Dr. Bob's All About Windows |
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Macs to the left of me, Windows to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with You(tube).
Tweak your Windows 7 to get more out of it.
A free utility WinBubble will allow you to tweak how your Vista and Windows 7 works. WinBubble has so many tweaking options that it could easily overwhelm users. The user interface uses tabs and check boxes to keep the multitude of options organized and easy to activate. The program lets you add more options to your context menu, including a Safely Remove Hardware icon, an encrypt/decrypt option, and a WinBubble icon. Give it a try... Moving to Office 2010 Giving You Fits?
There is an easy way to see where to find
your favorite functions from older versions of Microsoft Office (before
the ribbon) and Microsoft Office 2010’s ribbon. Here are Microsoft
download links to interactive “Menu to ribbon” guides that do exactly
that:
These are fully visual and allow you to navigate to the command you are used to using in the older version of Office and it will not only tell you where to find it in the Microsoft Office 2010 ribbon, if you click the command, it will actually show it to you visually on the Office 2010 ribbon.
Save Money - Use Another Font!I know I usually preach about not printing, but I know that sometimes, as accountants, we just have to print! But, if you are big on printing you can still save a ton on the money you spend on ink, as much as 30%, just by changing the font you use to print across your organization. Because different fonts use different amounts of ink, you could save money just by moving to Century Gothic rather than using Arial. Schools and businesses are saving thousands of dollars a year by doing this very simple change. Data on the subject from Printer.com was enough to persuade the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to make a switch. Diane Blohowiak, coordinator of information-technology user support asked faculty and staff to use Century Gothic for all printed documents. The school also plans to change its e-mail system so it uses Century Gothic. As a result the University could save between $5,000 and $10,000 a year. With an annual expenditure of roughly $100,000 on ink and toner cartridges, this is nothing to thumb your nose at. For, more on the cost of different fonts and to help you make a decision, read more. Clear Up Fuzzy MonitorsHere is a great tip for Windows 7 users. The ClearType Text Tuner. From Windows Start Button, Search type Adjust ClearType Text and click on the entry from the search window. You can then adjust the clarity of each monitor to suit you. Depending on the age of the monitor, or the age of the user, this is a great tip.
Windows 7 also provides a color calibration tool. You can find it under the Control Panel, Color Management. So give it a try. Hope you enjoy these little tricks to help you enjoy your computing experience more. |
The Laptop Battery is usually the first thing to go. If you are using a newer lithium-ion, or Li-ion, battery there are a few things you can do to extend the life of the battery. First, if you run your computer primarily off AC most of the time, remove the battery. Heat is the enemy of the battery so the longer it is exposed to heat, the shorter the expected life to replacement is. In fact if you use your laptop on AC power most of the time, one suggestion is to run the battery about half-way down, then take it out of the laptop, wrap it in plastic, or store it in a seal-proof baggie and put in your refrigerator (temperature of around 40 degrees is best I am told.) O.K. I have not tried this myself, but they say it works. Li-ion batteries do not like to be completely run down either unlike the older nickel-cadmium batteries. The general rule is to run a Li-ion battery down once for every 20-30 partial recharges. Li-ion batteries do not seem to suffer from memory life as older batteries did either, so don't be afraid to plug them in. Also, avoid large swings in temperature. Don't leave your laptop, music player or cell phone out in the hot sun or cold weather, such as in your car, as this will greatly reduce the life of the device. A quality Li-ion battery has a useful life of a couple of years, and maybe even three good years if it is well taken care of. But, when you replace the battery, be sure to check the manufacturing date. Batteries that were mass produced and shipped to storage, may have sat in a warehouse for a couple of years and a large part of what should have been their useful life is gone! Send the battery back for replacement and specify why.
Oh, you probably thought I was going to talk about how to extend the life of your laptop while you are running on battery. Well if you would like 15 great tips on how to do that, read on...
When I am in the office I want to use my super computer (pictured above.) But, on the road I need to take my laptop and a number of files with me. I want my laptop document directory to look just like my desktop document directory so I do not have to worry about where my files are stored in different systems. If you are a Vista or Win 7 user and you have large complex directories of files you need to keep in sync then do a windows search on the Sync Center. This utility is available for free and allows you to define Offline folders to sync and share files. For my needs the Sync Center was too complex, plus I wanted to control when I sync and where the files are stored, so the SyncToy is perfect. Plus SyncToy supports Windows XP through Windows 7. Have fun, and keeps those files synced up.
What are you accomplishing with your web site? If you are like most of your peers, not much. Having a quality web site that represents your company or firm is more important than ever and there are a few things you need to know...
As you head into end-of-year, or for public accountants, you will be busy printing large volumes of documents, or scanning images for long-term storage. To save on these operating costs check your printer and scanner resolutions. Most printers and scanners ship at the highest quality resolution supported. Changing printer settings from 1200DPI to 300DPI saves you 75% on the cost of printing and prints in 25% of the time generally. 300DPI is usually fine for all types of office documents. Changing those scanner settings to lower resolution results save in scan time and file size for long-term storage space.
Creating a Dynamic Custom Stamp in Acrobat.
For those who wish to create custom stamps that are Dynamic, meaning the name and date changes with the use
of the Stamp, try http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2007/02/custom_dynamic_stamp For a great active tutorial.
Many of you found out that Intuit pulled the Financial Statement Designer with the release of QuickBooks 2009 in favor of charging $149 for the more intuitive and powerful Intuit Statement Writer (ISW interfaces with Excel.) However, may Accountants were not quite ready to let go of FSD so Intuit has made the product available for free download and will support the product through the end of September 2009. I am not sure what will happen after that. You can download Financial Statement Designer directly from Intuit.
With so many people Facebooking each other, how do you keep track of it all? That may be the million dollar question at the moment as business owners and even workers are spending so much office time on Facebook. The real dollar opportunity is there, but so is the potential for wasted time. This Facebook quick tip will help you block updates from your noisiest social networking friends. While you are at it, think about ways to manage your companies Facebook presence. Yes, I said your COMPANY's FACEBOOK presence. It is good business to be where your customers and clients are, so why not keep them up to date using Facebook. Here is a great article on how to create your own personal portal in Facebook in 5 minutes for free.
Cleaning Your Tech Gear!
If you want to protect you investment and keep your electronics working well, keep them clean! Follow these easy clean up tips from CyberSpeak's Kim Komando and othrs.
Cleaning LCDs
LCD screens are everywhere. Your HDTV, digital camera and cell phone all have one. To get a good view, you need to keep the screen clean. The best way to clean LCDs is with a microfiber cloth. These often come with sunglasses and prescription glasses. Or, buy one online or at an electronics store.
Rub the display gently with the cloth. For stubborn spots, turn off the gadget. Unplug it or remove the battery. Wet the cloth with distilled water and wring it out. Gently rub the trouble area. Don't turn the device back on until the screen has dried.
With LCDs, you have to worry about more than just dirt. Some have asked for help removing scratches, permanent marker and even paint.
Use petroleum jelly to make scratches on an LCD less noticeable. Apply it with a clean, lint-free cloth; wipe away the excess. Or, gently rub scratches with a soft, new pencil eraser. There are also commercially available LCD scratch repair kits. Read online reviews before buying.
Use a half-and-half mixture of distilled water and vinegar for tough spots like permanent marker. Paint is trickier. Rub the display gently.
Under no circumstance should you use Windex or similar cleaners. Nor should you use anything abrasive. You can permanently damage the display.
Cleaning Cell Phones
Over time, your cell phone can get caked with grime and dirt. Women may notice make up smudges between the keys. Fortunately, this isn't difficult to clean.
Power off your phone and remove the battery, if possible. Use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs to clean between keys. You can also use it on the body of the phone. Hold the phone upside down while cleaning. This stops liquid from seeping through cracks.
Cleaning Cameras
A dusty camera lens or sensor ruins photos. Pick up an air blower at a camera store for about $10. Some have brushes to help remove stubborn particles.
Blowing air at the lens should dislodge dust. If not, use a microfiber cloth. For water spots, use a cleaner specifically designed for camera lenses. Spray a little on the microfiber cloth. Don't use too much, and never spray it directly on the lens. Doing so can affect lens coatings.
Dust and debris can get inside an SLR when you change lenses. Some SLRs have built-in cleaning systems. The camera shakes the sensor at a high speed. Enable this feature to prevent most dust from accumulating.
You can also use your camera's cleaning mode. This moves the mirror, allowing access to the sensor. Remove the lens after activating cleaning mode. Then, use a blower to remove particles. Do not use compressed air; it contains chemicals that leave a residue.
The battery should be fully charged before cleaning the sensor. Otherwise, the mirror will slam down when the battery dies. This can damage the camera.
You'll also find sensor cleaning kits. These include cleaning fluid and swabs. Make sure the cleaner is compatible with your camera. Incompatible cleaners can damage the sensor. Follow the directions carefully.
Don't clean your sensor unnecessarily. Doing so increases the risk of damage. You can also take your camera to a local camera shop for a thorough cleaning. It won't be cheap, but the job will be done right.
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Are you always looking for the right tools
to fix computer problems.
Technibble, an Australian
company has just updated and release the perfect solution to
help. They have collected 57 of the all time repair tools and
made them available for download . The Computer Repair Utility Kit allows you to run all of the repair tools from your portable drive (eg. USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive, IPod etc.) and comes with an easy to use, right-click menu. A must in any computer technicians kit. The list of tools is way too long to list here, but you can go to their site and review in more detail, as well as downloading other support tools and review their Computer Business Kit if you are thinking of getting into the computer repair business. Read more and download for Technibble. I also added a link to each, compliments of ReadWriteWeb.com on my Tips Page. |
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Use the following rating system depending of your level of knowledge:
Beginner: Basic computer
skills File Management CCleaner gives your PC a tune-up by removing unnecessary files and registry information, freeing up valuable disk space and making your machine run faster. Installation required: No - Level: Beginner JkDefrag reorganizes files on your PC to improve performance. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No DriveimageXML allows you to backup your entire PC contents, so it can used in emergencies or for recovery of individual files. Level: Expert - Installation required: No Explore2fs allows you to access files on Unix partitions or within Unix image files without having to load Unix. Level: Expert - Installation required: No Double Killer helps you find and easily remove duplicate files which are using unnecessary disk space. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No Deep Burner makes it easy to backup information to a CD or DVD Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No 7 Zip lets you create and extract from most of the popular archive file formats Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No The PC Decrapifier uninstalls many of the common trialware and annoyances found on PCs when you bring them home from the store. A list of software that it can detect and remove can be found here. PC Decrapifier displays a list of software it detects and then lets you choose what you want removed. Level: Basic - Installation required: No Information Process Explorer is Task Manager on steroids. Find out what files, registry keys and other objects applications have open, even which DLLs they have loaded, and more. This uniquely powerful utility will even show you who owns each application. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No System Information gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings, and then displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No ProduKey is a small utility that displays the ProductID and the CD-Key of MS-Office, Windows, Exchange Server, and SQL Server installed on your computer. This utility can be useful if you lost the product key of your Windows/Office, and you want to reinstall it on your computer. Level: Beginner - Installation required: Yes Autoruns provides information about all applications which are automatically started by Windows at boot time or when you log in. Level: Expert - Installation required: No HWMonitor lets you easily see temperatures of the main components of your PC. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No GPU-Z lets you view information about the graphics component of your PC. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No WirelessKeyView retrieves the type and value of previously used wireless network keys/passwords stored in your computer, then lets you easily save all the information to a text/html/xml file. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No TreeSize Free allows you to view the amount of disk space used by any folder on your PC. Because scanning is done in a thread, you can see results as the application is running. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Game Key Revealer retrieves the CD-Key and serial numbers for all installed games on your computer allowing you to easily. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No USBDView allows you to review the software which has been installed on the PC to manage hardware (MP3 players, external disk drives, cameras etc) connected to any of the USB ports. Level: Expert - Installation required: No TrID allows the type of file (Word, Excel, PDF) to be determined by looking inside the file. Useful when Windows cannot determine the type of file due to the extension being changed or removed. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No CodecInstaller displays the video codecs currently installed on your PC. Additionally, if you are unsure which codecs you need for a specific file, CodeInstaller will show you. Level: Expert - Installation required: Yes Unknown Devices helps you determine what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are if Windows can't figure it out by itself. Level: Expert - Installation required: No GSpot analyzes video files to determine the video and audio codecs required and offers solutions if necessary. Level: Expert - Installation required: No Repair Tools Norton Removal Tools lets you easily remove specific Symantec products. Level: Beginner - Installation required: Yes
McAfee Removal Tool lets you easily remove
McAfee consumer products. Level: Beginner - Installation required: Yes LSPFix restores Internet access caused by faulty Layered Service Provider software. Level: Expert - Installation required: No Dial-a-fix is an advanced utility for 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows that repairs Windows files and registries; fixing common problems easily. Level: Expert - Installation required: No Recovery Recuva recovers files which have been deleted from your computer, including files emptied from the recycle bin as well as files deleted from memory cards or MP3 players. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Restoration recovers files which have been deleted from your PC, memory cards or MP3 players. It also works with FAT and NTFS as well as digital cameras cards. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No PhotoRec recovers files which have been deleted or damaged from memory cards. It works by ignoring the filesystem and going after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's filesystem has been severely damaged or re-formatted. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No DBXTract recovers e-mails from damaged Microsoft Outlook Express data files. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Network Tools Wireshark allows network packets to be viewed and helps diagnose network problems. Level: Expert - Installation required: No, but starts WinCAP installer which can be cancelled. Note: Can be used on Mac and Linux Network Scanner lists which type of resources are available on the network. Level: Expert - Installation required: No PuTTY is a SSH and Telnet client that allows you to login to Unix computers or devices (such as the iPhone). Level: Expert - Installation required: No Network Stumbler is a wireless network scanner that lets you see network availability and signal strength. Level: Expert - Installation required: Yes Virus and Malware Removal Tools ClamWin scans your PC for viruses and helps remove them. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Note: ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access real-time scanner. You need to manually scan a file in order to detect a virus or spyware. RootkitRevealer is an advanced rootkit detection utility that outputs a list of Registry and file system API discrepancies that may indicate the presence of a user-mode or kernel-mode rootkit. Level: Expert - Installation required: No ComboFix is a specialized cleaning tool that allows the manual removal of spyware infections. Level: Expert - Installation required: No SmitFraudFix is a command prompt tool which removes "Desktop Hijack malware." Level: Expert - Installation required: No Roguefix detects and cleans Windows XP computers that are infected with fake security warnings and fake 'Blue screens of death.' Level: Expert - Installation required: No HijackThis scans your computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. A separate application called HijackReader reads the log files create by HijackThis and provides advice on what to do. Level: Expert - Installation required: No SUPERAntiSpyware will detect and remove spyware, adware, malware, trojans, keyloggers, dialers, and worms. Note: It does not include real-time blocking or scheduled scanning. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: Yes - But it can be cancelled and the app will still run. Malwarebytes will search and destroy malware, but this free version does not include realtime protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: Yes Miscellaneous Mozilla Firefox Portable Web browser Mozilla Firefox Portable Edition is a standalone application you can run from a self-contained folder on your desktop or your portable drive. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No JavaRa removes old and redundant versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Level: Expert - Installation required: No Monitor Tester helps you adjust the settings of your monitor to get the best picture. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Helps you find any pixels on your LCD screen which are "stuck" or "dead" Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Checks any flash drive for errors and displays their actual capacity. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Note: English translation via Google Translate Double Driver allows the device drivers that came with your PC when you bought it to be backed up. Useful when the Windows Operating System has to be reinstalled which in turn requires the device drivers to be reinstalled. Level: Expert - Installation required: No Allows PDF documents to be viewed without having to reinstall Adobe Acrobat Reader. Level: Beginner - Installation required: No Revo Uninstaller helps you easily remove unwanted programs installed on your computer even if you have had problems uninstalling them from "Windows Add/ Remove Programs." Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Tweaks TweakUI is part of Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP and lets you change various settings that are not exposed in the default user interface. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No VistaTweaker is a complete tweaking utility designed for Windows Vista allowing you to change settings that can not be changed by using Control Panel. Level: Intermediate - Installation required: No Scripts These scripts do not need to be installed however, they will take immediate effect once they are run, so make sure you really want them before clicking. Quickly Make a System Restore Point A VBScript file which creates a Windows restore point called "Technicians Quick Restore Point". This allows the Windows system to be easily restored should any changes you make when fixing problems make them worse. Reset Network A Windows batch file which will invoke the Windows IP configuration utility, ipconfig and does the following: Obtain a new IP address from your DHCP server (your home router or modem). - Flushes the local DNS cache - Re-registers DNS names. Clear Print Spooler This stops the spooler service, deletes the contents of the spool\printers folder within the Windows system folder, and restarts the spooler service. Stop Automatic Updates Stops the "Automatic Updates" service thereby preventing any software updates to be installed from Microsoft whilst you are diagnosing PC problems. Start Automatic Updates Starts the "Automatic Updates" service so necessary updates from Microsoft can be downloaded and installed |
A seminar attendee sent me this quick tip. Many of you have firm names that contain an ampersand in the name. For example, Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, where you would like to put the firm name in the header or footer of a Word or Excel document, but when you try to use an ampersand it will not display. For the & character to show up type two of the characters like this - && and it should work just fine.
One of the greatest stresses in life may just be that derived from deleting a file and realizing you also emptied your waste basket! For those who remember the file "unerase" and "undelete" programs of DOS and early Windows days - take heart. They still work. You may need a utility that works well with NTFS as well as FAT and FAT32 (older storage methods), so check the file formats of your fixed disk first. A utility which I use, and which seems to work fine on Vista, is FreeUndelete, http://officerecovery.com/freeundelete/. It is free for personal use, but they would like $39 if you are going to use in a business environment and that is very reasonable. Remember, just because a file may be recovered does not mean it will be usable. If some of the space has been allocated to another file, then you may not be able to use the recovered file. The program rates files as Poor, Average or Good. The best time to undelete a file is just after erasing it, or before other files have been created or modified. The longer between a file being deleted and the recovery attempt, the less likely success will be. This utility from OfficeRecovery.com scans the designated hard drive for all files marked as deleted. You may filter the scan. It is also a good idea to recover the file to a different drive that it was originally saved on; perhaps use a USB flash drive to avoid possible naming conflicts with an existing file name, etc.
