Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Windows Guides has a Google+ page. There you can find out about only our best posts, competitions, and more:

Windows Guides on Google+ | Rich on Google+

If you don’t use Google+ or have left it behind, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter:

Like Windows Guides on Facebook | Add mintywhite on Facebook

Windows Guides on Twitter

If you don’t like social websites, you can pick a newsletter that suits your needs:

Windows Guides Newsletters

Please note: For Windows support issues, please reach us directly at Windows Forums.

Thanks for your support!

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.

Read more…

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).

Read more…

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.

Read more…

Due to a project at work I had to download the Windows 8 Developer Build the other day. Due to the fact that it’s a very early edition of the OS, running it as the main OS on a computer isn’t the best solution. But seeing as I didn’t want to run a VM I decided to set up a Dual Boot on my Dell Latitude. This Computer has Touch Screen and therefor the perfect computer to test the new Windows 8 Environment.

Windows 8 was installed on a separate partition and I expected it to show up in the OS Boot Menu. It didn’t. Instead the computer booted directly into Windows 8. No Boot menu.

The solution

Read more…

Never heard of Building Blocks? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. In Fact I just recently learned about it myself. Building Blocks first appeared in Word 2007 and has been a well hidden gem ever since.

What are Building Blocks ?

Building Blocks are re-usable document elements  that you normally would have to copy from another document or re-create on a regular basis and put it in a drag-and-drop library. It can be used to save design elements like logos, headers, signatures, text you type often etc. etc.

Read more…