Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Windows Guides’ Rating	User Rating	Compatible with	System
5 out of 5	(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)

PROS: A simple application that lets you control multiple PCs with one keyboard and mouse. The concept isn’t new but the execution is clean and simple and simple file drag and drop as well as seamless copy/paste make this a great tool. CONS: None VERDICT: This is even easier to use than Synergy and InputDirector. If you want a no-frills solution to a virtual KVM (minus the video switching), this application will almost certainly satisfy. PRICE: Free VERSION REVIEWED: 2.1.0.9 DOWNLOAD: Mouse without Borders

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If there’s a piece of equipment that works hard in your PC, it’s your hard disk drive (HDD.) HDDs operate at anywhere between 4200 and 15000 RPM (perhaps higher) while in use. In other words, these things spin anywhere between 70 and 250 times a second—sometimes for days on end! While the information in this guide mostly applies to both HDDs and Solid State Drives (SSD), SSDs have no moving parts so some of the information will not apply.

With high speeds and enormous data transfers on a daily basis hard drive file systems, used to store and access all your data, are prone to corruption and failure. Thankfully, all versions of Windows come with a nifty, free tool called “Check Disk” (chkdsk.) In this guide, we’ll show you how to use Check Disk and explain a little about common errors to which hard drives are prone.

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We’re no strangers to App Stores. Headed by Apple, companies are adding their own stores to their platforms and Microsoft is following suit.

As always, we at Windows Guides take a topic (not well-known, difficult to understand/get facts, commonly explained wrongly) and do our best to explain it to you. Here’s what I’ve gathered thus far by answering the questions I have on the Windows Store.

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One of the improvements in Excel 2007 is the rebuilt Chart Tool.  ”It used to be so easy” to create charts in Excel, just highlight an area of cells and click Create Chart, and voilá. Well it still is – it only looks a bit different.  In this mini-tutorial I’m using an example from work, tho the names, and numbers have been altered.

The Mission

At work we have tightened security on mobile Exchange Synchronization. A security policy has been set which requires that we ask each of the 2.500 users to read the new guidelines. Failure to accept the new policy guidelines will result in the user loosing access to the server. To be able to monitor the progress of this work (making sure we know that every user has read and accepted) I was asked to create a chart to graphically display the weekly progress,  number of emails sent, number of accepts etc.  The challenge is that we only record names, and dates for each occurrence (notice sent, reply received, account open or closed).

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Got an ISO image file (ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS, MDF, CCD, IMG) but doesn’t know how to use it? These image files are (usually) a complete copy of an optical disc and requires a virtual drive to mount and use them.

The easiest way – WinCDEmu

If you need a simple solution to mount an ISO image, this is the best that you can have - WinCDEmu. WinCDEmu is an open-source CD/DVD/BD emulator which allows you to mount optical disc images with just a few clicks, and you can easily unmount them.

Installation is really simple. Just click download WinCDEmu, double click the downloaded file and click Install. Once you are done with the installation settings and you are almost there. Windows Installer will most probably ask for the installation of SysProgs Storage Controllers driver – don’t worry, just install it. And that’s it.

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