Troubleshooting Auto Fill Issues In Microsoft Excel

Excel program is a spreadsheet application that comes integrated with the Microsoft Office suite. Excel sheets are equipped with the auto fill function that enters data automatically into the cells when enabled. The Excel program provides the users with a number of pre-set series like months of the year, which will be entered automatically upon entering the first member of the series and selecting the auto fill function for the rest of the cells.

Users may also customize the data that is inputted by the auto fill function. Auto fill issues are caused most often due to formatting errors in the input files and due to incorrectly set preferences. This article discusses the basic trouble shooting steps that a user can adopt to get rid of the auto fill problems with Excel.

Instructions

• Open the Excel program and check the formulas in the sheet for formatting errors. Make sure that all the parentheses in the formula are the part of a matching pair. Also, ensure that all the non-alphabetic characters are enclosed in single quotation marks. Enter the numbers in your formula in unformatted way. For instance, enter "$1,000" as “1000” only. You can format the numbers in the cells at a later stage with the help of the Format menu.
• Take care not to lose data in the cells while dragging the fill handle. You can do this by changing the preferences. To do this, click on the File tab, go to Excel and then select Options. Click on the Advanced tab and check the box labeled Alert before overwriting cells.
• Set the calculations to Automatic. This will make sure that the formulas will recalculate automatically as you fill the cells. To do this, press on the File tab, go to Excel and select Options. From the Options list, select the Formulas category and under the Calculation Options tab, choose the setting that is labeled Workbook Calculation. For the formulas to recalculate automatically, click on the Automatic option.
• Click on the File tab and select Excel. From there, select Options and disable the auto fill option. Choose the Advanced tab and uncheck the box named Enable AutoComplete for cell values.

These are the basic trouble shooting methods to get over the auto fill problems with Excel. If you are unable to overcome the errors even after following these steps, you can contact Microsoft support for further assistance.

Setting Up The Outlook Program To Receive Emails

Microsoft Outlook is an email client developed by Microsoft for Office suite that operates as a personal information manager. Outlook is a very useful email and contact management software present in the Microsoft Office set of productivity programs. It is always wise to use the Microsoft Outlook program as your email client to keep your business data in an organized manner. For the Outlook program to be useful, you need to configure the program to automatically download and send emails with the help of your email account.

The latest versions of the Outlook program have automated a large part of this process and have made the process of setting up the email account simple. You just need the name of your account and the password to set up the Outlook program.

The steps to be done are discussed in this article. If you find any difficulty in following any of the below steps, you can always contact the Microsoft support team for further clarification. The technician will direct you through the process of setting up the Outlook program to receive the emails.

Instructions

• Turn on the computer and open the Outlook program.
• In the Outlook program window, click on the Tools tab and go to the Email Accounts option, if you are not prompted automatically to set up the Outlook program when you run it. Clicking on the Add Account option will take you to the same location as if you were prompted in the start up.
• In the box that says Name, enter your name.
• In the Email Address box, type in your email id.
• Type the password that you like to use in the Password and Retype Password boxes. After entering the password, click on the Next button.
• You may click on the Finish button when the Outlook program has connected to the server and has completed configuring itself.

This is the Outlook email set up procedure to set up Outlook to receive emails. The steps are very easy to follow and are very simple. You need not worry if you find any difficulty in following the steps. You can always contact the Microsoft support team to help you with the Outlook email set up procedure. You may also refer the Outlook support module of the official Microsoft web site to know more on the steps involved.

Microsoft Outlook Experiencing Outage Issues

A few days ago, many users had to face issues regarding the interruption in the services of Microsoft Outlook, especially the SkyDrive cloud storage service and the Peoples contacts application. Although Microsoft claimed to rectify these issues five hours later, there were several instances where the people were still not able to access email on mobile devices that relied on EAS, which is a category that includes iPhones, in which iOS uses EAS for synchronization. Although Microsoft said it had already taken steps to fix this issue, it took nearly three days to restore Outlook.
Microsoft said that, “the failure in a caching service of Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), the popular synchronization service widely used to sync smart phones and tablets with company email, contacts and calendars stored on Microsoft Exchange Server systems caused these devices to receive an error and continuously try to connect to our service. This resulted in a flood of traffic that our services did not handle properly. We have made two key changes, one that involved increasing network bandwidth in the affected part of the system, and one that involved changing the way error handling is done for devices using Exchange ActiveSync." Earlier this year, same kind of outage issues affected in iOS 6.1-powered iPhones and iPads, which affected not only on-premise Exchange servers within enterprises, but also Microsoft's own infrastructure, including its Office 365 subscription service, thereby leading to the Microsoft problems. However, regarding the interruption of the services of Outlook, Microsoft said that, “A small percentage of mobile users may experience intermittent issues while syncing email and the problem would be solved within a couple of days.”
The Outlook outage issues further increased the Microsoft problems as Microsoft had recently declared that its Office 365 cloud-based service exceeded 99.9% uptime, each of the last four quarters. It also stated that the website can be perfect competitor to Gmail, and could easily outdo it. However, within days of this pompous declaration, Microsoft had to experience such outage issues, causing embarrassment. However, after three days, the software company apologized for a three-day partial outage of the site and said the email service was back up and running, only to note hours later that problems still haunted some customers. It said, “We want to apologize to everyone who was affected by the outage, and we appreciate the patience you have shown us as we worked through the issues”
It is clear that Microsoft is trying hard to fix such issues and retain its customers. However, how far the company would be successful in this is yet to be seen.

