Posts tagged microsoft
Quick Boost for Windows Vista – Disable Transparency
Oct 19th
Microsoft Windows Vista is still around (I’m using a Vista laptop tonight) and so looking around for ways to speed my system - disable Vista transparency. I’ve added RAM to computers before, but this tip is free, and doesn’t have any negative effecton the Operating System (in my opinion). I found this little gem on TechRepublic.com originally posted back in 2008, but its still as useful as ever.
For instructions and screenshots click the link above, or do this:
Right-click an empty spot on the desktop > click Personalize > click Window Color and Appearance. When the Window Color and Appearance window opens uncheck the Enable transparency checkbox, then click OK.
You’ll notice you can’t see through as when transparency was on, but the window edge background now gives the appearance of transparency since the “background pattern” doesn’t move when the window does.
How to add a new user to Windows 7
Aug 20th
This info applies to Windows 7, and I understand it also works in Windows Vista.
Click Start > Control Panel > under User Accounts and Family Safety, click Add or remove user accounts.
Next, type in your new account name (John, The Laptop, etc…) and choose the account type “Standard user” (see note below). Now click the Create Account button. At this point you can add a password to your new account, or there are other options like managing other users. When you are done close the window and you’ve created your new user. Next time you start or reboot your computer, it will stop and let you choose which profile you wish to login with.
NOTE: Only choose an Administrator if you need to, and you understand exactly what that means. Otherwise you can end up with big trouble as you accidentally leave your computer less secure than it could be. If you needed a user with Administrator privileges you probably wouldn’t be reading this unless you need a refresher.
Outlook 2010 users get Google Calendar Sync (32-bit only)
Aug 17th
For Outlook 2010 users out there (with 32-bit systems) who want to sync with Google Calendar your prayers have been answered…
FROM THE” GMAIL BLOG:
Google Calendar works with a number of desktop applications and mobile devices including iCal, iPhone and iPad, Blackberry, Android, Nokia/Symbian, and Windows Mobile phones. Google Calendar Sync for Outlook is also available, but one thing was missing — until now.
Now take the power of Outlook’s Calendar and sync with Google Calendar to get maximum flexibility and usability by extending yourself to the web – easily.
Share Your Calendar (GCalendar)
MORE
Internet Explorer Crash and Other Fixes
Aug 12th
As a user of Microsoft Internet Explorer for years, a computer enthusiast since before the days of Windows, and a web designer I figured if my Internet Explorer 8 had any problems it would be easy enough for me to fix using my current knowledge.
If you are having problems with Internet Explorer, you may be reading this in another browser, and I will assume so below. If you can’t get Internet Explorer running try “Get it Running” below.
My issue with Internet Explorer 8 appeared earlier today while trying to check out a web page I was working on that popped up a notification that Adobe Flash Player had to be updated. I clicked the install button and got an error that boiled down to 2 choices – debugging Internet Explorer’s error or closing Internet Explorer. Following common sense choices (clicking Update Flash followed by closing Internet Explorer) the browser would crash and then restore the previous page, and repeat. On the third time instead of trying to restore the previous page I got a message that it could not be restored. After a couple of times of going through this cycle I went to Google for help. I even clicked on an Adsense ad that promised an IE fix and landed on an attractive page letting me know that Softpedia certified their download as 100% Free, and having no spyware, no adware and no viruses. However checking SoftPedia for their Perfect Optimizer product did not yield any links to the site, so I got discouraged and went back to Google.
Depending upon your Operating System you can try one of these pages. If you have Windows XP, try either and follow instructions as closely as possible. If you can’t get Internet Explorer to run right try this (first option on both of the pages below):
Get it Running
Click Start > click All Programs > click Accessories > click System Tools > click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons) and hopefully this will fix or get around your problem for the moment, now visit one of the links below.
RECOMMENDED INTERNET EXPLORER FIX LINKS
Fix Internet Explorer in Windows 7
Fix Internet Explorer in Windows Vista
Windows 7 on Windows XP Machine
Jun 7th
Thanks to Sun Microsystem’s VirtualBox I can run both Windows XP and Windows 7 (Release Candidate) on my Windows XP machine with a 2.4GHz Athlon CPU and 2GB of RAM. Naturally, its not the fastest running setup mainly due to RAM, but its really cool for me. I wanted to check out Windows 7 first-hand and I didn’t feel like figuring out how to partition my laptop’s hard disk into partitions to allow Windows 7 to be run along-side Windows Vista or by overwriting it.
Click to enlarge screenshots.
