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Solutions
Error messages may come from within application
By JOHN TORRO
Published January 30, 2006
Q. I have been getting an error message (using Photoshop Elements 2.0) that says the main scratch drive is full and I should make more room. I religiously defrag and remove cookies. Can you tell me what a scratch drive is and how to make room? I have shut down and restarted with no help. None of my other photo programs are affected.
A. This sounds like a specific error message from within the Adobe application. If this is the application displaying the error message in your case, you can get the specifics of the solution here at www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/328548.html You will need to free up contiguous free space on your hard drive. Without seeing your particular system, I cannot tell you what to delete, but you will have some luck using the disk space wizard: Open My Computer, right-click the C Drive, choose Properties. On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Once this is complete, do a complete defrag to make new free space contiguous this can be found on the Tools tab of the C Drive Properties dialogue.
To see file suffix names, deselect "Hide extensions' option in Microsoft
Q. How can you set your computer so you can see the ending of the file name, such as jpg, gif, xls, doc?
A. For some reason, Microsoft decided a few years back that seeing the file suffixes was not necessary or would confuse the average home PC user. I don't agree. I think it is more confusing (and sometimes dangerous) to hide the suffix. Here's how to change the setting to make them visible: Open My Computer, click Tools, Folder Options and then the View tab. Look for the "Hide extensions for known file types" option box and remove the check (unselect it). Click OK.
Change your Spybot settings to save Web site IDs and passwords
Q. Whenever I run Spybot, I lose all my saved IDs and passwords for the Web sites that I visit regularly. I have tried changing the settings but nothing works.
A. That type of information usually is kept in cookie files. Within Spybot Settings (Advanced Mode), under Settings (again) uncheck the "Use shredder to remove usage tracks" under Expert Settings section and see if that makes a difference.
System inconsistencies may be cause behind illegal installation warnings
Q. I purchased a used computer (Windows 98) so that my ill husband can play games. I have a lot of game discs that I purchased and used on my main computer. Every time I try to install one, it stops the installation with an illegal warning. Is this because I registered the games in my name and the computer is in another person's name?How do I check this? How do I correct this?
A. You didn't specify the exact error message, but it sounds as if the illegal part had to do with the installation program running into some sort of system inconsistency (disc, program or memory access). For some reason, this has always been referred to as an illegal instruction or memory access. It has nothing to do with actual legalities. Now, as far as what the problem is, it could be any one of many things. Assuming the programs you're loading are compatible with WIndows 98, there may be some missing/corrupt system files. A consistency check (My Computer, right-click the C drive and select Properties), Tools tab and click the "Check Now" under error checking. Sometimes a reinstall of the entire operating system will also correct problems.
Key does serve some function, but system request is obsolete
Q. Every computer keyboard that has been ever been manufactured has a PrtScn/SysRq key. They seem to serve no purpose, especially Print Screen. Can you please explain the purpose for them being on keyboards?
A. Actually, the Prt sc - sys rq key is very useful. Using a combination of the Alt + prtsc key will put the contents of the current active window into your Paste buffer. You then can go into a program such as MSPaint and do an Edit/Paste to display the window image. A ctrl + prtsc does the same except that it puts a copy of the entire content of your computer screen (not just the active window) into the Paste buffer. Okay, so why then does this key also have a sys rq (System Request) designation? This goes back into ancient history (about 1984) and was originally made for the OS/2 operating system. It was to be used to bring up a menu with all the basic system functions (such as copying files). In today's Windows environment, it no longer has any meaning.
[Last modified January 27, 2006, 10:48:05]
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