Search

Offers tips on how to modify the themes and appearances of Windows-based personal computers. Desktop themes installed with Windows; Tools for managing desktop themes; Screensavers; Tools for the Windows XP operating system. INSET: Make PDFs for Free.

Introduces the Desktop Cleanup Wizard for desktop cleanup chores. Activation of the wizard; Creation of an automatic reminder for cleaning; Way to customize the window.

Presents tips in protecting passwords in Windows XP. Advantage of passwords with more characters; Significance of setting a backup lockdown; Approach for an easy retrieval of password. INSET: Keep Tabs on Your Life With AZZ Cardfile.

Offers answers to questions regarding computers. Disadvantages of keeping a record of printed documents; Differences between using USB connections or network interface cards to connect a cable modem; How to print more than two photographs on a page; Others.

This article presents several connection devices for computer hardware available in the U.S. market as of February 2005. Bluetooth, firewire, and Universal Serial Bus (USB) are all different, but they all do the same thing: connect devices to the personal computer. Each of these technologies has pluses and minuses, as well as old and new versions. Users can expect to see more Bluetooth devices in stores and on Web sites in 2005--and not just keyboards, mice, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). A survey by market research company InStat/MDR found that people are considering Bluetooth stereo headphones for their desktop computers, notebooks, MP3 players, PDAs, and mobile phones, among other consumer applications. Think of Bluetooth as a wireless, low-bandwidth version of USB. Simply pop a tiny Bluetooth hub such as Belkin's Bluetooth USB Adapter into a computer's USB port to connect up to seven devices wirelessly. But Bluetooth doesn't replace the Wi-Fi 802.11b or 802.llg standard: It moves data at only 1 mbps, while Wi-Fi is up to 50 times faster. Also, users can't use Bluetooth to connect to the Internet. Some external hard drives support both USB 2.0 and FireWire standards. Maxtor's OneTouch series is one prominent example. INSET: GET A BETTER GRIP.

This article presents guidelines for uninstalling Windows computer programs. If you uninstalled the program only a few days after installing it and you did not install anything else in between, simply restore the Windows Registry from a backup made before the installation. If a Registry restoration is not possible, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the C:\Program Files folder. If the folder for the offending application is still listed within Program Files, keep the window open and handy for a bit. Eventually you will delete the folder. Next, make sure that the program is not still loading every time your system boots. Select Start Run, type msconfiq, and press Enter. Click the Startup tab and look for anything that appears to be related to the outgoing program. Now verify that no file types are associated with the unwanted program. In Windows Explorer, select Tools Folder Options. Click the File Types tab and check the list of file types for any mention of the unwanted program. If you find one, consider whether that file type should be associated with some other program. To reassign a file type, click the Change button and follow the instructions. Otherwise, just delete it by clicking the Delete button and confirming your decision.

This article presents guidelines on the use of mouse wheel control in Windows applications. The mouse wheel doubles as a button in addition to moving the open file up and down in the active window. But with many programs, clicking the wheel once puts you into a panning mode. To start the document window panning upward or downward, nudge the mouse in that direction; continue panning until you either nudge the mouse in the other direction or click one of its buttons. In some applications, this technique pans right or left. If your wheel makes your screen jump too far with each click, or if you have to twirl constantly to scroll the desired amount, try adjusting the wheel's sensitivity. In the Address bar of any Windows Explorer window, type Control Panel\Mouse and press Enter. Click the Wheel tab and use the controls listed there to adjust how many lines your pages scroll with each wheel click. If you use Mozilla as your Web browser, you can make it scroll one screen at a time while all other applications continue to scroll at a chosen number of lines per click. First, set the number of lines for most applications in the Mouse Properties dialog box. Then launch Mozilla and choose Edit Preferences. Double-click Advanced and choose Mouse Wheel. On the No modifier key tab, select Scroll a page up or a page down. INSET: Flywheel Teaches Old Apps New Mouse Tricks.

