By Nicole Manktelow
July 2, 2005

Q1. I'm using Windows XP and have been using Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer to view PowerPoint email attachments. All of a sudden I can no longer view these attachments. I get a message that reads, "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Folder Options control panel." But in the Folder Options, PowerPoint Viewer is correctly listed as the file type for .pps. I've uninstalled and reinstalled PowerPoint Viewer but it still doesn't work. What's gone wrong?

A1. Did you perhaps upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 or install PowerPoint Viewer 2003? You may have encountered a glitch between the 2003 version of the viewer and Service Pack 2, which occurs if you use Outlook Express and it prevents the launch of the viewer from within the email program. There's a relatively simple workaround. You should have better luck by saving the attachments to your computer and then opening them directly, either from within Windows Explorer or PowerPoint Viewer 2003. If you don't want this extra step and really want to be able to view these attachments from Outlook Express, the alternative may be to uninstall PowerPoint Viewer 2003 and install PowerPoint Viewer 97, which doesn't seem to have the same problem as its successor.

Q2. I have been scanning transparencies into my computer, which runs Windows XP. When pressing the Ctrl button to select a batch of pictures to move or delete them, at about five or six pictures the copy function spontaneously activates and all the pictures in the folder are copied into that folder. How can I put a stop to this?

A2. You are most likely rushing when trying to select a bunch of images. Say you have several files already selected and want to choose another. If you happen to click on that file while the mouse is still in motion - ever so slightly - you computer will consider it as a "drag and drop" action. It will try to move all the selected files and, since you are still working in the same folder, it will see that they already exist in this location and make copies instead. Slow down when selecting multiple files and you should avoid this problem.

Q3. I am in my 70s and not computer literate. However, I do use email messages using Outlook Express regularly. Recently I must have done something by which my outgoing messages do not register in the "sent box". How can I restore this deficiency?

A3. Fortunately, it should be quite easy to get Outlook Express to save sent messages. You need to go to the Tools menu, then Options and check the settings under the Send tab. Tick the box marked "Save copy of sent messages in the Sent Items folder".

Q4. Somehow, I accidentally moved a program from the Start Menu to the desktop of my computer where it now sits as an icon. I'd like to get it back to the Start menu, but don't know how. Can you help?

A4. You can return the icon to the Start menu by drag and drop (which is probably how you moved it in the first place). Click on the icon in question and, while holding the mouse button, drag it over to the Start Menu. Hold it over the Start Menu until the menu expands and while still holding, move the pointer to the position where the program was previously listed. A black line should appear to mark the position. Then you can release the mouse button and "drop" the icon back in its old spot.
