Supporting Technology

This section of the website is dedicated to improving the knowledge and skills of individuals. Computers are generally easy to use but difficult to master and there are often many ways to do the same task. Below are a few hints as to how to use your computer simply and quickly.

Help! Word has locked up - how can I recover my work?

When you are working on a Word document, or in fact any Office document, it is very frustrating when the application suddenly decides to stop working. Click here for help with recovering your work...

What can I do if a program has crashed on my PC and is holding everything else up?

If this happens, the first thing to try is press Control, Alt  and Delete keys and then click on Task Manager if it doesn't appear automatically. Click on the Application tab, select the program that has failed, then click on End Task.

However, sometimes this doesn't work if Windows has become unstable. In this case, use the direct keyboard shortcut instead. Hold down the Control, Shift  and Escape keys and the Task Manager will appear.

How can I send a large file?

Occasionally it is necessary to send a large file to someone but if it is more than 10MB in size you might have problems. You may have tried to email it as an attachment, but if it is more than 10MB it is often rejected by the recipients email system. Or your email system may reject it before it is even sent. Click here for more about sending large files...

Capturing Screen Images and Videos

It is often useful to be able to capture a portion of your screen for inclusion in a training manual, or even create a video to demonstrate a task. Jing is a great free tool for doing this. Click here for more about Jing...

Reduce the size of Word or Powerpoint files

If you have a number of pictures and logos in your documents, the document size can get very big. It is useful to reduce the size of the document, especially if sending it my email. Click here to find out more...

Simple use of Word templates

If you find yourself typing in your contact details in every letter, or spending ages positioning your logo, why not create a Word template. This can then be distributed to colleagues to ensure that all documents look professional, and include the latest version of the logo, for example.  Click here to find out more...

Problems opening Office 2007 files?

If you are using Office 2003, it can be a problem if someone sends you a document created using Office 2007 as you will not be able to open it. Click here for the solution...

Creating email signatures in Outlook

Having a smart signature block at the bottom of your emails looks good and also saves the time needed to type in contact details in every message. Several signature blocks can be created and easily swapped between. Click here to find out more ...

Converting PDF files to Word

Documents like forms are often only available in PDF format, which means that you can't edit them. However there are free online convertors available to allow you to convert the document to Word format. Click here to find out more ...

Difficulty reading something on the screen?

Hold down your Ctrl key and move the scroll wheel on your mouse. This will zoom in and out, get closer or further away from the content on your screen. This means you can set the text and picture size to suit your circumstances quickly and easily!

Too many windows open?

Hold down your Alt key and press Tab. This will allow you to scroll through the pages that you have open on your desktop and change pages quickly without using the mouse.

Difficulty closing popup windows?

To close a screen quickly and easily and without having to locate the x, hold ALT and press F4. This is particularly useful for web browsing especially if ‘pop ups’ appear which intentionally do not make exiting easy.

Caps Lock left on?

HAVE YOU EVER LEFT THE CAPS LOCK ON BY MISTAKE? EVERYTHING YOU HAVE JUST SPENT AGES TYPING IS NOW NOT USEABLE AS NO ONE WANTS TO READ IT.

WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS? START OVER AGAIN OR JUST DELETE AND DON’T BOTHER?

Don’t despair. Simply highlight the block of text with the mouse and then hold down SHIFT and press F3. Each time you press these keys the text will toggle between upper case, lower case and sentence case. Another problem solved!

Inserting a tick in a Word document

Ever wondered how to add a tick symbol to a Word document? Click here to find out...