Brock Angelo » Windows

Windows Run Box Doesn’t Suggest Anymore

brockangelo — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:18:17 +0000

If you are a regular user of the Windows Run Box, you probably have gotten very accustomed to a feature called “Inline AutoComplete”. This feature is very handy. You simply start typing for the file or folder that you want, and the Run Box suggests it as you type.

However, for some reason, my Run Box decided to stop suggesting files or folders on my C:\ drive or any of my networked drives. This makes work so much more difficult, especially when you rely on this feature and don’t remember the names of all of the folders.

Open the Windows Run Box in Windows XP (by clicking Start à Run or typing Win+R on the keyboard). Then start typing the location of a file on your computer. You can start by typing “C:\”. If you Inline AutoComplete is working, you’ll see this:

If Inline AutoComplete is not working, you’ll see this:

Of course, you wouldn’t know that it was called “Inline AutoComplete” just by looking at it, and it will drive you mad if you go looking for it. You won’t find this in the properties of the Start Menu.

To enable Inline AutoComplete, you have to go to Internet Explorer. Yes, this is a feature of IE. Under Tools, Internet Options, Advanced, scroll about half way down and check “Use Inline AutoComplete”.

There is no indexing necessary, and the change is immediate. Now when you go back to the Run Box, it will suggest as you type. See the Microsoft Knowledgebase Article here for more info.

Run a Batch File Invisibly

brockangelo — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:55:40 +0000

Running a batch file invisibly can come in handy, especially if you manage computers for other users. It allows you to perform a task without the user knowing anything about it.

Its very simple. Instead of telling the batch file to run, you tell a Visual Basic script to launch the batch file; and Visual Basic has the ability to launch things invisibly.

Follow this demo and you’ll be up and running in just a few seconds

You’ll create two files: the vbs script and a sample batch file

Open Notepad, and paste this content, then save the file as invisible.vbs to the Desktop

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run chr(34) & "C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Desktop\1.bat" & Chr(34), 0
Set WshShell = Nothing

Open Notepad again, and paste this content, then save the file as 1.bat to the Desktop:

echo hello > "C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Desktop\1.txt"

Now double click on invisible.vbs. You should see a 1.txt file get magically (invisibly) created on the Desktop.

That’s it! Modify to your liking!

Automatically Upload Photos to Flickr

brockangelo — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:06:07 +0000

Here’s how this will work: you’ll plug in your card reader or digital camera and all your photos & videos are automatically copied to the folders of your choice in about 3 to 5 seconds. Once the photos are copied to the PC, they are automatically removed from the card (this is optional, but recommended). After they have been deleted from the card, they are automatically uploaded to your Flickr account (as private, public, tagged, not tagged, whatever). All in the background without you having to do a thing.

I set this up because my photography workflow had turned into something horrid: I have two digital cameras that we use. One of the two has video, but I don’t use Flickr for my videos, I use Motionbox. So to get photos or videos off the cameras involved the following:

Plug in each card
Copy the pics from the card to the PC, name the folders, etc
Copy the videos to the My Videos folder
Delete the photos & videos from the card
Use the Flickr Uploadr and hope it successfully uploads all the pics
Upload videos to Motionbox.
Come back later and delete the photos & videos off the PC after they got uploaded

I decided to put a little thought into it and get a better setup. I now do the following:

Insert flash card into card reader right after taking pictures – pictures & videos download automatically in less than 10 seconds – card automatically formats (optional, but recommended)
(photos are now uploading to Flickr in the background – so I leave )

I’ve completely eliminated my involvement with the computer. I simply plug in the card reader (or camera) and the computer takes care of the entire process of copying the photos over to the computer, then deleting them from the card. It then automatically uploads the photos to Flickr as private. All in the background without any of my involvement.

You can modify the batch file to upload all photos and videos to Flickr.

There are several steps you’ll need to take in order for the process to be completely automatic. Here is an outline of what all is involved. Start to finish the process takes about 15 minutes.

Give Digital Cameras persistent drive letters (E:, F:, G:)
Download Python
Download the “Uploadr” python scripts
Download the batch file for your camera
Install TweakUI and add Batch file to the AutoPlay menus
Configure AutoPlay for your digital camera
Test it out

First Step

Give Memory Cards and Digital Cameras persistent drive letters (E:, F:, G:)

In order for you to be able to reliably copy images from a particular card or device, you should set it up so that every time you plug in the device it uses the same drive letter. With your memory card or device plugged in, right click My Computer and select Manage:

Select Storage ⇒ Disk Management (see picture)

In the right panel, your devices will be listed, probably with letters like E, F or G. Do not change the drive letter of the C: drive, and you probably shouldn’t change a D: drive if you have one either. Right click on the flash drive that you need to change and select Change Drive Letter and Paths: (see picture)

The next box shows you the letter that is already assigned. Just click Change:

This box will ask you what letter you want to assign to it. I start from the bottom, in this case, Z: (see picture)

It will ask you to confirm this. Click Yes. (see picture)

Repeat this for each card or camera that you would like to setup for this.

