XP – Reset Default Printer

This is for those who have more than one printer attached to their computer or who are accessing multiple printers through a network.

The following instructions will show you how to set or reset one of them as the default.

  • Left click on Start.
  • Left click on Printers and Faxes.
  • Right click the printer you want to make the default.
  • Left click on Set as Default Printer in the drop down menu.

That is all there is to it.

You should now see a little black circle with a check mark next to the printer icon of the printer you selected as the default printer.

If you now have the correct printer set as the default, you can now close the Printers and Faxes window.

Now any time you want to change the default printer just follow the same process.

This applies to all accessible printer drivers including Adobe Acrobat Distiller, FinePrint, etc.

Internet – Selecting Text For Copying

Have you ever had the problem of using the mouse to highlight text on a site and getting portions of other text you did not want? This is usually because the site is using tables or columns you can not see to display its content.

Instead of using the mouse to drag across the text to be selected, position the cursor at the beginning of the first word, hold down the Shift key and position the cursor at the end of the last word. All the text between these positions will now be selected and can then be copied and pasted wherever it is you want to place the text, without any of the items you do not want.

I know this is really a basic thing but, I see a lot of my co-workers having trouble selecting only the text they intend.

By the way, the same technique works in most instances of Windows selection, providing more control over selection.

XP On Screen Keyboard?

Do you want to use an on screen keyboard?

Honestly, I don’t know why I would use it but, Microsoft includes a utility in XP, that displays a virtual keyboard on the computer screen as an accessibility tool.

To turn on the On-Screen Keyboard click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, On-Screen Keyboard. Or even easier, click on Start, select Run, type osk and click on OK

For more detailed information on this and other XP accessibility options see Windows
XP Accessibility Tutorials.

Some of these accessibility options, might be useful, for those who can not see or hear well and those who have trouble using a keyboard or a mouse; give them a try before looking for expensive ways to do the same type of thing.