Tag Archives: windows

troubleshoot

Learning How to Troubleshoot the Right Way

Playing around with a bunch of wires and fidgeting with the gadgets on the keyboard can not only be unproductive, but it can also be dangerous. When you want to know how to fix problems with your computer properly, what steps can you take?

Ask a Friend

Chances are, you know someone who graduated with a degree in Computer Science or who is working at a major computer store. Instead of fiddling around with the keyboard today, give that person a call. Find out when he or she is available, and ask this individual if a private tutoring session could be arranged. Let your friend know you want to learn how to deal with common troubleshooting issues when they arise, and, hopefully, this person will be happy to teach you.

Take a Course

Many people do receive their degrees in Computer Science and other related fields. As a result, most colleges, if not all, in your area will offer at least a handful of courses related to the subject matter. Over the summer or during a season when work is a little bit slow, enroll in one of these courses. You’re likely rather worried about the price. Fortunately, many community colleges also offer classes, and you can enroll in these for a fraction of the cost of what other universities would offer.

Read the Books

Whenever you purchase a new computer or a gadget for your computer, you are given a pamphlet. In this booklet, you’ll find an array of information about the device as well as details on how to deal with common troubleshooting issues when they arise. Generally, people tend to cram this booklet up into a drawer someone and completely forget where they put it in their times of needs. Make a nice little file of all of the booklets, and refer to them when your computer isn’t functioning properly. It’s quite likely you will find the answer for which you are looking in one of the chapters.

Using the Computer

Sometimes, the computer is not entirely beyond repair. For example, you might be able to turn it on, but, once you do, one of the programs you need for work will not function properly. Many computers have troubleshooting functions built right into them. As long as you are able to use the computer, look up steps on it to help you resolve the problem in a timely fashion. Sometimes, these tools can also check for problems on the system. Therefore, you will be able to find the root of the problem to address that as opposed to waffling around with issues that are not really problems at all.

The best way to learn how to troubleshoot on a computer is to have a professional or someone who works in the industry show you. If you have any questions, you can ask that person. However, when you cannot take a class or no one is available, other options exist to help you deal with the computer crisis.


This article was submitted through TechGeec’s article submission form.

Walter O’Neal writes about technology, education and more. Most recently, he has written a series of pieces on the best computer degrees.

evasi0n

Jailbreak ALL iPhones, iPads, iPods on iOS 6.0-6.1 with evasi0n

Download evasi0n for Mac, Windows, and Linux at www.evasi0n.com

Steps:
a. Upgrade device to iOS 6.1
b. Disable passcode lock
1. Plug device into computer
2. Click ‘Jailbreak’ button in evasi0n
3. When prompted, tap evasi0n app ONCE
4. Complete! Open Cydia, select user type, and allow it to refresh.
c. You can now re-enable your passcode lock

evasi0n can jailbreak all iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and iPad mini models running iOS 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, and 6.1. If the jailbreak process gets stuck somewhere, close evasi0n, reboot the device by holding the Home and Power buttons at the same time until it restarts, and restart the jailbreak process. evasi0n takes roughly 5 minutes to jailbreak the device. Once the jailbreak process is complete, open Cydia and allow it to refresh its sources. Once it closes, open Cydia again and in the ‘Changes’ section, update ‘evasi0n 6.x Untether’. Once you do that your device will be completely jailbroken and you can continue to install any jailbreak tweaks/apps/themes you choose.

encoder

Best Free Windows Screen Recorder – Microsoft Expression

Microsoft Expression is my personal favorite screen capture program for Windows. It may have an extra step (encoding the recording) but the final product is perfect as you’ll see in the sample recording at the end of the video. The free version is almost as good as the Pro version. The main difference is that you can only record 10 minute segments with the free version whereas with Pro, you can record for an unlimited amount of time; absolutely not worth the $199 price tag.

Encode a wide array of video file formats, stream live from webcams and camcorders or screen capture your PC. Make simple edits to video files and enhance your media with overlays and advertising. Choose encoding settings, choose from a range of player templates and publish rich media experiences

Customize your video to guarantee viewers a rich, pixel-perfect media experience. Expression Encoder allows you to add simple cuts to any clip, titles, pre-roll and post-roll advertising, captions, metadata and more. Capture computer screen activity for training or support needs.

Delivering a web-ready Silverlight experience is easy. Import QuickTime, AVI, MPEG, and other formats into Expression Encoder, leverage the latest quality and speed improvements to the VC-1 codec, choose your favorite Silverlight template, and publish directly to your web server using Expression Encoder Publishing Plug-ins.

Microsoft Expression 4 overview: http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Encoder4_Overview.aspx
Microsoft Expression 4 Free download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24601

Question:
How many screen recording programs (free or paid) have you tried to use before?

revo uninstaller

Completely Uninstall Programs on Windows

Revo Uninstaller, developed by VS Revo Group, is a tool that allows you to completely uninstall a program from Windows. Often when uninstalling programs through the typical uninstaller, many registry files and directories are left behind. Over time these left over and useless files bog down your computer. By using a tool like Revo Uninstaller, it will uninstall the program like normal and then scan the computer for any additional files that were not removed. It allows you to select which files to keep and which to delete.

You can purchase the full version of Revo Uninstaller but I recommend just downloading the free version. It will still scan for leftovers after the standard uninstall, it includes eight additional cleaning tools, and free tech support is also included. There’s some nice features that come packed with the Pro version but nothing that I feel is worth the $20 – $40 price tag.

You can download Revo Uninstaller by clicking HERE.

txt to computer

How to Transfer/Backup Text Messages from iPhone to Computer

For 30% off of your DigiDNA purchase, download DiskAid from http://www.digidna.net/techgeec.

To download DiskAid click HERE.

t-clock

How to Display the Date & Time in Windows System Tray Clock in the Taskbar

Throughout the 25 years that the Windows operating system has been with us, not in one version has the date been displayed along with the clock in the system tray of the taskbar (at least in the versions that had a taskbar). For those familiar with Mac OS X, in the upper right corner of the screen, you can choose to have the date be displayed along side the time. It’s a shame that with Windows, if you choose to use the “small” taskbar or display “small icons” in Windows 7, you can only see the time.

If you’d like to be able to see the date as well, a free portable application called T-Clock v.3 by StoicJoker will do just that. You can download it HERE (download “(both) T-Clock 3 & T-Clock x64″ by Stoic Joker, not the other versions of T-Clock). To get T-Clock set up and running, follow the video tutorial below. If you’d like to have T-Clock start when Windows starts, in the “About” tab of the T-Clock properties, you can check the box that has this option.

If you’d like to create a custom time format, below the video is a chart listing the date and time strings along with their meanings.

Format specifier Description Examples
“d” The day of the month, from 1 through 31.

More information: The “d” Custom Format Specifier.

6/1/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 1

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 15

“dd” The day of the month, from 01 through 31.

More information: The “dd” Custom Format Specifier.

6/1/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 01

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 15

“ddd” The abbreviated name of the day of the week.

More information: The “ddd” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> Mon (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> Пн (ru-RU)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> lun. (fr-FR)

“dddd” The full name of the day of the week.

More information: The “dddd” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> Monday (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> понедельник (ru-RU)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> lundi (fr-FR)

“f” The tenths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “f” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 -> 6

6/15/2009 13:45:30.050 -> 0

“ff” The hundredths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “ff” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 -> 61

6/15/2009 13:45:30.005 -> 00

“fff” The milliseconds in a date and time value.

More information: The “fff” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 -> 617

6/15/2009 13:45:30.0005 -> 000

“ffff” The ten thousandths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “ffff” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.6175 -> 6175

6/15/2009 13:45:30.00005 -> 0000

“fffff” The hundred thousandths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “fffff” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.61754 -> 61754

6/15/2009 13:45:30.000005 -> 00000

“ffffff” The millionths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “ffffff” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617542 -> 617542

6/15/2009 13:45:30.0000005 -> 000000

“fffffff” The ten millionths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “fffffff” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.6175425 -> 6175425

6/15/2009 13:45:30.0001150 -> 0001150

“F” If non-zero, the tenths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “F” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 -> 6

6/15/2009 13:45:30.050 -> (no output)

“FF” If non-zero, the hundredths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “FF” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 -> 61

6/15/2009 13:45:30.005 -> (no output)

“FFF” If non-zero, the milliseconds in a date and time value.

More information: The “FFF” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 -> 617

6/15/2009 13:45:30.0005 -> (no output)

“FFFF” If non-zero, the ten thousandths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “FFFF” Custom Format Specifier.

6/1/2009 13:45:30.5275 -> 5275

6/15/2009 13:45:30.00005 -> (no output)

“FFFFF” If non-zero, the hundred thousandths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “FFFFF” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.61754 -> 61754

6/15/2009 13:45:30.000005 -> (no output)

“FFFFFF” If non-zero, the millionths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “FFFFFF” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.617542 -> 617542

6/15/2009 13:45:30.0000005 -> (no output)

“FFFFFFF” If non-zero, the ten millionths of a second in a date and time value.

