Has your Internet Explorer 7 lost its top menu bar? This just happened to me when I was using a Microsoft website. The Microsoft website was the reason that I was using Internet Explorer 7 but that is a different talk show.
I was trying to do something (a keystroke) and I completely lost the bar at the top of my IE window. So after much playing around with all the key combinations in the areas where my fingers were, I finally found the culprit. It was the Windows Logo Key and F11.
Go ahead and try it. Hold the Windows Logo Keyand press F11 then let go of both. See?!?! Now do it again and the menu bar comes back. Cool huh?
I hope this helps you when it happens to you.
Happy Computing.
Tim
I was trying to do something (a keystroke) and I completely lost the bar at the top of my IE window. So after much playing around with all the key combinations in the areas where my fingers were, I finally found the culprit. It was the Windows Logo Key and F11.
Go ahead and try it. Hold the Windows Logo Keyand press F11 then let go of both. See?!?! Now do it again and the menu bar comes back. Cool huh?
I hope this helps you when it happens to you.
Happy Computing.
Tim
Labels: Desktop Support, General PC Advice, How To, Internet Explorer, My Thoughts, software
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Have you been having a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) pop up on your computer? Have you seen your computer do a "Core Dump" then go to a "Logon Screen"? Has your computer screen changed resolutions or colors? If so, you have a nasty piece of spyware called Antivirus 2009.
There are many files associated with this problem including XPSecurityCenter.exe, av2009.exe, and Antivirus2009.exe. This problem is difficult to fix and neither McAffee nor Norton can remove it.
If you think you have this problem or need any other Virus or Spyware removal, call Biden PC at once. We know how to handle this problem and we will do it right the first time.
Happy (and safe) Computing,
Tim
There are many files associated with this problem including XPSecurityCenter.exe, av2009.exe, and Antivirus2009.exe. This problem is difficult to fix and neither McAffee nor Norton can remove it.
If you think you have this problem or need any other Virus or Spyware removal, call Biden PC at once. We know how to handle this problem and we will do it right the first time.
Happy (and safe) Computing,
Tim
Labels: Computer Repair, Desktop Support, Services Offered, software, Spyware Removal, Tech Talk, Virus Removal
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Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 has finally been released to manufacturing. This means that around October we'll have the full-release version of Windows Small Business Server 2008. Check this link.
This version of SBS is based upon Server 2008 Longhorn which was based upon Windows Vista. One advantage of this is for those of us who use USB keyboards. There is no text-based installation section and the whole thing is USB keyboard compatible. OK, maybe I'm a bit more excited about that part than most, but that's ok. =)
The pricing has changed also.
I can't wait to actually get my hands on this new version of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server.
Happy Computing,
Tim
This version of SBS is based upon Server 2008 Longhorn which was based upon Windows Vista. One advantage of this is for those of us who use USB keyboards. There is no text-based installation section and the whole thing is USB keyboard compatible. OK, maybe I'm a bit more excited about that part than most, but that's ok. =)
The pricing has changed also.
- 2003 Standard: $599 with 5 CALs
- 2008 Standard: $1,089 with 5 CALs
- 2003 Premium: $1,299 with 5 CALs
- 2008 Premium: $1,899 with 5 CALs
- 2003 1 CAL Standard: No such thing.
- 2008 1 CAL Standard: $77
- 2008 1 CAL Premium: $189
- 2003 5 CALs: $521
- 2008 5 CALs Standard: $385
- 2008 5 CALs Premium: $945
- 2003 20 CALs: $1,841
- 2008 20 CALs Standard: $1,540
- 2008 20 CALs Premium: $3,780
I can't wait to actually get my hands on this new version of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server.
Happy Computing,
Tim
Labels: Computer Networks, My Thoughts, SBS 2003, SBS 2008, software, Windows Server Tips
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As great as it has been to work with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, SBS 2008 looks to be even cooler. There are a bunch of changes that are quite exciting.
Happy Computing,
Tim
- The software works on 64 bit hardware. Only.
- It deploys as Single-NIC only, with a router required as ISA Server will no longer be offered.
- Setup automatically detects your router if addressed between at 192.168.x.1 and 192.168.x.255
- A new Administrator account created during setup and the built-in is disabled out of the box. This means that the admin account can be locked out in the event that it is being bombarded with hacking attempts.
- The system software versions have been updated to Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Windows SharePoint Services v3, WSUS v3
- "My Documents" redirection is no longer all or nothing. You can choose which users should have their "My Documents" redirected to a folder on the server
- CALs for SBS 2008 Standard are now less expensive and you can get "Standard" CALs for users that aren't using the features in Premium.
- CALs purchased in 1, 5, or 25 packs instead of just 5 or 20.
Happy Computing,
Tim
Labels: Computer Networks, Computer Upgrades, My Thoughts, SBS 2003, SBS 2008, software, Windows Server Tips
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Today I was assisting a remote desktop client who wanted to have multiple accounts set up in Microsoft Outlook. Usually this isn't a problem but the way she wanted it just can't be done.
Here is what she wanted... She wanted to be able to have 1 Microsoft Outlook window open with her personal account and a completely separate Microsoft Outlook window open with her business account.
This is not an unreasonable request. It just can't be done. You can create separate outlook profiles and have the choice of which to open, but when you open another window it remains in the same account as the first that was opened. This does not accomplish what she wanted.
Fortunately this client was easy to please (Thank you if you're reading this...) and we set her up with an IMAP account so that she could separate her 2 accounts into different folders located on the left hand side in the "Mail Folders" window of Outlook. That pleased her. Now she just has to get used to the delete and purge issue with IMAP.
If she had Outlook 2007, she could have done the folder separation with different POP3 accounts but since she had an earlier version of Outlook, going with IMAP was our only choice.
If you are looking for a way to separate your different POP3 email accounts within Microsoft Outlook 2007, look to this page to find out how to do it. Look for the "Directly assign the account a Folder Set" at the bottom of the page. Thank you to howto-outlook.com for the info!
Happy Computing,
Tim
Here is what she wanted... She wanted to be able to have 1 Microsoft Outlook window open with her personal account and a completely separate Microsoft Outlook window open with her business account.
This is not an unreasonable request. It just can't be done. You can create separate outlook profiles and have the choice of which to open, but when you open another window it remains in the same account as the first that was opened. This does not accomplish what she wanted.
Fortunately this client was easy to please (Thank you if you're reading this...) and we set her up with an IMAP account so that she could separate her 2 accounts into different folders located on the left hand side in the "Mail Folders" window of Outlook. That pleased her. Now she just has to get used to the delete and purge issue with IMAP.
If she had Outlook 2007, she could have done the folder separation with different POP3 accounts but since she had an earlier version of Outlook, going with IMAP was our only choice.
If you are looking for a way to separate your different POP3 email accounts within Microsoft Outlook 2007, look to this page to find out how to do it. Look for the "Directly assign the account a Folder Set" at the bottom of the page. Thank you to howto-outlook.com for the info!
Happy Computing,
Tim
Labels: Desktop Support, General PC Advice, How To, Microsoft Office, software
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Regular computer maintenance will keep your computer running faster longer and over time that will save you both stress and the price of a new computer. Here are a couple easy computer maintenance procedures that you can quickly do on your own in less than 10 minutes.
Remove all the dust from the inside of your computer.
Happy computing,
Tim
Remove all the dust from the inside of your computer.
- All you need is a can of compressed air. Take your computer outside and remove the side cover.
- Using your can of compressed air, blow all the dust out of the inside of your computer. Point it at the CPU Fan, Power Supply, air vents and anywhere else there is a build-up of dust and/or animal fur.
- CCleaner is a free program that cleans up many parts of your version of Windows. You can download CCleaner here. You have many options when running CCleaner. Here are my favorites... I will assume that you start with the defaults then modify them. When you start CCleaner you have a number of check-boxes and some of those are checked and some are not.
- To start with, under "Internet Explorer" uncheck cookies, history recently typed URLs, and AutoComplete Form History.
- Under "Windows Explorer" uncheck Recent Documents.
- Under "System" uncheck Startmenu Shortcuts and desktop Shortcuts.
- Now, check the box that says "Advanced". Click "OK" to the boxes that pop up. We will turn off problematic ones.
- Under "Advanced" uncheck Menu Order Cache and Custom Files and Folders.
- Now click on "Run Cleaner" and then click on "OK".
- Off to the left side, you will see a bunch of blue building blocks that say "Registry" under them. Click on that then click on "Scan for Issues". This will take a minute. When the process is completed, click on "Fix Selected Issues".
- Now reboot your computer and know that your computer is cleaner both physically and in the software.
Happy computing,
Tim
Labels: Free, General PC Advice, How To, software, Tech Talk
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I often get requests from people who are looking for ways to gain network administrator access on computers or servers. Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not going to give you that!
