Internet Explorer 9, the latest version of Microsoft’s internet browser included with Windows, was recently released. This new version includes several performance, user interface and security enhancements, together with support for new web-based standards, which make this a worthwhile upgrade for Windows users. Be aware that Internet Explorer 9 requires Windows Vista or greater, so Windows XP users will not be able to install it. Internet Explorer 9 can be downloaded either through Windows Update or by visiting the Internet Explorer 9 website at www.beautyoftheweb.com .

My Toshiba Satellite L300 caught a virus and refused to boot. It would only cycle into repair mode and would not even boot into Safe Mode. After three days I decided to complete a system restore, but while it was restoring there was some kind of power surge that stopped the computer. Now whenever the computer starts a message appears saying that there is a corrupt or missing file and it will not proceed past that point. There were no recovery CDs provided with the computer so I cannot figure out how to reinstall Windows. Can you assist? (more…)

Most of my personal data is stored on an external USB hard drive. When I recently attempted to access the drive a message appeared saying that the drive is not formatted and asked whether I would like to format the drive. I quickly realised that formatting the drive would result in all data being lost, so I declined the invitation. However, I am now in the position of being unable to access all the data on the drive. I tried rebooting the computer, changing the USB port to which the drive is connected, all to no avail. Do you think the fault lies with the external hard drive or computer? Also, is it possible to retrieve the material from the drive? (more…)

It is very important to keep secure passwords, meaning that your passwords should be sufficiently complex and also unique (in other words, do not use the same password for different services or websites). However, remembering and managing all these different complex passwords is quite a challenge. A few years ago the tip of the week mentioned a utility called 1Password (agilewebsolutions.com/onepassword) which is a very handy password management utility allowing you to store all of your passwords, software registration details, secure notes, etc. in an encrypted file protected by a master password. However, this utility was only designed for Mac computers at the time. Recently the makers of 1Password have released a new version called 1Password for Windows (agilewebsolutions.com/onepassword/win) which brings this excellent utility across to a Windows platform. Combined with the 1Password programs available for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android devices this means that you can always keep your passwords handy wherever you may go.

Recently I had to reinstall Windows XP on my computer so I backed-up all of my data (favorites, documents and Outlook Express) onto an external hard drive. Restoring the favorites and documents was easy and did not present a problem. However, I am unable to read anything from Outlook Express as I cannot open the DBX files using any programs. (more…)