windows

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)

Removing invalid Windows Registry entries with a Registry cleaner, like Registry Mechanic , helps reduce errors and is a necessary part of keeping the operating system clean. Additional performance benefits can be achieved by eliminating Registry ... fragmentation and compacting the Registry database. Several tools assist in compacting and defragmenting the Registry, including Registry Compactor. What is the Windows Registry? The Windows Registry is a database containing all the information about the operating system and installed applications. The Registry stores information about things like ... (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 Lisa C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have upgraded my Windows ME to XP and I can not longer use my Adaptec Easy CD Creator ... How can I get this program to work on this Windows edition? " My response: The short answer is that ... Microsoft did not include something called an ASPI layer for Windows 2000 and XP, which is a required sub-program for many CD burning applications, such as Easy CD Creator. The solution is to download and install an ASPI layer so that your CD drive is recognized and usable under Easy CD Creator. Luckily, I managed to find a program called ... (view more)

Today's visitor feedback is based on the fact that I received two similar emails from Readers on the same day. Infopackets Reader Ric J. writes: " Can you please tell me a good DVD Decoder program to download, because the two I've tried didn't work. ... I'd like to find one that does so I can watch DVD's on my system. Thanks! " And, Felicitaz C. writes: " I have WinDVD 3.1 DVD player and cannot play DVD's anymore. Nothing happens when I try to play a DVD. I tried Help -> Troubleshoot and WinDVD suggested that I install a decoder or upgrade. When I did a little more searching I ... (view more)

On October 2nd, 2003, I asked Infopackets Readers for some Freeware Picture viewers: Missing Picture Viewer for Windows 98? I am happy to say that I received many responses. In fact, a great deal of readers highly recommended a program called ... IrfanView. From the web site: " IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative freeware (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP. It is ... simple [enough] for beginners, and [yet] powerful [enough] for professionals ... Some IrfanView features: Many supported file formats, Multi language support, Thumbnail/ ... (view more)

Editing home movies with a PC is possibly one of the greatest achievements of modern computing. Over the years, families across the globe have collected untold hours of video footage. Until digital editing became affordable, an easy way to share ... those movies didn't exist. Only a few years ago, the software and hardware required for video editing cost thousands of dollars, which didn't include additional costs for training. Prices for entry level video editing apps are now well under $100, but product quality varies greatly. One of the best and most affordable video editing apps for beginners ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader L. Sullivan writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been having lots of problems with constant error messages lately. After reading your article on '.DLL Hell', I downloaded Registry Mechanic as it sounded like the perfect solution. Well, it ... seems [that Registry Mechanic has] stopped the .DLL error messages, but I still keep getting Internet Explorer error messages that cause it to close down suddenly. Can you help, please?? I am a newbie, so please keep it simple, if you can. Thanks, and PS: I love your site!! " My Response: Recall -- From a previous Infopackets Gazette, we ... (view more)

2018/01/13 Update: If you'd like to learn about the most secure options then check out this guide on secure browsers by BestVPN.com. Die Hard Infopackets Reader Ted B. writes: " I have Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 with Service Pack 1 installed. My ... Internet Service Provider (ISP) is Juno, and it comes with a web browser (version 5.0, build 33). I recently downloaded Netscape version 7.0. Yesterday I received word (via LockerGnome's newsletter) that I needed to go to the Microsoft Windows Update web site to download a fix for a recently discovered security vulnerability in Internet Explorer ... (view more)