How to get multiple 'virtual desktops'

Q: When I pose this question to the electronics store people, I get either a blank stare or a look that says, "What kind of an idiot are you?" I feel safe asking you since I won't be able to see the expression on your face. Here it is:

At work, I have dual monitors. The software that came with the video card gives me the option of maximizing an application to the current monitor it is on. I like that. What I would like to know is if any of the wide-screen monitors include 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.

A: Because of what I do for a living, I often experience those same blank stares and rolling eyeballs when asking questions of workers at electronics stores. That's the way of the world, Mr. C. I theorize that we all knew it all when we were young but then forgot it all as we got older.

Put that digression on one of your monitors and use the second monitor to point a browser at 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's a program called Virtual Desktop, a free download that has proven rock solid among high-power screen-splitting schemes that are notoriously unstable or expensive.

Virtual Desktop creates a new tool on the Windows task bar at the bottom of the screen that lets users click from a row of four icons to bring up instantly any one of four totally different desktops, each with its own programs running.

There also is a fifth toolbar icon that instantly displays a quad view showing each of the four desktops on a large (or small) screen display.

To move from desktop to desktop, you can click an icon in the toolbar, click one of the screens in the quad view or assign a function key.

You can assign a different picture background for each of the four desktops to keep them straight in your mind.

Q: I've 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 won't work.

I went through a complete Zone Alarm uninstall hoping I could reinstall it. Instead, I received the message, "Setup is unable to log into the TrueVector Service. Install cannot continue without logging into the TrueVector Service. Please use the service manager to shut down the TrueVector Service and then restart the installer program." I've checked the installed programs and cannot find any reference to TrueVector or Zone Alarm. — Peter J. Marzano, Wolcott, Conn.

A: I can show you quickly how to find the TrueVector Service and shut it down, as requested, and I'm crossing fingers in hopes that will be all you need, Mr. M. I'll follow with a more detailed fix that other folks have done successfully when hit with this TrueVector glitch.

Services are bits of code that always run in the background to monitor everything from network ports used to keystrokes logged in selected programs. 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 the one called Administrative Tools. In that display, open the icon called Services. This 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.

Give a right-click on the TrueVector line and select Stop from the options that pop up. Now, go back to reinstalling Zone Alarm as you were told to do. If this works, your problem is over and you can ignore Spybot's howls as you restore Zone Alarm.

Reach Jim Coates at jcoates@tribune.com.