Windows Tips | Technology Blog

Change The Size Of Windows Taskbar Items

January 6th, 2009

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Open windows in the Windows Taskbar are always starting on the left side if the taskbar itself is located at the top or bottom of the computer screen. Each window in the Taskbar has a maximum and minimum size. A few open windows usually means that part of the Windows Taskbar is not displaying anything and that the user has to move the mouse to the left side of the screen to interact with the open windows.

What many users do not know is that it is possible to change the size of each Windows Taskbar item so that all of the space of the taskbar will be used no matter if one or ten windows are open. This option can be activated in the Windows Registry. To go there press [Windows R], type [regedit] and press [enter].

Remove Microsoft Groove Folder Synchronization

December 15th, 2008

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If you have installed Microsoft Office on a computer system you might have installed a module called Microsoft Groove with it. Microsoft Office Groove was designed for document collaboration “in teams with members who are regularly off-line or who do not share the same network security clearance”. The area where most users come in contact with Microsoft Groove is the right-click context menu entry that is added after the installation of Microsoft Office. The Groove Folder Synchronization will appear on right-clicks but also in IE and other areas of Windows Explorer.

The easiest way to remove the Microsoft Groove Folder Synchronization is by uninstalling Microsoft Office Groove. That is the best and most secure way to deal with the entries of that Office module. All you need to do is go into the Windows Control Panel, select Add / Remove programs, click on the Change button in the Microsoft Office 2007 entry, select to add or remove components and to uncheck Groove when the list of components is displayed.

This will uninstall Microsoft Office Groove from the system. Users who simply want to get rid of the context menu entries can do the following instead.

Run Vista

December 4th, 2008

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The Windows System Assessment Tool is being used in Windows Vista to compute the Windows Experience Index of the computer system. The tool is basically running in the background in Windows Vista to benchmark various components of the computer system. It is also possible to run the commands on the command line.

One interesting aspect of winsat.exe is that it can also be launched under Windows XP. It provides the same functionality on that operating system with the exception of the Windows Experience Engine. What you basically get is a benchmarking tool for your computer system developed by Microsoft.

The tool has to be acquired before it becomes available in Windows XP. The easiest way to do that is to download the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor 1.0 and extract the installation package with the Universal Extractor or a similar tool that is capable of that. The other possibility would be to install the Upgrade Advisor and look into the program directory afterwards.

There Are No Active Mixer Devices Available

November 27th, 2008

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The error message “There Are No Active Mixer Devices Available” appeared after clicking on the Volume icon in the Windows System Tray. Audio worked fine before shutting the computer down yesterday and clicking on the icon was one of the first actions of the new day.

MP3 playback was still working but games would not launch anymore stating that no audio devices could be found. A check of the sound hardware in the Control Panel was positive. The audio hardware was listed and reported as working properly.

Next step was to check whether the Windows Audio service was up and running. This was done by pressing [Windows R], typing [services.msc] and hitting [Enter]. The Windows Audio service was set to automatic but not started. That was strange but was solved easily by right-clicking the entry and selecting the [Start] entry from the context menu.

Enable Address Bar In Windows XP SP3

November 19th, 2008

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Microsoft removed the address bar in Windows XP Service Pack 3. The address bar was a toolbar of the Windows Taskbar that worked as a quick launcher for websites and files. There are actually a few possibilities to bring back the address bar in Windows XP Service Pack 3.

The first one is the easiest to accomplish but its results are unfortunately only temporary. Start by moving a folder from the Windows Start Menu to the top of the desktop. If you do it right a new bar should appear on the top of the computer screen.

Right-click that bar and select Toolbars > Address which should add the entry Address at the right side of the bar. You can now access the address functionality there permanently or move the Address Bar back to the Windows Taskbar.

The problem here is that a reboot or log off will remove the address bar again. The advantage of this method is that it does not require the manipulation of system files.

Create Video Card Profiles To Save Power And Reduce Noise

November 5th, 2008

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The following article is a guide to create profiles for the installed video card to optimize it for different applications, namely working on the desktop and gaming. The problem with running a video card in Windows is that the video card will always use the same clock and fan speeds no matter if it is running in 2D desktop mode or 3D gaming mode. This can have the effect that the noise of the video card is a nuisance while working in 2D mode. In addition to that the video card will waste power because it uses the same clock speed that it uses in 3D mode although that speed is usually not needed in 2D mode.

The guide will walk you through creating a 2D and 3D video card profile that will automatically switch the fan speed and the clock speeds of the video card depending on the application that is running on the computer. This generally means low clock and fan speeds in 2D mode and normal (or even faster) clock and fan speeds in 3D mode.

The program that can do all of that is called Rivatuner. It is compatible with both ATI and NVIDIA video cards. The advantage of using Rivatuner is that the software can do everything that we need and works both in 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista.