Windows Tips

Cleaning and removing Antivirus 2009 from your computer

Rick — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:12:44 -0600

Preventing your computer from becoming infected is infinitely easier and less stressful than cleaning up after an infection. Search my site for tons of information on setting up your computer for security and techniques to avoid scams. However, if you are already bit by one of the most recent nasty forms of software, Antivirus 2008 or Antivirus 2009 (software I call extortionware that installs itself on your computer and then poses as legitimate software you have to pay for to get rid of the problems. Problems they caused), follow the steps at this site to get back up and running and then come back here and learn how to prevent it from happening again.

I'm linking to BleepingComputer.com's article because they do a good job of giving you a safe download site and thorough instructions on how to delete Antivirus 2009 or 2008. Even if you aren't infected, it's worth visiting the site to see what kind of work is required if you do get infected. It might motivate you to read my site more often and follow the advice I give to keep you safe and productive with your computer.

Photo by Jim Grandy

Make reading the web easier than ever - Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:53:54 -0500

Although we now have 19" and larger monitors on most new desktop computers, the text seems to shrink. Why is that? It has to do with screen resolution (how much information can be displayed). Screen resolutions on today's monitors are up to 3X that of monitors we used just 6-8 years ago. We can see a lot more information, but often the text is too small to view for some computer users.

Never fear. Using this week's tip, you can easily and quickly enlarge the text of any web page using only your keyboard and mouse. This tip will work with any web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc) and any operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, Mac OS X).

All you need is a mouse with a scroll wheel and your keyboard. This tip can be performed without the mouse as well, but I'll touch on that later. First, when you are reading a web site, particularly news web sites and blog type sites like mine, look for an indication of a printer friendly page. Often designated as Printer Friendly, Print this article, or simply Print, clicking this link brings up a version of the article you are reading that is much less busy and cleaner than how the article presents on the web page itself. This alone may make enough difference for readability.

However, you can quickly increase the size of the text you are reading by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and spinning your mouse scroll wheel away from your body (towards the computer monitor). Amazing, no? Holding down the Ctrl key and spinning towards your body (away from the monitor) will shrink the text again.

The same result can be achieved by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the "+" or "-" keys as well. I think the mouse method is a little more intuitive and elegant.

Watch the short video below to see this tip in action and see the web as never before!

Instant Shutdown in Windows Vista - Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:44:03 -0500

Many moons ago, I shared with you a tip on how to create a desktop icon to shutdown Windows XP instantly. It's about time that I share with you the same tip applied to Windows Vista. Here's how it is done:

RIGHT Click on a blank part of your desktop
Click New --> Shortcut
Type the following phrase EXACTLY as shown in the box (or better yet, Copy and Paste it): %SystemRoot%\System32\shutdown.exe /s
Click Next
Type a name for your shortcut like Shutdown, It's Over, Time to Go...you choose
Click Finish
Now RIGHT click on the new shortcut you created
Click Properties
Click Change icon (you might get an error message, just click OK)
Click an icon you want to use for the shutdown
Click OK

You can see all these steps in action in the video below AND get a bonus tip of how to change the action of the little power button on the start menu.

Windows XP reset loop reboots after installing Service Pack 3

Adam — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:54:19 -0500

I had another big frustration today. Unfortunately I reformated one computer before I found the fix, but it saved me a lot of time on the next computer that had the same problem.

Some Windows XP machines with AMD processors get caught in a reset loop after installing Service Pack 3. After running this little command, the problem goes away.

There are also a few other tips that resolve this problem caused by other issues, surprisingly Norton products can also cause reset loops after installing Service Pack 3.

Windows was unable to find a certificate to log you onto the network...

Adam — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:49:42 -0500

I looked all over the Internet for a long time to find this answer. Once I discovered it, I decided to post it here on HMR so that everyone can have it.

The problem arises in Windows XP while trying to connect to a secured network, often on a D-link router.

While trying to connect a new computer wirelessly, an error comes up stating that "Windows was unable to find a certificate to log you onto the network (Network name here).

Here's how to fix it if it is WEP encryption...

The Magical Title Bar - Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:34:30 -0500

The title bar is the long (usually blue) bar at the top of each program. The title bar contains three familiar buttons on the right; the minimize button (little bar), the maximize or resize button (middle button) and the often used "X" button to close a program.

