This Video post explains the use of share charm in Windows 8. The five charms in Windows 8 add to the overall experience of Windows 8. Share charm let’s the user share content from virtually anywhere within the windows environment. You could be surfing a webpage & want to share the content therein, or you would like to share a picture or a video, share charm let’s helps you do that without leaving the window that you are currently viewing. Watch the video below to know more about the share charm:
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Video Tip : Using Search Charm in Windows 8
This video post explains steps for using the search charm in Windows 8. Search Charm allows you to quickly and efficiently search through your Windows system. You can search for installed apps, some windows settings or any stored files on your storage device. Windows 8 has a very intelligent search system with all the results automatically sorted to categories. This video below explain all the great features of the Search charm in Windows 8.
Windows 8 : Using search charm in Windows 8 -
How to setup second screen / multi monitor in Windows 8
This post will help you in setting up a second screen on your Windows 8 PC. Multi-monitor setup in Windows 8 is very easy, in just a few simple steps you can start using your second monitor. Follow the steps below to start using a multi monitor setup:
- Swipe in from the right of move your mouse to the right of the screen to the charms bar
- Alternatively you can also press Windows logo key + C to reveal the charms bar
an example of the charms bar
- Now,
- Click on Devices
- Clicking on devices will reveal a bar as the screenshot above
- Simply select the Second Screen option from the list of devices shown
- As you click on second screen, a few options will appear on your screen
- Now, By default your computer is set to use the PC screen only
- Use any of the four listed options to either duplicate your current monitor to the secondary monitor
- Extend the display and use both your monitors at the same time
- or simply use the second monitor as your primary display
Few things to remember
- Make sure that you are using proper drivers for your graphic / display adapter. If you are not sure that your have the latest or proper drivers, it is recommended that you first run Windows update on your computer to install all the necessary updates
- Also make sure that you select any hardware driver updates from the optional updates section
- Alternatively, you can visit your computer / Motherboard / Graphic card manufacturer’s support website and get the latest drivers from there
Note: if for some reason you are unable to use this feature, please share your problem in the comments section & I will try to help you out.
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Fix : Windows is not Genuine 0x80070005 in Windows 7
This post will help you fix an issue with your windows 7 computer. After logging into windows, you might get an error message that would look something like this:
Windows is not genuine
0x80070005
This error will lead to a black desktop background and a message on the bottom right of your screen saying “This copy of Windows is not genuine”, With this you might also get a prompt to activate Windows.
First thing to do is to check your licensing information, to do that:
- Type CMD in your start menu search box
- Right Click the CMD ( command prompt icon listed as search result)
- Click on Run as administrator
- Press yes
- type in slmgr.vbs /dlv
- Normally, running this command should generate a window like this :
- But, instead of this you get a message saying “Error: 0x80070005 Access denied: the requested action requires elevated privileges
- Note: look at step 1 to 3 and notice that we have already used an elevated command prompt to check licensing status.
- So, if you are getting a error message like the one above, it would mean that either the registry key responsible for Windows licensing activation has some permission issues
- or
- or the responsible registry keys are missing.
