Gadget's Tips

Gadget often used to lose track of notes kept on scraps of paper, especially those all-important ones telling him where in the garden his secret stash of bones is buried. Then he found out a way to keep them handy on his desktop. Right-click the desktop, select 'New' then 'Text Document'. Call it 'notes'.

From now on, to make a note simply double-click the file, press F5 to insert the date and time, type a note then press the Control and S keys together to save.

Barking brilliant, thinks Gadget - no reminders can go astray now!

 As a switched on K9 Gadget knows you can't always tell if a bBroadband connection is broken, or there's simply a problem with the web browser. So before he barks at the support desk he presses the Windows key and R together to launch the Run box, then types:

ping www.foxhallsolutions.com

Gadget hates running out of space on his Taskbar - for example when he's working on several versions of a letter to his canine friends and has several of his favourite websites open (so he can check for the latest news on http://www.doglost.co.uk/, for example).

He's sniffed out a way to solve the problem by grouping together different Taskbar buttons from the same program.

Need to launch applications quickly and simply on your XP computer? Gadget certainly does. One way of getting instant access to applications is to have desktop icons, but Gadget likes an uncluttered view of his desktop picture (a nice meaty bone). Luckily he knows that in XP you can make room for more than the usual six short cuts in the "Start" menu favourites.

Have you built up a long list of carefully organised bookmarks? Gadget would be mighty upset to lose his bookmarks to websites about gourmet dog food!

The simplest way to ensure that you have a copy of your bookmarks is to include the "C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data" folder in your regular backup schedule. In fact it's best to back up the whole Documents and Settings folder because it includes your bookmarks, your e-mails, your desktop, and the "My Documents" folder.