Understanding Cursor Modes in Autocad 2008

As the Command window aids you with messages, the cursor gives you clues about what to do.
Figure below illustrates the various modes of the cursor and gives a brief description of the role of each mode.




Take a moment to study this figure:

The Standard cursor tells you that AutoCAD is waiting for instructions. You can also edit objects by using grips when you see this cursor. Grips are squares that appear at endpoints and
at the midpoint of objects when they’re selected. (You might know them as workpoints from other graphics programs.)

The Point Selection cursor appears whenever AutoCAD expects point input. It can also appear in conjunction with a rubber-banding line. You can either click a point or enter a coordinate through the keyboard.

The Object Selection cursor tells you that you must select objects—either by clicking them or by using any of the object-selection options available.

The Osnap (object snap) marker appears along with the Point Selection cursor when you
invoke an osnap. Osnaps let you accurately select specific points on an object, such as endpoints
or midpoints.

The tracking vector appears when you use the Polar Tracking or Object Snap Tracking feature. Polar Tracking aids you in drawing orthogonal lines, and Object Snap Tracking helps you align a point in space relative to the geometry of existing objects. Object Snap Tracking works in conjunction with osnaps.

A Fast Way to Enter Distances in AUTOCAD 2008

A fast method for entering distances is to point in a direction with a rubber-banding line and then enter the distance through the keyboard. For example, to draw a line 3 units long from left to right, click the Line tool on the 2D Draw control panel, click a start point, and then move the cursor so the rubber-banding line points to the right at some arbitrary distance. With the cursor pointing in the direction you want, type 3↵. The rubber-banding line becomes a fixed line 3 units long.

Using this method, called the Direct Distance method, along with the Ortho mode or Polar Tracking can be a fast way to draw objects of specific lengths. Use the standard Cartesian or polar coordinate methods when you need to enter exact distances at angles other than those that are exactly horizontal or vertical. If you have the Dynamic Input display turned on, you can set the angle of the rubberbanding line using the angle display as a guide and then enter the distance you want through the keyboard followed by a ↵. Lines are drawn to the nearest whole degree shown in the Dynamic Input display.

On some systems, the AutoCAD Blipmode setting may be turned on. This causes tiny cross-shaped markers, called blips, to appear where you select points. These blips can be helpful to keep track of the points you’ve selected on the screen.

Blips aren’t part of your drawing and don’t print. Still, they can interfere with your work. To clear the screen of blips, choose View  Redraw, or type R↵. The screen quickly redraws the objects, clearing the screen of the blips. As you’ll see later in this book, Redraw can also clear up other display problems.

Another command, Regen, does the same thing as Redraw, but it also updates the drawing-display database— which means it takes a bit longer to restore the drawing. Regen is used to update certain types of changes that occur in a drawing.

To turn Blipmode on and off, type blipmode↵ at the Command prompt, and then enter ↵ or off↵.

Tip Getting Out of Trouble in AUTOCAD 2008

Beginners and experts alike are bound to make a few mistakes. Before you get too far into the tutorial, here are some powerful but easy-to-use tools to help you recover from accidents:

Backspace
If you make a typing error, press the Backspace key to back up to your error, and then retype your command or response. The Backspace key is in the upper-right corner of the main keyboard area.

Escape (Esc)
This is perhaps the single most important key on your keyboard. When you need to quickly exit a command or a dialog box without making changes, press the Esc key in the upper-left corner of your keyboard. Before AutoCAD 2000, you had to press Esc twice in some instances. In more recent versions, you need to press Esc only once, although it won’t hurt to press it twice. (Press Esc before editing with grips or issuing commands through the keyboard.)

U
If you accidentally change something in the drawing and want to reverse that change, click the Undo tool in the Standard Annotation toolbar (the left-pointing curved arrow). You can also type
U↵ at the Command prompt. Each time you do this, AutoCAD undoes one operation at a time, in
reverse order. The last command performed is undone first, then the next-to-last command, and so on. The prompt displays the name of the command being undone, and the drawing reverts to its state prior to that command. If you need to, you can undo everything back to the beginning of an editing session.

Undo
If you decide that you want to back up a few steps of an operation you just performed, you can use the Undo tool (the left-pointing curved arrow) in the Standard Annotation toolbar. Or, type Undo ↵. Each click of the Undo tool steps you back one operation. You can also select the exact command to back up to by using the Undo drop-down list



You can open the Undo drop-down list by clicking the downward-pointing arrow found to the right of the Undo tool.

