Control Panel Settings

Q: My laptop is again making that over-active engine noise. Any idea what I need to do?

A: That 'overactive engine noise' is actually the fan kicking in when the computer gets hot, which is what it should do when the laptop gets hot. The only way to completely stop it from doing that is by keeping the laptop cool - turn it off when you are not using it, don't sit it on anything that retains/reflects heat eg a blanket or mat on your table etc There are cooling pads you can buy to place underneath laptops to dissipate the heat as well.

Heat is the problem (and laptops always get hot) but heat has to be taken away - and fans are the only solution built in to your computer. The problem is, heat removal from laptops is never very good - which is why laptops don't last very long. The average lifespan is around 2yrs as all the electrical components inside the laptop get cooked!

Q: There is a shimmering in the lower right corner of the monitor particularly on a white background. Not so obvious on any other colour. It's a bit disconcerting when watching the screen to see this flickering happening out of the corner of your eye. How can I correct this or is it a problem with the monitor?

A: The flickering in the corner of the screen is either a problem with the monitor or a refresh rate issue. The latter we can do something about. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel and in there, double click on the 'Display' icon. In the Display properties, go to the last tab called 'Settings'. On this tab, at the bottom right is a button saying 'Advanced' - click on this.
On the next screen that comes up, click on the tab that says 'Monitor' and in the middle of that is a narrow oblong window with the refresh rate settings. If you click on the little drop-down arrow to the right of the white oblong box, you get to see the options available (60hz to 85hz probably). Change the setting to the highest one available and click OK/Yes when it asks you.
And that should do it. If it doesn't, then you will probably need to get a new monitor.

Q: There is a shimmering in the lower right corner of the monitor particularly on a white background. Not so obvious on any other colour. It's a bit disconcerting when watching the screen to see this flickering happening out of the corner of your eye. How can I correct this?

A: the flickering in the corner of the screen is either a problem with the monitor or a refresh rate issue. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel and in there, double click on the 'Display' icon.
In the Display properties, go to the last tab called 'Settings'. On this tab, at the bottom right is a button saying 'Advanced' - click on this.
On the next screen that comes up, click on the tab that says 'Monitor' and in the middle of that is a narrow oblong window with the refresh rate settings. If you click on the little drop-down arrow to the right of the white oblong box, you get to see the options available (60hz to 85hz probably). Change the setting to the highest one available and click OK/Yes when it asks you.

 

Q: How do I find out which graphics card I have got?

A: Click on Start>Settings>Control Panel. In the Control Panel, double-click on the System icon. In Windows 95/98/ME, on the new panel that comes up, click on the tab that says 'Device Manager' and double-click the entry in there that says Display Adapters. In Windows 2000/XP, click on the tab that says 'Hardware' and choose the button in the middle of the box which says 'Devices' or 'Device Manager'. And double-click the entry that says 'Display Adapters'. Make a note of all information there and then search for the item at www.google.com or at the manufacturer's website.

Q: How do I change my default language settings? My Windows XP computer is set to using US English and I want it using NZ English.

A: Click on: Start > Settings > Control Panel > Regional & Language Options
Make sure that on the first tab (Regional Options), the first field (='Formats') says 'English (New Zealand)' and that the second field ('Location') says New Zealand.
Then, go to the second tab, called 'Languages'.
On this tab, click the 'Details' button. What it should say here is:

English (New Zealand) - US in the first field - which means that you are using NZ English on a US keyboard layout (which is what all NZ keyboards are).

In the larger white area below, there should only be ONE entry in here, which gives the same as the field above in more expanded form. Mine says English (New Zealand) Keyboard - US
If there are ANY other entries in here, highlight them and click on the 'Remove' button. You might have to restart the computer for the effects to take place.

Q: How do I change the time on my computer?

A: The easiest way is to double-click on the clock in the right-hand corner of the screen, which brings up the Date/Time control panel applet. You can change your time zone in here also!

