I have to send Excel data sheets to various department heads and some of this information is not meant to be seen by everyone. I can hide rows or columns, but anyone can spot the omissions in the alpha and numeric sequence of the rows and columns. I’d like to hide them in such a way that viewers don’t know they are all hidden.

Excel has anticipated your problem. It has two ways to do that. As you pointed out, one way is to hide selected rows or columns by highlighting them and then clicking on Format , on either Row or Column (see screenshot) and then on Hide .

But, as you say, it is obvious to the viewer that they are missing—and therefore probably hidden—because the row numbers aren’t contiguous (see screenshot below).

The more stealthy method lets you hide whole worksheets without leaving any obvious clues. Again click on Format , only this time click on Sheet , which brings up a menu that includes the Hide command (see screenshot below).

Someone looking at the spreadsheet wouldn’t know a worksheet was missing—unless, of course, the worksheet tabs were numbered consecutively.

Excel lets you hide as many sheets as you wish in a file. To unhide the worksheet, repeat the above process, only click on Unhide . If you’ve hidden several, Excel will display their names when you click on Unhide . Select the ones you want unhidden and click on OK .

When I’m working on a file, its name appears in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. That’s OK, but I sure would like Windows to identify not just the file’s name but its path also.

I never understood why Windows failed to take that extra step. As you can see in the screenshot below, Windows identifies the file only as c-TQA jan 06.doc , which means its name is c-TQA jan 06.doc and it’s a Word document.

Fortunately, there is a workaround for providing full path information and it works in all Windows applications. Click on Tools , Customize and the Commands tab. Then, under the Categories column, cursor down and highlight Web .

Under Commands , grab Address with your mouse and drag it up to a convenient spot at the top of the screen—being sure not to cover any other icons. And there you have it: the file and its full path (see screenshot below).

I copied a large important spreadsheet file to a portable memory stick, but when I examined the file later, I discovered it was corrupt and therefore unusable. What caused that? Although I love those portable memory sticks—they’re great for keeping my office computer synchronized with my laptop—now I’m leery about using them. Are my worries valid?

Assuming your memory stick is not defective, and you can easily check that by transferring another file and examining it— but not until after you read this whole item. I would guess you unplugged the stick from its USB slot prematurely—that is, before the file was fully transferred—and that corrupted it. Sometimes, because a computer is busy doing something else (such as an indexing task in the background), even a small copying operation may take longer than expected.

There is a way to be sure the file transfer to (or from) a remote memory device is complete. Before you pull the USB plug, check your toolbar for a little icon that shows a green arrow pointing down to the left at a 45-degree angle: That icon pops up when all file transfers to or from a remote device are complete and it’s safe to unplug.

How do you get a printer to stop printing? Sometimes all I want to do is print one page, but if I forget to click on the right button, the whole 100-page document starts pouring out. Help!

You’re not alone. It’s a small crisis many have experienced. It’s called the Sorcerer’s Apprentice syndrome. Before I tell you how to stop it, these are the things you should not do. Do not turn off the printer. Do not open the paper drawer to remove the paper. Do not pull the plug.

While those emergency steps may work sometimes, they also can cause paper to jam in the printer. And even if it doesn’t jam, you’re still left with the print job in the printer queue when you turn the printer back on or close the paper drawer.

Here’s what you should do: Click on Start and then on Printers and Faxes . The button for it may be right there in the opening screen (see screenshot below).

If it isn’t there, go to Control Panel or Settings and then click on Printers and Faxes . Identify your printer icon (there may be several icons—each labeled by the make of the printer). Then right-click on the icon, which brings up a screen that contains the Pause Printing (or Cancel All Documents ) button; click on it.

I can imagine what you’re thinking: Are you kidding? Paper is pouring out of the printer and you want me to start searching for some tiny icon deep inside the bowels of my computer and then try to identify my printer icon? I’ll never remember all those steps.

Calm down. I’ll show you how to create a shortcut, which you can put right on your desktop as an emergency printer shutoff switch. After you’ve selected your printer icon and right-clicked on it, another option right below Pause Printing is Create Shortcut . Left-click on that and a screen will appear that gives you the option of placing the icon on your desktop (see screenshot). Click on Yes…

…and this icon (or one like it) will appear on your desktop.

One more thing: When you click on the Pause Printing button, the printing may not stop immediately. It sometimes takes a minute or so for the printer to obey.

When I have a big print job running, I often have to wait until it’s done before I can return to work on the computer. My system has plenty of memory. Why can’t it do both jobs simultaneously?

I don’t think it’s a memory problem. It sounds like you have the Background printing option off. That printing control is a handy Word feature, but it’s not for everyone and it’s not to be used all the time. If you want a large print job to have the highest priority so it gets done as fast as possible, turn off Background printing . But turn it on if the ability to keep working is your priority.

You won’t notice the difference if a print job is small, but if you’re printing lots of pages and are in a hurry, be sure the option is turned off.

Here’s how to access the control: Click on Tools , Options and then the Print tab. Most people leave it on and then cancel it only when faced with a major printing task.

I just read about a new CD-R (recordable) from Kodak that is supposed to safely store data for 300 years. I’m aware that a conventional CD-R’s surface oxidizes, making it unreliable after about 10 years. So what’s your take on this 300-year claim?

Your guess is as good as mine. Kodak is a reliable company. It says a 24-karat gold surface protects the surface against oxidation and that it tested the product by accelerating the aging process. I guess the only irrefutable way to test the claim is to wait 300 years.

Short of that, I play it safe by skipping CD-Rs for long-term data storage. In addition to the oxidation risk, they are susceptible to surface scratches (even with a gold surface). I prefer to store my data on removable (remote) hard disks—and even then I opt to replace them every few years as technology advances.

A new cordless technology that promises phone service without the usual crackles and whooshes has just reached the market. The technology uses a frequency (1.9 gigahertz) that’s outside the range of many other wireless devices—thus freeing it from static-causing interference. The new frequency is more secure against eavesdropping, too.

Alan E. Weiner, a CPA with Holtz Rubenstein Reminick of Melville, N.Y., chided me for probably giving bad tax advice when I suggested in the May issue (page 87) that accounting firms donate their used computers to a worthy cause and take a tax deduction. In all likelihood, he says, the computers were fully depreciated, so while you might feel good about the donation, it won’t net a tax break.

Stanley Zarowin, a former JofA ssenior editor, is now a contributing editor to the magazine. His e-mail address is zarowin@mindspring.com .