Getting cross over vanishing photos
by George Skarbek - August 30th 2005

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Computer Guide

Q: I am using Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer 6.0. My friends send me photos with Hotmail email attachment. They are well displayed and can be seen clearly. But when I download those photos onto my hard drive and try to open it again, only a small cross appears on the left-hand side.

A: What's wrong is that you have just saved a link to the picture and not the image itself. The best way to save the image is to right-click on the picture and then select Save Picture As. Do not click on the small paperclip and click Save As because this will not work, or you will save the tiny image of the paperclip.


Q: I have a CD of useful programs that I add to from time to time. I recently added a program to the CD and in the writing it has now lost the path to previous programs. Can I recover that information?

A: For all practical purposes this information is lost forever. Although it may be possible to recover some data, it can be a laborious task and expensive if you have to pay for this service.

As blank CDs can cost less then 35 cents each if purchased in lots of 50, I suggest that you just use a write-once CD and finalise that CD so that it is not possible to write to it again, even if you have used only a few per cent of the capacity. This way, your important data will always be safe.

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Q: I was wondering how to change the default when opening Windows Explorer - instead of defaulting to the My Documents folder, I would like it to default to somewhere else.

A: You can do this by creating an appropriate shortcut. Right-click on the Desktop, select New, Shortcut and in the Command line, enter C:\Windows\Explorer.exe /n,/e, "C:\My Other Stuff".
Note that the quotes are required as the folder name contains a space. Then just double-click on that icon to open Explorer where you want it.
If you wish to highlight a particular file within that folder, then enter C:\ Windows\Explorer.exe /select,c:\windows\sol.exe and, in this example, the game Solitaire will be highlighted. Note that the file must already exist.
To open at the root directory of a drive, type:
C:\Windows\Explorer.exe /n,/e,/root,,/select,C:\
Perhaps even better to open Explorer for keyboard users is to simply press the Windows key + e.


Q: I hooked up a Netgear router to a WinXP machine and then wirelessly networked it to another without problem. After a month, the net slowed right down on both machines. I have since reinstalled the router software but can't see what the problem is.

A: Assuming that you have not altered any settings, the problem is most likely to be environmental, that is, something close to your location is interfering with your signal. Most likely it will be a neighbour with a wireless network.

Start by verifying that you still have good signal strength by either using the Netgear software or Windows in Control Panel, Networks etc. If this signal is weak, realign or move the antenna. Assuming that the signal is good, then alter the wireless channel away from the default value of 6, as this is most likely being used in your near vicinity.


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