Computer Troubleshooting

Slow Windows 7 - How To Speed Up Windows 7 Quickly And Easily

2011-04-01T00:26:00.000-07:00

Is this your slow Windows 7? Wondering how to speed up Windows 7 without breaking the bank? Well I may be able to help. But first you need to make sure you meet the minimum hardware requirements to run Windows 7 on your system. Here they are:

1GHz processor o (32 - or 64-bit)

O 1 GB main memory

O 16GB of free disk space

O Support for DX9 graphics with 128 MB of memory (for the Aero interface)

o A DVD-R / W

Remember, though, that if he can actually run Windows XP or Vista, there should be little reason that you can not even Windows 7's new Windows operating system is designed to be much lighter and faster disk without large amounts of RAM GHz or No Most people who have problems they are trying to migrate to Windows 2000 and Windows 7

If you meet or get close to these requirements, and Windows 7 is still slow, then the problem lies elsewhere. To start, reduce the amount of programs running in the background. You can use msconfig to do this or install simple software that will identify programs secretly running in the background and eats lots of virtual memory.

The other option is to clean the Windows registry. That may be the most effective way to speed up Windows 7 There is no internal cleaning tool for dealing with errors and corrupt files from the registry. This contributes to significant congestion which will brake labeled Windows 7.

Despite these adjustments can be difficult to achieve alone, you can scan your system with software that will solve these problems automatically. It only takes a few minutes and will quickly realize a Windows 7 now. Do not worry about compatibility issues, if the program can run on Windows Vista, can run on Windows 7.

Tired of a slow computer? Want has proven itself as a rabbit, and less of a turtle? Did you know that you can gain control of the computer as a new free and easy to navigate? Speed up your PC the best registry cleaners on the market.

10 Reasons Why Computer Crash

2011-03-18T02:40:00.000-07:00

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy,” it says. “Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications.”

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as ‘IRQ holder for PCI steering’. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly.If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer’s display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to ‘yes’ to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are ing for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card’s manufacturer on the internet and for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates . Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec.

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer’s performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognized, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer’s default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programmer in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don’t do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system.

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message “Starting Windows” press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn’t work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU.CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

Windows 7 Tips & Tricks

2010-12-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

1. Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Using the mouse, you can drag-‘n-dock windows to either side of the screen, or drag it to the top to maximize it. These keyboard shortcuts are even faster:

Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow dock the window to the left and right side of the screen
Win+Up Arrow and Win+Down Arrow maximize and restore/minimize
Win+M minimizes everything
Alt+Up, Alt+Left Arrow, Alt+Right Arrow navigate to parent folder, or browse Back and Forward through folders in Explorer
Win+Home minimizes/restores all open windows except the active window
Alt+Win+# accesses the Jump List of program number ‘#’ on the taskbar

2.Rearrange System Tray Icons

You can rearrange icons on the taskbar as you wish and start new (or switch to running) instances of the first ten taskbar programs using Win+1, Win+2, and so on. The cool thing is you can also rearrange system tray icons. Reorder them on the tray or move them outside or back in the tray. Take control of what you want to always keep an eye on, and from which apps you’ll require notifications.

3. Access Jump Lists with the Left Mouse Button

Jump Lists usually show up when you right-click on a taskbar icon. However, they can also be accessed by holding the left mouse button and dragging upwards. If you’re using a laptop touchpad or a touch screen, this is convenient because you do not have to click any button to access a context menu.

4. Add Any Folder to Favorites

You can add any library or folder to the Favorites section in Windows Explorer. To add a folder, navigate to it in Explorer, right-click Favorites in the left navigation pane, and select Add current location to Favorites. Now you get quick access to your favorite folders in all File->Save As dialogs!

5. Pin Frequently Used Folders to the Taskbar

Right-click, drag, and pin your favorite folders to Windows Explorer on the taskbar. They will now show up in the Jump List when you right click on Explorer giving you quick access to your favorite folders.

6. Pin Control Panel to the Taskbar

You cannot pin the Control Panel to the taskbar via the Start Menu or by drag and drop. Open the Control Panel and right-click its taskbar icon to pin it to the taskbar. An advantage of this is that Control Panel’s Jump List allows quick access to recently used functions.

7. Create Keyboard Shortcuts for Programs

You can create keyboard shortcuts for any program in Windows 7. Right-click the program icon and select Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, click in Shortcut key, to set the keyboard shortcut for that program.

8. Open Command Prompt in Any Folder

Like the command prompt? Miss the ‘Open Command Window Here’ Windows XP power toy? Press ‘Shift’ when right-clicking on a folder to get that option in the context menu. This also works on the desktop. No power toy required!

9. View Expanded ‘Send To’ Menu

Press Shift when right-clicking on a folder to get an expanded Send To menu.

10. Adjust Screen Text with Clear Type

Use Clear Type Tuner for the best look on your LCD monitor or laptop screen. Run ‘cttune.exe’ from the Start Menu search box, or go to the Control Panel Display applet, and select Adjust ClearType Text from the left.

11. Get Exact Colors On Your Screen

If you are an artist or you work with colors, use the Calibrate Color option in the Control Panel Display applet or run dccw.exe from the Start Menu search box. You can adjust gamma, brightness, contrast, and color balance, ensuring that colors are displayed correctly on your screen.

12. Customize the Power Button

If you restart your computer more often than you shut it down, change the default Shutdown power button to Restart. Right-click on Start, select Properties, and choose the Power button action that you use the most.

13. Customize Number of Items in Jump Lists & Start Menu

Right-click Start, select Properties, click Customize and choose the number of recent programs to be shown in the Start Menu and the number of items displayed in Jump Lists from the Start Menu Size section below.

14. Search Internet from the Start Menu

Enable Internet search from the Start Menu using your default browser. Run GPEDIT.MSC from the Start Menu search box to start the Group Policy Editor. In the left pane, go to User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane, right-click to Edit and Enable Add Search Internet link to Start Menu.

15. Add Videos to Start Menu

Windows 7 does not place a link to your videos on the Start Menu by default. To add a link to your videos on the Start Menu, right-click Start, select Properties, click on Customize. In the Videos section at the bottom, choose Display as a link.

Did you like these tips? Tell us or share your tricks with us in the comments! Don’t forget to watch out for Part 2!

Speeding Up Internet Explorer 8

2010-02-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Several users have reported significantly slower performance under Internet Explorer 8, particularly when the browser is first launched or when navigating to new pages. Delays of up to 30 seconds or more have been reported.

The problem, in most cases, is the presence of IE restricted sites and enhanced security configuration zones, which are generally created automatically by spyware removal software, such as Spybot and IESpyAd. Traditionally, the presence of these entries has been hugely beneficial, offering protection against malicious software. However, Internet Explorer 8 includes new security measures that may obviate the need for these entries, and the browser can suffer a tremendous speed hit in their presence.

The fastest and easiest way to remove these entries and dramatically increase Internet Explorer 8’s speed is to use the DelDomains package. Right click on this link and save the file to your desktop. Next, right-click on the downloaded file (DelDomains.inf) and select “Install.” The package will remove all Internet Explorer restricted sites, enhanced security configuration zones and trusted sites.

Alternatively, or in addition to the above fix, you can try registering actxprxy.dll, a process that has improved Internet Explorer 8’s performance for a handful of users.

Click the Start button then search for “CMD.” Right-click cmd.exe and select “Run as Administrator,” then type regsvr32 actxprxy.dll and press return. Quit then re-launch Internet Explorer 8 and check for improved performance.

Easy Data Recovery Tips

2010-02-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

Accidental loss or deletion of the critical data of your organization can cause big problems for you and for your company. If you are a system administrator or a hardware technician and responsible for your company’s data, it is your duty to equip yourself with the great system restore and data recovery utilities and if you are empty handed and you encounter such problems, there can be big financial loss for your company in case of completely removal of data and wastage of precious time. Following are the few tips for recovering the lost data.

1. Use some good data recovery utilities such as File recovery, Recovery My Files, R-tt and a free utility Handy Recovery.
2. If you are responsible for the data and system administrations, use backup tapes drives and regularly take backups of your server’s data.
3. Use UPS and diesel generators if power failure occurs regularly in your area because sudden shutdown can crash your server and other systems.
4. Make a clean humid and dust free environment for your server room.

Speed Up Windows 7 Shutdown Time

2010-02-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

1. Open the registry editor (enter regedit into search field)

2. Go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control”

3. Lower the value (12000 is the default value = 12 seconds) to a value of your choice

Speed Up Windows 7 Shutdown

Speed Up Windows 7 Boot

2010-02-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

1. Click on Start, enter “msconfig” into the search field

2. Open the “boot” tab

3. Click on Advanced

Speed Up Windows 7 Boot

4. Check “Number of proccessors” and select “2″ or “4″ from the dropdown menu. (obviously, you can only select it if you have a dual-core/quad-core).

Computer Troubleshooting Tips

2010-01-27T03:58:00.000-08:00

Computer problems are those users encounter all the time. Although technological innovations have greatly developed and the Internet has become an essential part of living from day to day computer problems seem to computers from all over the world plague. They complain about slow startup and shutdown procedures, a virus in your system file, memory disturbances, and other software issues. The list goes on and on.

Fortunately, you can find several troubleshooting > Tips on how to recognize the problems can attack and destroy your computer. These troubleshooting tips are vital pieces of information that effectively resolve your computer problems.

There are several sites that are tips on how to repair computers. This page is one of those and the tips we have for you are simple, easy to follow, and proven.

Unknown number of computer users, most of the> Computer problems you will encounter are caused by software issues. To avoid the software-related computer problems, it is highly recommended that you upgrade your applications, drivers and operating systems, using their latest versions. Do you have a list of hardware and software you have installed in or on your computer over time and look for updates and new services, patches and bug fixes available on the market. Initial updates will help, too To avoid software conflicts, in which an application only works if another remains unopened.

Checked Check for viruses. This is perhaps the golden rule for maintaining peak performance of your computer, it is the most frequently suggested tip on how to repair computers, and it makes sense. Virus devastating of all system files, and it was not long, your computer for repair of damage. Prevent this by using anti virus software to recognize the difficult task and do Viruses destroy. Also to be considered malware. The best known of this type of computer problem is spyware and adware for spyware and AntiAdware should be used. You can also see into your computer for viruses and malware, and keep updated the virus definitions.

Uninstalling and reinstalling programs or applications not in use for a long time been. Most people have the idea that means cleaning and storage space simply deleting programs Applications and files. It is not so simple. These things are intertwined, and the removal can not be used if the others. If you are not careful, you could be a messy web on your computer. To avoid this, what you can do is track of the programs, applications and files that will not keep you touched for a while. You must uninstall these programs, applications, and create files and then reinstall it. Get the updated version while you're here. If you are highly adept at, such as Computer Repair, you can install new files individually, allowing you to be able to tell, and only the files that install any trouble to your computer is not new.

With these tips for troubleshooting your computer is working fast as new.

Tips to remove new folder exe or regsvr exe or autorun inf

2009-12-06T20:22:00.001-08:00

Manual Process of removal

I prefer manual process simply because it gives me option to learn new things in the process.

So let’s start the process off reclaiming the turf that virus took over from us.

1. Cut The Supply Line

1. Search for autorun.inf file. It is a read only file so you will have to change it to normal by right clicking the file , selecting the properties and un-check the read only option
2. Open the file in notepad and delete everything and save the file.
3. Now change the file status back to read only mode so that the virus could not get access again.
4.
5 Click start->run and type msconfig and click ok
6 Go to startup tab look for regsvr and uncheck the option click OK.
7 Click on Exit without Restart, cause there are still few things we need to do before we can restart the PC.
8 Now go to control panel -> scheduled tasks, and delete the At1 task listed their.

2. Open The Gates Of Castle

1. Click on start -> run and type gpedit.msc and click Ok.
2.
3. If you are Windows XP Home Edition user you might not have gpedit.msc in that case download and install it from Windows XP Home Edition: gpedit.msc and then follow these steps.
4. Go to users configuration->Administrative templates->system
5. Find “prevent access to registry editing tools” and change the option to disable.
6. Opening the gate of castle: Group Edit Policies

7. Once you do this you have registry access back.

3. Launch The Attack At Heart Of Castle

1. Click on start->run and type regedit and click ok
2. Go to edit->find and start the search for regsvr.exe,

3. Launch the attack in the heart of castle: registry search
4. Delete all the occurrence of regsvr.exe; remember to take a backup before deleting. KEEP IN MIND regsvr32.exe is not to be deleted. Delete regsvr.exe occurrences only.
5. At one ore two places you will find it after explorer.exe in theses cases only delete the regsvr.exe part and not the whole part. E.g. Shell = “Explorer.exe regsvr.exe” the just delete the regsvr.exe and leave the explorer.exe

4. Seek And Destroy the enemy soldiers, no one should be left behind

1. Click on start->search->for files and folders.
2. Their click all files and folders
3. Type “*.exe” as filename to search for
4. Click on ‘when was it modified ‘ option and select the specify date option
5. Type from date as 1/31/2008 and also type To date as 1/31/2008

6. Seek and destroy enemy soldiers: the search option
7. Now hit search and wait for all the exe’s to show up.
8. Once search is over select all the exe files and shift+delete the files, caution must be taken so that you don’t delete the legitimate exe file that you have installed on 31st January.
9. Also selecting lot of files together might make your computer unresponsive so delete them in small bunches.
10. Also find and delete regsvr.exe, svchost .exe( notice an extra space between the svchost and .exe)

5. Time For Celebrations

1. Now do a cold reboot (ie press the reboot button instead) and you are done.

UPDATE : Avast Boot Time Scheduling

Avast Boot Time Scan

Check out How to stop regedit, task manager and msconfig from closing automatically if your regedit or msconfig closes automatically.

Tips to buy an used laptops

2009-11-16T00:32:00.000-08:00

In certain situations, buying used equipment may be a better option than buying new. Some possible scenarios: Your requirements aren’t that high–it’s for use by grandma for emailing her grandkids. Or, the computer is expected to be used in not-so-friendly situations–it will be used by your preschool-aged kids for games and practice activities. Or, perhaps you intend it to be just your backup laptop (for some reason that you need one).

You can even go cheaper if you opt for last year’s models or even those older than that. Some laptops are, after all, built tough, and still have decent capabilities a few years down the line. You won’t probably need a Core 2 Duo laptop if all you do is send five emails a day and visit your favorite news sites and blogs a couple of hours coming home after work.

What’s great is that you can usually even purchase old models from the manufacturers or dealers themselves–whether these are refurbished units, unsold stock, or leased units already returned, you can still get good deals. If you do decide to purchase or bid online, be sure to ask for photos and specifications from the seller (or the dealer). Of course, with used units, I would prefer to be able to manually inspect the computer myself.
All right, what do I need to know?

* Chassis - The condition of the chassis–meaning the laptop’s frame and body–would tell you about how well the laptop has aged. There will be indications if the computer has been maintained well, or if it had been misused. If you’re lucky, you’ll even chance upon a laptop that’s rarely been used. The Dude advises to look for irregularities outside of usual wear and tear, such as loose hinges, warping, lid alignment, and even missing parts like screws, port lids (where applicable) and the like.
* Screen - The LCD screen is one of the most expensive parts of the laptop. When buying a used unit, you probably won’t enjoy the warranty that comes with brand new. And if something goes wrong with the LCD, you’ll have to spend quite an amount on a replacement. Make sure the screen is still properly aligned and that the lid sits well on the hinge, opened or closed. Also, it’s best if you can have the laptop turned on to see if the screen has dead or damaged pixels.
* Input devices - These are the most abused parts of any computer, and with laptops, you’ll have to watch out for irregular wear and tear on the keyboard and touchpad (or trackpoint). It’s not as easy to replace them as on a desktop computer, after all. Again, it would be best if you can turn the computer on to test, so you can see if all the keys are working and if the pointing device is functioning smoothly.

These are mostly things to look for at first-glance. Usually, when checking out used machines, the first thing I look for is wear and tear. If a computer seems older than it’s supposed to be, then that means the original user might have not taken care of it properly. Or, it could mean that that particular model (or even brand) was poorly built by the manufacturer, and should be avoided.
What’s next?

Let me add to The Dude’s suggestions in determining whether a laptop still has a few years of serviceability life. After inspecting the build quality and physical characteristics, do look under the hood. Here are things I would look for.

* Processor - While old computers still do work, I won’t go with any technology older than five years. For this reason, I would probably not go below anything lower than a Pentium III or the more modern PowerPC G3s. These can still run today’s modern OSes (such as Windows XP service pack 2, Mac OS X Tiger, or your choice of Linux flavor) pretty well. Do consider what you plan to do with the laptop. A P-III should be able to handle wireless Internet and the usual Web surfing, email, IM and VoIP pretty well. Movie playing and MP3s are also handled decently. Don’t plan on playing around with multimedia manipulation, though. You’ll need raw processing power for that.

Also, I would personally advise against buying a Pentium-4 based laptop, as the P-4 chip (even the mobile version) isn’t designed to be truly portable. These often get really hot and tend to come in bulky packages. P-4 machines are good for gaming, though, since they offer sheer processing power and usually come with large screens.
* Memory - RAM is usually cheap these days. Whether it’s SDRAM or DDR SDRAM, you’re sure to find laptop memory selling for cheap. Do check how much RAM the laptop already has, and whether it can upgraded easily. Most laptops have slots at the bottom or underneath the keyboard that are easily accessible and user-upgradeable. Some laptops, however, have only one slot for RAM, while most have two. I would suggest putting in at least 512 megabytes of RAM, regardless of your OS. Having more RAM would speed up operations, regardless of your processor’s speed.
* Storage - New laptops come with at least 40 GB of hard disc space, and this is the barest minimum today. The standard is in the 60 to 80 GB range. Older laptops, though, might come with 20, 10, or even 6 GB drives. These are easily upgradeable, but you might have to spend about $100 for a decent 80 to 100 GB drive for storing all your MP3s, photos and videos. Regardless of capacity, though, do check the drive for strange sounds like clicking or abnormal screeching sounds. These are signs that the drive is bound to fail soon. Also, try to check the hard disc’s model (usually under the OS’s device manager) for the speed. Standard is 5200 RPM. You can usually enhance performance by going for drives with higher speeds rather than the lower ones (like the 4200 RPM drives that come with low-end laptops today). This is especially so for OSes that are fond of swapping to virtual memory constantly, such as OS X and Windows XP.
* Battery - Used laptops almost always come with dead or weak batteries. This is because Li-Ion cells have a life of about three years, whether it’s on the shelf or in constant use. Thus, you should consider whether you’ll be needing a good battery for your used equipment or not. A new battery will cost you–OEM batteries can cost up to 1/3 the price of a new laptop. Aftermarket solutions would cost about $100 to $150, depending on the model. You can also have your battery set repacked for a fraction of the cost of buying a new one (you can even have higher-capacity cells installed for longer operating life). Just make sure you buy or get services from reputable dealers or service centers. After all, batteries do burn and can cause explosions if improperly used or installed. If the used laptop will mostly spend its life on a desk at granny’s home as a desktop replacement, then you probably won’t be needing a good battery.
* Feel - Lastly, ask yourself how you feel about the laptop. Is it the right choice? Should you buy a new, more expensive, unit? Does it look like it will still last a couple of years? A while back, I wrote about things to consider when buying a new laptop. These are still very much applicable when buying a used unit. Again, a laptop is as personal as a computer can get, and even with used devices, I think you should have the power to choose what fits you well.

How to Speed up the Computer

2009-11-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

1. Windows Defragmenter utility: You can use this utility by using this path Start > Programs > Accessories > System tools > Disk defragmenter. This is built-in utility in Windows operating systems and this will automatically analyze the empty disk space on the hard disk and defragment and all scattered files.
2. Shutdown Unnecessary programs: By using this path Start > Run > Msconfig > Startup, you can close all unwanted programs at the Windows startup and this will automatically increase the windows loading time and speed of the computer will also be increased.
3. Increase RAM: By increasing the RAM in your system you can get exceptional fast speed of your computer.
4. Disk Cleanup: By using the disk clean up utility Start > Programs > Accessories > System tools > Disk clean up utility, you can delete unwanted programs and files from your computer and this will be helpful in increasing the speed.
5. Empty Recycle Bin: When you delete a file or a folder form your computer it first goes to the recycle bin and it covers the disk area of your C drive. It is imperative, to delete all the files and folders from the recycle bin and you will get the space of C drive for reusability.
6. Delete Temporary Files: Delete the temporary files and cookies from your computer to get the better speed. You can do this like Internet explorer > Tools > Internet options > Generals > Settings > View files > here you can delete all the temporary internet files.

Steps to Scan and Remove Malicious Viruses

2009-10-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

Whenever an outbreak happens, you should take the following steps:

1. Run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.
2. Run the McAfee Stinger Tool (optional)
3. Make sure you are using Updated Anti-Virus Software.
4. Make sure Windows Updates are turned on.
5. Get Notified for Microsoft Security Alerts.

We aren’t talking about regular viruses… your anti-virus software can handle those. We’re talking about the terrible viruses that will crash your computer, steal your information, delete the pictures of your kids – and cause your computer to be remotely controlled by a spammer. Bad stuff, but they can usually be prevented.

Run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

The first step in detecting and removing horrible viruses and worms from your computer is to run Microsoft’s own Malicious Software Removal Tool – it’s not a replacement for anti-virus, but it’s the best way to get rid of some of the worst offenders, like the current Conficker worm.

To run the tool, you simply need to download the file from Microsoft and run it. There’s no installer required.

Malicious Software Removal

If you were affected, the tool would remove the virus and alert you. Since we’re thankfully safe, we got the friendly message that no malicious software was detected. You can click the “View detailed results of the scan” to see more information.

No malicious software detected

By scrolling down in the list, you can find the current threat and make sure that you are not infected.

Scan results

The tool should be updated automatically through Windows Update, but you can always just download it directly as well. This is an important tool to keep around.

Download the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool from microsoft.com
Run the McAfee Stinger Tool (optional)

An alternative tool is the McAfee Stinger tool, which is a freeware tool that removes only the worst viruses from your computer. You can check to make sure that Stinger can remove the current virus problem by checking the List Viruses dialog… make sure you have the latest version of Stinger before you use it.

List of viruses Stinger can detect

Simply hit the Scan Now button to do a full scan of your computer, but be warned that this will take a long while.

McAfee Stinger

Once it’s done, you should get a report with the number of clean files.

Stinger Results

It’s a simple and rather ugly tool, but it does the job. It’s still not a replacement for real anti-virus though.

Download McAfee Avert Stinger from vil.nai.com
Make sure you are using Updated Anti-Virus Software

This is one of the most important steps in keeping yourself safe. You need to make sure that your anti-virus software is enabled and properly working! Here’s a quick list of what you should do:

1. Make sure your virus definition updates are automatically updated.
2. Make sure that real-time scanning is enabled.
3. Run a full scan (optional but useful)

ClamWin Update

If you aren’t sure what anti-virus software to use and don’t have money to spend, you can try out AVG Free edition, or you can take a look at the big list of anti-virus software we tested with Windows 7.

Note: We don’t necessarily recommend ClamWin for regular users, because it has no real-time protection. It’s just what I have installed on this computer and I needed a screenshot.
Make sure Windows Updates are turned on

Now we arrive at the most important step: making sure that Windows is fully patched and Windows Updates is enabled. You can’t protect yourself against worms and hackers if you are running a woefully out-of-date version of Windows that isn’t patched. It just won’t work.

Open up Windows Updates, make sure to click “Check for updates” and install every security patch they recommend. Then click the Change settings link…

And make sure you have it set to check for updates automatically, and installing updates automatically isn’t a bad option. Just remember, if you are running an un-patched system, you are leaving yourself open for all sorts of bad things.

Note: Please pardon the alarmist nature of this point, but patching is the #1 key to keeping safe against internet worms.
Get Notified for Microsoft Security Alerts

If you really want to make sure you are secure, you can sign up for alerts from Microsoft whenever there is an important patch that needs to be installed. You can also check the current security bulletins at any time by visiting their security bulletin home page.

Subscribe to Microsoft Security Alerts by Email or RSS

Latest Microsoft Security Bulletin Home Page

How Do I Make Sure the Patch is Installed?

So now we get right down to it… how do you know if you are vulnerable to one of the security holes? As an example, we’ll look at the security hole that leaves you vulnerable to the Conficker worm: Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution. If you look through the list of downloads, you’ll see the particular patch for your system.

If Windows update says that you are up to date, you can check for a particular patch by clicking on “View update history” on the left-hand side.

Windows Update

This will take you to a long list of every update that has been installed. Look through the list, and you should see the update mentioned in the security bulletin… for me, it was KB958644 for x64-based systems, since I’m running 64-bit Vista.

View Update History

At the very least it’s a relief to know that you aren’t vulnerable… to the current worm, at least.
Conclusion

These steps are essential in protecting your computer from hackers, worms, and viruses, but they aren’t the only important keys to safety. You should still remain vigilant and use common sense: don’t download files from untrusted sources, use a firewall, and make sure your email provider scans for viruses before you open attachments.

Office 2007 Installation Fails: Fixes

2009-10-10T20:07:00.001-07:00

Several users are experiencing problems installing the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) update, which was released earlier this week. Users are sometimes presented simply with the message “updates failed” or “The installation of this package has failed.”

Fixes

Install the Microsoft Office System Update Download and install this file from Microsoft. It contains fixes for issues that can prevent the installation of Office 2007 updates. Next, re-attempt installation or move on the the following fixes.
Try Windows Update If you manually downloaded the Office 2007 SP2 installation package initially, try downloading and installing the update through Windows Update instead.
Re-download the installation file Microsoft’s servers have had issues delivering the Office 2007 SP2 installation package. When downloading Office 2007 SP2, ensure that the file size is 290MB. If it is smaller, you may have a corrupt, unusable file. Try re-downloading the file.
Use the Windows XP or 2003 hotfix If you are running Windows XP or 2003, try using this hotfix from Microsoft that solves an issue with large installation files

Speed Up or Disable Windows Search Indexing in Vista

2009-10-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

The new indexing service built into Windows Vista has been the subject of a lot of complaints, since it seems to kick in at strange times and thrash your hard drive. So what can we do to speed this up?

There’s two options: You can either trim down the amount of files that Windows Search is indexing, or you can disable it entirely if you never use the search.

Trim Down Indexing Locations

The best way to trim down the amount of processor time the indexing service uses is by trimming down the amount of files being indexed. For instance, if you don’t regularly search through your C: drive, there’s really no need to be indexing it.

Personally, I love the search function for Outlook and the Start Menu, but that’s the only places I care about indexing.

Type Indexing into the control panel search or the start menu search box, and you should see an item called Indexing Options.

All you have to do to remove a location from being indexed is uncheck the box. You might have to click the Show All Locations button to see some of the default locations.

If you wanted to remove the start menu indexing, you’ll need to click on Start Menu in the summary list at the bottom, and it’ll automatically navigate to the item in the tree.

The start menu indexing really doesn’t take much processing time though, so I wouldn’t bother removing that.

Completely Disable Indexing

If you’d prefer to completely disable the indexing service, you can disable it entirely by turning off the service.

Open up Services through control panel, or by typing services.msc into the start menu search box. Find “Windows Search” in the list of services and double-click on it to open it.

Change the Startup type of the service to Disabled, and then click the Stop button to stop the service.

At this point the Windows Search service is completely disabled.

Windows 7 Antivirus Compatible Software

2009-10-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Windows 7 compatible antivirus software. Some people claim they are having problems with Kaspersky 8 , Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 according to a forum that relates to Windows 7 operating system. Below is a list of antivirus programs that work or are compatible with the new OS as of this writing:

Avast! (Most users have no problem)
Avira Antivir Personal Edition (No issues so far)
Eset Smart Security 3 and 4 (Working flawlessly with Windows 7)
Comodo
Eset Nod32 4 (some users reported having some issues)
Kaspersky 2009
Norton Internet Security 2009
Norton 360 version 2.0
Sophos v7.6
Bitdefender 2009

Windows7 Versions

2009-10-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 Version	Starter	Home Basic	Home Premium	Professional	Enterprise	Ultimate
Sales Channels	OEM (Global)	Developing Countries Only	Retail and OEM (Global)		Volume License	Retail/OEM (Limited)
64-Bit Support	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Concurrent Applications	3	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Mobility Center	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aero Features	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Home Groups	Join Only	Join Only	Create/Join	Create/Join	Create/Join	Create/Join
Premium Games	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Center	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Touch	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Advanced Network Backup	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Domain Joining	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Encrypting File System	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Group Policy	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Location Aware Printing	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Offline Folders	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Presentation Mode	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote Desktop Host	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
AppLocker	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
BitLocker	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Branch Cache	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Direct Access	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Enterprise Search	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
MUI Language Packs	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Virtual Desktop Interface	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Virtual Hard Disk Booting	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Unspecified Features	No	No	No	No	No	Yes

Thinking About Upgrading To Windows 7?

2009-10-02T02:40:00.000-07:00

With Windows 7’s release date just little more than three weeks away, you may be thinking more seriously about whether you’re going to upgrade to the new system when it arrives on store shelves. Microsoft’s track record with OS upgrades has been tarnished lately, and the company is determined not to repeat the same mistakes. One area in which the company took a lot of flack was the unavailability of device drivers for Windows Vista. Microsoft has that in the bag this time, or so they say. Upgrades should expect to find a plethora of drivers available on release day, which should make the process of upgrading smoother.

Upgrading From Windows Vista

If you’re upgrading your system from Windows Vista, you should have a smooth ride. There’s one caveat: if you’re running Windows Vista Home Basic, there’s no upgrade path for you. You’ll need to install the full Windows 7 product. If you’re upgrading from Windows Vista Home Premium, the upgrade to Windows Vista should be relatively easy. Your computer is already very likely to be capable of running Windows 7, and unless you have some very old or very dodgy devices, you should be in luck when it comes to drivers.

If you’re upgrading to Windows 7 from an older version of Windows (like XP), there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Windows 7 contains a virtual environment in which you can run Windows XP. This will work for you if you have an older, irreplaceable piece of hardware or software that must run on XP. When you need to operate it, simply fire up XP virtually and run like the wind. Your XP drivers will work from the XP virtual environment. That won’t be the case if you attempt to run devices using XP drivers from the Windows 7 environment, though.

You’ll also need to verify that your older hardware is in good enough shape to run Windows 7. Microsoft offers a compatibility checking tool that will give your hardware setup the once-over to see if you need to make any hardware modifications before installing Windows 7. Older devices, smaller hard disks and minimum memory requirements are most likely to trip up old hardware.

If your hardware is seriously old… as in Jurassic or Pre-Colombian… you might want to consider just purchasing a low-cost desktop system that comes with Windows 7 already installed. Really old hardware is unlikely to meet the requirements of Windows 7. Even if you can get it to load and run, it’s performance will suffer tremendously and you’re not likely to reap the benefits of upgrading your system.

Troubleshooting Windows Driver Problems

2009-10-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

Troubleshooting Windows Driver Problems

Windows Driver Problems can be frustrating because they’re often difficult to identify. I always recommend using a product like Driver Detective to manage your Windows drivers. Driver Detective will locate, download and install drivers your system needs, update drivers that are already installed and remove drivers your system no longer needs.

Even with the expert management services of Driver Detective, you can still run into driver issues. Most users don’t understand (and don’t want to understand) exactly how their computer systems work. Driver problems can arise seemingly out of thin air, or they can arise immediately after a new piece of hardware has been installed in the computer. They can also show up after the OS or another hardware driver has been updated, installed or even removed.

One good tool for determining the overall performance of your system is called the DPC Latency Checker. This is a free utility that can provide immediate information on the performance of your computer. It can help you diagnose driver problems, though it doesn’t get specific about which driver(s) may be having difficulty. In other words, this tool will point you in the right direction when trying to troubleshoot system problems.

The DPC Latency Checker with a tutorial that will help you figure out how to use the program. DPC Latency checker is a small program, and there’s no installing to do, simply download it and run it.

DPC Latency Checker measures how quickly your system responds to your commands. As you open and close applications, DPC Latency Checker will graphically display your system’s response capabilities. Using this tool while you perform certain problematic tasks can help you determine what the system is doing. You may need to disable devices and then re-add them one at a time to determine which devices may be causing difficulty.

Once you’ve located the problem, you can disable the misbehaving device as a temporary measure. If you don’t have Driver Detective loaded, you might try locating the following to resolve the issue:

Apply all OS updates and security patches.
Uninstall the driver for the misbehaving device.
Apply all driver updates and patches for the misbehaving device. Check with the device manufacturer for the most up-to-date driver, and be sure to pay attention to the specific OS requirements of each driver. If the most current driver won’t work with your OS, locate the last good driver for your version of the OS and install that one.

Try the suspect device once a fresh copy of the driver is installed to see if your problem has been resolved.

Speed up Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Preview

2009-10-01T06:57:00.001-07:00

1. Click on Start, enter “regedit” into the search field.

2. Goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

Speed Up Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Preview

3. Double-click on “MouseHoverTime” and change the value to 100 or lower:

Change the mouse hover time to 100 or lower

4. Voilà, your thumbnail previews should appear a lot faster now.

Disable Search indexing for better performance in Windows 7

2009-10-01T02:06:00.000-07:00

If you know where your files are stored and never really use the search function, stop this service and you will gain a significant performance boost in Windows 7.

Click on the Start button and type in “services.msc”
Find and right click the “Windows Search” and click properties
In the startup type field choose “Disabled”
Reboot your computer and you are done.

Black screen after Windows 7 Install

2009-10-01T02:04:00.000-07:00

Some users especially Asus have had troubles installing Windows 7,as there seems to be a bug when using 2 monitors.So if you experience this unplug one of them,and then install Windows 7 again..

If you already have the bug try pushing Ctrl+Alt+Delete and see if it removes the black screen.If not you can try starting in safe mode by hitting F8 just before Windows 7 loads..

Once you get to the desktop open notepad and copy the following in.

displayswitch /extend
displayswitch /internal

Now save the file as a .bat file..You could call is display.bat

Put the file in the windows startup folder..
C:/ProgramData/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs/Startup, where C is the letter of the drive Windows 7 is installed on..

Reboot and Windows 7 should load correctly now

Another tip is to remove all USB units except Mouse/keyboard and reboot.

common Laptop problems

2009-09-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

Laptop computer problems can cause by internal disorders of the physical connectors. The common victims are network or modem ports, which may be detached within the case or the breaking of the power connector solder joint of the board. Such problems are very dangerous because here you need to open up the body of the notebook for soldering. Be careful to use a decent solder sucker for quick clean up.

Laptop problems are often caused by virus attacks. In this case they behave very strangely. One common symptom is the screen display goes off though the laptop is running. This can be due to graphic display driver files affected by virus or sometimes deleted by anti virus considering it to be a strange file. Re-starting the laptop in Safe Mode and re-installing the display drivers will repair this problem.

If you are not tech savvy, my personal advice is to hire a professional technician for Laptop computer repair unless it is software related problem. It is always better if you can contact s Laptop Repair Company authorized by the Laptop manufacturer.

Repair laptop display problems

2009-09-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

If there is complete display failure, first of all check the status of the power. If you were able to hear the fan of your laptop and now it isn’t, that means it’s a main board or power failure, not a video failure.

Another common practice in laptop computer repair is to connect a normal computer monitor with a standard VGA connector, if your laptop does not light up the external monitor means either the internal video adapter or the motherboard has failed. In case the external monitor is working then your laptop video subsystem has a problem and need to investigate further.

If there is a display problem in your laptop computer and the number of dead spots or columns or whole row increases slowly on the screen, it indicates that the assembly of actual LCD is bad. In the same way, if the screen flickers it is probably the failure of backlight or inverter.

How to solve low memory problems?

2009-09-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Normally this warning message shows when you run many programs same time than the RAM installed on your computer is designed to support. Your can solve this problem by increasing the system paging file size also called as virtual memory. Using this virtual memory windows moving information to and from the paging file for fast processing. This will free up enough RAM for other programs to run properly.

To increase the system page file follow the give path:

Control Panel > System > Advanced > Click on Settings (Under Performance) > Advanced > Change

Here under Drive (Volume label), you have option to select any of your hard disk drive, but the best choice is, select any drive other than C drive for virtual memory.

Set the double Initial & Maximum Size of your Virtual Memory. Here set initial size 700 MB and maximum size up to 1000MB; you can change this size according to the free space available on your hard drive.

Top Viruses 2009

2009-09-29T02:47:00.000-07:00

Virus Name & Risk

1. Net-Worm.Win32.Kido.ih – Downloads computer files and blocks access to many legit websites.

2. Virus.Win32.Sality.aa – Installs itself and hides in program or data files. Blocks many websites, deletes PC files.

3. Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Flystud.ko - Keylogger tool used by hackers to break into a system and ultimately steal identity.

4. Trojan.Win32 .Autoit .ci – Tracks PC activity, including keystrokes and sends to hackers in order to steal personal info.

5. Trojan.JS.Agent.xy – Drive-by-download that has the ability to download spyware and viruses onto your PC.

6. Exploit.HTML.CodeBaseExec – Exploit that turns PCs into zombies, infecting other PCs in order to steal personal data.

Computer gets stuck starting up the operating system

2009-09-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

1. Do you get error messages or nothing? If you do get error messages write them down.
2. When did it last work?
3. What was the last thing you did before shutting it down?
4. Did you install new software, or hardware? Did you delete any files?
5. For Mac, try starting system with extensions off (you do this by restarting while holding down "shift" key). Then turn extensions on with extension manager slowly to find problem.
6. In Windows press "F8" at start up, and try launching in "Safe Mode".

What To Do When Your Hard Drive Fails

2009-09-27T23:48:00.001-07:00

How many times have you experienced that sickening feeling when your hard drive suddenly fails?

How many times have you experienced that your hard disk just does not boot and all the data may be gone forever?

A hard drive failure is one of the most common problems and worst nightmares faced by computer operators all over the world.

Precious data is lost either at home or in big corporate environments. What can be done in these situations?

Well, there are certain solutions that can be performed by you in order to revive your hard drive. We will talk about the solution later. First, let us discuss why a hard drive fails.

Whether the data on the hard drive can be recovered or not depends on the extent of the problem. A hard drive can be damaged due to firmware corruption, electronic failure, mechanical failure or a logical failure.

Many times your hard drive may lose data due to the combination of the above mentioned factors. A hard drive may also develop bad sectors due to which the data on those sectors is lost or becomes unreadable.

Firmware refers to the information used by the computer to interact correctly with the hard drive. If the firmware fails or becomes corrupted, then important data on the hard drive is lost.

In case of an electronic failure there maybe occur an electrical surge that can knock out the controller board on the hard drive and make it unusable.

However data can be recovered by data recovery experts who use special data recovery software. Swapping the controller board with another one can prove to be dangerous as the information on the controller board is unique to the hard drive on which it is fitted.

In comparison to electronic failure a mechanical failure can turn out to be worst as data recovery can almost become impossible.

Mechanical failure includes head crash and also read/write head failure. Head crash can occur due to physical shock, power surges and movement of the computer.

Next come the logical errors. Logical errors have nothing to do with the hardware part. Logical errors can occur due to corruption of the file system on the hard drive or improper entries in the file allocation table.

In case of hard drive failure it is vital to call the data recovery experts. In most cases, the information on the hard drive is important and you cannot bear to lose it.

The experts enhance the possibilities of hard drive recovery in the case of failure of hard drive due to software malfunction, virus attacks and other reasons mentioned above.

Data can be recovered on any type of operating system including all versions of Windows as well as Apple Macintosh, Novell, Linux, Unix and also on all types of file systems like FAT, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5, HFS, HFS+, NWFS, EXT2 and EXT3.

The experts may take the hard drive to their workshop in order to recover the lost data and then return it to you in a few days.

Most of the data recovery experts have their own laboratories that are involved in testing the hard drives and repairing them.

Loss of data is the last thing that you as the customer would ever want. This is where the data recovery experts come into the picture.

They cannot extract only data from hard drives, but recover data also from tape drives, cds, dvds and other important storage media.

You as the consumer can take up some preventive measures like backing up all your important data at least once a week.

Windows has its own feature rich backup program. There are other backup software programs available in the market that can avert a possible disaster.

Besides the concern of recovering your data, another problem is the time it may take for an expert to help. This can be a slow and tedious process.

I recommend having a second complete computer source such as a laptop (for portability) that you can continue your work. This way you are never completely down and you can share important data between the two.

Compact Disc - Facts and Complete Do's and Donts

2009-09-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

The maximum a floppy disk can contain is 1.44 MB. To play a game with around 200 MB you are stuck with 100 over diskettes. The CD-ROM is a revolutionary invention that allows up to 625 MB at one time. However, it is read only, which means you can't store in anything.

Buttons Fun

Although most CD-ROMs comes with only 2 buttons, do you know you can also skip, play previous track and play the next track as well with a proper combination? Check properly on your instruction manual for additional functions. You just might be surprised what it can do.

Clean Thoroughly

It is important to clean the CR-ROM at least once every month. Get a CD lens cleaner. If possible, choose one with an alcohol solution drop. This should ensure that your CD-ROM will always be able to read properly.

Clean You CDs

It is just as important to clean your CDs often. Why? Because if you have a speck of dust on the surface of one of your CDs, once spinning at high-speed in the drive, the speck of dust is enough to produce scratches on your precious CD.

Running In DOS

One of the common problems with CD-ROMs is unable to access it under DOS. This might be because the protected-mode CD-ROM driver isn't available. You'll need to add the real-mode device driver, usually included with your CD-ROM drive, in CONFIG.SYS and load MSCDEX.EXE, which is available in the Windows\Command folder. You should also make sure both files are on your startup disk.

Run List

Like those cool expensive hi-fi systems, you can customize the run list of your Audio CD, only not with the CD-ROM itself. Use Windows' CD player to customize the run list and you can have your CD running in any track order you like.

Read Ahead

The read ahead buffer is useful to speed up things. Go to Control Panel, System. Click on the Performance tab. Click on the File System... button. On the File System Properties, click on CD-ROM. Make sure you have the fullest cache. Even if you have a CD-ROM with less than Quad speed, just move ahead. You'll be surprised to find your CD-ROM running faster.

Graphic Card Troubleshooting Tips

2009-09-21T05:33:00.001-07:00

The graphic card is one of the most important pieces of hardware in your PC. Without it, your super monitor with all the bells and whistles is just a junk box.

Make Directional Input

Most video cards come with simple frame capture programs, but you'll have to do some programming if you plan to integrate video capture with other operations on your computer, such as adding text data as an overlay or changing video-in channels on the fly. In this case you'll need good programming libraries in a language with which you are familiar for the video card. Some companies include libraries with their cards, but most charge extra. Most often libraries, when available, are for C or BASIC, and sometimes Pascal.

Choose Between 24 bit and 32 bit

For True Color mode, some graphic cards offer 24 bit while some offer 32 bit. Which is the best? When True Colour mode was first suggested, it utilizes 32 bit which was very pleasing to the eye, they realize that 24 (with less coolers) won't look much different since the human eye can only take about a certain amount of colors. On the other hand, 24 bit will run faster compared to 32 bit because it uses less colors. So if your card utilizes 24 bit, don't worry, it isn't bad.

Always Use The Latest Drivers

Yes, it is important to make sure you always have the latest drivers. The latest drivers will offer you better performance, more utilities and more compatibility (usually for DirectX or Direct3D). Take the effort to check you card manufacturer's site to look for the latest driver updates.

Change Owner of Computer

2009-09-21T05:31:00.002-07:00

Are you going to sell your computer to someone else, and do not want to have your personal information stored on it? Well, you have plenty of other steps, but here is how you change the registered owner of the computer.

* open the registry edit (start, run, regedit)
* navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT] and then to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\CurrentVersion]
* Change the keys for RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization

Turn off Thumbnails

2009-09-21T05:31:00.001-07:00

This will speed up navigating folders, but you wont see little thumbnails of images. I personally like the icons, but it can slow things down.

* Control panel
* User Configuration
* Administrative Templates
* Windows Components
* Windows Explorer
* Setting turn off the display of thumbnails and only display icons.

'Open with notepad' as menu item

2009-09-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Always use notepad, or some other tool all the time, and just want a default 'open with' function? Easy.

* open the registry edit (start, run, regedit)
* navigate to [hkey_classes_root\*\shell\
* create a folder called 'open with XXXXX'
* create a folder called 'command'
* click on defalt
* add command, for example 'notepad.exe %1'

Change Backup Size

2009-09-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

I believe Vista allocates 300mb for backups. Want to change that setting for whatever reason? Here we go

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=[DRIVE]: /On=[DEST]: /MaxSize=[SIZE]MB'
* where [DRIVE] is your main drive
* where [DEST] is destination drive
* where [SIZE] is the size to change it to.

Turn off Automatic backups

2009-09-20T23:25:00.002-07:00

Don't want automatic backups running constantly to annoy you and make installing drivers take longer than it should? Or, just never really see yourself using it? It doesn't back up your personal files, only system files.

* Start
* Backup and Restore Center
* Create a restore point or change settings
* Uncheck next to your disk under 'Available Disk

Fake WEI Score

2009-09-20T23:25:00.001-07:00

Well, as I have mentioned a couple times on this site, your WEI is going to be used by software companies to determine whether or not you can run some software.

I am unsure how 'strict' they will be, but if they ever give you any hassles, you can just fake it.

This is easily accomplished by going to /Windows/Performance/WinSAT/DataStore

Finding the most recent .SAT file, and.. editing it.. using an administrator access enabled tool..

It's just an XML file, so it should be fairly obvious how to edit it.

Now, I do not know of any software yet, so it may be stored in another location as well, but most likely this is the main location for it to live.

This will obviously not make your computer faster in any way, but, it may allow you to run software that may otherwise stop you from being able to run (probably slowly though)

Run winsat from commandline

2009-09-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

Windows Experience Index can be run from the commandline, and give you extra details.

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'winsat formal'
* prints out all the details of your system's benchmarks
* saves in c:\windows\performance\WinSAT\DataStore
* .SAT files by date, XML file format.

Password Backup

2009-09-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Have a fear you will forget your password, or the administrator password. Well, back it up. I'd personally not worry about it all, but it's a feature.
Backup up login password:

* open Control Panel
* User Accounts and Family Safety
* User Accounts
* Create a password reset disk
* Follow wizard
* Insert USB stick
* Type current password

To use Backup login password:

* boot pc
* At login screen, press ok, or type in an incorrect
password
* Select reset password
* insert your flash drive/floppy disk
* Follow wizard

Turn off security center

2009-09-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

Security center is annoying. It bothers you all the time. So, if you feel the need to disable it, change it. However, it still runs in the background.

* open security center
* choose 'change the way secirty center alerts me'
* select 'don't notify me and dont display the icon'

Non-Activated Accounts

2009-09-20T23:21:00.002-07:00

If you have a pirated copy of windows, or you choose not to activate, or whatever the reason, Microsoft has chosen to allow you some functionality. Check out MS knowledge base for more info
Activities that are available:
If Windows Vista is running in non-genuine reduced functionality mode, you can perform the following actions:? Use Windows Vista features
You can use most of the features that are available in Windows Vista.
Aero Glass and the Windows ReadyBoost features that are included with Windows Vista are unavailable in reduced functionality mode.
pretty much its a 'home basic' edition
The WGA program detects a blocked product key or a counterfeit product key.
The WGA program detects incorrect activation binary files or modified activation binary files.
Windows Vista is in out-of-grace reduced functionality mode.

Extend activation time

2009-09-20T23:21:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of reasons when you just don't want to activate after 30 days. Maybe you didn't set your clock, and now after you changed it, Vista is whining. Maybe all your new hardware didn't arrive yet, and you do not want to have to mess around with getting it reactivated. Whatever the reason, Microsoft allows you to extend activation time up to 180 days!

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'slmgr -rearm'
* now you have another 30 days, repeat until 180 days

Note: This has been noted that it may have been disabled after certain patches were applied to Vista. Please try at your own risk.

Boot Configuration

2009-09-20T23:19:00.002-07:00

Vista has a new boot config tool. Feel free to mess around with it.

