Windows Help. Tips and Tricks and support for Microsoft related stuff.
Restoring your PC after a Windows reset involves reinstalling essential apps, recovering your personal files (if they were saved), adjusting settings, and ensuring your system is secure and functional. This How to Restore your PC guide walks you through the full process of restoring Windows after a reset, from recovery to reconfiguration.
Force Windows to See a USB Flash Drive as Local Disk: By default, Windows 10 and 11 detect most USB flash drives as removable disks. While this works for most users, some advanced tasks like creating multiple partitions or running certain portable OS setups, require the USB drive to behave like a local (fixed) disk.
Windows Power Options and Power Management settings are designed to conserve energy, optimize system performance, and give users full control over their energy usage and performance needs. However, users may want to modify the default Windows power management settings to better suit their specific needs. Below, I cover how to adjust power settings in Windows 11, 10, 7, and XP, provide troubleshooting tips for common issues, and explain why customizing these settings can enhance your experience.
Windows 11 Media Creation Tool and USB Installation: Installing or upgrading to Windows 11 can be a simple and straightforward process, especially with the help of the official Windows Media Creation Tool. This tool allows you to create a bootable USB drive that can be used to install Windows 11 on any compatible PC.
10 Best Tweaks to Optimize SSD Performance for Longevity. Modern Solid State Drives (SSDs) are already designed to be fast, reliable, and long-lasting. Many of the manual tweaks once recommended for older drives or operating systems are no longer necessary or beneficial.
Looking to remove Recycle Bin from your desktop? One reason you may want to remove or delete recycle bin icon is that you have bypassed the Recycle Bin and set your system to automatically delete files. Or maybe you just prefer a clean desktop without any icons.
How do I show visitors IP address on my Website? The following tutorial explains how to easily display your visitors IP address on your Site or Blog through code, by using a PHP script. The file is actually called into the template as an image file.
Hotlink protection prevents other websites from embedding or directly linking to images, videos, or media files served from the owner's site. This practice can be considered bandwidth theft because the images displayed on the page are hosted remotely on the owner's site. When visitors arrive to view the page, the remote host must fetch the images for display, consuming additional bandwidth, resources, and processing power from the owner's site.
What do people search for on the Internet? What topics, search keywords, and top key phrases are being searched on the Internet right now? Finding this information may be easier than you think. Most search engines organize and keep track of search history and publicize the results for anyone to view. The following are some top resources that freely provide keyword or topic search history, helping you stay ahead of the trends and optimize your content strategy.
If you receive a Windows Setup Error stating "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware" during a Windows install or upgrade, just know you're not alone. This is actually a pretty common Microsoft installation error, and though the cause can vary, fixing it is quite simple.
In this quick tutorial, I'll show you how to set up Windows to display hidden system files and folders. The process for displaying these files is slightly different in newer versions compared to older versions like Windows XP. In the latest releases, you can find these options in the Control Panel. Before proceeding, remember that system files are hidden for a reason. Be careful and cautious.
Easily Add Item to Send to menu in Windows. In this simple guide, I'll show you how to customize the Windows Send to menu. For instance, I find the Right-Click - Send to feature particularly useful for sending multiple images to Photoshop for editing. However, since Photoshop wasn't on the list, I needed to add it.
How to Open SFV Files. If you've ever downloaded large file archives like .ZIP or .RAR from the internet, you've likely come across an SFV type of file. Files with the .sfv extension stand for Simple File Verification, and they serve a crucial purpose in checking the integrity of the downloaded files. In this guide, we'll walk you through how to open SFV files on Windows 10 and use them to verify that your downloads are error-free.
How to Pin Computer to Taskbar in Windows 11/10/8/7. Newer versions of Windows offer a feature called Pin to Taskbar that allows you to drag and drop or right click items and Pin them to the Windows Taskbar.
Automatically login to Windows; The following covers the process of turning on the auto login function in Windows, eliminating the need to sign in during system bootup. An automatic login is accomplished by storing the logon information into the system registry.
The notification area is used by Windows XP to let the user know about applications that are launched at startup or are running while Windows is in use. However, it's a good thing that not all applications are written to automatically create an icon in the notification area. If every application running was listed, our taskbar would be full and cluttered.
Balloon tips or toast notifications are those little information pop ups you get when hovering the pointer over objects within Windows. These tips were originally designed to give the user additional information on the item in question. However as I am sure many would agree, they can quickly become annoying. So, let me explain how to remove them.
If you've received an Illegal System DLL Relocation Error and your system is using the Realtek HD Audio Control Panel, you might be scratching your head just as I was. After a bit of research, I found out that this error was most likely caused after installing Microsoft's security update 925902 (MS07-017) and security update 928843 (MS07-008).
Whether your migrating to a new computer or reformatting your current computer, there are many things you might want to bring with you from your current Windows Operating environment. One of those simple necessities I can't seem to live without are my Internet Explorer favorite website links. I feel it's as important to backup favorites as it is my email messages and personal contacts.
This article covers the process of Slipstreaming service pack 2 into Windows XP and creating a new Slipstreamed Boot CD to be used for later installs. Slipstreaming eliminates the need to install service pack 2 after Windows installation because the updates are installed from the CD during installation.
Help, I've lost my Recycle Bin Icon on the Desktop: Within Windows, there is now a delete option when right-clicking the recycle bin. This option gives the Windows user the option of easily removing the shortcut from the desktop.
Q: Why do I get an Access Denied error when trying to open a folder? A: In Windows Vista, many folders that used to be used by earlier versions of Windows have been moved to a new location or given a new name in Windows Vista. However, the old folders can still be seen if you have enabled Show Hidden Files, and they look like the following:
Easily Remove OEM Branding of Windows: The following process covers how to add, remove, edit, change and modify the factory OEM branding that is sometimes installed alongside Microsoft Windows from system manufacturers. OEM's typically include their logo and other system builder information in the System information applet when the install Windows.
Windows Computer restarts when attempting to shut down. When you shut down your Windows computer, does your computer restart instead of shutting down? Or does a Stop error may appear before the computer restarts? These problems are most likely caused by incompatible Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.0 or Direct CD 5.0 software or software drivers installed on your computer. In the following tutorial I'll cover the process of fixing the Windows reboot problem.
How to Change Microsoft Office Product Key: Are you looking to change your Microsoft Office product key, serial number, or CD key license? Whether you're reinstalling Office, transferring your license to a new PC, or resolving activation issues, this guide will walk you through the process of changing a Microsoft Office product key safely for both legacy and modern versions of Office.
If your getting the error message: "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" while visiting various Websites or Webpages your not alone. There is a good chance that something cached in your temporary internet files may be causing the problem. A deeper concern is that it's possible your Windows computer may be infected with a Virus or Spyware of some sort. Here are some steps I would take to circumvent or attempt to repair this problem.
The other day, a friend of mine lost access to his Windows Administrator account because he forgot his password. He asked for help, and as usual, I was happy to assist. This tutorial covers the process of resetting your administrator password on Windows.
In the following tutorial, I outline the process of installing Windows XP on an HP dv9500 series Laptop. Most Hewlett Packard (HP) Laptops were shipped with Windows Vista, and there is minimal driver support on the HP website site for those who wish to downgrade to Windows XP. Hence the necessity for this tutorial.
MSCOMCTL.OCX is a Microsoft Library Windows Common Controls file. Occasionally when a Windows user is installing or uninstalling a bunch of software, certain Microsoft Libraries can become unregistered . One such file that can become corrupt or lost is the MSCOMCTL.OCX file. Then, when the user runs a program or application that requires or is dependent on this file, they may be presented with the following error:
In the following tutorial, I explain how to hide a drive or drive letter from being displayed in My Computer. This is useful if you don't want just any average user to be able to easily detect, access and navigate a hard disk that is attached to your system. Note that the drive can still be accessed from explorer by typing in the drive letter. Because we are going to be editing the system registry to hide the drive letter you should proceed with caution, as it is possible to do irreversible damage to your system if you make a mistake.
Installing Windows XP on a HP DV6500 series Laptop. The following simple solution, I will show you how to install Microsoft Windows XP on an HP dv6500 Laptop. HP provides minimal driver support for those who want to downgrade to Windows XP, hence the necessity for this tutorial.
Windows Desktop Search is a search tool that can be optionally installed on a Windows based system. In most cases it is installed along with a Office 2007 or Outlook 2007 package. Shortly after installation and after trying out it's features, you may be one of the many people who prefer to remove the Windows Desktop Search. In the following simple solution, I'll cover how to remove this WDS desktop search tool.
Getting WRT600N wireless dropouts on 5ghz band? We recently upgraded from a WRT54GL router to a Linksys WRT600N Linksys Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router to take advantage of the dual band 5ghz and 2.4ghz wireless N frequencies along with the gigabit wired network connection. Initially, we were disappointed to find that while working via the 5ghz band on our wireless workstations, we would get randomly dropped connections. This would typically occur when doing large downloads (receiving large packets). All of our workstations use Intel 4965AGN wireless cards and we never experienced a hiccup on 2.4ghz frequency with the old WRT54GL router.
HELP! Windows Update keeps prompting to install Security Update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2 (KB936181). I've already installed the KB936181 update multiple times, but Windows Update keeps listing it as an available high priority update that needs to be installed. Furthermore, update KB936181 keeps reinstalling. What do I need to do to fix the KB936181 update Issue?
Windows update prompting to reinstall Security update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2 (KB936181). After installing the update numerous times, Windows update keeps listing it as an available high priority update that still needs to be installed. Furthermore, update KB936181 keeps reinstalling.
The following simple solution explains how to remove the Safely Remove Hardware Icon. This tutorial is specifically tailored to those who have installed SATA drives on a board that utilizes the nVidia nForce chipset and SATA drivers. Once the SATA drivers are installed, the icon appears, misleading the user into believing that the internally attached Hard Drives can be safely removed from the system.
Windows Vista Score Not Updating: It appears that many people are having issues with their Windows experience index scores or Vista performance scores not updating or refreshing. In many cases, this occurs after a fresh install of Windows Vista, after updating video card drivers or after changing video cards.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, a slow computer can be frustrating and time-consuming. Whether you’re working on important projects, gaming, or simply browsing the web, optimizing your Windows system can lead to improved performance, faster boot times, and a smoother user experience. By addressing common performance issues and tweaking system settings, you can get the most out of your machine without sacrificing functionality. Speeding up Windows is crucial to ensure efficiency and productivity, whether for professional or personal use.
Speeding up the startup and shutdown of a Windows operating system can be achieved through a variety of methods that do not significantly reduce functionality. Here’s a guide with steps to help you optimize Windows settings and make Windows faster:
Startup programs can slow down the boot time significantly. Here's how to disable unnecessary startup programs:
Fast Startup combines the features of shutdown and hibernation to make your PC start faster after a shutdown.
Keeping your system and drivers updated ensures you have the latest performance improvements and bug fixes. This simple action can improve Windows performance and speed up Windows.
Freeing up disk space can improve the overall performance of your system and speed up Windows. This is essential for ensuring your PC runs faster.
Navigate to C:\Windows\Prefetch and delete all files and folders within, then reboot. This can help boost Windows speed.
Defragmenting and optimizing your hard drive can improve read/write speeds, which can speed up startup and shutdown times. This will help make Windows faster overall.
Reducing the visual effects can improve performance without significantly impacting the user experience. This simple adjustment can increase computer speed.
Increasing the virtual memory can help manage larger workloads and prevent slowdowns. This will ultimately help optimize Windows performance.
Some background services may not be necessary for everyday use and can be disabled to free up resources. This is another way to make your PC run faster.
services.msc
Uninstalling unnecessary pre-installed applications can help improve system performance and speed up Windows.
If your system still uses a traditional hard drive, consider upgrading to an SSD. SSDs have much faster read and write speeds compared to HDDs, significantly improving startup and shutdown times and overall Windows performance. For more information, see my article on optimizing SSD drives for best performance.
By following these steps, you should notice a considerable improvement in both the startup and shutdown times of your system. These optimizations ensure that your Windows experience is faster and more efficient without compromising key functionalities.
While some of these adjustments involve altering settings that may seem technical, most are simple and don't require a deep understanding of your system. For maximum performance, consider combining these software tweaks with a hardware upgrade, such as transitioning from a traditional hard drive to a solid state drive (SSD).
For users looking for even more speed, keep an eye on the system’s performance over time, ensuring that unnecessary services, apps, and files do not pile up. Routine maintenance, such as periodic disk cleanup, defragmentation, and driver updates, can further ensure a smooth, fast Windows experience.
Ultimately, following these steps can help extend the lifespan of your PC, improve productivity, and provide a smoother experience while using your Windows system. For further details, check out Microsoft’s Guide to Improving PC Performance.
The following are the Shell Commands available in Windows 7. These can be used for many things like launching paths from a command window or to create shortcuts to specific Windows 7 applications (enabling you to Pin Items to Windows 7 Taskbar). This complete list was stripped and converted from an exported FolderDescriptions registry folder found here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions
Make Windows 7 God Mode Pinnable to Taskbar: In the following simple solution, I'll show you how one way to make God Mode pinnable to the Windows 7 taskbar. God Mode is just a common name for a feature found in Windows 7 that essentially provides an Advanced Control Panel. An explorer shortcut can be created for God Mode and then pinned to the taskbar for quick access.
Windows Live Mail has stopped working: Recently I was experiencing a sporadic problem when opening Windows Live Mail on my Windows Laptop. After a couple of attempts, Windows Live Mail would work again. It appears many have been experiencing this Windows Live Mail crashing problem. In the following simple solution, I show you what worked for me to resolve the problem.
Extract Attachments from Email Messages; In this simple solution, I cover one way to easily extract all attachments from your Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail messages. For this process, we will be using a Free Email Attachment Extractor called UUDWIN, created by Mark Spankus. This tool might be used to batch extract attachments from email .eml, .pst, and, .msg files.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to install Windows 11 on VirtualBox without TPM chipset. This can be useful for those who want to test Windows 11 in a virtual environment or on a computer that doesn't have hardware that meets the minimum requirements.
Cant Reset PC. Unable to perform a factory reset of Windows PC because it thinks it is running Windows to Go? When this happens, you will not be able to reset your computer the same way you would a typical installation.
Restoring Thunderbird Emails After a Windows Reset: If you've recently had to reset your Windows PC and are now trying to figure out how to recover your Mozilla Thunderbird email profile, you're not alone. Many users lose access to their Thunderbird emails, profiles, contacts, and account settings after a system restore or factory reset. In this step-by-step guide, I’ll walk you through how to restore your Thunderbird profile and recover all emails after a Windows reset.
An unknown Linux folder with a penguin icon appears on Windows 10 or 11 in file explorer navigation pane. This is a common issue if you had Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed and later removed it. This was once a shortcut used to access the WSL distro you had installed. But since WSL was removed, you'll find it is empty and that you can't directly delete it.
How to turn num lock on or off on a Laptop. Many smaller laptops and notebooks use keyboards that do not have a numlock key or even a numpad. In the following simple solution, I cover a method to turn number lock on or off, on the fly using software created for this very purpose.
How to Change Windows Product Key: Are you looking to change your Windows product key to activate Windows or switch to a different license? There are two simple ways to do this. You can easily update your Windows product key via the Activation Settings menu or use the Command Prompt for a quick and efficient method.
Find Windows Product Keys; You are probably wondering where to find your Windows product key so that you can reinstall. Or perhaps you might want or need the key to install Windows elsewhere. In the following simple solution, I cover methods you can use to reveal your activation key for Windows.
In the following simple solution, I cover one way to Install Windows XP from USB. Running a Windows XP USB Install might be useful for example if you wish to perform an Install on an older Netbook or Laptop that does not have a CD or DVD Drive. One of the simplest approaches to accomplish this goal is to make use of the YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) tool.
This segment covers a simple method to make a bootable USB flash drive, enabling you to install Windows 10 or 11 from USB. Running a Windows install from a flash drive is useful when you need to perform an installation on a PC without a CD or DVD ROM drive. For this segment we will be utilizing the easy to use YUMI Multiboot Bootable USB Creator Software.
How to Permanently Disable Chrome Cache? By default, Google Chrome caches various site content, including images, scripts, downloads, cookies, and other data. This caching helps speed up browsing by reducing the need to reload this content each time you revisit a page. However, caching can sometimes cause issues, such as outdated content or security and privacy concerns. If you want to stop Chrome from caching pages, follow the steps below.
Want to auto login to Windows 11 or 10 instead of having to click a user and enter your Windows login password during boot? The following simple solution will enable you to login to Windows automatically and send you straight to your desktop (bypassing the welcome screen) without user interaction. I highly recommend this tutorial if your the only user who has access to your computer.
Windows telemetry is a feature in Microsoft's Windows operating system that collects and sends data about the way a computer is used back to Microsoft. This data includes information about software and hardware configuration, performance metrics, and usage statistics.
Are you looking to disable startup programs? Also commonly referred to as software applications or scripts that automatically launch when Windows starts up. These programs can be added by the user, or they can be pre-installed by the operating system or other software.
