Chapter Summary

• To resolve problems involving the taskbar, use the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box. On the Taskbar tab, you can lock or hide the taskbar, group similar items, show Quick Launch, hide inactive icons, and keep the taskbar on top of other windows.

• To resolve problems involving the Start menu, use the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box. On the Start menu tab, click Customize to define what should and should not appear on the taskbar, clear the taskbar of recently used programs or documents, and more.

• To allow a user to work in different languages on one computer, make changes in the Regional And Language Options dialog box. There you can select and configure options for currency, time, and dates and select input languages.

• When troubleshooting language-related problems, the most common problem is that a user has unknowingly switched to another language and is having problems with keyboard function.

• To configure how folders open, how they look, and what they contain, use the Folder Options dialog box. There you can choose to show hidden files and folders, open folders with a single click, configure how encrypted and compressed files look, and more.

• Often simply restoring folder options to their default settings is enough to fix a user’s problem, but you should still examine a user’s configuration and try to understand the problem. The user might also want some options reconfigured.

• File extensions define the application Windows uses to open a file. Often more than one installed application can be used to open a file type.

• To open a file with an application other than the one defined for its file type, use the Open With dialog box by right-clicking on a file and choosing Open With.

• To define which program should be used to open a specific file type, to add new file types, and to edit what happens when a particular program opens a file, use the Folder Options dialog box by clicking the File Types tab.

• Use Msconfig to troubleshoot errors that occur during the boot process, to rid the computer of third-party software prompts after startup, to discover and resolve problems with running services, or to resolve errors regarding the boot paths configured on multiboot computers.

• Use Msinfo32 when you need to obtain information about the local or remote computer’s hardware configuration, computer components, installed software, or drivers (signed or unsigned); or when you need to get information about the BIOS version.

• Use Chkdsk (Check Disk) to view the file system type (NTFS or FAT) and to verify the integrity of the disks installed on the computer.

• Use Disk Defragmenter to consolidate fragmented files, those that are saved in various areas of the hard drive rather than in one place.

• Use SFC /Scannow to determine whether any protected system files are missing.