| The Many Faces of the Windows 95 Task Bar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| At the bottom of the
Windows 95 screen (usually at the bottom, as we'll discuss later) is the Windows Task Bar.
The Task Bar is an object in Windows that includes the Start Button, Open Applications,
Tray Icons and the Time. As an object it has its own properties and can be moved, hidden
and resized. What does the Task Bar do? The Task Bar provides you with an interface, the Start Button, for accessing Windows applications and controls. It also shows you which programs are open, which programs are running in the "background" (Tray Icons), and the current time. |
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| Now that we know what
the Task Bar is let's explore how to use and maneuver it. The most common thing we do with
the Task Bar is press Start and begin our computing experience. Once a program is started,
a tab will appear on the Task Bar with the program's name, such as Microsoft Word. As more
programs are opened more tabs will appear. The benefit of this is that you can press on
the tabs to switch from one program to another. On the right corner of the Task Bar is the time, which is self-explanatory, and Tray Icons. The Task Bar allows you to quickly change your computers date & time by double clicking on the displayed time. In addition, if you hold the mouse over the time the date will be displayed in a little yellow rectangle. Tray Icons are usually smaller programs that are running in the background, but can be accessed by the user by double clicking on the icon. Common examples of Tray Icons are the Windows Volume Control, AOL Net Messenger (The Buddy List) and First Aid. You should take the time to see how many Tray Icons you have displayed, as having too many open will drain the system's resources and hinder performance. For example, if you're not on the Internet there is no reason to have the Buddy List open. It's like leaving a light on in a room no one is going to be in. |
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| Since
the Task Bar is an object it can be moved to 4 different places on the screen, resized, or
set to not display at all. By default, the Task Bar is displayed along the bottom of your
screen, but it can be moved to the left side, right side or top of your screen. To move
the Task Bar, place the mouse over a blank area of the Task Bar, hold down the left mouse
button and drag it to the side you want it on. It will then display either horizontally if
on the top or bottom, or vertically if on the left or right sides. The width of the Task Bar can also be controlled. To resize the Task Bar, hold the mouse over the inner edge (the edge facing toward the middle of the screen) of the Task Bar until the cursor turns into double arrows. Once you have the double arrows, hold down the left mouse button and drag the Task Bar to whatever width you want. In most cases you want to keep it as thin as possible to maximize your work area. If you run into a situation where you think your Task Bar has disappeared chances are it has been resized to a minimum. To correct this, move your mouse to where the Task Bar should be and fish around a little until you get the double arrows. If the Task Bar were on the bottom of the screen you would have to move the mouse to the very bottom of the screen to get the double arrows. Once you have the arrows, drag the Task Bar back to its original size. |
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| Finally,
if you want the most work area possible you can set the Task Bar to be "hidden".
In this mode the Task Bar will not be visible unless you move the mouse over the area
where the Task Bar resides. Then it will magically appear, allow you to use it and
disappear when you are finished. To do this, move the mouse to a blank area of the Task
Bar and press the right mouse button. A menu will appear. Choose Properties at the bottom
of the menu and the Task Bar Properties screen will appear. On the Properties screen there are four choices. The second one down is Auto Hide. Put a check mark in the box to the left of that option by clicking in the box. Click OK and your Task Bar is now in Auto Hide mode. |
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| ProfitMaster Lite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Looking for a simple
database program just to track your customers? Look no further, the long awaited ProfitMaster Lite is here! ProfitMaster Lite is a simple database that allows you to track your customers and the jobs you have performed for them. There's no fooling with invoices, scheduling or payments, it's just the facts here! Though simple, Lite allows you to print Customer Listings & Mailing Labels, and it is 100% compatible with the Mail Merge Wizard! Lite also exports data for use in other programs or for outside services. Simple to use, and Lite in price, ProfitMaster Lite is the program to use for tracking customers without having to spend hours learning how to use it! Call us or visit our web site for more information. |
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| Our New Discussion Group | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If you've visited our
web site recently you may have noticed some changes. Besides being more user friendly and
downloading faster, we have added a Discussion Group or Bulletin Board to the site. This
is an area where users can "post" questions, comments, tips, and suggestions for
all of us to respond to and read. This is a tool for all ProfitMaster Users and the more
people that participate the better the group gets! The Discussion Group is an open forum though currently it is geared towards ProfitMaster topics we invite you to post others questions or tips that may pertain to your industry. We at PTS will not be able to answer technical Industry related questions but we hope other users will and do. We hope, through your participation, it will soon become a vast knowledge base of ProfitMaster and other service related issues. The Discussion group is easy to use and there are instructions on how to use it once you are there. In a nutshell, the group is divided into two frames. On the left are the available messages. A (+) next to a message means there are other messages listed below it. To see those messages click on the (+). To read a message simply click on it and it will be displayed on the right side of your screen. You can access our discussion group through our web site or by typing http://www.profit-master.com:8080/~201. |
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| Converting Fractions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| One of the first
topics in the Discussion group that gained attention is the dimension box in the Service
Description area in ProfitMaster. You see, the decimal system is based on 10 and area
measurement is based on 12 (12" = 1 foot). Since area is measured in Feet and Inches,
and ProfitMaster allows you to enter dimensions in decimal there seems to be some
confusion with what to do with the extra 2". The problem is how would you enter a room measurement of 10' 3"? If you enter 10.3 in ProfitMaster, technically, that would be incorrect. Let's analyze why. The number 10.3 is really 10 & 3/10th or 10 and 3 of the units that equal a whole unit. The measurement 10' 3" is really 10 feet & 3/12th of an inch. You can quickly see that things don't add up here as 3/10th does not equal 3/12th, there is a 1/20th difference between the two numbers. Enough technicalities, the bottom line is, What does this mean for you? It means that if you don't convert the inches into a fraction at some times you will be overcharging your customers and at other times you will be undercharging them. This issue is all relative to whether you think it all evens out at the end of the invoice or not! In the next version of ProfitMaster this issue will be addressed but in the meantime, Nikki of All Pro Cleaning, Inc. in Glenview, IL offers this simple solution. She has created a chart that she keeps by the computer that converts inches to decimal (x/12) so she can quickly make any adjustments she needs to when entering invoices in ProfitMaster. Sparked by her idea we have created our own chart. The first column shows the actual inches, the second column is the inches converted to decimal, and the third column shows that decimal rounded to the nearest 10th. This third column is the number you would actually enter into ProfitMaster. For example: if your measurement were 10' 4" you would enter 10.3 in ProfitMaster.
