Something about my brain helps me stay organized. I like things to have an assigned spot because I know where to look for them when I need them. A cluttered room turns my brain to mush and weighs me down. I can’t focus in a messy area, so it’s a good thing I have a … Read more
This quirky problem has happened often enough that it warrants a post of its own. The problem doesn’t happen on my desktop running Microsoft Windows XP with Office 2003. It occurs only on the laptop running Microsoft Vista with Office 2007. I can’t tell you if it’s a Vista problem, an Office problem, or both. … Read more
How many times did you complete a form only to push the “Clear” button instead of “Submit”? What about “OK” vs. “Cancel” on a popup window? (Raises both hands — one for each.) Why does this happen? Do we expect one button on the left and the other on the right? Are they too close … Read more
I look forward to reading Mary Roach’s humorous Reader Digest column in every issue. The column reflects on things she runs into in life that many of us can relate. In the June 2007, she shares her experience in calling tech support regarding the Windows setup CD. Her computer crashed and it needed the setup … Read more
This problem comes and goes. When it comes, however, the problem happens a few times a day. I can’t find the pattern except maybe Internet Explorer. The programs slow to a crawl and I close each one as soon as the PC lets me. I tried to find the Microsoft Knowledgebase (kb) article that sounded … Read more
You use Ctrl+Alt+Del to see what’s running on your PC, to close crashed programs and processes, and to check performance. You probably avoid a few processes whose names mean nothing to you, but they’re essential to Windows. svchost.exe sure likes to appear all the time and multiple times at that. What’s taskmgr.exe? Oh yeah, it’s … Read more
Previously, I provided an overview of Windows Error Reporting. Someone wrote and said he never received resolutions to his problems when submitting an error report. I don’t know if this happened to him or not, but it may not be obvious that Microsoft is providing a possible solution. I got an error after writing this … Read more
I get, “The system has recovered from a serious error” message from time to time (see the screenshot) with two buttons: “Send Error Report” and “Don’t Send” regarding sending the report to Microsoft. The error message appears when an application runs into a problem it can’t handle. When this happens, XP stops the app and … Read more
Since I am recovering after two hospital visits in less than two weeks, I’m spending most of my time in bed with my laptop. However, my desktop has most of my emails and other things on it that aren’t reachable even when file sharing. The solution. Using Windows XP’s built-in Remote Desktop. Now I am … Read more