News, Hints, Tips and Tricks: Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

How to switch your Windows 7 display to a projector?

2010-10-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

How to switch your Windows 7 display to a projector?

On numerous occasions, I've watched presenters struggle to get their laptops to display with a projector after attaching the cables. Windows 7 makes it easy. Here's how:

1. After attaching the video-out (VGA) port of your laptop to the projector's cable, press the Windows Logo key + P.
2. You'll see a pop-up box with four choices. The first is Computer Only, which is not what you want. You also probably don't want to Extend the Desktop. That leaves two choices. You can select to Duplicate the laptop display to the projector, so that you see the same screen on both (my preference) or you can select Projector Only, so that your desktop is displayed only on the projector screen.

This solution is quick, easy and elegant - far better than having to search for the correct key combination (which varied depending on the hardware) with XP and Vista.

What service pack is installed?

2010-10-28T02:57:00.000-07:00

There are several ways to determine what service packs have been applied:

1. Click Start | Run. In the Run box, type winver and press Enter. This will display the About Windows screen that shows the version of Windows you're running. At the end of the second line, you should see the service pack number.

1. Click Start | Run. In the Run box, type MSINFO32. You'll see the System Properties dialog box and on the General tab, it shows your OS, edition, version and service pack number.

1. Click Start | Control Panel. Click the System applet. This displays the same System Properties dialog box.

1. Right-click My Computer. Click Properties. This also displays the System Properties dialog box.

How to change the default wallpaper folder in XP?

2010-08-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

By default, Windows XP looks in C:\Windows for the wallpaper images that it uses to populate the list of available backgrounds in the Display Properties | Desktop dialog box. Wouldn't it be handier if you could have it look in a different folder, such as your My Pictures folder where you probably save your favorite images? Well, you can - with a simple registry edit.

1. Open the registry editor
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
3. In the right details pane, double click the value WallPaperDir (if it doesn't exist, create a new string value and give it that name)
4. In the Value data field of the Edit String dialog box, type or paste the path to the My Pictures folder (or whatever folder you want Windows to look in for wallpapers). For example: c: \ Documents and Settings \ *your user name* \ My Documents \ My Pictures
5.Close the registry editor

You should not have to reboot to apply the change; you can now open the Display Properties | Desktop dialog box and you'll see the images from your chosen folder in the list.

How to change border thickness in Windows 7?

2010-08-15T03:27:00.000-07:00

The thick borders on windows look great with Aero transparency, but if you prefer thinner borders, you can configure them to look the way you want. Or you can make them even thicker.

1. Right click an empty area on the desktop and select Personalize.
2. Click Window Color at the bottom.
3. Click the Advanced appearance settings... link
4. In the Advanced Appearance dialog box, in the drop-down box under "Item:" select Border Padding.
5. In the "Size" field, change the default (4) to a lower number to reduce the size of the borders or a large number to increase it.
6. Click OK.

How to disable "Reopen Last Browsing Session" feature in IE8?

2010-01-28T02:02:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 comes with Internet Explorer 8, which offers many great new features. One of those is the ability to reopen your last browsing session - this can be a godsend if you accidentally close the browser with a number of pages open that you need to go back to. No more hunting through the History list - you can have them back with a single click. But there are situations wherein this can be a security issue. If you don't like the idea of having your previous browsing sessions so accessible, you can disable the feature and clear the browser cache so it won't be so easy for someone to see where you've been on the web. Here's how:

In the registry editor, navigate toHKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Recovery
In the right pane, right click an empty space and select New DWORD value (32 bit) Value.
Rename the new Value NoReopenLastSession
Double click the new value and set the value data field to 1
Close the registry editor.
Close and restart IE to make the change take effect.

Note: If you want to completely hide the tracks of your previous browsing, clear the browser cache as well: click Tools Delete Browsing History.

How to create a password reset disk?

2010-01-28T01:55:00.000-08:00

If you forget your password to log onto Windows 7, you can change it, without knowing the old one, by using a password reset disk. That's handy, especially for accounts that aren't used often. Remember to keep the disk in a safe place, though, because anyone else can also change your password and access your user account with it. Here's how to create it:

Log onto the account for which you're going to make the disc.
Decide what media you're going to use. It can be a floppy disk (if you have a floppy drive),
USB stick, flash card or external hard drive. Insert or connect the media.
Click Start Control Panel User Accounts.
In the left pane, click "Create a Password Reset Disk."
In the Forgotten Password Wizard dialog box, follow the instructions to make the disk.

Note: If your computer belongs to a domain, you cannot create a password reset disk. The domain administrator can reset your password for you.

How to get rid of the "New Items" highlight in the Programs menu

2010-01-28T01:53:00.000-08:00

When you install a new program in XP, it will be highlighted in orange in the list of programs. This can be useful for helping you to notice what new programs have been installed, but if you'd prefer not to have new programs highlighted, it's easy to get rid of this feature. Here's how:

Right click an empty space on the taskbar.
Select Properties.
In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click the Start Menu tab.
Click the Customize button.
Click the Advanced tab.
Uncheck the box labeled "Highlight newly installed programs."

Is there a way to show the file extension for some files and not others?

2010-01-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

As a matter of fact, it is possible to show file extensions for specific file types only.

In Explorer, click Tools Folder Options.
Click the File Types tab.
In the list of registered file types, choose the file type for which you want to display the extension.
Click the Advanced button.
Click "Always Show Extension."

How to prevent blue screen when installing new motherboard in XP computer?

2009-12-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

A new motherboard is the most significant upgrade that you can make to a computer, since the motherboard also determines what processor(s) you can use, how much and what type of RAM you can install, and so forth. Sometimes installing a new motherboard can be tricky and some folks have reported getting a blue screen that says "inaccessible boot device" after the upgrade. Ouch. Here are some tips for preventing that:

Before installing the new board, boot into XP.
Right click My Computer, click Manager and click Device Manager in the left pane of the Computer Management console.
Select the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller.
Select your current storage controller.
5. Right click select Update Driver and click "Install from a list or specific location."
6. Select "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install."
7. Select the standard dual channel IDE controller.
8. The first time you boot XP after installing the new motherboard, boot in Safe Mode. XP will install needed drivers. You can also install the motherboard drivers from the disc that comes with it.

How to turn off system sounds without muting everything?

2009-12-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

There may be times when you want your computer to just shut up - you don't want to hear sounds when you start up, receive email, get an instant message, etc. You could just mute your speakers, but then you couldn't listen to music or hear the audio when you play a video file. The answer is to temporarily change the Windows sound scheme. Here's how:

Right click the desktop
Select Personalize
Click Sounds at the bottom of the window
On the Sounds tab, click the down arrow under "Sound Scheme" and choose "No Sounds"
Click OK If you only want to turn off sound for specific events (such as email), you can do that, too. Under "Program Events," scroll down to the event you want to silence (New Mail Notification), highlight it, then under "Sounds" at the bottom, click the down arrow and select "(None)."

How to start Windows Media Center without the startup animation?

2009-11-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

Sure, it looks nice the first few times, but the startup animation for Windows Media Center in Windows 7 may be a little overly dramatic for everyday use. Besides, it takes up precious time when you want to get right down to watching TV or playing your music. Here's how to edit the shortcut to start up the application without the animated opening:

Right click the WMC shortcut on your desktop or taskbar (if you have it pinned there) and select Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab.
In the "Target" field, you'll see %windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe
Leave that there, but right after it, type and space and then add /nostartupanimation
Click OK.

How to disable Error Reporting in XP?

2009-11-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

We've all seen it: an application crashes and you get a dialog box that pops up and asks you to send an error report to Microsoft. Sure, it's nice that they want to try to keep up with what problems users are having and fix them, but maybe you don't want to bother or you don't particularly want to send information about what programs you're running. You can turn off the error reporting service and do away with those dialogs for good.

Here's how:

Right click My Computer.
Click Advanced.
Select "Disable error reporting."
Click OK.

Now wasn't that easy?

How to make Windows XP your default operating system in dual boot with Ubuntu?

2009-11-12T23:20:00.000-08:00

Lots of people are trying out Ubuntu, one of the currently most popular distributions of Linux. Why not? After all, it's free. Many are installing it to dual boot with their Windows OS, which is a good idea since many Windows applications that you may rely on to do your work don't run in Linux. However, you may notice that its boot loader takes over and makes Ubuntu the default operating system, and that might not be what you want. To change that behavior, you need to edit the Grub boot loader menu. Here's how:

Boot into Ubuntu
Click Applications Accessories Terminal to open a command line window
At the command prompt, type sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
When prompted, type your password
In the file, find the following section:
## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0,
and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.default 0
Change the 0 to the number of the Windows boot section, which should be 4 on a typical dual boot system where you installed Ubuntu after XP
Save the file with the changes

It's a good idea to back up the file before you edit it.

How to remove startup programs?

2009-10-12T23:53:00.001-07:00

If your XP computer is taking way too long to boot up, it might be because you're loading too many programs at startup. Often applications that you install will take it upon themselves to add themselves to the startup list, even though you don't really want them to start automatically every time you boot the computer. Sometimes many of these apps are vendor "crapware" programs that you don't even want or use. Here's how to quickly prevent unwanted programs from starting up when you boot the system:

Click Start Run
In the Run box, type msconfig
In the System Configuration Utility interface, click the Startup tab
Uncheck the items you don't want to start when your computer starts
Click OK and then restart the computer to make the change take effect (or just exit without restarting if you want to reboot at a later time).

How to find out who has used or tried to use your printer?

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

If you share the printer attached to your XP Pro machine with others, you can find out who has used it - or tried to use it - by enabling auditing on the printer. Here's how you set it up:

Log on with an administrative account.
In Windows Explorer, click Tools | Folder Options | View tab.
Uncheck "Sue Simple File Sharing (Recommended)."
Click Start | Control Panel (classic view) | Administrative Tools | Local Security Policy
In the left pane, click to expand Local Policies.
Click Audit Policy.
Double click Audit Object Access in the right pane.
Select to audit both successes and failures.
Click Start | Printers and Faxes.
Right click the icon for your printer and select Properties.
Click the Security tab.
Click Advanced.
Click the Auditing tab.
Click Add, and add the Everyone group. Click OK.
Select the types of access you want to audit (Print, Manage Printers, Manage Documents, etc.).
When some successfully uses the printer or performs other audited tasks, it will be recorded in the System log. When someone who doesn't have permission tries to print, it will be recorded in the Security log. You can view the logs by clicking Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer.

How to kill multiple processes?

2009-09-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had Internet Explorer or Chrome or some other program freeze up (it seems to be especially common with web browsers) and you couldn't get it to close by clicking close button right side of the title bar? So you open Task Manager(Ctrl+Alt+Del), go to the Processes tab and proceed to kill the process (for example, iexplore.exe) but you find there are half a dozen or more of them. Don't you wish you could kill them all at once instead of having to right-click each one and select to end it? Well, you can. Here's how:

Click the Start button.
In the Search box, type cmd to open the command window.
At the command prompt, type: taskkill /F /IM /T

For example, to kill all instances of the IE process, you would type: taskkill /F /IM iexplore.exe /T

How to set up a network printer in XP?

