I don’t like having to say the same thing twice

Noobies don't need any more frustration with technology than they already have. That's why I am going to let you in on a little trick I use on the Internet to avoid saying (typing) the same thing twice.

Whenever I type a long comment on someone's blog or fill out an online customer support request, I always copy and paste what I wrote into another application before I click the Submit button. This way, if something goes wrong (and believe me it often does), I don't have to start over re-typing everything.

Want to use my trick? Here's a step by step guide to make it work for you on a PC. These steps assume you have already written a large amount of text (there's no point to doing this for a small amount of text you can easily re-type) on a web page somewhere that is about to be submitted over the Internet.

1. Before you click the Submit button, select (highlight) all of the text you just wrote using your mouse.
2. Locate and click the Copy option using your Internet browser's menu options or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-C.
3. Open a simple text editing program, such as Notepad, that is included with Windows XP and Vista.
4. Locate and click the Paste option using your text editor's menu options or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-V. If you are really worried about something going wrong you can save your text as a text file in Notepad.
5. Return to your Internet browser and click the Submit button. If all goes well, you can flip back to your text editor and quit the program. Skip all remaining steps.
6. If all did not go well, use the back arrow in your Internet browser to return to the previous web page.
7. Reverse instructions 2-4 above to copy/paste your text from your text editor back into the text box on the web page.
8. Click the Submit button and try again.

If after multiple attempts it still doesn't work, feel free to start muttering under your breath at the computer or your Internet Service Provider.