Windows Tricks

Here are some tricks I picked up along the way. Some fix annoying Windows features. Others help with some Windows software.

Prevent Windows Update from shutting down your computer automatically

Perhaps your Windows Update is set up to install updates and reboot at 3am every night. Fine, but what about that torrent video or that big download that doesn't have a resume feature? This trick stops Windows Update. (It will restart on reboot.)

The "hard" way, open a command window as an administrator (Windows Key, type cmd, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter) then type:
net stop "windows update"

The lazy way (if you need to do this often), just right-click and download this batch file and place it on your desktop. It does exactly the same thing. (You can check that by opening it in Notepad.) Run it everytime you need it.

Login to Vista automatically

After Windows Update, Windows restarts but your computer does not login, so your download does not resume. The fix:
Run netplwiz (Windows Key, type "netplwiz", press Ctrl+Shift+Enter).
Uncheck the box for "Users must enter a user name and password to access this computer".
Apply and choose the user that should be logged on automatically at start up.

Hibernate option has disappeared (battery drains fast!)

This strange problem happened to me. Before leaving on a camping trip, I made sure to fully charge my battery, then I clicked the start menu's power icon (the one that puts the computer to sleep). When I turned the computer back on, the battery was down to 74 percent. But the computer resumed much faster than usual.

What had happened, I realized, was that when I clicked the power icon, the computer no longer went into "hibernate" mode, but into sleep mode, a mode that still uses a lot of juice as the session's data is saved to RAM instead of to the hard drive. Actually, the hibernate option had altogether disappeared—I could find it neither in the advanced power settings, nor by clicking the arrow at the bottom right of the start menu.

Here's the fix:

1. Open a command prompt (press the Windows key then type "cmd"). At the prompt, type:
powercfg /hibernate on
The hibernate option will now reappear in the menus.

2. To reactivate hibernate as the default action when you click the power icon, open the control panel, choose "Change when the computer sleeps", choose "Change advanced power settings", expand "Power buttons and lid", expand "Start menu power button", and click the blue text to change the option to "Hibernate".

The task bar is on two rows and will not go back to one row

Grab the separator slider on the taskbar, and move it up instead of trying to slide it left or right.

Solving network problems

This trick will often restore a connection that has gone sour. The "hard way", you need to open a command window and type these three commands:


ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /flushdns

The lazy way (if you need to do this often), just right-click and download this batch file and place it on your desktop. It does exactly the same thing. (You can check that by opening it in Notepad.) Run it everytime you need it.
If this doesn't work, also remove the network adapters and com ports in device managers, then reboot (they will reinstall automatically).

"Windows has Detected in IP Conflict" error

My lady friend and I had our laptops networked together on ad-hoc wireless for a long time and sharing our internet connections wherever we were. Then I installed a new wireless card and got this error message. Here's what solved it.

On both machines, open a command prompt (Windows Key + Run + Cmd) then type ipconfig.
The idea is to look for something weird here. In our case, I noticed that for our Wireless LAN adapters, her computer said "IPv4 Address" and gave a pretty generic 192.168 address, whereas my computer said "Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address" and gave a non-generic address, probably that of the router.

I went to "manage network connections", right-clicked the Wireless LAN connection, selected "Internet Protocol Version 4" (for IPv4), clicked "Properties" and checked the "Obtain an IP address automatically" box. When I ran ipconfig again, I had a nice generic IPv4 address (not the same as my friend), and we were able to share the connection again.

When you run ipconfig you may have a slightly different problem, but this method could still help you troubleshoot.

How to Improve Wireless

At times, my lady friend and I share a wireless internet connection between our laptops over wifi. This means that one of the laptops is connected to two wireless networks at once (to the wireless internet router and to the ad-hoc network). That laptop has two wireless cards: the internal card that came with the laptop, and an external card plugged in via USB. That card boosts the one-bar signal we get on the internal card up to four bars.

Using a software called inSSIDer, I realized that our ad-hoc network was on channel 11, the same channel as the wireless internet connection we were sharing. To reduce interference and (hopefully) improve our connection, I switched both Dell laptops' internal cards to channel 6, which was open (in Device Manager, select the wireless card and open Properties).

How to turn off Scroll Lock on a Dell Laptop

Try pressing the function key (Fn) with the Num lock key. Works on my Studio 1535.

A site never opens from a particular location

Once you've made sure it's not a firewall or proxy problem, download TCPOptimizer. On the general settings tab, if the MTU box on the right is at 1500 or above, click PPPoE, which should change it to 1492. Click apply changes and reboot.

How to force Vista to display folders with music files like normal folders

When Vista opens a folder with music or picture files, it may not display the default information you want to see (size, type etc.).
Choose View, Customize, and choose the Documents template.
Unfortunately you cannot apply this fix at the root (C\), but if your files are well organize it should be fast enough to cycle throug a few folders.

Improve the "file browse menu" in Vista

From many applications, when you try to open or save a file, the application opens a standard window that I'll call the "browse menu". On the left, there's a panel with icons such as "music", "documents" and so on. If you keep your files in your own tree structure instead of Vista's standard folders, the browse menu can aggravate you in its original form. Three little tricks can help.

The first thing to notice is that you can change the size of the browse menu. Otherwise, by default, Vista opens the menu in a tiny box that forces you to scroll to the folders you want. Just click and drag the bottom corner. Vista should remember that window setting.