Ever wondered how to disable Bitlocker? BitLocker is a full disk encryption feature developed by Microsoft to protect data on Windows operating systems. It encrypts the entire hard drive, including the operating system, system files, and user data. Once enabled, it requires a user to enter a password or insert a USB key to unlock the drive and access its contents.
In the following simple solution, I show you how to find largest files on Windows. This process should work from a running Microsoft Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7 environment. As disk space begins to fill up, it is nice to know exactly what files are consuming the most space.
How can I Delete or Remove Windows Services? This seems to be a pretty common question. So in the following simple solution, I'll cover the removal of a Microsoft Windows service. This might be useful for example; if the program running the service is no longer active or has been disabled.
You probably arrived here because you notice remote desktop ctrl alt del not working when trying to open task manager, remotely. on this page I cover how to easily run task manager on remote desktop connection. As you've already learned, the typical local keyboard combination ctrl + alt + del does not work while running from a remote machine. However, an alternative working solution is much simpler than one might think.
How do you enable God Mode Windows 10, 11, 8, or even 7? Using God Mode to gain access to tons of advanced settings. In my opinion, the basic control panel in Windows lacks in functionality with a focus on condensed page presentation. This can pose an issue by forcing the user to navigate deeper into a menu item to locate important advanced options or settings.
So your looking to add and remove programs in Windows Vista? In Windows XP, there was an applet named add/remove programs located in the control panel. In Vista, the naming structure has changed a bit. The new applet for adding and removing programs in Vista is simply called "programs" or "programs and features" for those using the classic menu.
How to Boot and Run DOS from USB. Make a DOS Bootable flash drive. In the following simple solution, I show you a simple way to Put DOS on a USB flash drive or other removable device. We will be using a nifty little tool called RUFUS (Reliable USB Format Utility), created by Pete Batard.
How can I partition a USB flash drive from Windows and mark it active "bootable". Windows detects many flash drives as "Removable Disks" and flash drives are often shipped formatted as a "Super Floppy" (USB-FDD without a partition table) . The Windows built in format utility cannot create a partition table on Removable Disks. Furthermore, the diskpart utility in Windows XP will not allow you to partition removable media.
The following simple solution explains How to Fix MBR. Knowing how to repair a broken MBR (Master Boot Record), can be very important. Especially if you have installed GRUB or modified the current boot loader, rendering your Windows Operating system unbootable. The entire MBR repair process is fairly straight forward and requires only an original Windows installation DVD containing bootrec.exe to repair the broken MBR.
Remove Old Drivers from Windows; In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to remove old drivers from Windows device manager. Leaving old drivers in place after upgrading your hardware can cause performance issues and in some cases hardware driver conflict. This is especially true with video and sound card drivers. Normally, you wouldn't be able to see devices and their drivers for old hardware in device manager as only active devices are displayed.
Remove deleted files Immediately and skip the recycle bin; Personally I do not like to use the recycle bin feature that is built into Windows. I would rather have deleted files automatically removed from my PC when I select the option to delete them.
How to bulk resize images or pictures for email from Windows. Most email providers restrict the amount of data a sender can send per message, making it essential to reduce the file size of images so that you can send them via email. There are several tools you can use to resize large pictures and images stored on your computer before sending them via email. The Free tool I recommend is Image Resizer for Windows.
Mailto links not working from Chrome on Windows 10. I recently encountered an issue where all mailto links listed on websites were not working or opening in Chrome or Firefox browsers. The operating system was Windows 10 and email client was Windows Live Mail. As it turns out, the mailto association was incorrect so Chrome, Firefox and several other browsers couldn't set Windows Mail to automatically open the mailto links.
In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to open .docx files on a Mac, or on a PC that does not have Microsoft Office installed or has an older version of Office. .docx files are typically created by Microsoft Office Word. If you send a .docx file to someone who does not have Word on their computer, they might not have an application installed that can read the .docx file. It is also fairly common for Apple Mac users to have issues viewing .docx file.
Windows XP on DV9000: In the following simple solution, I cover the process of installing Windows XP Pro on an HP DV9000 series Laptop (with Intel processors). We will be using nLite to create a remastered Windows XP Pro installation disk with integrated SATA drivers. You must also have a backup USB flash drive or hard drive handy to store essential system and network drivers that need to be installed to gain access to the internet for the remainder of the driver downloads. I've personally tested this tutorial by successfully installing Windows XP Pro to a HP DV9030US notebook.
How I Restored GRUB2 after a Windows Install. GRUB2 (Grand Unified Bootloader) is a universal bootloader used by Ubuntu and other Linux Distributions. If you have a Linux Distribution installed on a partition, and attempt to install Windows alongside it, your GRUB bootloader will be overwritten by the Windows bootloader, and your computer will only boot into Windows.
Easily download SFW Files. In the following tutorial I cover the process of downloading SWF (flash) video files directly to your Computer using the built in Page info/Media functionality in Firefox. Subsequently, this process enables Firefox users to download any flash swf file embedded in a webpage without using additional software.
Want to Reveal or Find Windows Email Passwords? Mail PassView is probably one of the easiest and most straight forward Mail Password recovery tools to use. Created by NirSoft and made specifically for Email Password Recovery, this free tool is tiny yet powerful. Users might use Mail PassView to Show Mail Passwords stored in Windows Mail clients. Clients such as Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, and Incredimail. I've been using this tool for many years to find all of my Email Passwords. On Operating Systems ranging from Windows XP all the way up to Windows 10.
How do I run a program as Administrator in Windows? Typically when you launch a program that requires administrative rights in Windows, you are prompted for admin credentials to continue. Sometimes, programs that were designed for older Windows version may not even run or could be limited in functionality if they are not launched with administrative rights. There might also be times in which you want to always run a program as admin.
