Windows Tips

What would you do if your hard drive crashed and the data it contained was not recoverable? Worse yet -- what would you do if the software you used to backup your drive refused to work unless you paid the company for another license? Yesterday, ... Pippie1969 sent me the following email: " ... [Continuing on with your discussion on PC Security ], I thought I would share with you the following story. A little while back, I purchased 2 identical 120 gigabyte Western Digital (WD) hard drives. In April, one of the drive's crashed (totally), and I was not able to recover *any* of the data on the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dale D. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm having trouble logging into my user account under Windows XP. It seems that my password is no longer valid and now I can't get in. The only way I can login to the system is to do so under my ... son's account which does not have administrative rights. Also, when I go to Control Panel -> Users (under my son's account), my user account is not listed. Any ideas how I can resolve this? " My response: Depending on the access level applied to your son's account, he may / may not be able to see any other accounts listed on the system. In ... (view more)

Speaking of securing your PC and keeping it protected from Hackers -- Infopackets Reader Riad S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I run Windows XP. I recently ran the Windows Update scan (by clicking Start -> Windows Update) and now it gets stuck at 0% ... activity, then finally aborts with an error message that reads: ' Windows Update Error. Windows Update has encountered an error and cannot display the requested page. Error no.(0x800C0005) '. I tried all suggestions on the error page, but with no result. Can you please help?" My response: According to updateXP.com , the hexadecimal error ... (view more)

Have you ever been in a jam -- and to top it all off, your computer won't boot? Infopackets Reader Donald C. writes: " Dennis, I just read your May 19th article on ' Access old user account files under WinXP? ' where a Reader was unable to access ... his files stored via a hidden system folder. I just wanted to comment by saying that I've come across a great program -- actually, it's a bootable CD ROM image -- that can be used to access files on your hard drive: all within a Windows environment. If you can't find a better way to access files inside of XP, try doing it OUTSIDE of XP! Bart ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Brenda M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I emailed you this morning about a PC crash and a list of errors I get when trying to boot the computer. Eventually, the PC does start, but now it that some of my device drivers are missing. I can ... not connect to my ISP and I can not sign on to the internet. My OS is Windows 98SE. I am using another persons PC that I have access to on a daily basis. Is there a way that I can get the drivers to work again? " My response: You didn't mention how your computer connects to the Internet. At any rate, you will need to: Identify the device ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ruth S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I use Outlook Express. Every time I receive an email, the sender's address ends up in my Blocked Senders List. The next time the person emails me again, it goes directly into my Deleted Items folder. ... I don't know why this keeps happening. Any ideas?" My response: I can honestly say that I have never encountered this problem before. At any rate, I have a few suggestions: 1. Clear your Blocked Senders List and Mail Rules. Open Outlook Express Click Tools -> Message Rules -> Blocked Senders List Delete all blocked senders entries ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'farzee2k' writes: " My friend has windows XP installed on his system. Somehow, he deleted his account so he is not able to access the files stored in his My Documents folder. He does not have access to the Administrator account ... either, so when he logs on through another user account, he cannot access the files stored in his original account. Is there anyway he can access those files?" My Response: All user account folders are (by default) located in C:\Documents and Settings. And, some user folders in the Documents and Settings directory are hidden. Therefore, I ... (view more)

What meaning would my life have if my own mother didn't read this newsletter? Infopackets Reader 'Mom' (a.k.a. 'Nurse Lynda') writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for installing Windows XP for me on the weekend. Today, I noticed that my CPU is ... overly-active and operating continually with 100% usage. I have opened up Task Manager and have attempted to identify the cause, but there were a number of processes that I have not seen before and the [process] table changes too rapidly to tell otherwise. Question: how can I correctly identify and eliminate the process which is causing this abnormal CPU ... (view more)

Recall -- Yesterday, Infopackets Reader Darren F. asked what term 'Windows Embedded' meant: " Dear Dennis, I was watching Tech TV recently, and there was reference made to a program that is capable of making a 'preinstalled environment' bootable ... Windows XP CD-ROM. I decided to do some research on the topic, and kept coming across discussion boards where people constantly made reference to something called 'Windows Embedded'. I don't quite understand what this is and was wondering if you could explain it the term? " I responded to Darren's question by querying Google for the term ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Patricia A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I really enjoy reading your newsletter, and was wondering if you can help me. I have so many Favorites (bookmarks) in my Internet Explorer that my list is getting out of control. Is there any way ... I can transfer them somewhere or clean up the list some how? " My response: Absolutely! To backup your favorites, you will have to transfer (export) them to a separate file so that you can store it / access it at a later time. Note that exporting your favorites will not remove them from your favorites list in Internet Explorer -- so you ... (view more)