Proper Use of Tabs Versus Spaces

If you are working in Microsoft Word, chances are you will need to format your document. Anytime that you are not simply using the left margin to align paragraphs, you should use tabs to properly align your text and numbers.

The default tab stops are every 0.5 inches from the left margin. You can easily customize this by simply clicking on the ruler at the top of your page in Microsoft Word. Wherever you click, you will see a tab symbol as shown in the image below. If you'd like the tab to right align text, double-click your new tab symbol. In the menu under Alignment, select Right.

Every now and then you might get a Word document from somebody who uses multiple spaces instead of tabs to space out items or begin paragraphs. It's also pretty common with information downloaded from the Web -- when it's converted from HTML to text format, a whole bunch of spaces appear. Suddenly your lovely Web chart looks like a mess in Word.

First, how can you tell if the document uses spaces instead of tabs?

1. Click on the paragraph symbol in the Paragraph tools.

2. You will see dots for spaces and right arrows for tabs.


Next, how do you clean it up?

Easy! Just perform the following steps:`

1. Press Ctrl+H to pull up the Find and Replace box.
2. Click on the More button and check the Use Wildcards box.
3. In the Find field, enter a single space followed by a left brace, the number 2, a comma, and the right brace.
4. In the Replace field, type ^t. The Find and Replace box should now look like this:
5. Click on Replace All.

You're done! Now all your multiple spaces will be replaced with tabs, and you can adjust the tabs as needed.

Don't Fall for the Latest Phone-Based "Tech Support" Scam

We've heard news recently about a new form of scam that preys on people's fears about accidentally downloading computer viruses and spyware. Here's how it works: the scammer calls the victim and claims to be working for a computer monitoring firm, a security software provider, or "your Windows XP provider." They say that they have reason to believe the victim's computer has been compromised, and that they can investigate the problem if the victim gives them access to his or her computer using a popular (and legitimate) remote access program such as LogMeIn. If the victim complies, the scammer has the entire contents of the victim's computer at their fingertips -- including passwords, logins, and all kinds of information that are catnip to identity thieves.

Here's how to spot the scam:

1. They say they're from "your monitoring service" or "your provider" but they don't identify themselves by name. This is a huge red flag, particularly if you aren't signed up for a monitoring service!
2. They're contacting you by phone. If there's a real security problem, you're usually notified automatically when your security software runs.
3. They want a credit card number before they'll render their "services."

Naturally, we're concerned about this because we don't to see innocent computer users getting scammed -- particularly by people purporting to do the same kind of work that we do! Here's how we're different:

1. When we contact our clients, we identify ourselves as CMIT Solutions, not "your provider." And because we value our relationships, our clients know us personally and by name -- so there's no question that we are who we say we are when we call.
2. If it's a screaming emergency, we might contact you by phone -- but because you know us and can always call us back if you're in doubt about who's really calling you, you can feel safe knowing you're working with a trusted resource. Otherwise, we can take care of most security issues for our CMIT Marathon customers without them even noticing. (CMIT Marathon is our remote monitoring and maintenance service, which includes security updates.)
3. If you're a CMIT Marathon or Guardian customer, you're subscribed to an ongoing service and won't have to provide payment over the phone if you ever call us with a question. Depending on your individual plan, we might have to bill separately for a visit to your office -- but you'll get a proper invoice, not a pushy technician pressuring you for a credit card number on the phone.

For more information about the phone-based "tech support" scam, you can check out this helpful AARP Bulletin article: http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/scam_alert_helpful_hackers_.html. For more information on CMIT Marathon, click here: /marathon.php.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, we're thankful for family, friends, and all of our wonderful clients and QuickTips subscribers. We owe you a debt of gratitude for your continual feedback, support, and the many ways you help us to be a better business. Every day we're inspired by the example you set. Small businesses are the backbone of America, and though the year ahead may be challenging for many, we hope it will be fruitful for all. Thanks again for making us your IT partner, and keep your suggestions and comments coming!

