PCTips Box

Although many people have their favorite web apps setup as their homepage on their browsers, there are times when running a web app inside its own window - in a separate process - could come handy. Think about having your browser clogged up with way above 30-40 tabs open and crashing at random times.

Then, you will just have to open it again and fire up the web interface you were working with at the time of the crash. A desktop web app will automatically eliminate the need of restarting your work flow all over again just because a buggy web browser decided that he had enough.

That’s only a quick example why one would need a web app to run on its desktop. To be able to do it, you will have to use an application developed by Mozilla and named Prism. It enables the end user to easily integrate any type of web application into a friendly desktop environment. (more…)

One thing you got to hate with how Microsoft marketed Vista is that most of them came in bundled with new PCs that they didn’t even come with an installation disc. Since this is Vista (a Microsoft product), it goes without telling when the damn system would decided to f*ck you up big time. And since the only recovery option you have is with that installation disc, you know you’re in for something really messed up.

I have had such an incident when Windows was just messed up (desktop not showing up). Fortunately for me, my lappie came with Windows Vista Basic installation discs (a set of six CDs which I later then merged to one DVD) that contained the recovery center. It’s quite useful, I just wonder why them damned manufacturers wouldn’t spare a DVD for a lot of folks. (more…)

With Windows Vista Service Pack 1 having RTM’d on February 4, 2008, and out to the general public as of March 18, Microsoft has made available for download its free toolkit designed to streamline and automate the deployment of desktop and server operating systems. Being offered as the evolution of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 process and toolset is set up to facilitate the installation of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Previous variants of the tool, from the time it carried the label of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD), were used by approximately 1 million clients, according to the Redmond company.

“We’ve reached a pivotal moment in time, the release to Web of Windows Vista SP1, we [also] released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008, the latest generation of the Microsoft Solution Accelerators designed to simplify and ease your deployment experience. (more…)

Probably Windows 98 users remember that in the Start menu there was a possibility to see your recently open documents (as far as I remember, the list displayed the last 15 documents you opened). In Windows XP, this option is gone. Sometimes I found it useful, because I never remember the names I give to files, or the place I save them.

Windows XP has this information in memory, but it does not display it by default anymore. Here’s how to get access to the recent documents list:

1. Open Windows Explorer (if you don’t know how, use the shortcut keys combination “Window” + “E”)
2. Click on Local Disc (C:) (more…)

1. How to Clean the Start Menu
The start menu of the Windows XP is populated with the number of shortcuts and newly installed programs. If you want to remove any of the programs from the start menu just right click on that program and click “Remove from this list”. The program will be removed from the start menu. Additionally, there are certain programs at the right side such as My documents, Run, Search etc and if you want to customize this list then right click on the empty place > Properties > Start Menu > Customize.

You will see a number of options there such as Large Icons, Small Icons and number of programs in the list. In the advance tab you will see the three options such as 1. display as a link, 2. display as a menu and 3. Don’t list this item and you can choose these options for the control panel, my documents, my music and my computer etc. (more…)

I tend to be wary of programs that purport to make computers go faster, fix problems and so on. The vast majority of them are worthless snake oil. I’m also a bit suspicious of Russian software – they’ve still got a reputation for dodgy programs and scams and anything that comes from a company called Loonies is bound to set the alarm bells ringing so Actual Booster doesn’t get off to a very promising start.

Nevertheless, after giving it a fairly thorough road test I can tell you that Actual Booster really does liven things up a bit. It’s also free, and as far as I can see there’s no iffy content and it doesn’t try to phone home. (more…)

Sometimes making your PC ‘run’ faster is just about changing the way programs run e.g disabling splash screens. This tip will make your machine feel faster, by increasing the speed with which menus load, by removing the delay between clicking on a menu and that menu being displayed, which is enforced by XP.

To enable this tweak do the following:

1. Go to the Start Menu and then click on ‘Run’

2. Type in ‘Regedit’ then click on ‘Ok’ (more…)