PCTips Box

1. Download Windows Vista Recovery Disc
2. Windows cannot find svchost.exe
3. Windows Vista SP1 Security Vulnerabilities
4. Download Vista User Interface Language Packs
5. Vista SP1 Performance Analysis Tools
6. Show or hide all of your windows
7. How to turn off User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista
8. Remove Old Files After Vista SP1 Installation
9. Use windows clipboard more effectively with Clipx
10. XP SP3 and Vista SP1 Will Own Linux-Free Desktops until Windows 7
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Microsoft is hard at work searching for ways to improve its Office System. This is why the company has introduced a quasi-independent effort dubbed Office Labs. Designed to be a sandbox set up to streamline the experimenting, building and testing of new ideas, Microsoft Office Labs will offer the first taste of new products and features while still in the most early stages of development, even as prototypes. An illustrative example in this regard is Search Commands for the Office 2007 System.

“Search Commands helps you find commands, options, wizards, and galleries in Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Just type what you’re looking for in your own words and click the command you need. Search Commands also includes Guided Help, which acts as a tour guide for specific tasks,” reveals the product’s description. (more…)

I don’t know about you but I think the default font of the command prompt is ugly and hard to read. This guide shows you how to change the default font from a Raster font to a Consolas font specially designed for developers.

If your computer doesn’t have the Consolas font this guide shows you where to get it and how to configure the command prompt to recognize it.

Change the Command Prompt’s Font

1. Click the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, and then open the Command Prompt.

2. Right-click the top bar of the command prompt and then select Defaults. (more…)

Windows XP Service Pack 3 RTM is finally available for download. Microsoft released the service pack to manufacturing, at the beginning of this week, on April 21, 2008 and is now making headway towards the general availability of XP SP3. Officially, the final version of XP SP3 is scheduled for delivery starting with the end of this month. However, Windows XP SP3 RTM Build 5512 has been leaked and is already up for grabs, ahead of the release timetable outlined by the Redmond company.

At the start of this week, Chris Keroack, Release Program Manager Windows Sustainability Microsoft, announced the RTM of XP SP3, and pointed to April 29 as the date when end users would be able to access the service pack via both Windows Update and the Download Center. The Redmond company planned to serve the gold bits of Windows XP SP3 starting on May 2 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, following general availability on April 29. (more…)

This tutorial describes how to install Ubuntu by copying the contents of the installation CD to an USB memory stick (aka flash drive) and making the stick bootable. This is handy for machines like ultra portable notebooks that do not have a CD drive but can boot from USB media.

In short here’s what you do:

Prepare the USB flash drive

Boot the computer from your USB flash drive.

Install Ubuntu as you would from a normal boot CD (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…)

Learn how to get the most out of Windows Vista Ultimate with this how-to booklet, available as a free PDF download.

Introduction:
When you want to have it all, including the ability to shift smoothly between play and productivity, there is the Windows Vista® Ultimate operating system. This edition of Windows Vista offers an advanced, business-focused infrastructure, mobile productivity, and a premium home digital entertainment experience, all in a single offering.

The following are some simple tips to help you get the most from your computer and Windows Vista Ultimate software. Some of these hints only apply to Windows Vista Ultimate and may not be available in other versions of Windows Vista. (more…)

We have been receiving many mails from our readers these days with a problem that when ever they start up windows they see the error messages like as follows:

* Windows cannot find ‘C:\windows\svchost.exe.’
* Could not load or run ‘C:\windows\svchost.exe.’ specified in the registry
* Windows cannot find ‘C:\Windows\System32\amvo.exe’
* “Windows cannot find ‘copy.exe’

These type of messages appear at windows startup, when windows tries to load the virus files like amvo.exe, copy.exe etc. These error messages appear, because these files were removed by your anti-virus programs but still the registry entries for them exist.

Different types of viruses create some files which got executed at the windows startup so that they can come in action as windows load itself. In order to run the primary virus files required, they create run entries in windows registry. (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…)

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…)