In Windows, you can free up some space by running the Disk Cleanup tool. It will remove temporary Internet files, old setup files, and other miscellaneous files taking up space. The Windows XP version of the tool also offers you the option to Compress old files that haven't been used lately to free up more space but it just doesn't seem worth it. Decompressing those files later … [Read more...]
Disable Firefox from removing the http:// in the address bar
Firefox is copying a lot of features from Chrome these days to play catch-up. From the rapid-release schedule to the location bar not showing http:// unless it's an https site. It's actually the latter of those two that is frustrating me the most. Copy and pasting a lot of URLS is pretty common for both my day job and writing online and Firefox will drop the http:// from the … [Read more...]
Adobe Reader crashes on opening for a standard user
I had a client report to me that their Adobe Reader client on Windows XP would crash upon trying to open a PDF. I assumed they might be dealing with a malformed PDF but I was able to open the file as an administrator. With that information, the problem could either be tied to her non-privileged account or to permissions. I wiped out her preferences stored in the HKCU registry … [Read more...]
“Incorrect Product Key” Trying to Activate Windows XP
A client's hard drive recently died and I needed to get them up and running quickly. The computer was an older Dell computer and had been built off of the Dell pre-install. I grabbed a new hard drive, a CD that had Windows XP's Service Pack 3 slipstreamed into it, and began the install. When the install reached the point of asking for the product key, I typed in the … [Read more...]
XKCD hits the Nail On The Head for Troubleshooting
A long-time problem to anybody that has tried to solve their own problems by looking online is that there are often suggested solutions but rarely confirmations. If you land on a forum where somebody was complaining about the exact same problem you're dealing with now, it's nice to have the confirmation that the same problem exists for somebody else out there as well. The … [Read more...]