Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer Tool 1.0

I seem to be on a Microsoft Office kick right now so here is a little something that may help you diagnose problems with your MS Office installation. Look for it in the Microsoft Download Center. You can get the downloads you need there.

Overview

The Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer Tool (OffCAT) is a program that provides a detailed report of your installed Office programs. This report includes many parameters about your Office program configuration and highlights known problems found when OffCAT scans your computer. For any problems that are listed in the report, you are provided with a link to a public-facing article (usually a Microsoft Knowledge Base article) on the issue so you can read about possible fixes for the problem. If you are a Help Desk professional, you can also save the report to file so that the report can be viewed in the Office Configuration Analyzer Tool on another client where the tool is installed. The Office Configuration Analyzer Tool 1.0 also includes a command-line version that can be used to collect an OffCAT scan without user intervention.

Microsoft Backs Down On Office 2013 Retail Licensing

We are happy that they have decided to listen to their customer’s complaints about its Office 2013 retail licensing agreement. Microsoft has altered the licensing language as follows according to Jevon Fark from the Office Team:

Updated transferability provision to the Retail License Terms of the Software License Agreement for Microsoft Office 2013 Desktop Application Software

Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may transfer the software to another computer that belongs to you, but not more than one time every 90 days (except due to hardware failure, in which case you may transfer sooner). If you transfer the software to another computer, that other computer becomes the “licensed computer.” You may also transfer the software (together with the license) to a computer owned by someone else if a) you are the first licensed user of the software and b) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement before the transfer. Any time you transfer the software to a new computer, you must remove the software from the prior computer and you may not retain any copies.

This change is effective immediately and applies to Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013 and the standalone Office 2013 applications.

Paul Thurrott, editor of the Windows SuperSite, offers his 2 cents on the situation here.

I think this is a real win for the Microsoft Customer base that needs the flexibility of moving their software when the upgrade their machines.

Here is Jevon Fark’s post on the Office News blog.

Office 365 Home Premium–Subscription for home use

Microsoft’s new subscription model offer provides the home consumer an annual subscription package that will cost you $99 per year and provides you with licensing for using Office on five devices. You will also get 20gb’s of online storage and 60 minutes of Skype calls per month. It includes the following products:

	Word In the new Read Mode, text reflows automatically in columns for easier on-screen reading Fewer menus means more focus on your content—see only the tools you need, when you need them Open a PDF in Word, and edit content just as if you created it in Word Show your style by using Word templates in more than 40 categories
	Excel Each workbook has in its own window, making it easier to work on two workbooks— or two monitors— at once New functions in the math and trig, statistical, engineering, date and time, lookup and reference, logical, and text function categories The new Recommended Charts button lets you pick from a variety of charts that are right for your data
	OneNote Smoothly draw, erase, and edit with your finger, stylus, or mouse on any touch-capable device OneNote automatically converts your handwriting to text, so no worries about your handwriting The new Send to OneNote tool makes it easier to include documents or Web pages in your notebooks
	PowerPoint Presenter View allows you to see your notes on your monitor while the audience only sees the slide Smart Guides automatically appear when your objects are close to even, and tell you when objects are spaced evenly Support for more multimedia formats, such as .mp4 and .mov, more high-definition content, and more built-in codecs
	Outlook The People Card collects key details about a contact all in one place Add your local weather forecast right there in Calendar view, along with current conditions Receive push-based email, appointments, and contacts from Outlook.com, (formerly Hotmail) - right in your Outlook experience
	Access Simply type what you need to track and Access uses table templates to deliver an app that does the job A standardized app framework makes navigating apps familiar and easy Entering data accurately is a breeze with drop-down menus and recommendations that appear when you begin typing
	Publisher Insert and customize prebuilt page part building blocks, including calendars, borders, advertisements, and more Use professional-looking effects including softer shadows, reflections, and OpenType features Search your online albums on Facebook, Flickr and other services and add pictures directly to your document

Office 365 Home Premium

Setting up your account
To set up Office for the first time, visit www.office.com/setup and follow the instructions on the screen. Or, if you purchased online, you can go directly to www.office.com/myaccount to manage your account, because Office was set up automatically.

System requirements
See the system requirements page.

Compatibility with earlier versions
To find out about working with earlier versions of Office, visit the compatibility pack page.

Language options
To find the list of languages that Office is available in, see the FAQ. If you purchase Office 365 Home Premium you can visit www.office.com/myaccount to install Office in other languages.

