New Drivers Causing Problems?

Drivers are basically programs or applications which facilitate the functioning of hardware devices compatibly with the software. These hardware devices include sound cards, video cards and network devices, which all work smoothly on your system because of respective drivers. The drivers vary depending on the device they’re installed for, and can be easily downloaded from the internet. They are available on operating discs as well.
Usually it is recommended that you use updated drivers on your system for better functioning, but these new drivers are prone to cause system instability. In these cases you should employ Rollingback Drivers, which restore the previous functioning driver on your Windows system. This will restore the drivers and put your computer in the last stable operating condition if problems arise.

How to restore drivers in Windows XP

1. Log into the system using only the administrative password.
2. Select the Windows Start menu, which is on the left corner of the desktop, to open up a menu. In the menu, select the Performance and Maintenance option. Select the System option in the appearing window, and then launch the System Properties window.
3. Select the Hardware tab and in it click on Device Manager. This will produce a list of devices that your system uses. Choose which device type you wish to work with, and expand that device type branch. You can do this clicking on the + button next to the option. For example clicking on the plus sign next to Display Adapter will help you view the display drivers.
4. A list will appear when you choose to expand any branch where you can find the drivers you wish to modify. Right click on this driver and select the Properties option in the list.
5. In the Properties section click on the Driver tab, and then select the Roll Back Driver option.
6. If a prompt appears, select the Yes on the prompt to initiate roll back. When completed do the same on any other driver you wish to roll back to the previous state.
7. When you are done close the device manager and inspect the stability of your system.

Windows help can assist with restoring drivers if you face any issues during roll back in Windows XP. It is generally advised to have updated drivers, or otherwise the Windows help and support team can help you with the process of updating the drivers.

Fixing Your Windows Firewall

Every computer system needs to be protected from unwanted access by malware and viruses. It acts as a filter and filters out all potentially dangerous threats. A software application should start immediately when the computer system starts up; however, this does not happen with Windows Firewall, as many people have often complained about this particular issue. A red At Risk icon appearing in your operating system’s notification area indicates this error. When you select this icon, a message will appear which will tell you that Windows Firewall service has failed to start.

This is a regular problem and can be fixed using any of these three guides.

Method 1

1. Click on Start in the left bottom corner of the desktop and select the Run option. If your operating system is Windows 7, then hold down on the Window key and then press R.
2. A dialog box will appear where you must type services.msc. Then click on Ok.
3. A window will appear which lists out all services that your system provides. Now, double click on Microsoft Protection Service in this list of services. Under Startup Type select the Automatic option. This will enable the service to start as soon as your system starts.

Method 2

1. Select the Start menu and choose Run or if you are currently using Windows 7, press down the Windows key and press R. In the field on the dialog box enter appwiz.cpl, then click OK.
2. Select any third party firewall programs from the list of installed programs, and the click on the Remove option.

Method 3

1. Click on Start in the bottom left corner of the desktop then Run or press the Windows key and press R, if your current operating system in Windows 7. In the dialog box that appears and type, the following commands and press Enter after each command.

          Net stop MSFWSVC

          Net stop MSFWDRV
          Net stop MSFWHLPR
          Net start MSFWHLPR
          Net start MSFWDRV
          Net start MSFWSVC

   2.  Click on the OK option.

This should help you enable the Firewall to work properly but if still facing issues are you can contact Windows online support. Experts at Windows online support will give you systematic guide to fix your Windows Firewall.

Always update your Windows Firewall along with security patches so that you can protect your computer system from malware. You can customize the filtering of your Windows Firewall in the Customize Settings of the Windows Firewall window.

Fix Problems With Outlook Word File Attachment

Have you ever experienced problems downloading or opening the Word file attachment on your Outlook application? There can be various reasons behind it. Maybe you are trying to open an unsupported Word file format. May be the Word file is corrupted. Or maybe there is an issue with your internet connection.
Compatibility issue is usually a common reason behind such a problem. You can easily overcome this issue by changing the file format to a supported version. Therefore, it is important to know what Outlook version you use to download the file attachment. Follow the below mentioned instructions to solve Outlook problems related to downloading MS Word file attachment.

How to open an unsupported Word file attachment in MS Outlook

• Click the Start button and select All Programs from the menu. 
• Locate Microsoft Office and check to see which version of Microsoft Office Outlook you have in your computer. It is quite easy to find the Outlook version in your computer. If you have a 2003 version, icon name will be displayed as Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
• Instead of trying to open the Word document in Outlook, go to the location where the file was downloaded. Open the Word document using its default program, which is Microsoft Word. Double-click the file to open it. 
• As the file opens in Microsoft Word application, click on the Office button and choose the option Save As. You will see the option to change the file version to any previous versions of Word. Select the appropriate version. If your Outlook is 2003 version, choose to save as Word 97-2003 Document. 
• Now launch your Outlook and browse to the location where the edited Word document which is the 97-2003 version document, is saved. You should now be able to open the Word document in MS Outlook.

If the downloading problem is with the internet connection, you need to check whether your internet connection is active. If it is a problem with the internet connection and if you cannot solve it on your own, contact your internet service provider and seek assistance from them.
Outlook Help menu contains many valuable troubleshooting tips that will help you fix many of your Outlook problems. You can contact the Microsoft Outlook Support team if you need further assistance.

Adding Contacts In The Outlook Web App

Using Outlook when you are at work is an efficient way for communicating with your co-workers to inform them about different tasks, meetings and other office related processes. By using the features of Outlook, you can IM with ease and most importantly- send and receive mails. Users of Outlook can get apt help from Outlook tech support for any Outlook related problems.
However, the dilemma occurs when you are not at your desk, when you are using your friend’s computer, and want to convey a message to your co-worker with the help of an IM.

How to use the web app

In your contacts list, if your co-worker is already present, starting a chat session with the Outlook web app is simple and easy. From your contact list, you need to double click his name or from the email to open a chat window.
At the bottom of the window, type in your message and then click the Send option. In your co-worker’s computer, the message, which you have typed will pop up and he will be able to respond. When you are finished with your work, you can close the window by clicking on the X button, which is present at the top right corner.
In order to add a co-worker to your contact list to send an IM, you need to follow the steps provided below.

Steps Involved

1. The Add option has to be clicked which is present under the Contacts list on the left navigation pane in         Outlook web app.
2. In the dialog box of the address book web page, add the user by double clicking on the name.
3. In the box to the right of the add command, the user’s name will appear. In the search box provided,             you can also search for a user’s name.
4. The users, which you added to the contact list, will be visible at the Outlook web app interface.
5. Now your co-worker will receive your invitation, which he/she may accept or decline according to their         discretion.
In the left of the navigation pane in the Outlook web app, you will see two items that are quite similar, namely the contact list and the contacts folder. You should not get confused, as you might be able to see the same contacts on either of them.
These are the steps to follow to add users to your contact list. For any assistance on the different steps, you can contact Outlook tech support to resolve all your further queries.

Managing Email Contacts In Windows Mail

Many people have more than one email account these days. You may be having a personal email account for personal use and another email account for work purposes. Windows Vista makes use of the Contacts folder to help you manage your email contacts easily, while Windows XP makes use of the address book. With the Contacts folder, you will be able to keep track of all your contacts. The steps to efficiently manage your contacts are discussed in detail below.

Let Windows Mail Manage Contacts

When you respond to an email message, the Windows mail enters that person’s name and email address automatically to the Contacts folder. If Windows mail stops that due to some technical issues, you can fix it by the following steps.

From the Tools menu, select Options. Then click on the Send tab and select Automatically Put People I Reply to in My Contacts List check box. This will make sure that the Windows mail enters the person’s details in the contact list automatically. You may seek Windows live help if you are unable to perform the steps alone.

Import an Old Address Book

To import an Address Book file from a different computer, open the Contacts folder in the computer and choose Import from the toolbar options. You have to use your old Address Book’s Export command to create a file that you can import in any of the formats like CSV, vCard, LDIF or if it is from Outlook Express, Windows Address Book file.

Adding Contacts Manually

If you want to enter the details from a business card, you have to enter the data manually. To do this, choose New from the File menu and choose Contact. This will open the form to add a new contact. You may simply add the person’s name and email address or create a detailed list by filling out all the boxes in all the tabs. When you have finished the steps, click on OK.

These are the tips and tricks to manage your email contacts efficiently and accurately. If you are not clear with any of the above steps, you can refer the Windows mail module of the official Microsoft web site or you may get help and advice from the Windows Live help team. The technicians will help you to clear away your doubts and proceed with the process of managing contacts.

Two Methods To Remove Temp Files From Windows 7 Computer

It is important to have sufficient memory in your computer for running various processes of the operating system. No matter how careful you are, unwanted files might take up a chunk of your computer’s valuable memory space after using it for a while. This poses the risk of slowing down the performance of your computer, leaving you annoyed.

Therefore, you need to get rid of these unwanted files to make sure that there is enough free space for the processes to run smoothly. There are various methods for removing unwanted and temporary files from your Windows 7 computer. The following Windows 7 support instructions will help you cleanup Temp files from your computer.

Using Disk Cleanup Utility

• Go the Start menu located on your Windows taskbar.
• Type disk cleanup in the start menu search box, and press the Enter key.
• This will bring up the Disk Cleanup wizard. Choose the drive you wish to cleanup.
• Hit the Ok button.
• Wait for the scanning process to complete. Once the scanning is complete, you will get a list of files that you could delete.
• Choose the type of file you would like to remove and hit the Ok button.
• Select the option that says Delete Files. You will able to see a window showing the status of the deletion process.

