Tiplet expert tips & tech support

April 23, 2009

Running Vista and Windows XP Simultaneously

Filed under: Windows — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: I have an Acer Aspire M1100 desktop less than a year old. I read … that it is possible to run Windows XP along with Vista. I have an XP Disc that I bought for a Dell laptop I used to have last year. It would be nice to have both XP and Vista, and be able to switch back and forth. I don’t want to mess up my desktop completely, but if it is possible and worth it, how hard would it be to do? — Gary P.

There are two ways to “switch back and forth” between Vista and XP, Gary. Neither will do any damage, and both are pretty easy to implement.
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April 16, 2009

Can I and Should I Delete or Remove Vista’s Recovery Partition?

Filed under: data storage and recovery,Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: Is the recovery partition of Vista really needed? Can I remove it? If I can remove it, what is a procedure to remove this partition? – Don

Vista’s recovery partition is needed like a car’s spare tire is needed. The car will run fine without a spare tire and you will free up some trunk space by removing the spare tire. You can keep the spare tire in your garage at home, and go get it when one of your tires goes flat. But better hope the car is in your driveway when a tire goes flat.
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April 15, 2009

Docx Extension

Filed under: file extensions — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 11:00 am

Extension: docx

What is it? Microsoft Word 2007 document

Where’s it from? Docx is the default file format used by Microsoft Word 2007, part of the Microsoft Office 2007 productivity suite. It is based on the XML Web page standard and is compressed using the ZIP standard to save disk space.

How do I use it? Use Microsoft Office 2007; or an earlier version of Office updated with the Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats; or any of several free online Office 2007 docx file conversion services.

Can I safely delete or move it? Yes.

Can it be dangerous? Yes. Docx files can contain macro viruses. Use antivirus software.

–David Hakala

April 9, 2009

I Want a New Computer with Windows XP, not Vista

Filed under: Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

New computers with Windows XP installed instead of Vista are still readily available in retail and online stores. That is supposed to end July 31, 2009, when Microsoft promises to pull PC makers’ license to sell XP and make every manufacturer offer only Vista. But don’t carve XP’s tombstone just yet; its death date may change yet again.
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April 7, 2009

Why Is My Windows Taskbar Cluttered with Small Program Icons?

Filed under: Vista,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Gabe Goldberg

The Windows Taskbar is a combination dashboard and control panel, showing you, and letting you switch among, running programs (center collection of main application buttons), launch programs (Quicklaunch area at left), and … what are those small icons at the Taskbar’s right side?
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April 1, 2009

How to Use Speech-to-Text Software

Filed under: applications,digital media,Vista — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: I think I have trained my Dell Vostro/Vista to recognise my voice, but how do I actually put it into practice? I will shortly be having to type a quite lengthy report and it would be really useful to merely speak to my laptop since my typing speed is bit tortoise-like! – Nigel

Speech-to-text, or speech recognition, is a feature built into the Vista operating system. Like all the many components of a general-purpose operating system, Vista’s speech recognition is not the best of its breed. Third-party speech recognition software such as Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking are more reliable than Vista’s built-in stuff. For a “quite lengthy report” and regular use, I would highly recommend investing in top-quality speech recognition software.
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March 31, 2009

How to Disable Outlook 2007 Synchronizing Folders

Filed under: computer performance,e-mail,Vista — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: I use Windows Outlook 2007 on my Vista Ultimate machine. Can you tell me how to turn off the “synchronizing folders” option in Outlook 2007? Whenever this runs, it really hogs the resources, and I don’t know that this needs to be done as frequently as it is being done. Thanks! – Bill

“Synchronizing folders” simply means that Outlook 2007 is sending and receiving email and RSS messages, updating Internet-based calendars, and other tasks that require communication with other computers on the Internet. Many users complain that Outlook 2007 takes far too long and uses far too many resources for this task. But synchronization is not an “option,” it’s an essential feature. You can’t turn it off permanently or you won’t have any email, RSS feeds, etc. You might as well uninstall Outlook, a solution quite a few people choose in favor of Mozilla Thunderbird or another email client, including an earlier version of Outlook.
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March 19, 2009

Getting a “Restore” CD From a Vendor and Using Vista’s “Preserve My Data” Feature

Filed under: data storage and recovery,Vista — Tags: , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: Reader John asks two questions: (1) I’m purchasing a new HP Pavilion Desktop with Vista OS. The supplier does not give the original Microsoft Program CD. Instead they include a Restore program on the hard drive. Am I entitled to the original CD? (2) Can the operating system be restored with the non-destructive installation method from the inbuilt “Restore Program”?

To answer the first question, unfortunately, no, you are not entitled to a full, retail copy of Microsoft Vista with the purchase of a new computer. That could be installed multiple times on different computers, depriving Microsoft of its hard-earned money.
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March 2, 2009

Preserving Your Vista Desktop

Filed under: applications,computer performance,Vista — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by Ross M. Greenberg

I’ll be the first to admit it: Vista is not perfect. There. I said it. As much as I admire the product, it has some warts that really bug me. Programmers who worked for me would have been fired if they ever let a product ship with these kinds or this quantity of bugs. Things have certainly gotten better of late but still…

For example when installing a new product — perhaps a flaky one — there is a good chance that my desktop will be screwed up. Some of those carefully placed icons magically shift or disappear or randomly transpose. What should be a quick and easy no-brainer turns into a frustrating humbling and painful experience, annoying to recover from.
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February 23, 2009

February 9, 2009

Notes on Vista Compatibility – and Incompatibility

Filed under: Vista — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:00 pm

by Ross M. Greenberg 

I’ve been a Vista user since it was in early beta.  When the question wasn’t whether an application program would run properly under Vista but rather what would cause Vista to crash taking your machine, your hard disk and all the data thereon with it likely trashing your backup along the way. I also had to walk to school 3 miles. Uphill both ways.

A tool I have found incredibly useful is provided by Microsoft itself: their compatibility guide can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/default.aspx. In the drop-down box, choose “software” and then enter a software title whose compatibility you’re not sure about. It seems the list is continually updated. 
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