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Microsoft

Create a docked Quick Launch bar in Windows Vista – Video Tip

One of my favorite tips to teach people is the use of the Quick Launch bar (click here for the tip for all other versions of Windows) for always having your most commonly needed files or programs at your ready. Microsoft made the process harder to accomplish in the new Vista, but it can still be done. Here's how:

  1. RIGHT Click on a blank part of your desktop.
  2. Click New —> Folder
  3. Push Enter on your keyboard.
  4. Carefully drag the new folder to either the top or sides of your screen. Once at the edge, let go of the mouse and your new toolbar will appear.
  5. RIGHT click on the new toolbar
  6. Uncheck the "Show title" option
  7. RIGHT click on the new toolbar
  8. Click Toolbars from the menu
  9. Click Quick Launch
  10. Now you can delete the new folder from your desktop.

Watch the video below to

Rthdcpl.exe – Illegal System DLL Relocation

Once in a while a Windows update comes along that causes a problem that ranges somewhere between a minor irritant and a catastrophic meltdown. I had a couple clients call today who were experiencing an error message on boot up.

The error contains the following line "Rthdcpl.exe – Illegal System DLL Relocation" The error is caused by a recent Windows update. There is a simple manual fix or you can download a small fix to fix this relocate problem.

Read all about it at Microsoft's support site Here. Or download the little Microsoft fix HERE .

I finally did it

I purchased Windows Vista Ultimate (OEM version) and Microsoft Office 2007 in January. Yesterday, I finally installed them both on my HP computer I bought in December for the purpose of eventually installing Vista and the new Office. The installation was the easiest of any Windows I have ever installed and only took about thirty-five minutes, but the first boot took around 12 minutes. I backed up my data and used the Vista disk to format and install the new Windows.

This weekend on our show, we were accused of joining the "band wagon" of Microsoft bashers. Long time listeners of our show and visitors to our web site know the real story…just try to find a Linux or Mac tip on our site. They will be coming eventually, but up until now we have been solid Microsoft computer guys.

Format Painter – Video Tip

I demonstrated today's tip in Microsoft Word, but it also works in all the Microsoft Office programs (Excel, Access, Publisher, Outlook, etc), WordPerfect, OpenOffice and others.

The tip is simple in its performance and gargantuan in its function. Format Painter copies formatting from one location and applies it to another. In the video example below, I formatted one line of text to have a particular look and it took 31 clicks of the mouse. Using Format Painter, I copied the look of that text to some plain text in just three steps. This technique comes in handy when formatting longer documents, spreadsheets, newsletters, etc and can save you a boat-load of time. Here's how to do it:

  1. Highlight the text that has already been formatted to your liking using your mouse.
  2. Click the Format Painter button. format painter button
  3. Highlight the text you want to apply the formatting too.

That's it!

Tip Within a Tip:

If you DOUBLE-CLICK the Format Painter button, you can apply the formatting changes to different parts of your document over and over until you unclick the Format Painter button.

Future Windows Prediction

By now it is no secret that I have a unique super power. I can see the future of technology. Too many cell phone radio waves to my brain have caused me to have premonitions about the future of technology.

Two days ago, I was carried away in vision and I saw the future of Microsoft.

Microsoft knows they shot themselves in the foot with Vista. They knew before it was released that they would have to create a demand for it since it was replacing a superior product.

Now even the government is looking into getting away from Microsoft products. Linux seems to be the most popular option. This is where the prediction comes in.

Wow! Is Microsoft worried or what?

Is it me, or is Microsoft pummeling the TV, Radio, and of course the online advertising arenas? Almost anywhere I look, Windows Vista ads poke me in the eyes. Could it be because of the nearly 150+ customer visits I have made since Vista came out, only two of them were using Vista? Could it be because users are perfectly content with Windows XP and don't see (rightly) the need to upgrade to Vista? Could it be that the once bullet proof Microsoft name has tarnished with this release and the web has changed the rules about desktop computing? Could it be because Microsoft's sales figures are sorely lacking compared to the release of XP and 98? Could it be that so many business and government entities have 'outlawed' Vista in their space? Could it be the incompatible software and hardware numbers that are racking up?

Yahoo delivers profound haymaker to Gmail and Microsoft

Yahoo announced today that they will be removing all size limits to email storage on free Yahoo email accounts. The service will begin rolling out unlimited storage in May. Yahoo is also debating a lift on storage limits for Fliker.com photo sharing accounts.

Yahoo hopes that lifting the storage limits will lead lock customers in for good.

Even if Google does match the offer, the real loser in this battle is Microsoft and Windows. If you can access your email, calendar, documents, and photos from any computer anywhere no matter what operating system you are using, Microsoft will have a difficult time finding a market for future versions of Windows.

The solution to Palm’s unclear future

Of course no one at Palm is going to hear me but I have the cure for the problems at Palm. This week Palm Inc. announced record sales for the Treo Smartphone but they also announced terrible earnings.

At least once quarter there is a rumor that someone is going to acquire Palm in one way or another. The problem is that Palm has the best product of its kind on the market.

The Palm Treo is a near perfect device. Whether you use the Palm OS version or the Windows version, the Treo does exactly what it is supposed to do and it does it well. If you are a Treo user, it would take an awful lot to persuade you to upgrade. When it all comes down to it, the Treo offers 10 times the features of the RAZR by Motorola and it is 10 times as easy to figure out, the real problem is that it is almost 5 times the price at full retail.

Phone tech support or NON-tech support?

Once again the ineptness of many of the phone tech support services reared its ugly head again. This time it was Sony's phone support. I worked with a client to set up his new Sony Vaio laptop (great screen by the way) and found that he was not shipped the Microsoft Office 2007 CD or certificate of authenticity that he paid extra for at purchase. Without the certificate, we could not activate the Office product. We called tech support and after 35+ minutes at three different people at two numbers, we were told that a call would be made back to my client within "three hours". 

A Faster computer does not equal faster Internet

Just as Rick mentioned that people often expect the computer to run faster once they have faster Internet, the opposite is also expected.

Often people on dial-up or slower DSL ask me once they have a new computer whether their email will go faster or their websites will load quickly. Typically the difference between a new computer and a Windows 98 machine with sufficient RAM will be barely noticeable.

It may take longer for programs like Outlook Express or Internet Explorer longer to start up on an older machine, once the program has loaded the actual reaction time for the Internet is pretty much unchanged.