Tag: troubleshooting

“The file you are attempting to preview could harm your computer…”

Well. That’s annoying.

It started back in late 2025 and I JUST got around to figuring out how to make Windows 11 show me a preview of a document I’ve edited.

To clarify, these are files originally downloaded from an internet source I use regularly and I can understand how this security “feature” could be helpful for documents I’ve downloaded from the interwebs. But I don’t understand why I’m not allowed to preview them after I’ve edited and saved them again.

“The file you are attempting to preview could harm your computer. If you trust the file and the source you received it from, open it to view its contents.”

Dear computer…you can trust me. please show me my preview.

Turns out there are a few ways to get your preview back, depending on your goals.

One goal is to remove the security block for existing files within a folder. The problem is that when you download new files into that folder, they just get blocked again.

Again. That’s annoying.

I want Windows 11 to display a preview of any file in my folder all the time, regardless of new downloads so I don’t need to repeat the fix every time a new file lands into the folder.

Here are the steps I used to get my preview back permanently for a particular folder:

  1. Click Start, type Task Scheduler, and open it.
  2. Click Create Basic Task on the right side.
  3. Name it something like Auto-Unblock Folder and click Next.
  4. Set the Trigger to Daily or When I log on.
  5. For the Action, select Start a program.
  6. In the Program/script box, type: powershell.exe
  7. In the Add arguments box, paste the following (making sure to replace the path with your actual folder path inside the quotes):

-WindowStyle Hidden -Command "Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Your\Specific\Folder' -File -Recurse | Unblock-File"

Make sure you change ‘C:\Your\Specific\Folder’ to your specific folder.

  1. Click Finish. This script will run seamlessly in the background and clean up the block tags for you.

There is another way to disable this security feature system-wide, but you’ll have to find those instructions somewhere else. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone previewing a malicious file they’ve downloaded.

How to Comment on LinkedIn as Yourself Instead of Your Company Page

If you manage a company page on LinkedIn, you may notice when commenting on a post, LinkedIn sometimes defaults to display your company name rather than you as an individual.

On the flip side, there may be times when the default is set to identify you as an individual, but you would prefer to comment on a post as your business page.

Here’s a quick infographic to show you exactly how to post as either yourself or your company.

And here’s some text you might want to copy rather than type out as you follow the instructions:

/?actorCompanyId=

How to Stop MS Word from Auto Numbering and Bulleting

For a printable PDF version, CLICK HERE

“Print” Button Grayed out in WordPerfect Print Dialog Box?

The first and most obvious reason the “Print” button would be grayed out is if you are trying to print a blank document. It happens. We get busy, we speed up, a Ctrl+F6 or a Ctrl+N sneaks in just before a Ctrl+P and the next thing we know, we have a gray Print button.

So…Question #1: Is there anything in your document? Text? a Text Box? an Image? Bueller?

I realize that’s the equivalent of asking you if your computer is plugged in and I apologize if you’re giving your monitor the stink eye right now, but we needed to eliminate that possibility right up front.

Moving along.

If your document isn’t empty, then follow these steps:
Continue reading ““Print” Button Grayed out in WordPerfect Print Dialog Box?”

Troubleshooting WordPerfect Publish to PDF.

Is WordPerfect PDF only publishing the current page of the document unless you select/highlight the entire document text?

The Fix:
1. In WordPerfect, click File, Publish to PDF.
2. Select “Settings . . . ” in the bottom right corner of the dialog box.
3. Change the “Export range” to “Full Document” and click “OK” to save the new setting.
4. Cancel the “Publish to PDF” menu and, as an extra precaution, exit WordPerfect to make sure the change holds.
Continue reading “Troubleshooting WordPerfect Publish to PDF.”

treo text message transfer

Did you get a replacement Treo and discover all your text messages were missing? Give this a shot:

Install the “Messages_Database.PDB”

I found mine in “c:\documents and settings\UserName\My Documents\Palm OS Desktop\LastNameFirstInitial\Backupold”

If the “Messages_Database.PDB” isn’t found in the above folder, search for the file on your computer.

Good luck fellow Treonaut.

who “Likes” ya baby?

Facebook recently switched from allowing you to “Become a Fan” of a page to suggesting you “Like” a page.

One problem I noticed immediately? I could no longer see a complete listing of who “Likes” my page? (you could see a full listing of all the fans before)

Here’s a workaround:

1. Search the page on FB, using the full name of the page,
2. Instead of clicking the link to go to the page, click on “See More Results for…”.
3. From the results page, you should see the page link, along with “XXX People Like This.”
4. Click that (the XXX People Like This), and you’ll see the entire list of fans.

Who knows, maybe they’ll fix it. Eventually.

can’t see your fan page updates in your own newsfeed?

If you don’t see your own fan page status updates in your news feed, make sure they aren’t “hidden.”

1) Scroll to the bottom of your news feed. (in your PROFILE, not on your Fan Page)
2) Click on “Edit Options” toward the bottom right. (click on the image to enlarge it)

3) Make sure your Fan page isn’t listed in the “Hide” box on the right. If it is, just click the “x” on the right side of it to remove it.

printer tshooting with WordPerfect

Every once in a while, I dig into WordPerfect to disable a little known setting:

“Reformat documents for the WordPerfect default printer on open”

This eliminates a few different problems, two of which come immediately to mind:

1. Older WordPerfect documents won’t open correctly in a newer version of WordPerfect.
2. Existing documents won’t print to the correct paper trays, but new documents will.

Sometimes an error message will indicate a missing (and OLD) print driver, sending someone on a quest to find it. When it’s found and loaded on a new machine, WordPerfect can open the document.

That’s a good workaround, but sometimes an old printer driver can’t be found or and/or old universal drivers won’t do the trick. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of this type of issue since HP isn’t making Windows 7 64 bit drivers for their old printers.

Try this instead: Click Tools, Settings, Environment, 2nd check box – UN-check “Reformat documents for the WordPerfect default printer on open”

I can’t save autotext!

Do you create autotext entries or buttons in Microsoft Word 2002, 2003 or XP but can’t seem to find them later?

If you also have Adobe Acrobat Professional or Standard loaded on your computer, you’re not imagining things or doing anything wrong! There’s a conflict between Word and Acrobat 7.0 which prevents autotext, macros, preferences and custom setting (like buttons) from saving in MS Word. For those of you who care or understand – Word ‘s “normal.dot” can’t save changes.

The good news is that Adobe knows about this problem and has issued an update! For detailed info and the download link, CLICK HERE to visit the “Tech Note” in the Adobe Knowledgebase.