Mr. Fix-It Services

Problems renewing then viewing my site

I recently needed to renew my website, hosted by bytehost.com, but was unable to access the client area to do so. I tried two different computers, and two different browsers before finally figuring out the problem. The advice below could be adapted to almost any problematic website.

To "fix" the problem, you can either temporarily disable the HOSTS file, or edit the HOSTS file, which may be blocking the site(s) that you are trying to access...

1. Disable the HOSTS file with "HOSTS Switcher" (http://www.woodenpickle.com/code/hostswitch.html)

and/or

2. Close all browsers, then edit the HOSTS file with "HostsXpert" (http://www.funkytoad.com/) -- first use the option to make the file write-enabled, find and remove all lines with byet.net, byet.org and possibly byet.com (substitute your own site), then make the file write-protected (read-only) again.

After I finally renewed my site, however, I found I was unable to view it!

These are the steps to do if this happens to you...

Do the following on all computers:

1. Clear your browsers' cache and cookies...

Firefox:

• Options > Advanced > Network > Clear Now
• Options > Privacy > Show Cookies > delete all, or as needed

Chrome:

• Options > Under the Hood > Clear browsing data

Internet Explorer:

• From the Safety menu in the upper right, click Delete Browsing History... .
• Deselect Preserve Favorites website data, and select Temporary Internet files, Cookies, and History.
• Click Delete.

2. Close all browsers.

3. Flush your DNS cache on all computers (for help: http://www.wikihow.com/Flush-DNS), or issue these commands (Win XP can just use the 2nd one):

• Win+R
• cmd
• ipconfig /flushdns

4. Reboot or Restart your Network Router and/or Modem (if you have both restart the modem first, then the router)

5. Restart your computers.

Then try your domain again. It should now work.

File Association Fixes for Windows 7

I had a problem a while back with the Windows 7 file association for .cmd and .bat files, after I had set my default text editor (PSPad) to open those files for editing, while working on scripts (batch files) to automate some tasks in Windows ... but that is another story. This worked great, but then I discovered that I could no longer actually RUN those files, rendering all my coding temporarily worthless until I could fix the problem. While attempting to fix this manually, and Googling for help on the Internet, I came across a treasure-trove of "File Association Fixes for Windows 7", at WinHelpOnline. They had "fixes" for both .cmd and .bat files, so I downloaded them, examined the code as a safety precaution, and when they looked OK, I backed up my Registry and applied them, and POOF - my problems were instantly and easily fixed! I didn't even need to Logout or Reboot, although that would be recommended to ensure success. I was so impressed that I downloaded and saved ALL of their fixes for off-site repairs.

The WinHelpOnline File Fixes include: AVI, ICO, REG, BAT, IMG, SCR, BMP, INF, TIF/TIFF, CHM, JPE/JPEG/JPG, TXT, CMD, JS, VBS, COM, LNK, WMA, EXE, MP3, WMV, GIF, MPE/MPEG/MPG, XML, HTM/HTML, MSC, and ZIP files.

A few weeks later, I got a call from an old friend asking if I knew how to repair the file associations in Windows 7 for .htm and .html files, which had somehow gotten messed up. I referred my friend to the WinHelpOnline website and recommended he do as I did, and download all the fixes. He later told me that the fixes worked great for him, and he saved them all.

Today, while looking on the SevenForums site at a different topic, "How to Remove and Restore the Default Windows 7 New Context Menu Items", I discovered another page with even more File Association Fixes for Windows 7: Default File Type Associations - Restore. I think these are essentially the same as the ones from WinHelpOnline, but the SevenForums page has an even larger list of extensions. I have not yet tried the SevenForums fixes, but I downloaded all of them also.

The SevenForums File Fixes include: aspx, asf, asx, AudioCD, avi, bat, bmp, cab, chm, cmd, com, cpp, cur, dat, Directory, dll, drive, dvr-ms, exe, folder, gif, gz, h, htm, html, m3u, mov, mp3, mp4, mpa, mpe, mpeg, mpg, MTS, msc, msi, msp, otf, pdf, png, psd, reg, rtf, scr, tar, tif, tiff, TS, ttf, TTS, txt, url, vbs, wma, wmv, wsf, xml, xps, and zip files.

In addition to several others not included in the WinHelpOnline fixes, I was especially glad to see the one for .url files, as that is one that is frequently broken on customer's computers.

I hope these links may help, should you find yourself in need of a "fix"!

Some Great Free Programs From Microsoft

No, really! Microsoft! We all love to dog Microsoft for their exorbitant pricing on products like the Windows operating system, their Office suites, etc., but they also have some truly great freeware goodies if you know where to look. In this article, I will tell you about a few of the better or more interesting ones, but there are many, many more to discover. Because I am covering so many tools, this is just a quick introduction to some of these tools, and you will want to visit the relevant webpages for more details. Hopefully you will find something interesting in this list.

Enjoy

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First I would like to recommend almost any of the tools from Technet Sysinternals. Sysinternals was created in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to host their advanced system utilities and technical information. Microsoft acquired Sysinternals in July, 2006, but has continued to host and even update the free tools. Sysinternals utilities can help you to manage, troubleshoot and diagnose your Windows systems and applications. Two of my favorite tools are AutoRuns and Process Explorer, but be sure to check out the others and you'll find some amazing and free tools.

AutoRuns shows you detailed information about processes that are configured to run during system bootup or login, and allows you to disable or delete them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. Autoruns can also show other info, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.

Process Explorer shows you information about which programs and services are running, which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded. Process Explorer has a search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded, can kill (or restart) processes, can shutdown or reboot your computer, and even has an option to replace the wimpy Windows default Task Manager.

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Next I recommend looking into the so-called "PowerToys", which are various projects developed by Microsoft staff, and released as freeware, but which are "not fully supported by Microsoft". One of the better ones is SyncToy, which can help to copy, move, and synchronize different directories, even across a home network. Tweak UI is another good one, and can give you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. Although these PowerToys are officially only for XP (not Vista or Windows 7), many of them, such as SyncToy will still work fine.

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Microsoft Research, aka "Microsoft Labs" is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. MS Labs has numerous projects available for download. Most are prototypes of ideas that may or may not ever be released in a final form, and may or may not work as flawlessly as you might hope. There are, however some real gems. Click on "Projects" or "Downloads" and see what you can find. Note that some are NOT free, so be sure to read the descriptions.

Some examples:

AutoCollage is an application for automatically creating collages from your images. Pick a folder, press a button, and in mere moments AutoCollage presents you with a unique memento to print or to e-mail to your family and friends.

Songsmith (Free Trial) generates musical accompaniment to match a singer's voice. Just choose a musical style, sing into your PC's microphone, and Songsmith will create backing music for you. Then share your songs with your friends and family, post your songs online, or create your own music videos.

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WorldWide Telescope is another Microsoft Research project. It essentially provides you with a virtual telescope, bringing together amazing imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope and approximately 10 earthbound telescopes. The images are stitched together seamlessly, allowing you to pan around outer space and zoom as far into any one area as the data will allow. The user interface makes galactic exploration easy, right from your computer. There is both a download client and a web-based client. The web client will require the installation of Microsoft SilverLight. The download requires Microsoft DirectX version 9.0c, .NET Framework 2.0, and a PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2 gigahertz processor or faster (recommended); 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM (min); 2 GB RAM (recommended); a 3D accelerated graphics card with 128 megabytes (MB) RAM (min); discrete graphics card with dedicated 256-MB VRAM (recommended for higher performance); 1 GB of available hard disk space (min); 10 GB (recommended for off-line features and higher performance browsing).

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Windows Live Essentials includes free programs from Microsoft for photos, instant messaging, email, blogging, family safety, and more. Get them all in one download and get more done with Windows. With Essentials, you get Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Writer, Family Safety, and Toolbar, plus Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, Office Live Add-in, and Microsoft Silverlight.

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Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date.

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Paint.NET - My friend Tiny talks about this one all the time, but I don't think either of us realized that this was in any way associated with MS! Paint.NET started as a computer science project at Washington State University. It was, however, such a good image and photo editing product (as well as an exceptional example of the .NET Framework technology in action), that Microsoft hired the two developers, Rick Brewster and Tom Jackson, and has allowed them to continue improving the application and offering it as a free download. Paint.NET has a great user interface and is easy to use. It provides all the essential image editing features you need, plus layers, special effects, and support for a wide range of image formats. Paint.NET also has quite a following on the Internet, and you can find lots of help, tutorials, and plugins -- and it supports Windows 7!

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Photo Story - Putting digital "slides" to music with simple pan and zoom -- It just works!

There are conflicting reports on Windows 7 compatibility, but my advice is to download the latest version and try it. If it does not install, then "extract it" with Universal Extractor. Inside the extracted folder you will find another PStory.msi file. Try installing from that. If that still does not work, then read the Microsoft Forums post above for other ideas, including using Windows Live Essentials, which includes at least some of the functionality of Photo Story.

