Ask DACS
July 2011

Moderated and reported by Richard Corzo

Ask DACS is a Question and Answer session before the main presentation at the monthly General Meeting. We solicit questions from the floor and then answers from other audience members. The role of moderator is to try to guide the discussion to a likely solution to the problem.

Q. How do I get a directory listing in Windows Vista?

A. One way is to use the command line. If you have Windows Explorer open and see the folder you want a listing of, perform a Shift+right click on the folder and choose Open Command Window Here. Otherwise open Command Prompt from the Start menu and use the "cd" command to change to the desired directory. Use the "dir" command to list the contents of the directory. dir /b will list only the file names. Enter dir /? to see other options for the dir command.
 
Another suggestion is to take a look at the TreeSize Free program from JAM Software. It shows the size of each folder's contents.
 
Q. I have a DSL modem and wireless router. My wife's desktop computer in the
next room gets poor reception. There's a phone line available in that room. How can I improve the reception?

A. Since the computer is in the next room, consider running Ethernet cable between the two rooms. You can also get a pair of power line adapters and connect your wife's computer with an Ethernet cable. Another option to try is to move the DSL modem and wireless router into your wife's room. You could also get an extender cable and directional antenna for the Wi-Fi adapter card.
 
Q. I have an external drive that was formerly an internal drive in another computer. It has some folder names that are GUIDs that are probably leftover Windows updates and I'm unable to delete. How can I get rid of them without formatting the whole drive?

A. Take ownership of the folders in order to change the permissions. Then you should be able to delete them. Someone suggested connecting the drive to a Mac and deleting the folders from there.
 
Q. I have some old computer accessories such as floppy disks and RS-232C cables. Would someone have a use for them?

A. Probably not. Just put them in the trash.
 
Q. I was going to upgrade to Firefox 4, but it is no longer available. Instead they are offering Firefox 5.

A. Mozilla is starting to come out with more frequent updates. Just a few months old, Firefox 4 will be getting no further security updates. So just go ahead and upgrade to Firefox 5. It's not much different from 4. The upgrade will check to make sure your Firefox extensions are compatible with the upgrade.
 
Q. I've made copies of folders as backups or in the process of rearranging them and now have a lot of duplicates. How can I find the duplicates to get rid of them?

A. Take a look at Karen's Power Tools. Also check out easyDuplicateFinder (http://www.easyduplicatefinder.com/). To prevent inadvertent duplicates, be aware that when you drag files or folders between different drives, by default Windows will copy the files rather than move them.
 
Q. I have a program PDFCreator that creates PDFs, but the PDFs are not opening in the default program (that is, Adobe reader) and I am prompted each time to choose a program. Yet they open correctly without prompting when opening them in the file system in Windows Explorer.

A. The program may have some corrupt registry settings. Try uninstalling an reinstalling the program.
 
Q. I have a one-year old Acer laptop that is running quite hot. I'm suspecting the fan. How easy is it to open the laptop and inspect and clean the fan?

A. Visit the manufacturer's website to see if they have a service manual. You may be able to use an antistatic vacuum. YouTube is sometimes a good source of instructional videos. Also visit iFixit.com.
 
Questions for the upcoming meeting can be emailed to askdacs@dacs.org.
 
Disclaimer: Ask DACS questions come from members by email or from the audience attending the general meeting. Answers are suggestions offered by meeting attendees and represent a consensus of those responding. DACS offers no warrantee as to the correctness of the answers and anyone following these suggestions or answers does so at their own risk. In other words, we could be totally wrong!