Chris' My Computer
Tell us which features you want to see in the next version of IE. We'll check the results on Friday's show.
Cat's Clicks
If you don't know the latest tech terms, don't worry. Cat will help you fake it.
Mac tip
Brett shows you how to access your contacts from anywhere.
Bonus tip
Find out how to send email attachments from your MS Office applications.
Today's quiz
Take today's quiz and enter to win a TechTV T-shirt.
Quick tip
Every day we feature a quick tip that shows you how to do something inside Windows. In case you missed it, here's today's tip.
Turn a graphic you like into your wallpaper.
- Right-click the image.
- Left-click "Set as Wallpaper."
A new image will now adorn your desktop.
Speed Up Windows startup
Matthew from South Paris, Maine, called asking for a good Startup manager for Windows 2000.
We recommend X-Setup or Startup Delayer. Startup Delayer lets you tell Windows to launch startup programs one-by-one instead of all at once, speeding up startup. All you have to do is double-click a program's startup entry and put a simple time delay of a few seconds between the programs.
ScanDisk in Safe Mode
Daniel from Grantsville, Utah, called to say that something keeps interrupting ScanDisk.
A program or process you don't know about may be running in the background. The easiest thing to do is run ScanDisk in Safe Mode. To turn on Safe Mode, hold down the F5 key as you reboot in 98. You can also use Tweak UI to access the boot menu whenever you restart your machine.
- Open TweakUI and go to the Boot tab.
- Under Boot Menu, put a check next to "Always show boot menu."
When you reboot, choose option No. 3, Safe Mode. Launch ScanDisk.
Wi-Fi
Mike from Tucson, Arizona, called to ask which type of 802.11 devices he should invest in.
We recommend that you stick with 802.11b, also known as Wi-Fi, for now. Get more information about 802.11a, b, and g here. Keep up-to-date on the latest news about the 802.11 standards at Wi-Fi Networking News.
Messages
Auto Arrange icons
If you're using Windows 98 or Windows Me and your icons keep snapping back to the same place when you try to move them, turn off Auto Arrange.
- Right-click an empty area of the desktop and click Arrange Icons.
- Uncheck Auto Arrange.
MiniDisc vs. MP3
It's the age-old question for many portable-audio enthusiasts: Which is better, MiniDisc or MP3? It all depends on what you want to do. Here's an explainer of the two formats.
