| Q.I’ve reinstalled my Windows XP operating system. How do I get the Internet Explorer, My Documents, and My Computer icons on the desktop? |
A. These icons do not appear on the desktop by default in Windows XP. Right-click in an open space on the desktop, and select Properties. In the Display Properties window, click on the Desktop tab and click the Customize Desktop button. In the Desktop Icons section, click to select the icons you want to appear on your desktop and click OK.
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| Q.How do I check my hard drive and “fix” any bad sectors? |
A. Start—My Computer—right-click on the drive you want to check and select Properties—Tools tab. The top section is Error Checking (formerly ScanDisk). Click the Check Now button, then click to put a check mark in the box beside Automatically fix file system errors. Click Start. You may get a message that says:
Click the Yes button and restart your computer. What actually occurs is that any bad sectors are blocked off so that data can’t be written in those areas.
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| Q. Where is Add/Remove Programs in the VISTA Control Panel? |
A. The Add/Remove Programs icon has been replaced with the name “Programs” in the Home View, or with “Programs and Features” in the Classic View.
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| Q. Where is the Event Viewer that shows what is happening in the system including errors? |
A. Start—Control Panel—Administrative Tools—Event Viewer (shortcut). This was very helpful to me this past month when I was having a difficult problem with a computer. In the address bar and/or Google search bar, I entered the text for the errors shown in the Event Viewer and found solutions.
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| Q. What is Google Desktop? |
| A. Google Desktop is a feature similar to Microsoft’s Search, which searches your computer files and folders. However, GD is considerably faster because after it is initially installed, the software completes a full indexing of all the files on the computer and further indexing occurs as new data files, e-mail, and web browsing are added. Search results can be returned in an Internet browser that looks much like results of Google Web searches.
As of January 2008, a new feature of Google Desktop is the Sidebar for MS Windows that contains the gadgets: E-mail for viewing one’s Gmail messages, Scratch Pad for making notes, Photos – a slideshow from a My Pictures folder, News – news headlines, Weather – current weather for a user-specified location, and Web Clips – recent posts from RSS news feeds. In the taskbar, the sidebar can be set to autohide so that it only shows when the mouse hovers over the right side of the screen, or it can be toggled on/off with two presses of the Shift key. |
