I have installed Google Chrome and did not choose the quick launch. But now i find it nice and how do i set the quick launch (without reinstallation)?

Got a problem with my Proscan 32" LCD TV would love some help. Been trying to hook my PC to my TV like a monitor I see the boot up even the main screen but once I log in it goes back to the other monitor. I tried using the tv it wont I am using Vista unfortunately might be the prob any help would be appreciated

This is a guest article, written by Tim Beyers.

Rarely do I need access to Windows programs. For the times when I do, I've switched from a Parallels virtual machine running XP to CodeWeavers' CrossOver for Mac, a virtual environment that simulates the Win32 API, one program at a time.

What CrossOver for Mac is

CrossOver is built on the open source Wine project, which proposes to re-implement the Windows architecture for Unix. Thus, systems that draw from a Unix kernel -- Mac OS X and Linux, notably -- can use Wine to run Windows programs as if they were native to the underlying architecture.

I have a nice new Dell laptop but am a bit frustrated by one thing: it's the first computer I've owned where if I accidentally tap or touch the trackpad surface the computer thinks it's a mouse click. Messes me up left and right. How can I disable this "tap to click" behavior on the Dell trackpad (touchpad? whatever)? Oh, and it's running Windows Vista, if that matters.

I'm an old-school computer user and when I got my new laptop I decided that rather than overwrite the OS with Linux, I'd actually stick it out and learn Windows Vista. So far, not so bad, but one thing's bugging me: when I create a file like "test.xls" the system shows it as "test" with an Excel icon. I want to see the filename suffix, though, the ".xls" part. How do I enable that feature / disable that feature in Microsoft Windows Vista??

My husband really wants to use my new Dell Windows Vista laptop, but I am afraid he'll mess up all my work files with his gaming and Web surfing. His response is "don't worry about it", but I'd be in serious trouble at work if a problem arises. Instead, I'd like to just give him his own account on my system. Can you outline for me how I can set up a new account for him in Vista? Thanks, Dave. You might just save our marriage!

Help! Something abdominable has happened to my wife's Toshiba A200 Satellite laptop (model PSAFCL-00R00G, preinstalled OEM Vista Home Premium, not under the worranty anymore). Before going to the full story I'd like to mention that after my unsuccessful repair attempts the laptop is now partially functional in Save Mode, and (if you'll take me on board) the copies of its current System Infos, Administrative Events Reports, Windows Logs etc. can be sent to you.

During few last weeks either the unability to startup normally or BlueScreen crashes ("Unrecoverable hardware problems" mostly immediate after startup) made the laptop being completely unstable and unworkable. After many useless attempts I managed to boot from Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 Bootable CD. This has revealed the bad sectors on the HD's active partition, and I've reformatted it with the maximal precautions provided by Paragon application. Then I've used DriveClone 3.1 bootable CD to recover HDD from USB external drive. Unfortunately the only available DriveClone recovery image was made in December 2007.

According to all tests and repair operations available to me (including Windows chkdsk) both HD and WindowsOS are now OK but in the Normal Mode laptop still either refuses to startup or goes to BlueSceen crash during typing BIOS password. It however boots and is stable in Save Mode (but refuses to establish the internet connection in Save Mode with networking).

The partional functionality of Save Mode allowed me to find out the several current problems. According to Service Control Manager (event ID 7026) the boot-start/system-start drivers AFD, DCDisk, DfsC, eeCtrl, NetBIOS, netbt failed to start. In addition, (the event ID 5038) the image hash of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\drivers\flbrc.sys is corrupted. The latter bothers me a lot as according to my knowledge the flbrc.sys driver provides difference between NTFS functionality in XP & Vista. At the same time, I'm unable to update those drivers in Save Mode.

There are also awful problems related to Norton Internet Security that has been installed on December 2007 Recovery Image. Firstly, any attempt to perform NIS Ful System Scan in Save Mode makes laptop crash leaving unsolved my suspicious about the current presence of malware or viruses although Windows Defender Full System Scan with December 2007 definitions did not find any malware. Secondly, NIS can be disabled or uninstalled (I'd be pleased to do the latter if you'd reanimate the beast) only in the unaccessible Normal Mode making impossible to apply another antivirus or antimalware application can be installed and used (like Combofix) in Save Mode.

This is the last point where I've given up and decided to ask for your help! Help!

I'll admit up front, this might be a pride issue, but now that I'm running Windows Vista on my laptop I find that I don't know what to do when it doesn't pop up a window telling me that there's a new wireless wifi network available. How do I connect to a new network quickly and easily in Vista??

I have seen a lot of Web pages - including your own - where there are tons of screen shots from different versions of Microsoft Windows. I run WIndows XP and need to include screen shots (screen captures?) in some documents I'm writing. Is there some way to do this without having to buy and install any additional software?

I'm excited that I just bought a new Dell XPS M1330 laptop and got what I feel is a really good deal on the unit. Problem is, when I plug the laptop into the wall, it's super-bright and the screen looks great, crisp and colorful. Pull the plug and even though I crank the brightness all the way up and sidestep all the battery saving display settings, it's still so faint that I can barely see what's on the screen. What's the scoop? I didn't buy a laptop so that I'd end up tethered to the wall!

I've been experimenting with Microsoft WIndows 7 beta on my Mac OS X system through using VMware and while I don't know of anyone else doing this, I have read on the Internet that it's a viable combo. Problem is, when I actually try it, I find that there's no Internet access and Windows 7 complains that there's no "Ethernet driver" installed? How do I fix that?

I recently bought a Guitar Hero III Game for my PC. Only to find out that my computer doesn't have a DVD Drive installed. =[ It only reads CD's. How Can I get my Computer to Read a DVD-ROM? Should I get someone to install a DVD-Drive, or what would be the best thing to do in this situation?

I try to keep my PC's device drivers up-to-date, and regularly download updates from intel, nVidia, AMD, and others. Some of these updates come in .exe form, and must be run as programs to perform driver updates. Thing is, sometimes these roll-ups don't update everything they're supposed to. For example, on the latest intel infinst_autol.exe, it failed to update my PCI Bridge (244E) device and I couldn't figure out how to find the necessary .inf and .cat files to do the job myself. Any suggestions?

I've been reading on the various weblogs and sites about Apple releasing a new beta of a pretty radically different Safari web browser. But as is typical, they don't include any links and I don't really know how to go about finding it and downloading it if I want to experiment.

I have been hearing good things about Windows 7 from industry sources and am wondering if you think it woudl be a good idea for me to migrate from Vista? For that matter, what about Mojave? Is that a good interim choice, and if so, where do I download that?

My colleagues at the university send me PowerPoint presentations all the time, these pesky ".ppt" files, but since I don't have PowerPoint on my computer, I can never open them. Surely there's some sort of solution that doesn't involve me paying hundreds of dollars?

I was using Skype the other day on my PC and suddenly Windows Security Center popped up a warning message telling me that my computer was infected by a virus and that I needed to install a repair utility of some sort. Huh? What's that all about, Dave?

If you're like most people, you've found yourself at least once in the situation where you have your music library on an old computer that's the system you used to sync with your fancy iPod. No problem, until you get a newer computer or laptop and suddenly find that you can't just switch: iTunes wants to wipe your iPod (or iPhone) before its first sync. Not good at all.

There are various ways you can copy your music across, but I have to say that the $19.95 iPodRobot is one of the easiest Windows solutions I've tried, even with its few glitches...

I read your explanation of how to password protect individual files or folders on a Mac (see How to encrypt folders on your Mac), but is there a way to do that easily in Windows? Thanks!

I'm running on an old clunker of a PC and find that all the visual bells and whistles in Windows XP are really slowing things down. I don't need fancy window zooming or anything else, I just need the fastest computer I can create. How do I turn off all these effects?

I don't know what my daughter did, but suddenly the "My Computer" icon isn't showing up on my Windows XP computer and I don't know how to make it reappear! Without it, I can't find my files, which is a huge problem. Help!

Dear Dave, I was reading your article Security certificate expired problems? Maybe it's your PC's date and time. and I think that might be my problem. But here's my question: Could you please tell me how to find the date and time and change it?

I've been dreaming about a new computer monitor for a while, but the sad reality is that there's no way I can afford it for a while yet, so I have to make do with my smaller screen. Which means I really want to make my icons smaller under WinXP. How do I do that?

I might be the last person to the party, but I can't figure out how to easily change the background picture on my WinXP ASUS EeePC Netbook. For that matter, how can I find new pictures online that I can use as a replacement desktop image?

I used to use Internet Explorer and while I had Firefox too, MSIE was my favorite. Now that Google Chrome is out, however, I've switched. My question, though, is since I don't run Firefox on my WinXP computer too often how can I nonetheless ensure that it's always the very latest version?

I'm having fun with Google Chrome but am wondering: how the heck do you get an update to it when there's a new version? Do you just wait until the social networks are abuzz, or does the program automatically check?

I have been hearing a lot of buzz in the last day or two about Google's new "Chrome" web browser application. But how do I find it, download it and try it? And what do you think about it anyway, Dave?

I am just sick of all these stupid helper apps that launch every time I start up Microsoft Windows XP!! Half of them are for hardware or utilities that I don't even use any more! How the heck do I zap 'em?

After many years of using a PC, I've finally switched to a Mac and am now running Microsoft Windows Vista within the VMware Fusion environment. I have heard from a bunch of people that it's better than Parallels. Anyway, be that as it may, can you tell me how to install the VMware Tools, which apparently I need?

Can you tell me how to set up custom templates in Microsoft Word? I feel like I'm creating the same documents over and over again and there has to be a better way.

My computer desktop is driving me crazy, Dave! Whatever I do to organize things, I find that I have so many icons and files that I lose track of important documents on a daily basis. Surely there's some way to tame this chaos?

Dave, we got a new IT manager and he's forcing everyone to migrate from our long-beloved Lotus Notes application to Microsoft Outlook. He also tells me that there's no way to export my address book from Notes and import it into Outlook, but I just can't believe it. Is there a solution?

I need to be able to send my parents a copy of some documents I have in PDF format, but I want to ensure privacy and encrypt them first. Is there some easy way to do this?

Is it possible for someone to access sites when i'm online ? Sites have appeared in the history of my mothers computer that i was using but did not access. As you can imagine these weren't particularly desirable sites.It also mentioned about inserting a disk something else i just didn't do. Is it possible to hack somehow whilst i'm online ? at the time i was using google and visiting sites such as myspace and bebo! I would really appreciate your help as it's caused quite an argument but i genuinely did not access these sites.

I spend a lot of my time on the phone with people in New York and London, but am based in San Francisco. What I'd love to have on my Vista machine is a set of clocks on the screen that can show me the time in these other regions, but I can't add unapproved software to the machine here at work. Solution?

I want to make a movie from my home videos and digital pictures. What is a good program to let me do this in Microsoft Windows, and how complicated is it? I'm running Windows XP, by the way, not Windows Vista.

My parents are always checking up on what Web sites I visit and it's getting really old. Is there some way to have Firefox hide where I go so they can't keep tab on me?

This is a simple question and I used to know the answer. In an office setting, I have many people coming in to ask questions. What is the keystroke command to darken my computer screen and/or bring up my screensaver. This would prevent some from trying to see what project I'm working on--dealing with human resources, etc. I'm using Windows XP.

I've gotten into blogging with Movable Type (thanks to you, Dave!) and it's going well, except for one annoying thing: I can't rebuild my site. Every time I click on the button instead of getting a little window letting me do that, I just hear a weird beep sound in Microsoft Internet Explorer. What the heck?

Hi Dave, was wondering if you had any advice for me? I've been given an old iPod which has been formatted by a Macintosh. Is there any way of reformatting it for Windows XP. I've just downloaded Itunes 4.7 and when I plugged the thing in via firewire it came up with a restore option. However it comes up with "Only windows formatted Ipods can be restored". Is there a way of changing it over?

My kids are constantly harassing me about being able to chat with them via instant message, via "AIM". What's AIM and how do I get started?

Now that I have switched from Windows XP to Windows Vista, I am missing the "Find Files" feature from the new start menu. I'm sure it's there, but I can't see it. Help!

I know this is an old issue and I hope I'm not violating any blogging "netiquette" rules, but on the security issue you brought up on your business blog, isn't it feasible to just go into your network connection properties and unselect "File and Printer Sharing on Microsoft Networks" when you are connected to a hotel or cafe network? This should stop anyone from seeing your files, correct? Since I have a password protected Administrator and other usernames on my laptop, they shouldn't be able to browse the file system with the standard double-backslash addressing ( \\GabesLaptop\C$ ).

My son was playing around with my PC and now it goes to sleep after just a few minutes if I am not using it actively. It's driving me crazy! How do I reset it to a normal setting?

I constantly lose track of where my cursor is on my new Windows laptop and it's driving me crazy. I know that there are apps I can download but I'm wondering if there's anything within Microsoft Windows XP that can help me with my vanishing cursor problem?

Kind of a strange query, but I run Parallels extensively and often find that I need to email data files I've created therein -- within Windows XP -- to my colleagues. I don't want to have any mail program running in WinXP, however, I want to just use Apple Mail. Is there an EASY way to do this?

My computer will not play dvd and I dont know if said computer has a dvd player or not.

Windows XP: I'd like to put a file folder in the start menu and then a number of utility program short cuts in it. I know how to add programs in the start menu but this I can't seem to figure out.

HELP ME DAVE! Ok my computer broke you know. i went to the shop and had it repaired. when i hooked it back up the text and mouse and icons and everything etc. you know is HUGE! H-U-G-E! how do i fix this problem. where it is normal size and not huge! please help!

Hey bro! I'm staying at a campground and when I connect to the wireless network, I get a warning that there are all these other computers connected from my PC-cillin program, and it asks me if I should trust them or not. What does it mean?

I've made the move to Microsoft Windows Vista and am digging the new interface, but I am a bit frustrated that anyone else who uses my computer can see the latest applications and files I've worked with right on the Start menu. Is there some easy solution?

Just got started with Microsoft Windows Vista and am totally baffled by everything that's changed, honestly. Even the most basic is proving a challenge: how do I change my desktop picture in Vista?

I just read about Parallels 3.0 being released which is very cool, but rather than run Windows XP in Parallels, as you've written about, I want to run Microsoft Vista on my Mac instead. I have a MacBook Pro with 2GB RAM: is that enough? And if so, how do I install Vista in Parallels?

For testing purposes, I want to be able to run both Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 on my Windows XP system. Is that possible, and if so, how do I get it working?

It drives me crazy: ever since I installed AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) it automatically starts up and logs me in every time I start up my Microsoft Windows XP computer. How do I make it behave like a regular program, where it starts when I start it, and doesn't do its own thing??

I know how to change my Hotmail password in the old version of Hotmail, but now that there's a new, fancier version, I'm kinda lost. Can you tell me how to change my hotmail password, uh, Windows live password, please?

Microsoft PowerPoint is driving me a bit crazy right now on my Mac because every time I type in a web site URL it turns it into a hyperlink, complete with different formatting and color. Surely there's some way to turn this feature off??

I'm on a customization kick and would like to pull a program out of my START menu in Microsoft Windows XP and add another one. Can you show me how to customize my Start menu, please?

Simple question, Dave: how do I change my settings on my Microsoft Windows XP computer so that I can see every file on the hard disk, not just those that are ordinarily "visible"?

I am a proud user of Windows XP. Not quite as cool as Linux, but hey, it's a family computer, and Windows is more widely used. Thus far I've only had one problem with it, my son put a password on the screensaver! Which doesn't bother me, because I know how to turn it off.

