Grab bag

Three unrelated items this week: First, more reader feedback about last week’s reader feedback. Then, a reminder about iTunes on a computer you’re giving away or recycling. Finally, how to get your Google back in Windows 8.

More about special characters

Last week (http://rlis.com/columns/column386.htm) I mentioned inserting special characters and symbols in documents and emails, and that brought responses from quite a few readers who pointed out that there are other ways to do this.

Frithjof at Tweet4OK.com (http://tweet4ok.com/) posted a chart that appears to include every special character in the world: http://on.fb.me/UE2CUL. OK, not every one. But lots.

Rick pointed out several shortcuts for inserting accented letters in Word: http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1801.

That might come in handy for another reader, Cécile, who has been doing this the hard way:

• alt 130 for é
• alt 131 for â
• alt 132 for ä
• alt 133 for à
• alt 135 for ç
• alt 136 for ê
• alt 137 for ë ( as in Noël)
• alt 147 for ô

Cécile adds, “In order to work with this combination you need to have a numeric keypad. It won’t work with the numbers above your keyboard. You need to press the ALT key, hold it down while you press the number, then release the ALT key.”

Thanks for all the great information!

And wouldn’t you know it? There is actually a little utility that will do this for you. Holdkey runs in the background and works with just about any program that runs in Windows 7/Vista or XP. (No word on an update for Windows 8.) The free version throws an ad at you. If you find that intrusive, you can upgrade to the pro version to get rid of the ads and get some additional features. Check out Holdkey here: http://www.holdkey.eu/.

Deauthorized your unwanted computer

If you use iTunes and have an account at the Apple Store, one thing you really need to do before you get rid of an old computer is “deauthorize” it. iTunes allows a maximum of five computers associated with your Apple ID. (And by the way, why isn’t it an Apple iD”?) If you give that computer to someone else without deauthorizing it, that person has access to all your iTunes content ---- music, apps, and of course the associated credit card. Whoa.

If the computer is still able to connect to the Apple store:

• Open iTunes
• Click on Apple Store
• Click on Deauthorize this computer
• Type your Apple ID and password
• Click on Deauthorize

If you can’t get your old computer working enough to connect to the Apple store, or if you’ve already given it away, you need to go to a different computer, go to the Apple store and deauthorize ALL your computers. You can then authorize just the ones you want. (You can only do that once a year, for some reason, so be careful.)

More information on the Apple support site, here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420.

Get your Google back

If you have a Windows 8 computer, you have likely noticed how Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and the Microsoft search engine, Bing have pretty much taken over your browsing and searching. The folks at Google want you to get your Google back, and they’ve made it pretty easy to do that.

Visit the new Google for Windows 8 page, http://getyourgoogleback.com for a quick way to get either the Google search app or the Google Chrome browser or both. You just need to click on a few things and you’re good to go. If you want a little more help, check out this fun video: http://youtu.be/TGplftLI9Fo.

Photo: Contributed

I welcome your comments and questions. I can also visit your home or office to help you and your computer get along. Call me at 250-764-7043, email [email protected] or visit Computer Care Kelowna on the web.

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This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.