Windows Tips

Open Windows Explorer

Right-click the Start button on your Windows Start menu, then select Explore.

View folders in the left panel of Windows Explorer

Either click the Folders icon in the toolbar, or select View > Explorer Bar > Folders

Windows Vista: Organize > Layout > Navigation Pane > Folders.

Show Hidden Files and Folders

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, select Tools > Folder Options > View tab, then select the radio button to "Show hidden files and folders". 

Windows Vista: Organize > Folder and Search Options > View tab, then select the radio button to "Show hidden files and folders".

Unhide extensions for known file types

In My Computer or Windows Explorer, select Tools > Folder Options > View tab, then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types". 

Windows Vista: Organize > Folder and Search Options > View tab, then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".

Create a shortcut

Right-click and drag a file or folder into your target folder, then when you release the right mouse button select Create Shortcuts Here.

Tip: If you create the same shortcut 10 times in a row - renaming it to remove the initial words "Shortcut to", on the 11th time, it will automatically remove the words "Shortcut to", and from then on it will always create your shortcuts without those annoying initial words.

Default User Templates folder for Word and Excel Templates

Your default User Templates folder for Word and Excel templates is usually C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates or for Vista - C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

Tip: If someone changed your default User Templates folder, you can find out where they moved it by selecting Word > Tools > Options > File Locations tab > User templates.  (Tip: Click the Modify button in order to be able to see the entire folder path)
Office 2007+: Word > File > Word Options button > Advanced > File Locations button > User templates (Tip: Click the Modify button in order to be able to see the entire folder path)
(And yes, unintuitive as it may seem, you need to go through Word to set the default folder for where to store your Excel templates.)

Tip: These folders are hidden by default - so you must first Show Hidden Files and Folders.

Tip: The Systems2win Installer will install to the Default User Templates folder for the user that is logged in when the installer is run. So if your IT Department is installing on behalf of another user, they will usually want to grant temporary Administrator privileges, then log in as the target user to run the installation, then change the user's privileges back.