Readers reach out to help other readers
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By
Dennis O'Reilly
Troubleshoot Windows glitches, show menus in Vista's Explorer, and supercharge your OS with a low-cost shareware tool. There's lots of support for development of a true Windows Secrets reader-to-reader forum, as shown by your reaction to last week's report on Brian's meeting with readers in China. |
Taking advantage of the knowledge of crowds
From the outset, computer users have relied on one another for help when things go wrong — even more than they rely on the companies that sell them the hardware and software they struggle with.
The "we're all in this together" spirit is evident in the response to editorial director Brian Livingston's description of his recent meeting in Hong Kong with several Windows Secrets readers. Many people encouraged us to get the Windows Secrets reader forum going as soon as possible. Some even suggested tools and techniques we can use to create the exchange.
We were also delighted to see several people attempting to prime the pump by offering tips for fellow readers. Among these was Charlie Ruffin's description of how he solved a vexing problem he experienced in both XP and Vista.
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"A few years ago, my Windows XP PC started to act flaky. It finally stopped rebooting completely one morning. I tried every trick I could think of with no luck. Finally, before heading out to buy a new PC, I tried unplugging the USB hubs. That was the problem. It was not an individual device causing the problem, it was the powered hub! Replacing the hub corrected the problem.
"Fast-forward to a new PC running Windows Vista Home Premium. The PC acts flaky, but it reboots fine. Everything appears to run OK except Microsoft Office 2007 products — sometimes they work, but most of the time they do not work. Outlook, Excel, and Word all hang and tell me they are 'Not Responding.'
"I try to restore a two-week-old restore point (I had been on vacation). It doesn't allow me to do it. I have Windows Home Server and am able to restore the C: drive back to the earlier point. This doesn't help. I try to repair Office 2007 using the CD. This doesn't work. I try to repair Vista with the CD. This doesn't work. I run the memory check (I had installed another 2GB of RAM about a month previously). It says memory is OK. After becoming much lighter by pulling out my hair, I remember the problem with XP. Bingo!
"I had the same problem as before with the USB hub. The two systems displayed different symptoms, but the base problem was the same. A hub that worked for months suddenly stops working and hoses up the hardware somehow to cause the software not to work correctly.
"Lesson learned: Pull the hubs at the first sign of any problem. If it's the hub, you've solved it without having to think! If it's not the problem, you didn't lose much time trying before the thinking has to begin."
Anyone who writes about technology for a living soon learns that the people reading your articles know more than you do. Woody Leonhard's column on the shortcomings of the Vista interface mentioned that it's difficult to find the menus in Vista's version of Windows Explorer. Reader Michael Kraftman describes a simple way to accomplish this.
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"Woody's article in issue 157 repeats for the umpteenth time the incorrect statement that the only way to show menus in Vista's Windows Explorer is by pressing the Alt key.
"To show the menu bar permanently, click the Organize button (top left), select Layout, and tick Show Menus. This setting has always been available. Set it once and it applies to all Explorer windows and persists across sessions on a per-user basis.
"There is an analogous setting in IE 7 under the Tools button which persists in the same way."
I have never heard anyone complain that their PC is too fast. Larry Croy writes in to tell us about a free Windows speedup utility he has been using for years.
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"Well, after seeing tips other people sent in that I had known about or been using for a while, I decided to stop berating myself for not sending in the tip first. I have been using XP Smoker for years, since it was a total freeware, to now it is a 7-day/50-use trial version.
"[The program] will not only handle services, but also tweaks various settings in the Registry for faster computing and Web surfing, plus a whole lot more."
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Readers Charlie, Michael, and Larry will each receive a gift certificate for
a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your
tips via the Windows Secrets
contact page. |
The Known Issues column brings you readers' comments on our recent articles. Dennis O'Reilly is technical editor of WindowsSecrets.com.
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