CD-ROM not working
If the CD-ROM drive stops working, the cause is probably dust, bad disks, a loose cable, or CD-ROM driver software.
First, get rid of dust. Dust off the CD-ROM disks and tray. Take a deep breathe and blow air into the CD-ROM drive, but avoid spit. If you wish, buy a CD-ROM head cleaner at Radio Shack; it’s a fake CD-ROM disk that has brushes on it, to brush dust off the CD-ROM lens.
If a CD-ROM disk has scratches on it, that disk might be damaged and never work. Try other disks instead.
If you’re using a “homemade” CD-R or CD-RW disk created on another computer, the signals on that disk might be too weak to be detected by an old CD-ROM drive. Try disks created in other ways instead, or try using a different CD-ROM drive.
Open the computer and check the cable that runs out of the CD-ROM drive. Probably one end of that cable is loose and flimsy.
Try to plug it in more snugly.
If you’re using modern Windows and your screen’s four corners say “Safe mode”, you can’t use the CD-ROM drive while your computer is in that mode: you must shut down the computer and restart in “Normal mode”.
You must teach the computer what kind of CD-ROM drive you have.
If your computer came with modern Windows, it should have come with a floppy disk called an “Emergency Recovery Start-Up Multimedia CD-ROM Boot Disk” (or some abridgment of that name). Put that disk into the computer, then reboot the computer.
That disk usually makes the CD-ROM drive work, at least temporarily. While the CD-ROM drive is working, reinstall Windows.
If you’re not using modern Windows, you must put lines in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files about the CD-ROM drive.
The line in AUTOEXEC.BAT should typically be “Lh mscdex /d:mscd000 /m:12 /e”, but the line in CONFIG.SYS depends on which CD-ROM drive you bought and how you installed other devices that might conflict with it.
Comments about AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files are in the section on MS DOS; but before you try to edit those files, check whether your hard disk or floppy disk still has old but workable versions of those files.
For example, the old version of CONFIG.SYS might be called CONFIG.OLD or CONFIG.000 or something similar. To find out whether you have such a file, say:
C:\>dir config.*
That makes the computer print a list of all CONFIGs in your hard disk’s root directory. In that list, notice the date of each file; try reusing a CONFIG that has a date slightly before when your CD-ROM drive stopped working.
Try using that old CONFIG.SYS and old AUTOEXEC.BAT by renaming them to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, after making backup copies of your current (non-working) CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
No Sound
No sound
If you don’t hear sounds (such as beeps and music), the problem could be caused by hardware or software.
Make sure the speakers are plugged into the computer. Make sure they’re plugged into the computer’s speaker jack tightly, not the microphone jack. If the speakers contain batteries, make sure the batteries are working. If the speakers need to be plugged into a wall socket or power strip, make sure they are. If the speakers have an ON button, make sure it’s in the ON position.
Make sure all volume knobs are turned up:
There’s probably a volume knob on the front of the speakers. On the back of the computer, where the speakers plug into the computer, you might find a volume dial.
If you’re still not hearing sounds, do software cleaning, which reduces memory conflicts, because when the computer is faced with a memory conflict it gives up trying to produce sounds.
If you’re not using modern Windows, you must put lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that tell the computer what kind of sound card you bought and how to handle it:
Look for old versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT by giving this command:
C:\>dir autoexec.*
That command makes the computer show you a list of AUTOEXEC files, with the dates they were changed. Find an AUTOEXEC file dated shortly before the sound problem occurred, and the use the sound lines in it, by putting those lines into your current AUTOEXEC.BAT file or by copying the entire old AUTOEXEC file to AUTOEXEC.BAT. For more info about AUTOEXEC.BAT, see the section on MS DOS. Phone me at 603-666-6644 if you want further help.
If you are using modern Windows, do the following instead.…
At the screen’s bottom right corner, next to the time, you might find a Volume icon (which looks like a blaring loudspeaker).
If so, do this:
Click the Volume icon. You see a Mute box; make sure it’s unchecked. You see a slider; drag it up to the top. Try clicking the slider; you should hear a bell sound, at the volume level you requested.
Click “Start” then “Programs” then “Accessories” then “Entertainment” (which Windows 95 calls “Multimedia”) then “Volume Control”. You’ll see many sliders. Make sure each volume slider is dragged to the top, make sure each balance slider is centered, and make sure each Mute box is unchecked. Then close the window (by clicking its X button).
Click “Start” then “Settings” then “Control Panel”. Double-click “Sounds”. Make sure the Schemes box says “Windows Default”. (If it doesn’t, click that box’s down-arrow, then choose “Windows Default” from the list.)
Then do this test:
In the big white box, scroll down to “Start Windows”. Make sure the Name box says “The Microsoft Sound”. Make sure the Preview box has a loudspeaker in it, instead of being blank. Make sure the triangle to its right is black, instead of being grayed out.
If the Preview box is empty and the triangle is grayed out, the computer thinks you have no sound card. If you’re lucky, and the triangle is black, click it: you should hear a long loud chord, accompanied by a background of synthesized outer-space new-age sounds.
If you don’t hear that chord, the computer thinks everything is fine, but everything isn’t.
If you’re still not having any luck, you can try having Windows redetect your hardware (click “Start” then “Settings” then “Control Panel” then double-click “Add New Hardware” then press ENTER), but that’s typically useless.
An approach that’s slightly more likely to succeed, if you have the patience, is to reinstall Windows.
If you don’t hear sounds (such as beeps and music), the problem could be caused by hardware or software.
Make sure the speakers are plugged into the computer. Make sure they’re plugged into the computer’s speaker jack tightly, not the microphone jack. If the speakers contain batteries, make sure the batteries are working. If the speakers need to be plugged into a wall socket or power strip, make sure they are. If the speakers have an ON button, make sure it’s in the ON position.
Make sure all volume knobs are turned up:
There’s probably a volume knob on the front of the speakers. On the back of the computer, where the speakers plug into the computer, you might find a volume dial.
If you’re still not hearing sounds, do software cleaning, which reduces memory conflicts, because when the computer is faced with a memory conflict it gives up trying to produce sounds.
If you’re not using modern Windows, you must put lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that tell the computer what kind of sound card you bought and how to handle it:
Look for old versions of AUTOEXEC.BAT by giving this command:
C:\>dir autoexec.*
That command makes the computer show you a list of AUTOEXEC files, with the dates they were changed. Find an AUTOEXEC file dated shortly before the sound problem occurred, and the use the sound lines in it, by putting those lines into your current AUTOEXEC.BAT file or by copying the entire old AUTOEXEC file to AUTOEXEC.BAT. For more info about AUTOEXEC.BAT, see the section on MS DOS. Phone me at 603-666-6644 if you want further help.
If you are using modern Windows, do the following instead.…
At the screen’s bottom right corner, next to the time, you might find a Volume icon (which looks like a blaring loudspeaker).
If so, do this:
Click the Volume icon. You see a Mute box; make sure it’s unchecked. You see a slider; drag it up to the top. Try clicking the slider; you should hear a bell sound, at the volume level you requested.
Click “Start” then “Programs” then “Accessories” then “Entertainment” (which Windows 95 calls “Multimedia”) then “Volume Control”. You’ll see many sliders. Make sure each volume slider is dragged to the top, make sure each balance slider is centered, and make sure each Mute box is unchecked. Then close the window (by clicking its X button).