If you're looking for ways to say "thank you" to your community this Thanksgiving, Meals on Wheels and Feeding America are two great national organizations to contact. Or you can get in touch with local soup kitchens, religious organizations, homeless shelters, and food banks for other volunteer opportunities. Volunteering on Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful way to get involved – and it only takes a couple hours to deliver meals to seniors or feed hungry families, so you have the rest of the day to spend with your own family

Alert: Fraudulent Email Is Not From Intuit

A number of fraudulent emails have gone out recently purporting to be from Intuit. The latest one claims to be from the QuickBooks Update Center and contains the subject line "Intuit Secure Update.” This email is not legitimate. Ignore it and delete it.

For reference, the text of the fraudulent email is as follows: 

rom: QuickBooks Update Center [mailto:software@quickbooks.intuit.com]

Subject: Intuit Secure Update

 

As is the case with many companies that maintain large databases of information, Intuit is the target of fraudulent attempts to get access and extract information from its database. We recently watch our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account information were taken, including QuickBooks email addresses, names, phone numbers. The data accessed does not include banking information.

 

Immediately upon learning about this, Intuit started an investigation and took corrective steps. It is important to know the company continually monitors for any illicit use of information in our database, and so far, we have not detected the misuse of this information.

 

In order to help assure the security of your information, we have developed a special plug-in for browser and Windows® - QuickBooks Update. This software will protect yours private information from any kinds of spyware or malware.

 

System requirements :

 

    * Windows XP, Vista, 2000, 2003

    * Internet Explorer 6.x, 7.x, 8.x

 

ATTENTION: You will not be able to use our service without update from 17 of November 2009

 

Download :

 

    * Windows® QuickBooks Update

    * Internet Explorer plug-in

 

If you are not Microsoft Windows® user you can use our services as usual

 

Intuit has confirmed that this is a fraudulent email (for more details, see the Intuit security blog at http://security.intuit.com/alerts/alert.php?a=8). But even without their confirmation, it’s pretty easy to tell. Here's how:

 

1. You can often spot a phishing attempt because it contains misspellings or poor grammar. In the above example, a phrase like “We recently watch our database was illegally accessed” is a big red flag that the email was probably written by a scammer whose first language isn’t English.

2. Any email that requests personal information or asks you to download something is probably a phishing attempt. Legitimate companies do not ask their clients to re-supply information the company already possesses. Nor do they ask their clients to download plug-ins by clicking on an email link.

 

If you receive a phishing email, do not click on any of the links or consent to download anything. Forward a copy of the email to your IT administrator so that they’re aware of the problem and can alert other users. Then delete the email from your inbox and trash bin.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

Give Your Documents a Uniform Look with Themes

A nice feature of Office 2007 is that you can make documents from several different programs – Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook – all have the same look and feel. Whereas in the past you’d have to alter the color and style of every table, chart, and shape in every document separately, you can now just select a theme that takes care of all those details automatically.

For example, here’s a simple chart using the theme called Office:







Here’s that same chart using the theme called Perspective:







As you can see, the theme affects the font, color, shading, and shadow effects. And because it’s available in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, your chart will look the same no matter what program it appears in – and all the other charts you use will have a similar look.

The Themes gallery is accessible from the Formatting Palette. To create your own custom theme, you can open up a given theme and then alter the font, colors, and effects, and then save as a new theme. Just use the customization settings to the right of the thumbnailed themes, visible in the screen shot below.


more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

Leasing vs. Buying: What You Need to Know

It’s just a good sound business practice to keep a healthy cushion of cash on hand at all times. And with credit markets tight, you need to keep what credit reserves you have for real emergencies.

At the same time you’re attending to cash flow issues, you’ve also got to keep on top of your computers and IT infrastructure in order to keep your business running smoothly. So how do you meet technology demands while keeping cash on hand? Leasing presents one good financing option for many small businesses.

When you buy equipment, it’s yours forever. But when it comes to computers, the pace of innovation is so rapid that owning equipment “forever” doesn’t always make sense. Leasing lets you acquire equipment at a fixed, affordable monthly cost, leaving bank credit and cash reserves free for other expenses. You can upgrade or refresh technology whenever you need to, instead of trying to extract value from old or out-of-date equipment. And some providers will finance not only the lease but also installation and configuration, so that you can roll up all the costs of a technology refresh into a single payment.

