Baffled by technology or struggling with an IT annoyance? Andrew has the answers to all your troubles.

Q: Recently all the menus and toolbars disappeared from Word. How do I get them back?

A: A simple way to fix the problem is to search your computer for the file normal.dot. To do this, click the Start button, Files or Folders from the Find (or Search) menu. Enter the filename normal.dot in the Named field, and then click Find Now. When the normal.dot file is located, rename it to normal.bak.

Q: Sometimes when I type in Word, I suddenly find that instead of typing normally all the menus start popping up. Why does this keep happening?

A: You are probably pressing the Alt key by mistake. This is a shortcut key for accessing the menus without a mouse. If you accidentally press the Alt key, simply press Esc or click anywhere within the document.

Q: I bought a computer and tried adding a modem under Windows. However, there is no active COM port listed when I try to install the modem. Why is this?

A: It is possible there is something wrong with the computer motherboard but a more likely explanation is, for some reason, the COM ports have been disabled in the BIOS. The BIOS is a set-up facility that PCs use to tell the computer what hard drives are installed, etc. To access this, you usually need to press the Del key during the memory check. You should look through the various menus (look out for anything that mentions integrated peripherals or advanced settings) for an entry that has a COM port disabled. Be warned, you should only change BIOS settings if you are sure you know what you are doing, as it is possible to completely disable your computer through incorrect settings. If you are in any doubt, get advice or help.

Q: How do I get rid of the Windows 98 logon prompt when Windows starts?

A: The simplest way is by not entering a password when Windows starts for the first time. If you have an existing installation, you can disable the password prompt by going to the control panel (click Start and select Control Panel from the Settings menu), double click the Passwords icon, then enter the existing password but leave the new password fields blank.