2009-09-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

A few years back, printers that connected to the network via Ethernet (rather than to a computer via USB) were mostly confined to expensive models marketed to businesses. Today you can buy low cost printers for your home that plug directly into the network. Here's how to set up a network printer in XP:

Physically connect the printer to a hub or switch on the network with an Ethernet cable and turn it on.
In Control Panel, open Printers and Faxes.
In the Printer Tasks section, click Add a Printer.
On the page labeled "Local or Network Printer," select the local printer option and uncheck the box labeled automatic detection.
On the page labeled "Select a Printer Port," click Create a New Port.
Select Standard TCP/IP Port.
Click Next.
On the "Add Standard TCP/IP Printer Port" page, click Next.
On the "Add Port" page, enter the IP address of the printer, which you can usually obtain by printing out a configuration information report from the printer's Setup menu.
Click Next.
Click Finish.

How to set XP to display the shutdown menu when you press the power button?

2009-08-23T00:34:00.001-07:00

By default, when you press your computer's power button, the system shuts down. That can be a problem if it sometimes gets pressed accidentally. You can configure XP to instead display the shutdown menu, giving you the option to choose whether to shut down, restart, etc. Here's how:

1. Right click an empty spot on the desktop
2. Select Properties
3. In the display properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab
5. Near the bottom of the dialog box, click the Power button
6. In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab
7. At the bottom of the page, under "When I press the power button on my computer," select "Ask me what to do."
8. Click OK

How to make your XP more quickly shut down?

2009-07-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

If XP is inordinately slow about shutting down, it may be that it's waiting on a hung program. You can edit the registry to change the amount of time XP will wait for a program to close. As always when editing the registry, back it up first, just in case. Then perform these steps:

1. Open your registry editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
3. In the right pane, find the item HungAppTimeout and double click it
4. In the value data box, change the default value (5000) to a lower number (for example, 1000). Click OK.
5. Next, find the WaitToKillAppTimeout and double click it
6. Change the default value from 20000 to 1000. Click OK.
7. Now navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control
8. In the right pane, find WaitToKillServiceTimeout and double click it.
9. Change the default value to 1000 and click OK.
10. Then navigate to:HKEY_USERS \ DEFAULT \ Control Panel \ Desktop
11. Find HungAppTimeout and doubleclick it.
12. Change the default value to 2000 and click OK.
13. In the same key, find WaitToKillAppTimeout and double click it.
Change the value to (you guessed it!) 1000 and click OK.

If you don't want the timeout to be quite as short, change these values to something else (for example, 5000). Just make sure the value is the same for each.

How to make a program always start with administrative rights?

2009-07-12T02:11:00.000-07:00

Some programs, especially utilities, need administrative rights to run correctly (or at all). This isn't the best programming model, but if you have programs like that and you need to run them on Vista, you can set the properties to allow the program to always run as administrator. Here's how:

Right click the shortcut icon for the program.
Select Properties.
On the Shortcut tab, click the Advanced button.
Check the box that says "Run as administrator."
Click OK.

Now when you use the shortcut to launch the program, it will run as administrator. You'll need to click Continue at the UAC prompt (unless you've disabled UAC).

How to increase the maximum bit rate for WMA files in Media Player?

2009-07-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

The bit rate of an audio file refers to the number of bits that are processed per second. In the Windows Media Player, you can set the bit rate but you'll find that the maximum available for WMA files is 192 Kbps. If you want to set a higher rate, you can edit the registry. As always, be sure to make a backup before you make changes to the registry. Here's how to do it:

Open the registry editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences
In the right pane, double click the item WMARecordRate
Choose Decimal and enter the bit rate you want to use, in bits. For example, 320 Kbps is entered as 320000.
Close the registry editor.

Now your tracks will be stored at the higher bit rate.

How to disable the system tray?

2009-06-30T02:35:00.000-07:00

I use the system tray items frequently, but some folks don't, and want a more minimalist look for their taskbars. If you're all about simplifying the look and don't want to be bothered with all those icons in the notification area, there's a registry edit that you can do to get rid of it.

Open your favorite registry editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
Click an empty space in the right pane and choose New DWORD Value
Right click the new value to rename it to NoTrayItemDisplay
Double click the new value and set the value to 1
Log off and log back on for the change to take effect

Note that this disables the system tray for your user account only, and it doesn't keep the applications in the tray from running - it just keeps their icons from being displayed there. You can get the tray back by changing the value to 0.

Is there an easier way to use my printer as a copier?

2009-06-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

You can turn any scanner and printer (both) into a copy machine using software, and you don't even have to pay for it. A free program called (appropriately enough) Photocopier works with XP, Vista and even older programs such as NT and Windows 98. You set the number of copies and the brightness level, click the Copy button and it just works.

Download it here:

Photocopier

How to disable the "Your computer might be at risk" popup message in XP

2009-06-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

If XP doesn't recognize the antivirus you have installed, you may find yourself constantly having to close a "nag screen" popup that tells you that your computer might be at risk because antivirus software might not be installed. The same thing can happen if you turn off the Windows Firewall because you're using a third party firewall. Of course, if you really don't have AV or a firewall, you probably should think about installing one. But if you just use a less-known security program that XP's Security Center doesn't "see," you can get rid of the message. Here's how:

1. Click Start Control Panel and click the Security Center icon.
2. In the left pane, under Resources, click the link that says "Change the way Security Center alerts me."
3. In the Alert Settings dialog box, you can uncheck the box(es) for firewall and/or virus protection.
4. Click OK.

Note: Applies to XP SP2 or above.

When you use Sound Recorder to record audio in Windows Vista, the recorded audio may contain pops, clicks, or other distortions

2009-06-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS
When you use Sound Recorder to record audio in Windows Vista, the recording may contain extraneous noises such as pops or clicks. Or, the recording may sound distorted. This problem may occur when you record from a device that is connected to the line-in port on the computer's sound card. Additionally, this problem may occur more frequently when Sound Recorder is configured to sample at rates other than 16 bits and 44100 hertz (Hz). This problem does not occur when you use certain third-party programs to record audio.

CAUSE
This problem may occur if the recording volume is too high. This causes data clipping in the recording. Certain third-party programs may do a better job of automatically modulating volume levels that are set too high.

RESOLUTION
To work around this problem, use one of the following methods, and then record the audio again:

Decrease the volume output of the device that is connected to the line-in port on the sound card. For example, if you have a portable MP3 player connected through the headphone jack of the device, reduce the volume of the MP3 device.
Decrease the volume of the recorded sound in the Hardware and Sound item in Control Panel.

To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then click Manage audio devices.
Click the Recording tab, click the audio device that you use to record sound, and then click Properties.
Click the Levels tab, drag the volume slider to the left to reduce the volume, and then click OK.

How to make Word create hyperlinks automatically

2009-06-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

I've installed Office 2007 many times, but in a recent installation, I found that Word no longer created links when I typed in a URL beginning with "www" or "http." I also found that Word wasn't automatically making numbered lists as I was used to it doing. For some reason, automatic hyperlinks and auto formatting of numbered and bulleted lists weren't turned on by default (as they had been when I installed Office on other computers), and finding out where to enable them isn't exactly an intuitive process.

Here's how to fix those problems:

Click the Office logo button in the top left corner of the Word window.
Click the Word Options button at the bottom of the menu.
Click Proofing in the left pane.
Click the AutoCorrect Options button.
Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
Under "Replace as you type," check the box that says "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.
To enable automatic numbered lists, under "Apply as you type," check "Automatic numbered lists."
Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.

You might want to check out the other options here as there are a number of handy autoformatting choices that you can enable if you wish.

Change the logon screen in Vista

2009-06-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

Don't like the logon screen wallpaper? Want something a little more customized and to your own taste? It's easy to do with a simple little free utility that you can download at

http://www.stardock.com/products/logonstudio/

Create or download a picture that you want to use for the logon background and name it with the .logonvista extension.
Download and install LogonStudio for Vista.
Click the shortcut to open the program. When you get the UAC prompt, click Continue.
Navigate to the location of the file you want to use for the background.
Select the file and click Open.
Click Save.
Click Apply.

Now you'll have a logon screen you like instead of the same one that everyone else has.

How to Protect your E-Mail from spam

2009-05-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

Imagine yourself preparing an important presentation. Suddenly, the Outlook Express installed on your computer pops up a message saying 'Buy Viagra for cheap' or 'Trying to sell you a business that pays you thousands of $$ every week'. Most Internet users are familiar with such unwanted emails in their Inbox.

Lately, however, you must have noticed an increase in this kind of 'junk mail' to your your email address, or on your favourite newsgroup. These junk mails, also known as spam, are flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force it on people who would otherwise choose not to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products like get-rich-quick schemes. Spam costs the sender very little -- most of the cost is paid for by the recipient or the carriers, rather than by the sender.

Email spam targets individual users with direct mail messages. Email spam lists are often created by scanning Usenet postings, stealing Internet mailing lists, or searching the Web for addresses. Here are some tips and tricks to help you control the amount of spam you receive.

How to eliminate spam:

1. Try not to display your email address in public: This includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, Websites and online services membership directories. You may want to opt out of member directories for your online services -- spammers use them to harvest addresses. Also, disguise your email address when you post it to a newsgroup, chat room, bulletin board, or other public web pages. For example, use ankurjain_del AT rediffmail DOT com. This way, a person can interpret your address, but the automated programmes spammers use often cannot.

2. Check the privacy policy when you submit your address to a Website: See if it allows the company to sell your address. You may want to opt out of this provision, if possible, or not submit your address at all to Websites that won't protect it. Also, look for all the check boxes that have been checked by default while you fill and submit any form.

3. Use two email addresses: Try to use two email addresses -- one for personal messages and one for newsgroups and chat rooms. You also might consider using a disposable email address service -- this can be a separate email address that forwards mails to your permanent account. If one of the disposable addresses begins to receive spam, you can shut it off without affecting your permanent address.

4. Use a unique email address: Your choice of email addresses may affect the amount of spam you receive. Spammers use 'dictionary attacks' to sort through possible name combinations at large ISPs or email services, hoping to find a valid address.. Thus, a common name such as ankurjain may get more spam than a more unique name like a11nkur2006jain. Of course, there is a downside -- it's more difficult to remember an unusual email address.

5. Use an email filter: Check your email account to see if it provides a tool to filter out potential spam or a way to channel spam into a bulk email folder. You might want to consider these options when you're choosing your Internet Service Provider. Do your part by keeping your junk email filter up-to-date.

