If you receive an error stating MozMAPI32.dll cannot be written to while installing or upgrading Thunderbird, do you use Logitech products? Check the background processes for QuickCam.exe. Kill that process and installation should complete.
Posts By: tim
Win Tip: Block SP upgrades in XP or Vista for 1 year
If you want to wait until you’re sure that all the bugs are out of the latest Windows service pack for your OS, you can use a registry entry to block the automatic installation. 1. Open up Notepad and copy the following: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] “DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000001 2. Save the text file and rename it to “Block Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it. Note: This registry entry will only… Read more »
Office Tip: Enable/Disable proofing
From time to time a user may have disabled Word’s built in proofing (spelling and grammar checking). To re-enable it, highlight all the words in the document, goto the REVIEW tab and select Set Language. You will likely see a checked checkbox labeled Do not check spelling or grammar. Removing this check will re-enable the proofing on this document only. To re-enable for all new documents by default, click on the button labeled Default.. Click YES and you’re… Read more »
Office 2003 Tip: Clear Recently Used Docs List
Microsoft Access, Excel, Photo Draw, Power Point, and Word: 1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab. 2. Clear the Recently used files check box, and then click OK. 3. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab. 4. Select the Recently used files check box, and then click OK. (Toggling the setting off then back on again removes the MRU… Read more »
Vista Tip: Enable Ping Replies
In Windows Vista, how do I configure the firewall to allow pings? Windows Vista includes Windows Firewall and enables that firewall by default. The graphical interface to the firewall settings does not include an option to respond to pings. To allow Vista to respond to pings without disabling the entire firewall, follow these steps: Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, from the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator. Enter: netsh firewall… Read more »
Office Tip: Clear recently used docs in Office Apps
Clearing the lists of recently used documents in Windows and in Microsoft Office Applications Windows will show recently saved documents on the Start menu under either My Recent Documents (in Windows XP with the default XP Start menu), or Documents (in all other versions of Windows). Office will also show those documents near the bottom of the File menu of each program, above the Exit command. Follow the appropriate steps to remove these lists… Read more »
Vista Tip: Disabling UAC
This is the cure for toshiba laptops going black after bootup. (Originally posted at http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm ) Option #4 is probably the easiest to try to explain over the phone. This is the cause of black screens after login on Toshiba laptops running Windows Vista!! Although UAC clearly improves the security on Windows Vista, under some scenarios you might want to disable it, for example when giving demos in front of an audience… Read more »
Vista Tip: Change Lid and Shutdown default actions
Change the Windows Vista Power Buttons to Shut Down The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody. You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut. Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following… Read more »
Gmail Tip: search for unread emails
If you’re anything like me, you often end up with a lot of extra “spam” type mail from mailing lists, etc, that you don’t end up reading. To quickly find unread messages, simply search for “is:unread” in the search box. You can also double this up to find only unread messages in the inbox by… Read more »
LU Tip: change your own samba password for fileserver1
From time to time, a users SMB password will expire for fileserver1, while the normal user password will still work for FTP/SSH. This occurs because it is also tied to the storm server. In Thunder Bay, you can log into a storm account, change your password and be on your merry way. In Orillia however,… Read more »
Hardware Tip: Set Linksys PAP2 to autodial when taken off-hook
It’s so easy! Just go into the Admin Settings -> Advanced View -> Line # -> Dial Plan and make it just P0<:number> That’s it!
Linux Tips: Setting aliases for frequent strings and commands
This was a great link that sums up creating aliases in your ~/.bashrc file for commonly used commands, with a few good ideas to boot: TechRepublic.com: 10 handy bash aliases
Firefox 3 Tip: Set Gmail as default email
Using this information from the Gmail Blog, you can set all mailto: links to open in gmail! http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/power-tip-set-gmail-as-your-default.html
FireFox 3 Tip: Turn off address bar history
Here is how to turn off this annoying feature: Type “about:config” (without the quotation marks) into the location bar Click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button Filter “browser.urlbar.maxRichResults” Double click the row and reset the value to “0″ Close Firefox and re-open it. Until you do, 1 URL will keep showing.
Office 2007 Tip: Pin Files to the Recent Docs Menu
Office 2007 makes the Recent Documents list more efficient by allowing you to pin your regularly used documents to the list so that they aren’t removed from the list. This saves you from needlessly hunting for your important Excel, Word, and/or PowerPoint documents. Click the Office Button in the upper-left corner of your Office program… Read more »
FireFox Tip: Smaller Toolbar Icons
In both Firefox 3 and Firefox 2, you can shrink your toolbar icons quickly. Right click toolbar Goto customize Check “Use Small Icons” Voila!
Voicemail Tip: Set an expiry date for away messages
To set an expiration date on a temporary greeting… To record the greeting: While logged in to your mailbox, press 82. Press 3 for TEMPORARY greeting. Press 5 to record. Wait for the tone, then record. Press # to end your recording. Press 9 to set the expiration date so you don’t have to delete… Read more »
gCal Tip: Set Default View
If you’re constantly selecting a different view of your calendar instead of using the default, then you should change the default view to one that better suits your needs. That way, you’ll always see what you want each time you view your calendar. Go to Google Calendar. Click the Settings link in the upper right… Read more »
Gcal Tip: Reset Private URLs
Have you shared your Google Calendar’s private address with someone who you no longer want seeing your events? Here’s how to reset the private address so they can’t keep tabs on you. Go to your Google Calendar. On the left side of the page, go to My Calendars. Click the dropdown arrow next to the… Read more »
Google Reader Tip: Shared Items
Google Reader’s Shared Items Page allows you to share the various gems you find as you browse the RSS feeds with everyone else. You can give your page a style to have it better fit your interests. Go to Google Reader and login to your account. From the menu, expand Your stuff and select Shared… Read more »