Technology Q&A

AVOID GETTING SHOCKED BY A THUNDERSTORM

We’re getting into the spring thunderstorm season, and here in the Midwest the lightning can be quite impressive—and destructive. I especially worry about my computer system’s vulnerability. My computer is plugged into a power strip. How can I be sure the power strip provides enough protection? Any thoughts on this?

Most power strips are definitely not enough protection; they just function as extension cords and usually provide little or no defense from lightning. What you need is a surge protector. A good surge protector should not only protect your gear from lightning strikes, it should offer insurance to cover the loss of properly attached equipment. However, be aware that even the best surge protectors may not protect your equipment from a direct hit to your building. Be sure your surge protector also has an R-11 telephone jack so you can safeguard your phone, too. And if you’re connected to cable for the Internet, look for a unit that accommodates the cable hookup, too. You can get an adequate device for less than $50.

You may want to consider protecting your whole office because a nearby lightning strike can blow out all your electrical and electronic equipment. You can buy a surge protector for a small building for between $150 and $300; however, it needs to be installed on your electric meter or service panel by a licensed electrician.

Another option—and one that I strongly endorse—is to buy a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that has built-in surge protection. In the event of a power outage, the UPS—which is basically a large battery—keeps the computer running just long enough for it to automatically save any open files and then shut down. Such a device costs less than $100 to serve one computer and considerably more for larger setups.

Caveat: The conventional wisdom used to be that plugging a surge protector between the wall outlet and a UPS would provide double protection against lightning. However, now some leading vendors of both types of products not only advise against doing this, they warn that it would nullify their products’ warranties.

Now the only thing you have to worry about during a thunderstorm is staying dry and not standing under a tree.

SEND PERSONALIZED E-MAILS USING WORD’S MAIL MERGE TOOL

I frequently send e-mails to clients reminding them of deadlines or special services. To protect the recipients’ identities I use the Bcc (blind copy) in the address box. While that approach is OK, the message still appears somewhat like a cheesy broadside advertisement because the e-mails aren’t personalized with a Dear George Smith, for example. However, to personalize each one would take too much time. There’s got to be a better way. Can you help?

There is a better way. As you know, Outlook can use Word for word processing, and that gives you access to Word’s Mail Merge tool, which fortunately adapts itself easily to producing personalized e-mails as well as letters, envelopes and labels. And the good news is that the tool works the same as a standard Mail Merge and equally well in both Office 2007 and 2003. In other words, it lets you generate personalized e-mails, addressing them from a choice of contact lists—such as Outlook or an Excel spreadsheet, among others.

To launch Outlook’s Mail Merge, start by typing your message in Word and then, if you’re using Office 2007, click on the Mailings tab in the ribbon; if you’re using Word 2003, click on Tools, Letters and Mailings. The Mail Merge wizard screens look different in the 2003 and 2007 versions, but they contain practically the same instructions (see screenshots below).

Then just follow the wizard as it takes you through all the setup steps. When the wizard asks you to select the recipients of the e-mail, you have several choices: You can select them from your Outlook contacts list, an Excel spreadsheet, or you could type them in.

The next step is to add the appropriate fields that personalize the greeting (see screenshot below).

Once you click on OK, the fields for the greeting lines and any other information you added can be reviewed. When you’re satisfied, click on Finish and Send E-mail Messages. Outlook automatically takes it from there, adding the names and addresses for each message and sending them along.

ELIMINATE OUTLOOK’S SECOND-GUESSING WHEN TYPING AN E-MAIL ADDRESS

I use Outlook for e-mail, and when I begin to type an address, the program automatically completes the address based on the previous e-mail message I sent. And, of course, that’s usually not the address I want. How can I stop that automatic action?

You’ll be happy to learn that the Microsoft engineers wisely provided a way to stop this feature.

Go to Tools, Options, Preferences, E-Mail Options, Advanced E-Mail Options, and then uncheck the box next to Suggest names while completing To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

MAKE VISTA’S INTERFACE LOOK LIKE XP’S—WITH NO LOSS OF FUNCTIONALITY

OK, I’m using Vista, but not because I like it. I upgraded because I just must to stay current with the new technology. But I sure would be delighted if I could go back to that classic XP and still maintain the Vista functionality.

Well, you can at least go back to the XP interface, and you can do that without losing any Vista functionality—just the Vista view.

Here’s how to do it: Go to the Start button and right-click, select Properties, Classic Start Menu and click on OK.

Right-click on any blank place on the desktop and select Personalize, Choose Theme and then, from the Theme pulldown menu, click on Windows Classic and on OK.

Now go back to the Start menu and open the Documents folder, click on the Organize button, select Folder and Search Options and then Use Windows classic folders. Finally click on OK and you’re back to the XP look.

A BETTER WAY TO DISPLAY SEVERAL FILES ON YOUR SCREEN

I often need to display parts of a Word document and several Excel workbooks on my screen at the same time. In Office 2003 I do that by clicking first on the Window menu in the toolbar, but is there a better way?

Yes, I can suggest a much better way—especially since you apparently need to repeatedly set up the multiview format. But first let’s take a moment to illustrate the method you use for those who are not familiar with it and only need to do it occasionally.

With that method, not only can you display parts of several files on the screen, you also can adjust their sizes and independently perform all your usual tasks.

In Office 2003, begin by opening your first document or spreadsheet and then click on Window. If you want to arrange multiple views just of that file, click on Split and a horizontal line will appear in the middle of the document. When you place your cursor in either portion, you can move around and edit it—independent of the other portion.

If you click on Arrange, this screen appears, letting you select how to line up the views.

If you open another file and click on Compare Side by Side with…(select from the choices at the bottom of the menu which file you want added to the screen).

As you can see from the screenshot below, you can open more files and click and drag them for the best arrangement on your screen. The number of files and their size and arrangement is limited only by the size of your monitor.

Office 2007 has two methods. One is by clicking on View in the Ribbon, and as you can see from the screenshot below, the conveniently arranged buttons in the menu make it easier to set up your views.

The other way is to open the files you want. Then right-click on the toolbar, producing this screen.

Whether you choose to Cascade Windows, Show Windows Stacked or Show Windows Side by Side, you can maneuver the screens any way you wish with your mouse and, by grabbing the edges of any image, shorten or widen them for a convenient fit—even allowing some overlap.

But I promised you an even more powerful and faster way to place multiple files on your screen. AcerGridvista is a freeware program (no cost for personal or commercial use) that can divide your screen into as many as four sections in any of the following arrangements:

Once you select any of the configuration arrangements above and open the files you want displayed, you can drag and drop them into a box of your choice; the software will automatically resize them to fit in the box. You also can set a window to always remain on top or to be semi-transparent (so you can see what’s under it). And it will remember your latest arrangement the next time you want to set up multiple screens.

Stanley Zarowin is a contributing editor to the JofA. His e-mail address is stanley.joatech@gmail.com.

Do you have technology questions for this column? Or, after reading an answer, do you have a better solution? Send them to me via e-mail at stanley.joatech@gmail.com or via regular mail at the Journal of Accountancy, 220 Leigh Farm Road, Durham, NC 27707-8110.

Because of the volume of mail, I regret I cannot individually answer submitted questions. However, if a reader’s question has broad interest, I will answer it in a forthcoming Technology Q&A column.