Windows Tips

Douglas L. asks: " I recently re-loaded Windows ME. When I received an e-mail with an attachment I mistakenly used Media Player to open it. Now Windows assumes that every attachment of that type requires Media Player! How do I change it to the ... correct program for these files? " My Response:First, you need to identify the correct file type. This is done by viewing the file extension in the email attachment. Example: a .GIF email attachment would signify that it is a graphic file. You can use Internet Explorer to open a graphic file, or any third-party picture viewing utility for that ... (view more)

Last week's question asked: " I use Outlook Express to read emails. When I click on a web address in an email, nothing happens. I am plagued with the old cut, copy and paste. Is there a way to get Outlook Express to open up the web address in my ... Internet Explorer browser? " My answer: I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their thoughts on this question. The gist is that the problem may be caused if you have installed another browser other than Internet Explorer on your system. This can include ISP providers that install their own version of browsers, including AOL, and Earthlink. ... (view more)

Brian S. writes: " First of all, thanks for your newsletters. They are informative and very helpful. My question is this: When I click on a web address in my e-mails nothing happens. I am plagued with the old cut, copy and paste. Is there a way to ... get Outlook Express to open up the web address in my Internet Explorer browser? " My answer: I've been asked this question a few times in the past but can honestly say that I've never experienced the problem myself. Every link I've ever clicked on in Outlook Express works for me. The only thing I can think of which might block a browser ... (view more)

Last week's mind-numbing question was sent in from Jon W. He asked: " I have a few programs listed in my MSCONFIG startup . One of the programs was LoadQM.Exe, and Google's search pointed me to your web site. Good info on the LoadQM.exe program! ... I've now deleted it from the start-up file. The other two programs I'm trying to find more information on are Carpserv.exe and Nwiz.exe/install, but didn't get any clear-cut information on these two when querying Google. Do you have any input on these two items? " My Response:I asked the Infopackets Readers to send me their thoughts on the ... (view more)

Last week, Phil M. asked the question: " I can't access the Outlook 2000 contacts because they no longer belong to my user account. Is there any way I can access the previous Outlook 2000 contacts list? I don't know where to look. " I didn't know ... the answer to this question, so I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their suggestions. Bill S. confidently writes: " FIRST - a BIG first - go to Control Panel, Folder Options, View and de-select Display Hidden Files. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. There were ... (view more)

Yeah, the wallet is on a major diet this year. So, I thought I'd spread some Holiday cheer and start this week off with some cool computer gift ideas for under $50 bucks. At the end of my Top 10 list, I invite you to email your $budgeted$ gift ideas ... and I'll include them in tomorrow's issue of the Gazette. #1. Optical mouse with a Scroll Wheel: Less than $25 If I had to go back to a ball mouse, I think I'd go insane. Optical mice are very precise and don't suffer from jerky movements or get gummed up like ball mice do... plus you can use an optical mouse on just about any surface. An optical ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Phil M. writes: " Dear Dennis, The in-house guru for my office recently gave me my own user account and password on a Windows NT 4.0 machine. Previous to this, the computer required no login and used a central Outlook 2000 ... database for contacts. Now that I have my own login account, I can't access the Outlook 2000 contacts because they no longer belong to my user account. Is there any way I can access the previous Outlook 2000 contacts list? I don't know where to look. " My response:I don't use Outlook 2000. If anyone knows the answer to this, email me and I'll ... (view more)

I've been toying with some different ways to help get the word out about the infopackets web site. I'm on a tight budget, especially after getting $burned$ from a sucky web hosting company . In fact, I sent the Sucky Web Hosting company an email ... yesterday asking when my account was going to be refunded because my bank statement reported no activity. Here's two emails I received regarding my refund: November 29: " Your account will be refunded all but the $99 Setup Fee. Refunds are usually processed within 24 hours of cancellation ... sometimes it can take a while to show up in your bank ... (view more)

I guess I don't get out very much because a handful of Infopackets Readers informed me today that there are indeed DVD Records which also burn CD-R and CD-R/W discs. Chris J. wrote in and told me about his Sony DVD-Burner, model DRU500A. This drive ... was a popular pick among many other Gazette Readers: " I have a Sony DRU500A DVD – CD Burner. It writes in DVD+RW (2.4x), DVD-RW (2.0x) & CD-RW (10x) and reads in DVD+R (2.4x), DVD-R (4x), CD-R (24x) and CD-Rom (32x) formats. It retails for $350, but I’ve seen it as low as $315 on the Internet. So far it’s working great. " Rob R. also ...href="/news/9182/dvd-cdr-cdrw-all-one-combo-burner-part-2" class="more-link">view more)

Lavandran R. asks: " Dear Dennis, I've heard about combo drives which include DVD and CD-R/RW all-in-one. Does this mean I burn DVDs and CD-R/RW with the same unit? I'm confused! " My Response: There are DVD burners which can burn DVDs, but they are ... very expensive since it's new technology. I'm not aware of any DVD burner / CD-R/RW combo units on the market at this time. Unless it is specifically stated that the drive is a DVD-Burner, it probably is not. Most likely the drive you're looking at is a combo DVD reader and CD-R/RW burner. I've had a combo drive like this in the past and ... (view more)