Read Office 2007 files in Office 2003

With the Office 2007 compatibility pack, you can read Office 2007 docx compliant files from Office 2003, but not write them.

 

To save the headaches of the .DOCX file format, always save your word documents in .DOC format, as it’s compatible with everything out there.

Formatting a drive

Preparing a drive for use is a two part job. Firstly you partition it and then format it. You can right click on ‘My Computer’, and click ‘Manage’, click on ‘Storage’, and then you can manage the partitions in that menu.

 

As a warning, you cannot delete the main partition windows is installed on while in Windows. Not sure why’d you want to anyway, but you can’t. If you want to repartition the drive and reinstall Windows, you’ll need to restart the computer with your Windows CD in the drive, and boot off of it.

 

As for the other hard drives that may show up, once you delete and repartition, any data on the drive is gone, so be careful. 

Windows Wireless Zero Configuration

The Wireless Zero Configuration service allows your network card to automatically select and connect to preferred networks as they become available. a service that is automatically scanning for different wireless networks.

By disabling this service, I noticed a huge improvement in the short “drops” of wireless connectivity. I can now have an active FTP, BitTorrent, or chat session running wirelessly and not worry about it being dropped.

To access this service and other Windows services, you can browse to the Control Panel, then Administrative Tools and finally double-click on Services.

Alternatively, you can launch Windows Run, type services.msc and hit OK. Alternatively, you can launch Windows Run, type services.msc and hit OK.  From the services window you will want to scroll all the way down to Wireless Zero Configuration and right-click the name, then click Properties.

From the Service Status area choose Stop to stop the service.

From the Startup Type drop-down menu, choose Disabled so that the service doesn’t startup the next time you start Windows XP.

Your wireless internet card should have come with it’s own wireless connection management software, which you can use alternatively.

props to: paininthetech.com

Cannot access Windows Update

Your security software, spyware, viruses, or  the browser is blocking Windows Update functionality and preventing you from seeing or downloading the updates. You can’t install any updates until you fix that. There is a Microsoft Tech Note that may be able to help you with this issue.

 

The easiest fix is to change ActiveX controls behaviors…

1. Under the ‘tools’ menu in Internet Explorer, choose ‘internet options’

2. Under the ’security’ tab, click the ‘reset zones to default levels’

3. Click the ‘internet’ zone, and click the ‘custom’ button

4. Choose the following settings…

Streaming audio and video problems

The reason they can’t hear you is the fact uStream or Stickam can only take one stream. People who try to record skype calls get the same problem.

 

You’ll want a mixer and you’ll want to mix those audio streams together and put it out as one stream into uStream. There is software known as “Virtual Cables” which can mix several tracks together… there is an equivelant on Ubuntu.

 

source: techguylabs.com

Online Banking

WiFi (wireless internet) can be dangerous, but so long as your doing your banking with a reputable bank, and they use an SSL Page that’s secured (you’ll see a little lock icon in the bottom right of your browser if the webpage is secured, it’s completely safe as it’s encrypted. The stuff that is not encrypted can however be seen by anyone in the area. One area of trouble are email passwords. Most email passwords are sent in the clear.

 

A solution to this is using a program such as AI Roboform, in which you enter your login and password, and Roboform stores the information in an encrypted file, which it auto-fill the information from that point once you enter a master password.

Keystrokes are delayed

This could be driver issue, but it’s not if the issue hasn’t happened before. If a lot of programs or processes are running, the computer can become very busy. When the computer doesn’t query the keyboard and mouse enough times per second, you can experience delay in response.

 

To find out what’s being the memory or hog, right click on the task bar (the place where windows go when they are minimized), right-click on an open area and choose “task manager”, then go to the “services” tab, and find out what’s using up the most memory.

source: techguylabs.com

Online Backup – Carbonite and Mozy

Mozy does online backup just like Carbonite, but they also have a client for Macs. Both Carbonite and Mozy do encrypt your data, however a lot of online backup companies do not. Neither of these services are free, and do have an annual fee, which is very reasonable.

 

The most important about these online backup services is that they allow you to store your data off-site. So if, God forbid, a fire destroys your computer or data, you know a copy of your files are safe and secure on Carbonite or Mozy’s servers. Or, if your hard drive fails, or your CDs or DVDs don’t work, it’s a definite peace of mind to know your data is safe.

Download flash videos from websites

Two places to check out are Keepvid and Vixy.net. Keepvid will only save the files as *.flv while Vixy.net will allow you convert the files first and then save, but at a cost of taking more time. Both will not work on certain new flash embedding schemes but will work on YouTube, for the most part.

 

You can also use a program such as YouTube Downloader will download the .flv files from YouTube and can convert them as well to file formats such as Windows Media (.wmv) and Quicktime (.mov). Recently RealPlayer (the free version) also allows you to download the video files embedded in the .flv files, which saves you from having to convert them seperately. RealPlayer also appears to be less of a nag then in previous years.

 

Partial Source: http://revision3.com/tekzilla/

Synch folders between machines

Windows XP still includes Briefcase it’s long in the tooth and bit old fashioned. If you want something more recent check out Microsoft’s SyncToy and online beta Folder Share. And if you’re looking for something non-Microsoft based chcek out Allway Sync

Source: http://revision3.com/tekzilla/