Windows Tips

Recently, my Explorer windows stopped positioning themselves properly on the screen. While flipping through emails and web pages in a fiendish learning frenzy, I offset an Explorer window to one side in order to get to another. When I finished what ... I was working on, I closed all Windows and shut the computer down. Since then, all Explorer windows I launch are opening in an offset position. Desperate times seek desperate measures. In an attempt to fix the problem, I've tried closing all Explorer Windows, launching a new one, repositioning it in both minimized / maximized settings, and then ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Cleo writes: " I have tried putting Microsoft Word in my Send To Menu a dozen times: it shows up in the send to folder in the C drive, but won't show up in the Send To Menu. Any ideas? " My response: It is possible that the Send ... To shortcuts were placed in the wrong SendTo folder. For Windows 9x and NT, the SendTo folder location is C:\Windows\SendTo. For Windows 2000 and XP, the whereabouts of the [current] SendTo folder depends on which user logged in to the machine. The Send To feature allows users to launch a file using a program which has not been previously ... (view more)

Today I received well over 200 virus-infected emails, courtesy of the W32.sobig.b@mm.html and Friendship Screensaver worm / virus. So, why do I get bombarded with email viruses more than the average Joe? The answer to my dilemma is compound. Since ... literally thousands of users have emailed me in the past ... and because mail programs such as Outlook / Outlook Express automatically save contacts [email addresses] once mail has been replied to, ... and and because most email viruses propagate through email Contact Lists: my email addresses have been become exceptionally targeted by email worms. ... (view more)

Last week, Douglas M. told me how the Address Bar disappeared from his Internet Explorer: " I am running Windows 98 (second edition) with IE6 and recently the address bar at the top of the browser screen has disappeared. When I click View -> ... Toobars -> Address Bar, I cannot get it to return. Any suggestions? " My response: I forwarded a link from TechTV: the site suggested that the Address Bar may have been inadvertently repositioned and, consequently, hidden. Recall: " If your address bar has disappeared from Internet Explorer, right-click on a toolbar and make sure ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Douglas M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am an avid reader of your newsletter, and it is definitely the BEST free support publication for users of Windows operating systems -- I recommend Infopackets Gazette whenever appropriate! I ... wonder whether you can help me with a problem? I am running Windows 98 (second edition) with IE6 and recently the address bar at the top of the browser screen has disappeared. When I click View -> Toobars -> Address Bar, I cannot get it to return. Any suggestions? " My response: I was unable to find a resolution to this problem by ... (view more)

Rezzy47 asks: " I'm running Windows XP Home Edition on a Dell 8200 Desktop computer. Every time I attempt to run ScanDisk [CHKDSK] on one of my hard drives, Windows gives me the message, ' Please wait while windows restarts ... ', but never does. I ... have to shut the computer down manually by turning off the power. Is there any solution to this problem? " My response: I know that the "shut down" feature under Windows hasn't worked properly since the days of Windows 95 ... but I figured that Microsoft licked this problem once-and-for-all with Windows XP. I guess not. ... (view more)