Ramblings, ideas, problems, and solutions

Category: Microsoft Windows

  • 2010 roundup

    Almost past us, I think it is time to take a look back and take stock of 2010, and see what the year brought. Exciting product launches: The iPad, easily among the top ten most anticipated new products of the year, was announced in January, and hit stores in April. I got mine in September,…

  • BitLocker asks for BitLocker Recovery Key at restart

    Having gone from Windows XP to Windows 7, we are seeing a rash of new problems. One of these is that a lot of our users are unable to boot into Windows, as they are prompted for a BitLocker Recovery Key. The temporary fix for this is simple enough; look up and tell the user…

  • Resolving “Insufficient System Resources Exist to Complete the API” errors

    This error message has had me running around for a while now. Some of my users are part of the salesforce, running SAP Mobile Sales on Windows XP computers with Microsoft SQL Server. It’s a big and complicated setup, but it has been running stably for years now. The problem only occurred with users running…

  • Resolving “File in use” when moving or deleting a file

    A while back, I opened a file to see what it was, then decided to move it, at which point I got a “File in use”-error, preventing me from moving, deleting or renaming the file. Luckily, there is a fairly simple solution to this problem:   I’ve written about Process Explorer before, and I still…

  • The Asus Eee 1101H reviewed

    I recently decided to get a new laptop. My old laptop was looking like it was going to kick the bucket soon, and I wanted to exchange it sooner, rather than later. I was originally planning to get a high-end Dell, but looking closer at the contents of my wallet, I decided to forego the…

  • Three free tools to restore and recover files

    I’ve been there, and I’m sure you have too. You’ve spent hours on a document, you go to bed, and the next morning, it’s gone! Oh crud! Now what? Here are three free Windows utilities that have worked charms for me:   The first thing I’d try is an utility called Free File Recovery by…

  • Windows 7: Problem Step Recorder

    As a support technician, I have often needed to see how a problem occurs, or show someone how to do something, but the person I need info from, or need to teach, is not available so that it can be done face to face, or over the phone.   A lot of my users are…

  • Windows 7: Run as administrator

    Like in Windows Vista, users don’t usually run programs as administrators, even if they have administrative rights on their computer. While there has been a lot of talk about whether or not User Account Control (UAC) is a good idea (which I think it is, although the implementation in Windows Vista was less than intuitive),…

  • Windows 7: Restoring the QuickLaunch bar

    The new taskbar in Windows 7 does its job admirably. Even so, many users complain that they can’t find the QuickLaunch bar. This option is not available by default in Windows 7, but if you want it, it is simple enough to recreate:   Right-click the taskbar, and choose Toobars -> New Toolbar In the…

  • Windows 7: Empty the desktop

    Most users use their desktops as their primary workspace, saving everything they work on to the desktop. While practical, this has a nasty tendency to become rather cluttered.   In Windows 7, you can opt not to display desktop icons on the desktop itself. To do so, simply right-click your desktop, click “View”, and uncheck…

  • Windows 7: Shrink the taskbar

    The Windows 7 taskbar looks good, but some users complain that it takes up too much desktop real estate. Luckily, there is a simple solution for this problem:   Simply right-click the taskbar, and select Properties. In properties, check the box for “Use small icons”, like so: