Tips

99.9% of users start programs with a mouse.

The quickest way to start a program with a mouse is to double-click its icon on the desktop. This action seems to be as simple as possible, but it consists of several even more simple actions:

• To move your palm on the mouse
• To move the cursor to the necessary icon on the desktop
• To double-click it
• Optionally, to return your palm to the keyboard

Starting programs from START Windows menu is even longer, because, additionally, you have to chose the program you need in the list. If you work in one or two programs, no need to worry. But if you constantly have to start and close different programs, you lose time. There is a way to speed up this process: shortcuts!

Each “serious” program has its shortcut on the desktop. (If not, you can add it manually by copying it from the START menu.)

Right-click the icon and select the last item in the menu that appears, Properties. There, go to the Shortcut tab. There is a field called Shortcut key. Enter the shortcut in it, that will be assigned to the program. After clicking OK, this shortcut will run the correspondent program.

NOTE: Try choosing a shortcut that is easy to remember, for example, CTRL+ALT+W for Word, CTRL+ALT+M for memoQ etc.

And almost all programs can be closed with CTRL+F4 shortcut.

In some occasions, Trados Studio shows a frightful message “general massive catastrophic system failure.” This can happen in different versions of Trados Studio.

The message is really horrible: you may seem that planet Nibiru will crash into the Earth soon and it is a right time to panic. Ironically, despite of a “catastrophe,” Trados Studio  continues to work smoothly after that. The only problem is term recognition: it stops.

But the panic is premature. There are at least two ways to resolve this.

The first one: Detach all termbases attached to the Trados Studio project, restart Trados Studio and attach the termbases again.

But sometimes that is not enough, and the message returns. Then, the second way should help.

With a 99% probability, the operating system on your PC is “pure” Windows 7, without service packs installed. Install them :) In particular, install the Service Pack 1.

In general, it is recommended to install updates on OSes :)