Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Solutions
Check Inbox's integrity to locate disappearing e-mail
By JOHN TORRO
Published May 30, 2005
Q. An Outlook feature that I really appreciate - the ability to read an e-mail and have it hang around in the Inbox with the open-envelope symbol - simply stopped working. Anything I do to the e-mail beyond reading it in the lower pane of the Outlook window causes it to disappear completely. When I try to look it up for further action, it's no longer there. It doesn't seem to matter what action I've done: print, save, even double-click to read it in its own window. All the above actions seem to delete the e-mail. I have found no usable information looking for answers. I have Norton Suite, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Spybot, Ad-aware and a couple of other watchdogs. I am totally baffled.
A. There could be some other factors involved here regarding the physical location of your mail store (server or local) or if you're accessing your Outlook mail from different PCs. You didn't specify those details. So my first inclination would be to check the integrity of your Inbox using the Microsoft Inbox repair tool. You can get more information, including instructions on where to get it and how to run it, at support.microsoft.com/?kbid=197316.
Problems with starting up Windows may be linked to keyboard
Q. I can't get Windows 98 to start up. I tried all six options on the Microsoft startup menu. I get the Flying Windows screen, which stays up for about 10 minutes. Then I get the black screen with the message: While Initializing device VKD: Windows Protection Error 4: Restart your computer . . . Press any key to continue. If I restart the computer, the same thing happens. If I wait and do nothing, the computer shuts down. If I use my emergency startup disk (I have three or four of these), I start Option 1 start Windows 98 using the CD-ROM. It goes through Scandisk (which states I have no errors on C and D drives) and then it comes up with the black screen saying: Please wait while setup initializes. Scanning system registry. Then nothing after that.
A. VKD is the acronym for Virtual Keyboard Device Driver, so the operating system is telling you that it cannot recognize and subsequently initialize your keyboard. It may be as simple as trying a different keyboard. Of course, in life the obvious answer rarely is the solution, so if that doesn't work, I would suspect some sort of disk/file integrity problem. You can try reloading Windows (no need to format, this way you'll keep all your programs and data).
Just delete scam e-mails mentioning viruses if system is clean
Q. I've been getting e-mails in my Outlook Express 6 from different sources confirming passwords to different Web sites, including AOL, Yahoo, etc. I've also been getting notifications that my e-mail was rejected due to the W32 Sober virus. The e-mails were never sent from my computer. I downloaded the W32 removal tool. After it went through its cycle, it said the virus was not found on my computer. I had the same problem and result with the Netsky virus. I did an Ad-aware scan, and it came back clean.
A. These e-mails are not a result of any action on your part. They are simply just some scammer using random e-mails gathered in a number of different ways as the return address for their scams. Just delete them without opening. Eventually, they may desist.
To fix typos in auto-fill information, clear forms cache
Q. When I fill out a form and the box drops down with the anticipated words, it always includes my misspelled info. How can I take those mistakes out, so I don't have to be reminded how bad a typist I am?
A. This is part of Internet Explorer's forms cache. If you can't live with the typos, you will need to clear it out as follows: From Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options, then the Content tab. Under Personal Information, click Auto Complete and then the Clear Forms button.
For Windows XP, use IPCONFIG
Windows XP cannot find winipcfg.
Winipcfg is a Windows Me/9x program only. The Windows XP (or Windows NT/2000) less user-friendly equivalent is IPCONFIG. You'll need to run IPCONFIG from the command prompt (Click Start, Run, type CMD and click OK). To check your settings, type IPCONFIG /ALL. You also can use the /release and /renew options to release and renew your IP settings respectively.
[Last modified May 27, 2005, 11:24:04]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
