Sincerely, Jeanene

Dear Jeanene,

I can tell how to put “My Computer” on the Start Menu in XP, but I am not sure I can answer your question about where the files actually live. The “My Computer” icon is not a shortcut, but a windows system icon.
In Windows XP, you can have the “My Computer” Icon show up on your “Start” menu this way:

1. Right click on the “Start” button and click on “Properties” from the menu that appears. This will bring up the “Start Menu Properties” window.

2. Make sure the top “Start Menu” is selected, not the “Classic Start Menu” option, and click the “Customize…” button. This will bring you to the “Customize Start Menu” window.

3. Click on the “Advanced” tab and look for the list of Start Menu Items. When you scroll down the list, you will see “My Computer” with several options beneath it. Click on “Display as a link” to select it, and click “OK” twice to save your settings.

If you want the “My Computer” icon on your desktop too, follow these directions:

1. Right click on a blank spot on your desktop and click “Properties”.

2. In the “Display Properties” window, click the “Desktop” tab and then click the button near the bottom that says “Customize Desktop”.

3. Click on the “General” tab and in the top section where it says “Desktop Icons” place a check mark in front of “My Computer”. Click “OK” twice to save your settings.

Elizabeth

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Elizabeth Boston is a Web designer, Social Media Consultant and managing editor of, “Ask The Computer Lady”.
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Dear Elizabeth,

William

Dear William,

Now that my questions and answers are available online at www.askthecomputerlady.com/questions I have not been producing the CDs.

Now for your other question:

It is possible to install Windows 7 on a computer that is currently running XP. If you do it correctly, you will have the choice when you first start the computer to boot into either the old version of Windows (xp) or the new version.

Before you get started though, you need to find out if the hardware on your XP computer is powerful enough to support Windows 7. Microsoft has a list of minimum requirements at:

http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements

Remember that these are minimum requirements. I would make sure that the computer has more than the minimum if you want it to run well.

Elizabeth

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Elizabeth Boston is a Web designer, Social Media Consultant and managing editor of, “Ask The Computer Lady”.
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Dear Computer Lady,

Thank you so much, I enjoy getting your emails very much.
Shirley

Dear Shirley,

Doing a clean install of Windows XP, (or any other version of Windows for that matter) is an excellent way to speed up an older computer, however it does require that you erase your computer in the process so saving your important files is necessary.

Fortunately, it is fairly easy to find and save your favorites.

Before we begin, I just want to specify, since you used the word, “Favorites” instead of “Bookmarks” I am assuming that you are using Internet Explorer as your web browser. Most other browsers refer to them as bookmarks, but IE calls them “Favorites”.

First, you need a device to save your favorites to. I would suggest a USB data stick, which can be purchased fairly inexpensively at your local office supply store.

Insert the USB stick into an available USB port on your computer. A small dialog box should pop up asking you what you want to do with the device, just click on “Open folder to view files”.

If the dialog box doesn’t pop up, just double click on “My Computer” on your desktop, then double click on the USB drive to open a window for it.

Now, you need to find your “Favorites” folder. Keep the USB drive window open, but move it to one side of your desktop.

Double click on “My Compter” again, then double click on your “C” drive, and double click to open the “Documents & Settings” folder.

In the Documents & Settings folder, you will see a list of users. Double click on the user name that is yours and you will see a list of folders.

Arrange the two open windows (Your USB window, and your User window) so that they are side by side on your desktop, then drag your “Favorites” folder from the user window to the USB window. Your computer will make a copy of the “Favorites” folder on the USB stick.

Before you close the windows, you can also drag your “Documents” folder, or any other folders that you might want to save as well.

Now, close both windows, and remove the data stick.

Once you have reloaded Windows on your computer, insert the data stick and repeat the steps above, only this time, drag the “Favorites” folder from the stick to your User Folder.

Elizabeth

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Elizabeth Boston is a Web designer, Social Media Consultant and managing editor of, “Ask The Computer Lady”.
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Edna

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Operating System: Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Windows XP

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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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

HOW DO I RUN THIS?  THANK YOU, Dpaul

Dear Dpaul,

I can give you directions for running scandisk, but before I do, I want to warn you. On an older computer (or any computer for that matter) that is prompting you to run a disk scan, it is an indication that there are problems with your hard drive.

Since the hard drive is where all your information (documents, pictures, music, etc…) is stored, you need to make sure you have your information backed up! Even before you scan your hard drive, you should back up. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing all information on the drive.

