Tips & Tricks

How to solve common AutoComplete problems in IE7

AutoComplete is a feature that you have surely encountered in Internet Explorer and its purpose is to list the possible matches from entries that you've typed before. This applies to web pages, registration forms, user names and passwords that you fill with your personal identification details.

The most common issues with AutoComplete are related to the decisions you make regarding its prompting message. When typing your username and password to login on a webpage such as Yahoo Mail or GMail, you can do one or both of these actions:

  • Check the option "Don't offer to remember any more passwords" and then realize that you miss this feature and you want the message to appear again.
  • Or

  • When loading a webpage that requires your username and password, if you click on the "No" button, then come back later and click again on "No", the AutoComplete prompt will stop showing up for that page. However, there is a chance that you will later realize that you might want to save that password.

In this short tutorial I will show you how to quickly overpass these problems.

Want larger Quick Launch icons in the Taskbar?

In some of our previous articles we have shown you how to change the size of fonts or icons. Since then, many of our readers asked us how they could change the size of their Quick Launch icons and make them bigger. To answer their question, I did a little bit of testing and managed to write this tutorial. As you will see, making your Quick Launch icons larger is quite easy.

Speed Up Windows Explorer by disabling Thumbnail Previews

Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of your pictures and videos. Their role is to allow you to quickly scan and recognize them while browsing your computer. However, each time you use Windows Explorer, it will spend some time to generate them. Depending on the configuration of your PC and the number of files, this process can be slower or faster. So, if you have an old PC or you just want to make Windows Explorer as snappier as possible, one good tip is to disable Thumbnail Previews.

Disable User Account Control (UAC) for certain Windows Vista applications

There are applications that need administrative permission in order to work properly. Some applications might need access to special system resources, some may have been designed only for Windows XP and do not work that well on Windows Vista, or some may have different bugs and problems. Running them as an administrator will help these applications run without problems. However, each time you start such an application you will see an UAC (User Account Control) prompt asking for your permission to launch it.

This is the reason why many people choose to disable UAC. However, by eliminating the annoying UAC prompts they also lower the security of their system. Fortunately, there is a way to keep UAC turned on and, at the same time, eliminate the prompts for certain applications. In this guide we will show you how to do the following: set an application to always run as an administrator (if needed), create a UAC fix for it that turns off the prompts for that application and install/uninstall the fix.

The 9 commandments for an enjoyable computing experience

Buying yourself a new computer or a new operating system is very easy. It is more 'difficult' to learn what to do so that you will have a pleasant and safe computing experience. In this article I will share with you a few tips that I have learned during my career. This tips are mostly for people who have just bought a new PC or have reinstalled their operating system. Following them will help you keep your system performance at good levels and have a lesser risk of losing your personal files and folders in case of system crashes. Also, you will be able to easily restore your system if any emergency happens.

Windows Explorer Tips & Tricks

Windows Vista introduced a big number of changes to many applications, including Windows Explorer. In this article I will show you a few cool trips & tricks that can help when working with a large number of files. If you know other useful tips and tricks don't hesitate to share it with us in a comment.

Move your user files and folders to another partition

One of the best tips i have learned since the beginning of my career in IT is to never keep my personal files and folders (such as My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, etc) in their default locations. In Windows Vista, all the personal folders are stored on the drive where the operating system is installed. For example, if your user is called "George" and you installed Windows Vista on the "C:" drive, your personal files and folders will be stored by default in "C:\Users\George\". By leaving them in their default location, each time you have problems with the operating system there is a risk that you might lose them. If something happens and you need to format the "C:" drive that means all your documents, music, pictures, etc will be lost.

To avoid such problems you can always move them and store everything on a separate partition. This way, you can format the "C:" drive and reinstall the operating system how many times you need without risking your data. As a general advice, it is always better to keep on your "C:" drive only the operating system and the applications you use. All of your data, including documents or saved games should be kept on a separate partition.

In this tutorial we will show you how to move your personal files and folders to other partitions.

How to change the font size in Windows Vista

Some people might have problems reading the text of the icons and menus in Windows Vista. The font size can be too small and making it bigger might help. Windows Vista gives users the possibility to make the text and other items easier to see by making them larger.
This can be done by increasing the so called Dots per inch scale or DPI. To adjust it, just follow the steps outlined below.

How to configure the virtual memory in Windows Vista

In simple words, Virtual Memory is system memory that is simulated by the operating system and it is placed on your hard drive. It combines your computer's RAM with temporary space on your disk. When your PC runs low on RAM, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space called the paging file or swap file. Moving the data frees up your RAM and your applications can continue to run without crashes.

If you don't have too much RAM installed on your system it can be a good a idea to increase the size of your virtual memory. If you are like me, you might still want to configure the size of the swap/paging file or it's location, even if your PC has plenty of RAM available.

As you will see, configuring the virtual memory in Windows Vista is easy. Just follow these steps:

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