Date: July 25th, 2007

Author: Greg Shultz

Windows XP provides a host of fonts that you can use to enhance your documents both onscreen and in printed form. When you install certain applications, you’ll find that even more fonts have been added to your operating system. Even so, you may still have a longing for more fonts.

Check out Dafont, which offers a huge repository of fonts available as freeware, shareware, demo versions, or public domain, that you can download and install at will. If you know what you want, you’ll appreciate the fact that the fonts are sorted alphabetically, by author, and by themes. If you’re just browsing, check out the new fonts and top 100 sections. viagra discount What makes this site even more intriguing is that you can type in your own text and see what it looks like in any of the available fonts.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.

Date: September 9th, 2007

Author: Greg Shultz

Everybody likes a good Windows XP tip — something that eliminates an annoyance, streamlines a task, or offers useful customization of a particular feature. Of course, not all tips are ideal for all people, so it’s nice when a bunch of them are pulled together so you can pick and choose. That’s the goal of this download, which provides a healthy assortment of tricks we thought might come in handy. And for those who’d rather zero in on just certain tips on the site, here’s a list of links to enable you to jump straight to items of interest:

I spend a lot of time copying and moving files between folders. More often than not, when I click on a file in Explorer, I want to copy or move it to another folder. That means I spend a good deal of time dragging files around or copying and pasting them.

But with a Registry hack, you can save yourself time: you can add Copy To Folder and Move To Folder viagra directions for use options to the right-click context menu. When you choose one of the options from the menu, you browse to any place on your hard disk to copy or move the file to, and then send the file there.

To add the option, run the Registry Editor [Hack #68] and go to

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

shellex tells you it's a shell extension key that lets you customize the user shell or the interface.

Create a new key called Copy To

Set the value to

{C2FBB630-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Create another new key called Move To

Set the value to

{C2FBB631-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Exit the Registry. The changes should take effect immediately. The Copy To Folder and Move To Folder options will appear. When you right-click on a file and choose one of the options, you'll be able to move or copy the file using a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 3-20.

Figure 3-20. Specifying a destination using the Copy To Folder option

Date: June 5th, 2007

Author: Scott Lowe

This information is also available as a PDF download.

Recently, TechRepublic published a list of Vista services and identified which ones can safely be disabled. Now, the question becomes this: How do you actually disable services in Vista? If you know how to manage services in Windows XP or other versions of Windows, this tutorial won’t add too much knowledge to your repertoire, but if you’ve avoided services for fear of a serious snafu, this information will be right up your alley.

The Services control panel

All service management in Vista is handled through the Services Control Panel applet. How you get to the Services applet depends on how you have chosen to view the Control Panel in Vista. If you’re using a fresh-out-of-the-box Vista installation, you probably haven’t made many changes to how things work and are using Vista’s new Control Panel view. In this case, follow these steps:

Figure A: Vista’s Control Panel page

Figure B: System And Maintenance options on the Control Panel

1. On the System And Maintenance page, click Administrative Tools.
2. From the Administrative Tools page (Figure C), double-click on the Services option.

Figure C: The Administrative Tools Control Panel options

1. When prompted by User Access Control to verify that opening the Services Control Panel applet is allowed, click the Continue button. If you are not prompted, you have either disabled User Access Control or are logged in with an account that does not have the ability to run with administrative privileges.
2. You should now be at the Services Control Panel applet, shown in Figure D.

Figure D: The Services control panel applet

Managing services

In the Services applet, take note of the Status and Startup Type entries next to each service. When a service is running, it will be listed as Started in the status column. If the Status column next to a service is blank, it means that the service is not running. When it comes to the Startup Type column, each service can have only one of four possible states:

• Automatic: The service starts automatically when the system boots. If a service is no longer required, it will stop but may still be set to Automatic.
• Automatic (Delayed Start): Similar to Automatic, but the service may not start immediately at system boot. This service option is new in Windows Vista and can help reduce the resources needed to start a system, since not all required services need to be crammed into memory all at once.
• Manual: The service starts and stops when necessary or starts when initiated by the user.
• Disabled: The service never runs, regardless of the need.

Be aware that there is a big difference between a service simply not running and a service being set to Disabled. Only when a service is actually disabled can you be sure that it will never run. If a service is set to Manual, it can still run when the system calls for it.

Disabling a service

Once you’ve identified the service you want to disable, actually disabling it isn’t too difficult. Follow these steps:

1. Double-click on the name of the service to open the Properties page for the individual service.
2. Locate the Startup Type list, shown in Figure E.

Figure E: Change the Startup Type to Disabled

1. Click the down arrow next to the Startup Type box and choose the Disabled option.
2. Click the OK button.

When you are finished, you’ll see that the Startup Type column status for your selected service has been modified. Figure F shows you the results of this example.

Figure F: The service is now disabled

Summary

Depending on what you need to do, disabling unnecessary services in Vista can help your system boot faster and run better. The steps we outlined here will help guide you through the process.

Have you ever formatted your hard drive and installed a fresh copy of Windows? I know I have several times. Everyone will have to go through that process from time to time and it can be quite a hassle. Well, today, I have a free download for you that will save you a ton of time the next time you need to reinstall Windows. The program is called DriverMax and it will eliminate some of your worst headaches!

DriverMax does something that I have never seen before. It can create an archive of all your device drivers. By doing that, you don't have to worry about hunting down disks and downloads for all of viagra 100mg dosage the hardware on your computer. You simply run DriverMax, click Export Drivers, select the drivers you want to backup and then let it work its magic. DriverMax will save all of those hard to find device drivers for you in one folder. You can then store them on a flash drive or burn them to a disk so that you will never have to search for them again!

Then after you format and reinstall Windows, simply insert the disk or flash drive that holds your drivers. You can then tell your computer to look on the flash drive or CD for the missing drivers. If you want to make it even easier on yourself, you can reinstall DriverMax on your computer after you're done and have it install the drivers for you. After installing DriverMax, simply click Import and tell it where to locate the drivers file. It will then handle the rest!

I love this program and I only wish I would have found it sooner. It would have saved me so much time!

You can read more about DriverMax and download it for yourself right here.

Note: This program has a free registration process. You will be required to provide an e-mail address to be able to access the program. Also, it's compatible with Windows XP and Vista only. Enjoy!