Archive for Category: "Windows Tips"

How to Speed Up WordPress in Firefox

How to Speed Up WordPress in Firefox

I like to use Firefox when authoring articles via Wordpress, but I experienced unexplainable slow-downs when typing in the editor. I thought that it might be Firefox’s built-in spell check, or some setting within Wordpress. Come to find out there are a few tweaks you can do to Firefox to restore the speed you once had.

Type Special Characters Using Only a Keyboard

Type Special Characters Using Only a Keyboard

OIOpublisher In today’s computing world, there are a lot of special symbols and characters in use that just cannot fit onto a standard keyboard.   Even as a hardware reviewer, I find myself consistently using the degree, one-half, one-quarter, copyright, and registered symbols on a regular basis.  Many others have to use accented characters, such as [...]

How To Change the Shut Down Button

How To Change the Shut Down Button

If you’re like me, then you rarely actually shut down your computer.  Even though I have fast RAIDed SSDs that can cold-boot Windows in less than 20 seconds, I always have lots of tasks open at once to get my work done.  It would be a severe pain to have to re-open all of my [...]

Enable Hidden Windows Themes

Enable Hidden Windows Themes

Windows 7 configures a handful of themes upon initial installation, but did you know that there are several more that are not installed by default?  Microsoft has set up Windows 7 to only install themes relevant to the language and location you specify during the installation script, but you can easily access and install more [...]

How to switch audio tracks in Windows Media Player

Every now and then you come across a video that has multiple audio tracks… much like a DVD.  Sometimes you may have a video file that has both a 5.1 and stereo soundtrack, or director’s commentary.  In my case, I came across a video that had normal movie audio and Rifftrax.com commentary.  If you were [...]

How To Install Windows 7 From a USB Flash Drive

How To Install Windows 7 From a USB Flash Drive

Thanks to a nice check sent to me by Uncle Sam, I got to upgrade my living area a little bit this past week. A new LCD HDTV, a console, and some new furniture. And I paid a few bills that I would otherwise ignore until I got a letter saying that it was sent to a [...]

Change the Windows 7 Logon Background

Change the Windows 7 Logon Background

Do you sneer at people who use the default Windows desktop?  If you want to set yourself apart from your grandma that uses Windows XP’s Luna theme, then one of the first you do to your Operating System is make it your own. You’ve probably already skinned your Aero desktop and now need to customize your logon [...]

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Keyboard shortcuts have been in the Windows operating system since its inception, but the Windows key started appearing about the time Windows 95 rolled out. Some analysts say it is in response to Apple’s command button, which is used in conjuntion with other keys to perform keyboard shortcuts. There were only a handful of “Windows [...]

How to Enable Command Prompt Scrolling from the Keyboard

How to Enable Command Prompt Scrolling from the Keyboard

If you are a system administrator, then you probably find yourself using the Windows Command Prompt more often than most people.  When running this window, old-school admins get into a DOS or Linux mindset and just don’t like to use the mouse.  Heck, one of the Microsoft interview questions for admins is “How do you [...]