Now if you go to My Computer, your drive letters should be updated to the new letters.

Next Step

Download Python

Application Download Folder

brockangelo — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:01:31 +0000

Here is a huge, no wait, a huge time-saver for me, so I felt I must share it:

I keep a folder called “Downloads” inside the My Documents folder. Inside “Downloads” I’ve created three subfolders:

Applications
Drivers
Operating Systems

Most people wouldn’t need all three of these, but everyone should use both the “Applications” and the “Drivers” folders.

Anytime I’m downloading a new application, driver or operating system, I keep the install file (.exe, .msi, or .zip). This saves a ton of time waiting for downloads, but in my experience the real time-saver is not having to go out and find the download again. It is just right there in my downloads folder whenever I want it again. This is especially helpful when it comes to drivers.

If you are good about keeping it organized, you can get quite a collection of applications going. My current tally puts my collection at close to a gigabyte of applications (not including operation systems).

If you just use one PC, you may not think you would need this. But after you have to reinstall a program or two, you’ll find this shortcut can really help. What’s more, if you keep this folder on the network, you can use this for any PC you are using!

I’ve found that these three sub-folders have kept it pretty well organized after having been doing this for several years.

Bonus Tip: Don’t include version numbers on folder names. Instead of “Adobe Reader 8.0”, name the folder “Adobe Reader”. Then keep the most current version in the root of that folder, and old versions I move to a sub folder called “Archive”.

Set a Static IP Address in Windows XP

brockangelo — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:19:06 +0000

To set a Static IP Address in Windows XP, open the Control Panel by clicking Start, then Control Panel. Double click on Network Connections.

You may have several network connections in this box, depending on your configuration. But most likely you will need to modify the “Local Area Connection”. If you are unsure which one to modify, look for the one that is not grayed out and does not have a big red X on it. It doesn’t matter what it is called. If you are really brave, you can test to make sure you have the right one by right clicking on it and selecting Disable. Once it is disabled, you should no longer be able to browse the internet. If so, you’ve found the right Network Connection. (Now right click it and select Enable.) (see picture)

Double click on the “Local Area Connection” icon.

A box will appear with the name of the Network Connection in the title. It will be called the the “Local Area Connection Status” box. The “General” tab will selected. Click the “Properties” button at the bottom. (see picture)

The “Local Area Connection Properties” box will appear. You will need to scroll down inside the white box until you see “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)”. Select this and click the “Properties” button. (see picture)

In the “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties” box, your setting is probably on “Obtain an IP address automatically”. This means that on your local network, your private IP address can change from time to time. To set a S tatic IP Address, click “Use the Following IP Address”. (see picture)

You shouldn’t just guess what IP Address to use, or you’ll have a hard time with your local network down the road. Instead, go back to the “Local Area Connection Status” box (it should still be open) and click the “Support” tab. Your current IP address, Subnet Mask and Gateway will be in this box. Change the last number in your IP address to an IP address that is below 100, but not 0 and not 1. It should be an IP address that is not in use. (192.168.1.3 is generally safe) If you want to be sure that the IP Address is not in use, open a command prompt (Start-> Run -> type “cmd” and hit enter) and type “ping 192.168.1.3″. If it says “Request Timed Out” then the IP address is not already in use and you are safe to use it for your PC.

Enter this new IP address and the values for Subnet Mask and Default Gateway into the “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties” box that you were just on. Where it asks for “Preferred DNS Server”, enter the value that you used for the Default Gateway (it will probably be the IP address of your Router, most likely 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1). (see picture) Now click OK to all open boxes until you are back at the Network Connections box. Your network connection will now refresh. When you double click on the “Local Area Connection” icon in Network Connections, you can click the Support tab and see the new “Static IP Address”.

Setup Remote Desktop Using DynDNS

brockangelo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:18:55 +0000

There are a number of ways to get remote access to your home PC. LogMeIn, VNC, Crossloop and several others come to mind. But with most of these, you have to install their software and, in most cases, you have to go through their website to get access to your PC. Fortunately, Windows has a much easier method.