6. Never hit the 'REMOVE' button: Most spam mail you receive contains a line that says 'Reply with subject line as UNSUBSCRIBE to remove your email address from our mailing list'. When, in fact, you reply to unsubscribe, what happens is that you simply verify you have a valid email address. As a result, you get even more spam instead of getting removed from the list.. Some spam relies on generators that try variations of email addresses at certain domains. If you click a link within an email message or reply to a certain address, you are only confirming your email address is valid. Unwanted messages that offer an 'unsubscribe' option are particularly tempting, but this is often just a method for collecting valid addresses that are then sent other spam.

Take, for example, the : URL: http://grz67. com/track/ rd/3964715/ 5751/23643/ 1934. This URL contains a tracking ID will be mapped to your email ID in the site's database. The spammers would be sending you email with this URL behind the link. Whenever the user accesses this URL, the spammer can be sure the email address associated with this tracking ID is a valid one. Many people have documented the fact that not only do 'Remove' lists not work, they verify to the spammer that your e-mail address is good. The spammer then puts it on a premium CD and sell it to the next spammer for even more money.

7. Be responsible and considerate as a user: We ourselves promote spam in some way or the other. Some people consider email forwards a type of spam, so be selective with the messages you redistribute. Don't forward every message to everyone in your address book. If someone asks that you not forward messages to him or her, respect their request.

8. Keep your antivirus programs updated: Spam is a cat-and-mouse game, with spammers working relentlessly to outwit the filters. There have been some viruses reported, which help in spamming by sending a pre-set mail to all your Outlook contacts using your email address. When the recipients open their mail, their system also gets infected and mails are sent from their system to all the contacts in their address books. So, by keeping your antivirus programme updated, you can detect these viruses, stop their entry into your computer and prevent spamming from your mailbox.

How to disable "In Private" browsing in IE 8

2009-05-28T03:08:00.000-07:00

Microsoft got lots of praise from privacy advocates for including the "In Private" mode in Internet Explorer 8, which lets you surf without storing cookies, saving history or cache information or otherwise leaving tracks of what sites you've visited. This is good when using public computers - but some parents have written to say they don't want their kids to be able to so easily erase the traces of where they've been on the family computer. Well, if you're one of those, you'll be happy to know that it's pretty easy to disable "In Private" browsing. Here's how to do it in Vista Business, Enterprise or Ultimate or in the Windows 7 RC:

Click Start and in the Search box, type gpedit.msc to open the local Group Policy management console.
In the left pane, navigate to Computer Configuration Administrative Templates Windows Components Internet Explorer InPrivate
In the right pane, double click the setting "Turn off InPrivate browsing"
Select Enabled and click OK to prevent the use of the In Private feature.

Is there any reason to run 64 bit Vista on a system that maxes out at 4 GB RAM?

2009-05-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

The biggest advantage of 64 bit over 32 bit is the ability to use large amounts of RAM. The 32 bit OS is limited to 4 GB but 64 bit Vista can support from 8 to 128 GB depending on the edition (Home Premium supports 16 GB and Ultimate supports 128). However, you can only use as much RAM as your computer's motherboard will support, so if the hardware limits you to 4 GB, the 64 bit OS won't help you memory-wise. In fact, it may hurt you a little, since 64 bit Vista can use about 12 - 15% more RAM for the OS and services.

I have found 64 bit Windows to be generally more stable than 32 bit on the same machine, but that advantage can be outweighed by the fact that it's harder to find 64 bit hardware drivers, so some of your peripherals may not work. If a driver isn't signed, you can't load it on the 64 bit OS. This is probably one reason for the extra stability, but again makes it more likely you won't be able to use some of your devices. Another consideration is that 64 bit Vista won't run 16 bit applications. So if you still have a few old 16 bit apps you want to run, the only way you'll be able to do that is to install a 32 bit OS in a virtual machine and run them there.

You also have a performance advantage when you run 64 bit programs on the 64 bit OS. Unfortunately, right now there aren't many 64 bit applications; however, Microsoft Office 2010 will be available in a 64 bit version. Overall, though, with a machine with limited RAM, you're probably better off sticking with the 32 bit OS.

How to get your Gmail messages in Windows Mail

2009-05-28T02:43:00.000-07:00

You can get the messages sent to your Gmail account without going to the Gmail web site - just set up Windows Mail in Vista to get them. First, you need to enable IMAP on the Settings page on the Gmail web site. Just click "Enable IMAP" in the "IMAP Access" section.
Now in Windows Mail, do the following:

Click Tools Accounts and select "E-mail account" as the account type.
Enter your display name, then in the next box, enterer your Gmail address.
On the "Set up email servers" page, choose IMAP for the incoming email server type in the drop-down box, then enter "imap.gmail.com" as the incoming server and "smtp.gmail.com" as the outgoing server.
Check the box "Outgoing server requires authentication."
On the next page, enter your gmail address (username) and password. Check the box that says "do not download my email and folders at this time."
Click Finish.
On the Internet Accounts dialog box, highlight the name of the gmail account and click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab, and check the options "this server requires a secure connection (SSL). Set the outgoing mail (SMTP) port to 587 and the incoming mail (IMAP) port to 993.
Click the IMAP tab and uncheck "Store special folders on IMAP server."

You can now configure which folders you want Windows Mail to download by clicking imap.gmail.com in the left pane of the mail client window. You probably won't wat to download your spam folder and your trash folder, for example. You can now click the Send/Receive button to download your mail.

How to enter the BIOS or CMOS setup.

2009-05-24T22:19:00.001-07:00

Because of the wide variety of computer manufacturers and BIOS manufacturers over the evolution of computers, there have been numerous different ways to enter the BIOS or CMOS Setup. Below is a listing of the majority of these methods as well as other recommendations for entering the BIOS setup.

Computers that have been manufactured in the last few years will allow you to enter the CMOS by pressing one of the below five keys during the boot. Usually it's one of the first three.

F1
F2
DEL
ESC
F10

A user will know when to press this key when they see a message similar to the below example as the computer is booting. Some older computers may also display a flashing block to indicate when to press the F1 or F2 keys.

Press to enter BIOS setup

Tip: If your computer is a new computer and you are unsure of what key to press when the computer is booting, try pressing and holding one or more keys the keyboard. This will cause a stuck key error, which may allow you to enter the BIOS setup.

Restart XP from Task Manager

2009-05-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

If the computer locks up and you can't access the Start menu, you might still be able to invoke Task Manager using the CTRL+ALT+DEL key combination. You can restart your computer from there:

Click the Shut Down menu
Select Restart

This is better for the system than doing a hard reboot (turning the computer off with the power button).

How to print selected text from web pages

2009-05-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Want to print just a part of a web page? One way to do it is to copy the text you want and paste it into Word, then print the document - but there's an easier way.

Highlight the specific text (or image) you want to print.
Press CTRL + P or click File Print.
In the Print Range dialog, click the option button for "Selection" ("All" is the default). 4. Click OK.

This will print only the selected portion of the page.

How to get rid of the Remote Desktop title bar?

2009-05-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

If you like to use the full screen view when you connect to another computer with the Remote Desktop Connection, you might want to get rid of the RDC title bar that shows up when your mouse pointer finds its way over the top center of the screen. To prevent it from showing up, perform these steps:

Before connecting, in the RDC dialog box, click the Options button.
Click the Display tab.
Clear the box labeled "Display the Connection Bar when in Full Screen Mode."
Click OK.

Where is the Vista Start Menu folder?

2009-05-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

QUESTION:

I recently bought a computer with Vista installed. I like it for the most part but I'm still confused about some things that were changed. In XP, I could go to Documents and Settings, Default User, Start Menu and remove things from the start menu. I can find it in Vista. Is there still a way to do this? Thanks!

ANSWER:

Vista has changed the path for that data; it's now in the Users folder instead of Documents and Settings.

The full path is: Users \ Default \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu

If you want to modify the Start Menu for your own user account (rather than all users), there's an easy way. In the Search box on the Start menu, just type: shell:start menu

How to disable the Caps Lock key?

2009-05-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Do you ever actually use the Caps Lock key? I can't remember the last time I did. But it hasn't been nearly that long since the last time I accidentally hit it and ended up with all caps that I didn't want. That can be a real problem with some laptops whose keys so small that you hit Caps Lock when you're trying for Shift or Tab. Want to disable it? Here's how:

Open your registry editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Keyboard Layout
In the right pane, double click the value Scancode Map. If it doesn't exist, create a new Binary Value and name it "Scancode Map" (without the quotation marks).
Enter the following binary data in the value data field: 00000000 00000000 0200000000 00003A00 00000000
Close the registry editor.

This remaps the key to "nothing." You can also remap it to serve the function of another key, such as the SHIFT key. If you often hit Caps Lock when you really want SHIFT, you might want to do this. In that case, enter the following value in the value data field: 00000000 00000000 02000000 2A003A00 00000000

Disk Defragmenter does not work on a Windows XP-based computer

2009-05-12T03:45:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS
When you try to use Disk Defragmenter on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, the following symptoms may occur:

When you click Analyze or Defragment, nothing happens.
When you try to use the Defrag.exe command-line tool, you receive the following error message:

Windows cannot connect to the Disk Defragmenter engine.

Additionally, when you open the Properties dialog box for the local hard disk and then click the Tools tab, one of the following symptoms may occur:

The Defragment Now button is unavailable.
When you click Defragment Now, you receive the following error message:

The Disk Defragmenter is not installed on your computer. To install it, double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon in Control Panel, click the Install/Uninstall tab, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

CAUSE

This issue occurs because Disk Defragmenter is not installed on the computer.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type C:\Windows\Inf, and then click OK. Note Substitute C with the drive letter of the local hard disk.
Right-click the dfrg.inf file, and then click Install.

How to make XP look and act like Windows 7

2009-05-12T03:36:00.000-07:00

No, you can't turn XP into Win7; you can't even do a direct upgrade. However, if you like the sleek look of 7 but aren't ready to start over with a new OS, you can give your XP computer much the same look, and you can also download programs that will provide some of the same functionality as new Windows 7 features.

Install the Windows 7 Taskbar iconizer to make the taskbar icons look more like those in 7.
Install AeroPeek and Visual Task Tips to allow you to view thumbnails of open windows and highlight the active window while making all the other windows transparent (requires .NET Framework 3.5)
Install AeroSnap to make windows automatically resize to fill half the screen when dragged to the side of the monitor.
Download and run AeroShake to minimize all inactive windows by shaking with your mouse.

You can find links to download all of these programs, along with screenshots and more instructions, at make-windows-xp-vista-like-windows

“Your system is low on virtual memory” error message when you try to start an Office program

2009-05-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS
When you start any of the Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2003 programs, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following error message:

Your system is low on virtual memory. To ensure that Windows runs properly, increase the size of your virtual memory paging file. For more information, see Help.

If you click OK, you may receive the following error message:

Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information, see Help.

CAUSE
This behavior may occur if you try to start any of the programs included in Office on a computer where the paging file value setting is too low.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, increase the size of the paging file. To do so, follow these steps as appropriate for your operating system.Note Microsoft Office 2007 requires Windows XP or higher.

FOR WINDOWS XP

Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
In the Performance pane, click Settings.
In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
In the Virtual memory pane, click Change.
Change the Initial size value and the Maximum size value to a higher value, click Set, and then click OK.
Click OK to close the Performance Options dialog box, and then click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.

NOTE:

With virtual memory, the computer can use hard disk space as random access memory (RAM). The computer uses virtual memory to augment the ordinary RAM that is installed on the computer. If you reduce the size of the paging file, the Office program may not start correctly or may not start at all. This behavior may occur even if the computer has a large RAM.

How to install Windows 7 to dual boot with XP

2009-05-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

Many people who have stuck with XP are getting the itch to give Windows 7 a try - but without making a commitment. Here's the procedure for installing 7 to dual boot with XP on a computer that already has XP installed:

1.If you only have one partition on your hard drive, you need to shrink it so you can create a second one on which to install Windows 7 (I recommend if you have less than 30 GB of free space, you should buy and install a second physical hard drive on which to install Win7).

2. Boot the system from the Windows 7 installation DVD and when you get to the "Where do you want to install Windows?" option, be sure to pick the partition, disk or unallocated space on which XP is not installed. Proceed through the Setup process.

3. Proceed through the Setup process

4. When the system reboots after installing, pick "Earlier Version of Windows" from the boot menu to boot into XP.
If you had XP installed on C:, when you boot into Windows 7 you'll see that it appears to be installed on C:. Don't panic - Windows 7 calls whatever drive it's installed on C:, which actually makes things easier for applications. The drive on which XP is installed won't show up at all by default, although it's there in Disk Management and you can assign it a drive letter if you want it to show up when you're in Win7 (for example, if it has data stored on it that you want to access). For example, you might assign it drive letter X: to denote that it's the XP drive, and you'll see it as X: in Win7 Explorer. However, when you boot back into XP, the drive it's installed on will be C: (or whatever it was originally) again.

Here's a detailed, illustrated tutorial on installing the dual boot configuration:
How to dual boot Windows XP and Windows 7 (XP installed first)

How to reset Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP SP2

2009-05-05T03:50:00.001-07:00

There are situations where-in you need to reset your Windows Firewall settings, after removing a Trojan etc. Resetting the Windows Firewall sets the configuration to factory defaults by removing all the programs / port / exceptions settings.

To reset the Windows Firewall to the factory default state, try this:

Type firewall.cpl in Start, Run dialog.
Click the Advanced tab.
Click the Restore Defaults button.
Click Yes to continue when you see this dialog

Restoring the default settings will delete all settings of Windows Firewall that you have made since Windows was installed. This may cause some programs to stop working.

Do you want to continue?

The Windows Firewall is now turned ON, and set to factory default state.
Alternately, you can use the NETSH command-line to accomplish this:

Open a Command Prompt window and type NETSH FIREWALL RESET

This command resets firewall configuration to default. This provides the same functionality as the Restore Defaults button in the Windows Firewall interface.

2009-05-05T03:50:00.000-07:00

Type firewall.cpl in Start, Run dialog.
Click the Advanced tab.
Click the Restore Defaults button.
Click Yes to continue when you see this dialog

How can I change the physical location of "My Documents" folder?

2009-05-05T03:44:00.000-07:00

By default, the My Documents folder for your user account resides in the %Userprofile% folder:
Example: C:\Documents and Settings\Games\My Documents(Assuming your user account name is Games)
If the system drive is running out of space and you want to redirect the My Documents folder to a different partition, follow this method:

Create a folder in a different drive
Assign appropriate folder permissions
Open My Computer window.
From Common Tasks pane, right-click My Documents and choose Properties.
Type the target folder path and click Apply

Internet Explorer may crash when you browse a Web page that constantly fetches a recordset asynchronously and filters the recordset at the same time f

2009-04-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario. On a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), you browse a Web page in Windows Internet Explorer. The Web page constantly fetches a recordset asynchronously and filters the recordset at the same time from an instance of Microsoft SQL Server. In this scenario, an access violation may occur, and Internet Explorer may crash.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because the CNotifyInterface object is released two times incorrectly without any thread protection.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, it is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Windows Stops Responding When You Click a Large AVI File in Windows Explorer

2009-04-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS

When you click a large Audio Video Interleaved (AVI) file in Windows Explorer, Microsoft Windows may stop responding (hang). Additionally, when you view the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager, you notice that the Explorer.exe process consumes 100 percent of CPU usage for up to two hours or more.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because Windows scans the large AVI file when you click it in Windows Explorer. When you click a large AVI file (for example, when you click a 700-megabyte [MB] AVI file) in Windows Explorer, Windows tries to query the index of the file. If there is no index information in the file, Windows performs a loop to check all portions of the file to build the index. Because of the large size of the AVI file (in this example, 700 MB), it takes a long time for Windows to scan the whole file. Because of this behavior, the CPU usage of the Explorer.exe process reaches 100 percent.

RESOLUTION
1. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP.

2. A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

3. If the 1 & 2 fix does not solve the problem, you can unregister the component causing it thus solving the problem completely.

THIS TECHNIQUE IS UNSUPPORTED AND YOU USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Click Start, then Run.
Type [regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll] without the parenthesis.
Click the OK button.4. After an instant, you will get a dialog with the message "DllUnregisterServer in shmedia.dll succeded.".

How to move an off-screen window back to your main monitor?

2009-04-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

If you turn off or unplug a secondary monitor while XP is running and there's an application window that was displayed on the secondary monitor, you may wonder how to get it back to the main screen. Here's the secret:

Click the application in the taskbar to put the focus on it.
Right click it in the taskbar and select Move
Press the appropriate arrow key (Left or Right, depending on the direction in which you need to move the window to bring it back to the main monitor)
Move your mouse or pointing device in the same direction, until it moves back into view on the main monitor.

Back Up and Restore the Registry

2009-04-19T03:55:00.000-07:00

Some guides in this book will require you to change values in your registry. If you make a mistake and don’t correct it, you may find your computer is not as functional as it was before. To protect yourself from any mistakes, you need to backup your registry. To back up and restore your registry, do the following:

Backup the Registry

Press Start > Run (Winkey+R) and type regedit
Left click Computer in the left pane
Go to File > Export
Save the file (for extra caution, save the file to a USB thumb drive)

Restore the Registry

Press Start > Run (Winkey+R) and type regedit
Left click Computer in the left pane
Go to File > Import
Choose the backup file you created

The Backup and Restore Center

2009-04-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

The Backup and Restore center – bundled with Windows Vista – is an excellent tool, which allows you to backup and restore your files or an image of your operating system.

Launching the Backup and Restore Center
To launch the Backup and Restore Center, do the following:

Press the Start
Type Backup in Run
Select Backup and Restore Center

Backing up Your Files

To backup your files, click Backup Files and follow the directions given to you. Select the directories and files you want to backup and find a suitable place to store these files. It is recommend an external hard drive or DVD(s).

Restoring Your Files

Launch the Backup and Restore center and click Restore Files. Locate the medium your files are stored on and follow the instructions to get your previously backed up files back.

How to make XP skip the prompt to find a program to open files?

2009-04-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

When you try to open a file for which XP doesn't have a program association, you normally get a dialog box asking you if you want to search online for the appropriate program to open it. This registry tweak will disable that prompt and display the Open With dialog box instead.

Open your registry editor. (Start>Run>Type regedit>ok)
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ system
Right click an empty space in the right details pane and click New.
Select DWORD value.
Name the new DWORD value No Internet OpenWith
Double click the value and set the value data field to 1
Close the registry editor

You may need to reboot for the change to take effect.

Dual Boot Windows XP and Vista

2009-04-16T00:31:00.000-07:00

You may have your own reasons for use of both systems, or you may just have a licenses for Vista andXP and want to use them both.

Install Vista after Installing XP

Installing Vista is really easy if you already have Windows XP installed.

Simply boot from your Windows Vista installation disc.
Select the disk or partition you wish to install Vista on (make sure you don’t install Vista on the XP partition), and Windows will take care of itself.

After installing Vista, you will be presented with a bootscreen offering you to boot to Windows Vista or an earlier version of Windows(XP.)

Install XP after Installing Vista

Simply boot from your Windows XP installation disk, select the disk or partition you wish to install XP on (make sure you don’t install XP on the Vista partition), and Windows will take care of itself.
Now boot from your Vista installation DVD. Click Next on the regional settings screen and click on Repair Your Computer. Select the Vista install and run the Startup Repair.
The next step is to tell Vista that XP exists by adding an entry for XP to the Vista boot manager. In Windows Vista, click Start and type Run.
Right click on the shortcut and select Run as Administrator…
Run the following commands in the same order they are presented here:

bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d "Windows XP"
bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot
bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast

Now reboot your computer and you should have the option to boot to either Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Import option in Windows Media Center may not be available

2009-04-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

SMYMPTOMS

After you connect an external hard disk drive or a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive to a computer that is running Windows Vista, the Import option in Windows Media Center may not be available. The Import option is used to copy files from removable storage devices to a computer for use in Windows Media Center.

CAUSE
This problem occurs because some external hard disk drives and USB flash drives report themselves to Microsoft Windows as local hard disk drives instead of as removable storage devices. The Import option in Windows Media Center is not available for local hard disk drives.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, follow these steps:
Open Windows Media Center.Click picture library or music library.
Right-click a picture or a video, and then click Library Setup.
Click to select the option button next to Add a folder to watch.
Follow the prompts to add a folder from an external hard disk drive, from a removable media drive, or from a network location.

Note: Pictures and videos in folders that are on the watch list will automatically be added to those files that are available in Windows Media Center.

Can I turn off the problem reporting?

2009-04-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

QUESTION:
My biggest gripe about Vista is the stupid dialog box that comes up whenever there's a problem, wanting me to send a report to Microsoft. I click "no" every time but is there a way to just turn this off so I don't have to waste my time on it?

ANSWER:
You can disable the error reporting service if you never want to send reports. Here's how:

Click Start
In the Search box, type Services and press Enter
In the right pane of the Services console, scroll down to find Windows Error Reporting Service and double click it
On the General tab, set the Startup Type to Disabled

How to stop Windows Update from changing the Sleep button function?

2009-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Vista tries hard to take care of us - and sometimes it tries a little too hard. One big annoyance is the habit of changing the Sleep button to "Install updates and shut down" when there are new updates. If you want to change this behavior, you can do so by editing the registry. Here's how:

Open your registry editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ WindowsUpdate\AU
In the right details pane, right click an empty space and select New DWORD value
Name the new value NoAUAsDefaultShutdownOption
Double click the new value and set the value data field to 1

This makes Vista stop replacing the Sleep option with the Install Updates option, but the latter will still be available as a separate option on the Shutdown menu.

A high definition audio device may no longer work after you resume Windows Vista from hibernation or from sleep

2009-04-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS
A high definition audio (HDA) device may no longer work after you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from hibernation or from sleep. The HDA device may be a sound device or a modem. You may see an "X" character appear on the speaker icon in the notification area.

Because of this problem, you no longer hear any sound. Or, you cannot use the modem. This problem occurs even though you have installed the update that is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

RESOLUTION

This article contains an updated version of the updates. If you have installed either of the previous updates, and if the problem still occurs, we recommend that you install this update.

To resolve this problem, install update 937077.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937077/

To install this update, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

How to change the Vista folder template?

2009-04-09T00:56:00.000-07:00

Vista tries to determine what types of files you have in a folder and display them according to the file type. For example, if Vista thinks the files are photos, it will display them as thumbnails with columns for name, date taken, tags, etc. But sometimes it has a hard time figuring it out and uses the wrong template. You can easily change that by following these steps:

1. Right click the folder and select Properties.
2. Click the Customize tab.
3. In the drop-down box under "Use this folder type as a template," select the type of items you have in the folder (for example, Documents). You can also choose whether to apply the template to all the subfolders within the folder.

You can also set a default for all new folders to be displayed without a template by editing the registry. Here's how:

1. Start the Registry Editor
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Classes \ Local Settings \ Software Microsoft \ Windows \ Shell \ Bags
3. From the menu, click Edit > New > Key
4. Name the new key AllFolders (and keep this key selected)
5. From the menu, click Edit > New > Key
6. Name the new key Shell (and keep this key selected)
7. From the menu, click Edit > New > String Value
8. Name the new value FolderType, right-click it and choose Modify. Enter NotSpecified as the Value data
9. Close the registry editor

Microsoft Investigates PowerPoint Zero-Day Attack

2009-04-08T03:51:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has released a security advisory for a vulnerability in some versions of PowerPoint, which has been exploited in the wild.

PowerPoint versions 2000, 2002, and 2003 are all vulnerable to attack by opening a malicious PPT file that exploits the vulnerability. Microsoft says that "limited and targeted attacks" have been seen in the wild. Office 2004 for Mac is also technically vulnerable, but an attack for it would have to be custom-written for the Mac.

As with many attacks in the past, the older Office file formats are at issue here, not the new ones. In fact, one mitigation users may take is to use MOICE (the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment), an add-on for earlier versions of Office that automatically converts old file formats into the new ones and uses them in that form. But the main advice is that not open files from untrusted sources.

If you think you may have been affected, which is unlikely because when Microsoft uses the term "limited and targeted attacks" it usually means that one or two attacks have been observes, you can scan your system with Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare safety scanner. The malicious PPT files are detected as Exploit:Win32/Apptom.gen.

How to get Vista-style "breadcrumbs" in XP?

2009-04-08T03:36:00.000-07:00

One of the nicest new features in Vista is the "breadcrumb" view of the path in the Explorer address bar, which allows you to click on any level and go there. If you like this feature but don't want to move from XP to Vista, you can install a small application called QT address bar to give you that same functionality. Download it at
http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/qtaddressbar

First you'll need to install the .NET Framework 2.0 or later. Then run the QTAddressBar.exe file, select Install and click Next. After this, either log off and log back on or open Task Manager and do the following:

1. On the processes tab, find explorer.exe, right click and kill the process.
2. Now go to the Applications tab, click the New Task button and type explorer.exe in the Open box.
3. Right click the Toolbar and uncheck Address Bar, then check QT Breadcrumbs Address Bar.

How to use natural language search in Vista?

2009-04-02T03:50:00.000-07:00

What's the most natural way to ask your computer to find something? By talking to it as if it were a person, right? First you need to be sure the feature is enabled. Here's how:

Click Start and then double click Computer.
In the Computer window, click Organize in the top menu and select Folder and Search Options.
In the Folder Options dialog box, click the Search tab.
In the section labeled "How to Search," make sure the box "Use natural language search" is checked and click OK.

How do I enable the NUM LOCK key for the logon screen?

2009-03-31T02:57:00.000-07:00

Problem description

The status of the NUM LOCK key is specific for each user, and NUM LOCK is disabled by default. If you want the NUM LOCK key enabled for use before a user presses CTRL+ALT+DEL to log on, you must use Registry Editor to change the default behavior.

RESOLUTION

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

To enable NUM LOCK before a user logs on, follow these steps:

Run Registry Editor.Move to HKEY_USERS\.
Default\Control Panel\Keyboard.
Change the value for InitialKeyboardIndicators from 0 to 2.

Note:

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Next, click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in this wizard. Fix this problem

How can I open a .WDB file?

2009-03-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

The problem is not the operating system; the problem is that you don't have the correct application installed to open the file. The .WDB file extension indicates this is a file that was created in Microsoft Works Database.

Where is USB Drive?

2009-03-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

This sometimes happens if Windows names the drive letter to something that was already in use by another device. See if you can locate the drive and change its drive letter, using these steps:

Right click My Computer and select Manage.
In the right pane of the Computer Management console, go down to Storage and expand it if necessary, then click Disk Management.
It may take a few minutes to populate the right pane. When the disk information appears, your USB drive should show up in this list.
To change the drive letter, right click the drive in the list and select Change Drive Letters and Paths...
The currently assigned letter will be displayed in the dialog box. Click the Change button.
From the drop down list, pick a drive letter that is not being used by any other device and click OK. You'll get a Confirm dialog box; click Yes.

How to hide a user account on the logon screen?

2009-03-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Maybe you created a user account on your XP computer so your nephew could use it when he was visiting you. Now he's gone home and you really don't want to see that account choice every time you log on to Windows, but you also don't want to just delete the account because he'll probably be back again next year. Here's how to hide an account from the logon screen:

1. Before editing the registry, back it up just to be safe.
2. Open the registry editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList
3. In the right pane, you'll see a list of items that correspond to the user accounts that exist on the computer but are not shown on the logon screen. You'll probably be surprised at how many there are.
4. Right click an empty space in the right pane, select NEW and DWORD value.
5. Right click the new value and rename it to the exact name of the user account you want to hide.
6. Close the registry editor.

Now the account name won't show up on the logon screen. You can unhide the account at any time by deleting the registry key you created. Your nephew can still log onto the account while it's hidden. Just press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice in a row at the logon screen and you'll get the logon dialog box that allows you to type in the username.

Different wallpapers on multiple monitors

2009-03-19T02:21:00.000-07:00

DisplayFusion will make your dual monitor (or triple monitor or more) experience smooth and painless. With DisplayFusion you can add a taskbar to every monitor that works and looks just like the Windows Taskbar. Or take advantage of advanced multi-monitor wallpaper support, Flickr integration for image searching and fully customizable window management hotkeys. These are just a few of the many things that DisplayFusion can do.

Advanced Multi-Monitor Taskbar support
Use a different desktop wallpaper image on each monitor
Use a desktop wallpaper image that spans all monitors
Randomly change your desktop wallpaper using local images or images from Flickr
Drag or middle-click the taskbar of maximized windows to move them to other screens
Auto-snap windows to the edge of your monitor
Integrated Flickr.com image search & download
Integrated Vladstudio.com image search & download

You can download it here:

http://www.binaryfortress.com/displayfusion/

How to print IE pages without the headers and footers?

2009-03-19T02:17:00.000-07:00

By default, when you print a web page from IE, you get those annoying headers and footers giving you information (such as the date it was printed) that you may not want to advertise. You can turn off those headers and footers for a particular print job by clicking File Print Preview and click the icon for "Turn headers and footers on or off" (hover over the icons to find it). If you want to turn them off permanently.

Click File Page Setup
In the dialog box, under the section labeled "Headers and Footers," remove the text in the boxes.
Click OK

Alternatively, you can change the information in the headers and footers. For example, &d or &D is what puts the date in there. Likewise, &t or &T inserts the time. If you want the footer to show the page number only, just put &p in the footer.

Explorer.exe Command-Line Options for Windows XP

2009-03-18T01:47:00.000-07:00

The options that you can use with Explorer.exe are /n, /e, /root (plus an object), and /select (plus an object).

Option Function

/n Opens a new single-pane window for the default selection. This is usually the root of the drive that Windows is installed on. If the window is already open, a duplicate opens.
/e Opens Windows Explorer in its default view.
/root, (plus an object) Opens a window view of the specified object.
/select, (plus an object) Opens a window view with the specified folder, file, or program selected.

Examples
********************************************************

Example 1: Explorer /select,C:\TestDir\TestProg.exe
Opens a window view with TestProg selected.

Example 2: Explorer /e,/root,C:\TestDir\TestProg.exe
Opens Explorer with drive C expanded and TestProg selected.

Example 3: Explorer /root,\\TestSvr\TestShare
Opens a window view of the specified share.

Example 4: Explorer /root,\\TestSvr\TestShare,select,TestProg.exe
Opens a window view of the specified share with TestProg selected.

System Restore has encountered a problem and needs to close

2009-03-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

It sounds as if System Restore may have gotten corrupted. You can try reinstalling the feature. Here's how:

In Control Panel or Windows Explorer, click Folder Options and then the View tab.
Under Advanced Settings, scroll down and find "Show hidden files and folders." Check the box.
Find "Hide extensions for known files types." Uncheck that box.
Click Apply, OK.
In Windows Explorer, find your Windows folder (usually on the C: drive but not always). Navigate to the inf folder and open it.
Find a file named sr.inf
Right click the file and select Install.

Important: this creates a new installation of System Restore, but it will delete any restore points that you had created previously.

How to customize the volume controls in XP?

2009-03-17T00:46:00.001-07:00

When you double click the Volume icon in the XP system tray, it opens up the Volume Control box, which consists of a number of sliders. It's a large box that takes up a lot of room. If you want to cut it down to size, you can display a smaller version by pressing CTRL+S. And if there are some sliders that you never use, you can remove them. Here's how:

In the top menu bar, click Options, then Properties.
In the section labeled "Show the following volume controls," scroll down and uncheck the ones you don't want to see. You can also add controls that don't currently display.
Click OK

How do I use DreamScene?

2009-03-13T01:08:00.000-07:00

QUESTION:

I finally got around to installing the DreamScene moving screensaver on my Vista Ultimate, but it doesn't seem to work. Am I doing something wrong? I used Windows Update to install it and it looked like it installed.

ANSWER:

DreamScene actually gives you animated desktop wallpaper, rather than a screensaver. If you've installed the DreamScene application, you may need to then enable it. Perform these steps:

Click Start Control Panel and then Programs, Programs and Features
Select "Turn Windows features on or off"
Scroll down to Windows Ultimate Extras and put a checkmark in the box labeled "Windows DreamScene"
Wait while the progress bar tells you that the feature is being configured
Reboot the computer

Now when you right click the desktop and select Personalize, under "Choose a desktop background," you should "Windows DreamScene Content" in the menu, so you can select a video to use for your wallpaper. Be forewarned that DreamScene may take up a lot of resources on low powered computers, but if you have the resources to run it, it is very cool looking.

How to display the hierarchical folder path instead of "breadcrumbs"?

2009-03-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

Personally, I like the "breadcrumbs" path view in Vista (Computer --> Maxtor (D:) --> Pictures --> SFTrip) because you can click any point at it and go there - it's quick and efficient. But some readers have complained that they want to see the old style hierarchical path (D:\Pictures\SFTrip) instead. Well, that's easy enough:

In Windows Explorer, hold down the ALT key
Press and release the D key
The path is highlighted, so you can copy it to your keyboard with CTRL+C
To get back to the "breadcrumbs" view, press the ESC key.

If you want to keep the breadcrumbs, but need to copy the path, just right click an empty space in the address bar after the path and you can select "Copy Address" or "Copy Address as Text." Note that these same procedures work in Windows 7, too.

How can I make XP boot automatically?

2009-03-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

QUESTION:
I have a problem. I installed Vista on my XP computer, to dual boot. But I don't like Vista and went back to using XP. The problem is that when I reboot, it automatically starts up Vista unless I'm paying attention and choose the "Previous operating system" in the bootup menu. How can I make it automatically go into XP again?

ANSWER:
Luckily that's an easy one to fix, although the answer isn't very intuitive. Here's what you need to do:

1. Click Start Control Panel and open the System applet.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. At the bottom, under "Startup and Recovery," click the Settings button.
4. At the top of the dialog box, under "System Startup," click the down arrow and select the operating system that you want to be the default (the one that starts automatically after a set amount of time).
5. You can also modify the number of seconds the list will display before going into your default OS, if you want.
6. Click OK twice to close out the dialog boxes.

Now when you boot up, the system should automatically load XP unless you select Vista from the boot menu list.

The Registry Keys and Values for the System Restore Utility

2009-03-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry

In the registry, you can modify many values for System Restore. However, it is recommended that you use the user interface whenever possible to configure System Restore, as you may be unable to reverse the changes you made in the registry, which can place your computer into an unstable condition.

In Windows XP, there are three registry keys that you can use to modify System Restore:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Sr
This key is related to the System Restore filter. This key and its values must not be be modified under any circumstances as any modifications can cause the operating system to malfunction.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Srservice
This key is related to the System Restore service. This key and its values must not be be modified under any circumstances as any modifications can cause the operating system to malfunction.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore
In this registry key, you can modify some DWORD values. However, in this key, there are some values that must not be modified under any circumstances.

Values That Can Be Modified Without Risk of Harm to the Computer
CompressionBurst
This value, listed in seconds, specifies the idle time compression: The amount of time to compress data after the computer reaches its idle time. A service can compress data for the amount of time that is specified in this value, and then stop. Then, at the next idle time compression, the computer can repeat the process.

DiskPercent
This value relates to the percentage of disk space that System Restore uses for its data store. The default value is 12 percent. The data store size is always calculated as "max(12 percent, DSMax)," regardless of the size of the hard disk. The maximum (max) size is what is specified in DSMax. For hard disk sizes that are less than 4 gigabytes (GB) in size, 12 percent is less than 400 megabytes (MB), so "max(12 percent, DSMax) equals 400 MB." For hard disk sizes that are greater than 4 GB, 12 percent is greater than 400 MB, so "max(12 percent, DSMax) equals 12 percent." This data store size is not a reserved disk space, and the data store size is used only on demand.

DSMax
This value specifies the maximum size for the System Restore data store. The default size of the data store is 400 MB. The data store size is always calculated as "max(12 percent, DSMax)," regardless of the size of the hard disk. The maximum (max) size is what is specified in DSMax. For hard disk sizes that are less than 4 GB, 12 percent is less than 400 MB, so "max(12 percent, DSMax) equals 400 MB." For hard disk sizes that are greater than 4 GB, 12 percent is greater than 400 MB, so "max(12 percent, DSMax) equals 12 percent." This data store size is not a reserved disk space, and the data store size is used only on demand.

DSMin
This value relates to the minimum amount of free disk space that System Restore needs so that it can function during the installation process. Also, this value relates to the minimum amount of free disk space that is needed for System Restore to reactivate and to resume the creation of restore points after System Restore has been disabled because of low disk space.

RestoreStatus
This value specifies if the last restore operation failed (0), succeeded (1), or had been interrupted (2).

RPGlobalInterval
This value specifies, in seconds, the amount of time that System Restore waits before it creates the automatic computer check points for elapsed time. The default value is 24 hours.

RPLifeInterval
This value specifies, in seconds, the restore points Time to Live (TTL). When a restore point reaches this time and it is still on the system, it gets deleted. The default value is (7776000), which will be 90 days.

RPSessionInterval
This value specifies, in seconds, the amount of time that System Restore waits before it creates the automatic computer check points for session time (the amount of time that the computer has been on). The default value is zero (0), which means that this feature is turned off.

ThawInterval
This value specifies, in seconds, the amount of time that System Restore waits before it activates itself from a disabled state (after the conditions for this process to occur have been met). If you start the System Restore user interface, System Restore is activated immediately.

Values That Must Not Be Modified
CreateFirstRunRp
This value instructs the computer to create the first restore point, for example, when System Restore is turned off, and then turned back on, or disabled, and then activated. This value must not be modified under any circumstances as a modification can place the computer in an unrecoverable situation (for example, the computer is unable to create a first restore point in any of the preceding situations).

DisableSR
This value turns System Restore either on or off. If you turn System Restore off in the registry, the existing restore points are not removed. This value must not be modified. System Restore must be turned either on or off only from the user interface.

RestoreDiskSpaceError
This value instructs the computer to produce an error message in case System Restore is unsuccessful because of problems related to disk space. This value functions as an informational value.

RestoreSafeModeStatus
This value specifies if the last restore operation had been performed from the Safe mode.

TimerInterval
This value is the pulling time specified in seconds. This value relates to the time that System Restore "wakes up" and checks for the condition of its disk space. The default value is 120, and it must not be modified as any modifications can affect overall computer performance.

APPLIES TO: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Professional

How to edit the registry to modify System Restore?

2009-03-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

There are three registry keys that can be used to make changes to XP's System Restore feature. To make these changes, be sure to first back up the registry, then open your registry editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsNT \ CurrentVersion \ SystemRestore

Perhaps the most useful modification you can make is to set the maximum time that a restore point exists before it is deleted. The setting is specified in seconds, and the default is 7776000, which translates to 90 days. If you want your restore points to hang around longer or you'd like to see them disappear sooner, do this
1. Navigate to the key shown above and in the right details pane, double click or create the DWORD value RPLifeInterval.
2. In the value data field, enter a number in seconds equal to the time that you want restore points to remain on the system before being deleted (for example, to specify a time to live of 30 days, enter the value 2592000).
3. Close the registry editor. There are other values in this key that can be modified, and some that should never be changed.

To find out more...

Remote access clients that are running Windows Vista cannot access Routing and Remote Access Service servers that use IPv6

2009-03-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS
Remote access clients that are running Windows Vista cannot access Routing and Remote Access Service servers that use IPv6 or the computers behind the servers.

CAUSE
Assume that you have used remote access policy to add Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection-based IPv6 filters to Routing and Remote Access Service static filters. For example, you configure remote access policy to enable only TCP port 80 to carry traffic. In this scenario, the remote access policy will block all traffic except the traffic that is specified in the policy. The blocked traffic includes Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) v6 neighbor discovery (ND) packets. These packets are required for clients to reach Routing and Remote Access Service servers that use IPv6 or the computers behind these servers.

Note Routing and Remote Access Service servers that use IPv4 do not require ICMPv6 ND packets. Therefore, this issue does not occur if Routing and Remote Access Service servers use IPv4.

RESOLUTION
1. To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
2. Locate and then open the remote access policy.
3. Click the Settings tab, and then click IP Filters.
4. Under IPv6, click Input Filters.
5. Add the following explicit filters to enable ICMPv6 ND packets to be received:
- IPv6 Next header type == 58, ICMP header type = 133
- IPv6 Next header type == 58, ICMP header type = 134
- IPv6 Next header type == 58, ICMP header type = 135
- IPv6 Next header type == 58, ICMP header type = 136
- IPv6 Next header type == 58, ICMP header type = 137

How to make a shortcut to mute the sound in Vista

2009-03-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

It's happened to most of us: you're playing a song or watching a video and the phone rings or someone comes into the room and starts talking to you. You need to get the volume down or off quickly, but if you don't have a multimedia keyboard with a Mute key, you have to go through several clicks to silence your computer. It's handy to have a one-click shortcut to mute the sound. Here's how to make one:

1. First download the nircmd.exe tool here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html
2. Right click an empty spot on the desktop and select New Shortcut
3. Assuming you saved the file to a folder called Tools on the C: drive, type this in the "location of the item" box (substitute the correct path if you saved it in a different location): "C:\ Path \ To \ nircmd.exe" mutesysvolume 2.
4. Give the shortcut a name (e.g., "Mute")
5. Right click the shortcut and select Properties.
6. Here you can assign a key combination, or you can just click the icon on the desktop to quickly mute the sound.

How can I trim down the XP startup process?

2009-03-04T02:36:00.001-08:00

You can remove programs from the startup process. Here's how:

1. Click Start Run and type: msconfig.exe
2. In the System Configuration utility, click the Startup tab and uncheck the programs in the list that you don't want to start when you boot the system. If you don't know what some of the listed items are, you may need to look them up in a web search. For example, I have Microsoft Groove installed as part of Office, but I rarely use it. GrooveMonitor starts automatically, but I can uncheck it to speed up the Startup process.

If you have many unnecessary programs starting up, you may see a significant decrease in bootup time when you uncheck several of them.

The processor speed is slower than expected on a notebook computer that is running Windows XP

2009-03-02T02:21:00.000-08:00

SYMPTOMS
When you start a laptop computer on battery power, the processor speed may be slower than the processor speed that the manufacturer indicates. To view the processor speed, you can use the System tool in Control Panel.

CAUSE
This behavior occurs because most laptop computers on battery power set the processor speed to a slower speed to conserve battery power and to reduce the temperature of the processor.

RESOLUTION
This behavior depends on the capability of the processor and the BIOS settings for the laptop computer. When the computer starts to use battery power, the processor speed is automatically reduced and written to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0\~MHz

How to get the address bar back after SP3 takes it away?

2009-03-02T02:17:00.000-08:00

One of the optional toolbars that you can enable on Windows XP (and Vista) is the address bar, which is handy for typing in a URL without first opening up the browser. You can add it to your taskbar by right clicking and selecting Toolbars Address. Or at least, you could - prior to installing the latest service pack. However, if you've installed SP3, you might notice that you no longer have that option when you right click. Apparently the EU deems this to be a violation of their antitrust ruling. Well, I'm not in the EU and I want that option back. Luckily, there's a way to get it, but you'll need to replace the version of the browserui.dll file installed by SP3 with one from SP2. Copy it from an XP system that doesn't have SP3 and put it on the c: drive, then do the following:

1. Restart the SP3 computer in Safe Mode (press F8 at bootup and select Safe Mode with Command Prompt option.
2. At the command prompt, type this: xcopy c:browserui.dll c:WindowsSystem32
3. Reboot the computer.

How can I work with RAW photo images in XP?

2009-03-02T02:15:00.000-08:00

Many digital photographers who are serious about their pictures set their cameras to take photos in RAW format instead of JPG. That's because RAW files preserve much more information recorded by the camera and can be more easily manipulated (for example, you can change the white balance and color settings after the fact). But you may not be able to open RAW files without special software. To work with RAW images in XP, you can download the Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer, which supports the RAW files created by most Canon and Nikon "prosumer" level digital cameras.

How to reduce the size of pictures for emailing?

2009-03-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

Picture files are often large, and you may want to reduce the file size before you send them to others as email attachments. There are a number of software programs that will do this, but here's the easiest way and it doesn't require any extra software:

1. Save the pictures you want to send in your My Pictures folder.
2. In the My Pictures folder, select the one(s) you want to email and highlight them.
3. In the File and Folder Tasks pane on the left side, select Email This File or Email The Selected Items.
4. When the Send Pictures via Email dialog box appears, select Make all my pictures smaller and click OK. You can click Show More Options in the bottom left corner of the box if you want to specify the size for the files (small, medium or large).
5. Click OK and XP will create a new message in your default mail client, reduce the size of the pictures and attach them to the message. Type in the recipient's address, subject and a message (the last is optional) and click Send.

Icons are missing from Control Panel, or you cannot start Control Panel, the Welcome Center, or games in Windows Vista

2009-02-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

SYMPTOMS

On a computer that is running Windows Vista, you experience one or more of the following problems:

1. Icons are missing from Control Panel.
2. You cannot start Control Panel. When you try to start Control Panel, the screen may flash briefly, but Control Panel does not start.
3. You cannot start the Welcome Center. For example, when you type welcome center in the Start Search box, and then you click Welcome Center in the Programs list, nothing happens.
4. You cannot start Windows Vista games such as Chess or Minesweeper. When you try to start the games, nothing happens.
These problems may occur intermittently.

RESOLUTION

Service pack information
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows Vista.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2008 stops responding (hangs) during startup

2009-02-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

SYMPTOMS
When you press the power button or click Restart on the Start menu to start a computer that is running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Server 2008, the system startup may fail. The system stops responding (hangs) and shows a black screen where the Windows logo typically appears. Additionally, the mouse pointer does not appear, and the hard disk drive (HDD) light does not flash. When the HDD light does not flash, it means that the HDD is not being accessed at that time.

When this problem occurs, you have to force the power off. Then, you must press the power button to start the computer again.

CAUSE
This problem occurs because of a deadlock in the remote procedure call (RPC) component.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note: If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)

Note: The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites To apply this hotfix, you must have Windows Vista SP1 or Windows Server 2008 installed on the computer. Restart requirement
You have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix. Hotfix replacement information. This hotfix does not replace any other previously released hotfixes.

Registry information To use this hotfix, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

File information The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Administrator doesn't have permission to access shared network resources

2009-02-26T19:43:00.000-08:00

QUESTION:
I'm having problems getting to some of the shares on the network from my Vista computer even though I'm logged on with an administrative account. I can access those same shares from my XP computer with the same network logon. Any idea what's going on?

ANSWER:
Most likely the problem is that Vista's User Account Control (UAC) runs all accounts as standard users by default. When you log on with an admin account, two access tokens are created - one with administrative rights and one with standard user rights. Mapped network shares may be linked to the current logon session so if the share was mapped using the filtered access token (without admin rights), you may have this problem. You can fix it with a registry edit that tells Vista to share the network connections between the filtered access token and the administrative token for members of the Administrators group. Here are the steps (be sure to back up the registry first):

1. Open the registry editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System
2. Click New and select DWORD Value.
3. Name the new value EnableLinkedConnections
4. Right click the new value and select Modify.
5. In the Value Data box, type 1
6. Click OK.
7. Close the registry editor and restart the computer

How to enable the DVD library on Vista Media Center?

2009-02-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

In Windows Media Center on a Vista Home Premium or Ultimate computer, the DVD library is not enabled by default, which means you can't see your DVD content. Here's how to enable it to display the DVD content on your computer:

1. Close the Media Center application if it's open.
2. Click Start and in the Search box, type regedit to open the registry editor.
3. Click Continue or enter administrative credentials at the prompt.
4. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Media Center \ Settings \ DvdSettings
5. In the right Details pane, right click ShowGallery and select Modify.
6. Delete the contents of the Value data box.
7. In the Value data box, type Gallery.
8. Click OK.
9. Close the registry editor.
10. Restart your computer. Media Center should know display "DVD Library" instead of "Play DVD." You may need to right click Add Folders to see content.

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows?

2009-02-25T23:52:00.000-08:00

Back up the registry

(For Windows Vista)

Click Start, type systempropertiesprotection in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

Wait for Windows to search for available disks and most recent restore points. In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click Create,

Type a name for the restore point and then click Create.

After the restore point has been created successfully, click OK two times.

Note If System Restore is turned off, click to select the local disk, click Apply and then click Create.

(Windows XP)

Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then click OK.
On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next .
On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create
After the restore point has been created, click Close.

Note If System Restore is turned off, you receive a message that asks whether you want to turn on System Restore now. Click Yes. Then, in the System Properties dialog box, click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box, click OK, and then repeat this step.

Restore the registry

(For Windows Vista)

In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click System Restore,

In the System Restore dialog box select Choose a different restore point, and then click Next

Select the restore point that you want to use, and then click Next.

Confirm your restore point, and then click Finish System restore restores the selected Windows Vista configuration and then restarts the computer.

Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..

(For Windows XP)

Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\System32\Restore\Rstrui.exe, and then click OK.

On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next .

On the Select a Restore Point page, click the system checkpoint. In the On this list select the restore point area, click an entry that is named "Guided Help (Registry Backup)," and then click Next. If a System Restore message appears that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make, click OK.

On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration and then restarts the computer.

Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK.

Options to change wallpaper may be missing or unavailable on a Windows XP-based computer

2009-02-25T23:47:00.000-08:00

SYMPTOMS
When you try to change the desktop wallpaper in a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, the options may be missing or unavailable. Therefore, you cannot change your wallpaper or use other options that are located in the Display Properties dialog box. This problem may occur after you remove spyware from the system.

CAUSE
his problem occurs when a registry key is set to hide or to lock the display settings on the computer. The registry key can be set by an administration policy or by malicious software.

RESOLUTION
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
In the right-pane, right-click the NoDispAppearancePage value if the value exists, and then click Delete.
Repeat step 3 for the following registry values if these values exist in the registry:
- NoDispCPL
- NoDispBackgroundPage
- NoDispScrSavPage
- NoDispSettingsPage
Note Locate any registry value that says "Wallpaper" if it exists. In the right pane, right-click the registry value, click Delete, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
In the right-pane, right-click the NoDispAppearancePage value if the value exists, and then click Delete.
Repeat step 6 for the following registry values if these values exist in the registry:
- NoDispCPL
- NoDispBackgroundPage
- NoDispScrSavPage
- NoDispSettingsPage
Note Locate any registry value that says "Wallpaper" if it exists. In the right pane, right-click the registry value, click Delete, and then click OK.
For the changes to take effect, you may have to restart the computer after you delete these registry values.

After the Windows Logo displays or after you log on to Windows, a Windows XP-based computer may only display the wallpaper, a black screen, or a blue

2009-02-25T23:26:00.000-08:00

SYMPTOMS
When you start Windows XP or you log on to Windows XP, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
1. When you start Windows XP, the Windows Logo is displayed, and then the screen turns black or blue, or only the wallpaper is displayed.
2. After you log on to Windows XP, you cannot see the Start button or the taskbar.
3. After you log on to Windows XP, the screen turns black or blue, or only the wallpaper is displayed, or only the icons are displayed.

CAUSE
This behavior may occur for one of the following reasons:
1. The Auto-hide the taskbar option has been selected for the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties.
2. Your user account settings are corrupted.
3. The core files are damaged.
4. The Explorer.exe file does not load during startup.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Make sure that the auto-hide option is not enabled for Taskbar and Start Menu Properties

To determine whether the auto-hide option is not enabled for Taskbar and Start Menu Properties, follow these steps:

Press CRTL+ESC.
If the Start menu appears, right-click the Start menu, and then click Properties.
Click the Taskbar tab, clear the Auto-hide the taskbar check box, and then click OK.

Method 2: Log on as a different user

Log off as the current user, and try to log on to the computer as a different user. If logging on as different user resolves this problem, create a new user account, and try to copy the settings from the old user account to the newly created user account. To do this, follow these steps:

Restart the computer. When the Power On Self Test (POST) is complete, press F8.
On the Windows Advanced Options Menu, use the ARROW keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
When you are prompted to select which operating system to start, select Microsoft Windows XP edition where edition is the edition of Windows XP that is installed, and then press ENTER.
On the To begin, click your user name screen, click Administrator.
Type the administrator password, and then click the arrow button.

Note In some cases, the Administrator password may be set to a blank password. In this case, do not enter a password before you click the arrow button.
Click Yes to close the message that states that Windows is running in safe mode.
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
In the Computer Management (Local) list, expand Local Users and Groups.
Right-click the Users folder, and then click New User.
Type the user name and password in the appropriate boxes, and then retype the password in the Confirm password box.

Note If you do not want to assign a password to the user account, do not type a password in the Password or Confirm password boxes.
Click to clear the User must change password at next logon check box.
Click to select the Password never expires check box if you do not want the password to expire.
Click Create, click Close, and then exit the Computer Management snap-in.
Restart Windows as usual, and then log on as the new user that you created.

If the issue is resolved, reinstall the programs that you want, and then copy the documents that you want from the My Documents folder of the old user account. To copy the contents of the My Documents folder of the old user account, follow these steps:

Log off Windows.
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE two times.

The Log On to Windows dialog box appears.
In the User name box, type Administrator. In the Password box, type the administrator password, and then click OK.
Right-click Start, and then click Explore.
In the Folders tree, expand the old user account under Documents and Settings.
Click user name's Documents where user name is the name of the old user account with which you experience this issue.
On the Edit menu, click Select All, and then click Copy on the Edit menu.
Under Documents and Settings, expand the new user account folder.
Click new user's Documents where new user is the name of the new user account that you created.
On the Edit menu, click Paste.
If you are prompted to replace files or folders, click Yes to All to confirm the replacement.
On the File menu, click Close.
Log off Windows.

Method 3: Start your computer in safe mode with networking enabled

Restart your computer, and select the Safe Mode with Networking option. If some application is loading or crashing before Explorer loads, follow these steps:

If you have a virus scan utility on your computer, run a full scan of your computer.
Run Microsoft Update or Windows Update, and apply all the updates.
Restart your computer to see whether the problem goes away.

Method 4: Start your computer in safe mode

Restart your computer, and select the Safe Mode option. If Explorer is starting, check whether any startup applications are causing the problem. You can use Windows Defender or the System Configuration Utility to check the startup programs. For more information about how to download and to install Windows Defender, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
(http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx)

To check the startup programs, follow these steps:

Press CTRL+ALT+Delete, and then click Task Manager.
Right-click explorer.exe, and then click End Process.
If Explorer restarts automatically, Explorer is fine, and you must use Windows Defender or the System Configuration Utility to stop programs from starting at startup.

Windows Defender

To use Windows Defender, follow these steps:

Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Windows Defender.
Click Tools, and then click Software Explorer.
Select Startup Programs from the Category list.
Click a program name in the Name column that you want to disable, and then click Disable.
Restart your computer.
Repeat steps 1 through 5 until you find the bad program that is causing the problem.
You can then decide to uninstall the program or to apply the latest update for that program.

System Configuration Utility

To use the System Configuration Utility, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
Click the Startup tab.
The Startup tab lists all programs that start during startup.
Disable any program on the Startup tab that you think may be causing the problem. To do this, click to clear the check box that is next to the program, and then click OK.

Note Not every file name has a user-friendly name in System Configuration Utility. We recommend that you clear all check boxes for file names that do not have user-friendly names, and see whether the problem is resolved when you restart your computer.
Restart your computer.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 until you find the bad program that is causing the problem.
You can then decide to uninstall the program or to apply the latest update for that program.

Method 5: Repair Windows XP

Perform an in-place repair of Windows XP. To do this, start the installation of Windows XP, but select the option to repair the existing installation. This will replace all the Windows files. However, the installed programs and the data will remain intact.

How to make your XP desktop look like a Mac?

2009-02-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

Prefer the functionality of Windows XP but like the look of Mac OS X? This free download replaces the Windows taskbar with a customizable Mac-like "dock." Read more about it here:

http://www.wxpnews.com/LL10M5/090224-RK-Launcher

How to recover a damaged user profile in XP?

2009-02-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

Windows XP is a really good operating system as long as it is running fine, but when it doesn't, you have to scurry around looking for solutions to get it back to normal. Once in a while, it so happens that you get a message that reads something like this:

Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupted. You may log in using a temporary User Profile.
Or
The system has recovered from a serious error.
This happens when the user profile becomes damaged.

Find out here:
http://www.wxpnews.com/LL10M5/090224-Damaged-User-Profile

Can I boot Vista without the boot menu?

2009-02-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

QUESTION:
I installed Vista with Windows XP (dual boot) just in case, so I could go back to XP if Vista didn't work. Well, it does and I like Vista and I never use XP. But when I reboot, I still get the boot menu to choose Vista or XP. Is there a way I can get it to just boot into Vista? Do I have to uninstall XP?

ANSWER:
It's not necessary to uninstall XP in order to boot directly to Vista. You just need to adjust the system startup settings. Here's how:

1. Click Start and right click My Computer
Select Properties
In the left pane, click Advanced System Settings
On the Advanced tab, at the bottom in the Startup and Recovery section, click the Settings button
Make sure the Default Operating System is set to Vista
Uncheck the box labeled "Time to display list of operating systems"
If you ever do need to boot to XP again, first go into Vista and re-enable the boot menu by checking this box and setting the time to a number of seconds (such as 15).

How to set your wireless mouse or keyboard not to wake the computer

2009-02-20T00:54:00.000-08:00

1. Click Start | Control Panel | Mouse
2. Click the Hardware tab
3. Click the Properties button
4. In the General tab, click the Change Settings button
5. Click the Power Management tab
6. Uncheck the box that says "Allow this device to wake the computer."
7. Click OK in all the dialog boxes to close them

Differences between a Quick format and a regular format during a "clean" installation of Windows XP

2009-02-20T00:42:00.000-08:00

During a "clean" installation of Microsoft Windows XP, you are prompted to choose from the following format options: Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
Format the partition by using the FAT file system
Leave the current file system intact (no changes)
Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
Format the partition by using the FAT file system
Leave the current file system intact (no changes)

This article describes the differences between a Quick format and a regular format.

When you choose to run a regular format on a volume, files are removed from the volume that you are formatting and the hard disk is scanned for bad sectors. The scan for bad sectors is responsible for the majority of the time that it takes to format a volume.

If you choose the Quick format option, format removes files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is not damaged.

If you installed Windows XP on a partition that was formatted by using the Quick format option, you can also check your disk by using the chkdsk /r command after the installation of Windows XP is completed.

How to adjust settings for people with limited vision

2009-02-20T00:39:00.000-08:00

QUESTION:
Some of us as we grow older suffer from limited vision. For instance, I have glaucoma and the beginnings of macular degeneration. Where can I find information to "tuneup" my computer for some help? Things like screen contrasts, Cursor color, size, and shape, and software that is very simple and easy to see the commands. I am repeatedly frustrated by screen changes in Yahoo (cannot find the buttons) and popups that are not easily removed (cannot find the buttons).

XP includes a number of "accessibility options" that let you adjust the scrollbar and window border size, icons, size and color of the cursor and contrast. There is an Accessibility Wizard that can guide you through the steps. Just go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | Accessibility and click Accessibility Wizard. You can find out more about how to use the wizard here:

http://www.wxpnews.com/LL10M5/090217-Accessibility-Wizard

If that's not enough, there are also many third party programs made to assist those with limited vision. These include screen enlargers, screen readers and more. The Assistive Technology Catalog helps you search for those products:
http://www.wxpnews.com/LL10M5/090217-Assistive-Technology

How to prevent problems when installing XP SP3

2009-02-20T00:36:00.000-08:00

f you still haven't gotten around to installing Service Pack 3, you're not alone. I hear from many readers who have heard about problems other had with the SP and want to know if they should risk it. SP3 includes important security updates so it's a good idea to install it. There are steps you can take to help prevent common problems with installing the Service Pack:

1. Make sure you have enough free disk space (1500 to 1800 MB).
2. Remove these updates first if you've installed them: Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit, Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 MUI pack.
3. If you use a wireless network adapter, make sure it is supported (check for XP SP3 drivers)
4. You might need to disable your antivirus software to install the SP. Be sure to re-enable it after the installation.
5. If you're using a laptop, plug it into AC power. Bad things can happen if the battery dies during installation.

It's also a good idea to do a full backup of your data and if you're using XP Pro, create an automated system recovery set so you can repair the computer if the installation fails. Although most Service Pack installations go smoothly, it's better to be safe than sorry.

How to Improve Windows Vista's Performance

2009-02-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

1. turn of the vista's slide bar.
a. Right click on the slide bar.
b. Click on Properties.
c. Uncheck Start Sidebar when Windows starts.

2. Turn off unnecessary Eye Candy
a. Right click on Mycomputer. Click Properties.
b. Click on Advance Tab
c. Click on setting of Performance.
d. On Visual Tab, Uncheck Animate Controls and elements inside windows and Animated windows when minimizing and maximizing.

3. Favorite links Provides shortcuts

4. Add your Desktop to the taskbar.
a. Right click on Task bar.
b. Select Toolbars.
c. Choose Desktop.

5. Use Search to Boot Programs

6. Customize your Start Button
a. Right click on taskbar.
b. Select Properties.
c. Choose StartMenu Tab.
d. Click on Customize of Startmenu.
e. Uncheck Search communications, Search favorites and history.

7. Hardware improvements can Boost performance.

Add a Network Shortcut to the Vista Desktop

2009-02-16T21:24:00.000-08:00

1. Click Start, type Network, and then click Network and Sharing Center.

2. On the lefthand side, under Tasks, click Manage network connections.

3. You should see your connection listed in the Virtual Private Network section. Right-click the icon, and then choose Create Shortcut.

4. Vista will indicate that you can't create a shortcut here, but would you like one on the desktop instead?

5. Click Yes and you're done!

Now just double-click the shortcut icon and presto: You can sign right into your VPN.

Vista computer wakes immediately after you put it to sleep

2009-02-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

If you put your Vista computer to sleep but it immediately wakes up, this may be caused by a USB device connected to a USB host controller that doesn't support the wake from sleep functionality. You can fix the problem by disabling the USB device's ability to wake the computer. Find out how in KB article 927821 at

http://www.vistanews.com/XQBLAG/090211-Vista-Sleep

I don't want autoplay to autoplay - except when I do

2009-02-15T23:22:00.000-08:00

QUESTION:
I like the autoplay feature when I put a CD or DVD in the drive - but I don't want to see that dialog box every time I put in an SD card from my camera. Is there a way to fix this?

ANSWER:
You can designate what AutoPlay should do with specific types of content. For instance, if you want it to always open up the folder to view the files list when you insert an SD card containing pictures, do this: In the AutoPlay dialog box that pops up when you insert the card, check the box that says "Always do this for pictures" and then pick the option you want (Import Pictures, View Pictures, Open Folder to View Files, etc.). From now on, when you insert the card, your selected action should occur instead of the dialog box popping up. You can also configure the behavior of AutoPlay for various types of media such as CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs through the AutoPlay applet in Control Panel.

How to change the time and date on your photos

2009-02-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

If your camera's clock was set incorrectly when you took your digital pictures, your photos may have the wrong time and/or date. That's not good if you're trying to find a photo based on when it was taken. But you can change the date and time. Here's how:

To change the date:
1. In Windows Explorer, right click the photo file whose date you want to change and 2. click Properties.
3. Click the Details tab.
Navigate to the Origin section and click in the "Date Taken" field, then type in the correct date. Note that you can't change the time here.

To change the time:
1. Open Windows Photo Gallery (included in Vista) and navigate to the photo whose time you want to change. You can also select multiple photos here.
2. Right click and select Change Time Taken.
3. In the dialog box, use the up and down arrows to change the time in the "New Time" field

Note: if you're using Windows XP or Windows 7, you can download Windows Photo Gallery from the Windows Live web site at
http://www.vistanews.com/XQBLAG/090211-Photo-Gallery

How to delete recently used commands from "Run"

2009-02-15T22:46:00.000-08:00

The "Run" box in XP remembers the commands you've typed there recently, and that can be handy - however, for security's sake, you might not want to have them display. Here's how to get rid of them:

1. Open the registry editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ RunMRU

2. In the right pane, you'll see your recently used commands. You can delete any or all of them (right click and select Delete).

If you'd rather not edit the registry, there's another way:
1. Right click the Taskbar and select Properties.
2. On the Start Menu tab, click Classic Start Menu.
3. Click the Customize button.
4. Click the Clear button.

Note that this second method clears all of the commands, as well as recent applications and documents from the Start menu. To do it selective, use the first method.