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PC Club: When a PC’s standby mode stops working

November 26th, 2008, 9:07 am by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers’ cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question: I have a Dell desktop with Windows XP and 512 MB of RAM. The computer runs very well except for the following issue: When the computer would go into Standby mode after sitting idle for 1 hour, it would not come out of Standby mode when I tried to  reawaken it. I changed my power settings to “Never” go into Standby mode and the problem went away. 

More recently, I installed “Magic Jack” a USB -VOIP gadget and it takes forever to load when I start the computer up in the mornings. So my thinking is that I should put the computer into Standby or Hibernate mode to avoid the lengthy startup. To test if I still had the stalling problem coming out of Standby, I attempted to put the computer into Standby and/or Hibernate mode, but the computer did not respond at
all. Now the problem is I cannot put the computer into Standby or Hibernate mode. Is there a fix that will get the Standby mode or Hibernate mode to work properly again without stalling? ~ Dominick Clemente

PC Club: You have two or more related problems and Magic Jack is the first one.

I started using the Magic Jack VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) a few months ago. It is similar to Vonage and Skype and I like it. My unit cost $50.12 delivered and provides unlimited long distance phone calls for a year.

However, when the Magic Jack is plugged in, its software blocks the Standby function and the Hibernate mode because the Magic Jack unit wouldn’t work if the computer was allowed to go into Standby or Hibernate mode. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Stump the PC Club • • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

PC Club: Adding a shortcut key to a keyboard

November 18th, 2008, 2:26 pm by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question: I have a media keyboard at home and find it easy to press one button to open up Internet Explorer. However, I want to do this at work and the keyboard doesn’t have the same button. I googled to find a keyboard shortcut, but only found every other conceivable shortcut. but not the one I need. Can you help me?  ~ Jimmy Wong

PC Club: It is not quite as slick as pressing one key, but if you can deal with using a three key shortcut, I have an answer for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Stump the PC Club • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

PC Club: How to change the default file view in MS Word

November 12th, 2008, 6:47 pm by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question: I’ve got a question for you.  I’m running MS Windows XP Professional with the latest service packs. Whenever I try to open a file on my computer (in MS Word, Adobe Acrobat, or just about anything else), I get an “Open File” dialog box which by default ”Lists” my files.  In order to drill down to the file I am looking for, I then have to click on the “View Menu” and change from “List” to “Details” in order to find my most recent saved items. Is there a way to change the default on this dialog box to always open in the “Details” mode? ~ Greg Beck

PC Club: I was happy to read your question Greg.  I have had the same irritation for a long time and it gave me the incentive to look for an answer.  It turns out that it can be done, but not as simply as changing some obscure parameter.  

The fact that not all programs use the standard Win XP open window complicates the issue.  Microsoft Word and Excel (and some other programs) use their own “Open” window.  

I found two programs that address this issue.  Both of them download as compressed files in the ZIP format, which requires that you know or learn how to deal with ZIP files. Read the rest of this entry »

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Old Windows PC won’t shut down

October 20th, 2008, 3:26 pm by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question: know it’s a dinosaur, but I prefer the Windows 98SE on my desktop computer to my laptop that has XP.  The problem with 98SE is that it doesn’t want to shut down. This has been going on for the last 10 months or so. The three finger salute doesn’t always work and I end up having to turn it off with the Power button. Also, it won’t defrag. … I have a recovery disc, but nothing that will repair Windows. I know…I know…..my desktop is almost 10 years old and I should replace it. But that “helpful” little dog in XP is annoying and what I’ve heard about Vista is just plain scary! And all my important stuff is on 98SE. Is there any hope? ~ Sandy

PC Club: Windows 98 SE was known to have a number of shutdown problems. So many that Microsoft issued the Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement that is available HERE. You might also consider “UNOFFICIAL Windows98 SE Service Pack 2.1a” available HERE. That contains a number of recommended Win 98 SE updates. Standard caveat, backup your computer first!

On most Win 98 SE computers, you have to start Windows in the safe mode and then run the built-in defrag program before it will successfully finish defragging your hard disk. Otherwise, one of the background tasks interrupts the defrag program and writes something to the hard disk which forces the defrag program to start over. After ten restarts, it just gives up. You can read about starting in safe mode here. 

~ Jim Sanders, President, NOCCC

Posted in: news • Stump the PC Club • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

WordPerfect botching image import? Check the file size

October 14th, 2008, 3:20 pm by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question:  I have recently purchased a Dell 630i desktop with XP Professional Operating System. My previous system was a Dell Dimension 4550 desktop with XP Home. WordPerfect Office 12 is the word processing program I use.

