Saturday Bonus Questions and Answers – 081322
Yay! It’ ‘s Saturday. And it’s time for another issue of Saturday Bonus Questions & Answers.
Sometimes the best tips and tricks are hidden in the questions and answers we publish. And rarely do we post questions and answers on this website. Today, we’re featuring some of the questions and answers from past issues of our InfoAve Weekly newsletters.
These questions & answers were selected at random from past InfoAve Weekly newsletters.
Saturday Bonus Questions and Answers – 081322
Jim has only two entries on his Windows 10 “Send to” menu
When I right-click a folder or file on my computer, my “send to” link only has the choice of Bluetooth. How do I get more on it?
Our answer
Hi Jim. This problem is usually caused by having two Bluetooth entries in the “Send to” folder. One of them is correct, the other is not. To fix your “Send to” menu problem, you have to delete the one that is not correct.
Open File Explorer and click on “View” at the top. Then click on the arrow under Options (on the far right) and choose “Change folder and search options”. In Folder Options’ dialog, click on the “View” tab at the top and make sure “View hidden files, folders, and drives” is selected. If not, select it and click Apply/OK.
Next, navigate to C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
Above… you can see I only have one Bluetooth entry: “Bluetooth device”. But if you have two (one may be called just Bluetooth) it can stop the other entries from showing in the “Send to” list. So, I am just guessing you have two entries with “Bluetooth” in their names. If you do, delete the second one. Restart your computer and your right-click menu should have a lot more items.
Please let me know if this works for you.
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Jim wrote back: “Hi TC. It worked! You are awesome. Keep up the good work. Jim”
Kathy wants to know about the Vivaldi browser
Do you know anything about the “Vivaldi” web browser? A friend has it and loves it. I’m using Google Chrome and was just wondering. Love your “Start Page”… Kathy P.
Our answer
Hi Kathy. Thanks for your nice comments.
Vivaldi is another of the many Chrome clones – all based on the Chromium browser. We reviewed it several years ago.
https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/vivaldi/
There are dozens of other browsers based on Chrome, the most popular of which are Microsoft Edge, one called Epic, and another called “Brave”. there are a lot of Chromium-based browsers available.
We have tried many of them. I’m still using good old Google Chrome and Darcy is using Microsoft Edge.
But there’s certainly nothing wrong with Vivaldi. A browser is a personal choice, kind of like toothpaste :-).
Rosa has Windows 10 and wants to make a screenshot and send it by email
I need to know how to take a screenshot and put the info into an email. Please help. Thanks, Rosa.
Our answer
Hi Rosa, with the image you want to take a screenshot of on your screen, tap the PrtScr key (usually on the right side, at the top of the keyboard). In Windows 10, once you press the PrtScr key, you will find the screenshot in the Pictures folder in a folder called Screenshots. It will be saved in PNG format so you can send it by email as you would send any other image.
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Ron wants to know if a program called Hacker Alert is any good.
Hi guys. Have you ever heard of Hacker Alert? Any opinions on it? This email is from our internet provider. We already have Emsisoft. Thanks, Ron
Our answer
Hi Ron. Don’t waste your money. This is just a way for your ISP to get more money from you by selling you something you don’t need. If this kind of thing worked, Yahoo, Experian, and some of the biggest companies and government agencies would not be getting hacked.
I remember the banks were talked into getting customers to sign up for Rapport which was supposed to keep them from getting hacked. Heck, the banks were even giving that away free as an additional “service”, kind of like free checking. All it did was cause problems with computers. Darcy and I removed Rapport from dozens of computers- it was not easy to get rid of it either. It sounds like your ISP is trying to make this sound like a great deal – an additional “service’ you can get for only $47.88 a year. My advice: Take that money and buy a nice dinner.
The chance of an individual getting hacked is one in tens of millions. People get tricked into giving criminals passwords and personal information – or they use easy-to-guess passwords like “password”, “1234567”, “abcdef”, etc. (and we’re not kidding). Individuals don’t get hacked.
Save your money, Ron.
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Ron wrote back: “Hi, TC. Thank you for the quick and very helpful reply. I was suspicious of what my provider is offering but wanted the opinion of someone in the know. I am glad I checked with you. You guys are great! Thanks, again. Ron.
Marsha said Bing has hijacked her browser
Thank you, guys, for all the wonderful tips for us oldsters and how to keep things up and running. I do have a question and if anyone has a solution, you most certainly will. Bing has hijacked my browser whenever I open a new tab. I have tried various solutions found in searches including using the Regedit feature. Nothing works! Please help me defeat the Microsoft Overlord! Thank you, Marsha
Our answer
Hi Marsha. My guess is that you installed something that also installed the BING browser extension. Since you’re using Chrome, I’ll save you some time…
Follow the instructions on this page to reset Chrome – and that will get rid of the Bing hijacker.
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Marsha wrote back: “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your suggestion fixed the hijacked browser. You have defeated the Microsoft Overlord. I bow down to your knowledge. Marsha.”
Roberta gets a list of irrelevant “trending” Google searches in Chrome
Hi! When I do a search from the search bar on Google Chrome, I get a list of what is called trending searches in a drop-down. This just started that yesterday. The trending searches in the list are not relevant.
Our answer
Hi Roberta. It sounds like you installed an unwanted extension. So, the best way to fix this is to follow the instructions below:
Reset Chrome and clear its history by following the instructions on this page.
After you reset Chrome, close it and reopen it. You should not see any “trending” because “trending” is not part of Google search on Windows.
——
Roberta wrote back: “Thanks so very much, TC. You two are just awesome GOD BLESS! Roberta.”
Charles just updated Windows and now File Explorer won’t open
I just updated my Windows 10 with the latest updates. Now, when I open Task Manager it won’t stay open. It flashes for a second and then disappears. Help, please.
Our answer
Hi Charles, try this. Power off your computer – shut it completely down. Leave your computer completely powered off for five minutes and then turn it back on.
Now, wait until Windows has completely loaded. After Windows has completely opened, try opening Task Manager. I think you’ll find will stay open for you.
Once you shut down/power off and wait a few minutes, memory is cleared and nagging problems like yours are sometimes solved.
Let me know if you need more help.
———–
Charles wrote back: “You were right! I tried your solution and Task Manager is working perfectly. Thank you very much! Charles.”
Mildred is getting a new computer and wants to know if she needs a PDF program
Buying a computer is serious business and I have chosen the one I prefer. Do I need a PDF program such as Adobe or Foxit which is an add-on and pricey? Some government documents (income tax forms and such) come in PDF. Can they be printed off without a PDF file program? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks…Mildred
Our answer
Hi Mildred. You don’t need a PDF program like Adobe or Foxit… you can open and print PDF files with your browser. Both Google Chrome and/or Microsoft Edge work great and that’s what we use. Also, note that Windows 10 comes with Microsoft Edge so if you’re getting a new computer with Windows 10 – you don’t have to download anything at all.
We hope this helps you, Mildred.
Cheryl asks about Xtra-PC
Good morning… I saw this on the internet https://tinyurl.com/y2jfr64r and wondered if either of you have ever heard of it. If so, what is your take on it? Thought it might be something you two would want to test out in case any of your followers were to ask you questions about it. Might also be something you can put in the newsletter with your findings, whether good or bad. Stay safe. Cheryl
Our answer
Hi Cheryl. Xtra-PC has been around for years. It’s a USB flash drive with Linux on it. When you plug it into a USB port it boots the computer into Linux instead of Windows. I don’t know if it’s a scam or not, but it’s very misleading. It does not make your computer like new.
You can make your own Linux USB drive for free (other than the cost of the USB drive). It’s called PenDriveLinux. It’s free and all you need is a $5 USB flash drive.
Linux is not Windows and when you run from a USB flash drive you will not have access to any of the files, folders, apps or programs on your Windows computer.
I hope this helps you, Cheryl.
Benoit wonders if it’s better to leave a computer running all the time or to shut it down daily
I was having a heated discussion with one of my geek friends: Is it better to leave our computers running all the time and just reboot after an update or turn it off daily?
Our answer
Hi Benoit. We have had that discussion ourselves! We both leave our computers running 24/7. The only time we reboot is when it’s necessary – for instance when a Windows update requires it.
If we’re going to be away for a few days, we shut our computers down in case of a storm.
Here is an article we wrote some time ago.
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Euan wants to know if Windows 10 has predictive text features like Smartphones
Is there a way to write emails on my computer that will automatically show up the words that are similar to the suggested ones that I am looking for as it does with Predictive Text? Just similar to what it does with mobile phones? Many thanks to you and good wishes.
Our answer
Hi Euan. Windows 10 offers a predictive text feature. Whether or not it works with your email program depends on the email program.
Here’s how to enable text prediction in Windows 10.
I hope this helps you, Euan.
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Euan wrote back, “It works! Many, many thanks. Euan.”
Tony’s Start menu is missing…
Hi TC & Darcy. Well, everything has been working fine until today, I no longer have access to my Start Menu, in other words when I click on the Start button, nothing shows up, blank, nothing. This just started today. I don’t know what to do to get to my apps menu to select the ones I use all the time. I need help, please.
Also, I received your newsletter today regarding Windows S Mode. I tried following your steps but never did find whether I have the S version, not that I want it. If you can help, I would be eternally grateful. In fact, I currently have your Windows S newsletter in my Inbox now and can’t get it to know if I’m running Windows S. Thanks, Tony.
Our answer
Hi Anthony. Try powering off your computer – completely. Wait for at least 5 minutes before you turn it back on… I’m pretty sure that will restore the start menu. If it doesn’t you can try following the instructions on this page…
https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/using-sfc-and-dism-to-repair-windows/
As for S-Mode, this article explains how to find out if your computer is running in S-Mode.
We can save you some time though – since you downloaded and installed Thunderbird email – you’re not running S-Mode. If you were running S-Mode, you could only use apps from the Windows store.
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How do you get “snipping tool” on the task bar in windows 11? I got the calculator on it but can’t get the snipping tool.
In the taskbar search type SNIPPING TOOL, pre3s Enter when you see Snipping tool in the search results. When Snipping Tool opens, its icon will be in the taskbar, right-click on its icon in the taskbar & choose Pin to taskbar from the menu. That’s it.
Woohoo, finally got it on. Thank you, thank you.
In the “search area” (loupe) .. type “snip” … right-click … add to taskbar ..
Greetings