When I attempt to open certain files on the computer the following message appears: “The file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the set association control panel”. However, completing this procedure is beyond my knowledge. Can you provide assistance? The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

The toolbars in Internet Explorer have turned black. This doesn’t look too great, and also means that I cannot read the text on the toolbars. Can you advise how to return the toolbars to their normal appearance? The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

In Windows Vista and Windows 7, each user has a home folder which contains various sub-folders for the user’s data, such as documents, downloads and music to name a few. These are all accessible by going to the Start menu and then clicking on your user name. However, many users find it much more convenient to have a link to the home folder on the desktop. Fortunately this is very easy to setup. Right-click on your the username button in the Start menu (underneath the user profile picture) and select “Show on Desktop”. You will now see a shortcut appear for your home folder on the desktop.

Windows XP often hangs for 10 – 15 minutes after it is started and I am unable to do anything on the computer. The Task Manager shows two processes which are using up to 90% of the computer memory – “ccSvcHst.exe” and “svcHost.exe”. A second problem is when the screen saver attempts to activate an error message appears saying “Cannot find Flash.ocx” and the screen saver does not activate. I found an internet site promoting a registry fix for this problem, but they want credit card details and $9.95. How reputable are such sites? The computer is a Pentium 4 2.66 GHz with 512 MB RAM running Norton 360. (more…)

My computer is currently experiencing two problems. First, when I try to move an email message in Outlook Express from the Inbox into another folder I right-click on the message and select “Move to Folder”. However, the folder into which I want to move the message does not appear, even though I have created the folder and it appears in the main Outlook Express window. At the moment the only way I can file away emails is to either leave them in the Inbox (which is not good, since I accumulate too many email messages) or print off a paper copy and then delete the email message! The second problem relates to some photos which have been emailed. I would like to save these photos but cannot figure out how this can be done. I have been opening the emails and then going to the “File” menu > “Save As”. However, the only options to save the photos are: Web Archive, single file (*.mht); Webpage, complete (*.htm, *.html); Webpage, HTML only (*.htm, *.html); Text File (*.txt). There does not seem to be a JPEG format, yet I believe that the photos are in JPEG image format. (more…)