Mrs. Muddled

Oh dear. I'm back already. So. I've printed out the first page. Have you got a minute? Could you go to the Wordpress fast install via Fantastico? Let's look at the boxes one by one. Install on domain: I see my mrsmuddled.com in that box. Below it is an empty box. Below that is a note telling me to leave it empty if I want to install it in the root directory of the domain ... etc. Do I want it to install in the root directory of the domain? If I don't, would you please tell me exactly what you want me to type in that box. I'll follow it. Now, go down to Admin Access data: What exactly do I type in here? Now go to Admin nickname: Is that Mrs. Muddled? Below that I see *****@mrsmuddled.com Site name - mrsmuddled.com What do I type where it says Description? Now go down to Email account config - I'm assuming I use the password I use in cpanel?

Don, When I did exactly what you described last night I was clicking on the Wordpress homepage and trying to install from there! No wonder I was having so much trouble! I failed to observe the highlightable installation paragraph below. Is there any chance it wasn't there? No, of course not. I'm just going blind. I'll get back to you.

I'm in trouble already. I went to cpanel, Fantastico, Wordpress. I downloaded the program. I don't use Winzip (test expired) and can't open Wordpress. Can u suggest a unzip program I should download? Just reading the next list of instructions from Wordpress, I already know I'm in over my head. I have no idea what they are talking about. I'm afraid I'm just going to start asking a lot of inane questions and become really annoying.

Okay Don. It never occurred to me that I could actually download it and "play" with it. I was a bit concerned that I might lose my stuff on my blog. Yes, I do have it backed up. I was looking at all the great themes Wordpress has. Man, there's a ton!

Dear Bruce: What a neat site! Just finished perusing it. I'm still gun-shy. I still only have the Google Blog and I play with it - amusing myself by writing a bit, and adding pictures of my fabulous grandkids and family gatherings ... you know, really fascinating stuff for my plethora of readers. I've been looking at Wordpress. I want something that I can just fill in the blanks with "my stuff." Forget learning HTML. I'm one hot flash away from dementia and I'll never understand it. Wordpress has a lot of attractive templates. I'm wondering if I can put all the photos I've got on my blog onto Wordpress? Not sure if Wordpress does that. I don't want anything fancy on my website ... just a section for photos and a section for things I like to write about. No archives. Wordpress offers a service where "someone" will set up your computer with Wordpress when you give them access to your computer. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this. I'm a bit concerned that once I get it installed I'll be like a deer caught in the headlights ... and I wont be able to do the next step! They don't help you with that part. You're on your own now Bucko! Would I be correct in my assumption that when you pick a template, you have to use all the options on the template - or can you just delete what you're not going to use?

I still have all my passwords and data. What I didn't have was "recent" email addresses from Outlook Express in my data files. I probably screwed it up because I may have backed up a wrong file ... I have NO idea what the heck I did. So, when I looked in my data ... none of my more recent addresses appeared. I have just been playing with some of the buttons and I have actually been able to import my newest email addresses. I do believe I've solved my problem! Thanks for your response. I always manage to solve my problems if I beat myself over the head with them long enough.

I purchased Roboform several years ago and I really like it. I have messed up my back up folders and I have no clue how to start all over again. When I backed up my data (Outlook Express address book etc.) I discovered I backed up an "old" list and I don't know how to get back to square one. I made more than one folder for back up ... then I got confused (how unlike me ) ... I was not able to restore what I'd done and the data I've got saved is out of date. I have sent Roboform help a request. Obviously they didn't read my request and just sent me a link on how to move Roboform to another computer. I've tried reading their help files and I'm still not sure how best to handle this. I don't want to lose all my passwords by making a dumb move. My thought was uninstalling the program and then downloading it again. I wasn't sure what would happen to all my data if I did that. I'd sure like to talk to someone who uses the program and can tell me how to get back to a clean start.

Thanks Don. I use Irfanview. Thanks for reminding me that I have Gifworks too. I forget as the years go by and I don't use these programs. Sigh. Gettin' old is for da boids!

Thanks Bruce. To the rescue as always. I uploaded it to Photobucket. Obviously the detail is lost in the drawing when the cartoon gets reduced in size. I had reduced it to 100 x100. Don: I have just discovered something. The Slipshot program only works with pictures on the internet. I was right clicking over animations etc that I have in my files. I guess that doesn't work. Also, did you manage to get Slipshot to show at the top of your screen? How did you do it?

Okay. This all started when I tried to change my avatar. Obviously I have a lot of free time on my hands today. Deal with it. For the life of me I can't upload an avatar. I can't seem to get my various animations and pictures into the acceptable size. I despair. So I hit Google and discover a program on the net called Snipshots. I use Firefox, so I downloaded the special Firefox download. I have absolutely no idea where it went. It looked like it had downloaded. It said it would appear when I started Firefox the next time. It lied. Nothing happened. What the heck am I doing wrong?!!! I mean, this isn't brain surgery - it's just a teeny, tiny little program that is supposed to make reducing the size of an animation simple - so that I can easily change my avatars!!! How difficult can it be? So, when you have absolutely nothing better to do - pop in to the Snipshot website and download the Firefox helper and tell me what happened. All I want to know is how to get that little avatar off the Snipshot background and into MY PICTURES folder so that I can upload it to TCH.

Hee hee. I didn't, but at least it worked! I now have little red Irfanview blobs instead of those other "things." I can live with that. I've only used Irfanview to take screen shots - nothing else. You guys must think I live a pretty boring life that I can rev up this much angst over icons that merely annoy me by their presence. Okay. So. That's settled. I'm going to see what other trouble I can get into.

Thank you Bruce et al. I have been using Irfanview for years. Great program. I am not seeing a little red X. A picture is worth a thousand words - so as soon as I figure out how to send you a photo (I usually do this wrong and get myself into all sorts of trouble for sending it WRONG) - I'll show you what I'm talking about. see all those little icons to the left of the files? The files are .jpg files. They open fine - they just have the wrong icon.

Question: I have already deleted the Fireworks program. I am wondering if the program you suggested (thank you) will work now that Fireworks is gone. Would I risk messing anything up by downloading the fix when I don't actually have Fireworks?

My friend has sent me this message after she followed your various instructions: "Thank you for providing the help I needed to resolve my Display problem. I was able to click my desktop back to its original state. (Yip-pee!). However, the info I received concerning some of my H/P programs was that I should uninstall my printer (5500 series) and then reinstall it. I have done this twice before but I thought I'd give it the old college try one more time.Now I cannot access the System Restore at all, nor the H/P Director. However, I am going to live with those problems as I can still use my computer for other purposes, including accessing the Internet. The message I received when attempting to access the H/P Director was as follows: "hpqselsk.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close". There followed this bright gem:: "Please tell Microsoft about this problem". I say "NUTS", this is an H/P problem and not a Microsoft one. So, apparently, the above-named file has been corrupted and it probably applies to the System Restore problem as well, who knows"

I know. It's gotta be the way I'm telling the tale. I have the same problem with my husband (insert big grin here). What you are describing does not work. All the pictures open fine. No problem. I have them set to open in the Windows Fax thing. I've done the change part. What I can't change is the icon - all the picture icons have that stupid- Windows-I-don't-know-what-program-you-want icon!!! I'll go away now and stop bugging y'all about this before you put me in your crank file.

Yes Bruce, I've done that, but I still see the icon that you get when Windows doesn't know what program to open something with. The pictures open in the right program ... it's just the little icons that are all wrong.

I have now deleted the programs I was asking about. So, now when I view MY PICTURES I've got that little icon that appears and asks you what program you want to open the picture in. I'm a little unsure - a lot unsure - how to make all of my photos default to a particular program ie Picassa 2 or the original default that came with the computer. I'm sure it's obvious ... I just can't remember how to set ALL of the photos to the default I had before Fireworks took over. When I right click on a photo it will open to any program I want it to open in, but it doesn't change the icon beside the photo.

Steve, I can't tell you how many times I've had that very thought.

I received this email from a very elderly lady today. I would really like to help her solve this issue before I tell her just to take the computer to a repair shop (which she can ill-afford). She struggles mightily just with day to day tasks: "Firstly, my virus program is Norton; my firewall is Windows and Norton. My o/s is Windows XP. I have a Hewlett/Packard Office Jet 5500 series all-in-one desktop (a combination fax, scan, print, copy, set-up). In my humble opinion I believe I have a Windows problem and not an H/P one, although the problem has affected some of the H/P programs. Here's a summary of the occurrence that resulted from certain changes I made to my desktop, and promoted my problems: I accessed "Display" in the Control panel in order to change some of my desktop features, which utilizes the Display Adapter (video card) for this change to occur; I have performed this exercise a few previous times with great success, and it is a permitted use. I wanted to change my desktop appearance and clicked the required tabs. The result this time: half the background on my screen has the selected feature, Windows Classic blue, including all icons thereon, and the other half of my screen is white, NOTHING ELSE. NEXT: I am unable to use System restore in order to choose an earlier date; some of my H/P programs, i.e. Director, etc. are no longer accessible. I have no Internet issues. My warranty ran out a month ago, but I decided in desperation to pay for the Help and Support service H/P provides. I had to pay up-front with my credit card, received little help from the techies in India (yes, H/P has out-sourced its technical help to other countries such as India, Turkey, etc.). I was offered many different suggestions as to how to solve the problem, (I could barely understand the corrupted language) . I followed each instruction diligently but without success. I have paid for a "no solution" service. I spoke with the computer techie at Staples, where I purchased this computer a year ago in February and he was not at all helpful except to tell me to reboot, which I have done a hundred times. I believe the cause of my inability to uninstall my Windows XP from the original disc results from the fact I downloaded an updated version of Windows XP from Microsoft some time ago, now my original disc will not complete the uninstall because of the updated version I have of Windows. I am told not to delete the new Windows XP but to boot up from the original c.d. and then install the older version with a different file name. I tried that and clicked a new window to receive it; it does not work. Believe me when I say I have tried everything in the book to try and resolve my problem. Formatting appears to be my only option,." So, does any of that "problem" leap out at you? I've already told her to make sure she doesn't have a checkmark in the System Restore box that turns it off. Beyond that, I'm out of my depth.

Yes, they are all never never never.

Sam, how often is that battery likely to need changing?

Wouldn't you just know it! This morning the computer screen was frozen. Go figure! Fortunately I was able to force it to boot up. Sheesh!

Last year I downloaded several large programs when I thought I was going to start building my own webpages. As anyone of you know if you've ever visited my website, I've never got beyond my Google blog. The whole webpage thing just intimidated the heck out of me. One of the programs was Macromedia Fireworks MX. It promptly changed many, but not all of the icons associated to my pictures. My question is: If I just delete the program, what will happen to all those pictures associated to MFMX? Will they just automatically revert to what they were? I've also got Dreamweaver on here - and I'm thinking of removing it also.

Just a note to say "thanks" for all your comments. The computer has been running normally since I did the obvious (I'm soooo embarrassed) and removed the CD-RW I'd forgotten all about in the e drive. I'll remember the other suggestions offered, just in case I run into a similar problem and the e drive is empty. Cheers!

Well, I'm baaaaaaack! So far so good. I'm wondering "why" the computer was freezing up prior to THE BIG CRASH. If I left it with something on the screen like an open website or an open email --- anything other than the empty desktop ... often when I'd return, the screen would be black and the machine would be frozen up. I'd have to do a forced start far too often. But, I WAS able to re-start it, unlike this most recent event where Windows wouldn't boot up. What might be causing this?