Redo
If you accidentally undo one too many commands, you can redo the last undone command by clicking the Redo tool (the right-pointing curved arrow) in the Standard Annotation toolbar. Or, type Redo ↵. In AutoCAD 2008, you can redo several operations that you may have undone with the Undo command. You can also select the exact command to redo to by using the Redo drop-down list. To open the Redo drop-down list, click the downward-pointing arrow found to the right of the Redo tool

Extract Data from a Corrupt Workbook in Excel 2007

Workbooks sometimes become corrupt for no apparent reason. This cancause all sorts of problems, especially if the workbook is vital and for whateverreason you have no backup. Lesson 1: Always back up your data somewhere. Realistically, though, this does not always happen, and corruption can, of course, occur right before your regularly scheduled backup.
To add to your frustration, even though you knowyour workbook is corrupt, you sometimes might still be able to open it and even perform certain actions in it.

If You Can Open Your Workbook

If you can open the offending workbook, before doing anything else, be sure to save a copy of it; otherwise, you might regret it. If you have a copy, you can always seek professional help!

Now, try opening the workbook in a later version of Excel and simply saving it again. Obviously this is not possible if you already are using the latest version of Excel.

If this doesn’t work, try opening your workbook and saving the file in HTML or HTM format (see the “What You Lose in HTML or HTM” sidebar for a warning about these formats), then close the file and reopen it, this time saving again in the format you require—e.g., .xlsx.

What You Lose in HTML or HTM
When saving in HTML or HTM format, the following features will be lost in
Excel 2007:

• New Excel 2007 features
• PivotTables and charts (they can be saved, but are lost when the file is opened in this format again in Excel)
• VBA Projects

If you are using a pre-2007 version, the following features will be lost:

• Unused number formats
• Unused styles
• Data consolidation settings
• Scenarios
• Natural language formulas (they are converted to standard range references)
• Custom function categories
• Strikethrough, subscript, and superscript elements
• Change History
• Customized page setup settings for charts that are embedded on a worksheet
• List settings for ListBoxes and ComboBoxes from the Forms toolbar
• Conditional formatting that is stored on an XLM macro sheet

Also, shared workbooks in versions of Excel before Excel 2007 will no longer be shared. The “Value (Y) axis crosses at category number” setting on the Scale tab of the Format Axis dialog box is not saved if the “Value (Y) axis crosses a maximum category” checkbox is checked. The “Vary colors by point” setting in the Format Data Series dialog box is not saved if the chart contains more than one data series.

Finally, try opening your file and saving it in SYLK (.slk, for symbolic link) format. Note that when you save a workbook in this format, only the active worksheet is saved. So, you will have to do the same for each worksheet. Reopen the file and save it in a desired format such as .xlsx.

If You Cannot Open Your File

If your workbook is corrupt to the point that you cannot even open it, open your spreadsheet in Microsoft Word or via the Spreadsheet viewer, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site, then copy your data from the open file (note that much of your formatting, formulas, etc, will be lost).

Next, open a new workbook and create an external link to the corrupt workbook—e.g., ='C:\Documents and Settings\Raina\My Documents\[ChookSheet.xls]Sheet1'!A1.

Copy this link down as many rows and across as many columns as needed. Do the same for each worksheet in the workbook. If you cannot remember any of the names of the worksheets, create any old sheet name using the correct filename path, and Excel will display the sheet names for you when you press Enter.

One final thing you can do is visit the OpenOffice.org web site and download the free version of OpenOffice.org. Except for different names for different tools and commands, OpenOffice.org is very similar to Excel. OpenOffice.org is based on the same basic spreadsheet structure as Excel, making it simple for Excel users to use. In fact, about 96 percent of the formulas used in Excel can be created and applied by using the spreadsheet in OpenOffice.org.

To download the free version of OpenOffice.org, download it from the FTP site of your choice. Then install the program. OpenOffice.org is also available for Macs.

In many cases, your Excel data can be recovered. However, no VBA code can be recovered due to incompatibility between OpenOffice.org and Excel.

Sadly, if none of these methods works, you probably will have to pay to try to have your workbook recovered with special software.

Using System Restore to Repair Windows

One of the best features in Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and Windows XP was System Restore, which has proved itself to be a life saver. This feature carries forward in slightly improved form in Windows Vista. What System Restore does is automatically back up key system files at opportune times, such as when you’re installing a new hardware driver. That way, if a driver or application wreaks havoc with your PC, you can use System Restore to reload older system file versions and get back up and running again.

System Restore now has the following two main interface points.

System Protection: Located in the System Properties dialog box (which is annoyingly much harder to find in Windows Vista than it was in previous Windows versions). To get to it the quickest possible way, open the Start Menu, right-click My Computer and choose Properties, and then click the Advanced System Settings link in the System window. Then, navigate to the System Protection tab.
This interface enables you to configure which disks or partitions you will protect (typically only the system volume, which is usually drive C:). You can also manually create a system restore point by clicking the Create button. You’ll need to supply a name for the restore point.

System Restore Wizard: Restores your PC’s key system files to a previous point in time. To launch this wizard, open the Start menu and navigate to All Programs ➪ Accessories ➪ System Tools ➪ System Restore.
In the introductory page of the wizard, you can choose the recommended restore point (typically the most recent one) or optionally see a list of previously created restore points. Most of these will have been automatically created by the system and will include a description of what was going on when each restore point was created. If you manually created your own restore points from System Protection, those restore points will have the word (Manual) appended to the front of the name.
When you select a restore point, Windows will move into the secure desktop and begin restoring your system to its previous state. This will require the PC to reboot. Note that any applications you’ve installed since that restore point will almost certainly need to be reinstalled.

Using the Backup and Restore Center in Windows Vista

Although the various data recovery tools are available scattered through the Windows Vista user interface, there is a single application, the Backup And Restore Center, that provides a handy front end to all of them. This application helps you both back up and restore files on your PC.

Backing up Data

If you’d like to create a data backup, you can use the Back Up Files Wizard, which is available from the Backup And Restore Center. To do so, launch the Backup And Restore
Center and click the Back Up Files button. (The Backup And Restore Center can be found in the Start Menu under All Programs -> Maintenance).

1. Choose a location to store the backup. The amount of space you’ll need, of course, is based on the amount of data you will be backing up. You can save a backup to an internal or external hard disk or other storage device, a recordable optical disk (typically a writeable CD or DVD), or a network share.
2. Select which disks (or partitions) to include in the backup. If you only have a single disk (or partition), this will be pretty simple, but many people are using multiple disks and partitions, so the wizard gives them the option to include those as well.
3. Select which types of data files you’d like to back up. You can choose between picture, music, videos, e-mail, documents, recorded TV show, compressed files, and other data files.

Restoring Files

To restore files you’ve previously backed up, access the Backup And Restore Center again, and then trigger one of the following two types of data restore operations:

• Basic Restore: Restores all of the files and folders you backed up previously.
• Advance Restore: With this type of restore, you can perform more advanced restoration tasks, such as restoring only files from the latest backup, restoring files from a particular backup, or even restoring files from a different PC.

Follow these steps to trigger a restoration process:

1. Click the Restore Files button in the Backup And Restore Center.
2. The Restore Files Wizard appears, allowing you to choose between files from the latest backup or files from an earlier backup. If you choose the former option, you will restore the files you most recently backed up, whereas the second choice enables you to navigate through a list of the backups that have been performed and choose the one you want. Either way, you can then choose between restoring all backed up files or browsing or searching through the selected backup to find only the file or files you need.
3. Choose where to restore the files. You can restore in the original location, which is the default, or select a different location. If you select a different location, you also have the opportunity to create a unique directory structure that emulates the directory structure of the original backup.
4. Start the restore process.

If restoration will cause files to be overwritten, as it will if you choose to restore the files to their original location, you’ll receive a standard Windows Copy File dialog box. This dialog box enables you to overwrite the existing file, keep the existing file, or keep the existing file and rename the restored version.

Keeping Your Data Safe in Windows Vista

With Windows Vista, Microsoft has finally given users pervasive and reliable backup and restore solutions for both data files and the entire computer. You can use the File and Folder Backup Wizard to copy your important files and folders to a safe location, the Complete PC Backup tool to create a system image that can be used later to restore a broken PC, and the Windows Backup Utility to enable automatic data backups or restore data backups or system images. There’s even a cool new feature borrowed from Windows Server that will help you recover old versions of data files if you save the wrong version, and an updated version of System Restore that can help your PC “go back in time” and remove bad drivers or applications. You may never need to turn to a third-party backup and restore utility ever again.

Different Backups, Different Goals

Now that you’ve moved to digital storage for your most valuable data, it’s time to start thinking about creating backups, which are copies of your original data that should be kept elsewhere for safe keeping. Many people don’t even consider backing up until the unthinkable happens: A hard drive breaks down, literally taking all the data with it, or there’s a fire or theft. However it happens, you should be prepared for the worst. This is all the more important because many people now manage both their professional and private lives on their PCs. It’s one thing to lose this week’s meeting agenda, but what will you do when a hard drive crash takes away the only copies you had of five years’ worth of digital photos?

Given the almost complete lack of decent backup solutions in previous Windows versions, you may be surprised to discover that Windows Vista offers an almost mind-boggling suite of backup and restore solutions, each aimed at a different need. Best of all, Vista also includes a friendly front end to all these capabilities, so that even the most non-technical person can get up to speed quickly. Before we get into that, however, let’s examine the various types of data safety facilities that Windows Vista supports.

Data Backup

If you think of your Documents folder as the center of your data universe, and keep an elaborate series of folders and files there, then you’ll understand the necessity of backing up these crucial files on a regular basis. To this end, Windows Vista supports both automatic and manual data backup options, enabling you to choose which files to back up and when. You can then restore your backups at any time to recover previous versions of documents, or to replace a file you may have accidentally deleted.

Complete PC Backup

There’s nothing worse than discovering that you need to reinstall Windows for some reason. Not only do you have to take the time and effort to get the operating system installed, but then you have to make sure you have drivers for all your hardware, find and reinstall all the applications you use regularly, reload all your personal data, and reconfigure all of the system’s options so that it’s exactly the way you used to have it. Rather than go through this rigmarole, you can use a new Windows Vista feature called Complete PC Backup to create what’s called a system image or snapshot. This image contains the entire contents of your PC, as it was the day you created the image. If you need to recover your entire PC, you can simply restore the system image and get right back to work.

File Recovery

Windows Vista offers the following two excellent ways to recover lost files:

• Volume Shadow Copy: If you want to recover an older version of a document, perhaps because you made an edit in error and then saved it, you can use this feature to access previous versions of the file.
• System Restore: If you make a change to your system that renders the PC unstable, such as installing a bad driver, you can use this feature to return to a previous time period, or restore point. When you reboot, none of your data has been changed, but the rest of your system configuration returns to that of the day and time the restore point was first made.

Add all that up, and what you have is the makings of a full-featured data recovery software suite. Amazingly, Microsoft provides all of that functionality in Windows Vista for free.

How to play .swf files on your Desktop? Use Adobe Desktop Standalone Flash Player

Many a times you may get Flash files (with file extension .swf) from friends as mail forwards or you may have downloaded it off from websites online. But how do you play the .swf files in your desktop?

Here's how you can do it. Well, you have two options to play flash files off your desktop.

• Open the file within your web-browser. Simple - Drag and drop the .swf file into Internet Explorer or Firefox and it'll play.
• The other way is to play your flash files using the Adobe Standalone Flash Player. For this you will first need to Download the Windows Flash Player 9 Projector content debugger from the Adobe Site [Freeware].
  

There is NO installation needed. Just open the downloaded .exe and open your .swf from within the Projector.
In order to associate all .swf files to open using the Projector, right click the .swf file and "Open with" option. Once there, choose the location of your Projector.exe and you are done.

Simple Tips to shoot great snaps with your Digital Camera

Do you wish you were a better photographer? All it takes is a little know-how and experience. Keep reading for some important picture-taking tips. Then grab your camera and start shooting your way to great pictures.

Look your subject in the eye
Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the picture.

Use a plain background
A plain background shows off the subject you are photographing. When you look through the camera viewfinder, force yourself to study the area surrounding your subject. Make sure no poles grow from the head of your favorite niece and that no cars seem to dangle from her ears.

Use flash outdoors
Bright sun can create unattractive deep facial shadows. Eliminate the shadows by using your flash to lighten the face. When taking people pictures on sunny days, turn your flash on. You may have a choice of fill-flash mode or full-flash mode. If the person is within five feet, use the fill-flash mode; beyond five feet, the full-power mode may be required. With a digital camera, use the picture display panel to review the results.
On cloudy days, use the camera's fill-flash mode if it has one. The flash will brighten up people's faces and make them stand out. Also take a picture without the flash, because the soft light of overcast days sometimes gives quite pleasing results by itself.

Move in close
If your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your goal is to fill the picture area with the subject you are photographing. Up close you can reveal telling details, like a sprinkle of freckles or an arched eyebrow.
But don't get too close or your pictures will be blurry. The closest focusing distance for most cameras is about three feet, or about one step away from your camera. If you get closer than the closest focusing distance of your camera (see your manual to be sure), your pictures will be blurry.

Move it from the middle
Center-stage is a great place for a performer to be. However, the middle of your picture is not the best place for your subject. Bring your picture to life by simply moving your subject away from the middle of your picture. Start by playing tick-tack-toe with subject position. Imagine a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder. Now place your important subject at one of the intersections of lines.
You'll need to lock the focus if you have an auto-focus camera because most of them focus on whatever is in the center of the viewfinder.

Lock the focus
If your subject is not in the center of the picture, you need to lock the focus to create a sharp picture. Most auto-focus cameras focus on whatever is in the center of the picture. But to improve pictures, you will often want to move the subject away from the center of the picture. If you don't want a blurred picture, you'll need to first lock the focus with the subject in the middle and then recompose the picture so the subject is away from the middle.
Usually you can lock the focus in three steps. First, center the subject and press and hold the shutter button halfway down. Second, reposition your camera (while still holding the shutter button) so the subject is away from the center. And third, finish by pressing the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

Know your flash's range
The number one flash mistake is taking pictures beyond the flash's range. Why is this a mistake? Because pictures taken beyond the maximum flash range will be too dark. For many cameras, the maximum flash range is less than fifteen feet—about five steps away.
What is your camera's flash range? Look it up in your camera manual. Can't find it? Then don't take a chance. Position yourself so subjects are no farther than ten feet away.

Watch the light
Next to the subject, the most important part of every picture is the light. It affects the appearance of everything you photograph. On a great-grandmother, bright sunlight from the side can enhance wrinkles. But the soft light of a cloudy day can subdue those same wrinkles.
Don't like the light on your subject? Then move yourself or your subject. For landscapes, try to take pictures early or late in the day when the light is orangish and rakes across the land.

Take some vertical pictures
Is your camera vertically challenged? It is if you never turn it sideways to take a vertical picture. All sorts of things look better in a vertical picture. From a lighthouse near a cliff to the Eiffel Tower to your four-year-old niece jumping in a puddle. So next time out, make a conscious effort to turn your camera sideways and take some vertical pictures.

Be a picture director
Take control of your picture-taking and watch your pictures dramatically improve. Become a picture director, not just a passive picture-taker. A picture director takes charge. A picture director picks the location: "Everybody go outside to the backyard." A picture director adds props: "Girls, put on your pink sunglasses." A picture director arranges people: "Now move in close, and lean toward the camera.

Most pictures won't be that involved, but you get the idea: Take charge of your pictures!!

Easily Fix and Recover all Incorrect or Corrupt Windows System Files

SFC.EXE is a Windows system files resource checker that scans the integrity of all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions. SFC comes packaged and built-in since Windows XP era, and is also included in Windows Vista.

However, not many users seem to ever use the the useful utility when the Windows operating system is in trouble or running into problem. Some may not even aware of SFC existence, probably because that the program is not listed in Start Menu’s All Programs listing. Beside, most advanced users prefer to use Ghost imaging or cloning software to backup a clone copy of entire disk, which can then be restored when there is system failure. Most users simply wipe off the hard disk and reinstall a fresh and clean copy of Windows.

However, sometimes, some problems and errors can be fixed immediately without much trouble and hassle by using SFC.EXE. It’s especially the case when user has using Windows for a period of time, and has made considerable changes to system settings and has lots of user files.

To use SFC.EXE, open an elevated privilege command prompt as administrator by type Cmd in Start Search box, and right click on Cmd appear in search result and then select Run as Administrator. Entering sfc /? will display help and usage guide of the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker.

Generally, the only command that needs to be run and most effective is 'sfc /scannow'

The command will scan integrity of all protected system files, and if problem is detected, the program will attempt to repair the files automatically. After running “sfc /scannow” command, wait for the progress to reach 100% completed, and then restart the computer. After restart, all system files will be exactly the same as if when Windows Vista or XP is just installed.

However, because the process is effectively restore and revert system files back to original factory state, thus all changes, personalizations and customization to the system, such as theme crack, logon screen, startup screen will be reset to original Microsoft style. If you facing problem after changing the display language options in registry with new MUI language packs, this utility can fix the problem too.

SFC can restore a lot of system files and fix a lot of errors and problems instantly, so when encountering any issues, try “sfc /scannow” command first, and it may solves the problem. Note that some restoration may require users to insert Windows XP installation CD or Windows Vista installation DVD. And don’t worry that updates or hotfixes have to be downloaded and applied again, as SFC is not complete system restore, it just replaces corrupted or problematic system files, if it detects one.