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Category Archives: Microsoft

Alert: Microsoft My Phone Backup Service will be down for 2 days starting 10/5/09

    microsoft On a previous post http://techgeekandmore.wordpress.com/category/cell-phone/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/category/cell-phone/) (From May 2009), I talked about the Microsoft My Phone service.

With My phone you can

  • Back up and restore your phone’s information to a password-protected web site
  • Access and update your contacts and appointments through your web account
  • Share photos on your phone with family and friends

    • Well it seems that Microsoft is adding new features as the My phone service will be down for 2 days starting tomorrow October 5th.  I just received the following email -

    ***********************************************************

    My Phone Service Upgrade

    Dear My Phone User,

    From Monday, October 5th through 3pm (GMT) on Tuesday, October 6th, the My Phone service will be unavailable while we’re upgrading the system.

    During this time:

    - You will not be able to access the My Phone online portal or synchronize changes on your phone. 

    - Be assured, data that you have already synched will not be impacted.

    When the service resumes, there will be a number of exciting new features, so be sure to check them out by visiting http://myphone.microsoft.com (http://myphone NULL.microsoft NULL.com/).

    Thanks,

    The My Phone Team

    ***********************************************************

    Unfortunately I cant find what these new features are, but I will update once I can get more information.

    How To: Activating a Corporate, Business, Enterprise edition of Windows

    **UPDATED: October 4th.

    microsoft One of the versions that Microsoft sells of Windows is known as the Corporate Edition (XP), Business Edition (Vista), Enterprise Edition (W7).  In a nutshell, all there of these versions are same version level with just a name change depending on the flavor of Windows that you speaking about. These versions are not sold in the store and activate slightly differently (Called Volume License) than what users of other flavors of Windows are used to.

    Normally Volume License versions can activate against a KMS-enabled machine in your corporate environment or against Microsoft online servers using a MAK.  MAKs are special keys that are installed after your Vista installation is complete.

    I have had a couple of customers with Volume License versions that have had issues activating the installed version of Windows because of error 0X8007232B / DNS Name does not exist and clicking on Activate now or change product key did nothing.

    I did a lot of searching online for a solution and most solutions pointed to a Microsoft Document about “How to Activate Volume License” which did not actually had a solution for the issue.  I finally discovered a solution that worked for me:

    ***You need to go to Control Panel –> User Accounts –> Change User account control settings –> and move the level to Never notify….security will block the steps below unless you drop the UAC control.  **NOTE: If you change this to Never notify you will not receive the security prompts built into Windows. Advance user will probably like that but non-experienced user will want to put the setting back once you complete the activation process. 

    UAC picOnce you change the User Account Control setting do the following

    1) At a command prompt (Start –> Run –> CMD), type slmgr.vbs –ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (With a space between vbs and –ipk and Where the XXXXX is your assigned Volume License number). You will need to show a little patients as it will take a little bit (1 to 2 minutes usually) but you will get the response that “The product key was successfully changed”.

    2) Now at the same command prompt, type slmgr.vbs –ato (a space between .vbs and –ato) and after a few seconds (This one will be much faster)a message that “The product had been activated” will appear.

    That’s all there is to resolving this issue.

    Software: Microsoft Security Essentials – Now Released

    microsoft Microsoft has just released (Today 9/29/09) its PC security software known as “Microsoft Security Essentials”.  The MSE software helps protect your pc against Viruses and other pc malware.  The MSE software is FREE and is in line to go up against offerings from AVG, Avast and others.  MSE is a basic anti-virus/antimalware software package.  This does not have a lot of the bells and whistles of products offered by Symantec or McAfee, but for a standard home user MSE will help add a layer of security to the pc.  MSE is a simple (which most non-techie people will love) and very light weight, meaning that it will not slow down your pc while it scans it, which is a big complaint of the paid products. 

         Microsoft release a very successful beta version a few months ago, in which the beta version downloads (which were limited) were completely exhausted in less than 24 hours. (For the record: I have been running MSE on my pc’s since the release and can comfortably recommend MSE to my non-techie clients or clients looking for anti-virus/anti-malware software that will not slow down the pc).

         Microsoft Security Essentials is for customers using Windows XP (32 bit), Windows Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit) and Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit). Note that MSE will verify if the version of

    Download from:

    Windows XP (32 bit)  http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-xp.exe (http://download NULL.microsoft NULL.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-xp NULL.exe)

    Windows Vista/7 (32 bit) http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-vista-win7.exe (http://download NULL.microsoft NULL.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-vista-win7 NULL.exe)

    Windows Vista/7 (64 bit) http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-amd64fre-en-us-vista-win7.exe (http://download NULL.microsoft NULL.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/mssefullinstall-amd64fre-en-us-vista-win7 NULL.exe)

    How To: Surviving using Windows without a mouse (Keyboard shortcuts)

         microsoft I have run across an issue with a couple of clients recently where due to either virus infection or mouse/pc connection failure we could not get a working mouse on the pc.  I have been around for a while, and I still remember many of the keyboard shortcuts since back in the “old school” days a mouse was not really considered as indispensable as it is today (Anyone remember the Microsoft serial mouse?)
    Microsoft Serial Mouse

         While attending to these clients, the same question kept coming up “You can do that with a keyboard?”, and since I was asked that enough times I figured that I should post the list of Keyboard shortcuts. 

