Category: Software

  • I Found Windows 10 Fast Startup Caused Problems

    I Found Windows 10 Fast Startup Caused Problems

    Introduction The following post will describe how to turn Windows 10 Fast Startup OFF or ON. I usually turn it off on my PCs because I’ve had startup problems as described in the following sections.

  • Windows 10 File History Used To Backup My PC

    Windows 10 File History Used To Backup My PC

    Introduction Since the introduction of Windows 10 version 1709, and acquiring a new backup drive, I have chosen to use Windows 10 File History to backup my PC. So far so good. I have used it to backup my data and to restore some.. I will describe how this tool is used from my point…

  • Using A Digital Signature With Outlook

    Using A Digital Signature With Outlook

    Introduction This article covers some of the issues involved when using a Digital Signature. Each Digital Signature is generated from a Digital Certificate (otherwise known as a Digital ID) issued by a certifying authority. All examples given are created using Microsoft Outlook 2010 on a PC using Microsoft Windows 10, but the principles apply to other versions of…

  • WordPress Fatal Error Out of Memory

    WordPress Fatal Error Out of Memory

    How I Resolved ‘Fatal Error Out of Memory’ For A Single Post After much editing  of my WordPress post entitled ‘How A Toilet Silent Fill Valve Works’, since I wrote it in May 2014, (there must have been at least 150 edits, and I changed it from a page to a post too) I suddenly had this ‘Fatal…

  • Browser Choice In Microsoft Windows Ends

    Browser Choice In Microsoft Windows Ends

    Browser Choice – What’s That About In December 2009 the European Union obliged Microsoft to offer a choice of browsers to their European customers when they installed new versions of Windows. This browser choice was also delivered in updates to Windows and so the Browser Choice screen was born and has been with us ever since.…

  • Backdoor Trojan Regin Spying Since 2008

    A recently discovered Backdoor Trojan Regin is a computer bug found by the software security company Symantec. Its purpose is to spy on the activities taking place on computers. It can collect passwords, capture screen images and even recover deleted files. The Backdoor Trojan Regin has been made to operate in five stages the last two being encrypted to…

  • Manual Search Using Binary Chop

    Manual Search Using Binary Chop

    The Problem To Be Solved. A good friend of mine had found that an Excel spread sheet no longer had a formulae in a particular cell. It had a number there instead. This meant that any changes in other cells associated with the missing formulae had no effect on the result in the TOTAL column.…

  • Targeted Attacks via Internet Explorer Confirmed by Microsoft

    Targeted Attacks via Internet Explorer Confirmed by Microsoft

    There is a vulnerability (flaw) which allows targeted attacks via Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11 to be made on MS Windows PC’s. The attack seems complex to me and probably not easily made against the masses. The ultimate goal of an attacker would be to encourage a PC user to visit dangerous websites. Microsoft…

  • Bank Machines Will Use Windows XP Beyond The MS Deadline

    Bank Machines Will Use Windows XP Beyond The MS Deadline

    Well, well, well, whose not keeping on top of things then. It looks like all the major banks. This article from ITPRO taken from Reuters points out that some major banks will not have updated their Automatic Telling Machines to Windows 7 by 8th April 2014. This is Microsoft’s published deadline after which there will…

  • Make Google The Home Page In Windows 7

    Make Google The Home Page In Windows 7

    Introduction A friend found they had got MSN as their Home page and asked me how they could make Google the Home page in Windows 7. What They Saw I haven’t seen their screen but I would expect it to look like the screen shot above, when they select their Home page, with MSN showing. Here I…

  • Drag-n-Drop Context Menu in Windows

    Drag-n-Drop Context Menu in Windows

    Drag-n-Drop Context Menu Discovered After Nearly Losing Files After many years I have just found that there is a specific Drag-n-Drop Context Menu, in Microsoft Windows 7 & Windows 10 at least. For years I avoided Drag-n-Drop in favour of Copy and Paste. This discovery came about after I found I was Moving files out of folders…

