Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Barry H. writes: " Dear Dennis, My camera will not download photos using Microsoft wizard or several photo suits. Oddly enough, the camera works great with other computers. My computer sees the camera as a mass storage device in ... Device Manager, but when I try to download or slideshow my photos, the camera locks up; the camera won't switch off and I have to remove the power source to get it to turn off. Oftentimes when I try to view a slideshow, I only get a partial download and the camera locks up. Can you help? " My response: It's quite possible that you either: a) your ... (view more)

Clif Notes Reader 'Gerald' from Africa writes: " Thank you Clif for your help with Tidying up the Start Menu. I have another question for you today, if I may. How can I get spellcheck to work in outlook express? The option appears to be not ... available. " Clif's response: You can get around this problem by using a freeware Spell Checker for Outlook Express. Note that the spell check in Outlook Express won't work (by default) unless you have MS Office installed. From the Major Geek web site: " [SpellChecker for OE is a] free program, made to allow people to use Spell Checker in Outlook Express. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ken H. writes: " Dear Dennis, In the device manager, all of my DVD and CD-ROM devices won't work. Device Manager states that 'a driver for this device was not required and has been disabled (Code 32)'. Question: how can I get ... these devices to work again? I have uninstalled them and restarted the computer to let it find new drivers but that didn't work. I have scanned my PC for viruses and am clean. I have also researched this topic in Google and found a post which states that this error message can appear if you have Roxio Easy CD Creator (which I do). The post suggested a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ken H. writes: " Dear Dennis, In the device manager, all of my DVD and CD-ROM devices won't work. Device Manager states that 'a driver for this device was not required and has been disabled (Code 32)'. Question: how can I get ... these devices to work again? I have uninstalled them and restarted the computer to let it find new drivers but that didn't work. I have scanned my PC for viruses and am clean. I have also researched this topic in Google and found a post which states that this error message can appear if you have Roxio Easy CD Creator (which I do). The post suggested a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Simon W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I made the transition from Windows 95 to XP a few years ago, and since the upgrade, I've noticed a change in the way the 'Save As' dialogue box works with MS Word. For example: Under Windows 95, I ... would select a section of a document, copy it, and then paste it into the Save As dialogue box, and the document would save with that filename. However, now when I right-click over top of the Save As dialogue box under Windows XP, I don't have the option to 'Copy' or 'Paste' anymore (as I once did in Windows 95). Hence, I have to manually type in a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Carol B. writes: " Hi Dennis, I read your article today about the user who is missing WordPad . I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but kellys-korner-xp.com has a downloadable executable for WordPad (see: #308 on the right hand ... side of the page). http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm One last thing: in your previous post, the user mentioned that his document files were no longer associated with WordPad. To reinstate this (using Windows XP): Right click on the file they want to open with WordPad. Select 'Open With' from the drop down menu. Select Choose Program, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Kevin writes: " Dear Infopackets Team, The other day I clicked Start -> Programs -> Accessories in order to get to MS WordPad, but found that it was no longer there. I have spent an innumerable amount of time typing my DVD ... collection (titles) into WordPad; now when I click on my DVD document, I get a message stating that 'This file does not have a program associated with it.' I don't understand why all the sudden I can't open my document any longer and why WordPad isn't listed beside Notepad in my Start menu. Can you please tell me how I can get WordPad back so I can ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Frances' writes: " Dear Dennis, When I start my computer, the System32 folder opens. I don't know how it started, but how do I make the System 32 folder stop appearing? I went to Start -> Run, typed in 'MSCONFIG', then went ... and looked at my Startup, but I don't know what to uncheck. My Norton software is up to date and I am using Windows XP and Verizon DSL. Please help. Thank you. " My response: This is a frequently asked question. In fact, I managed to find a Microsoft Knowledge Base article ( KB#170086 ) which describes why the System32 folder may appear after you ... (view more)