Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In the summer, frozen treats are a delight. I have to admit, when I hear the ice cream truck coming down the street on a hot day, I still scramble to gather up some money and run outside (usually in bare feet on the scorching pavement, but who has time to look for shoes?) to flag it down so I can enjoy an ice cream cone, some water ice, or maybe even a Drumstick.
But it’s a little early to be thinking of summer, isn’t it? So why would I mention this in the middle of February?
Oddly enough, even in the dead of winter, with temperatures in the single digits and several feet of snow piled up around the house, I still love a good ice cream sundae. Especially if it has peanut butter ripples, frozen pieces of candy, or chunks of cookie dough.
Some things are just better when they’re frozen, but a computer is definitely not one of them.
When your computer decides to freeze up or hang, it usually does so at a crucial moment, like when you’ve just spent several hours editing a Word document and haven’t saved it yet.
That feeling of dread sets in. You begin to panic, and then you fear the worst: that all your hard work will be lost.
Sometimes, unfortunately, this is the case. But there are some steps you can take to ensure that your work will be recovered in the event that Word crashes.
If you enable the AutoRecover feature, which is available in several of the Office applications, it will periodically save a backup version of the file you’re working on. Then, if the program quits unexpectedly, it will prompt you with the recovered file the next time you open that program.
There is no guarantee offered with the AutoRecover feature, and at times it will fail to recover your work, so your best bet is still to save frequently when working in a file. You may find it much easier to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S to save your work as you’re typing, without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard. If you can get into this habit, you might just find your left hand automatically reaching for those keys without you even realizing it!
When the Deep Freeze sets in, whether it’s Windows, an Office application, or a mobile device, we don’t want you to be left out in the cold. The tips for this week will provide you with a starting point for when it seems like all is lost.
- What’s Frozen? – How to determine whether it is Windows or an application that is frozen
- An Ounce of Prevention for File Loss – How to enable the AutoRecover feature for Microsoft Office applications
- Mittens for Your Computer – How to clear out temporary Internet files, cookies, and browsing history
- Save Your Fingers By Letting Your Fingers Save Your Work – Using a keyboard shortcut to save while working in a file
And since you can also experience crashes on mobile devices, here are a few tips that can help you with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile:
- Just In Case – How to back up your BlackBerry data
- How to Thaw a Frozen BlackBerry – Resetting a frozen BlackBerry device
- Frozen In Your Hand – Resetting a frozen Windows Mobile device
We hope you’re enjoying the podcast and all the tips. If there are any topics you’d like to see covered in a future episode, please let us know in an iTunes review, or leave us a message on Twitter @productiveUcast.
That’s all for this week. Try to stay warm even when your computer is freezing, and we’ll see you next time!
Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum
