Type It In The Start Menu

Prior to Vista the Start Menu was very limited. With Vista and Windows 7 type anything you want to start or open in the Start Menu, especially control panel items. A list of suggestions will be displayed. For example on a laptop type in "Mobility Center" and see what you get. If you have turned off indexing from an old XP tweak habit, this will not work as well.

A lame suggestion you say? I have watched numerous users oblivious of this Start Menu tactic. Would you rather search and dig through control panel to set Clear Type or simply type "clear type" into the Start Menu?

Dropbox Shares Your Files

Dropbox - Home - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.
Want to share or have access to a few files on several computers? Dropbox is easy and free. Any file in your “My Dropbox” folder is mirrored at the Dropbox site if you have the little program running. It will sync to any computer running the software. I like it.
I can’t imagine using it for huge backup.
I would choose another way to share files with others and keep this as your private cloud space.

Edit: Upload pictures from your phone like crazy and they give you free extra space.

Malware Removal

List of programs:
The first two will probably have all you need.
Tech Tool Store
Ultra Virus Killer

Malwarebites

SuperAntiSpyware

Running in Safe Mode is more effective. I would only run if having trouble or doing cleanup. Don't allow them to run automatically and uninstall them if they leave irritations.

Rootkit

http://www.gmer.net/

http://rootrepeal.googlepages.com/ (use with caution)

If Malwarebytes or any other program wont start go to the program files folder and rename main .exe file to explorer.exe. The virus will think its explorer and wont block it from running.

"Immunize" your browsing with SpywareBlaster and SpyBot.

Install Panda Cloud antivirus.

Here are a few other ideas when trouble strikes.
DrWebCurit
Combofix
Trojan Remover
HiJack This
WinsockXPfix

Ripping MP3's

Depending on what you use to rip, you will probably need LAME. Go here and get a LAME bundle. Extract and put the folder in Program Files.

EAC is a good ripping choice but not as easy as some others. Go here and get it.

Setting up EAC needs a few extra settings than the "one click" programs. Here are some instructions.

Use EAC if you are anal about your MP3's or are having trouble getting good rips.

Windows 7 Drivers For Gateway P-7811FX

Here is the link for Win 7 drivers for a Gateway P-7811FX (my favorite notbook).

Appears the 7811 drivers no longer on the Gateway site.

Welcome to Usb.brando.com

When you can no longer live without USB3, Brando may be your store. I have never ordered from Brando but they seem to have a good USB3 section developing.

For cables go to monoprice.com. They price shipping on total amount (not each item) and they have amazing prices.

Welcome to Usb.brando.com

Free Proxy Server

Are you behind a system which restricts internet access. Here is a free proxy server and its reasonable for speed so far.

I am not in the south and that is not my IP :)

Yikes, now I can not even connect to it ... jury is out. Now it works, must have been busy???

Here is another:
Anonymouse
and a handy Firefox extension
and another: Internet Cloak

Vista/Win7 No Boot – Not Even Safe Mode

It first presents the nice splash screen asking about language and keyboard layout, and then after clicking "Next" it asks you for your product key. It is at this point that you can access a truly excellent feature of setup, obviously intended to troubleshoot a failed installation, but also VERY handy to administer a system that is on the fritz. By pressing SHIFT-F10, Setup runs "cmd", and drops you to a command prompt that is running with SYSTEM privileges.

RTM of Vista keeps the useful trick of hitting SHIFT-F10 during Setup
Summary: At the product key screen do SHIFT-F10

Additional:
Bootlog:
Press F8 key during bootup, select "Enable boot logging"
"Creates a file, ntbtlog.txt, that lists all the drivers that are installed
during startup and that might be useful for advanced troubleshooting."

Recovery Discs:
If you do not have Vista or Win7 Install discs, you can get the "recovery" discs here.

Fix Your DVD Drive - Lens Cleaning

If your DVD-CD drive is not reading disks maybe cleaning the lens will help. Open the tray and you will see the lens. Dampen a Q-tip with ethanol (squeeze out all excess) and wipe the lens.

Here is a WikiHow on the subject.

IC Diamond Thermal Compound Installation

Innovation Cooling

This is a great explanation of why the “pea” sized blob works best.

Here is a forum discussion on IC7.

I have IC7 but have yet to use it. Arctic Silver and Arctic Ceramic are my old stand-by's. IC7 is stiffer and comes in handy for bridging the gap between laptop heat pipe video chip coolers.

Why Print To PDF?

I'm adding things here as they come up so let's talk PDF. I recommended CutePDF Writer to my son and he asked why he needed it. I use it often so there must be a reason.

1. You want to print but can not connect to the printer for some reason. Save the pdf file for later printing.
2. You want to print a web page but always get useless sheets in the process.
3. You want to print a web invoice or rebate app. to process later.
4. You want to print a web page and email it.
5. You want to email an Excel spreadsheet so that the output is difficult to edit.

The list goes on. CutePDF Writer may not be the best but it is the best I have tried and free is always good. It installs fine in Windows 7. You may need to run the installer as admin.

CutePDF Writer is different than the afore mentioned PDF-XChange Viewer. Cute is a printer driver and appears as a printer in your operating system.

Winamp Reborn (for me)

Winamp has been off my radar for a long time but my renewed interest in internet radio has resurrected Winamp. The Shoutcast plug-in is very good. I'm listening to smooth jazz right now and lovin' it.

Go here for the Winamp download but choose the "Lite" version toward the bottom. I don't bother with portable (found in pirate universe) because I want some integration with the OS for simplicity.

Here is the Shoutcast download page. Or here is the direct plug-in link.

I'm sure there are many ways to handle Shoutcast but I just go to their site linked above and click a category. The stations will display and I save links to my desktop (or where ever). Then one click and Winamp is up and pumping out music.

Purchasing Vizio from Dell

I just purchased a 37 inch Vizio from Dell. The remote was door nail dead. No problem, stuff happens. Don't bother calling Dell with these third party products. This may be a blessing because the Vizio support person spoke native English and Vizio is sending out a new remote. I purchased from Dell for the 20% Bing Cash Back (first try) and I did get credit (unlike my second Cash Back try with Wally World). Now I'll try Wally's return policy.

Initial call to Wally said if they shipped from third party, return could be a problem. This could get interesting.

Wonders Never Cease - Windows Troubleshooter Fixed Wifi Connection - No Internet - Win7

I had quit trying Window's Troubleshooter for anything. Since 1982 (I know, Windows was not born yet) I have not had Window's Troubleshooter fix any problem. But here I sit in a motel and could not get connected. To be more specific, I was connected with a strong wifi signal but no internet. My old friend the impossible problem was back. I tried disabling IPv6 and no luck as usual. Just for kicks I tried the Troubleshooter that is part of the wifi connection window when you don't have an internet connection. TS told me the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) was not turned on but "obtain IP address automatically" was clearly checked. TS offered to fix it and bingo, it worked. Some configuration must have been stuck, maybe the previous IP. Anyway I have no idea why this happens or how often. I also don't know another way to activate the DHCP without troubleshooter. Possibly setting a static IP and then changing back to automatic would have done it.

I wonder if this has been the problem the other times I have seen strong signal and connection but no internet? It is good to have way to fix this irritation. I hope it will consistently work but I'm not holding my breath.

Microsoft talks about a problem with the "broadcast flag" which is probably the issue. Here are some registry hacks, but I'm going to pass on them for now and rely on Trouble Shooter as long as it works. At least I know how to research the problem. Previous Googling for "no internet connection" (in all it's various iterations) did not lead me to this solution path.

Resetting ipconfig from an admin command prompt may have worked: Ipconfig /release and Ipconfig/renew

You can check the status of DHCP buy right clicking the wifi adapter > status > details.

Another thing to try is netsh winsock reset from an Admin command prompt. Or here is a little WinSockFix program.

I'm adding things as I think of them and may clean up this post later. This has turned into a jumbled mess but there may be an idea that works if you have a connection but can't get on the internet.

Add, Don't Replace When Upgrading to 802.11n

I'm going to give you a few reasons to think about keeping your current 11g router and running it along with your shiny new draft 11n purchase.

Add, Don't Replace When Upgrading to 802.11n

Comments:

I just spent several minutes trying to find this so I’m linking here for the future.

I’m thinking when I do a dual G/N Network it will look like this? N and G routers can be transposed depending on which one puts out a stronger signal. G boosters are easy to find. The two routers may need to be on different broadcast bands (not sure).

Really for now I will just stick with G until N prices drop further. No Big Huge Thing.

WRT54G v6 and DD-WRT

Process underway and may take awhile ...
Here is the How To link.
Proper hard reset is necessary <link>.
Woops, this one is on the don't bother to flash serial number list but v6 can use mini firmware. I must find my older model.
ASUS WL-500g Premium V2 (This may be the way to go 15 bucks more than Linksys)
Wiki for install

Alternate possibility Gargoyle firmware

How To: Manually Setting Up the Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander - Update

I would avoid these even if you can get them to link. Speed reduction is one reason. Getting them to link is another. I have had them work but I currently can not get it to work with WAP54G. I would try a Powerline solution.

Linksys' WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander [reviewed here] is a WDS-based 802.11b / g repeater. Its purpose is to receive a signal from an Linksys WAP54G access point or WRT54G and WRT54GS wireless router and relay it to extend a wireless LAN's range.

