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| Free PDF driver
- create PDF files rather than print to paper
http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp |
| CutePdf
Professional is only $50 and enables you to get advanced control
over PDF document output. Easily add comments, security, stamps,
headers and footers, create interactive form fields, create
booklets or n-Up pages, combine files, rearrange pages, and much
more. |
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| EditPad
Lite - opens in less than a second.
Great for making notes for both you and your client. I'll open
this when talking to a client so I can take notes on the issues,
or to take meeting notes, or jot down idea and for most
everything!
Advantage over Notepad: You can have multiple notes open at the
same time and includes shortcuts to the last 15 documents you
created. I set this or notepad up in every clients
quicklaunch so as I'm speaking to them, I'm taking "to do" notes
for them. |
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http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html |
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Copernic
Desktop Search - Set the preferences
to search both your local drive and any drive on your network!
Client calls and say he wants to sell a business? Instantly find
e-mails, documents filed on your hard drive or e-mails sent to
previous clients on the topic. Client says he sent you an
email? Retrieve it and any other e-mails or documents from the
client
http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/index.html
I've not seen recent editions of Google
desktop search nor have I compared this with Microsoft Vista
search but I've heard that Copernic
seems to just do things quicker.
Read this review for more
details:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13880_3-9882699-68.html |
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| Quick Launch-
FAST ONE Click ACCESS to your
most popular applications without closing windows
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Have the most frequently used software available for instant access
by adding QuickLaunch to your task bar.
1. Right click on your task bar > Select Properties > place a box in
"show Quicklaunch" and UNCHECK "lock the taskbar"
2. Remove from the Quicklaunch those
icons you never use by right clicking on the icon and then selecting
delete. Don't worry, you are not removing these software packages,
they will still be accessible in from your start menu.
3.Add those software packages you use
frequently.
- First place the icon on your desktop. From
your start menu, select the software, right click and select
send to ... choose desktop
- From the desktop drag the icon to the
quicklaunch pad by clicking and dragging the icon, when you see
the bar, let go
4. Software that is handy in QuickLaunch: Microsoft Excel,
Word, NotePad, Windows Explorer, QuickBooks, etc. Email Customize the width of the Quicklauch pad by dragging the right
margin to the left margin, your additional icons will be displayed by hovering over the >>  |
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| Links
- Add a one click icon to your most
frequented websites within Internet explorer. My clients
love this. When I am providing training in bank recs or
payroll tax return preparation, I will set up links to their
bank's website, Eftps, NJonline filing (or Prompt tax for NY)
and sales tax. I set up links for my most frequented sites
and also to help me remember what I should be looking at (as I
see them everytime I open Explorer)
Step 1 :Open internet explorer > tools >
toolbars > uncheck lock the toolbars & check Links
Step 2: Next drag the bar to the left of Links and drag it
further to the left (or up or down) to your desired width and
location
Step 3: delete the unwanted links by right
clicking on a link and selecting delete
Step 4: Visit the website you want to add to your links, click
and hold on the icon in the address bar and drag it to Links bar
and release your
grip on the mouse. Right click and choose rename to
shorten the name of your link.
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| Keyword Search
in QuickBooks - Find any data in any
data field by doing a search. Even if do know know what field you
used to type that data, This search tool will find it. This handy dandy tool
will search them all including customizable fields and memos and
the body of your invoice without having to install and load Googlesearch (which can slow down your system) |
Download from
http://intuitlabs.com/
click on Apps and scroll to the bottom of the page for
keyword search
The following was a search on part of an address which
returned 5 customers and 1 sales receipt
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| FREE Screen
Capture |
| Want to impress
your clients? Send a screenshot of what you are talking
about in your email. One Hotkey (default is F6) will allow
you to
select the region (or full screen) you want to capture. Open
Word or other software that accepts pictures and Right Click and
Paste |
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http://www.download.com/ScreenHunter/3000-2192_4-10063246.html?tag=lst-6-1&cdlPid=10732691 |
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| GMail As
a Spam filter |
Google’s Gmail
is a free email service that also includes a well respected spam
filter. It is possible for anyone’s email address to take
advantage of this spam filtering as well.
The benefits -
downloading spam is not just annoying in your inbox but also
takes up valuable computer resources making you sit and wait as it downloads.
The detriments - Its filter is so good
you need to go to GMail and search the spam box for keywords
such as you first name, and topics ( I search for Linda and
Quickbooks)
http://gmail.google.com
a. Sign up your own free Gmail email account
at “http://gmail.google.com”. To get started, click on the
hyperlink at “Sign up for Gmail” at the bottom right hand side
of the “http://gmail.google.com” web page. Create a new email
account name that is meaningful to you: if you existing email
account is “john@yourfirm.com”, you might create a complimentary
Gmail email account of “john.yourfirm@gmail.com”.
b. While at Gmail, you will need to go to the “settings” page
(click on it at the upper right top of your Gmail page). When
there, click on the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab. On this page,
look for the “POP Download:” section and click on the “Enable
POP for all mail (even mail that's already been downloaded)”
selection. Then click on the “Save Changes” button at the bottom
of the page.
