Microsoft Support & Discussions

How can I install either the standard or the international keyboard layouts with the dead keys that Windows uses? I just discovered that several characters that I use (pilcrow, esset, generic currency symbol) cannot be entered using any of the English layouts. I cannot use the Dvorak or Colemak because they are not compatible with the layout of my keys which would be confusing. Actually, I would like to use my customized layout based on the afore mentioned U.S. International layout created using Microsoft Keyboard Creator. Unfortunately, it does not work even with Wine. Continue reading...

Came in the mail yesterday. Cost was less than a Windows or Office DVD. Refurbished, not new. Price : Quote: Now:US $119.99 Specs: Screen Size: 11.6" Screen Resolution: 1366 x 768 Processor Type: Intel Processor Model: Celeron 847 Processor Speed: 1.1GHz Processor Core: Dual-core Cache: 2MB Operating System: Chrome OS System Memory (RAM): 4GB RAM Expandable To: 4GB Type of Memory (RAM): DDR3 Hard Drive Type: SSD Hard Drive Size: 16GB Hard Drive RPM: Not Available Optical Drive Type: Not Available Optical Drive Speeds: Not Available Digital Media Reader: Yes Graphics: Intel HD Video Memory: Shared Built-in Webcam: Yes Networking: Integrated 10/…

While increasing market saturation and fierce competition in the smartphone space may be a concern, the latest market share stats from IDC show no evidence of both Apple and Samsung slowing down. Numbers published for the first quarter of the year show Apple closing the gap between itself and the rather dominant Samsung. Continue reading...

AT&T is reportedly interested in acquiring satellite TV provider DirectTV. DirectTV is currently the second biggest U.S. pay TV provider, with roughly 20 million customers while AT&T's TV business reaches roughly 5.7 million. Combined, AT&T and DirectTV would be better positioned to compete against Comcast, especially when and if their Time Warner Cable buyout goes through. Continue reading...

Is there an App Store app you can't imagine doing without? Each and every single day there is hundreds of apps submitted to Apple for inclusion in the App Store. Some of them are great and some of them, not so much. The App Store is often times hard to navigate and finding great apps can be related to finding a needle in a haystack. But every now and then you find exactly what you're looking for and that app, whatever it may be, never leaves your device. It's an app you use every single day, love to use and can't imagine not having it available or how you ever managed to get on without it before. Do you have an app like that? Continue reading...

For a lot of folks spring is finally here and that means green grass and flowers finally in bloom. There's nothing like seeing the light at the end of the wintery tunnel to put you in a good mood. That also means it's a great time to get outside, breathe in the fresh air, and take in the changes around you. Your challenge this week is flowers. Like last week, it's a great opportunity to get out there and grab some macro shots if you've got accessories such as an Olloclip! The contest begins today and ends Tuesday, May 6th at 6 p.m. Eastern time. Good luck! It's also time to announce the winner of our last photo contest! And the winner is... Cont…

T-Mobile has finally closed a deal to acquire highly-valuable 700MHz spectrum from Verizon, enabling the next wave of network upgrades for the carrier. In the wireless world not all spectrum is created equal, with lower frequencies being more desirable because they travel further distances and better penetrate buildings. Both of these attributes are badly needed on T-Mobile's network as it traditionally operates on much higher frequencies between 1700 and 2100MHz, and T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray has a good idea of what they will do with it. Continue reading...

One of the best things you can do to create a great user experience in your app is to launch quickly. No doubt you’ve patiently (or impatiently!) watched a progress ring spin while waiting for some apps to come up. For apps that rely on web content, however, much of the startup time is spent waiting for HTTP requests to come back with that content. But of course, the user’s network speed and the responsiveness of the servers are out of your control. So can anything be done to improve startup performance? Fortunately, yes! Starting with Windows 8.1, you can ask Windows to prefetch your most important content so it’s immediately available when you make the request. That …

Hi guys, I'm Rok, I'm new here. I have a 2002 XP Home Edition, Service Pack 3, Optima desktop computer. My story is this. I've been getting phone calls to my silent landline number on a regular basis, from people claiming to be an authorised Microsoft Contracted Online Computer Repair company, replying to a Microsoft request to call me and to attend to my error reports I'd been sending about my Blue Screen STOP errors I still get at varying time intervals, weekly, fortnightly then nothing for many weeks, even when just sitting and playing Solitaire? Firstly I asked the caller how he got my silent number? Claimed he got it off the Windows Global Server. Yeah??? …

my old computer xp reconizes my external disk drive when I play dvd/cds but when I use a labeler to light scribe a disk, it only shows the drive that came with the computer, and does not recognize the usb drive. what do I do to get the computer to recognize it to burn a l/s label Continue reading...

Help please. I can't load update KP2936068 on my on my XP Professional. I keep getting error code 0x80070052 Continue reading...

Hi. I am trying to set up a VPN server on my XP computer at home, to bypass the internet blocks on my school's network. I managed to set up a VPN server on my laptop with WIN7, but I don't want to have it running all the time, so I figured it would be more convinient to set up the VPN on my old XP computer. Anyways, I believe I have done everything I'm supposed to. I have forwarded port 1723 in the router and opened port 1723 and IP-protocol 47 (GRE) in the firewall. I have also selected ports in the properties for the internet connection for the VPN, which do not mix with the DCHP server on my router. However, still, when I try to connect from my school's…

My new hp photosmart 7525 prints images, but the images are off-center, and a white border (anywhere from 0.5 to 2 cm wide) appears. Sometimes a singular border is along a single side, other times along perpendicular sides. The orientation seems to be dependent on which file is selected. These borders appear despite my selection of "borderless printing" for 4x6 glossy paper. HP tech support says that the problem is an application (Windows Picture and Fax Viewer) problem and not a hardware one. I would like a photo without any border. Continue reading...

Original title: checking Disk Repairs So my laptop was running slowly yesterday and I made sure to check the antivirus software to see if it was currently running, and it was. So I then clicked the repair disk option last night before I went to bed, expecting the problem to be fixed in the morning. I woke up to it still repairing my disks, so I turned off my laptop and turned it on again. Now I am stuck at a black screen with my cursor and that's it. Every time I turn off and on my laptop, it comes up with a screen that says "automatically completing repairs" and then goes back to the same black screen again. How can I fix this? Continue reading...

I am tryiing to upgrade from Windows 8 to 8.1 but the app won't download and I keep getting error message 0x80070004. I have tried installing with my antivirus disables but get the same error message. I have gone to the security center and "fixed problems". I am not sure what else to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Continue reading...

I have a problem with admin password. Here's what I did. PC was set up with user joe as admin. Created new user jim as admin. when I did this it asked only for my email address which I supplied. This email is not linked to anywhere. It is simply an email address. New user created. Changed original user joe to normal user. Then I tried to log in as admin and it asked for password which I dont have. I cant change anything either as the normal (as he has no admin rights) or as admin as I have no password. help ? Continue reading...

Hi, I'm currently using windows 8 and the task bar is ALWAYS transparent. It's extremely distracting as I often need to have more than one word document or PDF file open at a time. I can see parts of the words in the task bar and it looks like it's malfunctioning (even though it isn't). I have already tried by changing the color in the personalization nonsense. All it does is make the colors painfully bright/intense and does not solve the issue of translucency. How can I turn this OFF? Windows 7 used to let me.... This is driving me crazy. Continue reading...

When watching videos especially on VLC media player (and even on Windows Media Player) my system begins to hang and the video starts cracking. I have installed various anti-malware and anti-virus products and scanned for malware and virus but it doesn't find any malware or virus. What could be wrong? Continue reading...

Hi, My printer is not working properly. It prints a test page, but when I try and print a document it gets jammed in the queue. I am using Windows 7 (64 bit). I have downloaded the latest drivers from the Lexmark website and installed them. The printer is connected via USB and I have checked that the port is working properly. After I installed the new drivers, I restarted the computer. I was then able to print one document, but after that the printer stopped responding properly. Now, even when I restart the spooler, the document will not print. Can anyone offer any advice? Many thanks. Continue reading...

I can't open Firefox and when I checked the problem issue it says incompatibile Application.I download and install firefox again and it's the same.I use Windows 7 Continue reading...

hi i just installed split second velocity and it is in Russian how to change it into English? Continue reading...

When i am installing kaspersky 2014 it asks for a restart mentioning that ' installation will continue after the restart' after i restart my pc the installation continues but half way through it stops and gives the same message again. I restarted my pc around six times but it gave me the same message. Can you please give me a solution. Continue reading...

I have a 4 year old Dell Studio 1558 After a year of warnings my Hard Drive finally crashed. I was unable to make a system image, but have backed up my documents. Purchased a compatible new Hard Drive and a new OS (Windows 7 Home and Student 2013 - same as previous) After installing my new hard drive, removed any USB etc, and inserted the CD and re booted it didn't work. Entered into BIOS and changed the boot sequence with 'CD/DVD/CD-R Drive' as priority over 'Hard Drive'. No dice. Pressed F12 on boot and manually selected 'CD/DVD/CD-R Drive'... still no dice. The message I am getting for all three attempts is: [photo attached] 'Intel UNDI, PXE-…

Got the Defender Alert and when open the detail: Detected Items: Trojan:Win32/Sirefef.AN Advice: Remove this software immediately. Resources: file: C:\Users\Ken L\AppData\Local\GoogleDesktop\Install\............ Question: 1. Not sure if I really got the virus? 2. What is the proper way to clear the virus ? Continue reading...

Windows Defender icon disappeared from my taskbar. Paretologic warns that a vulnerability exists in explorer versions 6 thru 11. Further, they suggest going to another browser until Microsoft issues a patch. Microsoft is supposedly working on a patch. What can I do in the meantime. Is this vulnerability for real? Help! <Moved from Windows> Continue reading...