Resolution
Method 1: Add registry keys
- Click here to download the file
- Double click the file
- click on yes & yes again if prompted twice
- This should add the missing keys
- Reboot your computer to check
Method 2: Disable Plug & Play policy
- On the start menu search box type CMD
- right click CMD and press Run as Administrator
- type in rsop.msc and press enter
- Expand Computer Configuration
- Expand Windows settings
- Expand System Services
- Locate Plug and Play
- Double Click it
- Set it to Not Defined
- Now,
- Go to CMD ( as defined in step 1 to 3 )
- type gpupdate /force ( you might have to restart your PC )
Method 3: Reset your Network Hardware
- Assuming that you are connecting to Internet through a Wireless or Wired Network connection, below are the steps to reset these hardware devices
- Go to Control Panel
- Locate Network and sharing center
- From the left pane select change adapter settings
- Right Click your Local Area Connection
- Click on Disable
- Now,
- Right Click your Wireless Network Icon
- Click on Disable
- Now, Restart your Computer
- Go to Network and sharing center again & go to change adapter settings
- Enable both the adapters that you preciously disabled
- Exit Network and sharing center
- Now,
- Open Windows Update & click on check for updates ( left pane )
- Click on optional updates & select any hardware driver updates that might be available
- alternatively
- you can visit your Network Adapter / Motherboard Manufacturer or System Manufacturer’s support website to download and install latest Network adapter drivers
- After the update is complete, try running Windows activation again
If you still get an error and you are unable to activate your Windows you can use the comment section & I’ll try to help you further
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Fix : Recycle bin icon stuck to full or empty / not refreshing in Windows Vista & XP
This post will help you fix a problem with your Windows based PC, where the recycle bin icon stays stuck & does not refresh according to it’s current state, i.e. empty or full. You might face this problem in Windows Vista or XP & by following the instructions below you can easily fix this issue.
Method 1 : Microsoft Fix-IT
click on the Microsoft Fix it icon above to download the fix
Method 2 : Do-it-Yourself
This method involves editing of registry. It is highly recommended that you make a backup by following this guide : Click here
Windows Vista
- Go to Windows Desktop
- Right Click
- Click on New
- Text Document
- Copy & paste the following code into the new text document
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon] @=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\ 00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,6d,00,\ 61,00,67,00,65,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,35,\ 00,34,00,00,00 “Full”=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\ 00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,\ 6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,\ 00,35,00,34,00,00,00 “Empty”=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\ 00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,\ 6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,\ 00,35,00,35,00,00,00
- Go to file
- Click on save as
- Under Save as type
- Select All files
- give the name recycle.reg
- Click on save
- You will now see a registry icon
with the name you entered “recycle.reg”
- Double-Click the file
- You will receive a security prompt. Press yes, & press yes again to enter the information to your registry.
- Restart your computer & check
Windows XP
Follow the Registry Backup guide above to backup your Windows Registry & then follow the instructions below:
- Go to Windows Desktop
- Right Click
- Click on New
- Text Document
- Copy & paste the following code into the new text document
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon] @=”C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll,32″ “Full”=”C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll,32” “Empty”=”C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll,31”
- Go to file
- Click on save as
- Under Save as type
- Select All files
- give the name recycle.reg
- Click on save
- Now,
- Double-Click the registry key you just made
- It will ask you whether you want to add information to the registry
- Press Yes
- Restart your computer and check
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Review: Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery for Windows 8 , 7 , Vista , XP
Where there is Data, there is Data Loss. Whether it is due to a virus attack, software corruption or any other reason, Data loss is something that we all want to avoid. But, when Data loss happens we all want to recover as much as possible. The same thing happened to me, I am using a 2TB Seagate GO Flex External Drive for all my data backup solutions. Recently, the drive stopped showing itself in Windows Explorer. When I checked further I found out that the drive was detected in Device Manager and Device Management, but the partition was reflected as RAW.
It was more or like a disaster for me. All my data was in the drive and I felt miserable being in the situation. So, I started searching for a solution to recover my data. After searching for some time I came across Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery software by stellar information systems ltd. (http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm). The product looked promising, so I thought to try it.
Let me start by a quick introduction to the Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery:
This tool was fairly simple to install. I was using Windows 8 and this tool works with Windows 8 like a charm ( According to Stellarinfo this product is Windows 8 tested) & is equally compatible with Windows 7 , Vista, XP , 2000, Server 2003 & NT4. If I talk about user interface, every menu and option is self-explanatory. This tool supports NTFS, FAT32 & exFat format types with Auto Detection technology that means when you start the software after installation, it automatically runs a scan for attached Storage devices. It also scans for faulty storage hardware. I tried it both ways, i.e. with and without the faulty drive. Without attaching the faulty drive, the software started within 10 seconds & with the faulty drive attached, it took about 10 minutes to scan, load and start the recovery process. This was impressive in terms of user productivity and ease of utilization. This feature will be much helpful to novice users, as a new user wants the software to work without having to put a lot into it.
This Do-It-Yourself recovery tool can recover lost documents, emails, music, photos & videos. It can recover Deleted Files & folders, formatted hard disk drives & any other Internal or external storage devices.
If you follow the screenshot, almost every user can recover their data with this screen only. You can run the tool as your situation demands. Drive recovery is for recovery data of your hard disk drive. Same goes with CD / DVD recovery. Photo recovery option is used for searching and recovering all photo types in a single click from a specified storage drive.
Let me review these options one by one:
When you click on Drive recovery, this tool expands the option to list the attached drives. If your hard disk drive is not listed here, you can start a deeper search by click on Click here to search lost volumes.
This option will let you select the Hard disk drive that might be damaged, corrupted or has the data that you wish to recover. On selecting the drive a menu pops up with options to search for Lost Volume with Quick scan or Deep scan. The other Option is Raw Recovery, I personally used this option as my 2TB drive was detected having a RAW partition type. Within the Raw Recovery, you can select the file types that you wish to recover & also the range where you wish to run the recovery process. Selecting the range is a bit advanced step in the recovery process. Range means selecting the starting and ending sector of your hard disk drive that you like to search for lost data on. I would suggest that you do not select any range as any normal user would not have much idea about sectors and the proper sectors that contain your data. Though on the other hand selecting specific file types cuts the time taken to recover the data. If you are not sure on the file types as well, you can select all the check boxes & start the process.
If you are searching for Lost Volumes, it is advisable to first search in Quick Scan mode to search for Lost Volumes. I selected the quick scan mode first to search for the lost partitions. This scan type was really quick and revealed by hard disk drive without any problems. Though, if your Lost Volumes are not revealed by Quick Scan, you can always try the Deep scan mode. Deep scan mode, is a slow process, as the name suggests, it scans your hard disk in a more precise manner to search for lost partitions.
Once the partition / Volume is found, clicking on the volume reveals additional options to choose from:
After clicking on the Found “Lost Drive”, again four options are listed to choose from. I found the very first option Quick recovery very useful in terms of easy usage. It was more than sufficient for me to recover all my data. Second option is more useful, if you accidentally deleted your data from a healthy drive. If Quick recovery did not work out for you, you can always select the advanced recovery option to recover your data. The advanced recovery option takes a bit more time to search for your files and folders. Any recovery process with this tool lists all the found files and folders in a tree view, just like the way your files would have been located in your storage drive. The view more or like resembles the Windows explorer view type and makes it very familiar and easy to work with. Simply select the files /folders that you might need and click on recover. It’s as easy as it gets.
Coming to CD/DVD Recovery, I tried using this tool on a normal CD – DVD & a Blu-ray disk and to my surprise it got almost all my data out & intact from the scratched disks. When you insert a disk in your CD /DVD /Blu-ray drive stellar phoenix Windows data recovery will detect it automatically and as soon as you click on the CD / DVD recovery tab on the main menu it will start the recovery process.
Some Amazing advanced features
After you have successfully recovered your data, there comes a need to back it up. The best part of Stellar Phoenix Windows Data recovery is that it lets you create a system image, Clone your hard disk drive to a new drive and even lets you check your drive for problems.
I immediately made a system image with the help of this tool. All I had to do was select the drive on which my windows is installed and select a secondary drive. This tool was very fast and efficient in making a system image. Now, this system image can be used for future restoration by using the middle option recovery from image.
Clone drive feature is something that makes it very easy for anyone to create a working mirror of your hard disk drive in a zippy. I tried this feature on my 120 GB drive & created a clone in about 10 minutes & 4 simple steps.
· Click on Clone Drive
· Select Source Disk
· Select Destination Disk
· Click on Clone drive
Drive Status is a feature in Stellar Info Phoenix Windows Data recovery that gave me a good outlook of how my hard disk drive is doing in terms of drive health. It also shows SMART data & helps in maintaining a healthy working system.
