Here we go!

· You can and should customize your desktop in either Windows 3.X or Windows 95 by making more accessible copies of the program icons you use constantly. In Windows 3.X, using File/New, you can create a new program group, calling it My Programs. Highlight the icons you want to copy into the new group and press F8 to copy the icon into your new group.

In Windows 95, to copy icons onto your desktop, double-click on My Computer and use the right-mouse button to click and drag the icons you want on your desktop. You can put either programs or specific files within programs on your desktop. If you want to add your most frequently used programs to the top of your Start menu, click on the icon you want to add and drag it down to the Start button and let go.

· On new keyboards in Windows 95, you can use the Windows logo key (the one with the Microsoft Windows icon) to call up the Start menu. Pressing the logo key along with the letter E brings up Explorer. Using the logo key together with the letter “F” brings up the Find Files dialog box. Press this magic key along with the Break key and you will get access to the Device Manager for troubleshooting hardware problems.

· The other new key on the keyboard looks like a menu with an arrow and can be used instead of clicking the right-mouse button. Anywhere you can use the right-mouse button, you can press this key instead.

· Experiment with your right-mouse button. In newer versions of Word and WordPerfect, the right-mouse button will bring up quick, context-sensitive menus. If your insertion point (the new term for cursor) is inside a table, the quick menu will include functions that are done within tables, such as changing lines and borders, adding or deleting rows or columns, etc. If you’re near the top of a page, your quick menus will let you access watermarks and headers.

· Learn the keyboard shortcuts for functions you use all the time. One of the real benefits of the Windows environment is that vendors have adopted consistent approaches to common functions. For example, CTRL+P brings up the print dialog box in virtually every Windows program. Some of the others you may want to know include:

CTRL+S Save

CTRL+C Copy selected text

CTRL+X Cut selected text

CTRL+V Paste selected text

CTRL+N Create new document, timeslip, database record, etc.

· Find additional shortcut keys for the programs you use regularly. Pay attention to the choices on the pull-down menus. In most programs, next to the function listed on the pull-down menu is the equivalent shortcut key if one is available. You also might look through Help and see if you can find a list of these keys. Under Options in Help, you can print a topic to your printer. In WordPerfect, look up “CUA Keystrokes” to get the list of shortcut keys. In Word, look up “Keys, shortcut keys.” “Function keys” in Word will give you a keyboard template while “CUA Keyboard” will do the same in WordPerfect.

· To minimize all open windows in Windows 95, use your right-mouse button, click in a blank area on the task bar and choose Minimize All Windows. You also can use the Windows logo key with the letter “M” to minimize all open windows.

· If you don’t like using your mouse, you can turn on MouseKeys through the Mouse tab under Accessibility Options of the Control Panel in Windows 95. MouseKeys lets you use your arrow keys to control your computer.

· Did you know you can use the presentation software (Corel Presentations or Microsoft Power Point) that comes with the word processing suites to create more impressive documents for clients and graphic elements for your web site? In addition to assisting you in creating slide presentations, these programs can be used to create printed documents. An immigration lawyer might create a schematic diagram explaining to his client why it takes years to get a green card. He can review the slide show with the client in his office and then give the client a copy to review at home.

A lawyer who wants to attract clients because of her technical prowess might create a diskette-based slide show about her firm’s services instead of a traditional brochure. With the integration of Internet features, these presentation tools also can be used to make better web pages since they incorporate graphic elements by design.

· Be sure to take a backup home or otherwise store it off-site in the event of fire or theft. While you’re at it, make sure your backups are doing their job. Occasionally, test your backup by trying to restore a file from the tape. This also will ensure that at least one person in your office knows how to restore files from the tapes.

· Keep notes of your troubleshooting steps. Every time I call a company for technical support, I take copious notes that I keep in a folder on my computer called Trouble. If I can’t take notes directly on the computer while I am troubleshooting a problem, I write a memo to my Trouble directory immediately after the call detailing the steps I was advised to take, along with the resolution. If you are using a case-management program, you might want to create a record for the technical support company and keep these notes in a separate record. Occasionally, you should print out this information in the event your computer malfunctions and you can’t access the computer-based information.

· When installing new software, be sure to write on the face of the master disk the serial number, including subversion number if applicable, password, tech support phone number, Internet web address for the vendor, and the date the application was installed. This can be quite helpful when you’re in a panic and can’t find the manual. Store this information in a consistent place in your office so you can find them in a hurry.

· When browsing web pages in Netscape or reading e-mail in Eudora, did you know that touching the space bar moves you down one full screen of information? You also can use the scroll bars to move a screen at a time around by pressing on the bar between the box and the up or down arrow. This works on any scroll bar.

· When upgrading to either Word 97 or Corel WordPerfect 7 or 8, spend some time to customize your firm’s toolbar to make more accessible frequently used functions. For example, you might want to add an icon for printing envelopes and remove the icon for inserting graphics. You also should consider creating a set of customized templates for common documents such as letters, memos, fax cover sheets, and pleading captions. You’ll find you won’t need as many macros as in the DOS environment because of improvements in the implementation of these features.

· If you need to incorporate a computer screen into a document, press ALT+Print Screen while the screen is displayed. Use the paste function (CTRL+V) to paste the screen into your word processing document.

· Learn to use the Internet for research. It can be very effective for getting background information about people and companies. You can find articles and other information about prospective clients, witnesses and opposing counsel.

· If you’re using recent versions of Netscape or Internet Explorer as a browser, you don’t need to type http:// before each URL (uniform resource locator, which is a web address).

· Find out how computer-literate your clients are by asking them if they have an e-mail address or web site and whether they prefer to communicate with you by e-mail, fax or traditional mail.

· If you publicize an e-mail address, be sure to check your e-mail daily. There is nothing worse than sending e-mail to someone who doesn’t look at his or her e-mail regularly.

· Set up WordPerfect 6, 7 or 8 to print the path and file name of your files automatically by putting a footer with the Insert/file-path option in the Initial document style. You also can do the same thing in specific templates if your margins differ from one document type to another. In Word, you can do something similar by adding the codes from Insert/Field/File Name/P to your templates.

· Before installing new equipment or programs, be sure to back up your critical startup files: C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT, C:\CONFIG.SYS, C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI. One easy way to do this is to make a folder named Safe and copy these files to that folder. If a new program messes up your system, you can compare the old and new versions and, if necessary, undo the damage by copying these files back to their original locations. If you’re on technical support and are asked to tell the technician the instructions or edit steps in any of these files, try File/Run SYSEDIT in Windows 3.X or Start/Run/SYSEDIT in Windows 95.

· It’s a good idea to learn how to back up your Windows Registry and make sure your tape backups periodically do the same. The Registry is where all Windows configuration files are located. To do this, go to Start/Rin/REGEDIT and the Registry pops up. Then click on File, Export, give the file a name and exit.

· If you have one of the Corel WordPerfect suites, you have an additional program that is worth installing. Quickview is an amazing utility that lets you preview or print files created in more than 200 different programs, including graphics and compressed or zipped files. When installed, it can be accessed with a right-mouse click on a file in Windows Explorer, WordPerfect, Netscape, Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer.

· Make an emergency startup disk and redo it after you’ve added new hardware or programs that change your configuration. If you have a laptop that offers the opportunity to make a set of diskettes from the system, accept that offer and do it. Each company adds proprietary components to the operating system along with different add-on programs. This is the only way to be certain you have copies of the programs that came with your laptop.

· You should splurge and spend the $200 or so to get a tape backup for your laptop. Even if you don’t think you keep valuable data on your laptop, the time required to re-install and reconfigure the programs you use on your laptop will be more than worth the investment in a portable tape backup drive. I don’t recommend zip drives for this purpose because they are limited to 100 MB per disk. With hard drives now averaging 2 GB, there is too great a temptation to back up only critical files with a zip drive. If the whole system crashes, gets stolen or is damaged, you will end up spending a lot of time re-installing and re-customizing the programs that were on your laptop. With a tape drive large enough to back up the whole system on a single tape, it is easier to do periodic full backups. Make sure you know how to restore and test it occasionally to ensure you didn’t end up with blank tapes.

· If you use Timeslips and send a lot of certified mail, you should check PostMaster for Timeslips. The package comes with laser-ready certified mail forms and will create disbursement slips for your certified mail letters as they are prepared. If you do enough volume, the $90 program that comes with 100 starter forms is well worth the investment.

· Press --- then Enter to make a quick line in WordPerfect 7 or 8; or === then Enter for a double line, # tab to start an automatic numbered list or *tab for bullet.

· Consider changing your billing cycle to the 25th of the month. It’s easier to reach tech support when fewer customers are printing bills. It also helps improve your collections since the bill is on the client’s desk at the beginning of the month when clients are getting ready to pay bills. Since you’re on the East Coast, call tech support early. You’ll have less competition with other parts of the country.

· Use Quick Correct or Auto Correct to create shortcut abbreviations for legal citations like sct for S.Ct. or fsupp for F. Supp. You also can use it to make shortcuts for legal symbols. I like to use the tilde (~) with the mnemonic letter for the symbol e.g. ~p for ¶, ~s for §, etc.

· Consider adapting templates that are provided instead of creating macros in Windows versions word processors. Keep customization to a minimum. It makes it easier to move up to the next version if you don’t have a lot of money invested in programming.

· Think about using a trackball instead of a mouse. Also, consider a headset so you can type notes right into your case-management program as you discuss issues with your clients. Make sure the ergonomics of your work area are suitable to your needs.

· Install a fun screen-saver like Your Photo Here from Leisure Ware, (215) 735-6815. Send in five photographs and for $20 Leisure Ware will send them back on diskettes that can be loaded as wallpaper or screen-saver with all sorts of special effects. You can add photos using the option from Kodak to get a diskette of your pictures for an additional $6 per roll of film.

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems Inc., a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation based in Montclair. She formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section and is a member of the NJSBA Law Office Management Special Committee. A lecturer for ICLE, she can be reached at (973) 746-6454 or electronically on the Internet at carol@losinc.com.

Questions for Carol Schlein on law office technology may be faxed to New Jersey Lawyer at (732) 750-0010 or mailed to “Law Technology Questions,” New Jersey Lawyer, Koll Corporate Plaza, 485B Route 1, Suite 100, Iselin, N.J. 08830.