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Create a new toolbar in Windows – Video Tip

Desktop icons are great to access commonly used programs and files, but I have found an even faster way to access those commonly used programs and keep my desktop a little cleaner at the same time.

After following the outlined steps below, you will have an orderly toolbar that contains easy one-click access to your favorite programs or files:

  1. RIGHT Click on your Taskbar (next to the Start button)

  2. Click Toolbars

  3. Click Quick Launch (or make sure there is already a check mark there)

HP Director won’t open

Yesterday, I ran across a customer with an HP All-in-one printer that would not pull up the HP Director software that controls the copy, scan and fax processes. Turns out that the problem occurred shortly after his system updated to the new Internet Explorer 7. Because so much software uses Internet Explorer in some fashion, the update causes problems for some of them and this was the case with HP Director. HP has come out with a fix, but you have to be able to HP Director up and running in order to click on it's update feature.

Here's how to get HP Director up and running:

  1. Double-click the HP Director icon. Do not click anything else on your screen until Step 2 is completed.
  2. Press the Alt key and the Space bar together on your keyboard and Click Minimize from the menu that displays in the upper left corner of the window. If necessary, click it again until HP Director minimizes.
    The HP Director software should now appear as an item on the Task Bar.
  3. Click HP Director on the Task Bar. The software opens and displays normally.
  4. Repeat the steps above each time the HP Director software is used.

This is a workaround posted on HP's web site. Once you do get the HP Director running, click the "Check for updates" icon on it and download the available updates. It will take a few moments and then ask you to restart your computer, but when it does, all will be well again with HP Director.

 

Gadgets yield more gadgets

I have helped several people buy new computers lately. I don't sell computers or any other hardware so I am more of a personal shopper than a salesman when it comes to guiding people through their purchase.

I think it's funny how gadgets always seem to yield more gadgets. Here is a short flowchart of how this process works.

1. A client calls and says that they need a new computer. They ask my advice on what they should get for just basic stuff like email and word processing. "I don't need anything fancy."

2. I suggest a basic system that will handle all of their needs and a little more.

Amazing Photoshop Elements: Layers

Everyone always seems mystified by Photoshop's layers features.

While layers are very complex, I believe that they are often viewed as being more complicated than they actually are.

A layer is simply a picture or transparent layer placed on top of another picture. Think of it as placing clear plastic wrap on top of a photo. By creating a layer, you prevent any damage or change to the base photo.

Here is a quick list of terms that will help you figure it all out:

Layer Pallette: You can see all of your stacked layers in the Layers Pallette.

Changing the XP Startup Logo

Warning: If you mess something up, your operating system may not boot. 1) First, create an image that you want to use. Paint is the easiest to use. It has to be 640X480 and 16 colors(not 16 bit). Save it as “Boot.bmp“. 2) Copy Boot.bmp to the C:\Windows\ directory. 3) Right click on My Computer > Properties > select the… Read More »Changing the XP Startup Logo

The Next Great Novel

The next great novel is gone. Why? Because there was no backup copy of the document and the original has disappeared. This was one of the voice mail message I retrieved this morning as I started my week. It breaks my heart, but it is a hard lesson that the computer user will never again forget. With the plethora of backup options available to us today (online, second computer, hard drive, ZIP drive, flash drive, and even the lowly floppy disk), it seems absolutely ridiculous that more computer users don't heed the warning.

We harp on backup here at HelpMeRick.com and on the radio show because backup should be the number one tool in your computer security approach. Hopefully, our listeners and web site visitors have heeded our warnings over the years and won't fall in the depressing situation that the young author did who left me the message this weekend.

How to Email Your Digital Photos

Emailing Your Digital Photos

A few things to remember:

  • Always save a copy of the ORIGINAL photo

  • You can always go down on resolution, but you can never go up.

  • 72 dpi for email and web – 300 dpi for printing

Photo Restoration

Digital Photo Restoration

Restoring old photos is one of the coolest things you can do in digital photography. The best part is that anyone can do it. All it takes is a scanner and a nice image editing program.

Important Photo Restoration Tools

There are many several tools that you just can't do without when it comes to restoring photos.

Cloning tool

Organizing and Backing Up Photos

Getting organized:

The best way to get your photos organized is to start with a system that works for you.

My system is to create a single folder for all my digital photos on my hard drive. Inside that folder, called "Digital Pictures," I place a sub-folder for each month of the year. In each month's folder I may place more folders for each activity held during that month.

For example: Digital Photos –> April –> Easter –> Grandmas

I then place the digital pictures into their respective folders.