Q: We had a death in the family, and I inherited a Dell Vostro PC with Windows XP Professional Version 2002 Service Pack 2. Unfortunately, I cannot get into any of the administrator properties under User Accounts because I do not know the previous owner’s passwords.  Is there some way I can reset the computer back […]

Q: Please help me, as the split screen in Windows is driving me nuts. Somehow I triggered a magnifier, which now comes up at the top, splitting my screen. The movement in this half screen drives me nuts. How can I turn it off? A: Windows 7 and Windows Vista’s Magnifier, seen below, places a […]

Q: I’m stumped…I have Windows XP Home Service Pack 1 installed on my computer, yet I can’t seem to send or receive instant messages. Whenever I try to sign on to Windows Messenger I receive this message: Signing in to .NET Messenger Service failed because the Service is not compatible with the version of the […]

Q: I write in Spanish in my computer, so I installed the Language Bar from Vista’s Control Panel. The Language Bar let me switch easily from English to Spanish keyboard layouts. Two days ago, the icons Language Bar’s “ES” and “EN” buttons vanished from my Taskbar. How do I put them back? A: Since you’ve […]

The differences between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, and how they affect your software and hardware.