PCTips Box

Need a way to keep track of time when scheduling meetings at work or when calling family members who live in another time zone? Firefox add-on, FoxClocks is the perfect solution.

FoxClocks lets you keep an eye on the time any where in the world, including your local time, by putting small clocks that you choose, in your status bar.

With FoxClocks, you can choose from a set of useful time formats or create your own custom formats.

To install, go to FoxClocks add-on page at mozilla.org and click on the Add to Firefox button.

Then in the pop-up window, click the Install Now button and restart Firefox when prompted.

After restart, FoxClocks Welcome window will display. Make sure ‘Enable automatic updates’ check box is selected. You will see the database was successfully updated and will keep it updated periodically. (more…)

Updates and service packs do not serve as exclusive methods of adding functionality to Microsoft’s operating system. In this regard, feature packs are designed to enhance a Windows platform with various components and features on top of the standard releases that are part of a product’s lifecycle. Case in point: Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless made available as of April 16. This is Microsoft’s way of delivering added functionality to Windows Vista on top of the recently released Service Pack 1.

“This software update includes the following components or features that improve wireless support in Windows Vista: Bluetooth version 2.1 support, Unified Pairing user interface, Windows Connect Now updates. Some of these features may work with existing hardware. However, you must have new hardware to take advantage of the new functionality,” Microsoft revealed. (more…)

The long awaited, highly anticipated Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) will finally be available by Microsoft. For many, SP1 is the promise land for fixing those annoying performance, compatibility and slow file copy problems that have plague Vista since it’s release.

Only time will tell.

Regardless of what happens, pre-cautions should be taken to ensure a successful upgrade to Vista SP1.

Below are five steps you should follow BEFORE installing SP1, that should help with achieving a successful upgrade and ensure no data is lost. (more…)

The end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 have been a veritable Service Pack fiesta for Microsoft in terms of the company’s flagship products. Both Windows and Office have got their fair share of updates, but the productivity suite of both the 2003 and 2007 versions has simply beaten the Windows client to the punch, so to speak. Microsoft made available both Office 2003 SP3 and Office 2007 SP1 ahead of Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. In fact, the third service pack for Office 2003 dropped as early as September 2007.

Microsoft’s perspective over Office 2003 SP3 is that the service pack represents merely a pit stop for Office users on the road to the Office 2007 System. At the same time, Office 2003 SP3 brought to the table enhancements around the board from security to performance and to increase compatibility with Windows Vista. (more…)

Microsoft officially confirmed the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 downloads at the end of the past week. On February 21, 2008, the gold bits of Windows Vista SP1 were offered for download via Windows Update. The move was a derail from the timetable set for the delivery of the RTM Build of Vista SP1, initially planned for general availability starting with mid-March 2008, according to Mike Nash, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management. Nash announced on February 4 that the final bits of Vista SP1 would find their way to end users through Microsoft Update, Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center in mid-March, and then through Automatic Updates beginning with mid-April.

But the fact that the end users of Vista got the short straw without even participating in the draw does not mean that the Redmond company did not release Vista SP1 RTM. (more…)

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 might very well deliver users from the Reduced Functionality Mode black screen of death kill switch, but the prerequisite updates for the service pack are doing a wonderful job at cutting access to the operating system. Following Microsoft’s monthly patch cycle non-security updates released on February 12, 2007, containing two of the remaining prerequisite updates for Vista SP1, Vista users began complaining about installation failures. Some Vista machines, after the implementation of updates via Automatic Updates are thrown in an infinite reboot loop, while stuck on displaying the following message: “Configuring Updates Stage 3 of 3 0% complete. Do not turn off Computer.” (more…)