Replies

Thank you, Byron — However, I do not believe that login settings are stored within the .dbx files (which I have recovered). My understanding is that login information is stored at

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet Account Manager

If I am wrong, then this becomes easy: Use the recovered .dbx files. For the sake of this discussion, let’s say that I am correct. The task, therefore, is to recover the information at that Registry key from a computer that will no longer boot into Windows.

Rick A.

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I have quite a challenge. My WinXP installation developed severe corruption and died, before I could back up some Registry settings. The drive is still readable, but Windows won’t start, no way, no how. I have the five files that make up the Registry — is there any way to read Outlook Express account information from them?

I tried placing them into position in another WinTel box and the system did boot, but the system was confused about many things, and the Internet Accounts Manager section of CURRENT_USER did not appear.

Grateful for any ideas…

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA

I would want to know more about the content before offering advice, but in general…

– If you are asking your audience to read a lot of copy, go black text on a white background

– If you seek to be more evocative with dramatic images and simple text messages, the reverse will generally be more effective

Rick Altman
Author, “Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck”
http://www.BetterPresenting.com

No question about it, PowerPoint’s support in this area is vastly deficient. This is why there is practically an epidemic of people simply printing out their slides when they need to make handouts: there are no good tools to facilitate the creation of much that is better. The Handout master is a joke. I recommend one of two courses of action:

1. Use the Notes page for handouts. The Notes master is like the slide master — much more pliable and customizable. However, this does not address the original query about getting two sides per page.

2. Bring Adobe Acrobat into the mix. Its print engine allows for 2×1 and 1×2 printing, enabling you to create more flexible layouts.

Both are bandaids, but worth exploring…

Rick Altman
Author, Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck
http://www.betterpresenting.com

This wouldn’t be the first time that the impression was given that the tool makes the artist. I’ll keep tilting at this windmill…

What if you changed (lowered) the display resolution on the primary monitor (or the one showing you your notes)? That should make everything larger.

Microsoft took note years ago: Presenter View, as it is called in PowerPoint, has been in the program for quite some time. This is not a question of technology; it is a question of human behavior. The risk is high — and I have witnessed the results first-hand — of presenters becoming robotic and detached when trying to create a relationship with a monitor in front of them. I’d rather they invest the energy in a relationship with their audience. Mac…PC…it makes no difference: It takes tremendous discipline to avoid getting derailed by the technology, however well-intentioned the design of the software.

John, no argument from me on the need for practice, that’s for sure. But I wouldn’t want to see printed notes being dismissed out of hand, when the issue might be how people prepare their notes. If you write out your entire talk in your notes, you will indeed become stilted and robotic, as it is practically impossible to not read word for word complete sentences that are before you. (This tendency is responsible for speakers becoming drones when the bullets themselves contain complete sentences.) Properly created notes, with just high-level points and transitions, would not become such a barrier between presenter and audience.

I do prefer to go without notes if I know my material well enough. But I’d rather have simple, carefully-prepared notes by my side than risk forgetting what the heck I intend to say next…

Gary, I’d like to see you print that slide deck to Acrobat and then print to your printer from the PDF file. Does that make a difference? Is the printing to PDF slow? How about the printing from Acrobat to your printer? Those results would go a long way toward telling us where the bottleneck is.