Windows Tips

It looks like yesterday's problem of Outlook Express not displaying images via email stirred up a lot of responses. I woke up today to find that my Inbox was jammed full of excellent suggestions from our Readers. First, let me explain who might be ... affected by missing pictures in Outlook Express 6: Anyone who has upgraded to, has installed a patch for, or uses Outlook Express 6 Anyone who installed Windows XP, or XP Service Pack 1. These people also have Outlook Express 6 installed on their system. From what I can gather, that pretty much sums it up. There were multiple solutions to the ... (view more)

I've recently received the same question multiple times -- and I can't figure out why it is that some users have such a hard time sending an image to a friend via email with Outlook Express? So, I'm going to ask for help on this one -- hopefully a ... Infopackets Reader can give me some insight. Here are some of the most recent questions I've received about missing pictures in Outlook Express: " Hello, Since I replaced Outlook Express 5 by Outlook Express 6, my photos sent by email in the text or as attachment disappear. All my friends complain that they only see a small box with a red X in ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lim Chee A. writes: " Greetings from Malaysia! I have been subscribed to your Infopackets Newsletter since May 2002, and I really enjoy your work! I have a question though: What's the difference between GUI and skins? " My ... Response: GUI is a short-term word which means "Graphic User Interface". A skin is an extension of the GUI which changes the GUI appearance. If you're interested in changing the way that Windows looks, you might be interested in checking out these web sites: http://www.shellcity.net/ http://www.stardock.net/ http://www.wincustomize.com ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Michael H., writes: " Dear Dennis, Firstly, let me thank you for your great newsletters. They are a wealth of information! I have Windows XP installed on system which consists of an Asus P4B (Pentium 4 capable motherboard). My ... problem is that whenever Windows XP begins to load, I hear a voice that says, 'System completed power-on self test; computer now booting from Operating System.' Can you please tell me how to remove this annoying feature?! I have to shut off my speakers every time I boot my computer to avoid hearing this annoying voice? " My Response: I can't ... (view more)

Since we've been on the topic of Printers lately , I thought I'd share with you another useful tip. It's another visitor feedback question from Arlene M. She writes: " Dear Dennis, My printer used to number the pages, but does not any longer. I miss ... that. Do you have a way to bring that function back? " My response: The option for Page Numbering is * usually * in the Printing Preferences. Printing preferences are available for a printer by clicking Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Printer. Printing preferences are also (usually) displayed at the time of printing a ... (view more)

Last week I received a question, "How do I retrieve files that have been deleted from the Recycle Bin ?" Since then, I received a few really good suggestions from a few Infopackets Readers. The first one comes from Rick K. His answer was very ... complete -- much more than mine was -- which is also why his suggestion * might * be a over the heads of some readers. I've edited Rick's response a bit and have also added a few comments of my own in an attempt to clear any technical jargon. Infopackets Reader Rick K. writes: " The Recycle Bin is an attempt to copy what Apple does, which ... (view more)

After emailing my suggestion on how to use Landscape / Portrait modes to get a large web page to fit properly using a printer, a few users emailed me with thoughts of their own. Infopackets Reader John D. writes: " You could also suggest a program ... such as Gadwin Printscreen , which will print exactly what is on the screen and fit it properly. " Infopackets Reader Theo T. also wrote in: " Another approach to this is to copy what you want to print by pasting in to either a text editor, or WordPad. The downside to using either method is that you will lose pictures and graphics ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Arlene M. writes: " Dear Dennis, When I get a web page that is wider than my screen and there are scrollbars on the bottom, my printer won't print the entire page. Repositioning the scrollbars at the bottom of the page and ... attempting to print what I see on the screen not seem to help. I also tried selecting the text I wanted on the screen and then using the "Print from Selection" option, but it didn't help either. Can you explain this and what I can do about it? " My Response: One way to get around this problem is to print the page in Landscape Mode. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Rick J. asks, " How do I get back something that I deleted from the recycle bin? " My Response: One way to empty a Recycle Bin is to right-click over top of the Recycle Bin and select "Empty Recycle Bin." If you deleted a file (or ... files) permanently by emptying the Recycle Bin, there is no way for you to get it back -- it's gone for good. This is true, unless you use some sort of special software to retrieve a deleted file from your hard drive -- but even that is not not always 100%; furthermore, the effort involved in file recovery is usually 'over the ... (view more)