Q: On Internet Explorer 8’s Page menu, the “Send Page by E-mail” and “Send Link by E-mail” options are both “grayed out,” and I can’t choose them. I normally log onto a Web site to send and receive my e-mail.

A: Windows 7 lacks an e-mail program, which causes more than a few problems. Microsoft expects people to download and install its free Windows Live Maile-mail program. Or, you can download competing free e-mail programs like Thunderbird, and install them to handle your e-mail chores.

But if you’re using a Web-based e-mail service, like the ones provided by many Internet Service Providers like AT&T, you’re left in the lurch: Internet Explorer doesn’t consider them to be e-mail programs, so it won’t let you send pages and links using its menu.

So, since those menu options are grayed out, you’re stuck with these convoluted steps:

1. Highlight the link you want to send from within Internet Explorer’s Address bar.
2. Right-click the highlighted link and choose Copy.
3. Log on to your e-mail service and create a new e-mail.
4. Right-click inside your blank e-mail and choose Paste.

The link will appear in your e-mail window, ready for you to send to a friend.

The grayed-out links begin working once you install an e-mail program like Windows Live Mail, but you still might have to make a few extra tweaks.

Q: I keep my song files in a single folder, listed in alphabetical order. I play them with Media Player 11, which came with Windows 7.

Some music files have the same title, but performed by different artists. To avoid duplicate file names, I added the name of the artist or group in parentheses, like In the Mood (Glen Miller) and In the Mood (Andrews Sisters) so I can tell the songs apart.

But the next day, the file names reverted to their old names.

How can I stop this from happening?

A: Media Player is the culprit here, and here’s why: Whenever you run Media Player, it automatically lists all of your songs in its Library, which lists each song’s title and artist name. Then, Media Player begins fiddling with your files, grabbing information from the Internet to make sure the songs’ include the right artist names and titles.

In your case, however, Media Player’s housekeeping is actually destroying all the time you spent arranging and naming your songs: One of Media Player’s tasks can include renaming your songs’ file names.

To fix the problem, you need to dive into Media Player’s settings by following these steps: Click to read more »

Q: I want to mirror my hard drive on an external hard drive. On page 237 of Windows 7 For Dummies, your book says “the  [Backup and Restore] program also creates a system image – an exact copy of the drive Windows 7 lives on.” Is this what I want?

A: Windows 7’s Backup and Restore program offers several options, including one to “Create a System Image.”

System Image

Meant for foolproof backups, a System Image creates an exact copy of your entire Windows 7 hard drive and packs it into one large file, which you can store on a second hard drive. (A portable hard drive works very well for this and other tasks.)

A System Image provides a perfect backup for most people, as it contains everything on their C drive: Windows 7, all your installed programs, and all the files created with those programs. Plus, it contains all your program settings. If your hard drive dies, you can install your System Image on your new hard drive, and be back up to speed quickly and easily.

So, how does a System Image differ from the Backup and Restore program’s regular backup? Click to read more »

Q: I have a real dummy question. If I press Ctrl+S, how do I retrieve the material that I saved?

A: Holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the letter “s” is one of many Windows shortcut keys. Shortcut keys are time savers, letting you keep your fingers on the keyboard while working, rather than knocking over the coffee while reaching for the mouse.

Pressing Ctrl+S means to “save your current document,” but Ctrl+S does slightly different things depending on what you’re currently doing: Click to read more »

Q: Every time my children download and install a program, that program’s icon appears on my desktop, as well as their own desktop. Their icons appear my Start menu, too. How can I prevent this from happening?

A: Your kids are probably installing programs that automatically install themselves for all account holders of the PC to use.

Many programs do this for a natural reason: The programmers want every account holder to be able to use their programs. Otherwise, every account holder would have to install their own copy of the program.

However, the more polite programs offer an installation option that asks, “Install a copy for every user of this computer?” Tell your children they should choose No when they see that option. That keeps the icons on their own desktops and Start menus, and leaves them off of yours. But if a program doesn’t offer that option, you’re stuck with seeing all those unwanted program icons proliferating on your desktop.

That said, seeing those icons provides you with a handy way to keep track of the programs your children are installing onto the family computer. The downside is you’ll have to keep deleting their icon clutter manually.