Office on devices
Office currently supports PCs running Windows 7 or higher, and Macs with Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Office Mobile supports Windows Phone devices running Windows Phone OS 7.5 and higher.

Skype
To find out about Skype world minutes, see the FAQ.

Office 365 University

There are several ways for you, as a college student, faculty or staff member you can qualify for one of two offers that Microsoft has for you. This is a very cost effective way for you to have Office for you use while in college. You are licensed for up to two machines/devices that you can put it on and the subscription is for 4 years. The price, just $79.99. You also get 20GB of online storage on SkyDrive and 60 minutes of Skype International calls per month. This is great if you are doing a student exchange in another country or want to keep up with others that are out of country. The four year subscription includes any updates that may come down the line over the subscription period and you as an individual can only purchase one of these per four year period.

The Office 365 University offer provides you with the following Office applications:

	Word In the new Read Mode, text reflows automatically in columns for easier on-screen reading Fewer menus means more focus on your content—see only the tools you need, when you need them Open a PDF in Word, and edit content just as if you created it in Word Show your style by using Word templates in more than 40 categories
	Excel Each workbook has in its own window, making it easier to work on two workbooks— or two monitors— at once New functions in the math and trig, statistical, engineering, date and time, lookup and reference, logical, and text function categories The new Recommended Charts button lets you pick from a variety of charts that are right for your data
	PowerPoint Presenter View allows you to see your notes on your monitor while the audience only sees the slide Smart Guides automatically appear when your objects are close to even, and tell you when objects are spaced evenly Support for more multimedia formats, such as .mp4 and .mov, more high-definition content, and more built-in codecs
	OneNote Smoothly draw, erase, and edit with your finger, stylus, or mouse on any touch-capable device OneNote automatically converts your handwriting to text, so no worries about your handwriting The new Send to OneNote tool makes it easier to include documents or Web pages in your notebooks
	Outlook The People Card collects key details about a contact all in one place Add your local weather forecast right there in Calendar view, along with current conditions Receive push-based email, appointments, and contacts from Outlook.com, (formerly Hotmail) - right in your Outlook experience
	Publisher Insert and customize prebuilt page part building blocks, including calendars, borders, advertisements, and more Use professional-looking effects including softer shadows, reflections, and OpenType features Search your online albums on Facebook, Flickr and other services and add pictures directly to your document
	Access Simply type what you need to track and Access uses table templates to deliver an app that does the job A standardized app framework makes navigating apps familiar and easy Entering data accurately is a breeze with drop-down menus and recommendations that appear when you begin typing

This is a very cost effective way for you to have Office for you use while in college. You are licensed for up to two machines/devices that you can put it on and the subscription is for 4 years. The price, just $79.99. You also get 20GB of online storage on SkyDrive  and 60 minutes of Skype International calls per month. This is great if you are doing a student exchange in another country or want to keep up with others that are out of country. The four year subscription includes any updates that may come down the line over the subscription period and you as an individual can only purchase one of these per four year period.

Do you qualify? Here is Microsoft’s Eligibility Requirements:

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

This Program is available only to individuals who meet the criteria described below:

1. An “Eligible Student” means an individual who is a student, faculty or staff member at an eligible accredited educational institution geographically located in the United States and must be actively enrolled in at least 0.5 course credit hours at that educational institution and must be able to provide proof of enrollment to Microsoft or its appointed vendor upon request;
2. The Eligible Student must successfully verify their eligibility status through the Offer Site’s online student status verification process; and
3. The Eligible Student must have a Microsoft account or create one at the time of purchase.

If you participate in the Program, Microsoft reserves the right to contact you directly or through an appointed Microsoft vendor to verify that you are an Eligible Student. If you choose not to provide sufficient documentation to Microsoft or its appointed vendor that verifies that you are an Eligible Student, you agree to reimburse Microsoft for the difference between what you paid in connection with a discounted Program offer and the estimated full retail price of the same product(s). Microsoft will have sole discretion to determine the sufficiency of any documentation that you provide to verify you are an Eligible Student. By providing eligibility-related information to Microsoft’s appointed vendor, you agree that the vendor may share such information with Microsoft for Program-related purposes.

Microsoft, in its sole discretion, may accept other forms of validation to determine eligibility in lieu of the online student status verification process.

Microsoft, in its sole discretion, may determine the criteria for eligibility under the Program and may change the eligibility criteria or deny eligibility at any time and for any reason.

To take advantage of this offer go to: click here

Slow Opening Excel files or Word Files over the Network

Jessy just sent this tip over to me this morning:

This is an old issue from about 6 months ago that I encountered this morning. If a user complains about slow opening or Excel or Word files check in Add/Remove Programs (Win7 or XP) for the Office File Validation Add-In update. If its there remove it and reboot. The issue will be resolved. This update causes those files to get stuck over the network when opening.

Jessy Marker

Direct Download Links for MS Office 2007/2010 Suites

Here are some quick links for downloading full setup installer for Microsoft Office 2007  suites and other related applications:

Office 2007 Direct Download Link

• Microsoft Office Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Small Business 2007
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• Microsoft Office Standard 2007
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007

You will need to provide the installed Office program a genuine and legal product key to successfully activate it.

Microsoft also publishes the trial version of Office 2010 suite products at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/try/, which allows free usage for 60 days. A free product key will be given, and user is required to activate the trial version of Office 2010 within the first 30 days after the installation to utilize the full functionality of the Office 2010. The 60 days trial period will begin only after Office 2010 is activated.

Office 2010 Setup Installer Direct Download Links

Microsoft Office 2010 (Retail Channel) Single Image

• English 32-bit (x86): X16-32007.exe
• English 64-bit (x64):X16-31970.exe.

Microsoft Office Standard 2010

English 32-bit (x86): X16-32324.exe
English 64-bit (x64): X16-32361.exe

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 (Retail Edition)

English 32-bit (x86): X16-32250.exe
English 64-bit (x64): X16-32213.exe

Office 2013 free Download

If you have purchased Microsoft Office 2010 between the dates of October 19, 2012 and April 30, 2013 you can get the next version of Microsoft Office for free as soon as it is available.

1. All you need to do is buy and activate Office today.
2. Sign up for an email reminder to be notified when you can redeem you offer. Sign up for the offer.
3. Download the new Office when it comes available. After you receive your email notification, return to this website, www.office.com/offer, to download the new Office.

Go to this website for more information on the products that qualify and how to process your offer.

Office 2013 vs. Office 365 Pricing… a comparison

Microsoft Office 365 news release

The differences between Microsoft’s cloud offering with Office 365 and boxed product with traditional Office licenses. Office 2013 is the successor to Office 2010. But Microsoft has confused the discussion just a bit by mixing in chatter about Office 365. Office 365 supports SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Lync Online and other cloud services. Microsoft also has an option that includes desktop productivity capabilities. Here’s a sampling of Microsoft’s Office suite pricing, subscription services and product lineup:

Office 365 Home Premium: This $99.99 per year subscription offering covers an entire household. It’s not tied to a single person, or account, and each person that uses the service and applications can sign in to their own Microsoft account with its custom online document store, settings sync, and more. You can use Office on up to 5 PCs (or Macs), and switch which devices are activated on the fly. PC-based subscribers get Office 2013 Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher, while Mac users get Office:Mac (whatever the current version is).

Office 365 Home Premium subscriptions come with a number of benefits. The software installs are delivered via Click-to-Run, which takes just a few minutes. But more important, the software is always kept up-to-date, not just with bug and security fixes, but also with the latest new features and services: Microsoft says that it will add new capabilities to Office 2013 “multiple times per year,” as it would with any service.

Additional benefits include 20 GB of additional SkyDrive-based storage (for a total of 27 GB), which I assume applies only to the account that signs up for the subscription, and not for all accounts that access the software installs from that subscription. (That is, the 20 GB of additional storage is for one account, not for up to five accounts.) You also get 60 minutes of Skype-based world calling per month. And you can access the Office on Demand service to temporarily stream any of the supported Office applications temporarily to any PC in the world (assuming it’s online).

Office 365 Small Business: This $149.99 per year subscription offering is licensed per user, but also covers up to 5 PCs and/or Macs. Aimed at small businesses with 1 to 10 employees, Office 365 Small Business utilizes Office 365 backend services—Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync Online—rather than the SkyDrive-based services used by the Home Premium subscription. So while you basically get all the benefits of the Home Premium subscription, there are additional benefits and features as well.

On the client front, Small Business subscribers gain access to the same Office 2013 applications as Home Premium—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher—but also get Lync and InfoPath, or, of course, Office:Mac.

