Computer Blogging

This is a simple tip which a member’s question prompted me to post here.

If your I.E. opens minimised or in a smaller window than you would like, here is a work around.

Open Internet Explorer but dont maximize it.
Drag the corners of the window until it completely fills the screen or is at the size you want it to be.
Do not use the maximize button to enlarge the window.
Hold down the Ctrl key, and use the mouse to click on File and then Exit.
Do not use the “X” in the upper right corner to close the window.

Internet Explorer should now open in a full window.
If it still opens to a smaller size repeat the above but this time us the “Shift” key instead of the “Ctrl” key.

NOTE: This How To involves editing the system registry. Please, make sure you make a back up of your registry before any registry editing procedures.

Sometimes when you uninstall a program, the corresponding in the Control Panels Add/Remove Programs applet may not be removed.

This can be due to incomplete uninstallation or the poorly designed uninstaller itself. To remove the invalid/orphaned entries from the Add/Remove applet manually read on:
Start Registry Editor (click on start then Run and type Regedit then press enter).
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall
Look for the name of the program with the orphaned entry
Delete the entire listing for the software with the orphaned entry
Close the Registry Editor
If there are some {GUID} sub-keys under the Uninstall key.
Each {GUID} represents a software product that you’ve installed. Under the above key, click each {GUID} entry and verify the DisplayName shown in the right-pane. Once you locate the item that you want to remove from Add/Remove Programs, backup the entry to a REG file and then delete the key.

Example:
PC Inspector File Recovery has the GUID {0DD140D3-9563-481E-AA75-BA457CBDAEF2}
[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uni nstall\{0DD140D3-9563-481E-AA75-BA457CBDAEF2}]
“DisplayName”=”PC Inspector File Recovery”

Orphaned entries are those whose uninstallers are not available but the registry entry might point to the actual uninstaller file. You may also see errors like “missing install.log or uninstall.log” while trying to uninstall from Add/Remove Programs. The install.log / uninstall.log contains the uninstallation information about a program. When you remove a program from Add/Remove Programs, the log files come into play and remove the corresponding software entries from the registry and the files in the hard disk.

If the LOG files are missing, you may need to reinstall the application again (in the same path) and then try a clean uninstall again. In some cases, the application might be removed, but the entries may still exist in the Add/Remove Programs list. Orphaned entries are usually a result of a system restore rollback operation. Use the above method to remove the Uninstall entries.

One of the most hated problems used to be hitting the CAPS LOCK key by accident and forgetting it was on.

While the Keyboard does have a light to indicate the CAPS LOCK key is activated, by default there is no audio warning. You can change that easily!! To configure Windows XP to give you a BEEP when when you hit the CAPS LOCK key. navigate to control panel, Accessibility Options and place a check mark next to the “Use Toggle Keys” option.
Now you will get a beep when you switch on the CAPS LOCK

Do you want to use OE to compose your Gmail messages instead of the Gmail Web interface?
Here are the instructions for setting up OE to access your Gmail account:

1. Log onto the Gmail Web site and click Settings in the top navigation bar.
2. Click the tab marked Forwarding and POP
3. Check Enable POP for all mail or Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on
4. Click Save Changes
5. In Outlook Express, click the Tools menu and select Accounts
6. Click Add | Mail …
7. Type your name and click Next
8. Enter your Gmail address and click Next
9. Under “My incoming mail server is a [dropdown box] server, select POP
10. Under “Incoming mail server,” type pop.gmail.com
11. Under “Outgoing mail (SMTP) server,” type smtp.gmail.com and click Next
12. Under “Account name,” type your Gmail address (username@gmail.com)
13. Under “Password,” type your Gmail password and click Next
14. Click Finish.

Now configure the new account:

15. Highlight the account name and click Properties
16. Click the Servers tab
17. Under “Outgoing Mail Server,” ensure that the following is checked: My server requires authentication
18. Click the Advanced tab
19. Ensure the following is checked under both “Outgoing Mail (SMTP)” and “Incoming Mail (POP3): This server requires a secure connection
20. Under “Outgoing Server (SMTP)” type 465
21. Under “Incoming Server (POP3)” type 995
22. Click OK and close.

If you are running out of hard disk space and would like to free up a little, here is two ways to do it.

First, by default windows allocates 12% of your hard drive for system restore points. If you have a 80gig hard drive, that is 9.6gig for something you may or may not use. If you reduce the allocation to 2%, you will have an extra 8gig to play with.

Second, by default windows allocates 10% for the recycle bin, so 10% of what is left of your hard drive ( 80gig minus the restore point allocation of 12%) which is another 7gig. Again you can reduce this to a more realistic level, thus gaining more space.

To alter the system restore allocation.
Click on Start then Control Panel.
Select Performance and Maintenance then click on System.
Select System Restore and highlight your drive then select Installation.
Now move the slider down to what ever you want to allocate, you will see the initial allocation in Mbits reduce dramatically.

To alter the recycle bin allocation.
Right click on the recycle Bin and select Properties.
Select All Units, then select Use an installation for all units.
Now slide the slider to a lower percentage and again you will save more space.