programs

Infopackets Reader Lynda F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been using Classic Shell (now called 'Open Shell') for many years and it's worked great. The best feature about Classic Shell is the ability to search and find files on my hard drive. For ... example: when I click on the Start Menu, I then type in part of the title of a document I have on my hard drive, and Classic Shell finds it instantly. In contrast, the default Windows 10 Start Menu simply can't find anything on my computer and tells me to go to Bing to find it. As if! Anyhow: the issue I'm having is that the search in Classic Shell ... (view more)

A key security feature in Windows doesn't work as planned. It's not a vulnerability in itself, but means that hackers who find bugs in software are much more likely to be able to do damage. The problem is with Address Space Layout Randomization ... (ASLR). It deals with the way a computer organizes different programs in memory. As an analogy, it's like organizing vehicles of different sizes and makes in a parking lot. Most operating systems support ASLR, which means that when a program starts up and needs to use the computer's memory, it's assigned a random location. In the analogy, think of cars ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gene R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I installed Windows 10 when it first became available as a free upgrade, back in August 2015. However, since then my PC has been acting very erratic - as such, I have decided I would like to reset ... it. My question is: if I reset Windows 10 what happens? As far as I recall there is a hard drive partition on my system for resetting the PC - will I still get Windows 10 or will I get Windows 7? What does system restore do? " My response: This is a very frequently asked question, though your question in particular deal with three completely separate ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a program called 'AVG Web TuneUp' which refuses to uninstall from my system. I have gone to the Control Panel -> Programs and Features and right clicked it, and selected 'Uninstall' ... multiple times. It goes through the process each time and tells me to reboot - however, after the reboot the program is still there. Is there a way I can remove AVG Web TuneUp from my machine manually? " My response: I asked Steve if he would like me to connect to his machine via my remote desktop support service to have a closer look, and he agreed. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Pat P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently had to rollback Windows 7 because the system appeared to be corrupt. The rollback worked. However, now whenever I try to open MS Office it starts up with a message that it is configuring MS ... Office, then says 'MS Office requires validation'. I chose the option to activate on line (or by phone), but then all I get after that is a message that MS Office could not be activated because the product key is invalid. What do I do now? " My response: I did have this exact same problem a few months back with another user. The scenario was ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10; unfortunately the Windows 10 upgrade corrupted my Start menu and tray bar, so I decided to do a clean install - which also means I have to reinstall all my programs. I'm ... now trying to install MS Office 2010 on the machine, but the MS Office setup.exe program keeps telling me 'Error 1317: Setup Cannot Create Directory C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft Office', and then rolls back and cancels the installation. I have tried using my original MS Office disc, and have also downloaded MS ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have about having six different versions of Microsoft's Visual C++ Redistributable Package installed on my system (both in 32-bit and 64-bit versions), as listed in my Windows Control Panel via the ... Programs and Features. Can I remove any of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages, or do I need all of them? " My response: The answer to this question is similar to the question I received about having multiple instances of .NET framework installed on the system . In short: it's not advisable that you uninstall any of your C++ ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Kelly S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10 and many of my programs are missing from the Start Menu. For example, Office 2013 is missing, so is Adobe Acrobat, and also Norton Antivirus is gone. Do you have any ... idea how this happened? Can you help me find my missing programs in the Start Menu? " My response: There are a number of reasons why programs go missing from the Start Menu after upgrading to Windows 10 - I'll try and shed some light. Windows 10 Program Incompatibility If a program is not compatible with Windows 10 , it will not be imported when you ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tim S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to play Netflix on my computer, which requires Microsoft Silverlight. Every time I try and play a movie, I get an error stating that Silverlight is not installed on the system. But when I ... check in my Control Panel via Add / Remove programs, Silverlight says it's installed. I have tried to install the latest version of Silverlight from the Internet but it won't install. I don't get it. Can you help? " My response: I knew this problem would require some troubleshooting, so I contacted Tim and he agreed to let me access his computer ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gail N. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have two HP laptops: one that came with Windows 7 and the other with Windows 8. I have already upgraded both laptops to Windows 10 using the 'get Windows 10 app' via the desktop. My question is: ... what happens if Windows 10 fails and I need to factory restore my laptop? Will I get back Windows 10 or will it reload the original operating system (Windows 7 or 8)? I ask because both my HP laptops have a 'factory restore' partition which I can access by pressing F11 on my keyboard during bootup. Also, is there any way to fix my laptop without ... (view more)