I get the best email from readers of this column! Please keep them coming! This week, questions about getting your Favorites/Bookmarks back, playing PowerPoint Presentations and an answer to my question about keeping desktops organized.

Recover deleted Favorites or Bookmarks

A recent email from a reader asked how he could get his Favorites back.

Internet Explorer calls the websites you save “Favorites.” Firefox and Google Chrome call them “Bookmarks.” Sometimes we accidentally delete them. Oops! Need to get them back? Here’s what to do.

If you lose your Favorites from Internet Explorer, first --- check the Recycle Bin. Seriously. Check it. You might just find the files in there. If you do, close Internet Explorer, highlight the files in the Recycle Bin, right-click and click on Restore. Open up Internet Explorer, and you’ll see your Favorites there.

If you don’t see them in the Recycle Bin, you can try revisiting the sites in your History and saving them again as Favorites. That’s not going to get them all, but it might be better than nothing.

If you’re a Firefox user, you’ll find it a whole lot easier to get your Bookmarks back, especially if you realized you’ve deleted something the instant after you’ve deleted it. Click on Show All Bookmarks, then on Organize. Then, click on Undo! Awesome!

Maybe a few days have passed before you realize you’ve deleted something. You check the Recycle Bin, and can’t find your Bookmarks. Not to worry. Get back to Show All Bookmarks, but this time click on Import and Backup. You can now choose a recent day to restore. But hang on a minute! When you do this, you’ll lose any new Bookmarks. If you don’t want to lose the new stuff, first choose Export and save your current, messed up Bookmarks, including the new ones, to a file. Now import from a recent day. Finally, import the file you just exported. Whew. The Flux Capacitor is in overdrive, but your Bookmarks are current.

How often do you want to go through all this? If the answer is “Never again!” start using the Export feature in your browser to make backups of your Favorites and Bookmarks.

Photo: Contributed

Play PowerPoint Presentations

Another frequently asked question, this time from a reader named Donnie:

I often receive power point presentations from friends by e-mail. On my laptop I can view them but on my other computer I cannot. How can I get this feature on my computer so I can view power points sent to me? They are usually so beautiful and interesting I hate to miss out.

You need PowerPoint Viewer, which is a free program from Microsoft. Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13. There instructions near the bottom of that page on how to install the program once you've downloaded it.

After you've installed PowerPoint Viewer, you'll be able to view those presentations, but depending on which version of Windows you're using and what email program, there might be an extra step.

If you’re using Outlook Express, the secret to playing those presentations you get in your email is to get them OUT of your email. I made a screencast last year explaining the whole process, which you can view here: http://youtu.be/ySVQ0uq1aUE. The "extra step" part, which would pertain to Outlook Express, starts about 5:10 into the video.

Organize Your Desktop

Last week (http://rlis.com/columns/column360.htm) I wrote about customizing Windows 7 and asked you to share your favourite ways to personalize your Desktop. Chuck answered:

I have a Quick Access folder on my Desktop....just right-click / New / Folder and type in Quick Access.

Any time you have an icon that you want to get off the Desktop, just drag and drop it into the Quick Access folder that you have created. Every month or so I have a quick look through the Quick Access folder. If I am not using the shortcut, I remove it. If I haven’t even used the program pertaining to the Shortcut, I go to Control Panel and uninstall the program.

This keeps my computer clean of unused programs.

That’s a great system! Thanks for sharing.

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 (http://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 help@computercarekelowna.com.

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