format

Infopackets Reader Steve G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded my PC to Windows 10 and I noticed that Windows Media Player no longer plays DVDs in Windows 10 . In Windows 7 it worked without a problem. I researched this issue and it appears that ... this 'feature' was removed on purpose because newer PCs and laptops do not have DVD players. As such, Microsoft has dropped all support for Windows 10 DVD playback in Windows Media Player. I plan on purchasing a thin ultrabook laptop (with no DVD player) soon. As such, I'd like to convert my DVDs into AVI or MP4 (for example) so I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sam G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an old external 1 TB hard drive I'd like to format for use with Apple Time Machine backup. The problem is that the disk is currently formatted as NTFS and is not readable with Time Machine. I ... have searched Google on how to convert a Windows disk to Mac (format to HFS+ on Windows) but can't seem to find a solution to this problem. Any help would be appreciated! " My response: I asked Sam if he would like me to connect to his machine using my remote desktop support service in order to have a closer look, and he agreed. Below I will discuss ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Larry O. writes: " Dear Dennis, I don't know what's going on but all my files on my external western digital 'My Book' are marked as ' READ ONLY '. I have tried formatting the My Book drive using File Explorer, but it tells me the ... drive is write protected. I have looked but there is no tab or switch on the USB drive to unlock or disable the write protect . I have also tried formatting the drive with Windows Disk Management but it fails. Also, if I right click the drive partition in Disk Management, the delete option is missing. I am at a complete loss. I have searched for ' ... (view more)

Officials in Europe want all phone companies to use the same technology for charging mobile devices. If the rules go ahead, it could mean Apple has to ditch its custom 'Lightning' port, and Qualcomm's 'Quick Charge' (used by Android devices). The ... European Union is running an "impact assessment study" to decide whether to push the policy and if so, whether to seek a voluntary agreement or impose rules. If it opts for the latter, manufacturers might decide it is easier to use the relevant charging port format worldwide rather than make specific handsets for Europe. (Source: independent.co.uk ) ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Greeshma N. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an external hard drive that has worked fine for years. Now the hard drive won't show up in My Computer, though it shows up under Devices and Printers - very strange! I have tried ... initializing the disk from Disk Management, but it won't format and I keep getting ' The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error '. I have tried cleaning up the disk by deleting items but it shows 0 bytes free and keeps giving me 'The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error'. What can I do to make this work? " My ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jeff P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have the 'get windows 10' app on my PC, however, when try and install Windows 10, I get multiple error codes and it won't upgrade my system to Windows 10. Is it possible for me to reformat my hard ... drive, then reinstall Windows 7 (clean), download all my windows updates, then use the Windows 10 media creation tool and install Windows 10 from that? My major concern is that I will lose my reservation for Windows 10 after I format my hard drive. Can I reserve my Windows 10 upgrade again later, especially after I format my hard drive? " My ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Philip S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I use Windows XP and I often write my data to CD-RW (CD rewritable) discs. The problem is that some computers won't read the discs that I've created, whereas others will. I'm pretty sure the ... problem has to do with the format I'm using when I create the disc, but I'm not sure how to tweak the settings so that the discs are compatible on all computers. I am currently using Windows XP and Explorer to write the discs, using UDF format. Any ideas? " My response: You're correct -- the problem is with the UDF disc format and / or the way that you ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'ltb223' writes: " Dear Dennis, Is it possible to download all my email messages from my computer to a CD or a thumb drive so I can read them later? If so how do I go about it? My email account is with gmail. Thank you. " My ... response: There are a number of ways to go about downloading and archiving email messages (whether it's gmail, hotmail, aol, or yahoo); in general, there are two main ways to achieve this: you can either export emails via web interface if your email service supports it, or export emails using an email client if you use pop3 or imap to connect and read ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'rseal54' writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a 6 year old Gateway computer with Windows Vista operating system and Service Pack 2 installed. I have a question regarding reinstalling Windows; I want to save all my data and installed ... programs to an external hard drive, then do a clean reinstall of the operating system. Is it possible to reinstall Vista with all the latest updates [automatically applied during the reinstall without using Windows Update]? Also, how do I get back all the items that were saved on the external hard drive? " My Response: That's an ... (view more)