If you would like to comment on this subject or add your own, visit our discussion group at http://www.profit-master.com:8080/~201. |
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| CD Mail Out | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We are happy to
announce that the final release of ProfitMaster has been sent out to all of our users via
December's issue of Pacific Waves. If you did not receive a CD in your last newsletter
please contact us immediately. The CD contains the final release of ProfitMaster as well as our other products. Each program on the CD can also be used for demonstration purposes. If you are a registered owner of either ProfitMaster or CarpetMaster 5.5 for Windows you can use the CD to update your existing version of the program. If you do not own ProfitMaster or CarpetMaster 5.5 for Windows you can install ProfitMaster from the CD for demonstration purposes only. If you choose to use ProfitMaster for demonstration purposes you must install it in a separate directory from the version of ProfitMaster that you currently have. The program will only allow you to enter 100 records. Also, if you choose to try out ProfitMaster Lite you must install it in a directory other then the one ProfitMaster is currently in. |
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| Computer Glossary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Download - the
act of copying files from a host computer onto a local machine. Most commonly used to
refer to getting files off the Internet. Example: I need to download the latest update from PTS. Copy - the act of copying files from one location to the other. Similar to Download but most commonly used when referring to actions not utilizing the Internet. Example: Please copy the update file from the server to my work station. Install - Adding a new program or update to your computer by running an installation program. Example: Once you have downloaded the update, please install it on my machine. |
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| Our Other Programs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If you received our
CD ROM you may have noticed some programs on it other then ProfitMaster and wondered just
what they were. In short, these are the other programs were manufacturer. The first
product, ProfitMaster Lite is featured in another article in this Newsletter, so we'll
deal with the other two. Maximizing ProfitMaster is an 1½ tutorial on the many features of ProfitMaster. It covers every thing from how to enter a record to how to do a mail merge. It is perfect for new users or for those that want to, as the name implies, maximize ProfitMaster. The video is broken down into sections and chapters and is an outstanding reference even for the most seasoned ProfitMaster user! This product is available to view once on the CD or for purchase. The Mail Merge Wizard is a plug in for Microsoft Word 97 that seamlessly performs a mail merge and produces personalized documents for each of your selected customers. Once installed, a ProfitMaster menu appears in Word allowing you to select the document you want to make and the customers you want to send them to. No more fussing with the criteria screen in ProfitMaster. The Wizard does it all for you! With settings for advanced or beginner merges, the Wizard even allows you to save search criteria for future use. It is a must for automating your office! |
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| Quick Tip: Waving Interest | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You may run into
situations where you have applied interest to a late invoice but then decide that you want
to waive that interest. Here is one way to do it in ProfitMaster. Let's say you have an invoice for $36.00 with a late charge of $2.00, bringing the balance to $38.00. You decide to wave the interest and collect $36.00 from your customer. However, when you go to enter the payment the invoice balance is $38.00. To get around this and track the interest you waive, enter the payment of $36.00 as Check, Cash, or Credit and enter the $2.00 of interest in the Other field. In the explanation box enter Interest Waived. This technique will pay the invoice and keep a running total of all the interest you have waived. To see this total simply print a Register Listing report from the Cash Register. |
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| Making a Short Cut Revisited ( cut me here & place by computer) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This
article will explain an easy way to make a shortcut in Windows 95 to ProfitMaster. As you
know, a shortcut is an icon on your desktop that allows you to start a program. This
article is based on the assumption that ProfitMaster is installed on your C:\ Drive. If
not, please substitute the drive letter ProfitMaster is on for C:\. Also, if you are
running a network do not try this unless you have a more advanced understanding of
shortcuts & networks. The easiest way to make a shortcut is to press the Start Button and choose Find, Files or Folders. Once the Find All Files box appears type Profit.exe in the Named: box (Profit.exe is the file that starts the Windows version of the program, to make a shortcut to the DOS version type Cm.bat). In the Find In: box make sure it says C:\ and make sure the Include Subdirectories box is checked. Click Find Now. In the window below you will see a file appear called Profit. Click on the file once and with the mouse over the selected file click the right mouse button and a menu will appear. Choose Create Shortcut. A message will appear stating "…Windows can not create a shortcut here would you like it placed on your desktop instead…?" Choose Yes, and a shortcut to ProfitMaster will be made on your desktop. |
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