Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Tom S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an older Windows Vista machine and I'm trying to upgrade it to a clean install of Windows 7. The problem is that this PC is an all-in-one unit, and the DVD drive is broken; replacing it would be extremely difficult. I had a friend of mine convert the Windows 7 installation DVD into a bootable USB thumb drive, but it appears that my system does not support booting from USB. I also tried running the Windows setup.exe file from the thumb drive on my Vista desktop, but I receive a message that 'Windows installation could not be started from ...view more

Infopackets Reader David L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I read your article about still being able to upgrade to free Windows 10 even after the deadline. I've downloaded the Windows10Upgrade24074.exe file and ran it; however, it takes over an hour to download the files and then the Windows 10 upgrade assistant gets stuck at 99% complete. I have tried doing this 5 times and the upgrade assistant keeps getting stuck at 99%. I've left it for an entire day and - as you may have guessed - Windows 10 upgrade assistant is still stuck at 99% complete. What can I do to get the free Windows 10 upgrade, and/ ...view more

How to Fix: Windows 10 Webcam Not Working Infopackets Reader Alan S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Paul Thurrott over at Thurrott.com (previous author of WinSupersite) has suggested that the latest Windows 10 Anniversary update has broken 'millions' of webcams . I have read his article and tried the registry fix, all to no avail - my webcam simply will not work. I have also reviewed other websites for similar registry fixes, but nothing works. Do you have any suggestions? " My response: From what I read on the Paul Thurrott's website, the registry fix he describes is a workaround - though it's not ...view more

Infopackets Reader Sammy G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10 following your advice. Everything looks great, however, my Windows 10 clock is missing - it's just up and gone - completely disappeared! I don't understand how or why the windows 10 clock went missing, but I'd like to get it back. Can you help? " My response: Based on my experience, the Windows 10 clock can disappear in one of two ways: either by a misplaced (or corrupt) system setting, or if your user account - or Windows itself - is corrupt. How to Fix: Windows 10 Clock Missing Adjusting Task Bar Settings ...view more

Microsoft has confirmed some Windows 10 computers may freeze up after the latest update. It says starting in Safe mode is one way to get round the problem while a permanent fix is developed. The problem comes with the Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" (Build 14393.51), which is the recently-released biggest set of changes since Windows 10 was released. In previous editions of Windows, this significant update might be considered the equivalent of a Service Pack. According to Microsoft, the Anniversary Update problem only affects computers with a specific set-up, namely that the ...view more

Infopackets Reader Barry P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded from Windows 8.1 to 10. Now, every time I boot the computer, I receive an error message that 'AMD Quick Stream Error: The license information to use this software is not found'. I have absolutely no idea what that means. Can you help? " My response: I asked Barry if he'd like me to connect to his machine and review this problem together using my remote desktop service, and he agreed. Sure enough, after every reboot the "AMD Quick Stream Error" message appeared on the desktop. I queried Google for the exact phrase: "AMD Quick ...view more

Infopackets Reader Bryan B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've read on a few websites that Windows 10 Anniversary Update was released on August 2nd (2016), yet when I check for Windows Updates on my machine, it says I'm up to date. I've also tried to upgrade to the Windows 10 Anniversary Update by downloading 'Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB3176929)' from the Windows Update catalog site, but the Windows Update Standalone Installer simply tells me that 'This update is not applicable to your computer.' How can I get the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to install ...view more

Infopackets Reader Sally S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10. Prior to that I was using Windows 7, with Internet Explorer as my main web browser. After upgrading to Windows 10, I gave the 'Edge' browser a try but didn't like it, so I decided to go back to Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, it seems that the upgrade to Windows 10 broke my Internet Explorer search - previously I could type in whatever I wanted to search for in the address bar, but now it keeps telling me that 'This page can't be displayed' and 'Look for the page with your search engine', and 'Refresh the page ...view more

Infopackets Reader Jesse T. writes: " Dear Dennis, A friend of mine told me that the new version of Firefox is a lot faster, but requires special configuration changes in order to get the speed boost. Do you know what she is referring to? How can I make my Firefox faster? " My response: Your friend is correct - the latest edition of Mozilla Firefox (version 48) includes a major overhaul to allow for multi-processor support, though it may not be enabled by default on some systems. That is because some systems may use older add-ons that may interfere with the multi-processor support feature, ...view more

Infopackets Reader Bob T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10; unfortunately the Windows 10 upgrade corrupted my Start menu and tray bar, so I decided to do a clean install - which also means I have to reinstall all my programs. I'm now trying to install MS Office 2010 on the machine, but the MS Office setup.exe program keeps telling me 'Error 1317: Setup Cannot Create Directory C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft Office', and then rolls back and cancels the installation. I have tried using my original MS Office disc, and have also downloaded MS ...view more