My question to you is, how do I CHANGE that password? Because when I open control panel and click the screensaver tab, it doesn't give me the option to change the password, only remove it! PLEASE HELP! I know in pst versions of Windows it was possible, but I don't even know if it can be changed in SP. So any help you could be to me would be greatly appreciated!

Hey Dave, I need to do to know how much RAM memory i have in my Microsoft Windows XP computer?

Now that I have Windows XP running within Boot Camp, I'm just curious: where in the folder hierarchy do I find my Windows Desktop? I know where it is in Mac OS X...

What is blinkw32.dl? I am having problems with my PC complaining that it can't find blinkw32.dll (binkw32.dll?) when I try to start up a program.

I saw your earlier article about how to use a Boot Camp partition as the virtual machine in Parallels on my Mac (see Booting off Boot Camp in Parallels) but I don't want to risk having the same Windows install running in two different environments (Boot Camp and Parallels). Instead, is there a way that I can access my Boot Camp partition while I'm in my Parallels virtual machine?

Now that I have Windows XP installed on my Mac via Boot Camp, I'm wondering if there's any way I can use that same partition for a virtual machine in Parallels? I have read your article about how to install WinXP in Parallels (see: How to install Windows XP on your Mac with Parallels Desktop), but I don't really want to have two 8GB Windows installations, so hopefully there's a better way?

Somehow in windows XP my files are no longer in alphabetical order when I go to browse them in Explorer. I have found a way to reorganize them within Explorer but when I go to a program for example Adobe Photoshop and select my folder and then browse to find the file I want to open they are all jumbled and none of them are listed alphabetically. I have alot of files in my projects folder and it makes it a pain to have to scan all of them to find the one I want instead of just jumping to the C's, or the R's, etc. Is there a way to fix this??

I've read and followed your instructions about how to remove the dreaded Norton Anti-Virus from my Microsoft Windows XP computer, but somehow the $#$@ thing isn't fully removed yet. Dave, this is driving me batty! Is there some additional or updated instruction you can share with us? I hate Symantec!!

Hey Dave is there anyway we can have the "Computer" icon show up on the desktop, and the Hardsisks mounted within this folder. Much like Windows? Coz I have too many partitions (3 Harddisks with almost 5-6 partitions on each disks)

I've been using iTunes for a while on my computer and now have a pretty darn large music collection. Rather than have it all work with shuffle mode, I'm interested in learning about playlists, and particularly about smart playlists in iTunes. What can you tell me and what smart playlists do you have?

I tried to get IE to ask me if it wanted to be the default browser, but it will not. I keep checking the box and shutting the computer down. I am an unfortunate who had mozilla firefox foisted upon them, please help me restore IE as my default browser.

I just got a new computer from my folks and have been unsuccessfully trying to watch a movie. My Dad insists it has a DVD drive, but I can't tell. How do I ascertain what kind of hardware I have on my PC without tearing the thing apart?

I saw your article a few days ago about how to selectively enable filename extensions in WinXP, [see: Selectively enable filename extensions in WinXP] which is helpful, but the more I look at my Windows system, the more I think I'd rather just be able to see ALL my file extensions. How can I make that change in Windows XP, Dave?

This may sound a bit weird, but I want to know how I can show specific file type suffixes when I'm viewing folders, but leave others hidden. For example, when I'm working as a software developer, I want to see the ".c++" and ".obj" suffixes, etc. Is that even possible in WinXP?

I've been running Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7.0 web browser and really like it overall, except for one problem: by default searches in the search box go to MSN Search, and I want to use Google. How do I change it?

What is the most effective way to perform file, folder or data searches in Windows Vista? Is it the same as it was finding files in Windows XP?

I am running Windows Vista on the family computer, which means that there are several different users. Is there a way for me to prevent other family members from accessing my school and work files or limiting access to the computer? I’ve heard Windows Vista provides some sort of feature to do this?

I’ve heard that Windows Vista Ultimate has two different firewalls included; I want to be able to scan both incoming and outgoing data. How do I do that? Does it matter which firewall I use?

I'm just curious, is there any list of the most popular shareware for the Mac and Windows platform, and if so, are Windows people more likely to download games or Mac people?

I'm sick of how darn slowly my Windows XP computer boots up, Dave. It seems to just take forever, to the point where I turn the PC on then find something else to do for 5-10 minutes. After all that time, I know it's ready to use. Worse, shut down seems to take lots of time too. Am I doomed?

I have been trying to change my darn security question at America Online for weeks now, and every time I get to that area in AOL, it just says "temporarily unavailable. Please try later." What's up with that? isn't there some way I can use the AOL Web interface to change my security question before I get hacked again? Thanx.

I really don't want to have AOL software on my new Sony Vaio laptop, but I do occasionally need to get to my AOL account to check mail, etc. I can do that via their web site, no worries, but here's what I'm wondering: can I actually change my password and do all that other administrative stuff through their Web site, or does that require the actual AOL software package?

I was changing my name (Jim H) from administrator to a user with limited privileges, with a password for both administrator and Jim H, and, when I rebooted, I got the following error message: "Checkpoint Scheduler... X... Task Scheduler is not running". I don’t know what this is. I’m thinking some program was relying on Jim H as a previous administrator, for something. I’m no longer administrator, but a user with limited privileges so I can surf the net, etc., with a little more confidence. I’m thinking some program is expecting Jim H, as adminstrator - which he no longer is - to do something. Any suggestion on how to identify this program so I can turn off the Checkpoint Scheduler? My OS is Win XP, Home, SP2... Thank you for any help

I've been visiting some Web sites that I don't want to let others know I frequent. Can you tell me how do i erase my Google search box memory on Mozilla Firefox??

I don't get it. The audio on my Windows PC seems to be just fine, I can hear system beeps, etc., but when I use Windows Media Player, I can't hear any of the music that's being played, regardless of how I adjust the volume in the player up or down. What's going on?

My Microsoft word for microsoft office has a backgroung colour problem. Everytime I open a document into it, the colour turns blue; which is not very to read from and definetely not the original background colour. I tried to change it from the format menu and select backgound but it keeps doing that all the time. Could you please tell me how can I restore the original colours.

I'm having problems with the firewall in Microsoft's Windows OneCare product blocking my downloads from certain sites, and it's driving me crazy! How the heck do I disable the firewall so I can download what I want, then re-enable it when I'm done?

I am re-asking the question entitled "How do I disable my windows startup sound?" I think that the question was not phrased well enough to understand the problem. And, I'd also like a solution to this problem if you have one.

The noise to which I'm referring is the one at the initial Sony Vaio splash screen. It plays *before* the LILO boot on my dual machine. So, it must be somehow hardwired into the system boot.

When I turn on my notebook computer, there is a sound or "music" as it powers up...just as I see the logo...and before it gets to Windows... How do I disable this "sound"/"music"...? It's very distracting in a business meeting and/or classroom.

Dave - How do I add an HTML signature to my Thunderbird mail account? I installed Thunderbird and now I find that it doesn't have an apparent sig file handler??

I have looked all over AOL, but I can't figure out how to change my security question. I just realized that a lot of people know the answer I have to give, if I ever forget my password. I would like to change the question to something more difficult. Please help me, as I can't find how to do this, when I search the AOL site. Thank you very much.

How do I protect a microsoft file with a password? The purpose is, i don't want word to open up my file without asking for a password.. every time i'll open my file i want that it will ask always a password...

I am trying to set up my microsoft outlook 2000 at home to be able to receive the same e-mails I get at work... How would I do this? I tried setting up the servers as the same but it doesnt seem to be working. What would I need to do to set this up to work correctly. Again I am trying to set up my microsoft outlook 2000 to receive the same e-mails at home as I do at work.

I had an iPod connected to my old computer and now I want to put it on my new computer, but when I hook my iPod up to my new computer all the music is going to gets deleted off of it. How do I get all my music on my new computer without using a million CDs?

I do not get any alerts (neither audio nor pop-up) when any of my friends login/logoff from Yahoo Messenger. Most of the time they appear online long after they have signed out, and i have to sign out and sign in again which is annoying.

I want to get the sqeeky door and loud bang off AOL went it first comes up on my computer when I turn it on.

Hi dave. our computer is still taken over by nvctrl.exe. Nvctrl.exe shows in processes in "Windows task manager", and when i select nvctrl.exe i can "end process" or "end process tree". i selected end process tree and it said that "ending this process could cause system instability" so i cancelled it. Is it alright to end the process tree??

I have about 4,000 sites bookmarked and arranged into folders etc. The problem is that I want them arranged alphabetically.

I can arrange them any way I like in Windows Explorer, but that arrangement does not affect them when I click on the "Favourites" in IE. I think they did it automatically in 5.5, but it is really cheesing me off having to keep dragging them manually into alphabetic order.

I feel like a complete idiot, but I was trying to copy and paste about fifteen paragraphs of text from a Microsoft Word document to an email message, and somehow ended up cutting the text out of the document and then having my email program crash. The net result is that I've lost about a day's typing and really want to know if there's any way I can recover it?

I recently purchased a new computer (It was built for me) I need to know how I can find out if my dvd burner burns dvd+ or - Do you know a way to this on Windows XP?

I'm trying to play my music CD on my PC because I need to make a tape of it to send to the copyright office. So I'm running the headphones out of my laptop into the line IN on my little boombox and I'm making the tape, right, but guess what? Every time I click on a frickin' hyperlink in Internet Explorer there's this huge "click!" coming out onto the tape! How rude is that?

I downloaded Firefox and then found that it just wasn't for me. Hence, I deleted it. However, my shortcuts on my desktop now keep asking for Firefox when I try to open them. Did I not get it all off my machine and if not how do I go about getting rid of every trace of this browser?

I have an iPod that I've been using on my Mom's macintosh, but now I want to use it on my PC. How do I get my PC to see the iPod, and then how do I connect the two so I can transfer stuff?

I like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), but it's really annoying when it automatically starts up every time I turn on my Windows XP computer. There's some way to disable it, I'm sure, but I can't figure it out. Help!

Dave, when I’m using Windows Media Player I seem to have trouble finding the right combination of songs to fill a CD. Is there a simple way to automate this?

I just installed the latest version of America Online (AOL) software and man, I'm steamed! All of a sudden AOL's taken over my entire Windows taskbar! How the heck do I get rid of the $#@$@# thing?

I might be crazy, but I'd like to replace the power supply in my computer to quiet the device down. The current power supply is noisy as anything and it's driving me a bit batty. How hard is it to replace a PC power supply?

I typed out my Social Security number while chatting on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). I immediately knew after I did it that it was a mistake since IM is not secure. My question is, can you show me how to wipe out any trace of my Social Security number from any cookies, logs, or scripts (or anywhere else on my computer and my chat-mate's computer where it may be stored) so that someone cannot get their hands on it? Basically, I'm trying not to be a victim of identity theft. Thanks!

Hey there. I want to know if I can use my iPod as a portable disk drive for my different Windows computers? My girlfriend was showing me how she can do that on her Mac, but I was wondering if there's a PC option too.

Dave, I am runnng Windows XP, I have performed system restore and now when I start up I get the error message, "lsass.exe. system error". in the box it says when trying to update this return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.

It then closes down and starts up again and I get the message and it will not start up!! it keeps going round and round. It does the same in safe mode. I have tried to press f8 and install windows from the discs but this does not work. My XP is on a partition. I have no floppy drive on my other pc. What do I do??

I'm still not quite sure about where you find how much space there is on your hardrive (My PC runs Windows XP). All I can find is "512 MB of RAM"?

I'm sticking a new 200GB (or so) SATA drive in my workstation. What is the tradeoff between number of partitions and performance? Will multiple partitions offer noticeable speed improvement?

I'm definitely going crazy here. I have a ton of CDs that I've ripped with Windows Media Player 10, but they're all apparently in WMA format, not the MP3 format that my new Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) needs for me to listen to them. I checked and there's no "save as" capability in WMP, so how the heck do I fix this problem?

I have MusicMatch Jukebox on my computer and it starts automatically. (Windows XP) I do not like it. I much prefer Microsoft's Windows Media Player. I've tried to switch Windows Media Player to the default, and it will work when I open specific music or audio files (and I do tell it to open "all files of this type with this program"), but it goes back to opening MusicMatch when a new file comes along.

I'm trying to use Apple's slick iTunes program to copy my music CDs into MP3 format so I can download them to both my MP3-capable cellphone and my Sony PSP, but it seems like on the Mac it wants to produce AAC and on the PC it prefers WMA formats. What gives, and how do I change it?

How can I change from the default "10" font size in WordPad to any other size like "12"? I have searched and looked and sought this answer to no avail. I use WordPad quite a lot and even when I manually change the font size it invariably switches back to a "10" in the process of writing, etc. So it is a big pain!

I am running a Cyber Cafe and my customers while logging into their MSN/Yahoo Messenger account and checks in the save username and password which is disturbing us. I need to disable the check in feature of saving the username and password in MSN/Yahoo Messenger.

How can I change from the default font size in NotePad to a size like 12 point? I have searched for this answer with no success, though I did read your note about changing WordPad's typeface size preferences. I use NotePad quite a lot and even when I manually change the font size it invariably switches back to 10 point.

I've been having various problems working with chat boards and other sites, and a couple of people recommended to me that I remove Symantec's Norton Antivirus from my PC. That's fine, but I don't know exactly how to do that. Can you help me out?

I want to add Outlook Express to the Quick Launch taskbar in Windows XP Pro SP2. I have looked in a few places but I cannot seem to find a way. Help!

Dave, I've read your articles about how to transfer MP3 music files to a Sony PSP and other MP3 device, but what baffles me is that when I insert music CDs into my PC, it produces "WMA" files, not "MP3" files. How do I fix this, or is Windows Media Player incapable of producing MP3s?

This has been bothering me for quite some time, and noone else has been able to give me a good answer:

How do you retrieve RAM lost to memory leaks?

I have one gig of RAM my computer, but I can only use 550MB of it... I just recently got into programming, and I am sure that memory leaks are the cause of this RAM loss. Is there a program I can use, is my RAM now useless, or did I miss something?

Okay, I am running Win XP. Right now, when there is no activity on my machine for about 5 minutes, the computer locks. In order to unlock it, I need to type in my username/password.

I don't have a screensaver running, so the "on resume, password protect" solution isn't affecting the situation.

I would like to either disable the locking feature altogether, or at least increase the wait time before it locks.

I'm trying to uninstall WindowsOneCare Live. I got in on the beta test, which was a big mistake. When I uninstall it, my Internet won't work. I'm using a cable connection. Is it just something in the settings?

I would GREATLY appreciate any help you can offer :)

I recently purchased an external HDD that I'm intending to use as a file server. My question is how to move the Documents and Settings folder from my two Windows XP machines onto this network drive without causing Windows to break beyond repair. Thanks.

I am a technical support specialist at HP. one of our customer's has an HP pavilion PC. The OS is Win XP Home edition and there was some problem with internet connectivity and HP and Charter troubleshot the problem and now, he is able to connect to the internet.

After this issue has been resolved, the PC stopped shutting down and restarting when the corresponding option was chosen at the turn off options. changed all the power options to none. did a chkdsk /r command and after the restart, the PC started to shutdown, but this time it would not restart when that option is chosen.so, half the problem has been solved. now to solve the other half ( the PC does not restart when that option is chosen )

I need your assistance. I was going through several technical ports and got almost no steps to solve the problem. found out from Microsoft knowledge article 831431 that ccApp, the startup item for Nortan, may cause the issue and disabling that might solve. not very confident that this will work. solution to the problem will be awaited for. thanks from HP.

When sending DHCP requests, a client can indicate if it wants an answer in uni or broadcast, by setting the "broadcast flag". How can I force my WIN client to set this flag to unicast?

When my computer boots up, it gets past the reading and verifying of the computers components fine and when it gets to the reading of the hard drive to launch a platform (windows xp) it asks me which windows would I like to load? So I have gathered that the computer thinks i have two Windows XP's installed. But the twist is that one is corrupt... as in, it cannot find the system32 file to run the windows platform, while the other version of Windows runs just fine.

I have tried to sort this out myself and have been looking for the file that is telling my computer there are two Windows XP's installed but have not succeeded. Can you help?

What is ASP.NET? If I have to use ASP.NET don't I need to do JavaScript and CGI programming? And where does ASP.NET stand among HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, CSS? If I use ASP.NET with C# don't I need to learn CSS etc?

How can I convert my AOL files, favorites and Address Book info from the America Online (AOL) program to MSN? I am switching from AOL dialup to a new high-speed connection. Please let me know.

The scenario: My primary hard drive (HD1) became infected beyond the capabilities of adware & spyware tools, AV, or firewall. I then transferred my important data files to (what I thought was) a storage hard drive, (HD2). Thinking that I had designated a second hard drive (HD2) as the storage drive, I reinstalled WIN XP Home SP1 from CD, and then installed SP 2 from CD onto HD1. Then I went looking for my saved data files. I could not find HD2 using Windows Explorer. So, I opened the case, only to find that HD2 was not connected to the system or power. Thinking back, I remembered that I had partitioned HD1 and used the large partition for storage, not HD2. Ok, now you have the story. Stupid mistake.

Having sufficiently, verbally abused myself for such an arcane move, I moved on with data recovery. I installed WIN XP Home SP1 from CD, and then installed SP 2 from CD onto HD2. I am now using HD2 as primary, and have disconnected HD1 from the system and power. I need to know how to proceed to recover as much of my data as possible, much of which is several folders of JPEGs. I have a copy of Encase 2004, which I understand is very strong, but I am intimidated by the warnings in the 300 page, online manual.

I found a program on my computer called Windows Audio Converter. If I change all my wma's into mp3's will I be able to use them on my iPod?

This may be a really stupid question, but I have a family friend who recently bought a 6yr old Compaq computer running Windows98. Her father is currently updating it to be windows2000 but once she found out I still had my windows xp restore/install discs she asked if I could update her to windows xp. I just want to know though - is this legal? Or will I be chased down by guys in black jackets and charged? (lol worse case scenario). I just want to know if it's okay sharing the discs with a friend or not?

I had Windows XP home edition on my computer and then I installed XP Professional. I thought it would format the hard drive and erase XP Home edition, but now when I start the computer, it always ask which one to choose, home edition or professional. How can I tell it to always choose professional?

While working on my computer at work online advertisement files will save to my desktop. I have my pop up blocker on and it seems to be working but I keep having items on my desktop for advertisements how do I stop this?

While visiting a friend's office today he asked my advice regarding a problem with his HP 7100 Workstation. He runs Windows XP Professional. The problem revolves around his CD/DVD drive. The hardware manager shows the drive as connected and operating and reading/writing CD-ROMs works fine. However, when a DVD is inserted the drive refuses to even recognize that a disk is inserted ... prompts 'Please insert a disk in drive D:'

I ran the HP On line diagnostics they provide for this machine which tests read and write performance only at CD level and no discrepancies come up. HP does not list a replacement driver on their support site. My guess is that there is some additional software required to get the drive to recognize the DVD feature, but I have no idea where to start looking. Have you run into a situation like this before?

I've just signed up for MSN Hotmail and I like it. In fact, the ability to access my email from anywhere on the Internet is way cool, and 250MB of disk space for storing my old messages seems like a ton of space. The only problem is that I have a ton of contacts in my Outlook Express program on my office PC and I'd really like to have access to them in Hotmail. Is that doable?

Dear Dave, I have a PC with Win XP Home, 1GB memory, SP2, etc. I have a Western Digital 320GB external hard drive. I don't log on Win XP with a password. Problem: when I want to 'schedule' an incremental backup with XP Backup program to the external hard drive, it always asks for Computer Name and a password in order to do this. When I create one to do this backup, it won't let me. How can I get around this problem and not use this password thing to do this scheduled backup? Thanks so much.

Windows usually hangs when a DVD or CD is loaded into the DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive, AND on startup hangs if there is a disc in any of the optical drives. Then I have to reboot system manually, eject the optical drive quickly and remove the disc in order for Windows to load successfully. After doing this I can insert the disc and it will be read successfully and autorun will execute.

Then when trying to install, for example a CDROM game, the install wizard will successfully launch and the software will start to install. Once you are prompted to insert disc 2, the tray opens and closes successfully, and as soon as the drive attempts to read the new disc (drive busy reading light starts flashing) the entire system locks up and Windows hangs. Pressing ctrl+alt+del buttons twice to restart does not work and I have to actually press the restart button to reboot the system.

My system configuration: Windows XP (SP1) 2.8 Ghz Intel CPU, 512 Mb ram, 300w PSU, PNY 6800GT graphics card, gigabyte motherboard, Aopen DVD-RW, Samsung CD-ROM. This problem occurs with or without Win XP SP1 loaded and I have installed the latest drivers for the DVD-ROM that I've downloaded from Aopen's website. Help!

I have Windows XP. When I boot up my computer I get to the user screen. It says "To begin, please click on your username" and under my username says: "426 unread mail messages"

When I move my mouse to this, it brings me a pop up and tells me that 426 unread messages from 3 different email addresses. The problem is, my friends have checked their email on my system and now I'm seeing their messages as well as my own! How can I delete their accounts?

What are SXGA and (WVA) on monitors? I'm looking for a new laptop and one of the sites I'm checking out described some laptop monitors as "LCD : 15" SXGA+ (WVA) ". Another site described a laptop screen as "Wide Angel": is that just a misspelling of "Wide Angle", and does that mean wide-screen?

Dave, this is driving me crazy: when I first got my computer it was snappy and applications launched in just a second or two. Now, a year later, it's like someone poured molasses over the hard disk without me noticing, because everything just seems to take forever. Why is my computer slowing down and how can I speed it up again?

The power supply for my PC intermittently, and for no apparent reason, shuts down completely (no voltage on PS-ON). When this happens, if I immediately cycle the power switch on the power supply and then press the on/off switch, the computer starts normally. However, if this happens when I am away from the computer and everything has had time to cool, the above procedure does not work. When I attempt to start by using the above, the panel lights flash momentarily and the power supply shuts down again.

The only way to get it to start is to run a hair drier into the power supply fan for a few minutes, and then it will start. I don't think that it is anything in the power supply that needs to be warmed, but probably something else. I have disconnected everything connected to the motherboard, but nothing makes any difference. It would appear that the power supply is bad, but this is not the case, as I have replaced it with a known good unit, and the problem remains. I would certainly appreciate any help.

Where are images stored that I visit when surfing the web? I understand that they are cached somewhere. Are all images cached for all sites that you visit?

I've newly upgraded to XP Pro/SP2 with all of the latest updates. The feature that always asks what I want to do when I insert removeable media (USB or ZIP disk) is frustrating and un-teachable. It either won't learn when I tell it to or the option isn't there.

A number of files and folders on my PC, which, when I double click on them, the search function comes up, rather than opening the file. If I right click, the dropdown menu shows 'search' at the top of the list; 'open' appears second. How can I change folders and files so that they ALL open when double clicked?

I'm running the new Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 beta and while I'm impressed with all its new features, I have no clue how to work with RSS feeds (Microsoft calls them 'webfeeds', of course) in the browser. Help?

I have a PC desktop and I just purchased a Dell Laptop. The technician at my internet provider helped me transfer my e-mail account so that I would get all future e-mails on my laptop. He couldn't tell me how to transfer my address book, old e-mails etc from my desktop, onto my new laptop. I was wondering if you could advise me on how to make that happen? Or maybe you could tell me where to get that info?

Our IT people are warning us about something called a Zotob MS05-039 worm, but they've caused more trouble than they've prevented in the past, so I'm leery about applying any changes they recommend. What is the Zotob worm, and how do I avoid getting into trouble with it?

Ever since installing SP2 on my WinXP Home OS the "My Documents" folder and everything in it has become "Read Only". Despite unchecking the "Read Only" check box in the folders properties and applying that change to the contents of the folder, it reverts to "Read Only" as soon as I recheck. Why is that and how can I change it?

Whenever I log onto Microsoft MSN Messenger and chat it is being recorded and read by my roommate. i have no idea how to stop this and have some privacy as we share the same laptop. Can you please help me solve the problem?

I miss the Start menu that I had in Windows 98 now that I'm running WinXP, but I understand that it's possible to switch to a so-called "classic" menu. How do I do that?

I am having a problem saving HTML in NotePad. It won't save it as HTML so I can go no further. I see you have already answered this exact question. The problem is, the answer wasn't correct. In NotePad to save something you said to make sure to save it as HTML and not Text. But it doesn't give you any other options. When you click save as in NotePad it gives you only two options: Text File or All Files (*.*). There is no way to erase that or create your own, so I am still stuck at the same place as the last guy who wrote. Please investigate this as I can't find the answer anywhere and I just purchased a host and domain that I can't seem to use. I'm afraid the other guy who wrote in is probably bald now from pulling his hair out.

I use Norton Antivirus 2005 and am happy with the program with the exception that I would like to change the time that the automatic scanning starts. Currently is 8 p.m. daily. I can access their site, but am not smart enough to understand how to change that timing.

Dave, since you had such a good answer to the question about Windows Vista I'm hoping you can tell me what the Windows OneCare program is? I just got a note from Microsoft about it, but it was busted and I only got the first two lines...

I reformatted my hard drive, but when it came time to shut it down and restart with the floppy and cd I didn't have the floppy in so when it restarted there was nothing to boot from. Now it can't boot and won't let me reinstall Microsoft Windows 98. Please help!!

I've just gotten email from a super-geeky friend of mine talking all excitedly about Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Windows Vista, but I've never heard of such a thing! What the heck is he talking about?

Prior to last week I could just right-click any picture or animation on the web or an email and save it as a jpg or gif. Then my grandson gave me a digital camera and its accompanying software installed ACDSee on my machine. Ever since then, anything I try to save defaults to a bmp. I can convert a bmp to jpg okay, but no matter what I try I cannot return a gif to its animated state. There's probably some default somewhere but I just can't find it. I use gifs a lot - can you help me?

This is a weird problem that others may have too: My connection to the Internet (cable) goes dead if I leave my laptop on without using it for some time. The error message says "ARP cache will not clear" when I try to refresh the connection. I have tried it with both a wireless and Local Area Network connection, but both exhibit the same problems. My OS is Windows XP SP2 and I have all manner of security in place. Any help will be appreciated! Tried to read MS help page re:asp but is too nerded for me.

I have a question about Outlook 2003. I have three POP e-mail accounts that I download e-mail from. They are all set up as accounts in Outlook 2003, however, I can not figure out how to direct them to the folders I have created without creating a bunch of complex rules.

Here is the scenario:

• me@company1.com is account number 1
• me2@company1.com is account number 2
• me@company2.com is account number 3

I thought I had solved the problem by creating 3 Outlook data files and I thought I was sending messages for each account to three different data files and therefore three separate folders in Outlook; however, this was not the case, as all messages for all accounts simply go to one Outlook Data File and then the complex group of rules comes into play.

Is there a way I can set up what I am talking about? In Netscape mail it was very simple to do this, but I need the functionality of Outlook with the ability to set up reminders, follow up alerts and the integration with other office products, and I need to have the ability to use all of these features with 3 seperate addresses all in one program at the same time, preferably without rules more complex than the IRS code.

Dave, Windows XP hibernation takes an extremely long time, ten minutes or longer, to get to full hibernation. What is up? What can I do? I'm using a Toshiba M200 Tablet PC with 1GB of RAM.

Everything was fine when I received it used off eBay. Since then, I've reimaged the HDD and then resized the HDD from 60 gb to 25 gb. I don't know if this is when the problem started, but it seems a likely candidate.

Dave, I have recently had to completely restore the operating system on my sister's Dell Inspiron 2600. Since doing this the resolution has reduced back to 860, and cannto be changed. How do I know what driver to reinstall, (if this is what to do)?

Is there any way to stop the Yahoo mail alert from popping up on my PC when Yahoo Messenger is launched? This is very aggravating, especially when I'm trying to read something on my Windows system!

Dave, woah! I just heard about a new version of Windows XP that's coming out of Microsoft next week called "Windows XP Professional x64 Edition"? What's the scoop with that, and how do I know if I need to pay for the upgrade?

What is the Registry file, and how can I work with it in Windows XP?

Dave. In reference your recent comments on .msi installation (specifically How do I install a .MSI download?). I've done some research and find that neither Microsoft nor you don't WinXP, which is where I'm having a problem. My Dell laptop constantly tells me that msi is required for the application to work properly. I try to load the suggested msi files and I get a message that state my current msi files are more current than what I'm trying to load. Catch-22 MS style. Aside from reloading XP, do you know of a fix?

Downloading and installing Windows updates results in NtUninstall folders being placed in the Windows Directory, pertinent to each download. Do these folders need to be maintained and if so for how long? Over time, these folders accumulate to occupy a significant wad of disk space. If they can be deleted i.e. there are no problems resulting from the update, what is the recommended procedure? Will the deletions have any detrimental effects in on-going operations?

Dave, I am getting a new computer with WinXP?. Do I need Zone Alarm? SpyBot?? AdAware?? A-squared? Spyware Blaster? Help! I don't want to be one of those statistics you read about on the 'net...

Dave, I'd like to know if there's a program available that will let me create a document on the computer and save it to a DVD-ROM disk so that it's playable on a DVD machine? I created a Powerpoint document and saved it on a DVD, but it won't play on my DVD machine, the unit only plays the music. Thank you.

Dave, I have deleted the file lsass.exe from System32 My Windows is XP Home Edition. There is something I need to do now to fix my computer, or can I run in blissful ignorance?

How do I change my regular music to mp3 so that I can download it into my psp? I also can't get pictures into the psp? I have the regular usb cable

Dave, I recently upgraded from Outlook 2002 to Office 2003 and now my rules do not work. I have edited them, deleted them and re-entered the information but they just will not work. Any ideas?

Let me tell you about my experience about the Windows XP Crash Update after the 12th of April 2005

• First I had just installed windows xp sp2, and installing all my drivers.
• Installed McAfee? anti virus and firewall plus updated them, where I have a DSL net link
• Then I went to windows automatic update doing all the update,
• After the windows has finished downloading all the updates, I shut down to make all the updates effective on my next restart
• The windows never started again in any mode even safe mode the only thing it did is keeping restarting the computer, after giving a blue screen. With some login module problem
• I could not do any thing but formatting the drive and redoing the previous steps again, where I thought there was a virus what did that.
• But each time I got windows to update to the last update; it crashes with the same symptoms.
• The next few days I have learned the many of my friends have suffered from the same problem, after Auto updating there windows.
• Can you tell us what the hell Microsoft is doing?!

Till then i have disabled my windows ubdate till i find out which update # from Microsoft that does this crash, then i will bypass it.

Dave, I've got We-Blocker filtering software installed on my laptop, but we've lost the password. They offer password retrieval for $10.00, but their phone number is no good. Is there anyway that you know of to hack the password, or to force-uninstall that program. I'd like to get rid of it. There is one guy on the web that claims that he can tell you how to do it, but you have to send him $10 in advance....I'm leery.

We have a Windows XP machine in our office running Outlook 2003. Our problem is that Outlook continuously retrieves duplicate, triplicate, etc spam emails from our Exchange server. We've tried every adjustment to settings possible but cannot stop this action. Some mornings there are literally 3 or 4 thousand messages. We've tried MS updates to no avail. Any suggestions?

Dave, I would like to know how to copy computer files to a compact disc. I am using windows 98. I know how to backup files but want the info on a cdrom.

Dave, I've got my hard drive partitioned into 9 logical partitions with Windows XP Pro installed on drive K:. My system has swap files (pagefile.sys) on both drive C: and drive K:. Both are nearly the same size (but not identical) at just over 800MB. I know, I know, Windows XP help states "Don't place multiple pagefiles on different partitions on the same physical disk drive."

This is somewhat ironic advice as I assume Windows XP created both of these during its install process. To follow the help file advice, though, I thought I'd eliminate the pagefile.sys on drive K: and increase the assigned space on Drive C:.

When I open "Computer Management", highlight "Computer Management (Local), right click on properties, and click the "Advanced" tab I get a dialog box specifying "Can't access virtual memory information." I click "OK" to close the dialog box but the "Change" button under the "Virtual Memory" section is then grayed out.

At this point, I don't know what to do next. Any help you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks.

Dave, help! My Windows PC does not recognize my new Sony PSP when I plug in the USB cable. Ungood. How do I get the computer to recognize the Sony PSP with the USB cable?

Although I try to read most of your 'help' articles, I don't remember having seen this problem. The recent article re: saving IE favorites reminded me to ask a similar question for saving email addresses. I used Outlook Express in the past (after reformatting I switched to Outlook, primarily due to this address book problem). Prior to having my hard drive reformatted due to a virus, I tried to save my addresses to no avail. I don't remember the specifics, but the pop-up window for'saving' or maybe it was 'exporting' my email addresses, was confusing. Bottom line, I wasn't able to save my address book to disk. Someone then told me that you can't save it in Outlook Express, and that you have to export it first to Outlook and then save it. I tried that as well and was still unable to do it.

Is it me or is there a way to save the address book from Outlook Express? I actually like it better than Outlook, and may switch back to it, if the address book problem can be resolved.

Here's a weird one for you, Dave: I no longer am able to search from the Address Bar within IE. For example, if I try to search for 'free beer' (without quotes) a new page is displayed with 'http:///?%20free%20beer' in the Address Bar and 'Invalid syntax error' shown at the top. Do you know what has changed within IE to cause this?

When I install Microsoft Messenger I can use it once.The next day when I boot up my computer I can't get in. Hotmail works ok, but I have installed messenger many times with the same result. I am running WindowsXP with SP2.

Dave, when I select to restart or shutdown my computer it takes approx 2 to 2.5 min for the window "Saving your settings" to close and then another 15 sec for the window " Windows is shutting down: to close. It also takes approx 2.5 to 3 min for the computer to boot and load. I have an HP Pavilion, WinXP SP2 w/all updates, Pentium 4 1.6Ghz, 1024Mb SDRAM, 80GB Hard Drive

I can't figure out why it takes so long for it to restart, shut down and start up. I have ran adaware, spybot search & destroy, cw shredder and avg anti-virus with no problems found. Any help or info will be greatly appreciated.

I am trying to fix a friends Dell laptop (Inspiron 3800/Windows? 98) for him. The screen resolution is set to the lowest settings (can't change it) and 16 bit color is the only option given. It's using the systems default display driver. When I use the Dell driver disk to change to the ATI Rage driver that it calls for, it installs the driver then tells you to reboot for changes to take. When I reboot, I get the bios screen, the Windows 98 welcome screen follows then a blank screen with the hour glass and that's where it hangs. It won't finish loading windows. When you reboot it tells you to boot using safe mode.

I have gotten it to finally boot normal but when you go to display settings it offers 256 color and will let you change the resolution settings BUT when you reboot to take effect it goes right back to the lowest settings and 16 bit color.

Any ideas on what the problem can be? I have formatted the thing using the Dell restore disk several times as well. I can even get online and update windows BUT the screen resolution won't change. HELP!!!

Dave, I use a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse with a computer running Windows XP Professional. Generally speaking, everything works just fine EXCEPT THAT from time to time my mouse pointer "leaps" to the bottom left corner of my monitor screen .. and invariably JUST as I am about to "click!!"

I've tried uninstalling and re-installing, but to no avail. Do you know how this little dilemma can be cured??

Dave, How do I get Outlook to stop asking me for my network password every time I send an email? I just hooked up SBC Yahoo DSL. I finally was able to get emails to send out, but now this window keeps popping up. What's the trick to solve this problem?

Dave, help! My PC keeps on hanging in every interval. It shows an error that "your system is running with too little virtual memory". What troubleshooting can I do and what fix can I apply to make my PC run without any obstacles?

Dave, I installed Internet Explorer SP2 and every thing works fine, except that now, if I try to change the font in Outlook Express 6 email I get an error message that "An error has oocurred in this dialog. Error: 501. Permission denied". Is it possible to replace the existing Outlook Express 6 without having to completely remove and re-install internet Explorer.

I have a Windows XP Office installation cd prior to SP2 and would like to know if there is anywhere I can get the updates without having internet access. I need to install the XP office on a pc that will never have internet access nor ever be connected to a network. I was wondering if there is a website either MS provided or not that has such types of data. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Dave, I am relatively new to computers and hope you can help. I am getting better at using the computer but I do have problems. This problem really gets me upset every time it happens: my computer crashes a lot and I have to reinstall windows thus loosing everything on my computer. I would like to know if there is a simple way that I can save my IE favorites folder on a disk so I won't lose this information? Also how to put them back when I get the computer up and running again? Any help you can be will be greatly appreciated as this is a very frustrating thing for me.

Dave, I recently had to reinstall Windows XP home. After that I then set up Verizon DSL for the first time. When I attach my digital camera, now, I receive the usual window that gives me the choices where to download my pictures, but I noticed that there is the same program (Microsoft Picture It Express) is listed twice. When I click on anyone one of them the software doesn't load. I have to click on Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Picture It. Then the software loads. I would like to know is how can I delete one of the Microsoft Picture It programs? Or should I uninstall then reinstall it? If so how may I do this?

Okay, I have one - I want to know if there's a way to change the time for the login screens to show up in Windows XP Pro? When I walk away from my computer, I come back to find out that I have to log in again. I really don't need my machine to time out like that because I am the only one that is using it. I do have a screen saver set up to go on after about 15 minutes but it's annoying to have to log in each time I come back to the computer.

Is there a way to create a Windows XP installation CD after you have your system up and running so you don't have to use the restore disks with all the other preloaded junk? The key is on a label on the machine.

I'm using Windows XP, have downloaded WindowBlinds 4.5 and it seems that Yahoo chat does not work along with it. Every time I right click it closes Yahoo no matter where I right click, it simple just exits the program.

So then I tried to go back to the old version of WindowBlinds 4.4 within Windows XP, but found that it did the same thing. If I click on Search, Favorites or History in Internet Explorer it would flicker like it's flashing the search or favorite icon in the left corner of the icon. That happened with WindowBlinds 4.5, but it doesn't do that on the older version. Is the problem WindowBlinds, or it is my computer?

Hi Dave. I have a weird question for you: as I walked past my company's tech support desk, I overheard two really geeky guys laughing and referring to April 12 as "Update-Crash Day for Windows Users". What's up with that? Is it some spyware that's set to fire up, or what? I run Windows at home and am anxious as all get out about it!

Dave, as per your article on IE Search Prefixes, I am trying to download and install the enabler script IE_Search_Prefixes.msi, but when I get the file onto my computer, Windows XP doesn't know what to do with it. Double-clicking the .msi file just generates an error message?

Hi Dave. Maybe you can help me with this problem. Whenever I try to go on a site that requires secure log-in, eg. bank, ebay etc. I get a security warning pop-up saying there is a problem with the sites security certificate. It says "the security certificate has expired or is not yet valid" and gives me options to continue yes/no or view certificate. I am operating Windows ME and IE 6, all updated and I also run AVG free anti-virus and spybot regularly. I have searched the web for answers to this and also asked several PPL including my bank's IT helpline. I have done everything suggested but still get the warning!

Dave, I read your books Teach Yourself Unix in 24 Hours and Wicked Cool Shell Scripts and since then I can't imagine working again on a system like windows!

My problem is that I've started to make my C files Unix-compatible but I can't find a command for C in Windows that does the same thing as system("cmd") for Unix. Any suggestions?

Dave, a friend of mine was showing off his superior knowledge of Microsoft Internet Explorer (though he, of course, called it "IE" and, once, "MSIE") and really amazed me when in the Address bar he typed in something that caused it to give us a stock quote for the specified ticker symbol. How did he do that?

Dave, someone sent me pics while we were in yim, uh, yahoo messenger. I viewed the pics while I was talking to her. Today I tried to find them and I couldn't. I assume they are in my C drive somewhere. Can u help me find them?

Dave, I use America Online (AOL) for reasons that are too tedious to explain, but I only just recently learned that instead of using their brain-dead mail program, I could be using Microsoft Outlook Express instead! How do I use MS Outlook Express to read AOL mail and send mail through my AOL account?

I got a free laptop from a company that went out of business. It runs WinXP.

I'd like to set up a home network and use it there. I followed the WinXP wizard setup and made my desktop computer the primary hub. But when I try to set it up on the laptop, XP setup says the laptop is part of a domain and thus can't be set up on a home network.

I can get internet access for the laptop, but I can't browse the files on my desktop computer. Strangely, I *used* to be able to browse the desktop, but that stopped working for some reason. When I browse the network on the laptop, it shows workgroups from the now-defunct company, but not my local network.

Any ideas on how to get around this? The main thing I want is file sharing.

I am running Windows XP Home Edition with SP2 installed. In the past I used Sun Star Office and got an invite to test the Star Office 7 Beta. I was able to download the program with no problem but when I try to install I am presented with the following error:

NSIS Error
The installer you are trying to use is corrupted or incomplete.
The could be the result of a damaged disk, a failed download or a virus. You may want to contact the author of this installer to obtain a new copy. It may be possible to skip this check using the /NCRC command line switch (NOT RECOMMENDED)

I contacted Sun and followed the suggestions that they made with no resolution. I have installed a couple of programs since trying Star Office with no problems. I have run the virus checker, spyware checker, defrag and disk clean up to no avail. Can you suggest anything from your experiences. Thanks for any thing you can provide. Tom

I'm running WinXP Pro with three CD/DVD devices. Roxio EasyCD program nullifies access to any of the three! When I try to rip CD to MP3 the computer can't access any one of the three drives. Same when I try to play a music CD or read a data CD. I am able to cold boot and find the drives, but after I use the system for a while, it "loses" the CD/DVD drives. Dave, what's up?

Dave, this is just bizarre. When I surf the web in Microsoft Internet Explorer on my Windows machine, sometimes I find that certain graphics on a page are replaced with the text "[AD-SIZE]". What's going on?

Dave, I just got a new computer, and want to move my Microsoft Outlook contacts to a new computer. How do I move this file?

Dave, this might be a bit off the pitch, but here in Australia we have Mobile Hotmail, the ability to send SMS messages to the Hotmail server and read our messages directly on our cellphones. But I always forget all the message codes. Can you help me out? Thanks, mate!

Dave, for the last few months I've carefully avoided installing Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (aka "SP2") because I kept hearing about all sorts of problems that arose after people had installed SP2 on their WinXP systems. I'm a busy guy and don't have time for a computer to go south, but I feel like I should make this upgrade anyway. My question to you: is there some specific sequence of tasks that would maximize my chances of success with the Windows XP Service Pack 2 upgrade?

Dave, sometimes when I'm using Windows Media Player on my WinXP system, I get this mysterious "Unknown error" (C00D11CD)". What does it mean and how do I avoid it happening?

Dave, I'm using the latest release of Microsoft Window Media Player and am having a problem I thought you could help me with: the CDs that I burn in Media Player don't work on my car's CD player. How do I fix this problem?

Dave, my main power switch / breaker (on rear of PC) is poping when he PC is left on for 1-2 days. Turning it OFF then back ON and then pressing the power button on the front panel returns the system to full functionality. There is no scan disk etc to indicate an improper shutdown. Any suggestions appreciated!

Dave, I'm going a bit bonkers. Every time I try to play a CD or watch a DVD on my WinXP system in Windows Media Player, the sound fades out and I'm left without any audio track. I've tried jiggling my speaker cables, reseating my sound card, restarting Windows Media Player (or even my PC), and even sacrificing an old Abba CD to the Microsoft Gods, but nothing helps. How do I fix this sort of sound device problems?

Dave, I'm confused about how Outlook is working for me. At work when pics are attached they show in the body of the email. At home I have to open each one separately. I have looked and looked but can't find where to make them show up automatically without having to open each one. Can you tell me where to find this setting?

Dave, I am reading your book Creating Cool Web Sites and you say on page 22 "suppose you recently created the file not-yet.html in NotePad..." and go on to show how it would look on Internet Explorer with and without HTML tags. But I cannot duplicate this example!

NotePad does not let me save as .html, nor does WordPad and if I save it as Web Page in Microsoft Word 2003 it won't work either. I am super motivated to get going but have just about ripped all my hair out as I can't get past the first step.

Dave, I was hoping you could help on this really security alert that keeps on coming up every time I go on the Internet. The alert states the following:

Information you exchange with this site cannot be viewed or changed by others. However, there is a problem with the site's security certificate. The security certificate was issued by a company you have chosen not to trust. View the certificate to determine whether you want to trust the certifying authority. The certificate is valid and the security certificate has a valid name matching the name of the page you are trying to view.

I would be very grateful if you could help stop this security alert from appearing in future.

"I know this should be obvious, but I'll be darned if I can find anything that allows me to do it. I've searched for an executable file that would let me but all I come up w/ is the Norton viral scan. I am running Microsoft Windows 2000."

"I’m old man (81), but I’ve learned a great deal from Creating Cool HTML 4 Web Pages; however, I have a problem. For the past two years I’ve been using WS_FTP95 LE to update and edit my Web site. I click on the WS_FTP icon, identify myself to the distant server. This brings up two columns. I click on the WWW file in the left-hand column. This brings up files in the left-hand column. I indicate that the file I wish to upload is in my A drive and click on the arrow pointing to the left-hand column. This, in turn, brings up a window in which I enter index.html which completes the upload.

A gifted young friend created a picture and uploaded it for me, but did not explain how it was done. He has since changed his residence without leaving me his new address. Unfortunately, my ISP recently changed their server. This left me faced with a problem: what do I enter in the WS_FTP transfer window to upload the jpg image on a 3½ inch floppy to the new server? "

"I am currntly enrolled in a web design class using your book, Creating Cool Web Sites. I have recently install Office 2003 and seem to have lost my notepad. How can I get it back?"

"I recently read your book Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML, 2nd Edition. I found it extremely helpful and easy to understand as I knew nothing about HTML before reading your book. I had only one problem with your book, you never mentioned how to actually put a web page on the Internet. Do I need the Internet Assistant program in order to do this? I borrowed your book from the public library and they told me that there were "no disks available". Are there any ways to put a web page on the Internet that do not require extra software?"

"I recently purchased your book Creating Cool Websites with html, xhtml, and css. When I arrived to chapter 2 and you said to go to note pad, I followed your instuctions and I couldn't find it. So I went to run and typed in notepad and BAM! it pulled up.

You say to save it to your desktop, if I do that will the program always run from there? Should I seek out a tech to move the program to where you said I should of found it. "