In the cloud, you get a 25 GB Exchange Online mailbox with shared calendaring, contacts, scheduling, and task list, and 10 GB of SharePoint Online-based cloud storage for the organization with an addition 500 MB per user account. You can host online meetings with audio, video, screen sharing, and HD video conferencing using Lync Online, and can set up, build, and maintain a public-facing web site with custom domain for no additional fee.

Traditional Office 2013 Single User Licenses: Prices start at $139.99 for Office Home and Student 2013 (which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote). Office Home and Business 2013 ($219.99) includes all the applications in Home and Student plus Outlook. Office Professional 2013 ($399.99) includes the applications in Home and Business plus Access and Publisher. With the boxed product you have a onetime fee which allows you to use the product on that one machine. You can uninstall/reinstall as you change out your equipment.

The comparison: If you were to purchase Office Home and Student for five machines it would cost you $699.95 compared to $99.99 for a one year subscription. It would take seven years for the payback on the boxed product and by then you would probably want to have already upgrade to the newest version well before that time is up. With the subscription model you will always be up to date. If you don’t need the extra home licenses and you don’t use Outlook than you may be better off with the boxed version. But in a multi-license scenario you may want to consider the subscription.

Compared with Small Business Premium and compared with Office Professional, you are getting a whole host of extras with the subscription model per user that you are not getting with the boxed product. While the cost between the Home and Small Business version of the boxed product would be much closer, you are missing a few of the products that are included in the subscription model. There is a $70 difference in cost for the first year but halfway through the second you are saving money with the boxed version. But you don’t get the updates and you don’t get the full product or cloud services. So in my mind you are much better off in the long run with the subscription service.

Let me know your thoughts.

Have you signed up for Outlook.com account yet?

Microsoft is making another attempt to draw users into their Cloud Solutions by integrating their new email account with their other online services. Of course this is an Ad-based service but the ads are quite unobtrusive as you can see on the image to the right. As you work around the screen you will see that it has been given the Windows 8 start screen look and feel (what was know as Metro Style a few short days ago).

From this menu option that you can get into by clicking on the Outlook object at the top left of the screen you have access to your mail, contacts, calendar and documents that are located out on SkyDrive. With a new account you will be allocated 7gb’s of storage on your associated SkyDrive and of course have free access to web-based versions of  Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

All of the web based applications have been updated so they show the ribbon interface but they are still limited as compared to the full desktop versions of Office. However, I can’t but admit that for most of our uses, these versions are more than adequate for day in and day out usage. I downloaded the OneNote app onto my Nexus 7 but it crashes instantly. Must be something to do with either the screen size or the version of Android.

You can pull contacts in from several different sources including Gmail, Outlook desktop, Facebook and Hotmail. You have the ability to connect any ICS based calendar system to your calendar display as well. You can use a modified calendar entry to create ToDo lists for the calendar as well. One complaint that I have is that your ToDo List doesn’t' show up on the Agenda Tab. For the way that I would use it, I would like some tab to consolidate all the date/time oriented entries.

Email is setup using one of two grouping functions.You can view your email from folders that you create. Shown in the image to the right, notice that I have multiple levels of folders in the Test Folder. To create a new folder on the top level, Right mouse click on the Folders menu option. You will be given the option of creating a folder or in creating rules for incoming mail. You can create rules based on who has sent it, the sender’s address, the To and CC lines, the message subject line and whether the message has attachments. Quite a bit of control here. You can move the message to a new location, automatically delete the message, apply a category to the message, remove a category from the message, flag the message or forward it to another user/email.

Right mouse click on any folder and you can create a new subfolder, rename the folder, delete the folder, mark all mail as read, or empty the contents of the folder. Right mouse click on an email message you will first see that a check mark will appear in the box to the left of the message. You then have the ability to Reply, Reply All, Forward, Mark as Read/Unread, Delete, Mark as Junk, View the message source and also set up functions for the sender of the message.

If you want to do something to a group of messages click in the box to the left of the header message line for all the messages that you want to process and you will see at the top of the screen the ability mark the messages as junk, move them to a folder and to categorize the messages using categories that you can setup. The categories are Quick Views that you can see in bottom grouping on the image to the right. This allows you to quickly pull messages from multiple folders that have been categorized for these views.

To create a new message just click on the New hyperlink at the top of the screen. You will be taken to a dialog box that you see below:

As you move through the beta of this product you will see the inconsistencies of the screens. Microsoft is still in the middle of the transition between Hotmail, Live Spaces and this new Outlook.com site. It will be very nice once they have made the final programming ports to provide the same look and feel all the way through. This is a pretty nice start for now.

