Do you need to send a text, but don’t want to bother with the charges or hassle of texting with your phone? Well, if you have Outlook on your computer, you’re in luck. Here’s a tip that will save you the time and hassle of having to switch from your computer to your phone.

1. Most cell phone carriers provide e-mail addresses to each cell phone number and support text messaging by e-mail. To figure out the specific formatting your recipient’s carrier uses, click here.
2. Enter the phone number of the recipient, followed by the specific formatting mentioned above. It is recommended that you save the formatting in your Outlook as a contact so that you don’t need to refer back to the list each time you send a new message.
3. Now just compose your text message by clicking “New”, then “Message”. Write the message as you would with any other email, but do keep in mind that most messages have a limited number of characters (160 is common). Also, make sure to remove your signature from the e-mail.
4. Remember that any replies to your text message will come back into your email inbox, not your cell phone.

If you’ve enjoyed this tip, please feel free to pass it on to your friends/coworkers.

This technique is very cool for two reasons:

1. A flash drive is much more responsive than an optical drive since it doesn’t rely on physical moving parts, so the installation procedure will be faster.
2. It provides an easy way to install Microsoft Windows 7 on a system that doesn’t have a DVD drive, such as a netbook.

Before you begin

First, you need to have a USB drive big enough to store the files. I’d recommend at least 4 GB.
You will have to reformat your entire flash drive for this, so make sure all your files are backed up before you begin.
Also, check to make sure your computer can boot from a flash drive. Most newer computers can do this, but it’s always a good idea to check.

Using the DiskPart utility to configure your USB drive

The DiskPart utility allows you to manage disks, partitions, or volumes from within scripts or directly from a command prompt. You’ll use this simple method to configure your USB drive.

Step One

– connect your USB flash drive to a computer.

Step Two

– locate the command prompt shortcut on the Start menu, then right click on it and select the “Run as administrator” command. If you’re running Vista, that annoying little UAC window will pop up. Get rid of it and proceed. You can now launch the DiskPart utility by typing “Diskpart” on the command line. Now, the real fun begins.

Step Three

– locate the flash drive on DiskPart. Type in “List disk” into the command prompt. You can verify which disk # is the flash drive by looking at the size. If you’re still unsure, you can type “List volume”. This will tell you the drive letter as well as the label.

Step Four

– use the “Select Disk” command to shift focus over to the flash drive. For example, if your USB drive is Disk 4, you’ll type in “Select Disk 4″. It should then tell you “Disk 4 is now the selected disk.”

Step Five

– to complete the preparation, you’ll need to format your flash drive. Type “Clean” into the command prompt. This should be quick and painless.

Step Six

– type in “Create partition primary” into the command prompt. Once the partition is created, you should see a success message. The focus should then shift to the new partition. Use the “Active” command to mark the petition as Active. This will allow the BIOS to recognize that yes, you can boot to this new disk. The USB drive is now ready! Type in “Exit” to leave DiskPart and close the command prompt.

Step Seven

– copy the Windows 7 files. This part is easy. Just open Windows Explorer, double click on the Windows 7 DVD, click Ctrl-A to select all the files, then drag them all onto the USB drive icon. Copying the files takes a while, so sit back and relax. You’re almost there.

Step Eight

– to install Windows 7, you’ll need to restart your computer and boot to the USB drive. As your computer is restarting, look for a message during the POST about a particular key, usually Del or F2, that you need to press to enter Setup. Press this key as soon as you see the message. Once you enter the setup, you’ll need to locate and change the boot order. If this sounds too confusing, just ask your IT guy for assistance.

Once you save the changes and restart your computer, installation should be easy. The installation procedure will actually run much quicker than usual off the USB drive.

Have you ever worked hard on a report in Word, only to lose everything with a system crash? Well, don’t give up quite yet. Here are a few ways you may be able to salvage your lost data.

1. Open and Repair – Next time you open up Word, select the file in the Open dialog box, then click on Open and Repair from the drop-down list in the bottom-right corner.
2. Save the file in a different format – sometimes, converting the file to RTF or TXT will cause some of Word’s code to be stripped from the document, which could fix the problem.
3. Try opening the document from another computer – if this works, the problem is with your computer, not the file itself.
4. Check your e-mail – if you sent the document to someone else, you should be able to recover that copy by searching through the Sent folder.
5. Run CHKDSK – this will help you figure out the real source of the problem, and fix it if the issue is at the file system level. Simply click on the Start button and type CHKDSK into the search bar.

