30 must-have PC skills - Part 2

16. Download and install drivers
Everything you connect to your computer - printer, scanner, camera, and so on - needs a driver to make it work. The driver tells the PC how to talk to the device. Manufacturers often release updated drivers on the web, so check the support section of the maker's website every few weeks. Alternatively, Windows will check for driver updates for you. Select Control Panel from the Start menu and double-click on System. Select Hardware, then Device Manager, right-click on the component you wish to check for drivers and select Update Driver. The Hardware Update wizard will guide you through the process.

17.Change default applications
When you double-click on a file, Windows will automatically launch the application associated with that item - double-clicking on an MP3 track will launch Windows Media Player and clicking on a web address will fire up Internet Explorer, for example. To change these default applications select Start, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs and then choose Set Program Access and Defaults from the options on the left of the pane. Select Custom and click on the downward arrow button. Now select the programs you wish to set as defaults by checking the circles next to them. Click on OK to finish.

18. Crop digital images in Paint
One of the most simple and most effective things you can do to improve a picture is to crop it - trim away the edges to shift the focus of the image or to remove unwanted background items from the image. Open the Start menu and choose All Applications then Accessories, then click on Paint. Open your image and click the select tool (the dotted rectangle). Drag a rectangle around the area you want to keep, then click on Edit, and then Copy. Go to the File menu, click on New and click on No when you are asked to save the old file. Click on Edit, then Paste to put the new image in, and save it by going to File, then Save.

19. Get to grips with ways of displaying folder contents
Changing the way in which the content of folders is displayed needn't stop at tinkering with icons. For more advanced options, such as showing hidden files or hiding recognised file extensions, select Folder Options from the Tools menu and click on the View tab. Check or uncheck the boxes in the Advanced settings menu and when you are happy with your choices, click on Apply to All Folders to save the changes.

20. Get to grips with file names
To rename a file, just click on it once to select it, wait a couple of seconds, then click on the name part of it. A cursor will appear, allowing you to change the name. If your fingers aren't so nimble, an alternative way of doing this is to click on the file once, then press the F2 key to rename it.

21. Compress and uncompress files
If you want to send files to someone else, it might be a good idea to save space by compressing them and placing them in a single compressed folder (called a zip file). Windows XP lets you do this automatically. Select the files you want to send (hold down Control and click on each file in turn) then right-click on one of them. Click on 'Send To' and 'Compressed (zipped) Folder', then follow the instructions that appear. To access files that have been compressed, right-click on the folder and select Extract, then follow the instructions.

22. Create templates in Word and Excel
If you have a particular document or type of document that you use on a regular basis, you can make a template which contains all the basic parts of the document so that you can just fill in the blanks for each time you need to use it. To do so, create a document in Word or Excel, including all the aspects that you want to include in the template. Then go to the File menu and click on Save. In the 'Save as type' box, select Template, and save the file. Next time, just open the template and you will get a new document, which you can fill in. This is really handy for writing letters.

23. Use a pop-up blocker
Windows XP now includes its own pop-up blocker, which is included with Service Pack 2. If Internet Explorer encounters a pop-up window it will display a message in the Information Bar - the new yellow bar that appears at the top of the window, below the address bar. This will include details of what has been blocked. Of course, it sometimes blocks things you want to see - in that case, click on the yellow bar and click 'Temporarily Allow Pop-ups'. To turn it off entirely, click on the Tools menu, then Options, and go to the Privacy tab, then untick 'Block pop-ups'.

24. Save favourite websites
Some websites have long and unwieldy names - to save yourself the trouble of typing it in every time, right-click anywhere on the web page and select Add to Favourites. You can organise the list by opening Windows Explorer. Right-click on the Start button and click on Explore. A window will appear - select the Favorites folder in the left-hand pane, and your favourites will appear in the right-hand pane. From here you can organise them just like other files.

25. Use print preview
Several applications let you see what you are printing before you print it, to make sure that what you see on screen is what you will see on the page. Look in the File menu for a Preview or Print Preview option. Click on it and you will see the page as it will appear when printed. If anything looks wrong, you can close the preview, go back to the document and correct it.

26. Create and manage playlists in Windows Media Player
In Windows Media Player 10, you can easily create playlists of your favourite tracks. Click on the button marked Now Playing List on the right of the screen, and select New List, then Playlist from the menu. Drag the files from the library or from Windows, then select Save Playlist, and save it in a file.

27. Use fields in emails
There's more than one way to send an email. You will probably have noticed the To and CC (Carbon Copy) boxes when you are composing an email. In practice, there is little difference between these. When a recipient hits Reply, the reply will go only to those people in the To field. To reply to those in the To and CC fields, the recipient would have to select 'Reply to all'. If you put an address in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field, it will send the message to that person, but no one else will be able to see that.

28. Join an online forum and post a question
Online forums are useful for solving technical problems, or even just for a chat. To join the Computeractive forum, for example, go to forums.computeractive.co.uk and click on the button marked Login/Register. Click on the link marked 'Click here to register' and follow the instructions. To post a message, choose your forum and click on the 'Post new topic' button on the left. The process will be slightly different for other forums, but the principle will be the same.

29. Manage downloads
When you download something using Internet Explorer by clicking on a link, you will be asked where to save the file. Using another program to download the file can make your life easier, though. The Firefox and Opera browsers both have a built-in download manager that tracks your downloads and keeps them in a list for ease of use. Alternatively, Star Downloader and FlashGet do a similar job if you would prefer to stick with Internet Explorer.

30. Send emails straight to folders in Outlook Express
Sometimes it's easier to keep certain emails in themed folders. To set emails from specific senders to be sent straight to the right folder, select Message Rules from the Tools menu and then Mail. Check the 'Where the From line contains' box then the 'Move it to the specified folder' box. In the Rule Description click on the 'Contains people' link and enter the email address in the box or click on the Address book button to select entries from there. Click on OK. Now click on the 'specified' link and click on the folder you want the emails copied to or create a new folder using the New Folder. Now click on OK. Type a name for your rule in the last box and click on OK to save your changes.