The following tutorial explains how to automatically delete files instead of moving them to the recycle bin in Windows Vista. "Remove files immediately when deleted" bypassing the recycle bin. In addition you can remove the recycle bin icon from the desktop. I personally prefer this method as I don't like to go through a two step process to remove files from my system.
The following tutorial explains how to use your USB flash drive as extended system memory when running the Windows Vista operating system. With the release of Windows Vista came the introduction to a new technology called ReadyBoost. This technology allows a Vista user to use their portable USB flash drive, SD card or CF card as an extension of system memory. This is beneficial because it is faster than the old method of extending system memory via the use of a Page file or "virtual memory" which used the hard disk.
The Windows search indexer service (desktop search) has been for many, more of an annoyance than than the helpful search tool it was designed to be. As most have probably noticed, the search indexing tool seems to continue indexing files at inappropriate times, grinding away at the hard drive and further slowing down the computer while your trying to do your work.
A connection to the debugger or profiler could not be established by adobe flash player 9 message followed by a Where is the debugger or host application running? dialog box could be a sign of a corrupted flash player 9 install. Or a flash player 9 installation that is missing components. In the following simple solution, I show you how to resolve this broken adobe flash player 9 problem.
How to Disable Windows Aero: A user interface that features the translucent effect of Aero Glass, along with reflections, shadows, and smooth animations. Some people prefer to disable this visual "eye candy" since its functionality is purely aesthetic. Additionally, disabling Windows Aero can sometimes lead to a noticeable performance boost. In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to disable Aero and return your Windows interface to a basic style.
In this simple solution, I will show you how to restore a Dell Studio Laptop to its factory settings or default condition by performing a Dell Factory Image Restore from the recovery partition. The Dell recovery partition uses a custom Windows Operating System image, containing all the essential drivers and tools designed to work with your specific Dell Studio Notebook.
In the following simple solution, I will show you how to login to Windows as Administrator. By default, the Windows Administrative account is disabled and the Administrator user account does not appear during login. However, enabling the admin account to be accessible as an option during startup while logging in is not very complicated.
Clearing the Recent Items List in Windows Vista. In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to Clear Recent Items on your Windows Vista PC. Much like the Windows XP tutorial on how to Clear Recent Documents, clearing your Vista Recent Items is a step towards removing traces of personal browsing history on your PC. The Recent Items List is used to display your most recently accessed files or programs in an effort to make it easier to quickly access those programs or files at a later point in time.
Here's a concise and simple guide on how to disable or hide the Recent Files list in Windows. It is tailored to ensure your privacy by preventing the storage of recently opened programs and files. In addition I cover how to clear recent files history.
How can I Remove Question Mark from eMail? How I fixed the ? inserted at the beginning of email replies. Recently, Windows Live Mail began inserting question marks at the beginning of every email I would reply to. As it turns out the beta version of Internet Explorer, installed a few days earlier was the culprit. Once Internet Explorer beta was uninstalled, my email replies started working normally again.
In this simple solution, I cover one method to Erase Empty Space on a Hard Drive. By default when you send items to the Recycle Bin, Delete Email, Clear Browsing History, Etc, the information that occupied that space on your Hard Drive can still be recovered until that space is overwritten several times with new data.
How to get sound from Latop to your TV using an HDMI cable. Connecting your Laptop to a HDMI enabled HDTV offers many advantages. For example you can use the Television display as a presentation device, stream movies from the DVD or BluRay player on your laptop, play games etc. However one of the issues many encounter in this process is enabling sound from the Laptop or Notebook to be played over the TV speakers through HDMI.
How to Minimize Windows Live Messenger to the System Tray in Windows 7. By default, Messenger in Windows 7 minimizes to the taskbar, which in my opinion clutters up the taskbar and appears messy. However, you can easily make Windows Messenger run in the System Tray "by the clock" like it does in previous versions of Windows.
How to find out if TRIM is Enabled and Working: After installing an SSD drive in your computer, you might wonder if trim is working. The Trim command allows the operating system to notify the SSD (solid state drive) of which data blocks are no longer in use so that they can be wiped. Similar to defragmenting a drive (which is not used on an SSD), Trim enables the SSD to handle garbage collection in an attempt to keep drive performance at a maximum.
Is your Firefox status addon bar missing? If you’ve noticed that your status bar is missing in Firefox, you’re not alone. Mozilla replaced the traditional status bar with the Firefox addon bar starting with Firefox version 4.
How to Boot directly to the Desktop with Windows 8: One of the most unwelcoming features of Microsoft Windows 8 for me, (aside from missing a Start Menu Button on the Desktop) has been the direct boot to a Metro Start Screen. I'd much rather boot directly into a familiar Desktop instead. Luckily, starting with Windows 8.1, users now have a choice to boot directly to the Desktop, skipping the Metro Start Screen. Oh, and a partial Start Menu Button is back.
The following simple solution can be used to retrieve a Lost Windows login password. Helpful for those who have forgot Windows Login password and need to Reveal Windows Login Password. I can recall multiple instances when I have needed to Find Windows Login Password for an administrative account. Over time it's easy to forget what password we have set for the Windows admin account. The good news is that these passwords are easily recoverable by using a tool called Ophcrack.
Help! I have audio but no video while playing an AVI file in Windows Media Player. In the following tutorial, I'll show you how to playback AVI files with Windows Media Player that were created using the XVID, DX50, DIVX, or mp4v video compression format. By default, Windows Media Player will playback the audio of these AVI files, but will not render the video. To fix this problem, we simply need to install the proper XVID codec and we will be on our way to watching those XVID encoded AVI movies on our PC.
In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to fix the Windows Update Error 0X80070005 that is ever so often encountered after a Malware attack. The automated fix was created by Rizone Technologies and has worked wonderfully on the select few troubled computers I have had the opportunity to test it on.
