When travelling I have been using my Toshiba laptop (running Windows XP) to connect to the internet. There is a Belkin PCMCIA wireless card installed in the laptop, but I have found that the connection fee at caravan parks can be very expensive. Instead, I have purchased Telstra Next-G USB wireless modem so that I can connect to the internet over the Next-G cellular network, independent of the wireless offered at caravan parks. However, the computer refused to recognise the USB wireless modem. Previously I have encountered such issues and they could be resolved by enabling the device within the Device Manager, but when I go into the Device Manager it is completely blank with no devices listed at all. This functioned perfectly before I connected the Telstra modem to the computer. Disconnecting the Telstra modem does not fix the problem. How can I restore the Device Manager to its previous state and also make the computer recognise the Telstra modem? (more…)

Here is a tip for all those early adopters who have an Apple iPad. One of the differences between the iPad and an iPhone is the switch above the volume control on the device. On an iPhone this is a mute switch, but on the iPad this is an orientation lock switch. Most users would presume there is no quick way to mute the device. However, by holding down the volume down switch for around 2 seconds the iPad will be muted. Be aware, this does require the iPad to be unlocked to work.

All of the computers in my household are connected to a router either via Ethernet cable or wireless. The router is connected to a broadband modem which provides internet access to the home network. This has been working fine for the past few months, but recently has been unreliable with internet access lasting about 15 seconds and then a message will appear informing that there is limited network connectivity and the internet will not work for about 60 seconds, at which point it returns for 15 seconds and the cycle continues. I have contacted my ISP and confirmed that nothing is wrong with the internet connection itself and suggested that I contact the vendor of the router and modem. The modem vendor suggested that the problem must be with the router as the internet connection is stable and works correctly when the modem is directly connected to the computer. Do you agree with this diagnosis, and is there anything I can do to fix the problem? (more…)

The backslash key on the keyboard (the key located underneath the backspace key) no longer produces a backslash, but instead two small dots appear. This only happened in the last few months and I have not made any obvious hardware or software changes to the computer. The computer is running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3. (more…)

Users of Windows are generally familiar with right-click menus within various parts of Windows, such as when selecting a file to complete operations including renaming or deleting the file. In Windows 7 by holding down the SHIFT key when right-clicking, additional advanced options appear, such as opening a command prompt in the current location, copying the path of a file or folder, or running a program as a different user. These are very handy shortcuts for Windows power users.