The second thing to notice is the "Folders" bar in the left pane, at the bottom, way below the favorite links. Click on it. A list of folders will expand. This may be just what you need to navigate to your folders. Vista should remember this setting.

The third tweak is to remove the "Favorite" links you don't need in the left pane, and to add folders that you navigate to all the time. If the expanded folder view is open, close it by clicking the down arrow on the "Folders" bar. This should give you a full view of the "Favorite links" pane. Right click on a blank spot in the pane and choose "Open favorite links folder". In that folder, delete whatever folders you don't want to see in the browse menu, and create shortcuts to your real favorite folders. To create shortcuts, open an explorer window (Windows + E), bring this window side-by-side with the "Favorite links folder" we just opened, then right-click folders in the explorer window, drag them to the favorite links window and choose "Create shortcut here".

Running 16-bit applications in Vista

This section got too large so I moved it to a page that tells you everything about running 16-bit applications in Vista and other modern Windows systems.

Shrink PDF file size in Acrobat for a scanned book

Acrobat has at least three tools to reduce a file's size:
1. Document / Optimize Scanned PDF
2. Advanced / Document Optimizer
3. Document / Reduce File Size

Which to use, and in what combination? I'm not really sure what these options do, but after hours of twiddling with it I found options that work for me. I had scanned a book at 150 dpi. The file size was 53MB. After reduction, the file size was 8MB. The ultimate test is how the document reads when you print it. Other options gave me similar sizes, but the printed result was horrendous. Here is my workflow for Acrobat 8 Pro.

1. Crop your pages. Your file size will decrease when you do away with those dark edges. Your book will be cleaner to look at and it will print with less ink. Document / Crop.
2. OCR your scanned book. This will make your book searchable. The time to do it is now, before you tamper with the image quality. Document / OCR Text Recognition / Recognize Text Using OCR.
4. Put in your bookmarks. This will make your book easier to navigate. View / Navigation Panels / Bookmarks.
4. Shrink the document. Document / Optimize Scanned PDF. Click "Default", then drag the slider at the top to "Small".
5. At this point you can try Document / Reduce size if you like. It only gives me another 20KB.

If you have a better workflow to suggest, please write.

How to convert images into a font

You can insert images into word documents, but when the text moves around, strange things start to happen, especially if you're exporting your text to desktop publishing software. So I've found it convenient to convert graphics into a font. When several graphics always come together, if you assign them to numbers, all you need to do to use these graphics is press 1-2-3. No more inserting! It's a beautiful solution. The method explained here can also help you convert your logo into a font (or your handwriting).

I use a piece software called FontCreator. First, using an image editor such as Photoshop, convert your graphics to black-and-white bitmaps. Resize so that neither the height nor width much exceeds 400 pixels. Create a new font in FontCreator. Right-click on a glyph and choose Import Image. Click load, navigate to the bitmap, click Generate. Click Format / Naming to give your font the right name. Save your file as a true-type font, add it in control panel, now you can use it in word.

If the font name doesn't appear in word, the only thing that works for me is to copy a working true-type file, open in in FontCreator and paste your font glyphs in there. I have read advice to delete some files to clear your font cache: fbc*.tmp and fntcache.dat. This only screws my system.

See all message headers in Gmail

In Gmail, if someone cc'es you, you cannot see what email address they used to write to you. When you click "Show details", only the top headers are shown. To see all headers, open the message. On the top right, click the downward arrow to the right of "Reply", and select "Show Ooiginal". This will display the original message with full headers.

How to record an audio stream in Audacity + Vista

Find the volume icon at the bottom right of your screen. Right-click it, choose Recording Devices, Rec Playback, Set Default, then Properties, Levels, slide to 100.

In Audacity, choose Edit Preferences, Recording, Rec Playback.

For some reason, this works better if you have headphones plugged in. Remember to set the volume somewhere comfortable, otherwise there will be nothing to record! Test your volume in Audacity to make sure there's no saturation.

You may have to close Audacity a couple times until it works, tricking Audacity to take on the job is a bit like black magic.

How to remove a question mark from Skype contacts?

Sometimes, friends try to add you as a Skype contact, but your trigger-happy finger clicks "reject" instead of "accept". Thereafter, they see you with a question mark, even if you add them as a contact. How do you get out of this loop?

While you and your friend are both signed in, ask your friend to right-click your contact (where the question mark appears)and to select "request contact details". A window should appear on your side asking you whether or not to okay the contact. Don't go too fast this time!
If this does not work, try this. Make sure you are both signed in. On your side, remove your friend from the contact list, sign out, sign in, and add your friend again. Then ask your friend to right-click your contact again and to choose "request contact details". This should do it!

Installing Directory Opus on USB Flash Drive

If you've purchased a license, you can only run Directory Opus on one flash drive at a time (but you can install it on several drives). In Directory Opus, choose Settings, Backup & Restore, Export to USB Flash Drive.

Cannot select text in Microsoft Word

You click a file name: Word opens, but not the document. You try to select text: the text won't highlight, and you can't even click inside the text. The fix is to delete the Word Data registry key. For Word 2007, it is:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data
The fix is described at the bottom of this page.

Phplist, SMF Forum, other server tips

Moved to this page.

Warm regards,

Andy

Links

OldApps. Download old version of software. Useful to combat bloat.

Vetusware. Repository of abandonned software.

Smiles,

Andy

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