Computer shortcuts (such as CTRL + P to print or CTRL + S to save) are a quick and easy way to get tasks done on Windows XP. However, if you are unable to hold down multiple keys at a time, these shortcuts do you no good. Luckily, StickyKeys exists to enable shortcuts, even when you only have one free hand. The way StickyKeys works is one key is considered “stuck,” or pressed, when the user is not actually holding it down. This allows the user to push another key—possibly too far away to reach with just one hand—and form combinations in this way. Although it is a helpful tool, StickyKeys can also be a nuisance to those who are used to the traditional short cuts. Luckily, learning how to turn off StickyKeys in Windows XP is simple. Read the instructions below to find out how.

1. Click Start on the bottom of your screen.

2. Click Control Panel > Accessibility Options.

3. Under the StickyKeys heading, there should be a tab labeled Keyboard. Within that tab, uncheck the Use StickyKeys box if you want to turn StickyKeys off. Conversely, check the box to turn StickyKeys on.

If the Use Shortcut checkbox in the Settings for StickyKeys is selected, it means StickyKeys is enabled. Once enabled, you can toggle StickyKeys off and on by pressing the Shift key five times.

Need professional computer help? TalkLocal can quickly connect you to a computer repair professional in your area! Just go to the website and submit your service need, location, and availability to talk to help in minutes. With TalkLocal, there is no need to wait in line at a computer store for help. Instead, the professionals come to you, ready to tackle your specific problem.

Apple has a dedicated team of designers to conduct extensive research in order to maximize the user experience of Mac computers. For that reason, they have made customizing the design of OS X very difficult. Read more to learn about how to change the Mac OS X theme. 

There are minimal built-in options for customizing your Mac. You have the option of choosing whether you want the overall look of buttons, menus, and windows to be Blue or Graphite. You can also change the highlight color between a number of colors. Change your color options by going to System Preferences > General. The most common customization is changing the desktop background. You can go a step further and customize your screensaver by going to Desktop > Screensaver. You can change the size and position of your dock, as well as add and remove programs. The programs magnify when you scroll over them–you can control the amount of magnification and toggle the feature on and off; all these options can be controlled by going to Dock. If you want to choose what items appear in your sidebar and create colored labels for you folders, go to Finder > Preferences.

If you are interested in further customizing your Mac, you can search online for user-created workarounds, but be warned that you risk doing damage to your system if the customizations are not from reliable sources. Make sure you back up everything before attempting anything you find on the Internet. If you find that attempts at customization workarounds have caused problems with your system, you may want to contact at a computer repair professional to fix your computer. With the help of TalkLocal, you can receive phones calls within minutes from up to three high quality computer repair professionals in your area. Just go to the website and tell them your problem, location, and availability.

One of the most common complaints about the Toshiba Satellite laptop is a broken power jack, or power connector. This usually occurs when the power jack gets pushed into the laptop and feels loose, preventing the laptop from charging properly. Read more to learn how to repair dc jack on a Toshiba Satellite laptop.

To repair the damage:

1. Replace the original plastic jack with a metal one. You can find these at most technology stores for under $5.

2. Disassemble the laptop by removing the top cover assembly. You will need a screwdriver to do this.

3. Once you open the top cover, find out why the power jack feels loose. It’s probable that the power jack and the mounting brackets on the base assembly are damaged.

4. Using a pocketknife, remove the plastic supports from the internal side of the base.

5. Again, using the pocketknife, remove the plastic wall surrounding the mounting hole. Make the hole larger so the new jack fits in.

6. The new jack may be too long for the laptop cover to properly fit back onto the base. You can fix this by cutting off part of the negative lead or by bending it.

7. Coat both leads with plenty of solder.

8. Remove the damaged power jack from the laptop.

9. Cut off wires somewhere close to the jack base.

10. Take off the insulation, wind the wires together, and cover with solder.

11. Connect the red (+) wire to the lead of the new jack. Connect the black (-) wire to the lead on the one you shortened. Make sure to check the polarity before turning on the power!

11. Mount the new power jack on the base.

12. Solder wires to the new jack (red wire to the center, black to the side, as done before).

13. Solder wires at a 90-degree angle to the jack so the top cover (and the right speaker) fits in.

14. Cover both leads with electrical tape.

15. Now the new modified power harness is installed into the laptop base. You can tighten the nut on the power jack and secure it to the base.

16. You will have to slightly modify the top cover assembly to make it fit on the laptop. Get rid of the plastic reinforcement walls. If they remain touching the power jack after the cover is installed, there will be a space between the cover and base.

15. Reassemble the laptop.

Although this takes some time, it is a cost-efficient way to fix your Toshiba Satellite laptop. If you would prefer some professional help, use TalkLocal to connect you to the best computer repair professionals in your area!

The router is the device that is responsible for your internet connection. If you are having internet problems after a power outage, check to see that power is restored to your router as well as your computer.

How to Upgrade

A sudden power outage may have “frozen” the operations in your router, resulting in it still being “frozen” even after the power returns; if this is the case, you must reset the router. Search for a caved in reset button in your router. It is caved in so that you do not press it by accident. While the router is turned on, press and hold the reset button until the router powers down.

If that did not solve the problem, there might be a chance that the operation was frozen on the server end (your internet provider’s end). In this case, contact your internet provider and ask them to reset the connection for you.

If resetting the router and the server ends do not fix the problem, there might be fundamental connectivity issues. If you are using a wired connection, check that your wires are working and that the ports that the wires are connected to are working as well.

If you are using a wireless connection, check that the network to which you are connected is the right one. Even if it is the right one, disconnect from it and try reconnecting to your computer. You might want to restart your computer as well.

If none of these solutions work, there might be a hardware issue with your router — a possible cause is exposure to moisture or heat. Consider getting a new router or help from a professional.

Additional Help

If you feel like you need professional help for your internet problems after a power outage, TalkLocal can help with finding the correct local experts, saving you time and energy in what may be a stressful situation.

Everyone knows how to transfer music from your computer to your iphone but how many people know how to do it in reverse? Attempting to transfer your music from your phone to a PC or Mac is a little more complicated but still totally doable. If you are wondering if there is a free software to transfer music from your iPhone to computer, you are in luck. These programs will aid you through the process.

Manual Transfer

If you want to manually transfer all your music to your computer you should set out a decent amount of time to be able to do so.  Without software this process can take a lot longer.  You will need to plug your phone in and using a phone browser program find all your tunes.  You can then copy and paste them from your phone onto your desktop or into a folder.

Download a software

Transferring music from your phone to a computer is a much simpler process when you download an aide program. You can use Winamp for PC and iDump for Mac.  Software such as these will allow you to transfer them directly. You can simply install the program and designate a place you want all the files to go to. Plug your phone in and you can get started immediately. Name your songs as they are downloaded and watch as they fly through the cyberspace right onto your computer.

Continuing Problems

If you continue to have problems with downloading music from your phone to your computer, you should seek professional help. Use TalkLocal to be put in contact with reliable IT businesses.  You don’t have to do any work! Simply input your problem and availability and within minutes your should be connected to someone who can help you out.

Many people use Mozilla’s Thunderbird client to manage their email and news feed accounts. One of the special features included in Thunderbird is an advanced spam filter that analyzes your actions and adapts to create personalized filtration settings. In order to take full advantage of this filtration system, you will need to change some settings in Thunderbird so it can start learning, analyzing, and filtering on its own. Read more to learn how to set up the spam filter in Thunderbird.

To access these spam mail settings:

1. Open up Thunderbird.

2. Click Tools > Options from the drop-down menu.

3. Go to the security section in the options window.

4. Click on the “Junk” tab.

5. Check both the “When I mark messages as junk: Move them to the account’s junk folder” option and the “Enable junk filter logging” option. You may choose whether or not to mark junk messages as read at your discretion.

Once these settings have been enabled, Thunderbird’s filter will be activated. The filter works by watching what kinds of email messages you read, and what kinds of email messages you mark as spam. It then analyzes patterns in your tendencies to automatically classify spam mail as junk. You will need to train the filter by manually marking spam emails as junk; over time, the filter will get better at detecting spam messages and fewer will get through to you. Be sure to periodically look through the junk mail folder to check for any messages that may have been mistakenly classified as spam.

If you want to get more advanced with your message filtering, Thunderbird provides you with the ability to create your own custom message filter rules. You can use these rules to automatically sort, tag, forward, or delete your incoming mail based on whatever criteria you want to set. You can also use them to further modify and customize your spam filter. The how-to of creating custom message filters can get a little complicated, but check out this article, published by Mozilla, for an in-depth guide on how to set up your own rules. Once your rules are in place, all you have to do is sit back and let Thunderbird’s automatic filtering system do the work.  Congratulations on taking the first step towards a spam-free inbox.

If you happen to need additional computer assistance, TalkLocal can connect you to a local professional in minutes.

Have you ever called a computer repair store saying “my computer turns on and off by itself”? This is a problem that can be so frustrating, especially when you’re in the middle of working on something important. If this happens to you, check for the obvious problems before reading this guide. How are the connections between the power supply and the computer? There could be a connection problem in the power line or the computer battery might be too worn out to charge itself, resulting in a computer turning off quickly after it was turned on.

What’s the problem?

It could be that the power supply is incompatible with your computer. If you use an extension cord too long or are using a 220V adaptor for a 110V outlet, there is a chance that little to no power is actually reaching your computer — try a new power outlet.

Check the power button on your computer — press it to see how the computer reacts to you pressing the button. If the computer turns off, try to turn on the computer again by pressing the button to see how long it takes for the computer to turn on again. A longer lag time between power generally indicates a more extensive problem.

Try holding the power button when turning on the computer to see if it changes anything. Sometimes the difficulties in the power connection originate from the problems with the power button.

