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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
November 13, 2005 |
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Q. Sometimes when I open a folder I see 2 or 3
icons that are exactly alike and have the same name.
Why are there icons that are the same?
A. If you see more than one icon with the same picture and name it is
because these are actually different files. The
names look the same because the entire name is not
visible. By default, when Windows is installed, the
file extensions of “known” or registered file types
are hidden. This means that a file with the name myfile.exe
could look the same as one named myfile.ico, or
myfile.txt because the
extension, the .exe, .ico, & .txt is hidden.
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For some reason that I don’t
agree with, Microsoft thought that it would be
less confusing to the average user if the
extension of known file types was hidden. (The
known here means known to Windows, not to the
user) To me, this causes more confusion, not
less. However it is easy to set things right and
have all of the file extensions displayed.
The first step is to double click
on the My Computer icon on your desktop. Here
again, Microsoft, in all their wisdom decided
that with Windows XP, this icon would no longer
be displayed on your desktop. I’ll get to fixing
that later. For now, click Start, then My
Computer. Click on Tools, then Folder Options,
then the View tab. In
the Advanced Settings window, find the entry
“Hide extensions for known file types”, and
uncheck the box in front of it. Click the Apply
button to set your choice. While the window is
still open, look over the other settings you can
effect here. |
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SideBar
Windows was introduced in 1985,
twenty years ago this year. Most folks probably
don’t remember many versions before Windows 95,
maybe as far back as Windows 3.1. If you have
never tried to use any Windows version before
3.1, don’t fret, you haven’t missed a thing. To
say that early versions of Windows, before 3.1,
were stable would be a gross understatement.
Working more than a couple of hours without a
crash was very unusual.
For some interesting reading and
a little history lesson, check PC Magazine’s
November 8 issue for an article
titled “A Brief History of Windows” that covers
its twenty years existence. This can be read on
line or downloaded free by clicking
HERE. |
You may want to change more of them. No harm will be
done and you can always go back and change anything
you want.
There is another very good reason for these
extensions to be made visible. Security! Many
viruses and spyware are distributed with a false
extension to hide their true type. It is possible,
with most current versions of Windows, to have more
than one period (.) in a file name. A name like
“picture.jpg.exe” is perfectly acceptable.
However, if the known extensions were hidden, this
file would appear to be just “picture.jpg”. ONLY the
extension after the last period (.) would be hidden
by Windows, in this case the .exe. Now, if one would
double click on this file thinking they were going
to view the picture, they would actually be
executing the file which could be installing a virus
or spyware. This type of trickery is most often
attempted with email attachments.
Q. In many places where I can make changes, there
are both the OK button and an Apply button. Do I
have to click both to make a selection “stick”?
A. No. Both buttons will allow any change you have made to be kept.
There is a good reason for them both. When you first
open the dialog, the Apply button is grayed out. It
will stay that way until you make a change. Clicking
the Apply button will set the change, BUT it doesn’t
close the dialog window. This allows you to make
another change if you want.
You can make several changes in different tabs, and
clicking the Apply button will set them all, while
keeping the window open. Clicking the OK button also
keeps all the changes, but closes the window. It is
NOT necessary to click the Apply button AND the OK
button. Both will set the changes, the only
difference being that the OK also closes the dialog
window.
Q. When I got my computer, there were no icons on the
desktop except for the Recycle Bin. How can I get My
Computer, My Documents and other icons there?
A.
When Windows XP is installed, by default there are
no icons on the desktop. If anything other than the
Recycle bin is there, the computer manufacturer put
them there. You can put an icon on the desktop by
several different means. Although you can actually
store the file itself on the desktop, it is
preferred that only shortcuts be placed there. A
shortcut can be deleted without deleting the file it
represents. Shortcut icons are distinguished from
file icons by the little arrow in the lower left
corner of the icon. There are several ways to put a
shortcut on the desktop, but two are much preferred
over the others.
The first of these works best when the folder window is
maximized. Locate the file in its folder, RIGHT
click on the filename or icon, select Properties,
then Send To. In the Send To menu, click on Desktop
(create shortcut). This will create a shortcut to
that file on your desktop. (I’ll cover a way to
prevent the words ‘Shortcut to” from automatically
being appended to your shortcut in a later article.)
The second way works only when the folder is not maximized
and part of the desktop is visible behind it. Right
click on the filename or icon and drag it to the
desktop. When you release the mouse button, a menu
is displayed and you can select Create shortcuts
from it.
Either of these ways will work well for most shortcuts, but
a shortcut for My Computer created this way is just
a shortcut, and will not have the special properties
normally associated with the My Computer icon. Here
is a built-in way to create the My Computer icon on
the desktop.
RIGHT click on a blank spot on the desktop, and then select
Properties. Click the Desktop tab, then
the”Customize Desktop” button. There you can choose
to display My Documents, My Computer, My Network
Places, and Internet Explorer. You can also change
their icons as well as those of the empty and full
Recycle Bin. Don’t forget to click the OK button to
exit and set you choices.
There is a lot more you can do to customize your shortcuts
and your desktop too, but I’ll cover that at another
time.
Q. I accidentally did something that I didn’t mean to and
now I have the My Documents folder covering the top
third of my screen. I don’t know how I did this, but
I just want it to “go away”?
A.
On the desktop, any folder can be displayed as a
“Toolbar” and any toolbar can be displayed at the
top, bottom, right, or left side. (The toolbar
referred to here is one like that little bar that
runs across the bottom of the desktop. There are
other type toolbars, some with a much more sinister
purpose).
Normally, the My Documents icon is located very close to
the top of the desktop. You probably dragged it to
the top of the screen and released it accidentally.
When you did, this icon was automatically converted
into a My Documents Toolbar. That’s probably not
something that you really wanted there.
To make it “go away”, RIGHT click on any blank spot on that
toolbar, and select Toolbars from the menu. Now,
just click My Documents to remove the checkmark, and
it will go away.
The normal toolbar at the
bottom of the screen can be expanded (pulled up) to
cover about half of the screen. It can also be moved
to the top, right, or left side of the screen. Why
anyone would want to do this is beyond me, but it is
possible.
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