Skip to content

Displaying Full Path to file in Microsoft Office Products

Our department received a call from a user who wished to have the full path of the document they were working on displayed in the title bar of Word or Excel.

After struggling to find an answer, I turned to Google and came across several steps to achieve what the user asked for. To my dismay, they all required creating macros to then be embedded in the document templates of the specific applications, namely Word and Excel.

I don’t think most users would be too keen on creating macros, especially when they could create potential security concerns.

Then I came across this link, which I credit 90% for helping to solve this problem. I modified it a bit and tested with other products.
       
Here are the steps:

  1. Start the Microsoft product for which you wish to have the path displayed (for this example, Word).
  2. Right-click anywhere on a toolbar. This displays a Context menu for the toolbars.
  3. Choose Customize from the Context menu. This displays the Customize dialog box.
    You can also go to Tools –> Customize…
  4. Click the Toolbars tab.
  5. Click the New… button.
  6. For the Toolbar name, make it Display Full Path and then click OK.
    A little window will pop up next to the Customize dialog box.
  7. Click on the Commands tab.
  8. In the Categories list (left hand side), choose Web.
  9. Drag the Address command (the first one in the command list) to the new little popup window from step 6.
  10. Click on Close.
  11. Now drag the little popup window to a spot in the Menu bar just below the title bar and above "File Edit, etc…" at the top of the application.

Now when you open a document the full path should be displayed there.

I have been able to test and verify with the following products. It’s been reported to work for * 97 & up to 2003:

Word 2003, Excel 2003, Access 2003 (after opening a database), PowerPoint 2003

Posted 07 August 2007 † Michael Thaxter § Microsoft § PowerPoint § Microsoft Word § Excel § Microsoft Office ‡ Comments (8)

iPhone Mania Hits Stony Brook!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members of the Client Support staff enjoy friendly, back-and-forth banter about which is better … Mac or PC. We have three staff members, in particular, who laud the prowess of all things Apple.

Lindsay is one of those people. She had everyone in the office talking when she returned from her vacation out west with an iPhone. For many of us, this was our first time seeing one LIVE, up close, and in person. I sheepishly asked if I could hold it. She told me not to feel embarrassed. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who made such an odd request. Lindsay pointed her way through different screens like she was Steve Jobs. I watched in awe as she tilted the phone to its right to show me a video being played in horizontal screen mode.

"Where is this all going?" I wondered to myself and will I one day own an iPhone of my very own? Not for another two years, at least. I just renewed my Verizon Wireless contract and upgraded to an LG VX8600. I’m so yesterday’s news.

Anyway, we urged Lindsay to blog about her iPhone discoveries because students will undoubtedly be coming back to campus as proud owners of iPhones this fall. Lindsay agreed to share her test results with me, so here is what we’ve learned.

The iPhone will connect to AirNet, the service that provides campus wireless access to Stony Brook University faculty, staff and students. You can log in through the web for limited network access with no problem. This will let you surf the web a lot faster than AT&T’s Edge Network will allow you to. The downside is that you can’t send or receive email while using AirNet’s limited network access.

You can connect to Stony Brook’s VPN (virtual private network) to gain access to your email through the mail client on the iPhone.

This is how you connect to the VPN:

  • Hit Settings on your iPhone’s main menu.
  • Scroll down and select General
  • Next, click on Network

You will come to a screen that looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Click on VPN
  • Select Settings underneath
  • Choose PPTP
  • Enter server address:  pptp.airnet.stonybrook.edu
  • Account name is your NetID
  • Password is your NetID password. You should get an alpha/numeric keypad to type this in.

There appears to be a glitch that occurs when your phone goes to sleep (when this happens you lose your connection to the VPN) or if you leave the VPN and come back to it at another time. When you go in again, you have to turn your VPN on and repeat the above steps. Otherwise, you will only get a numeric keypad to type in your NetID at the password screen when you try to use the VPN shortcut. You will not be able to type in alpha characters.

Lindsay’s way around this was to go into Windows and change her NetID password to all numerics. You don’t have to do this. In fact, we do not encourage it. You can go back into the VPN Settings each time to put in your NetID password without changing it. Our Division of Information Technology Security Officer advises that an all-numeric password is very insecure and should not be used as a password on any Stony Brook University system.

Lindsay said a lot of people with iPhones are encountering this bug. It is currently being discussed on some forums.

We’ll wait for the software update and in the meantime keep asking Lindsay if we can hold her iPhone!

Posted 17 July 2007 † Kerrin Perniciaro § AirNet § Passwords § VPN § iPhone § Wireless ‡ Comments (15)

Portable Notes Made Easy

In a previous blog I gave instructions on how to install "Notes on a Stick". Well, forget that. We created a much easier way of doing it.

Just in case you didn’t read my previous blog post, let me back up and explain. Portable Notes is an installation of Lotus Notes on a USB flash drive. When plugged into a PC, you can start up your own copy of the Notes client.  It can include your ID file and your workspace. The advantage of this compared to using the web iNotes is that you are accessing the client and you can open mail plus other databases.

To make it simple, we took all the files that get installed on the USB flash drive and stuffed them into a self extracting zip file and then put that file up on Softweb (under Email–Lotus Notes–Portable Notes).  So, basically, after you download the zip file (Notes702-usb.exe), all you have to do is double click on the zip file and extract it to your USB flash drive. Follow the instructions on Softweb or read them here or at the Client Support web site documentation library.

Once you install the files on your USB flash drive (and add your ID and Contacts — (Names)), you now have a working Notes client that you can take with you wherever you go. I already had reports of people taking it worldwide and not having any trouble.  Not only can you access your mail database, but also any other Notes databases that you use.

Here’s an added bonus. If you plug your USB drive into a Linux system that has wine (a Windows emulator) installed you can run your Portable Notes on a Linux box!  I am amazed!

Another strange thing happened. While testing this, I mistakenly unzipped the package to my SB Drive, the X drive share that all students have (coming soon for faculty and staff). I went to a computer in a SINC site and it worked while being executed off that share as well.

 

Posted 10 July 2007 † Charlie Bowman § E-mail § Lotus Notes ‡ Comments (24)

Beware of Walking Laptops

Stony Brook University is beautiful in the summertime. Soft breezes rustle the leaves of the trees near Roth Quad. Sunshine warms the faces of students reading texts on benches outside the Melville Library. The scent of rose, lily and honeysuckle permeates colorful garden landscapes surrounding the Union.

There are fewer individuals milling about the grounds. Students are off doing summer internships or working summer jobs. Faculty travels abroad to conduct research. Staff members engage in professional development by traveling to other cities to attend conferences and workshops. Fewer eyes are on the lookout.

You don’t often hear about crime at Stony Brook. It’s a relatively safe campus year round, but it feels especially safe and secure during the summer months. It is natural to let your guard down in this easy-going, airy environment.

Thieves are counting on you to do just that.

Client Support has been made aware of several laptop thefts on campus in recent weeks.

So, as a reminder:

  • Do not leave your laptop unattended, especially in public spaces like the library or Student Activities Center.
  • Make sure you lock the doors to your room or office if you need to step away from your machine.
  • Try not to leave your laptop out in the open. Keep it out of sight, in a drawer or a cabinet.
  • Think about buying a lock for your laptop. Seawolves MarketPlace sells several in the range of $25 - $42.
  • Be careful about leaving important data on the computer. It is always a good idea to back up your data in other places anyway, but in this case, you do not want sensitive information getting in the hands of the wrong person.
  • If you see something, say something. Call Stony Brook University Police (631) 632-3333 to report a stolen laptop. You can dial 911 from any campus phone.
Posted 20 June 2007 † Kerrin Perniciaro § Laptops § Security ‡ Comments (33)

Understanding Campus Wireless

Being the "wireless and web guy" has brought something to my attention. People don’t know anything about AirNet! AirNet is what we call the wireless infrastructure on campus. So, let’s hold hands and dive into the wonderful world of AirNet.

How AirNet Works (Mac/PC): 
It’s helpful to understand a little bit of how AirNet works in order to diagnose problems down the road. AirNet is an open wireless access point. Open as in, anyone within range can connect to it. AirNet does not require a connection password, not in the same way traditional access points do. When connected to AirNet, the user is limited to loading sites which relate to getting authenticated on AirNet. (i.e. the AirNet Welcome Page the user sees in a browser shortly after connecting)

We do not set up a password in order to make sure everyone can see the Welcome Page. At the Welcome Page, we separate those who are AirNet veterans from those who are new to it.

Here is what some of these terms mean:

Connection: Being within the range of an AirNet access point. This results in a successful wireless transmission between the wireless device and the AirNet access point.

Authentication: Refers to being identified on the AirNet network as an authorized user through the use of a NetID and password.

To Summarize:

1.       Anyone that is within range can connect to AirNet

2.       Once connected, the only accessible Web page is the AirNet Welcome Page

3.       Finally, the user will fall under one of three categories:

  • Student, faculty or staff member who knows what is required to get online through AirNet
  • Student, faculty or staff member who is new to the system and needs some help getting authenticated
  • Someone who is not a student, faculty or staff member and is looking for a free ride. (Not happening on our watch!)

The AirNet Welcome Page
This will be the first page a new AirNet user will see when opening their web browser. Here the user can get more information on AirNet, log on to AirNet and also download the AirNet Client. Using the AirNet Welcome Page to log on is not recommended as it only grants the user partial access; the AirNet Client is a better option.

The AirNet Client
The AirNet Client is a small program that can be downloaded from the AirNet Welcome Page. This program allows the user to get authenticated without having to run into the AirNet Welcome Page. This gives the user two advantages: faster authentication and full network access (more on this below).

Partial Network Access vs. Full Network Access
Partial network access is what you are granted when using the Welcome Page to get authenticated. What this means to the user is that only the web browser is allowed online; the rest of the user’s machine is offline. Therefore, other programs like AOL Instant Messenger may not work. The user can get full access through the AirNet Client.

So, there you have it. Happy surfing!

Posted 01 June 2007 † Philip Camacho § Wireless ‡ Comments (48)

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 7

Here’s a helpful knowledge base post from Microsoft on uninstalling Internet Explorer 7 and restoring Internet Explorer 6. I suspect that you would only want to go back to the now dated IE 6 if your web apps are not behaving. This should probably only be attempted by those comfortable with installing and uninstalling programs.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177

Posted 30 May 2007 † Philip Camacho § Microsoft § Installing/Uninstalling § Internet Explorer ‡ Comments (4)

What is RSS?

The resident trainer in the Division of Information Technology is Kim Rant. Lucky for me as a new employee, Kim works in the cubicle directly across from me in Client Support.  As Kim was researching how to create five-minute training videos, she happened across this fun piece called "RSS in Plain English."  It helps explain Really Simple Syndication. As editor of this blog, I immediately deemed it BLOG-WORTHY. Here’s the clip:

http://blip.tv/file/205570

We thought this would be informative to share with all of you out there who have not yet jumped on the RSS bus. It is still a relatively new technology, but just think…you can now get all the latest content from your favorite Web sites without having to actually visit those sites!

As you can see on the right-hand side of this blog, we are utilizing RSS in Client Support by providing a feed to our weekly news alerts which are posted on our Web site’s main page:  http://clientsupport.stonybrook.edu/

You can subscribe by clicking the RSS Feed button in the top right corner of our site’s main page.

 

 

You can also subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed, found right here on our blog’s front page (bottom right corner). Receive our latest posts or comments - it’s up to you! 

Posted 23 May 2007 † Kerrin Perniciaro § RSS ‡ Comments (0)

Notes on a Stick

The release notes for Lotus Notes 7.0.2 have instructions for installing Notes on a USB flash memory device. I recently did this install and gave the flash drive to someone that travels around the University using different conference rooms and the occasional spare PC. She is thrilled to have her Notes client, her ID file, contacts and all her bookmarks of other Notes databases with her at all times.

Caveats:

1. Your flash drive should be a USB 2 device and some of these are faster than others. It might take 15 or 20 minutes to install Notes on the flash drive, but loading and executing Notes seems to be reasonably fast.

2. I have used a 512 Meg flash drive but it looks like it could be done on a smaller one as well.

3. The bookmark and address databases that you copy to the flash drive are not updated as they reside on your PC not the Notes server.

4.

Ok, Let’s Do it:

1. Insert the flash drive and remember it’s drive letter. In my case it is H:. When actually using this, the drive letter will be dynamic depending on the number of drives on the computer you plug into. The software will accommodate this.

2. You need to install Notes from a command prompt. You need to use the original Notes install not the one from Softweb.

a. Map a drive to //ccnt/notes. i. Right click on My Computer and choose Map Network Drive …

 

ii. Remember the default drive letter (in my case it was V:) and in the folder box type in //ccnt/notes and click Finish. If it requires you to authenticate use your NetID and NetID Password.

 

b. Go to a command prompt i. Start, Run type in cmd and click OK

 

c. Move to the command prompt to the mapped drive.

i. Type in the drive letter of the map drive in a. ii. (my case V:) and Enter.

 

d. Move to the Notes Client directory.

i. At the command prompt type cd 702\client and Enter.

 

ii. You should now be at \\ccnt\notes\702\client directory the command prompt should look like V:\702\client> (my case).

 

e. Begin the installation by typing:

setup /a /v“NOMAD=1 TARGETDIR=H:\ /qb+” H in my case

^ ^ ^ ^ (spaces)

Be careful about spaces.

f. Wait for installation to complete.

g. Launch autorun.exe. Make sure your Notes is not open and be ready with your Notes ID file. Now go to the root of the USB flash drive and double click the autorun.exe file to launch Notes. It will go through the normal notes post install set up and ask for your ID file and password.

 

You now should have a working installation of Notes 7.0.2 on your

USB Flash Drive

. This is all you need to work on any computer. Simply plug your

USB Flash Drive

into any computer and double click the Autorun.exe file on your

USB Flash Drive

. Yes, I think it is supposed to start automatically when you plug in the Flash Drive but I haven’t gotten it to do that and in fact I like the option of using the Flash Drive for other things.

 

One other thing you might like to do is replace the default address book that is automatically created during the install with your desktop address book that has your contacts email addresses, etc. To do this stop Notes and copy the names.nsf file (my case c:\lotus\notes\data\names.nsf) on your desktop to the

Flash Drive

replacing the default file. If you do this step you will have to re-select “Office” as the location in the lower right border of the Notes window. Another way to get your contacts is to sync with your Notes account via the web interface.

 

You should also be aware that if you look at “Add or Remove Programs” in the control panel of the PC that you used to install Notes on a stick you will find an entry for “Notes on a USB”. This can be removed with no effect on your regular Notes or the USB drive Notes.

Note:

This install will auto-run Notes, however it may also ask you what to do with the files it found on the USB drive. If you want to just auto-run Notes and nothing else, go to My Computer, right click on the USB drive and select properties. Select “take no action” for each file type.

Some reference links:

 http://www-128.ibm.com/
developerworks/lotus/products/notesdomino/notesonastick/

 

Posted 02 March 2007 † Charlie Bowman § Lotus Notes ‡ Comments (7)