c. At the email server you use to send and receive your “john@yourfirm.com”
email, have all your received email forwarded (redirected) to
your new Google email account to “john.yourfirm@gmail.com”. How
you do this will be dependent on your email server and you may
need to get technical support from the email server’s staff. The
way you send your email from “john@yourfirm.com” will not
change.
d. Your forwarded “john@yourfirm.com” email to your Gmail will
be automatically scan and filtered for spam. Gmail provides a
subdirectory to view what email was caught as spam, and, it can
be trained to recognize which spam is really legitimate email by
clicking on the legitimate email and marking it as not spam –
Gmail will remember the sender’s email as not a spam source, and
will “un-spam” the current email as well.
e. How you do the setup for receiving your redirected email from
your Gmail email into your current email client (i. e., Outlook,
Outlook Express, AOL, etc) depends on the email client itself,
however, it will need the following information. This
information will be replacing your existing your “john@yourfirm.com”
email receiving information:
i. Incoming mail server (POP3): pop.gmail.com
ii. Logon Information:
1. User Name: john.yourfirm@gmail.com
2. Password: [your Gmail email account password]
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 Timer
- In my Quicklaunch I have a timer so
when I get on the phone with the client I start the stopwatch
and when I get off I stop it (at least that is what is supposed
to happen). I find that I use the timer on my telephone in most
cases but this is very helpful when I've been doing a bit of
"chatting" that I dont want to bill for. I'll start the clock
as soon as we start discussing business.
http://www.springcreeksoftware.com/ |
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Transfer large
files
http://www.sendthisfile.com/
Free accounts: When you transfer a large file using SendThisFile®, the
file is stored on their server for a 3 day pick up period. They send
the recipient an email with a link to the file. The recipient clicks on
the link to download the file. This avoids problems with email attachment
size limits, proxy servers and FTP servers.
Paid Accounts have a longer Pick up period, ability to load more
than one file and more
http://www.yousendit.com/
Choose who you want to send a file to. It can be anyone with an email
address. You can specify multiple email addresses separated by commas.
Select a file to send. You can send photos, audio, documents or anything
else. Your file will be stored by YouSendIt without ever filling up your
recipient's mailbox.
Click on the Send button. YouSendIt will automatically email your
recipient a link to your file stored on our server. Your file will be
deleted after 7 days or 25 downloads, whichever occurs first. |
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Convert a MS Word or Excel 2008 to 2003 edition
If someone has sent you a file and forgot to ask
which version of Microsoft Office you are using, here is a
convenient link
www.zamzar.com. Converts Picture files too
(from gif to bmp or visa versa and more) |
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 Windows
Explorer - The "Table of
Contents" of my computer, I place an icon on my desktop
and Quicklaunch and its the first thing I add to a clients
computer when I begin to work with them. Plus I tweak it
by defaulting the view to display details (as opposed to icons).
Here is the entire procedure:
1. Start Menu > Program Files > Accessories >
Right Click on Windows Explorer and choose "sen d to desktop"
From the Desktop > open Windows explorer (double click on icon)
> View Menu > Click on "details".
:2. Tools Menu >Folder Options > View Tab >Click on "Apply to
All Folders" button
Alternatively, Right Click on the Start menu and
choose Explore to bring up the same window |
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PowerDesk
PowerDesk is a freeware software product that provides all the
functionality of Windows Explorer with extensions that save
time. For instance, where Windows Explorer present a single
display of directory subtree and files, PowerDesk presents two,
so files can be dropped and dragged between the two displays.
Included as a feature is the Archive and Unzip feature. This
very easy to use tool will condense a file size or unzip a
zipped file/folder with one click access . The commercial
version, PowerDesk Pro further extends this functionality by
providing image file viewing and FTP capabilities.
Drag a file will Move the file
Control + Drag will Copy the file
Freeware version:
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2128843/powerdesk
Commercial version:
http://www.avanquest.com/USA/pc-tools/utilities/desktop-tools/PowerDesk_Pro_7.html
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Folder Guide
Folder Guide is freeware that provides fast access to your
frequently used and favorite folders.
With Folder Guide, you no longer need dozens of mouse clicks to
navigate to your desired folder! Quick access to folders in the
Open/Save As/Browse dialogs in most software programs. This
program has the potential to take hours off your work time.
http://www.freeware365.com/desktop/folderguide.htm |
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PhraseExpress
PhraseExpress automatically expands abbreviations into text of
your choosing. For instance, the expression “BTW” would be
expanded to “by the way”. This is particularly useful where
boiler plate text is used in reports and other documentation and
the need is to quickly insert it without figuring out where the
boiler plate text is stored. It is also similar to the way that
Outlook offers you email addresses to recipients based on the
first few letters of their name or email address.
http://www.phraseexpress.com/
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Not Free, but
something to think about:
Virtual Machine, or, Virtual PC.
Wikipedia's
definition of a virtual machine:
"In computer science, a virtual machine (VM) is a software
implementation of a machine (computer) that executes programs
like a real machine. A virtual machine provides a complete
system platform which supports the execution of a complete
operating system (OS) and any programs running within it. An
essential characteristic of a virtual machine is that the
software running inside is limited to the resources and
abstractions provided by the virtual machine -- it cannot break
out of its virtual world"
We simply refer to it as a computer within
a computer. The advantages include:
1. Have several remote employees share 1 computer
2. Install all your software just once, then backup, now you
have a completely virgin machine that has not been corrupted by
processes, viruses, or badly written scripts. Keep a copy of
this computer handy so when you buy a new computer or find that
you need to "start over" there is no need to reinstall all
your software. Starting over becomes a few hours rather than a
few days.
Examples of virtual machines include
VMWare’s VMware Workstation 6.0
http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/
Microsoft’s Virtual PC
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx
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Shorten the links you send through e-mail
When links extend beyond one
e-mail line, they rarely open unless the receiver copies &
pastes
the remaining link into the URL. Here are 2 Free tools
that takes seconds to create a more manageable link.
TINYURL.com URLs
can be very long. In fact a very long URL pasted into an email
may not open if it appear on more than one line. So when I
want to send that neat article or link to my customers, I'll
copy the link into my clipboard with a Right Click Copy and then
I'll visit
http://www.tinyurl.com and paste it into that tool, I add a
special name to the link and it is now the new link in my
clipboard.
Bit.ly
Provides the same results, a small, manageable URL .
http://www.bit.ly/
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PDF-Crack Tool
- cant highlight and copy a paragraph
from a pdf? Use this nifty tool!
http://www.ensode.net/pdf-crack.jsf
- Some PDF documents prevent the user from copying and
pasting or printing it's contents. This sometimes presents a
problem since the author of the PDF might have used a font that
is not available in the system trying to read it. This page
contains a free online utility that allows you to upload a PDF,
once uploaded, a version of the PDF without printing or
copying/pasting restrictions is displayed in a new browser
window.
To unlock a PDF file, enter it's location in the "PDF file to
unlock" field, by either typing it in the field or clicking on
the "browse" button, then navigating to it's location.
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Free Remote
Access
Need to leave work but would like to
continue after dinner?
www.logmein.com has a
free version which will allow you to log into your computer from
anywhere on any computer in the world by logging into your free
account and entering a password. Test it out while you are
at work. Download and install on the computer you would like
remote access to. Then go to your neighbor's computer in your
office an log into your PC from their PC. The free version
does not permit printing at your remote location, but you can
upgrade for an inexpensive price of approx $60/year. And
the support is terrific. Last time I checked it was still here
in the USA. We use it here for our customerservice rep to
work from the state of Washington on a Virtual PC here in our
office. |
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Free
Online Conferencing
www.dimdim.com plus Free telephone
conferencing with
www.freeconferencecall.com
OR
Not Free- but terrific tool for online
meetings which includes telephone or Voip conferencing is
www.gotomeeting.com |
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Want the menu's back in Excel 2007?
Finally freeware that will help you
navigate (actually ignore is a better word) the redesign of
Microsoft Office 2007. With this software, all office
software will now have a MENU tab mimicking the menus of Office
2003.
http://www.ubit.ch/software/ubitmenu-languages
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Email out of control?
No, we
have not found that magic bullet, but for e-mail you have no
time to deal - forward to
24@hitmelater.com and they will resend it in 24 hours.
Change the 24 to 4 and you'll get it back in 4 hours. You
can snooze up to 5 emails a day for up to 24 hours for Free.
For $12/yr you can snooze unlimited emails up to a month
and $30/year snooze up to 1 year unlimited emails.
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Shortcut Keys that you should commit to
memory!
Explorer:
F11 switches Explorer to Full Screen
Mode and F11 switches back to original size window
Explorer 7.0
Win + Home: Minimize all windows except the one that's
currently active.
Hit it again to restore the windows.
Win + Up Arrow: Maximizes the active window.
Win + (+/-): Enables the magnifier and zooms in/out.
Win + Left/Right Arrow: Moves the window that is active the left
or ride side of the monitor
Win + Space: See through Open Explorer windows to the desktop.
Win + P: Opens Windows' settings so you can adjust display
settings for another monitor or a projector
Desktop/Windows
Win + D: Minimizes all open windows
Windows Explorer
Windows + E - Opens Windows Explorer
 . This
is much quicker than right-clicking the Start button, then
selecting Explore.
Most Software includes these shortcuts
Ctrl-Right/Left Arrow: Places the cursor
immediately to the left/right of the next word
Ctrl-Shift-Right/Left Arrow: Selects the word immediately to the
right or left of the cursor.
Shift-Home: Selects all text from the cursor's current position
to the beginning of the line.
Shift-End: Selects all text from the cursor's current position
to the end of the line.
Ctrl-C: Copies selected text to the clipboard.
Ctrl-X: Cuts (deletes) selected text and copies it to the
clipboard where you can Ctrl-V.
Ctrl-V: Pastes whatever text has been copied to the clipboard.
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