It Tips – June

It’s heating up outside! What could be better than lying by the pool reading the IT Tips blog?

Perhaps you shouldn’t answer that…

What’s inside:

Tech Section

·         Useful Windows Tips

·         What is this bitlocker thing?!

·         Word Keyboard Shortcuts

Useful Windows Tips

How big is the file?

Have you ever been asked how large a file is only to be left scratching your head? Sometimes you need to quickly know the size of a file for emailing or various other reasons. Luckily, it’s very easy to find out. I’m going to show you how to find AND understand file size.

Find the size of a file:

-Right click on the file in question

-Choose ‘Properties’

That’s it! The properties window will tell you how big your file is right on the default ('General') tab. (You don’t need to worry about the ‘Size on disk’)

Understand the size of a file

At this point in time (2011 if you were wondering), you’re most likely going to deal with one of three file sizes. In ascending order by size:

1.  Kilobyte (KB)

2.  Megabyte (MB)

3.  Gigabyte (GB)

Basically, each higher unit of measurement is 1000 times larger than the former. So one MB is equal to one thousand KB and one GB is one thousand MB.

Now when someone tells you the maximum file size is 6 megabytes you know that your 2000 kilobyte file will work!

Windows 7 Exclusives

I know you folks in the field enjoy some IT love. This month you will feel it. Here are some neat shortcuts exclusive to Windows 7!

Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows key + Up Arrow = Active window will be maximized
Windows key + Down Arrow = Active window will be minimized
Windows key + Left Arrow = Active window will be moved to the left (half screen resize)
Windows key + Right Arrow = Active window will be moved to the right (half screen resize)
Windows key + Home Key = All windows will be minimized (If already minimized they will be restored)

Smaller Windows 7 Taskbar

As I said in a previous blog, the Windows 7 taskbar is a great feature. However, it can be a little big for small laptop screens. Thankfully Balmy Steve Balmer and company already thought of that.
Let’s make our taskbar compact!

1.  Right click on the taskbar (on the empty space, not on an icon)

2.  Choose Properties and you will see this window :

3.  Click the checkbox next to ‘Use small icons’

4.  Click OK

That’s it! Your toolbar will now give back a little screen space and look like this (maybe not as cluttered):

What is This Bitlocker Thing?!

Remember when I said that you people in the field would feel the IT love? (If you don’t then you have to reread the blog!) Well, this is something I’m willing to bet most of you will appreciate. I also feel confident that most of you have said to yourself: What the heck is Bitlocker?

This is a bad guy

Bitlocker is Microsoft’s flavor of “data encryption”. Its primary purpose is to keep you and the company safe. Bitlocker was a major part of why we rolled Windows 7 out to the field. Data encryption keeps bad-guys from stealing data. We don’t need Danny DeVito in penguin garb compromising our customer data; that’s for sure.

In all seriousness, it may be a minor inconvenience here and there but an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure.

Why do we need it?

There are two primary reasons that we need bitlocker.

1.   Your password to log in doesn’t mean anything to a savvy person intent on stealing your data. Someone could pull the hard drive out of your laptop, plug it into another machine and take what they want. Basically, an unencrypted hard drive is a liability. Not just for you, but for the company as well.

2.   The law. The aforementioned reason is so compelling that Massachusetts passed a law requiring field laptops with customer data to be encrypted.

How does it work?

Bitlocker takes all of your data and runs it against an algorithm using a very long encryption key. The data is essentially rendered useless without the key.

Every time you start up your computer the key is provided to your hard drive by a chip on the motherboard. That means if your hard drive is taken out by the penguin he cannot access your data. The data is useless because the hard drive needs to see the encryption key left behind on your motherboard.

What should I know about it?

In most cases you will forget bitlocker is even there. However, in the case of improper shutdowns and/or system failures, you may get hung up by it. (System failures can include the battery dying or any error that causes Windows to crash)

The best way to avoid bitlocker annoyances is to always properly shut down your computer (try to avoid standby as well). If you shutdown improperly, Windows may ask if you wish to run ‘Startup Repair’. Always choose ‘Start Windows Normally’; you should never run startup repair. If you choose to run startup repair the hard drive will not check with the motherboard for the bitlocker key. Instead, it will ask you to manually enter the key which is a dead end.

The startup repair prompt looks like this (again, always choose 'Start Windows Normally'):

In the case of several improper shutdowns (or system failures) you will see the bitlocker pre-boot screen. It’s terrifying! AHH!

If you see the Bitlocker pre-boot screen don’t panic! Tap the Esc key to exit and then choose ‘Start Windows Normally’ on the proceeding screen. Windows should then load normally. If Windows still doesn’t start please give the IT support line a ring (x3115).

Word Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are some shortcuts in Word that should make things a bit easier.

CTRL+B : Toggle bold text
CTRL+I : Toggle italicized text
CTRL+U: Toggle underlined text
CTRL+DEL:  Delete the word to the right of the cursor
CTRL+BACKSPACE:  Delete the word the left of the cursor
CTRL+C:  Copies the selected text
CTRL+X:  Cuts the selected text
CTRL+V:  Pastes the copied or cut text
CTRL+[ : Reduce the font size
CTRL+]:  Increase the font size
CTRL+SPACEBAR: Removes paragraph or character formatting
CTRL+Z : Undo the last action
CTRL+Y:  Redo the last action that was undone
CTRL+SHIFT+G: Brings up the word count dialog box
CTRL+L:  Align text to the left
CTRL+E:  Centers text
CTRL+R: Align text to the right
CTRL+SHIFT+8:  To show/hide hidden characters

Have a great Month, everyone!

-Keith

Would you like YOUR question featured in a future IT Tip? The glory could be all yours! Simply email me a question and the answer could be on the blog before you know it!