After the computer has been turned-off for a period of time (a few hours) it takes more than 15 minutes to start-up again. While this is happening the computer whirrs away, but the screen is completely blank. Once the computer has finished booting-up (after the long wait) the screen is alive and everything works fine at a reasonable speed. However, if the computer is left running and goes to sleep then it can take up to another 5 minutes or more to wake-up. As you can see, it seems that the computer is a bit lethargic when waking-up from a dormant state! The strange thing is that if I shutdown the computer, and then immediately start it up again, it boots normally with all action visible on screen and is done in about a minute. Do you know why this is happening? (more…)

The iPad is a good way to introduce someone not particularly tech-savvy to using a computer. These devices are very easy to use and safe from viruses (given the secure nature of the operating system and the “sandboxed” way that apps run on the device). Additionally, given that all apps which are listed on the iTunes App Store have to go through review and approval with Apple, this gives you good peace of mind that such apps are legitimate and can be downloaded safely without fear of them doing anything untoward with your device. A separate internet connection is not even required, since with a 3G iPad internet connectivity is in-built, making it an excellent “starter” computer for people wishing to get onto the internet, email and use apps.

When I attempt to do a search using Bing I am redirected to somewhere else. This happens three times before it provides me with the results of my original search query. Why is this happening and how can it be fixed? The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

Recently I purchased a 2 TB external hard drive for backup. In my computer there are four “drives” (i.e. partitions) so using TeraCopy I copied all the drives onto the external backup drive. However, during the process one of the drives was cleaned-out – all the folders are now empty. The copy on the external hard drive is the same – all the folders have copied but they are empty of any files. Do you know why this has happened and how I can restore the files? (more…)

Most users of Word would be familiar with the Track Changes function which allows you to keep tabs on changes to a document and annotate such changes with comments. You may have also found yourself in the embarrassing situation of printing or (worse still) sending a document with the changes still visible in the document. Word 2007 and 2010 include a handy new feature that will warn you if you are going to print, save or send a document that contains the revisions still visible. Go to the “File” menu > “Options” > “Trust Center”. Click “Trust Center Settings” and “Privacy Options”. Tick the option titled “Warn before printing, saving or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments”. Be aware, a warning before sending the file will only be presented if you email the file from within Word (e.g. on the File menu). If you attach the file to an email in a different program (such as Windows Live Mail or Outlook) then you will not be presented with this warning. I would suggest that you test this function once enabled to ensure that it performs as you expect, so that you don’t unwittingly rely on it for a warning when it may not produce one under certain conditions.