On the left side of the title bar is a small icon in the far left corner that matches that of the program. The name of the current file (or web page on the web), and the name of the program also reside on the left side of the title bar. And even though one half to two-thirds of the bar is blank, it also has its functions.

Clicking on the little icon in the far left (once) will produce a menu that allows you to minimize, move, resize, maximize or close the window. This comes in handy when a window is shoved to one side and the right hand buttons are not visible. Double-clicking on the little icon closes the window/program.

Use the blank part of the title bar to move and position the window. This only works if the window is in the less than maximum position. Just click and drag the title bar and the whole window follows. This technique is helpful if you need to position two windows for dragging and dropping files. Also, double-clicking your title bar will automatically maximize the window.

Remember to use the minimize button to 'shrink' the window to an icon on your desktop so that you can access your desktop or a window/program behind the current window. This keeps the program running and to restore it back to the original position, simple click on it one time from the task bar.

The middle button on the right side of a title bar changes between the maximize button (one square) and the restore button (two overlapping squares). The maximize button will fill the entire screen with the program window. The restore button makes the program windows less than maximum.

You many not necessarily use all these techniques every day, but keep them in mind and they will come in handy from time-to-time.

Watch the short 3 minute video below for a good visual tour of how these functions work.

Internet Explorer 7 - Tabbed Browsing - Video Tip

Rick — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:03:14 -0500

I posted this article nearly 2 years ago, but with the release of Google's Chrome browser yesterday, I thought it was appropriate to bring this important tip back to the forefront again. Also, read my tip on the new Firefox 3 browser released earlier this summer.

I have downloaded and tried out the new Google Chrome browser and look for a video and more comment about it coming up soon.

Windows XP users will all have to deal the upgrade to Internet Explorer 7. ..eventually. Microsoft released the upgrade three weeks ago and has started to roll it out as an automatic Windows Update. Since this is the first new release of Internet Explorer in more than five years, a lot has changed. Microsoft promises that it is safer, easier to use, and more flexible than ever. We will see about the first claim in weeks to come, but with a little help, it will be easier to use and more flexible. Overall, we still highly recommend using the Mozilla Firefox browser which also released a new version last month, but if you want to stick with Internet Explorer, moving to version 7 is worth the work.

One of the biggest additions to the new Internet Explorer is 'tabbed browsing'. An unbelievable feature that you will wonder how you did without once you start using it. Tabbed browsing was first introduced by the lesser known Opera browser, and brought fully to life with Firefox. Tabbed browsing allows you to open multiple Internet windows without cluttering your taskbar and makes them easy to find with easy to read tabs in your window.

Explaining tabs is difficult, so instead, watch the short video tutorial (click Read More if the video isn't visible) that I have put together for you explaining what tabs are and how to use them in Internet Explorer 7.

Vista can run faster if you...

Rick — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:34:04 -0500

I just finished my normal Sunday morning routine of breakfast with the Sunday paper. I always peruse the Sunday high tech ads to keep tabs on prices. Computer prices continue to drop (and I still think manufacturers are getting a kick back from Microsoft) to help spur sluggish sales.

However, the past few weeks, I picked up on another trend; increased RAM.

In this week's big 4 ads (Office Depot, Office Max, Circuit City, and Best Buy), there were 43 desktop and laptop ads. Out of these 43 systems, only one of them had

RocketDock for Windows XP and Vista - Video Tip

Rick — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:27:33 -0500

Windows Vista stripped out the ability to make an easy quick access toolbar to your most used files and programs. I posted a video last year on how you can make such a toolbar, but it certainly isn't as straight forward as it was in XP.

In my quest to find an easier way, I ran across two program, RocketDock and ObjectDock. I tried them both out and ended up liking the RocketDock a little better. Both are free and work well, and for $20 you can get even more features for ObjectDock.

If you like easy, quick access to your most frequently used programs and files, give RocketDock a try.

Windows XP Service Pack 3

Rick — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:34:20 -0500

Microsoft released the 3rd service pack for Windows XP about three months ago. Microsoft packages many operating system updates and fixes into one large package and then releases it as a service pack. Because these are extremely large files that apply many updates and changes to our systems, they can sometimes have trouble.