Solutions: Finding a missing 10 gigabytes of disk space

Q. My C drive was 30 gigabytes, but now it's 20GB. Is there any way to access the lost 10 GB? Somewhere in the lost sector is a program called GoBack. When I try to install the program again it refuses to install because it finds info that it already was installed.

A. Do a thorough ScanDisk. If there are corruption or integrity problems with your hard drive, this should turn them up. Most likely anything that it can recover or repair may not be usable. If your GoBack program still won't install, try uninstalling, then installing it again.

Printing a floppy's directory

Q. Several photos came as e-mail attachments in jpeg format. I saved them on a floppy disk. I would like to print a list of the names of those photos, but I cannot find a way to print it. When I open the A drive in My Computer, no Print command appears. When I try to copy the list (while in My Computer) into WordPerfect 8 for printing, it copies only the first one, the entire photo as well as its name. How can I print the list?

A. Here's how to do it: With the floppy in your A drive, open a Command Prompt (DOS Prompt -- Start, Programs, Accessories, Command prompt). Type the following command: DIR A:\*.* > c:\filenames.txt This will create an ASCII file that can be printed with WordPad, Word or Notepad using the normal methods. The key here is the ">" part of the command. This is a redirection symbol telling the command to pipe its output to a file instead of the display screen.

Troubled shared file

Q. I use Windows Me. I added a game called the Game of Life (Hasbro Win 95/98). I now receive the following message when I try to open Microsoft Word: "Winword has caused an error in the VBE6.DLL. Winword will now close. If you continue to experience problems try restarting your computer." I uninstalled, then re-installed Office, but it didn't work. I don't want to reformat my hard drive because I do not want to cause other problems.

A. Unfortunately for most PC users, the real "game of life" involves installing software applications that are sometimes not compatible or that clobber shared files that subsequently cause problems similar to the one you're experiencing. The fastest and easiest way to correct this is to rename the VBE6.DLL file (most likely in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VBA folder) and reinstall Word from your Microsoft Office CD. There is a known problem similar to this for users of Adobe Acrobat (full version, not the reader). If you have Adobe Acrobat, get the updated fix at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/update.html. Hope you land on Happy Acres Farm and get the white convertible.

Blocking an e-mail address

Q. I understand that it is possible to stop getting e-mail from a specific individual. I have one person sending me 30 e-mails at a time, most of which are junk. I have told him to stop but it doesn't seem to do any good.

A. First, never reply to anyone sending you junk mail. It tells them that you're a live e-mail address and you take the time to read it. Most e-mail programs have a feature for blocking a particular sender. On the Outlook Express menu bar, click Tools, Message Rules, Blocked Senders List. This will display the Message Rules dialog window. Click the Blocked Senders tab, then click the Add button. Type or cut and paste in the e-mail address of the offending sender.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright