Excel 2010 Not Loading Shortcuts

Here's what I ran into: You have an Excel (either xls or xlsx) file or shortcut on your Desktop and when you double-click on it, you receive a File Not Found Error. File not found? It's right there!

Here's what I found (Microsoft has a link on this that I found after-the-fact: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211494/en-us).

In Excel 2010, Go to File->Options->Advanced-> Scroll down to the General section->Uncheck "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE).
Close Excel and try double clicking on your shortcut or excel file again. Now it should load just fine.

Outlook 2007 Error 0x800CCC0F

I ran across this error tonight running Windows 7 Home Premium and Outlook 2007. Some say check your anti-virus, others say verify nothing has changed with your email servers and login to them.

Mine was different.

I had updated my router earlier in the day and had set my computer to a static IP, both on the computer itself and in the router. I then changed the ip to be automatically obtained in Windows but never got rid of the static IP in the router. This caused Outlook to be a bit confused when sending large attachments. Small messages were fine. Internet was fine. Go figure.

HP Essentials Crashing

Just installed a new printer. HP software (HP Photosmart Essentials) installed fine, but when you run it, you get the Microsoft error report. After some digging (found it here: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/psg/board/message?board.id=Software&thread.id=1051) I discovered the HP Update service is causing the trip. As long as you don't answer the Send/Don't Send for the error report, you can navigate within HP Essentials.
Go to Options (sometimes it's an icon of two gears) and find the updates section. Switch it from automatic to manual. You should be good to go after that.

AT&T 2Wire 2701HG-B Red Power Light

Had my AT&T 2Wire DSL modem fail on me last week. Red power light was the main symptom. Long story short, these models are known to have their power supply (aka wall wart) become weak over time. When going through the AT&T help, it was looking like I may need a new modem but plugging in another 5.1V 2.0A transformer into the unit brought it back up like before.
I measured the power soming out of the old power supply connector and it measured 5.2V, but under load (plugged into the DSL modem) it dropped below 4V, thereby tripping the red power LED. You can get replacements on ebay, but I went to radio shack and picked up a switchable power supply because I couldn't trust the 2Wire brand of power supplies.

Excel 2003 Chart Button Greyed Out?

I've been trying to update an Excel chart but all of my chart options were greyed out. Turns out if your workbook is shared so multiple people can make edits to the spreadsheet(s) at the same time, you cannot edit your charts. Go to Tools -> Share Workbook-> and uncheck the box to Allow changes by more than one user...
The system will kick everyone one else out of the spreadsheet and you can then make your changes to the graph. Once completed go back into Share Workbook and re-share.

Completed Listings grayed out on ebay?

Had an interesting thing happen today. I went to eBay to research pricing on some old products I have, and when I went to search Completed Listings, the option was grayed out. Apparently, if you have "Include Title and Description" selected, eBay doesn't allow you to search the Completed Listings.

Hello, and Welcome!

Hello frustrated computer users-

This is an area for us to put helpful hints and tips when we come across challenges along our travels. What helps us might be able to help you!

Thanks for looking,

Micky & the Ponywagon team