If you’re wasting too much time waiting (and waiting and waiting) for Web pages to load, give these tips a try. You should see an immediate, noticeable boost in speed, making your browsing experience faster and more efficient. Everyone wants faster Web browsing. After all, who has time to wait for Web pages to load these days? This is especially true if you’re a tab-junkie like me. When you live with an open browser containing 10 to 15 tabs running…
Microsoft Windows includes several very beneficial accessibility options that are critically important to those users who need them. However, some of those accessibility features can be a minor annoyance to users who do not need them. For example, in Windows 7, press the left-Shift key five times in quick succession. You should see a dialog blog like the one shown in Figure A. Figure A Open the Sticky Keys dialog box. For some, the ability…
Takeaway: Share these tips with Windows 7 newbies to reduce initial confusion and help them get up to speed quickly. The Windows 7 environment will spook some XP users at first. It isn’t an extension of XP; it’s an entirely new interface. Although the underlying file structure is the same, there’s less to file management. The truth is, storing and accessing files in XP and earlier versions required some knowledge of the file structure. Windows 7 doesn’t require that knowledge…
It’s inevitable that clients will infect workstations, PCs, and laptops with spyware and viruses. Regardless of preventive steps, from gateway protection to automated scans to written Internet use policies, malware threats sneak through even layered defenses. What makes the situation worse is that many clients aren’t willing to invest in standalone anti-spyware software, even though they understand the need for minimal antivirus protection. Some IT professionals advocate simply wiping systems and reinstalling Windows, while others suggest that’s akin to giving…
As you know, the User Account Control (UAC) system is the heart and soul of the security system in Microsoft Windows 7. It is designed to protect your system from inadvertent or malicious incidents that could compromise stability or security while you are logged on using an account with administrative privileges, where you have full access to the system. Of course, you can perform administrative operations simply by working through the UAC prompt. Or, if you totally dislike the UAC…
The ability to recover deleted files from an NTFS file system is something any good consultant should have in their back pocket. This also applies to the ability to recover files from a machine that has been rendered unbootable. There are plenty of tools available for that task, but few of them are as simple as the free tool NTFS Walker. NTFS Walker is a portable application (it can be used from a thumb drive) that contains its own NTFS…
Classic Shell is a very good program and must be popular as it has steadily advanced from version 0.9.10 to version 2.9.2. However, using Classic Shell isn’t the only way that you can get a Classic Start Menu in Windows 7. In fact, you can create your own Classic Start Menu and position it right next to the new Start Menu in Windows 7. With this side-by-side arrangement you can have the best of both worlds. You can use your…
Along with Windows 7’s new features comes a set of new keyboard shortcuts. This little cheat sheet will help you work more efficiently with the latest version of Windows.
When you need to reboot a Windows server, you’ll occasionally encounter obstacles to making that happen. For instance, if remote desktop services aren’t working, how can you reboot the server? Here is a list of tricks I’ve collected over the years for rebooting or shutting down a system when I can’t simply go to the Start Menu in Windows. The shutdown.exe command: This gem will send a remote (or local) shutdown command to a system. Entering shutdown /r /m \\servername…
One of the annoying features of Vista is that because you have to create an account and a password for every PC or device that you want to share files with. Because of this, upon boot up Vista will display all of these accounts, even if you don’t actually use them on the PC, and you also have to login everytime. By following these steps this can be done away with: Click on the Start button and type in ‘netplwiz‘….