Archive for August, 2009

Customizing the keyboard in Outlook 2007

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Did you know that you can customize the keyboard in Outlook 2007 message editor windows? You won’t find it in the list of commands or otherwise in the interface. However, Outlook 2007 uses Word 2007, sort of, as the message editor. As a result, many things that work in Word, also work in Outlook’s message windows—even things that the interface doesn’t seem to know about otherwise.

Someone in a newsgroup wrote earlier today that Shift+Tab works to decrease the indent in Word 2003, but does not do so in Outlook 2003. That’s also true in Outlook 2007. Tab, by the way, increases the indent in both Word and Outlook 2003. Hence, the question: how can you decrease the indent using the keyboard in Outlook 2003. As far as I’ve been able to determine, you can’t unless you’re using Word as your message editor. The answer appears to be Ctrl+Shift+M. But, I don’t have access to Outlook 2003, so I can’t be sure.

However, the exercise of trying to find out led me to using my tried-and-true ToolsCustomizeKeyboardShortcut key assignment in Outlook 2007. It works in Outlook 2007 message windows! In fact, it works in any formatted Outlook 2007 window (such as the notes area in Tasks and Contacts).

Basically, it works like this (the same way it’s worked in every version of Word for Windows):

Press Ctrl+Alt+Plus Sign (on Number Pad).

This turns the mouse pointer into a cloverleaf shape:


When the mouse pointer is this shape, Word (and Outlook, too) will tell you the key assignment of the next command (keystroke, ribbon, QAT, menu) you exercise—if there is one. It will also let you make a key assignment in the process. So, for example, if I open an Outlook message window and I press Ctrl+Alt+Plus Sign (on Number Pad) and then click on the Decrease Indent tool, I see the following dialog box:

Then, I wondered: Can I use this to make key assignment? And, if I do, will they stick around for the next Outlook session?

The answer is Yes! The changes are saved in NormalEmail.dotm, which is the default template for email messages when using Outlook 2007.

So, if I want a keystroke for Decrease Indent, I just click in the Press new shortcut key: field, then tap the key combination I want to use (such as Ctrl+Shift+T), click Assign, and then click Close. Now, I can press Ctrl+Shift+T (which for me is kind of logical, since I used to use Ctrl+T for Tab).

What’s the catch? Well, thanks to my old friend Mike Shacter, I now know that this will not work with all keystrokes. Even some that are ostensibly “unassigned” according to the Customize Keyboard dialog box cannot be used. Why? I don’t know. Ctrl+Shift+T worked. Maybe I got lucky, because if I’d tried Alt+F12, I would have discovered that it didn’t work, and I might have given up, thinking that key assignment in Outlook didn’t really work.

Since receiving an email from Mike Shacter, I’ve discovered that you cannot successfully reassign keys that are already assigned. The dialog box will claim that you’ve succeeded. But, despite the dialog’s having told me that I successfully reassigned Ctrl+R to EditReplace, Ctrl+R continued to apply right alignment to the current paragraph. This was true of other already-assigned keystrokes as well.

But, I’ve also discovered that “unassigned” keystroke were not all created equal. Ctrl+Shift+4 claims to be unassigned. But, I was not able to use it. Ctrl+Shift+( also couldn’t be used. Ctrl+Shift+[, however, could. So, if you pursue this “trick” for Outlook 2007, keep in mind that you might need to experiment to find something that works.

PS Don’t be surprised if this works in Outlook 2010, too.

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Nice things coming in Windows 7

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

I installed the RTM version of Windows 7 this past Sunday. I expected snafus, but what I got was an easy installation and a lot of pleasant surprises.

I’m finding a lot to like about Windows 7. In particular, I like the new functionality built into the applications that are pinned to the Windows Taskbar. Right now, I want to talk about three things I like.

First, they’ve rolled Quick Launch and application shortcuts into a single concept. Notice how there’s just one set of icons on the Taskbar. These are applications that are running as well as applications I’ve pinned to the Taskbar. Notice that some are lighter than others. The ones that are lighter are running.

While the Quick Launch toolbar can still be used, it’s now redundant. I find that my use of the Taskbar is a lot more efficient now.

Second, as an option, each running icon displays clickable previews of open application windows when you hover over the icon with the mouse pointer. Here, I first hovered over the Word icon, then I hovered over the document at the left (the one I’m currently drafting). Hovering over the application icon displays all open windows/documents for that application. Hovering over a preview causes that window to surface—even if it’s buried under a number of layers of other windows. Notice the lines on the desktop—those are the outlines of other application windows temporarily hidden so I can see where the surfaced document window is. It’s not visible in this screen shot because I have two monitors—making “not knowing” where something is at any given time pretty easy.

Third, when you right-click on an application icon in the Taskbar, Windows 7 shows you a list of up to 10 of the most recent documents/files you’ve opened with that application. If you’re a fan of the recently-used-files lists in Office applications, you’ll be delighted to know that you don’t have to wait until the application is open. Click the file you want, and you hit the ground running.

Notice, however, that the list also includes files that you might have accessed during a recent session. Here, for example, a .jpg file is included because I inserted a picture in a document. Word, of course, can’t really open that file. So, if I click on it, I’ll be prompted for encoding information—usually a good sign that you’re opening a file that Word doesn’t know how to open (Word can insert pictures, but it can’t open them the same way it can open documents).

I’ve been using Windows 7 less than a week, and I’m already wanting to install it on my laptop. If I were sure all of the Toshiba devices would be supported, I’d go for it. Stay tuned… If I get brave enough, I’ll give a full report.

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Is Firefox 3.5x slow to load some web pages?

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

If Firefox 3.5x is running slowly for you, you might have the same problem I had.

I installed Window 7 Ultimate on Sunday, August 9th. As is usually the case when I install a new OS from scratch, rather than updating an existing installation, there was a flurry of installing needed software applications and utilities. One of the first things I installed was AVG Free for antivirus. Around that time, I also installed Firefox—my default browser.

Over the past day or two, I was noticing increasingly that getting into some websites was taking a long time. Worse, it would often take multiple tries, because Firefox would time out and tell me that the web site could not be found, and had the audacity to suggest that I check my internet connection. To me, this is like when your lamp won’t turn on, the help manual for it (you mean your lamps don’t have Help manuals?) suggests that you go to the eye doctor and make sure you can still see. Or, take your pulse, and make sure you’re still among the living.

In any case, I decided to try Internet Explorer to see if it was having the same issues. It wasn’t! Whoa. A clue!

So, I immediately started comparing settings to see what was different. The obvious, like some proxy having been snuck in by an evil website, turned out not to be the problem. Then it hit me—add-ins!

So, I selected Tools
–> Addons from the menu, and saw a promising suspect: AVG Safe Search. I remember saying Yes to this when I installed AVG, thinking “Oh, that might be helpful.” Little did I know that it would quickly become the source of much annoyance.

So, I disabled it and uninstalled it and restarted Firefox. Bingo! The slowness was history. What I’d spent the past 36 hours blaming a DDOS attack for wasn’t the problem at all. It was me, having shot myself in my own foot, by not carefully asking “Do I really want this feature?” I’m usually a bit more methodical when I add something new. But, when I install an operating system and just want to get up and running ASAP, I don’t follow my own best practices. In any case, hopefully, my having realized the cause of my slowness issue can perhaps help someone else. Hence, the blog.

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