When viewing a folder using My Computer or Windows Explorer there are multiple views in which you can display the folder contents, such as thumbnail, tiles, icons, list and details. I like to display all folders in ‘details’ format, as this provides a neat and concise display of the contents of a folder. However, when setting a view to a folder, the view is only applied to that specific folder. While this is a neat feature, so you can set different views for different folders, you may wish to make the same view display apply across all folders. Fortunately, this goal is easy to accomplish. Open any folder and set the display to the view of your liking. Then, go to the ‘Tools’ menu > ‘Folder Options’. In the window that appears, select the ‘View’ tab and click the button ‘Apply to All Folders’. Click OK, and now that folder view should be applied across all folders. (more…)

On random occasions the following error appears: ’svchost.exe - Application Error. The instruction at ‘0×745f2780′ referenced memory ‘0×00000000′. The memory could not be read. Click OK to terminate the program. Click CANCEL to debug the program’. Clicking OK closes the program, and clicking Cancel sometimes removes the message, but not always. There is no apparent rhyme or reason for this message appearing, and it can come up when using Word, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, etc. The computer is running Windows XP with Office 2003. (more…)

On my Dell Inspiron laptop when holding the SHIFT key to type something in capital letters the following happens: SILICon kid. As you can see, at some point after one, two or three letters the shift function stops working. I don’t think this is related to the external keyboard (which is connected through a USB hub) as I have replaced the keyboard and the problem continues, The problem also existed before using a USB hub so I don’t think the problem is related to the hub either. How can I make the shift function to work correctly? (more…)

Many users have devices which connect to the computer via a serial connection (i.e. RS232, for the technically minded). However, because serial interfaces are now considered ‘legacy’ interfaces, and have been superseded by interfaces such as USB and Firewire, often new computers do not come with serial ports. That said, don’t relegate your serial devices to the garbage just yet. You can purchase USB-to-serial adapters which connect to the USB port on the computer and provide a serial interface which can be used to connect serial devices. These adapters can be purchased for around $70 from most computer and electronics shops. (more…)

When composing emails in Outlook Express no colours are displayed in the email composition window. For example, when sending an email I set the background of the message to grey and the fonts to blue, but my screen only displays the message as black text on a white background. There is nothing wrong with the screen, as colours display properly in other programs, photos and graphics attached to emails are also displayed normally. I have tried everything in the Outlook Express options, but nothing has fixed the problem. The computer is running Windows XP Professional. (more…)