Q. How do I see everything that’s on my computer in Add/Remove Programs List?

A. Most Windows components can be uninstalled by going to Add/Remove Windows Components in the Control Panel. But what about ones that you don't find? You know that they're on there somewhere, so how do you get rid of them? Well, it's actually not too hard to bring these out of hiding. Bring up Windows Explorer (one way is to right-click the Start button and select "Explore").Find your way to C:\Windows\Inf  Make a copy of "Sysoc.inf"—click the file and type Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V Right-click Sysoc.inf and choose "Open with," then Notepad. Type Ctrl+H to bring up the Replace box. Replace
,hide, (comma hide comma) with ,, (comma comma)  Then hit the "Replace All" button.  Save the file. Now when you go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Add/Remove Windows Components, you will see stuff that wasn't there before. Some items are in sub-folders, like "Games" which are under "Accessories." Double click to open folders. Just uncheck items to remove

Q: Can I Disable That?

A: First, click Start, Control Panel. Now, choose the Administrative Tools link (XP users will have to click on Performance and Maintenance first, then Administrative Tools). Once there, click on Services and a list of all the services installed on your computer will come up. You can maximize the window, so you can see the status of each service. The first column contains the complete description of the service. Run your mouse pointer over the words so you can see the whole description written out. The next column is the status of each service. If it says "Started," that means that particular service is presently running. Next, you see the Startup Type, which tells you if the service starts automatically when you boot up your computer or if it has to be done manually. Some services may also be disabled. The next column is just telling you how you logged on for each service, whether it be through your local system or by a network service. Now, we're getting to the good part. The following services are ones that can be safely disabled, while still allowing your computer to run normally. Disabling some of these services will help you save some of your disk space, which is always a great thing!  Disabling a service is pretty easy to do, but do it with caution as to make sure you don't hit the wrong thing. Just highlight the service you want to turn off and right click on it, choosing Properties. A service sheet will come up for that service and you'll want to look under the general tab. Here, you can choose to stop the service or turn it back on (either automatically or manually). If you have XP, once you highlight the service, blue links will show up off to the left that say Stop or Restart the service. You can click on those to do the same thing as going into the Properties menu. Okay, here's the list you've been waiting on:

Alerter: Only alerts you of administrative alerts. You don't need them.
Application Management: Processes installation requests for Intellimirror programs. Don't even know what those are? That's why you can disable it.
ClipBook: Allows ClipBook Viewer to store information and then share it with remote computers. You don't really need to do that, do you?
Computer Browser: Works with networks and if you don't have a network, you don't need it.
Distributed Transaction Coordinator: Works with databases, message queues and file systems of networks. Once again, if you don't use a network, you can disable this.
Error Reporting Service: All this does is send a crash report to Microsoft. They don't need to know, do they?
Indexing Service: Indexes files and provides quick access to those files. This is another network use, so you can disable it.
Internet Connection Firewall (ICF): Involves Internet Connection Sharing and is just another network use.
Logical Disk Manager/Logical Disk Manager Administrative: This service deals with adding drives to your system. If you're not going to be doing that, you can disable this one.
Machine Debug Manager: Works with Visual Studio debugging. You probably won't use it.
Messenger: Sends Alerter messages between the clients and servers. Another network service you probably won't need.
Net Logon: Account authentication for network domains. Don't need this one either.
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing.Network DDE DSDM: Allows other authorized users to access your computer through NetMeeting. Once again, if you don't have a network or have no need to allow other users on your computer, you can disable this one.
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager/Remote Access Auto Connection Manager: This one is the same as the above.
Secondary Logon: Enables starting processes under other credentials, which is not necessary.
SSDP Discovery: Locates UPnP devices on a home network. Sound confusing? That's why you can disable it.
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper: You'll only need this if you use NetBIOS for a local network.
Telnet: Allows remote users to log on to your computer and run programs. I'm sure you don't want other users to be able to telnet into your system, do you? Disable it!
Terminal Services: Gives access to other users to be connected to one basic machine, as well as, desktop displays and other applications. You can shut this one down.
Themes: If you don't use desktop themes, you don't need this one. If you do, keep it going.
Windows Time: Synchronizes all systems on a network time.
Workstation: Same as above.

Just keep in mind that these are just suggestions and you don't have to turn off some of these services if you don't want to. Especially don't turn them off if you think you're going to be needing them again someday. But, at least going through the list of your services will help you to determine what's running on your computer that may not need to be. You may be surprised at all you can turn off to save you some computer space. Note: Make sure you do not turn off any services that are not on this list unless you are an advanced user and you are certain that turning them off will not hurt your computer's operation.

Q: Is there any way to have some sort of a sound tell me when I have new e-mail? If so, how do I do that?

A: We all know AOL's famous "You've got mail" voice, but what about Outlook Express and Thunderbird? Is there a way to use a sound for them when mail arrives? Yes there is! Go to the Start button, Settings, Control Panel (XP users, hit the Start button, Control Panel). Open the "Sounds" icon (XP users, you'll open the "Sounds and Audio Devices" icon, then click the "Sounds" tab).  Find the "New Mail Notification" item. Click the "Browse" button and locate a sound file you would like to use instead. You can use any wave file you locate in your Windows sound scheme or otherwise. Once you've settled on that perfect sound, hit OK and you're all set. If you aren't happy with the Windows sounds that are available, head to your favorite search engine and look for "wav" files. What do you do when you locate wave files on the Web? Most of the time, you can click a link to the file to hear the sound. If you like it, right click the link and select "Save target as" from the resulting menu. Save the file to a location you'll remember, then head back to the "Sounds" screen (under the Control Panel), select the sound item you want the new sound for ("New Mail Notification" in this case), then browse to the file you just downloaded.  You'll need to make sure that you have your e-mail program configured to play a sound when mail arrives. In Outlook Express, go to Tools, Options, then under the "General" tab, check the box marked "Play sound when new messages arrive" under "Send/Receive Messages."  In Thunderbird, go to Tools, Options, then under the "General" tab, check the box marked "Play a sound" under "When new messages arrive." If you have "System New Mail Sound" selected, it will play the sound you just selected. Another option is to choose "Custom .wav file," then browse to a sound file that will play only in Thunderbird.

Q: When I try to go to secure Web sites, I get a message saying that the page cannot be displayed. Is something wrong with my browser?

A: Could be. You may not have the correct security settings for you to connect to secure Web pages. For instance, let's say you want to get in on one of our great software specials and when you click "Checkout," you can't get to the page.It could just be your browser security settings, or SSL. With Internet Explorer, go to Tools/Internet Options and select the "Advanced" tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the list and make sure the following are checked: Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0. Click the "Refresh" button (green arrows) and the page should appear.With Firefox, you'll get a pop-up window telling you that you cannot connect because SSL is disabled. Go to Tools/Options, click "Advanced," and scroll to the bottom. Under "Security," check off the following: Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0  Click OK. Try connecting to the secure site again and it should come up. If you are a Netscape user you'll get a pop-up window telling you that you cannot connect because SSL is disabled.  Go to Edit/Preferences and expand "Privacy & Security" by clicking the arrow next to it. Select "SSL" from the list. Check off the following: Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0 Click OK. Try connecting to the secure site again and it should come up. If there is still a problem, check your Firewall/Network Configuration. Make sure that the SSL port (port 443) is open. Since every setup/software is different, we can't give exact instructions. Check your manual or help file for details.  Hopefully, though, it's just an SSL problem and you'll be on your way.