Q: On page 79 of Windows 7 For Dummies, you say you can add “as many folders to a library as you want.”

But Windows 7’s Help and Support files Libraries FAQ says you can only add “up to 50 folders.” Which is it?

A: The answer is a little tricky. Yes, you can add as many folders to a library as you want.

For example, you can dump hundreds of album folders into your Music Library’s My Music folder. You can dump hundreds of album folders into the Music Library’s Public Music folder, as well.

However, a library can only have 50 parent folders. What’s a parent folder? It’s a top-level folder. For example, the Music Library currently has two parent folders: The My Music folder and Public Music folder are top-level folders, or parents. That leaves room for 48 more parent folders.

So, if you store all of your music in either your library’s My Music or Public Music folders, you’ll never bump into the Music library’s 50-folder limit. You can even add up to 48 other parent folders, adding a “Music I Hate” folder to live next to the My Music and Public Music folders.

But you’re best served by storing all of your music in either your My Music or Public Music folders, as that makes for the simplest sharing on your home network.

Q: I am having trouble with WordPad in Windows 7.

It’s set up to give me two lines between sentences. How can I change it to give me one line between sentences?

A: With Windows 7, Microsoft changed the menus in both Paint and WordPad. Instead of the familiar pull-down menus along the program’s top, the programs now sport a large button-filled bar known as a “ribbon menu.” Some people love the new menus, others hate them. But love ’em or hate ’em, they require some figuring out before you can get some work done. Click to read more »

Q: I can’t find the tabs along the bottom of my Microsoft Works spreadsheet for switching between different spreadsheets. How do I turn them on?

A: It sounds like you’re confusing Microsoft Works’ spreadsheet with its more powerful cousin, Microsoft Excel. Although both spreadsheets look similar on the surface, Microsoft Works’ spreadsheet has a major limitation: It can only work on one spreadsheet at a time.

Excel, by contrast, lets you work on several spreadsheets simultaneously, switching between them by clicking the little tabs in the window’s bottom left corner (shown in the image above).

Microsoft hopes that difference is enough to make people buy the more expensive and feature-packed Excel. However, you might download the free OpenOffice program, to see if its spreadsheet meets your needs. That spreadsheet, called Calc, offers tabs for switching between several spreadsheets.

Q: The economy has finally caused the collapse of my company of 25 years. And at age 72, it’s difficult to find an employer willing to hire me.

The only alternative I have is to retrain into a new career that has parallels to my old company.

Do you have any recommendations or suggestions for online courses for CompTIA  A+ certification? With this certification, an opportunity is sure to be forthcoming; even if it’s opening the doors again as a computer service.

My current unemployment plus my lack of the skills in today’s computer areas are a really difficult combination to overcome.

A: Since I specialize in writing beginning computer books, I don’t know anything about online courses for CompTIA A+ certification.

However, I know that many people skip the expensive online courses and buy study guides, like the CompTIA A+ Complete Certification Kit (Exams 220-701 and 220-702) from Amazon.

Certification study guides aren’t cheap, and I’ve never read that particular book, but the reviews look solid. It contains both a sample exam and study guides to help people pass the real exam.

You might drop by your local bookstore to check out some of the competing books, as well. Your local library might have some of the books to compare, as well.

Any other suggestions out there, readers?

Q: I accidentally turned on Windows’ “text-to-speech” software, and I can’t find out how to turn off that annoying voice.

A: Windows Narrator, a text-to-voice translation program, gives the vision-impaired a chance at using a PC. Narrator dutifully reads Windows’ menus and text, but in an irritating, robotic voice.

Unfortunately, it’s too easy to turn on accidentally, and Microsoft hid the kill switch: Every time you turn on your PC, Windows Narrator begins reading menus, keystrokes, and other onscreen text.

If you’ve accidentally turned on Windows Narrator, follow these steps to put a sock in its mouth: Click to read more »