Computer Knowledge FAQs

Computer Knowledge and the related FILExt (file extension) site are not general support sites; they are, instead, repositories of certain information. However, questions come in anyhow and various issues are discussed in the FILExt forum. The information that comes out of these discussions will be documented here and/or there as appropriate. The categories are fairly arbitrary; hopefully the subjects will point you to whatever topic you are interested in.

Latest How Do I? FAQs

• How to Read a Product Page There are tricks to reading Internet product pages. Some of them are discussed in this article.
• How Do I Find Visual Basic Runtimes? Frequently a program downloaded from the internet or obtain from other sources requires a file of the form VBRUNxxx.DLL in order to run. Sometimes these files are distributed with the program; sometimes they are not. Here is where to get them if you need them.
• How Do I Use My Browser for FTP? You don't need to have an FTP program to download files from an FTP site. Just use your Web browser.
• How Do I Remove Add/Remove Programs Entries? Sometimes if you use the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs tool to uninstall programs some of these uninstalls will leave program names behind which, when clicked on, either produce errors or no action. You can remove these invalid entries using the method described here.
• How do You Register/Obtain DLL or OCX Files? Sometimes a DLL or OCX library or module will become unregistered for the program it supports. This FAQ describes how to fix that.
• ...All How Do I? FAQs

Latest What Is? FAQs

• What is a File Named Tilde (~) on the Desktop? A file named with the single tilde character (~) appears on your desktop. What is it and why is it there?
• What Are Electronic Communication Acronyms? To simplify text communications a number of acronyms have been developed. This page expands some you may encounter.
• What is a Country Code and Top Level Domain? The last characters on a domain name are usually either a country code (e.g., .ac, .br, etc.) or a top level domain (e.g., .com, .org, etc.).
• What Was That Error? An error message flashes on the screen, and everything comes to a screeching halt and/or your system restarts. But, what was that error?
• What Do Those 404 and Other HTTP Return Codes Mean? You try to access a web page but all you get is a mysterious code number. What do they mean?
• ...All What Is? FAQs

Latest Why Does? FAQs

• Why Aren't Different Display Colors the Same on Different Monitors? Often computer users complain that images viewed on one computer do not look the same when viewed on another.
• Why am I Having a MSN MAILHOST/DOWNLOADHOST Problem? Now and again the controlling DLL file(s) for MSN becomes unregistered and MSN users receive MAILHOST and/or DOWNLOADHOST problem messages and can't connect to their mail. Here's how to fix this.
• Why Does a File of the Form TFTPxxx Try to Run at Startup? A file of the form TFTPxxx (where xxx = numbers) attempts to run at system start and Windows does not know how to do that. Why does it happen?
• Why Can't I Copy a Large File Despite Having Larger Free Space? In these days of extra large hard disks many try to copy large files from a DVD but find that can't even though there is plenty of free space on the hard disk. Why not?
• ...All Why Does? FAQs

And, if you just want a complete list of the FAQs instead of thumbing through the sections then see here.