In the first two articles in this series, we explored how to restart you computer in Windows 7 Safe Mode when the F8 method won’t work and some of the options available to you on the Boot tab of the System Configuration window.

There are, however, some other boot options that although not technically part of Safe Mode, complement the Safe Mode options to enhance troubleshooting and diagnosing your computer. These options are found right next to the Safe Mode options.

To view these options, click on Start and then on Run. If you don’t have the Run command on your Start menu, hold down the Windows key on your keyboard and press the R key. Either method will bring up the Run dialog box. Type msconfig in the box and click the OK button.

This will bring up the System Configuration window. Click on the Boot tab and locate the section of the window titled Boot Options. Notice the four types of Safe Mode options discussed in the previous article.

Notice, also, that there are four additional options just to right of the Safe Mode options. These options are the ones we will discuss here.

Although not Safe Mode options, these additional options can be used separately or in conjunction with Safe Mode. Below is a description of each option and a brief discussion of how they can be used to help diagnose your computer.

When you choose the No GUI Boot Option, you force Windows 7 to avoid displaying the Windows Welcome screen when Windows starts up. The Welcome Screen is the part of the boot up process that shows the animated Windows symbol and the progress bar.

Although normally used to shave a few seconds off the boot time, the No GUI Boot Option can help you get passed hangs at the Welcome Screen. This is especially true if you suspect graphics problems.

The Boot Log Option is your best friend when it comes to troubleshooting boot up errors. Upon booting up, Windows will create a boot log of the start up process that can help you diagnose where you computer has gone wrong. Windows 7 stores this boot log in the %systemroot%/Ntbtlog.txt file which is:

c:\windows\Ntbtlog.txt

for most Windows 7 computers.

When you start up Windows 7 using any of the Safe Mode options, the video drivers are one of the components of your system not loaded. Instead, the operating system loads the GUI in minimal VGA mode.

If you were familiar with Windows 95, you know that VGA mode has a resolution of only 640×480 dpi. This mode can make the GUI seem huge on your monitor. Unlike Safe Mode, however, the Base Video Boot option loads all other drivers and software normally allowing you to troubleshoot your computer’s graphics problems without sacrificing your system’s other features while you diagnose the issue.

When beginning the troubleshooting process, computer technicians commonly use the OS Boot Information option. Upon start up, Windows displays a text listing of every driver as it is being loaded during boot up.

This option is useful if you suspect that certain drivers are not loading correctly. Unfortunately, this options tells you whether the drivers are loading successfully but does not help you find out why a driver is not loading properly. Still, it can help you narrow down the cause of your computer’s errors instead of forcing you to look for a needle in a haystack.

Although not technically part of the Safe Mode options, you can use the boot options discussed above to complement Safe Mode when troubleshooting Windows 7 errors. Each one offers something different that can help you track down and eventually fix whatever ails your computer.

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Technorati Tags: advanced, options, windows

Converting, renaming, and resizing pictures one by one is a tedious task. If you’re a graphic or web designer, or just the usual computer user, you should try the Microsoft Office Picture Manager to do these tasks. This software is the successor of Microsoft Photo Editor (bundled in Office XP edition), Microsoft Office Picture Library 2003, and Microsoft Office Picture Library.

This application is easy to use. It can convert your stock photos to JPEG, PNG, TIF, GIF, and BMP file formats in no time. The JPEG option lets you customize all the pictures’ compression settings. This way, you can limit the file size to your own preference.

With this software, you can also rename images all at once with automatic numbering sequences — you can specify the number of digits, start of the number, and display option (either at the beginning or end of the file name).

If you want more control over the photos’ sizes, you can utilize the program’s resize settings. You can modify all the images’ width and height by pixel and percentage. This tool has six predefined width x height settings. If you’re pictures are to be posted online, you can select the web properties. If it’s for documents, you can choose the document settings.

If you don’t know where to find Microsoft Office Picture Manager, you can just type its keywords on Vista and Windows 7’s search boxes.

You can also find this program by browsing All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Tool.

When Microsoft Office Picture Manager is open, click the File menu.

Next, press Add Picture Shortcut.

Browse through your computer and select the folder where you’ll save your converted, renamed, and / or resized photos. Hit the Add button to proceed to the next step.

In the application’s main interface, you’ll see an empty box. Drag and drop the images you want to convert, rename, and / or resize to this box.

Select all the dropped pictures.

Click the Export pictures link on the side panel.

The Export side panel has four commands you can utilize.

In Export with this file name section, you can rename all the photos at once with several customizable settings. Click Rename to continue.

Under Rename, enter your preferred file name. This will be applied to all pictures. Tick Replace existing file name.

To differentiate each file, you’ll have to enable the adding of the sequential numbers. f you want to preview the filenames, you can see it under Preview.

Press Return to Export.

To convert your photos to other file types, you can do it here.

To get more resize properties, press the Resize link.

You can pick one predefined size under Resize settings.

You can also modify the default size according to your own choice of width and height. For this illustration, we will resize all the photos 70% from their original dimensions.

When all settings are final, click the OK button. The converting, renaming, and resizing of all the pictures will just take seconds to complete.

These are the original photos with their file names and sizes.

These are the result images. The filenames are easier to read and manage, and the sizes are smaller.

View the original article here

Technorati Tags: Convert, images, manager, office, picture, Rename, Resize

Unlike web browsers from years ago, a number of applications and plug-ins work with the Firefox web browser to make your online experience richer and more enjoyable. However, not all of these applications and plug-ins work the way people want them to. Learn how to change the way applications and plug-ins you have installed on your computer work with Firefox.

The best way to answer this question is with an example. When you browse the web, you will undoubtedly come across and want to view PDF files made with Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Reader is a free application that comes with a plug-in for Firefox that lets you view such documents.

However, Firefox can do up to four actions when you click on a PDF document. The default action is to open the Adobe Reader application and display the document. Another option is to use the Adobe Reader plug-in to open up and view the document right from within the browser. A third option is to force Firefox to ask you what to do and the fourth option is to automatically save the document to your desired location.

As you can see, there are many options available for how Firefox interacts and uses third-party applications. Below is a set of instructions to show you how to change the way Firefox uses such applications and plug-ins.

To begin, open up the Firefox web browser and click on Tools>Options. This displays the Options window in Firefox.

Depending on the last tab you viewed in this window, you may or may not be looking at the correct tab. Whatever tab is currently active, click on the tab labeled Applications.

Here you will see a listing of Content Type on the left and a corresponding list of Actions on the right. This is where you tell Firefox how to use files and view the different applications and plug-ins with which they are associated. Scroll down until you see a Content Type titled Adobe Acrobat Document. Click on it and then click on the Down Arrow next to its Action type.

Here you’ll notice five options:

Always Ask – If you choose this option, Firefox will ask you which action to take when you try to open a PDF file from the web. Use this option if you sometimes want to save the file to your computer and you sometimes want to view the document immediately.

Save File – Use this option if you want to save PDF documents to your computer without viewing them first.

Use Adobe Reader (default) – Use this option if you prefer that the Adobe Reader application opens when you view a PDF document.

Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox) – Use this option if you want Firefox to use the Adobe plug-in to display PDF documents in the browser itself.

You likely have many types of files listed on the Applications tab including sound files, images, videos, and others. Note that depending on the type of content, the options under the Action column change to display only those options allowable by Firefox for that file type.

For example, if you look at the Actions available for a Windows Media Audio File, you have the options to Always Ask, Save File, Use Windows Media Player (default), or Use Microsoft Windows Media Player Firefox Plug-in (in Firefox).

Play around with the different Content Types and Actions and you can change how applications and plug-ins work in Firefox to match your particular tastes and web browsing needs.

View the original article here

Technorati Tags: applications, Change, firefox, plugins

For most of us, organizing an email inbox is about as entertaining as watching paint dry. But, in Mary Poppins-like fashion, a new service called 0Boxer is finding the fun in this everyday, ordinary task by turning it into a game.

The game itself is simple: you earn tasks by clearing your Gmail inbox. Every time you delete an email, you earn a point. Mark an email as spam and 0Boxer tallies another point. Archive a message and—you guessed it—yet another point added to your overall total. Besides clearing messages from view, you also earn points for composing and replying to messages.

Points have a purpose—the game keeps a running leader board showing the overall highest points earners for the day and week. Everyone registered for the service competes for a place on the leader board.

The overall leader boards might look intimidating—one person has deleted over 71,500 posts in the last week. If you do not receive enough emails to earn enough points to make this leader board, you can still compete for the title of most organized inbox amongst your friends.

After signing up for the service, it searches your Gmail inbox to find friends already registered with 0Boxer. Plus, you can send your friends an invitation to join at any time.

As a constant incentive, 0Boxer adds a toolbar to your Gmail web-based inbox. Instantly, each deleted, spammed or archived email shows in your points tally.

As an added inventive, certain activities result in special badges of honor. Everyone receives a badge for the first email they clear from their inbox, but other badges are awarded for reaching a 0 message inbox for the first time, or topping the leader board.

To use the service, you must sign up on the 0boxer.com Web site, and then download a browser extension. Extensions are available for Chrome, Safari and Firefox, but not Internet Explorer. 0Boxer also works with Mac-based MailPlane.

For sure, the idea of making organizing email more fun is a fantastic idea. The overall concept of 0Boxer can create fun contests among friends. Since the service is still in Beta, we can only hope more fun things are in store for 0Boxer users.

View the original article here

Technorati Tags: Gmail, organizing

Most computer power users have to remember passwords for several different accounts. From time to time, you may even forget something as simple as your OS X login password. No worries. You can recover or reset your password for a Mac computer with a couple of easy steps.

Mac OS X 10.2 and Up

Newer versions of Mac OS X have a convenient password reset feature for user accounts. Before you get started using this method, make sure that you are logged in with the administrator account.

Navigate to the system preferences window by using the path Finder > Applications > System Preferences or by clicking the Apple logo and selecting System Preferences from the dropdown menu. Click the Accounts icon from within System Preferences.

From the Accounts window, click the lock in the lower left side of the window to unlock it, if it’s not already unlocked. Select the username that’s password you want to change. Click the Reset Password button, or the Change Password button, depending on what version of OS X you are using.

Type in a new password for the user account, and type once more to verify. Click the Reset Password button and then OK to allow changes if a keychain verification prompt comes up.

OS X 10.1.5 and Earlier

Make sure that you are logged in with the administrator account. Navigate to the system preferences by clicking the Apple logo, and selecting System Preferences from the drop down menu. Click Users from the View Menu.

Assure that the lock in bottom left corner of the window is unlocked. Select the username for the account that you would like to change a password on. Click the edit user button. Enter a new password and reenter to verify. Click the Save button.

If you forgot the password to your Mac’s main administrator account, you can still recover it. However, it’s a different process than resetting basic user accounts (featured above). To start, you need to located the Mac OS X install Discs that came with your Mac.

After you have your install discs ready to go, insert install disc 1 into your computer and restart the computer. As soon as you hear the Mac boot sound of OS X starting back up, immediately hold down the c key on your keyboard.

You can release the c key as soon as you see the Apple logo with the spinning loading wheel. This should boot from disc. If it does not, try it again, using the option key instead.

Upon booting from disc, click Continue on the first screen. When you get to the next screen, hover your mouse over the top of the screen to access the top toolbar. Click the Apple logo, or the Installer menu (depending on what version of OS X you are using). Click the option labeled Reset Password.

Next, it will ask you to select a hard drive. Select your Mac’s hard drive. Select your Administrator account username from the dropdown accounts menu. Enter a new password for the Administrator account, and reenter once to verify. Save the changes and restart your computer. Next time you login, you should have a new administrator password.

View the original article here

Technorati Tags: Administrator, Forgotten, Passwords, Reset