PCTips Box

Windows Vista RTM has had quite a rough ride throughout 2007, with Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Stave Ballmer acknowledging software and hardware incompatibility problems. And while Service Pack 1 is essentially designed to soften all the rough edges of the latest Windows client, Vista SP1 is not without problems of its own. In this regard, Microsoft informed of a glitch in the Configuration Data store on Vista SP1 and Vista RTM which when the user attempts to resume a copy of the operating system from hibernation is instead informed that the platform was shutdown.

“When you wake a computer that is running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) from hibernation, you may receive the following error message: ‘System was shutdown unexpectedly’,” Microsoft explained. “This issue occurs when the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store contains incorrect information for the Resume from Hibernate entry.” (more…)

Recently, I was searching for a utility that can be used for using the windows clipboard more effectively for fast and easy copy paste of any text/image simply with a keyboard shortcut.

I found many application on web that solve the purpose but I don’t want to buy any application for this task, after a lot of googling I found lot of utilities like Yclipper , Clipboard History etc.

But still none of them were so much powerful in their freeware mode, then I found ClipX which is completely free.

What is ClipX?

ClipX is a tiny clipboard history manager, it can be recalled via a hotkey and supports both bitmap and text clipboards. It can be used to manage and increase the features of your regular windows clipborad. (more…)

xbindkeys is a program that allows you to launch shell commands with your keyboard or your mouse under X Window. It links commands to keys or mouse buttons, using a configuration file. It’s independent of the window manager and can capture all keyboard keys (ex: Power, Wake…).

xbindkeys-config-An easy to use gtk program for configuring Xbindkeys.GTK Configure program for xbindkeys.

If you want to create custom keyboard shortcut it is very easy to create

First you need to install xbindkeys using the following (more…)

Even though Microsoft has promised to drop the prices associated with some of the retail standalone versions of Windows Vista (specifically the Home Premium and Ultimate editions), the fact of the matter is that the SKUs of the latest Windows client will still be far from cheap. In this context, you have to take advantage as best you can of the ecosystem of software solutions built around the operating system. And there are plenty of free offerings that are worth a whole lot more than what you didn’t pay for them. The Sysinternals brand dates back to 1996, and was associated with the Windows operating system from the get-go. The brainchild of developers Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell Sysinternals has become synonymous with a collection of advanced system utilities. (more…)

You may be able to free up some valuable space if you’re using two disk partitions, using two physical drives, or dual-booting between XP and Vista on the same machine.

I’ll show you several steps you can take to eliminate duplicate files and get more out of your disks.

Decide on your multiple-partition strategy

Years ago, it was common for users seeking more reliability to divide a hard drive into two or more partitions: portions of a disk, each with a different drive letter. Back then, recovering data from drive d: was easier than from drive c: if the primary partition (containing Windows) became corrupted.

That configuration is rare today, because backup programs and disaster-recovery services have improved. But there are still three situations in which you might find yourself handling two or more partitions or physical disks: (more…)

Microsoft has increased both the power and complexity of its popular Windows operating system with the release of Windows Vista. The TweakVista™ tweaking utility helps you configure Windows Vista to meet your personal needs by improving performance and customizing system settings.

Unlike other power tools for Windows, TweakVista™ automatically prompts enhancement recommendations, offering easy “one click” updates to otherwise complex configuration changes. TweakVista™ is also safe to use. By utilizing Microsoft’s system-restore technology any changes you make can easily be rolled back. You can freely experiment with different settings without disabling your computer. (more…)

By default Windows hides WEP and WPA keys stored on your PC to connect to various Wi-Fi networks, but freeware utility WirelessKeyView lists them for you. When you’ve forgotten that Wi-Fi network key, run WirelessKeyView to see all the networks your Windows PC has ever connected to using its default Wireless Zero Configuration mechanism. This utility doesn’t reveal keys stored by third-party network connection software. Delete keys from old networks that you no longer need, and easily copy keys to the clipboard to send or save. WirelessKeyView is a free download for Windows XP and Vista. (more…)

It is really frustrating when you want to download something from MegaUpload, you will get the limited download slots message.

MegaUpload will ask you to download Megaupload Toolbar to continue download.

Well, now you can still download without having MegaUpload Toolbar installed yes, with this little tool, MegaUpload Country Blocked Killer.

MegaUpload Country Blocked Killer will bypass the country download slots check and you will get a shot to download your file.

This tool is in Spanish, but you can get the menu’s important notes/instructions translated to English by using tools like Google Language Tools. Anyway, I’ve got that covered for you. (more…)

Are you annoyed by the restart prompt which appears every time you update windows.

In order to configure no auto reboot settings for windows XP Professional and Home your windows must have service pack2 installed.

But the to remove auto reboot for windows XP home and Professional are different.

For Windows XP Professional

1. Open Start >> Run and type gpedit.msc (group policy editor) and press Enter (more…)

In case of outlook 2007 when you configure your gmail account with automatic pop3 configuration the problem of auto filtering of your mails received is done by outlook.

But this auto filtering most of the times does not function correctly which results in non junk mails or clean mails are mark as junk and outlook moves them automatically to junk folder.

You can simply fix the wrong filtering as follows:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2007 (more…)