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Q: Every time I open up Windows Explorer, my list is populated with the “My Documents” folder from the Documents and Settings/my user name.  I only use the My Documents folder I created on the C: drive, there is nothing in this folder or the sub-folders it generates.  I delete this folder, but it’s back the next time I open Explorer.  How can I keep this from happening?  I’ve gone through all the setup and tools menus I can find, but no luck.

– Tim M.
Fort Walton Beach,FL

 A: The reason you’re having problems, Tim, is because you’re fighting with Windows to try and stop it from performing one of its core features.  Windows is designed so that each user has his or her own program settings, shortcuts, menus, and documents that are purposely kept separate from those of all the other users.  When you delete the directory that goes with your account, it is automatically restored when Windows tries to access it.

 Windows places shortcuts to “My Documents” in places where it’s most convenient to you, including on the desktop, in Windows Explorer, in File Open/Save dialogs, etc.  Additionally, many programs such as Microsoft Office applications automatically route files into the user-specific “My Documents” directory.  By trying to do an end-run around these settings, you’re really just making it more difficult for you to use your computer. 

 If you absolutely insist on changing from the default location that Windows provides, read my September 6^th column in which I discussed Shell Folders and one way to change their physical location.  You can find this, and all of my past columns on the Daily News’ website at http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/geektome.  Use caution!  I’ve received reports of people losing files through careless or improper changing of default Shell Folder locations.

 Q: I noticed that with the dual/quad core CPU’s that most ads list the CPU like: “Athlon 64 x2 Dual-core Processor 4000+”. How you know the CPU speed?  Is a dual core CPU running at 1.6ghz faster than a single core CPU running at 2.3ghz? Will a dual core CPU finally multi-task?

– Glenn H.
Destin,FL

 A: Attention all non-techies!  The following advanced discussion might contain more information than you want to know, or are likely to understand!  Read at your own risk.

 Wow, Glenn, that’s a lot of CPU questions.  Let me cover the highlights.  At the risk of causing a flood of angry e-mails from avid Intel fans, let me start by saying that AMD processors in general are faster than Intel processors.  What I mean is that an AMD processor running at 1.6 GHz performs more computations than a 1.6 GHz Intel processor.  Everything I’ve read leads me to believe that AMD brands their processors with numbers that indicate their performance relative to an Intel processor.  In other words, an Athlon processor with4000 inthe name has the approximate computational power of a 4.0 GHz Intel processor, even through it is actually running at a slower clock rate.

 You cannot directly compare single and dual core processors of varying speeds and draw any useful conclusion.  The overall performance of any CPU is a combination of many factors, including the clock speed, the front-side bus speed, the amount of L2 cache the amount and speed of the system’s RAM, etc.  Depending on the application, the type and speed of the video card and hard disk may play a significant role, or no role at all.

 As for multi-tasking, single-core processors do that, so I’m not sure what you mean by “finally multi-task.”  Multi-core processors are naturally better at multi-tasking, since there are more physical cores in which computations can take place.  So, as long as you’re running an OS with multi-core support, there’s less overhead required to swap applications in and out of one core, resulting in a performance increase.  A further increase comes from running applications which themselves support multiple cores.