More information: The “FFFFFFF” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 13:45:30.6175425 -> 6175425

6/15/2009 13:45:30.0001150 -> 000115

“g”, “gg” The period or era.

More information: The “g” or “gg” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> A.D.
“h” The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 1 to 12.

More information: The “h” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM -> 1

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 1

“hh” The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 01 to 12.

More information: The “hh” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM -> 01

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 01

“H” The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 0 to 23.

More information: The “H” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM -> 1

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 13

“HH” The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 00 to 23.

More information: The “HH” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM -> 01

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 13

“K” Time zone information.

More information: The “K” Custom Format Specifier.

With DateTime values:

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM, Kind Unspecified ->

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM, Kind Utc -> Z

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM, Kind Local -> -07:00 (depends on local computer settings)

With DateTimeOffset values:

6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM -07:00 –> -07:00

6/15/2009 8:45:30 AM +00:00 –> +00:00

“m” The minute, from 0 through 59.

More information: The “m” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:09:30 AM -> 9

6/15/2009 1:09:30 PM -> 9

“mm” The minute, from 00 through 59.

More information: The “mm” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:09:30 AM -> 09

6/15/2009 1:09:30 PM -> 09

“M” The month, from 1 through 12.

More information: The “M” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 6
“MM” The month, from 01 through 12.

More information: The “MM” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 06
“MMM” The abbreviated name of the month.

More information: The “MMM” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> Jun (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> juin (fr-FR)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> Jun (zu-ZA)

“MMMM” The full name of the month.

More information: The “MMMM” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> June (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> juni (da-DK)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> uJuni (zu-ZA)

“s” The second, from 0 through 59.

More information: The “s” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:09 PM -> 9
“ss” The second, from 00 through 59.

More information: The “ss” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:09 PM -> 09
“t” The first character of the AM/PM designator.

More information: The “t” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> P (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 午 (ja-JP)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> (fr-FR)

“tt” The AM/PM designator.

More information: The “tt” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> PM (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 午後 (ja-JP)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> (fr-FR)

“y” The year, from 0 to 99.

More information: The “y” Custom Format Specifier.

1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM -> 1

1/1/0900 12:00:00 AM -> 0

1/1/1900 12:00:00 AM -> 0

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 9

“yy” The year, from 00 to 99.

More information: The “yy” Custom Format Specifier.

1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM -> 01

1/1/0900 12:00:00 AM -> 00

1/1/1900 12:00:00 AM -> 00

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 09

“yyy” The year, with a minimum of three digits.

More information: The “yyy” Custom Format Specifier.

1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM -> 001

1/1/0900 12:00:00 AM -> 900

1/1/1900 12:00:00 AM -> 1900

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 2009

“yyyy” The year as a four-digit number.

More information: The “yyyy” Custom Format Specifier.

1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM -> 0001

1/1/0900 12:00:00 AM -> 0900

1/1/1900 12:00:00 AM -> 1900

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 2009

“yyyyy” The year as a five-digit number.

More information: The “yyyyy” Custom Format Specifier.

1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM -> 00001

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 02009

“z” Hours offset from UTC, with no leading zeros.

More information: The “z” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -07:00 -> -7
“zz” Hours offset from UTC, with a leading zero for a single-digit value.

More information: The “zz” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -07:00 -> -07
“zzz” Hours and minutes offset from UTC.

More information: The “zzz” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -07:00 -> -07:00
“:” The time separator.

More information: The “:” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> : (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> . (it-IT)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> : (ja-JP)

“/” The date separator.

More Information: The “/” Custom Format Specifier.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> / (en-US)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> – (ar-DZ)

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> . (tr-TR)

“string”

‘string’

Literal string delimiter. 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM (“arr:” h:m t) -> arr: 1:45 P

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM (‘arr:’ h:m t) -> arr: 1:45 P

% Defines the following character as a custom format specifier.

More information: Using Single Custom Format Specifiers.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM (%h) -> 1
\ The escape character. 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM (h \h) -> 1 h
Any other character The character is copied to the result string unchanged.

More information: Using the Escape Character.

6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM (arr hh:mm t) -> arr 01:45 A
choose your poison

Reasons to Consider Taking a Break From Apple

Earlier today TheAppleBlog had an interesting post that I thought many Apple “fan-boys” should read.

Quote (via TheAppleBlog):

I realize that suggesting a break from Apple products on an Apple blog is heresy, but there are good reasons to pop your head up and look around at what else is out there every once in a while. Gadget tunnel vision is a dangerous thing, for both your sense of perspective and your budget.

