Category: Windows XP

Stop Windows Update Nagging You to Reboot

I’m sure many other Windows users out there that dread “Patch Tuesday” (which is the second Tuesday of each month when Microsoft release all of their critical patches) and the subsequent reboot required to make the patches take hold. Of course, I make sure to get around to rebooting as soon as I can but …

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4K Hard Drives – Prep Them Properly

Western Digital Advanced Format Hard Drive Label

Some of us may have come across the term “4K hard drives” or perhaps “advanced format” hard drives. For many, these terms would simply drown in the sea of other confusing computer terminology that techies have come to love and consumers have come to hate. So, the first question to get out of the way …

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Microsoft Pegs Back TechNet Licensing

As recently as yesterday, Microsoft has pegged back the number of license keys available for each version of products available in its TechNet subscriptions from ten down to five for TechNet Professional subscriptions and two for TechNet Standard subscriptions without notice. Existing subscribers who have already claimed all of their keys are unaffected but those …

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Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta Available

Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta

Just a quick update for this evening. In news that might have slipped under the radar, Microsoft has released a beta version of its popular Microsoft Security Essentials software. This version of the software sports a few new features but also keeps down the bloat which is great for low end computers like netbooks. New …

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Always Eject External Drives Before Removal

Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media

Over the course of my career where USB flash drives and external flash drives have become more commonplace (compared to the 1990s where floppy disks and compact discs were king) I have been shocked by the number of people that simply pull out a drive without first ejecting it. In some cases, this has lead …

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Windows Shortcuts Are Your Friend

With the advent of the mouse and the GUI (Graphical User Interfaces) many years ago, the vast majority of people may relegate the humble keyboard for menial tasks such as word processing, playing games, entering URLs as well as login credentials. What people may not realise is that there is a whole myriad of shortcuts …

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Watching the World Cup on Computer? Try Devuvuzelator!

Devuvuzelator

Something more topical for today in the form of  program that will help those of you watching the World Cup on your computer (such as via IPTV or other means). I’m sure we all now know about the vuvuzela and that some will find it more irritating than others. If you find it does impact …

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Handy Tip – No Dataflow and Pings Respond with “oy”

Bit of a strange one today (perhaps a bit dry) but I was out fixing a problem with a computer at For Dogs’ Sake this evening fixing a computer that had been infected with some malware. The computer had no dataflow through a web browser (which would promptly crash) but ping tests would work albeit …

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Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview

Internet Explorer 9

A preview of Internet Explorer 9 has been released to the public earlier this week to test the waters with early adopters. If you are keen to download a copy (which is a painless installation and can run side-by-side with your existing version of Internet Explorer), you can grab it here. Bear in mind, this …

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Microsoft Security Essentials – No Bloat, No Fuss

Microsoft Security Essentials (Update)

Since I got my first computer back in 1995 (with Windows 95 on it) I’ve gone through several different pieces of antiviral software as well as the incremental upgrades that became more common. As time progressed, the size of the software increased as well as the scope of what was included in an AV package. …

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