Virtual desktop divided in two

Question:

Is there software that would allow me to have two "virtual desktops"? I would like to have two applications open and be able to hit the maximize button and have the application take up one-half of the screen. Being able to do this would save on the cost of having two monitors (along with an expensive video card).

- Sam Cook,
Berrien Springs, Miss.

Answer:

Point a browser at

» READ MORE: www.microsoft.com/

windowsxp/downloads/

powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx, where you will find a Microsoft-created set of advanced tools for Windows XP that includes your answer. It is a program called Virtual Desktop, a free download that has proved to be rock-solid among high-power screen-splitting schemes that are notoriously unstable or expensive.

Let me add that many workers use a lesser feature built into Windows to display two or more program windows running side by side.

To do this, find an empty spot on the task bar and give a right-click. In the pop-up menu, there are options to view program displays cascaded with one behind the other with a small overlap. Or the windows can be tiled. The tiled options either go horizontally, with one display below the other, or stacked vertically. With just two programs open, this splits the screen in half.

Q:

I have always used the Zone Alarm software as my firewall until recently, after Zone Alarm sent me an update request that I downloaded and performed. At the end of that download, the fun began. My Spybot software popped up and recommended that I approve something, which I did. Now Zone Alarm will not work.

I went through a complete Zone Alarm uninstall hoping I could reinstall it. Instead, I received the message to "shut down the TrueVector Service." I have checked and cannot find any reference to TrueVector.- Peter J. Marzano,
Wolcott, Conn.
A: "Services" are bits of code that always run in the background. These phantoms can be reached and altered through the Control Panel, which is one of the choices when you click Start. In the Control Panel display, open Administrative Tools. In that display, open the icon called Services. That brings up a list of all the services installed on your computer, including the one called TrueVector that is created when Zone Alarm is installed. Right-click on the TrueVector line and select Stop. Now, go back to reinstalling Zone Alarm. If this works, your problem is over.

However, a lot of people battered by True Vector bugs have been forced to do a so-called clean un-installation of Zone Alarm, which starts with clicking on Start and Run. In the Run box, type in msconfig. In the msconfig tab for Startup, remove the check mark for Zone Alarm.

Next, right-click on Start and then pick Explore. In the file-finding explorer that appears, go down to the Programs folder and in that folder go to the Zone Lab listing and right-click on the uninstall icon and select Properties in the pop-up that appears. This will give you a so-called target line that reads zauninst.exe. Click at the end of the line and tap the space bar once, type in /clean and press Apply. The line now should read: "C:ProgramFiles ZoneLabsZoneAlarm

zauninst.exe /clean." (Be sure to add the space before /clean.) Reboot the computer and go back to the Zone Alarm folder. Click on and run the Uninstall tool. Ignore any warnings that pop up.