Now, for directions on running the scan in Windows XP:

1. Double click on “My Computer” on the desktop.

2. Right click on your hard drive icon in the “My Computer” window.

3. Click “Properties” in the context menu that appears.

4. Click on “Tools”.

5. Under “Error Checking” click “Check Now” then click “Start”.

Your computer will probably need to restart and run the check before it goes back into windows. It will prompt you for this with a small dialog box. Just click “Yes” and then restart your computer.

I hope the scan finds and is able to fix any problems you are having with your disk.

Elizabeth

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Thank you, Robert

Dear Robert,

I have seen this problem a few times on a couple of computers, and both times the only fix was to do a clean install of Windows.

This is not a setting that you can change, but most likely a symptom of software rot. Let me explain what that is. When your computer was new, it had a fresh installation of Windows, and it ran the way it was supposed to. Over time, you have used the computer, made changes to it, and started it up then shut it down hundreds of times. Occasionally, small mistakes are bound to happen. Over time, these mistakes build up, and cause your computer to either slow down, or sometimes features will stop working completely. Many computer techs refer to this as, software rot.

Software rot can only be fixed by doing a clean install of Windows. You need to reformat (erase) the hard drive and then install Windows and all your programs. Your HP computer either has a set of recovery disks, or a special recovery program on the hard drive that will erase the hard drive and put the computer back in the same condition it was in when you first bought it. Then all you need to do is install all the windows updates, set your email back up, and restore the files that you backed up. This is a service that I frequently do for my customers.

Elizabeth

Betty

Dear Betty,

Here is what I would do if it was my computer.

I would back up all my data and important files like pictures, music, address book and documents.

I would then erase the hard drive and install Windows XP on the now clean, hard drive.

Then, I would install the antivirus of my choice (I prefer AVG over Norton) before I put back the files that I backed up.

I know that not everyone knows how to backup, format and re-install an operating system, and that it costs money to have a computer shop do it for you, but this really is the only way to get your computer functioning at its best.

Is there a way to remove Panda from your computer if you can’t do it from “Add or Remove” in the Control Panel? Yes, there is, but it involves deleting files manually from your hard drive, and removing entries from your registry. This is a time consuming job, and a dangerous one. (not dangerous to you, just your computer  ) If you remove the wrong registry entry, or delete the wrong files, your computer will not be able to boot into Windows and you would end up having to do that re-install of Windows I mentioned earlier.

Hopefully, you are comfortable doing a clean install of Windows, if not, make a list of the files that you would need backed up, and call your local computer repair shop for an estimate. Compare that estimate to the cost of purchasing a new computer before you decide to go ahead. You might be surprised at how prices have changed since 2005.

I even found a coupon for you from HP:

Stackable $50 off coupon for the purchase of a customized HP Pavilion Notebook or Desktop configured at $1,000+. Use code: NBDT50C115!

Elizabeth

Kay

__–__

Dear Kay,

No, you should not remove service pack 2. According to Microsoft, you need to have the 2nd service pack installed in order to install the 3rd service pack. This way, they didn’t have to include everything that was in SP2 all over again in SP3.

I am glad to see that you are installing your windows updates and service packs. They are important to keeping your computer running securely.

Elizabeth

I think I accidently deleted my recycle bin from the desktop!!!

I was trying to delete the items in the bin, however, I must have clicked on “Delete the Recycle Bin”. It did ask me if I wanted to delete and of course I wasn’t paying attention and hit “OK”.

Where do you think It went? Can I retrieve it?

I have looked thru all the programs and can’t find it to restore!!!

I tried to delete a picture from the picture gallery and it went somewhere???

Do you have any suggestions on how to find or retrieve my Recycle Bin? I am using a media laptop computer.

Elderly lady in New York State, Gerry

Dear Gerry,

After reading your question, I tried to delete my recycle bin, but was not able to.

As long as your computer is working correctly, I can show you how to put the Recycle Bin icon back on your desktop.

If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, follow these directions:

1. Right click on a blank spot on your desktop, and then click on “Personalize”

2. On the left side of the window, click on “Change Desktop Icons”.

3. In the dialog box that appears, click in the small box in front of “Recycle bin” to place a check mark in the box.

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

If you are using Windows XP, follow these directions:

1. Click on the “Start” button, point to “All Programs” point to “Accessories” and then click on “Windows Explorer”.

2. In the Windows Explorer window, find the “Recycle Bin” in the left hand column.

3. Make sure your window is not maximized so that you can also see part of your desktop.

4. With your mouse, drag the “Recycle Bin” from the window to your desktop.

5. This will create a shortcut to your recycle bin on your desktop.

Elizabeth