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When you first installed Microsoft Office, you were prompted to enter your name and initials along with other information such as company affiliation. By default, this information is inserted into each document that you create in Microsoft Word. For example, right now, I’m typing this response in a Word document. My name and initials are already attached to the properties. But what if I want to remain anonymous? Is it easy to remove this data? Yes!

There are several ways that I could remove my personal information. I could open the Page Properties dialog box (in earlier versions of Word this is found under File>Properties) and manually remove the information or I could use the Document Inspector that’s built-in to Microsoft Word 2007.

The Document Inspector can be accessed via the Office Button. Simply click on Prepare and Inspect Document. You’ll be prompted to save the document before the inspector checks your document for:

• Comments, revisions, versions, and annotations
• Document properties and personal information
• Custom XML data
• Headers, footers, and watermarks
• Hidden text

Once any personal information has been found, a Remove All button appears that allows you to remove your personal information. This removes all of a document’s properties which may or may not be what you had in mind.

If you’d prefer to have more control over what information to remove, you can access the document’s properties directly by going to the Office button, choosing Prepare, and clicking on Properties. This opens a horizontal pane displaying the basic properties of the page. You can edit or remove any personal information that appears. If you want to edit the Advanced properties, click the down arrow next to Document Properties in the upper left corner of the pane. This opens the Properties dialog box.

Another way to access the Document Inspector is through the Trust Center. Here you have even more options about your privacy. Go into the Office Button and select Word Options. Next, click on Trust Center>Trust Center Settings. Once in the Trust Center Settings, click Privacy Options and go to the Document Specific Settings area. You can run the Document Inspector and make additional decisions about the personal information for your document.

You can avoid these issues in the future by either deleting your personal information from Microsoft Office or removing your name as author when you save the document. To delete your personal information, go into the Office button, select Word Options, and choose the Popular option. Down at the bottom, you’ll see the area titled “Personalize Your Copy of Microsoft Office.” Delete your name and initials.

I have to admit it - I love linking data! Shoot, I love data. Yes, I’m a little on the geeky side but there’s something about organizing data in an Excel spreadsheet and then creating a summary report in Word that makes me happy.

The various applications found in the Microsoft Office suite make it easy to link data. In fact, one of my favorite uses for linking data was when I used to have to report the weekly sales for each company sales representative. I used an Excel spreadsheet where I input the sales data and separate a Word document where I summarized the data each week. This allowed me to take advantage of the power of Excel for working with the numbers as well as allowed me to use Word’s superior text handling capabilities.

For example, I started the weekly report with a header and a summary of the week’s market conditions. Next, I inserted data directly from the Excel spreadsheet detailing each sales representative’s performance for the week. By using the “paste link” option, rather than the simple copy and paste method, any time I’d make a change in the spreadsheet data, the information in the Word document was updated automatically.

The difference between “pasting” and “pasting link” is that simply pasting data is a one-time deal whereas pasting a link actually creates a shortcut to the source file. If you make a change to the source file, the changes will be reflected in the document where the paste occurred. To paste a link, instead of cutting and pasting as normal, you must choose the “Paste Special” command. In Word 2007, this command is found in the Home tab in the Clipboard area under Paste.

However, linking doesn’t always work the way you might expect. For example, if I were to link an Excel spreadsheet into a Word document, any changes to the source data will be reflected in the Word document. Depending on the version of Office that you are running, these changes may or may not be updated immediately.

In 2007, these changes are usually made on the fly by default. In earlier versions, the files needed to be saved first. In addition, you can change the settings by right-clicking the linked data and clicking on Linked Worksheet Object > Links. This opens a dialog box where you can set how the links are updated (automatic or manual) as well as break or lock the link. If you’re having trouble with your links, check this dialog box.

Another issue with linking is that the link is one way. That means that any changes you make to the source file are updated on the destination file. However, if you change the data on the destination file, those changes are not updated on the source file. For example, if I made a change to my Word summary report, that change would not be reflected in my original Excel spreadsheet.

If your links between Microsoft Office files are not working as expected, double check to be sure that links have not been locked, see if you need to manually update them, and be sure that you have made changes to the source rather than destination file.

Every now and then, I have had to password-protect sensitive documents and spreadsheets.

Microsoft 2000 and above offers varying levels of encryption for Word, Excel, and Outlook. Even Microsoft Mail, which replaced Outlook Express, offers an encryption feature.

Encrypting and protecting Microsoft Word documents is quite easy. First, click Save As. Next, go down to the Tools drop down arrow box which is located right next to Save and choose General Options. You’ll be prompted to enter a password to open the document as well as a password for modifying the document. Once you hit the Protect Document button, a new pane opens in Microsoft Word giving you greater control over the type of formatting and editing restrictions you will enforce on your document.

In Excel, the process is similar though the General Options box is simpler. Both Word 2007 and Excel 2007 offer a shortcut through the Office Button. Simply go to the Office Button, choose Prepare, and then choose Encrypt. This only allows you to set a password for opening the document, not restricting modifications to it once opened.

In Excel, you can protect cells, worksheets, and workbooks from changes by “protecting” the worksheet or workbook. In Excel 2007, do this by going to the Review tab and clicking on the desired level of protection such as Protect Sheet or Protect Workbook.

Whenever you encrypt your Office documents, make sure to choose a password that you will remember. Otherwise, you will be stuck with a document that you either can’t open or edit.

You can also encrypt Outlook messages. This process involves a bit of cooperation between you and the recipient. Instead of verbally telling your collaborator the password as you would with password protected Word or Excel documents, you must exchange “private keys” or “certificates” (also known as .cer files). This isn’t as complicated as it sounds. One easy way to do this is to send a digitally signed message and ask your recipient to add your e-mail to his contact list which automatically adds your .cer file.

In Microsoft Outlook Express or Microsoft Mail, you must first have a VeriSign Digital ID. This is a subscription service that costs about $20 per year. This service checks your email address and encrypts content so that recipients know that the email has come from you and has remained private during transmission.

Encrypting and protecting your Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook files is relatively easy. Other Microsoft Office files can also be encrypted by choosing the General Options option when saving the file. In Office 2007, the Prepare function found under the Office Button leads you to an Encrypt option as well. If you have sensitive data, password-protecting your documents is the best way to ensure that only those you intend to see it will see it.

Yes, but it isn’t always easy - and you may lose some data. Several techniques and tools are available to assist you in your quest to restore a corrupt Access database.

If you can’t open a corrupt database, you’ll know it. You will receive error messages such as:

• Unrecognized database format
• The Microsoft Jet Engine could not open the file
• Enter database password

Databases can grow to huge sizes making them susceptible to file corruption. In addition, multiple users accessing the database simultaneously place further demands on it. A single computer crashing during database operations could cause file corruption.

Before attempting any repairs, backup your corrupt database. I know that this sounds silly but bear with me. File corruption can get worse as you try different repair techniques. If all else fails and you must use a recovery service, you’ll at least have a less corrupt version of the corrupt file. After making a backup copy, rename it so that you know it’s a corrupt copy of the file.

Microsoft Access comes with a Compact and Repair utility designed to remove extra space within the database and repair its primary objects. The compact process creates a new database destination and then copies each object into the new database. Compacting a database is similar to defragging a hard drive in that it reorganizes fragmented data and increases performance. The repair process attempts to repair tables, queries, and indexes (but not forms, reports, modules, or macros).

First, close the current database if open and then go to the Tools menu. Click on Database Utilities and then click Compact and Repair Database. You’ll be prompted to specify the database for repairs. Locate the database and then select Repair. When prompted, create a fresh database from the recovered file.

If this option doesn’t work, you can try creating a new, blank database and importing the objects individually. Once imported, you will need to re-establish all relationships. This technique solves problems when your database has damaged system tables.

Another option to consider is downloading the JetComp.exe utility from Microsoft. This tool is helpful when the built-in utilities don’t work. For example, if you can’t open a corrupt database, built-in compacting tools won’t work because they first attempt to open and close a database as part of the process. When the database won’t open, the utility stops. The JetComp.exe utility doesn’t attempt opening and closing during its repair and compaction process.

There are numerous options available for attempting to open a corrupt Access database. If you have a clean backup of your database, that’s your best bet. But many users don’t regularly backup their data. If all else fails, you may be able to recover the file using data recovery software or a third party Access data recovery service.

Microsoft Office 2007 comes in several different suites with offerings ranging from basic to enterprise. This makes it easier for individuals and businesses to select the best suite for their needs without having to pay for applications that they don’t want. For example, I also have Microsoft Office on my computer and, just like you, I don’t have Access. In my case, I need Microsoft Word and Excel but I don’t need Outlook, Access, Publisher, and the other products.

The applications found in the Microsoft Office 2007 lineup include: Access 2007, Communicator 2007, Excel 2007, Groove 2007, InfoPath 2007, OneNote 2007, Accounting Express 2008 (in US and UK markets only), Outlook 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, and Word 2007.

Microsoft Office suites include: Microsoft Office Basic 2007, Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Office Small Business 2007, Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Office Professional Plus, and Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007.

Each suite bundles a different combination of applications which gives users the ability to purchase the suite that best meets their needs. I chose the Home and Student 2007 edition because it came with both Microsoft Word and Excel. It also came with PowerPoint as well as OneNote -both applications that I didn’t necessarily want but didn’t object to either.

While I do like Microsoft Access, it’s not a program that I need. To me, it wasn’t worth the price of jumping up to the Microsoft Office Professional 2007 suite just to get that one additional application. The Home and Student version cost me about $150 while jumping up to Microsoft Office Professional would have cost me $500. If I ever find that I really need Access, I can purchase it separately for about $230. Yes, it’s more expensive to buy Access ala carte but in my case, I’d still be money ahead. Depending on the version of Microsoft Office that you purchased, you may be money ahead too.