Overall Performance & resource usage
I found this tool to be very efficient in terms of system resource usage as it was fairly lite on the system & did not require much from the system. The minimum required Configuration is:
· Processor: Pentium Class
· Operating System: Windows 7/Vista/XP (Tested with Windows 8)
· RAM : 512 MB
· Hard Disk : 50 MB
Edition Comparison
Conclusion
This tool helped me to recover 100% of my lost data from a RAW partition type & all this was as easy as it gets. Everything was self-explanatory & I found this tool to be very user friendly.
Contact information
Click Here
For latest Pricing:
Click here
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How to turn off USB ports / Pen Drive / USB storage in Windows 8 , 7 , Vista , XP
This post will help you Turn off USB ports on your computer by a fairly simple trick. There are circumstances where you might wish to use some USB devices on your computer, but want to disable usage of USB storage devices such as USB Hard disk drives or USB Pen Drives. This tip will let you to continue using your USB based Peripheral Devices such as Printers, scanners or even Keyboard and mouse, but will only disable Storage devices. At the end of this post, we will discuss a few options that will let you disable complete USB access as well.
Editing your Registry
- Go to Run ( Windows Logo key + R )
- Type in Regedit
- You might have to press Yes
- Now,
- Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- Expand SYSTEM
- Expand CurrentControlSet
- Expand services
- Now,
- Locate USBSTOR
- In the right pane, Double click on Start
- Change the Value to 4
- Press OK
- Restart your Computer
- Again follow all the steps to re-check if the value has been changed to 4 or not, if not, Change it again.
- Restart your computer
- Now, none of the Mass storage devices you plug into your Computer won’t work.
- If, you wish to re-enable USB access, you can simply change the value back to 3
Disabling Other USB types
- Refer the screenshot below
- You can disable :
- USB Infrared Devices
- USB Hub
- USB Video Devices
- USB Printing Devices
- To disable any of the said devices, just click on the value as in the screenshot above
- Double Click on Start
- Change the Value to 4 and Press OK
- Restart your computer
In case of any questions or feedback, you can use the contact form or the comment section below.
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How to : Get Back / Enable Quick Launch in Windows 7
This post will help you get the old quick launch menu in Taskbar. The new Taskbar in Windows 7 has excluded Quick Launch Menu as a default option, though the functionality still exists in Windows 7. So follow the steps below to get the old type quick launch menu back in your Taskbar.
Unlock the Taskbar
- Right Click the Taskbar
- Uncheck Lock the Taskbar
Create a New toolbar
- Right Click the Taskbar
- Go to Toolbars
- Click on New Toolbar
- Now, Within the Given Windows Paste the code given below
- %AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Making Changes to get the old feel back
- Right Click the Quick Launch bar
- Uncheck Show Text
- Now, Drag the Quick Launch Menu to the extreme left
- This will get it right next to start menu & move the other pinned apps to the right.
- Now,
- Right Click the quick launch menu
- Uncheck Show Title
- Now, Right Click the Quick Launch Menu
- Click on View
- Click on Large Icons
- Now, Right click on Taskbar
- Click on Lock the Taskbar
This will Enable your Quick Launch Menu. If you would like to add or more items from this menu :
- Unlock the Taskbar
- Right Click the Item and click delete to delete
- If you would like to add an item, just Drag & drop to the quick launch menu
You can post your question & comments in the Comment section below or feel free to use the Contact us section to write to me.
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Fix : Hard disk suddenly shows Raw partition, not accessible in Windows 8 , 7 , Vista , XP
Windows cannot access this drive, do you wish to format it, is the message that you will receive when you try to open your hard disk drive or a partition on your HDD. This post will help you fix this issue in a few simple steps. This guide will also help you recover your data from the hard drive which is now detected as RAW in your Windows PC. Recently my 2 TB Seagate Go Flex drive started to show RAW partition & I feared loosing all my data, below mentioned is the method that worked for me.
Pre-requisites for this method:
- Windows Installation CD / DVD /USB ( Windows 8 , 7 , Vista )
- OR
- Windows 8 , 7 repair disk
- Test Disk – Click to download ( Use this, if the problem hard disk drive is not your primary drive )
- OR
- Parted Magic –Click to download the ISO file and burn a CD ( Use this ,if your primary hard disk drive is the problem hard drive and you lost your operating system )
Note: Do not use this method on a Solid State Drive
Test Disk usage remains the same from Within Windows & from Parted magic
If you wish to use parted magic :
- Burn the disc image to a CD or make a Bootable USB
- While booting, Choose option 1. Default settings, Run from RAM
- After the booting sequence is complete,
- Locate and click on the Terminal Icon ( Bottom left area )
- type testdisk & press Enter
Test Disk Usage :
- You can choose to either create a Log or not ( depends on you )
- Select the hard disk drive with the Raw partition from the given list & press Enter
- In this step, check the hint part & select accordingly ( for me it shows Intel )
- Select Analyse & Press Enter
- Now, Select Quick Search at the bottom of the screen & press Enter
- Select your partition and press Enter
- After the quick search is complete, press P to see your file and folders, if you are satisfied with the results here, press Q
- Select Write at the bottom & press Enter
- Press Y to confirm Write
- If you do not see your files and folder, you can try Deeper Search.
- Now,
- Press Q , until you reach the screen below
- Select Advanced & press Enter
- Now, at the bottom, select boot and press Enter
- Now, In case your Boot sector is bad and your Backup boot sector is OK,
- Select Org. BS & press Enter
- Press Y to write backup boot sector to the primary boot sector
- But,
- If in case both your boot sectors are BAD
- Select Rebuild BS & press Enter
- This process will take some time to complete, Press Y in the end to execute
Now,
- Boot from Windows Installation CD / DVD / USB or the repair disc
- After the initial boot sequence completes Press Shift + F10
- OR,
- Click on repair your computer
- & from Recovery options
- Select Command Prompt
- Type chkdsk x: /f – here replace X with your drive letter
- Let this process Complete
- Restart your computer
- Your disk should now be working fine
You can use the Test Disk utility to copy your file & folders from the damaged drive as well.
- Get to the screen where the main options are ( refer screenshot below )
- Select Analyse
- Select Quick Search
- Press Enter on your partition
- Press P to see your files & folders
- Now, press C (shift + C ) – to copy multiple files & c (to copy one file)
- Check out the options at the bottom of the screen
This should help you in recovering your data & getting your hard disk drive to a usable state. If, in case of any queries / suggestions, please feel free to use the comment / Contact form
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Fix : Folder view resets in Windows / Lost folder view settings in Windows 7 ,Vista
This post will help you in fixing an issue with your Windows PC, where your customized folder view settings might not take effect or Windows might forget your folder view settings. The is a known problem with Microsoft Windows 7 , Vista and XP. Microsoft has released a Fix It solution for this issue. Below mentioned are the two methods which can help you fix this issue.
Method 1 : Microsoft Fix It
Method 2 : Involves Editing of Registry
Before using this method, it is recommended that you backup your registry using this guide
- Press Windows logo key + R ( to open run )
- Type in regedit
- Your system might ask your permission or password
- Now, navigate to the following & delete the registry entries (Delete the last entries highlighted below)
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\LocalSettings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
- Now, create the keys you deleted in the same location :
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
- To make new keys, right click the shell folder & click on new –> keys ( refer screenshot below )
- Now, right click the Shell key
- Click on new
- Click on DWORD (32-bit) Value
- Name it BagMRU Size
- Now, in the right hand size pane, double click BagMRU Size
- Set the value to 5000
- Click ok
- Close the registry editor
- Restart your computer
This should fix the issue and Windows should now remember your folder view settings. If not, then go back to BagMRU Size and set the value to 10000 instead of 5000. If you face any further issues, feel free to contact me using the comment section below