My problem is that when I import jpg images into WordPerfect graphics boxes on the new computer only one half the image is visible, while the other is black. I had no such problem with my previous system. Can you tell me how to correct this problem? I would really appreciate your advice or input. I have enjoyed  reading your column and have gotten many a great nugget of advice from you. Thank you for any help you can give. ~ Bob Redman “Robert Redman”

PC Club: Although you say you are trying to import jpg images, I suspect that in fact you are trying to ‘Copy and Paste’ a jpg image that is too large into your document.

An 8-megapixel camera generates an image that is 3264 x 2448 pixels and at the default resolution of 72 DPI, WordPerfect thinks it is 45 inches wide. WordPerfect allows up to 27-inches. Read the rest of this entry »

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Stump: How to send a large calendar by e-mail

September 2nd, 2008, 5:54 am by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question: I use the calendar template in Microsoft Word and send it out as an e-mail attachment to a lot of people. It is a fairly large file and not easy to read. Is there a better way to create a calendar attachment that would be small and easy to read?

NOCCC: As you use the Microsoft Word program, you can download and use any one of a large number of the Microsoft Word calendar templates from this URL: tinyurl.com/3eydbj.

You should save the original template file and work on a copy. With the file open in Word, go to the month you wish to use, click on the first day and start entering your schedule. When finished, save the file.

The next step is to create a Portable Document Format document, also known as a PDF file. The Adobe Company invented the format. Their Acrobat 9 is the premier version of this type of software, and the one I normally use. But it’s also the most expensive.

There are several less expensive tools that will do what you need. The $50 Solid PDF Creator Plus from soliddocuments.com let’s you “print” from Word to a PDF file. DrawLoop, at drawloop.com, lets you upload your Word document and save it as a PDF – for free. There is a good list of other options at tinyurl.com/yrsllb.

Choose, download and install one of the conversion tools. Then save your Word file as a PDF document.

The PDF should be considerably smaller, and anyone who has the free Adobe Reader program will be able to read it. Adobe Reader can zoom in on the calendar, making the text large and easy to read. – Jim Sanders, President, NOCCC

Coming this Sunday, Sept. 7: The PC club hosts its monthly meeting at 2 p.m. at Irvine Hall at Chapman University. Guest speaker Don Baker of Klassic Specialties will talk about ink jet printers, their inks and papers. For more information, e-mail president@noccc.org. Details are at noccc.org.

Have your own quandary? E-mail gadgetress@ocregister.com and put “Help ME!” in the subject line. Please include your computer’s operating system and amount of memory. Visit the archive at ocregister.com/gadgetress/stump.

Image from DrawLoop 

Posted in: news • Stump the PC Club • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Stump the PC Club: Remove .NET update annoyance

August 19th, 2008, 12:26 pm by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get answers delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update.

Question: Every day, and several times per day, I’m prompted to install an update on my PC. Each time I do, the prompt appears less than a minute later, as if the update never occurred. This is what appears on my screen when I authorize the install:

Installing Security Update Microsoft .NET Framework, Version 1.1, Service Pack 1 (KB928366)
This is a real annoyance. Especially when I shut down at night and have to “Click Here Without Installing Updates.” When I review my Add/Remove Program, the following are listed:

  1. Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
  2. Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB886905)
  3. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1

NOCCC: Not that it is much consolation, but quite a few people have experienced the problem that you are having. A number of internet posts think that Microsoft caused the problem. There may be some truth to that as Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article (found at support.microsoft.com/kb/923100) that outlines the steps you need to go through to resolve the problem. In that article they state that if are having trouble using the article to solve the problem, no-charge phone help is available from Microsoft at 1-866-PCSAFETY.

There are a number of fairly involved steps to follow in the article. If, after reading the instructions, you feel uncomfortable trying something that complex, either call first or get outside help. It is always a great idea to make a complete image backup of your computer before starting a procedure like this. I use Acronis True Image 11 when making a service call for this type of problem. ~ Jim Sanders, NOCCC president

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How to print a partial sheet of address labels in Word

June 3rd, 2008, 3:57 pm by

North Orange County Computer Club Q&AThe North Orange County Computer Club helps me tackle the multitude of cries for help from readers. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s Web site at noccc.org.

QUESTION: I greatly enjoyed and appreciated the article you wrote on creating mailing labels with Word 2003. I want to use this for a few customers I constantly write to. However, I cannot figure out how to pick up on a partially used sheet of labels. Is there a way to have the labels start printing in another spot besides top left corner?

NOCCC: Yes, there is a way to have the labels start printing in another spot besides the top left corner using Microsoft Word 2003. Using this procedure, you can print one or more labels anywhere on a page of labels.

Read the rest of this entry »

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