Tiplet expert tips & tech support

April 16, 2009

Can I and Should I Delete or Remove Vista’s Recovery Partition?

Filed under: data storage and recovery,Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: Is the recovery partition of Vista really needed? Can I remove it? If I can remove it, what is a procedure to remove this partition? – Don

Vista’s recovery partition is needed like a car’s spare tire is needed. The car will run fine without a spare tire and you will free up some trunk space by removing the spare tire. You can keep the spare tire in your garage at home, and go get it when one of your tires goes flat. But better hope the car is in your driveway when a tire goes flat.
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April 15, 2009

How to Disable Windows Services

Filed under: computer performance,Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by David Hakala

When Windows starts up, it loads many small programs that run “services.” Many of these services are necessary on all computers. Some, such as the fax service, are used heavily by businesses but not by as many home users. Others are used only under the rarest circumstances. But Windows loads these services “just in case” they are needed, and that can degrade performance.
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How Can I Organize and Neaten My Windows Desktop?

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Gabe Goldberg

If you haven’t creatively arranged your computer’s Desktop icons, they may appear in two separate alphabetized groups. (If they’re all a jumble, Right Click on the Desktop, click Arrange Icons by, and select Name.) If multiple people use the PC, different icons likely appear on each person’s Desktop.
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April 13, 2009

How to Make a Shortcut on Your Desktop to Any File

Filed under: applications,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

File shortcuts are very handy and efficient ways to locate and open files and applications on your Windows computer. All the items under your Start menu are shortcuts, and a great number of the icons on your desktop are also shortcuts. Did you know that you can create your own custom shortcuts? It is quick, easy, and painless, and will help you to customize your desktop computing experience.
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Booting Up With Apple’s Boot Camp

Filed under: Macintosh,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Nathaniel Poor

You may be a dedicated Mac user, but sometimes you might want to run Windows. Maybe because the huge majority of the computers in the world use it and you feel pressured. Maybe there’s an application at work you would like to run at home. For some reason, you want to run Windows, but all you have is your Mac. And you can!
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April 12, 2009

What Are Windows XP Service Packs?

Filed under: computer performance,privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by David Hakala

Microsoft releases “critical” updates to Windows every month. Those are fixes for bugs that should be fixed immediately, such as security holes in the operating system or things that can make your computer crash. Much less often Microsoft releases very large “service packs” that fix a whole lot of non-critical and critical bugs in one installation. Service packs also include new features and improvements to existing, unflawed features.
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April 11, 2009

How to Customize Your Screensaver or Your Desktop Background

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Windows XP includes a lot of cool screensavers and backgrounds, but if you don’t know how to change them you can’t take advantage of this benefit. Here’s how to change your screensaver and desktop background, and how to set your preferences.
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April 9, 2009

I Want a New Computer with Windows XP, not Vista

Filed under: Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

New computers with Windows XP installed instead of Vista are still readily available in retail and online stores. That is supposed to end July 31, 2009, when Microsoft promises to pull PC makers’ license to sell XP and make every manufacturer offer only Vista. But don’t carve XP’s tombstone just yet; its death date may change yet again.
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April 7, 2009

What Is the Difference between PCMCIA and Express?

Filed under: Internet,mobile computing,Windows,wireless computing — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

Your laptop probably has a slot for either a PCMCIA or an ExpressCard. PCMCIA is the older standard, used many times for modems or wireless broadband cards. Lately, however, laptop manufacturers have been building machines with Express slots instead of PCMCIA. That might throw you for a loop if you’re not careful, since the slots for PCMCIA and Express are similar. You’ll quickly find that they are not interchangeable, however. If you buy a new laptop with an Express slot and your broadband wireless card is PCMCIA, it will not work in your new system.
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Why Is My Windows Taskbar Cluttered with Small Program Icons?

Filed under: Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Gabe Goldberg

The Windows Taskbar is a combination dashboard and control panel, showing you, and letting you switch among, running programs (center collection of main application buttons), launch programs (Quicklaunch area at left), and … what are those small icons at the Taskbar’s right side?
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April 6, 2009

How to Stop Secretmaker HOSTS file change attempt Alerts

Filed under: privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: I use Windows XP Home Edition. Via Secretmaker I keep on getting the message, “A HOSTS file change attempt has been watched on your computer, we advise you to reject it as normally no changes are necessary.” I thus click on reject and the message is removed, only for it to return some 3-4 minutes later. This has been going on for several days. Apart from clicking on accept, which I gather is not wise, or uninstalling Secret Maker, is there anything else I can do to prevent the message reappearing? — Victor

Yes, Victor: you can find out what is trying to change your HOSTS file and put an end to it. I highly recommend that you do so ASAP, because it’s probably meaning to do you harm.
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