Tutorials

How to Turn the "Downloads Complete" Alert On or Off in Firefox This tutorial will show you how to turn the "Downloads Complete" pop-up alert notification that displays at the lower right corner of your display when downloads have completed in Firefox. When you click on the All files have finished downloading link in the "Downloads Complete" alert, it will open the Downloads dialog below to show your completed downloads. EXAMPLE: "Downloads Complete" Alert in Firefox Here's How: 1. Open Firefox. 2. In the address bar of Firefox type about:config, and click/tap on the I'll be careful, I promise button. (see screenshot below) 3. Do step 4 or 5 below for what you would like to do. 4. To Turn On "Downloads Complete"...

How to Turn On or Off Notify when Downloads Complete in Internet Explorer This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off to notify when downloads complete with the "View Downloads" pop-up at the bottom of IE9, IE10, and IE11. EXAMPLE: Notify when Downloads Complete in IE9, IE10, and IE11 Turn On or Off IE "Notify when Downloads Complete" using REG File 1. Do step 2 or 3 below for what you would like to do. 2. To Turn On "Notify when Downloads Complete" in IE9, IE10, and IE11 NOTE: This is the default setting. A) Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below. Turn_On_IE_Notify_Download_Complete.reg xxx 3. To Turn Off "Notify when Downloads Complete" in IE9, IE10, and IE11 A)...

How to Turn GPU "Hardware Acceleration" On or Off in Firefox In computing, hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some function faster than is possible in software running on the general-purpose CPU. Examples of hardware acceleration include blitting acceleration functionality in graphics processing units (GPUs) and instructions for complex operations in CPUs. This tutorial will show you how to turn GPU Hardware Acceleration on or off in Firefox. You can revert to default settings by simply following the same steps on this tutorial. Here's How: 1. Click on the orange "Firefox" tab: 2. Click on "Options" and then click on "Options" again: 3. Go to the "Advanced" tab and Deselect "Use hardware...

Here's How: You'll need to download these two applications toward the bottom of the link: Open++ 32-bit or Open++ 64-bit Adds extra functionality to the Context Menu. Features: Open Elevated Command Prompt Copy Path Register/UnRegister Dll Open / Close CD Drive Open any Program / Application NirCmd A Command-Line tool which allows you to run Actions as if you were clicking your mouse or pushing a button using Command-Line Arguments. By combining these Actions with Open++ you get the most versatile and powerful tools to completely revamp your Context Menu and it’s functions. The Context menu has a limit of 128 Commands Using Custom Functions with Open++ Open++ Installs itself into your Context Menu by default. To change the...

How to Create your Own Fan Speed Controller How to Build the Fan Controller This tutorial will show you how to use a Potentiometer (see below) to regulate your fan speed. This will work the same as a commercial fan controller, for a fraction of the cost. The modification will use a Potentiometer, a device with a knob that is used to regulate voltage. The same item is used for volume on speakers, and commercial fan controllers. This project involves soldering and bare wire leads. Always take the appropriate cautions when working with electrical parts. While it may seem very daunting at first, this tutorial is actually extremely simple once you see what to do. Items needed: Potentiometer Multimeter with Ohm measurement...

Introduction Microsoft created Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) to address a very simple problem: Too many PCs today are unprotected with either out-of-date anti-malware products or no anti-malware product at all. Microsoft says there are a number of reasons for this: First, because many new PCs come with only a 30/60/90 day trial security solutions, some users believe they're protected even though the initial subscription period may have ended. Some don't even activate the free, bundled solutions at all. Some--especially those in emerging markets--can't or won't pay for security suites, most of which need to be renewed every year. This tutorial will show you how to download, install, and configure this new free anti-malware...

How to Set Menus to Open to Left or Right Side in Windows 7 and Windows 8 This tutorial will show you how to set all menus (ex: context menu, Menu bar, etc...) to open to the left or right side of where you click at in Windows 7 and Windows 8. If the menu does not have enough room to fully open at the border of the window or display screen, it will compensate and open from the opposite direction of the border instead. This will override whatever side you have the menu set to open on below. EXAMPLE: Right-handed NOTE: Menus open to the left of your hand. EXAMPLE: Left-handed NOTE: Menus open to the right of your hand. Set Menus to Open to Left or Right Side in Tablet PC Settings 1. Open Tablet PC Settings, and click/tap on the...

How to Lock an Unlocked BitLocker Drive Currently, if you unlock a drive that has been locked with Bitlocker, you will need to either restart explorer.exe or reboot your PC. Neither of these appeal to me so I found a way of adding "Lock" to the context menu menu which, when clicked, re-locks the drive. Involves editing the registry. Proceed with care if new to registry editing and back up your registry before hand Here's How: 1. Open Notepad and paste this below in it. NOTE: Replace x: with the drive letter you wish to apply it to. manage-bde -lock x: -ForceDismount 2. Save the file as lock.bat to your desktop, then move it into your C:\Windows folder. 3. Open regedit and navigate to: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell 4...

How to Boot from a CD or DVD in a Windows Virtual PC This will show you how to boot from a CD or DVD in an existing virtual machine, including XP Mode, created in Windows Virtual PC.In a virtual machine you will need to use a ISO of the bootable CD/DVD to boot from instead. If you do not have a ISO of the bootable CD/DVD, then you can use a free program like ISO Recorder or ISODisk to create a ISO from the CD/DVD. Here's How: 1. If the virtual machine is open, then you will need to shut down and close it first. 2. Open the settings of the virtual machine. 3. In the left pane select DVD Drive, then select (dot) Open an ISO image in the right pane. Click on the Browse button and navigate to the location of the ISO file of the...

How to Expand a Virtual Hard Disk of a Virtual Machine in VMware Player Expanding a virtual hard disk adds storage space to the virtual machine. When you expand a virtual hard disk, the added space is not immediately available to the virtual machine. To make the added space available, you must use a disk management tool to increase the size of the existing partition on the virtual hard disk to match the expanded size. The disk management tool that you use depends on the virtual machine guest operating system. Many operating systems, including Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and some versions of Linux, provide built-in disk management tools that can resize partitions. For example, Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) for a...

How to Enable or Disable Prerendering in Google Chrome Browser When a website is confident about predicting what link you might click next, the site can tell Google Chrome to pre-load, or "prerender," the links, so the page loads instantly when you click it. For example, when you’re browsing a blog, you might click “next post” when you’re done reading. The blog can tell Google Chrome to pre-load the “next post,” so the page shows instantly when you click it. When you're typing a web address in the omnibox (address bar and search bar combined), if Chrome has high confidence with which site you're likely to visit based on your local history, Chrome will begin to prerender that page. This will make the page show up faster when you hit...

How to Reschedule or Disable Google Updater If your a regular user or someone who doesn't use intensive applications then you may not get so much out of this tutorial. This was created with gamers and users of other intensive applications in mind. However the application can interrupt what your doing to ask your permission before updating an installed program.WARNING: Disabling updates here will also prevent updates of any new Google applications released in the future, possibly including dependencies for future versions of installed applications. So it is better to disable the individual applications as shown below. You will need to download the Google Update Administrative Template for the Local Group Policy Editor: here...

How to Restore Default Windows Firewall Settings in Windows 7 and Windows 8 This will show you how to undo all of the changes you have made to the Windows Firewall settings and restore them back to the original default settings in Windows 7 and Windows 8.Restoring the default settings removes all of the Windows Firewall settings that you have made up to that point, for all network (Public and Private) location types. This might cause some programs that you have allowed through the firewall to stop working. EXAMPLE: Default Windows Firewall Settings NOTE: These are the On or Off, and notification settings. EXAMPLE: Default Windows Firewall Exceptions Settings NOTE: These are the program exceptions that are allowed through Windows...

Open Windows DISKPART at System Startup This is an outline of the methods to boot (start) the PC to open DISKPART so you can manipulate the Solid State Drive (SSD) or Hard Disk Drive (HDD) partitions before you start an installation or for any other reason. Let's get started! Windows 7 Full Installer 1) In the BIOS set the boot order to boot first from the CD/DVD Drive, insert the Windows 7 instalation DVD and restart the PC, at the first black/screen hit the space bar for the "Press any key ... " prompt, then at the "Language" screen hold the "Shift" key and hit the F10 hot-key to open a command window. click any image to enlarge 2) In the command window that opens type diskpart <enter> to get started. To close the command...

