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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
May 14, 2006
Q.
Ever since I rebooted my computer after some
automatic Windows updates, I am having
problems with the dropdown address menu in
Internet Explorer. I uninstalled those
updates and everything works fine. How can I
prevent downloading them again without
disabling automatic updates?
A.
You don't
have to turn off the automatic updates, you
can choose to just have this particular one
ignored, or hidden.
Click
Start, then Programs, then either Microsoft
Update or Windows Update. (If you don't have
an item Microsoft Updates, click
HERE to
visit a previous column to learn all about
it, and how to get it).
When the
window opens, click the Custom button and
the computer will search for all available
updates. This can take a pretty long time,
several minutes.
The
critical updates will be displayed
automatically, but you will have to click on
Software or Hardware to display those if
there are any. If you have not gotten any
updates this way before, I suspect there
will be several Software updates available.
If you need any of these, choose to download
and install them. Only the critical and
those deemed by Microsoft as "vital" are
found in the automatic update.
Find the
one that you that's causing you the problem,
and click the plus (+) mark in front of it.
That will open to show a box you can check
to "Don't show this update again". This will
hide it, and your automatic updates won't
try to download it until you choose to
unhide it again.
Q.
I did something to my computer and now I
cannot enter double letters like the l's in
Dell without waiting for a few seconds
between the two l's. What did I do, and how
can I undo it?
A. You have turned on something
called "Filterkeys". This is part of Windows
"Accessibility Options". Some people,
especially older ones, may have shaky or
slow hands, and to keep them from
accidentally entering a double letter
because they cannot lift their hands quickly
enough, there is this aid called Filetekeys.
To turn it back off, click Start, then open
the Control Panel and select Accessibility
Options. Uncheck the checkmark in front of
Filterkeys. To prevent this from happening
again, click the Settings button, and then
uncheck "Use Shortcut". The shortcut for
Filterkeys, and probably what you did to
turn it on was to hold down the right shift
key for 8 seconds. This is a toggle
function, meaning that repeating the process
will turn it back off again.
While there, look for something called
StickyKeys. It is toggled on or off by
pressing the right shift key 5 times. This
allows you to press the Shift, CTRL, ALT, or
Windows keys and have them "stick" in that
position while another key is pressed. This
is a necessity for someone that has one hand
disabled.
There are other Accessibilities Options
there too including flashing the screen and
sounding tones that you might want to check
out.
Q.
I choose to have Internet Explorer save a
password, and now I want to remove it from
memory. How can I do this?
A.
Click Start, and open the Control Panel, and
select Internet Options. Click the General
tab, then Under the Browser History, click
the Delete Button. At the bottom of this
dialog, click on the Delete Passwords
button, and confirm you choice by clicking
OK. This will delete all passwords stored in
Internet Explorer.
To
prevent them from being remembered in the
future, click the Content tab, then under
the AutoComplete section, click Settings.
Uncheck the box in front of "User name and
password on forms", and "Prompt me to save
passwords". |
