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Houston We Have A Problem 062, 18/07/09
Snap Decision
I thought I was
copying images from my Olympus digital camera picture card to my PC using the
program that came with it, only to find out that the card is now totally empty.
Is it possible to transfer these images back to the card and still have a copy
on my computer and how would I do this?
Lesley Langslow. By email
At this distance it’s difficult to say what has happened to your
pictures but if they have been saved on your computer then you can copy them
back to the memory card by Copying and Pasting them from the folder on the PC
where they are stored back to the memory card using Windows Explorer. However,
they may need to be inside a folder for them to be viewable on the camera’s
display screen, so check how images are organised on another card that has some
photos on it. If you accidentally deleted the images then things get a little
more complicated – more on that in a moment.
There are several ways to find out if they are on your PC, if you
can remember the date when it happened you might be able to track them down
using the Search function, which has a date filter. Alternatively install our
old friend Picasa (http://tinyurl.com/yuxms7)
the free image managing and editing program, which immediately after
installation automatically catalogues every image on your computer.
If there’s no trace of the pictures on your PC then check to see
if the memory card has its own Recycle Bin (most do not, however), in which
case you should be able to put them back by right-clicking on the file entries
and selecting Restore. Otherwise, if you haven’t used the card you might be
able to get some or all of them back using a free utility called Smart
Recovery; you’ll find a link to the download at: http://tinyurl.com/6nwp9z
Redacting in Word
Is there any redacting function in Word? The only workaround I can
think of is to screengrab the document using PrintScreen or Captus, as an image
file, then copy into Paint or PS, and redact with a black rectangle.
I need to send my accounts to the taxman!
Steve Sanford, by email
Just use the Highlight function on the Toolbar, but use the
drop-down menu to change the colour from yellow to black. Also make sure you
switch off Track Changes, otherwise they may be able to un-redact your
documents...
Temporary Solution
My Acer Travelmate laptop has an annoying habit of saving
downloads to a ‘Temp’ directory, which doesn't show up when a search is
instigated. A colleague has noted a similar problem. Is there a simple way of locating this hidden area in the memory,
and preferably some means to prevent further disappearances of vital materials?
Alastair Grierson, Rickford, Essex
Normally when you click on a link to download a file you will be
prompted to Run or Save it, if you choose Run it will be downloaded to the temp
folder and the file automatically opened or executed, which is okay as long as
there are no interruptions in the download. If you select Save – usually the
best option – the folder where it will be stored in is usually Desktop,
Downloads or My Documents but you can change the location by clicking the Browse button and manually select a folder. Windows
should remember this setting the next time you download a file but you can also
change the default in Internet Explorer. However, this involves editing the
Registry so proceed with caution unless you know exactly what you are doing.
Create a new folder on
your hard drive and call it something memorable like ‘Downloads’. Open Regedit
from Run or Search on the Start menu and navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer. Look for a key called
Download Directory in the right hand pane. If it’s not there create it by
right-clicking into the pane and select New > String Value. Rename it
Download Directory, press enter then right-click on the new key select Modify
and enter the path of your download folder (e.g. C:\Downloads). Exit Regedit
and restart IE. Incidentally, it’s a lot easier in Firefox, just got to Tools
> Options > Main and under Downloads specify the folder you want to use.
Seeing Double
I have an external monitor, which I can attach to my laptop.
However, since upgrading to Windows Vista I get a picture on my laptop as well
as on the monitor. When I was running XP I only had a picture on the monitor.
Is there anything I can do to so that I don't have the picture on the laptop?
Also, when opening Control Panel and double clicking on Programs
and Features I get a list of programs installed but nothing on their usage as I
used to have with XP. As my laptop is running particularly slow, I want to
remove some programs that I never use or use infrequently but I cannot tell
from the information available which ones they are.
John Harris, by email
The external monitor functions on a laptop are normally handled by
the laptop’s video driver software. On many machines there’s a Function or ‘F’
key option that toggles the video output between the laptop screen and an
external monitor or both, so check the user manual. Otherwise check Vista
Display Settings (right-click desktop select Personalize > Display Settings
and click the Advanced Settings button and check the tabs for display options.
The usage log you are looking for in Programs and Features can be
found by right-clicking the Name/Size title bar, select More then check the
‘Last Used on’ and ‘Used’ boxes, however, don’t be too surprised if there’s no
appreciable improvement in performance. A sluggish computer is usually due to
clutter and too many Start-up items, which requires a more thorough clean-up,
have a look at this recent Boot Camp article: http://tinyurl.com/p9pf7d
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© R. Maybury 2009 2906
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