15 Problems That Your Plague Your PC
And How to Solve Them


--by Karen Kenworthy, Contributing Editor, Fred Langa, Senior 
Consulting Editor, John Woram, Consulting Editor, Serdar 
Yegulalp, Technology Editor


** SIDEBAR: A Cure for Premature Baldness **

It's surprising more Windows users aren't bald, given the 
number of problems that make you want to pull your hair out. In 
one sense, it's a sign of the imperfect nature of the OS. But 
it's also a sign of the incredibly complex array of hardware 
and software Windows must cope with-systems and CPUs from many 
vendors in myriad configurations; tens of thousands of apps; 
tons of peripherals and add-ons; and standalone, connected and 
portable uses.

If you suffer from any of these problems, here are several 
places to turn to avoid premature OS-induced baldness.

-Your \WINDOWS directory contains a wealth of information in TXT 
and ReadMe files that covers a wide range of problems, 
workarounds, tips, tricks and support options for various 
hardware and software products.

-There's a world of help in the Resource Kit included on full 
retail CDs of Win9x. In Win98, click the CD's 
\TOOLS\RESKIT\HELP\RK98BOOK.CHM directory. In Win95 explore the 
CD's \ADMIN\ directory (see Features, "Win98's Secret Toolkit," 
November 1998). 

-Make sure your copy of Windows is up to date via 
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com or tools such as the Windows 
Update Wizard. Also make sure your apps and drivers are up to 
date by visiting vendor Web sites regularly to check for 
patches, updates and add-ons. 

-Test your system with WinTune (http://wintune.winmag.com) and 
your user interface and browser with BrowserTune 
(http://www.browsertune.com). 

-Check out Web sites such as WINDOWS Magazine's 
http://www.winmag.com/win98 
and CMP Media's 
http://www.cmpnet.com/win98. 

-See WinMag's October 1998 "Do It Yourself" and December 1998 
"Win98 Bugs and Fixes" features.

 Fred Langa


 1998 Windows Magazine, April 1999, Page 112.