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How to Fix the Biggest PC Annoyances

Computing hassles driving you bonkers? We feel your pain. And we have solutions--for hardware, software, and the Web.

By Steve Bass, PCW Print   

Dialog-Box Dilemmas

The Annoyance: It bugs me no end that every Microsoft program automatically tries to save every file I create in the My Documents folder. I never use that folder and I never will, except by accident. It's also the last place I'd think to look for a file I've misplaced. Another thing: Microsoft Office apps don't let me add or remove items from the left panel of the Open and Save dialog boxes, so I'm stuck with the History, My Documents, Favorites, and My Network Places shortcuts there. And one more: I can't stand the way Windows opens a dialog-box window the size of a postage stamp whenever I open or save a file. Harrumph already!

The Fix: There may be no cure for the My Documents dumbness, but I stopped grumbling about it when I began using utilities to make dialog boxes work my way. Start with FileBox EXtender, a $20 utility that adds two buttons to file-open and file-save dialog boxes that show your favorites and recent folders (see FIGURE 2). The program also makes many unresizable Windows file dialog boxes larger. If you use Windows XP, grab a free copy of Tweak UI: It permits you to add up to five favorites to Common Dialog box panels. Just choose Common Dialogs, click Custom places bar, and select an option from each drop-down menu.

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