Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Marie 'ChameleonsGirl' asks: " I have a new computer that came with Windows XP. I would like to know if it is possible to register the same copy of Windows XP on my other computer, or do I have to go buy another XP disc? " My ... response: Microsoft has designed Windows XP so that it works only on 1 computer. This is a form of copy protection and is aimed at stopping software piracy. As far as I understand, the Windows XP activation works something like this: You buy Windows XP on CD (or it comes with your computer) and includes a registration number. The Windows XP ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Terry from PlanetSave.com writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running XP Professional. I have a large amount of background images listed in my Display Properties -> Desktop tab. Do you know how I can shorten this list? Happy Holidays. ... You have great newsletter! " My Response: I searched google.com for a utility that could modify / remove the list of entries found in Display Properties -> Desktop, but wasn't able to come up with anything. However, I do happen to know that a Windows will list .BMP picture files in the Backgrounds menu if there are .BMP picture files ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Juanita S. writes: " Dear Dennis, How do I make my address bar smaller or shorter? My address bar goes completely across (and beyond) the top of my page ... there is no room on the right side of the screen [for me to input a new ... web address]. Can you please help? " My response: At first, I wasn't sure what Juanita was referring to, so I asked her to send me a screen capture. After viewing the picture, I noticed that the URL in her address bar continues beyond the frame of the screen -- and this is completely acceptable. There is a way to reposition / shorten the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob B. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you for the newsletter! I read it with interest because you discuss so many useful things that PC users struggle with sometimes. I have a very peculiar problem with my PC: I recently visited the ... Microsoft Windows Update Website and installed numerous hot fixes and critical updates; when I launch a new task, all of my new active windows launch behind (instead of in front) of the window that is already open. For example, if I launch Outlook Express and check for new email by clicking on the Send / Receive button, the Send and Receive ... (view more)

This may be old news for some of you -- but, the Kazaa Lite web site has been shut down. I haphazardly stumbled across this fact over the weekend when I visited the main Kazaa Lite web site. The official word from about.com is that the Kazaa Lite ... project "has apparently been shut down under pressure from the company [Sharman Networks, which] manages the official Kazaa Media Desktop. [All 'hacked' versions of Kazaa Lite] have been removed from the primary download location [ http://kazaalite.tk ] and many mirror sites. For now, pre-installations of Kazaa Lite remain functional." ( ... (view more)

Recall -- Last week, Infopackets Reader Ian B. asked if there was a way to make his Windows 98 computer shut down and power off: " ... I have a win 98 computer that used to shut off the power after a Start -> Shutdown command was clicked, but now ... it just stops at that the 'It is now safe to shut down your computer' screen. Can you advise if this is a hardware or software fault, please? " In my response , I addressed a number of issues which may cause Windows 98 not to shut down properly, including: BIOS settings, Advanced Power Management (APM), device drivers, and programs which ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lorraine M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Way too often while I am online, I receive an error message that says: 'Iexplore has caused an error in BTLINK.DLL. Iexplore will now close.' This seems to happen out of the blue and it is ... extremely annoying. Each time it happens, it takes me off the web site I'm visiting and back to the Windows desktop. How can I stop this from happening? " My response: I went to Google and researched "BTLINK.DLL". From what I understand, the BTLINK.DLL file is part of a Spyware program, called HuntBar. In a nutshell, HuntBar docs ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Amy O. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently installed Roxio Easy CD Creator (ECD) 5 Platinum on my PC. Ever since then, my CD Autorun feature would not work. I later decided to uninstall ECD5 in order to restore the Autorun feature, ... but my CD ROM still refuses to Autorun a disc whenever I put it in the drive. Do you have any suggestions to get my Autorun to work? " My response: Autorun won't work unless a feature called Auto Insert Notification and/or AutoPlay is turned on. Auto Insert Notification works by periodically polling a CD ROM drive for the purpose of ... (view more)

Die-hard Infopackets Reader Reverand William A. writes: " Dennis, thanks for such a great news / info publication. I do have a question. I use Outlook Express and would like to know if there is a way to send a message to multiple recipients without ... showing all the names in the TO: field once the message has been delivered. There are times we'd like to send a quick note to many people, but don't want each email address published. Any ideas? Thanks for the help. " My response: What you are referring to is called a Blind Carbon Copy, or BCC. The BCC field allows you to send a message ... (view more)