windows

Thu
16
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

XP Service Pack 2 reports No Virus Scanner installed?

Infopackets Reader Jospeh D. writes: " Dear Dennis, Your newsletters are the greatest! I've installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 *twice* on my machine, and both times, it told me that I didn't have a virus program installed. I've tried Grisoft ... AntiVirus and also tried AVAST32. Still, Windows XP is not recognizing them. Every time I start my computer there is a reminder for me to install a virus program. Am I protected or not? " My response: This one had me stumped, too. If your antivirus program is sitting in the tray (next to the clock), then chances are that it's working. It's a ... (view more)

Wed
15
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

GuruNet: The Answer Engine

Imagine this: you're sitting in front of your computer, writing an email -- and all the sudden, you forget how to spell a word -- or worse yet, you need to find another way to express yourself in a thought-provoking or entertaining manner. It ... happens to me all the time. Like most folks, I use Outlook Express to read and compile my emails because it's free and comes bundled with Windows. Unfortunately, the MS Spell Checker isn't part of Windows or Outlook Express by default (you'll need to install MS Office or similar ) -- and to top it all off, Outlook Express doesn't offer a thesaurus. What ... (view more)

Tue
10
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Desktop icons appear malformed?

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)

Wed
04
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Disable / Enable CD AutoRun?

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)

Wed
04
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Digital Media Converter Review

With so many different audio and video formats circulating the Internet, keeping track of which media player plays which format is almost a next-to-impossible task. For example: .MOV files are made with Apple QuickTime, and won't play in Windows ... Media Player; QuickTime player (which plays .MOV files) won't play DivX movies, and RealAudio and RealVideo files won't play in either QuickTime or Windows Media Player. To top it all off, none of the above mentioned formats will play on a portable .WMA (Windows Media Audio) device. Confused yet? Audio and video files generally contain content meant ... (view more)

Tue
27
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Registry Mechanic 3 Review

Does your computer seem slower than the first day you brought it home and plugged it in? Does it report strange error messages when launching program -- or worse yet, does it periodically display the infamous Blue Screen of Death? Typically, these ... symptoms are a result of a poorly configured or un-optimized System Registry . How the Windows Registry impacts system performance and stability Over time, programs are installed and uninstalled to Windows, and the Registry becomes bloated with incorrect and outdated information.(1) Many of the attributes contained in the Registry database point to ... (view more)

Fri
23
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

PC freezes on almost any application?

Infopackets Reader 'Margie100' writes: "Dear Dennis, You've probably have answered this question a million times, but I am having trouble finding the right answer for me. I am running XP and lately this PC just freezes up when I open just about ... everything. Pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL usually fixes it but I know that this is a temporary fix and it usually locks up again shortly after that. I've scanned my system for viruses, cleaned my hard drive using the defrag utility, and use scandisk to check for file-system errors. I know from your newsletters that it may be possible that there is ... (view more)

Tue
13
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Quick Launch and MS Office toolbar disappeared?

Gazette Rich K. writes: " For some reason, my Quick Launch toolbar (near the Start Menu) disappears when I reboot. Oddly enough, I have this same problem with my MS Office short cut bar. Do you have any idea how I can fix this? " My response: My ... Quick Launch toolbar has never disappeared on me, but nonetheless, a number of Gazette Readers have asked me this question before. After querying Google.com for "quick launch disappears after reboot", I came across an online forum at techguy.org which appears to have answered both questions. RE: Resetting the Quick Launch toolbar It was suggested that ... (view more)

Tue
13
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

'Major' Critical Updates released from Microsoft: July, 2004

Over the last 2 weeks, Microsoft has issued a number of patches related to exploits recently discovered in Internet Explorer. Today, I received 2 additional notifications: one of them listed as critical and, if not applied immediately, may allow ... "remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malicious website or JOB file." (Source: cve.mitre.org ) Yikes! This section of the Gazette is normally dedicated to answering questions I receive from Readers between the time that newsletters are sent out; however, this time, I feel it is imperative to inform Readers of the importance of ... (view more)

Wed
23
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

Cannot log into admin account (WinXP)?

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)

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