If all else fails, you may just have to fork over the cash for a data recovery program.

I’ve had quite a few people comment about how boring it must be to stare at a computer all day. Thankfully, I happen to enjoy staring at my computer (yes, I am a bit of a nerd)… But still, some of the tips in this article really do help when the work day drags:

10 Ways to Stay Sane in Your Cubicle.

I just got back from a Seattle Chamber of Commerce event on Social Media strategies. Tons of useful information to be had… here are a few cool tips I picked up while I was there:

• When you send out e-mail campaigns (or any marketing campaign, I suppose), include a photo. It adds a personal touch to an otherwise faceless company and generates more customer responses.
• There’s already a conversation going on that relates to your product or service. Are you a part of that conversation? Use Twitter search to find out what people are already talking about. When you get comfortable, jump in with your professional opinions. Become a part of the conversation.
• Social media is great, but it doesn’t hurt to use a physical presence as your base. Host an event, then integrate social media tools like Twitter. Even a small gathering of customers can expand to 100 times more people when you provide social media incentives.
• Twitter contests are a great way to involve customers (crowdsourcing!!) and expand your base. Example: this Twitter contest by Zappos.

Cool tools you can use:

• Twitter search – GREAT way to discover what people are interested in. Provides better results using real-time data, not some old link that’s been lying around for weeks.
• Tinker – stay on top of trends in Twitter and across the web. You can also use Tinker to create your own channels and promote your business.
• SM2 from Techrigy – this “freemium” service provides social media monitoring and analysis specifically for PR and marketing professionals.

I haven’t used these tools yet, but I plan to… if anyone has, or has any other tips on social media marketing, please share!!

Microsoft Sharepoint’s popularity is no secret. Over 17,000 companies- including General Mills, Starbucks and Viacom- use the software. Even in today’s rough economy, sales for Sharepoint continues to exceed $1 billion dollars.
If you look at the reasons behind Sharepoint’s success, you can start to see a trend in what really drives sales. As a small business, such powerful influence isn’t easily available, but it’s still worthwhile to learn and implement similar tactics.
Here are a few strategies that seem to have worked well for Sharepoint:

• Numerous applications are bundled into one package – providing customers with a one-stop solution is a great way to boost appeal.
• Ease of use – you don’t have to be tech-savvy to use Sharepoint’s most basic features. This is a good example of why it’s important to keep it simple. You’re more likely to appeal to a wider audience that way.
• Offers users all the benefits of cloud-based services, without the security risks – more and more services are being offered online, but the security risk remains a point of concern. If you can reassure customers that your product is secure, you’re that much closer to closing a sale.
• Integration with Office and Outlook – take advantage of what your customers already use and integrate your products into that. It’s much easier than trying to start carte blanche.

This list is FAR from extensive, so please feel free to add any comments or tips.

It’s time to recognize that techies really are using their own language. Heck, sometimes it seems like they aren’t even human anymore. The following table includes a number of terms often employed by support centers and IT Professionals alike. Familiarize yourself with these terms in order to avoid any embarrassment or to catch your tech support in the act:

Most jobs today require working with a computer, and most computers fail at some point. If you’re tired of calling tech support for every little issue, here are some tips to become your own IT guy. Click below to find common problems and solutions for your IT woes.

Most of the time, Microsoft Word behaves relatively well, especially when you are creating simple documents. There are times, however, when it will change your formatting, insert text that isn’t relative, and add weird code.

Here are our top five annoyances while using Microsoft Word and the easy ways to fix them:

Late last week, Microsoft announced it had finished work on Windows 7. The final version won’t be released to the public until the end of October, but you can already download the RC (release candidate) for free here.
I’ve tried it out, and so far Windows 7 seems to be everything Vista should have been and more. It has more than a few great features, including an improved taskbar. The taskbar in Windows 7 allows you to:

• simply click and drag to rearrange icons
• pin any program so it’s always ready to be launched
• preview programs that are running by just hovering over them

One of my favorite taskbar features is the way it streams live videos even when the mouse hovers the program’s icon on the taskbar. Way cool.

Want to make the most out of your taskbar? Here are a few totally useful tips: