ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: I have recently developed a problem with the small info box that comes up when you put the cursor over a picture or headline. The first one that comes up follows me from page to page and comes up regardless of were I stop the cursor. I’m not sure what the official name for it is so I don’t where to check the settings. I’m using Mozilla Firefox for my browser and I have run several virus scans with negative results. Its driving me nuts! Any insight?

– Rick P.
Fort Walton Beach, Fla

A: Yes, I can provide some insight for you, Rick.  First of all, the proper name for the little info box is “tooltip”.  They are a common way for Windows to give you a little hint about what a control or hot link will do before you actually click on it.  From what I can tell in researching this, what you’ve discovered is an old bug in FireFox.  You can read more about it here:   https://bugs.launchpad.net/firefox/+bug/54285.  This bug appears to have been around for a while, so it’s entirely possible that it’s been fixed in a newer version.  So make sure you’re running the latest release.

 

Q: I am using WindowsXP system and Outlook Express for email.  I have been getting the message “To free up disk space, Outlook Express can compact messages.  This may take a few minutes”  Sometimes I say “okay” and other times I cancel it.  How can I get this message deleted?  I read your column in the paper of 9/20 and you said to use Windows Desktop Search Option which I apparently do not have installed on my computer. Is there another way?

– Sharon
Destin, Fla

A: Yes there is, Sharon, but it’s a lot more Geeky, and involves editing the System Registry.  I don’t recommend anyone go poking around in the registry unless you know exactly what you’re doing, because a single errant mouse click can render your computer unbootable.  If you’re still willing to go forward, read on:  You’re getting that message because Microsoft modified OE in Service Pack 2 to prompt you with that message every 100 times OE is launched.  It does this because very few users are savvy enough to know to compact their OE’s messages, and unless this is done periodically, the system never recovers the space occupied by deleted messages.  Now that you know the why, here’s the how.  Run the Registry Editor by clicking Start, and selecting “Run…”.  In the dialog, enter REGEDIT, and click “Ok”.  Navigate the registry to find key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0”  Please note that I don’t have any way of knowing how this will format or break across columns when it publishes in the paper, so navigate carefully, and don’t try to do a search.  Searching won’t work anyway, because the part where it says “GUID” is going to be a large string of characters that are unique to your computer.  The registry is set up as a hierarchy, so you should be able to navigate it without too much trouble by using the tree control on the left side of the Registry Editor.  Once you’ve found the key, open it, and locate value “Compact Check Count” and double-click it.  Enter a zero where it says “Value data:” then click “Ok” and close the Registry Editor.  This tells OE not to prompt you anymore, so from now on you’ll need to perform periodic manual compactions of your messages.