Office communicator does not start

I have office communicator 2005 running on my XP SP2 windows.  Today I have faced one issue with the communicator. When I launched the communicator from Start menu -> All programs, it did not open. No window popped up, no error message and no icon in the system tray. I tried it from command prompt by … Read more

Set default email application

In Windows XP, default email application can be changed in the following way. Open “Add or remove programs”  wizard either from control panel or by running appwiz.cpl from Run window. Click on ‘Set program access and defaults‘ from the list displayed on the left. You will see the list of configurations available(Computer Manufacturer, Microsoft, Non-Microsoft, … Read more

How to change mouse pointer?

In the default configuration, the mouse pointer is displayed as a white arrow mark tilted towards left. We can change this mouse pointer using mouseĀ  properties window. Open Run window from Start button. Execute the command main.cpl from the Run window. This opens mouse properties window. Select the tab Pointers. Select the one you like … Read more

How do I know if Java is installed on my computer

On a Windows computer, one can check if Java is installed by doing the following steps. Run Appwiz.cpl from Run window. This will open ‘Add or remove programs‘ wizard. Here you can see the list of installed software on your computer. The list is displayed in alphabetical order. Check if Java is listed in the … Read more

Set IE firefox chrome default browser

To set default browser, the steps vary for XP and Windows 7. Windows XP: Click ‘Start‘ and then select “Set Program access and defaults“. If this is not listed in the start menu then go to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs and then select “Set Program access and defaults” in the left side menu. Now expand the … Read more

Set password for excel files

If you want to restrict access to confidential Office documents(Word, Excel, Powerpoint), you can do so by using the in built password feature. This feature can be used as follows. Open the Excel document Click on File menu(In latest Office versions, File menu is invisible. You can click on top left corner to open the … Read more

Windows taskbar change settings

Windows taskbar look can be customized as per the user’s desire. We can also add shortcuts to different programs and folders on the taskbar.  Below you can find links to various posts describing how Windows taskbar settings can be changed. How to add quick launch to taskbar Add power/battery icon to windows taskbar Move taskbar … Read more

Add Firefox to start menu

Though Start menu automatically adds recently opened programs to Start menu, these will be temporary and new programs will replace the old ones. You can add a permanent firefox link to Start menu by doing the following steps. Right click on Start button and select Properties Click on Customize button Turn on the check button … Read more

Show quick launch remains unchecked

In Windows XP, we can add quick launch to Start menu by selecting the check button ‘Show quick launch‘ in Start menu properties. If Show quick launch check button is grayed out then you need to check the group policy settings on your computer. Open gpedit.msc and then navigate to the node ‘User configuration -> … Read more