When viewing a folder in Windows Vista, Explorer and My Computer have the habit of displaying the breadcrumb path to the folders in the address bar (e.g. > Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files >) instead of the file system path (i.e. C:Program Files). This can be irritating, especially if you need to copy the file system path of a folder. However, you can get Windows Vista to display the file system path instead of the breadcrumbs. Click either the empty white space at the end of the breadcrumb text or alternatively, the folder icon just before the breadcrumb text and the breadcrumb will be converted into the file system path. Once you have finished, press the ESC key and the text will be converted back into the breadcrumbs. (more…)

When attempting to run Windows Update a message appears saying ‘Files required to use Microsoft updates are no longer registered or installed on your computer’. Clicking the ‘Install Now’ button to install the necessary files just causes the same message to appear again - it is almost like an endless loop! In the past I have been able to download updates alright, so this just seems like a recent phenomenon. The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

The colours on my monitor have taken on a life of their own. Things will be normal, and then the colours will change resulting in a bilious green/blue hue to all screens and images. I have sent you a print screen of the Windows desktop, so you can see the problem. Changing various Display settings in the Control Panel has not resolved the issue. How can this problem be resolved? (more…)

Recently Windows XP was installed on my computer with a new Epson printer (that has the ability to read memory cards, such as CompactFlash and SecureDigital cards). Now, when shutting down the computer a message appears saying ‘CardReaderLookup’ is trying to close. How can I stop this message from appearing, as it is interrupting the shutdown process of the computer? (more…)

By default, Microsoft Office 2007 saves files in a new XML-based file format and you may have noticed such files have new file extensions such as .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. Since these are new file formats, they cannot be opened by previous versions of Office. However, there is a solution! Microsoft has released the ‘Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats’. This add-on will allow Office 2000/2002/2003 users to open the new file formats in their older versions of Office. To download the compatibility pack, visit www.microsoft.com/downloads . (more…)