CategoryTips

TIP: How to uninstall IE8

If, like me, you rushed out and installed Internet Explorer 8 last week, then you may, like me again, be regretting it. IE8 has been slow, unstable and ugly. By ugly I mean that most of the sites I viewed looked really bad (or didn't render at all). The price of progress you may say? After all, the push is on for better standards compliance right? Unfortunately, the IE8 Beta 1 release seems...

TIP: How to create a Microsoft LiveID with your own domain name

This one crops up from time to time. You need a Microsoft LiveID for use with say Windows Messenger. But when you go through the sign up process, you only have options for a .hotmail.com or .live.com domain on your alias. If you have registered your own domain name, then ideally you want your LiveID profile to be somehow linked to that as well. Turns out it is pretty simple. There are many ways...

TIP: The Top Mistake of public speaking

I mentioned in a previous post that I was really nervous when I presented at the Microsoft Launch last week. This actually caught me by surprise, because I am usually pretty comfortable presenting in front of groups. At home that night I was wondering why I had suddenly tensed up. Was it the large crowd (the room was packed – probably more than 300 people)? Unlikely. I've done that...

TIP: Fixing the annoying Vista Windows Explorer View quirk

Like many people I was hoping that Vista SP1 would fix the issue with Views in Windows Explorer changing randomly. But alas, it didn't. Gee, must be a big bug. Anyway, there is a registry hack that fixes it – sort of. It doesn't actually fix it, rather it just sets all the folders undefined, which in effect will keep them at the current view. To enable it you'll need to add a...

TIP: How to access SQL Server Developer edition over a network

This one has caught out people for ages, so I thought I'd clarify that it IS possible to connect to SQL Server 2005 Developer edition over a network. The problem is that the Express and Developer versions of SQL Server 2005 turn OFF remote access by default (Standard and Enterprise have it ON by default). That's why out-of-the-box you can't connect over a network to it. But it's...

TIP: Using Jungle Disk and Amazon S3 for backups

You've all heard of Amazon's Simple Storage Service by now. If not then check it out and sign up for own Web Services account. Amazon S3 gives you access to scalable storage for 15c per GB per month, with a 10c per GB data transfer cost. Assuming you just use the service to upload data for backup purposes you are getting high performance, scalable storage for 25c per GB per month. All...

TIP: Problems with hidden Adobe download install files

PROBLEM: Adobe Download Manager hides files on your hard disk. As a result your install doesn't work, and further you can't find the hidden files to delete them. SOLUTION: Find the hidden files underneath the \Temporary Internet Files\ directory DETAILS: If you've downloaded an Adobe product lately using their Download Manager you might have got frustrated because you suddenly found...

TIP: Changing Vista Desktop icon sizes

It's easy to change the icons on your desktop in Vista if you have a mouse with a scroll wheel.

Simply hold down your CTRL key and scroll your mouse.

Forward to larger, back for smaller.

Technorati Tags: Tip, Vista, Desktop icon size

TIP: Wikipedia Search from IE7

Another one I didn't realise existed… IE7 has a simple way of adding other Search engines to the Search box. Just choose the Find more providers… option. The one I use the most is the Wikipedia option – it's very handy to search for a term on Google (my default engine) and the also check it out on Wikipedia just using the drop down. (Firefox and other browsers have...

TIP: Compressing Virtual PC images

If you’ve got a stack of Virtual PC images clogging up your hard drive(and who doesn’t these days?), here’s how to compress (or compact) them. 1. With the Virtual PC image running, choose Capture ISO Image… from the CD Menu 2. When the dialog opens, find the Virtual Disk Precompactor.iso image (it’ll be in your C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual PC\Virtual Machine...

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