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"Microsoft Office" Help and Information



What's the most useful Mac software for college students?

You're heading to college - or your child is - and you want to figure out how to set up their shiny new Apple MacBook or iMac so that they'll be maximally efficient and have fun too?  Well, you could go and ask the people at the Apple Store what they recommend, but instead, we went straight to the source, asking undergrad Mac fan Zack Shapiro of the University of Colorado, Boulder for his recommendations.Be...

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Can I view PowerPoint presentations without having Microsoft PowerPoint?

My colleagues at the university send me PowerPoint presentations all the time, these pesky ".ppt" files, but since I don't have PowerPoint on my computer, I can never open them. Surely there's some sort of solution that doesn't involve me paying hundreds of dollars?...

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How do I turn off "revision change bubbles" in Microsoft Word?

I don't know what's changed, but in the past, when I wanted to see revisions and changes to a document in Microsoft Word on my Mac it showed me what was inserted and deleted. Now, however, it has zillions of little balloons on the side of the document. What the heck? How do I change Microsoft Word so revision tracking shows up the way I prefer?...

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How do I add a new extra account to Microsoft Entourage?

I've been using Microsoft Entourage as an email client on my Mac system for a few years now and suddenly find myself needing to add a second account. Since there's no setup wizard to do it, I'm a bit stymied. Can you help?...

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Can I compact my Microsoft Entourage mail database?

As part of migrating from an older iMac to my new Macbook Pro (which I love) I went through and axed a ton of unwanted email from Microsoft Entourage. I know that I can copy my mail archive, address book, etc, by moving the contents of Documents:Microsoft User Data:Office 2008 Identities, but my question is whether there's any way to compact, compress or rebuild my archive before I do so?...

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How do I download email in Microsoft Entourage manually?

I'l like to be able to download messages in Entourage manually. Instead, every time I launch Entourage (Microsoft Entourage 2004 for Mac) all the messages are downloaded automatically. Things is, I want to do it manually....

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How do I prepare my Mac Powerbook laptop for resale?

I am going to be selling my 15" Aluminum Powerbook G4 soon. I would like to sell it with some of the programs included (Office and Adobe CS2 - I figure I should make a few extra bucks including them) but without exposing any personal information. What's the best way to do a thorough cleaning of my Mac without actually losing everything. Additionally, will I be able to use these programs if I reinstall them...

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Change background color on a single slide in Microsoft Powerpoint?

I'm using Powerpoint 2007. WHY CAN'T I CHANGE ONE SLIDE COLOR BACKGROUND WITHOUT IT CHANGING ALL THE REST??? Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated. I've looked online at everyone's comments, done the tutorials online and no one is commenting on 2007. If you right click to change background colors the ONLY option is Apply to All. Am I missing something. Please help!!!...

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How do I install a trusted root certificate on my Mac?

I keep getting errors about not being able to establish a secure connection with my mail server in Entourage because of a bad root certificate. My ISP has sent me the necessary "trusted root certificate" file, but I have no idea how to install it. Help!...

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How do I change the default typeface in Microsoft Word for the Mac?

I use Microsoft Word on my Mac every day, and every time I create a new document I change the default typeface from Times 12 point to Papyrus 13 point. Surely there's some way to change the default typeface in a new document and save me this hassle?...

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Where is Microsoft Word saving my email attachments?

Every so often I get an email attachment and double-click it to open it up on my Mac. It opens up fine, I make edits and save the document, but then when I quit Word I can't find the $#@$# document on my system. What's going on and where are the documents I've edited?...

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How do I password-protect a Microsoft Word file?

How do I protect a microsoft file with a password on my Mac? The purpose is, i don't want word to open up my file without asking for a password.. every time i'll open my file i want that it will ask always a password......

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How do I change my Microsoft Office serial number?

I have two computers in my office and unfortunately installed both copies of Microsoft Word using the same serial number. I never thought it'd be a problem, but am constantly finding that when I leave Entourage running on one of them, I can't run Microsoft Word on the other. How the heck can I get Office to ask me for a different serial number so I can fix it?...

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Why do my Microsoft Word documents have a blue background?

My Microsoft word for microsoft office has a backgroung colour problem. Everytime I open a document into it, the colour turns blue; which is not very to read from and definetely not the original background colour. I tried to change it from the format menu and select backgound but it keeps doing that all the time. Could you please tell me how can I restore the original colours....

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Can I recover lost text from a Microsoft Word document?

I feel like a complete idiot, but I was trying to copy and paste about fifteen paragraphs of text from a Microsoft Word document to an email message, and somehow ended up cutting the text out of the document and then having my email program crash. The net result is that I've lost about a day's typing and really want to know if there's any way I can recover it?...

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