What is the Windows Registry? Registry cleaners claim to rid Windows registries of redundant, and possibly harmful, items. The registry is a huge database on Windows computers that stores information essential for running Windows and its installed programs. It also stores things like the lists of “most recently used” documents that are often available in …
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Tag:Windows
Articles and posts tagged with “Windows”. Hints, tips, and detailed instructions about Microsoft’s operating system. Probably applicable to both 10 and 11.
Printer stuck? You may need to unblock the print spooler
How to clear a blockage when your printer won’t print If you send a document for printing in Windows and it fails to print (for whatever reason), then any further documents you try (or retry) to print can get stuck behind the first one. A piece of software called the “print spooler” handles stuff sent …
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Predictive typing in Word and Windows (10 & 11)
The spirit of Clippy is back Remember the olden days of the Microsoft “Clippy” character in Microsoft Word? If you started to create a document that looked anything like a letter then it popped up a totally useless box with a totally fatuous and infantile piece of clipart, and a caption saying “It looks like …
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Pounds (£) and Hashes (#)
Why does my pound sign (£) mysteriously change to a hash (#)? Pounds (£) and hashes (#) didn’t used to cause problems. In the olden days (!), we used to type letters on something called a “typewriter”. The lever you thumped was embossed at the other end with the character that appeared on the paper. …
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Sort on two or more columns in Outlook and Explorer
Sorting on one column in Outlook and Explorer In Outlook, you can sort the display of emails on any column simply by clicking on the column name – eg clicking on “Subject” above the column of the email subject headings will sort on that column. Clicking on it again will sort in the opposite direction …
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Pinning Documents to Start Menus
Although it’s not obvious how to do it, pinning documents to Windows Start Menus is possible This blog post was written for Windows 10 (as reflected in the illustrations below). However, pinning documents to Start Menus also works in Windows 11 (post updated 09/11/2023, 15/12/2024 and 22/02/2025). If you have documents that you need to …
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Adding Folder Shortcuts to the Windows Taskbar
Windows doesn’t readily allow you to add folder shortcuts to the taskbar – but it can be done It is useful to be able to drag desktop shortcuts onto the taskbar so that they are easily found whether or not the desktop is being displayed. If, however, you have desktop shortcuts that are shortcuts to …
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Windows Character Map
The Windows Character Map gives you access to all those odd letters, numbers, and squiggles that aren’t on the keyboard I wrote this blog post in 2011. There’s something reassuring about reading through it in April 2024 and finding that it still works now for Windows 10 and 11 exactly as it did in the …
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