Article 12: The Mouse, the Printer and You; or, more on the Control Panel

Whenever you use your computer, you probably use your mouse to navigate to documents or the Internet, and you may print hard copies of your work. Using the Control Panel, you can set personal preferences for the way your mouse and printer work.

Reminder: How do I open the Windows Control Panel?

For Windows 98/ME, click Start > Settings > Control Panel .
For Windows XP, click Start > Control Panel .

Generally, the examples in this article will relate to Windows XP, but in Windows 98, you'll find very similar functions

Changing the way your mouse works

Though you may take your mouse for granted, assuming that it can work only one way, in fact you can adjust its performance. Perhaps you would like it to move more quickly or slowly, or change how quickly you have to double-click. If you're left-handed, you may wish to switch the way the buttons work. These are only some of the mouse functions that can be changed using the Control Panel. To reverse your mouse buttons , or change the double-click speed:

1. In the Control Panel , click Mouse .
The Mouse Properties box opens.

2. On the Buttons tab, in the Button configuration area, select the Switch primary and secondary buttons box . This will make the right-hand button the one you usually click. (Clear the check box if you want to return to the left button as the main one.)

3. In the Double-click speed area, move the slider to adjust the amount of time that can pass between clicks when you double-click your mouse.

To adjust the dragging speed of your mouse pointer

1. In the Control Panel , click Mouse.
The Mouse Properties box opens.

2. On the Pointer Options tab, under Motion, drag the slider to the left to slow down or to the right to speed up your mouse.

Click OK.

Changing printer settings

Most of us have a printer connected to our computers. In the Control Panel, you can change the default settings for your printer. Whatever you change in the Control Panel will determine the general operating procedure of your printer. (You can override these settings for specific documents, and I'll show you how.)

Changing the default settings

Printer ink often costs more than the printer itself. But you can decide how much ink is used in your documents by adjusting the Quality Settings in your printer preferences.

My HP printer offers me the choice of four different settings: Best, Normal , Draft, and Custom. When I installed my printer, the Normal setting was automatically chosen as the default for my documents. But if I change the setting to Draft, my documents still print beautifully and use much less ink. I also like to print my documents in black-and-white unless I specifically request color. Finally, I want to avoid collating; in other words, I want the pages to print in reverse order so that the first page of my documents will be at the top of the pile. Here's how to change the quality, ink color, and page order settings:

(Please note: The labels for particular settings differ from printer to printer, but the functions are more-or-less the same. So if your printer settings differ from what is listed below—don't give up. Find the parallel setting for your printer.)

1. In the Control Panel, open Printers and Faxes.

2. You may have more than one printer listed. Right-click the printer for which you want to set the printing preferences, and then click Properties .

3. On the Advanced tab, click Printing Defaults .

4. Click the Layout tab; in the Page Order section , click Front to Back.

5. Now, move to the Paper/Quality tab.

6. In the Quality Settings box, click Draft .

7. In the Color box, click Black & White .

8. Click OK to accept the new settings, and OK again to exit the Properties box.

Overriding the default settings

When you're in a specific document, and you wish to print in a different quality or color, or change any other setting, do the following:

1. Click File > Print .
The Print dialog box appears.

2. Click Properties , and you will see the same options we saw earlier through the Control Panel. Click the Layout and Paper/Quality tabs and specify the settings you want for the specific document you are working on. This will NOT change the general printer properties you set before.