Q I've been using my wife's computer, which has a default setting that turns off a program such as e-mail after five minutes. Then I have to sign in again. Is there a way to change this setting?
ELDON Brown, Miami
A You're getting logged off as a side effect of the PC going into "sleep mode" after five minutes of PC inactivity, a feature that's designed to save energy.
You can either turn off the sleep mode setting or change it to make the PC remain idle longer before going to sleep. If you've got a laptop, you can set two sleep mode settings: one for when it's plugged in and you have unlimited power, and one for when it's unplugged and you want to save your battery.
To adjust your power settings for Windows 7, see tinyurl.com/yeaszpf and click on "How can I prevent my computer from automatically sleeping or hibernating?" For Vista, see tinyurl.com/yclaqpe and click the same phrase. For XP, see tinyurl.com/yc62jw7. ("Sleep" doesn't completely turn off the PC; "hibernate" does.")
Q Can you suggest a free program to create a slide show from my .jpeg photos that can be played on a TV using a DVD player? I'm using Windows XP on a fairly new computer, but don't plan to upgrade the operating system.
CAROL WILSON, BLOOMINGTON
A Free slide show programs tend to be more limited than that. They can create slide shows to view on your PC, but don't let you burn the slide show to a DVD. If you want to buy a slide show program that burns DVDs, here are two that have been highly rated on CNET, a technology website:
