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There are no fancy sign-up forms – just mention newsletter in the subject line of your email.
We've been sending out this PC Help Newsletter since 1994, and it contains no advertising of any kind – just useful computer tips.
Furthermore, your email address is safe with us – we don't share it with anyone under any conditions whatsoesver.
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Choosing a Default Media Player
Norman Parker wrote asking how to designate a default player for his music and video files. Well, Windows Media Player is the default on all new Windows-based computers and is the one we use for most media applications. However, Windows Media Player will not play MOV or RA files, which normally require QuickTime and RealPlayer, respectively. All three can coexist on the same hard drive, along with others such as Winamp. However, any time another player is installed it invariably suggests becoming your default player. Since many users don't understand the option, they click OK and are then surprised that Windows Media Player does not open when they double-click on a song or video. Windows XP users can designate their default media player (and other default programs as well) by clicking on Start>Set Program Access & Defaults. Vista users click Start>Default Programs. Another way to designate your default player is to right-click a media file (such as an MP3 or WMV) and choose Open With:. A menu will open listing all available players, along with a check box at the bottom that says to make whatever you choose become the default player. Check the box and then click on whichever player you prefer. Repeat the above for each different type of media file (MP3, WAV, WMA, WMV, MID, etc.) you want to associate with your default player. Or don't click on the Default option if you just want to change players for one particular media file. Other Uses for "Right-Click, Open With:" The above steps also work for designating other default programs, such as an image-editor for your JPG, BMP, and GIF files. We use Irfanview (free from www.irfanview.com) and switch to Gimp (free from www.gimp.org) for more intricate editing. By the way, Irfanview can also be used to play media files, but we prefer WMP. Choose a Default Font for Microsoft Word Regarding defaults, Grady Carey asked how to change the default font in Microsoft Word. In pre-2007 versions of Word click Format>Font, make your choice, click on Default in the lower left corner, and then click OK. In Word 2007 click the Home tab above the toolbar and then click the Font tab below the toolbar. Make your choice, click Default, and then click OK. Default "AutoCorrect" Options Another default Word setting automatically capitalizes the first letter of a sentence. However, this may be counter-productive with names such as eBay and iTunes. The setting can be defeated by clicking Tools>AutoCorrect>AutoFormat and deselecting "Capitalize first letter of a sentence." John Smaldino had a similar issue in Windows Live Mail. The fix: click on Options>Spelling and deselect "Automatically correct common capitalization and spelling mistakes." Alternatively, you can circumvent these options by simply clicking Edit>Undo (or Ctrl+Z) immediately after an automatic correction occurs. Make a Copy of Your Address Book (Contact List) Many readers have asked if there is an easy way to copy their Address Books to a different email service or to a new computer. Well, some services have File>Import/Export options, but most do not. Here's a trick that works with all Address Books: Create a blank email and place all the names/addresses from your Address Book or Contacts List into the To: field of the outgoing message. Outlook Express and Windows Mail users do this by clicking To: to display the data. Mouse-select all of them and click To: again to copy them into the To: field, from where they can cut and pasted into another document or simply emailed to a different PC. CAUTION: Do NOT click SEND before you have CUT all the contacts from the To: field and replaced them with your own email address. |