File management
Windows copying problems
For reasons known only to insiders at Microsoft, every version of Windows that I have used is not good at copying multiple files from one place to another. I recently wanted to copy a folder from one hard drive to another. (I like to have two hard drives.) The folder wasn’t that large by today’s [...]
File limitations for flash drives
USB flash drives have become very inexpensive and widely used so I think it’s worth repeating and enlarging on the very first tip that I gave on this blog. Flash drives very often come formatted with the FAT16 (also called just FAT) file system. I have bought even 1 GB drives that are formatted with [...]
A better way to manage ZIP files
I have previously posted about alternative ways to manage archive files such as those in ZIP format. Because archived files are commonly used for downloads and other purposes, many PC users encounter the need to unzip or decompress an archive file. Windows XP and Vista come with a native capability to handle ZIP files but [...]
How to find a file on the Internet
Do you ever want to find a specific file that you know exists? Of course, Google or other generalized seach engines can be used but it may be faster and easier to use specialized file search sites. Tech Support Alert recommends two FTP file searchers:
http://www.filewatcher.com/
http://www.metaftp.com/
Note that both sites have some advanced features and you can [...]
Site about USB smart drives
As often mentioned in these pages, USB drives are now used for all sorts of purposes. My SeniorNet colleague, Sol Libes, has prepared a presentation and Web site on smart USB drives at this link. The site has a lot of nice information and a list of useful links.
How to keep the Windows XP system clean
I have revised and updated a previous article that I wrote on maintaining Windows. It can be found here. I have also added an article on How to use Disk Cleanup. This utility is one of the system tools that comes with Windows XP.
The best archive/zip utilities
For years I used WinZip as my primary program for opening archived files. I paid for a license back in the days of Windows 95. The company had the policy that once you paid, future updates were free so I went through a number of versions. Then WinZip got taken over and updates were no [...]
Search features in Windows XP and Vista
One of the new features in Vista is an improved search function. Actually, the same search engine is also available for download to Windows XP so it isn’t exclusive to Vista. Personally, I think that Microsoft waited far too long to improve the original Windows XP search feature, which is really slow even with indexing. [...]
A new backup utility
Good backup utilities are always welcome and Microsoft has a new free download that adds a graphical user interface to the existing command-line utility called Robocopy. Robocopy has been around since Windows 2000 but until now has been strictly a command-line tool. Robocopy is primarily for backing up over a network and is more complicated [...]
Deleting stubborn files and folders
Sometimes when you try to delete a file or folder, Windows won’t let you. You may get a message like
This situation can arise for a variety of reasons. The worst case is when a virus infection is causing the problem. Here is a page that deals with that situation. Other causes are programs running [...]