: It’s all about you

There's only one thing better than getting a brand-new PC—getting a brand-new PC set up exactly the way you want it. Take the time up front to do some simple customization and you'll get a PC that truly reflects who you are—and that organizes all your information so you can spend more time on the things that matter.

5 tips for customizing your desktop

Tip #1: Change your desktop background
Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Personalize. Then choose Desktop Background. If the picture you want to use isn't displayed, simply navigate to the correct folder. Alternatively, you can select any picture on your PC or the Internet, right-click, and select Set as Background.

Tip #2: Customize your theme
To choose the theme that you want to use, right-click on the desktop, select Personalize, and then choose Windows Vista or Windows Classic. Want something completely new? No problem. You can download many different themes from the Internet—simply search for Windows Vista themes (and make sure that you're downloading from a site you trust). Then, when you're choosing a theme, select Browse, and navigate to the folder where you've saved the theme.

Tip #3: Check out Sidebar
If you've recently gotten a new PC running Windows Vista, you'll probably notice the icons running down the right side of your desktop. Each of the icons you see is a Gadget, or a mini program that pulls information straight to your desktop. Delete any Gadgets you don't want by clicking the X on the left side of the Gadget. Add more by right-clicking the plus sign at the top. You can choose from Gadgets already included in Windows Vista, or view hundreds of Gadgets available for download by clicking Get more gadgets online.

Tip #4:  Personalize desktop icons
Sometimes it's fun to shake up how desktop icons look, too. Right-click on the desktop, select Personalize, and then click Change Desktop Icons under Tasks on the left-hand side. Then choose the icon you would like to change and click Change Icon. From there, you can view your options. And just like themes, you can download many different icons from the Internet. You can also change the size of your icons by Right-clicking on the desktop and selecting View. Decide whether you want to display icons on the desktop, and then choose between large, medium, and classic (small) icons.

Tip #5: Take advantage of Quick Launch
If there are programs you use regularly, think about putting them on your Quick Launch bar, located right next to the Start icon. To add applications, you can either drag the icon onto your Quick Launch bar, or you can right-click on the icon and select Add to Quick Launch.

Next step: Take the deep dive on personalizing your PC
If you thought customizing your desktop was the only way to stake a claim on your PC, think again. From screensavers and skins to calendars, interacting with your computer has never been easier. Get more tips by reading the full version of this article at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/personalizevista.mspx.

Reduce stress and stay organized while running errands

A day of running errands can be stressful for anyone. A simple journey around town can involve a great deal of coordination, from planning what you need and where to go to finding a simple route around town that hits all the necessary destinations. Technology can help you get organized and reduce some of this stress.

Tip #1: Plan ahead using the Web
Before you set out, use the Web to check the local weather and possible traffic around town. You might also want to check the hours of operation for the stores you plan to visit; many times stores will post this information on their Web sites. You can use MSN for most planning needs.

Tip #2: Know your budget
Errands usually involve spending money, so double check to ensure that you have sufficient funds for your transactions. Determine your balance before you head out so you know how much you can spend. Personal finance software, like Microsoft Money, can help save you time.

Tip #3: Use a PDA to help you stay on track
A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or Smartphone can be very helpful while on the road. You don't want to forget anything while you're out and about, so use your PDA to keep track of your different lists for shopping. Be sure to install Windows Mobile software and you will also be able to access Internet Explorer.

Tip #4: Travel efficiently—map your shopping route
There are several devices available for in-car navigation. If you're looking for something affordable and easy to use, software might be the way to go. Microsoft Streets & Trips with GPS Locator can turn your laptop into a powerful navigation system.

Tip #5: Keep the kids entertained
Spending a lot of time in the car can be boring for children. To help alleviate their boredom, bring along some toys or travel games to keep them occupied and entertained. Consider bringing a laptop with Microsoft Encarta, which is both educational and entertaining, and doesn't require an Internet connection.

Read the full article from Meredith Williams.

Plan your financial future

Having your finances in order, understanding your credit report, and maintaining a good credit score are key ingredients to financial success. You can set yourself up to achieve that success by taking a few simple steps.

First, everyone has certain fixed income and expenses each month. However, it is important to set aside money to save for big purchases, like the down payment on a house, emergencies like unexpected medical bills, and of course retirement. Anything left after that becomes your disposable income. Planning your lifestyle so that you spend no more than that amount every month is one of the keys to financial success.

