Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Bruce J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am writing to you about a rather strange problem that appears in my System Configuration Utility. When I click on the Startup tab, there is a column area labeled 'SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ ... CurrentVersion \ Run'. There is nothing listed in this column and I'm really not sure what this is, or if it's a virus of some sort. I was hoping that maybe you could help me identify this? Thanks for your time and consideration on this issue. " My response: You didn't mention what program you're using to edit your Startup preferences, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Linda K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows 98 and would like to know what 'Direct X' is? I have trouble playing some games because there are system requirements (namely, Direct X 6.0 or greater). How can I solve this ... problem? " My response: Direct X is a "pre-requisite" software package made by Microsoft that allows you to play games. In a nutshell, Direct-X defines the gaming 'foundation' for the games you play via Windows (consisting of sound, and video specifications, among others). You can download Direct X from Microsoft's web site: http ... (view more)

Recall -- Yesterday, Infopackets Reader Don R. asked if I had any suggestions for running old DOS programs in a Windows environment. In my response , I provided some links to sites with helpful DOS / Windows information (especially for games), but ... then asked Infopackets Readers for additional info. DOS-enthusiast Mike K. writes: " You're welcome to 'steal' anything useful from my website (KennedySoftware.ie). In particular, you might take a very quick look at LesSpace, PatchCRT, and some long-winded notes on running 'Old-Apps' in newer OSes and PCs. If you or any of your Readers have ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Don R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I run some old DOS programs on my new XP PC and am running into memory problems. I have tried all the memory manager options I see, but they have no result. Any suggestions? " Side note: MS DOS is the ... predecessor operating system to Microsoft Windows. Unlike Windows, DOS operates from a command line. For example: to load a program, you would typically need to navigate to a program folder (by issuing DOS commands) and then execute a program by typing in its name. A sample MS DOS Window can be seen here . My response: I get asked this ( ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Annie' writes: " Dear Dennis, I'd like to know how to copy and paste something into HTML but don't know how to do it. I am trying to save an animated 'Java' clock I saw on a web site into another HTML document, but I just can't ... seem to get it to go. Can you please help me? I don't really know a lot about computer languages. Thanks. " My response: It sounds like you're trying to copy and paste Java code through the browser; regrettably, it's not as simple as this, as Java is a transparent feature of the web browser. If you want to copy and paste Java that is ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Mike F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just installed MS Office and Windows XP Pro on my machine. When I first launched MS Word, I was asked for a user name. At this point, I didn't want to use my own name and instead used the user ID ... 'XYZ'. I share my documents with others and later found that the documents had the user ID 'XYZ' embedded into the file. I now would now like to change my user ID to my name so that the correct information is reflected. Can you tell me how I can do this? " My response: Load MS Word, then go to Tools -> Options, and look for a tab that ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Marie B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am the only user of my computer which has Windows XP installed. How do I sign into my computer as the 'administrator', rather than as my individual name? I understand that administration access is ... required to make certain changes to Windows. I don't need to adjust anything at this time, but would like to know how to do this in the future (just in case). " My response: As far as I understand, the "administrator" account name is disabled under Windows XP for security reasons. For example: imagine how easy it would be for ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Doug L. wrote in with another question: " Many thanks for your quick response to my concern about GuruNet. I checked out your suggestions and appreciate your advice. I'm straight now and I will again download GuruNet for my 3 ... school-age sons. I have another question, if you don't mind. My oldest son (even though I told him not to) installed Kazaa on our family computer and downloaded some music. The problem now is that ALTNET [a third-party advertising program] has been installed on my machine along with Kazaa. It seems to be controlling my system by automatically ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Michael' writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows XP professional on my system. I'd like to reinstall Windows on my PC, but cannot locate my CD case which has the Windows XP Product Key required to install Windows back onto my ... machine. Is there a way to extract the Product Key from within my computer? " My response: Yes. All CD Keys are stored in your System Registry, and there are a number of methods (and 3rd-party applications) that can extract this information for you. Magic Jelly Bean finder (the first link listed below) will extract Windows XP and Office ... (view more)

Recall -- Last week , Infopackets Reader Cara J. asked if it was possible to copy folders from one disk to another, without copying the contents of each folder: " Dear Dennis, I enjoy your newsletter greatly. I've been saving documentation on a 100 ... megabyte ZIP disk, which there are multiple folders I've created. I'm running out of space on this particular ZIP disk and will have to start using a new one soon. Question: is there a way to copy just the folders (and not the contents) from the first disk to a new one? I'm particular about the way I file my information and would like to use ... (view more)