Q: I seem to have lost my lower toolbar, the one where you have the volume control, disconnection button etc on the right, & also the start button on the left. Don't know where it has gone, but has floated off into space. Can you help!!

A: You are referring to what is known as the Taskbar. If you put your mouse at the lower edge of the screen, does the taskbar then appear? If so, then you have the 'auto-hide' feature enabled. To disable this feature, put your mouse at the bottom edge of the screen (so that the taskbar appears), click on the Start button, then Settings > Taskbar & StartMenu and in here, put a tick in the box that says 'autohide' - then click apply/OK. Alternatively, the screen area you have is too big for the monitor. Use the control knobs on the monitor itself to re-size the screen image. Alternatively, right-click on a blank area of the desktop & choose 'properties'. On the box that comes up, choose the 'settings' tab and make sure the screen area is set to 800 x 600.

Q: Please can you tell me how to get out of Safe Mode? I had been deleting some old "Quake" material of my grandson's, and thought it had all cleared before I shut down. I have been in Safe Mode before, and have somehow managed to clear it. This time no luck.

A: To get into Safe Mode, press the F8 key repeatedly when the computer starts up to get to the Windows Start Menu, and then choose 'Safe Mode'. To get out of Safe Mode when you are done, just click on Start and then 'Shut Down' and shutdown the computer!!

Q: How do I change my keyboard layout?

A: Different languages use different characters - and even the same languages, such as English - have different keyboard layouts. An 'American' keyboard has the @ symbol as the shift keystroke above the number 2, whereas the UK keyboard has the " sign placed here. To change your keyboard layout, go to Start> Settings> Control Panel and double-click on the keyboard icon. Click on the 'Language' tab and choose whatever other language options you wish. Whilst you are here, you might also like to adjust the 'repeat' speed of your keyboard - when you strike the same key more than once - and even adjust the speed at which your cursor blinks. These can be helpful if you find the speed of the default settings either too fast or way too slow for your liking.

Q: My taskbar is no longer at the bottom of my screen but has somehow moved to the side. How do I get it back to its proper place again?!!!

A: This commonly happens when you accidentally 'click and drag' on the taskbar. It can be very annoying as it seems to refuse to go back into its proper place. However, it is easy to restore - by using the same 'click and drag' method. The easiest place to do this is to click and hold the (left) mouse button in the area around the digits of the clock. If you then start dragging the mouse around the screen - to the top, bottom or sides - you see a grey box outline of the new location of the taskbar. Move it so that this grey box-line is adjacent to the bottom edge of the screen and then let go of the mouse button. You will find that the taskbar will then 'snap' back into place. If it is still a bit thicker than it used to be, place the mouse right on the upper edge of the taskbar until the mouse pointer turns into a double-headed arrow. Click and hold and resize the width of the taskbar by moving the mouse towards the bottom of the screen.

Q: I have seemed to deleted that volume control thing on my computer that shows up in the corner and all the volume seems to have gone. How do I get it back?

A: Click on Start>Settings>Control Panel. In the Control Panel, double-click on the Multimedia icon. Put a tick in the box called 'Show Volume Control on the Taskbar'. Click OK. This will bring the little yellow speaker icon back onto your screen by the clock. If you double-click on this icon, it will bring up the Volume Control box and you can adjust the volume for various noise functions of your computer. Check that there are no ticks in the 'Mute' boxes and that the slider levels are not all at the bottom of the scale.

Q: I can't seem to hear anything when I play an audio cd. Windows has stopped making its usual welcoming noises as well. What could be the problem?

A:. If you are receiving no sound, check the following:
- are the speakers plugged into the wall (for power) and into the back of the pc?
- are the speakers plugged into the correct socket on the back of the computer? sound cards usually have three possible options - for mic, line in and speakers out. The speakers one is usually light green colour coded
- is the Windows volume control muted? click on the speaker icon in the system tray by the clock to double-check
- click on start > settings > control panel and then double-click the Sounds & Multimedia icon. Check that the settings are correct in here.
If all these don't resolve the issue then perhaps your sound card is faulty - time to call in a computer service technician!