Q: In Windows Vista, I’m now seeing a small window appearing at the screen’s bottom-right corner saying, “Windows has blocked some startup programs.”

How do I get rid of this message?

A: You’re seeing yet another annoying Windows Vista feature. When you try to run some programs, Vista’s User Account Control (UAC) normally steps in, asking if you’re sure you want to run the program. (UAC is a safety mechanism that I cover in Windows Vista For Dummies.)

The message you’re now seeing means that one of your recently installed programs needs your click of approval. However, that particular program is trying to run as soon as you log onto your account. Since UAC doesn’t have time to step in, Windows simply stops the program from running, and sends you the message.

To stop the message, follow these steps: Click to read more »

Q: When I opened my Pictures folder today in Windows 7, I could no longer see thumbnails of my photos. Instead, each thumbnail showed a generic illustration of an ocean view. What on earth did I do, and how do I see thumbnails of my actual photos?

A: It sounds like you may have used one of Windows 7’s many performance-enhancing tweaks. In this case, Windows 7 sped things up by neglecting to resize any of your photos as thumbnails. Instead, Windows 7 simply slips in the generic ocean scene (shown above) as a substitute.

Luckily, you can keep the other performance tweaks Windows 7 has made, but bring back your photo thumbnails by following these steps:

1. Click the Start button and choose Control Panel.
2. Choose the “System and Security” category.
3. Click on the System icon.
4. From the System window’s left pane, click on the Advanced System Settings link. (The Systems Properties window opens to the Advanced tab.)
5. On the Advanced Tab’s “Performance” section, click on the Settings button. (It’s the top-most Settings button.)
6. In the Visual Effects tab, click to put a checkmark in the box called, “Show thumbnails instead of icons.”
7. Click the OK button.

Your thumbnails should return to normal.

Update: Jason Cole points out that you can also toggle between displaying icons and thumbnails by following these steps:

1. Open your Photos folder (or any other folder, for that matter).
2. Click the Organize button, and choose Folder and Search Options from the drop-down menu.
3. Click the View tab, and click “Always show icons, never thumbnails.”
4. Click the OK button to save your changes.

This post explains how to fix the same photo thumbnails problem in Windows Vista.

Q: Do you know any web site where I can get a free program to convert a PDF file to Microsoft Word?

A: Adobe created its Portable Document Format (PDF) system to simplify exchanging documents. When viewed with Adobe’s free Reader software, PDF documents look the same on different computers: Their formatting doesn’t change.

But in order to keep PDF files from changing, Adobe locks them down, so you can’t edit them nor translate them easily into other formats. Some Web sites will do the trick for free, though, and these Web sites can both convert PDF files to Microsoft Word files:

PDFtoWord.com

ConvertPDFtoWord.net

These sites and others like them can’t remove passwords from protected PDF files, however.

I’ve never tried either site, but you’ll find similar sites on the Internet. Be sure to use them with PDFs that don’t contain any sensitive information.

Q: I can’t send a web page through Windows Live Mail.

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. Help!

A: Windows 7 lacks an e-mail program, an inconvenience Microsoft tries to remedy by letting people download the free “Windows Live Mail” e-mail program.

But once installed, Windows Live Mail doesn’t always tell Internet Explorer that it’s now in charge of your e-mail, leading to the “grayed out” options shown in the image above.

The fix? You must whisper in Internet Explorer’s ear about your new e-mail program by following these steps: Click to read more »

Most people begin computing by poking their way through menus, picking and choosing tasks as they stumble across them.

When you’ve worked with a program for awhile, you might prefer learning a few keyboard shortcuts: quick key combinations that perform tasks faster than you can click a menu. Windows 7 offers zillions of keyboard shortcuts; some are new, some have been around since the first version of Windows.

These keyboard shortcuts all work in Windows 7’s WordPad program: Click to read more »