Q: I’ve run into a problem with My Pictures that I bet you can solve. Several months ago, each My Pictures folder lost icons. When I open the file, I see a sailboat icon.
The problem occurred after we had loaded iTunes and started using an iPod, and after I had downloaded a Microsoft service pack. What a mess.
I thought I was the only one with this problem, but some of my cyber-friends have it, too, as well as friends we visited in New Jersey recently.
Some have sailboats, others have a picture of gears, still others have different icons.
– Gayla Filler
A: Start by clicking on My Computer and then Tools and finally on Folder Options. That brings up a tabbed menu, and you’ll need to open the one called File Types. Select an icon and click Advanced to change the icon for any file or folder type.
The rules are different for Folders than for File Folders (My Music, MyPictures, etc.) and regular files. So, go down the list of icons to the one for Folder (not File Folder) and click in the Advanced button.
You will get a box that includes a button to change the Folder’s icon back to the default image. Give that a click, and your problem probably will be fixed.
If not, pick the next icon in the list, called File Folder, and click it open. Select Advanced, and there will be a Change Icon button in the next display.
Click it, and you will get a long list of possible icons, including a little gearbox and a sailboat among others. Pick a nice simple manila folder from this list.
Q: I keep getting a window on startup, from SmartBridge Alerts, that reads: “Motive SB.exe-entry point not found … in the dynamic link library PSAP.DLL.” I can close the window, but the next time I start the computer, it shows up again.
The computer seems to work just fine. What’s up?
– Bob Ranger
A: I am not going to make any jokes about Ranger Bob, Mr. R. People with last names such as Coates know how boorish that is.
But I did blaze a few trails on the Web and read enough slash marks on the virtual trees to find that your problem is a fairly common glitch experienced by users of the Verizon Broadband DSL, or digital subscriber line, Internet service.
You can fix things by removing the SmartBridge tool from your Startup menu or by forcing the Verizon software to restore a correct version of PSAP.DLL.
To remove the software from your startup program list and stop those pop-ups, click on Start and then Run. Now type in “msconfig” and then click OK.
In the tabbed menu that pops up, select the one called Startup.
That brings up a list of most of the programs that are launched automatically when your computer starts.
Each program can be disabled by clicking to remove the check box alongside it.
Look for the one called Motive Communications or Motive SB and remove the check.
