CTOKOS Blog

I don’t claim to be a “techie,” but I thought I would say a few words about upgrading software programs. If you use software, such as Microsoft Office, on a regular basis, how often should you upgrade to a newer version? That depends on several factors, such as support (is your current version still supported by the software company?), features, and compatibility with other software programs on your computer.

I recently upgraded my version of Office XP to Office 2003. However, it took me a long time to make the decision to upgrade. The XP version had all of the features I thought I needed. The programs - Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, all seemed to be working fine, and XP was still supported by Microsoft. Well, being a business person in an administrative profession, I need to constantly update my software skills, and that includes working with various office software applications. As I came across online training classes for Word, Excel, etc., I started to realize that classes in XP applications were no longer being offered. That is really what cinched it for me. Since upgrading, I’ve also come to like certain features in each of the programs. I’m also learning Publisher, which came with the upgraded version, and may help me with desktop publishing projects for my clients.

The bottom line is that as long as your current software programs offer you everything you need, there is no reason to upgrade to a newer version unless you simply want to. It’s really a subjective, individual preference. That is my take on upgrading software!

© 2006 Cynthia Morse, Virtually At Your Service. All rights reserved.
Cynthia Morse CAP is a Virtual Assistant, and the owner of Virtually At Your Service, www.virtuallyatyourservice.biz. She offers top-level administrative support to small business owners and other busy professionals from her home office, allowing them the time to focus on what they love and do best. Visit her blog, ‘Virtual Biz Connection’, virtuallyatyourservice.typepad.com/virtualbizconnection. It’s full of tips, helpful articles and resources for your small business!

Over the last few days I have been running basic and advanced Excel courses and one of the common questions that people are asking me is “What is a simple way to Disable a Short cut in Excel?” I have spent lots of time thinking about a non-programmatic way to do this and there is a very simply solution.

Write a macro …

Let us say for example you are writing a Microsoft Excel template that you need various users to enter data into, but you want to limit their ability to use the features of Cut, Copy and Paste. Okay, so let me start off by testing your memory… What is the shortcut keystrokes for Cut, Copy and Paste … I will put you out of your misery if you do not know, they are -

Cut - [Ctrl] + [X]
Copy - [Ctrl] + [C]
Paste - [Ctrl] + [V]

Now to override these basic shortcuts we simply use a macro to do so, keeping in mind that the macro will only disable the short cuts for that document, as long as you choose the right options. Let us go through the process to disable the short cut, Cut.

The first step is to open a new spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, then go to the Tools menu and then choose Macro from the drop down menu, then select Record New Macro …

The Record Macro dialog box will be visible. In the Macro Name text box, type the text EliminateCut. Now not that I did not have a space between the word Eliminate and Cut. If you have a space, the Excel application will come up with an error because in Microsoft Excel you are NOT allowed to have spaces in macro names.

Second step click in the box that say shortcut key and type in the letter X. In the Store in Macro drop down box the option “This Workbook” should be selected. If it is not, make sure you select it from the drop down box or you will disable Cut for all future workbooks, which will not be a positive outcome. Finally press the OK button.

Word of warning … Do Not Click or do anything on the Worksheet. The Stop Recording toolbar should appear, simply click on the stop button which looks like a stop button on a CD Player and the macro recorder will stop.

Now if you put some text into a cell and deactivate the cell by pressing the [Enter] key, then go back and click on it once and try out your shortcut. What you will notice is that the cell is selected but if you click on another cell and try and paste the value by using [Ctrl] + [V] you will notice that the cell does not move and as such the short cut [Ctrl] + [X] is disabled.

I should note that there are some limitations to this technique. If you actually activate the cell and select the text in the cell itself and then try [Ctrl] + [X] you will find that the text will be cut, but if you use [Ctrl]+[X] on a normally selected cell you will notice [Ctrl] + [X] is disabled.

Chris Le Roy has available Microsoft Excel 2003 Basic Cheat Sheet to help you with Microsoft Excel. To learn more about Microsoft Excel simply check our Chris’s correspondence course where you can earn yourself Microsoft Excel Certificates issued by his company without even leaving home - Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Training . Tips on Microsoft Excel are also Available.