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Microsoft Fix it provides automated solutions to common software problems in an easy, intuitive way that is available when and where you need it. Fix it provides a way to apply automated fixes, workarounds, or configuration changes so you don't have to perform a long list of manual steps yourself.

If you have Vista or Windows 7, you can try the Vista Sidebar gadget, although when I installed it, it showed "Service not available"! The Fix It gadget lists the most popular Fix It routines that have been published on the Microsoft Support web site. Fix It routines are pieces of executable code that you can run from the Support web site that automatically repair or configure your computer simply by downloading them. There are more than 260 Fix It routines published so far.

Here's a quick listing of some of the more useful Fix It routines:

• Show Internet Explorer desktop icon (if it’s missing or deleted)
• Error when you download updates using Windows Update or Microsoft Update: 8000FFFF
• The menu bar and the toolbar are missing in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista
• How do I reset Windows Update components?

(The Windows Update components Fix It, in particular, is really nasty and requires a lot of work. If not for Fix It, the execution of this modifications would take a fair amount of effort.)

Note: Several Fixes are not available for XP.

Links for more info:

• http://blogs.technet.com/b/fixit4me/
• http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31851234220
• http://twitter.com/fixit4me
• http://www.onten.net/blogs/laura/Fix-it/
• http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal
• http://www.sevenforums.com/software/7410-microsoft-fix-gadget.html

SharePoint Designer 2007 and SharePoint Designer 2010, formerly known as FrontPage, became a free download as of April 2, 2009. SharePoint Designer is a great tool for website development. It is a WYSIWYG HTML editor and Website administrator tool from Microsoft. It is a Web and application design program used to design, build, and customize Web sites running on SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. With SharePoint Designer 2010, you can create data-rich Web pages, build powerful workflow-enabled solutions, and design the look and feel of your site.

Sharepoint is a Microsoft technology that allows a company to host intranet based webpages. It also enables the sharing of MS Office documents between users on the intranet. The Sharepoint resides on a server running the Sharepoint software.

FrontPage is no longer available from Microsoft, because they have moved on to Sharepoint Designer and Expression Web, but neither FrontPage nor Expression Web are free. Of course you may want to try another free editor, such as KompoZer or Namu6. Both are much easier for beginners, yet very powerful.

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PowerPoint Viewer - Not everyone has MS Office with PowerPoint, so this makes it easy for those folks to view PowerPoint presentations.

Also see:

• Word Viewer
• Excel Viewer
• Visio 2010 Viewer
• Journal Viewer

You can find more viewers, or versions, at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/results.aspx?freetext=viewer&displaylang=en&stype=s_basic

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Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007 and 2010 lets you print all your custom Outlook calendars and task lists superimposed. NOTE: The Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook is NOT supported on Outlook 2010 (64-bit)

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RoboCopy and RichCopy - powerful file copy/move tools:

Robocopy has been part of the Windows Resource Kit since Windows NT 4.0 days. However, Microsoft updated Robocopy with some extra features designed for Vista and decided to make it a regular part of the Windows Vista operating system. While this is a good thing in that it is readily accessible to all, there is a catch - Robocopy is a command-line tool, and its power is tucked away in more than 80 switches.

This means that in order to harness the power of Robocopy, you have to spend a lot of time investigating and deciphering all the switches and then figuring out which ones you need to use. While this may not be a difficult procedure for us high-powered techies, it can be a daunting task to many casual users who would like to have an additional backup tool. Of course, there are GUI interfaces for Robocopy, which may make it easier to use.

RichCopy is one of the most powerful copy/transfer tools available for the Windows operating system, and unlike Robocopy, is not a command-line tool. Of course, RichCopy is not for the average user. Anyone who thinks Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V is good enough can skip RichCopy. This tool is for power users. If you copy large amounts of files or have a need to copy from one machine to another - RichCopy is the tool for you.

More information, download links, and more can be found at:

• Create a custom backup tool with Vista's Robocopy - TechRepublic
• Utility Spotlight Robocopy GUI
• Free Utility RichCopy, an Advanced Alternative to RoboCopy
• How do I use RichCopy for high-powered file copy and transfers - TechRepublic

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Virtual PC - Some versions of Windows 7 support Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. However, if you are running Windows Vista, Windows XP, or a version of Windows 7 that does not support Windows Virtual PC, you can still download and use the free Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 package, which will allow you to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Virtual PC 2007 is easy to install and easy to use. The How-To Geek has a good article, "Create an XP Mode for Windows 7 Home Versions & Vista" on using the free VMware Player, but the idea and steps should be similar. Or read the How-To Geek's article on installing Virtual PC on an XP computer: Part 1 and Part 2.

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Windows SteadyState - If you support shared-access computers in a public venue, such as classroom/lab, a library, or an Internet cafe, you're definitely a prime candidate for Windows SteadyState. With this package, you can configure and lock down a Windows system to be just the way you want for your public setup. Users can do whatever they need to do, change whatever they want, or even inadvertently crash the system with malware while they're using it. When they are done, you can reset the entire system to be exactly the way that it was the first day you configured it. just as if no one had used it. You can find several demos as well as an FAQ that will help you quickly determine if Windows SteadyState is the tool for your environment. Windows SteadyState is available on Windows XP and Windows Vista,and will only be available for download until the end of 2010, so if you want it - get it now.

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Office Accounting Express 2009 is an easy-to-use accounting package that has the familiar Microsoft Office interface and is designed to integrate seamlessly with other Office applications. Providing most accounting features a small business might need, such as managing credit cards, bank accounts, payroll, vendors, invoices, quotes, cash sales, and even built-in PayPal functionality, Office Accounting Express is a great piece of software for business managers. Formerly available free from Microsoft at http://www.ideawins.com/, it is, unfortunately no longer available from MS. It can, however, still be found at other sites, including Softpedia, so get it while you can.

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Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition is worth investigating if you're Web site developer at any level. This easy-to-learn, and easy-to-use development environment makes it a snap for anyone to create Web sites or small applications. Aimed mainly at amateur or intermediate-level developers, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition provides professional-level features that will allow you to create a wide variety of Web sites, from the most basic HTML to more advanced ASP.NET pages or SQL Server databases. You can get started by viewing an introductory video that covers the main features of this package and walks you through some of the most common tasks.

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Server Quest II - Remember the vintage computer games "King's Quest" and "Leisure Suit Larry"? If you liked those, you will probably like ServerQuest II. It has the same type of pixilated graphics and cheesy humor as those classics, but it's aimed at IT professionals and computer specialists. In the game, which is created with Silverlight and runs in your browser, you play an IT pro (either Matt or Alicia) whose objective is to keep the network running smoothly while encountering a host of technical problems that are presented as games and puzzles, ranging from the absurd to things you might encounter in the real life of an IT pro. As you work through the tasks, you'll learn about and use Microsoft technologies to solve problems, encounter hidden Easter Eggs, earn geek points, and get to post your high scores for others to compete against. The game is really very humorous -- and you might even learn some interesting troubleshooting techniques as you play. Note: You will need to install Microsoft Silverlight to play this game, and it is only playable online. There are several other Silverlight-based games available at http://www.serverquestcontest.com/.

Local Links

The Southwest Louisiana PC Users Group (SWLAPCUG)

DangPC for Southwest Louisiana

The Lake Charles Linux Users Group

The Golden Triangle PC Club (GTPCC -- SE Texas)

Cajun Clickers Computer Club (Baton Rouge, LA area)

New Orleans Personal Computer Club

St. Tammany Computer Association

Weather in Lake Charles

McNeese State University

Themed Wallpaper Packs from The How-To-Geek

If you want a quick and easy way to change your Windows appearance, change your Desktop background, aka "wallpaper". I prefer to use "wallpapers themes" or packs, rather than "full" themes, which can change many Windows elements that you may prefer to leave as they are, such as sounds, icons, etc. The How-To-Geek has some nice wallpaper packs to get you started on the Desktop Fun page. Note that in most cases, the pictures shown on these pages are of a reduced size from the originals. With these packs, you can download individual wallpapers (click each one to go to the original wallpaper page), or on many of the pages you can download the entire set as a zipped file. If you have downloaded the zipped themes, simply double-click to extract the theme-pack file. In some cases it may even "install" them, but if not, then extract them to a new folder in your User account's My Pictures folder, such as:

• "C:\Users\UserProfileName\Pictures\Wallpapers\Mountains" for Vista or Windows 7, or
• "C:\Documents and Settings\UserProfileName\My Pictures\Wallpapers\Mountains" for XP and older,

then browse to that folder to use these as your Windows Desktop Wallpaper.

PS: Windows 7 even has an option to automaticaly change the wallpaper, with adjustable settings for frequency, and which papers to use.

General info:

Desktop Fun: Add New Theme Packs to Windows 7
(This page also includes several wallpaper theme packs.)

Learning Windows 7: Desktop Themes and Backgrounds

Download New Themes in Windows 7

How to Get Windows 7 Theme Wallpapers Without Installing Them

Here are some theme wallpapers to get you started, but there are even more on The How-To-Geek Desktop Fun page:

Amazing Desktop Wallpapers: the Castle-Themed Edition

Awesome Holiday Themed Desktop Wallpapers

Beaches Theme Wallpapers

Fantasy Theme Wallpapers

Forest Theme Wallpapers

Gardens Theme Wallpapers

Horse Theme Wallpapers

Mountains Theme Wallpapers

Pirate Theme Wallpapers

Starscape Theme Wallpapers

Starship Theme Wallpapers

Steampunk Theme Wallpapers

Underwater Theme Wallpapers

Waterfalls Theme Wallpapers

Winter Theme Wallpapers

Update on Thingamablog

Well, I haven't posted anything since Wednesday, August 13, 2008!!! Lots of excuses - some even legitimate - mainly family responsibilities and the crash of the old XP computer on which I had originally installed Thingamablog.

I want to finally get this going again, but on my Win 7 computer this time, so I downloaded the newest Thingamablog version 1.5.1, entered my site info, and was hoping it would have an option to import from my existing site. After all, my site is almost entirely put together with Thingamablog! Alas, I see no such option, so I suppose I'll be installing from scratch, once I figure out what to download with FileZilla, and where to put it.

Hopefully, I haven't lost all my old articles I had posted!

Even MORE Lifehacker!

In case you couldn't already tell from my previous post "My Favorite Websites", I like Lifehacker! There are so many good sections and articles in addition to the main site, and there is always some great information to read - either from the editors, and often, from the comments by other readers. You can also create your own custom mix of articles through the use of tags, as shown in several of the example links below, and even type your own "tag" into the browser's address bar to create your own page to read.

Lifehacker Features

• Geek-to-Live by Gina Trapani
• Hack Attack by Adam Pash
• Feature articles

Tagged sections (downloads)

• Downloads
• Download of the Day: Featured Download
• Download of the Day
• Featured Windows Download
• Featured Windows Mobile Download

Tagged sections (other)

• "Windows" tagged
• "Firefox" tagged
• "Featured Firefox Extension" tagged
• "Top 10" tagged lists
• "Windows Tip" tagged
• "Windows XP" tagged
• "BitTorrent" tagged

My Favorite Websites

These are some of my favorite websites that I like to visit daily

• The Southwest Louisiana PC Users Group homepage
• Freeware Genius
• Lifehacker
• Slacker online radio
• Giveaway of the Day
• Freeware Wiki
• The Portable Freeware Collection
• PortableApps.com
• My Easy Home Page (an idea I got from IE7Pro)
• Even MORE Lifehacker pages!

Mr. Fix-It Computer Services Website News

It's official – I finally took the plunge and got a “real” website for my Mr. Fix-It Computer Services (MrFixItServices.com).

Yesterday (8/12/2008) I signed up for a Premium hosting plan from www.ByetHost.com. I have looked at a lot of web hosts, including free web hosts, before deciding to go with ByetHost. I think it is a very good price and seems to have the features I want. I signed up for the yearly plan, which averages just under $3 per month, and includes one free domain registration (at least for the first year). For that I get 5000 MB of space, 250 GB of transfers per month, 20 add-on domains and an additional 20 sub-domains, 100 e-mail addresses, 20 MySQL databases, NO advertising, the Fantastico script installer, and more. I'll be honest – some of that I don't even know what it is, and some I don't need yet (or maybe ever)!

A few freeware volume programs

Wow, it has been a while since I have had a chance to post anything, so to my dedicated readers, I appologize.

Do you often need to easily control your computer's sound volume, especially to quickly mute and unmute? Do you find the Windows volume control more trouble than you would like, because you have to click it 2 times from the System Tray? Well there are several freeware tools that may help address this and other issues, and I have probably tried them all before choosing Nirsoft Volumouse to control my sound volume with my wheel mouse, and to quickly mute or unmute the volume by user-assigned hotkeys. With Volumouse you can define your own set of rules for determining when the wheel will be used for changing the sound volume, and can assign multiple settings (up to 5). As an example, mine is set to scroll the volume up or down whenever my mouse pointer is over any part of the Taskbar (not just over the Volumouse icon), and to mute or unmute (returning to the previously assigned volume settings) based on the hotkeys Alt+Left or Alt+Right. Initially I had assigned volume control also whenever my mouse pointer was over any part of any windows Titlebar, but I ended up disabling that because of too many accidental activations. You can download a setup file, which is by far the easiest solution for most people, or follow the instructions on the website to manually install the program, which in effect makes it "portable", allowing you to even run it from a USB "thumb drive". Volumouse supports Windows 98 through Vista, but not Windows 95. Nirsoft also has many other great, small tools, and most (probably all) require no installation - just download, unzip, and run.

If you do not want a memory-resident program (and Volumouse is really light on resources), and prefer a simpler utility to mute/unmute your volume, I have found several excellent, tiny utilities that will do exactly that. Once you have them, you can assign hotkeys to run them from a shortcut (link) in your Start Menu, put a shortcut in your Quicklaunch menu for fast access, or even set up a schedule in Windows Task Manager to mute and unmute on schedule. As an example, I have my computer set to automatically mute at 10:30 PM every night, to keep from disturbing anyone's sleep, and to automatically unmute each morning at 6:30 AM. If I happen to be working at the computer past 10:30 PM and need sound activated, a simple hotkey will unmute it.

Mute, a 1 HOUR SOFTWARE by Skrommel (DonationCoder, author of Find and Run Robot and many more excellent tools) program, Mutes or unmutes the speaker. No install needed, just place it in your Quicklaunch toolbar for easy access. It is only 205 KB, and not memory resident. Run it to toggle the mute/unmute state and it exits. 1 HOUR SOFTWARE by Skrommel has many more interesting and useful programs available. All are tiny, require no installation, and are made with the freeware AutoHotkey program.

Mute by Christian Klukas simply turns the system sound on and off. If you put it in your Quick Launch toolbar (or any toolbar), it's a faster way to mute or unmute sound than waiting for the volume control to appear when you click the Volume icon in the tray. If you add command-line switches, it can do even more. More uses are possible in batch files or through the Windows Task Scheduler. Mute is 318 KB, not memory resident, and requires no installation.

I actually prefer Wizmo by Steve Gibson at Gibson Research Corporation, however, as it can both mute and unmute without affecting the stored volume setting, and also seperately adjust the volume to a given percentage. In addition, it has many other features, such as screen-blanking, screensavers, log-off, standby, hibernate, reboot, shutdown, and many more, all in a tiny (40 KB, smaller than either Mute) no-install exe file. I use this in addition to Volumouse, and because it is not memory-resident, will work even if Volumouse is not running. I also use Wizmo for the automatic daily mute/unmute that I mentioned above.

for more info on using Mute (or NirCmd or Wizmo) to Automatically Mute Your Speakers Overnight, see either InspectMyGadget article or Lifehacker article which has several other tools and ideas.

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Some other freeware volume controls you may want to try:

iVol is a program you can use to adjust the sound volume of your computer in an extremely easy way. Just press your mouse wheel and scroll it up or down. You do not even have to move your hand! In addition, it also supports Shift+Wheel as an alternative. The program can display an on-screen volume level, and also allows you to switch between audio devices using Alt+Wheel. Latest Feature: Double click mouse wheel to toggle "Mute" status. iVol is available for Mac or Windows computers, but Vista is not yet supported.

VolumeTouch is a freeware replacement utility for the Windows speaker icon usually located in the bottom right of your screen, next to the clock. With VolumeTouch you can adjust the volume instantly from any application without leaving your current work. VolumeTouch is available for Windows 2000 or Windows XP, and requires .NET framework, which may be a downside for some people.

volctrl is a small hotkey volume control (30 kb without installer) to replace the standard Windows audio constrol in the System Tray, but controlled via hotkeys. You can change hotkey combinations (modifiers can include ALT, CTRL, SHIFT, WIN-key, with or without modifiers). You can download the setup file from Rexsoft Homepage to download the no-install version. It is in Russian, but there are so few links, that it is easy to find what you need - just look at the status bar as you hover over the links. Doesn't work with Windows Vista.

Sound Control is a freeware replacement Windows Sound Mixer applet which together with most of the features of the standard Windows mixer it also allows you to add hot keys to adjust any combination of your sound mixer volumes. Support to control Winamp with a series of hot keys, CD Player and an On Screen Display is also included. Requires Windows 95 / 98 / NT4 / 2000 / XP / Millennium-Me.

MINIVOL is an icon sized volume control that can be placed anywhere on your computer screen. It will remain on top of most running applications and remembers the last position where it was placed so it returns to that position when it is next started. Because of its small size it remains relatively inconspicuous on the screen and doesn't intrude on whatever you are doing. It is especially useful while you are surfing the web or running audio applications. It consists of two buttons which increase or decrease the volume by 5% at each press. Other functions are: exit, minimise, mute & restore volume to 50% actual size The download is a self-extracting zip file. Put a short cut to it on the bottom bar. It is a free-standing application and doesn't install on your machine. To remove simply delete its files. (readme.txt explains functions)

Recording Internet Radio Streams

I love to listen to Internet radio stations in general, and Pandora Internet Radio (see Links below), in particular, and had on a few occasions before recorded an hour of music as one giant mp3. It never even occurred to me to consider that there may be software that could record, automatically split the music into files, and automatically rename and tag each file. When reading through another website recently, I found reference to a program to do this for Pandora, and my quest was on! The software that was mentioned is no longer being developed, and the older version that I found no longer works, possibly due to changes in both Windows XP (from 98) and in Pandora itself.

After digging more, however, I found several other programs that do some or all of what I wanted. The number one recommended program that I saw mentioned by most forum users was a $50 Shareware program from Applian Technologies Inc, named "Replay Music", so I will cover it first. In spite of it's excellent features and user recommendations, however, I finally settled on two excellent freeware programs that do everything between them, primarily because I feel that $50 is too high. Unfortunately, neither one of my recommendations alone does it all. Pandora.jar does nearly everything I want for Pandora Radio, except scheduled recording, and StreamHijacker is perfect for scheduled recordings, but it does not (that I know of) record Pandora. See details below.

Limitations of the free "demo" version of Replay Music:

The free "demo" version is supposed to only record 25 songs, but I found the actual behavior is different than what I expected.

I set it to record Pandora Internet Radio and went to bed after it had recorded 12 songs. I expected that it would just stop recording after 25 songs, but it actually recorded until Pandora stopped (with no user intervention or "clicks", Pandora stops after 3 hours). The result was actually 50 songs recorded⁽¹⁾, BUT only the first 27 (NOT just 25) were converted to .mp3 files and successfully tagged (the tagging, by-the-way, was almost perfect - only a few album names were wrong, probably because the individual songs were available on more than one album). The remaining files were all named "Not Recognized-Track##.mp3.wav", and could probably be converted yourself, with "dBpowerAMP Music Converter" (see Links below) or any other freeware converter.

I decided to see what would happen if I copied the 25 converted songs to another folder then use Replay Music to delete them. As soon as I did that, it started converting the next batch of files⁽²⁾, but after each one, it would not continue until I first clicked "No" on two separate messages asking if I wanted to buy the full version.

I then used the freeware "MP3 Book Helper" (see Links below) to check the tags and to add the comment "Recorded from Pandora Internet Radio by Replay Recorder on 03-08-2008" to each file.

Replay Music Notes:

• (1) - The Replay Music interface actually listed 61 songs recorded, but the folder where the files were saved only contained 50 - the first 27 converted and tagged, and the remainder as unnamed, untagged, numbered .wav files.
• (2) - With constant nagging it converted and tagged 49 files total, and acted like it was converting another, but never seemed to complete, and there was nothing left in the actual folder to convert. In addition, I ended up with only 47 files, because the last 2 were duplicates of some of the earlier files - not the fault of Replay Music, but I am surprised at Pandora for this!
• - The free "demo" is capable of recording 25 songs, but it is not clearly identified on the website that this means ONCE! You cannot close the program, restart it and record another 25 songs, as I had hoped. Use it once, and your onetime demo is over! I suppose you could uninstall, clear out the remaining Registry entries, reinstall and get another 25 songs, but really! - just buy it, or pick another solution.
• - I think this was the fault of my settings, rather than of Replay Music, but the volume of the recorded .mp3 files seemed a bit low. If I use it again, I'll tweak the settings (Pandora, Replay Music, and Windows audio) and see if I can improve it. In spite of the volume level, I found the sound quality excellent, and I can boost the level of this batch with the freeware "MP3 Gain" (see Links below). After analysis, I found most of the files were around 85.5 dB, and I had MP3 Gain boost them by 3 dB to the recommended default 89. After the boost, the volume did sound more normal, but was still too low, compared with other music files in my collection.

Conclusions:

I have not yet tied this to record from other streams, such as Icecast, but I have seen enough to know that I love this program. After trying out StreamHijacker, StationRipper, and Pandora.jar, however, I cannot recommend paying $50 for this program. I would recommend that if you try the free version, that you stop after it has reached 25-30 songs (there is no setting to limit the number of recorded songs or length of time, or any timer settings to, for instance, record at a certain time of day). This is more than enough to burn an album of music, and if using Pandora, it stops after 3 hours anyway. If you record more than 25 or so songs, you will need to "babysit" the program to get it to convert and tag the remainder.

Players:

• ICY Radio Internet radio player - excellent, small, free - what more could you want?
• XMPlay (media & streaming media player) - excellent and much smaller alternative to WinAmp.
• XstreamRadio (see more info under Stream Rippers)

Stream Rippers:

Replay Music (see more notes on this program above)

This may be the best - easiest to use, best features, etc., but it costs $50 to register, which I feel is too high, and it has no scheduling functions. I would consider paying $30 for this, if it included a scheduler, but after testing some of the alternatives below, will pass on this.

StreamHijacker

StreamHijacker is a small Open Source stream ripper application. It supports ShoutCast and IceCast protocols. Features include Recent list; Showing ripped songs in a list; Settings; Showing the current song ( if MetaData exists ); Information panel; Show informations about current song and / or about the current stream; ShoutCast radio browser ( Download from www.shoutcast.com ); Playlist file downloading; Ripping to separated files ( File splitter ); Recent list is changeable; Song list creation ( TXT or HTML format ); Winamp emulation; Split to new folder; Destination folder for splits and ripped streams; Hiding to system tray icon; CUE file creator; Scheduled recording; and PLS and M3U playlist.

StreamHijacker operates silently - the stream does not "play" as you are recording, so you won't hear anything until you play back what it has recorded. It works great, however, and uses very little CPU. Also, there is nothing to install - just unzip the download, start the program, set a few options which are saved in an ini file in the program's directory, and it is ready to run. It should also be noted that this program directly records Internet streams, both audio and video, as opposed to Replay Music, which actually records whatever is playing through your computer's soundcard - whether an Internet stream, or a locally played file. Therefore, it may be difficult or impossible to record Pandora or Last.FM with StreamHijacker.

I like this, and it works great, but as I am really interested in ripping Pandora streams, I will keep looking.

StationRipper

StationRipper allows you to Record Internet Radio Stations and broadcasts, including Last.FM. Users on broadband connections regularly report 3,000-6,000 new songs can be downloaded every 24 hours with the registered version (and up to 600 streams at one time)! Other features include auto-download Album art; auto-generate iTunes and MediaMonkey playlists of songs recorded; keeps track of the songs you've already recorded, only keeping songs you don't already have; and MP3's automatically labeled with the Band & Song name. The free version can record up to 2 stations at a time, for a total of 25 songs without restarting the program. Upgrading to one of the two available registered versions is only $19.99.

Although it works well, I found the interface a bit cluttered and confusing, especially in that you can be listening to one station, while recording another. This can be either considered a feature or a distraction, depending upon your preferences. There is no provision that I could find to record from Pandora, and I was not able to test Last.FM, as I seem to have been booted from Last.FM. I have registered with them and utilized the service successfully in the past, but have probably not logged in in over a year, and had uninstalled their software, so apparently they no longer consider me a valid member.

XstreamRadio

This player contains more than 1,000 international preprogrammed radio stations, and an integrated MP3 recorder to easily record music or your favorite program from the station of your choice.

I did not test this, but don't think it includes the automatic splitting, naming and tagging of songs from ANY source feature of Replay Music, which really sets Replay Music apart from any other program I have seen. Still, however, it could be worth checking out.

Pandora.jar - free Java application to Record online music streaming from Pandora & Last.FM:

• http://stream-recorder.com/forum/capture-save-download-rip-record-free-online-t955.html?t=955 and
• http://forums.hak5.org/index.php?t=828 (see Pandora Timeshifting) and
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/pandoras-jar

This seems a bit complicated to setup for the average user, but there is an all-in-one portable Firefox version which may be just what you need. The link for that is http://forums.hak5.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=2243e17912cad6d68a49f0e17c222fcd&/topic,6014.0.html.

This may be it - the Holy Grail of streamrippers - unlimited ripping of the best streaming music available on the Internet (Pandora)!

This does not have the ability to schedule recordings, and is apparently only for Pandora, not for other streams, but the program is awesome! I am both keeping it and recommending it! For the two features I found lacking, I recommend StreamHijacker, which will record other streams and has scheduled recording capability.

Free Linux software for Capturing/Saving/Downloading/Ripping/Recording MP3 music stream from Last.fm

I did not test this, but it may be just what "Tux" folks are looking for.

Free online music streaming services:

• Pandora
• Last.FM
• Icecast.org
• Shoutcast
• StationPortal.com

Tools:

• dBpowerAMP Music Converter
• MP3 Book Helper
• MP3 Gain

Dell Laptop BIOS Password Removal

I recently purchased a used Dell laptop from PropertyRoom.com, an online auction site. I knew when I bid on it that the laptop was missing some parts, including a hard drive and power cord, and that it was password locked. At this point it was just a very inexpensive doorstop, but I wanted to see if I could get it working with little additional expense.

Perhaps you have encountered a similar situation, where you lost or forgot a password, or you acquired a used laptop which is password protected. This is what I learned and what worked for me.

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Background:

Most Dell laptops can have three layers of password protection which can be enabled. Each layer can have a unique password, but usually they will be the same.

1. The first layer of protection is a BIOS password.
2. If/when you get past that, there may be "a password authentication system". "You cannot access the data on this computer without the correct password. Please type in the primary or administrator password and press <Enter>." This is what many refer to as the "administrative password".
3. Finally, there may be a "hard drive password". See HARD DISK LOCKS info below from PWCrack.com, who also sells a replacement security chip.

HARD DISK LOCKS
Some laptops provide a utility to lock a hard disk with a password. These passwords are not the same as BIOS passwords. Moving a locked hard disk to another machine will not unlock it, since the hard disk password is stored in the hard disk firmware and moves with the hard disk. Also, adding a new (unlocked) hard disk to a locked machine may cause the new hard disk to become locked. Also, note that hard disk lock passwords cannot be removed by reformatting the disk, fdisk or any other software procedure (since the disk will not allow and reads or writes to the disk, it cannot be reformatted.) Usually, the BIOS password and hard disk lock passwords are set the same by a user and we can recover the BIOS password directly from the laptop security chip (after it is removed from the system board.) However, it is possible that the BIOS password and hard disk lock passwords may be set different. In this case the BIOS password will not unlock the hard disk. You can test to determine if your hard disk is locked by attempting to access it in another laptop. Password Crackers, Inc. offers a service that can unlock most models of laptop hard disks. Detail are available on our hard disk page.

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What worked for me:

After purchasing a power cord, I found, as the auction site had said, that the system was password protected, but I was able to bypass the passwords (yes, there were 2) fairly easily.

1. My Dell had a BIOS password, which I was able to get past by removing the battery pack, then with the power cord plugged in, press and hold the power button for 5 minutes. This reset the BIOS password to none.
2. I then encountered the administrator password! The "Latitude_MasterPW.exe" program (but not the original Latitude.exe mentioned below) was able to give me the correct administrator password, even though my laptop is not a Latitude, but an Inspiron. After this I was able to access and edit the BIOS setup, where I verified both the BIOS & Admin passwords were now set to none.
3. My laptop came with no hard drive, so had no HD password, and this is not set in the BIOS anyway.

Now I just need to dig in my spare parts box to find an old notebook hard drive, and I should be able to make this old laptop functional.

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Below are some other ideas which may or may not work for you:
(WARNING!!! I cannot verify that these will work, nor that they will not damage your system or any files you may have saved. Use at your own risk! )

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Try the backdoor password Dell.

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Dell Inspiron BIOS Password Recovery

Each Dell Inspiron has a master password which will clear the BIOS password. You can get this number by calling Dell Technical Support at (800) 624-9896. Do a transfer of ownership on the support web site first and when the info has changed to your name, then you can call Dell and have them give you a master password. Dell Technical Support will request the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the bottom of your Inspiron. If you were not the original owner of the Inspiron, Dell will transfer registration of the used Inspiron from the original owner with only the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the tag on the laptop. To transfer the registration of a used Dell Inspiron, fill out the Transfer of Ownership form on Dell's web site.

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Dell Latitude BIOS Password Recovery (NOT for Inspiron models, but it may work)

Christophe Grenier has written a program that will calculate the master BIOS password for Dell Latitudes from the Service Tag number. That program is available at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~skynet/zips/latitude.exe.

If you cannot boot your Latitude to run this program, you can get the master password for your Dell by calling Dell Technical Support at (800) 624-9896. Dell Technical Support will request the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the bottom of your Latitude. If you were not the original owner of the Latitude, Dell will transfer registration of the used Latitude from the original owner with only the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the tag on the laptop. To transfer the registration of a used Dell Latitude, fill out the Transfer of Ownership form on Dell's web site.

Usage:

• From a command-prompt (DOS), enter:
• latitude 5-digit_service_code
• At bootup, on the password prompt screen, enter the generated password.
• If you hit <Enter> it will bypass (but probably not disable) both the BIOS and Administrator Passwords at once, which also enables the BIOS configuration, at least for that session, but...
• If you hold <Ctrl> and hit <Enter> TWICE it should disable (rather than bypass) the BIOS and Administrator Passwords, AND the HD password, if a HD password was enabled!

Note: "Latitude.exe" only works with the D-35B models, with 5-character service tags. If your service tag has more than 5 characters, you will have to use the "Latitude_MasterPW.exe" version. Latitude_MasterPW is a bit more user-friendly than the original, and works without having to use a Command Line or DOS window. The download is a zip file containing another zip file which has no extension, so you will need to rename it with the .zip extension. Inside that second zip are several files, including both "Latitude.exe" and "Latitude_MasterPW.exe". If your service tag number ends in D-35B, be sure to type in all the characters that are displayed on the "enter password" screen exactly as you see them, but without the # character. For example, "FAZNG73-D35B" or "FAZNG**-D35B", as the first screen for the BIOS password may show asterisks. If so, when you get past it, then you may get to the next screen, where the admin password prompt will show all the characters, and you will need to generate another password from that tag.

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Offline NT Password & Registry Editor freeware

• Download the iso and burn it to a CD using your favorite program.
• Insert the CD into the drive and boot your computer. You will then be brought to a screen in which you will be asked to download the drivers, select your partition, select your username, and change the password. THIS WILL ONLY ALLOW YOU TO CHANGE IT!

Note: The Windows administrative password has a 120 day freezing period. If you don't use it for that amount of time IT WILL LOCK YOU OUT.

This program will allow you to disable the password lock so make sure you select this option.

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CmosPwd - Password recovery freeware decrypts password stored in CMOS used to access BIOS SETUP. With CmosPwd, you can also backup, restore and erase/kill CMOS (probably won't work with most laptops, including Dell).

Works with the following BIOSes:

• ACER/IBM BIOS
• AMI BIOS
• AMI WinBIOS 2.5
• Award 4.5x/4.6x/6.0
• Compaq (1992)
• Compaq (New version)
• IBM (PS/2, Activa, Thinkpad)
• Packard Bell
• Phoenix 1.00.09.AC0 (1994), a486 1.03, 1.04, 1.10 A03, 4.05 rev 1.02.943, 4.06 rev 1.13.1107
• Phoenix 4 release 6 (User)
• Gateway Solo - Phoenix 4.0 release 6
• Toshiba
• Zenith AMI

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Try removing the CMOS battery for a day or so; let the charge dissipate completely. This used to work on older bioses! Since the CMOS stores all the settings, removing/replacing the battery will reset the BIOS password.

Laptop computers use far more stringent methods of securing themselves than old desktops used to.

Removing the CMOS battery will NOT remove the passwords on a typical laptop. The passwords are stored in a NVRAM area, usually in the same chip that the BIOS is stored in. Simply removing power to this chip will NOT erase it.

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All BIOS passwords can be removed easily:

1. Create a DOS system disk.
2. Copy "debug" (this is a DOS command found in the "windows\command" directory) onto the system disk you created.
3. Boot the machine with this disk.
4. At the DOS prompt type: debug then hit <Enter>, and you will see a blinking dash.
5. Type: o 70 2e then hit <Enter> (also seen: o 70 18).
6. Type: o 71 ff then hit <Enter>.
7. Type: q then hit <Enter>.
8. Remove the floppy and reboot! Power the system off and on by unplugging and replugging the system into the power outlet.

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Most Laptops if you pull the system battery out, unplug it and hold the power down for about 5 minutes, the boot security will be overridden and you can boot the system. Popping the CMOS battery will do the same in many laptops. How do you think the fix your laptop when you send it for repairs? The ones with added security just had an IC with a jumper in a hard to see location (normally well hidden by something) or a reset button that is often RED or YELLOW.

Go get a static wrist strap, use it and crack that laptop open after removing the system battery. Pop the CMOS battery and hold the power down. If that does not work then start looking for jumpers and follow what I posted yesterday:

• unplug your system.
• pop the CMOS battery and pull a jumper pin (any jumper pin).
• turn the system on with it unplugged and hold the power button in for about 1 min or more.
• put both the CMOS battery and the jumper pin back and reboot.
• if this did not work repeat with a different jumper pin.

If you just hit <Enter> long enough, some Dells will let you in.

The other thing you can do is get a bootable DOS disk with the newest BIOS version on it, flash the BIOS and poof -- no more password.

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Info Sources:

• Google search for my model
• General password removal at Tech-FAQ (lots of info on other models, including desktops and laptops)
• Dell password removal at Tech-FAQ
• Dell password removal forum at TechSpot - 25 pages!
• Dell password removal forum at TechSpot - 47 pages!
• General laptop password removal (lots of info on other laptop models)
• Dell laptop password removal

Open Outlook Messages With Your Browser

In my last article, Save Outlook Embedded Pictures in Their Original Format, I told about a method of saving embedded files, such as animated gifs in their default format, which Outlook amazingly will not do. But what if you want to save the entire message as an html file with all the attachments, or even to properly view certain html-formatted emails that do not render correctly in Outlook, which by default uses the rendering engine from Microsoft Word?

Well, the same website, HowTo-Outlook.com, that produced the save embedded files trick has another trick up it's sleeve. Open Message in Internet Browser (or you can set it up for your preferred browser, such as Firefox) will, as the title says, open an Outlook email message in your browser. The site's author, Robert Sparnaaij, has written a short Visual Basic macro to display any Outlook message in your preferred browser by clicking a button. It is very easy to follow the instructions, as you basically just need to copy a few lines of code from the web page.

Once you have your new macro setup, you can directly open any message in your browser with gif and flash animations, advanced css formatting and HTML accessibility support not offered by the default Word rendering. And, of course, once your message is displayed in your browser, you can save the entire message as html with all embedded images, or just save selected images to save in their original format. In both cases, your animated gifs will actually be animated!

Now why didn't Microsoft think of that?

Computer Information sites

As I mentioned in my article on computer newsletters, there are a multitude of sites available with information on every aspect of computing, whether your interest is programming, repairs, building your own, tweaking, or anything else. The following is only a sample of what is available. Hopefully, you will find something interesting here.

• AXCEL216's MAX Speeed WinDOwS ©Tricks + Secrets - This site is huge... 100+ pages with 1000+ ©tricks and counting. The main goal of these pages is to transform your PC into the ultimate, extremely tweaked, mean machine you have always dreamed of, even if you don't have the fastest hardware available under the sun. Nonetheless, if you do own a fast rig, this will squeeze the last atom of performance it is capable of, making it soar at MAX Speeed. MOTTO: "Do U Feeel The Neeed 4 Speeed?"
• Bits and PCs, Betty Champagne Guthrie's site - Columns and Articles, "Free Stuff" and more. There are good articles and information on the old site as well.
• Black Viper's Web Site - With over 780 pages scattered throughout the domain, something is bound to catch your attention.
• CNET.com - It's huge! 'nuff said.
• Computer Hope - Free Computer Help, Drivers, Hardware, Software, Questions / Answers, Chat, forums and more.
• Experts Exchange - Experts Exchange is the most powerful Community Support resource in the world. Access instant solutions for your most demanding Community Support problems. Our vast IT library puts more IT information at your finger tips. You are moments away from finding your solution.
• G4TechTV - The new home of TechTV.
• The Hardware Book - the Internet's largest free collection of connector pinouts and cable descriptions.
• Leo Laporte's Leoville website specializing in technology coverage on radio, TV, and the Internet. This site is home to my blog and contains information about everything I publish, but I also have several other web sites you might be interested in.
• Mike's Hardware - We bring high-tech down to earth! Who are we? A small computer consulting firm/repair shop located in Burlingame California. We are seasoned computer professionals with a wide range of skills and talents rescuing and helping Burlingame and surrounding cities in the bay area for many years. How tos, reports, alerts, downloads, reviews, laptop, PocketPC and Apple sections, news, recommendations and more. UPDATE: Mike Chukov, the founder of this site, and it's prolific source of ideas, humor, and insight, died in a motorcycle accident on November 18, 2004. The future of this site is uncertain, and it has apparently not been updated in a long time, but still has some good articles.
• The PC Guide - The Internet's premier site for detailed PC reference information, including the free online The TCP/IP Guide, How to Build Your Own PC, Troubleshooting and Repair Guide, and more.
• PC Mechanic's "Build your own..." Guides - In the "Build your own..." Guides, we strive to offer the reader the best opportunity to save money and stress by helping you put together and make your own computers, and other computer related things, including your own Computer, Server, and Home Network.
• PC Pitstop - Our free automated tests will get your PC running faster, make it more stable, and identify security problems. The diagnostic tests don't change any settings on your system. The results will show you the details of your PC's operating status, and the advice will help both experts and novices to find and fix system problems.
• The PC Tune-Up Super Guide - Older but still good article.
• Pete’s Guide - Some information and links to a variety of topics.
• POST Codes at Ultra-X and Chipset Chart.
• Systweak's Technical Guides
• TechWeb, and formerly Windows Magazine (WinMag):
  • TechWeb Newsletters
  • WinMag: Although WinMag is no longer published, you can still supposedly find hundreds of its useful Windows articles with this fast and easy search tool. In my experience, however, it found very few of the articles which I searched for, and which I know had previously been there.
• WebTechGeek - Lots of information, plus links to other sites for even more.
• Windows Xp Fix Zone
• WhatIs.com - Look up definitions of computer terms. whatis.com® is a knowledge exploration and self-education tool about information technology, especially about the Internet and computers. It contains over 4,500 individual encyclopedic definition/topics, a number of "Fast Reference" pages and learning tools. The topics contain about 12,000 hyperlinked cross-references between definition-topics and to other sites for further information. The site is constantly updated.
• WUGNET (Windows User Group Network) Tips - Every day we feature a graphically illustrated Computing Tip featuring either Windows XP, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, or PC Hardware! These are the topics you've most requested and we appreciate all your feedback that has made our Computing Tips so popular. Additionally, we have archived the many years of tips we have produced for Windows 9x, Windows 2000 & Windows NT.
• The Elder Geek - Useful information about Windows XP including tweaks, guides, installation tips, registry edits, pagefile sizing, updates, and an XP Forum.
• TweakXP.com - Tweaking tools, tips, advice, news, and more.
• DSL Reports - News, Tips, Reviews, Tools, Tweaks, Speed Tests and more

Be sure to come back for updates and new articles, including a list of online computer radio shows.

Save Outlook Embedded Pictures in Their Original Format

Like many of you, I use Microsoft Outlook as my email program, and have a love/hate relationship with it. It has many wonderful features, but unfortunately some aggravations as well. Fortunately, there are ways to improve on many of the shortcomings.

One of my pet peeves was that I often get html-formatted emails with cute pictures and photos embedded within the message that I may want to save. By default, Outlook will not allow you to save these pictures in their default format. This can apply to other embedded file types as well.

If you save the email as an html file, it does not save the attachments, as it would if you saved a web page from your browser. If you right-click on a picture and select "Save picture as", the only choice is to save it as "untitled.bmp" (you can give it a different name, but not a different extension). If you save that bmp, you can always convert it to a gif or jpg with something like IrfanView. If the original graphic was an animated gif, however, then it will no longer be animated!

In the past, I have tried two workarounds but neither has been satisfactory. The first method is to forward the email to myself, but NOT allow Outlook to download it from the Internet. To do this, you need to set up Outlook to NOT automatically receive messages (I have mine set to automatically send new messages, when I hit the "Send" button, but to receive, I have to hit the "Send/Receive" button). Then, while the message is still on my ISP's server, I use my ISP's webmail feature to open the message in my browser, where I can save it correctly. This works well, but is awkward and time-consuming.

The second method is to move or copy the message to a special "Export" folder that I set up in Outlook, then use "Outlook Express" (not Outlook) to import messages from Outlook's "Export" folder. Once the message has been imported in Express, you can (usually) save the graphics in their default and correct format. This method is also awkward, and does not even work on every email message. I (and many other people) have often thought it very strange that Outlook Express can do this properly, but the bigger (and in most ways better) Outlook could not! Anyway, I finally found a solution that works pretty well, at http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/saveembeddedpictures.htm. The parent site, HowTo-Outlook.com, also has a lot of other good information and downloads for Outlook. The site's author, Robert Sparnaaij, has written a short Visual Basic macro to save those attachments (actually ALL the email's attachments) as their original file type: jpg, gif, avi, mid, etc. This sounds intimidating, but it is really easy to follow the instructions, and you just copy the few lines of code from the web page. The code has been tested with Outlook 2003 on Windows XP and Outlook 2007 on Windows Vista but should work on previous versions as well. I tested it with Outlook 2000, and it works great. To use your new macro, simply open a message that contains embedded pictures. You have to actually open the message, NOT just view it in a "Preview" pane. When you click on the newly created "Save Attachments" button, it will prompt you for a location to save the attachments (except blocked ones) with a date and time stamp, but after saving you can rename them to something more descriptive, like CajunFiddler.gif, if desired. If the original graphic was an animated gif, then it will still be animated!