I will be the first to admit that in my line of business, there are times when using hacking tools is necessary. If a user has locked himself our of a computer, it is my job to give them access again. If a network administrator left (or was fired) and didn't give the business owners the password, the password can often be retrieved by using tools that are commonly available on the internet. If I need to discover how many devices are on the network or what a printer's IP address is, I may use a network enumeration tool.
In my toolbox I keep many network enumeration, wireless sniffing, and password retrieval programs but I am not going to give them to you just because you ask for them. I don't know who you are and therefore I can't know what your true intentions are.
So please, script kiddies and junior hackers of the world, give up and look elsewhere. I'm not going to tell you how to hack my system or anybody else's, even if you do tell me that its your own computer.
Tim
I will be the first to admit that in my line of business, there are times when using hacking tools is necessary. If a user has locked himself our of a computer, it is my job to give them access again. If a network administrator left (or was fired) and didn't give the business owners the password, the password can often be retrieved by using tools that are commonly available on the internet. If I need to discover how many devices are on the network or what a printer's IP address is, I may use a network enumeration tool.
In my toolbox I keep many network enumeration, wireless sniffing, and password retrieval programs but I am not going to give them to you just because you ask for them. I don't know who you are and therefore I can't know what your true intentions are.
So please, script kiddies and junior hackers of the world, give up and look elsewhere. I'm not going to tell you how to hack my system or anybody else's, even if you do tell me that its your own computer.
Tim
Labels: Computer Networks, My Thoughts, software
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Yesterday my wife needed to create and edit some videos for her class (she's an art teacher) on how to work with water-color paints. We have a Sony DCR-DVD 105 camcorder that records to the mini DVDs. It doesn't have a Firewire or USB connection on it so this presents a bit of a problem... How do you get the video onto your computer? Here's what I do.
First you'll need a bit of inexpensive software (sorry, not free this time) called AVS Video Converter. It is only $39.95 right now and it does a great job of converting the DVD files to almost any video format you would like. I usually choose .wmv, but the choice is up to you.
So here are the steps to converting the DVD video to any format you would like so you can edit your videos.
Happy video editing,
Tim
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First you'll need a bit of inexpensive software (sorry, not free this time) called AVS Video Converter. It is only $39.95 right now and it does a great job of converting the DVD files to almost any video format you would like. I usually choose .wmv, but the choice is up to you.
So here are the steps to converting the DVD video to any format you would like so you can edit your videos.
- When you're finished recording video, finalize the DVD.
- After it is finalized, put the DVD into your computer's DVD drive.
- go to "My Computer" and Right-Click on the DVD drive.
- Choose "Explore".
- A new window will be opened and you will see some files.
- Copy the files that end in ".vob" to your desktop because AVS Video Converter can't read directly from the DVD.
- Start AVS Video Converter and choose the file format that you want to convert the DVD files to.
- Click "Browse" to choose your .vob file.
- Look under "Output File name" and you will see "... Profile" click on the box there to choose your exact output method within your video type.
- Now you are almost finished. click on "Convert Now" and it will start it's magic. Obviously the software will take longer to convert larger files but it will do it.
Happy video editing,
Tim
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Labels: Entertainment, General PC Advice, Hardware, How To, software, Tech Talk
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Do you use Microsoft Office 2007? If not, this is a great reason to start!
With no expensive or additional software, you can easily create Abobe Acrobat .PDF conforming files within Microsoft Office 2007.
Simply download a simple plugin to allow this function. You'll have to download and run a program that verifies that your copy of Office is legitimate, but you should be able to handle that. Then after you confirm your version of Office, you will be taken to another page to download the actual plugin.
Once it is downloaded, run the plugin and agree to the EULA. After the installation process is complete open any of your Office, Excel, Publisher or anything else you want and choose "Save As" and change the format to PDF. That's it!
So create all the PDFs you want. For free!
Happy Computing,
Tim
With no expensive or additional software, you can easily create Abobe Acrobat .PDF conforming files within Microsoft Office 2007.
Simply download a simple plugin to allow this function. You'll have to download and run a program that verifies that your copy of Office is legitimate, but you should be able to handle that. Then after you confirm your version of Office, you will be taken to another page to download the actual plugin.
Once it is downloaded, run the plugin and agree to the EULA. After the installation process is complete open any of your Office, Excel, Publisher or anything else you want and choose "Save As" and change the format to PDF. That's it!
So create all the PDFs you want. For free!
Happy Computing,
Tim
Labels: Free, General PC Advice, How To, Microsoft Office, My Thoughts, News, software
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