Is using Stamps.com a good deal?

My initial impression is positive but the real question is whether I am going to be able to use it enough to reach the $15. per month requirement for the pro account. If I use this for the office I will save a lot of time and effort by using this program. The software is fairly flexible and will allow you to quickly address and create the required postage stamp to mail the packages and large envelopes of data that I send out all week long.

The package came by US Postal service and came in a small box containing a scale with a USB cable to connect to your computer, a program cd, some sample stamp and label sheets, $5 worth of postage, and instructions on how to setup and use the product.

How does Stamps.com make money? By selling you the supplies of course. You can get anything from the labels in different sizes and formats, envelopes in different styles and formats and USPS shipping boxes. The prices for these products aren’t exorbitant but they are not the cheapest products that you can find either. The big thing to remember here is how much more convenient this is compared to having to hoof it to the post office to basically due this same thing. If you have been using one of the many other choices out there that rents you the certified postage meters you will see that this is another area that you will save a lot of money on the monthly fees associated with this service.

The big questions I am going to have to answer for myself is whether I am going to take this into the office to keep at my desk or if I will hoard it at home to be used from there instead. It may even become part of my traveling bag. We’ll just have to see who will win out!

Office 15 peeked out behind the curtains…

Microsoft has started seeding its Office 15 technical preview to a select few earlier this year to get it ready for the public. Expect to see more of Metro Style interface, this should satisfy those Office detractors that have said that the ribbon bar is too cluttered. The cleaner interface and touch mode will make it easier to use on tablet devices as it is on the desktop.

Word15 has received several improvements. Microsoft is focusing on the “experience” of reading  and writing. The new Read Mode removes control and menu items to limit the amount of distractions on the screen. The text will be reformatted on the screen as you enter into the Read Mode. There is a new Resume Reading function that allows you to bookmark the current position so that when you resume reading the document you will be placed back into the last position you were reading from.

Two new features allow you view information in a more dynamic way. Object Zoom allows you to double click on an image that will then zoom into full screen mode. This is great for pictures of table data, screen grabs or your favorite pictures that have been placed in the document. Expand and Collapse is a tool that allows you to expand and collapse paragraphs of text underneath a heading. This allows you to start with a shorter document that can be expanded to handle more text detail.

Document collaboration has ben improved as well. It is easier to Track Changes, create and read Reply Comments made to specific areas of text. There is now a localized password function that allows you to make changes and lock them down with password protection. Present Online allows users to share documents with others through a browser window.

There is better PDF document handling built into this version as well. Word 15 will allow you to open a PDF document and have the document reflow on the screen to fit automatically just as if it were a native Word document. Inserting and view videos has become easier as well with new functions allow easy insertion of video and pictures from Faceboo, Flickr and other services.

Not surprisingly with the new Metro Style Interface, Word 15 allows users to more easily navigate through documents through the Touch Mode interface. This shows Microsoft’s focus with Windows 8 and tablet technology. It is going to be interesting to see all of these new touch centric features working together on Windows 8 based tablets later this year.

Excel 15 updates include better/simpler methods for visualizing large data sets that you are working with. A  new Quick Analysis Lens feature lets Excel 15 users quickly access ways to visually represent data, and Recommended Charts and PivotTables helps surface the best way to visualize certain information based on data patterns. Flash Fill, a new feature to Excel 15, will also simplify the reformatting and rearrangement of data in an Excel spreadsheet. Excel 15′s Touch Mode feature is designed to let users browse through charts, graphs, and tables on tablet devices with their fingers and hands.

There are also some new chart formatting control features that use an interactive interface to fine tune charts quickly. Chart animations will help you to present your data in a dynamic display that will show changes as your data points are added or existing numbers are adjusted.

A new Excel Start Experience will provide access to a collection of professionally designed templates, including ones for budgets, calendars, forms and reports.

PowerPoint 15 updates include a big visual change. Microsoft is changing the default aspect ratio to a 16:9 display format with the thought of creating a professional-looking design with cinematic appeal. This complement most wide screen displays that are being used on your PC’s, Notebooks and Projectors today.

The new Start Experience is also present in PowerPoint 15, providing quick access to favorite files, professionally designed templates, and most recently-viewed presentations. A new chart engine access feature lets PowerPoint 15 users lift charts from Excel 15 worksheets and put them into slides without disrupting the existing formatting of a presentation.