  • I Reduced Windows 7 Startup Time To Two Minutes

    I Reduced Windows 7 Startup Time To Two Minutes

    Introduction I have wanted a way to get a reduced windows 7 startup time for a while. I was concerned about the time it took from switch on to the point where all apps that start automatically were ready for use. This has generally increased over the years during the time I had previous versions…

  • IE9 Zero Day Vulnerability Fixed

    For a week now it has been known that there is an IE9 Zero Day Vulnerability. Get This Zero Day Vulnerability Fixed Now Microsoft have published a fix which came to me today in the form of an update as follows (for Windows 7): Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2744842)…

  • Visual Basic .NET Radio Buttons get auto-clicked

    I was up until 01:20 this morning debugging code in VB.NET 2010. For hours I thought there was something amiss with my math or logic when a calculation in a secondary window which was affected by Radio Buttons kept giving an erroneous result. The Problem – Visual Basic .NET Radio Buttons At first I thought…

  • My Excel Jump List stopped adding Recent Files

    My Excel Jump List stopped adding Recent Files

    My Problem I had a problem where I had MS 2010 Excel pinned to the Task Bar but the Excel Jump List stopped adding Recent Files. The Jump List is the one you see when you right click on an icon of an application pinned to the task-bar. Some programs (not all) show recently used files…

  • One Mouse And Keyboard Can Control 1-4 Computers

    One Mouse And Keyboard Can Control 1-4 Computers

    Introduction Back in June 2012 I found this amazing software, Mouse without Borders from Microsoft Garage. It allows me to control 1-4 computers. Usually that is my desktop PC and my notebook with my desktop mouse and keyboard. I can move my pointer off the right-hand edge of my desktop screen and onto the left-hand…

  • The Faster-Than-Fast Fourier Transform

    The Faster-Than-Fast Fourier Transform

    Improving The Fast Fourier Transform To Make It Faster-Than-Fast The Faster-Than-Fast Fourier Transform can replace the Fast Fourier Transform to save processing time when digitising an analogue signal. For a large range of practically useful cases, MIT researchers find a way to increase the speed of one of the most important algorithms in the information…

  • Using The Character Map Application In Windows

    Using The Character Map Application In Windows

    Accessing The Character Map Application It reminds me of an unusual dice when I see this icon. It has a beauty about it. What is it? It’s the icon representing the Character Map application in Windows 7, found on the Start Menu under Accessories > Ease of Access > System Tools. The Character Map application is stored…

  • Changing Text Styles on Windows 7 Sticky Notes

    Changing Text Styles on Windows 7 Sticky Notes

    Windows 7 comes with Post-it® style Sticky Notes which can be stuck all over the desk top. Although you can change the background colour from a context menu and format the text from within the application, using Ctrl+Shift+[various keys] as per the Microsoft Instructions, the text style and colour can’t be changed from within. However…

  • Excel Body Weight Templates To Record Your Weight

    Excel Body Weight Templates To Record Your Weight

    “Happy New Year! In 2012 I resolve to lose weight (again).” Well I resolved to lose weight every year since at least 2005 and some years I succeeded. One tool I require for this is a spreadsheet to accurately record of my weight. I use Excel for this and I’ve produced some Excel Body Weight Templates…

  • A Counterfeit Microsoft DVD Crops Up Again

    A Counterfeit Microsoft DVD Crops Up Again

    Another Counterfeit Microsoft DVD Remember how a few days ago I told you how I found I had a counterfeit Microsoft DVD. (See that post here). Well another one bought from another Amazon re-seller has proved to be counterfeit. It’s one I bought to install on the computers of a friend soon after I bought the first…

  • My Office Pro 2010 DVD’s Counterfeit

    My Office Pro 2010 DVD’s Counterfeit

    Introduction Well, after 13 years on the Internet it looks like I have eventually been stung. I just found my Office Pro 2010 DVD’s counterfeit after two years. It looked fine and installed well on two PC’s (the package declares it is suitable for three PC’s) and it was activated on those two PC’s in August 2010. It was purchased from…