Recovering Deleted Desktop Icons
There's no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers. Everybody has questions about them, and we aim to help.
Here are a few questions about computers I've received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about recovering deleted icons, clearing search histories and the difference between laptop processors.
If you have a question, send it to me at
mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg's Mailbox.
Q: I accidentally deleted from my Windows XP desktop the icon for a program I use often. I know that this doesn't mean I have deleted the program. But how do I get its icon back on the desktop?
A: There are multiple ways to do it, but here are a couple. You can click on the Start Button, then on All Programs, then locate the entry for the program, and just drag that entry onto your desktop. Or, you can locate the program file itself (it's typically in a subfolder of the Program Files folder), select the file, click the right mouse button and then click on "Send To." From the next menu that appears, select "Desktop (create shortcut)."
Q: In the Firefox Web browser, how do I erase all traces of my browsing activity, so another user of the same computer can't see what I've been doing online?
A: Go to the Tools menu, and select "Clear Private Data...". This will bring up a list of traces that can be expunged. You just check off the ones you want obliterated, and then click on the button at the bottom labeled "Clear Private Data Now."
To be absolutely safe, you can check off the entire list, but, generally speaking, clearing the browser history, download history, cookies and cache should hide your tracks from a casual user.
Be aware that there's a downside to this. After clearing out this stuff, your Web surfing could slow down a little, because you won't have any cached pages for the browser to use to speed up the loading of sites you've visited in the past. Also, by purging all cookies, you will lose the automatic log-ins and saved preferences, from some sites.
Q: I am shopping for a laptop, and am confused by some of the processor choices. Specifically, what is the difference between Intel's new Core Duo chip and the Core Solo chip?
A: Both are new designs, which combine power with greater efficiency. They run cooler than older processors, thus allowing for thinner laptops, fewer fans, and, in some cases, better battery life. But the Core Solo is, like most past processors, a single digital brain. The Core Duo packs two brains -- two "cores," each the equivalent of a single processor -- onto one chip. This potentially offers greater speed in performing tasks on the computer, especially when you are running several programs at once, and especially if one or more of the programs is demanding.
Bear in mind, however, that to get the most out of the dual-core design, your software should know how to use the twin cores. Not all software does, though this should improve over time, as software is revised to better use the new chips. Also, the overall performance of a computer depends on many factors beyond the processor. These include how much memory you have, the power of the video subsystem and the speed of your Internet connection.
如何清除Firefox浏览纪录
在我们大多数人拥有的大件电器中，再没有什么比个人电脑更令人费解、更变幻莫测的了。每个人或许都有些关于电脑的问题，而《莫博士信箱》将为您提供帮助。
本周我将回答读者有关恢复桌面快捷方式、清除浏览纪录以及英特尔双核芯片等问题。
问：我不小心把我Windows XP电脑桌面上一个常用程序的图标给删除了。我知道这并不意味著我已经删除了程序。不过，我怎么才能把图标找回到桌面上呢？
答：有很多办法，这里仅列举一二。你可以单击“开始”(Start)按钮，选择“所有程序”(All Programs)，找到相应的程序条目，然后把条目拖到桌面上就可以了。或者，你可以找到相应的程序文件（通常位于“程序文档”(Program Files)文件夹下），选择文档，单击鼠标右键，然后单击“发送至”(Send To)。在接下来显示的页面上，选择“桌面（创建快捷方式）”(Desktop (create shortcut))。
问：在Firefox网络浏览器下，我怎么才能完全清除我的浏览活动记录，以便使用同一台电脑的其他人不会看到我在网上做过些什么？
答：找到“工具”(Tools)菜单，选择“清除私人资料”(Clear Private Data). . .。接下来将出现一个可以抹去的历史纪录清单。你只要点中想删除的纪录，然后点击最下方名为“现在就清除私人资料”(Clear Private Data Now)的按钮，就可以了。
要想万无一失，你可以选中整个清单，但一般来说，清除浏览器记录、下载记录、cookies和cache应能保护你的纪录不被临时用户看到。
要注意的是，这么做也有不利的地方。清除此类纪录后，你的网络冲浪速度会下降一些，因为你没有任何cached页面可供浏览器用来加速下载你在过去曾经访问过的网站。此外，一旦完全清除所有的cookies，你将无法自动登录某些网站并丢失先前保存一些偏好设置。
问：我正在选购一台笔记本电脑，一些处理器的选择弄得我有点糊涂了。具体而言，英特尔新的双核(Core Duo)芯片和单核(Core Solo)芯片有何不同？
答：两者都是新设计，功能强大、效率卓著。相对于老式处理器，它们运行起来散热较快，因而可使笔记本设计得更薄、减少风扇，在某些情况下，还能提高电池使用寿命。不过，单核芯片和大多数以往的处理器一样，只有一个数字核心。而双核则是在一个芯片上配备则有两个两个“核心”，每个都相当于一个独立的处理器。这有可能加快电脑执行任务的速度，尤其是你在同时运行几个程序，以及一个或几个程序的要求都很高的的时候。
不过记住，要充分发挥双核设计之长，你的软件应知道如何使用双核。并非所有的软件都能做到，但这应能随著时间的推移得到改善，软件将逐步经过修改以便更好地利用新型芯片。此外，电脑的整体性能取决于处理器之外的许多因素，这包括内存大小、视频子系统的性能以及互联网接入的速度。
