Technology Q&A.

Breaking the password code ... Ah, those built-in Windows utilities ... How to get to the desktop quickly ... You can put AutoComplete on hold ... Now you can add a path statement in an Excel footer ... Solving table complexities.

Q. My son was playing with my home computer and he added a password. Now he's forgotten the password, and I can't access any of my files. What can I do? Can I ever get back into the computer?

A. First of all, I suggest you take an appropriate action to be sure this never happens again. But worry not; the Windows password is hardly a serious obstacle. Here's how to defeat it: While you're starting up the computer, hold down the F8 key. In a short time, a menu will appear on the screen. One of the choices will be Command Prompt Only. Highlight that command and hit Enter. At the C prompt (C:\), type "cd\windows" (without the quote marks, of course). Then type "del *.pwl" (again without the quotes), which will remove the password, and turn off the computer. The next time you boot up you won't need the password.

However, if you want to put in a new password to keep your son out of the computer, go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Passwords and click on Change Windows Password. Then pick a password, and certainly don't share it with the kid.

Q. My partner buys all these fancy add-on utilities for Windows. I keep telling him they're a waste of money because Windows has all those utilities built in. He says the third-party utilities are better. Who's right?

A. You're both right. Windows does have a load of utilities built in, such as Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter, Driver Converter, Maintenance Wizard, ScanDisk, Scheduled Tasks and System Information. And they work just fine. However, utilities such as Norton and FixIt have somewhat more powerful functions. But unless you're really into tinkering with various defaults, the built-in utilities are quite sufficient. To access the Microsoft utilities, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools. Then click on any one of them and check them out.

Q. I usually have a half-dozen applications open at any one time and there are times I want to clear my desktop by minimizing the apps. Sure, I can click on the little dash in the box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen for each app--one at a time--but there's got to be a better way.

A. There is. If you have one of those new keyboards with the Windows logo button, hold it down and press the letter M. To restore the minimized windows, press Windows button+Shift+M.

If you don't have a new keyboard with the Windows button, the mouse can do the job; right-click on an empty portion of the taskbar and from the drop-down menu choose Minimize All Windows. To restore the apps, choose Undo Minimize All. And if you've engaged the Active Desktop toolbar, you'll find a Show Desktop icon that can toggle between Minimize All Windows and Restore.

Q. I work in Excel a great deal and find the AutoComplete feature a superb shortcut--at times. At other times it just gets in the way because I have to stop to correct it when it guesses wrong. Is there a way to toggle it off and on? And is there a way to make it smarter--so it'll guess right more often?

A. Yes, it can be both a timesaver and an annoyance. For those not familiar with AutoComplete, here's how it works: When you start typing words into Excel, it examines all the past entries in that column and if it thinks it has a match, it tries to complete the word. If you accept the guess, either just keep working or press the Enter key. Otherwise, you have to stop and correct it.

No, you can't make it smarter. But considering its limitations, it really does pretty well.

Here's how to turn it off: Go into the Tool menu, clicking on Options and Edit. Then clear the check from the box named Enable AutoComplete for cell values and click OK.

Q. As you know, it's possible to add a footer or a header in a Word file that contains the file's path (such as C:\ client\first quarter results). It's a great way to identify the file when it's printed or distributed. However, I can't seem to find a way to do that in Excel. Can it be that it's one of Microsoft's undocumented functions?

A. No, it's not an undocumented function and it's not possible to do that in Excel--unless you get a little help from a third party. We searched around and found an add-on utility that is available free from JWalk & Associates. To download the utility, go to www.jwalk.com/ss/excel/files/addpath.htm.

In fact, you may want to go to the company's Web site--the Spreadsheet Page. It has loads of interesting spreadsheet information. Its address is www.jwalk.com.

Q. One of my clients sends some of his text reports to me in table format. I find it hard to work in that format. For one thing, the Tab key doesn't function in its normal way. For example, when I hit Tab, instead of jumping to the next tab, it moves the insertion point to the next cell in the table. Worse, if I'm at the end of the table, it creates a new row. How does the Tab key work in the table mode?

A. I'll answer your question about the Tab key and show you how to get around the problem, but I suspect you'd feel more comfortable not working in a table at all; so I'll also tell you how to convert from table data to text and vice-versa.

To get the Tab key to act like a Tab key, just hold down the Ctrl key as you press Tab. It's that simple.

Now if you want to take your client's table and convert it to straight text, all you do is highlight the entire table or the part you want to convert to text and go up to the Toolbar and click on Table, Convert Table to Text. Select the appropriate character to separate the columns of text and click OK.

And if you want to convert the text into a table, highlight the text; go onto the Toolbar and click on Table, Convert Text to Table, Create Table, adjust the settings, and click OK. The selected text converts immediately to a table; you may have to adjust the column width in the resulting table.

Do you have a technology question for this column? Send it to Senior Editor Stanley Zarowin via e-mail at [e-mail] or regular mail at the Journal of Accountancy, Harborside Financial Center, 201 Plaza Three, Jersey City, NJ 07311-3881. We regret that we cannot answer letters individually. If a question asked by a reader is deemed to have sufficiently broad interest, we will answer it in a forthcoming Technology Q&A column.

The editors