How to disable the sound in Windows XP:

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices
2. Click the Sounds tab
3. Scroll down the list under Program Events. Under the Windows Explorer section, highlight Start Navigation.
4. Under the Sounds box, select (None) > OK, close Control Panel

How to disable the sound in Windows Vista:

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Sound
2. Click the Sounds tab
3. Scroll down the list under Program. Under the Windows Explorer section, highlight Start Navigation.
4. Under the Sounds box, select (None) > OK, close Control Panel

At this point the sounds should be disabled and you will not have to endure that annoyance anymore.

]]> http://www.techsopa.com/windows/how-to-disable-the-clicking-sound-in-windows-explorer-and-internet-explorer/feed/ 2 http://www.techsopa.com/windows/aim-works-but-internet-explorer-and-firefox-do-not-in-vista/ http://www.techsopa.com/windows/aim-works-but-internet-explorer-and-firefox-do-not-in-vista/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 19:59:24 +0000 paulito75 http://www.techsopa.com/?p=271 Problem:

All indications say your computer is connected to the internet but Internet Explorer(IE) and Firefox (FF) can not display any web pages. Curiously enough, AIM or some other chat client does work.

Solution:

I have seen this issue twice and both times the problem was Norton Internet Security. The solution is to uninstall Norton completely using the Norton Removal Tool. When you visit the link, it will ask you to select your version of Norton, I did not know the version at the time so I just picked Norton 2008 and it worked just fine.

If you purchased Norton, remove it and burn it (Just kidding), after you click on your version it will show you how to save your product key. The Removal tool can be downloaded in step 3 on the same page. Just as a note, the download section didn’t play well with Firefox or Chrome so use IE if the download doesn’t work.

Other Notes and Observations:

What lead me to Norton was the fact that I was not able to open the Norton Internet Security Application and there was no real sign that Norton was installed other then seeing it’s services running in Services Viewer (Task Manager).

When I tried to uninstall Norton using the Add/Remove utility it produced some errors.

TreeSizeFree – 1MB, Developed by Jam Software

This is a very simple tool that allows you to get a visual idea of how your disk space is being used.

Here are installations instructions:

Download the installation file from here.

1.Double-click the TreeSizeSetup.exe file to begin the installation process.

2.Click Run

3.Click Next

4.Click Next to use the default installation path or modify to change the location.

5.Click Next to accept the default Icons or modify the selections to your desire.

6.Click Finish to complete the installation and Launch TreeSize Free for the first time.

At this point TreeSize Free is installed. When this window opens it will start the process of scanning the file system. This may take a few minutes depending on the size of your hard disk and the amount of used disk space.

The screenshot above shows the simplicity of the program. It shows the file system in a tree view similar to what you find in a Windows Explorer Window. The disk space used is indicated by the blue horizontal bar that is in the background of each folder. The example above you can see that Documents and Settings is responsible for approx. 14,029 Megabytes of data. You could expand the Documents and Settings folder by clicking on the + icon to the left of the folder to see the reported usage of it’s subfolders.

The Highlighted area’s in the Menu section are useful options. You can change the way the used space is reported. In the screen shot it is displayed in numerical amounts however you could click on the % button to change that to be viewed as Percentage of Disk used. You could also change the unit of measurement such as GB (Gigabytes) if you so desired.

One of the best features of this free tool is that by default, it adds a contextual menu entry. Meaning that when you right-click on a folder you can select TreeSize Free and it will analyze the folder you are in. I have found this to be very useful when I needed to find out the size of subfolders in a specific location.

It turns out that it was connected to a malware/spyware program called Relevant Knowledge.  It tracks online purchases.

SOLUTION:

Boot into SafeMode

1. Restart your computer
2. Press F8 repeatedly as your computer is booting up.
3. You will be presented with Windows Advanced Boot Option, choose SafeMode using your arrow keys.
4. Press Enter to boot into SafeMode
5. The computer will bring you to the SafeMode login screen, login as usual.

Uninstall the Relevant Knowledge program

1. Click on the start button
2. In the Start Search field, type: Programs and Features and press enter.
3. You will be presented with the Programs and Features Uninstall or Change a program screen.
4. Find the entry for Relevant Knowledge and select it
5. Click the Uninstall button at the top of the list.
6. The program will uninstall.

At this point the program is uninstalled and you should reboot your computer.  However, it is a good idea to run a malware scan on your computer to make sure everything is cleaned out completely.  If this spyware/malware was installed on your computer, more than likely you have more unwanted spyware.  

Reboot you computer in SafeMode with Networking if you are going to proceed with the recommended options step below.

Recommended Optional Step

Download and Install MalwareBytes’ and scan your computer.  It is a free Anti-Malware application that does not contain any spyware.  I have used it many times before to clean and/or fix infected computers.

1. Download Malwarebytes’
2. Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
3. Place check marks next to Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and LaunchMalwarebytes’ Anti-Malware.
4. Click Finish
5. If an  update was found, it will download and install it.
6. Select Perform quick scan, then click Scan.
7. When the scan is complete, click OK and Show Results to view.
8. Be sure that eveything is checked and click Remove Selected.
9. The log will open in notepad.
10. Done..

Join the forum discussion on this post

An .XPS file is Mircosoft’s electronic paper format.  Similar to a .PDF file, same concept.

How can I open the .xps file so that I can print it?

The easiest way is to install an XPS viewer.  Microsoft was gracious enough have created such an application.  (not sure why they just didn’t just make it as easy as a .PDF)

Download the Microsoft XPS Viewer here:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/viewxps.mspx

1. Download and install the XPS viewer by clicking on link labeled “Download the Microsoft XPS Viewer“

2. Run the installation and follow the instructions.

Give it a try… you should be able to view the .XPS file and print it to real paper.

Example:
# top -b -i >output.file 

The following are a few of the available options and was taken from man top,

-b : Batch mode operation

Starts top in ‘Batch mode’, which could be useful for sending out-
put from top to other programs or to a file. In this mode, top
will not accept input and runs until the iterations limit you’ve
set with the ‘-n’ command-line option or until killed.

-i : Idle Processes toggle

Starts top with the last remembered ‘i’ state reversed. When this
toggle is Off, tasks that are idled or zombied will not be dis-
played.

-p : Monitor PIDs as: -pN1 -pN2 … or -pN1, N2 [,...]

Monitor only processes with specified process IDs. This option
can be given up to 20 times, or you can provide a comma delimited
list with up to 20 pids. Co-mingling both approaches is permitted.

I hope this helps

See the Original Authors (mawalien) topic post in the Linux Forum. 

If you are looking to decrease the boot time for Ubuntu 8.10, Mawalien provides some great tips on how to do so.

Just some quick tips on what I did on my new Ubuntu 8.10 system. (Related to speeding up the system a little bit)

1 – Boot menu timeout

Edit ‘/boot/grub/menu.lst’ and look for the line starting with ‘timeout’. This is the number of seconds the menu system will wait before booting the default operating system. (I set this to 2 seconds.)

2 – Boot Speed

When the boot menu appears select the default Ubuntu boot option and press ‘e’.
On the line with ‘kernel’, press ‘e’ again. (You’re now editing the boot parameters) Press “space” and add the word ‘profile’. Press “return” followed by ‘b’ to boot. Disk access during your boot sequence will now be profiled, which means that subsequent booting should be faster.

3 – Services

Disable the services you don’t need by opening the Services window from the System>Administration menu.
I usually disable stuff I don’t need like Bluetooth. Be careful not to disable services you rely on. If you don’t know what to disable DON’T TOUCH THIS!!!

Services I disabled:

apmd – If your PC/laptop is newer than 2003, you can disable this, as acpi service does everything this one does
atd – scheduler – I use cron, so it’s disabled
bluez-utiles – bluetooth – I dont use it
cupsys – Printer management
dns-clean – used for dial up. I use cable
gdomap – this one i have always turned off. I can’t remeber why, but it has never affected my system.
hplip – HP printer imaging service.
ifrename – only useful if you have more than 1 wifi and 1 wired network card.
mdamd + mdamd-raid – Only useful for RAID devices.
ppp and ppp-dns – Only useful for dial-up
sudo – used for checking sudo status. After disabling, SU and SUDO still works.

I have disabled some other services, but they are very specific, and work on my Vaio. I won’t post them here, in case someone breaks something.

4 – Processes + CPU cycles

If you want to find a process on your system that’s using a lot of CPU cycles, then you can terminate the process to get those cycles back. Save all your work, and use the Ubuntu process manager. This is part of the System Monitor tool, and this can be opened from the System>Administration menu.
Post comments below. 

Comments ? Please post your comments below.

Questions ? Please post any questions in the Forum. ]]> http://www.techsopa.com/linux/optimizing-ubuntu-810-boot-speed/feed/ 1 http://www.techsopa.com/gaming/workaround-for-world-of-warcrafts-trial-client-connection-error/ http://www.techsopa.com/gaming/workaround-for-world-of-warcrafts-trial-client-connection-error/#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:26:00 +0000 paulito75 http://www.techsopa.com/?p=108 I finally decided to check out World of Warcraft and find out what all the hype is all about.  I registered my trial account and downloaded the TryWoW.exe.  When I launched the TryWoW.exe client downloader and accepted the agreement I received this.

Failed to read information from the Internet.
Please close all applications and try again.

I opened the ports suggested by WoW’s Supoort Pages…

The Blizzard Downloader requires that TCP ports 3724 and 6112 be forwarded to your computer. It can also benefit from having ports 6881 through 6999 forwarded.

How to configure your firewall:
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21072

How to configure your router:
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21073

and still received the same message.

This solution has worked for most however not for everyone. It is worth going through the following steps because chances are that it will solve the problem. I would also suggest reading through the reader comments as they offer other ideas on how to fix the issues if the following solution does not work.

I have created a forum for the WoW to make it easier to find or share solutions to this issue. If you have a solution that has worked for you please share it with the rest of the WoW community.

WoW Woes Forum

Solution:  (see note at the end of this post for updated info)

Update your HOSTS file with an IP Address that resolves to a WoW client server.

• Add this to your hosts file,
  12.129.232.131 us.version.worldofwarcraft.com
• If the above IP address does not work, find an IP address to use. Don’t forget to return to this step after you find an IP address.
• Try this IP for GB versions,
  12.129.232.131 gb.version.wow-europe.com

This is how I did in Vista,

1. Click the Start button
2. Click All Programs
3. Click on Accessories
4. Right-Click Notepad and select Run as Administrator.

When Notepad opens,

5. Click File from the menu bar
6. Click Open… and navigate to, C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc
   
7. Select the file type to show All Files (*.*)
8. Select hosts
9. Click Open
   
10. Enter, 12.129.232.131 us.version.worldofwarcraft.com in a new line.
11. Click File > Save, to save the file.
12. Try the install again by clicking the TryWoW.exe and accepting the Agreement again.

NOTES:

• This is a temporary workaround until WoW fixes the issue.
• This should also work for the Full Client Downloader.

UPDATES:

• Some have been able to fix the problem by flushing the DNS cache.
  Run the Command Prompt as Administrator and type:
  ipconfig /flushdns
  You will see this when it has flushed successfully.
  Windows IP Configuration

  Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

• If the entry 12.129.232.131 us.version.worldofwarcraft.com does not work, remove it from the HOSTS file and try this one,12.129.232.127 us.version.worldofwarcraft.com

• How to find an IP address that might work.
  Open a command prompt and type,
  ping us.version.worldofwarcraft.com
  and hit enter.

  You will get something similar to this,

  

  Update the Hosts file using the IP address that is in the brackets [ ], it might not be the same as the one shown above.

• How to edit the HOSTS file in Mac OS X

  Using OS X’s graphical interface:

  1. Open Finder.

  2. In the Go menu, select “Go to Folder”

  3. Type /etc for the folder name.

  4. In the list of files that appears, find the hosts file. Double click it to open it in a text editor.

  5. Add a new entry using the same format as shown previously (ipaddress hostname)

  On unix-based systems, as well as OS X’s terminal, you can find the hosts file at /etc/hosts. It’s a good idea to flush the dns cache after updating the hosts file so a simple reboot should do the trick.

1. The Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service is not running.

2. The Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service is not installed on you system.

The WZC service is normally pre-installed on Laptops sold by the major manufacturers otherwise it is not installed by default.

Solution 1: Start the WZC Service

Start the WZC service using the windows services management console.  If the WZC service is not listed, then move on to Solution 2, Install the Wireless Zero Configuration service.

1. Click Start
   
2. Click Run
   
3. Type services.msc in the text box
4. Click OK to open the Services Console.
   
   If you see that the WZC service is listed and is not started then,
5. Right Click the Wireless Zero Configuration service and select properties.
   
   
6. Make sure the Startup type is set to Automatic and click the Start Button to start the process.
7. Press OK.

This will enable the service and you should now see the Wireless Networks Tab in the properties of the wireless network adapter.

Solution 2: Install the Wireless Configuration Service

Now to install the Wireless Zero Configuration service on your system, just follow the procedure outline below:

1. Click the Start button
2. Double-Click Control Panel
   
3. In the Control Panel window, if you’re in
   • Category View, then double-click the Network and Internet Connections icon
   • Classic View, click on the Network Connections icon and skip to step five.
4. In the Network and Internet Connections window, under the Control Panel icon, double-click the Network Connections icon.
5. Right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties from the context menu.
6. In the Local Area Connections Properties window, on the General tab, click the Install button.
7. Click to select the “Service” icon.
8. Click the Add button.
9. In the Select Network Service window, click the Have Disk button.
10. Click the OK button.
11. Click the Browse button.
12. In the Locate File window, browse to the C:\Windows\Inf folder (this is a hidden folder).
13. Click to select NETWZC.INF.
14. Click the Open button.
15. Click the OK button.
16. In the Select Network Service window, in the Network Service box, select Microsoft as the manufacturer, and then click to select Wireless Zero Configuration.
17. Click the OK button.
18. Reboot your System.

After rebooting your system, you should find that the Wireless Zero Configuration service has been successfully installed on your system and you should now have access to the Wireless Networks tab.

“This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer.  Please contact your system administrator.”

Even when you are the Administrator of the PC and have not changed any security related settings the error still shows up.

This saw this happen when a customer had, in order..

1. installed Firefox 3.0 and made it the “Default Web Browser.”
2. Created a new User Profile
3. Configured Outlook 2007

Solution:

These are the steps I took to fix the problem,

Change the default Web Browser to back to Internet Explorer using the “Set Program Access and Defaults” tool.

1. Click on Start
   
2. Click on Set Program Access and Defaults
   
3. Select and Expand the Custom section, Select Internet Explorer.
   
4. Press OK to accept and close the tool.
5. Start Outlook and click on the URL to verify that it now works with Internet Explorer.
6. Close Outlook
7. Click on Start
   
8. Click on Set Program Access and Defaults
   
9. Select and Expand the Custom section and this time Select Mozilla Firefox.
10. Start Outlook again and click on the URL to verify that it now works with Firefox.
11. Done

At this point, Clicking on any URL in emails should work.