Q&A Bonanza!!

Posted in: Q & A

I have a folder named “Questions” in my email program. Every time a reader emails or calls with a question, I drop a copy of it into this folder.  When I notice the questions piling up, I know it’s time to do another Question & Answers article. Here we go.

Question: Hey Erin, I was wondering if you know anything about the taskbar on Windows XP.  Out of nowhere my taskbar went from its usual horizontal, bottom placement to a vertical setting on the left side of my screen.  I can’t find any info anywhere about how to get it back.  It’s really bugging me. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Answer: Hi there. It sounds like you accidentally dragged your toolbar over there to the side–but no worries because it’s super easy to fix.

Click anywhere in the empty space of your taskbar (not on an icon), hold down your left mouse button and. . . . drag it.  Yup, that’s it.  Drag that toolbar back down to the bottom of your screen where it belongs.  (Some people-though I don’t know any myself-apparently like to have their taskbars on the left or right or top of their sreens, so it’s easy to move the taskbar around, even though most people never even think about this.)

If you click on your taskbar and try to drag it only to find that nothing happens, chances are your toolbar became locked at some point while it was over there on the side.  If this is the case, just right-click on the taskbar, uncheck “Lock the taskbar”, and try the above instructions again.  Then, to be safe, you can lock your taskbar back up when it’s back and happy sitting at the bottom of your screen so it doesn’t accidentally get dragged around in the future.

Question: Hi eRin.  I have a pretty new computer that came with a good CD Burner.  I downloaded some movies and they’re too big to put on a CD, so I want to burn them to a DVD. Can I can use my CD Burner to burn a DVD?? I don’t want to add any extra drives or equipment or anything like that. Thanks.

Answer: Wish I had some good news for you, but unfortunately, the answer to your question is a simple . . . no. CD Burners are for burning CDs. DVD Burners, on the other hand, can burn both DVDs *and* CDs.  In sum, if you want to burn DVDs, you’ll need to buckle down and buy a DVD Burner.

Question: Erin–hoping you can help me here. I use Hotmail for my main email account, but I think one of my ‘friends’ knows my password now.  I want to change my password but I can’t figure out how to do it.  Do you know how?

Answer: Don’t worry, we’ll get your password changed in a snap.  First, login to your Hotmail account with your current password. Once you’ve logged in, look in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and you’ll see a link called “Options”. Click it.

On the next page, you’ll see a link called “Password” (it should be the second one down from the top). Click it.  You might have to login again to prove that yes, this is your account and yes, you know your current password.

Next you’ll be whisked directly to a change-your-password page. Fill out this short little form and you’re done.  Don’t worry about the “Password Strength” part; it’s no big deal.  And I’d recommend not checking the box at the bottom that reads “Make my password expire every 72 days” - else you’ll probably end up changing your Hotmail password more often than you’d like.

Have a question? Send it my way!  I exist solely to answer your computer and Internet queries.  Well maybe not, but I would enjoy helping you out–so go ahead, feel free.

100 Things Followup

Posted in: Web Info, Tips & Tricks

Happy Friday everyone! So it turns out that my “100 Things” list from a few weeks back was rather popular; I received a slew of emails and a few phone calls from friendly locals proffering their own favorite tips and tricks.

A few of these users’ suggestions were so useful I felt I’d be doing everyone an injustice if I didn’t share them with everyone. So here you are, three of the best tips I received from fellow Summit County computer users.

- Larry O. from Keystone reminded me of a super-fantastic shortcut I failed to mention in my 100 Things list. True, you can minimize all open windows on your computer by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting either “Minimize All Windows” or “Show the Desktop” (depending on your operating system).
Here’s an even easier, faster way to minimize all open windows is to simply hold down your Windows key (the one in the lower left with a little flag icon on it) and then hit the “M” key. Easy as cake. Thanks Larry!

- Dave O. from Frisco phoned in with a great reminder. While many people think that email addresses are case-sensitive, thankfully, this is not the, um … case. If my business card shows my email address as erin@timeforcake.com, you could still email me successfully using eRin@timeforcake.com, ERIN@timeforcake.com, Erin@timeforcake.com, or eriN@timeForCaKe.com - it just doesn’t matter. Thanks for the reminder, Dave.

- Jeremy L. from Breckenridge was surprised that I forgot to mention one of the latest, greatest online airfare finders: Kayak. Yep, you read that correctly: Kayak. Kayak.com is one of the cleanest, easiest to use, most comprehensive sites you’ll find in your search for cheap plane tickets. The site isn’t cluttered with ads or annoying animations. It’s fast, to the point, and it WORKS. Try it out - I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Thanks Jeremy - I can’t believe I forgot to mention this one.
Now let’s move on.

You may resist what I’m going to share with you next, but if you’re a business person of any sort, if you work with groups, or if you give presentations at school - listen up.

I’m assuming that every once in a while (or perhaps more often than that), you’re required to give a PowerPoint presentation. And I’m assuming that you like to use the fade-ins and fade-outs, fill the presentation with all the sounds that come bundled with PowerPoint, and cram in plenty of short phrases preceded by bullet points. Are my assumptions correct?

If I am correct and you are one of these PowerPoint users, there is a short online e-booklet I would really, really like you to read. It’s called “Really Bad PowerPoint (and how to avoid it),” and you can view it, for free, in PDF format here: http://www.sethgodin.com/freeprize/reallybad-1.pdf. This document is fun, quick, and easy to read - but more importantly, it will show you how not to make a complete flop out of your next presentation.