How to fix the ?/é and ‘/` problems permanently

Have you ever been typing along to find that your question mark has been replaced by “é”? How about went to enter an apostrophe and found it coming out backwards ( ` as opposed to ‘ ). If so, you’re not alone. You’re simply experiencing annoying symptoms of what Microsoft calls a “feature”: The Language Bar.

In Windows XP, Vista, and 7, the Language Bar is most often found in the bottom-right corner, beside the clock area, circled here.

If the Language Bar is giving you trouble, chances are that you made the mistake of telling Windows somewhere along the line that you’re Canadian. Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem; however, when you tell Windows that you’re Canadian, it assumes that you’re English/French bilingual. Hence, point of the Language Bar is to allow you to switch between the two languages (and keyboard layouts) with ease; one simple keyboard shortcut is all you need to make the switch, and if you’re having this problem, chances are you simply hit it accidentally. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT once or twice (check after each attempt) should solve the problem. However, if you want to permanently disable this functionality, this guide will show you how to.

How to Undelete a File

So, I had a revelation this evening: I know how to undelete a file after I’ve emptied the Recycle Bin, or accidentally deleted it from my camera, but not many people realize that it’s even possible. Let me explain simply to you how to do it.

NOTE: It simply isn’t possible to recover every or any file you’ve ever deleted. However, today I successfully recovered a file from April 20, 2010 (over a year ago!). The probability of successfully recovering a deleted file is related to how much you’ve been using the hard drive the file was stored on; there’s also a little bit of luck involved. The sooner you attempt to recover a deleted file, the more likely it is that it can be recovered. More on this, later; first, the process: