Windows Tips

Is there a simple way to organize Internet Explorer (IE) favorites -- without the need to 'flip' through dialogue menus, or worry of accidentally moving the wrong file? That's the question I asked Infopackets Readers last week after describing the ... method I used for sorting IE bookmarks. Below are some of the responses I received: Leo F. recommended AlphaCuts: " AlphaCuts swiftly displays, in alphabetical listings, your programs on the Start Menu, favorites in Internet Explorer and documents in the My documents folder. It lists the relevant directories and categories and the items they ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gary G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just bought a new computer. I'd like to know of the best product to use in order to copy files from the old computer's hard drive to the new one, then possibly delete the files off the old ... computer. I have looked around but am not sure of what product to buy. Can you help? " My response: If you want to copy some files over to your new system, your best bet is to extract the hard drive out of the old system and attach it to the new system. Although this involves opening up your PC, this is a relatively simple task. Once the drives ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ron E. 'fiftylakesfox' writes: " I recently ran Safe Mode (under Windows ME) and after restarting my computer, almost all my Desktop icons showed up with the blue big "E" (as in Internet Explorer). I used the Microsoft 'System ... Restore' feature, but it didn't help at all. I've contacted Microsoft about this problem but haven't received a response in over two days. You or your readers are probably best source to help me get my hijacked icons back. Any suggestions? PS: Thanks very much for providing such an excellent newsletter. " My response: This has ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dilsia M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Something happened to my Search companion in Windows XP that allows me to search for files and folders in My Computer. When I try to use the Search function, Windows tells me that a file necessary ... to run the search function cannot be found and that I have to run setup to fix it. Rover the doggie doesn't appear, either. Do you know how I can resolve this issue? " My response: I get asked this question from time to time, so it's worth answering once more. RE: When I try to use the Search function, Windows tells me that a file ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ed C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I look forward to read your newsletter each week. When I insert a disc in my CD ROM drive, it won't start automatic like it once did. In order to get it to work, I have to right click 'My Computer', ... then select 'CD-ROM' to get it to play. I'm running Windows XP. Is there any way around this?" My response: The feature you are referring to is called AutoStart, and can be enabled or disabled using Microsoft's free utility, called PowerToys (or 'TweakUI'). Take a look at this picture here which shows you exactly where the feature is ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ken A. writes: " Dear Dennis, Whenever I try to run Scandisk (and Defrag), Scandisk gets 2/3 through the operation and reports an error message which reads: 'Not enough memory to continue. Close all programs to try again.' Even ... with all programs closed down still cannot run Scandisk. I have Windows 98SE (second edition). I hope you can help! PS: Love all newsletters -- they're great! " My response: Microsoft Knowledge Base article # 229154 states that this error may occur if your hard drive's cluster size is less than 8k. To correct this error, you will need to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ed M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I can't seem to run Disk Defrag, ScanDisk, or Norton Disk Doctor on my system because other programs are actively running in the background and keep interrupting the process. How can I find out what is ... running in the background and stop it? I have asked this question numerous times to Microsoft and they don't seem to know the answer. I have tried 'CTRL + ALT + DEL' on my keyboard to bring up the Windows Task Manager, I get a list of programs -- but I do not know which ones are safe to delete? Can you help? " My response: Many users ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Nancy E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I bought a router to make my computer less vulnerable to hackers, but now cannot receive files from my ICQ contacts. I can send files, but cannot receive. I talked with D-Link tech support and they ... helped me to change a few settings, but to no avail. They said that ICQ had to be changed in order to get this to work. I cannot get any help from ICQ except a 'form' reply from their site which doesn't help at all. I am using ICQ Pro, and the router is a D-Link DI-704P, and am running Windows 2000. As far as I understand it, one of the ' ... (view more)