This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up your PC so that when you are away from home, you will be able to log into it using any other Windows PC (on the planet). When you sit down to the off-site PC, your screen will look identical to the screen you are using at home. We won’t be viewing your home PC through a browser. No sir. This will look like you are sitting down in front of your PC. Wallpapers and all.

Man, it is the coolest feeling when you use this for the first time and see your screen pop up on someone else’s computer, no matter where you are.

Let’s get started.

To access your PC when you are away from home, we need to run through the following steps:

Setup the Home PC to Listen for Remote Desktop Connections
Assign a static IP address to the Home PC
Open a Port in the Router’s Firewall to Allow Remote Desktop Connection requests
Setup a free DynDNS account with an easy to remember name
Tell DynDNS to automatically update our Public IP Address
Test it from another Location

Step 1

Setup the Home PC to Listen for Remote Desktop Connections

Right click on the My Computer icon on the Desktop or in the Start Menu and click Properties. (see picture)
Click on the Remote tab
In the “Remote Desktop” box, check the box that says “Allow Users to Connect Remotely to this Computer”. Add your username to the list of allowed users, then click OK to exit My Computer Properties. (see picture)

Your computer is now listening for Remote Desktop Connections, and an exception has been made in the Windows Firewall to allow this traffic to come through. But the traffic has no way of knowing where this computer is, so first, let’s assign a static IP address to this computer.

Next Step: Assign a static IP address to the Home PC

Three Quick Windows Commands

brockangelo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:16:14 +0000

If you aren’t a computer person, you may never use the Run box (Start –> Run) or you may wonder if there is any use for someone who isn’t a “computer person”.

Here are three commands that come in handy:

wordpad
notepad
calc (for calculator)

How to Fix the “There are no active mixer devices available” Error

brockangelo — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:36:03 +0000

My Windows XP computer stopped playing audio when I was watching YouTube videos this week. When I tried to adjust the audio, it gave me the following error:

There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware.

This program will now close.

This happens because the Windows Audio service has stopped. To fix the issue, simply do the following:

Click the Start button, then click Run

enter services.msc and press enter

Scroll down and right click on Windows Audio and select Start

You should also go into Properties and make sure that the Startup Type is set to Automatic

Fall 2008 – Tuesday Class

brockangelo — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:15:55 +0000

Notes from the Tuesday Photoshop class running through October & November 2008:

From Class 1:

Badlands

From Class 2:
We went over the Toolbox on several photos and were able to get some pretty impressive results. Emphasis on understanding the layer mask.

We started with this photo of a traveler.

Then we used this photo of a canal in Amsterdam.

And we finished with this photo of a historic cathedral.

Class 3:

We started by cleaning up this photo of Golden Gate Bridge.

Then we cleaned up this photo.

After the break we addressed three challenges:

Isolate color on a black & white image
Inserting an image onto a background
Removing an item from a photo.

We got through the first one by using this photo and making everything but the roses black & white.

Then we tackled adding an image to a background by using these two photos: our traveler and our sports car.

We ran out of time before we could remove an image from our photo, so we will tackle that next week. Ann also asked if we could learn how to add text to an image, and Dionne asked how we can clean up images of people for things like plastic surgery and skin blemishes.

Class 6:

Night Road
Motel Continental
Chairs
Sign
Diner
Diner Sign
Emma at the Diner
Fly
Sisters
Stairs
Dam

Sharing iTunes with Multiple Users

brockangelo — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:19:49 +0000

How to share iTunes with a Mac & a PC, using one collection of music, and multiple users & computers :

So here is exactly what you’ll get as the result of this tutorial: all of your PC’s will have the exact same iTunes library. If you open up iTunes on your laptop, it will look exactly like the iTunes on your PC. It will see the same podcasts, same videos, same playlists, you get the idea.

However, if you have a Mac, that will have a different iTunes library. You won’t have duplicate MP3 files, but you will have a different “library”. Apple calls the music database your iTunes library. It’s just a fancy way of saying “your list of music”. Now then, anytime you add music in iTunes on the PC, you’ll have to manually add it to the iTunes library on the Mac if you want the music to appear. If you have multiple Macs, they’ll all share the same library, so a change to the Mac iTunes library will look the same on all Macs.

This is how my wife and I wanted it. We have a large collection of music, a Desktop PC, a Vista Laptop, and a MacBook. We wanted to be able to save our music (the MP3’s) to one place (our home media server) but be able to access it from any computer and be able to plug in our iPods to any computer to sync the new stuff.

If this is what you are looking for, read on: