Excel | Charts - How to show the grand total on top of stacked bars?

This works great!

Compute the sum in the worksheet. Copy this range, select the chart, and use Paste Special to add it as a new series. This makes a new column stacked atop the others, not what you want. Select this series, go to Chart menu > Chart Type, and choose a line type chart. Double click the line, on the Data Labels tab, choose the Show Value option, and on the Patterns tab, choose None everywhere so the series becomes invisible. Finally, double click on the series of labels, and on the Alignment tab, choose Above for Position.
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- Jon
http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298477
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Jon Peltier, Peltier Technical Services, Inc.
http://PeltierTech.com/WordPress/

Microsoft Office | Permanently Expand Drop-down Menus

How to permanently expand drop-down menus:

In Word, Outlook, or any other program in the Office suite, from the Tools menu, select Customize, and then click the Options tab.

In Office XP or 2003, under "Personalized Menus and Toolbars", check Always show full menus, and then click Close.

In Office 2000, under "Personalized Menus and Toolbars", uncheck Menus show recently used commands first, and then click Close.

If you make these changes in one program, the changes will affect all the others in the suite: Excel, Word, etc.

Coffee Break: Tenderloin "Fear Head"

That's cool... my Flickr shot on Newsweek's BudgetTravel.com

Tenderloin Mural "Fear Head"
(beckysnyder/Flickr)

Outlook - Remove EM Address Suggestions

There's an error in one of the EM address suggestions that appear when I type a letter in the To: field. I consistently inadvertently mail to that incorrect address. How do I remove that EM address? Here's how:

Here’s how to delete individual suggested entries:

1- In the To line, type the first letter or first few letters of the entry you'd like to delete.
3- Use the down arrow on your keyboard to select the entry you'd like to delete.
4- Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

...gone!

Zip file does not Extract

Turns out my file association was corrupt. Here's how to reassign the correct file association:

1. Click Start Menu, and then type regedit in the Start Search and press ENTER.
2. Navigate to the following registry branch:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\FileExts\[ext]
3. Replace the [exe] with the actual file extension that you want to restore its file type association to revert back to original Windows Vista default. If you unsure, simply browse through all the sub-key under FileExts.
4. Delete the sub-key named UserChoice.
5. Exit from Registry Editor.

This worked after I rebooted.

Big, big thanks to "My Digital Life": http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/06/22/restore-and-reset-file-association-in-windows-vista-back-to-original-default/

Laptop - Volume too low

The volume on my Sony Vaio VGN-Z610Y is too low. At maximum volume levels there is just not much sound. I tried external speakers and that does not change the volume level at all. I've been searching and trying the different suggestions but so far nothing has worked. It looks like purchasing an external sound card may help. How annoying that Sony has this issue. The laptop wasn't cheap either ($2K or so).

Will continue researching this when I have more time. If something you've tried has worked, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!! ♥♥♥

Some links I'll save for latter review

http://ask.metafilter.com/64163/What-Can-Be-Done-About-Laptop-Audio-Volume-Levels
http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Echo+Indigo+(PCMCIA) - recommended external card per above link

Laptop - Thermal Control Strategy

Not sure what this is but saving its location here so I can find it again if I need too.

In control panel (Classic View), select VAIO Control Center,Power Options
(Configure energy-saving settings on your computer)

Thermal Control Strategy:
♦ Balanced (this is selected for me)
♦ Performance Mode
♦ Silent Mode

A quick search tells me this is something to do with fan speed/cooling: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Thermal+Control+Strategy%22+laptop&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Laptop - No Warning for Low Battery

My Sony Vaio VGN-Z610Y does not warn me when the battery is low. I have to think to look at the little power icon in the system tray. Usually I miss seeing that the battery is too low, and my machine just shuts down at the critical point before I can do anything about it (like remembering to plug in the power). My old machine would indicate a low battery with sound and a visual that would pop up in the middle of the screen. I'd like to get those reminders here on this machine.

Any suggestions?

I'm trying this today:

In the control panel, select VAIO Control Center, Power Options ("Configure energy-saving settings on your computer"), Low batter option: uncheck "Automatically enter Hibernate mode when battery is low" Will let you know what happens... Will I now get a warning instead of a 'shut down'? UPDATE: No still no good warning.

Search for Cells that contain Specific Words in Excel

Formula: =FIND("?",A1)>0
where ? is your word or chacter

Source: http://www.exceltip.com/st/Find_if_a_character_is_in_a_cell_in_Microsoft_Excel/393.html

Chrome - Quickly reopen last tab closed

CTRL SHIFT T

Cool, right?

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