Outlook Express Compacting Error: The folder is currently in use by outlook or another application. This error may be encountered while proceeding to close Outlook Express after checking your email. It is known to effect systems running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 installed. The email auto compact problem is thought to be a bug. In the following simple solution, I show you how to solve the problem.
In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to Convert Doc to PDF files using the Open Source PDFCreator. I stumbled upon this PDF Creator tool while I was doing some research for a client who was looking for an offline tool he could use to convert his document files into PDF (Portable Document Format) files. This tool seemed to do the trick and more.
Are you wondering how to slipstream service pack 3 into a Windows XP installation CD. As you probably already know, Microsoft released the service pack 3 final release for Windows XP to the public. Service pack 3 (SP3) includes all of the previous updates, hotfixes and security updates to date, rolled into one simple package.
In this guide, I'll show you an easy way to Clear Cache in Firefox by adding a Clear Cache Button to your toolbar. Using an extension called Clear Cache Button, you can clear the Firefox cache with just a single click, eliminating the need for keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + F5.
In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to attempt to Repair Windows Update or Automatic Updates automatically by using an innovative little tool called "Rizone's Internet Recovery Kit". This tool can also be used in an attempt to repair SSL/HTTPS/Cryptography if your having troubles connecting to secured websites. I.E. Bank Account logins, PayPal etc.
How can I remotely reboot or shutdown Windows while using Remote Desktop Connection? The following simple solution covers the process of rebooting a machine from a remote location or shutting down a remote computer. The process assumes your using Microsoft's (RDC) or "Remote Desktop Connection". By default, Windows Remote Desktop Connection only enables a user to disconnect or log off. This solution will allow you to Shutdown or Reboot that remote PC.
In the following simple solution, I'll show you a quick and easy way to Reset Internet Explorer Settings back to the default. Restoring Internet Explorer as if you just performed a fresh installation of the web browser. Resetting Internet Explorer can be used to solve many problems such as errors like: "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" slow browsers, crashes and hanging and conflicting settings. The tool we are going to use is called Microsoft Fix it.
Firefox includes a built in spell checker that can check for spelling errors. However, by default the spell checking feature only checks for multiline fields, which does no good if your typing a single line entry into a single line entry box. In the following simple solution, I'll cover the process of tweaking the Firefox spelling checker to allow you to detect spelling errors and mistyped words as you type them in single line entry fields.
If your encountering the Outlook Express error message stating: "The message could not be sent. There is not enough memory". Just know that your not alone. I recently needed to address this problem for one of my clients who was trying to forward an email with attachments and images totaling over 20MB.
How to Clear Recent Documents in Windows. One essential step in removing traces of your personal browsing history on your PC is to Clear the Recent Documents Folder. Much like the Clear Recent Items List in Vista, the My Recent Documents Folder in XP displays your most recently accessed files or programs in an effort to make it easier to quickly access those programs or files from the start menu at a later point in time.
Microsoft has recently released Service Pack 3 FINAL for Windows XP to the public. Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all of the previous updates, hotfixes and security updates to date, rolled into one simple package. It should been noted that Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7. However, SP3 does include updates for both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, and it will update whichever version is detected on your computer.
In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to remove the Yahoo Toolbar from Firefox. The Yahoo Toolbar is often unknowingly installed with other software packages. There is nothing wrong with the Yahoo Toolbar, but if you don't use the tools that are offered, you might consider it to be taking up precous space in your browser.
Setup cannot copy the file cmnicfg.xml. Typically, a user will receive this error during a Windows installation. In the following simple solution, I'll cover how I fixed it.
The 0x800CCC0B error when trying to send email through outlook express is a common error that is often encountered on an attempt to send your first email from third party email services such as gmail (google mail) using outlook express. The POP account may appear to work fine and you are able to receive email without a problem. This is because the SMTP 0x800CCC0B error will only occur when sending email.
Are you receiving the No Scan Options error when trying to scan a document with your All in One HP Scanner? In the following simple solution, I'll show you how to resolve this HP scanning problem and get your scanner working once and for all. The No Scan Options error is typically displayed on the printer when trying to scan using the "Scan To" or "Start Scan" buttons.
The boot error "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk And Press Enter" is one of the most common and alarming issues users encounter. If your system was previously working fine and suddenly won't boot, especially after making system changes, don't panic—this error often has straightforward solutions.
Dual Boot Windows: Looking to install Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP on your PC, but don't want to get rid of your current Windows OS? In the following simple solution, I show you how to install an additional Windows alongside an existing installation of Windows. These instructions set should also work for dual booting Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, 11 and others.
The Blue Screen of Death Screensaver: (BSOD) is one of the most feared error screens in the Windows operating system universe. For seasoned PC users and tech novices alike, seeing a blue screen typically means something has gone terribly wrong — such as critical hardware failure, corrupted drivers, or serious software conflicts. It’s the digital equivalent of your computer waving a white flag in panic mode.
In the following tutorial, I show you how to quickly Delete Internet Explorer Browsing History using the command line. The cool part about deleting your browser history in this way, is that you can create simple batch files to automate the entire process.
Freeze your hard drive to recover data: Recovering data from a clicking hard drive can be a touch and go task. In most cases, a clicking hard drive signifies that the drive is stuck in seek mode and is a sign that your drive is failing. In most cases, if the clicking hard drive contains the operating system you boot from, you will lose the ability to boot from this device (it will just sit there clicking away) and the drive will appear to be dead. In which case, many people assume the drive is shot and data cannot be retrieved.
Let's disable UAC prompt; If you've used Windows for any great amount of time, you have most likely seen UAC (User Account Control). UAC is that annoying, nagging, "Windows Needs your permission to continue" popup window that seems to appear whenever you attempt to run just about any program. The UAC prompt typically occurs when attempting to run any program that requires administrative rights in Windows Vista.
How to Remove Advertisements from Windows Live Messenger: Removing Windows Live Messenger Ads: Windows Live Messenger is considered the latest replacement or upgrade for MSN Messenger. It contains some great new features and improvements over the previous MSN Messenger that shipped with Windows XP and is viewed by many as an essential tool.
How to uninstall Windows Messenger: There are four different Messenger applications available from Microsoft. "Windows Messenger", "MSN Messenger", "Windows Live Messenger" and the "Messenger Service". In the following tutorial, I'll show you how to remove any one of the them from your computer. Those who have installed MSN Messenger or Windows Live Messenger might want to remove the old Windows Messenger so as to keep the two from conflicting, so we will address this one first.
How to find the MAC address of a PC or device on the LAN: Have you ever needed to find the MAC address of a computer or device connected to your network? Finding the MAC address of a PC or or device on your LAN is easy if you know at least the IP address of the PC or device that is connected. There are many cases in which a user might need to determine the MAC address of a given network communication device.
Microsoft Windows Update failure: Are you having problems getting your Microsoft Windows Updates downloaded, are the Updates repeatedly failing to install? Recently after having upgraded to Serice Pack 3 for Windows XP, we had experienced the same issue. It appeared that the updates would continually fail to install on this particular machine. We tried stopping the automatic updates service, deleted all of our temp files, log files etc, but nothing seemed to help. On any attempt to download updates, the process would halt and say it failed to install them. As it turns out, the fix was relatively simple. Here is what we did.
BitDefender Real-time protection is unavailable problem: BitDefender Total Security 2008 is one of the best antivirus solutions available. However, just like any antivirus software can have it's hiccups. Recently, I have encountered one such hiccup. One day upon logging in to my work PC, I had noticed that my BitDefender antivirus Real-time protection and Firewall was disabled and could not be turned back on. The check box was grayed out and the text next to it displayed "Real-time protection is unavailable". To make matters worse, I could not perform an update nor manually scan any files.
Error Copying File or Folder: If you're encountering this issue while using Windows Explorer for FTP transfers, you're not alone. Many users report that file transfers (especially large ones) time out at the last second or fail to complete at all.
This is a known limitation of the built in FTP functionality in Windows Explorer. Unlike dedicated FTP clients, the Windows FTP implementation is quite basic and lacks the configuration flexibility needed to handle complex connections or large file transfers.
Why Emulate Mobile Browsers? Mobile browser emulation allows you to test how websites or applications appear and function on mobile devices, all from your desktop computer. This is especially useful for website designers and developers who want to ensure their sites perform well on both iPhone and Android devices. In this guide, we explore modern methods of mobile browser emulation and provide a historical look at Windows Mobile emulation for those working with legacy systems.
If your trying to use the "Remote Desktop" Feature that is built into Windows XP and are Hosting your Remote Desktop PC from behind a router, you'll most likely need to open up a port in your router for forwarding. Otherwise you wont be able to remotely access your hosted computer from another PC via the internet. The following tutorial assumes that you already know how to navigate and setup port forwarding in your router and that you simply need to find out which port to forward for Remote Access. Navigating particular router software is outside of the scope of this article.
The STOP 0x0000007E error involving aec.sys indicates that the problem lies with the aec.sys driver, which is associated with audio enhancement or echo cancellation functionality. This driver is often part of the audio drivers or related software.
Windows Internet Explorer 8 is the next generation browser from Microsoft. The IE8 Web Browser is commonly used by those running Microsoft's Windows Vista Operating Systems. However, Windows XP users can enjoy the benefits of using Internet Explorer Beta 1 as well. The version of Windows Internet Explorer 8 outlined below will run on a Windows XP or XP Pro system with Service Pack 2 installed.
Some featured highlights of this new version include the ability to prevent phishing and deceptive websites from appearing without user permission. Top Level domain highlighting, so the user can confirm the domain they are visiting. Activities and Webslice features allow the user a much more interactive experience while enabling Website Publishers to increase their reach. The user can also select to navigate using the emulate IE7 feature.
How To Block Ads in Internet Explorer. In the Following tutorial, I cover the process of blocking Ads from displaying in Internet Explorer. Just like with AdBlock Plus in Firefox there is a similar Ad Blocker for Internet Explorer (Free Ad Blocker for IE). It comes packaged with an addon for Internet Explorer called IE7Pro and is packed with many additional plugins and features. Some key features of IE7Pro include tabbed browsing manager, spell checker, web accelerator, user agent switcher, webpage capturer, AD Blocker, Flash Block and many more user plugins.
In Windows XP, The STOP: 0x0000007B: error often occurs if you move a hard drive that contains Windows XP to another computer or if you have just installed a new motherboard or drive controller. This error occurs in these cases because your registry does not contain driver entries for the current motherboards drive controller. So in effect, the device driver that Windows XP is loading from the registry will not work with the new drive controller.
The following tutorial will explain how to correct the missing message header when printing Outlook Express 6 messages. When the user tries to print emails from outlook express, the email might print fine, but with the To: From: message header printed as (To:xxx@xxx.com, From:xxx@xxx.com, etc). In other cases, emails might not print the header at all. In both cases, the message content is still printed just fine. Those who have installed internet Explorer 7 on a Windows XP system might experience this problem.
The Windows XP Prefetcher reduces the amount of time it takes Windows to boot and can speed up the launch of applications. It does this by monitoring which programs initialize when the Operating System is booted, then in the future, fetches them quickly via trace files. Although prefetcher is enabled by default, we can easily improve on its performance by adjusting or tweaking it's value to make Windows boot faster.
Question: Help! My Windows XP system displays the Windows boot logo and then the screen goes black and nothing else displays. I've tried another monitor thinking that this might be the problem and still have the same results. I have not performed any hardware or software upgrades but did perform a System Restore due to other issues. My PC boots fine into safe mode. How can I fix this problem?
