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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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, Mike

Dear Mike,

I think it is a great idea to back up your files and do a clean install of Windows. HP makes this fairly easy to do, especially if you created the recovery disks when the computer was new.

Saving your favorites is easy, and saving the email is not much harder. Lets start with the favorites.

1. Insert your flash drive into a USB port, and click on “Open folder to view files” in the menu that appears.

2. Click on Start, then click on your username at the top of the right column in the start menu.

3. Arrange the two folders so that you can see both of them at the same time.

4. Drag the “Favorites” folder from your user folder, to the flash drive folder.

Once you have reformated the computer, just repeat the steps above, only drag the favorites folder from the flash drive to your user folder.

Now for the Live Mail messages.

1. Again, insert the flash drive into a USB port and click “Open Folder to View Files” in the menu that appears. Drag that window to one side of your desktop.

2. To figure out where Windows Live Mail stores the messages, open the program, and click on the tab to the left of the “Home” tab.

3. Point to “Options” in the drop down menu, then click on “Mail” in the sub menu.

4. Click on the “Advanced” tab in the Options window, then click on the “Maintenance…” button, and finally the “Store Folder…” button.

5. Highlight and copy the location of your mail files in the “Store Location” dialog box, and click the “Cancel” button to close the window. Close all of the Windows Live Mail windows.

6. Click on the “start” button and paste the location in the search box and tap the “enter” key. A window will open with all your mail files.

7. Drag the mail files and folders into the flash drive window.

Elizabeth

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Is there a way to set this preference? Amy

Dear Amy,

Yes, there is a way to set the default view to “Details” or any of the other viewing options. Here is how to do that in Windows 7.

1. Open any folder on your computer, and make sure the view is set the way you want it. In this case, we are using “Details”, which is my favorite view as well.

2. Click on the “Organize” tab in the command bar, and click on “Folder and Search Options” in the drop down menu.

3. Click on the “View” tab in the folder options dialog box.

4. Click on the “Apply to Folders” button in the “Folder views” section.

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

The same directions should work for Windows Vista.
Windows XP is similar, just click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click on “Folder Options”.

Elizabeth

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Pete

Dear Pete,

I am glad to hear that you have been backing up the files! So many people mean to backup, but never get around to it.

You will have to reinstall all her programs. The only way a backup would save you from having to reinstall programs would be if it was a full hard drive image, and you were putting the image back on the exact same computer.

Since you are transferring her files to a new computer, you will need to install the programs. While most of your programs should work in the new Windows 7 computer, some of them might need an upgraded version, and if your printer is as old as the XP computer, you might have to get yourself a new printer.

Once you have installed your programs, just access your backup files (you didn’t mention what kind of backup it is, so I can’t tell you how to access them) and copy the documents, pictures, music and other data folders to the new computer.

Elizabeth

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Thank you for your reply, Tony

Dear Tony,

I do recommend installing the Windows 7 service pack. Here is why.

All Windows service packs are just collections of updates that have been released over time. Since the updates have been available, they are already known to be stable. You want to make sure you have all the updates because many of them were released to make your computer more secure. If you missed an update or two along the way, you might be vulnerable to malware.

Before you do the update, be sure to create a restore point. That way, if your computer has any problems, you can restore it to the time just before the update.

Elizabeth

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How can I do this? Thank you, Glee

Dear Glee,

Windows 7 introduced the concept of libraries for file management, but it can be confusing to get used to.

The thing that you need to understand is that a library is not a folder. It is more like a set of search results.

My guess is that your desktop is included in your pictures library. All you have to do is remove the desktop folder from your pictures library. Here is how:

1. Click on “Start” and then click on “Pictures”.

2. In the Pictures Library window, it will say how many locations are included. Click on the blue word “Locations”.

3. A smaller dialog box will open showing you the different folders that are included in your pictures library. Click on your desktop folder, then click on the “Remove” button on the right.

4. Click the “OK” button to save your changes and close the window.

Elizabeth

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