"It's hard to live within your means if you don't know what your means are," says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for Experian, a global information solutions company. Take some time to sit down with your computer and analyze your accounts and spending with a software program. With Microsoft Money, for example, you can automatically download all of your financial information from different accounts into one place. You can even view historical information for those accounts to help you better understand your past spending trends. Microsoft Money also lets you track your spending in categories that you want to watch closely, such as dining out, entertainment, or shopping. This will help you allocate your money in an easy and effective way.

Find more tips for achieving financial success  by viewing the rest of this article.
From Amber Marquez-Moore.

Claim victory over your e-mail

No doubt you've opened an e-mail and thought, "Hmmm, not sure what to do with this. I'll deal with it later!"—and promptly closed the message. If you do this over and over again, it doesn't take long to end up with several hundred (or thousand) messages in your Inbox.

Developing a new approach to processing your Inbox will help you to gain more control, improve your response time, and keep up with critical actions and due dates.

Tip #1: Set up a simple and effective e-mail reference system

The first step toward an organized Inbox is understanding the difference between reference information and action information.

Most people receive a considerable amount of reference information through e-mail. Sometimes as much as one-third of your e-mail is reference information. So it is essential to have a system that makes it easy to transfer messages from your Inbox into your e-mail reference system. An E-mail Reference System is a series of e-mail file folders where you store reference information to ensure you have easy access to it later. Learn more about setting up an E-mail Reference System. Once you take care of filing your reference information, you can use the next three steps to handle e-mail you have to do something with, your action information.

Find three more tips for claiming victory over your email at the full article on Microsoft At Work, here.

By Sally McGhee, Consultant and Productivity Expert

Save time with a tablet PC

Too many meetings and increasing responsibilities mean I need to make the best use of my time as possible—without sacrificing quality. Saving bits of time can add up to a lot at the end of the day. I use the Tablet PC as my only computer and throughout the day it helps me work more efficiently and quickly.

For example, do you edit business documents—memos, presentations, manuals, or other documents? If so, the ability to mark up documents in digital ink with your Tablet PC, and send those marked documents electronically, is incredibly useful. I can type edits onto a document, but there are several reasons that I find using digital ink more helpful.

• Ink markups on text document better convey the intentions of my points. I can draw arrows, circles, and use paint-style highlighting on the page to better communicate my edits. When I'm done, I can share the edited document electronically with anyone. Learn more about using ink in Microsoft Office Word.
• I often edit while I’m commuting or out of the office, perhaps at home in a comfortable chair. Typing can be difficult with a conventional laptop keyboard perched on my lap. The Tablet PC interface is easier to use, and more relaxing. It is just like marking up a paper document on a notepad in my lap, and just as comfortable.
• If I’m in a meeting it’s easier to edit related documents. With the Tablet PC, I don’t need to bring out a noisy keyboard-based laptop. I can make my edits in pen with the Tablet PC in my lap or on the table like a paper pad.

There are several programs you can use to mark up your documents. Word 2003 and 2007 come fully pen-enabled for marking up documents, as do Excel and PowerPoint.

Learn more great short-cuts to make with your tablet PC at the full article on At Work.

From: Michael Linenberger, author of "Seize the Work Day: Using the Tablet PC to Take Total Control of Your Work and Meeting Day"

Create custom cards on your computer

Above all, expect to make a few mistakes when starting a new printing process. I always buy extra materials to have on hand.

Most programs come with some sort of built-in card feature. Some popular programs include Microsoft Digital Image Suite and Microsoft Office Publisher, both of which include built-in templates for cards. All of the programs make it easy. To get started in Microsoft Digital Image Suite, for example, on the File menu click Create a Project and then choose Cards.

If you want to be more creative, you can create your own images and put them on standard card stock, which is made for printing. For example, these Avery note cards, which I like to use, are 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", which is half the size of a standard 8 1/2" x 11" page, and easily fit into a printer. I use my preferred method, which can be easily adapted to most programs. I call it "The Old-Fashioned Way," as it's really just onscreen page layout. Start by creating a standard 8 1/2" tall by 11" wide page in a landscape format using your imaging program.

Create and position your images and text on one half of the onscreen canvas. Refer to your program's displayed rulers for placement. Most programs and printers initiate printing on the left side of an onscreen landscaped page. In that case, drop your Avery note card into the printer width-wise and print. Voila! You're all set.