How To: Manually Setting Up the Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander - Update

Forum Posts on using more than one WRE54G

WAP54G IP=192.168.1.245 pwd=admin

WRE54G IP=192.168.1.240 (some versions use 192.168.1.245) pwd=admin

WRT54G IP=192.168.1.1 pwd=admin
Link for using as access point. or here
(I put Tomato on this and access setup fine but can't connect so have reverted to an old BEFSR41 v3 with WAP65G) Plan trying dd-wrt.

WAP54G flashing with DD-WRT

Cat 5 wiring diagram

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point

I used to have a FAQ that explained how to re-purpose a wireless router as an access point (AP). But it occurred to me that some folks might be able to use a little more of a step-by-step, so here it is. I'm going to use the virtually ubiquitous Linksys WRT54G as the object of our conversion

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point

Comments:

Sometimes I just want to index something I am going to do or try. This looks like a great little guide for setting up a router as an access point. I’m going to do it someday soon.

SmallNetBuilder is a good reference for wireless networking.

Remove Ask.com as Default Search in URL Field

My Solution

Internet Explorer 6 (presumably 7 too)

1. Go to Control Panel in Windows itself
2. Click on Internet Properties
3. Click on General
4. Click on Search settings
5. Set new default and delete ask.com

Firefox

1. Open a new tab or window.
2. Type “about:config” and hit enter, this brings up the all powerful settings of Firefox.
3. Agree to the warning that you could mess things up
4. Find keyword.url, you probably should not change anything else
5. Double click and change keyword.url string to something else like http://www.google.com/search?q=
6. Note that you cannot just put in the web site domain, you must put in the parameters before your search query. So find your favorite search engine, do a search and grab all the text up to your actual search results. So that a search for “test” in Google returns this, http://www.google.com/search?q=test, but all you need to input into the keyword.url field is http://www.google.com/search?q=

Remove Ask.com as Default Search in URL Field « Internet Marketing Blog with PaperStreet Web Design – Law Firm, Business & Professionals

Comments:

I hate all things Ask. In Firefox you need to do a few things to be rid of this irritation ware. I seldom end up with Ask installed but just got burned and took some doing to kill it.

1. Uninstall Ask through control panel or better yet Revouninstaller (I use portable).

2. Remove the Ask addon in tools > addons.

3. If Ask search page still comes up in unknown searches do the above steps in about:config.

4. See also this.

Cheap Cables

MonoPrice.com is the cheapest place to buy cables. Notice that shipping is associated with the total price and not standard with each item. This alone saves greatly.

Palm Pre

I just bought a Palm Pre on Sprint and will be recording some experiences. I really wish I had purchased an Android Samsung Moment but 4 days too late to exchange. Now Nexus 1, oh no it's getting worse.
Some reasons are:
a more powerful processor
32GB SD card capabilities
geekiacs will be flocking to it.

Palm is doomed to be an also ran. Despite Palm Pre's linux base, a dwindling user base will hamper grass roots development. Oh well, I'm stuck for 2 years. I refuse to pay $500 for a phone

Equipment:
Micro USB for $.01. Good cable about 3 feet long. Comes to $2.00+ with shipping. The casing around the micro end is too big for the Touchstone but works fine in the Pre. I tried whittling the casing down for the Touchstone but it starts to lose its integrity so I will just use an original cable for the touchstone. I may continue some whittling though because I want two or three for in car use with the touchstone. Buy touchstone here from Amazon for around $35. (one full kit needed for the magnetic Pre back).

In car charger for the USB cable at Amazon around $19. Don't bother with the Sprint car charger because it will not connect to the touchstone.

Seido protective case and holster. The case is nice and belt clip holster works. The clip pokes my fat so it is better for thin people.

Installing Homebrew Apps:
This is what I did. Have not found a useful app yet. For instance Sprint Navigation finds Starbucks as easily as some "Get Starbucks" app.

Synchronizing:
I like the sync with gmail, gcal, etc. I recently added contacts to gmail and they don't appear on Pre. Don't know what is up with that.

Modem Tethering:
My Tether appears to be the only solution. It works on Win7-64 machine. Follow guide on My Tether site. Pay the $15. I had to communicate a few times with Raja because my email password didn't arrive but we worked it out. He was very patient and accommodating.

Installing My Tether notes:
1. Novacom for Win7 64, this site is the way to go. Just one line to delete from the msi using Orca.
2. WebOS135 I had to uninstall My Tether and delete from Pre then reinstall. Then I patched through My Tether and it took forever. Then option to reset phone and again takes forever. Wow, it works again!
3. Win7 flags to install USB modem driver from Sprint - don't.
4. Remember to disable screen blank with M.T. or you lose connection.
5. The patch makes camera inoperable but patch can be added and removed at will. Phone must be reset each time but does not take overly long. Worth having tether around for when you need it.

