When Sticky Notes disappear

By DON EDRINGTON | Sunday, August 3, 2008 12:31 AM PDT ∞

Carol Tupper wrote to say all her "Yellow Sticky Notes" had disappeared from her Desktop. I suggested doing a System Restore, by clicking Start>All Files & Folders>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Carol followed the prompts and returned her settings to the day before her Stickies vanished. She quickly wrote back to say it worked perfectly and all her Stickies had returned to the Desktop.

Sue Coffin called to say that when she tried to launch Microsoft Word from the application list under Start>All Programs it was not there. She said Excel was also missing, and worried that a recent bug had destroyed her Microsoft Office programs.

So I suggested another way to launch Word. I said to click on Start>Run and type WINWORD (Windows Word) into the box that would appear. Sue then clicked OK and Word opened properly, complete with her recent documents listed under the File menu. Likewise, Excel opened when EXCEL was typed into the box.

We don't know why these items had disappeared from Sue's program list, but here's what we did to create Desktop icons for future use:

I told Sue to click Start>Search>All Files & Folders and to type WORD into the "Name or Partial Name" box. After clicking Search, Word soon appeared. Then I said to right-click the name and choose "Send To>Desktop (create shortcut)." Sue then did likewise with EXCEL and now has Shortcuts to these two programs on her Desktop. (Capital letters are optional and used here for emphasis only.)

Using Start>Run can also be handy for launching other programs. Typing in WORDPAD or NOTEPAD will open these alternative Windows text editors. If you're into games, typing SOL will launch SOLITAIRE.

Typing CALC will bring up the Windows Calculator. PBRUSH will open Windows Paint and CHARMAP will open Character Map, a program that displays special characters (such as ©, Σ, ÷, ⅓, ¿, •, and others) that can be inserted into your documents.

My main use for the Start>Run box is to type in MSCONFIG, which takes me to a list of "Startup" programs, which, if checked, can slow down one's computer significantly. Unchecking them simply means you will run them when needed and not have them running in the background.

Another way of launching programs is to access them via Windows Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer).

Doing a right-click on Start and choosing Explore will produce a two-pane window with a "tree" view of all your folders displayed in the left pane. A plus sign (+) to a folder's left indicates that other folders are inside it, some of which may have plus signs of their own. Click a plus sign to open a folder and click its minus sign (-) to close it.

Double-clicking the "My Documents" folder will open it to display your "My Music" and "My Pictures" folders within, which when double-clicked should display your songs and photos.

Within Windows Explorer files and/or folders can easily be dragged into other folders or onto your Desktop.

More tips can be found at www.pcdon.com and calls are welcome at (949) 646-8615.