Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Victor R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently bought a CD-RW 24x10x40 drive and have used to to copy two disk without trouble. Lately, I tried to make an audio CD from files that I downloaded from the net. I got up to 75% completion ... and then my computer had a fatal error. The error was 'Vcache (01) +00000fc7 Error: oe: c004E663'; I wasn't sure if my computer was fast enough for the 24 spin recorder, so I tried slowing the speed of the copying process but still received the same error. As another possibility, I turned off the virus protect and all other running programs ... (view more)

A few weeks ago, I was called to do an upgrade on an older, Pentium 200 (P200) MHz computer. The P200 was equipped with an old-style scanner that used a special interface. After a few years of good use, the scanner died and needed to be replaced. ... Since the Pentium 200 did not come equipped with a USB interface (universal serial bus), shopping for a new scanner was difficult. The options were to buy an old-style scanner which used the Parallel Port (Printer Port) as its interface - but this was not a viable option because it was extremely slow and would not meet the demand in an office ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Annette K. writes: " I think I am going to get another replacement computer from Hewlett Packard. This computer is starting to make noises, and I get error messages in Internet Explorer all the time. Since the warranty expires on ... the 31st of this month, I am going to do this soon. My question is this: Can I take my whole hard drive, just as it is, copy it onto a zip disk and then reinstall it all on the new case? Or do I just take everything but what is in the Windows folder? If not, can you tell me how I can take everything I have right now, just as it is, and save it ... (view more)

Downloading programs and drivers off the Internet and installing them on your computer can get a little tricky, especially if you don't know what to do after the file has been downloaded. This guide provides Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, and XP ... users a methodical approach to program and driver installation, without any techno jargon or fluff. Although this article is a bit lengthy, it should be known that Steps 1 and 2 provide much of what is to know, while Step 3 reintroduces the familiar concepts with a few extra twists. With that said, let's get on with it! A file has been downloaded. Now ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Fred B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a PIII 933 mhz with various softwares installed. Scandisk cannot complete because it keeps resetting while checking file folders. I am told something is activating and causing the reset. Can ... you shed some light? " My response: Scandisk keeps resetting because Windows is constantly performing background tasks that you are unaware of. Try this: Before the Windows splash screen appears (just as your computer starts to boot), keep hitting F8 on your keyboard repeatedly. You'll get a menu if you pressed F8 before the splash screen ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jayne T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a marvelous new computer and I have transferred everything onto my new machine but I cannot get to my e-mail address book contents and save and replace them in my new identical software. Do ... you have any idea how I can do this? I am running on Windows 98SE and Outlook Express 5. I have tried to save the information as a Word document and import it. I have saved the file via Explorer and all it saves is the empty address book software. I have also tried to send them as an e-mail document but once received I cannot activate the ... (view more)

I've been diddling around with Windows XP now and again on my system. My first take on Windows XP was "wow, this looks really different", but then quickly realized that different is not necessarily good. All the die-hard Windows users will find that ... they will spend much of their first hours of using Windows XP in order to re-orient themselves with the new interface. But fear not, Windows XP can be configured to look like its predecessors if you're resistant to Microsoft's monopolizing change. The biggest issue I have with any new Microsoft Operating System (OS) -- specifically ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dan F writes: " Dear Dennis, I have added an additional hard drive to my computer as a slave. I partitioned that hard drive into 4 sections. My CD ROM is now designated as 'H'. My problem is that the computer I purchased came with ... about 50 programs pre-installed that need the CD installed in order to run. When I insert the CD, it tells me to make sure the CD is inserted into drive D. Question: How can I change the path for these programs to look in drive H? I'd reinstall the programs except for two things. The first is time and the second is some of the programs need a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Freda K. asks, "I frequently get a message that says that I have no more space on my C drive. What do I do?" My response: You have 3 options. Free up space on the C drive by uninstalling infrequently used programs. Go to Start ... -> Settings -> Control Panel. Then double click Add/Remove programs, and uninstall the ones you don't want. Set windows to stop alerting you even if you are low on space. do this by going to My Computer, right-click C drive, select Properties. Under the General Tab, click Disk Cleanup and then go to Settings Tab and remove the ... (view more)