Tech – for Everyone

Tech Tips and Tricks & Advice – written in plain English.

How To Make Your Music Play In iTunes (or other media player)

By default, when you click on a folder containing music, you will be prompted to use Windows Media Player — which perhaps you do not use, preferring iTunes, or Winamp, or some other. You can easily change this ‘default behavior’ to use your preferred media player by following these simple steps.

Click Start button > Control Panel, then Programs

Under Default Programs, click  Set Default Programs (or “Set your default programs”).


On the left-hand pane, scroll until you find the desired program (in my example “Media Player Classic”, but yours could/will be different.. say, iTunes.) Click on it to turn it blue (aka “select” it.)


Then click the big Set this program as default button. Then OK.

That’s it. iTunes (or, in my case Media Player Classic) will now be the player your computer thinks of when it sees music (media) files. Should you change your mind, or decide on another media player at some future date, you can simply repeat this process and choose Windows Media Player (or.. whatever one) again.

Note: This method is how you change other “Opens with” defaults as well — such as changing back to Internet Explorer as your default web browser after you’ve tried some other “alternative” browser.

Today’s quote:Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.


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February 20, 2012 Posted by | advice, computers, digital music, how to, tech, Vista, Windows 7 | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lost The Password? How To Reset Your Router

If you have lost or forgotten the User name and password, and cannot get in to your router’s control panel (or wireless access point) here are the steps you should follow to regain access, and control over your network settings.

1) If you do not know it already, determine the Make and Model of your router. This will often be found on a label on the bottom.
(“Make” is the manufacturer: Belkin, Netgear, Lynksys, D-link, for example; and the “model” will the “DIR 655”, or “WRT-54G” [your letters/numbers will vary].)

2) Use your favorite search engine and look up your router’s defaults – and write them down.
In the search pane, type the make, then the model, then “defaults” (D-link DIR 655 defaults, for example). From the list of results, look for the one that is the manufacturer’s Support page. Write down the:

  • IP address (this will be something like “192.168.1.1”)
  • Username
  • Password

[note: if all you need is the User+Pwd, you can also go to http://www.routerpasswords.com/]

3) Open your web browser (Internet Explorer/Firefox/Chrome)
Type the default IP address you just looked up into the browser’s address bar (where the http://www.website.com goes) and press “Enter”.
This will open the router Control Panel login.

4) Try the default Username/Password (Often, this is “Admin” and the password is blank [empty].)

No luck?

5) Reset the router

IMPORTANT Note: resetting the router wipes away any changes you had made — and your connection settings to your ISP. You will have to create new user names and passwords and “wireless security keys” (WEP, WPA, WPA2) and reconnect to the Internet/ISP. (Which means you will have to reconnect each of your wireless devices by entering your new “key”.)

On the back of the router, look for a small button, or hole, labeled “Reset”.

• With the unit on, use a straightend paperclip to press the reset down for about 15 seconds, and then release it.
• The unit will restart on its own.
As soon as the lights stop blinking, the unit is ready.

Now repeat Steps 3 and 4, and this time you will be in, and you will have access to the router’s settings control panel.

Related:

Today’s quote:Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~ Japanese Proverb

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.


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September 26, 2011 Posted by | computers | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lost the Setup CD? How To Connect a Router*

Reader asks how to connect to the Internet without the original CD

Q: “How can I connect to the Internet with my laptop via D-link router from desktop? We have no CD ROM for d link.”

A: You do not need the setup CD to make a router work (frankly, the following is my preferred method, as the CD’s usually install unnecessary “bonus features”.) Here is how you establish Internet connections (aka “configure a”) on a router.

1) Assign your PC an IP address in the same range as the router’s default address– for most routers, assign the IP 192.168.1.2, but since this is a D-Link router, use 192.168.0.2.
(Look to “Assign Address” here for Illustrated instructions.)

2) Connect the PC directly to the router with an Ethernet cable.

3) open a web browser (IE, Firefox, Safari) and enter the IP address number of the router into the address bar. (If you don’t know this, look to the router manufacturer’s Website for “default settings”). Typically, this is 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.0.254 — but D-Link uses 192.168.0.1.

4) Enter the default Name and Password (again, look to to the website’s support page/FAQ’s if you don’t know these). But typically these are “admin”+”admin”, or “admin”+”password”.
D-Link’s default is admin/admin.

Your are now in your router’s “web interface” Control Panel, and you can enter the PPPoE setting provided by your ISP. Typically all you need is an identifier.. which is an e-mail address + password.
If you can’t find or remember these, contact your ISP’s support. D-Link’s Wizard will help.

[note: Once your ISP has connected, and while you’re in the Control Panel, set your router’s security configuration, and set a new password (and write them down). Illustrated instructions can be found here, https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2008/01/01/how-to-secure-your-wireless-network/]

5) Return to Network Connections (from Step 1) and reset your PC to “Get address automatically–DHCP”. Reboot your PC if necessary.

Today’s free download: Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. (Full Install.) Wolfenstein Enemy Territory is a stand-alone multiplayer game in which players wage war as Axis or Allies in team-based combat. In Wolfenstein Enemy Territory Axis and Allied teams do battle in traditional single scenarios, or wage war through a series of linked scenarios in a totally new campaign mode. During combat players gain experience and skill, and through battlefield promotions are awarded additional abilities that remain persistent across an entire campaign.

Today’s free link(s):
* Ginipic – Taking image searching to a whole new level…
* Inventive FaceBook Scammers Trick You Out of Money with Trojans

* Orig post: 10/13/2008. For some reason, this has been getting a lot of ‘hits’ this week…

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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February 24, 2009 Posted by | advice, how to, networking, routers, routers and WAPs | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments