Categories
Hardware
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How can I switch the F Lock key on my Microsoft Keyboard 'ON' in Windows XP so that the function key work 'normal' and not in the 'enhanced' state? |
The F Lock key on the Microsoft Keyboards can be very annoying. Introduced with the Office Keyboard and used
in later keyboards, it essentially allows keys to do more than one operation. The F Lock key, depending on
its state, will allow either a function key's 'normal' operation or a new 'enhanced' operation.
The initial state of the F Lock key is 'OFF', and in this state, the function keys use their 'enhanced'
operation. The F Lock key is a hardware switch in the keyboard. Its state cannot be controlled programmatically however in Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 there is a method whereby keys can be remapped by using the Scan Code Mapper. The two zip files below contain registry files that will alter the key mappings after Windows is started up. When F Lock key is in the 'OFF' position, the function keys will have their 'normal' function, and when the F Lock key is in the 'ON' position, the function keys will have their 'enhanced' function.
Pick the appropriate file download based on the keyboard that you have.
F Lock Key Flip for the Office Keyboard. The original solution is available here. |
| How can I get all the resolutions my monitor can support under Windows 95/98? |
The resolutions available in the Windows display properties are dependent on
two things, what the driver supports and what the monitor supports. The resolutions
for your display adapter are defined in the Windows registry when a device driver
is installed. The resolutions for your monitor is a little bit different. Information
for your monitor is dependent on how it is defined in display properties. In the 'Advanced...' section in the display properties, there is a separate monitor tab that will show you what your monitor is currently defined as. If it is set to 'Unknown', 'Default', or 'Plug and Play', it may be necessary to manually select your specific monitor model instead. Select the 'Change' button, and let the Update Device Driver Wizard run. Select the option to 'Display a list of all the drivers...', and find you specific monitor manufacturer and model. You may need to select the option 'Show all hardware' to see a full list of monitor selections. Continue with the driver update, and see if you have all your resolutions available when finished. If your specific monitor is not in the list of selections, you may want to contact your monitor manufacturer to see what the appropriate selection is best for your model. Typically, a driver can be found from the manufacturer's website to provide for the best monitor definition and resolution availability. |
| I recently bought a system with an onboard sound card and the Turando 180W Speakers. I plugged in all the colour coded wires but can't get any sound. What can be the problem? | This is a common problem. Unfortunately the motherboard manufacturers and the speaker manufacturers did not agree on the same colour scheme. The output jack on your onboard soundcard is green and the correct speaker wire will be the red one (marked with a RL on the connector.) The microphone jack on your onboard soundcard is red and the correct speaker wire will be the blue one (marked with a picture of a microphone on the connector.) |
| How do I find out what memory upgrade my notebook would be able to take? I don't know how many slots are available or what the maximum memory capacity is. | You can visit the Kingston Website. This website has links to all major brands of Notebooks and Systems. You can search by Manufacturer, Memory Type, Model Name or Part Number. This website will assist you with details regarding your current system memory layout, memory upgrade possibilities and maximum memory capacity for your specific system. |
Software
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| In Windows XP, how can I apply the 'Detail View' to Windows Explorer? |
There are five choices for viewing folders and files in Windows Explorer: Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List
and Details. The Windows XP default is Tiles view, but anyone that has been around previous versions of
Windows will probably find it very unsatisfactory, especially if you do any serious work in Explorer. You can select any of these 'Views' by selecting it from the Standard Buttons Toolbar. If you don't have the Standard Buttons toolbar enabled, the same options are available from [View] on the Menu Bar. Details is the most commonly used view for Explorer. To show more columns in the Details View, right click in any of the column headings and a drop down list opens that contains eighteen additional columns that can be added. If the information you want displayed still isn't available, click [More...] to open the [Choose Details] window and there will be approximately 31 column choices. The [Choose Details] window can also be used to rearrange the order of the columns by using the [Move Up] and [Move Down] buttons. Move the cursor over the small vertical separation line between two columns until it turns into a two headed arrow. Click and drag left or right to resize the column. To return the column widths to the default widths, open Windows Explorer, click in open area of right pane, press and hold Ctrl and press plus (+) key on numeric keypad. When the Details View is set up just the way you want it and you want the same view for all folders; on the Menu Bar, click Tools | Folder Options and then select the View tab. In the Folder Views section, click the Apply to All Folders button. Click Apply. Click OK. |
| How can I Lock my Windows XP workstation with a mouse click, when I leave my desk? |
To lock your Windows XP workstation with a key stroke, press the Windows key ( i.e., the key
with the Windows logo ) + L. In Windows 9.x & ME: Set your screen saver to "Blank Screen" and enable password protection - remember to "Change" your password so that it's not blank. Next make a new shortcut that points to "C:\Windows\System\Blank Screen.scr" Now you can assign a shortcut key combination to this shortcut, say for example "Ctrl+Alt+S" or simply place it somewhere ( eg. Quick Launch ) where it will be convenient for you to click it. In Windows 2000 & XP: Create a new shortcut with the following target "%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation" Again you can assign a shortcut key combination to this shortcut, say for example "Ctrl+Alt+S" or simply place it somewhere ( eg. Quick Launch ) where it will be convenient for you to click it. |
| How can I sort my email messages by multiple columns in Outlook? |
Sorting by a single column in Outlook is a simple matter of clicking on the column head.
Sorting by multiple columns, however, is not so obvious. But it's actually quite easy.
First, sort by the first criterion, such as From, by clicking on the column head. Then
hold the Shift key down as you click on a second heading, such as Received. Your messages will be sorted primarily by sender, and all the messages from each sender will be ordered chronologically. You can even add additional columns to sort by. Outlook will sort your messages by each additional criterion within the earlier criteria to give you a multicolumn sort. |
| How can I get fast access to often used documents in Word? |
You can keep frequently used documents readily available on Word's menu bar
so you don't have to use the File menu and search through files and folders to
find them. You do this by adding a Work menu to Word's menu bar. Simply go to View | Toolbars | Customize, choose the Commands tab, and select Built-in Menus from the list of categories. Then choose Work from the list of commands and drag it to where you want it on the top-line menu. Close the dialog box. With a saved document open, choose Add to work from the new Work menu to attach the file to the menu. To remove a filename, press Ctrl-Alt-Minus and click on the item you want to remove. |
| After installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2, a balloon window is displayed every time a print job is sent to a networked printer, informing the user that the job has been spooled succesfully. How do I disable this option? |
Use a registry editing tool to navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Settings
Change the value with the following details: Stop and restart the spooler service for the change to take effect. |
| Why don't my folders remember their position, sort order, or icon size? |
In Explorer, unless the windows had been opened and configured recently,
the files are unsorted and displayed as large icons until you
manually configure the window. The only solution which really works is to open each folder, lay it out the way you'd like it to stay, and then hold down 'CRTL+ALT+SHIFT' while closing the folder using the mouse. |
| How do I move the TaskBar and the Start Menu? | Grab a blank portion of the taskbar with the mouse and start dragging it to any one of the opposing sides of the desktop, drop it and you are done. |
| My Taskbar has disappeared... How do I get it back? |
This is the most commonly asked question by new users of Windows. Move the mouse to the bottom of the screen until the mouse cursor looks like you are about to resize something. Click and then stretch the TaskBar up, so that it is visible. The same result can be obtained by using the keyboard and typing the following : Press 'CTRL-ESC' then 'ALT-SPACE' then 'S' and then using the 'UP ARROW' to resize the TaskBar. To finish press 'ENTER' |
| How do I get rid of the "Logon" Screen when Windows starts up? | If you are not on a Local Area Network you don't really need the Logon Screen asking for your username and password. Using Windows Explorer go to the Windows folder and look for a file with the name 'USER.PWL' where USER is the name you use to log in with. Select this file and delete it. Restart Windows and when the "Logon" Screen appears press enter instead of typing in a passwaord. The next time you restart Windows the "Logon" Screen will be gone. |
| What does the Disk Defragmenter in Windows 98 do and do I need to use it? |
Under Windows 98, the Disk Defragmenter does more than simply group
together the disparate parts of files. It also has a new technology that
reorders the clusters of the program files you use the most so that the
programs will run faster. Some programs (most notably Microsoft Office
programs) tend to start up considerably faster after you defrag. The first
time you run Defrag, you'll see an optimization wizard that sets up a log
of program usage to aid in speeding up the programs you use most often. To resort your program files, select Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter. When the program's opening screen pops up, click Settings. Make sure that the option "Rearrange program files so my programs start faster" is checked. Click OK, and in the opening screen, click OK to start the process. It's best to leave your computer alone while defragmenting goes on, as it slows the system to a crawl and stops whenever a piece of data gets written to the disk. We would recommend running the Disk Defragmenter once every month or so. By default it also runs a ScanDisk on you Hard Drive, that will fix possible problems with your file system. These easy maintenance steps will keep your system running smooth. |
Drivers
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is a driver? |
A Driver is a program that controls a device. Every device, whether it
be a printer, disk drive, or keyboard, must have a driver program. Many
drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with the operating system.
For other devices, you may need to load a new driver when you connect
the device to your computer. In Windows environments, drivers often have
a .DRV extension. A driver acts like a translator between the device and programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver knows. In contrast, most programs access devices by using generic commands. The driver, therefore, accepts generic commands from a program and then translates them into specialized commands for the device. |
| Where can I find the latest drivers for my screen card? |
We use WinFiles
because you can find vendor specific drivers for any product within a few
clicks. Choose the product type (in this case video adapters cards) and
then the manufacturer (for example ATi, Creative, NVidia) and the web site
will link straight to the driver download section on that manufacturer's web
site. Also try Reactor Critical for the latest information on any type of Display Adapter. |
Internet
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Where can I find usefull information about the Internet? |
The Internet is a tool that comes with few instructions. Most of us are
let loose on it while we're still scratching our heads. Go
here for 20 questions and answers on the Internet by
CNET. Also visit PBS online for a Beginners Guide to the Internet. |
MP3
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is MP3? | MP3 stands for MPEG ( Motion Picture Expert Group ) 1 layer 3 and was originally established as a way to deliver high quality motion video that is highly compressed. This means that MP3 allows you to store audio material in a highly compressed form at almost no cost to the quality. To give you an idea of the compression ratio, a stereo 44KHz, 128Kbps song in PCM WAV format converts to miniscule 5.05MB MP3 File for a 5:31 minute CD quality track, as opposed to the WAV file which was 55.7MB. A CD can hold up to 74 minutes of CD Audio sound whereas the same CD can hold up to 650 Minutes of MP3 music at the same quality. |
| How can I make MP3's from my original Audio CD's? | For fast and simple MP3 making we recommend AudioCatalyst, it allows you to take a CD, make a perfect digital copy on your hard drive, and transform that file into an MP3 file, all in a few simple steps. The Xing MP3 encoder that AudioCatalyst use is one of the world's fastest, but is not known for having excellent sound quality. It can encode into virtually every bitrate from 16kbps all the way up to 320kbps, and files can be saved using Vbr or a constant bitrate, with stereo or mono settings. Excellent ID3 tagging is included, and filenames can be made out of an MP3's ID3 tags. |