If you are a regular user of Excel, there is a good chance that you already have a number of Macros to help you with making every day tasks much quicker and simpler.

There is a way in which you can make it even more streamlined to use by adding the Macros to the toolbars for easier access. To add the Macros to the toolbar, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Make sure the Toolbars tab is selected. In the list of toolbars, make sure there is a check mark beside the toolbar to which you want your macro added. The check mark ensures that the toolbar is displayed on the screen.
3. Click on the Commands tab.
4. In the list of Categories, choose the Macros entry. Your macros should then appear in the Commands list.
5. In the Commands list, select the macro you want assigned to a toolbar.
6. Using the mouse, drag the macro from the Commands list to the location on the toolbar where you want it to appear.
7. When you drop the macro, it appears on the toolbar.

If you wish to add more macros, repeat steps 6 through 8.

If you would like to read more Excel tips, visit our Microsoft Excel Tips page.

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Excel, then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Excel Training Courses.

The Rustock spam email network, responsible for more spam emails than any other network worldwide was toppled a couple of weeks ago after Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, working with the US Marshall’s office raided 7 hosting facilities and seized the command-and-control machines that were running the network.

Richard Boscovich, senior attorney in the Microsoft Digital Crime Unit wrote in a blog post:

“This botnet is estimated to have approximately a million infected computers operating under its control and has been known to be capable of sending billions of spam mails every day,”

Security Software giant Symantec last year estimated that the Rustock network accounted for 39% of the spam that is in circulation around the world. Dutch authorities were responsible for a 12% decrease in global spam last November when they crushed a Trojan horse botnet called Bredolab.

Since Government authorities rarely have the resources to commit to investigating cases such as this, Microsoft willingly provide the funding since it has vested interest in keeping people emailing.

So if you notice a major drop in the amount of spam you receive, you now know why.

When you are charged with sending e-mails for someone else in your office, you may not want the replies to be directed to you. For instance, your boss asks you to send an e-mail to a client after they have requested information about a particular service.

If the client sends chooses to reply to that email asking something which you have no knowledge of, you will then have to forward the e-mail to your boss and start acting as a middle-man in the conversation which could distract you from your other duties. So, to save time and resources, why not have the reply to this e-mail directed to your boss rather than you?

It is possible and extraordinarily easy to set up. Just follow the steps below to learn how:

• Click the Options tab and select the Direct Replies To option in the More Options group.
• From the Dialog box, set the reply to address for this e-mail.
• Click OK.

Now you can send the e-mail on behalf of your boss, but the reply will go to your boss, and not you, leaving you free to get on with more important tasks.

If you would like to read more Outlook tips, please visit our Microsoft Outlook Tips page.

If you would like to learn more, you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Outlook Training Courses

Users of the social networking site Facebook are in line to be on the end of a new phishing scam which harvests their log-in details. The recently introduced Facebook messaging service is providing an all too attractive lure which could reel in its fair share of victims.

The scam itself promises the user a @facebook.com email address if they register to use the service, however this is actually a trap for you to input your log-in credentials for your Facebook account. The scam tries to get people to act quickly before their choice of @facebook.com email address is snapped up by somebody else.

Once the users click on the link, the user is redirected to a Facebook app which contains an iFrame that is pointed toward an infected site which hosts the phishing page itself. Once the user clicks next to continue, their details are sent to the scammers who then immediately hi-jack the related Facebook account and update your status to try and scam the people in the accounts friends lists.

That is just the first stage apparently as the compromised user is also encouraged to visit other compromised pages.

There is a way which you can prevent this and a range of other attacks by modifying your Facebook settings to inform you when an attempt has been made to access your account from different computers. To do this, follow these simple steps:

Account > Account Settings > Account Security

Check the box beneath “When a new computer or mobile device logs into this account:” and you will be sent an email when someone accesses your account.

Welcome to another Microsoft Outlook Tip from us here at Infero. In this tip, we will guide you on how you can create your own personal email signature which can be added to the end of each email that you send from Microsoft Outlook.

Having a signature which contains your contact details means that the recipient is more likely to remember your details, especially if you have a healthy backward-forward dialogue going with them through emails. The recipient will also know who they need to talk with and their position within the company, ensuring that they are dealt with by the right person and in the most effective way.

