PC Help Guide

Many people are having trouble trying to install service pack 3 (sp3) on their XP machines, there are a few main problems why this could be happening;

• Error messages
• Installation going backwards
• Not enough room on your hard disk

Firstly to try and fix this so you can install sp3 you should try and clean up your hard disk to allow more room for the installation (sp3 takes up more than a gigabyte of room), or alternatively you can upgrade to a bigger hard disk.

Another method people are using is to re-install windows xp then to install sp3, this method does work but can be time consuming.

Finally what some people are doing is just to not upgrade to sp3, but you have to take the risks with this option.

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We all use some sort of shortcut in Windows XP (ctrl+c, ctrl+v etc), but did you realise the extent of the shortcuts available in Windows XP. Here is a big list of all the common shortcuts you can use in Windows XP;

• CTRL+C (Copy)
• CTRL+X (Cut)
• CTRL+V (Paste)
• CTRL+Z (Undo)
• DELETE (Delete)
• SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
• CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
• CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
• F2 key (Rename the selected item)
• CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
• CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
• CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
• CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
• CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
• SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
• CTRL+A (Select all)
• F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
• ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
• ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
• ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
• ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
• CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
• ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
• ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
• F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
• F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
• SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
• ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
• CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
• ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
• Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
• F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
• RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
• LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
• F5 key (Update the active window)
• BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
• ESC (Cancel the current task)
• SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)
• CTRL+SHIFT+ESC (Open Task Manager)

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I just added this add-on to my Firefox and the results rather embarrassed me!

The TimeTracker add-on tool records how much time you spend browsing the web using Firefox and records it conveniently on your browser. It can help you control your browsing habits and stop you getting internetitis from being online too long.

TimeTracker features;

• Tracks browsing time across sessions
• Pauses automatically when you stop browsing
• Reset counter
• Pause toggle per window
• List ‘work’ sites that should not count
• Tooltip showing total time today, since last reset and since installing

To find out more about TimeTracker and to download it click here

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I have had a few emails from some concerned readers about updates for their PC. Basically they don’t know whether their computer has automatically downloaded the updates, and have no idea where to search for them.

It is a simply search to find a list of downloaded updates on your PC, to search for installed updates just do the following;

• Open control panel
• Click programs
• Click programs and features
• Now click view installed updates

Here you will see a big list of all the updates your PC has installed, you can even unistall one if you need to (although I wouldn’t recommend this).

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