Use Wikipedia’s Book Creator To Compile Multiple Articles Into A PDF File

Did you know that buried on the left side column of any Wikipedia article, under the Print/Export selection there is a selection for Create A Book?

What this is handy for is compiling multiple articles together into a PDF file. There are several other eBook formats available, as well.  Also, if you prefer to not create a book you can download specific Wikipedia pages and articles as a PDF file. I know many folks, especially students, when doing research using Wikipedia, end up printing the page in its’ native html format when they could be saving the information electronically.

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Create A Desktop Shortcut To Your Windows 8 Apps and Software

What many of you do not know is that I often use the blog to document tips, that I come across, for my own future reference. Today’s post is a good example of this. Recently I discovered that I can create a Windows 8 desktop shortcut that will launch the Windows 8 GUI (graphical user interface) menu for all of the apps and software that I have installed on my computer.

As you well know, if you are a Windows 8 user, there is no Start Menu. This shortcut, in essence, will go to serve the same purpose of the Start Menu; however, in appearance it does not look like the Start Menu you have been accustomed to. The good about this is, that once you click the shortcut and you get to the apps screen, you can simply start typing to search for the app or software program you are looking for. For example, let’s say I want to launch the calculator that is built into windows. I simply click on the shortcut that will launch the Windows 8 GUI menu or apps screen, then start typing calculator and very quickly the tile to launch the calculator will appear.

To create this desktop shortcut, here is what you have to do:

Right click on desktop and click New -> Shortcut

A dialog box will appear prompting for a location of the item.  Copy and Paste the following into the dialog box, then click Next:

%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{2559a1f8-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}

After you click on Next, another dialog box will launch prompting you to give the shortcut a name. In this case, I named the shortcut Windows 8 Apps.  After you enter the name for the shortcut, click on Finish.

Click on your newly created shortcut, to launch the Windows 8 Apps Screen (menu)…

What I am finding, by using this shortcut technique, I am using the Windows 8 GUI menu (or apps screen) on a regular basis.

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A Friday Freebie: Microsoft Office 2013 Quick Start Guides

Get on board with Microsoft Office 2013 by downloading these FREE Microsoft Office 2013 Quick Start Guides.  The Guides are by Microsoft and are downloadable as separate PDF files.

Access 2013 Quick Start Guide

Excel 2013 Quick Start Guide

OneNote 2013 Quick Start Guide

Outlook 2013 Quick Start Guide

PowerPoint 2013 Quick Start Guide

Project 2013 Quick Start Guide

Publisher 2013 Quick Start Guide

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Word 2013 Quick Start Guide

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Storing and Opening Password Protected PDF Files Online Using Google Drive and SkyDrive

If you are concerned about security and storing personal document type files online, you may want to consider converting the document file to the PDF format, then password protecting the PDF file. Password protection of online files is one of the most requested features out there.

What I stumbled across, through experimentation, is that Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive can handle and open password protected PDF files, using their built-in (online) viewers. When you go to open a password protected PDF file using either of these services, you will be prompted for the password, and the PDF file will be opened online, without downloading, using either of these services.

This gives you an additional level of security protection when storing or sharing files using either of these services’ PLUS, the convenience of keeping the file online (and not downloading it). These were the only two file storage (and sharing) services I tested, where this will work; however, there may be other services, as well, that can handle or open a password protected PDF file. I also found that you need to be using a modern web browser, as well.

I know you are probably wondering, how do I convert my file to the Adobe PDF format and how do I password protect it?  The easiest way to do this is to download the FREE Nitro PDF Reader, which has a built in a PDF creator (or printer).

After you have downloaded and installed the Nitro PDF Reader, you will notice that when you go to print a document, you will see that a new printer is on the list called “Nitro PDF Creator (Reader)”.  If you want to convert the document to an Adobe PDF file, simply select the printer labeled “Nitro PDF Creator 2 (Reader”). Basically anything that can be printed on your computer to a regular printer can be printed to “Nitro PDF Creator 2 (Reader)”, including image files, spreadsheets, Powerpoint slides, etc…

Using Nitro PDF Reader you also have the ability to password protect  any PDF file you desire to create. When you go to print on your computer, the print dialog box typically appears. When it appears, select the “Nitro PDF Creator 2 (Reader)”, then click on and select “Preferences”.

Once you select preferences, the “Printing Preferences” dialog box appears. You will then notice a tab labeled “PDF Security”.  Click on that tab, click on “Require a password to open the document”, enter the desired password, then click on the “OK” button, then click on “Print” to generate (and create) a password protected PDF version of the document.

I know this may seem like a lot of steps, but really it is a cakewalk.  After you have created the password protected PDF file, then simply upload the file to either Google Drive or SkyDrive. Your file can now be stored and opened online, with the additional security of password protection.

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A Free Software Utility To Edit The Windows 8 Quick Access (WinX) Menu

Recently I posted the article, A Must Learn Windows 8 Tip: How To Get To The Quick Access Menu And To The Windows 8 Start Menu. In summary, this menu appears when you place your mouse pointer in the bottom right corner of the screen and when the the Start Screen thumbnail (or tip) pops up, right mouse click on the thumbnail and the Quick Access menu will appear. This menu serves as a convenient and quick launching point to the advanced system functions on your computer. This menu is also known in the Windows 8 environment, as the WinX menu.  If you hit the Win key on your keyboard plus X (Win + X), this menu will appear.

The WinX menu, I have found to be quite convenient and began thinking it would be a real plus if I could add my own items to the WinX menu. I began researching this and found that there is a folder on your computer called WinX which holds shortcuts, in groups, to the program items you see on the menu. At first, I thought I could add or remove the shortcuts and found that they are basically locked in place by the operating system; so, that option was ruled out.

I then started thinking that someone out there probably has developed software that will allow you to edit the WinX menu and sure enough I found a FREE software utility called Win+X Menu Editor for Windows 8.

With Win+X Menu Editor for Windows 8 you can edit the WinX menu without system files modification. You can rename, move items, add programs, add presets, add control panel items, create additional groups and remove items.

This little program is portable, works on a 32bit or 64 bit system, and is by the same developer of a program I featured in an article yesterday, called SimpleSndVol .

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Create An Archive Index Of Your WordPress.com Blog Posts

Recently I added an archive page to Bookmarks4Techs which is a listing of links (with titles) to every article I ever posted at What’s On My PC. When I came up with the idea I had to find a way to generate the list (which, at the time, was approximately 1450 articles) without expending a lot of work. I had some ideas up my sleeve; however, it goes back to an adage that I have; “If you can think of it, someone else has done it!”.

If you are using WordPress.com as your blogging platform, you will find that WordPress already has some shortcoding available that will allow to generate archive listings, in various types of formats. To generate the list that I needed, it was as simple as starting up the blogging editor in my account and inserting the shortcode [ archives ] in the editor, then clicking on Preview and voila’ there was a list of every article I ever posted in the order that they were posted. I simply then copied and pasted the listing into the Bookmarks4Techs archive page.

NOTE: In the example I used above, there are no spaces, between the brackets and the word archives. I had to place spaces between the brackets and the word archives to prevent WordPress from automatically generating the list of all my articles.

You can also insert additional archive shortcodes that will allow you to customize your lists.  See the examples provided below.  You can get more instruction and information on using these shortcodes [here] :

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Four Ways To Easily Get To The NEW and IMPROVED Windows 8 Task Manager

The NEW and IMPROVED Task Manager that we find in Windows 8 was designed in such a way to not overwhelm the end user and can be quite useful, especially when you need to shut down a task (or program) that is not playing well with your computer. When you first open the Task Manager in Windows 8, you are going to initially find a very basic interface (see below) that will only show what tasks (or programs) are currently active. This basic interface was an on purpose design, with the idea that it makes it easy for the non-technical type of person to get to the task manager, review and shut down  tasks (or programs) quickly, then get out.

To get to the more expanded (advanced) options to the Task Manager, you will need to click on “More Details”, which in turn will give you what you see in the screenshot below.

The expanded view is more for the technically inclined individual; however, I encourage new visitors to the Task Manager to not be afraid and go for the tour. You will find tabs for the processes running on your computer, performance gauges, Windows 8 App History, the programs starting up on your computer (which you can disable for troubleshooting purposes), Users, Details (on the programs and processes that are running), and Services.  I especially like the Details tab where if I see a process or program that is running that I am not sure of, I can right click on that process or program and perform a Google search to see what exactly the program or process is. So you see, the Task Manager has come a long way and can be used as a great troubleshooting tool.

Now that I have briefly covered the Task Manager, here are four ways to open the Task Manager up in Windows 8?

1. At the Windows 8 Start Screen, simply start typing “Task Manager”.  You will see the screen populate with a “Task Manager tile.  Click on the tile…
2. From the Windows 8 Start Screen or the Windows 8 Desktop use the hotkey Ctrl – Shift – Esc on your keyboard.
3. At the desktop level, move your mouse pointer to the bottom left corner of the screen until you see the Start Screen Button appear. When the button appears, right mouse click on the button and select Task Manager from the menu.  Also note the other options on that menu.
4. Believe it or not, this is the one I use the most. I guess it is because I have used it from day one when Windows was born. It is what I call the “three finger salute”.  Hit the Ctrl – Alt – Del keys simultaneously on the keyboard. You will be taken to the solid colored screen (usually blue by default) where you can select Task Manager.  To come out of that screen, simply Esc on the keyboard.

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