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I'm one of today's best-selling computer book writers, with more than 15 million books in print.

This website keeps you up-to-date on my books, and your computers. Each week, I answer a reader's question on-line.

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Archive for 'Windows 7'

Customizing the screensaver in Windows Media Center

Q: I often run Windows Media Center on my computer. When I’m not using it, Windows Media Center’s screensaver begins showing my photos as a screensaver. I’d like to keep some of those photos private. How can I choose which photos Windows Media Center displays as its screensaver? A: Some versions of both Windows Vista […]

Sharing files and photos between accounts on the same computer

Q: My husband and I have separate user accounts on the same computer. But we can’t share photos with each other in our Picture libraries. My husband copied some photos into the Public Pictures folder in his Pictures library, as you recommend in Windows 7 For Dummies. But for some reason, that Public Pictures folder […]

My laptop keeps opening windows and menus by itself!

Q: When I leave my laptop’s mouse pointer hovering over certain places on the screen, it opens and closes items by itself. This happens throughout Windows 7, even when I inadvertently leave the pointer resting over something. Is there any way I can make Windows only open things when I click them? A: Laptops and […]

Windows DVD Maker says the “Temporary Directory is not Accessible”

Q: I am trying use Windows DVD maker to make a photo slide show. After I load the pictures and click the next icon, I receive this error message: “Error synchronizing project – The temporary directory is not accessible.” Why do I receive this message, and how do I make it work? A: Windows does […]

Why does Windows show my file names in blue letters?

Q: I just noticed that some of my file names have changed to a bluish color in Windows Explorer. They still seem to work okay, but the names are in blue letters. I’ve seen this before, but it was always just one file. This time all the files in one of my folders have changed […]