Archive for the ‘Hints & Tips’ Category
Windows 8 Start Menu
March 2nd, 2013 | 
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Listen carefully……..can you hear it? Listen again…….we can hear it. All around the world we can hear cries of ‘Arggghhhh – where has the Start button gone!’ Yes, these are the cries of desperation from people that have bought a shiny new computer with Windows 8 on it.
Microsoft has removed the much loved Start button, which we think is an epic fail on their part. But all is not lost. We have found a nice little free program that you can download which will restore it, and your faith, in Windows 8. Click here and download Classic Shell. More info can be found on the download site, but we definitely recommend it!
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Disable and Turn Off User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7
It’s pretty damn easy to turn off the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7. There is nothing more annoying than the computer asking you for ‘permission’ to run that program?!? Errr…..hello?! Stop bothering me and let me run it!
So here’s how to do it!
• Type UAC into the Search box and press enter. Alternatively click on Start – Control Panel – User Accounts – Change User Account Control Settings
• You will see this window:
Simply drag the slider on the left all the way to the bottom!
How to enable the administrator account in Windows 7
Where the hell is the built-in administrator account in Windows 7/Vista?!? It’s still there folks but those good people at Microsoft have just forgotten to enable it that’s all.
So here is how to enable it:
- Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > right click on Command Prompt and ‘run as administrator’
- Now type the following command ‘ net user administrator /active:yes ‘
- Press ‘enter’
- You should see this:
- Now simply log out or restart your PC to see the administrator account as a logon option
How to create an HTML email signature in Apple Mac Mail
Guest Blog:
Firstly let me be perfectly clear, I am not an Apple fan, my wife has an Apple because apparently they are easy to use.
So now you’ve finished tearing your hair out here are my top tips for getting a pretty signature that would take you 2 seconds in Outlook or any other PC application, onto your shiny desktop ornament or lap based shiny ornament otherwise know as an Apple Mac
1. I found this easier to do the first part on a PC because I know my way round a PC so here goes, step 1 create your HTML signature in application of choice. I used Notepad because I’m old school.
<br /> <br /> <div id="sig" style="min-width: 960px; min-height: 82px; line-height: 18px; margin: 6px 0; padding: 8px; border-top: 1px #999999 dotted; border-bottom: 1px #999999 dotted; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; font-size: 12px; color: #999999; " > <a href="LOCATIONOFYOURLOGO" title="longcroftcathotel.co.uk"> <img src="http://longcroftcathotel. co.uk/img/layout/logo.png " alt="Longcroft Cat Hotel" style="float: left; padding: 2px 6px 0 0; border: none;"></a> <div style="padding: 6px 0 0 0"> <span style="font-size:14px"> <strong style="color: #333333">Abi Purser</strong>, Founder</span><br /> <strong><a href="http://longcroftcathotel.co.uk " title="longcroftcathotel.co.uk" style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 1px #cccccc dotted;">Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel Group</a></strong><br /> 23 Longcroft Lane, Welwyn Garden City, Herts | Telephone: 01707 832000 <br /><a href="http://twitter.com/ thecathotel "><img src="http://LOCATIONOFYOURTWITTERICON " alt="Twitter" width="32" height="32" style="float: left; margin: 2px 4px 0 0; border: none;"></a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Longcroft-Luxury- "><Cat-Hotel/139818322709311 img src=" LOCATIONOFYOURFACEBOOKICON" alt="Facebook" style="float: left; margin: 2px 4px 0 0; border: none;"></a> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/ profile/view?id=79341328& "><img src="locale=en_US&trk=tyah LOCATIONOFYOURLINKEDINICON" alt="Linked In" style="float: left; margin: 2px 4px 0 0; border: none;"></a> </div> <div style="clear:both"></div> </div> <br /> <br />
Was the code I used. Replace all the bits you want to replace, so links to images, logos, social media icons (if any). Equally you can create your own look and feel totally up to you at this point.
Do not add any <head><body> etc tags. It’s just plain layout code. You can use tables, divs etc any stylesheet (CSS) stuff you do has to be inline as you can see above.
2. So you have your code, save it as something memorable, if like me you’re doing this on a PC whack it on a USB stick and plug that into your Mac.
