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.