Touch has been a big focus in this new version as well and the new features are designed to allow presenters to move through slides using a touch screen or tablet PC. PowerPoint 15 also features the same Resume Reading feature that has been added to Word 15 with automatic bookmarking the last position in your PowerPoint slide deck.

Outlook 15 hasn’t been left out either. A new peeks feature will let users see their schedule, view details about people they are emailing, and review tasks all within the same display. A new Weather Bar feature will also let users check the weather before accepting meeting invites or planning new meetings.

Inline replies has also been added to Outlook 15, letting users reply to an email in one-click. Microsoft has also made some improvements to its multiple email account support in Outlook 15, allowing users to view, create, and respond to all email accounts in one place, including Hotmail and other third-party web mail providers.

Animations in Outlook 15 have been improved to quickly move between email, calendar and tasks. The Metro Style interface takes up less space to provide more real estate for the presented information. Power users will be happier with the Context sensitive commands to provide simple, visible, on-click commands to help power users stay on top of their email flow.

OneNote 15 has also received the Metro Style Interface update. Auto-updating file views will let OneNote 15 users see content previews from embedded Excel and Visio files and any content updates that have been made in the original files.

Table support has been improved, allowing you to sort, add headers, and convert a OneNote table into an attached spreadsheet. This will bring improved calculation capabilities within your OneNote document.

The Touch Mode feature of OneNote 15 lets tablet users take advantage of their fingers and hands to move through pages and notes without a keyboard.

OneNote 15 also includes the new Resume Reading feature found in Word and PowerPoint 15, automatically saving the last position in a notebook so OneNote users can pick up right where they left off, even on a different PC or tablet.

Conclusion: I am looking forward to spending time with this product later this year when it comes out for general preview. The features that I have mentioned above are only some of the planned updates to the Office Products and I am sure there will be more touch and collaboration functionality as Windows 8 is finally released as well. Expect the release some time this summer and probably a RTM before the end of the year.

Outlook 2007/2003/2002 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup

The Personal Folders Backup download creates backup copies of your .PST files at regular intervals, in Outlook 2002 and later versions, making it easy to keep all of your Outlook folders safely backed up.

Overview

Backing up your Microsoft Outlook information is quicker and easier with the Personal Folders Backup feature. Personal Folders Backup creates backup copies of your .PST files at regular intervals, in Outlook 2002 and later versions, making it easy to keep all of your Outlook folders safely backed up.

With Personal Folders Backup, you can choose which of your .PST files you wish to back up, and how often you wish to back them up.

Each .PST file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You can have a single .PST file (usually called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List), but you might also have an additional .PST file that you use for archiving ("Archiving Folders"). Personal Folders Backup lets you back up any or all of these .PST files.

PFbackup and Outlook 2010

Although the Personal Folders Backup add-in 2007 compatible version (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8B081F3A-B7D0-4B16-B8AF-5A6322F4FD01&displaylang=en) does not work with Outlook 2010 by default, you may enable it to work with Outlook 2010 by adding the following registry data to complete the backup process at shutdown.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\Microsoft.OutlookBackup.1
DWORD: RequireShutdownNotification
Value: 1

For Windows XP
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.

Windows 7 and Windows Vista
Click Start, and in the Search box type regedit, and then click regedit.exe in the search results.
3. Locate, and then click the following subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\Microsoft.OutlookBackup.1
4. Click on Edit, and then New - DWORD Value.
5. Rename the value to RequireShutdownNotification.
6. Right click on RequireShutdownNotification and then click Modify.
7. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.

An interesting ergonomic solution to a desk based problem …

I have found over the past few years that I am tending to spend more and more time sitting in front of my computer, stationary for long periods of time working on some project or another. The only time that I move is when I think about it and get up to shake off the stiffness and get my blood flowing again. I find that by the end of the day my legs and lower back a achy and I have actually gotten tired than on though days that I am moving around for one reason or another. My partner has taken some bricks and placed them under his desk legs to place his desk at standing work level and that seems to have helped him quite a bit. So I am always looking for a solution that will help out this situation and I may have found one from one of our venders.

We have been selling Ergotron Solutions for quite a few years and they make a lot of well built and highly effective products for mounting both computers and monitors for many different situations. An email I just received from them introduced a new product called WorkFit-C Sit-Stand Workstation that provides a work area that can be raised or lowered depending on your needs or as your needs change. They have had this product for a while but they have rereleased it with a larger work surface that makes in even more useful.

The product is promoted as a way to keep you healthier and productive while you are computing. The desk is designed with a patented “Constant Force Technology” that allows you to move the desk effortlessly from a seated to raised position, a full 20 inch adjustment. So what does the company say about their product?

Benefits

For Computer Users

• On-demand sit-stand workstation—improve your energy and productivity by standing or sitting as you work, and then switch positions whenever you choose. Standing a little more each day burns extra calories, tones muscles, improves posture, increases blood flow and ramps up metabolism
• Safe, easy-to-use—simple installation and effortless operation
• Designed to meet North American and European ergonomic standards
• Robust weight capacity holds multiple displays, keyboards, books, phones ... whatever you need in your workflow

For IT and Facilities Staff

• IT deployment friendly—simple and quick setup
• Flexible, open-architecture design is scalable for future computer equipment
• Durable, robust structure, designed to ANSI/BIFMA X5.5-2008 testing standards

For HR/Risk Management and Company Cost Savings

• Manage the cost of healthcare premiums by promoting wellness in the daily work routine
• Provide standing work platforms for employees without having to buy expensive height-adjustable chairs
• Comfortable computing offers provable ROI on investment—healthcare costs associated with unhealthy computing and missed time are reduced while productivity increases
• WorkFit helps alleviate back and neck pain, the most costly conditions affecting employees according to the 2007 OE Medicine Journal
• Studies in office ergonomics show productivity increases of 12%–18% following an ergonomic intervention where employees are provided with well-designed ergonomic furniture

The product costs about $899 plus you will probably want to add the Under Desk Keyboard Arm. a Monitor Arm, and the WorkFit Floor Mat for a total outlay of around $1,300. But what price do you put on extending your good health and possibly helping to decrease the cost of your healthcare? Looks like something to look at!

Ten tips to keep you healthy and happy at work

This came to me from our Logitech Representative.

Whether you spend five minutes or five hours using your keyboard or mouse, these recommendations can help you stay comfortable and productive. So take a minute to read through these – and make sure you’re doing everything right!

Make sure that your workspace is set up properly.

1. Put keyboard and monitor directly in front of you with your mouse next to it.
2. Have your elbow next to your side.
3. Adjust the height of your chair and table so that the keyboard and mouse are at or below elbow height.
4. Place your mouse within easy reach so that your elbow can remain next to your side when using it.
5. Have your feet well supported and your shoulders relaxed.

Keep your shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands relaxed and comfortable as you work.

1. Let your arms hang loosely at your sides for a moment, allowing them to dangle toward the floor and to become relaxed.
2. Try to maintain this relaxed feeling while you work.
3. If you have a palm rest, use it between keying tasks, not while typing. Using it while typing may increase pressure against the hand and increase the chance of injury.
4. When you use your keyboard or mouse, avoid placing or supporting your wrists on sharp edges or on your desk.
5. As you use your mouse, make sure that your elbow is next to your side. Keep your wrist relaxed and straight – don’t bend it up, down, or to either side. Keep your shoulders relaxed, do not hunch or shrug.

For more recommendations, check out our complete set of comfort guidelines.

Microsoft Word Tips: Save changes to all open Word documents at one time

This simple technique comes in handy when you're working in multiple documents and want to make sure you've saved your changes to all of them. I actually use it most often when I've made a change to a template and want a quick way to save that change on the fly (before I've had a chance to forget I made a change I want to keep).

In Word 2003 and earlier, just press the [Shift] key and pull down the File menu. Word will display the Save All command on the menu, above the Save As command. Choose Save All and Word will prompt you to save each document (or template) that has any unsaved changes. This is more efficient than having to navigate to each document individually and click Save.

If you use Word 2007/2010, this won't work. But you can add the Save All command to your Quick Access Toolbar:

1. Click the Office button (File in 2010) and click Word Options.
2. Click Customize in the left-hand column.
3. Select Commands Not In The Ribbon from the Choose Commands From drop-down list.
4. Scroll down and select Save All.
5. Click the Add button and then click OK.

Microsoft Office 365 vs. Google Apps

Do you want a quick review of the difference between Microsoft’s newly released Office 365 and Google’s Offerings? I ran across a good feature showdown in Lifehacker that gives you a good overview between what the companies offer you. In summary, looking at the major differences includes a tiered cost system with Microsoft that allows you to choose the services that you want, Microsoft is more feature rich in many of their applications, you can incorporate office pro plus as part of your package for full featured document creation.