Cons:
Standby life is hopeless. The thing is always dead.

Links and Credit
Palm-Pre Hacks
Tips & Tricks Post on precentral.net lots of info, better than manual thanks to milominderbinder

Things to try:
My GPS (costs $.99 and I hate paying for software)

Turning off/on WebOS update
From the Linux command line enter:

cd /usr/bin
mount -o remount,rw /
chmod -x /usr/bin/UpdateDaemon
killall UpdateDaemon

Hit enter twice between each line to get me back to a root prompt.

If you disabled your update you might want to re-enable it at some point:

cd /usr/bin
mount -o remount,rw /
chmod +x UpdateDaemon
mount -o remount,ro /

Then restart your phone and automatic updating should be back.

How to reboot: The quickest way being to slide out the keyboard and hold down 3 buttons, the Orange, Sym, and R keys.

Welcome to HP PartSurfer « Be your own BOSS @ WordPress

Welcome to HP PartSurfer

By nicolask

HP PartSurfer provides fast, easy access to service parts information for a wide range of HP and Compaq products. With PartSurfer you can:

• Search for part information by product number, serial number, model name, or part number
• Identify all HP products that use/reference a specific part number
• Filter your search results by part keyword or category
• Display product exploded view diagrams and part photographs
• Generate on-screen and printable reports

See also, HP Printer Parts Superstore

Welcome to HP PartSurfer « Be your own BOSS @ WordPress

Comments:

I like HP’s service and the information they create about their products. I also found their live chat people helpful. This PartSurfer looks useful. Laptops are unpleasant to fix and parts can be difficult to identify. We often end up with a Dell because of price but HP is "friendlier" and information is more easily accessed IMHO.

Buying A Laptop Today

What I want in a laptop as of today's post:

I prefer to avoid netbooks unless I really want a small traveler and then 10 inch minimum. For $200 more why not buy a real notebook? I get it, you want small and mobile. Then buy a netbook, but it will be under powered and no DVD. Warning one.

If it is simply going to sit on a desk and not on your lap or not move around, then buy a desktop. You will get more for your money and they are immeasurably easier to fix. Warning two.

Budget:

For everyday common mortal use I target $500 +\- .

Screen:

I like wide screen. (I like glossy) (eg. 1366x768 widescreen LCD for 15 inch) 14 inch is nice but I have never used one. 15 is most common and therefore often cheaper.

CPU:

Dual core is a must. Core 2 Duo is first choice, then any old Intel dual core (commonly referred to as Pentium Dual Core), then AMD last. Speed of CPU should be as close to 2GHz+ as you can get for the money.

RAM:

Must be 2GB minimum up to 3GB if OS is 32 bit and 4GB+ if OS is 64. This stuff is cheap now so you can add if the laptop is cheap enough. Yes, 1GB will work but if you are using Vista or Win7 then more is better up to 4GB. Even 512MB will work but not happily. (I will not talk dual channel)

Hard Drive:

Like RAM hard drives are relatively cheap but get as large as possible included for the $500. 250-320GB should be easy to find.

Webcam:

1.3 pixel is commonly included. No cam is no deal breaker but video chat is cool. Get it if you can.

Graphics:

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD or better should be OK for today. Laptop video can be difficult to determine. Crazy nomenclature will keep you wondering if it is good or not. The Intel mentioned above is used a lot now and works fine. These are not extreme gaming machines.

Media Card Reader:

Also not a deal breaker but get the SD reader if you can. You can not add it later. You will need to buy a separate USB SD reader. One advantage if you end up buying an external reader is for $12 you will have muli-card capability in case SD in not what your camera uses. No big deal but the little SD slot on the notebook is nice.

Wifi:

Sure it is a must and G speed will be there. If it has N fine but for now few N routers are used and often you connect at G speed anyway because the router will not work with your N card at more than G speed. Bottom line, G is fine but N may be nice in the future when the drivers improve. If you own an N router then you will want an N card because of your supreme geekiness.

Mine:

My personal laptop is a 17 inch Gateway with 1920 screen and Gforce 9800 graphics, 4GB RAM and 2.4GHz CPU. I like 17 for the dual hard drive capability if nothing else. This will cost twice what the suggested laptop costs and most people will find it too bulky for happiness. The notebook suggested is more than most people need.

Before I buy a laptop like mine, I make sure there is a community of users that love their system and know all about it. I track the forum for awhile and learn about the flowers and warts. Then when I am sure a sufficient number of users love their machine and they are smart enough to help me love mine, I consider buying one of my own. That way I have users who can answer my question if I have trouble. There is no company support that can compete with a strong user base of technoheads. And let’s face it, often there is just NO Company Support period.

I cringe when someone asks “what laptop should I buy” because there is no immediate answer outside of what I stated above. Then the hunt begins. Today Dell may have the suggested configuration for under $500. (Seeing that they just posted a 45% drop in profit.) Next week that same machine could be selling for $700. Notebook prices are all over the map all the time. Maybe HP has one or Gateway or Asus or Acer. It takes digging and searching to find a deal.

Here is a sales circular link. It will tell you what is going on by state with prices. Then hit DealDump to check out the deal trackers. If you find something you can’t live without, Google search that item in the shopping filter to be sure no one is selling for less and good luck. Online pricing is not always the best. Sometimes Best Buy is selling a Dell for prices Dell itself will never touch. Sometimes Newegg will have the best price. Just know that if you buy from Newegg and something goes awry, you will not be sending it back to Newegg. Mr Egg treats notebooks differently than other products and you must go to the manufacturer. I love Newegg but for notebooks, if I can get the best deal at Best Buy I am happiest.

One nice thing about Best Buy is their 30 day return with no questions policy. If you hate, hate, hate the thing or it craps out you can return to Best Buy and pick up another. There is nothing worse than having your notebook for one week and then say a warranty good bye for who knows how long. Or worse yet maybe you despise some part and have to live with it. And many things can happen in those first 30 days. That is the way of electronics.

So now, we still do not know which notebook to buy, and we still do not know where to buy it. See why I hate the question.

Links:

Intel Processor Finder
Best Deal (I may have updated.)

Force Load Unsigned Drivers In Test Mode Easily in Windows 7 or Vista with Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider » My Digital Life

 

The manual process to sign a driver with test certificate is not simple. But there is a tool, by ngohq.com, named Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider (DSEO) that can automate the process to digitally sign a unsigned driver with a test certificate.

Force Load Unsigned Drivers In Test Mode Easily in Windows 7 or Vista with Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider » My Digital Life

Comments:

We hate the signed driver protection racket Microsoft foisted upon he public in the 64 bit OS. This is no secret. The standard options mentioned in the article have not worked for me. I have yet to try DSEO but plan to the next time I have the two goons show up asking for money.

WiseStamp for HTML signature in GMAIL

WiseStamp is the way to go for HTML Signatures in Gmail. It is a Firefox Addon, very slick.

Here are some other suggestions I have not tried. <link>

Panda Cloud Antivirus, The first free cloud antivirus against viruses, spyware, rootkits and adware

Edit: Nix on Panda. It needs reinstall too often. I'm back to AVG if Microsoft Security Essentials can not be installed.

 

Panda Cloud Antivirus
The first free antivirus from the cloud

Panda Cloud Antivirus, The first free cloud antivirus against viruses, spyware, rootkits and adware

Comments:

I’m trying this out. Panda has never been high on my love list but the whole “cloud” thing is cool. The jury is out on how well this works. I had to uninstall Avira before Panda would install but this is standard for antivirus installs. You must set up a free Panda account before it will work (don't forget the email verification).

While Panda is scanning it takes considerable memory.

Here is memory consumption at idle. Not bad.

Here is a review showing Panda less than stellar but acceptable.

Intel® Driver Update Utility for graphics drivers - Check for the latest driver

 

The Intel® Driver Update Utility keeps your Intel graphics driver up-to-date. It detects which graphics updates are relevant to your computer, and then helps you install them quickly and easily.

Intel® Driver Update Utility for graphics drivers - Check for the latest driver

Comments:

If you have an Intel video chip, chances are you are not setting the world on video fire. But even with embedded video, using the latest driver can improve performance. Finding drivers for embedded chips can be daunting. Intel’s automated utility may be just the thing.

Trackon: Tracking the trackers.

Trackon is a service to monitor the status and health of existing open and public trackers that anyone can use.

Trackon: Tracking the trackers.
Comments: If you are looking for a BitTorrent client, use uTorrent.

JPEG Lossless Rotator. Free JPG photo rotation software

 

All people usually make photos with different shot orientatons, and some photos need to be rotated. When you rotate a JPEG photo, most image editors decode the photo, rotate the bitmap and then re-encode it back to JPEG. This process slightly decreases the final image quality. Unlike those tools, the JPEG Lossless Rotator does not recode your photo and performs a special lossless block transformation instead.

JPEG Lossless Rotator. Free JPG photo rotation software

Comments:
Other programs do this also: XnView and Irfanview

Windows 7 in a box

 

Windows7 in a Box.  This could be worth while. No install and makes finding Win7 settings and internal programs easy.

Windows 7 in a box

Some of the stuff does not work for me, bringing up Control Panel for example. This could be due to 64 bit OS and I have not tried it on 32 bit yet.

Connect To WiFi Windows 7

Finding the list of available networks in Win 7 can be a mystery to XP users. Right click the network icon in the lower right tray and "Open Network and Sharing Center."

This can be done from Control Panel also.

Now for the tricky part. It is easy to miss the "connect or disconnect" link.



Click it and the available connections will be displayed.

(Another "Where's Waldo" improvement by Microsoft's Seek and Find Division)

PeerBlock Works In 64 Bit

http://www.peerblock.com/releases
Works fine in Windows7 64. PeerBlock apparently succumbed to Microsoft's Signed Driver Protection Racket. Runs portable so no install required.

My old friend PeerGuardian was not willing to pay the $230 "Fee For Nothing."

Lists are not needed because PeerBlock handles lists from somewhere. But if you must:
http://www.iblocklist.com/lists.php

This may beg the question of why I use a 64bit OS. I only use it if the system has over 3GB of RAM. A 32 bit OS can not practically use more than 3GB of RAM. Otherwise there is no practical reason to use 64 and several reasons not to use 64.

Search Your Computer Fast

I use the portable version of this and love it. Can't find that odd file on one of your many hard drives and Windows own lame search has no clue? Use Everything Search Engine. Others exist and I may not have tried them all but Everything is best of breed for me so far. No install is a bonus. I would install it if I had to.

Create floor plans, house plans and home plans online with Floorplanner.com

Floorplanner is the easiest, quickest, and best looking way to create and share interactive floor plans. Using point-and-click, drag-and-drop tools, you can make your house plan in minutes, and rearrange it as often as you want. Then you can save, send, and print your designs to share them, or place them on your own website.

Create floor plans, house plans and home plans online with Floorplanner.com

Comments:

Sometimes we all need to draw a little floor plan. Full CAD software is painfully difficult to use. Here is an online program that actually works.

Most Endorsed FREE Website Hosting Provider | Free Website Hosting

Here's your chance to create and grow your website on one of the most endorsed free website hosting providers online -- that'll never show a single ad on your website!

Most Endorsed FREE Website Hosting Provider | Free Website Hosting

Comments:

I have not used this and am posting it to remember where it is. I see it recommended often. If you need a quick wiki space use PBWorks (I love it). If you are unsure about having a website try www.110mb.com before investing. There may be several reasons to have a free site. If you simply want to try blogging use www.blogger.com. After becoming infamous WordPress on your own site will be your preference.

Vista/Win7 Network Connection Problems

You’ll discover both IPv6 and IPv4 enabled. Go ahead and uncheck the box for IPv6 and click “OK.” You’ll need to reboot your computer, but afterwards if the protocol incompatibility was your problem (and it very likely was), you’ll find that your computer can now communicate fine with the router. Maybe. There is one other complication Microsoft introduced into Vista just to encourage you that much more to upgrade your router – it’s something called “autotuning,” and it’s also the next Vista tweak. (click the link for more)

Top 5 Vista Tweaks To Increase Internet Speed

Comments:

If you have no internet DHCP may not be activated - read this.

Vista and Win7 both have trouble connecting properly to some wireless routers. This is hugely irritating when it happens. I have not proved these work but the IPv6 suggestion is common. The "autotuning" suggestion is new to me. Both are worth a try but you will need to document them locally as you will not have a connection - da!

On a fresh install of Windows it can take time for the network to establish connections. So give it time before taking a hammer to it. But this strong connection to wireless but no internet can be a maddening issue that time will not help.

If this is your home router, update firmware, update NIC drivers, soft and hard reset.
Try ping www.google.com and 203.2.75.12 (If you can ping one but not the other it's a DNS problem)
Here is a good basic network post.
This is standard stuff.

Netgear 192.168.0.1
D-Link 192.168.0.1
Linksys 192.168.1.1
Belkin 192.168.2.1

Window 7 Volume Adjustment Beep Irritation

I wonder if these people stay up at night thinking up stupid things to add to new Microsoft operating systems. Now when you adjust the volume in the lower right hand corner an irritating bell rings. How could anyone find this useful? I suppose if you are adjusting the volume without having and sound audible this beep would provide an audible level indication. I am happy interpreting the visual level and happily bid good-bye to the beep.

So how do you turn it off. Open up the "Sounds" window somehow. Right clicking the volume icon in lower right and left click "Sounds" is one way. Then turn off "Default Beep". I don't know what else this is for but I certainly do not miss it.

Office 2007 File Types (Clever Capitalism)

Microsoft's insistance on playing Were's Waldo with its menu items really out did itself with Office 2007. Some of the standard stuff is under the fancy icon in the upper left.