Brand Loyalty Carries No Tangible Reward

Brand loyalty can be a very strong emotion, especially around Apple Inc. But what’s it really worth to you? You could argue that by being loyal, you’re encouraging Apple to continue putting out high-quality products, but it’s not a one-to-one relationship. Buying a piece of kit from Sony or someone else here or there won’t destroy Apple’s R&D capabilities.

In reality, you get nothing for your loyalty beyond the ability to wave it in the faces of others who aren’t so loyal. Which, admittedly, can be quite satisfying in the short term, but doesn’t really amount to much in the long run.

Playing the Field Gets You More Action

Pardon the double-entendre, but it’s true that if you have greater variety in your choice of gadgets and tech, you’ll have a much broader base of experience from which to draw for both professional and personal purposes. At work and on resumés, platform agnosticism plays much better than single-minded devotion to one company. Most employees don’t want to see “haven’t touched a Windows machine since ’95″ listed under “Skills.”

Knowing about, say, Android as well as iOS, for example, will also get you far in personal interactions. The one-note Apple guy or girl isn’t always the most popular person at tweetups and tech conferences. Even if you’re debating the merits of OS X versus Windows 7, think how much stronger your argument will be if you’ve actually used both extensively.

Your Apple Vacation Can Be a “Staycation”

You don’t need to invest in new hardware to take a break from Apple. Bootcamp on OS X allows you to run Windows or other operating systems on your Mac computer. Or, if you’d rather not even leave OS X (though I recommend you do), there are always Parallels and VMware Fusion which allow you to run Windows on an emulated machine within Apple’s OS.

You can also even run Android on an iPhone or iPad using OpeniBoot, though it’s pretty buggy. But if you’re the adventurous type, and want to test out Google’s iOS competitor without spending money on new hardware, this could be the way to do it.

The Future Is Multi-Platform

Developers aren’t going to focus on just one platform, so long as user interest in a platform continues to grow. Nor are content providers, advertisers, or enterprise IT departments. There’s no reason why users should, either. Device and platform flexibility will inform UI and UX decisions going forward, and consumers with a wide variety of experience will help inform those decisions.

Apple is a great platform, and will likely remain my platform of choice for the foreseeable future. But that doesn’t mean I’ll use it to the absolute exclusion of all others. Variety is the spice of life, and that maxim applies just as well to my digital existence, too.

Apple Released iTunes 10.1



Apple released today iTunes 10.1. This introduces AirPlay and iOS 4.2 for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. (NOTE: iOS 4.2 is not yet out, there is just support for it.)

With iTunes 10.1, you can wirelessly stream videos from iTunes on your computer to Apple TV. This also provides important stability and performance improvements.

I just need iOS 4.2 and then my life is complete!

CopyTrans Manager Overview [UPDATED]

CopyTrans Manager is a FREE iPod/iPhone/iPad manager which will allow the managment of all media located on the preferred device. You can do all the features with it that you can do with iTunes, except CTM is faster, lighter, and there’s no need for any installation. It wouldn’t hurt, however, if the UI was updated.

CopyTrans Manager, by WindSolutions, is a FREE iTunes replacement for Microsoft Windows. It’s much faster and lighter (uses less memory) than iTunes, however, it is also much simpler. It does, though, still have all of the important features that iTunes has – adding media to your device, edit song tags, album artwork, create/manage playlists, play music, etc.

There are many great features that CopyTrans Manager has, however, there are also some (not too bad) down sides to it. The newest version, v0.919, is now compatible with both iOS 4 as well with the iPhone 4 which is great considering the fact that already 3 million+ people now own the iPhone 4. The Manager is great for (very) simple use. There’s no fancy buttons or menus with endless options to go through which makes it extremely easy for non-computer savvy people to use (like my mother :D). It does offer some other benefits, however, like it’s usage of less memory than iTunes (not to mention there’s no installation needed).

Now this is not a complete iTunes replacement. You can’t buy music from it and your device must be plugged in for you to use it. The reason why you need to plug in your device, though, is because it’s an iPod manager, not an iTunes manager. This program isn’t meant for you to just open it up and listen music from it like you would with iTunes. It’s specifically meant to manage the media that’s stored on your devices.

Also what I found, was that I had to run the program as an administrator (right click the icon and select “Run as Administrator”). This is most likely due to the fact that I’m running on a 64-bit machine. I didn’t like the UI (user interface) that much just because it seemed a bit out-dated (don’t let the UI reflect upon how the program performs). In the next version, I’d like to see a new UI, one that possibly resembles and works with Windows Aero theme that is present in both Vista and 7. Other than that, though, the program works just as advertised – fantastically, but be sure not to mistake it for an iTunes manager, it’s an iPod manager (two completely different things). You can download it for free from www.CopyTrans.net.