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Q: I have a 2002 version of Windows XP with all the upgrades. I used to be able to boot-up the PC  and it would come up with the Desktop by itself. I recently had the computer worked on and now whenever I boot-up I have to “click” on a box that says “To begin, click user name.” I have to then click on a box which says “Owner”  Now I have to wait until that block appears before I can leave. How can I get back to having it boot up all the way without that block???

– Dick N.
Fort Walton Beach, FL

 

A: Greetings Mr. N!  Thanks for being the first person to hit my inbox with a question!  This is a pretty easy one too.  It sounds like whoever worked on your computer simply flipped on some security settings that you used to have disabled.  To set it the way you want it, do the following:  Click Start, and select Run….  Type control userpasswords2 and click OK.  This brings up a dialog to configure the user accounts defined on your computer.  All you have to do is uncheck the box next to Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer, click OK and you’re all set!

Q: Every time I turn my computer on a pop-up comes on and points to my lower tool bar and states:  “Low Disk Space – you are running out of disk space on Presario. RP (D;). to free space on this drive by deleting older unnecessary files, click here…”  I then follow precisely what I’m being asked to do – for example when it finally asks me the question “are you sure you want to delete these files” and I click “YES”.  After going through this “operation” I can proceed with whatever I wish to do on the computer.

– Vern Q.
Destin,FL

 A: By default, Windows XP monitors all the hard drives installed inside your computer.  When the available space on one goes below preset levels, you’ll get the notification you described, along with an offer to attempt to free up some space.

You didn’t say how much space is available on your drives before or after the cleanup operation, but I noticed that you said this happens on drive D.  Windows, and most files you create are usually stored on the C drive.  Unless you’ve installed another hard disk, drive letter D probably contains system recovery files installed by your computer’s vendor.  Somehow, something else seems to be getting placed on that drive as you use your computer, which brings the available space below Windows’ assigned threshold and triggers the prompt whenever you boot.

There are two ways to prevent this from happening.  Either you can remove enough files to keep the available space below the warning threshold or you can simply tell Windows not to monitor that drive.  You can turn off the monitoring on any of your drives by doing the following: Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the System Restore tab.  Under Drive Settings, select drive D, then click Settings.  Check Turn off System Restore on this drive. Click OK on all the dialogs and you’re done.

It’s worth mentioning that if something is routinely writing files out to this disk, and you disable monitoring, you’re eventually going to fill the drive up, so use these instructions cautiously.

Do you have a computer issue, or a problem you can’t solve yourself?  E-mail me at ItsGeek2Me@gmail.com.