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Windows Watcher

Precious scenes of your babies ... by Tom S. Bair, Jr.

You may not be aware of this, but VHS tapes have an average life of about ten years. As time passes, the recording begins to develop increasing degrees of snow. So unless you copy your old tapes between two VCRs, those precious scenes of your babies are going to be lost. Yet even making copies of VCR tapes involves a small amount of degradation.

My solution was to buy a Digital Video Creator that would allow me to capture those decade-old home movies to my PC. After editing the video clips with Windows Movie Maker, I copied the resulting files to CD.

Surprisingly, the USB video capture device cost under fifty dollars. I was able to capture video directly from my camcorder or VCR. Although Windows Movie Maker comes free with Windows XP, I'd like to someday purchase a more robust video editor. However, WMM did allow me to clip, narrate (in the background), and save my movies to CD.

Replacing SYSOC.INF File

[XP] Dave Nguyen emailed me to ask how to replace the SYSOC.INF file, which he accidently deleted. Before I could think of the answer, he emailed me again with the solution. Here is a step-by-step process of Dave's solution:

1. Place Windows XP CD into your CDROM drive.
2. Click the 'Start' button.
3. Click the 'Run' button.
4. Type in the following command:

Notice that there is only one space in the command, just before "C:\". Also note that you will have to replace the letter D with the letter of your CDROM drive.

Menu Command Dilemma

[95,98,SE,ME,2K,XP] Have you ever typed but not had your keystrokes appear on the screen? Instead, your keystrokes cause a multitude of menus to flash down from the top of the window? Welcome to the "Menu Command Dilemma." You have accidentally pressed and released the 'Alt' key. This causes Windows to interpret your keystrokes as Menu command requests.

The solution is simple. Press and release the Alt key again. Or you can even hit the 'Esc' key one time. This will place you back to your work screen. I know a person who replaced two keyboards thinking this was a hardware problem. It took an observant fellow employee to catch her errant finger at work, and explain the problem to her.

Windows 2000 Resource Kit

[2K] I've told you about the Resource Kits for Windows 98, SE, and ME. Now let's access the RK for 2K. My favorite program in the 2K Kit is 'DiskProbe,' in the Diagnostic Tool Group. To install the Resource Kit:

1. Place your Windows 2000 Installation CD into your CDROM drive.
2. Click on the 'Start' button.
3. Click on the 'Run' button.
4. Type in the following command: D:\support\reskit\setup.exe

Be sure to replace the letter D with the your CDROM drive letter, if it differs.

Folder View Consistency

[XP] Do you have a favorite folder set up to display its files just the right way? Wish you could make all your folders appear just like your favorite one? Then do the following:

1. Click the 'Start' button.
2. Click on 'My Computer.'
3. Navigate to your favorite folder so that it is displayed on the screen.
4. Click on 'Tools' in the Menu Bar.
5. Click on 'Folder Options' at the bottom of the pop-up menu.
6. Click on the 'View' tab.
7. Click on "Apply to all Folders" button.
8. Click the 'OK' button.

Network Config on XP Pro

[XP] One of the greatest functions of Windows XP Professional is that it will automatically configure itself to work on a TCP/IP network. All you need do is install a network card in the XP Pro computer, plug into your network, and power up the computer. XP Pro will locate other computers on your network and configure itself to join the workgroup automatically.

Enabling 2K Mouse Wheel

[2K] Windows 2000 has direct support for the Microsoft IntelliMouse or the LogitechMouse+ Wheel. You should not install the software that comes with these products because the software may interfere with the power management functions of Windows 2000.

To enable the wheel on your mouse, do the following:

1. Click on the 'Start' button.
2. Click on 'Control Panel.'
3. Click the 'Mouse' icon.
4. Click on the 'Hardware' tab.
5. Select your mouse and then click on the 'Properties' button.
6. Click on the 'Advanced Settings' tab.
7. Ensure the "Assume Wheel Is Present" option is check marked.
8. Click the 'OK' button twice.
9. Reboot your computer.

Clean Your Mouse

[Hardware] Darla Payne had a problem with her mouse cursor skipping around on the screen when she moved her mouse. She states she went crazy trying to replace the mouse driver to stop the "screen skips." Nothing she did would fix the problem.

The solution to getting rid of the "screen skips" is to flip the mouse upside down and remove the wheel housing. Take the mouse ball out and scrape the caked lint off the three rollers with a small flat head screwdriver or penknife. Replace the ball and cover and the mouse will work smoothly.

Laptop External Keyboard

[Hardware] If you decide to plug an external keyboard into your laptop, you will also have to install the keyboard driver for extended keys. Otherwise Windows will not recognize the external keyboard, and will only accept input from the built-in laptop keyboard.

1. With your laptop off, plug in the External Keyboard.
2. Power on the laptop.
3. If the "Found New Hardware" Wizard does not pop up, then click on the 'Start' button.
4. Click on 'Control Panel.'
5. Click on the 'System' icon.
6. Click on the 'Device Manager' tab. (In XP you will have to click on the 'Hardware' tab, then the 'Device Manager' button).
7. Double-click on 'Keyboards.' If a "Standard 101-102-Key" listing appears, your driver is installed. Exit 'Control Panel' and use your external keyboard.
8. If this listing does not appear, exit to your 'Control Panel' and click on the 'Add New hardware' icon. Follow the Wizard prompts to install your keyboard drivers.

About the Author

Please feel free to email the author with your comments about this article: Tom S. Bair, Jr.