The Computer Boss [TIPS | TRICKS | HACKS | MORE]

A Cool Windows Notepad Trick

1. Open a blank Notepad file
2. Type “.LOG” (in uppercase, no quotes) in the first line of the file, followed by Enter. Save the file and close it.
3. Double-click the file to open it and notice that Notepad appends the current date and time to the end of the file and places the cursor on the line after.
4. Type your notes and then save and close the file.
5. Each time you open the file, Notepad repeats the process, appending the time and date to the end of the file and placing the cursor below it.

This is a cool way to take notes.  I have a Notes.txt saved on my Desktop at work, and every time I need to note anything, I fire up this file and type it up.  I have a date, and time stamp inserted each time for future reference.

Add comment July 9th, 2010

What is Safe Mode, and What Does it Do?

When dealing with a computer issue, you will often hear your tech have you restart in “Safe Mode“.  You may be wondering what “Safe Mode” is, and what it does. Safe Mode is the troubleshooting option for your Operation System (OS) which starts your computer with the most basic drivers, and services.

Anti Virus software, print drivers, and other 3rd party process’ are disabled, so you can get into the system on a clean slate, fix the issues, and reboot into normal mode.

Safe Mode may be required for Malware removal at times, since it allows the computer to boot, and prevent the virus from loading in the background.

You may be getting the “blue screen of death” (BSOD) when booting into Windows 7, and are wondering if it is an issue with your Windows installation, or is it a problem with a piece of software, or device you are using.  If the problem does not appear when you start in safe mode, you can cancel out the default settings, and basic device drivers as possible causes of the issue.

If you are still unsure about the cause of the issue, you can use the process of elimination to narrow down the possiblities:

In Safe Mode- start your commonly used programs, one by one, and see if you can replicate the error.  Often times, corrupt software can halt the entire system.  If you recently made a change to your system before it went down, such as installed a new webcam, Safe Mode will allow you to log in and uninstall the cam, and reboot to see if it solved the problem.

How to boot into Safe Mode:

Windows - Power on the PC and hold F8 as it begins booting up. Choose the “Safe Mode” option when prompted.

Mac - Power on the Mac, immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone but not before.

Linux (most distros) - Power on your system, when at the GRUB boot menu, choose the version of the Kernel that has the Safe Mode option in the name.

Add comment June 21st, 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 Officially Released

Good news for you busy beavers. You favorite office productivity suite is here, and better than ever. You can have a look at some cool new features here.  I haven’t had the chance to really play with it yet- but I will have to soon, since I currently use Office 2007.

Here is the pricing structure for the new suite:

• Office Home and Student (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) – $149.99
• Office Home and Business (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote) – $279.99
• Office Professional (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access and OneNote) – $499.99

More info, and trial version here.

Add comment June 17th, 2010

MS Word Overtyping? Here’s the Fix!

We’ve all been stumped when composing a document in MS Word, results in deleting the text in front as you type.  Not only is this annoying, but also destructive to your work.

Here’s the simple fix to this annoyance: Press the “Insert” key.

This is caused by the “Insert” key being pressed unintentionally.  Pressing it again disables over-typing.

1 comment May 14th, 2010

Windows IP Commands

The following are useful Windows commands (Run > cmd) to display TCP/IP information and troubleshoot connectivity issues.

Display Connection Configuration: ipconfig /all

Display DNS Cache Info: ipconfig /displaydns

Clear DNS Cache: ipconfig /flushdns

Release All IP Address Connections: ipconfig /release

Renew All IP Address Connections: ipconfig /renew

Re-Register the DNS connections: ipconfig /registerdns

Change/Modify DHCP Class ID: ipconfig /setclassid

Network Connections: control netconnections

Network Setup Wizard: netsetup.cpl

Test Connectivity: ping www.whatismyip.com

Trace IP address Route: tracert

Displays the TCP/IP protocol sessions: netstat

Display Local Route: route

Display Resolved MAC Addresses: arp

Display Name of Computer Currently on: hostname

Display DHCP Class Information: ipconfig /showclassid

Add comment February 21st, 2010

Use Remote Desktop while on a Dynamic IP Address

There are many services out there that let you access your computer from anywhere in the world. There is GotomyPC, and LogMeIn just to name a couple.

There is however a free workaround for this- all you need is a free No-IP.com account, and the Remote Desktop application on your Windows PC.

The problem is, most users have a Dynamic IP address with their ISPs- which means it’s always changing and not permanent. This causes problems because you won’t always know what your IP address is in order to connect to your machine over Remote Desktop.

If you had a Static IP, it would be much easier since the number is permanent and never changes.

Here’s the workaround:

1. Go to No-Ip.com and create your account
2. Add a host on to your No-Ip account- make note of the host name (ie: mynewhost@no-ip.biz)
3. Enable Remote Desktop on the computer you will be accessing remotely
4. Download and install the application on the computer you will be accessing remotely
   The No-Ip application will send your current IP address and update it with the host name you created on the service, so the host name will always know your latest IP address.
5. So now you can go to any PC, open up the Remote Desktop application ( Start > Accessories > Remote Desktop, or use Windows Search) and enter in the host name you created in step 2.

Boom! You should now be able to see and control your computer from anywhere in the world!

Add comment December 30th, 2009

How to Hide your Hard Drive in Windows

Do you have a hard drive in your computer you’d like hidden from casual users of your computer? NoDrives Manager will help you do just that. This utility basically hides the chosen hard drive’s entry from Windows Explorer (My Computer, sidebar,address bar, etc) so non-invasive users won’t know it exists.

The drive will remail technicaly accessable through the “Run” section or the command prompt- but chances are people using your computer aren’t looking to get technical and nosey. In other words, this is great for hiding that porn stash of yours- enjoy.

Download Here

2 comments December 20th, 2009

[Windows] How to Reset RAM

A lot of times, when we have multiple programs running at once, we may notice our system getting a bit sluggish. That is because every application that is running is using up a certain amount of RAM (random access memory)- some more than others. When an application is closed, it releases the memory it was using, making it available for other tasks. This doesn’t always happen though.

I will show you how to create an easy shortcut to reset your Ram when needed, and recover some of that performance power without needing a restart.

Follow these easy steps:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select New > Shortcut.
2. Copy and paste the following into the box:  %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
3. Click Next, name it ‘Clear Memory’, and click Finish

Now you can double-click that shortcut whenever you need to run the command.

Add comment December 20th, 2009