Solved!
By Cate Eales
Appeared April 2, 2009 on castanet.net
Although this column periodically contains answers to
readers' questions, there are always some that I just can't answer, at
least right away. Over the past two weeks, I've managed to find answers to
several of the questions in my "Pending" file, and moved them to "Solved".
Laptop mouse cursor with a mind of its own
If you have written to me about your laptop's mouse cursor jumping around
for no apparent reason and my response hasn't helped you...especially if
you have a Toshiba laptop...you need to read
this Support Bulletin from Toshiba.
Finally, an acknowledgement from Toshiba that there is a problem, and
detailed instructions (including pictures!) of how to work around the
issue. This information may be useful to you even if you don't have a
Toshiba laptop but you are having the "mouse jumping around" problem.
click to enlarge image
Can't find the Zoom tool
This comes up every so often in my email. A reader says s/he used to
have a Zoom Tool, but now can't find it.
Well, I don't know why it's taken me this long to figure out what everyone
was talking about, but I finally did. Windows XP has a built in screen
magnifier tool. It does just what the name implies --- lets you see a
portion of what's on the screen magnified from 2 to 9 times normal size.
To fire it up:
Start | All Programs | Accessories | Accessibility | Magnifier
Or you can simply click on Start | Run, and then type in "magnify"
(without the quotation marks) and press Enter.
Once the tool is running, you can change the settings in the popup window.
You can also change where the magnified portion of the screen is
displayed. By default, it will appear at the top of your screen, but you
can click on the magnifier and drag that window anywhere. You can also
resize it by clicking on the lower right hand corner, holding down your
left mouse button, and dragging until it's the size you want.
Magnifier is also available in Vista. Like so many other things that used
to be easier in XP, it can be a little more complicated to get to it in
Vista.
This article describes the tool and how to access it in Vista.
If you or someone you know would like to take advantage of the built-in
accessibility tools in XP or Vista,
a visit to this page is in order. You will find videos that
demonstrate the tools.
Taskbar, Notification Area, Desktop Icons not
working right
I often get email from people who can't find their Taskbar, or who CAN
find it, but it's on the side or the top of the screen. There are ways to
fix that, and I have written about this before (here
and here).
But I've found something much easier, at least for XP users.
Taskbar Tool Repair Plus, available here is a utility that will help
you with all kinds of problems, solving most with just two clicks. If you
don't want the whole tool, you can pick and choose from the fixes listed
on that page.
Do you need help with your computer? With your
scanner/printer/camera/music player? Do you have a virus or a
spyware problem? Do you have a new computer and now you're wondering
how to get the files from the old one over to the new one? I'm here to
help you and your computer get along! To ask a question, make a comment or
suggestion, or schedule a visit, email
cate@rlis.com. You can read previous columns
here. If you'd like to
subscribe to this column by email,
please visit this link. It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the
RSS Feed, click here.
Links
Toshiba Support Bulletin: Mouse Jumps Around As You Type
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/bulletin.jsp?soid=2255211
Vista On Screen Magnifier
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsvista/magnifier.aspx
Demos of Accessibility in Windows
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/demos/default.aspx
Tasks
http://rlis.com/columns/column19.htm
Answers
http://rlis.com/columns/column51.htm
Taskbar Repair Tool Plus
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives
http://rlis.com/column.htm
Get Cate's column by email
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618
RSS Feed:
http://rlis.com/rlis.xml
---
Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible
and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric,
and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions,
helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware
eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image
management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management.
Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your
comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit
the Real Life Internet Solutions website at
www.rlis.com.
©
Cate Eales 2009 – All Rights Reserved
-30-