If your organization already makes heavy use of Microsoft Exchange for mail and Microsoft Office for productivity, Office 365 will appeal to those who want a familiar, robust tool. Google Apps, and specifically Google Docs, feels barren and plain by comparison, even if it's more accessible and open.

Lync, a feature rich communications program, in Office 365 incorporates a unified communications interface with desktop and whiteboard sharing.

Office 365 requires a little workstation setup to be used fully where Google just needs a compatible browser.

Microsoft centers it file storage around SharePoint. Depending on how you feel about this it is either a good thing or a bad thing. One benefit, Office 365 with Office on the desktop grants offline access whereas Google Apps with Google Docs does not. Google says that they will be turning this ability back on this summer but at the time of this writing it is not available.

I feel that Microsoft has made a good stab at being a solid competitor to Google with Office 365. I have signed up for the trial version and as I work my way through all of different offerings I will continue to write about what I find. Meanwhile, take a look at the Lifehacker article and at both Google’s and Microsoft's sites for more information.

Microsoft Word Tip: Alternate Method of Moving Text

This tip is probably most useful when you're working in a table, although you can use it to reorder paragraphs outside a table, too. Let's say you decide you want the third row of a table to be the top row. Just click within the third row, hold down [Alt][Shift] and press the up arrow key twice. Each time you press the arrow key, Word will move the row up one. You can select multiple contiguous rows to move them as a block, and you can use the down arrow key if you want to move text down instead of up.

Using this shortcut gets a little tricky if you're moving big pieces of text outside a table. It's easy to lose track of what's being relocated where, and you might find it easier to take a standard cut-and-paste approach in those situations. But when the text is small and manageable, the shortcut is great. For example, if you need to move an item up or down within a bulleted or numbered list, you can just click in the item's paragraph and use the [Alt][Shift] and arrow key combo to move the item to the desired spot.

How To: Some of my favorite keyboard shortcut commands

When it comes to Windows I am totally old school. Whenever I find a keyboard shortcut that I can use instead of going through a menu system I definitely use them. Here are 10 of my most often use keyboard shortcuts that can be used in many different Windows Programs as well as Office.

1. Cut, Copy and Paste are usually some of the first commands that you learn the shortcut keys for. They can be used not only when editing documents but in many utility situations as well. Cut – will delete your selected text or item and place that selection into the memory buffer that is called the clipboard. You can perform this operation with a mouse one of two ways, by selecting it of the edit menu or ribbon bar, right mouse clicking on the selection and choosing Cut on pop-up menu or by holding down the [CTRL] key and pressing [X] simultaneously.
2. Copy – the keyboard shortcut is [CTRL] [C]
3. Paste – the keyboard shortcut is [CTRL] [V]
4. Select entire contents can be done with [CTRL] [A]
5. To force a save press [CTRL] [S]
6. To center a line press [CTRL] [E]
7. To align text to the left press [CTRL] [L]
8. To align text to the right press [CTRL] [R]
9. To undo the last command press [CTRL] [Z]
10. And for my last one I will give you a twofer, [CTRL] [I] applies Italics to the selected text and [CTRL] [B] will Bold the selected text.

Microsoft Word Tip: Drawing borders automatically

Word offers a sometimes-handy option that lets you insert a border automatically. Type three hyphens on a blank line and press [Enter]. If the option is enabled, Word will replace the hyphens with a horizontal line. You can get rid of it if you press [Ctrl]Z after Word inserts it (see above). But if you try to select the border and delete it, you're out of luck. You're not dealing with a line object here. Word has applied the Bottom Border format to the paragraph.

To remove that format in Word 2003, click in the paragraph and choose No Border from the Borders drop-down list on the Formatting menu. In Word 2007/2010, click in the paragraph and then click the Border button in the Paragraph group of the Home tab. Just select No Border from the drop-down list.

Microsoft quietly shuts down Office Genuine Advantage program | ZDNet

Microsoft’s Office Genuine Advantage program appears to have been shut down on Dec 17, 2010. Ed Bott wrote a great article about this program, what it did, and what it doesn’t change. You still need your 25-character product key to activate your product but you will no longer need to authenticate the product every time you add an add-in application to any of your Office programs.

Microsoft quietly shuts down Office Genuine Advantage program | ZDNet