Gaps in Computer Awareness

[stargazer]

I have a specific computer-related question, and I figured maybe this might fall under a thread related to a more general concern. There are a lot of gaps in my awareness of computers and the Internet, and sometimes certain questions are embarrassing to ask. This probably comes of having learned about computers piece-meal without taking any classes, and having no organized direction, nor particular organizational skills.

Right now I'm in the position where a couple different entities are asking me to "close all open programs" before doing something, and until this morning I had assumed that this meant programs that were visible to me, and that I knew I had been using. Someone earlier today told me that, no, there are all kinds of programs running at any given time, and that I have to open up the Task Manager to see them and close them.

The only time I have ever seen the Task Manager is when some program is failing to run properly, and it somehow suddenly appears. In others, I don't know how to open up the Task Manager, or where to find it, and that is my embarrassingly naive question for today.

Specifically, Finale music notation software tech support is asking me to "close all open programs" before trying to make a recording off of a music notation file; and Dell wants to have me install Vista Service Pack One on my laptop, and there again I am also being asked to "close all open programs."

If you are a person who has recently been surprised by statements I've made that certain computer talk was moving too fast for me, maybe now you will know just how little I do know. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, I'll let you all know if I find some help from some other source. I really do want to install the service pack, and also hopefully correct the problems that are happening with my music notation software, in which I have basically been informed that my hardware is not communicating effectively with my software.

I hope this all makes sense to someone. Thanks.

 

[Daniel E.]

Someone earlier today told me that, no, there are all kinds of programs running at any given time, and that I have to open up the Task Manager to see them and close them.

Over 99% of the time, that would not be required. Most of the time, you can get away with not closing anything.

 

[NicNak]

I have always used Ctrl Alt Del to start the task manager. Then it will show you all the tasks running. It also allows an option to "End Task"

Better someone else though to help, as with an install it is probably more tricky than what I listed there.

Nice to see you Stargazer.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Over 99% of the time, that would not be required. Most of the time, you can get away with not closing anything.

That's been my experience, too. Generally, the message can be viewed as a cautionary suggestion. If in doubt, just make sure you have saved any open files in Word, etc., and it should be fine.

 

[stargazer]

Over 99% of the time, that would not be required. Most of the time, you can get away with not closing anything.

Come to think of it, whenever I *have* seen the list of programs running on the Task Manager, nothing has come as a surprise. They've always only consisted of programs I was aware I was running.

That's been my experience, too. Generally, the message can be viewed as a cautionary suggestion. If in doubt, just make sure you have saved any open files in Word, etc., and it should be fine.

I have a related question. I've been assuming that the reason they don't want you to have the programs running is because it would interfere with the installation. What David is saying seems to suggest that it might interfere with the data on the programs. So what I'm asking is: just why *do* they want you to make sure all open programs are closed?

I have always used Ctrl Alt Del to start the task manager.

OK, I'll try that. I'd like to learn how to start the Task Manager, even if there aren't really any programs running that would interfere with the two procedures I mentioned. I might be a little over-cautious, but this will be the third time in the past few months that I've tried to install Vista Service Pack One.

The first two times, the installation failed.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I have a related question. I've been assuming that the reason they don't want you to have the programs running is because it would interfere with the installation. What David is saying seems to suggest that it might interfere with the data on the programs. So what I'm asking is: just why *do* they want you to make sure all open programs are closed?

If the program being installed need to replace one of the DLLs (dynamic link libraries containing various Windows routines), the installation might hang if one of those DLLs were in use by another program, However, in almost all cases, the install program will halt and tell you to close the specific program using that DLL, so it's rarely a risk, The worst that could happen in that respect is you'll have to reinstall the program you were trying to install.

 

[stargazer]

Now I understand. That has happened on occasion, I think. By the way, I did successfully install Windows Vista Service Pack Three now. I'm not sure why it failed to install on the other two occasions. My guess is that I might have inadvertently stopped the installation process, without knowing it.

My next task is to see if I can get the Virtual Studio Technology that comes with my music notation software to work, but I'm not so optimistic about that one.

 

[amastie]

I get that message only when installing a program onto the computer. I didn't know that it was so unnecessary. To be a bit safe, I've always closed any programs I am personally working in at the time - like Word or Excel. I don't close Windows Explorer and I've never bothered to go into the Task Manager to close other programs running in the background.

 

[Retired]

when some program is failing to run properly, and it somehow suddenly appears. In others, I don't know how to open up the Task Manager

As has been mentioned, Ctrl | Alt |Del will launch Task Manager manually in both XP and Vista, however Vista is a little smarter in that, as you have alluded to Stargazer, Task Manager launches when a program hangs.

The dialogue that launches Task Manager offers a few more options, but the process is much smoother than with XP, I have found.

 

[stargazer]

I think the quote beneath Steve's signature might be appropriate for me now. (That is, "perservere.") I've successfully installed Service Pack One for Vista, and I have installed the latest sound card from the Dell Updates (as I was advised to do by Finale Tech Support), and not only did it *not* solve the VST problem (which is now besides the point) but I can no longer open any of my music notation files, in any folder.

That is, as a person who works constantly with music notation files, I have them organized into folders; e.g., "Burden Muse Files," "Transcription Muse Files," etc. Every time I try to open one of these files, I get an error message saying that "Windows Cannot Find the Appropriate Program to Open This File." Then, I see that "Finale 2008" is for some reason no longer listed among the options to open these files (although of course, it is the only program that *can* open these files.) Somehow, it has gotten removed from the list.

My question now is: how do I get it back on the list?

I am given two options: "use Windows to find the appropriate program on the web" - (which I figure is not the correct option, as I already have the appropriate program installed on my system), and "BROWSE" - so I browsed. Then I selected "Finale," and clicked on "Open," and everything froze. I've done this several times.

Any ideas?

If not, I can probably call Finale Tech Support on Monday, but it would be nice to get this taken care of beforehand. It seems like a problem that would not be specific to Finale, but has something to do with the installation of the Service Pack.

I am also now unable to send a message using Windows Mail.

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Oh, to clarify - by "everything froze" I didn't mean a total computer freeze. I just meant, nothing would happen. I don't know how to get Finale 2008 back on the list of programs that Windows thinks are options for me to open files. Maybe someone can help with this. Thanks.

PPS - Also, I do have all my files backed up on a flash drive. But if I can't open them, they're not much use....

 

[Retired]

Windows Cannot Find the Appropriate Program to Open This File

You need to re-establish the link between the program and the file type.

Right click on the file in Windows Explorer, and select "Open With".

If the program you need is not listed, then browse for the program, select the executable file and set that program as the program to always launch that type of file.

I often use "Open With" when I need to launch an alternate program for a specific file type, when I don't want to change the default linked program.

 

[stargazer]

Again, this may sound very naive, but what exactly is Windows Explorer and how do I right-click on the file from there?

I did try right-clicking on the file as I've saved it in its folder, but when I did, I did not get an "open with" option. I only got "open" - in which case it led to the series of error messages earlier described; that is, my being given a choice of having Windows look for the approrpriate program on the web (in which case it can't find it), or for me to select from among programs I already have installed on my computer.

After selecting "Finale 2008" from programs I have already installed on my computer, I am still unable to get "Finale 2008" to appear on the list. I think that also, I do not know what "select the executable file" means.

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I went to dinner & back, but let me try all this again. It seems that there ought to be some way that I can restore "Finale 2008" onto the list of programs that Windows is listing as options to open my music notation files, without too much stress. But like I've been trying to convey, I am extremely clutzy when it comes to this kind of thing...so if you *can* help, I will continue to appreciate it. Thanks.

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Great! Somehow, this time I was able to get the desired program (Finale 2008) to reappear on that list. Now all my music notation files can open from the various folders where I've saved them. We're talking upwards of 300 files here, so this was a pretty serious thing for me. And yet, I did know there had to be a solution - I only had doubts in my ability to find it. Still, I'm not sure exactly what I did...oh well, it's done now.

Probably in order to solve the more serious problem involving the VST playback (which I won't even begin to describe), I'm going to have to eventually get a new system. I need fairly desperately to get out of this laptop rental situation anyway, as I'm spending between $150 and $200 every month on laptop rent, and I could probably buy a better one for less money than it would take to do the buy-out on this one.

Anyway, thanks for all your help today - I have appreciate it.