If you think you have received a virus in your Outlook Express, Don't touch it. Simply look at the tool bar at the top of the window, select
"Edit/Select All " and then  "Edit/Delete". This way you don't have to touch and possibly open the virus. Make sure you have current anti-virus software installed on your computer. The cost of the software is way less than the cost of repairs to damage done by a virus.

Use "right click" whenever you want to do something like copy a picture. There is a huge amount of tasks that can be done with "right click". If you hold down on the "right click" button and drag a file, you have the option of moving or copying the file. Play with it and see what happens.

When you have lost that file that you just downloaded, go to Start/Find and type in the name and extension, (as best as you can remember it) of the file you are looking for. The path to your file will be shown in the box.

If you want to find something on a web page and don't feel like scrolling to find it just click on "Edit/Find on this page" and type in what you are looking for. If it is on the page the browser will go right to what you were looking for. It is just like having a teeny search engine right there.

Adding a Personality to Your Documents

The easiest ways to add a personality to your documents is to use the Wingdings font. For example, you'd like to add a smiley face at the end of a line of text. To do so, follow these steps:

Click on the area where you'd like the smiley face to appear. From the applications menu (Word, WordPad, Notepad, etc) select the Wingdings font.
 Now press Shift + J J.

Other Wingdings characters you may use for personality:

Serious face (Shift + K) K
Sad face (Shift + L) L
Peace sign (Shift + A) A
Thumbs up (Shift + C) C
Thumbs down (Shift + D) D
OK sign (Shift + B) B
Skull & crossbones (Shift + N) N

Desktop with Mac Style

Click on the My Computer icon so it shows all your system drives and other resources. Right click on the 3 1/2 Floppy [A:] and drag this icon over to the upper right hand corner of the screen where you'd normally see the floppy icon on the Macintosh system. Release the right mouse button and choose "Create Shortcut(s) Here". Do the same with your hard drive icon, CD-ROM and other drives of choice. You'll soon have a comfortable looking screen with quick access to your files just like on a Mac system. Optionally, right click on your new shortcuts and choose Rename to make it even more familiar.

Closing All Folders

Sometimes, when you are navigating through folders, you can make quite a mess of your desktop. For example, you want to look in your Fonts folder. What you must do is double-click My Computer, double-click Control Panel, and then double-click Fonts--leaving three folders to close when you are finished. It would be great if you could just close them all at once. To do so, hold down the Shift key and then click the Close button (the button with the "X" on it, on the right end of the Title bar). Windows closes the current folder and all its parent folders.

If you want to you can also have the sub-folders open in the same window. Just click on the "View" tab on the top of the tool bar and choose "Folder Options", then choose "Custom", then "Settings", and choose to "Open all folders in the same window". If you want to go back to a previous folder, use the back button to get there.

Another quick way to close windows, is to use "Alt+F4". This will close whichever window is currently on top of your desktop. This is also a shortcut to the shutdown menu when all other windows are closed.

Bigger Dialog Boxes

Probably you didn't realize that Common Dialogs inside an application (Notepad, Paint, etc), such as File - Open and File - Save As boxes are now resizable in the Windows 9X/Me. Just look in the lower right-hand corner for that familiar Explorer-like resize handle. Now, you can see more than just a handful of files when you're in those dialogs.

Ctrl+Alt+Del for the Not Responding Applications

If you open too many applications on your computer, sometimes one of those applications will make your computer stop responding. To get around this problem, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. The Close Program dialog box will appear on the screen. Select the not responding application and then click End Task.

General Editing Shortcuts

Try the following general shortcuts in almost all of your applications, including MS Word, Write (Win 3.1), WordPad, or even Notepad. These keyboard shortcuts can be very handy.

Moving
One word to the right: Ctrl + right arrow
One word to the left: Ctrl + left arrow
Start of line: Home
End of line: End
Up one screen: PageUp
Down one screen: PageDown
Top of Screen: Ctrl + PageUp
Bottom of Screen: Ctrl + PageDown
Beginning of Document: Ctrl + Home
End of Document: Ctrl + End
Deleting
Delete word to left: Ctrl + Backspace
Delete word to right: Ctrl + Delete

Clipboard
Copy selection: Ctrl + C
Cut selection: Ctrl + X
Paste selection: Ctrl + V
Undo last of the above: Ctrl + Z

Completely Disable Task Scheduler

Want to know how to get rid of the Task Scheduler in your System Tray (the area next to your Windows clock)? Double-click the Task Scheduler icon, and then select Advanced, Stop Using Task Scheduler. Close the Scheduled Tasks window, and this utility will no longer run at start-up.

Wallpaper as Reminder

Put your important information or reminders in your Desktop wallpaper. That way you will not forget them. To do so, open Paint and then type or paste the information that you want to be on your desktop into Paint. Next save the file as a graphics (*.BMP) file. Then you can choose Set As Wallpaper (Centered) in the File menu.

Switch from Right to Left

Have a mouse that is designed for the right hand? To switch to a left-handed mouse, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Mouse, go to the Buttons tab, mark Left-Handed, and click OK. Your index finger on your left hand will now click the number-one button. The Buttons tab of the Mouse Properties dialog box makes it easy to switch your mouse setting, and tells you what each button does.

Keep your Desktop clutter to a minimum. Put all your shortcuts in a folder  and your computer will run faster. To create a folder on the Desktop, simply "Right Click" on an empty space of the desktop and choose, "New", then "Folder". Type in a name for it and clean the desk up. Make a folder for everyone and they can keep their stuff in their folders. You can also make a new folder inside any folder  to sort things even more. Use "Right Click" often. It opens many options for you.
 

You can "Right Click" on a picture you like and copy it. Then paste it in a folder using "Right Click".
 

If you want to change the size of the text in your browser, just click on the "View" tab on the top of your window and select "Text Size". There are several options to choose from.