Okay, I’m sure Windows has never crashed on you or caused you any problems; but when (I mean if) you ever do have a Doh! troubleshooting . smash forehead on keyboard to continue problem, it’s your fault. Please step away from the computer. You clearly have no idea what you’re doing. Just kidding! You can sit back down. There’s just nothing good about troubleshooting. We don’t want to do it and feel that we shouldn’t have to anyway. My computer’s supposed to work perfectly—all the time! It’s not as if I did anything to cause this. (Keyboards are supposed to be waterproof, right?) Well, I have only two pieces of advice when it comes to troubleshooting. First, be patient; whatever the problem, you can fix it. Secondly, don’t actually smash your forehead on the keyboard. It doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. I just got a nasty bump and it didn’t fi x a thing. CHAPTER 12 • Doh! 223 THREE-FINGER SALUTE Folks, if you remember only one keyboard shortcut in XP, this is the one, because even- tually you’re gonna need it. This tip is truly for those of you who are new to Windows. Everyone else who’s been using Windows for at least six months has already learned the Windows Ctrl-Alt-Delete three-finger salute. This is not what I’d consider a killer tip; how- ever I just wouldn’t feel that I was doing my job if I didn’t include it. It’s been too much a part of my life to leave out. So, here we go. Believe it or not, eventually a program might freeze on you or Windows will just inexplicably stop responding. When this happens, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete on your keyboard. This opens the Windows Task Manager. Now, click the Applications tab in the dialog box and select the program that’s not responding, then click End Task. If this still doesn’t do the trick, you can shut down by clicking Shut Down>Restart on the Task Manager’s Menu Bar. WHERE’S MY SCANDISK? I I was probably using Windows XP for about two weeks before I I went looking for the comfort of my trusted ScanDisk. I thought I was going to be sick—I couldn’t find it. ScanDisk wasn’t there. Well, I’m here to save you from going through this trauma. ScanDisk isn’t included in Windows XP; instead you get the improved Check Disk tool. You can use the Error- Checking tool to check for system file errors and bad sectors on your hard drives. To use Check Disk, click Start>My Computer, then right-click the hard drive you want to check, and click Properties on the Shortcut menu. Next, click the Tools tab in the dialog box and click Check Now (under Error Checking). 224 CHAPTER 12 • Doh! KNOWLEDGE CAN MAKE YOU SMARTER Without a doubt, the best feature in the Help and Support Center is its online access to Microsoft’s Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base is Help on steroids—its über-Help. Just about any kind of problem you’re having with Windows has probably been addressed here. Which is great, but what’s really useful is its hidden power. You can use the Knowledge Base to find help for practically any software title that Microsoft develops. Here’s how: Click Start>Help and Support and click the Set Search Options link directly under the Search text box. Next, click to expand the menu for Microsoft Knowledge Base and select the program that you need help with. Now, uncheck Suggested Topics and Full-Text Search Matches to search only the Knowledge Base, then type a search term, and click the Start Searching arrow button. There ya go, instant help for all of your favorite software. Just keep in mind that you must be online to search Microsoft’s Knowledge Base. CHAPTER 12 • Doh! 225 AM I CONNECTED? There’s a really quick way to tell whether your connection to the Internet or network is active: View its status in the Taskbar’s Notification area. Click Start>My Network Places and click View Network Connections under Network Tasks. Next, right-click the Local Area Connection or any network icon and click Properties on the Shortcut menu. Check Show Icon in Notification Area When Connected, and then click OK. Now, you can view your network connections on the Taskbar. You’ll never be left hanging again. If your Web page isn’t loading or if you’re not able to access files on the server, you’ll know whether it’s your computer melting down, or it’s simply a bad connection. And you’ll know it instantly, as both monitors on the Connections icon light up when the connection is active. You won’t have to stare at a blank Web page or watch your hourglass spin for five minutes before figuring out that you may not be connected. GIVE IT A BOOST Remember when Mom would remind you to clean your room? You hated it, didn’t you? Well, I’m here to bring back the good ol’ days because I’m definitely gonna get after you to clean your computer. Over time, your computer can get cluttered with all kinds of junk, much like toys under the bed and dirty clothes in the closet— you can’t necessarily see the mess, but it’s there. Disk Cleanup can free up a ton of space by searching your hard drive for files, such as unnecessary program files, temporary files, and cached Internet files, and deleting them. To run Disk Cleanup, click Start>All Programs> Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup For, then select the drive you want to clean, and click OK. The search will return a list of files that can be deleted safely. Click OK to delete the files. 226 CHAPTER 12 • Doh! FEELING SLUGGISH? If Windows begins to get sluggish, you probably need to defrag your hard drive. As you install and remove programs, add files and delete files, your hard drive can become a little fragmented—this means that parts of your files and Apps become a little scattered on your drive. This makes your hard drive take longer to locate files and respond more slowly. You can get Windows back up to speed by running Disk Defragmenter and getting your files back together. Here’s how: Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>SystemTools>Disk Defragmenter. Now, select the drive you want to defrag and click Defragment. Oh, by the way, it’s a good idea to plan your vacation around this—it might actually be finished when you get back. In other words, it takes a long time. WE’RE COMPATIBLE You love XP, but you’re simply devastated that you can no longer run your favorite game—Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom, an actual game made for Windows 95. Well, bring back the Bats! They can invade once again. You’ve just got to make your old game compatible. You can get older games and programs to run on XP by using the Program Com- patibility Wizard. The Wizard lets you test your older programs in different Windows environments; in other words, if you have a program designed to run in Windows 95, then you can set its compatibility mode to Windows 95 so that it runs in XP. To set a program’s compatibility, click Start>All Programs>Accessories>Program Com- patibility Wizard. When the Wizard opens, simply follow the instructions to select your program and set its compatibility. CHAPTER 12 • Doh! 227 IT COULD BE HUNG UP Have you ever tried to launch a program and nothing happened. Tried it again—nothin’! Again—nothin’! Well, don’t start reinstalling the program just yet. It might simply be hung up. The next time this happens, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to open Task Manager. Click the Processes tab in the dialog box, select the App that you were trying to launch, and click End Process. Now, try to launch the program again. SAVE SEARCHES You go through a lot of trouble to search for something on your computer. You may have to perform several different searches using various keywords to find what you’re looking for. Of course, just as soon as you close the search window, you wish you hadn’t, because you can’t remember where the file was, and you can’t remember how you found it to begin with. Well, that bites! Fortunately, this will never happen to you again, because you’re going to save your search results. Here’s how: Click Start>Search and perform a search (for whatever). Once you’ve found the desired results, click File>Save Search on the Menu Bar. Now, pick a location on your hard drive to save your search results and click Save. 228 CHAPTER 12 • Doh! HELP AND SUPPORT FAVORITES You already know how frustrating and time- consuming locating files using Search can be, but have you ever searched for info using XP’s Help and Support Center? Oh yeah, this is user friendly! You could be digging for hours before you find what you’re looking for. Apparently the developers at Microsoft knew this, because they were kind enough to give Help and Support its own Favorite—I bet you never noticed it. Try this: Once you’ve finally finished a search, don’t close the window; you’ll never find it again.