Planet Earth Is Blue…

Folks, I am going to ask you to indulge me in one more video (I guess I am “on a roll”), but yes, there’s some tech, too (just scroll down). Today’s music video was sent in by a reader, who thought I might enjoy it. I did!

I have heard that song, oh, maybe.. 24,336 times in my life. But never quite like that!

Today’s Tech

* Build a complete Windows 7 safety net (by one of my fave tech How To writers, Fred Langa) Note: this is IMHO the definitive How To tutorial for disaster recovery — please read it!

“Every copy of Windows 7 includes a complete suite of backup tools. The suite contains everything you need to back up (and restore) your entire system.
What’s more, after you’ve set up your initial backup, future backups happen automatically.
In fact, Windows 7 makes it so easy to set up fully automated backups, it’s almost nutty not to do it.” Read more.. (please)

(‘Cuz it is nutty not to do it.)

* Cyberstalking Victim Wants LinkedIn to Do More to Protect Users.

“After being sexually assaulted at work, Anna Rihtar quit the job she loved to avoid her attacker. And, like many unemployed people, she turned to LinkedIn to find work. But Rihtar’s attacker followed her online. In addition to phoning, emailing, and pursuing Rihtar on Facebook and Twitter, he began cyberstalking her on LinkedIn, leaving messages that were alternately flirtatious and hate-filled…” Read more..

… 24 signatures on her petition..? What the ____ is wrong with people?!?!

Sigh. Oh, well. Have a great day everybody! (And thank you, Dear Reader.)

Today’s question: If April showers bring May flowers.. what do May showers bring?

Today’s quote: “If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry it’ll change. If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry it’ll change.” ~ John A. Simone, Sr.

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

For Emergency Repairs, You Need This Disc

Should the worst happen, and your computer decides to give you some white text on a black screen (saying essentially gibberish words, like, “Stop Error 0x0000005a” or “IRQ not less than or equal to”) instead of “booting” into your Windows Desktop like normal, you’re probably going to start panicking.

Well, yes. A certain amount of panic is probably justified. You quite probably have a rather serious “glitch”. Take a breath, and take comfort in the fact that there are Pros who can help you, (shameless plug: such as myself) and if you have the right tools you might be able to repair Windows yourself.. and get a working computer again.
And by “right tools”, that typically means a “boot disc”. And – typically – that means the “Windows Install” disc.

Before you do anything else today, please do this: find the discs that came with your computer.

Do you see a “Windows″ or “System Recovery” disc? No? Not surprising. Most PC makers are using a recovery partition these days (see, About the Recovery (D:) Drive). 
[note: The “recovery partition” option wipes your hard drive, (aka “Drive C:”) and reverts the machine to the factory-condition state –> total data loss. All your updates and installed programs — gone. Thanks, manufacturers! *]

If you have a Windows 7 PC, you’re in luck: you can make a “boot disc” which includes an automated startup (“boot up”) repair tool, some repair/diagnostic tools, and the ability to access a System Restore point and revert your system to an earlier (working) time. (see, My favorite Life Saver flavor? System Restore).

If your PC is older: I have to opine, you really should upgrade to Windows 7 for security reasons if nothing else (see: It is time to face facts and finally dump Windows XP.) and also say that there is no reason (I can see) to wait for Windows 8 (unless you are planning on getting a touchscreen/tablet..). And I can tell you that to get a “boot disc” appropriate for your machine, you should click here: How To Get Windows Re-Install Discs.

The disc you’re about to make will give you important “recovery” options, that can get your computer working again.

So if you have a partition and not a disc. Remedy that now. All you need is a blank CD or DVD.

Step 1) Click the Start button and type repair into the Search box. The top result is what you want to click – “Create a System Repair Disc”.

2) Your optical drive should be detected (if not, use the ‘drop-down arrow’ to select your CD/DVD drive). Click “Create disc”.

The drive tray should open, so put in your blank disc…

After a few moments, the tray should open (“eject”) and you will now have a “bootable” System Recovery disc…

.. and a powerful tool for repairing your computer in the event of serious errors. You need to make this disc BEFORE you need it.. though I hope you never will.

In case I wasn’t clear: do it now.

[note: To use this disc, and make repairs, you will need to “boot” to it. If you don’t know how to do that, see How to boot from a CD ]

Kudos to Microsoft for making this tool a part of Windows.

* Utter, snide, facetiousness. A terrible move; and whoever decided that should be ashamed. And fired. IMHO.

Today’s quote: “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”  ~Epictetus

Bonus: As a reward for reading down this far, I will explain a bit of Geekspeak you may have seen but not recognized (maybe you have) “disc” – with a “c” – is an optical disc, which you probably think of as a “CD” or “DVD”. When it’s spelled with a “k” (“disk”), they’re talking about hard drives.. usually the storage inside your machine.

