Some times when you copy files and folders from one computer to another you may run into permission errors (access denied etc) when accessing or editing them, the TAKEOWN command in the command prompt can solve this quickly and easily, as stated in the documentation, TAKEOWN enables an administrator to recover access to a file that was previously denied, by making you the owner of the file. Continue reading “Take The Power Back – Using TAKEOWN Command To Reclaim Ownership of Files & Folders In Windows”
Category: Tech Tips
RichCopy – The Answer To All Your File Copying Needs
RichCopy is a free file copying utility released on Microsoft’s TechNet as an improvement over their RoboCopy utility. Aimed at techs and Windows Power Users, this utility offers powerful options for moving or copying large amounts of data where the default Windows Explorer copy process falls in a heap. No tech should be without this handy tool in their belt. Continue reading “RichCopy – The Answer To All Your File Copying Needs”
The Quickest Way To Uninstall Particular Windows Updates
This is a super quick post about how to uninstall certain Windows Updates quickly and easily. Quite often the solution to a Windows problem will involve uninstalling certain Windows Updates which are often identified with a code starting with KB followed by a long series of numbers (eg KB2872339 or KB2882822).
If you were required to, for example, uninstall KB2872339 you could do so by opening the ‘Run’ menu (Windows Key + R) and typing “wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:2872339” (without the quotation marks).
Backup & Access Your Entire Music Collection For Free!
If you have a large digital music collection then you’ve probably realised at one time or another that it would probably be difficult to recover if anything were to happen to your computer.
Sure, you can make local backups onto external hard drives and the like, which is fine. Until your house burns down. You could also use a cloud based backup service such as Carbonite or Dropbox but they cost money! (Unless your music collection is less than 2GB, you could use the free edition of Dropbox). Continue reading “Backup & Access Your Entire Music Collection For Free!”
Windows 7: Playing Audio Through Your Headphone & Speakers Simultaneously
I was having some trouble with playing audio through my new USB headset and desktop speakers at the same time earlier, but after a bit of searching and trial-and-error managed to find a solution. Continue reading “Windows 7: Playing Audio Through Your Headphone & Speakers Simultaneously”
Restore Individual Files From A Windows System Image
If you have ever used Windows Backup to create a System Image, you may have noticed that it creates a large ‘.vhd’ file (or Virtual Hard Disk file). Often these are used to restore your PC back into a working state, along with all of your data and programs in the case of a major failure or system corruption.
A lot of people don’t realise that you can also use these .vhd files to restore individual files and folders without having to restore the entire image. Continue reading “Restore Individual Files From A Windows System Image”
Torrents For Dummys
I get asked by a lot of people how to use BitTorrent clients and sites. Many people get themselves into trouble when downloading from sites such as thepiratebay or kickass torrents because these sites are full of deceptive advertisements and dodgy torrents, if you aren’t sure exactly what you are doing it is very easy to fill your PC up with all kinds of viruses and spyware; something I see time and time again. With a bit of common sense and caution you can use these sites with confidence to obtain a lot of handy files though, which is what this article is all about, so without further delay, I present ‘Torrents For Dummys’. A guide for people who have never heard of and/or used this powerful technology before… Continue reading “Torrents For Dummys”
Stop Windows Automatic Reboot After Updates
Occasionally, after the installation of an Automatic Update, Windows will prompt the user to reboot their computer or postpone the reboot for up to 4 hours. This is possibly one of the most annoying of all of Windows “features” as quite often I have been caught off-guard when downloading a large file or leaving the computer for a few minutes only to find that I’ve missed the prompt and the computer has restarted. Which can obviously be extremely frustrating!
Fortunately, it is relatively easy to fix permanently. Continue reading “Stop Windows Automatic Reboot After Updates”
The Difference Between PC/Laptop ‘Sleep’ (Standby) And ‘Hibernate’ Explained.
The terms ‘sleep’ and ‘hibernate’ used in the tech sense aren’t really self-explanatory so you may be forgiven for not actually knowing what is going on when you put your PC or laptop into one of these states. Many notebook computers enter sleep mode automatically when left idle for a defined amount of time. Continue reading “The Difference Between PC/Laptop ‘Sleep’ (Standby) And ‘Hibernate’ Explained.”
How To Easily Convert A .BIN or .NRG Disc Image To An .ISO
Difficulty figuring out how to convert a .bin or .nrg CD/DVD disc image to an .iso image probably isn’t the most common problem in the computing world, but I figure if you’re reading this then you have just this very issue. If you have no idea what a .iso disc image is then my other article entitled “What are ISO files and how do I use them?” might be worth a read, they’re very handy. Anyway, I’ll keep it short and sweet and demonstrate the most simple and painless way that I have found to resolve this problem.
Read on and follow these 5 super simple steps to .ISO conversion glory. 😛
Continue reading “How To Easily Convert A .BIN or .NRG Disc Image To An .ISO”
Super Simple Way To Fix A Slow iPhone
Here is another real quick tip for all you iPhone user’s out there. Seen as though you internet-types these days have an attention span of about three seconds I will cut straight the point!
After a while your iPhone may seem to bog down and not run quite as well as it should, the following steps are a very quick and simple way of possibly improving performance. Continue reading “Super Simple Way To Fix A Slow iPhone”
Windows Shortcuts That Everyone Should Know
Having used computers for most of my life I have learned a lot of things that I now take for granted. Many of these things I falsely assumed that most people know but every now and then I watch people who aren’t so computer savvy taking a long time to do the simplest tasks. So I would like to share with everyone a quick list of shortcuts that I use almost every single time I am on the computer. Continue reading “Windows Shortcuts That Everyone Should Know”
Does Leaving Your Laptop Plugged In Shorten It’s Battery Life?
If you leave your laptop plugged in all the time, even when the battery is fully charged does it shorten the life of the battery?
That is the question that came up the other day and I didn’t know the answer, I always wondered myself as I use a laptop at work that is plugged into the AC power 99% of the time. Fortunately an answer to the question was very easy to find on the internet.
The short answer is yes, leaving your laptop plugged into mains power while the battery is fully charged will reduce the batteries capacity to hold a charge. When the battery is running consistently at full charge it causes the battery to chemically kill it’s self. Continue reading “Does Leaving Your Laptop Plugged In Shorten It’s Battery Life?”
How to enable Telnet on Windows 7 & Vista
Today I tried to Telnet into a Cisco switch at work today not remembering that Windows 7 doesn’t have Telnet enabled by default, neither does Vista for that matter. I guess in an attempt to make Windows a little more secure as Telnet by it’s self is not a very secure form of communicating.
Regardless of security there are times when Telnet is going to come in handy and there is a very quick and easy way to re-enable it on Windows Vista and Windows 7. Both should use the same method. Continue reading “How to enable Telnet on Windows 7 & Vista”
How To Safely Turn On A Power Supply Without A Motherboard
Here is a good trick for you tech-heads out there. Quite often you need to test a power supply to see if it is working correctly and sometimes you may not have a computer to connect it to. Fortunately there is a very easy trick to turning a power supply on with just a small piece of wire or paper clip. Continue reading “How To Safely Turn On A Power Supply Without A Motherboard”