Handy QuickTip - Renaming a file continued

Following on from our earlier tip of renaming a file, in version of Windows Vista and 7, if you have a large amount of files to rename in one folder, you can use the TAB key to move onto the next file to rename automatically, this saves you time highlighting each file individually.

Microsoft Updates

From time to time, Microsoft sends out various updates for your computer, you generally notice when this happens as a small symbol will appear in the bottom corner of your computer screen and a box will pop up telling you that updates are ready to install on your computer.

These updates are perfectly safe and are generally there to help improve the security of your computer from on going battle against things like computer viruses.

These updates can also provide increased funtionality to certain Windows tasks, although these are generally updates that won't have any impact on the way you use your computer.

It is important that you keep your computer up to date with these updates as thet not only provide your computer with added security thet may just help others too if your computer is blocking a certain virus from entering your system it wall also ensure that you cannot pass the virus onto anybody else.

Handy QuickTip - Renaming a file

To quickly rename a file, highlight the file you wish to rename by left clicking it once andthen press F2 this, will highlight the name of the file for you, so you can type in the new name of the file.

Drivers

Drivers are a small program that allows another peripheral to connected to your computer so that the 2 machines can "talk" to each other.

Drivers usually come on a seperate disc that comes with the peripheral you have bought, this disc usually has to be used with older versions of Windows such as XP as newer versions the Operating System has most of the drivers "built in".

Windows XP is an older Operating System now and although perfectly good at doing the daily tasks you need to do, technology has moved on, with newer versions of Windows such as Vista or Windows 7 if the driver isn't already "built in" the computer will connect to the Internet and search for the driver from the relevant makers web site.

Internet Explorer 9

This week, Microsoft updated its popular browser Internet Explorer to version 9.

We will be proving more detailed information about the browser at a later date but from our first impressions and testing we are very impressed.

The speed has been greatly improved and the browsing window has been made larger for a better Internet experience.

You can get more information and if you would like to install Internet Explorer 9 by clicking here.

Recommended Downloads - CCleaner

Over time your computer collects information whether its is from the Internet or just day to day tasks whilst using Windows.

These files although are generally harmless can slow down the performance of your computer and every now and again it is good practice to have a "spring clean".

The "spring clean" can be handled in two ways, you can use various options in Windows and your browser to clean the unwanted files or you can use software to do the task.

Here at PCQuickTips we recommend CCleaner.

CCleaner from a company called Piriform handles all of the task of cleaning browsing history and also temporary files from your computer that are no longer needed, this can all be done using just one click, you can even analyze the procedure before you go ahead and remove them, just to double check the amount of space you will be saving and what will be deleted.

The software will also allow you to "untick" all of the items that you would not like deleted such as the contents of the recycle bin, just in case you are unsure as to whether you have sent important files there.

CCleaner is not just a cleaning tool, it also allows you to uninstall software from your computer and clean up the registry (a feature we only recommend experienced user to use!).

One of the best thing about all the features of this software is that it is free.

CCleaner is available to download from here.

Handy Quick Tip - Help!

Pressing the F1 key when using your computer will bring up a handy help window.