- You're just about to print a 3,000 word assignment, when Word freezes,
or the computer crashes, or there's a power cut - and you don't have a
saved copy of the document. Instead of screaming or
starting over from the beginning, you can make sure it never happens
again.
- Buy a portable USB hard drive
USB drives are small, relatively inexpensive and much more reliable than floppy disks, with a far greater capacity.
- Always save and name your file as soon as you begin it
You can do this by:
- Click the Office 2007 button (top left corner of your document) and select Save As from the drop-down menu, or File » Save As (for Office 2003 documents).
- Once you have named and saved your file to a location of your choice, you can then continue to regularly save your work as follows:
- Click the Save button on an Office 2007 Quick Access Toolbar, or the Save button on an Office 2003 document toolbar
- Pressing Ctrl+S on the keyboard (ie. holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the letter S)
- Save the file frequently and after every significant change
The more often you save, the less work you will have to restore in the event of a catastrophe.
- Make multiple backups
The more important the file, the more copies you should make of it.
Avoid using floppy disks, as they corrupt quite easily. USB drives or re-writable CDs
are preferred (note that UQ Library workstations are not equipped with CD-burners).
- Don't depend on one storage facility
If every backup is on a single hard drive and it fails, you could lose
everything. If they are all on CDs stored next to your computer and it
catches fire, you could still lose everything.
- If you have access to more than one computer, copy your backups to each of them.
- Transfer copies to multiple CDs. Store one locally, another in an
easily-accessible alternate location and give another to a family
member.
- E-mail files to yourself so that the copy is left in your mailbox.
- Store copies in your free student data storage.
- For important, long-term documents, make an historical backup
Some documents, such as theses or dissertations, may take years to
complete, and the longer this process takes, the more likely it is that
a problem will occur. Ensure your document's safety and security. Do
not save backups over backups as you may be unknowingly replacing a
"good" copy with a "bad" one. Instead, follow this procedure:
Place all documents relating to a particular project in a single folder
or a subfolder of that folder. Then copy-paste that folder with a new
name incorporating the current day's date. The new folder is the backup
and should not be touched. In the event of a catastrophe, these folders
will allow you to return to your document as it was yesterday, the day
before, last week, last month or last year.
This strategy should be used in tandem with the other strategies listed
above to ensure that they are not all kept in a single location.
If you're working on campus (especially in the Library), save the file
to disk or to your free student data storage (H: drive). If you're working at home,
you can also save to the hard drive (usually called the C: drive) of
your computer.
- Know the Emergency Keys
When the computer freezes or crashes, try pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete on
the keyboard. You should be able to reboot the computer - you may be
able to close just the offending application. For Mac users, it's
Ctrl+Cmnd (Apple key)+Restart.
If this doesn't work, try the Reset button (usually on the front of the case) or switch off by pressing and holding the Power button for a few moments.
- Undo Your Mistakes
Most applications have an "Undo" command. In some cases, you can only
undo your most recent action, but in Word you can undo around a hundred
actions. It varies. To undo a mistake ...
- Click the Undo Button on the Toolbar, or
- Pressing Ctrl and Z on the keyboard, or
- Clicking Edit, then Undo.
- Find Lost Files & Documents
Use the Windows Search Tool to find files or documents on your own
computer. (This facility isn't available in the Library, because you
can't save to the hard drive of the Library's computers. Search for
lost files on your USB drives or floppy disks using My Computer, or ask staff for
help.)
- Click the Start Button on the bottom left of your screen.
- Slide the mouse up to Search, then click on Files and Folders on the right.
- When the Search Dialog box appears, click All Files and Folders
- Type part or all of your file name in the uppermost box.
- If you can't remember the name of the document, type *. and then the type of file extension, eg for Word documents type *.doc.
- Specify where you want to search in the Look in: box. You can use the drop-down arrow to change the drive to search.
- Choose any other options for your search by clicking on the arrows next to the options below the search boxes.
- Click the Search Button.
- Save Time with Cut, Copy and Paste
Using the Cut, Copy and Paste commands, you can:
- Move or copy text or images or data...
- within a single file - like a Word document.
- between different applications - for example:
- a graph or table from an Excel spreadsheet to a Word document
- text from a Web page to a Word document
- move or copy an entire file using My Computer or Windows Explorer...
- from one folder to another on the same drive
- from a folder on the hard drive of your computer to a floppy disk
- from a folder on the hard drive of your computer to a folder on a server via a network
- Using the Cut command:
- Use Cut when you want to move something.
- Highlight or select the material you wish to cut.
- Send the Cut command by:
- clicking the Cut Button on the toolbar
 , or
- clicking Edit and Cut, or
- pressing Ctrl+X on the keyboard
- Click to put the cursor where you want the cut material to reappear,
changing applications if necessary. You may have to open an application
or switch to it if it is already open.
Tip: Press and hold
the Alt key and hit the Tab key to cycle through all open applications.
Let go when you reach the one you want. Or click the right button on
the Taskbar.
- Paste
- Using the Copy command:
- Use copy when you want keep the original and make a copy of it.
- Highlight or select the material you wish to copy.
- Send the Copy command by
- clicking the Copy Button
 on the toolbar, or
- clicking Edit and Copy, or
- pressing Ctrl+C on the keyboard
- The material you copied doesn't seem to change at all. It hasn't, but a copy of it has been placed on the Windows Clipboard.
- Click to put the cursor where you want the copied material to appear,
changing applications if necessary. You may have to open an application
or switch to it if it is already open. Tip: Press and hold the Alt key and hit the Tab key to cycle through
all open applications. Let go when you reach the one you want. Or click
the right button on the Taskbar.
- Paste.
- Using the Paste command:
- Check that you have the cursor where you want the highlighted material to be pasted.
- Send the Paste command by:
- clicking the Paste Button
 on the toolbar, or
- clicking Edit and Paste, or
- pressing Ctrl+V on the keyboard
- Whatever was on the Clipboard will be pasted to the place you
specified. You can paste the same thing many times - until it is
replaced on the Clipboard when you cut or copy another item.
- Use a Virus Checker
A virus can destroy years of work in a few seconds. All Ask I.T. and Library computers have automatic virus checkers installed and so should your own computer.
- Manage your Files & Folders
Imagine that your computer is an electronic filing cabinet. In it, you
can keep lots of named folders containing documents - just like folders
in a filing cabinet. A little forethought about structuring your
folders will make life much more organised. (Note: Folders are
sometimes also referred to as directories or subdirectories.)
- Structure your folders to reflect the way you think. Do you organise
your work by the subjects you study, or by the type of task -
assigments, tutorials, labs? This is what the contents of your floppy
disk might look like in My Computer...
- Use file and folder names which actually mean something to you. For example - PY101 assignment.doc rather than word1.doc.
- You can even create hierarchies of folders inside each other. In My
Computer, click on the folder which will be the "parent". Click File,
slide over to New, click Folder and type a name.
- Always put the file name and date of the document somewhere on the document itself.
- Always check the default locations and file names in the Save Dialog
box. Choose the file names you want and save to the folders you have
created.
- Come to a Class
Check out the class details, times and locations on the Ask I.T. Training Page. Ask
I.T. Training classes run throughout semester at St Lucia, Gatton and
Ipswich. Classes are free for UQ students and there is usually no need
to book.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 April 2008 )
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