Click “Start” then “Settings” then “Control Panel”. Double-click “Sounds”. Make sure the Schemes box says “Windows Default”. (If it doesn’t, click that box’s down-arrow, then choose “Windows Default” from the list.)
Then do this test:
In the big white box, scroll down to “Start Windows”. Make sure the Name box says “The Microsoft Sound”. Make sure the Preview box has a loudspeaker in it, instead of being blank. Make sure the triangle to its right is black, instead of being grayed out.
If the Preview box is empty and the triangle is grayed out, the computer thinks you have no sound card. If you’re lucky, and the triangle is black, click it: you should hear a long loud chord, accompanied by a background of synthesized outer-space new-age sounds.
If you don’t hear that chord, the computer thinks everything is fine, but everything isn’t.
If you’re still not having any luck, you can try having Windows redetect your hardware (click “Start” then “Settings” then “Control Panel” then double-click “Add New Hardware” then press ENTER), but that’s typically useless.
An approach that’s slightly more likely to succeed, if you have the patience, is to reinstall Windows.
Floppy-Drive Light
Floppy-drive light
If the floppy-drive light stays on, the data cable from the floppy drive is plugged into the motherboard (or floppy-drive controller card) upside-down.
Shut the computer down. Then flip that cable upside-down, so its red wire is at the computer’s front (and attaches to the part of the motherboard (or floppy-drive controller card marked “pin 1”).
If the floppy-drive light stays on, the data cable from the floppy drive is plugged into the motherboard (or floppy-drive controller card) upside-down.
Shut the computer down. Then flip that cable upside-down, so its red wire is at the computer’s front (and attaches to the part of the motherboard (or floppy-drive controller card marked “pin 1”).
Printers Problems
Printers Problems
Incomplete characters
When you look at the printed paper, you might see that part of each character is missing. For example, for the letter “A” you see just the top part of the “A”, or just the bottom part, or everything except the middle. That means you’re using an ink-jet or dot-matrix printer, and some of the ink jets or pins aren’t successfully putting ink onto the paper.
If you’re using a dot-matrix printer and the bottom part of each character is missing, your ribbon is too high, so that the bottom pins miss hitting it.
Push the ribbon down lower. Read the instructions that came with your printer and ribbon, to find out the correct way to thread the ribbon through your printer. If you’re using a daisy-wheel printer, also check whether the daisy-wheel is inserted correctly: try removing it and then reinserting it.
If you’re using a dot-matrix printer and some other part of each character is missing, probably one of the pins broke or is stuck.
Look at the print head, where the pins are. See if one of the pins is missing or broken. If so, consider buying a new print head, but beware: since print heads are not available from discount dealers, you must pay full list price for the print head, and pay almost as much for it as discount dealers charge for a whole new printer!
If you’re using an ink-jet printer, probably one of the jets is clogged and needs to be cleaned.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to test and clean the ink jets. If cleaning doesn’t solve the problem, try buying a new ink cartridge.
Substitute characters
When you tell the printer to print a word, the printer might print the correct number of characters but print wrong letters of the alphabet. For example, instead of printing an “A”, the printer might print a “B” or “C”.
That’s probably because the cable going from the computer to the printer is loose, so do this:
Turn off the printer. Grab the cable that goes from the computer to the printer, unplug both ends of the cable, then plug both ends in again tightly. Try again to print. If you succeed, the cable was just loose: congratulations, you tightened it!
If tightening the cable does not solve the problem, the cable is probably defective.
To prove it’s defective, borrow a cable from a friend and try again. If your friend’s cable works with your computer and printer, your original cable was definitely the culprit.
Once you’ve convinced yourself that the problem is the cable, go to a store and buy a new cable. It’s cheaper to buy a new cable than to fix the old one. Make sure you buy the right kind: your printer might require an IEEE 1284 cable.
If the new cable doesn’t solve your problem, try a third cable, since many cables are defective!
If buying a new cable doesn’t solve your problem, you have defective circuitry in your printer or in your computer’s parallel-printer port.
Get together with a friend and try swapping printers, computers, and cables: make notes about which combinations work and which don’t. You’ll soon discover which computers, cables, and printers work correctly and which ones are defective.
Extra characters
When using a program (such as a word-processing program), the printer might print a few extra characters at the top of each page.
Those extra characters are special codes that the printer should not print. Those codes are supposed to tell the printer how to print.
Your printer is misinterpreting those codes, because those codes were intended for a different kind of printer — or your printer cable is loose.
First, make sure the printer cable is tight.
Then try again to tell your software which printer you bought, by doing this.…
Windows XP: click “Start” then “Control Panel” then “Printers and Other Hardware” then “Add a printer”.
Windows 95 or 98 or 98SE or Me: click “Start” then “Settings” then “Printers”, then double-click “Add Printer”.
Windows 3.1: go to the program manager; double-click the Main icon then the Control Panel icon then the Printers icon.
Then follow the prompts on the screen. (To tell a non-Windows program which printer you bought, read the program’s manual: look for the part of the manual that explains “printer installation & selection & setup”.)
Misaligned columns
When printing a table of numbers or words, the columns might wiggle: some of the words and numbers might be printed slightly too far left or right, even though they looked perfectly aligned on the screen.
That’s because you’re trying to print by using a proportionally spaced font that doesn’t match the screen’s font.
The simplest way to solve the problem is to switch to a monospaced font, such as Courier or Prestige Elite or Gothic or Lineprinter.
Since those fonts are monospaced (each character is the same width as every other character), there are no surprises. To switch fonts while using Windows, use your mouse: drag across all the text whose font you wish to switch, then say which font you wish to switch to.
Unfortunately, monospaced fonts are ugly. If you insist on using proportionally spaced fonts, which are prettier, remember that when moving from column to column you should press the TAB key, not the SPACE bar.
In proportionally spaced fonts, the SPACE bar creates a printed space that’s too narrow: it’s narrower than the space created by the typical digit or letter.
If the TAB key doesn’t make the columns your favorite width, customize how the TAB key works by adjusting the TAB stops.
(In most word-processing programs, you adjust the TAB stops by sliding them on the layout ruler.)
Normally, the computer tries to justify your text: it tries to make the right margin straight by inserting extra spaces between the words. But when you’re printing a table, those extra spaces can wreck your column alignment. So when typing a table of numbers, do not tell the computer to justify your text: turn justification OFF.
Touching characters
The printer might bump some characters into each other, so that “cat” looks like “cat”. That means the computer fed the printer wrong info about how wide to make the characters and how much space to leave between them.
That’s because you told the computer wrong info about which printer you’re going to use.
Tell the computer again which printer to use.
For example, suppose you plan to type a document by using your home computer’s word-processing program, then copy the document onto a floppy disk, take the floppy disk to your office, and print a final draft on the office’s printer.
Since you’ll be printing the final draft on the office’s printer, tell your home computer that you’ll be using the office’s printer.
If you’re using modern Windows, here’s how: click “Start” then “Settings” then “Printers” then double-click “Add Printer”, then follow the prompts on the screen.
If you’re using Windows 3.1, do this instead:
Double-click the Main icon then the Control Panel icon then the Printer icon, then click the Add button, then double-click the printer’s name.
