Video: Share files between Windows 7 and your virtual Windows PC
Posted by: David
What you are trying to accomplish
Share a file from your Windows 7 computer to your Windows XP virtual machine (or other computer).
Windows 7 Awesome Tip : Preview Pane
Posted by: David
Enable your preview pane
With Windows 7, you probably aren't used to all of the changes. Perhaps one of the best things you can find in Windows 7 would be the preview pane.
While you are in the file explorer going through your long list of files whether it be images, code, word docs, or even videos hit ALT+P on your keyboard. Now, next to your list of files or icons for files you can see a preview of the file you have selected in the file explorer.
Not all file types will allow you to see a preview, but the video preview will even allow you to watch the video in the preview pane.
Adding a shortcut to file explorer when opening or browsing to select files in Windows 7
Posted by: David
What are you trying to do?
You are trying to get a network location on your file explorer as a button that you only have to click on once to find the location. This area is known as my places in Windows XP ( also Favorites in Windows 7) and is very good for creating shortcuts to network drive locations where you might need to browse through several folders every time other wise.
Just look, this is how you do it
- Find the location of the folder you want to link.
- Drag and drop the folder into the left bar into the favorites area.
Now your folder is linked in the favorites or my places area on your file browser whenever you want to select a file with any program!
Updated with Video: Finding .nk2 file with Windows 7
Posted by: David
For those not wanting to watch the video and know what your doing and just want the locations here you go.
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\
How to back up your old CD’s while you can still use them!
Posted by: David
Sim Golf
Problem:
You have this sweet old game that you loved to play but have a hard time finding another copy of it on the market without having to pay more for it now then you did when it was new. Or, you just have some data on some old CD's that you are afraid might get damaged or destroyed and you would like to have a digital back up as well.
Solution:
- Go to http://www.magiciso.com/
- Click 'Download' on the Navigation Bar
- Then hit download from either Site 1 or Site 2
- Once finished downloading, Install the program
- Start the program, it will ask you if you want to register but that won't be necessary. Just hit Try it!
- Once the program has started you should see,
- Then click on Tools, Make ISO from CD/DVD-ROM,
- Then select which CD/DVD drive to save from, where to save the file to, the file type (.iso) and then select start,
- Here you will start to see a status bar which will disappear when your image is done being created. Unless you get any error messages it should have completed the image successfully. You now have a digital backup of you old CD or DVD you were afraid would get damaged.
Windows 7 NK2 file location
Posted by: David
The problem?
You don't know where the .NK2 file is for Outlook in Windows 7.
The solution
- Go to my computer.
- Click on the C: drive
- Click on Users
- Click on the account of the User who you want to find the .NK2 file for
- Open the AppData folder. If you can't find it, you will need to show hidden files and folders.
- Click on Roaming
- Click on Microsoft
- Click on Outlook
- You should now see the outlook file as such below.
Video: Disabling Windows Firewall on XP
Posted by: David
Just some notes:
- It is very similar to this in Windows 7 and Vista if you have them.
- I think the video's will be a good idea in the long run.
- I will be posting Windows 7 stuff soon. I am working on making a Windows 7 installation video with a VM. Once that video is done, I can move on to using that VM to make other videos.
Video Tutorial: Renaming a computer with Windows XP
Posted by: David
Now, I understand this is very simple and may not be going to draw many hits to the site, but it is important for me to test my video making processes. Everything went fine, so I think I will make more in the future. Probably dealing with Spiceworks in a Windows XP VM.
Installing Crystal Ease for all users
Posted by: David
Why won't Crystal Ease install for all users?
There are two reasons why it might not be working even though you might have installed is successfully.
- You installed the software on a computer using an account that is not an administrator.
- If you did install it as an admin and can't get it to run on other accounts that is because Crystal Ease doesn't support all accounts to run from the initial installation without some modification.
What can you do about it?
A: You installed the software on an account that wasn't an administrator
- Uninstall Crystal Ease.
- Log onto an account that is a computer administrator.
- Install Crystal Ease.
- Enter your release code.
- Enter upgrade release code if necessary.
B: You installed the software as an admin, but want other users to have access to the program.
Since Crystal Ease doesn't support this necessarily, it won't be a popular solution but there isn't much for choices. Crystal Ease will always work on the account which installed it and entered the release codes. Here is what you do for other accounts that will use the computer.
- Go to C:\Program Files\Surfing Gecko Software\Crystal Ease\ (or wherever you installed it)
- Find CEV.EXE and make it a shortcut on the desktop of the account (or all users account) that will be using it. Delete the old shortcut
- When that user goes to open Crystal Ease for the first time, it will ask for the release codes. Unfortunately they will have to have someone enter in the release codes if they don't have access to them.
- Once someone has the release codes set up on their account on a particular computer they can continue opening Crystal Ease as they please.
Big time tip for success
Create a generic account for users to log into if you expect more than a few people to log onto and use Crystal Ease on a computer. This way you will only have to prepare Crystal Ease one time instead of doing it several times.
Have users run a batch file to find their IP Address
Posted by: David
Why have a user run a batch file to find their IP Address?
Simple, users don't know what their doing. Your CEO may be the smartest person you have ever met, but this doesn't mean they are informed enough about computers to find their IP address.
This is part of Network Support, being able to support your network, and preparing for issues where your users are having connection issues are hard to support without remote tools. Sometimes computers have trouble synching on the domain and other times users can swear they are connected when they really aren't.
The reason you make this a batch file is because while some users are computer literate and are able to follow along over the phone, others are near impossible. You know it.
How to make the batch file
- Open up notepad. Start > Accessories > Notepad
- Type in "ipconfig /all > c:\ip.txt"
- Save the file as ip.bat and store it directly on the C: drive
- Put the ip.bat file on all the computers you support
How to use the batch file
Scenario: User calls with connection issues, although they are able to access the Internet.
- Direct user to open up "My Computer"
- Direct user to open up the C: drive
- Tell them to look for the file named "ip.bat" and then double click it to run it
- If this didn't create a txt file on the c: drive called "ip.txt" then you are probably using windows 7. In Windows 7 you will need to right click the file and tell them to run the file as administrator
- Now tell them to open the "ip.txt" file and then request any information from an "ipconfig /all" command that you might possibly want.
Tip for success
Make sure the ip.bat file is on the computer when you send them out for deployment. That or you can create a policy that will make sure that file is placed on the computer.
If you want to go farther, you can put the file in the startup folder on Windows XP computers and it will generate a new copy of the ip.txt file every time the user logs on. This will take another step off the entire process.