Turning Off Personalized Menus in Windows
Richard, Peterborough, ON

Q: My menu in MS use to fully expand when you click. Now they don't. I like being able to see all my Menu selection at once and not have to go searching for them.

Microsoft started hiding menus in Office XP and has since excended "personalized menus" to many of its products. The idea is that users aren't overwhelmed with hundreds of menu options. The menus are supposed to show your most used commands and hide the rest. I'm with you, though. I use the menus to figure out what the program can do. Look in the options menu for a way to turn off personalized menus - it's in differing spots depending on what program you're using.

In Microsoft Word:

1. From the Tools menu, select Customize...
2. Click the Options tab
3. Under Personalized Menus and Toolbars check the box beside Always show full menus
4. Click Close

In Windows XP:

1. Click the Start Menu
2. Choose Settings
3. Choose Taskbar and Start Menu
4. Uncheck the option, "Use Personalized Menus"

In Internet Explorer:

1. Click on Tools
2. Choose Internet Options
3. Click on Advanced
4. Uncheck the option, "Enable Personalized Favorites Menu"

Deleting Windows Updates
Connie, Needville, TX

Q: All the security updates that flow in accumulate in the windows folder and I was wondering if you could delete these updates from the folder?

You can't delete them without eliminating the patches. It may be tempting to do so, but it's a very dangerous thing to do. Windows updates not only fix bugs in the operating system, they also close serious security holes.

The hotfix files in your Windows directory and the hotfix entries in the Add/Remove Control Panel are important. Only delete them if you are having a compatibility problem.

LCD Resolutions
Edward, Rexton, NB

Q: I know that LCD monitors each have a certain "native" resolution that they work best at. In fact, most of the LCD's I've looked at have a native resolution of 1,280 x 1,024. What I would like to know is if they are capable of displaying lower resolutions. I'd love to get an LCD but the work I'm doing now requires my desktop to be set at 800 x 600, and if the LCD can't display that properly, there'd really be no point in getting one.

LCDs, like plasma displays, have a switch for every pixel on the screen. The native resolution is represented by the number of switches horizontally and vertically in the display. All LCDs can display resolutions lower than their native resolution but you may not be happy with the results.

In some cases the screen will simply shrink to the number of pixels you are using - putting a big black frame around the picture. In other cases the monitor will attempt to simulate the lower resolution by combining two or more pixels into one. Some monitors do this better than others. Try the monitor before you buy.

One Email Account, Many Users
Peter, Halifax, NS

Q: When I log in to my user account in xp and then check the family e-mail, I recieve all the messages. If there is a message for my wife, I'll tell her and she will check the e-mail later, but in her user account she can't see the messages I've already downloaded. how do I set the program to be universal across all the user accounts?

Normally, when you collect your email it is deleted from your ISPs server. (This is not true with some ISPs, like AOL and MSN.)

Every email program has the option to leave mail on the server, however. Check your account options. In Outook and Outlook Express it's in the Advanced account options. I recommend deleting your mail after a reasonable time to avoid filling your ISPs server. Most ISPs limit you to 10 megs of mail. If you exceed that quota incoming mail will be returned to the sender.

Mac to PC File Sharing
Francis, Iverness, NS

Q: I wish to transfer video files from my G4 400 Power Mac to my Dell PC so I can burn them to CD. I have connectivity between the two computers using a crossover cable and I can ping the Mac from the PC but have not been able to find a way to establish file transfer. Please hep me!!!!

It will probably be easiest to mount the PC's hard drive on the Macintosh. Make sure you're sharing the appropriate folder on the PC and you're allowing users to modify giles. You'll need the Workgroup name, login, and password for your account on XP, plus the IP address and the share name for the folder you're sharing on your PC . On the Mac, select Connect to Server… from the Go menu and enter:

smb://Server IP/ShareName

Using the IP address of the XP box and the ShareName of the folder you want. (If you know the name of the computer as supplied in the Computer Description box in the System Properties control panel.

Spaces and hyphens are not allowed in the ShareName. You have to share over TCP/IP not Net BEUI [Create]. Since you can ping the PC you know you have a TCP/IP connection between the two.

Apple.com: How to Connect to Windows File Sharing
Mac OS X to Windows XP file sharing