WINDOWS XP

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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.

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A.  This is caused by double clicking the blank area off to the right of the tabs. To put things back, just double click on the top rail (border).

A. This is a Microsoft glitch which can be instantly corrected by installing the SR-2 update. Download it from:   http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;151261. You will need to have already installed SR-1. If you have not installed SR-1, you can follow the advice given at the above location to retrieve it.

A. This looks like an 'ownership' problem. It is a bit long so I suggest you visit Microsoft Support at:  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421 where you'll get your answer with instructions on how to go about it.

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A.  Open Outlook Express. Go to "Tools||Options" Click the 'Security' tab and uncheck... "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that may potentially be viruses." If this is not the problem, then check your firewall configuration and make sure it is not set to block all attachments.

A.  This could be simple, like OE is not registered as your default browser and nor is Microsoft Outlook. This can be corrected by opening OE, going to "Tools||Options" and clicking on the General tab.  At the bottom you will see "This application is NOT the default Mail Handler." Next to it is the button to make it default. Click on this.

If this does not work, it probably means a trip to the Registry, but before you do that, go to Start||Run and type in the window - with the quotes "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /reg (yes there is a space before /reg). Hit OK. Try sending a message off a WebPage. If OE6 still does not work, back up your registry and then do the following.

1:  Start||Run type regedit and hit OK. Go to the following registry key -
                                 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Outlook Express.
2:  In the left pane click Outlook Express. Two values should be displayed in the right hand pane: 'Default' and 'DLLPath'.
3. DLLPath is probably missing so you'll need to create it.
4:  On the tools menu, click Edit||New||String Value. A box appears in the right hand pane with New Value#1 highlighted.
5. In this box type DllPath and hit 'Enter'. Double click the new DllPath.
6.  A window opens. In the 'Value Data' box type the path to the msoe.dll file on your computer. This is probably C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msoe.dll. If it is not there, make a search for it and type its path exactly.
7. Hit OK and exit Registry.

OE6 should now behave normally.

Remember, any typing or changes you make in the registry are saved the moment you exit. In XP create a restore point in "System Restore". Any other OS, always back up the registry before editing it.

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A.  Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32. Look for a file named "syncapp.exe" and double click it. (If you can't find it, use "Search"). The 'My Briefcase' icon will appear on your desktop. When you double click on this, full instructions on how to proceed will be displayed.

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A. Yes. It means a trip to the Registry (Start||Run and type regedit). Go to...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

You can delete which entries you no longer want.  DON'T FORGET TO BACK-UP THE REGISTRY BEFORE YOU MESS WITH IT!

A. Yes. Right click a blank spot on the taskbar then Properties. Make sure "Hide Inactive Icons"  is disabled. If that doesn't bring it up, go to Control Panel and in "Sound and Audio Devices Properties", enable "Place volume icon on the taskbar".

If you have XP Pro click Start, Run and enter gpedit.msc.   Go to Computer Configuration||Windows Settings||Security Settings||Local Policies||Security Options. In the right pane, locate the entry for Network Security: "Force logoff when logon hours expire".

You can set logon and logoff times to suit each person's ration: A simple Monday Friday ration might be...

net user kidnumberone /time:M-F,17:00-17:30.

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A. This error is almost certainly a currupt MSO9.DLL file and/or WINWORD.EXE. To fix the problem you should replace these two files.

Go to Start||Search||Files and Folders and enter mso9.dll and hit "Search". when it comes up, right click on it and select 'Rename'. Call it mso9-old.dll and hit 'Enter'. Do the same for the Winword.exe file, renaming it Winword-old.exe.

Now go to Start||System||Control Panel and click on Add/Remove Programs. Select Change/Remove and highlight Office 2000. (You will be asked to insert your Windows XP Disc. You will then need to select "Repair errors" in the Maintenance Mode. Click 'Finish' and all should now be okay.

A.  (Thanks to Kelly Theriot MS.MVP for her help with this) This problem is not as uncommon as I thought when I was first asked about it. What happens is that the visual system setting becomes unchecked and for some users the Windows and Buttons become greyed out under 'Appearance'. To resolve this...

Go to Start/Administrative Tools/Services/Themes. Set to "Automatic". Also check your settings here:

Start/Administrative Tools/Services/Terminal Services/Log On. At the bottom ensure that "Hardware Profile Original Configuration" is Enabled.

If the above doesn't apply/nor help:  only Windows Classic is listed under 'Appearance'. To resolve this...

1. Right click on the desktop and choose Properties.
2. On the Theme tab, choose the Windows XP.
3. If this option is missing, you may choose 'Browse'... go to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Luna.theme
4. The Luna.theme is the theme of the Windows XP.

If 'Luna.theme' is missing: Go to Start/Run/Msconfig/Expand Files:  Luna.MS_ and Luna.TH_

You can also certainly resolve this issue by visiting the following website, copy/paste and apply any of the workarounds available but epecially....Restore Luna Theme (Line 187)   http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

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A.  I should not have assumed it would be known. Apologies all round...

When adding either a DWORD value : String value : Binary value : Multi-String value or Expandable value you can right click in the window where this new value is to appear and you are given these five choices. You can also go to Edit||New on the toolbar. Clicking on a choice brings up an insert box (as if a new folder) into which you type the name of the new value. Double clicking on the name allows you to enter either a hexadecimal or decimal value which then appears in the "Data" column.

DON'T FORGET TO BACK-UP THE REGISTRY BEFORE YOU MESS WITH IT!

The problem lies with the SCSI adapter mistakenly reporting multiple IDs and LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers). The following is based on a Microsoft KB article.

First, using a text editor (Notepad), open C:\Windows\Setupapi.log. (Assuming C:\ is your root directory) Click on the "Edit||Find" and type SCSI\Scanner, and then click "Find Next" to locate your scanner ID.

Note your scanner's hardware ID. The hardware ID that will be used for the new registry key later in this procedure will be the data that immediately follows the "SCSI\", up to the first comma (,), and not including later items. For best results, copy this data to the clipboard so you can paste it later. (For example, you would copy the following data:  Scanneragfa____arcus_ii________ )

Go to Start||Run and type regedit - hit OK

Locate, and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ScsiPort\SpecialTargetList

Click "Edit||New" and then click "Key".
Type (or paste - if you copied it to the Clipboard) the hardware ID of your scanner that you noted in step 3 for the name of the new key.
Click "Edit||New" again and then click "DWORD Value".
Type SetLunInCdb, and then press ENTER.
Click "Edit||Modify". Type 1, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor.

DON'T FORGET TO BACK-UP THE REGISTRY BEFORE YOU MESS WITH IT!

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A. I know only one answer to this which may help. Right click the desktop and left click "Properties". Select the "Appearance" tab and click on "Effects". Alongside "Use the following transition effects for menus and tooltips" you will probably find it set to "Fade Effect". You can try changing this to "Scroll Effect" or disenabling it altogether by unchecking the adjacent checkbox.

A. XP's firewall is not as sophisticated as, say, Zonelab Pro, but is adequate in most cases and certainly better than nothing. It can be enabled or disenabled. If you have no other firewall, then it should most definitely be enabled as follows...

Left click My Computer||Control Panel||Network & Internet Connections. (If "Network & Internet Connections" is not showing, click on "Switch to Category View"). Left click "Network Connections". Right click on your default Internet connection and select "Properties". Select the "Advanced" tab and make sure the "Internet Connection Firewall" box is checked.

I strongly recommend that you read up on the firewall by clicking on "Learn more about Internet Connection firewall". Especially if you have any form of 'file sharing' enabled or you have a network set-up. If you have a network set-up, click on "Settings" or  "...Network Setup Wizard" to safely configure the firewall for a network enabled PC.

A. Your clock can be configured to automatically synchronise. Double click the time in the systray. This displays your clock. Click on the "Internet Time" tab and enable "Automatically synchronise with an internet server". [Either server selected in the scroll down window will do the job].

Your clock will now synchronise once a week provided you are connected to the internet on the due date. If your pc misses its date, (because you weren't connected) you can force the synchronisation by clicking on "Update".

Can you tell me what these folders are and should I delete them?

A.  These folders are related to the "Hotfixes" installed on your PC when Microsoft automatically updates. If you are happy with the updates you have and have no problems, then it is safe to delete them from this folder. If you are having a problem and you think it may have something to do with one of the updates, note the number and visit Microsoft Support Knowledge Base and check it out using the 'Q' number. If it is a problem, you can delete the update ("Hotfix") by clicking on the 'spuninst.exe" file in that folder.

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A. If you've run a Registry Cleaner recently and enabled it to delete registry entries, then Help and Support will not run.  Most of these cleaners (All really) are likely to delete values you need to keep.  I suggest you visit, www.dougknox.com and go to the Windows XP section.  Look for "Fix Window XP Help" and download a small VB Script that will repair the damage done.

Scrollbar - Resizing.
Q. I have heard you can resize the scroll bar in XP. Is this true and if so, how?

A. Yes, it is true. Right click the desktop, select the "Appearance" tab, click on "Advanced" and in the top scroll menu (probably reading Desktop) scroll down to Scrollbar. You can adjust the size from there.

A.  Go to Tools||Options and on the 'View' tab disenable (untick) "Picture placeholders" This facility is generally used to enable fast scrolling in documents with a lot of graphics. Only a blank square will show where the image is meant to be. It is not a good idea to have this enabled when creating artwork as sometimes this will prevent the image appearing when inserting from Clipart.

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A. This is a maintenance problem - or I should say, lack of maintenance. OE, by default compacts folders to save disc space, working in the background, and while I recommend that this feature is switched off - for other reasons - when it is switched off, you must maintain OE manually or problems will begin to surface.

What you need to do now is to recreate your 'Deleted Items.dbx' file. (.dbx are e-mail files) Go to Tools||Options||Maintenance||Store Folder. This will locate your folders store. Write down its path, close OE and navigate to your Store. In the folder find and delete 'Deleted items.dbx'. The next time you launch OE the folder will be recreated and you should be back to normal.

I strongly recommend that you visit http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm and read up on maintaining OE.

A.  Find Fast is a Microsoft accessory that is supposed to speed up your pc by storing often used files in a special folder for quicker access. On modern much faster and more poweful pcs, however, all it does is consume resources with little or no benefit.

The correct way to disable Find Fast requires that you delete the Find Fast index files. To do this, use the following steps:

1.  On the Start menu, click Settings||Control Panel.
2.  In the Control Panel window, double-click Find Fast.
3.  In the "Index for documents in and below" list, click the first item.
4.  On the Index menu, click Delete Index.
5.  In the Delete Index dialog box, click OK.
6.  When you are prompted whether to delete the index, Click OK.
7.  Repeat steps 3 to 6 until no more indices are listed.
8.  On the Index menu, click 'Close And Stop'. Then, click OK to stop Find Fast.
Then, do the following:
Remove the Microsoft Find Fast shortcut from the StartUp folder (typically in the Windows folder in the Start Menu\Programs folder).

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A. You need to install (or reinstall) Fax Console. Go to Start//Control Panel//Add or Remove Programs and click on Add/Remove Windows Components. Check the box next to "Fax Services", click "Next" and close when the installation is finished. You will need to reconfigure, which is quite simple.

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A   Unfortunately, I also find this process confusing - and irritating. The only way I know of is: in "Format||Borders and Shading" select "Page Border||Options" and under   "Measure from" select "Text". Set margins all at '4 pt'. Keep these low or something else happens!!

In Page Setup set the bottom margin to at least 2.3cm (1 inch).

As a work-around (a method I prefer) you can use a Text Box.

Go to "View" and select "Headers and Footers". Insert a Text Box and drag it to the top left corner where you want your border to start and then resize the Text Box to the bottom right to fill the page. (You gain about 0.5cm of bottom margin over the orthodox method).

You can format the Text Box in the normal way - choosing style, colour and thickness of the lines - but you can't use "Artistic" borders.

When you are done, go to "Print Preview" in the "File" menu (or click the magnifying glass) and check you have not gone too close to the bottom of the page. If the bottom line is missing, you can inch it up until it appears.

Exit "Headers and Footers" and you will have a border nicely set in place.

A third way, but a bit Heath Robinson, is to use Clip Art and search "borders". Mess with these by turning them vertical and horizontal etc to achieve what you are looking for.

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A  Yes, ISPs are the most likely culprits but some other programmes also will infringe on your wishes this way. The answer is to go to Start//Run and type rundll32.exe iedkcs.dll.Clear.

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A  Almost certainly the version of Windows you are using is pirated. SP1 looks for a particular code whch is always part of a valid ID. If it is not found, the notice you are getting is displayed and you cannot install any updates. Your only option is to purchase a valid Product Key.

A  It is certainly a good idea but there are a number of issues to consider, many of them quite serious. There is insufficient space here to give a full and fair answer so I have placed a separate file on the site which you can access from here. It will open in any word processor. You can click "Run" or "Save".