3. Welcome to their world. First off make a signature in Apple Mail. Go to mail, then preferences > signatures. Create any old signature with random stuff, call it something meaningful as you’ll be overwriting with yourt new shiny one shortly (I say shortly make some tea, it’s not that short)
4. Navigate to your USB stick (click finder, show all folders and find your USB stick, it’s sort of like windows explorer honest)
5. Drag your HTML file onto the Safari icon on the toolbar strip thing at the bottom.
6. Now click File > Save as and save the file as a webarchive. Name is something simple so you can find it again. I saved it in Documents as that was the folder I could find most regularly
7. Now this is the fun bit…go to Finder again (the one that looks like windows explorer) open a new finder window. Then hit Finder, click Go > Go To folder and copy and paste this into the searchg bar thing : ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/
8. A window will pop up with some funny numbered things in there. If you’ve got lots in there from your numerous failed attempts at making shiny signatures, double click them and find the one you want to replace with the shiny.
9. Once you’ve found it, click it once so you’re kind of editing the name of it, make sure it’s all highlighted (should be by default) then hit Command + C (copy). You can now right click that file and move to trash or if you’ve still not discovered how to right click (I know right!) drag it over to the trash bin
10. Navigate to your documents folder, find your aptly named shiny signature which should have the file extension web (it’ll say web over on the right somewhere)
11. Click on the filename of that one and paste in your weird numbers.
12. Drag that file (it’s easier if you have two finder windows open for this bit one with the documents folder and one with the ~/Library/Mail/V2/
13. Open Apple Mail > go to preferences signatures, it’ll show you a preview of your shiny sig with broken images DO NOT PANIC!!
14. Compose a new mail and TADA!! your shiny signature.
That was easy wasn’t it!
Matt Purser is the Director of www.edgeward.co.uk building awesome web stuff for awesome clients….
How to: Transfer Autocomplete files in Outlook 2010
What is the most important thing people are concerned about when they change or move email programs? Their email? No. Their address book? No. Their Calendars? No. The answer is their bloody Autocomplete feature. Autocomplete in Outlook 2010 is the .nk2 file equivalent of Outlook 2007 and older. It stores all email addresses that you have sent to and, to be honest, is quite a handy file to have.
So here is how to do it:
- Browse to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Roamcache\Stream_Autocomplete*.dat
- Copy it to C:\Users\[username]\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Roamcache (you may not need to do this as it may be there already)
- There will be a new Stream_Autocomplete file in there in use by the new account (if there isn’t – open Outlook and start typing in the “To” field to create that file. Then close Outlook again).
- Highlight the new file, hit F2 and copy the filename to the clipboard. Then delete that file. Highlight your old file, hit F2 and paste in the new filename.
- Start Outlook
Removing Startup Programs
Welcome to the 1st online tutorial from The IT Guy – Removing Startup Programs. We aim to provide regular tutorials for all our friends out there and hold their hand through the crazy, messy world of PC hints and tips.
That’s enough waffling, watch the video and enjoy!!
We’d like to thank the lovely and very talented Pam Jones from Eight-Interactive for producing this for us – thanks Pam!!
Speed up your PC – Part 2
I’m back! While we are doing this, it’s always therapeutic to have a good clean out. So let’s go to Add/Remove Programs and uninstall any old applications, games, toolbars or redundant software which you just don’t use anymore. It’s a good way of freeing up disk space – especially in older machines with smaller hard drives – and can help make your machine run more efficiently.
Done that?! Good. After all that uninstalling it is good practice to clear out the registry of all the old entries that were made during installation. For this we will use our old friend CCleaner. If you haven’t read my blog about Removing a virus then go do it – it has the next steps on it. If you can’t be bothered I will put it here anyway. Download CCleaner and save that to your desktop and open it up and click on the Cleaner tab on the right hand side. Now select Run Cleaner. This will go and delete not only all your temporary internet files (where lots of nasty’s like to hang out) but temp system files as well.
When you have done this select the Registry tab and click on Scan for Issues. This will zip through your computers registry and clean it out for you. Once the scan has been done click on Fix selected issues – it will then prompt you to backup the registry. Do this as a precaution and then ‘Fix all selected issues’.
This is good, we are getting there now. If you are using Vista or Windows 7 this little nugget really does make a difference. Those operating systems use a lot of resources for their fancy Aero desktops and nice smooth graphics. If you aren’t too fussed about how fancy your icons look or don’t mind if you have no ‘shadow’ under your text then this is for you. Click on Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance (System if Win 7) > System. On the left hand side click Advanced System Settings. Then click Settings under Performance…….phew!!
In the example below I selected Custom.
This bit is really up to you, have a play and see what features you like back on or which ones you can live without. Try it without any and see what a difference it makes.
By doing any of the mentioned tips you should have increased your speed. There are other things you can do, but if this didn’t make any difference then it’s doubtful anything else will. If you are desperate and you have some time then a clean install of the operating system is always a good method, but make sure you backup everything beforehand.
Good luck!!
Speed up your PC – Part 1
It happens to us all. It creeps up on you, and before you know it – BAM!! Your laptop, PC or netbook is running really slowly, Excel or Word take ages to open, Windows start to freeze. What do you do? Pardon?! No, you don’t call Mr ‘Fix It With A £65 Call-Out’ PC Engineer, you try the simple steps outlined in this blog. There are 2 parts cos simply, there is too much to put into one feature.
Right first step is to check your RAM. Click on Start, then right click My Computer and go to Properties. Somewhere here (depends what Operating System you are running) it should tell you how much RAM you have installed. As a guideline: Vista and Windows 7 should really have at least 3GB and XP 2GB. If your machine has less than this it is worth upgrading.
Next step is to sort out the programs that load when your machine starts up. To do this click on Start and then Run and type msconfig and press enter. You will then see this:
Click on Selective startup and then the Startup tab. Listed in here are all the programs that start when your machine is booted up. Chances are there are quite a few of them, and most of them are not needed. Adobe, HP, Nero, iTunes, Quick Time, BT Desktop……I could go on forever here. You must decide what you need on startup. Ones to definitely leave in are your anti-virus applications. If you are not sure then leave it or ask your IT guy – or me!!
I’m off to write Part 2 now………won’t be long……
How to remove a virus
Hi people. Welcome to my first blog post! I’m going to save you some valuable time and money right now and deal with the most common IT issue that I have to fix – Viruses.
Getting rid of a virus is relatively easy, however many IT geeks will say otherwise. If you have a virus DON’T call the local ‘Mr I’ll Fix Your PC’ with a £65 call-out charge person – follow the procedure that I am about to show you first.
Before we start I must preach one thing – you have a virus for a reason. If you are using rubbish products you will continue to get these. If you are using any free virus software then don’t. I can recommend Kaspersky, BitDefender and ESET Nod 32. They won’t break the bank and for the sake of 20 quid for a year’s protection……? Well, you do the math.
Ok, to remove any virus or malware we will use 2 pieces of software: Malware Bytes and CCleaner. PLEASE TAKE A BACKUP BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY VIRUS REMOVAL!!! Download Malware Bytes and save this to your desktop. On the update tab, make sure the current database has today’s date on it – if not the click the Check for Updates box.
Now go to the Scanner tab and click on Perform full scan and start the scan. Depending on the machine that is being scanned, this can take up to 1.5hrs so go make a cup of tea. When the scan has finished it will report how many objects it has found. Click on Show Results and follow the prompts to remove the selected objects. The machine will need to be rebooted for objects to be completely removed.
Well done, the 1st stage has been completed and you have probably saved yourself £50-£60 quid. Easy isn’t it! Now download CCleaner and save that to your desktop and open it up and click on the Cleaner tab on the right hand side. Now select Run Cleaner. This will go and delete not only all your temporary internet files (where lots of nasty’s like to hang out) but temp system files as well.
When you have done this select the Registry tab and click on Scan for Issues. This will zip through your computers registry and clean it out for you. Once the scan has been done click on Fix selected issues – it will then prompt you to backup the registry. Do this as a precaution and then ‘Fix all selected issues’.
Now pat yourself on the back! You have done what many people would need to call out someone for. This will resolve 90% of virus/malware problems. The money you have saved could buy you an external hard drive, fill your tank with petrol, or a good night out! By doing this you may also have sped up your machine. If your machine is still infected after this, then I would recommend passing it on to a technician to look at.
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