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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]