Margins
On a sheet of paper, all the printing might be too far to the left, or too far to the right, or too far up, or too far down. That shows you forgot to tell the computer about the paper’s size, margins, and feed, or you misfed the paper into the printer.
Software makes assumptions:
Most computer software assumes the paper is 11 inches tall and 8½ inches wide (or slightly wider, if the paper has holes in its sides). The software also assumes you want 1-inch margins on all four sides (top, bottom, left, and right).
If you told the software you have a dot-matrix printer, the software usually assumes you’re using pin-feed paper (which has holes in the side); it’s also called continuous-feed paper. For ink-jet and laser printers, the software typically assumes you’re using friction-feed paper instead (which has no holes).
If those assumptions are not correct, tell the software. For example, give a “margin”, “page size”, or “feed” command to your word-processing software.
If you make a mistake about how tall the sheet of paper is, the computer will try to print too many or too few lines per page.
The result is creep: on the first page, the printing begins correctly; but on the second page the printing is slightly too low or too high, and on the third page the printing is even more off.
To solve a creep problem, revise slightly what you tell the software about how tall the sheet of paper is. For example, if the printing is fine on the first page but an inch too low on the second page, tell the software that each sheet of paper is an inch shorter.
On pin-feed paper, the printer can print all the way from the very top of the paper to the very bottom. On friction-feed paper, the printer cannot print at the sheet’s very top or very bottom (since the rollers can’t grab the paper securely enough while printing there). So on friction-feed paper, the printable area is smaller, as if the paper were shorter.
Telling the software wrong info about feed has the same effect as telling the software wrong info about the paper’s height: you get creep.
So to fix creep, revise what you tell the software about the paper’s height or feed. If the software doesn’t let you talk about the paper’s feed, kill the creep by revising what you say about the paper’s height.
If you’re using a dot-matrix printer that can handle both kinds of paper (pin-feed and friction-feed), you’ll solve most creep problems by choosing pin-feed paper.
If all printing is too far to the left (or right), adjust what you tell the software about the left and right margins; or if you’re using pin-feed paper in a dot-matrix printer with movable tractors, slide the tractors to the left or right (after loosening them by flipping their levers).
For example, if the printing is an inch too far to the right, slide the tractors an inch toward the right.
Keyboards Problems
Keyboard problems
Your keyboard might seem broken. Here’s what to do.
Wet keyboard
If your keyboard got wet (because you spilled water, coffee, soda, or some other drink), turn the computer off immediately (because water can cause a short circuit that can shock & burn the keyboard and computer and you). Unplug the keyboard from the computer.
Turn the keyboard upside-down for a few minutes, in the hope that some of the liquid drips out. Then let the keyboard rest a few hours, until the remaining liquid in it dries.
Try again to use the keyboard. It will probably work fine. If the keyboard doesn’t work yet, do this:
Unplug the keyboard again. Submerge and wash the keyboard in warm water (you can even put the keyboard into a dishwasher!) but use no soap. Dry off the keyboard. Wait a day for the keyboard to dry thoroughly. If still no luck, the keyboard has been permanently damaged, so buy another.
Dead keyboard
If pressing the keyboard’s letters has no effect, either the keyboard is improperly hooked up or the computer is overheating or you’re running a frustrated program (which is ignoring what you type or waiting until a special event happens). For example, the program might be waiting for the printer to print, or the disk drive to manipulate a file, or the CPU to finish a computation, or your finger to hit a special key or give a special command.
Try getting out of any program you’ve been running. Here’s how:
Press the Esc key (which might let you escape from the program) or the F1 key (which might display a helpful message) or ENTER (which might move on to the next screenful of info) or Ctrl with C (which might abort the program) or Ctrl with Break.
If the screen is unchanged and the computer still ignores your typing, reboot the computer; then watch the screen for error messages such as “301” (which means a defective keyboard), “201” (which means defective RAM chips), or “1701” (which means a defective hard drive).
If the keyboard seems to be “defective”, it might just be unplugged from the computer.
Make sure the cable from the keyboard is plugged tightly into the computer. To make sure it’s tight, unplug it and then plug it back in again.
If you stand behind the original IBM PC (instead of a newer computer), you’ll see two sockets that look identical. The left one (which usually has the word “Keyboard” and a “K” next to it) is for the keyboard cable; the other is for a cassette tape recorder (which nobody uses).
Underneath a keyboard built by a clone company, you might see a switch marked “XT - AT” (or simply “X - A”).
Put that switch in the XT (or X) position if your computer is an IBM XT (or an original IBM PC or any computer containing an 8088 CPU). Put the switch in the AT (or A) position if your computer is an IBM AT (or any computer containing a 286, 386, or 486 CPU).
If you don’t see such a switch, make sure your keyboard was designed to work with your computer.
If fiddling with the cable and the XT-AT switch doesn’t solve your problem, reboot the computer and see what happens.
Maybe you’ll get lucky.
Maybe some part of the computer is overheating. Here’s how to find out:
Turn the computer off. Leave it off for at least an hour, so it cools down.
Then turn the computer back on.
Try to get to a C prompt.
After the C prompt, type a letter (such as x) and notice whether the x appears on the screen.
If the x appears, don’t bother pressing the ENTER key afterwards. Instead, walk away from the computer for two hours — leave the computer turned on — then come back two hours later and try typing another letter (such as y).
If the y doesn’t appear, you know that the computer “died” sometime after you typed x but before you typed y. Since during that time the computer was just sitting there doing nothing except being turned on and getting warmer, you know the problem was caused by overheating: some part inside the computer is failing as the internal temperature rises. That part could be a RAM chip, BIOS chip, or otherwise.
Since that part isn’t tolerant enough of heat, it must be replaced: take the computer in for repair.
That kind of test — where you leave the computer on for several hours to see what happens as the computer warms up — is called letting the computer cook.
During the cooking, if smoke comes out of one of the computer’s parts, that part is said to have fried. That same applies to humans: when a programmer’s been working hard on a project for many hours and become too exhausted to think straight, the programmer says, “I’m burnt out. My brain is fried.”
Common solutions are sleep and pizza (“getting some z’s & ’za”).
When computers are manufactured, the last step in the assembly line is to leave the computer turned on a long time, to let the computer cook and make sure it still works when hot. A top-notch manufacturer leaves the computer on for 2 days (48 hours) or even 3 days (72 hours), while continually testing the computer to make sure no parts fail.
That part of the assembly line is called burning in the computer; many top-notch manufacturers do 72-hour burn in.
Sluggish key
After pressing one a keys, if the key doesn’t pop back up fast enough, probably there’s dirt under the key. The “dirt” is probably dust or coagulated drinks (such as Coke or coffee).
If many keys are sluggish, don’t bother trying to fix them all. Just buy a new keyboard (for about $20).
If just one or two keys are sluggish, here’s how to try fixing a sluggish key:
Take a paper clip, partly unravel it so it becomes a hook, then use that hook to pry up the key, until the keycap pops off. Clean the part of the keyboard that was under that keycap: blow away the dust, and wipe away grime (such as coagulated drinks). With the keycap still off, turn on the computer, and try pressing the plunger that was under the keycap.
If the plunger is still sluggish, you haven’t cleaned it enough. (Don’t try too hard: remember that a new keyboard costs just about $20.) When the plunger works fine, turn off the computer, put the keycap back on, and the key should work fine.
Caps
While you’re typing, if each capital letter unexpectedly becomes small, and each small letter becomes capitalized, the SHIFT key or CAPS LOCK key is activated.
The culprit is usually the CAPS LOCK key.
Probably you pressing it accidentally when you meant to press a nearby key instead. The CAPS LOCK key stays activated until you deactivate it by pressing it again.
Cure:
Press the CAPS LOCK key (again), then try typing some more, to see whether the problem has gone away.
If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a CAPS LOCK light. That light glows when the CAPS LOCK key is activated; the light stops glowing when the CAPS LOCK key is deactivated.
If pressing the CAPS LOCK key doesn’t solve the problem, try jiggling the left and right SHIFT keys. (Maybe one of those SHIFT keys was accidentally stuck in the down position, because you spilled some soda that got into the keyboard and coagulated and made the SHIFT key too sticky to pop all the way back up.)
If playing with the CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys doesn’t immediately solve your problem, try typing a comma and notice what happens. If the screen shows the symbol “<” instead of a comma, your SHIFT key is activated. (The CAPS LOCK key has no effect on the comma key, since the CAPS LOCK key affects just letters, not punctuation.)
If pressing the comma key makes the screen show a comma, your SHIFT key is not activated, and any problems you have must therefore be caused by the CAPS LOCK key instead.
Perhaps the CAPS LOCK key is being activated automatically by the program you’re using. (For example, some programs automatically activate the CAPS LOCK key because they want your input to be capitalized.)
To find out, exit from the program, reboot the computer, get to a C prompt (in DOS) or WordPad (in modern Windows), and try again to type. If the typing is displayed fine, the “problem” was probably caused by just the program you were using — perhaps on purpose.
In some old Leading Edge Model D computers, the ROM has a defect that occasionally misinterprets the signals from the CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys. When that happens, tap those keys until the display returns to normal.
Your keyboard might seem broken. Here’s what to do.
Wet keyboard
If your keyboard got wet (because you spilled water, coffee, soda, or some other drink), turn the computer off immediately (because water can cause a short circuit that can shock & burn the keyboard and computer and you). Unplug the keyboard from the computer.
Turn the keyboard upside-down for a few minutes, in the hope that some of the liquid drips out. Then let the keyboard rest a few hours, until the remaining liquid in it dries.
Try again to use the keyboard. It will probably work fine. If the keyboard doesn’t work yet, do this:
Unplug the keyboard again. Submerge and wash the keyboard in warm water (you can even put the keyboard into a dishwasher!) but use no soap. Dry off the keyboard. Wait a day for the keyboard to dry thoroughly. If still no luck, the keyboard has been permanently damaged, so buy another.
Dead keyboard
If pressing the keyboard’s letters has no effect, either the keyboard is improperly hooked up or the computer is overheating or you’re running a frustrated program (which is ignoring what you type or waiting until a special event happens). For example, the program might be waiting for the printer to print, or the disk drive to manipulate a file, or the CPU to finish a computation, or your finger to hit a special key or give a special command.
Try getting out of any program you’ve been running. Here’s how:
Press the Esc key (which might let you escape from the program) or the F1 key (which might display a helpful message) or ENTER (which might move on to the next screenful of info) or Ctrl with C (which might abort the program) or Ctrl with Break.
If the screen is unchanged and the computer still ignores your typing, reboot the computer; then watch the screen for error messages such as “301” (which means a defective keyboard), “201” (which means defective RAM chips), or “1701” (which means a defective hard drive).
If the keyboard seems to be “defective”, it might just be unplugged from the computer.
Make sure the cable from the keyboard is plugged tightly into the computer. To make sure it’s tight, unplug it and then plug it back in again.
If you stand behind the original IBM PC (instead of a newer computer), you’ll see two sockets that look identical. The left one (which usually has the word “Keyboard” and a “K” next to it) is for the keyboard cable; the other is for a cassette tape recorder (which nobody uses).
Underneath a keyboard built by a clone company, you might see a switch marked “XT - AT” (or simply “X - A”).
Put that switch in the XT (or X) position if your computer is an IBM XT (or an original IBM PC or any computer containing an 8088 CPU). Put the switch in the AT (or A) position if your computer is an IBM AT (or any computer containing a 286, 386, or 486 CPU).
If you don’t see such a switch, make sure your keyboard was designed to work with your computer.
If fiddling with the cable and the XT-AT switch doesn’t solve your problem, reboot the computer and see what happens.
Maybe you’ll get lucky.
Maybe some part of the computer is overheating. Here’s how to find out:
Turn the computer off. Leave it off for at least an hour, so it cools down.
Then turn the computer back on.
Try to get to a C prompt.
After the C prompt, type a letter (such as x) and notice whether the x appears on the screen.
If the x appears, don’t bother pressing the ENTER key afterwards. Instead, walk away from the computer for two hours — leave the computer turned on — then come back two hours later and try typing another letter (such as y).
If the y doesn’t appear, you know that the computer “died” sometime after you typed x but before you typed y. Since during that time the computer was just sitting there doing nothing except being turned on and getting warmer, you know the problem was caused by overheating: some part inside the computer is failing as the internal temperature rises. That part could be a RAM chip, BIOS chip, or otherwise.
Since that part isn’t tolerant enough of heat, it must be replaced: take the computer in for repair.
That kind of test — where you leave the computer on for several hours to see what happens as the computer warms up — is called letting the computer cook.
During the cooking, if smoke comes out of one of the computer’s parts, that part is said to have fried. That same applies to humans: when a programmer’s been working hard on a project for many hours and become too exhausted to think straight, the programmer says, “I’m burnt out. My brain is fried.”
Common solutions are sleep and pizza (“getting some z’s & ’za”).
When computers are manufactured, the last step in the assembly line is to leave the computer turned on a long time, to let the computer cook and make sure it still works when hot. A top-notch manufacturer leaves the computer on for 2 days (48 hours) or even 3 days (72 hours), while continually testing the computer to make sure no parts fail.
That part of the assembly line is called burning in the computer; many top-notch manufacturers do 72-hour burn in.
Sluggish key
After pressing one a keys, if the key doesn’t pop back up fast enough, probably there’s dirt under the key. The “dirt” is probably dust or coagulated drinks (such as Coke or coffee).
If many keys are sluggish, don’t bother trying to fix them all. Just buy a new keyboard (for about $20).
If just one or two keys are sluggish, here’s how to try fixing a sluggish key:
Take a paper clip, partly unravel it so it becomes a hook, then use that hook to pry up the key, until the keycap pops off. Clean the part of the keyboard that was under that keycap: blow away the dust, and wipe away grime (such as coagulated drinks). With the keycap still off, turn on the computer, and try pressing the plunger that was under the keycap.
If the plunger is still sluggish, you haven’t cleaned it enough. (Don’t try too hard: remember that a new keyboard costs just about $20.) When the plunger works fine, turn off the computer, put the keycap back on, and the key should work fine.
Caps
While you’re typing, if each capital letter unexpectedly becomes small, and each small letter becomes capitalized, the SHIFT key or CAPS LOCK key is activated.
The culprit is usually the CAPS LOCK key.
Probably you pressing it accidentally when you meant to press a nearby key instead. The CAPS LOCK key stays activated until you deactivate it by pressing it again.
Cure:
Press the CAPS LOCK key (again), then try typing some more, to see whether the problem has gone away.
If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a CAPS LOCK light. That light glows when the CAPS LOCK key is activated; the light stops glowing when the CAPS LOCK key is deactivated.
If pressing the CAPS LOCK key doesn’t solve the problem, try jiggling the left and right SHIFT keys. (Maybe one of those SHIFT keys was accidentally stuck in the down position, because you spilled some soda that got into the keyboard and coagulated and made the SHIFT key too sticky to pop all the way back up.)
If playing with the CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys doesn’t immediately solve your problem, try typing a comma and notice what happens. If the screen shows the symbol “<” instead of a comma, your SHIFT key is activated. (The CAPS LOCK key has no effect on the comma key, since the CAPS LOCK key affects just letters, not punctuation.)
If pressing the comma key makes the screen show a comma, your SHIFT key is not activated, and any problems you have must therefore be caused by the CAPS LOCK key instead.
Perhaps the CAPS LOCK key is being activated automatically by the program you’re using. (For example, some programs automatically activate the CAPS LOCK key because they want your input to be capitalized.)
To find out, exit from the program, reboot the computer, get to a C prompt (in DOS) or WordPad (in modern Windows), and try again to type. If the typing is displayed fine, the “problem” was probably caused by just the program you were using — perhaps on purpose.
In some old Leading Edge Model D computers, the ROM has a defect that occasionally misinterprets the signals from the CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys. When that happens, tap those keys until the display returns to normal.
Mouse Problems
Mouse problems
Mouse pointer lurches
When you move the mouse, the mouse pointer (on the screen) is supposed to move also. If the mouse pointer lurches erratically (sometimes going fast, sometimes going too slow or not at all) or moves in just one direction (just horizontally, or just vertically, but not both), the mouse is dirty. Clean it and then the mouse will probably work well.
If the mouse doesn’t work well yet, try this experiment:
Take the ball out again. Rub your finger against the X and Y mouse rollers, and see if the mouse pointer moves also. If the mouse pointer works fine using your fingers but not by using the ball, the ball isn’t touching the rollers, probably because the ball’s cover isn’t locking the ball into the proper position. Reposition the ball and its cover.
If the mouse still doesn’t work well, just buy a new mouse. You can buy a plain mouse for under $10.
Mouse pointer hard to see
While moving the mouse fast, you might have difficulty seeing where the mouse pointer went, because the mouse pointer seems to become temporarily invisible.
That means your screen, video card, or eyes are too slow to keep up with you. That’s probably because you’re using a notebook computer that has the slowest kind of screen (passive-matrix).
It could also be because your eyesight is poor or you’re a beginner who feels lost. Like a magician, your hand is quicker than the eye or your screen.
To make the mouse pointer easier to see, create long “pointer trails” or buy a bigger monitor or a better notebook computer (having an active-matrix screen, which is faster than a passive screen).
Icons run away from the mouse pointer
If your desktop’s icons run away from the mouse pointer, you have the Magistrate virus. Get rid of the virus by using an up-to-date anti-virus program.
Dead mouse
If nothing happens on screen when you move the mouse, try these strategies.…:
Perhaps you’re just in the middle of a routine that doesn’t use the mouse. Try these ways to get out of a routine:
Press the Esc key twice (which might exit from a routine).
If the mouse doesn’t work yet, press Ctrl with C.
If the mouse doesn’t work yet, press the Alt key.
If the mouse doesn’t work yet, press the Alt key again.
If the mouse still doesn’t work yet, maybe the task you’ve been performing has crashed, so end that task by doing this:
While holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys, tap the Delete key. (If you’re using modern Windows, then press ENTER.)
If the mouse still doesn’t work, maybe the mouse’s cord is loose (tighten it!) or the mouse is dirty (clean it by following the procedure for “mouse pointer lurches”) or the computer forgot what kind of mouse you have (reinstall the mouse-driver software that came with your mouse, or reinstall Windows) or just buy a new mouse.
Mouse pointer lurches
When you move the mouse, the mouse pointer (on the screen) is supposed to move also. If the mouse pointer lurches erratically (sometimes going fast, sometimes going too slow or not at all) or moves in just one direction (just horizontally, or just vertically, but not both), the mouse is dirty. Clean it and then the mouse will probably work well.
If the mouse doesn’t work well yet, try this experiment:
Take the ball out again. Rub your finger against the X and Y mouse rollers, and see if the mouse pointer moves also. If the mouse pointer works fine using your fingers but not by using the ball, the ball isn’t touching the rollers, probably because the ball’s cover isn’t locking the ball into the proper position. Reposition the ball and its cover.
If the mouse still doesn’t work well, just buy a new mouse. You can buy a plain mouse for under $10.
Mouse pointer hard to see
While moving the mouse fast, you might have difficulty seeing where the mouse pointer went, because the mouse pointer seems to become temporarily invisible.
That means your screen, video card, or eyes are too slow to keep up with you. That’s probably because you’re using a notebook computer that has the slowest kind of screen (passive-matrix).
It could also be because your eyesight is poor or you’re a beginner who feels lost. Like a magician, your hand is quicker than the eye or your screen.
To make the mouse pointer easier to see, create long “pointer trails” or buy a bigger monitor or a better notebook computer (having an active-matrix screen, which is faster than a passive screen).
Icons run away from the mouse pointer
If your desktop’s icons run away from the mouse pointer, you have the Magistrate virus. Get rid of the virus by using an up-to-date anti-virus program.
Dead mouse
If nothing happens on screen when you move the mouse, try these strategies.…:
Perhaps you’re just in the middle of a routine that doesn’t use the mouse. Try these ways to get out of a routine:
Press the Esc key twice (which might exit from a routine).
If the mouse doesn’t work yet, press Ctrl with C.
If the mouse doesn’t work yet, press the Alt key.
If the mouse doesn’t work yet, press the Alt key again.
If the mouse still doesn’t work yet, maybe the task you’ve been performing has crashed, so end that task by doing this:
While holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys, tap the Delete key. (If you’re using modern Windows, then press ENTER.)
If the mouse still doesn’t work, maybe the mouse’s cord is loose (tighten it!) or the mouse is dirty (clean it by following the procedure for “mouse pointer lurches”) or the computer forgot what kind of mouse you have (reinstall the mouse-driver software that came with your mouse, or reinstall Windows) or just buy a new mouse.
Modern Widows Problems
Modern Windows problems
If you’re using modern Windows (Windows 95, 98, Me, or XP), you might experience the following problems.…
Windows doesn’t finish loading
When the computer starts going into Windows, if the Windows logo & clouds appear on the screen but never go away (so the computer seems stuck and you never see the Start button or icons), the computer is encountering a software conflict.
Cure:
Turn the computer’s power off. Go into safe mode, by following the instructions in the big gray box in page 347’s column 1. Finish the software-cleaning procedure, by reading from that gray box up through page 351.
Useless password request
When the computer starts going into Windows, if the computer unexpectedly asks you for a password, you probably told the computer you’re on a network (which requests passwords) or your computer is being shared by several people.
If you don’t know any password, press ENTER or the Esc key.
To prevent the computer from asking for passwords, follow the procedure to “Remove unwanted networking”. If that doesn’t get rid of the password requests, look in the Control Panel window, then do this: for Windows XP, click “User Accounts”; for Windows 95, double-click “Passwords”; for Windows 98 & Me, try double-clicking “Passwords” or “Users”.
Illegal operation
If the computer says “This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down”, a program is trying to use a RAM section it’s not allowed to.
That RAM section is being used by a different program, with which your program is having a memory conflict.
Cure:
Press ENTER. Then do the software-cleaning procedure, which makes memory conflicts less likely to occur.
Start button in wrong corner
The Start button is supposed to be in the screen’s bottom left corner.
If your Start button is in a different corner, you accidentally moved the Start button.
To move the Start button back, use one of these methods.…
Method 1: just “drag the taskbar to where you want it.” Here’s how:
One corner of your screen contains the Start button. Another corner contains the time. Running from the Start button to the time is a bar called the taskbar, (which is blue in Windows XP, gray in other Windows).
Point at the taskbar’s middle, in a blank area where there are no buttons. While pressing the mouse’s left button, drag to where you want the taskbar’s middle to go: the middle of the screen’s bottom.
When you start dragging, you won’t see the taskbar move yet; but if you drag the mouse pointer far enough, eventually Windows XP will make the taskbar hop; other Windows will make a gray (or red or yellow) line appear where you want to taskbar to be.
Then take your finger off the mouse’s button.
Method 2 (works just if you’re not using Windows XP): “restart in safe mode, then restart in normal mode”.
Here’s how:
Click “Start” then “Shut Down”. For Windows Me, click the down-arrow.
Click “Restart” then “OK” then immediately hold down the F8 key. Keep holding down the F8 key, until the computer says “Microsoft Windows Startup Menu”. From that menu, choose “Safe mode” (by pressing 3 then ENTER).
For Windows Me, close the “Help and Support” window by clicking its X button. For other Windows, wait several minutes until the computer says “Windows is running in safe mode”, then press ENTER.
Click “Start” then “Shut Down” then “Restart” then “OK”.
Start button missing
If the Start button is missing and so is the time (although the rest of the screen looks normal), you accidentally shrunk them.
The Start button and time are part of a bar, called the taskbar (which is blue in Windows XP, gray in other Windows). The taskbar is supposed to stretch across the bottom of the screen and be about half an inch tall. You accidentally shrunk the taskbar.
To solve the problem, first close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).
If doing that makes the taskbar reappear, your problem is just that you accidentally set your taskbar to “Auto hide”.
Stop hiding the taskbar, by doing this:
For Windows 95, click “Start” then “Settings” then “Taskbar”.
For Windows 98, click “Start” then “Settings” then “Taskbar & Start Menu”.
For Windows Me, click “Start” then “Settings” then “Taskbar and Start Menu”.
For Windows XP, right-click “Start”, then click “Properties” then “Taskbar”.
Remove any check mark from “Auto hide” (by clicking). Click “OK”.
If closing all windows does not make the taskbar reappear, look at the screen’s bottom.
If you see a gray (or light blue) line running across the screen’s bottom, that line is your shrunken taskbar; make it taller by doing this:
Point at that line’s top edge, so the mouse pointer becomes a black arrow (which has white edges and points upward). When pressing the mouse’s left button, drag up about half an inch. Suddenly there, you’ll see a gray (or red or yellow) line (or blue bar) stretch across the screen. Then take your finger off the mouse’s button.
If you don’t see a gray line running across the screen’s bottom (and you’re using Windows 95, 98, or Me), the line is running along some other edge and is too messed up to deal with, so just “restart in safe mode, then restart in normal mode”, by doing this:
If your keyboard has a flying-Windows key, press it. If your kyboard lacks such a key, do this instead: while holding down the Ctrl key, press the Esc key.
You’ll see the Start menu. Click “Shut Down”. For Windows Me, click the down-arrow.
Click “Restart” then “OK” then immediately hold down the F8 key. Keep holding down the F8 key, until the computer says “Microsoft Windows Startup Menu”. From that menu, choose “Safe mode” (by pressing 3 then ENTER).
For Windows Me, close the “Help and Support” window by clicking its X button. For other Windows, wait several minutes until the computer says “Windows is running in safe mode”, then press ENTER.
Click “Start” then “Shut Down” then “Restart” then “OK”.
Icons missing
If some icons are missing from the desktop screen (the main screen), they’re probably they’re just hiding behind other icons or past the screen’s edge.
To see them again, do this:
Close any windows (by clicking their X buttons). Right-click in the screen’s middle, where there is nothing.
For Windows XP, click “Arrange Icons By” then “Name”. For other Windows, click “Arrange Icons” then “By Name”.
If that doesn’t make the icons reappear, the icons might be in the Recycle Bin, so do this:
Double-click the “Recycle Bin” icon. If the Recycle Bin window shows one of the missing icons, right-click that icon then click “Restore”.
Dialog box too big
For the screen’s resolution, you can choose “640 by 480” or “800 by 600” or “1024 by 768”, by using a settings dialog box. If the settings dialog box is too big to fit on the screen (so the box’s “OK” button hides below the screen’s bottom), the computer is confused about what resolution you want. Instead of trying to click “OK”, press ENTER.
If pressing ENTER doesn’t work, do this:
Close the dialog box (by clicking its X button), then recreate the dialog box again, then choose a resolution again, then try pressing ENTER again.
Unwanted document
on menu In Windows 95 & 98 & Me, if you click “Start” then “Documents”, you see the Documents menu, which is a list of the last 15 documents you used.
That list might annoy you, for two reasons:
One of the documents might be embarrassing (perhaps because it’s pornographic or a private letter), and you want to hide it from your colleagues and family.
Even after you’ve deleted a document, that document’s name might still be in the Document menu.
If the Document menu annoys you, here’s how to delete documents from it:
The Document menu shows just the names of the last 15 documents you mentioned. Go use other documents; they’ll go onto the Document-menu list and bump off the older documents.
Another way to get a document off the Document menu is to erase the entire Document menu. Here’s how.…
Click “Start” then “Settings”.
In Windows 95, click “Taskbar” then “Start Menu Programs”. In Windows 98, click “Taskbar & Start Menu” then “Start Menu Programs”. In Windows Me, click “Taskbar and Start Menu” then “Advanced”.
Click “Clear”.
Classic Windows problems
If you’re using classic Windows (Windows 3.1 or 3.11), you might experience the following problems.
Window too tall
If a window is too high to fit on the screen, the computer is confused about how tall the window and screen are.
Since the window’s top line is higher than the screen and can’t be seen, you can’t use the mouse to move the window down.
To move the window down, use the keyboard instead of the mouse, by doing this procedure:
Press Alt then the SPACE bar then M (which means “move”). You should see a four-headed white arrow. Press the keyboard’s down-arrow key a few times, until the window is low enough to fit on the screen. Then press ENTER.
If that procedure doesn’t work (and you don’t see the four-headed arrow), it’s probably because you accidentally pressed the Alt key twice instead of once, so try the procedure again.
File Manager icon missing
In the Main window, you’re supposed to see a File Manager icon. If the File Manager icon is missing, you accidentally deleted it.
Here’s how to recreate it:
Open the Main window. Click “File” then “New” then “OK”. Type “File Manager” then press the TAB key. Type “WINFILE.EXE” then press ENTER.
Major icons missing
If some icons are missing from the Program Manager window, they’re probably they’re just hiding behind other icons or past the screen’s edge.
Cure:
Get the Program Manager window onto the screen, and close all other windows. Maximize the Program Manager window, so it consumes the whole screen. Click the word “Window” (which is near the screen’s top) then “Arrange Icons”. If that doesn’t make the icons reappear, reinstall the software.
Insufficient memory
If the computer says “Insufficient memory”, the computer is claiming you don’t have enough RAM chips.
You might have to buy more RAM chips (Windows wants you to have at least 8 megabytes), or run fewer programs simultaneously (run just one program at a time!), or edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to make more conventional RAM be free (the conventional RAM is the first 640K of RAM, and at least 600K of it ought to be free, a goal you can accomplish by doing the “Cleaning classic Windows” procedure), or create more free space on your hard disk (since a full hard disk makes Windows get so confused that it thinks you don’t have enough RAM chips).
Microsoft Word problems
While using Microsoft Word (which is a word-processing program), you might experience the following problems.
Toolbar missing
Near the screen’s top, you’re supposed to see the standard toolbar (which includes buttons for New, Open, Save, Print, etc.) and the formatting toolbar (which includes buttons for bold, italic, underline, etc.). If a toolbar disappears, you accidentally deleted it.
Cure:
Click “View” then “Toolbars”. You’ll see a list of toolbars; make sure “Standard” and “Formatting” have check marks in front of them (by clicking). For details, read about
“Toolbars”.
Document disappears
While you’re typing a document, if the whole document suddenly disappears, you accidentally deleted it.
Here’s why:
You tried to type a capital A, but instead of pressing the SHIFT key you accidentally pressed the Ctrl key. “Ctrl with A” tells the computer to “select the whole document”, so the whole document becomes highlighted. The next character you type replaces the highlighted text, so the highlighted text is all lost.
Cure:
Immediately say “undo”. (The easiest way to do that is to press Ctrl with Z. Another way is to click the Undo button. Another way is to choose Undo from the Edit menu.) That undoes your last action. Say “undo” several times, until you’ve undone enough of your actions to undo the calamity.
Unwanted document on list
At the bottom of Microsoft Word’s file menu, you see a list of Microsoft Word documents you recently used. That list might annoy you, for two reasons:
One of the documents might be embarrassing (perhaps because it’s pornographic or a private letter), and you want to hide it from your colleagues and family.
Even after you’ve deleted a document, that document’s name might still be in the File menu.
If the document list annoys you, delete documents from it, as follows.…
The File menu shows just the names of the last few Microsoft Word documents you mentioned. Go use other Microsoft Word documents; they’ll go onto File menu and bump off the older documents.
Another way to get a document off the File menu is to erase the entire list of documents from the File menu. Here’s how. Click “Tools” then “Options” then “General”. Remove the check mark from the “Recently used file list” square (by clicking). Click “OK”. That erases the entire document list from the File menu. Afterward, let the computer create a new document list in the File menu, as follows: click “Tools” then “Options”, then put a check mark back into the “Recently used file list” square (by clicking), then click “OK”.
If you’re using modern Windows (Windows 95, 98, Me, or XP), you might experience the following problems.…
Windows doesn’t finish loading
When the computer starts going into Windows, if the Windows logo & clouds appear on the screen but never go away (so the computer seems stuck and you never see the Start button or icons), the computer is encountering a software conflict.
Cure:
Turn the computer’s power off. Go into safe mode, by following the instructions in the big gray box in page 347’s column 1. Finish the software-cleaning procedure, by reading from that gray box up through page 351.
Useless password request
When the computer starts going into Windows, if the computer unexpectedly asks you for a password, you probably told the computer you’re on a network (which requests passwords) or your computer is being shared by several people.
If you don’t know any password, press ENTER or the Esc key.
To prevent the computer from asking for passwords, follow the procedure to “Remove unwanted networking”. If that doesn’t get rid of the password requests, look in the Control Panel window, then do this: for Windows XP, click “User Accounts”; for Windows 95, double-click “Passwords”; for Windows 98 & Me, try double-clicking “Passwords” or “Users”.
Illegal operation
If the computer says “This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down”, a program is trying to use a RAM section it’s not allowed to.
That RAM section is being used by a different program, with which your program is having a memory conflict.
Cure:
Press ENTER. Then do the software-cleaning procedure, which makes memory conflicts less likely to occur.
Start button in wrong corner
The Start button is supposed to be in the screen’s bottom left corner.
If your Start button is in a different corner, you accidentally moved the Start button.
To move the Start button back, use one of these methods.…
Method 1: just “drag the taskbar to where you want it.” Here’s how:
One corner of your screen contains the Start button. Another corner contains the time. Running from the Start button to the time is a bar called the taskbar, (which is blue in Windows XP, gray in other Windows).
Point at the taskbar’s middle, in a blank area where there are no buttons. While pressing the mouse’s left button, drag to where you want the taskbar’s middle to go: the middle of the screen’s bottom.
When you start dragging, you won’t see the taskbar move yet; but if you drag the mouse pointer far enough, eventually Windows XP will make the taskbar hop; other Windows will make a gray (or red or yellow) line appear where you want to taskbar to be.
Then take your finger off the mouse’s button.
Method 2 (works just if you’re not using Windows XP): “restart in safe mode, then restart in normal mode”.
Here’s how:
Click “Start” then “Shut Down”. For Windows Me, click the down-arrow.
Click “Restart” then “OK” then immediately hold down the F8 key. Keep holding down the F8 key, until the computer says “Microsoft Windows Startup Menu”. From that menu, choose “Safe mode” (by pressing 3 then ENTER).
For Windows Me, close the “Help and Support” window by clicking its X button. For other Windows, wait several minutes until the computer says “Windows is running in safe mode”, then press ENTER.
Click “Start” then “Shut Down” then “Restart” then “OK”.
Start button missing
If the Start button is missing and so is the time (although the rest of the screen looks normal), you accidentally shrunk them.
The Start button and time are part of a bar, called the taskbar (which is blue in Windows XP, gray in other Windows). The taskbar is supposed to stretch across the bottom of the screen and be about half an inch tall. You accidentally shrunk the taskbar.
To solve the problem, first close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).
If doing that makes the taskbar reappear, your problem is just that you accidentally set your taskbar to “Auto hide”.
Stop hiding the taskbar, by doing this:
For Windows 95, click “Start” then “Settings” then “Taskbar”.
For Windows 98, click “Start” then “Settings” then “Taskbar & Start Menu”.
For Windows Me, click “Start” then “Settings” then “Taskbar and Start Menu”.
For Windows XP, right-click “Start”, then click “Properties” then “Taskbar”.
Remove any check mark from “Auto hide” (by clicking). Click “OK”.
If closing all windows does not make the taskbar reappear, look at the screen’s bottom.
If you see a gray (or light blue) line running across the screen’s bottom, that line is your shrunken taskbar; make it taller by doing this:
Point at that line’s top edge, so the mouse pointer becomes a black arrow (which has white edges and points upward). When pressing the mouse’s left button, drag up about half an inch. Suddenly there, you’ll see a gray (or red or yellow) line (or blue bar) stretch across the screen. Then take your finger off the mouse’s button.
If you don’t see a gray line running across the screen’s bottom (and you’re using Windows 95, 98, or Me), the line is running along some other edge and is too messed up to deal with, so just “restart in safe mode, then restart in normal mode”, by doing this:
If your keyboard has a flying-Windows key, press it. If your kyboard lacks such a key, do this instead: while holding down the Ctrl key, press the Esc key.
You’ll see the Start menu. Click “Shut Down”. For Windows Me, click the down-arrow.
Click “Restart” then “OK” then immediately hold down the F8 key. Keep holding down the F8 key, until the computer says “Microsoft Windows Startup Menu”. From that menu, choose “Safe mode” (by pressing 3 then ENTER).
For Windows Me, close the “Help and Support” window by clicking its X button. For other Windows, wait several minutes until the computer says “Windows is running in safe mode”, then press ENTER.
Click “Start” then “Shut Down” then “Restart” then “OK”.
Icons missing
If some icons are missing from the desktop screen (the main screen), they’re probably they’re just hiding behind other icons or past the screen’s edge.
To see them again, do this:
Close any windows (by clicking their X buttons). Right-click in the screen’s middle, where there is nothing.
For Windows XP, click “Arrange Icons By” then “Name”. For other Windows, click “Arrange Icons” then “By Name”.
If that doesn’t make the icons reappear, the icons might be in the Recycle Bin, so do this:
Double-click the “Recycle Bin” icon. If the Recycle Bin window shows one of the missing icons, right-click that icon then click “Restore”.
Dialog box too big
For the screen’s resolution, you can choose “640 by 480” or “800 by 600” or “1024 by 768”, by using a settings dialog box. If the settings dialog box is too big to fit on the screen (so the box’s “OK” button hides below the screen’s bottom), the computer is confused about what resolution you want. Instead of trying to click “OK”, press ENTER.
If pressing ENTER doesn’t work, do this:
Close the dialog box (by clicking its X button), then recreate the dialog box again, then choose a resolution again, then try pressing ENTER again.
Unwanted document
on menu In Windows 95 & 98 & Me, if you click “Start” then “Documents”, you see the Documents menu, which is a list of the last 15 documents you used.
That list might annoy you, for two reasons:
One of the documents might be embarrassing (perhaps because it’s pornographic or a private letter), and you want to hide it from your colleagues and family.
Even after you’ve deleted a document, that document’s name might still be in the Document menu.
If the Document menu annoys you, here’s how to delete documents from it:
The Document menu shows just the names of the last 15 documents you mentioned. Go use other documents; they’ll go onto the Document-menu list and bump off the older documents.
Another way to get a document off the Document menu is to erase the entire Document menu. Here’s how.…
Click “Start” then “Settings”.
In Windows 95, click “Taskbar” then “Start Menu Programs”. In Windows 98, click “Taskbar & Start Menu” then “Start Menu Programs”. In Windows Me, click “Taskbar and Start Menu” then “Advanced”.
Click “Clear”.
Classic Windows problems
If you’re using classic Windows (Windows 3.1 or 3.11), you might experience the following problems.
Window too tall
If a window is too high to fit on the screen, the computer is confused about how tall the window and screen are.
Since the window’s top line is higher than the screen and can’t be seen, you can’t use the mouse to move the window down.
To move the window down, use the keyboard instead of the mouse, by doing this procedure:
Press Alt then the SPACE bar then M (which means “move”). You should see a four-headed white arrow. Press the keyboard’s down-arrow key a few times, until the window is low enough to fit on the screen. Then press ENTER.
If that procedure doesn’t work (and you don’t see the four-headed arrow), it’s probably because you accidentally pressed the Alt key twice instead of once, so try the procedure again.
File Manager icon missing
In the Main window, you’re supposed to see a File Manager icon. If the File Manager icon is missing, you accidentally deleted it.
Here’s how to recreate it:
Open the Main window. Click “File” then “New” then “OK”. Type “File Manager” then press the TAB key. Type “WINFILE.EXE” then press ENTER.
Major icons missing
If some icons are missing from the Program Manager window, they’re probably they’re just hiding behind other icons or past the screen’s edge.
Cure:
Get the Program Manager window onto the screen, and close all other windows. Maximize the Program Manager window, so it consumes the whole screen. Click the word “Window” (which is near the screen’s top) then “Arrange Icons”. If that doesn’t make the icons reappear, reinstall the software.
Insufficient memory
If the computer says “Insufficient memory”, the computer is claiming you don’t have enough RAM chips.
You might have to buy more RAM chips (Windows wants you to have at least 8 megabytes), or run fewer programs simultaneously (run just one program at a time!), or edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to make more conventional RAM be free (the conventional RAM is the first 640K of RAM, and at least 600K of it ought to be free, a goal you can accomplish by doing the “Cleaning classic Windows” procedure), or create more free space on your hard disk (since a full hard disk makes Windows get so confused that it thinks you don’t have enough RAM chips).
Microsoft Word problems
While using Microsoft Word (which is a word-processing program), you might experience the following problems.
Toolbar missing
Near the screen’s top, you’re supposed to see the standard toolbar (which includes buttons for New, Open, Save, Print, etc.) and the formatting toolbar (which includes buttons for bold, italic, underline, etc.). If a toolbar disappears, you accidentally deleted it.
Cure:
Click “View” then “Toolbars”. You’ll see a list of toolbars; make sure “Standard” and “Formatting” have check marks in front of them (by clicking). For details, read about
“Toolbars”.
Document disappears
While you’re typing a document, if the whole document suddenly disappears, you accidentally deleted it.
Here’s why:
You tried to type a capital A, but instead of pressing the SHIFT key you accidentally pressed the Ctrl key. “Ctrl with A” tells the computer to “select the whole document”, so the whole document becomes highlighted. The next character you type replaces the highlighted text, so the highlighted text is all lost.
Cure:
Immediately say “undo”. (The easiest way to do that is to press Ctrl with Z. Another way is to click the Undo button. Another way is to choose Undo from the Edit menu.) That undoes your last action. Say “undo” several times, until you’ve undone enough of your actions to undo the calamity.
Unwanted document on list
At the bottom of Microsoft Word’s file menu, you see a list of Microsoft Word documents you recently used. That list might annoy you, for two reasons:
One of the documents might be embarrassing (perhaps because it’s pornographic or a private letter), and you want to hide it from your colleagues and family.
Even after you’ve deleted a document, that document’s name might still be in the File menu.
If the document list annoys you, delete documents from it, as follows.…
The File menu shows just the names of the last few Microsoft Word documents you mentioned. Go use other Microsoft Word documents; they’ll go onto File menu and bump off the older documents.
Another way to get a document off the File menu is to erase the entire list of documents from the File menu. Here’s how. Click “Tools” then “Options” then “General”. Remove the check mark from the “Recently used file list” square (by clicking). Click “OK”. That erases the entire document list from the File menu. Afterward, let the computer create a new document list in the File menu, as follows: click “Tools” then “Options”, then put a check mark back into the “Recently used file list” square (by clicking), then click “OK”.
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