Q. My son was helping me with a printer problem and said that I needed a new driver. I was too embarrassed to ask him what he meant, so could you tell me what a driver is and where can I find one, Mr. M?

A. A device driver, better known by its shorter name “driver,” is a small software program that is used to help your computer work with its hardware. Your printer needs a driver, as does your system’s sound card, scanner, and even your digital camera's PC connection. Outdated drivers can be problematic so your son’s advice was right on the money when troubleshooting a printer problem.

Drivers are typically supplied with hardware and are loaded during the installation process. Updated drivers may be required, however, when error messages seemingly appear out of thin air or unusual hardware behavior occurs. Most printer Web sites, Hewlett-Packard at ah www.hp.com or Canon at www.canon.com, for example, have an area where you can select your model printer and download the most current driver(s). Instructions for installing drivers are provided on each site at the download location.

Q. When I use Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel to remove a program, should I answer "Yes" or "No" to the question, "Do you want to remove a shared file?"

A. In a word, “No.” Shared files display the file extension .DLL, which means they’re a Dynamic Linked Library file. What that high-falootin’ technobabble means is that the file in question may be used by several programs. A word processor and a spreadsheet, for example, may share a .DLL file, so removing it may cause one or more programs to malfunction.

If you periodically encounter a message advising that a certain .DLL file cannot be found, typically a missing .DLL file is the result of it being removed when uninstalling another program. (Oh, the humanity!)

So whenever you’re asked if you would like to remove a shared file, the safe response is, “No.” It’s not worth taking the chance of derailing another program by doing so. In fact, I don’t know why Windows even bothers to ask. The next time Mr. Gates stops by to mooch a cup of coffee, I’ll be sure to find out.

Q. How can I rename a Desktop shortcut or icon?

A. F2. And there you have the shortest answer in tech-support history! Thank you, thankyouverymuch. To expand on that just a wee bit, to rename a Desktop shortcut icon or any file or folder, for that matter, click once to select the object, then press F2 and type in the new name. Click anywhere outside the name box to lock in the change.

Mr. Modem's Sites of the Week:

Get Human
We have all experienced the frustration of trying to get a live body on the phone when calling a bank, telephone company or for technical support. Thanks to Paul English, a human being is now just a few key strokes away. Mr. English, surely a candidate for a Nobel Prize if ever there was one, created this alphabetical listing of more than a thousand companies and the steps required to reach a living, breathing, phone-answering organism. Bless you, Mr. English.
www.gethuman.com

Screenwriting Primer
If you’ve been harboring thoughts of writing an Academy Award winning screenplay, but you just haven’t gotten around to knocking it out, this site is for you. Aspiring screenwriters will enjoy this blog, created by veteran screenwriter John August. August’s credits are most impressive and include “Charlie’s Angels,” but let’s not hold that against him. Most of the site consists of Mr. August answering screenwriting-related questions submitted by readers. It’s a bit on the quirky side, but it will be interesting to most screenwriter wannabees.
http://johnaugust.com

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