Microsoft have just release the new service pack for Vista - SP2. Download today from:
Microsoft SP2 Site - note you will need Service Pack 1 installed on the PC PRIOR to installing SP. It includes all the updates since SP1, and enhances Wifi, Bluetooth and Blu Ray support.
Heres a link you may find useful - a good set of training and quick start manuals for all recent versions of Office (including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook).
Here are some shortcuts that will make your Windows life a lot easier-
We recently had a request to be able to export all emails (eg all your emails in the inbox) into an excel format that could then be used later. Outlook will allow you to export some of the fields - but NOT the date related ones. Here’s a free ad in that does - allows you to export any of the fields from the email list you like - CodeTwo Outlook Export.
Due to the power that plasma screens put out (and the frequency) - they interfere with Infra Red headphones and make them unusable. How to overcome this? Well if you use a PC for playing your movies and TV (eg a media centre)- you can get a bluetooth headset that supports audio play, and then the interference is history! Check out our catalog for the Plantronics 590 model with up to 10m range and lightweight (and if you need a bluetooth adaptor that support audio streaming get it here)
Recently I was moving my photos off my hard drive and onto a network drive for storage - but then I discovered when I looked at the folder in thumbnail view (View->Thumbnails from the menu) the picture would flash on then go to a standard icon for all the images. After hunting around it seems this is BY DESIGN for Vista - so heres how to turn thumbnails on - Click Start, type gpedit.msc and press ENTER. Go to the following branch - User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer. And then set the following to ENABLED - Turn off the display of thumbnails and only display icons on network folders. Log Off (or Restart) - and you are done.
The press has decided to run with the latest security flaw in ie and make a large deal of it - note security updates to fix issues in MS software is nothing new and happens on a regular basis - so DONT PANIC. The flaw can be exploited if you go to infected websites (mostly adult pages) or click on virus attached files in emails. So Keep you AV software up to date. Most auto update these days but open it up and check the date of the last update.If you want to install the Microsoft patch that closes the flaw you can use the Windows Update website to download the Critical Update (960714) - or if you have Automatic Updates ON then you will have the patch already installed (assuming you have downloaded the latest updates).
Just a quick note on something we came across recently and are now using - ConvertXtoDVD from VSO Software. This simple program allows you to convert heaps of formats (AVI, Mpeg, Mpeg4, MP4, AVI, WMV, DV, Divx, Mk) straight to DVD - and automatically creates the title and chapters for you. You can even combine multiple files together in order on the DVD. Its worth buying - no more watching your favourite downloaded TV shows on your computer screen…
With the release of Vista Microsoft also released a new version of Office - they add on product that includes word, excel and outlook. Graphically it is very different to the previous versions, but it also includes a new file format that it saves in by default (eg. docx for word - rather than doc). This has caused a few problems for people with the previous versions of Office (2003, 2002/XP ). Microsoft have released a compatibility pack that enables older versions to read and write in the new format to accommodate this issue.Go to the following link from Microsoft - download and run the update, and then you will be able to support the latest file formats! DOWNLOAD HERE
We’ve now had new daylight savings changes in NSW again - and many servers and workstations are out of sync again. Here are some steps that will help in getting your Windows Servers and Workstations correctly setup.
1. Download the December 2007 DST Updates from Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942763/en-us
2. Edit the registry settings on your PC (run regedit) - navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters, and update the following:
NTPServer - time.windows.com,0×01 time.nist.gov,0×01 my.time.server.com,0×02
TYPE - NTP
3. Do a restart on the w32time service from a command prompt:
net stop w32time
net start w32time
Hopefully then after about 30s your time should show up correct !
