News From the Help Desk
Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing.
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Each month, we receive numerous technical support calls and email messages. Some computer problems are fairly common, and we find that many callers struggle to resolve the same issues. In this article, we cover some of the most common or timely tech support questions and provide our solution for each of them.
Q. I recently turned on my computer to find that all of the icons on my Desktop had changed position. Previously, I could drag an icon to a specific location on the Desktop, and it would stick, but now the icons are automatically organized in alphabetical order. How can I rearrange my icons?
A. If your icons have moved, it's likely because the Arrange Icons By option was accidentally changed. To rearrange your icons, right-click any free space on the Desktop and mouse over Arrange Icons By (labeled Sort By in Windows Vista and Windows 7). You will see several options, including Name, Size, Type, and Modified (or Date Modified). Selecting the Name option will place your icons in alphabetical order, while Size will arrange them by the size of each associated file or shortcut. Choosing Type will order your icons by file type. The Modified option arranges your icons in the order that they were last changed or modified.
Other selections in the Arrange Icons By options include AutoArrange, which automatically places all of your icons in lines along the left side of your screen. Unchecking this option is what allows you to position your icons anywhere on the Desktop that you choose. Align To Grid places your icons in line with an invisible grid on your Desktop, so each icon is aligned with the others. And Show Desktop Icons gives you the option to hide all of the icons on the Desktop so they are not visible. In Vista and Win7, these options are available by right-clicking the Desktop and choosing View.
Q. Whenever I attempt to open a Microsoft Word attachment from an email in Microsoft Outlook, the file opens with the Notepad application. How can I configure Outlook to automatically view Word documents with Microsoft Word?
Using the Open With option, you can choose which application you want specific types of files to open with.
A. If Word documents are opening with Notepad, it is likely because at some point you accidentally changed the Word file association.
To fix this, you must tell Windows which program to use to open a specific type of file (in this case, a Word file). First, locate a .DOC or .DOCX file on your hard drive. Right-click the file, mouse over Open With, and select Choose Program (Choose Default Program in Vista and in Win7). Select Microsoft Office Word from the list of programs. Before clicking OK, checkmark the Always Use The Selected Program To Open This Kind Of File box.
Q. I've learned that when my computer freezes, I can simultaneously press the CTRL, ALT, and DELETE keys to open the Task Manager. From there, I can close programs that are slowing down my computer. But sometimes, when I attempt this method, the programs don't close. Why isn't the End Task option in the Task Manager working?
A. Sometimes our computers get bogged down if we ask them to do too much at once. It could be opening a single application that demands a lot from your system's memory, or simply attempting to run too many applications at once.
Using the Task Manager to close troublesome programs or tasks can typically get your computer back on track, but sometimes even ending a task won't treat a computer freeze. Before you perform a cold shutdown to reset your computer, try the following suggestion.
Instead of clicking End Task when you select a problematic program from the Applications list, right-click the program and click Go To Process. The Processes tab will automatically open, and the process associated with the program will be highlighted. With an application's process selected, you can click End Process to ensure that the entire program has been closed. With luck, your computer will unfreeze and you can avoid shutting your computer down.
Q. Recently, I attempted to send a large email containing several pictures using my Microsoft Outlook email account. The message was apparently too big to send but is still in my Outbox. Each time I attempt to close Outlook, I receive a message telling me there is an unsent message in the Outbox and asking if I'd like to exit anyway. I have tried to resend, delete, or move the message, but I can't seem to eliminate it. Because of this, I've noticed a performance decrease with Outlook. How do I get rid of this message?
A. Many email programs or services have limits on the size of the messages you can send. For example, Gmail users can send and receive messages up to 25MB in size, while the limit on Windows Live Hotmail accounts is 10MB. When you start attaching pictures to your message, that limit is used up quickly. If you try to send a message that's too large, the message will likely hang on an attempt to complete the delivery. Even if your email service allows you to send larger messages, your recipient's service may not allow them to receive them, causing the same issue.
If this occurs in Microsoft Outlook, it can be difficult to remove the message from the Outbox, as it is still attempting to send. If resending, deleting, or moving the message to another folder doesn't allow you to eliminate the message, try putting Outlook in the offline mode by going to File and choosing Work Offline. This should stop Outlook from attempting to send any messages. Once you're offline, you can move the message to the Drafts folder where you can open the message and remove excess attachments to make the message smaller, or you can delete the message by right-clicking it and choosing Delete. In some cases, you may have to restart Outlook after selecting Work Offline to fully correct the problem. Once the message has been moved or deleted, remember to deselect Work Offline to return to the online mode.
DeskPins allows you to keep the windows you use most visible by always placing them on top of other windows.
Q. I frequently run multiple applications and have several windows open at the same time but often lose track of the main application I'm using. Is there a way to make one window always appear on top of the other windows that are open?
A. Other than using the Taskbar to select which window to view, Windows doesn't have an option for keeping a specific window in the foreground at all times. But other options exist. A program called DeskPins gives you a simple way to place one window in front of other open windows, making it easy to return to the application you use most.
To download DeskPins, point your browser to tinyurl.com/ykfjxkf, and choose DeskPins from the list. On the next page, click Download DeskPins, found on the right, and save the zipped file to your hard drive. Once the download is complete, locate the file and double-click it to unzip the file. In the WinZip window, choose DeskPins 1.30 setup.exe to begin the installation.
Pinning a window is simple. Click the DeskPins icon on the lower-right side of the Taskbar and then click the window you want to appear on top. Pinned windows or applications will have a colored pin in the upper right of the window. You can change the color of your pins by right-clicking the DeskPins icon, choosing Options, and then selecting a color from the Pin Icon section beneath the Pins tab. You can remove a pin by clicking the X that appears when you mouse over any pin in a window.