That is how you can delete unwanted files from your Windows 7 computer using the Disk Cleanup utility.

Creating a batch file

A Windows batch file is a type of text file, which contains a series of commands for a computer's operating system. The file extension for batch file is .BAT. Using batch files you can view, access and erase the contents of the temporary files as you would do in the Command prompt by typing a specific set of commands.

• Go to the Start menu and type Notepad in the start menu search box.
• In the Notepad, you need to type cd C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Localrmdir /S /Q Temp
• Click on the option File from the main menu of the Notepad window.
• Select Save As from the file menu.
• In the filename field, type cleantemp.bat.
• Choose the location where you want to save the file.
• Click the Save button.
• Now go to the location where you saved the file.
• Double click on the same for clearing up your temporary files.

Using these two easy methods, you can remove temporary and unwanted files from your Windows 7 computer. If you need further assistance, contact the Windows 7 support team.

Fix Internet Explorer ActiveX Plug-in Issues

Internet Explorer has many useful plug-ins that are intended to enhance the user experience while surfing the web. The most popular plug-in used in the Internet Explorer is the ActiveX and it helps the existing software handle new downloads and its contents. This makes the older versions programs capable of handling new downloads and manipulating the contents. However, it is frequently observed that the presence of ActiveX plug-in may cause running and instability issues in the Internet Explorer.
The ActiveX features are activated when the user allows the plug-in authorization for a certain web page. The ActiveX Plug-in problem may arise when the ActiveX plug-in creates security issues in the program. You can easily fix the problem if the plug-in that causes the issue is detected or known by simply disabling the plug-in. The complexity is faced when the source of the problem is not identified and the only option available is to reset the default settings in the Internet Explorer browser.
You can follow the below mentioned Microsoft repair guidelines to reset the default settings in your Internet Explorer.
Instructions

• If you have opened multiple tabs on your Internet Explorer, close all the tabs and keep only one open. Navigate and click on the Tools tab located on the top of the browser. From the drop-down options, click on the label Internet Options located at the bottom. This action will show up the Internet options window on the screen.
• In the new window, click on the tab marked as Advanced and go to the Reset Internet Explorer settings. Click on the Reset button and the window titled Reset Internet Explorer Settings will show up on the screen.
• Click on the button labeled Reset and bring the necessary changes. After the settings process, the For changes to take effect, you will need to restart Internet Explorer alert window will pop-up. Now click the OK button.
• Exit the Internet Explorer Options window by clicking the OK button. Close the Internet Explorer and reopen it.

Points to Remember

Remember to export your settings before executing the resetting steps. The browser resetting will clear all your bookmarks, history, temporary files, and cookies and saved information. Hence, it is advisable to reset the browser only if you have serious problems and instability issues.
These Microsoft repair steps will help you fix any existing problem with your Internet Explorer plug-ins.

How To Convert Excel To Outlook Contacts

When it comes to record keeping and emailing, Microsoft provides excellent applications that can do the job effectively. Two such applications are Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Outlook, which when used in coordination, make things easier.

MS Excel is a multifunctional application that can be used for PST file management, record keeping and other similar activities. Its built-in tools let you do complex calculations easily. MS Outlook is a popular email client application used widely for email management. It also has other features like calendars, task managers, drafts, journals etc., making the user experience more enjoyable.

Microsoft Excel makes it easy to save records and data as Excel spreadsheets. When you save data within Excel sheets, it is easier to search for the information and send them as email attachments. This way, you can easily access theses files from anywhere. It is also possible to send emails to email addresses fed in these excel sheets. However, MS Excel does not allow you to send emails in bulk to multiple contacts. But you can easily overcome this drawback by configuring Excel contacts with your Outlook Address Book.

Converting Excel contacts to Outlook Contacts

To make group emailing convenient and quick, you could convert your MS Excel contacts to Outlook contacts. Here, we will see how to convert Excel to Outlook contacts. The below mentioned steps will let you perform the task easily.

Launch MS Outlook on your computer.

• Go to the File menu, then select the option Import and Export and further select Import from another program.
• Now you need to choose the Microsoft excel 97-2003 format.
• Browse to the Excel file location that you need to import.
• Make sure to enable the option to remove duplicates while importing.
• This will successfully import all Excel contacts to your Outlook Address Book.

Things to be kept in mind while converting Excel contacts to Outlook contacts

• Only versions till 2003 supports importing Excel files.
• Error messages are sometimes displayed while importing Excel files to Outlook.
• It might not work if you change Excel files to CSV file format.
• In addition, there is a possibility that not all details will be imported to Outlook. 

There are also third party tools available that can easily convert Excel files to Outlook data. If you have any further doubts on this, contact Microsoft Support Center and get more assistance.