I want other people to be able to use my computer without them being able to access my confidential files, and without them being able to infect my computer accidentally with a virus or change system settings that might screw things up. How can I do that by adding another user to the computer?...

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Now I know how to open a command prompt in Microsoft Windows, how do I perform common tasks in a command prompt? Can you show me some command prompt basics and perhaps something cool I can do to impress my friends?...

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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)?...

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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...

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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!...

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I just bought a slick ASUS Eee PC netbook, model 1000HA, and want to configure it to work with both Microsoft Windows XP, which is already installed, and Ubuntu or some other flavor of Linux. How can I do that without having to reinstall WinXP?...

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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!...

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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?...

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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?...

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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?...

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I have no idea what happened, but I had Microsoft Windows XP running just fine within the VMWare Fusion application, as you documented (see installing Vista in VMWare Fusion) and now it crashes without an error when I try to run it. Help! I need to get this working!...

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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?...

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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?...

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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?...

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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?...

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

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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....

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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?...

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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?...

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I have Microsoft Windows XP running on my Apple MacBook, using Parallels for Mac. When I'm on my VM it does not see the CD/DVD drive. I would like to save my data to a cd. any ideas?...

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