    This list is from Microsoft Article ID: 126449 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449 (http://support NULL.microsoft NULL.com/kb/126449)). I find many of these short cuts faster than reaching over and clicking on my mouse.

    Windows system key combinations
    • F1: Help
    • CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
    • ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
    • ALT+F4: Quit program
    • SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently
    • Windows Logo+L: Lock the computer (without using CTRL+ALT+DELETE)
    Windows program key combinations
    • CTRL+C: Copy
    • CTRL+X: Cut
    • CTRL+V: Paste
    • CTRL+Z: Undo
    • CTRL+B: Bold
    • CTRL+U: Underline
    • CTRL+I: Italic

    Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects

    • SHIFT+right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
    • SHIFT+double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
    • ALT+double click: Displays properties
    • SHIFT+DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

    General keyboard-only commands

    • F1: Starts Windows Help
    • F10: Activates menu bar options
    • SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
    • CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
    • CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
    • CTRL+SHIFT+ESC: Opens Windows Task Manager
    • ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
    • ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
    • SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
    • ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window’s System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
    • ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window’s System menu (from the MDI child window’s System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
    • CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
    • ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
    • ALT+F4: Closes the current window
    • CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
    • ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)
    Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer shortcuts

    For a selected object:

    • F2: Rename object
    • F3: Find all files
    • CTRL+X: Cut
    • CTRL+C: Copy
    • CTRL+V: Paste
    • SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
    • ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object
    To copy a file

    Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.

    To create a shortcut

    Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

    General folder/shortcut control
    • F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)
    • F5: Refreshes the current window.
    • F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer
    • CTRL+G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)
    • CTRL+Z: Undo the last command
    • CTRL+A: Select all the items in the current window
    • BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder
    • SHIFT+click+Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders
    Windows Explorer tree control
    • Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection
    • Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
    • Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.
    • RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child
    • LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent
    Properties control
    • CTRL+TAB/CTRL+SHIFT+TAB: Move through the property tabs
    Accessibility shortcuts
    • Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off
    • Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off
    • Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off
    • Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off
    • Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off
    Microsoft Natural Keyboard keys
    • Windows Logo: Start menu
    • Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box
    • Windows Logo+M: Minimize all
    • SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all
    • Windows Logo+F1: Help
    • Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer
    • Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders
    • Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop
    • CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer
    • CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
    • Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
    • Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box
    • Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item
    Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType software installed
    • Windows Logo+L: Log off Windows
    • Windows Logo+P: Starts Print Manager
    • Windows Logo+C: Opens Control Panel
    • Windows Logo+V: Starts Clipboard
    • Windows Logo+K: Opens Ke
      yboard Properties       dialog box
    • Windows Logo+I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box
    • Windows Logo+A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
    • Windows Logo+SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys
    • Windows Logo+S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off
    Dialog box keyboard commands
    • TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box
    • SHIFT+TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box
    • SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.
    • ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
    • ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
    • ALT+underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

    Tech: You can’t run any .exe files after cleaning viruses off your pc.

    MS logoA friend of mine was working on a laptop that he was asked to clean up after the laptop got infected by viruses.  He was able to clean up the viruses with very little effort, but (there is always a but in these stories, isn’t there!) one of the affects of the clean up is that some of the “opens with” file type associations were gone.  Some viruses are written in such a way that if you clean them out, they will go and cause as much destruction as possible on there way out (Basically a sore loser).

    In my friends case it was the ability to open files that ended in exe that was affected.  What are exe files, well simply almost any file that is used to install, start, or open a program is an exe file (So they are kind of important for the purposes of using your pc).  He would see this message when he tried to open anything that was an .exe file

    exe file fix 0

    The solution for this problem (and of course for every problem there is always a solution), which was not to reinstall windows came in a small registry file that puts all the .exe settings and .exe “open with” file associations back in place.  In case anyone else runs into this issue, here is the file that fixes the issue.  Just click on the folder below to download the file (Because this is a registry file, your pc may alert you to a security warning, just click on allow if it does).

    .EXE fix download (http://cid-8804db538b4de88c NULL.skydrive NULL.live NULL.com/browse NULL.aspx/ NULL.Public/exe%20Fix) (http://cid-8804db538b4de88c.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/exe%20Fix (http://cid-8804db538b4de88c NULL.skydrive NULL.live NULL.com/browse NULL.aspx/ NULL.Public/exe%20Fix)) (http://cid-8804db538b4de88c NULL.skydrive NULL.live NULL.com/self NULL.aspx/ NULL.Public/exe%20Fix?authkey=OSitJlxxXDg%24) )

    Once you download the file (just save to your desktop or other easy to find area), double click the file and you will add a message that says

    exe file fix 1

    (Note where my file says \XPMUser yours will have the name that your signed on to the pc with) click on the yes button.

    You will now see a message that says

    exe file fix 2

    click ok…..and that is all.  You should now be able to open .exe files without being prompted

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