Category: Microsoft Windows
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Outlook 2007: "Cannot open the Outlook window"
I recently had a user drop by and ask me about an odd error he was seeing when starting Microsoft Outlook. The error looked like this: Looking about on the internet, I couldn’t find a lot of help, and enlisted the assistance of a friend of mine. After some trial and error, we…
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The "Show Desktop" icon has disappeared from Quick Launch
I had a user call in, complaining that her “Show Desktop” icon had disappeared from the Quick Launch bar. She was unable to find it again, and was really distressed as she used it a lot. As it turns out, Show Desktop is not a regular program, but rather an OS command, known as…
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Disable UAC
UAC, or User Acount Control, is a great step forward for computer security. However, alot of people complain about it being a hassle, slowing them down and so forth. What UAC does, is basically treat all users, without regard for their access level, as standard users. When you attempt to perform an administrative action, you…
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Windows XP SP3 blocks uninstall of software
As previously reported, Windows XP with Service Pack 3 has a nasty tendency to cause people to be unable to uninstall software such as Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8. What I didn’t know, was that it doesn’t confine itself to blocking uninstall of these programs, but that it also blocks the uninstall…
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Unable to uninstall Internet Explorer 8
The next version of Microsofts Internet Explorer is currently in public beta. Many of the beta testers are reporting that they are unable to uninstall the beta. The reason? They are running Windows XP SP3. Now, you can still uninstall IE8, it just takes a little more time, and effort. The first step to…
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Oh no, they didn’t – or the many versions of Windows 7
I have long been of the opinion that where Microsoft have gone very, very badly wrong indeed when it comes to Windows is that they release multiple versions. The argument could be made that this is how it has been since NT4.0/98, but that argument doesn’t hold, because they ditched the Windows 98 line of…
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Disabling IPv6 or running IPv6/IPv4
If you’re running Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 with DHCP, you’ll be likely to encounter problems if you don’t set up IPv6 properly. The fix is of course to set up IPv6 properly on the server, but there are a few workarounds if you can’t do that. You can’t uninstall IPv6, but you can,…
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Quickly and simply troubleshoot networks from the command line
I love using command line tools, especially for troubleshooting networking. There are two simple commands you need to know; ipconfig and ping. Here’s a simple guide to finding where the problem : Open the command line by opening the “run” dialog box, entering cmd and clicking OK Ensure that the TCP/IP service is running…
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Find the DiskCleanup utility easily
I’m sure you know the problem: you’ve used someone elses computer, and want to remove your traces. One of the easiest ways of doing that is to use the DiskCleanup utility, however locating it isn’t exactly the easiest thing. Luckily, it’s pretty simple to initiate the utility from the Run dialog; simply enter the…
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Update your computer now!
I rarely write posts off the cuff, but this warrants it. Microsoft has released Security Bulletin MS08-059, along with a hotfix for the problem detailed. There are already exploits in the wild to take advantage of the hotfix. What I ask is simply this: Update your computer. Run Windows Update, and update your computer.…