A Stop 0x0000000A error in Windows is an annoying error that can occur during or after the installation of Windows or during an upgrade. It might also occur after installing new hardware, drivers, or when a processor tries to resume from a C1 idle state. These stop messages are text code error messages that also known as blue screens of death (BSoD). They almost always contain information that can help you diagnose and resolve the problem.
How to password protect a shared folder in Windows, macOS, and Linux: Password protecting a shared folder can enhance security, especially if you are sharing sensitive information. The method to do this depends on the operating system you are using. Below are the steps for Windows and macOS, as well as recommendations for third party tools for Linux and cross platform compatibility.
If you've ever encountered a Windows error message when trying to delete a file: Cannot delete file: Cannot read from source file or disk. It is being used by another person or program. Close any programs that might be using the file and try again. I can assure you, your not alone.
Are you wanting to remove a Microsoft account from Windows 10 or 11? Removing a Microsoft account from Windows is a straightforward process, but it's important to understand what a Microsoft account is and why you might want to remove it. Let’s start with a brief overview of the Microsoft account.
There are times when a Windows user might want to back up important Outlook Express E-Mail Messages. I always create a message backup just before reformatting a computer or when moving essential information from one computer to another. This tutorial assumes the user is working with Microsoft Outlook Express 6.
Windows Media Player always opens when I insert a CD. By default, Windows XP is configured to automatically detect what a user wants to do with a CD or DVD once it is inserted. This feature is called AutoPlay. For example, Windows might try to launch it's Media Player once a CD is inserted into the CD drive. Some users might find the AutoPlay feature annoying and want to change or disable it. The following tutorial explains how to edit or disable this option.
By default, Windows XP places a delay on menus before they are displayed. Some users feel this menu delay is a bit long and may prefer to reduce or eliminate the delay all together. The good news is that this is easily accomplished via the adjustment of a simple registry setting.
Disabling System Restore in Windows 10/11: There may be situations where you want to disable System Restore, such as freeing up disk space or if you suspect malware has compromised your restore points. Disabling System Restore is easy in modern Windows versions, but before diving into how to do this, let’s first understand what System Restore is and why you may or may not need it.
Installing a new hard drive and partition a disk in Windows: Ok, so you have purchased a new SSD hard drive and would like to add it to your Windows computer. New drives do not ship preformatted, so you'll need to at least create a new partition and format the disk before Windows can detect and use it for storage purposes.
The following is a run command shortcut list for Windows XP. Run commands allow a user to quickly access a variety or Windows XP tools and applications directly via the Start -> Run interface. For quick reference, the application name is on the left and the command you would type in the run window is shown to the right in bold.
By default, when a Windows XP computer encounters an error, the user is prompted with a pop up asking them if they would like to send the pertaining error information to Microsoft. The following tutorial explains how to eliminate this pop up prompt when your computer encounters an error.
How to create trademark and copyright symbols: The following short tutorial explains how to create those neat circled C copyright, circled R registered trademark and TM trademark symbols. These symbols are often considered more visually appealing and generally produce less clutter than standard text.
In order to display any changes on a Web page, a user might click the Refresh button on the browser toolbar or press the F5 key on the keyboard. While this sometimes works, refreshing a page simply reloads the page without clearing the browser's cache. Here are some additional techniques used by specific browsers to help clear the browser's cache so you see the changes when a page is reloaded.
What do those Windows Error Codes Mean?: Inevitably, every Windows user is bound to encounter at least a few error codes during their experience with the Windows Operating environment. Wouldn't it be helpful to have a little more information as to why these errors occurred and what they mean? Luckily there is a free program available created by Gregory Braun that can do just that.
Share Outlook Express with multiple users: The following tutorial explains how to share Outlook Express with other users in your household while password protecting your e-mail via the use of identities. If the people in your household share the same computer and you don't want to use a separate Windows login for every user, this tutorial is for you.
In some cases, it might seem like it takes forever for Windows to shutdown. By altering a simple registry setting, you may be able to dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for Windows XP to shutdown. This tutorial shows you how to adjust your shutdown speed by reducing the time Windows allows before it proceeds to kill running applications.
Want to take full control of your Windows Cookies? The Documents and Settings folder found within Windows holds user specific information including all Cookies stored from an internet browsing session. You can take control and tell your computer exactly how to processes and handles these Cookies via the settings found in the Internet Explorer - Internet Options menu.
The Scheduled Task Wizard is a helpful feature built into Windows XP that allows a user to schedule programs and applications to be run automatically. Think of it as a Windows version of an alarm clock for your programs. This feature is particularly useful for launching routine maintenance tasks such as Disk Cleanup and Defrag. The idea is to schedule these tasks to run while the computer is not in use allowing your computer to take care of and maintain itself while your off doing other things.
After installing many programs or applications and or if you use your computer quite frequently your hard drive can become cluttered and unorganized. Over time and with continued use, your Windows XP computer might become sluggish and applications may not be as snappy or start as quickly as they once did. This is a fairly common problem that Windows XP users encounter. It is mainly caused by information being saved to the hard drive in an unorganized manner. This is referred to as disk fragmentation.
Tips to help Keep Windows running smoothly. Windows was designed to be user friendly and this convenience directly attributes to it's success. The drawback is that the more convenient something is, the more potential there might be for conflict. I like to think of it as a balancing act much like that of Newtons third law that states every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. Or the non scientific approach "You can't have your cake and eat it too".
The following tutorial explains how to backup and restore the contacts from your Outlook Express Address Book. Creating a backup allows a user to save their personal contacts from Outlook Express and then import or restore those contacts later. This process is typically used by users that want to import contacts to another computer or would like to create a backup of those contacts in case of hardware failure or a virus.