How to Install Vista Drivers on Windows 7 Often, especially on 64 bit systems, Windows 7 will not install Vista drivers correctly first time, due to it not reporting itself properly. You end up with XP drivers that don't work. This tutorial will show you how to fix that. When the Drivers are in a Setup File This method should be used whenever you have a "setup file" or .exe extension to run to install the drivers. Leave the device unplugged while doing this (Unless the drivers are stored on the device, for instance a Mobile Phone) If you have already installed the Incorrect Drivers, then do a System Restore, or Restore a System Image, to the point before you installed the drivers, otherwise this won't work. 1. Right Click the...

How to Import and Export Bookmarks in Google Chrome Browser This tutorial will show you how to export (backup) and import (restore) your bookmarks in Google Chrome. Google Chrome bookmarks are exported to a HTML file. You can also import this HTML file into another browser than just Google Chrome. Chrome saves it's bookmarks as a Bookmarks file in the hidden folder location below. C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default To Export Your Bookmarks from Google Chrome Browser 1. In Chrome, click/tap on the Chrome menu button, click/tap on Bookmarks and Bookmark manager. (see screenshot below) 2. Click/tap on the Organize menu button. (see screenshot below) 3. Click/tap on Export bookmarks to HTML file...

How to Turn the Bookmarks Bar On or Off in Google Chrome The bookmarks bar contains all your bookmarks and bookmark folders created or imported in Google Chrome. This tutorial will show you how to turn the bookmarks bar on or off to display under the address bar in Google Chrome. Google Chrome saves your bookmarks as the Bookmarks file in the hidden folder below. You could open the file in notepad to see it's contents. C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default EXAMPLE: "Bookmarks Bar" in Google Chrome Browser Turn Chrome "Bookmarks Bar" On or Off using Keyboard Shortcut 1. In Chrome, press the Ctrl+Shift+B keys to toggle the bookmarks bar on or off. Turn Chrome "Bookmarks Bar" Off from Bookmarks Bar...

How to Change the Default Download Location in Google Chrome This tutorial will show you how to change the default download location that Google Chrome saves at to be where you like. You could also specify to have Google Chrome ask where to save each file before downloading. Here's How: 1. In Chrome, click/tap on the Chrome menu button, and click/tap on Settings. (see screenshot below) 2. In the Settings tab, scroll down to the bottom, and click/tap on the Show advanced settings link. (see screenshot below) 3. Scroll down more, and under Downloads, click/tap on the Change button. (see screenshot below) 4. Navigate to and select a folder or library that you would like to be the default download location, and click/tap on...

How to Import Firefox Bookmarks into Internet Explorer Favorites This will show you how to import your Firefox Bookmarks into your Internet Explorer Favorites. Here's How: 1. Open Firefox, and click on Bookmarks (Menu bar) and on Show All Bookmarks. (see screenshot below) NOTE: You could also press Ctrl+Shift+B in Firefox instead. 2. In the Firefox Library window, select All Bookmarks in the left pane, click on the Import and Backup toolbar button, then click on Export HTML. (see screenshot below) 3. Navigate to your Desktop, type in a name (ex: Firefox_Bookmarks), then click on the Save button. (see screenshot below) NOTE: This HTML file is your Firefox bookmarks. 4. Close both the Firefox and Firefox Library windows...

How to Enable or Disable Point to Select using Single-click to Open an Item This will show you how to enable or disable selecting a item by hovering the mouse pointer over it (point to select) when you have Folder Options set to Single-click to Open an Item in Windows 7. Credit goes to our member Msafi for finding this and bringing it to my attention.A side effect of disabling point to select is that a taskbar icon's thumbnail previews (if using a Aero theme) for it's open window will not display automatically since it cannot be selected automatically anymore. A workaround for this is to either: Use the Windows Key + T and Windows Key + Shift + T shortcut keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar, and press Enter to open the...