Category: Windows

  • Windows XP Tip: How to Rearrange Applications in the Windows Taskbar

    If you have several applications open simultaneously in Windows XP, you may find yourself wishing you could rearrange their order like tabs in your browser.  This feature isn’t included in Windows XP by default, but you can easily add it with Taskbar Shuffle. Taskbar Shuffle is a tiny application that quietly sits in your system…

  • Window 7 Tip: Enable the Preview Pane for Quick File Viewing

    Navigating through your personal files can sometimes be a nightmare, and it can often times be easier to open individual documents to find exactly what you’re looking for.  After awhile, you can find yourself with multiple open documents, but none of them were the one you were looking for. By default, you documents will appear…

  • How Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel Can Help You Pretend to Work

    Procrastinating at work.  We’ve all done it at some point during the five day work week.  Whether it be surfing the blogs, catching up on favorite shows, or playing the unprecedented amount of free online games out there, we have all found different ways to break from the insanity called the eight hour workday. Subsequently, it is a known fact that when…

  • Steam Offers Up Alien Swarm (PC Game) Free for the Masses

    Dear Steam Users: It is a known fact that Steam offers the occasional free game embedded inside their vast library of adventure, action, and sports games.  From action to racing to just plain awesome, Steam’s free games can provide some good time fun.  Heck, even Portal has been offered for free.  But last week a…

  • How To Enable The Telnet Client In Windows 7

    As a system administrator, having all of your software utilities quickly accessible can make your job easier.  One piece of software often used by admins is the Microsoft Telnet Client. Unlike previous versions of the Windows operating system, Windows 7 does not have the Microsoft Telnet client installed by default.  System administrators can quickly see…

  • Time to Upgrade: Microsoft Ending Support of Windows XP SP2 July 13th

    Windows XP, our beloved operating system of the last decade and a savior from previous operating systems such as Windows 2000 and ME, will no longer be supported by Microsoft on July 13th, 2010.  This doesn’t mean that your computer will suddenly stop working that day or you’ll immediately be swarmed by viruses, but it…

  • Your Computer Is Giving You Insomnia, But I’ve Got the Medicine: F.lux

    If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time looking at a computer’s LCD screen, especially after the sun has gone down.  Now this is great because we’re all doing important things like watching YouTube videos and blogging, but there’s a downside: it’s turning you into an insomniac. That’s right, an insomniac, a person with…

  • Resolve Missing DLL Errors in Windows with Dependency Walker

    Anyone working in the PC technical support field knows all too well the problems associated with missing DLL files.  Dependency Walker is a free utility that can help you find missing DLL files. Below is an error message commonly seen when trying to register a DLL file with the Windows utility regsvr32. Due to the…

  • How to Remove Hidden Duplicate Copies of USB Device Drivers in Windows

    If you’ve ever had problems installing USB devices in Windows, i.e. if you connect a mouse and Windows doesn’t properly install the drivers for you, I learned a great trick that might be able to resolve this problem. From what I can tell, Windows stores a “ghost” copy of any device you install which doesn’t…

  • What To Do if McAfee Virus Scan Update 5958 Crashes Your Windows XP Computer (or destroys svchost.exe)

    You’ve probably heard about it already – a recent update to McAfee Virus Scan update caused the program to unintentionally damage Windows system files.  Symptoms include (but are not limited to): Loss of internet connection Can’t copy and paste Can’t drag and drop files Missing task bar/Start menu This problem can render your computer completely…