Some serious-sounding problems are not very hard to fix. This week: What to do if your computer screen shows everything sideways or upside down, how to make your keyboard behave, and how to stop exploding windows.
Photo: Contributed
Help! my laptop is sideways!
every so often I get a phone call or an email from someone who managed to turn the display sideways on their laptop, and wonders how to get it back. Some laptops are different, but on most of them the following key combinations will work:
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Turn it right side up: Ctrl + Alt + up Arrow
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Rotate 90 degrees: Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow
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Turn it upside down: Ctrl + Alt + down Arrow
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Rotate 279 degrees: Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow (or sometimes, Crtl + Shift + R for some reason!)
sometimes you can right-click on the Desktop and get to your graphics options. You should find a “Rotation” choice there, too.
Now you don’t have to stand on your head or lie on your side to use your computer!
Help! Mon clavier me rend fou!
I frequently receive email from people whose keyboards have taken leave of their senses. Usually the question goes like this:
when I want a question mark this is what I get ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ. As you can see, if I hit the apostrophe I get this èèèè.
Last month I helped a customer who could not get the computer to type the @ sign when she pressed the Shift and the number 2. This was VERY inconvenient when it came to sending email! The cause of the problem is the same as the ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ problem: your keyboard is speaking French.
if you’re only ever going to type in English, set your keyboard to the US layout.
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Click on start | Control Panel
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Click on Clock, Language and Region (In XP, Region and Language)
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Click on Language | Details | Change keyboards
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Add the US keyboard and save it as default
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While you’re there, click on Language Bar, then on Hidden
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OK your way out
Now your keyboard will be set up just for English, the Language Bar will be hidden so you don’t accidentally change your language. To learn more about keyboard layouts, have a look at the documentation here: windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-your-keyboard-layout.
Help! my windows are exploding all over the screen!
recently I received an email from a reader asking me how to stop pages from exploding. Trust me, this got my attention! when I got to the part where he said he was using Windows 7, I figured out the problem.
Aero Snap is a feature of Windows 7. when you drag a window to the left side of the screen, it will automagically dock or “snap” to that side of the screen. if you drag right, it snaps right. if you drag a window to the top of your screen, it will maximize. it takes some getting used to, and lots of people like it. others find it disconcerting. if you don’t want things snapping, it’s easy to turn Aero Snap off:
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Click on start | Control Panel | Ease of Access | Ease of Access Center
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Click on “make the mouse easier to use”
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Put a check in the box for “Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen.”
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OK your way out
That’s all there is to it. if you want to know more about Aero Snap, the Microsoft tutorials are here: windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/snap.
Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!
Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to .
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