Q. I’ve always thought I was computer-literate but Windows XP has me stumped. My “Start/All Programs” menu is so full it is now running off the screen with little icons. I want to place some of the programs I don’t often use into one folder to make the screen more manageable, but I cannot find out how to do it. I’ve checked every online technical site and there seems to be no one else with this problem. Am I missing something obvious?
Barry Nordin, Warwick, R.I.
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A. There are two ways to move items that come up when one clicks Start and then All Programs, and neither is all that obvious, Mr. N. First it is possible to pick as a target one of the folders in the list that comes up as All Programs. Then select an item and drag it into the target folder. This will bring up a box to the right showing all of the files in that folder. Move inside that box and let go of the mouse and the icon will be moved from the long main list into a subfolder. But a lot of times this also generates menacing error warnings because moving icons this way can mess up other users on the computer.
A far more elegant fix is to just create a few folders of your own on the All Programs display. They can be named to show things like categories along the lines of Graphics or Music or Movies. To place a new folder on the All Programs list you need to right-click on the Start button and pick Open, then look on the right-hand side of the box that comes up for a folder named Programs, which is a specialized icon showing a desktop.
Inside the Programs folder find an empty spot and give a right-click. Select New and then a Folder in the tool box that pops up. Do this to create and name a few folders. Now when you open the Start/All Programs, a display showing those new folders will be available. From there it’s just a matter of dragging and dropping icons to consolidate things into an orderly layout.
Q. When I launch the Internet Explorer Web browser beta version 7 I get a message box that says: “This add-on will not work correctly with Internet Explorer 7, and should be updated. Program: MSN Toolbar extension. …” Then I am given these options: “Check for Updates; Run Add-on; Disable Add-on.” I checked many times and there are no updates at the Microsoft Web site and only choosing Run Add-on will work. But now the browser always ends abnormally and my XP seems to be running slower. I really think it has affected my PC’s performance. Can you help?
Gary R. Vujs @gmail.com
A. The problem can be fixed by forcing the Web browser software to reinstall the missing software, which is the bit of code that runs the MSN Toolbar used to put Microsoft services on the desktop. So you need to remove the flawed software and then, when you go to the Microsoft Web site, your browser’s software will be checked and the missing add-on will be restored.
These add-ons range from the Adobe Acrobat Reader to the Flash movie player to the Real Audio radio service. They can be found and disabled or removed by clicking on the Tools choice in the browser and then going to Internet Options. The menu this summons includes a tab marked Programs. If you open that tab you will find a button called Manage Add-ons. This scans the computer and then lists all of your add-ons in a box where you can select the ones desired and either check an Enable/Disable button or order them deleted. Try doing the Disable choice and returning to the Microsoft Web site. If this doesn’t give you an option to restore the add-on, go back and do the Delete command to make sure the situation is noted and repaired.
Q. I have a CompUSA wireless router for my broadband Internet access. Someone is using it and I can not figure out how to make it secure so it can not be accessed. I must be dense.
Al Matwiejow, Henderson, Nev.
A. You’ve got two choices–hide your network or encrypt it–and I urge you to carry out one or the other of them, Mr. M. You need to go back to the documentation that came with your router. It will tell you to call up your Web browser and type in a set of numbers along the line of 192.168.1.1. This will call up software inside that router that lets users set up their wireless network.
You probably will be told to use a password of “admin” and then be directed to a menu of choices including setup. Select that and give the password. This brings up a display of your settings. Look for one called SSID, which is the name that your router beams out by radio to identify itself. You can shut that open door to outsiders simply by erasing the name.
Afterward there will be nothing for the outsiders to see when they call up their own wireless software, but your own computer (or computers) will still connect.
However, I’ve seen enough of those CSI shows to know that Las Vegas is infested with particularly resourceful criminals, so you might want to consider going through the whole setup again, this time picking one of the encryption tools called WEP. This will scramble all of your data using so-called 128-bit encryption that delivers protection that is almost uncrackable.
You will be led through a set of instructions that will wind up having you type in a fairly long sentence that will be used by the router to generate a set of numeric keys. You won’t need to remember the sentence once the numbers have been generated. Write down the top one of these numerical keys because that’s what you’ll need to give when you sign each computer in your network onto the wireless router.
The encryption number is stored on each machine so you won’t be given password prompts thereafter.
The strange-sounding request to enter a whole sentence instead of an ordinary password is because the more letters the software is given (up to a point) the more secure the encryption will be.
I’m a tad long-winded so I like to pick the start of sentences that were drilled into my head at school, such as “Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.”
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