Windows Tips

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)

Infopackets Reader Bob C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read your CryptoPrevent Review in regard to the CryptoLocker virus. Good job! You are so right with your comment 'If you do become infected [with CryptoLocker], the only 100% fail safe way to ... undo the damage is to restore your files from a backup -- but only if you backed up your files in the first place.' I have a question regarding my USB hard drive which I use for backups. Can you recommend a program that will allow me to disable and enable USB ports that my USB hard drive is plugged into, but still allow my USB keyboard, mouse and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John C. writes: " Dear Dennis, Hope you are well. I have a calendar program called VueMinder Pro that I use on my Windows 8 PC. I also use Google Calendar on my smartphone, and VueMinder Pro syncs its information with Google ... Calendar so I can share information between devices. The syncing has worked great for a while, but lately VueMinder Pro keeps popping up with a window asking me for my Google account password. In other words, VueMinder Pro won't sync with Google Calendar. I have changed my Google password multiple times and disabled 2-step verification in my Google ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tina M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Regarding CryptoLocker , can you tell me if the software program CryptoPrevent can actually remove CryptoLocker and other ransomware infections? In other words, does CryptoPrevent actually work? Or ... is there a better way to prevent and remove CryptoLocker if I get infected? " My response: Similar to antivirus, CryptoPrevent is software that helps to prevent CryptoLocker and similar ransomware infections. It does not remove the infection if you become infected. If you do become infected, the only 100% fail safe way to undo the damage ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Craig D. writes: " Dear Dennis, In the past I've used the msconfig utility many times to clear items from the Windows Startup. However, recently I tried to run msconfig and Windows reports that msconfig has stopped responding and ... my PC freezes. This is very frustrating! Any ideas why my msconfig stopped working? " My response: This is a very common problem, though you didn't say which Windows operating system you're using. As such, I'll provide solutions for Window XP and onward because most likely other users are having the same problem. Here are ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Eric H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read your article on ' Why You Should Install KB3000850? ', in which you mentioned doing daily operating system backups. I have a question about disk images. I have used Norton Ghost (disk ... image backups) on my old Windows XP system many years ago and I stored my backups on a 250GB external drive. Now I have a 250GB Samsung Solid State Hard Drive (SSD) and a 2TB hard drive for my other data. My question is, how much space do I need for my backups? As I understand it, incremental backups will only copy over any changes that it finds are ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Mike T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to convert a DOC to PDF (a portable document format file), and have downloaded a number of freeware DOC to PDF converters, but they don't seem to work properly. Either the PDF document ... format is messed up, or the program interface is far too complex or extremely outdated. Can you recommend a freeware DOC to PDF program for me to use? " My response: Out of curiosity, I did some searching online for various freeware PDF creator / freeware PDF converters, but came up empty handed as you did. Many of the programs I found simply didn't ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Mike' writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your helpful site. I enjoy reading your advice and keeping up with the news. My question relates to the KB3000850 patch , which is a major update for Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems. It ... is a whopping 775 MB download; it first appeared as an 'optional' download, and then later as 'important'. I've tried installing KB3000850, but it has failed to install on 4 separate occasions. Googling KB3000850 gets into stuff way beyond my understanding, but one page by Woody Leonhard said not to install it . I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Fred J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I had to reinstall Windows 8 on my machine, and I wanted to download the Windows 8.1 update afterward. But when I try, that I'm told I must have all the current Windows 8 updates installed. So, I ... looked at the updates for Windows 8 and there are over 150 of them. I requested that they all be downloaded and installed, and they did. However, when the installation and configuration starts, I get the message that there was a ' Failure Configuring Windows Updates; Reverting changes ', and then Windows Update fails. Now I'm ... (view more)