Let's face it. For all the fun and usefulness our computers bring into our lives, they occasionally contribute some vexation and aggravation. You can reduce the frustration factor dramatically by taking advantage of the abundance of experience, knowledge, and friendly generosity found the in Macintosh and Macintosh Product Support RoundTables. Distress Call 컴컴컴컴컴컴� A case in point occurred recently in PowerBook Category 25 of the Mac RoundTable Bulletin Board. GEnie member Sandra Howard joined the discussion in Topic 16 (General PowerBook help) asking if Excel 4.0 would run acceptably on her PowerBook 160. Several staff members with similar computers assured her it would. Then the discussion took a more urgent turn. Sandra reported that shortly after her husband ran the Speed Disk disk optimization program (one of the Norton Utilities) on her hard disk, she began having difficulty opening documents in the standard double-click fashion. "Everyone was so helpful before, I'm going to try again," she said. "I have rebuilt the desktop and run Disk Doctor on the disk to no avail. Does anyone know what I've done or if it can be fixed?" To The Rescue 컴컴컴컴컴컴� Later that same day, several staff members reported on well-known problems with Speed Disk. Resident PowerBook guru Doc Johnston suggested, "I seem to recall that there are two desk top files with System 7.x, and when you rebuild the desk top, only one of the files gets rebuilt. Maybe you're having a problem with the other file." After a quick check in the Library, Doc suggested Sandra download and use 22527 DESKTOP RESET 1.1.SEA. The file description notes: "Using the Finder's standard way of rebuilding the desktop can result in a bad desktop file, especially if the desktop file was damaged to begin with. Desktop Reset solves this problem by actually deleting the desktop file, which forces the Finder to rebuild it from scratch. This should result in a good rebuild." Before the end of the day, Sandra reported back. "Doc--IT WORKS!" she exclaimed. "Thanks a million for the help. I downloaded 22527 and rebuilt, and so far everything seems to be working. I'm happy, my Mac is happy, and my husband is out of the doghouse. Everyone on this board is TERRIFIC!" It should also be noted that a phone call to Symantec by Sandra elicited advice to use only the current version of Speed Disk (3.1) and only after running the Disk Doctor module to check the desktop file before optimizing. If you haven't upgraded your copy of Speed Disk from 3.0 yet, you can do so by downloading that program's update in File 33096 NOONUTIL 3.0-->3.1. Getting Live Help 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� As quickly as Sandra's problems were resolved, help can be found even faster by talking live with friendly, knowledgeable Mac aficionados at the Help Desk (weekdays from 9:00 to 12:00 PM and Sundays from 10:30 to 12:00), or at the regular weekly Real-Time Conferences: Educational Mac Warren McMillan Monday 10PM ET Talk Mac Tara Dellinger Tuesday 9:30PM ET Games J Glenn Wednesday 10PM ET Nick at Nite Nick Passino Thursday 10PM ET Mac Graphics (New) Jacq Beckers & Friends Friday 10PM ET Sunday Night Fights Unk Sunday 10PM ET Note: The last Thursday of each month is reserved for special events. You'll also find excellent help at the the Macintosh Product Support RoundTable (MACSUPPORoundTable, GEnie Page 606). Solutions to Macintosh programming problems ranging from HyperCard to C can be found at the the Macintosh Programmers and Developers RoundTable (MACPRO, Page 480). And if you've taken the PowerPC plunge, lifelines are available in the PowerPC RoundTable (PPC, Page 1435) and the PowerPC Programmers and Developers RoundTable (PPCPRO, Page 1440).