To set up your own custom Microsoft Outlook signature, follow these simple steps:

• Select Tools > Options > Mail Format tab.
• Click Signatures > and go to the E-mail Signature tab > New.
• Type the new signature’s desired name.
• Click OK.
• Type the desired text of your signature under Edit signature (between 5 or 6 lines of text.)
• Include the standard signature delimiter: “– “
• You can use the formatting toolbar to format your text, or insert an image in your signature.
• Click OK.

If you would like to read previous Microsoft Outlook tips, please visit our Outlook Tips page.

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Outlook, then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Outlook Training Courses.

On 6 April 2010, the statutory right for employees in larger businesses with 250 or more employees to request time to take up relevant training came into effect and it was hoped that it would be extended to cover all employees, in small & medium size businesses from 6 April 2011. 

However, in August 2010, the Government announced that it was consulting on the future of the right and it has now decided that implementation of the extension will be delayed because further time is needed to examine the potential impact of the regulations on smaller businesses.

John Hayes, the Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning Minister commented:

“It is vital to the economy and individuals that everyone has access to the training they need. That is why we are investing in apprenticeships, protecting adult and community learning, and freeing colleges to respond to local needs.

But it is vital that the right balance is struck between support for training and the need to minimise the burden of regulation for smaller companies.

We have therefore decided to delay implementation to allow further, thorough discussion, scrutiny and evaluation.”

Welcome to another Microsoft Access Tip. As we have discussed in previous articles, shortcut keys are a great way of saving time whilst working with different programs. In this tip, we will explain how you can add your own shortcuts to use to navigate your database

To assign a shortcut key to a field, follow these simple steps:

• Edit the caption property of the label of the particular control you want to jump to, adding an ‘&‘ before the letter you want to act as the shortcut key.

For example, if you wish to be able to jump to a ‘Name’ field you could edit the ‘Name’ label accordingly: N&ame

• In Form View the label will be displayed with the ‘a’ in name underlined: Name
• Pressing ALT + A will switch the focus to the ‘Name’ field.

This technique can be used on any object that has a caption property and can make navigating your database a breeze.

If you would like to read about some of the keyboard shortcuts already available on Microsoft Access, take a look at our previous article: Speed up Access with Keyboard Shortcuts.

If you would like to read more tips, feel free to read our Microsoft Access Tip page.

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Access, you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Access Training Courses.

As our use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter increases and the new technologies come into use, it is extremely easy to simply forget about what we are doing with our personal information.

Quite often, we are seemingly unaware of what our status updates can mean to the more unsavoury characters lurking on these sites and have access to our information. For example, people seem to feel comfortable with updating their status with their holiday plans, which is gold to a potential burglar to target your home whilst you are away especially if you have your address details on your account too.

In a previous article of ours, we discussed the issue regarding Facebook Places and how safe that was. So in this article, we shall share 3 things which you really shouldn’t do on your Facebook account.

Don’t allow yourself to be listed on Search Engine results

Allowing yourself to be listed on search engines can be potentially dangerous and allows anybody who types your name into a search engine to see your profile.

In order to change this, Log-in to your Facebook account and do the following: Go to Account>Privacy Settings>Apps and websites>Public Search. Then just deselect the Enable Public Search button.

Refrain from adding Addresses & Phone Numbers

There really is no need for these bits of personal information on your profile so for security reasons its best not to fill this in.

Unused Apps are like Vampires

Apps that you haven’t used in a long while still continue to suck away your personal information even whilst you’re not using them. The best way to handle apps which you never use any more is to remove the ones you don’t use anymore.

To do this, follow these steps: Go to Account>Privacy Setting>Apps, games and websites and remove the ones you don’t want.

If you would like to read previous articles, please visit our previous articles page.

Welcome to our latest Microsoft PowerPoint tip. This tip is great for those people who have either just returned from holiday or have extended family in different parts of the world who they like to share family photographs with them.

In Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, it has been made extremely easy for you to create a slideshow of your digital images to show and share with other people. Just follow these steps and you will shortly have a slideshow of your digital images.

1. Select the Insert tab on the Ribbon and go to the Illustrations group.
2. Click the Photo Album and in the dialog box which appears, click on the File/Disk button to add pictures.
3. Click on the create button.

And it is as simple as that, you now have a slideshow which you are able to share with your relatives and friends.

If you would like more helpful tips, visit our Microsoft PowerPoint Tips page.

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft PowerPoint, then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft PowerPoint Training Courses.