Depending on the environment in which you operate/store your computer, there may have been damage to your computer that is too extensive for you to fix. Liquid (rain, drink, etc.) may have seeped into your computer and short-circuited your computer, resulting in a computer that cannot handle power.

Or it may be that frequent and large variations of temperature (you store your laptop in a car during summer, frequent heating and cooling, etc.) may have damaged your computer as well. For these problems, it is encouraged to seek professional help.

If the computer your are having problems with is a new computer and you are sure that it is not damaged, the problem may be caused by the misconfiguration of the settings in your computer. Consult a professional.

Additional Help

If you feel like you need professional help on what to do when computer power turns on and off, TalkLocal can help with finding the correct local experts in this case, saving you time and energy in what may be a stressful situation.

Computer color problems can affect the way you view graphics, watch videos, and even browse the Web. Most monitors are able to display thousands of colors, however, colors can sometimes be displayed inaccurately. This may lead you to wonder why your monitor color looks weird. Learn how to troubleshoot monitor color problems to make the best of your computer’s multimedia and graphic capabilities.

Instructions:

1. Check that the cables connecting the computer monitor to the case are efficiently secured. Sometimes loose cables can cause monitor colors to look weird or distorted.

2. Try adjusting the brightness and contrast levels on your monitor. These buttons are usually located on your monitor or on the upper portion of the keyboard. Consult your computer manual if you are unsure of how to adjust your computer color settings.

3. Try changing the color quality settings on your computer’s built-in video card. Click the “Start” menu button in the lower left-hand corner of your screen and choose”Settings,” then open the control panel. Double-click the “Display” icon. Click the “Settings” tab. In the drop-down menu listed under “Color Quality,” choose the highest color option available. The higher the color setting, the better. The highest possible setting for most monitors is the 32-bit color option. Click “OK” to implement the change.

4. Consider installing a new computer monitor. Some computers lose their ability to properly display colors over time. If your computer is old and  the previous steps did not work, try testing out a new monitor. This will confirm whether or not the monitor is causing the color issues.

Tip: Unshielded speakers and other magnetic interference can sometimes cause discoloration on your computer monitor. Remove all potential interferences away from the area around your computer.

Need a computer repair professional to help you fix your computer? TalkLocal will connect you to a reliable and local professional in minutes!

iPhones and PC computers are notorious for their difficult compatibility, but it is possible to get the two to work together.   While it is much easier to sync an iPhone with a Mac computer, you can also backup to a PC.  Transfering pictures is as easy as plugging your phone into your computer with a Mac, but with a PC it takes a couple more steps.  Continue reading for some helpful methods to backup pictures from iPhone to PC.

Two options:

–  Manual

–  Automatic via iCloud

When attempting to backup the pictures you have on your iphone, you have two different options.  You can either manual do so by plugging in your phone, or you can rely on apple’s wireless backup system that is integrated into your phone.

Manual transfer

1)     Connect your iphone to your computer with the USB cable.

2)     Click import pictures and videos form the autoplay window or go to start, computer, right click on iphone icon, and click import.

3)     Enter a folder name where you want to save these pictures.

4)     Let them load completely onto your computer.

5)     View the pictures in the My Pictures section of your computer.

Using iCloud backup

1)     Make sure your computer and iphone are both on the wireless internet.

2)     Plug your phone in to charge next to your computer.

3)     The pictures should be transferred to your iCloud account wirelessly.

4)     Log into you account from your computer and view the pictures.

Note: you can log into your iCloud account to view the pictures from any computer as long as you have your apple ID and password.

If you have problems backing up pictures from your iphone to your PC computer you should seek professional help.  Use TalkLocal to be put in contact with reliable, local IT service companies.  Simply input your problem, location and availability, and within minutes you should be connected to someone who can help. 

If your computer is running slower than usual, it can be extremely frustrating. Perhaps you have done what seems like everything to fix the problem—or you have done nothing at all because you don’t know where to start. A slowly functioning computer is a sign that there is probably an underlying problem. Read the following article if you want to make your life easier and speed up that turtle of a computer.

With Microsoft systems, there are particular registry cleaners that can be used to speed up your computer significantly. The reason that registry cleaners help speed up your computer is because they remove all unnecessary and redundant files from your computer. For example, if you have installed and uninstalled programs, there may still be useless files floating around your computer. Use a registry cleaner to get rid of these unneeded files.

If you have low RAM, this will also cause a slow computer. In order to fix this problem, update your RAM. The RAM is the memory portion of your computer. Check your storage space. If you have a lot of files and systems running on your computer, you may be simply using too much space. Think about purchasing an external drive or deleting old, unwanted files.

Use a surface that promotes air circulation towards your computer. If your computer overheats, it will run slower than usual. For example, having your computer sit on a blanket in your lap is most likely not the best arrangement for optimal computer usage. Soft surfaces retain heat, so use a hard, smooth table or desk instead.

If you computer is still running slow or you need help repairing a different computer problem, check out TalkLocal, a free service that helps you find high quality service providers. You will be connected within minutes to professionals right in your neighborhood!