Bonus bonus: Amazon has a list of hundreds of up to 50% off gifts for dad (aka “a sale”).

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

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Fix Windows 7 Blackscreen (a How To)

Why is my screen black when I start Windows 7?

Video adapter problems are the most common cause of this issue. First, try to find out if there’s a problem with the cables you’re using or the way they’re connected. If you have an alternate way of connecting your monitor to your PC, try it. For example, if your monitor is connected using an HDMI connector, try disconnecting it and then connecting with a DVI or VGA connector instead.

Note:Always turn off the power to your computer and all external video devices before plugging them in or unplugging them.

If you’re using multiple monitors, try using just a single monitor. If this solves the problem but you’re not using the cabling options you ultimately want, attach the cables back to the way you want them, remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then try the following troubleshooting procedures, in order. If the steps in the first procedure don’t fix the problem, move on to the next procedure.

Use the “Enable low-resolution video (640×480)” startup option, and then update your video adapter driver

Boot into Safe Mode

1. Click the Start button , click the arrow next to Shut Down, and then click Restart.
2. Do one of the following:
   • If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You must press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, try again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting down and restarting your computer.
   • If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to start in safe mode, and then press F8.

Next

1. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Enable low-resolution video (640×480), and then press Enter.
2. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.

If you can see your desktop, there’s a problem with your video adapter. Try updating your video adapter driver. For more information, see Update a driver for hardware that isn’t working properly.

If these steps solve the problem, you’re done. If not, go to the next set of steps.

Start the computer in Safe Mode and disable your video adapter

1. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode, and then press Enter.
2. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights. When your computer is in safe mode, you’ll see the words Safe Mode in the corners of your monitor.
3. Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, and then, under System, clicking Device Manager.  If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
4. In the list of hardware categories, expand the Display adapters category. Make a note of your display adapter.
5. Right-click your display adapter, and then click Disable. When prompted for confirmation, click Yes.
6. Close all open windows and restart your computer normally.

When your computer restarts, if you can see your desktop, there’s a problem with your video adapter. Try updating your video adapter driver. For more information, see Update a driver for hardware that isn’t working properly.

If these steps solve the problem, you’re done. If not, go to the next set of steps.

Start the computer in Safe Mode and run System Restore

1. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode, and then press Enter.
2. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights. When your computer is in safe mode, you’ll see the words Safe Mode in the corners of your monitor.
3. Click the Start button , type “system restore” in the search box, click System Restore, and then click Next.  If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
4. Choose a restore point when your PC worked as expected, click Next, and then click Finish.
5. Restart your computer normally.

If these steps solve the problem, you’re done. If not, try repeating the steps and selecting an older restore point (if one is available). If that still doesn’t solve the problem, contact your computer manufacturer or technical support for further assistance… such as myself (shameless plug).

Today’s free download: Fences Your tool for a clean desktop. (requires .NET Framework)

“It wasn’t five minutes after installing Fences that I realized I’d be using it for the rest of my computing life. It’s that good.” – PC World
To learn more, click here.

Today’s quote: “Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money.” ~ Unknown

Bonus: Does anyone know why I am still getting these?

A: because, hard as it may be to believe, some of you out there are still responding to them. Ah, that P.T. Barnham was so, so right…
Sorry, “Vladimir”. I never open emails which have “!” (nor, “!!!”) in the Subject, so I guess you’ll have to try someone else.. maybe someone named “mark”?

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

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How To Restore Shutdown Button To Logon Screen

Allow system to be shut down without having to log on

I have a Vista computer that was set to show the login screen (require a username+password) when it woke up from Sleep mode. Which is a good thing, security-wise.

That same computer is set to wake from Sleep mode anytime I moved the mouse or pressed a key. Which is a good thing, convenience-wise.

And I would generally keep this computer in Sleep mode. Which is a good thing, energy conservation-wise.

However, after I installed a laser mouse (quite sensitive to motion) this machine was waking from sleep (and showing the login screen) every time I set down my coffee mug with a thud, nudged the mouse with my elbow, or .. sneezed. It started to feel like it was going to wake up if I looked at it sideways..

This got rather annoying as for some reason, my logon screen (aka “welcome screen”) did not show the red shutdown options button. And I would have to enter my password and sign in, just so I could tell the machine to go back to sleep. This got quite tiresome quite quickly. I should be able to just click on (go back to) Sleep. What I wanted was this:

Which for some reason was not showing.

I went into Regedit, and found that my computer was – indeed – set to show the “shutdown options” button, but was ignoring it. Computers!

So what I did was disable it (set the 1 to a 0) and then enabled it again, and this time the “enable” setting ‘took’ (was recognized) and my “go back to sleep button” was restored — no more typing in my password every 3 minutes..!
This is quite often true with machines: disable, then re-enable (a kind of ‘reboot’) clears up the problem.

Should your power options button be missing from your log in screen, and you want it back, this web page has the How To — I recommend you use the second method. Advanced users (comfortable with editing the Registry) can easily do the 3rd method. The first method only works if you have Ultimate Editions. The tutorial is here.

(Conversely, you might want to ‘disable’, and “hide” the red power button.. say, if you had kids..)

Today’s reco’s:
• Big News This Past Week That Will Impact the World of Computing As We Know It

• HP single-handedly destroys non-iPad tablet market

“After getting a taste for $99 tablets, will consumers continue to stomach $500 price tags? Read more..“

Today’s quote: “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.” ~ Charles de Gaulle

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

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7 features to boost your productivity in Windows 7

Windows 7 has many new features that can speed up your work. Some are obvious, but others are more like ‘hidden jewels’. Tony Bradley’s article over on ComputerWorld is a great place for you to find out about 7 of these new efficiency-boosters and learn good advice for best using them.

Here is the direct link: Windows 7 efficiency tips “Master these features to boost your productivity in Windows 7.”

Or.. you can click on the sections of interest..

1. Get the most out of Jump Lists
2. Beef up context menus
3. Enable AHCI
4. Navigate with the Aero interface
5. Organize your files with libraries
6. Use keyboard shortcuts
7. Windows search trumps all

Raise your Geek Quotient, click a link or two!

Related: And for those of you who aren’t interested in these – because you are still using Windows XP – see, It is time to face facts and finally dump Windows XP

“I have been saying this for a while now; but, sometimes people want to know what other professionals are saying..“

Unrelated: (But hopefully fun) I have been meaning to mention this for some time now, and perhaps it is no longer relevant, but I have been hearing from many, many places that it has been hot and humid and insufferable. Quite different from here, where we have had days that did not break 70° (though today is nice and warm) and I thought I was going to get jobbed out of summer…

Today’s quote: “If it weren’t for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn’t get any exercise at all.”  ~ Joey Adams

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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

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How To Free Up Space On Your Computer (and Make It Run ‘Better’)*

And Some Saturday Fun, Too.

The simple and handy Disk Cleanup Tool has been a part of Windows since Windows 95. Today I am going to demonstrate how to use it, and explain why you should.

Tip of the day: Use the Disk Cleanup tool to — in a single step — free up disk space, empty your Recycle bin, “compress” old files, and remove the “temporary” Internet files that your machine picks up while browsing and downloading (improving your privacy/security); and, optionally, remove unused Windows “components” and installed programs.

If that sounds like lot a lot, it is. And it surprises me that Microsoft buries this useful tool under a series of menus — it would make sense to me to have a “one-button clean up” icon in Quick Launch, or on the desktop,.. or in the Start Menu.

As with most Windows items, there’s five or six different methods for getting to the same place, but the route I take is to open My Computer (just “Computer” in Vista/Windows 7) which is usually found by clicking the Start button.

Locate, and right-click on your hard drive icon, which typically is labeled “Local Disk (C:)”, and then click on the “Properties” menu selection as shown above.

Now the hard drive’s Properties window will open to the “General” tab, which regular readers of this series will recognize, as shown below.

Click the “Disk Cleanup” button, and a window will open that shows the progress as the tool scans your drive for files that it can safely remove for you…

When the scan is finished, Disk Cleanup will present you with a list of the results –by category – which will show you the amount of space you can recover. This list of categories is selectable via checkboxes, and some are selected for you by default.

Accepting the defaults and clicking “OK” is fine, but you can modify it for greater space savings. This list includes all the files Windows says it’s safe to remove, and so, conceivably, you could place a check in all the checkboxes without hurting your machine or deleting important “system” files. But, I recommend that you do not select “Hibernation files” (if it appears on the list) nor “Catalog files for the Content Indexer”, nor Office installer files (“setup log files”).

In the screenshot above, I have clicked on “Offline Webpages” and placed a check in its checkbox, because I don’t use offline Webpages. (Note the “View” button: this allows you to see what is going to be removed.. if you’re the curious sort.)
When you’re finished making your selections (or, going with the defaults), click “OK”.

Don’t let this scare you. Click “Yes”. .

Disk Cleanup will briefly show you that it’s working, and then return you to the hard drive Properties window. In my case, I will have cleaned 117,472 thousand bytes of useless files from my machine. The general rule of thumb is that you run this tool once a week for good hard drive health.

You are now done removing and compressing. But the Disk Cleanup tool allows you to get rid of more stuff you don’t use. There is a second tab, called “More Options”.

Here you can click links (buttons) that will allow you to remove Windows “components” (such as IE, and the fax service), installed programs, and System Restore Points.
My advice on the last — System Restore — is to not save disk space here. Let System Restore itself handle removing the oldest Restore Points, which it does automatically.

The middle button takes you to Add/Remove Programs. The most effective way to give yourself more hard drive space, speed up your PC’s performance, and reduce your machine’s overhead is to uninstall programs that you never use. Forget “optimizer” programs, use this instead.

The Components button takes you to a sub-menu of Add/Remove Programs. Again, you probably don’t need to fool around here… so my General Advice is to ignore the More Options tab; but, it won’t hurt you to look around, and I’ve fulfilled the promise of the title of this article.

* Orig post: 11/7/07

Saturday fun: A reader wrote in and reminded me that, yes, while Mike Meyers is, indeed, “silly”, one should not forget that perhaps there is a “silly”-ier man on the scene: Jim Carrey. Though he has a large body of work, when I think of him, I do so (first) not as a pet detective, but in a skit on SNL.. which started a series of skits.. maybe you remember ..

While someone else wrote in with a vote for Mr. Bean…

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

And I salute you if you were geeky enough to have noticed that the disk pictured was a 10GB model. Kinda hard to believe there were such things.. my phone has more storage than that! (Here at T4E Headquarters, we use “geek” as a compliment.)

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

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Methods For Making Text Larger

A How To for Windows 7, Vista, and XP

Sometimes I find the size of the print on certain websites a bit too small for comfortable reading. When that happens, I simply hold down the Ctrl key, and use the mouse scroll wheel to increase (or decrease) the text size. This “zoom” (or shrink) only affects the current window.

[The “keyboard shortcut” Ctrl + “+” (bigger font size) and Ctrl + “-” (smaller) works the same way.]

If this is a constant problem for you, there are a couple of quick settings adjustments you can make that will make the items on your computer screen bigger, without pushing everything off of the edges.

Microsoft calls these adjustments “Accessibility” settings.. which makes a certain amount of sense, if you think of reading your screen as “accessing” the information.

Tip of the day: Enlarge your fonts and icons for easier reading. The first and easiest way is to change the screen settings to a larger dpi (dots per inch), which, strange as it sounds, is not the same thing as changing your screen’s resolution. Your screen resolution is determined (usually) by your monitor’s size, and should be set to the highest setting your monitor allows. This is the number of ‘lines’ drawn to create your screen image, and the more lines you have the crisper (sharper) your image will be, reducing the blocky effect called “pixilation“.
However, increasing you resolution has the consequence of making the items on your screen smaller. But, that is what you want to do anyway; the higher the resolution the better.

To offset the shrinking effects of high resolution, (or simply to aid those with less than terrific vision) you may want to increase the dpi number.

Step 1: Right-click on any blank (non-icon) area of your Desktop. Then, click on the bottom menu choice — “Personalize” in Vista/Win7, and “Properties” in older versions.

I will demonstrate Windows 7 first. For older versions, scroll down:

Windows 7
On the bottom left, click on “Ease of Access Center“. Then click on “Make the computer easier to see“.

Then click “Change the size of text and icons“.

And, finally, you can use one of three presets, or set a ‘custom’ dpi size.

Click Apply, and you’re done.

Vista

Click on the menu link (on the left) “Adjust font size (DPI)”, and then click on the lower radio button and change the number from 96 to 120.

Click Apply, and you’re done.

Windows XP
In XP (and older), there are a few more steps to get to the right menu. From the Display Properties window, click on the Settings tab. In the lower right is an “Advanced” button, click on it. This opens a new Properties window.

Here you will use the drop-down arrow under “DPI setting:” which allows you to choose 120, or “Custom”. The Custom offers a sliding scale to set the dpi, and you can fine tune your setting here.. perhaps you prefer 112 dots-per-inch. Make sure the “Apply the new settings without restarting” radio button is selected to avoid a un-needed reboot.

These steps will change the over-all appearance of items on your screen, and everything will be larger and easier to read. And things will not get pushed off the edges, which a magnification, or “zoom” tool can sometimes do. If you try this, and do not like the effect, or look, of 120 dpi, simply repeat these steps and set it back to 96.

• For more vision-related settings adjustments, read this article as well.

[addenda: If you have tried these options, you may want to consider the purchase of a 22 (or larger) inch LCD monitor. Sure they’re more expensive, but It really does make a tremendous difference. I recently did this for my mother, and she can’t stop commenting on the “wonderful” improvement.]

Today’s free link(s):
• Authors, researchers, and teachers know the wonderful depository of information that is the Library of Congress. It is THE place for reference materials, digitized films, and everything ever published in the US. Much of it (if not all) is available online. Check it out, and be amazed.

• Five tips for becoming a superstar blogger (humor)

“Want to increase traffic to your blog by five thousand percent? These simple tips are guaranteed to work!“

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

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