Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Linda R. from the United Kingdom writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks again for all the help in the past. I have an urgent question, however. The past two days when I reboot my Windows XP machine, I am getting message 'Windows has to be ... Activated within [now] 6 days', and prompts me to click on Yes. When I do this, a larger box comes up with the message, 'Windows already activated.' What does all this mean? " My response: That's very strange! If you have the original Windows XP install disc, you (or the person who installed XP) were supposed to enter the CD Key in the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Al D. writes: " Dear Dennis, A little while back, I wrote to you about a problem I had not being able to view my thumbnail pictures when browsing my video files. Normally the thumbnail view provides a still photo for each file, so ... that I can preview and identify the proper video. At any rate: I have hundreds of video clips on my computer (mostly in .mpeg video format). Shortly after I installed Nero Vision Express 3 (a CD / DVD burning software program), I lost the ability to preview my thumbnails. Now when I use the thumbnail view, I get a standard Windows Media ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Faskia' writes: " Dear Dennis, One of my PCs is now failing to connect to the Internet, and is showing a Security Warning screen on a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). The blue background reads, 'A fatal error in IE has occured at ... 0028.C0011E36 in VXD VMM(01)+00010E36. Error was caused by Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smitfraud.c.' Would you please give me some simple steps to remove Smitfraud from my PC? " My response: The problem is that your computer has been infected with Spyware. According to the F-Secure web site, Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smithfraud.c is a phishing scam where "a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just finished reading last week's Gazette article entitled, " Print MP3 Playlist? ", and have a related question that I'd like to ask. For several years, I've been using both Macintosh and PC ... systems for graphic design. On a Macintosh system, it is possible to print the file and directory structure for a folder being examined when using File Manager (the equivalent of Windows Explorer). However, I have yet to find this feature present in MS Windows! My work-around (thus far) has been to press Shift + PrintScreen on my keyboard ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Kathy W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I love your newsletter! Thanks so much for doing it -- it's been a great help in the past! Here's my problem: I have a lot of mp3s stored in the My Documents Folder, and I want to burn them all to a ... CD and then print out the playlist. However, I can't seem to figure out a way to print out my list. Can you help? Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated! " My response: You can print your MP3 playlist with WinAmp [free] using one of two methods: 1. Load Winamp, then click CTRL + ALT + G to Generate the HTML playlist, or 2. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ernest A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am very far from computer support, and could really use your help! For the last two weeks, I have been fiddling with Windows Movie Maker in an attempt to create a brief over view of my two ... back-to-back tours of duty in Iraq. The sequence includes photographs (stills) and some short movie clips that I took with my digital camera and some voice-overs with background music. Today, I completed the project had Windows Movie Maker render a low-quality sample as a 'trial run'. That went without a hitch, so I decided to render a higher- ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Leonard M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I sure hope you can help with this one -- My web page links will not open properly in Outlook Express (OE). Often times, I'll try and click a link in an email, and it just opens a blank window and ... goes no further. The links simply won't open! I had to copy and paste your web address into the Internet Explorer (IE) address box in order to get here -- and it's a royal pain in the butt! I am thinking that maybe my Popup Stopper or Spyware programs have done something to my system and I'm not sure how to get the link functionality back. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ryan L. writes: " Dear Dennis, How do I share the Outlook Express 6 message store over the network? If I load Outlook Express, then click Tools -> Options -> Maintenance -> Store Folder -> Browse -> [choose a ... network drive], Outlook Express simply *will not* let me choose the network drive I want. The "OK" button is grayed out. I've tried mapping a network drive [drive C on another computer made to operate as Drive Z on my computer], but that won't work, either. Any suggestions? " My response: I've tried doing the same thing in the past, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader David J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I seem to have lost 'Rover The Dog' Search Companion (Start -> Search in Windows XP). Somehow, Rover got off his leash and has now been replaced with MSN Search. I would like very much to put ... Rover back onto the left side of my computer screen, as he has always been a faithful companion to me and my Dell computer that I bought back in 1998. The funny thing is: Rover is still on my 'Search for files and Folders' page, but not on some of my other pages. Can you help me in getting Rover to Stay? " My response: I've been asked this ( ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ken T. writes: " Dear Dennis, In mid-May of this year, you posted an article concerning " Which web browser is the most secure ?" In the article, you commented on using FireFox as an alternative to Internet Explorer because it's ... more compact, uses less system resources, and most of all -- because it supports Tabbed Web Browsing. As you have discussed, Tabbed web browsing allows the user to reference multiple web pages using 'tabs' at the top of the browser, rather than referencing each individual page via the Task Bar near the bottom of the screen. My comment ... (view more)