Thank You, Bonnie

Dear Bonnie,

You can copy files that you have on a flash drive to a CD-RW disk.

In order to copy files to a CD-RW and then make additions as you create new files or edit older ones, you need to format the disk first. Formatting prepares the disk for use. If you copy your files to the CD-RW without formatting it first, you will not be able to make changes to the files.

If you are using Windows XP, you cannot format a CD-RW with Windows. You will need to have a CD burning program like Nero or Roxio.  You would be able to follow the directions  that come with those programs for formatting a CD.

If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can format the CD-RW with these directions.

1. Insert a new CD-RW disk in the CD or DVD drive.

2. In the dialog box that appears, click “Burn Files to Disc Using Windows”.

3. The Burn a disc dialog box will appear, type a name for your disc.

4. Click on “Show Formatting Options”

5. Select “Live File System” and click the “Next” button.

6. Click the “Yes” button if you are prompted.

7. When the formatting is complete, a window will open. 

8. Open your flash drive and drag the files from your flash drive to this CD window.
 

You can drag new or changed files to this disk any time you want.

You will be able to read the files on your disk and write new files to it as long as it is in the computer, but you will need to close the disc if you want to read it on another computer.

Once the disc is closed, you will not be able to make additional changes to the files on the disc, and you may not be able to read the files on older computers, or CD and DVD players.

Elizabeth

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Edna

Dear Edna,

The short answer to your question is that you can’t install Windows XP on your Windows 7 computer… at least not without either erasing your entire computer, or upgrading to the premium edition of Windows 7 and installing a couple of complicated programs.

That doesn’t mean that it is impossible to do, but it would require a lot of work, and a lot of technical knowledge on your part.

There are two ways you can get Windows XP to work on your Windows 7 computer.

The first way is to set the computer up so that when it turns on, it gives you the choice between Windows XP and Windows 7.

To do this, you must first erase the entire computer, then install Windows XP and once the XP installation is finished, you can install Windows 7 again.

You would need to have installation disks, and license keys for both Windows XP and Windows 7. A recovery disk would not work since you would be setting up the computer differently from how the manufacturer set it up.

The second method would be to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional and then install Windows Virtual PC, and Windows XP Mode. Both of the Virtual PC and XP Mode are available to download from Microsoft, but you would need to purchase your upgrade to the Professional version of Windows 7, and you would also need a license key for XP.

Both of these methods are complicated to set up, and you would either need to be familiar with the process of installing Windows, or you would need to hire someone who is.

Microsoft designed the XP Mode for small and medium sized businesses so that they could continue to run their business software on newer computers.

Elizabeth

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Thank you, Andrea

Dear Andrea,

All you need to do is change the power options. Here is how:

1. Click on the “Start Orb”.
2. Click on “Control Panel” in the start menu.
3. In the Control Panel, click on “Hardware and Sound.
4. Click on “Power Options”.
5. IN the Power Options window, you will see one or more power plans. You will want to make changes to the plan that is selected.
6. Click “Change Plan Settings” for your selected power plan.
7. If your computer is a laptop, you will see settings for when the computer is running on the battery, and for when it is plugged in. If you are running a desktop, you will only have one column.
8. Where it says, “Put the computer to sleep:” click the drop down list and select one of the longer times. You can set the computer to go to sleep anywhere from one to 5 hours, or you can choose to never have it go to sleep.
9. Click the “Save Changes” button.

That’s all there is to it!

I hope this helps you listen to the radio without interruptions.

Elizabeth

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Thank You, Joan

Dear Joan,

I have a few suggestions for you to try. While there is no actual keyboard shortcut for a new folder in Vista (There is in Windows 7) there are a number of ways to make the process of creating a new folder easier.

First, if you are using an explorer window (even if you are creating a shortcut on your desktop, you can view it in an explorer window quite easily)
Just click on, “Organize” in the command bar, then click on “New Folder” which is the first option under the Organize button.

Second, you can use your keyboard to navigate the context menu that you have described.

Right-Click to display the context menu, then using the arrow keys on your keyboard, press the down arrow repeatedly until you have highlighted the “New” menu, the press the right arrow key once to open the submenu. “Folder” should automatically be highlighted, but you can use the up or down arrow keys to highlight it, if needed. When “Folder” is highlighted, just press the “Enter” key on your keyboard to select it.

You can use the arrow keys to navigate any menu in windows this way, it is often easier than hovering with the mouse.

To get to your desktop folder, just click on “Start”, then type the word “Desktop” in the search box.

Press the down arrow key until the desktop folder is highlighted, then press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.

For those readers who are already using Windows 7, there is a handy keyboard shortcut that you can use to create a new folder. First, click once in the location where you want your new folder to be, even if it is the desktop. Then, just hold down the Shift and Ctrl keys (located in the lower-left corner of your keyboard) and tap the letter N.
A new folder will instantly appear.

Elizabeth

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Thanks, Charlotte.

Dear Charlotte,

Thank you for your question. I have a lot of people ask me how to defrag their computer, but not many think to ask what defragging will do for their computer.

I’m going to start with a description of what defragging your computer does.

The data on your computer is stored in small sections of your hard drive called, sectors. One file might use only one sector, while larger files will use many sectors.

When you first start using your computer, all the information on it is stored pretty much in order. When you take a picture with your camera, for example, and then transfer the picture on your computer, it might use sectors 150 through 160.

As time goes on and you continue to use your computer, you will continue to add files and delete files. Let’s say I transferred a dozen pictures from my camera on the computer, then decided that two of them were not worth keeping so I deleted them. The space where those deleted pictures were stored is now available, so the next time I save something on my computer it will use those empty sectors first, and if more room is needed, it will use the next available sectors.

Over time, your files are no longer stored together, instead, one file might start in sector 150, then jump to 680, and finish up in 920. When you have many files split up like this, they are fragmented. (broken up onto fragments). A fragmented computer tends to run a little slower, since your hard drive has to go to several locations just to read one file.

When you defrag your computer, the files moved around so that they are back together. This makes your hard drive a little more efficient.

Do you need to defrag your computer? In the early versions of Windows (Windows 95 or 98) you had to manually run the defrag program every few months, and it would speed up your computer. In more recent versions of Windows (I think it started with Vista) defragging is built into the operating system. Windows will automatically tidy those files up when the computer is idle.

If you have an older version of Windows and you want to know how to defrag your computer, just follow these directions:

1. Double click on the “MY Computer” icon on your desktop to open it.
2. Right-click on your hard drive, and click “Properties”.
3. Click on the “Tools” tab, and click “Defragment Now”.
4. Click on “Defragment”.

Or, check out this cool video tutorial that I found:

Elizabeth

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Thanks, Cheryl

Dear Cheryl,

It sounds like you are upgrading or installing Windows over your existing installation, which is why you are getting this error message.

What you need to do, is get rid of the partition that has your old installation of Windows, and format a new partition. That is the only way to create a truly clean install of Windows XP.

This erases your hard drive, so MAKE SURE you have all your files backed up to an external drive of some sort, then disconnect that external drive from your computer.

During your installation of Windows, when you get to the screen that shows the existing partitions on your computer, simply use the up and down arrow to highlight each partition, then follow the directions on the screen to delete that partition, usually, you press the letter D, followed by several more steps just to make sure that is what you want to do.

Once you have deleted all the partitions, you should be left with one unpartitioned space. Highlight that space, and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard to start installing Windows.

The Windows setup program will automatically create a partition and format it for you.

If you need more help getting Windows XP installed, try getting help from the PCBUILD list at www.freepctech.com Once you join the PCBUILD list there, you can ask questions and their experts will be happy to help you with your installation. You can also look through the list archives and see if anyone else has had the same problem as you.

Elizabeth

Thank you for your help. Rosalee

Deard Rosalee,

Microsoft provides WordPad with every version of Windows, however, it is a very basic word processing program without the powerful options found in programs like Microsoft Word.

Setting up your own default template is not an option that I could find in WordPad.

If you can’t afford a full featured word processing program like Word, you can always download and install OpenOffice from www.openoffice.org

OpenOffice includes a word processing program named, “Writer”, which will allow you to set up a custom default template.

Elizabeth

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Bob

Dear Bob,

It has been a few years since I have used Eudora, so I decided to take another look at the program. So far, I have been delighted with how it works. For those of you who have never heard of Eudora, it is a free, open source, email program. I used it to access my gmail and it automatically downloaded all the folders and mail that I have stored there (great way to backup online email accounts) and any changes I made to messages in Eudora, were automatically made to my online Gmai account as well.

There is a way to have Eudora handle all the email requests on your computer, in fact, Windows 7 has made it easier to do than in previous versions of Windows.

Let’s get started.

1. From your Windows 7 desktop, click on the “Start Orb” and click on “Default Programs” on the right side of the start menu.

2. In the window that opens, click on “Set your default programs”.

3. A list of programs will appear in the left half of the window. Click on “Eudora” (or whatever program you want to handle your email)

4. The right side of your window will display a short description of Eudora, below the description is a button that says, “Set this program as default”

5. Click the “OK” button at the bottom of the window to save your changes and close the window.

Elizabeth

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Debbie

Dear Debbie,

Are you referring to the volume icon that is usually located in the lower-right corner of your desktop near the time?

If you are, there is an easy way to turn it back on.

1. Right click on a blank area of the taskbar, and click on “Properties” in the context menu that appears.

2. The “Taskbar and Start Menu Properties” dialog box will open. Click on the “Customize…” button located halfway down the page.

3. A list of icons that can be displayed in the notification area will be displayed. Find the “Volume” icon.

4. Click the drop down list to the right of “Volume” and click to select, “Show icon and notifications”.

5. If you don’t see the volume icon, click the link below the list that says, “Turn system icons on or off” and click the drop down list to turn on the “Volume” icon.

6. Click all the “OK” buttons to save your changes and close the windows.

Elizabeth

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Thanks, Linda

Dear Linda,

I’m not sure if there is a quick way to type the check mark symbol, but there is a way to access it and put it into your documents. You will need to use the character map. Here is how:

1. Open your document that you need to insert the check mark into. This only works in a document where you can change the font to the “Symbol” font.

2. Click on the “Start Orb” and type the word, “character” in the search box. Character Map should be highlighted at the top of the list. If it is, press the “Enter” key on your keyboard. If it is not at the top of the list, just locate it, and click on it.

3. In the Character Map window, click the drop down list and select the font named, “Symbol”.

4. Find the check mark (in my character map, it is in the 2nd column) and double click on it to copy it. (if you are not sure that it copied, click the “Copy” button to the right of the window.

5. Now switch to your document, and paste the check mark into the text. If it doesn’t look like a check mark at first, highlight it and change it to the “Symbol” font.

As long as you don’t copy anything else, you can continue to paste the check mark into your document. If you have copied something else, just copy one of the existing check marks in the document and paste it into additional locations.

Elizabeth

PS: If typing “Character” in the search box doesn’t work for you, you can locate it by clicking on:

Start => All Programs => Accessories => System Tools => Character Map.

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