Shortcuts Cut Down On Point-and-Click
Q. Why are some letters in Windows dialogue boxes underlined? I assume this is significant.
A. Those underlined letters you see on certain dialogue box buttons are hints to the shortcuts you can perform on the keyboard instead of using a mouse to select the option you want. In most cases, you can press the Alt key plus the underlined letter to perform that dialogue box action. For example, if you see the B in Browse underlined in a dialogue box button, you can press Alt and B to open the Browse window to look at files on your hard drive.
If you would like to spend less time moving the mouse, there are even more keys or key combinations you can use instead. Any button that is highlighted, for instance, can be selected by pressing the Enter key.
There are many more keyboard shortcuts in Windows, and you can look them up in the various Keyboard Shortcuts files in your computer's Help area, which you can find under the Start menu -- or by pressing the F1 key.
Mac users can also press the Enter key in lieu of clicking on a highlighted dialogue box button (signified by a heavy black outline around the button). The Mac Help files located under the main menu bar can explain other shortcuts.
Q. I send e-mail to my cousin in Argentina and we communicate in Spanish using Microsoft Outlook. Is there a way I can use a Spanish alphabet when I e-mail my cousin and an English alphabet the rest of the time?
A. There are a number of ways you can get Spanish-language characters like tildes and other punctuation marks into your messages. You can use the Character Map tool in Windows 98 and later versions, located in the Start menu under Programs, Accessories, then System Tools. Character Map can display and copy different accented letters that you can paste into your message. (Mac users can use the Key Caps program found under the Apple Menu to do the same thing.)
The Windows Character Map box will also display the ASCII code number for the desired letter or character down in the corner of the box. You will have to turn on the Num Lock key on your keyboard, then hold down the Alt key and type the number on the numeric keypad to get the character you want. You can find a link to a chart displaying the common codes for many foreign-language characters on Windows and Mac systems on the City College of San Francisco's Language Lab page at www.ccsf.cc.ca.us/Departments /Language_Lab.
Another option is to add a Spanish language keyboard layout to your system. Windows users can click on Start, go to the Control Panel and then open the Keyboard panel and click on the Language tab. Click on the Add button and select the language you want to use. (You may need to have your original Windows system disks to add the language file.) After you have added the Spanish keyboard file to your system, you can switch back and forth with the English keyboard layout in this same area of the Keyboard control panel. Mac users can select a Spanish keyboard in the Mac's Keyboard control panel.
Q. What is the 'click of death' on a Zip drive?
A. The 'click of death' was a sardonic name given several years ago to a major symptom that often preceded drive failure on the Zip and Jaz drives made by the Iomega Corporation. The name refers to the loud clicking sounds that the drive would make when it tried to read a Zip or Jaz disk that had been inserted. Not long after the clicking sound began, the drive itself would usually stop working completely, and often the disk inside it too.
Iomega addresses drive noises in its products at www.iomega.com /support/documents/30109.html. A freeware program for testing Zip and Jaz drives and cartridges can be found at grc.com/clickdeath.htm.
J. D. BIERSDORFER
Q&A