News

Google is a great search engine but it has a few other lesser known tricks up its sleeve that you might find useful. If you know any others, please leave a comment.

Dictionary

For example, type define: oligarchy into the Google search box and you’ll get a list of definitions of the word from various dictionary sites.

International clock

Enter time new york in the search box to get the current local time in New York. This works with most big towns around the world.

The most useful tool, however, is the Google Calculator facility. Read more »

Wow factor

Having braved the queues outside Carphone Warehouse early on a Friday morning, I found myself one of the first owners of the new iPhone 3G by Apple. I love it, it truly is one of the best mobile phones ever made, but past the ‘wow’ factor and ease-of-use, I’m discovering that the iPhone isn’t the direct replacement for my BlackBerry I thought it might be. Read more »

I hear of occasions all the time where more than one person needs to work an a spreadsheet at the same time. Since Office 2003, Microsoft have included this functionality in Excel. To share a Workbook, simply follow the steps below:

• Office 2003: Tools - Share Workbook
• Office 2007: Review Tab - Share Workbook

Then click the “Allow changes by more than one user…” checkbox and save the document. Now a whole group of people can update the same document and see each other’s changes every time they press the Save button.

What’s your favourite Office tip?

My partner, IT Manager for an insurance company, told me that the best Office tip she ever heard was to use  “the paintbrush” or, to give it its proper name: Format Painter. When I asked around, I found that many people, even senior IT people who use Excel and Word all day, had never heard of it. It works in nearly all Office applications. Read more »

Gold Partnership provides a “hotline” to Microsoft not available to smaller companies

Microsoft consider the number of MCSE qualified engineers employed, the quantity of references from satisifed clients and depth of knowledge of Microsoft products before awarding Gold Level Partner accreditation to a solutions provider.

ISN’s specialist competencies have been recognised by Microsoft in these fields:

• Advanced Infrastructure Solutions
• Networking Infrastructure Solutions
• Small Business Specialist Community

Our partnership with Microsoft is invaluable in helping our clients with support and consultancy for their IT systems. We have a “hotline” to Microsoft not available to smaller companies.

Find out about ISN’s partner relationships with other major IT vendors.

There’s plenty of free software around but these three are really worth taking a look at. They all save a load of time or money and are actually fun to use. Read more »

There is much more to Microsoft Office Outlook than just email, beneath the surface there are lots of useful features to make your day-to-day life easier and more organised. Here are some tips which could save you some frustration. Read more »

Many business need to send out regular information to their clients and email is the easiest and cheapest way to do it. The wrong approach is to create an email message, attach a document and send it out to 1000 of your contacts. This could cripple your mail server for hours and maybe even get you blacklisted as a spammer.

Here are the two most important tips for creating your own mailshots: Read more »

This involves taking a snapshot image of a whole server (or desktop PC or laptop). If the server fails, the image can be used to recreate it the server on any hardware – doesn’t have to be identical - long as it has enough disk space and memory.

 What results will image backup give you? Read more »

Microsoft Windows XP and Vista have an “offline folders” facility which allows you to take copies of files away from the office network on your laptop so that you can work with them on the move. All great in theory but we advise you to steer clear.
Read more »