	Leasing	Buying
Initial investment	Lower	Higher
Soft costs (taxes, shipping, installation)	Payable over time	Payable immediately
Predictability of expenses	Very predictable	Variable
Risk of obsolescence	Low	High
Preserves bank credit	Yes	No
Preserves available cash	Yes	No

A potential down side of leasing is that, depending on the length of the lease, you may ultimately pay more for an item than you would if you paid for it outright. This is particularly true of longer-term leases. You should also consider the residual value of the equipment at the end of the lease. Equipment value declines over time, so a shorter-term lease results in fewer payments with a higher-value asset at the end, as well as lower risk of obsolescence.

Remember, there may be tax implications to consider for either option. You may want to consult with your accountant to determine the best fit for you.

If you want to learn more about financing options available through CMIT Solutions, give us a call at 408-217-6600.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

Every Remote Office Needs an Online Conference Room

Online conferencing allows people to meet, collaborate, and exchange ideas without having to be in the same place – which comes in handy when corporate travel budgets take a hit.

Combine reduced travel allowances with many smaller businesses’ decision to downsize or even eliminate their physical offices to save on rental costs, and you can see why online conferencing is getting popular again. Not only does it allow for realtime collaboration, it can also allow you to record and replay meetings and presentations for people who couldn’t make it to the original event. You may not have all your employees in the same place at the same time anymore, but you can make it easier for them to communicate like they are.

So how do you evaluate a Web conferencing service? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Determine your needs and priorities. Do you need a bare-bones service that offers basic desktop sharing, or do you need something more elaborate, with bells and whistles like polling, streaming audio, and document sharing?
2. Determine what platforms it needs to run on: Windows, Mac, Linux, or all of the above.
3. Watch providers’ online demos. You can read all the white papers and datasheets you want, but you won’t know what a product really feels like until you see it in action.
4. Pay attention to customer service. If they don’t respond quickly to your concerns as a potential customer, they might not respond any faster once you’ve signed up.
5. Compare pricing. Most services charge by the month and offer a discounted annual plan.

If you've got questions about how to set up a remote office, call us at 408-217-6600. We can help with virtual private networks, remote access, security, and more.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

Plain Text, Rich Text, or HTML? You Decide

When you’re sending out email to new recipients who haven’t heard from you and who may be using a variety of mail programs to view your message, it’s best to go the simplest route possible and stick with a plain text format. You won’t get any fancy formatting bells and whistles – no crazy fonts, no pictures or backgrounds – but it’s your best hope of keeping the email from landing in a spam filter or rendering as unreadable gobbledygook on the other end.

HTML, on the other hand, works great for newsletters like this one: where you’re sending to a known subscriber list and you have images, headers, and a variety of styles to manage. HTML is also a very widely recognized format, and the default for Outlook.

Rich Text is another formatting option offered by Outlook, but it’s only useful in very limited circumstances. (For example, if you're sending email within a company that uses Outlook on a Microsoft Exchange Server and want to include an attachment in the body of the message instead of up near the subject line.) Plain text and HTML are really all you’ll need to send attractive, readable emails to recipients using everything from Thunderbird to mobile phone browsers.

To alter the format of a single email, take the following steps:

Go to Actions > New Mail Message Using > And then select the format you want. (The default in Outlook is HTML.)

To change the default format for all outgoing mail:

Go to Tools > Options > And then click the Mail Format tab. A drop-down menu gives you a choice of HTML, Plain Text, or Rich Text.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

Make Your Internal IT Department More Productive, Efficient, and Effective – Without Adding Headcount or New Vendors

If you’ve got an in-house IT staff, you know how hard it is to coordinate all of the many tasks regularly assigned to your technical gurus. More often than not, techs deal with problems on a first-come, first-served basis — or according to the “squeaky wheel” principle, where whoever yells the loudest gets the most attention.

This can result in unhappy employees, an overworked and harried IT staff, and a feeling that everybody’s struggling to keep up with IT demands instead of actually getting ahead and concentrating on projects that can really help out the whole business instead of a few individuals.

What you need is a way to prioritize tasks, also known as “tickets,” and coordinate schedules so that technicians, non-technical employees, and management all have a clear picture of who’s working on what.

Well, we’ve finally found a way – and we wanted you to be the first to know about it. Today we’re announcing the release of CMIT Service Center, a new add-on product to the award-winning external IT service desk management software that’s already available when you sign up for CMIT Marathon. CMIT Service Center lets you log and track internal IT service requests, distribute those requests to the most appropriate person (whether it’s in-house staff or CMIT technicians), and create custom follow-on questions and workflow rules to suit the unique demands and structure of your business. In essence, it takes all those coordination and scheduling capabilities you enjoy when you work with CMIT technicians and brings them in-house.

CMIT Service Center lets you streamline and formalize the internal service ticket process — resulting in real accountability, better service, and more efficient use of your IT staff and resources. Sounds pretty good, right? Call 408-217-6600 or visit www.cmitsolutions.com/centralsv/servicecenter to learn more.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

When (and How) to Use Linked vs. Embedded Worksheets

Sometimes when you use a worksheet in a Microsoft PowerPoint or Word presentation, you want it to be as up-to-date as possible. Other times, it doesn't matter if the information is current or not - you can just use a static copy of an old worksheet.

In the first instance, you’ll want to use a linked worksheet. In other words, your presentation will look for its source data in the original Excel file. In the second instance, you can use an embedded worksheet – basically, a copy that you can modify without it affecting the original. Embedded worksheets are handy when you’re sharing your presentation with others, because it means you won’t have to send the original Excel file along with the presentation.

Linked Worksheets

So let’s say you’ve got a PowerPoint presentation that includes a slide showing the most current quarter’s sales figures. That will change from quarter to quarter, of course, so you should use a linked worksheet. If you choose this option, remember that your machine will look for the source data in the original Excel file every time you open the PowerPoint presentation.

Here’s how to insert a linked Excel 2007 worksheet in PowerPoint 2007:

1. Open up your PowerPoint presentation to the relevant slide.
2. Open up your Excel file to the relevant chart.
3. Select the portion of the worksheet you want to include.
4. Press Ctrl+C.
5. Switch over to PowerPoint and click on the slide.
6. Go to the Home tab, find the Clipboard group, click the arrow under Paste, and then click Paste Special.
   
7. In the As list, select Microsoft Office Excel object.
8. Click Paste link.

To perform the same operation using Excel and PowerPoint 2003:

1. Open up your PowerPoint presentation to the relevant slide.
2. Open up your Excel file to the relevant chart.
3. Select the portion of the worksheet you want to include.
4. Press Ctrl+C.
5. Switch over to PowerPoint and click on the slide.
6. Go to Edit/Paste Special.
7. Select the Paste link toggle and select Microsoft Office Excel Worksheet Object.

Embedded Worksheets

If you’re using information that will not be updated, or if you don’t want changes to a worksheet to be reflected in your presentation, you can simply embed a copy of the worksheet in the presentation. (This also makes the presentation more portable, because it won’t automatically “look” for the source data in Excel every time you open it.)

Here’s how to insert an embedded Excel 2007 worksheet in PowerPoint 2007:

1. Open up your PowerPoint presentation to the relevant slide.
2. Open up your Excel file to the relevant chart.
3. Select the portion of the worksheet you want to include.
4. Press Ctrl+C.
5. Switch over to PowerPoint and click on the slide.
6. Go to the Home tab, find the Clipboard group, click the arrow under Paste, and then click Paste Special.
   
7. In the As list, select Microsoft Office Excel object.
8. Click Paste.

To perform the same operation using Excel and PowerPoint 2003:

1. Open up your PowerPoint presentation to the relevant slide.
2. Open up your Excel file to the relevant chart.
3. Select the portion of the worksheet of the worksheet you want to include.
4. Press Ctrl+C.
5. Switch over to PowerPoint and click on the slide.
6. Go to Edit/Paste Special.
7. Select the Paste toggle and select Microsoft Office Excel Worksheet Object.

If you’ve got a question about Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or other Office programs, CMIT Solutions can help. Give us a call at 408-217-6600.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

It's Easy to Set Up a Signature File - Here's How

A signature file appears at the end of an email message and usually contains some or all of the following:

• A sign-off phrase like “Best regards” or “Thank you”
• The writer’s name, job title, and contact information
• The company name and web address

Signature files, also known as “sig files,” can also contain quotes and graphics. A successful sig file is like a little business card – it tells you everything you need to know about a business contact, and nothing you don’t. If you’re not currently using a signature file, you might consider it as an easy, nonaggressive way of promoting your business or web page. It also makes it easy for email recipients to access your contact information directly from their Inbox.

To set up a signature file in Outlook 2003, do the following:

1. Go to Tools > Options.
2. Go to the Mail Format tab.
3. At the bottom, in the “Signatures” section, click the button titled Signatures.
4. Click New.
5. Enter a name for your new signature and click Next.
6. Type in your text and modify as needed.
7. Click Finish.

To set up a signature file in Outlook 2007, do the following:

1. In a new message, on the Message tab, in the Include group, click Signature, and then click Signatures.
2. On the E-mail Signature tab, click New.
3. Enter a name for your new signature and click OK.
4. Type in your text and modify as needed.
5. Click OK.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

How to Access Files at the Office - Even When You're Away

Remote office access lets you log on to a computer or server from a separate location and use it as if you were actually on-site. Many businesses now rely on the ability to give employees remote office access, whether it’s for mobile workers, as a response to the increased price of commuting or the need for flexible work schedules.

There are two main categories of remote access: remote desktop connection and virtual private networks (VPN). Each one of these types of remote access has its own merits and even some challenges.

Remote Desktop Connection

In simple terms, “remote desktop” refers to the ability to access your computer from another remote computer. You can either do this using Microsoft’s Remote Desktop (a standard feature of Windows XP Professional that can connect you to another XP Professional machine), or through Web-based services such as GoToMyPC and LogMeIn, or you can use one of the most popular features of Microsoft Small Business Server, Remote Web Workplace, which provides free remote access to all designated employees via a secure web site.

Remote desktop offers quick, easy and inexpensive access that, if set up correctly, requires nothing more than Internet service no matter where you are. The downside to using remote desktop is that only one person at a time can access the remote machine, and it requires someone who is tech savvy to complete the initial set up.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A VPN emulates a direct, secure point-to-point connection, allowing data to be securely transmitted across unsecured public or private networks. Because a VPN is secure, it eliminates the need for pricey point-to-point options such as leased lines and dial-up connections. The remote office or computer naturally becomes part of the network. Additionally, a VPN allows for the sharing of network resources such as printers, servers, files and databases.

On the minus side, a VPN can be difficult to set up and requires a high degree of technical skills in the area of public network security. Additional software for the VPN client must be installed on remote computers. Finally, the performance of some applications, such as QuickBooks, suffers over a VPN connection.

Not sure which remote access solution is right for your business? Give the experts at CMIT Solutions a call: 408-217-6600. We’re here to help!

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv

Flag Sensitive, Urgent, and Draft Documents with Watermarks

When you’re circulating a document for group review, you sometimes want to make it absolutely clear what the purpose or the status of the document is. Watermarks such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “DRAFT’ help get the point across.

Watermarks are easy to insert in Word 2007. Just follow these steps:

1. Click Page Layout on the Office ribbon.
2. Go to the Page Background group and click Watermark.
3. Select the watermark you’d like to use.
4. To create a custom text watermark, first remove the existing one by going to the Page Background group, clicking Watermark, and clicking Remove Watermark. Click Custom Watermark, then Text Watermark, and type in your custom watermark. Click Apply.

The process is slightly different with Word 2000 and 2003:

1. Go to the Format menu, then select Background, and click Printed Watermark.
2. To insert a picture as a watermark, click Picture Watermark. Then click Select Picture. Select the picture you want, and then click Insert.
   To insert text as a watermark, click Text Watermark. Then select an existing watermark or enter your own custom text.
3. Use the Print Layout view to see how it will appear on the printed page.

If you’ve got a question about using Microsoft Word or other Office products, CMIT Solutions can help. Give us a call at 408-217-6600.

more info - http://cmitsolutions.com/centralsv