NOTE: this macro does not save the actual message, just the attachments and embedded files, so if you want to save the message itself, you still need to do that as well.

This is so much better than other methods that I have used, but still not perfect. I wish there was a way to save the entire message as html, WITH the attachments in a folder like you can do from your browser (with the attachments in a "filename_files" folder, corresponding to "filename.htm"). To do that, either use the first method above, or manually create the folder, move the attachments into the folder, and edit all the img tags in the html file to point to the files in their new folder. This is really not hard, but it can be time-consuming, and there should be an easier way!

Well, it may be that there is a better way, from the HowTo-Outlook.com site, and I will cover that in another article.

Free computer newsletters

There are a number of free computer information newsletters to which you can subscribe, to stay informed about the latest computer developments, learn troubleshooting tips and techniques, find software recommendations, including excellent freeware, and much more. These are a few of the newsletters that are available. Most are also excellent sites for information beyond that published in the newsletter. Here are a few, in no particular order. Maybe you'll find one (or more) that is just right for you.

• Windows Secrets Newsletter merged on Nov. 16, 2006 with the award-winning LangaList by Fred Langa. Langalist was my favorite newsletter, and I am happy to say that Fred Langa is editor-at-large of the Windows Secrets Newsletter. The Windows Secrets Newsletter brings you essential tricks of running Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Windows Update, and more — weekly, free.
• HelpOnTheNet: Tech Support Guy - free help for Microsoft Windows. The free way to find the answer to your question or answer those of others.
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Thingamablog

I have been hacking about on my personal webpage off and on for several years, mostly using just a plain text editor, such as my favorite PSPad. I'll admit that I am no expert on html or web design, but the little I do know is entirely self-taught, and fiddling around in plain text is both the best way to learn, as well as (usually) resulting in the most compact code. I have enjoyed trying out different snippets of code on that site, and I am constantly tweaking it - sometimes even totally messing it up.

When I decided to post a site for Mr. Fix-It Computer Services, however, I knew that I needed something more stable, more professional, and both faster and easier to use, but that would still result in fairly compact code. I toyed with the idea of trying a CMS (Content Management System), such as Joomla!, which is used on the SWLAPCUG website, but all the programs I looked at seemed to be way more than I really need at this time. I had never even considered a "blog" (weB LOG) solution, but after accidentally stumbling upon Thingamablog, a freeware blogger, I realized this may be just what I was looking for. I thought about what content I would be posting to this site, and realized that it would mostly be a repository for various articles that I have written, both for myself and our club, and that a blogger could actually be a good fit. Next, I compared features with WordPress, the more well-known open-source blog solution, and decided that Thingamablog would do quite nicely, at least for now.

From the Thingamablog (TAMB) website: "Thingamablog is a cross-platform, standalone blogging application that makes authoring and publishing your weblogs almost effortless. Unlike most blogging solutions, Thingamablog does NOT require a third-party blogging host, a cgi/php enabled web host, or a MySQL database. In fact, all you need to setup, and manage, a blog with Thingamablog is FTP, SFTP, or network access to a web server."

Thingamablog allows you to:

• Set up a blog in minutes via an intuitive wizard
• Maintain multiple blogs
• Effortlessly manage thousands of entries
• Dynamically update blog content
• Write entries offline (Dialup users)
• Publish your blog with a single click
• Publish remotely to your blog via email
• Read news with an integrated feed reader
• Make posts from your favorite feeds
• Create a unique layout with customizable templates
• Import entries from RSS/Atom feeds
• Set up flexible archiving options
• Organize your entries by category or date
• Save entries as drafts
• Define your own custom template tags
• Syndicate your blog via an RSS or Atom feed
• Ping services like weblogs.com, BlogRolling, and Blo.gs
• And much more...

OK, enough of the canned hype. How well does it work for me? Fantastic!!! It is easy (easy to install, setup, run, make entries, and edit existing entries), does all the updating and linking automatically, doesn't require php, MySQL, Apache, or any other services other that Java on your computer and ftp access to your site, outputs fairly small pages of code, comes with several templates (skins), and more freely available, the templates are easily modified, and Thingamablog is FREE! What more could you ask?

Glad you asked. As great as this program is, in my short time using it I have come across a few limitations that may or may not be relevant to your needs. First, although not a limitation, when you first set up your blog, you need to tell it "The Base Path" and "The Base URL". That may sound a little tricky, and you do need to get this right, but there is excellent help available both within the program and on the website. The first real hitch is that Thingamablog is not set up to allow feedback, such as you would find at most blog sites. This was not a problem for me, because at this point I did not want that feature anyway. If I decide to enable that feature later, there are add-ins available that are supposed to bring this and other functions into TAMB.

Second, there is no way to change the URLs or Permalinks of the article entry pages, and no easy way to find and reference those Permalinks from other articles. The individual posts or article pages generated by Thingamablog have URLs like "/archives/2007/10/entry_0.html", "/archives/2007/10/entry_1.html", and so on, and there is no way to change this so that you get a URL like "/category-name/post-title.html". To find the Permalinks, you need to go to the website, find the entry you are looking for, scroll to the bottom of the entry, then the "Posted by ... at" and a time, which is the actual Permalink. There is no provision to be able to do this from within the program itself. There is a "Wikilink extension" which does add this feature to the program, but it is apparently for Thingamablog version 1.0.6, and TAMB is now up to version 1.1 beta 6, so I was reluctant to test it yet. If you would like to read more about Wikilink, I suggest Felix Atagong's Unfinished Projects page.

Third, there is no search facility built-in to the templates to search your site or the web. This is fairly easy to add in yourself, however, and I will be adding a custom Google search to the site soon.

Fourth, there is no facility to add other types of pages than blog entries. Well, DUH! It's a blogging program! I wanted to have a "Welcome" page on the site, and this would actually have been fairly easy to do, as the default page for TAMB is "blog.html". All I would have to do is create a welcome page (outside of TAMB) and name it "index.htm", with a link to the blog. But I really wanted to do this in TAMB, so my workaround was to create a "Welcome" category, a "Welcome" entry, and a link at the top of the home page to the Permalink for the "Welcome" entry. Likewise, I wanted a page listing some of my services, and I created a category, entry and links for that as well, and I am happy with the results. Want a calendar function or other types of content? TAMB won't help, but you could still those outside the program and link to them.

Fifth, you can publish to your local computer, or to the Internet, but you can't do both from the same blog. Therefore, there is no way to preview the pages locally before posting them. There are 2 workarounds that I have tried, but both have their faults. First you can create a second local blog, using the same template, and creating the same categories. Go to your original blog and "Export Weblog to Feed". Then go to your new local blog and "Import Entries From Feed". Then publish the site locally. The problems with this is that if you have already imported the entries, and later do it again, you will have duplicates, and even worse, the "Permalinks" of the new entries are almost certainly going to be different from those posted to the web, effectively breaking any internal links you have established. Plus the process is cumbersome. Another option, if you just want a local copy, is to actually post to the web, then download the post with your ftp program, such as Filezilla. Again, this is NOT a "preview", and requires several steps, including actually posting to your site.

Sixth, there is no list of archives by title or post name, nor the ability to automatically list by title the last few posts on the main page - say the last 10 posted titles. This should be fairly easy to implement manually, but it seems like it should be incorporated within the program.

Last, it would be good to incorporate an automatic backup of the weblog database to a location of your choice. Although it is not automatic, it is easy to backup, as it puts the entire blog in one Database folder. Just periodically copy the folder to your preferred backup location and append the date to the folder name, such as "Database 2008-02-02". You can probably even automate this with a simple batch file and Windows built-in Task Scheduler, but that didn't seem necessary to me.

Verdict: In spite of the things mentioned above, I love this program, am recommending it to others, and will be using it myself for a very long time. As the author releases new versions, I hope that most of the points above will be addressed, but even if they are not, it is already fantastic.

Create Your Own Shortcuts to End Processes and Programs

Do you have an often used program that frequently freezes, requiring that you kill it? Or do you have persistent applications that start-up on their own, even if you have disabled them from the various startup locations in the registry (QuickTime is a good example). If so, you may want to have a quick method for killing these specific tasks without resorting to using the proverbial Windows 3-finger salute -- Ctrl+Alt+Del -- to bring up the Windows Task manager, then wade through the entries to find the correct entry, ending the process, then ending Task manager.

Well, you may not know that you can create quick-kill shortcuts for specific applications using either the built-in Windows command line tool "taskkill", or a third-party command line tool called "taskill" (notice one less 'k'). With the default taskkill, just create a shortcut such as the following example:

taskkill /f /im firefox.exe

Where firefox.exe is replaced by the the application you want to force to quit.

If you are using it to shut down Firefox, however, there is one possible flaw with this solution . Sometimes it is handy to forcefully close Firefox even when it’s not frozen. Forcefully closing Firefox is equivalent to a crash, and Firefox has a built-in option to recover from a crash with your tabs and windows restored. When you use taskkill, however, if the program being killed was NOT frozen it will "gracefully", rather than forcefully close it. That might be great in most cases, but when you use taskkill with Firefox, the next time you start the browser you may not get the option to restore your session. This too is easily overcome if you use a Firefox extension to save your sessions. As far as I have been able to determine the extensions here will all recover your session whether it was gracefully or forcefully closed: Tab Mix Plus and Session Manager. Session Saver, a similar extension, is no longer actively maintained, and it is recommended to use one of the other 2 mentioned.

The taskkill.exe (built-in) is available in many versions of Windows, including Win XP Pro and Vista, but possibly not XP Home. It is usually located in your "Windows/System32" folder.

If your system does not include taskkill, there are other similar tools including tools for Macs, and Linux, special purpose task-killers, such as several tools designed to kill Microsoft ActiveSync, and general purpose task viewers with the ability to kill tasks, such as Process Viewer, Sysinternal's Process Explorer, Task Killer, @KILL, or DTaskManager. Below are a few of the options available for Windows. If you need solutions for another OS, please refer to the articles in the Credits section at the bottom, or Google for windows task kill.

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XP's PROCESS command also has a -k switch which allows you to kill a process by name, such as the following example:

process -k notepad.exe

Also of note, if your process is not actually hung (ie: not responding) but is chewing up CPU cycles, and you want to let it finish eventually but need to interrupt it temporarily, you can use the -s and -r switches to suspend (-s) and resume (-r) a process.

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Taskill from DS Software is very small (just under 6.5 KB), free, and will take less than a minute to setup. It is similar to the built-in taskkill, but will work on systems that do not have taskkill, and will forecefully kill any program, even if it is not frozen, making it perhaps more suitable for killing Firefox. Taskill is both a process viewer and killer. It works in GUI or CLI mode and can kill multiple instances of the same task in one go.

Set it up in a location where you’ll easily know the path to it, such as at the root of the “C:\� drive, and create a new shortcut, such as this example:

"C:\taskill.exe" firefox.exe

Where the part in quotes is the location of taskill.exe, and then immediately after that you put the name of the executable program you want to close with the shortcut.

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PsKill is a kill utility that not only does what the Windows NT or Win2K Resource Kit's 'kill' version does, but can also kill processes on remote systems. You don't even have to install a client on the target computer to use PsKill to terminate a remote process. PsKill supports Windows NT 4.0 and later.

Example: pskill -t firefox

For more info, see:

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/ArticleID/43569/43569.html?Ad=1

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Launchy fans can use the Killy plugin instead of the Task Manager. If you are not familiar with Launchy, it is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, your desktop icons, and your file manager. Launchy indexes and launches your applications, documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes! More info on Launchy can be found at http://www.launchy.net/.

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App Killer from Shenandoah Software is a powerful, easy-to-use add-on for Windows. It allows you to selectively kill programs and processes. The App Killer log will let you know which programs terminated cleanly, which ones won't close willingly, and can force these programs to close after a user-specified waiting period. App Killer is "User Profile" aware. Ideal for creating a custom list of several programs to close at once with a single click!

Notice: Shenandoah Software is closing down... All of our software is now free to use. If you need a license for App Killer, use the following:

License Name: Valid User

License Number: 2443762-2910643

Download from WinSite

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App Killer from Palmersoft, freeware that will check your system every 30 seconds for programs on your block list. If it finds any open then it will close them immediately.

I think this is a great idea, but you cannot add your own items to monitor or close. You can only select items from a pre-programmed menu, which is periodically updated, often in response to user's requests.

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Credits

Most of the information above came from the following articles and my own experience:

• Lifehacker: Create Quick-Kill Shortcuts for Runaway Applications
• CyberNotes: Shortcuts to End Processes and Programs

Corrupt Windows Icons

Sometimes your icons become corrupt, and may display an incorrect icon for a file or file type. Listed below are a few tricks to fix this problem.

Try any or all of these 4 suggestions:

1. Icons etc can become corrupt when the 'shelliconcache' file in the windows directory becomes corrupt. Deleting the file while in safe mode (and viewing all files) will solve the problem. Windows will re-build the file upon restarting and your icons will return to normal.

To do this, open the Windows Explorer, click Tools, Folder Options, View, and Select Show hidden files and folders (ShellIconCache is a hidden file) and find the ShellIconCache file. Shutdown Windows, restart your computer, hold the Ctrl key (or press the F8 key just before the Windows starts firing-up) as the computer boots, Select Start in Safe Mode from the resulting menu, and boot into Windows in Safe Mode. Next, in the Windows Explorer, click on the plus sign next to the C: drive (or whichever drive contains your Windows operating system) to expand it if isn't expanded, click on the Windows folder, scroll down the right Explorer window pane, find the ShellIconCache file, click on it to highlight it, press the Delete key, and click Yes when Windows asks if you want to send the file to the Recycle Bin. Shutdown Windows, and restart your computer (in the normal mode).

Using Search, you may find the iconcache.db file in the "\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Application Data" directory instead of Windows. No matter where you find it, delete it as per above.

2. Start-> RUN -> CMD -> sfc /scannow (you will probably need your origional XP CD in your drive to do this), and in about 15 minutes your icons should be back to normal.

3. Create a new user account. Check that the icons in this account aren't corrupt. If they are good, export your preferences and settings and documents from your old user account and your problem should be solved.

4. You can resolve this dilemma by downloading and installing Tweak UI, a very useful free utility from Microsoft; type Tweak UI in the search field and click the Go button). Once you have downloaded and saved Tweak UI to a temporary folder, look for the Tweakui.inf file. Right-click it and select Install.

After you install Tweak UI, click Start, select Settings, Control Panel, and double-click Tweak UI. Select the Repair tab in the Tweak UI dialog box. The default option is Rebuild Icons. Click the Repair Now button and Tweak UI will try to rebuild corrupt icons on your Desktop, Start menu, Taskbar, and in folders.

Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

(this is an old article, but still accurate)

You can use shortcut keys to view and explore Web pages, use the Address bar, work with favorites, and edit. Many of these shortcuts also work with Firefox (or Netscape Navigator or Communicator), such as CTRL+D. If you use Firefox, try them out.

VIEWING AND EXPLORING WEB PAGES (Press the key or keys listed for the following results):

• F1 = Display the IE Help, or when in a dialog box, display context help on an item
• F11 = Toggle between Full Screen and regular view of the browser window
• TAB = Move forward through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar
• SHIFT+TAB = Move back through the items on a Web page, the Address bar, and the Links bar
• ALT+HOME = Go to your Home page
• ALT+RIGHT ARROW = Go to the next page
• ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE = Go to the previous page
• SHIFT+F10 = Display a shortcut menu for a link
• CTRL+TAB or F6 = Move forward between frames
• SHIFT+CTRL+TAB = Move back between frames
• UP ARROW = Scroll toward the beginning of a document
• DOWN ARROW = Scroll toward the end of a document
• PAGE UP = Scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments
• PAGE DOWN = Scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments
• HOME = Move to the beginning of a document
• END = Move to the end of a document
• CTRL+F = Find on the current page
• F5 or CTRL+R = Refresh page IF time stamps of Web & locally stored versions are different
• CTRL+F5 = Refresh page, even if time stamps of Web & locally stored versions are the same
• ESC = Stop downloading a page
• CTRL+O or CTRL+L = Open a file or go to a new location
• CTRL+N = Open a new browser window
• CTRL+W = Close the current window
• CTRL+S = Save the current page
• CTRL+P = Print the current page or active frame
• ENTER = Activate a selected link
• CTRL+E = Open Search (the Internet) in Explorer bar
• CTRL+I = Open Favorites in Explorer bar
• CTRL+H = Open History in Explorer bar
• CTRL+click In History or Favorites bars = open multiple folders

USING THE ADDRESS BAR:

• ALT+D = Select the text in the Address bar
• F4 = Display the Address bar history
• CTRL+LEFT ARROW = When in Address bar, moves cursor left to next logical break (. or /)
• CTRL+RIGHT ARROW = When in Address bar, moves cursor right to next logical break (. or /)
• CTRL+ENTER = Add "www." to beginning and ".com" to end of the text typed in Address bar
• UP ARROW = Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches
• DOWN ARROW = Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches

WORKING WITH FAVORITES:

• CTRL+D = Add the current page to your favorites (without prompting for name or location)
• CTRL+B = Open the Organize Favorites dialog box
• ALT+UP ARROW = Move selected item up in Favorites list in Organize Favorites dialog box
• ALT+DOWN ARROW = Move selected item down in Favorites list in Organize Favorites dialog box

EDITING:

• CTRL+X = Remove the selected items and copy them to the Clipboard
• CTRL+C = Copy the selected items to the Clipboard
• CTRL+V = Insert the contents of the Clipboard at the selected location
• CTRL+A = Select all items on the current Web page