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'BCDEdit'

Driver Verifier

2009-09-20T23:19:00.001-07:00

Driver issues? This will verify all your drivers and make sure they are MS compliant. Be sure to turn it off when you are done/

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'verifier'
* then type 'verifier /reset' to turn off.

See/remove drivers installed for unused devices

2009-09-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

Just changed your hardware quite a bit, or have a lot of removable devices you use that you no longer need... and randomly have some obsession with keeping things tidy. I cannot promise you that it will speed up anything.

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1'
* type 'devmgmt.msc'
* select show hidden devices
* Now you can see disabled, unused drivers and remove them.

Allow other file extensions to be included in search

2009-09-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

It is often that I do searches for text in files, like a method use in a PHP file, or maybe something in a java file. Regardless of the situation, Windows Vista has a very limited number of file extensions flagged for full text searching, which causes you to get 'no results' when you know there are some.

* Open Control panel and type in 'indexing' into the search box (or you can do this from your start menu, but many people turn it off).
* Select 'Indexing Options'
* Select Advanced Button
* Select 'File Types' Tab
* In this list you will see a list of extensions. When you click on most of them, the bottom radio button will change from 'index properties only' or 'index properties and file contents'
* Honestly, index properties only is pretty useless for what most people will use search for (i.e. really only search by date).
* Uncheck a box to have it removed from search. This can be done for a variety of extensions that honestly, you dont want in search anyway. It will actually help your results.
* Change the radio button to 'index properties and file contents' to have these file types included in your searches (should be set for word docs, etc and any other text-based files you search for)

Tweak Indexing Options for Better Performance

2009-09-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

The indexing service is responsible for two things really: Making search boxes run super quickly (like under the control panel, and your program files) which is a blessing, as it does run very fast. It is also responsible for doing the same thing over all your files that you choose to let it index. This can be good if you do a lot of searches, or bad if you have a lot of files in these areas, but don't ever search them. Or even if you do search them, it can cause your indexing service to cause a lot of strain on your hard drive (or at least slow you down as it is hard drive intensive). I personnaly would not turn *off* Indexing services, but I would recommend disabling for everything else but the start menu/control panel, etc.
You can change the indexing locations:

* Open Control panel and type in 'indexing' into the serach box (or you can do this from your start menu, but many people turn it off).
* Select 'Indexing Options'
* Select Modify Button
* Expand the trees, and uncheck any areas you do not want indexed. It is a pain, as you get no indication which trees have subtrees checked, but the best place to start is Users/*your user name*/ and Users/Public.

System file checker

2009-09-20T23:13:00.001-07:00

Something messed up in your Windows install? Vista has a system checker that will check your files against the install media.

* Open an Admin Command Prompt (right click on cmd, and select run as Administrator)
* type 'sfc /scannow'
* insert vista DVD
* checks against Vista DVD.

Vista 2 screens background across multiple monitors

2009-09-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Many of us are Vista users with more than one screen, and we have been complaining for years about XPs lack of being able to set one big picture to span across both monitors. It has been a pain, until now. It is not a very well advertised feature of Vista, but your dreams have been answered.

* Right click on the background and select Personalization.
* Click on Desktop Background
* Select a background image that is at least as wide as the combined resolution of both of your monitors (or scale the image up so it is big enough, else you will get tiling.. it takes some tweaking
* Select the Tile picture positioning option as shown below. This is the only option that will display your background image across multiple monitors.

What do Various Areo Performance Settings do?

2009-09-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

* Animate controls and elements inside windows:
* Activate windows when minimizing and maximizing: Controls animation effect when min/max a window
* Enable Desktop composition: Seems to only effect whether transparency is used on the desktop
* Enable transparent glass: Requires desktop composition to be enabled as well, but handles transparency
* Fade or slide menus into view: Menu animation effect enable/disable
* Fade or slide ToolTips into view:same as above with tooltips
* Fade out menu items after clicking:
* Show preview and filters in folder:
* Show shadows under menus:
* Show shadows under mouse pointer:
* Show thumbnails instead of icons:
* Show translucent selection rectangle: When selecting a group of files, whether there will be a shaded box or just a plain box.
* Show window contents while dragging:
* Slide open combo boxes:
* Slide taskbar buttons:
* Smooth edges of screen fonts:
* Use background image for each folder type:
* Use drop shadows for icon labels on desktop:
* Use visual styles on windows and buttons: Without this, you will be left with the 'classic' windows theme.. and then.. why use vista? I would say leave this alone unless you are on a very old computer or dont like the new visual styles.

How to use ReadyBoost to uh Boost yourPerformance

2009-09-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

One of the better Windows Vista features I've seen is ReadyBoost. Despite contrary misinformation you will read on other sites, this does not add more memory to your system. The flash memory used is nowhere as fast as RAM, but it is sometimes faster than hard drives. Readyboost works by caching your pagefile on the drive. It does not replace the pagefile, it is just a cache. A faster than hard drive but slower than RAM cache. But this speed can make a difference, especially consider the slowness of many peoples hard drives.
How do I use it?:

* Plug in USB storage device.
* Go to Computer and right click on the removable storage device and select Properties.
* If your device is compatible, you will see a ReadyBoost tab. Click on that.
* Select Use this device and select the amount of space on it you want to dedicate for the ReadyBoost system file.
* Click OK and you are finished.

Some Notes:

* Will removing the drive from the computer break my computer? NO.
* What speed drive do I need? 2.5MB/sec throughput for 4K random reads and 1.75MB/sec throughput for 512K random writes.. which means just get a newer flash drive. Some drives advertise 12mb/sec but thats usually not for random access. Look for readyboost labeled drives or get ones with good reviews.
* What size drive do I need? 256MB to 4GB, where as best performance is gotten at around a 1:1 to a 2:1 flash to ram ratio. So really, you should never try this with a flash drive smaller than 1GB-2GB.

Improve SATA Performance

2009-09-20T23:05:00.002-07:00

If you have a SATA Diskdrive, you can enable Microsoft's write caching for drives.

* Go to My Computer
* Right click on the SATA drive and go to Properties
* Navigate to the Policies tab
* Check Enable Advanced Performance

Speed up Aero by Disabling Minimize/Maximize

2009-09-20T23:05:00.001-07:00

Some performance increases have nothing to do with strain on hardware, or amount of processing. Sometimes, things are designed to take longer than they should, though only maybe 1/2 a second, but the end result to the user is a faster machine. This is one of those tweaks. Minimizing and maximizing does an animation. Watch closely. Pretty quick eh? Still, it does slow you down, and, really, what does it add to your experience? I am all about vanity and aesthetics, but this feature has got to go.

Relish in the fact you will be increasing your productivity by 0.2 seconds per minimize/maximize.

* Open your start menu, go to run, and type in 'systempropertiesperformance'
* From the Visual Effects tab, uncheck 'Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing'
* While you are here, might as well check out the other goodies you can disable.

Speed up Aero with No Transparency

2009-09-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Want to still use Aero, but lighten up the features a little? One of the heavier aspects of Aero is the transparency (as it was with XP), so turning it off can save you a little resources.

* Right click on the desktop and select 'Personalize'
* Select 'Windows Color and Appearance'
* Uncheck 'Enable Transparency'

You still get all the other benefits of Aero, but your system should be a little less sluggish.

Find out what is Accessing your Hard Drive

2009-09-20T21:37:00.002-07:00

Have you ever had times when your hard drive just goes crazy with accesses and you can not see any real reason it does so? Or maybe your hard drive just start thrashing when you feel it should not be? This is usually do to some background process taking over your computer, whether indexing service or virus scan, it used to be pretty hard to track this down.

Fear not! Windows Vista has a simple tool included that can help you identify the problem and remedy it quickly.

* Open the task manager (many ways to get to it, easiest is ctrl+alt+delete then select Start Task Manager)
* Navigate to the Performance tab
* Click on Resource Monitor
* Expand the disk section and sort by either reads or writes column.

Clean out unneeded Services quickly

2009-09-20T21:37:00.001-07:00

Windows Vista has around 130 services. True, not all of them are running, but most are set to default to run when necessary. Over half of them start up on a default machine. Your first step towards tweaking vista should be to disable services that you frankly have no need for. They are just running aimlessly.

There are two options here. You can manually go through all 129 services with the aid of our In-depth guide to help you determine if you might need a service (dependencies and what depends on a given service are listed), or you can run one of our custom Registry files which will allow you to try out several tweaked settings. Don't worry, if you mess up your services, or you don't like the results of the tweaked settings, you can always go back to the default settings with one of the handy default reg files on the same page.

Thats pretty much it. Realize that:

* Default: The service will not run on default, but if requested to by any other process, it will start up.
* Automatic:Start up this service right on computer load.
* Automatic (Delayed Start):Start up this service on computer boot, but starting it up can wait until after user is logged in. The startup of the process can be delayed/set to a lower priority.
* Disabled: The service will not run, even if requested to.

Delete Browsing History commands (IE7)

2009-09-20T21:36:00.002-07:00

• Delete Temporary Internet Files: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 8
• Delete Cookies: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 2
• Delete History: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 1
• Delete Form Data: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 16
• Delete Passwords: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 32
• Delete All: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 255
• Delete All + files and settings stored by Add-ons: RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351.

Windows Defender: Command Line Parameters

2009-09-20T21:36:00.001-07:00

Example: "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -Hide -CheckForUpdates

-Hide -> hide Windows Defender window
-UpdateAndQuickScan -> Check for Updates + launch Quick Scan
-CheckForUpdates -> Check for Updates
-FullScan -> Full System Scan
-QuickScan -> Quick Scan
-ScanResults -> Scan Results window
-Settings -> Options panel
-ShowSWE -> Software Explorer
-ShowSWE:Startup -> Software Explorer @ Startup programs
-ShowSWE:Running -> Software Explorer @ Currently running programs
-ShowSWE:Network -> Software Explorer @ Network-connected programs

Large Icons on your Desktop

2009-09-20T21:31:00.001-07:00

Click on your Desktop, press Ctrl + Scroll Up (this works in any folder).
You can make them larger then when you select Large Icons from the menu (Right Click -> View -> Large Icons).

Hidden Open Command Window Here Context Menu item

2009-09-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Open a folder, press Shift + Right Click -> Open Command Window Here

Disable Hibernation & delete the Hibernation file

2009-09-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Windows places a file on your hard drive that it uses when your computer goes into hibernation mode. If you do not use hibernation mode, or your computer does not properly support it, you may want to disable hibernation and clear the file off your hard drive to free up some space (the file will use as much space as you have in physical memory, so if you have 1GB of RAM, it’s going to use 1GB of your hard drive space).

Disable Hibernation:
1. Click Start, All Programs, and then right click on "Command Prompt".
2. From the context menu click on "Run as administrator".
3. If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
4. In the command prompt window, type "powercfg –h off" (without the quotes).
4. Close the Command Prompt window.

Delete the Hibernation File:
1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click "Disk Cleanup".
2. If prompted to choose a drive, select the drive in which Windows Vista is installed on to and press OK.
3. Disk Cleanup will scan the hard drive and present you with a list of options.
4. Check "Hibernation File Cleaner", and then click OK.
5. When asked "Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?" click on the Delete Files button.

Enable the Aurora boot screen

2009-09-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

If you are tired of the default boot screen in Windows Vista, there is a better looking one hidden away:

1) Press the Windows button, type msconfig and press Enter.
2) If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
3) In the "System Configuration" window, click on the Boot tab.
4) Select your Windows Vista installation and under "Boot options", check "No GUI boot".
Press OK.
5) In the dialog that appears, check "Don’t show this message again", and then click on Restart.
6) Your computer will now reboot, and you will see the Aurora boot screen with text that says "Starting Windows Vista".

Use BitLocker Drive Encryption without TPM chip

2009-09-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Windows Vista includes a new hard drive encryption feature called BitLocker Drive Encryption. BitLocker can be a very useful security feature for businesses and home users that have sensitive and confidential information stored on their computer. Unfortunately, BitLocker Drive Encryption by default requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM Chip) version 1.2 or later installed in your computer. A lot of the computers and laptops on the market do not come with TPM chips installed since they are typically only found in premium model business computers. If you have Windows Vista Business, Ultimate or Enterprise but do not have a TPM chip, you can still use BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Hidden away in local group policy is a setting that will allow you to turn on the ability to use a USB storage device instead of a TPM key to store the encryption key. This is a great feature for users that don't have the latest high-end hardware because you can still use hard drive encryption. However, every time you turn on your computer, the USB storage device that has the encryption key located on it must be plugged in. Without it, your computer will not boot up. One BitLocker Drive Encryption is setup with a USB storage device, that USB storage device basically becomes the key to your computer.

Press the Windows button, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
Navigate through: Computer Policy, Administrative Templates, Windows Components and BitLocker Drive Encryption. Right click on Control Panel Setup: Enable advanced startup options and select Properties.
Check Enabled and click OK.

Make User Account Control (UAC) Stop Blacking Out the Screen

2009-09-20T21:26:00.002-07:00

Windows Vista Business/Ultimate Users:
To get to the configuration screen for this, type in security to the start menu search box.
You should see the Local Security Policy as the top search item.
In the Local Security Policy window, browse down to Local Policies \ Security Options.
Over in the right hand part of the window, scroll down near the bottom and find the item titled “User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation”
Double-click on the item, and change it to disabled and then click OK.
Note: This does make your system slightly less secure, so be warned.

Windows Vista Home Users:
Press the Windows key, type regedit and press Enter. Browse down to this registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
You should see a key called PromptOnSecureDesktop. Double-click this and change the value to 0

Edit the Boot Configuration Data

2009-09-20T21:26:00.001-07:00

EasyBCD is NeoSmart Technologies' multiple award-winning answer to tweaking the new Windows Vista bootloader. With EasyBCD, almost anything is possible. Setting up and configuring Windows boot entries is simple, and there is no easier way to quickly boot right into Linux, Mac OS X, or BSD straight from the Windows Vista bootloader - on the fly, no expert knowledge needed!

Automated MBR and BCD backups, boot sector restore kits, support for a dozen+ operating systems, detailed configuration of all boot entries, and award-winning guaranteed technical support is what makes EasyBCD stand out - all for free!

Windows Media Center: Command Line Parameters

2009-09-20T21:25:00.001-07:00

These Command Line Switches launches Windows Media Center and cause it to navigate directly to one of the built-in experiences:

%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /directmedia:discplayback - Begins playback of the disc in the drive
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:VideoFullscreen.xml /PushStartPage:True - Live TV
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:VideoGuide.xml /PushStartPage:True - TV Guide
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:RecordedTV.BrowsePage.xml /PushStartPage:True - Recorded TV
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:VideoToBeRecorded.xml /PushStartPage:True - Scheduled Recordings
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:Radio.BrowsePage.xml /PushStartPage:True - Radio
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:Radio.xml - FM Radio
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:MusicBrowsePage.xml /PushStartPage:True - Music Library
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:VideosBrowsePage.xml /PushStartPage:True - Video Library
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:PhotosBrowsePage.xml /PushStartPage:True - Picture Library
%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe /homepage:Options.Home.xml /PushStartPage:True - Settings Menu.

Enable Data Execution Prevention (DEP) in Internet Explorer7

2009-09-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

Because browsers can host plug-in extensibility, security settings within the browser can make plug-ins fail. This is why in Internet Explorer 7 Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is off by default. Two of the most well-known and commonly used browser plug-ins, the Adobe Acrobat/Reader browser helper object and the Adobe Flash Player, now run when DEP is enabled. You can enable DEP by navigating to the following dialog and checking the highlighted option shown below (note, you must elevated to admin first, otherwise the option is grayed out).

Add Search Providers to Internet Explorer 7

2009-09-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

To add a provider to the Internet Explorer 7 Instant Search box, click on the down arrow (next to the glass) at the Search box & click on "Find More Providers". Select one of the Web Search or Topic Search provider's to add them to the list, you can add custom Search provider's in the Create Your Own section on the right.
You can switch the provider by clicking on the down arrow at the Search box -> select the provider that you want to use. The provider's are saved in the registry, I've exported some of my favorites, just merge them + restart Internet Explorer and they are added to the list.

The zip file below contains the following SearchScopes:
• deviantART - All, Digital Art, Icons, Photography, Skins & Themes + Wallpapers (find that lost wallpaper smile.gif)
• Event ID (Enter an Event ID number to get the description)
• Google & Google Image Search
• IMDb Search (Movie Database)
• Ixquick Metasearch & Ixquick Picturesearch
• MetaCrawler
• MSDN Enhanced Search
• Neowin Forums biggrin.gif
• SourceForge.net
• Wikipedia
• YouTube

Extended Disc Cleanup

2009-09-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

The command line parameters sageset & sagerun still work in Vista. You can set it to delete files from a previous Windows installation, error dump files, Temporary Windows installation files, Thumbnails, Files discarded by Windows upgrade, Error Reporting Files, ect. Note: It performs a Disc Cleanup on all disks.

You can use the shortcut in the attached zip file or create a new shortcut with this command line:
%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535
Edit the shortcut (Right click and select Properties), set it to run Minimized and change the Icon to %SystemRoot%\System32\Cleanmgr.exe.

Change the Start Menu Power buttontoShutDowninsteadofsleep

2009-09-20T21:21:00.002-07:00

Open the Control Panel and click on Power Options. Select the Power Plan that you want to use and click on "Change plan settings". Click on Change advanced power settings, double click on "Power buttons and lid". Double click on "Start menu power button", change the Setting to Shut down.
Or,.. merge PowerButtonShutdown.reg and Log off or Restart to apply changes.

Switch, Change or Set 64-Bit WMP11 in Vista x64 as Default

2009-09-20T21:21:00.001-07:00

In Windows Vista x64, the 32-bit edition of Windows Media Player 11 (WMP 11) is set as the default Windows Media Player. This is done to avoid and reduce any compatibility issues or problems that may arise with codecs or other DirectShow related plug-ins or add-ons that majority of them still built for 32-bit operating system. However, if you decide to use the 64-bit version of WMP11 with your 64bit version of Windows Vista, especially now that more and more codecs support 64-bit computing platform, and a x64 FFDShow codec which can decode virtually any audio or video media files has been released, you can use a few easy methods to launch 64 bit WMP11 or simply switch, change or swap the system default media player to x64 Windows Media Player, and revert back to x86 version when you need to.

By default, the 32-bit WMP 11 x86 is located at path of %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player, and 64-bit WMP11 x64 is located at folder of %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player. So the first method to use 64-bit Windows Media Player is by launching WMP from its x64 location.

Press the Start button, type %Programfiles%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe and press Enter. Alternatively, you can create a shortcut with target and location set to the above, and place the shortcut on the Desktop or in Quick Launch for easy access.

Second method: You need to perform 2 steps each to swap to 64-bit version or to undo the change back to 32-bit version WMP. The unregmp2.exe command (first step) changes the operating system shortcuts to point to WMP 64bit, while the second registry step changes the file associations default program to WMP64-bit, which determines which program will be used when you double click on a media file.

Open an Elevated Command Prompt, type unregmp2 /SwapTo:64 and press Enter.
Then, open the Registry Editor (regedit), then navigate to the the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wmplayer.exe. Set the registry subkey Path to be %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Media Player, and the (Default) subkey to “%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe” (include quotes).

To undo the x64 change, open an Elevated Command Prompt, type unregmp2 /SwapTo:32 and press Enter.
Then, open the Registry Editor, and reset the value for registry subkey of Path and (Default).

With either one of two methods, you will have complete full x64 Windows Media Player experience.

Turn Windows Features on or off

2009-09-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Some programs and features that are included with Windows, such as Internet Information Services, must be turned on before you can use them. Certain other features are turned on by default, but you can turn them off if you don’t use them.

In earlier versions of Windows, to turn a feature off you had to uninstall it completely from your computer. In this version of Windows, the features remain stored on your hard disk, so you can turn them back on if you want to. Turning off a feature does not uninstall the feature, and it does not reduce the amount of hard disk space used by Windows features.
Open the Control Panel, click Programs, click Turn Windows features on or off in the Programs and Features section (see picture above). Or,.. press the Windows button, type OptionalFeatures and press Enter.

To turn a Windows feature on, select the check box next to the feature.
To turn a Windows feature off, clear the check box.

Enable or disable Secure Logon (Ctrl+Alt+Delete)

2009-09-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's important to keep your computer as secure as possible. One way to do so is to enable Secure Logon so that you are required to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to log on. Using secure logon provides an additional layer of security for your computer by ensuring that the authentic Windows logon screen appears. When secure logon is enabled, no other program (such as a virus or spyware) can intercept your user name and password as you enter it.

Open Advanced User Accounts -> Press the Windows button, type netplwiz and press Enter.
Click the Advanced tab, select the Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete check box, and then click OK.

Generate a System Diagnostics report

2009-09-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor uses performance counters, event trace data, and configuration information, which can be combined into Data Collector Sets. You can generate a report detailing the status of local hardware resources, system response times, and processes on the local computer along with system information and configuration data. This report includes suggestions for ways to maximize performance and streamline system operation.

Open the Control Panel, click Performance Information and Tools, click Advanced Tools (Tasks pane on the left), click Generate a System Health report. Or,.. press the Windows button, type perfmon /report and press Enter.

Extend the Start Menu Search functionality with Start++

2009-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Brandon Paddock (Brandon Live), who works on Search technology for Windows at Microsoft, developed a very useful add-on to Vista’s Start Menu Search box: Start++, it extends the Start Menu Search box, the Run box and the command-line with customizable commands, you can set these commands to run with administrator privileges (sudo command). You can create an alias for anything you want and export it so you can share it with other users.

Type playartist Nightwish and it performs a for music with the artist Nightwish, writes the results to a .M3U file and play it in Windows Media Player. Type g hullabaloo to for hullabaloo on Google.

Picture Gadget ^^: Type pic into the Start Menu Search box followed by your query terms.
_________________

Advanced Searches & Natural Language Search

2009-09-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Windows will usually search for whatever you enter in the Search box by looking in the file name, file contents, and file properties of all the files in the current view. Type "Summer," for example, and it will find files named "sunset in summer.jpg," files tagged with "summer," and files written by anyone named Summer.

Vista's Search engine uses the Windows Desktop Search query syntax. If you want to search more selectively, you can filter your search by specifying which file property to search. To filter by file property, separate the name of the property and the search term with a colon, as in these examples:

kind: music artist: Sting -> Find music files from the artist Sting.
Name: Sunset -> Find only files that have the word sunset in the file name.
Modified: 05/25/2006 -> Find only files that have been modified on that date.

You can filter by any property that appears in the file list headings. To see the complete list of properties that you can filter by, right-click the heading you want to see properties for, and then click More. Using Boolean filters is another way to perform a more precise search, you can combine them with other search filters:

tropical AND island -> Find files that contain both words "tropical" and "island".
tropical NOT island -> Find files that contain the word "tropical", but not "island".
tropical OR island -> Find files that contain either of the words "tropical" or "island".
"tropical island" -> Find files that contain the exact phrase "tropical island".
(tropical island) -> Find files that contain both words "tropical" and "island", in any order.
date: > 01/05/06 -> Find files that are more than or later than a certain value, such as after 01/05/06.
size: <> Find files that are less than or earlier than a certain value, such as less than 4 MB.
Note: When you type Boolean filters like AND or OR, you need to use all capital letters!

If you turn on Natural Language Search, you can perform searches in a simpler way, without using colons and without the need to enter AND and OR in capital letters. For example, compare these searches:
Without natural language: kind: music artist: (Beethoven OR Mozart)
With natural language: music Beethoven or Mozart
To turn on Natural Language Search: Open the Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization, click Folder Options, click the Search tab, select the Use natural language search check box, click Apply and then click OK.

Enable support for 4GB of RAM (or more) in Vista 32-bit

2009-09-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

On a computer that has 4 GB of RAM, the System Properties dialog box and the System Information dialog box may report less memory than you expect. This problem occurs because the address space is limited to 4 GB in a 32-bit hardware environment. Memory may be relocated to make room for addresses that the basic input/output system (BIOS) reserves for hardware. However, because of this limitation, Windows Vista cannot access memory that is relocated above the 4 GB boundary.

Solution: Open an elevated Command Prompt, type BCDEdit /set pae ForceEnable and press Enter.

The pae parameter enables Physical Address Extension (PAE). On 32-bit versions of Windows, PAE is disabled by default. PAE is an addressing strategy that uses a page-translation hierarchy to enable systems with 32-bit addressing to address more than 4 GB of physical memory. PAE also supports several advanced system and processor features, such as Data Execution Prevention (DEP; "No execute"), Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA), and hot-add memory, so it is also used on computers with less than 4 GB of memory. PAE must be supported by the processor.

On a computer that supports hardware-enabled Data Execution Prevention (DEP), PAE is automatically enabled when DEP is enabled and automatically disabled when you disable DEP. To enable PAE when DEP is disabled, you must enable PAE explicitly: Open an elevated Command Prompt.
Type BCDEdit /set nx AlwaysOff & BCDEdit /set pae ForceEnable and press Enter.

Repartition a hard disk by using the Shrink feature

2009-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Note: Backup Operator or Administrator is the minimum membership required to complete the actions below.
Caution: If the partition is a raw partition (that is, one without a file system) that contains data (such as a database file), shrinking the partition may destroy the data! For detailed information, open Disk Management, click Help on the menu bar, click Manage Basic Volumes, and then click Shrink a Basic Volume.

Shrink an existing partition to create new unallocated space, from which you can create a new partition:
Open the Start Menu, right-click on Computer, click Manage, expand Storage & select Disk Management.
Right-click a partition, select Shrink Volume, Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB & click Shrink.
Right-click the new unallocated space, click New simple volume, click Next, Enter the Simple volume size in MB, click Next, assign a drive letter, click Next, Enter the Volume label, click Next, and then click Finish.

Shell Commands for Windows Vista

2009-09-20T21:12:00.002-07:00

The shell: command can be used to open a special folder directly from the Start, Search menu. For example, the command shell:SendTo opens the SendTo folder (%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo). To launch the Documents folder of your User Profile, you'd type shell:Personal. Below is a complete shell: commands listing for Windows Vista. The entire listing is stored in the following registry key in Windows Vista:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FolderDescriptions]

shell: commands for Windows Vista:
shell:AddNewProgramsFolder - shell:Administrative Tools - shell:AppData - shell:AppUpdatesFolder - shell:Cache - shell:CD Burning - shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder - shell:Common Administrative Tools - shell:Common AppData - shell:Common Desktop - shell:Common Documents - shell:Common Programs - shell:Common Start Menu - shell:Common Startup - shell:Common Templates - shell:CommonDownloads - shell:CommonMusic - shell:CommonPictures - shell:CommonVideo - shell:ConflictFolder - shell:ConnectionsFolder - shell:Contacts - shell:ControlPanelFolder - shell:Cookies - shell:CredentialManager - shell:CryptoKeys - shell:CSCFolder - shell:Default Gadgets - shell:Desktop - shell:Downloads - shell:DpapiKeys - shell:Favorites - shell:Fonts - shell:Gadgets - shell:Games - shell:GameTasks - shell:History - shell:InternetFolder - shell:Links - shell:Local AppData - shell:LocalAppDataLow - shell:LocalizedResourcesDir - shell:MAPIFolder - shell:My Music - shell:My Pictures - shell:My Video - shell:MyComputerFolder - shell:NetHood - shell:NetworkPlacesFolder - shell:OEM Links - shell:Original Images - shell:Personal - shell:PhotoAlbums - shell:Playlists - shell:PrintersFolder - shell:PrintHood - shell:Profile - shell:ProgramFiles - shell:ProgramFilesCommon - shell:ProgramFilesCommonX86 - shell:ProgramFilesX86 - shell:Programs - shell:Public - shell:PublicGameTasks - shell:Quick Launch - shell:Recent - shell:RecycleBinFolder - shell:ResourceDir - shell:SampleMusic - shell:SamplePictures - shell:SamplePlaylists - shell:SampleVideos - shell:SavedGames - shell:Searches - shell:SearchHomeFolder - shell:SendTo - shell:Start Menu - shell:Startup - shell:SyncCenterFolder - shell:SyncResultsFolder - shell:SyncSetupFolder - shell:System - shell:SystemCertificates - shell:SystemX86 - shell:Templates - shell:TreePropertiesFolder - shell:UserProfiles - shell:UsersFilesFolder - shell:Windows.

Customize / hide the Favorite Links list

2009-09-20T21:12:00.001-07:00

The Navigation Pane is divided into two sections: Favorite Links & Folders.
The Favorite Links contains links to commonly used folders and saved es.
You can add new links by dragging folders and/or saved es into the list.
You can also drag folders from the Folders list to the Favorite Links section.
This is a convenient way to quickly access folders and es you use often.
You can reposition a link by dragging it to the position where you want it to be.
To remove a link from the list, right-click on the link and select Remove Link.
Restore default links: right-click a blank area and select Restore Default Favorite Links.

Hide Favorite Links: drag the Folders list to the top of the Navigation Pane (see picture).

Resize the Details Pane

2009-09-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

Right-click on an empty part of the Details Pane and select one of the sizes:

Enable Advanced Disk Performance

2009-09-20T21:10:00.002-07:00

When enabled, the hard disk drive operates in write-back cache mode, in which all the data that gets written to the drive is first stored in the cache, and then later written to the disk. Both writes and reads are cached in this case. When disabled, the HDD operates in write-through cache mode, in which all data that gets written to the drive is immediately written to the disks and also stored in the cache. Writes are not cached, but reads are.

Note: This setting is recommended only for disks with a backup power supply, it further improves disk performance, but it also increases the risk of data loss if the disk loses power.

Open Device Manager, expand Disk drives, right-click on a Disk drive, click Properties, click the Policies tab, select the Enable advanced performance check box, and then click OK.

Vista Orb Clock for Windows Sidebar

2009-09-20T21:10:00.001-07:00

This gadget contains 12 skins based on the icons and logo from Windows Vista: 5 Vista Orbs, Windows Media Center, Windows Live, Windows Media Player, a CD, 2 Globes & the blue compass from Guided Help.

Tip: You can drag the gadgets to you desktop and use them as Desktop Gadgets (like AveDesk & Samurize).
When you right click on the Sidebar and select close, the Sidebar minimizes to the system tray & the Desktop Gadgets are still on the desktop.

Take Ownership Context Menu Item

2009-09-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

TakeOwn.reg adds a Take Ownership Context Menu Item to all files and folders. It opens an Elevated Command Prompt which recovers full access to the selected file / directory, sub directories and their content.
You can access the Context Menu Item by holding down Shift + right-click on a file or folder.

If you want to access the Take Ownership Context Menu Item on an exe file, you must merge "RunAsAdmin_Exe-.reg"; this reg file removes the "Run as Administrator" Context Menu Item from all exe files (they both use the runas key). Merge "RunAsAdmin_Exe+.reg" if you want to restore the "Run as Administrator" Context Menu Item.

Install: Merge TakeOwn+.reg
Uninstall: Merge TakeOwn-.reg

Deleting the Undeletable

2009-09-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

As many of us move forward from Windows XP or prior beta versions of Windows Vista to the final RTM version, I thought this little tip might be in order. You may be aware that Windows Vista includes a number of different ways to upgrade a computer, from a straight in-place upgrade (insert CD, run setup and choose upgrade) to Windows Easy Transfer, which allows you to copy settings, programs and data from an old setup a fresh shiny new OS environment. In doing this, it's not unusual to find some folders that can't be accessed, even by an administrator, because their ACLs were set for accounts with SIDs that applied to an old partition.

How do you take it back? -> The secret lies in two command-line utilities, one ancient, the other completely revised for this release. Respectively, these are take own (which takes ownership of a file or directory) and icacls (which sets new ACLs on that directory). I created a small batch command on my system called itsmine.cmd, as follows:

takeown /f %1 /r /d y
icacls %1 /grant administrators:F /t

From an elevated command prompt, you can run a command such as itsmine D:\hard_to_delete and this will reset ownership and ACLs on the hard_to_delete directory such that a command like rd /s D:\hard_to_delete should work.

Convert web widgets into gadgets for Windows Sidebar

2009-09-20T19:36:00.002-07:00

With Amnesty™ Generator you can convert millions of web widgets, games and videos – designed to live on home pages, blogs or MySpace – into gadgets for your Sidebar.

Key Features:
• Create gadgets without coding experience
• Autofill feature does the work for you
• Inline step-by-step instructions included
• Supports Flash widgets, games and video

Customize the appearance of Windows Sidebar

2009-09-20T19:36:00.001-07:00

Windows Sidebar Styler is an application designed to allow users to tweak the Sidebar’s User Interface.
Custom styles allow users to customize the appearance of Windows Sidebar so that it fits the style of other UI elements, such as the Aero Glass colorization or third party themes.
You can save your visual styles and share them with other users.

Windows Sidebar Styler also adds support for WPF Gadgets; Gadgets now take full advantage of Windows Presentation Foundation - a powerful managed code-oriented framework for presenting rich visual compositions such as vector graphics, 3D drawing, animations and more.
Original: Minimalistic Style:
The visual styles below remove the grey Panel background, the "Add Gadgets" button + the Close, Config & the Gripper buttons that appear when you hover over the Gadgets (see image above). You can still access these functions in the right click menu from the Sidebar & Gadgets. The MinimalistiClear Style also removes the backgrounds.

UltiMouse Task Controller

2009-09-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

This program turns the Mouse into a Task Controller without losing the default functionality of the Mouse Buttons.

Double Click Middle Mouse Button -> Window Switcher (Flip3D)
Back Button + Scroll Up/Down -> Cycle through programs on the Taskbar*
Middle Mouse Button + Scroll Up/Down -> Cycle through Sidebar Gadgets * NEW *
Back Button + Middle Mouse Button -> Up One Level (emulates the Up Button)
Forward Button + Scroll Up/Down -> Maximize/Restore selected program/window
Forward Button + Middle Mouse Button -> Close selected program/window
Middle Mouse Button + Back Button -> Minimize selected program/window
Middle Mouse Button + Forward Button -> Restore last Minimized program/window
Double Click Back Button -> Minimize All
Double Click Forward Button -> UnMinimize All

* When you release the Back Button, the selected program/window is activated.

Install: Copy UltiMouse.exe to anywhere you want and create a shortcut in the Startup folder.
It runs hidden in the background, you can close it with Task Manager.

Keyboard shortcuts

2009-09-20T19:34:00.002-07:00

Ctrl+Shift+Esc -> Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del -> Tasks Screen)
Ctrl+Shift+Enter -> Run an executable with elevated privileges
Windows logo key+1-0 -> Launch the shortcuts on the Quick Launch toolbar
Windows logo key+T -> Cycle through programs on the taskbar
Windows logo key+Tab -> Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Flip 3-D
Ctrl+Windows logo key+Tab -> Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Flip 3-D
Windows logo key+Spacebar -> Bring all gadgets to the front and select Windows Sidebar
Windows logo key+G -> Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
Windows logo key+X -> Open Windows Mobility Center
Open a folder and press & release Alt -> Show Menu Bar (also works in Internet Explorer).

Remove the arrow (Shortcut Overlay) without side effects

2009-09-20T19:34:00.001-07:00

Most Tweak programs remove the arrows by renaming or removing the IsShortCut String Values from the registry. Windows uses this value to track links, if you remove or rename the IsShortCut value lots of programs and features that use links won't work correctly -> in Vista the shortcuts in Favorite Links, Media Center and in the Games Explorer disappear or won't work anymore.

The files in the zip file below remove the arrows the same way as TweakUI does in previous Windows versions; it refers the icon to another icon. If you refer it to a completely blank icon, the overlays turn black when you restart Explorer or Log Off and Log On again. Solution: I've created a blank icon with some transparent pixels and with the same sizes as the default arrow -> no more arrows & no black overlays. smile.gif

Install: If you used a program or a reg file that removed the IsShortCut values; merge RestoreArrow.reg to restore them. Copy Blank.ico to the Windows directory from Vista, so if you installed Vista on the D drive, copy it to D:\Windows\. Merge RemoveArrow.reg and Log Off or Restart your Computer.

Windows Vista 64-bit users: Merge RemoveArrow_[C].reg if you installed Vista on your C drive, Merge RemoveArrow_[D].reg if you installed Vista on your D drive. If you installed Vista on another drive, just edit one of the RemoveArrow_[X].reg files so that it points to the Windows directory of Vista.

Uninstall: Merge RestoreArrow.reg and remove Blank.ico from your Windows directory.
Log Off or Restart your computer.

Closing Error Reporting (Win XP)

2009-09-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Error reporting, what is it and why does Microsoft want you to have it on? Basically whenever your computer crashes Win XP makes a little report of what went wrong and then sends it to Microsoft so they can improve the Windows Operating System. Generally it sounds like a nice idea, but do you really want to be sending reports about your computer to Microsoft? I personally don't and they allow you to shut off this feature. Here's how you do it:

1. Open your control panel
2. Click on Performance and Maintenance
3. Then click on System
4. Go to the Advance Tab
5. Click on the Error Reporting button at the bottom
6. Select Disable Error Reporting
7. Click the "But notify me when a critical error occurs"
8. Click Ok Twice.

How can I change the Registered Owner information in Vista?

2009-09-20T19:32:00.002-07:00

Note: The information provided below contains Windows Registry changing information. Be sure that you create a restore point prior to making any changes. This will create a backup of your registry.

1.Go to Start
2.Select Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK
3.Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version

4.Single left click the "Current Version" entry to empty its contents in to the right pane
5.In the right pane, locate the entry titled: Registered Owner
6.Right click the Registered Owner entry and select Modify
7.Edit the "Value data" textbox to enter your personal Registered Owner name
8.Click OK and close the Windows Registry.

Can I keep Vista from automatically defragging my system?

2009-09-20T19:32:00.001-07:00

1.Go to Start
2.Select Control Panel
3.Select System and Maintenance
4.Select Performance information and Tools
5.Select Advanced Tools
6.Select Open Disk Defragmenter (continue through any UAC prompts)
7.Untick the radio button titled: Run On A Schedule (Recommended)
8.Select OK.

How can I disable the notification window?

2009-09-20T19:28:00.002-07:00

To disable the Notification Balloon tips, follow the instructions below:

Note: This method requires making a change to the Windows registry. I recommend manually creating a restore point prior to making any changes in case an editing error is made.

1.Go to Start
2.Select Run
3.With the run command window open, type in: regedit.exe
4.Press Enter on your keyboard or click OK
5.In the Windows registry, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

6.Single left click the "Advanced" registry entry to empty its contents in to the right pane.
7.Right click an empty area of the right pane and select New>> DWORD Value.
8.In the DWORD textbox, type in: EnableBalloonTips
9.Once this new REG_DWORD is created, double click it.
10.In the "Value data" textbox, enter the number 0.
11.Click OK
12.Exit the Windows Registry

You may have to reboot your system for this to take effect.

How can I get Vista to Automatically log me on?

2009-09-20T19:28:00.001-07:00

1.Go to Start
2.In the Search box, type in: netplwiz
3.Press Enter on your keyboard
4.Uncheck the entry titled: Users must enter a user name and password
5.Click Apply
6.Click OK twice to exit.

From now on, when you reboot, you will not see the login screen.

How to Maintain a Computer System?

2009-09-20T19:27:00.002-07:00

* If you use your computer more than a few hours per day, we suggest you not to turn off your computer at the end of the day. Instead turn off only the monitor to save electricity. Daily power up and down makes the components exposed to high and low temperature cycles that are not good for the life-time of the components, particularly the critical ones such as hard drives, CPU, and memory. The temperature cycle would result in expansion-shrinking cycle for the components. The life-time of electronic components would be increased if they are run at constant temperature with adequate ventilation.

* If your area experiences a few times of power outage per year, it is necessary to use a UPS. Sudden power downs while the system is running may cause severe damage to hard drives.

* A tape backup and a lock to make systems hard to move are worthy investment for critical data.

* Use your hand to touch and feel the cover of your computer at least once a week. The cover should be at room temperature. If it feels warm there may be a problem! Check to make sure that the cooling fans on the power supply and CPU are working properly. Clean the air pathway on the back of the power supply on a regular basis.

How to Troubleshoot the Computer?

2009-09-20T19:27:00.001-07:00

1. Trial and error: When you find a faulty component in your computer, first of you check it with the other computers so that you can make sure whether the fault is in the component or not.
2. Check cables: In case of any device failure, check all the cables of your computer such as data cables, power cable, internal circuitry cables etc and make sure that all the cables are plugged in and working fine.
3. Hardware settings: Check the hardware settings in the CMOS and in the device manager of the system and make all the device drivers and up to date and all the cards are plugged in properly.
4. Notice changes: When you notice a software or hardware error in your computer, determine what was changed before the problem occurred.
5. Event viewer: Use the event viewer utility by going to Start > Control panel > Administrative tools > Event viewer. In the event viewer you will find the error or warning messages associated with any faulty hardware or software.
6. Make notes: Troubleshooting is big learning option and we can learn a lot when we face any kind of troubleshooting in our computer. Make notes including the error messages and their solutions, so that you have a record that how a certain problem occurred and how did you solve it.

"Error on Page" when attempting to add an attachment in Web

2009-09-20T19:26:00.002-07:00

When trying to add an attachment to an assignment or discussion message in WebCT Vista or CE 6, some users have reported seeing an "Error on Page" message in their browser.

There are a number of possible causes for this error; most can be resolved by following WebCT's Browser Tune-Up instructions.

* Ensure that the document you are trying to upload is not open in another program on your computer. For example, if you want to upload a Microsoft Word document, save and close the document first.

* If using the Internet Explorer browser, ensure that the "Display a notification about every script error" option is not checked:
1. In Internet Explorer, from the Tools menu, select Internet Options
2. Click the Advanced tab
3. Scroll down and uncheck Display a notification about every script error
4. Click OK to save your changes

WebDAV and Folder is Invalid Errors

2009-09-20T19:26:00.001-07:00

When trying to access a folder in WebCT Vista using the WebDAV client in Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP, some users have reported getting an error message saying that the "folder is invalid".

This can be caused by some Microsoft Windows WebDAV clients that encode the path that the user enters, including changing the plus sign (+) to %2B. These WebDAV clients may have been updated by installing Microsoft Office XP/2003. The original WebDAV client that shipped with Windows 2000 and XP does not encode the plus sign (+) in the path, so it works with WebDAV paths in WebCT Vista.

On the affected client computer, re-install the original WebDAV client for Microsoft Windows.

1. Find the file: webfldrs.msi
The location of the file depends on the version of Windows that you are using.

For example, on Microsoft Windows XP:
- This file is normally found under \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\webfldrs.msi
- If you installed Windows XP Servicepack 1 you will find it under \WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\webfldrs.msi

For example, on Microsoft Windows 2000:
- This file is normally found under \WINNT\system32\webfldrs.msi

2. To start the installation, double-click webfldrs.msi

3. Click "Select reinstall mode".

4. Uncheck "Repair all detected reinstall problems".
Check "Force all files to be reinstalled, regardless of checksum or version".
Check "Verify that required user registry entries are present".
Check "Verify that required machine registry entries are present".
Check "Validate shortcuts".

5. Click OK and REINSTALL.

6. Reboot your computer.

Search Toolbars and Session Already Running Errors

2009-09-20T19:24:00.002-07:00

When trying to access WebCT Vista, some users have reported getting "Session Already Running" error messages.

Some users found that this problem could be resolved by changing an Internet Explorer setting:

1. In Internet Explorer, from the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Under Browsing, clear the checkbox for Show friendly HTTP error messages.
4. Click OK.
5. Restart the Internet Explorer browser.

Search toolbars may cause this problem. Users have reported that this problem could be resolved by uninstalling search toolbars from Yahoo!, mySearch, AltaVista, Google, and other sites.

You may be able to uninstall a toolbar through the Windows Control Panel:

1. From the Start menu, select Settings, Control Panel
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
3. Locate the search toolbar, and click Change/Remove
4. Follow the onscreen instructions.

For more information on uninstalling a program, refer to its documentation.

HTTP 403 Forbidden or Access Denied Errors

2009-09-20T19:24:00.001-07:00

When trying to log into WebCT, some users have reported getting "403 Forbidden" or "Access Denied" error messages.

One possible cause is an Internet Explorer 6 update installed by Windows Update. Some users found that this problem could be resolved by changing an Internet Explorer setting:

1. In Internet Explorer, from the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Under Browsing, clear the checkbox for Show friendly HTTP error messages.
4. Click OK.
5. Restart the Internet Explorer browser.

If this problem persists after changing this setting and restarting your browser, it may be caused by spyware or deceptive software on your computer.

Green screen and code like "); d.writeln(" ");

2009-09-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

When trying to access a course after logging into WebCT, some users have reported getting a green screen and code like "); d.writeln(" "); displaying in their browsers instead of the WebCT course.

It has been reported that this can be caused by the RX Bar (Search Engine Bar) that can be installed when you install peer-to-peer file sharing applications like Kazaa.

Users have found that this problem can be resolved by uninstalling the RX Bar.

1. In Microsoft Windows, open the Control Panel.
2. Open Add or Remove Programs.
3. Find the entry for RX Bar, then click Change/Remove.
4. If prompted, confirm that you want to remove the program.
5. Restart your computer.

Computer Troubleshooting

Slow Windows 7 - How To Speed ​​Up Windows 7 Quickly And Easily

10 Reasons Why Computer Crash

Windows 7 Tips & Tricks

1. Use Keyboard Shortcuts

2.Rearrange System Tray Icons

3. Access Jump Lists with the Left Mouse Button

4. Add Any Folder to Favorites

5. Pin Frequently Used Folders to the Taskbar

6. Pin Control Panel to the Taskbar

7. Create Keyboard Shortcuts for Programs

8. Open Command Prompt in Any Folder

9. View Expanded ‘Send To’ Menu

10. Adjust Screen Text with Clear Type

11. Get Exact Colors On Your Screen

12. Customize the Power Button

13. Customize Number of Items in Jump Lists & Start Menu

14. Search Internet from the Start Menu

15. Add Videos to Start Menu

Speeding Up Internet Explorer 8

Easy Data Recovery Tips

Speed Up Windows 7 Shutdown Time

Speed Up Windows 7 Boot

Computer Troubleshooting Tips

Tips to remove new folder exe or regsvr exe or autorun inf

Tips to buy an used laptops

How to Speed up the Computer

Steps to Scan and Remove Malicious Viruses

Office 2007 Installation Fails: Fixes

Speed Up or Disable Windows Search Indexing in Vista

Windows 7 Antivirus Compatible Software

Windows7 Versions

Thinking About Upgrading To Windows 7?

Upgrading From Windows Vista

Troubleshooting Windows Driver Problems

Speed up Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Preview

Disable Search indexing for better performance in Windows 7

Black screen after Windows 7 Install

common Laptop problems

Repair laptop display problems

How to solve low memory problems?

Top Viruses 2009

Computer gets stuck starting up the operating system

What To Do When Your Hard Drive Fails

Compact Disc - Facts and Complete Do's and Donts

Graphic Card Troubleshooting Tips

Change Owner of Computer

Turn off Thumbnails

'Open with notepad' as menu item

Change Backup Size

Turn off Automatic backups

Fake WEI Score

Run winsat from commandline

Password Backup

Turn off security center

Non-Activated Accounts

Extend activation time

Boot Configuration

Driver Verifier

See/remove drivers installed for unused devices

Allow other file extensions to be included in search

Tweak Indexing Options for Better Performance

System file checker

Vista 2 screens background across multiple monitors

What do Various Areo Performance Settings do?

How to use ReadyBoost to uh Boost yourPerformance

Improve SATA Performance

Speed up Aero by Disabling Minimize/Maximize

Speed up Aero with No Transparency

Find out what is Accessing your Hard Drive

Clean out unneeded Services quickly

Delete Browsing History commands (IE7)

Windows Defender: Command Line Parameters

Large Icons on your Desktop

Hidden Open Command Window Here Context Menu item

Disable Hibernation & delete the Hibernation file

Enable the Aurora boot screen

Use BitLocker Drive Encryption without TPM chip

Make User Account Control (UAC) Stop Blacking Out the Screen

Edit the Boot Configuration Data

Slow Windows 7 - How To Speed Up Windows 7 Quickly And Easily