Computer Tips
for beginners. |
All information or apparent advice
within these pages is used at the reader's sole discretion. No liability whatsoever is
accepted by the publishers for any damage, inconvenience or costs of any kind incurred
directly or indirectly, as a result of using the information herein published. |
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The
answers are entered as the
questions are received and do
not appear in alphabetical order. Go to
'Contact Us' to ask
a question.
INDEX |
Clean Install Windows Vista
Q. I am now in serious trouble. To cut a long story short, I must now
reinstall Vista (Home Premium) by, what I understand is a "Clean Install".
Can you help with this?
A. I'm afraid we do not have space here for step-by-step instructions. I can
only suggest you
copy and print the instructions
you find here. Having looked over several websites over the years, this, I
suggest, is the best available. Obviously, if you are still able to, you
should back up all the data you want to keep as a clean installation will
wipe your hard-drive.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/e77344fa-e978-464c-953e-eba44f0522671033.mspx
You will see a link on the
right of the webpage: "To install Windows by performing a clean
installation". It appears very complicated but is much easier than it
looks. I recommend reading the instructions two or three times and following
the links for any further advice, such as entering the BIOS to reset the
first boot disc. |
Create A Password Recovery
Disc
Q. I understand that in Windows Vista I can create a password recovery disc
in case I forget a password? How is this done?
A. The good news is it is very easy. The bad news is, you need to be very
careful where you keep the disc as obviously anyone getting hold of it will
have access to your PC.
The best device these days is
a USB flashdrive which has nothing else stored on it. (You can buy one for as
little £5). Click Start//Control Panel//User
Accounts. In the pop-up window click "Create a password reset disk". Follow
the on-screen instructions. Store your disk in a safe place. Do not name it
Password Reset or similar which will be a dead giveaway.
If you, or one of the family
forgets a password, follow these steps.
1: You will received the
message saying your Username or Password is incorrect. Click OK.
2: In the pop-up window click "Reset password" and follow the on-screen
instructions. |
Keyboard Shortcuts
Q. Can you tell me the keyboard shortuts for "Copy", "Cut" and "Paste"?
A. Ctrl+C : Ctrl+X : Ctrl+V respectively. |
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Index |
'C' Drive full
Q. My laptop "C" drive is pretty full but I have a second drive - "D"
- which
has loads of room and is much larger. I'd
like any new programs to
automatically install to 'D'. Is there a way to do that?
A. Not automatically but there is no reason why you can't load new
programmes there. You are almost always given the choice of where to install
a new programme. However, as programmes already on the 'C' drive need
certain built in facilities that are programmed to look and respond from
there, it would be better to shift as much as you can from your 'C' drive to
your 'D' drive, such storage/archived files like My Music etc. and make room
on the 'C' drive just for programmes and any planned additions. This would
be a simple drag and drop operation (not for programmes) and pretty fast. |
Classic or Vista view
Q. When I first bought my PC I changed the look so everything looked like my
old PC. Now I would like to put things back the way they were then but I
have forgotten how. Can you help?
A. Sure... You can change all or just some of the views from Classic back to
Vista or vice versa. For the Vista Start Menu right click a blank space on
the taskbar, select "Properties" and on the "Start Menu". tab uncheck
"Classic Start menu". To change back to the Vista look on your
desktop, right click anywhere on the desktop, select "Theme" and scroll to
the view you want. To switch the Control Panel back to Vista, go to Control
Panel and click "Control Panel Home". You can also change your folders
appearance by opening Windows Explorer, selecting "Tools//Folder Options"
and on the "General" tab enable "Show preview and filters". |
Screensaver - custom slide show
Q. I have a stack of family pics I would like to use as a screensaver and
slide show. I've seen them on other PCs so I know it can be done. Can you
tell me how?
A. Create a new folder and name it "Screensaver" so you know where you put
your slide show a year or so from now. Place all the pics you want to use as the slide show into
the
folder. Right click your desktop and select
"Properties//Screensaver". Scroll to "Photos". Click on "Settings".
Enable "Use pictures nd videos from:" and then
Browse to the folder where you stored your pics. - probably
C:\Screensaver. You can edit your slide show within the folder by removing
and adding pics as you feel like it. Once you have your screensaver running,
go back to "Screensaver" from your desktop as described earlier. Click on
"Settings" and adjust how you want the slide show to display - Slow, Medium,
Fast and Fade etc. |
Sidebar -
desktop
Q. I have shortcuts littered all over my desktop. I have seen PCs where
these sit on a sidebar that disappears when not being used leaving the
desktop clear. Can you tell me how this is done?
.A. This is a linksbar and very handy for
those programmes and websites you use a lot. It can also free up the taskbar
leaving more room for displaying more open windows when working on
multitasks.
Right click your desktop and
select "New//Folder". Name the folder "Links(1)". (I suggest Links(1) as you
may later decide to have another sidebar. There are after all, four sides to
your desktop). When done, simply drag the folder to the edge of your desktop
as if you were moving off the screen. It will immediately become a Links bar
onto which you can drag all of your shortcuts. To have it hidden when not
needed, right click an open space on the linksbar and click (enable)
"Auto-Hide". To use the links move your curser off the edge of the screen
and the linksbar will reappear. |
Windows Explorer - status bar
Q. When I open Windows Explorer I used to see all the information at the
bottom of the window, such as how many items where showing and their
combined size.
Somehow this has gone. How do I get it back?
.A. This is the Status bar and can be
displayed by selecting "View" on the menu bar and clicking on (enabling)
Status Bar.
However, Windows Explorer
hides the Menu Bar option behind 'Organize'. To see the Menu Bar you have to
go to "Organize//Layout" and enable "Menu Bar".
You need to remember, the data size displayed does not include folders only
the files that are visible. |
Windows Explorer - data
columns
Q. Can I have the data columns in Windows Explorer where I want them? I have
tried dragging but that doesn't work.
.A. Dragging should work. With the left
mouse button held down and the curser on the blue title bar you can drag the
columns to any position except out of the Details pane. Right clicking any
column heading will give you a large number of options for displaying data
in specific columns. Selecting "Size Columns to Fit" above each column for
example will make sure you always see the whole name or data without wasting
space. |
Windows Explorer (open at
any point)
Q. Can I make Windows Explorer open where I want it to? At the moment it
opens miles from where I want it so I have to keep looking for C;\.
.A. Go to Start||Accessories and right
click on Windows Explorer. Select Properties and the "Shortcut" tab. In the
target window you will see
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe, which is the default opening point. You can now
type in the target you want by adding /root,<your place>
after.exe. (There is a single space before /root). Your choice may look like
this... %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,C:\ to open Windows Explorer
at drive C:\. |
Desktop Font
Q. The font displayed under files and shortcuts on my desktop has suddenly
changed to white. I can't find anywhere where I can change this back. Can
you help?
.A. A lot of people will probably
tell you it can't be done, but this is really a Windows embeded code acting
as you change the background colour of your desktop. The reason the fonts
are showing whjite is becaus the desktop underneath your custom appearance
is black. Hence white fonts. Right click your desktop and go to
Properties//Desktop Background and underneath "How should the picture be
positioned" enable the Centre button. This will display "Change background
color". Click it and change the colour to White. |
Hard-drive Low
Disk Space Warning
Q. I keep getting a warning of low disk space on my hard drive and when I
check I noticed about 50 GB has been used up somehow. No matter what
arithmatic method I use, I can't reconcile the space used with the
programmes and data I have stored? Any suggestions?
.A. This is almost certainly System
Restore's appetite being assuaged. The full explanation and what action to
take is too large to place on this page. However, as it can be quite an
important issue on some smaller family PCs, I have provided a separate page
with a full description. GO HERE. You
may be well advised to print the page off if you want to work on it. |
Folder - Can't Change Name
Q. I am the only Administrator and my PC does not use passwords. I have
created a folder in Excel 2007 which has several subfolders. I want
to rename the folder so I can work on a duplicate without risking damage.
However, I am not allowed to do this. Each time I try I get "You need to
confirm this operation", followed by "You need permission to perform this
action" and "Try again". This just repeats each time I try so it is not
possible for me to achieve what I want. Can you help?
A. The first thing to check
is Ownership. Right click the folder, select
Properties||Security||Advanced||Owner. Make sure it is you and, if not, use
"Edit" to set things right. You can also go to the "Permissions" tab and
"Effective Permissions" tab to make sure you are happy. If you still have
the problem, another cause may be some files in the subfolders are linked.
Normally when you move such files they auomatically update to the new
location. However, changing the name of the location with the files in place
would likely cause a conflict so Windows says 'no deal' usig the only
blocking notice it has. The solution is to remove the subfolders to
somewhere safe, change the root folder to its new name and then put the
subfolders back. The linked files will then automatically update to the new
location (name). |
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