Of course, there's a lot of room for creativity with these kinds of cards. Find complete directions, with pictures, for making beautiful custom cards on your computer here.

From: Tami Peterson Lewiski, author of Digital Decorating

Live Writer

• Live Writer supports  many different types of blogs including SharePoint blogs. So this post came via Live Writer
• Just use the drop down Weblog menu to add a new blog and point it at your SharePoint blog, in my case MySite. The wizard will then download the templates and graphics needs for the site automatically

• You can add pictures, videos, Silverlight applications, maps etc. Just go visit the live.com site for more add-ins

-- Rob Atkinson
-- MSIT Ireland

Outlook Voice Access—No Computer Required

What would you say if I told you that you could check your Outlook e-mail without a computer or mobile device? Now try saying it without profanity.

Outlook Voice Access allows you to dial-in to your Exchange Server 2007 mailbox from any telephone and listen to your e-mail using text-to-speech technology. And Outlook Voice Access doesn't just read you your e-mail. It can also play back calendar items, contacts, and tasks.

Hear something that deserves a reply? Don't go running to your laptop. Use Outlook Voice Access to reply to or forward messages, as well as send a pre-configured "I'll be late" notice.

Need to call someone at the office but don't remember their extension? Use Outlook Voice Access to search the company directory for a person to call or initiate a phone call from one of your Outlook contacts.

You can navigate Outlook Voice Access with your telephone keypad or, better yet, by using the built-in speech recognition. Let your fingers do the walking some other time.

For more information on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange.

Office in Your Pocket

Microsoft Windows Mobile is the power behind handheld devices like the Pocket PC and Smartphone. With a Windows Mobile device in your hand and Exchange Server 2007 in your office, the information you need most is always at your fingertips.

Every Windows Mobile device comes complete with Outlook Mobile, ensuring you have access to your e-mail, Calendar, contacts, and tasks wherever you are. Outlook Mobile also supports Exchange Server 2007's Unified Messaging, a capability that, when configured by IT, delivers voice mail and faxes directly to your Outlook and Outlook Mobile inboxes.

Exchange Server 2007's ActiveSync technology ensures your device is connected to the server and ready to receive new Outlook items as they arrive. This "push" technology makes manual synchronization a thing of the past, ensuring your device always has the latest and greatest information. Over-the-Air Search functionality allows you to search your entire mailbox from your device, whether or not the items you're looking for have been downloaded to the local store.

But wait, there's more! Windows Mobile Pocket PC devices may also include Office Mobile, powerful pocket-sized versions of the applications you know and love. With Office Mobile, you can create, edit, and open Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on your device. Combine Office Mobile with Exchange Server 2007's LinkAccess, and you can even open linked documents stored on internal shares or Windows SharePoint Services sites right from your device. If OneNote Mobile is installed on your device, you can take notes on your device and synchronize them to Office OneNote 2007.

We hear what you're saying. "All this information in my pocket is great, but what if my pocket gets picked?" Not to worry. You can use Outlook Web Access 2007 (a feature of Exchange Server 2007) to remotely wipe your device. The Artful Dodger will have your device, but not your data. You can even use Outlook Web Access to reset your device password. So, go ahead. Put a Windows Mobile device in your pocket. Just make sure you pay for it first.

For more information on Microsoft Windows Mobile, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile.

Managing E-Mail and Records

Do you work in an industry where every piece of e-mail you send (or sometimes even think about sending) has to be archived for legal purposes? In today's regulation-heavy environment, if you're not careful, cleaning out your Mailbox can lead to cleaning out your desk. To make the process of archiving e-mail easier, you can use Managed E-Mail Folders in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

Once set up by the administrator, Managed E-Mail Folders are accessible in Outlook 2007 and Outlook Web Access 2007. You can drag messages required for archival to these folders where they will be governed by administrator-defined retention and expiration policies.

Likewise, an Office SharePoint Server 2007 Records Repository can help you archive and manage important documents of record. IT personnel, lawyers, and records managers can use the Records Repository site template to quickly create an online records vault and apply information management policies to govern record labeling, auditing, and expiration. Documents can be uploaded to the repository directly from your favorite Microsoft Office 2007 applications.

Managed E-Mail Folders and SharePoint Records Repositories are easy ways to stay compliant with external regulations and internal policies.

For more information on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange.