Microsoft Office '97 is Coming! 

New features, an easier to use interface, and full Windows 95 capabilities will make Office 97 the new standard.

Brian Wilson, Systems Manager

As most of you already know, training sessions and implementation of Microsoft Office 97 has already begun.  Office 97 contains upgrades of all four Office applications, Word (word processor), Excel (spreadsheet), PowerPoint (presentations), and Access (database).  You may still have questions about why we are making the upgrade.  Here are some of the reasons:

Overall:

1. Microsoft Office 97 allows for use of long file names when saving your documents.  Previously, we were limited to 8 characters for a file name, making it difficult to create a descriptive name.  Now, we have the ability to use file names with up to 255 characters.
2. Office 97’s new help feature, the Office Assistant, allows you to ask your questions in plain English.  Help features in older programs have always left something to be desired.  You had to have some knowledge of the terminology used by the program in order to find help about it.  Now, with Office 97, simply ask the question as you would to another person, and Office 97 will give you a list of possible help topics.
3. The ability to move information between the four applications has been significantly improved.  For example, Word outlines can immediately be transferred to a PowerPoint presentation with the simple click of a button.

Word:

1. Wizards allow a user to enter in information in a dialog box, and then have the information used to create formatted documents such as letters, fax cover sheets, legal pleadings, etc.
2. Spell-checking and grammar-checking on the fly immediately alert you with a red (spelling) or green (grammar) underline in the case of an error.  You can change these quickly by right clicking the mouse over the mistake and choosing from a list of alternatives.

Excel:

1. The function wizard allows for the entry of complex formulas with relative ease.  Enter the cells with the data into the appropriate dialog boxes and your equation is automatically formed.
2. The Page Break Preview view allows you to see exactly where your page breaks are situated within a spreadsheet.  From here, you can drag the page breaks to the location you desire, and Excel automatically resizes the spreadsheet accordingly.

PowerPoint:

1. The AutoContent wizard allows for infrequent users to quickly develop a formatted presentation based on a series of responses to questions.
2. Animations have improved allowing more control for the user, including the ability to animate charts and graphs.

Access:

1. Wizards allow for the quick creation of databases with forms, tables, and reports built-in.
2. Sorting and filtering have been significantly improved to allow for use within tables.  Sorting data in a table now is not lost when the table is closed.

Training sessions will continue throughout February.  Call the IS Office at 8-5635 to schedule.

Robert R. McKenney, FAAMA, Director

Printers, like the workstations they are supporting have a limited life span -- some shorter than others depending on the volume of pages printed.  The IS Office has been looking at replacing existing printers that are starting to decrease in their performance. We are finding the costs for repairs are starting to exceed the printer's worth.

Basically, those printers which are Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet III and older are being targeted as likely candidates for replacement.  This year, Hewlett-Packard introduced a family of printers known as the 4000 series.  These printers are 17 pages per minute (ppm) units with 8 MB of RAM. Certainly, a noticeable difference over HP's older models.  These are the printers that the IS Office has been recommending/acquiring as the new standard printer in the College of Medicine and Public Health.

It should be noted that the 4000 series printers come without a network interface card (4000 Model), with a JetDirect network interface card (4000N), or with both the network card and the additional paper tray, (4000 TN).

In the March 1998 edition of MacWorld, a review was given of network laser printers.  Mac World concluded that the HP LaserJet 4000TN is "a smart choice for an office of any size."

Britta K. Dahl, Systems Specialist

Does your computer run slower than a snail?  Does your keyboard look like it came from “Night of the Living Dead”?   If you answered yes to either of these questions please read on.  All of our computers need a little TLC at times.  Just like your car or your house, they need to be cleaned, internally and externally.  There are a number of things that you, the user, can do to help your computer run at its best and stay that way.  This month we will focus on the internal (hey, it’s still cold outside), while next month, we will hit the external features.

These procedures should be performed at least monthly to optimize performance of your machine.

Internally, the first program you want to run to improve performance and solve error-producing hard drive problems is ScanDisk.  In Windows 95, the following steps will run ScanDisk:

1. Click Start.  Then Choose Programs, followed by Accessories, and System Tools.  Choose ScanDisk.
2. A dialog box appears.  Drive C: is the chosen default drive to scan.  Choose to perform a Thorough Scan and have ScanDisk automatically fix errors.
3. Go to lunch..this may take awhile!

After the ScanDisk has completed, the next program to run is called Disk Defragmenter.  During your daily routine, your computer reads files and writes them to different places, which is just like putting them down someplace on your desk they don’t belong.  When many files have been written to many different places, your computer must take longer to search for them, just like you do for files buried on your desk.  Disk Defragmenter puts the files back where they belong, shortening the time it takes for your computer to find them.  To run the program:

1. Click Start.  Then Choose Programs, followed by Accessories, and System Tools.  Choose Disk Defragmenter.
2. Drive C is the choice.  Choose OK.  You will see a box telling you the amount of fragmentation.  If this is above 3 or 4 percent, we recommend going ahead with the program.  Choose Start to perform the procedure, or Exit to leave the program without running the Defrag.

Finally, it is important to remove .tmp, or “temp” files from your hard drive.  To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click Start.  Then choose Find, followed by Files or Folders.
2. In the Named: box, type *.tmp
3. Check the Look In: box to make sure this reads C:.  If not click the arrow beside the box to choose this drive.
4. Check to make sure that the Include Subfolders box is checked and then click Find Now.
5. A list of all temporary files appears.  Click Edit from the menubar and choose Select All.  Press the Delete key on your keyboard.  Answer yes when you are asked if you are sure that you want to delete.