| Q: For some reason my desktop looks like it's in safe mode or something. How do I fix it? A: Sounds like a bit quality issue. You might notice after you've been in Safe Mode or played a game on your PC that the desktop looks strange--the icons are bigger, the colors are off, etc. If you have an icon for your monitor or graphics card down in your system tray (by the clock), you can right-click to see the settings and change it there. You'll probably find that it is set at 256 colors�change it to "High Color" (16 bit) or "True Color" (32 bit). No icon in your system tray? Just right-click your desktop, select Properties from the resulting menu and the Settings tab from the resulting screen. Next, you'll probably need to move your Screen resolution slider over to a higher setting and choose a 16-32 bit color setting from the Color quality drop box. Experiment with it and you'll get your monitor back to normal. Why does this happen? The higher your bit quality, the more system resources being used. Some games change your settings to the lower quality so they'll run faster. Since Safe Mode runs only the essentials to allow trouble shooting it also uses the lower setting. |
| Q: Do you share a computer with other users and want some extra security on your folders? A: There are two ways to password protect a folder built into Windows XP. If you have a log in password for your account, this can be used to protect folders from other users. Your hard drive must be formatted using NTFS (which it probably is unless you're dual booting with another operating system). Here's what to do... Right-click the folder that you want to make private and choose "Properties" (or Alt+Double-click). Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Make this folder private" box. Click Apply . If you do not have a password on your account, a box will pop up asking if you want to assign a password. This must be done if you want to make the folder private, so click Yes . You will need to use your password to log on to your computer from then on. Type in a password then confirm it. Click the "Create Password" button then close the Password window. Click OK in the Properties dialog box. Now anyone else logged on to your computer can't access that file without knowing your password. If the Folder is Zipped you can give it a unique password. Just double-click the zipped folder. In the top menu select File then click "Add a Password". Type a password into the Password box. Then again in the "Confirm Password" box. Now, you are the only person who can access files in this folder. The folder can be opened allowing the files to be seen, but you are the only one who can access them. |
| Q: I was trying to play an old game on Windows XP, but it won't work. I hear sound, but the screen is blank. Why can't I see the graphics? A: You can ran into this the with an old program. It turns out that you have to change the screen resolution to 256 colors. What you could do is look for the monitor icon in the system tray. It probably looks like a computer screen. Double click and you should get some options for screen resolution and size (sometime it says "Display Modes"). Once you get that set to 256 colors and the correct screen size, everything should be fine. After your done with the game, just set it back to your original setting. A better way with Windows XP and 2000, however, is your old pal Compatibility Mode. Not only can you make XP/2000 think it is an older version of Windows, you can also specify the display settings, so every time you use that program it will automatically change to 256 colors. Right-click the program icon and choose Properties (or hold down ALT and double left-click). Select the "Compatibility" tab and look for "Display Settings". Check "Run in 256 Colors", then OK. You should be able to see the program correctly. When you close out, your display settings will go back to normal. |
| Q: Does your web browser toolbar include buttons you never need? How would you like to slim down your buttons? Or maybe you want to add some buttons for commonly used functions such as "Full Screen" or "Print Preview"? A: With Internet Explorer all you need to do is right click an empty area of the toolbar at the top of your browser and select "Customize". You'll find a list of options you can add on the left and ones currently there that you can remove on the right. To add a button simply highlight it on the left-hand list and click the "Add" button. To remove a button, highlight it on the right-side list and click "Remove". You can also change the order that buttons appear by moving them up and down the list. |
| Q: Did you ever have several Word documents up that you needed to see at the same time? Or several web pages that you wanted to compare? A: Here's a quick way to tile them allowing all the pages for that program to appear at the same time: Down in the toolbar you'll see an icon for the program. If you have more than one window open you'll see a number next to the icon inside the button. Right-click the button and you'll get some options: Cascade, Tile Horizontally, Tile Vertically, Minimize Group, and Close Group. By choosing the "Tile Horizontally" option your pages will be stacked on top of each other. Select "Tile Vertically" and they'll be side by side. Keep in mind that the more windows you have open the narrower they get |
| Q: My computer was recently infected by a nasty virus and I've tried everything, but it just won't go away. What else can I do? A: Some viruses just won't go away. You try everything from running your anti-virus software to digging through the registry just to have it come back. Well, if you have Windows ME or XP, the infected file might be stored as a backup file that your virus scan can't touch. So, what to do? Try disabling System Restore and running a virus scan. With Windows XP: Right-click on "My Computer" and select "Properties." Click the "System Restore" tab and check the box "Turn off System Restore," then click OK. You'll need to restart your computer. Run a virus scan, then follow the same procedure and uncheck "Turn off System Restore.". ***** Q: Ever have a window that has wandered partially off the screen? A: Not a big problem, unless you can't get to the title bar to move it, right? For example, what do you do if you have a window that has its title bar hidden above the TOP of the screen? (It happens, sometimes due to a system error, sometimes due to a change in screen resolution). The problem is, you can't grab the title bar with your mouse to move the window. Don't worry, there's an easy way to move the darn thing. Here's how: Make sure the window has focus (i.e. it's the active window). Next, click Alt+Space and then press the letter M. Now, use your arrow keys to move the window back to where you want it. |
| Q: Have you ever tried to shut your computer down only to have it get stuck on the shut down screen? Or maybe it's locked up beyond any help CTRL+ALT+DEL could give you. You may find that hitting the power button doesn't seem to do anything. A: If you really need to force a shutdown via the power switch, press it in and hold for six seconds. That should turn the computer off. But, take notice that you should only do this as a last resort. You should always try to shut your computer down properly. |
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| Q: Is there any way I can change the size of my cache? A: Yes, there is. If you have a good amount of available space on your hard drive and you surf the Internet all the time, you may want to consider increasing the size of your cache. By making your cache bigger, you will be able to access recently visited Web sites quicker. If you're interested, open up Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Internet Options. Now click on the Settings button under the Temporary Internet Files area. You can then see where your cache is presently set, so to make the amount of disk space you want your cache to use larger, use the arrow slider to move it up. When you are sliding, the little box to the right will tell you how much space you're using, in terms of MB. Once you have it set where you would like it, click OK twice. So, if you ever want to decrease the space, follow the same directions to make it smaller. Also, if you would ever like to clear your cache out, go to Tools, Internet Options and click on the Delete Files button under Temporary Internet Files. Click OK and your cache history will be gone. Remember that this tip is mostly for those of you who have some extra disk space and would like to access Web sites faster. If neither of those pertain to you, you may not want to even mess with your cache. That will be up to you. |
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| Q: How can I get rid of that XP logo that comes up when I start my computer? A: Some may like the "pretty" XP logo that shows up, but some may not. So, if you would like to make your boot up just a little bit faster and not have to see that logo every time you boot up your computer, you can use this quick little tip to do just that.To begin, click on Start, Run and type in "msconfig" (without the quotes). The System Configuration Utility box will come up on your screen. Choose the BOOT.INI tab. Make sure the /NOGUIBOOT is check marked. Click OK. Then, click Restart to reboot your system.Once you have restarted, that XP logo will no longer appear on your start up screen. If for some reason, you would like the logo back, you can just uncheck the /NOGUIBOOT box and everything will be back to normal.This system change is pretty much just for anyone who doesn't like the picture that comes up, but it will also make your boot up just a little quicker in time.Obviously, this tip is just for XP users, but other Windows systems can follow similar directions to discard their load up logo as well |