Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Sam G. writes: " Dear Dennis, My Windows Update won't update. It happened when I upgraded to Windows 8.1; I had over 100 updates to download. I managed to download most of them but there were a few that failed. Windows Update says ... the error code is 8007045B on the failed updates . I did a search for 8007045B in Google but the information is conflicting, confusing, and for the most part all the articles I've read go around in a loop. I also came across an article on PC World which says to do revert my restore point - but that didn't work, either. Apparently ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dave T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently installed Windows 8.1 on my netbook and downloaded all the updates which took almost 2 days to complete. Towards the end there was a slew of failed updates which did not install; one of ... them which was a cumulative patch for Internet Explorer. I read that to fix the issue I need to open a command prompt as Administrator user and then run 'sfc /scannow' to fix the failed updates, but I cannot seem to run cmd.exe as the Administrator user. When I try and run 'sfc /scannow', I get the error message that 'You must be an administrator ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Old Techo from Oz' writes: " Dear Dennis, I have consistently noticed on 3 of my Windows 7 PCs that the C drive appears to bloat over time with 'low space' warnings constantly ... For example, Windows Explorer reports my C drive ... full with 78 gigabytes of data and only 6 gigabytes free. I knew this had to be wrong ... The only solution I have found is to make a disk image backup of my hard drive partition (using Acronis True Image , for example), and then restore the disk image later on. After the image is restored, Windows now reports correct free space available of 37 ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Terry W. writes: " Dear Dennis, Whenever I click on a link via email, I get an error stating that 'This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer.' I don't understand why I receive this error ... message, as my user account has administrator access and I am the only one that uses this computer. Any ideas why this is happening? " My response: Admittedly, I have never heard of this error message before. The next day Terry emailed me with a follow-up, stating that he found a solution and provided me with a link. The page he directed me to, however ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Tina' writes: " Dear Dennis, My monitor keeps going black. It flashes on and then off after a few seconds, then it goes to a black / blank screen. Sometimes I have to power it on and off 20 times before the monitor will work ... properly, and some days, my monitor won't turn on at all! When this happens, my monitor power light stays yellow as if the monitor is sleeping or in standby mode. Normally the power light is green when it is powered on and working properly. Any ideas why my monitor keeps turning off? " My response: There are many reasons why a monitor keeps turning off ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Richard W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I took your advice and purchased Acronis True Image to backup my computer's hard drive (using disk image backups). My question is: how can I be sure the disk image backups are not corrupt and will ... properly restore, if and when I need to do a restore? What is the best way to do a test restore of a disk image backup? " My response: You are not the only person to ask me how to restore a disk image backup -- and it's an excellent question to ask. The simple answer is that you need to run through the entire process of a restore ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Tibby' writes: " Dear Dennis, For a few days now my screensaver won't start anymore on either my Windows 7 desktop and laptop. I suspect a recent Windows update may have caused my screensaver to stop working, but I can't ... substantiate that. I have reset the screensaver settings on both machines but my screensaver won't start. Have you heard of such an incidence? Any idea how to fix my screensaver? I have learned quite a bit form your questions and answers. Good work, and thanks in advance. " My response: This is a very common problem with Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Cliff H. writes: " Dear Dennis I can't seem to figure out how to remove Spotify from my computer (it's best known as a music streaming app commonly used on smartphones, though I'm using it on my Windows PC). Online forums suggest ... I am just one of thousands enraged by the behavior of Spotify, which insists on launching in my web browser whenever the PC is restarted. It seems there is no way to uninstall Spotify, even though I've unchecked Spotify from the Windows Startup. I have tried third-party startup solutions such a ccleaner, etc, but nothing has ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Alan' writes: " Dear Dennis, My CPU fan is stuck at 100% full load (same as my chassis fan) - and it's very loud. The fans started running at high RPM shortly after I updated my Asus motherboard BIOS. I tried changing my BIOS fan ... controls, but that doesn't seem to work. I also downgraded the BIOS firmware by updating to my previous BIOS version, but that didn't help and the CPU fan is stuck, regardless. So, I called ASUS and they said to replace the BIOS chip. I did this and still no luck. Before all this, I could control fan speeds with Silent, Standard, Turbo, or Manual ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Elaine Y. writes: " Dear Dennis, How can I change my IP address? I ask because every now and again I try and email my friend (with a yahoo email address), but Thunderbird keeps telling me that my IP address is being blocked and ... can't send my email. Any ideas why I'm being blocked? Better yet, any idea on how I can change my IP address so I'm not blocked? " My response: This is a good question and the situation (at least for me) comes up often enough, so it's worth explaining. Also, I couldn't seem to find a single article on the Internet that explains how this happens (at ... (view more)