Solutions

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 8, 2001

DOS prompt will let you delete files

Q: I scanned some 5 by 7 photos into the Windows Me My Pictures folder of My Documents using a Canon D660U flat bed scanner. I have been able to delete some that were scanned at lower dots per inch, thus smaller size, but not the earlier ones I scanned at 1,200 DPI, with sizes ranging up to 140 megabytes. When I right-click, Delete or File, Delete, I get the usual box asking me if I'm sure I want to delete the document. When I click Yes, I get another box that says, "Cannot Delete (picture or document name): Access is denied. The source file may be in use." Canon and Compaq tech support have been of no help. Can you help me?

A. There could be a couple of things going on here. Let's remove Windows Explorer and anything it may be trying to invoke whenever you select the file. Go to a DOS prompt (Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt). Then Navigate to the My Pictures directory by typing the following:

CD "\my documents\my pictures" (Make sure you include the double-quotes as shown.)

Do a directory listing of the file you're trying to delete by typing the following:

DIR mybigfile.jpg (Of course, change the name to whatever your file is called; I used mybigfile.jpg just as an example.)

This will verify the file and its name. Next type the following command:

DEL mybigfile.jpg (Again, substituting your file's name in place of the example name I used.)

Shutting down Startup Menu

Q. Every time I boot my machine my Windows 98 Startup Menu comes up. Is there a way to turn it off?

A. To check if your system is set to start up with the Startup menu: Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then System Information. On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility. Click Advanced. Make sure the Enable Startup Menu check box is not selected. If it is, click it to unselect it. Click OK twice, then restart your computer.

Clearing up Web history

Q. How can Web site addresses that have been typed into the address bar and are stored on the dropdown window of the address bar be deleted? This list is getting very long. I am using Internet Explorer 5.0.

A. On the Internet Explorer menu bar, click Tools, Internet Options, then the Clear History button on the General Tab.

Moving the Start bar

Q. My Start bar moved to the right side of the screen, then across the top and later down the left side. How do I move it back to the bottom?

A. Click on the Start bar and hold, drag it to the bottom of the screen, then release.

Changing the background

Q. I transferred pictures from my digital camera to my computer. In learning to work with the Kodak software, I added pictures to the background and screen saver. I want to take these pictures out, and I want to know how to add them again.

A. To access the properties and settings for your PC background and screen saver, right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Properties (or click Start, Settings, Control Panel and double-click Display). There will be tabs for Background and Screen Saver. For Background, scroll the list to select another picture (or select None). For Screen Saver, click the Screen Saver option list and select something other than the currently active screen saver (or None). The Kodak Screen Saver that loaded when you installed the software will be listed as a choice if you want to select it again later.

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