This article offers tips on managing Windows operating systems. To activate Automated System Recovery, open the backup utility that comes with Windows XP: Choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then Backup. If you see the Backup or Restore Wizard, click Advanced Mode. On the Welcome tab, click Automated System Recovery Wizard. Follow the prompts to make a backup of your system file. To maximize windows in Windows operating systems, single-click the maximize button, double click the title bar, or right-click a taskbar button and choose Maximize. Unfortunately, very few windows are capable of remembering to open in the state you left them in the next you access them. To make the application always open in the Jumbotron mode, find the shortcut you want to adjust on the Start, Program or Start, All Programs menu. Right-click the shortcut and click Properties. On the Shortcut tab, choose Maximized from the Run drop-down list. Sometimes Windows XP is running its defragmenter utility while the system is otherwise idle. To turn the utility off, use Tweak UI, which is part of Microsoft's free Power-Toys for Windows XP. INSET: Broaden Your Web View With IE New Windonw Maximizer.

Presents information on personal computer (PC) surround sound systems. Soundcards needed; Types of surround support for computer games and DVD source materials; Examples of products for a first-rate PC audio setup. INSETS: SHOPPIUNG LIST: SOME HIGH-END OPTIONS;SURROUND SOUND SETUP.

Presents tips on password-protecting individual computer files or folders in Windows 98 and Windows Me. Installation of the folder compression feature in the personal computer when using Windows Me; Factors to consider when adding passwords to files and folders; Procedure for compressing a folder.

Provides tips on how to rescue data from failing hard drives. Signs of failing hard drives; Use of the scan disk utility to examine the entire disk for physically damaged sectors; Chance of recovering data from the failure indicated by clicking sounds; Application of the self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology.

Provides step-by-step instructions on how to increase the capabilities of a computer system by adding a second monitor. Need to buy a graphics card and get computer drivers; Installation of software; How to connect the monitors.

Offers advice and tips for using Microsoft Windows software. How to create shortcuts in Windows Explorer; Way that shortcuts are made.

This article describes the use of the AutoCorrect function of Microsoft Office 2000. Usually this feature performs fixes of common typing and spelling errors, but it often inserts words or replaces ones you do not want changed. On the other hand, you can use this feature to automate text insertion in Word. Start by highlighting a phrase, sentence, paragraph or whole document that you regularly need to enter in other Word files. Click Tools, AutoCorrect Options. In the bottom half of the AutoCorrect tab, you will see all or a portion of what you highlighted. Enter the keystrokes you will use to trigger the auto-insertion of the highlighted passage. Select Plain text or Formatted text above the passage, to reflect how you want the end result to look. Click Add, and AutoCorrect will place your trigger letters alphabetically among your listed existing shortcut entries. Finish by clicking OK or Close. To enter the text in a Word document, type the trigger letters and activate the text insertion by pressing either the space of Enter, or by typing a punctuation mark. If you are prompted when exiting Word to accept the changes made to the global template, normal.dot, click Yes or the AutoCorrect shortcuts you created during that session will be lost.

This article presents tips for using computer hard drives. To use a hard drive larger than 137 gigabytes, the computer's operating system (OS) and binary OS (BIOS) must support 48-bit logical block addressing. This refers to the number of sectors that a computer can recognize on a hard drive. The 24-bit addressing used by older hardware and OS limits the amount of data they can recognize on a single hard disk to 137 gigabytes. If the computer is more than two years old, its BIOS may not support 48-bit addressing. Consult the user manual or contact the computer manufacturer to determine whether the system needs a BIOS upgrade. If the computer's BIOS support big drives, you have a number of options. Check the vendor's Web site for BIOS updates. If you find one, follow installation instructions to the letter. A BIOS is a terrible thing to trash. Most big hard drives come with a Dynamic Drive Overlay program that performs the needed initialization by augmenting the BIOS code. The easiest but most expensive way to bypass the computer's BIOS limitations is to install as adapter that support large-capacity drives. Drives larger than 137 gigabytes also require an OS that supports 48-bit addressing.

This article presents several spam filtering applications. Outlook is the program that has a junk mail filter. It works by moving suspected spam to a junk folder based on the sender's address and a static list of spam words. Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups incorporate a statistical-analysis junk-mail filter comparable to SpamBayes. But both also need a jumpstart of this feature for full functionality. Choose Tools Junk Mail Controls, check the first two options under Handling to have messages suspected of being junk moved to the Junk folder and click OK. To help the programs build a database of known spam message characteristics, select one or more messages that you know to be spam in the Inbox or any other folder and then click the Junk toolbar icon. Qualcomm's mail program, Eudora 6.2, includes a spam filter that works much like the Thunderbird/Mozilla and SpamBayes. Unfortunately, the filter works only in Eudora's Paid Mode. If you prefer either Eudora's Sponsored Mode or its more Light Mode, you can still prevent spam by using SpamBayes as a proxy server. The integrated e-mail feature of Opera 7.54 is supposed to learn from you what is spam and what is not. If you have as little patience with Opera's slowness in learning, you may want to use SpamBayes instead.

This section addresses a query regarding online identity theft. If a user can't access a Web site with their password, they should try the simple solution first: Make sure that their Caps Lock key isn't active. Most security-minded sites use case-sensitive passwords; if their Caps Lock is on, their password will be rejected. If that doesn't solve the problem, they're almost certainly the victim of identity theft. What gives it away are the zip code and the lost access to two accounts that use the same password. If they lose access to one site, it could be something less scary--such as a failed attempt to steal a user's identity. Sometimes a site will shut down an account because of suspicious activity before real harm is done. If a Web site's password stops working, and a user knows he didn't forget it, their first job is to visit any other sites where they use the same password. If they can still log on, they must change their password on those sites immediately. Next, they should contact credit card companies whose account numbers they registered at the sites to which they can no longer log on, and cancel the accounts. Also users should let the companies know that they suspect they are the victim of identity theft. INSET: TWEAK YOUR TASKBAR.

This article offers tips on the use of the Gnome file manager Nautilus. If a user is used to Windows Explorer, the new version of Nautilus may throw them at first. Starting with Gnome 2.6. Nautilus behaves less like Windows Explorer and more like the Finder on pre-OS X Macs. Every folder opens in its own window, and each folder window remembers its shape, size, view settings, background, and scroll position. It's a love-it-or-hate-it method of operation--one that a lot of Windows converts and longtime Gnome users have decided they hate. If they prefer a browser-style file-manager window, select Browse Filesystem from the Gnome Applications menu. First, users must set the default view for the folders they access often. For instance, open the folder where they dump pictures from their digital camera, and select View, View at Image Collection. Now they can scroll through thumbnails of all the images in that folder. A user must click any image to see a larger version with all of the metadata that their camera attached to it. The Edit menu provides commands for rotating or flipping an image; make changes permanent by clicking File, then Save. The next time the user opens the folder, it snaps to this mode.

This article offers tips on how computer users can remain firmly in charge of determining which browser Windows opens by default. Windows comes with Internet Explorer (IE) set as the default Web browser. Whenever a user clicks a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) link, whether it's in a document, an e-mail message, or an instant message, Windows uses IE by default to load and display the linked Web page. For security or for any number of other reasons, users may decide to install a different browser and make it the default. Depending on the system's configuration, however, installing a new browser may not automatically set it as the default. Users can change their default browser in Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) to the latest version of any of the four leading alternative browser by following these steps. If a user wants to make the browser Firefox 1.0 Preview Release as their default, they should choose Tools-Options, select the General icon in the left panel, click the Check Now button in the Default Browser section, and choose Yes when Firefox asks whether a user would like to make it the default browser. If a user wishes to be alerted anytime another browser attempts to set itself as the default, they must select Firefox should check to see if it is the default browser when starting, and click OK. INSET: KEEP ALL YOUR BROWSER SHORTCUTS CLOSE AT HAND.

This article provides information on Internet services that offer free downloads of books, music and films. The Internet Archive pulls together several long-standing, independent electronic book libraries, including the Million Book Project and Project Gutenberg. Ibiblio.com's Ebooks collection features technical and historical works, and the Digital Book Index lists 90,000 titles. Most e-books reside in the public domain, though a small number of contemporary volumes have been released by their authors under the Creative Commons license. Alternative country-rock band Wilco offered for a limited time its album, A Ghost Is Born, as a free download through Apple's ITunes. Many more bands allow their fans to tape, digitize, and distribute their live shows online. The Internet Archive's Live Music Archive offers thousands of high-quality live recordings of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Cowboy Junkies, Little Feat and Grateful Dead. Most of these shows are encoded in one of two lossless file-compression formats: Free Lossless Audio Codec or Shorten. Unlike MP3 files, lossless formats lose none of their original recording quality when compressed. Compared with the selection of books and music, free film downloads are a bit slim. Nevertheless, the Internet Archive's Movie Archive offers various films and videos in MPEG format. INSET: FREE-MEDIA TOOLBOX.

The article offers tips on using America Online (AOL) service. To banish the pop-ups, enter the key words Pop-up Controls and check Suppress pop-ups from Web sites I visit using AOL software. To block the online service's own pop-ads, check Suppress AOL member-only special offers. When installing AOL, use one of the zillions of free installation discs that the company distributes. Installing the preferred version isn't always easy, however. Depending on how much memory one computer has, the disc's main setup program may automatically install the latest version, or an earlier one. To get around this auto-install limitation, put the disc in the CD or DVD drive and hold Shift while the autostart program begins to run. This will open the disc's directory in Windows Explorer. If the autostart program loads despite these efforts, click Cancel to exit the setup program that launches automatically, open Windows Explorer and select AOL CD-ROM. In order to disable the AOL Companion toolbar of version 9, which intrudes on the desktop even when one isn't logged on to the service, permanently, left- or right-click the AOL system tray icon. Then choose Auto Start Options, uncheck Automatically display AOL Companion, and click OK. To make the system tray icon go away, either left- or right-click it, choose Exit, and click No in the dialog box that asks Do you want the AOL tray icon to appear next time you start your computer. INSET: GET YOUR WORDS IN ORDER.

The article provides a step-by-step procedure on how to tune up the Windows XP machine. First, back up the personal computer. The built-in back up utility in Windows XP Pro is more robust than earlier versions, but it won't back up to a CD-R. Log in to XP Pro with Administrator privileges, select Start+All Programs+Accessories+System Tools+Backup. Step through the various dialog boxes and follow all directions. In the What to Back Up dialog box, choose the All Information on this computer option if one hasn't done a backup before. Second, check hard drives for errors. It's wise to do a thorough check on the status of the hard drives occasionally. Go to Start•My Computer, right click the Check Now button. Repeat the step for the other hard drives. Defragment hard drives. The more the PC is used, the more same files become broken into disparate parts scattered around the hard drive. One needs to be logged in as the Administrator to run XP's Disk Defragmenter. First select Start+All Programs+Accessories+Systems Tools+Disk Defragmenter. Highlight the drive to be checked and press the Analyze button. If XP does recommend defragging, click the Defragment button. Sack any spyware. A free program like Spybot Search & Destroy or Ad-ware can get rid of any freeloading spyware that makes its way onto the system. Then clean out unneeded files. Go to Start+All Programs+Accessories+ Systems Tools+Disk Cleanup, and select the drive to be cleaned. The More Options tab offers more cleanup choices. Once, one is done with tweaking the system and is sure that everything is running well, it's good idea to back up everything once again.

The article provides guidelines on moving data, settings, and applications to a new personal computer. First, set up the new computer near the old one. If one has a network, plug the new computer into it and get it running. The computer's name on the network must be different from the old one's name. If one doesn't have a network, buy a parallel file-transfer cable to connect computers via their parallel ports. With the two machines connected, pick a migration technique. If one is using a parallel cable to connect the personal computers, a program like Spearit Software's Move Me is a must. A shortcoming of the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is that it requires one to manually install any applications that are on the old personal computer but not on the new one. But the wizard does list the programs that one will need to install on the new machine. If one decides to go the Move Me route, install that program on both computers. If all goes well, one won't have to install any other programs on the new system. Once the migration is complete, use the new computer for everyday PC chores, but keep the old system in place for a couple of days until one is sure that everything one needs has made the move. It's inevitable that some important file or program will be left behind. INSET: ALPHABETIZE IE FAVORITES.

Presents tips on booting the Windows XP computer operating system. INSET: TEACH SOME XP PATIENCE.

Focuses on SpamBayes, an anti-spam program that can be downloaded in the Internet. Antispam method of the program; Features of the program; Information on other antispam programs. INSET: FREE POWERPOINT VIEWER.

Presents pieces of advice in buying liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors. Benefits of LCD; Disadvantages of LCD; Signals accepted by flat-panel displays. INSET: OPTIMIZE YOUR AUDIO.

Reports on the addition of a second computer monitor. Selection of graphics card; Avoidance of a second expansion slot; Setting of resolution and color depth.

Lists procedures on the use of Windows' built-in Internet Connection Sharing. Activation of the XP Network Wizard; Selection of a connection method; Construction of the network bridge; Creation of a network bridge.

Focuses on how to debug error messages when browsing the Internet. Reasons for the error; Advantage of good Internet access; Recommendation of the Google search engine.

Provides tips on reinstalling Windows in computers. Completion of a backup process; Reinstallation process for computers with or without Windows compact disc read-only memory; Completion of reinstallation; Way to update reinstallation.

Provides tips on how to back up or move electronic mail messages and address book contacts in Outlook, Outlook Express and Netscape Mail/Messenger. Way of finding the location of the files; Use of Windows Explorer to copy and move the files; Navigation of the mail folders. INSET: PRINT YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.

Provides tips on how to delete private information from internet folders. Options in covering internet tracks; Application of the computer program Paranoia tab of Tweak UI 1.33. INSET: EASY WORD VIRUS SAFETY.

Discusses multibooting in relation to computers. How to use Microsoft's Windows XP operating system in addition to other operating systems by configuring a computer to multiboot; Instructions on how to configure a hard drive; Way to set up partitions.

Offers advice on using the Internet. Ways to share files through Web sites; How to query an Internet time server.

Reviews Microsoft's Office XP suite software. Discussion of whether to upgrade an office suite with Office XP; Comparison of the versions and the applications, which includes Word 2002 with voice recognition technology; Features, including Disaster Recovery, smart tags, and product activation wizard; Price. INSET: How Office's Rivals Stack Up, ' by Harry McCracken.

The article offers ideas on protecting a personal computer (PC) from Internet-borne attacks. Users should keep Windows and all other software updated, use a safe browser, and make sure the antivirus software is properly configured, regularly updated and certified effective. One also need a bidirectional firewall program, as well as at least one anti-spyware program. Because it is easy to forget to update a software, many programs include an automatic-update mechanism. To enable automatic updates in Windows XP with Service Pack 2, right-click My Computer, click Properties-Automatic, set a time for the updates, and click Ok. Most antivirus programs also update automatically--all one have to do is provide an Internet connection and keep automatic updates enabled in the program. A virus, worm, or Trojan horse can enter a PC in several different ways, but e-mail is the most common means of infection. To avoid ActiveX dangers, install an Internet Explorer alternative--it would not be vulnerable to ActiveX attacks--and set it as a default browser. Firewalls keep the bad guys out of a computer by shutting the thousands of doorways the machine opens through one's Internet connection. Windows XP's firewall monitors only inbound connections, offering no protection from malware already on a PC.

This article focuses on the benefits of Microsoft's MSN Toolbar Suite product for users of Windows operating systems. In addition to its useful features, the suite aims to make finding files on hard disks as fast, easy and accurate as Web searches. The toolbars for Internet Explorer, Outlook , Outlook Express, Windows Explorer and folder windows are free. The three programs that comprise the MSN Toolbar Suite search disks and provide the same results based on a single shared index of email and local files. MSN Desktop Search is a stand-alone search application; the MSN Toolbar appears in the folder and Explorer windows; and the Deskbar resides in the taskbar. They search Outlook and Outlook Express email and attachments as well as Word, Excel and other Office files. They also index PDF-format files, text files and HTML-format files.

This article presents information on how to create your own windows security analysis tool. Windows XP Professional and 2000 contain the building blocks of a comprehensive security analysis and configuration tool. While Windows' Security Configuration and Analysis utility does not address security for e-mail and other applications, it lets you assign all of Windows' system-level security settings in one place. Changes to security settings can affect the network and Internet connections, application, and Windows' own Registry settings. After each change of setting, it is recommended to test applications and network connection. To create a custom security tool, log in as an administrator, choose Start-Run, type mmc, and press enter. In Windows XP, choose File·Add/Remove Snap-in. In Windows 2000, click Console·Add/Remove Snap-in from the Console1 main menu. In both versions, click Add, select Security Configuration and Analysis, click Add again, and then Close and Ok. The little Console Root icon in the window now has a subicon, but no other real branches to its tree. To add a subentry for the icon, create a database of settings: Right-click Security Configuration and Analysis and choose Open Database. Details of the instructions in building a software was given. INSET: Better Windows Tweaking and Security for Free.

This article presents tips on using the Internet and avoiding e-mail attacks. According to the author, it is advisable to assume any message as malicious. Next, use a new found paranoia to examine messages critically. Even messages that appear to come from firms where a user has an account, may not be real. Before clicking a link or taking any action requested in a message, determine for certain that the message is genuine. Return addresses, embedded links, and images can deceive. Look for dire warnings and other classic con techniques, undoubtedly accompanied by a link to a bogus Web site where the user will be asked to enter personal information. As a clue, the phishing message may be delivered to an e-mail address that the user don't use with that company or institution. The author emphasized that if a user get a message at an address he or she never registered with, the e-mail is fake. Intuition and a suspicious nature are a good start, but to separate real messages from bogus ones, the user also need to decipher their Web addresses. Another clue is the string of numbers following the URL prefix http://. It should be remembered that every Web site resides at a specific Internet Protocol address. INSET: Nvu Brings Free Web Authoring to the Firefox Browser.

Presents several letters to the editor referencing articles and topics discussed in previous issues. "Smart Talk," which focused on cell phones; "Don't Get Burning Paying for a Hotspot," which focused on Wireless-Fidelity service; "Better Backups," which explored the use of Windows' Briefcase syncing software for backing up.

Reviews several web sites offering advice and information. DSL Reports, offering information about all types of broadband Internet connections; Megapixel.net with advice on digital imaging; GameSpy which discusses computer games; Others. INSET: My top pick, by Alan Stafford.

This article focuses on the benefits of the Copernic Desktop Search software for users of Windows operating systems. The features of the product include the ability to search local hard disks, the Web, and email on Outlook and Outlook Express software. Copernic also allows users to conduct searches using either an application window or a taskbar toolbar, choose the folders they want to have indexed, set indexing to occur in the background, and use Boolean operators to refine the search. Copernic allows users to filter search results based on such attitudes as file size and date; and it provides a preview pane for seeing a file's contents without launching a separate application to open it. In addition, users can store the index file in the folder of their choice; set the time and interval for index updating; and search Outlook contacts, as well as bookmarks and browser history in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape software.

This article deals with factors affecting the signal strength of wireless network at home discovered by reader Don Jones. According to Jones, the culprits are made from a thin sheet of a metallic substance sandwiched between a couple of layers of plastic. Compact discs are basically big signal reflectors, making them as reflective of radio signals as they are of light. By moving his CDs away from the network's operating area, Jones was able to improve his 802.11g network considerably.

This article answers questions about computers. It was learned that when updating Windows 2000 or XP, the update program often saves uninstall information to a folder. To see a personal computer's saved uninstall folders, open Windows Explorer to C:\Windows or C:\WINNT; the user may need to click Show the contents of the folder. If no folders can be seen, select View·Folder Options, click the View tab, select Show hidden files and folders, and click OK. The Windows Service Pack uninstall is in the folder $NtServicePackUninstall$. Others are named $NtUninstallKBnnnnnn$ or $NtUninstallQnnnnnn$. If the folder is more than a few weeks old, the user can remove it without a risk. To get rid of an uninstall folder, select it in Windows Explorer, press Delete, and confirm. The uninstall may still be listed in the Control panel Add or Remove Programs applet, however. To remove it, select the program and click Remove. An error message will ask whether the user want to delete the entry from the list. To disable pop-up help windows in Word, Excel, and other Microsoft Office applications, select Tools·Customize·Options, uncheck Show Screen Tips on toolbars, and click Close. Instructions in creating a shortcut to the System Configuration Utility on the Start menu, was given.

This article presents tips on how to keep the output flowing from laser printers. Personal laser printers combine the economy and print quality of their more expensive enterprise counterparts with the price of an inkjet. Personal lasers lack an information technology department to keep them running. The Windows Printing Troubleshooter wizard focuses on basic problems. In Windows XP, choose Start·Help and Support, type list of troubleshooters in the Search box, and press enter. Click list of troubleshooters in the left pane, select the Printing troubleshooter from the list on the right, and follow the steps. In Windows 2000, click Start·Help, and choose Troubleshooting and Maintenance on the Contents tab. Select Windows 2000 troubleshooters, click Print in the list of troubleshooters wizards in the right pane, and follow the steps. To open the wizard in Windows Me, click Start·Help, type troubleshooter in the Search box, and click Go. In Windows 98, select Start·Help·Contents·Troubleshooting·Windows 98 Troubleshooters·Print, and follow the wizard. If your printer is plugged in but does not power up, look at the fuse or circuit breaker on the surge compressor that the printer is plugged into. Install the newest driver and firmware for printers. Always remove any jammed paper by pulling it in its normal direction of motion through the printer. INSET: Common Laser Printer Problems.

This article presents eight easy ways to share digital photos. Microsoft's Windows XP operating system comes with all the tools a person needs to create, play, and save a serviceable slide show. To make a rudimentary slide show in Windows XP, open the My Pictures folder or any folder holding photos. Then choose View as a slide show in the Picture Tasks list in the pane on the left side of the screen. The pictures in that folder display at full-screen size, one at a time; by default, they advance every 5 seconds. If the user is trying to narrate a slide show and find that the images change too quickly, move the mouse pointer to the top-right corner of the screen and click the pause button in the controls that appear. To export slide show to other XP users, put the pictures in a folder and click Copy to CD in the Picture Tasks pane. Next, put a disc in CD-RW drive, and double-click the drive's icon in My Computer. In the CD Writing Tasks pane, click Write these files to CD. The slide show will play automatically when the disc is reinserted in a drive. The easiest way to play a slide show on a TV is to plug the PC into the TV set's S-video port. In adding pictures and video, open Easy Media Creator 7 and click Create slideshow. Information in applying a sound track, titles and captions, and finishing with transitions, was given.

This article provides information on the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express computer bus. Systems based on Intel's 915 and 925 chip sets come with PCI Express bus slots on the motherboard. They have external connectors, and they deliver three times the wattage of a PCI slot. The PCI Express bus is a data superhighway. Every device connected to the old PCI bus shares its 133 megabyte per second (MBps) of bandwidth. With PCI Express, each device has a serial connection consisting of one or more lanes. Each lane offers up to 250 MBps of throughput into and out of the computer. So a device that both sends and receives data has an effective throughput of 500 MBps per lane. A PCI Express slot is designated by the number of lanes it supports. An x1 slot supports a single lane, an x2 slot supports two lanes, and so on. Computers and motherboards typically come equipped with a single x1 slot, a single x16 slot for the graphics card, and several original PCI slots. The old standard is more than fast enough for business card readers, basic sound, and other low-speed devices. Meanwhile, the Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) slot is on its way out. Dell, for example, has made plans to stop offering consumer desktop computers that support AGP graphics in early October 2004.