Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Jill P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I find your articles very interesting and informative. Thanks for that. Question: In the My Documents folder, my music, pictures, etc. are appearing on my husband's screen of Windows XP. I tried to ... make the folder private (with no sharing privileges), but the option is ghosted and won't allow me to choose this feature no matter what I do. How can I make my folders private? " My response: According to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article #307286, the folders you wish to remain private must reside in "your user profile (Drive_letter:\Documents and ... (view more)

Have you ever come across an ad for a software program that looks especially interesting? For example: an ad might claim that the program has won awards and is the absolute best at doing a particular maintenance task on your computer. The truth is ... that some ads can be very compelling, but often mislead users into downloading unscrupulous software. So how do you know if the claims true? Is the software legitimate? Is the software malware? How can experienced users decide -- and what about inexperience users? Well, I am going to tell you how I go about finding the answers. It is not difficult ... (view more)

Windows Vista is the new and upcoming Windows operating system. Vista has much nicer eye-candy than Windows XP, and many people simply can't wait until it's rumored to be released some time in 2007. But if you can't wait for the real deal, the Vista ... Transformation Pack (VTP) might be just what the doctor ordered. VTP is freeware program that "re-skins" various elements of Windows, such as: Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, icons, the log-on and log-off screen. Vista Transformation Pack also improves upon various features, including: window transparency and a new sidebar. In ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Sue' writes: " Dear Dennis, Sometimes I receive an email attachment from a friend, and I can't open it. For example: I recently tried to open a PowerPoint file and received an error message stating, 'This file does not have a ... program associated with it. Create an association in the Folder Options in Control Panel.' How do I go about doing that? I installed PowerPoint, hoping I would be able to view it that way, but was unsuccessful. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. " My response: If the attachment was indeed a PowerPoint file and you're absolutely ... (view more)

Recall -- Yesterday, Infopackets Reader 'Suzanne' asked if I knew of a freeware program that could record / export chat logs for AIM (AOL Instant Messenger): " Do you know of any way to save AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) chat history without copying ... text into another program like word? I personally don't like AIM all that much, but a lot of my friends use it. Every other chat program that I currently use (ICQ, MSN, etc.) have the 'save history' feature, but AIM apparently does not. " Since I don't use AIM, I asked Infopackets Readers for help. By far, the best response was sent in by Kathy S., ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Suzanne' writes: " Dear Dennis, Your newsletter is still the best one out there! I'm on your website so much that my boss mentioned it to me the other day. ;-) She told me that I'm not not allowed to visit your site anymore ... during business hours unless I'm on lunch. With that aside, I have a question. Do you know of any way to save AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) chat history without copying text into another program like word? I personally don't like AIM all that much, but a lot of my friends use it. Every other chat program that I currently use (ICQ, MSN, etc.) have a 'save ... (view more)

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)