Tiplet expert tips & tech support

April 5, 2009

How to Revert Back to Internet Explorer 7

Filed under: Internet — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: How do I revert back to IE 7? — Peter M.

Quite a few people are asking the same question. Internet Explorer 8 was released on March 19, 2009. But many of those who downloaded it have already switched back to earlier versions of IE, or other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, due to problems they’ve had with IE8 – not the least of which is the fact that IE8 takes up a whopping 4 gigabytes of disk space.

Fortunately, it is easy to switch back to IE 7 if that was the last browser you used before “upgrading” to IE 8. When you install a new version of Internet Explorer, the old version is preserved in case you want to go back. All of your settings, bookmarks, etc., will be preserved during the return to an older version.
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Building Your Own Home Server

Filed under: computer hardware,computer networks — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Stewart Vardaman

Why build your own? A server typically needs much more disk space and not as powerful a CPU as a desktop PC. You can choose exactly the components you need. Me, I use my server to: back up my two laptops; store my movies, TV shows, and music collection too big to fit on a laptop’s drive; act as a wired/WiFi internet router; share files/Internet with three other people in my apartment building … and much more.
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April 4, 2009

How Do You Make a Password Protected Zip File?

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

by Tina Gasperson

Q: How do you make a password protected zip file? — BPG

It used to be much more difficult to create, extract, and password protect zip files, but since Microsoft integrated file compression and archival abilities into Windows, it’s really just a click or two to get password protected zip files.
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Dealing with the Error: rundll32.exe is not a valid win32 application

Filed under: privacy & security,Windows — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by David Hakala

Q: How do I fix the error: rundll32.exe is not a valid win32 application? — Ashok

This error message is a sure sign that your computer is infected with malware of some kind. Something has replaced the valid rundll32.exe file with an identically named file that does who knows what. Whatever did it is probably hiding somewhere else on your machine, waiting to do it again if you simply replace rundll32.exe with a clean copy from your Windows installation CD.
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A Quick Look at Apple’s Quick Look Technology

Filed under: Macintosh — Tags: , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Nathaniel Poor

One useful technology in Apple’s OSX 10.5 that you may have overlooked is Quick Look, a file previewing feature that allows you to view a variety of file types without actually opening them in their usual applications. MP3s and videos can play, and PDFs and Word files can scroll. If you’ve used the cover flow view in iTunes or on your iPhone/iPod, you’ve used Quick Look – the album art is rendered through it.
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April 3, 2009

When Windows XP Shuts Down Very Slowly

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

by David Hakala

Q: My five-year-old computer running MS Windows XP turns off very slowly. It takes minutes to shut down completely. Any economical suggestions or recommendations? — Alan

Alan, you don’t have to spend a dime, just a little time.

When Windows shuts down, it must save many system settings to use when it starts up again. It saves these settings in a group of files collectively known as “the registry.” Over time, the registry becomes cluttered with invalid settings as you add, remove, and relocate files, shortcuts, programs, etc. Cleaning up such clutter will help Windows shut down and start up much faster.
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What You Should Know About the Conficker Virus

Filed under: privacy & security — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 1:00 pm

by Tina Gasperson

You’ve probably already heard about Conficker, the April Fool’s Day virus that was purported to take control of infected computers on that day in 2009. Experts say that the virus didn’t act in as widespread a manner as first thought, but the virus is still out there and may even be circulating in a mutated variety, so don’t let your guard down yet.
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Changing What Program Opens a File by Default in OS X

Filed under: applications,Macintosh — Tags: , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Dee-Ann LeBlanc

Every operating system comes with a preset list of what programs should open what files. That doesn’t mean, however, that these are the programs we want to use.

Say that you want to use the Bean text editor rather than TextEdit. Every time you wanted to open a text file, you could navigate to the file in the Finder, select it, right click, choose Open With, and then either select Bean from the list, or choose Other to find Bean and choose it.
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April 2, 2009

How Can I Avoid Putting Electronic Garbage in Landfills?

Filed under: computer hardware,privacy & security — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:00 pm

by Gabe Goldberg

Aside from not wanting to clutter landfills with electronic garbage — that’s where solid waste ends up, you know, it doesn’t vanish when loaded in the collection truck — it’s increasingly discouraged or illegal to dispose of our once-precious twinkly gadgets in the normal household waste stream. This is for multiple reasons: Landfills are a limited resource and are often overloaded; electronics will linger forever, never biodegrading; and (worst of all) bad stuff such as chemicals and metals in the mess will leach out and pollute the area.
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How to Create a Bootable Windows Rescue CD

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

by David Hakala

One fine day, it will happen to you: you will turn on your PC and nothing will happen. “Unable to load operating system” or something similar will appear on an otherwise dark, blank screen. The feeling engendered by this experience is somewhat akin to waking up in a hospital and finding one of your limbs gone. But fear not, it can probably be grown back!
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How to Tailor Your Search Queries for Better Results

Filed under: Internet — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

by Tina Gasperson

The key to finding the information you need on the Internet is knowing how to use search engines effectively. There are ways to format your search in order to bring the most relevant results quickly.
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