Especially important is the options menu. (Word and Excel)
This is were you will determine the default file type for saving files. Change this to the types used by mortal humans. If you want anything and everything to read the file use RTF.


Edit:
Novice users do not know about file extensions because Windows defaults to hide file extensions. Do yourself a favor and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" in Control Panel > Folder Options > View. This will help you understand what is going on with file types.

5 ways to open docx files

Or:

Just use Google Documents but it will save in .doc/.xls format (a good thing in most cases).

Wordpad handles .docx also, just type wordpad in the start menu. Wordpad will not save the .docx as .doc but choosing .rtf is good.

Some educational institutions require docx which is a good way to sell software and partner with Microsoft's revenue stream. So much for fighting ugly capitalism in academia.

Edit: Office 2010 instructions for changing docx save to doc:

ScanSnap S510

The S510 is a great little scanner. This is best purchased refurbished for under $300. It is not Twain compliant but is fast and small. Perfect for making pdf files to store or email.

With a 64 bit system you will need the 64 bit drivers from tech support. They will e-mail you a link for download. Vista worked without problem for me. I have used it on XP, Vista and Win7 32 and 64. Drivers can be a challenge but you can get it working.

Win7 64 you need to run the following program after driver install.
C:\Program Files (x86)\PFU\ScanSnap\Driver\SsDrvRepair folder\SsDrvRepair-x64.exe

via > Sevenforums

I have 3 refurbs and one does not take multiple sheets. I was pushing the sheets in too far. Just drop them in and scan away.

Maybe the S300 would be a good choice if space or portability is an issue.

Rant: Updating software is a pain from this ass hat (whatever that is) company. You must fill out a form including serial number and part number. Then they email you an expiring link to the download. Who is running customer service in this lame brain operation. Really, who is going to "steal" a proprietary driver for a ScanSnap S510. Must be an old Apple employee.

The server is turtle slow.

I Will Not Use iTunes

So Mr. Podcaster, if you insist on an iTunes only means of accessing your podcasts, I will never hear you. It is your site and if you wish to limit access to the small group of Apple fan boys, knock yourself out. But I will not be able to hear you. I have an iPod and still refuse to use iTunes. Stop kidding yourself. You are foolishly limiting your audience by hooking your wagon to Apple’s ridiculous proprietary policies. It has made them rich but it is not helping you.

Edit: OK I installed iTunes (which I hate with the heat of a thousand suns) to handle the iTunes only podcast. It handled the podcast in typical craptastic fashion. I love constancy. Only the most current podcast will display and archives are not showing. So I say again, limiting your podcast access to iTunes only is self defeating.

Firefox Jerky Stream Fix

I thought there was something wrong with my system because Firefox streaming video was so jerky. It is the auto session saving. Bump the time interval from 10,000 to 120,000 or higher. It fixed it for me.

In case you can't read the screen shot. 1. about:config 2. browser.sessionstore.interval

Firefox Addons / Extensions

Another list of Firefox extensions is needed, no? I find these the most useful.

Adblock Plus (Be sure to subscribe to some data base to keep current.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

BBCodeXtra (If you post to forums and wikis this helps if you don't code much and remember little.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/491

Better Gmail 2

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6076

Better Greader

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6424

Blog This in Windows Live Writer

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9968

Win7 version dropped the ability for Live Writer to grab an image from a url. Download this and place the dll into the Live Writer plug in directory.

Delicious Bookmarks

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3615

Drop.io (I don’t use much.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addons/policy/0/8482/44376

Draganddropupload (Drag files to upload inputs but does not always work.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2190

Evernote Web Clipper (May use some day.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8381

Gish Puppy (Quick temporary email for required registrations.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2120

Greasemonkey

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748

Greasemonkey script for improved youtube quality

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/30082

IE Tab

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

Last Pass (This is a must have for passwords.)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8542

Microsoft .Net (If you resent MS adding an extension with no way to remove.)

extension removal

NoSquint (This is great on my hires monitor)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addons/versions/2592

Quickdrag (Another must have)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search?q=quickdrag&cat=all

MozBackup (portable) if tired of installing all the extensions again. Not an extension but backs them up.

http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

Creating Bootable Vista / Windows 7 USB Flash Drive at Kevin’s Blog

Creating Bootable Vista / Windows 7 USB Flash Drive

It surprised me to find that there are very few dead-simple guides to creating a bootable USB thumb/pen/flash drive for a Vista and/or Windows 7 installation. I cobbled together the following from VistaPCGuy and another source I don’t remember right now.

Comments:

This works great but is somewhat overstated now. There are other good instructions out there. But none better so I’ll give him that. This one does describe formatting the USB drive in NTFS, a little thing but handy if you are not proficient in this stuff.

Something that is not mentioned is running the bootsect command being 64/32 bit specific. To do a 64 bit setup you must be on a 64 bit machine. You can set up Win7 using a Vista machine and visa versa.

This is slick and installs are faster than DVD assuming your USB drive and interface is advanced enough. Use an 8GB drive and have plenty of room for your portable programs, Mozbackup, and whatever else you need for easy prep.

Here is the lazy man's way of doing it with UNetbootin. <link> I have not tried this one and don't know if it formats the drive or how it formats.

Show Me A Screen Shot

Ever wanted to email or show someone on a forum some portion of your computer screen? There are many ways to take the screen capture and we probably all know them. The most basic is using PrtSc, pasting into Paint, croping and uploading and linking. This can be cumbersome. The easiest way I know is to use TPUCapture. This freeware is so simple and quick and does the shot/upload/link all in a couple of easy steps. It can be run portable but I just install it. I don’t let it start with Windows but simply fire it up if I want to post a screen shot.

Hit the Windows key, type “tp” and fire it up (in Vista or Win7). Hit the hot keys, draw the desired capture rectangle, click “OK” and copy the url to clipboard. Now use the link to paste the image in a forum or blog.

If you wish to display the image in Gmail you will need to open the url in a browser window and <cntl -a> <cntl - c> then <cntl - v> in the Gmail message.

Yes you have the “techpowerup.com” watermark. A cheap price for convenience. If you can’t stand the mark then use ImageShack or one of the several other storage and linking sites. These sites take more time and steps but are sometimes preferred if you want a more professional look. Often who cares?

If you wish to mark up the capture, combine FSCapture first with TPUCapture second like this":

Dinosaur alert: Could you loose the uploads if TechPowerUp is hit by an asteroid? Yes.

Live Writer alert: Win7 version dropped the ability for Live Writer to grab an image from a url. Download this and place the dll into the Live Writer plug in directory. Access the command from the tool bar >Insert>Insert Web Image...

Maybe it is time for a screen shot?

Live Writer is a great way to post by the way. The Firefox extension makes posting simple.

Win7 Alert: FSCapture is acting screwball for me in Win7 and is basically not usable at ATM.

LiberKey The Portable Solution

(One irritation with this software is if you wait a long time between updating, it will painfully install each and every patch to the main program in order while awaiting your input between each patch. Why not roll up the patches? Oh well, it is free.)

LiberKey is a portable software data base to place on your hard drive or flash drive. It updates the programs automatically and easily. The update feature is awesome. I used many of these programs before I found LiberKey and had to chase down the updates individually.

The LiberKey program is itself portable as well as the programs which reside in the directory. It resides on the disk without installing. When you run the LK "install" it is simply extracting LK in a location of your choice. Each time you start LK it updates itself first. Then it checks on the individual programs within the data base and offers to update those if updates exist. You can select all or parts.
The only thing that takes a little manual hunting is if some program has been added to the package after you initially downloaded it. LK will not add these programs automatically. If you view the program list on LK's web site these programs are clearly marked and you can download a manual install from here if you wish to add the program. Activate the LK associations after download and the new program can be added to LK by simply clicking the download. Remember to turn off "associations" when done. Henceforth that program will update. You can add additional programs from LK that are not included in your specific package. You can also add and index your own programs but I don't bother because these will not update and I simply have LK as an addition to my portable directory. I use Launchy to actually find and start the programs. Launchy is another program I can no longer do without.
Again, I am stupendously impressed with this LiberKey portable collection and management system.
Definition of Portable: The program runs without installation and leaves no trace on the environment of having been run. (Do any of LK's programs leave traces? I don't know.)

2014-01-18 This is a list of programs I use somewhat regularly but I just download the Ultimate Suite.

Download mms wmv files

Some wmv files from mms are difficult to download for storage on your computer. Firefox plugins don't always work. Google takes some digging to find a solution because what worked at one time no longer works or doesn't work everywhere. Google finds many mentions for downloading wmv but for paid solutions or free solution that don't always work.

SDP Multimedia seems to be a working solution. I've had it work when nothing else I tried would work. SDP comes in an msi install file but you do not need to install the program. Use Universal Extractor to unpack the installation folder. Within that folder is sdp.exe. This is all you need to run the program. So you can make SDP portable in that there is no need to install it. I don't know if it can be called truly portable because it may or may not leave some trace of having run. Now we are being picky.

Use some way to find the link to the video you wish to download. Right click and copy link location will probably work. Paste the link into SDP and click GO.

Why would you want to save the video? Maybe to watch off line later. Who knows all the reasons. But you will use no more bandwidth because playing the video or saving consumes that same. All I know is I wanted to save one and had to search longer than I like to find a solution.