Rename your digital photos automatically in Windows XP

• First, open the folder and select View > Thumbnails.

• Click the last picture in the folder you want to rename, hold down the Shift key, and click the first picture; this will select them all.
  

• Right-click the first photo, and select Rename from the drop-down menu.

Windows XP will highlight the filename for the first photo, enabling you to give it a descriptive name. After you type in the name, click the white space outside of the photo and watch as Windows applies the name with a sequential number to each picture in the folder

Hard drive is limited to less than its total capacity

Your computer’s OS, motherboard BIOS, hard drive adapter card BIOS, or file system (such as FAT32) may not recognize larger partitions. Check the Web sites of the drive manufacturer, your motherboard, and Microsoft for possible solutions.

The difference between a software and hardware firewall

The primary purpose of a hardware firewall is to protect a group of computers on a LAN, or local-area network. In most cases you need at least a basic understanding of how network protocols work in order to effectively use a hardware firewall. Software firewalls are primarily designed to protect individual computers that connect to the Internet, and they are usually easier to set up than hardware firewalls. There also are some very good The primary purpose of a hardware firewall is to protect a group of computers on a LAN, or local-area network. In most cases you need at least a basic understanding of how network protocols work in order to effectively use a hardware firewall. Software firewalls are primarily designed to protect individual computers that connect to the Internet, and they are usually easier to set up than hardware firewalls. There also are some very good freeware versions of software firewalls available for individual use.

What is a firewall?

Firewalls are products that protect your computer from malicious intruders online. They can be either hardware or software. In order to understand how they work, you need to know a little bit about how the Internet works. Let’s compare how data is transmitted across the Internet to something we are all familiar with: mail and the U.S. Postal Service. Imagine, for a minute, that the post office only accepts postcards. On each postcard you are required to put a return address, a destination address, and the contents of your message. Let’s also imagine that these postcards can only hold a limited number of words; if you write a longer message, you will have to send several postcards. To ensure that the person receiving the message can read it, you also need to include a sequence number on the postcard. In terms of the Internet, each postcard is called a packet.

Each packet has a destination address and the address of the computer that sent it (the return address), which together are known as IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Now, when you go into your local post office, there are usually two slots you can drop your postcards into. One slot is for local mail and the other is for nonlocal mail. These slots, when we talk about the Internet, are called ports. Each port is numbered, and there are more than 49,000 ports into and out of your computer. Some ports are associated with specific programs. For example, a Web server uses port 80 and an email server uses port 25. What does a firewall have to do with the Internet, packets, and IP addresses, you may be wondering? The firewall inspects the packets that come across the Internet into your computer. It is important to understand that the firewall sees the Internet as packets and IP addresses, not as URLs and programs. The firewall uses the information contained in the packets and the IP addresses to determine if any malicious data (such as a worm, virus, or Trojan horse) is coming into your PC through your online connection. If the firewall identifies something suspicious, it will block the packet from getting through.

Nothing happens after PC's power button is turned on

Work through this checklist to narrow the list of potential power problems. Take notes as you diagnose the problem; notes will be helpful if you wind up needing technical assistance from a pro. First, examine the board for signs of overheating. You may see scorch marks that are the hallmark of a power surge or blown power components. Make sure the PSU (power supply unit) is providing power to the board. Most motherboards have LEDs that show the board is receiving power. Also, verify the CPU fan is working. If it isn’t, the PC may not start properly. If you’re still having problems, remove your system’s expansion cards, such as the modem card and sound card, especially if you just installed a new card. Leave the video card in place. On some motherboards, the components for sound and modem functions may be integrated and thus irremovable. If your computer starts up without the expansion cards, replace the cards one by one until you determine which card is causing the problem. Finally, if nothing else works, swap the processor and the memory sticks with components you know work in another machine and see if the components you swapped work, if you have spare compatible parts on hand. If they do, you know the problem resides in the processor or in the system’s memory.

Monitor has a flickering screen

One of the causes of screen flicker, especially on CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors, is a screen refresh rate that is set too low. In general, it’s best to set the refresh rate to the highest possible setting. In WinXP right-click the Desktop, click Properties, choose the Settings tab, click the Advanced button, and choose the Monitor tab. If you see a Hide Modes That This Monitor Cannot Display checkbox, select it. In the Screen Refresh Rate drop-down menu, select the highest possible rate available. Click Apply, and if prompted, click Yes to keep the new settings. Click OK to close the dialog boxes and save your settings.

General Protection Faults, Page Faults, and Exception errors

The messages listed above are memory errors, but the source of the error is usually unruly software. A Page Fault, for instance, can occur when software tries to write data to a portion of memory that’s reserved for another application. When the PC reads back information from that area, it doesn’t get the information it expects and generates an error message. In most cases such error messages do not mean you have a real memory problem. Rebooting the system is usually enough to resolve the problem. In some instances, however, it may be reasonable to believe that physical memory is the root of your problems. If you’ve recently installed or upgraded your memory, for instance, and you suddenly receive numerous error messages, your memory module may be suspect. Remove the new memory and return any older modules to the system and see if the problem disappears. If so, you may have memory that’s incompatible with your system or a bad memory module.