Microsoft To Discontinue Windows XP By 2014

Microsoft recently announced that the Windows XP operating system would expire on April 2014 and the company would not provide any service updates and security fixes. Even the Microsoft tech support would not be providing service for the users, irrespective of being free or paid. Hence, it is clear that Microsoft is planning to make Windows XP obsolete, and is now focusing more on releasing the updated versions of Windows 8. Hence, most professionals are advising the users to upgrade their system to Windows 8 in the coming months.

The companies running their systems on Windows XP are prone to viral threats, and may experience problems that cannot be fixed, or are extremely expensive to have fixed. Hence, it is clear that after April 2014, any viruses or computer bugs affecting the Windows XP operating system would no longer be taken care of by Microsoft engineers at the Windows XP help. Hence, it is quite clear that the users who have not upgraded to Windows 7 or Windows 8 would need the assistance of IT specialists, and that only these specialized IT engineers would be able to fix said issues. The irony here is that the stopping of services by Microsoft would turn out to be a boon for these engineers, as well as for other companies that offer technical assistance. For example, Telx Computers, which offers the most comprehensive support services amongst Miami IT services, announced new service contracts that would offer businesses assistance with upgrading software after Windows XP support expired. It also states that the customers can be reassured that the engineers here would be experts in PC repair, and would have all the necessary knowledge and skills to ease them through the operating system transition.

Telx Computers also provide 24-hour assistance for companies, similar to the Windows XP help for those unable to upgrade their operating systems before the April 2014. Business owners may be nervous about the possibility of losing data or corrupting files in this process. However, with the support of experienced IT engineers, along with dedicated servers providing back up, this scenario would not happen, as Telx Computer’s customers are given technical support around the clock, response times are exceptionally fast, and their dedicated servers keep data safe and protected. These features indeed make Telx computers one of the best IT companies in US.

Hence, it is quite clear that these users would have to depend on independent companies as well as experienced engineers if problems occur on their copies of Windows XP after the OS has been discontinued support for.

Xbox One Controller To Have Windows Support By 2014

Xbox 360 has been the most sought out gaming console available. Microsoft has included advanced and sophisticated features in Xbox, helping it to dominate the PC gamepad market. Microsoft recently declared that the Xbox One controller would support the Windows operating system by 2014. According to a Microsoft rep, ““We are going to make sure that existing PC games that support the Xbox 360 controller will work with the Xbox One controller.” This would definitely be exciting news for many PC gamers. However, Microsoft is still not giving an exact answer as to why this feature would not be available from the first day itself.

Nowadays, most large-scale PC game releases ship with built-in Xbox 360 controller support. While the 360 controller would continue to work smoothly as it was in the earlier case, it would be a disappointment for gamers as they would not be able to take advantage of the new controller as soon as it is released. Users can check the Microsoft support page to know more about this feature. It is clear that Microsoft would keep up the same level of gamepad support going forward, but they also stated the work required to deliver a proper software solution requires a few extra months after the Xbox One launch.

However, this is not the case with the Mac operating system. On the Mac, the Xbox 360 controller is widely supported due to the unofficial driver developed by Colin Munro. Hence, one can easily imagine that like-minded individuals would step up, and release, unofficial Xbox One drivers before Microsoft gets around to releasing the officially supported software. This would affect the sales of the Xbox gaming consoles, as the appeal of a new controller with an improved layout, and a D-Pad that actually works, is enough to compel the gaming community to make the necessary modifications. While checking on the Microsoft support page, it is clear that the software giant does not plan to release a new version of the next-generation Kinect support for Windows, until next year. However, the PC market is definitely going to get affected due to the over emphasis on the gaming consoles.

With all of the recent marketing strategies to keep the consumers happy, it is sure that Microsoft is willing to do whatever it must to make the Xbox One a success, and enable it to outsmart other gaming consoles.

How To Access Network Folders On A Windows 8 Pc?

Microsoft had developed the Windows 8 operating system this way, mainly because many users found it hard to run their touch screen computers and tablets on the Windows 7 operating system. The controls were not smooth enough to offer a sophisticated user experience. Hence, the Windows 8 operating system was launched as a successor to this, and many advanced and novel features were introduced in it. The Metro UI is known to run smooth with touch-based devices such tablets, smart phones as well as the laptops. Recently, however, many issues have been reported regarding the inability to access files and folders on Windows 8.
These Windows 8 problems generally occur while sharing the folders and the files to a new computer. There are several troubleshooting techniques which you can follow to ensure that you have opened the network file sharing options. While setting up file sharing on the Windows 8 PC and trying to access the folders shared by other computers on the same network, there are chances that you would still get access error messages. These errors occur especially when you try to access folders shared by other computers on the Windows 7 platform.
You can follow these steps to fix such Windows 8 problems before seeking assistance from Windows tech support.

• In the first step, you need to go to Computer Home Group on your Windows 8 PC and one of your Windows 7 PCs. This is done to make sure that the files are effectively shared to the new computer.
• On the Windows 8 PC, there would be an option to join the existing group. Select this option to join an existing home group. Now, on the Window 7 PC, go to Home group settings. You can also contact Windows tech support to help you with sharing the folders on the new computer.
• Now, check the home group password. Enter the password on the Windows 8 PC. Make sure you enter the same password on the computer.
• Once you finish these steps, you would have to log out and log in again for the changes to take effect, and once that is done, you will be able to access shared folders on network from your Windows 8 PC.

You should be able to access folders on a Windows 8 PC by using these instructions. For more information, you can also check Microsoft’s official website.

Repairing Microsoft Office Picture Manager

The Microsoft Office 2003 and later versions contain a tool called the Microsoft Office Picture Manager. With this tool, you can view the pictures and do basic edits on the pictures such as changing the size of a picture. Microsoft Office provides many ways for the users to have the computer automatically detect the issues and reinstall the software from the Office disk to replace the components that have sustained damages. If you are facing any issues with the Microsoft Office Picture Manager like unexpected shut down or the application failing to load, you can make use of the Microsoft Office repair tools to repair it.

Steps

• Launch the Microsoft Office Picture Manager tool. Click on the Help drop down menu located along the top row of the open window and then click on Detect and Repair.
• You will be able to see an option labeled Restore my shortcuts while repairing. Put a check in this box and uncheck the second box. Click on the Start button. If your computer prompts you to insert the disk of Microsoft Office, put it inside the optical drive of your PC and click on OK. Windows will scan the program files folder for the Picture Manager and if needed, copies the files from the disk and replaces the files on the drive.
• Once the repair process finishes, click on OK and try using the Picture Manager again. If the application responds without any issue, you have resolved the issue. Else, go to the next step.
• In the Picture Manager, run the Detect and Repair operation again. Place a check mark in the box labeled Discard my customized settings and restore default settings and click on Start.
• Click on the OK button and try to use the manager again. If there are still errors, proceed to the next step.
• Click on the Start menu and select Control Panel. In the Control Panel window, click on Uninstall a Program if the Control Panel window is in the Home view, else on Programs and Features if it is in the Classic view.
• Click on Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and then on the Change button. 
• Click on Reinstall or Repair button and then on Next.
• Check the Detect and Repair errors in my Office installation radio button and click on Install. If you have not inserted the disk of Microsoft Office, insert it when prompted.
• Once the repair is finished, click on OK.

These are the steps to use the Microsoft Office repair tool. If you have any more doubts, you may contact the Microsoft support team for further assistance.

Stopping The Microsoft Office Updates

Microsoft Office Suite provides students, business owners and other individuals with a variety of useful applications such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Publisher. These programs can be used to store, create and share professional quality documents, which can help you in business or studies. Microsoft’s automatic updates make sure that the Microsoft Office program is up to date and this ensures the smooth running of your applications and offers peak performance.
You may need to turn off the automatic updates of Microsoft Office when you have a slow internet connection or when the available bandwidth is very low. When the Internet connection is very slow, downloading the updates will make the connection even slower. In such a situation, you may need to turn off the automatic updates of the Microsoft Office program and take care of the update manually. Turning off the automatic updates of Microsoft Office is explained in the Microsoft Office help module of the program. The steps to do this are explained below.

In Windows 7

• Click on the Start button that is on the bottom left hand corner of the desktop screen and select Control Panel.
• Under the Security tab, you can see the Check for updates button. Click on it and then click on the Change Settings button.
• Under the tab Microsoft Update, you will be able to see Give me updates for Microsoft products and check for new optional Microsoft software when I update Windows option. Uncheck the box next to this and press the OK button to save the changed settings.

This will make sure that the automatic updates of Microsoft Office are turned off in the Windows 7 computer.

In Windows XP

• Open the Internet Explorer web browser and navigate to the Microsoft Update web page.
• Click on Change settings.
• Scroll down the web page to see To stop using Microsoft Update. You will be able to see Disable Microsoft Update software and let me use Windows Update only. Check the small box next to this option.
• After doing the above steps, click on Apply changes now button and then on Yes to complete the process.

These are the steps to turn off Microsoft Office updates in Windows XP computer. If you are not clear with the steps, you may contact the Microsoft Office help and support team to turn off the updates of Microsoft Office.