Q. I use Outlook Express and accidentally blocked a friend so I can't receive his email. How can I unblock him?

A. All you have to do is click Tools > Message Rules > Blocked Senders List > Blocked Senders tab. Select the person you would like to unblock and click the Remove button.

Q. There is an icon in the lower right-hand corner of my screen that looks like a little yellow speaker. I never use it for anything, so can I delete it? If so, how do I do that -- and what does it do?

A. If you single-click that speaker icon, it will display a simple volume control (as well as a "mute" option) that will allow you to adjust the volume of anything you play. If you double-click the icon, depending on your installed software, you may see a more sophisticated panel of slider bars and other audio adjustments.

To remove the speaker icon, click My Computer > Control Panel, then double click the Multimedia or Sounds & Multimedia icon. Remove the check mark beside "Show Volume Control on the Taskbar."

Q. I just bought a Hewlett-Packard DVD recorder and some DVD-CDR/RW discs to go along with the recorder. When I put one of the discs into the drive to format it, all it says is, "Insert Media." Do I have the wrong discs or have I done something else wrong?

A. The discs you refer to as DVD-CDR/RW are either DVD-R or DVD-RW. A disc can't be both CD and DVD, it's one or the other. Since you purchased a DVD drive, you probably have DVD-R (or +R) or DVD-RW (or +RW) discs.

You hit the nail on the head when you asked about purchasing the wrong discs. HP (Hewlitt-Packard) uses the DVD+R or DVD+RW format, not DVD-R or DVD-RW. I'd suggest taking the discs back to the retailer and exchange them for the DVD+R and DVD+RW discs your burner (drive) requires. (Could these formats be any more confusing? I think not.)

Q. What does WOMBAT stand for? My grandson was helping me with a computer problem and he kept saying that. Thanks for being there for dummies like me, Mr. M.

A. The WOMBAT acronym stands for "Waste Of Money, Brains And Time," and is frequently used in conjunction with hardware and software problems, glitches, viruses, hoaxes, and all the other things we have come to know and detest about our digital lives. Example: "The Confiker worm that struck a couple of months ago was a WOMBAT,” or “Mr. Modem is a WOM --“ No, wait. That would be terribly wrong.

Mr. Modem's Sites of the Week:

AntiSpam Directory
ISP-Planet's anti-spam directory provides an overview of the large and growing number of spam solutions on the market. Frequently updated links are provided to various anti-spam programs and services.
http://tinyurl.com/c7x6uo

Gregory Braun Software
A wonderful site, full of interesting, Windows-based shareware utilities, all written by the site's proprietor, Gregory Braun. Click any of the programs listed to view an expanded description. All software here is shareware, which means you can try any of the titles for free, but if you decide to continue to use the program, you are expected to pay a modest registration fee. It’s all on the honor system, so be sure to do the right thing.
www.gregorybraun.com

Railroad Pictures
If you're a train enthusiast, this site is a toot! Here you’ll find more than 250,000 searchable, railroad-related pictures. You can search photos by locomotive type, railroad, state, year, photographer, category or keyword. All aboard!
www.railpictures.net

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