Configure number of rows and columns Alt-Tab Task Switcher
Posted on September 27, 2008 - Filed Under Computer Tips | Leave a Comment
Did you know that when you press ALT + TAB to switch between programs in Windows, you can actually configure the number of rows and columns used to display the list of icons? I recently found this out (kind of late), so I thought I would share it if case you want to customize the default settings.
Generate a list of Windows startup programs using the command line
Posted on September 26, 2008 - Filed Under Computer Tips | 1 Comment
You probably already knew this, but if you want to see a list of all of the startup programs that run when Windows starts, you can simply go to the MSCONFIG tool and click on the Startup tab! Here you can enable or disable startup programs easily. (Read here on how to use MSCONFIG)
How to format external hard drive to FAT32 in Windows
Posted on September 20, 2008 - Filed Under Computer Tips | 26 Comments
Trying to format a large external USB or Firewire hard drive to the FAT32 file system? Can’t do it? Only see an option for formatting the drive using the NTFS file format? Well if you answered yes any of those questions, then you’re at the right place.
I was recently trying to format my 1 TB MyBook external hard drive in Windows XP to FAT32 instead of the overly forced-upon NTFS format. Why? Well because I needed to connect it to a NAS device and the NTFS permissions were causing the NAS not to be able to access the drive. Simple solution is to use FAT32, no security, no problems. Though it’s sometimes useful to format a USB drive in NTFS format.
Speed up slow Windows startup and boot with Startup Delayer
Posted on September 19, 2008 - Filed Under Computer Tips | 3 Comments
Is your Windows startup or boot time very long? If you have a lot of applications that startup when Windows loads, you may have noticed that your Windows startup is very slow. Earlier I wrote about speeding up your PC by going into the MSCONFIG tool and turning off useless startup programs.
However, even with lots of startup applications disabled, you may still have a good number that you want to run when Windows starts. Each application with eat up CPU cycles and may also have to read and write from the hard drive (hence the constantly blinking hard drive light when loading up). In this case, you can actually delay the startup of programs till after Windows starts.
Fix errors relating to swdsvc.exe and pctstray.exe
Posted on September 13, 2008 - Filed Under Computer Tips | Leave a Comment
Is a process called swdsvc.exe eating up all your memory or hogging up your CPU? Or what about annoying pop-ups with pctsTray.exe and some random error? These are errors usually related to Spyware Doctor from PCTools, which is a pretty good anti-spyware program.
If you are getting popup error messages in Windows related to pctstray.exe, you should first try to uninstall Spyware Doctor and make sure your computer is running normally. Sometimes there are viruses that use that process name, but have no relation to Spyware Doctor!
How to fix iTunes usbaapl64.sys blue screen of death in Vista
Posted on September 12, 2008 - Filed Under Computer Tips | 1 Comment
Did you just upgrade your iTunes to version 8 and have your Vista computer crap out with the blue screen of death and a usbaapl64.sys error? If so, then you are one of many that are having this very annoying problem.
I got this message after I restarted my computer and had several devices connected via USB. Apparently, certain devices connected to your computer will cause the blue screen of death! The main perpetrators for this error are HP drivers (which I hate to death) and Logitech drivers.
