Windows Tools, Help & Guides

In this guest post, James Ricketts explores resolving computer error related to printer issues. Learn more about James at the conclusion of this post.

Resolving Computer Errors Related To Printer Issues

How frustrating is it when you give a print command, and instead of a printed document in your hand, you are left staring at an error on your computer screen?

Today’s printers when compared to the ones used in yesteryears seem to have come a long way. Printers used today are savvier, offer more features, require less maintenance, and cost less. But one aspect remains unchanged, printers remain as error-prone as before. The good news is that printer errors are fairly simple to resolve.

The next time you encounter a printer error, such as the hpqgpc01.exe error, perform the following steps to diagnose the cause and resolve the error.

Read the rest of this entry »

As previously requested on the Windows Forums suggestion box, there is now a section for Windows Tools that are made by mintywhite readers.

What Kind of Tools?

Take a look at the forum. You’ll find the following tools (and more):

• SevenDriveIconChanger – Change Windows drive icons to custom.
• SevenShutdownControl – Automate shutdown commands based on various criteria.
• AdSevenTextEnrypter – Encrypt your personal text.
• The Windows Guides Text to Speech Tool –  Type and hear it play back to you.

Made a Tool/Program/App/Widget?

If you made a tool, please add it to the forum so others can use it also (full credit is always given to the tool author.)

mintywhite Tools Forum

You may have experienced that from time to time your Wireless Connection just stops working or you get disconnected. Usually this is fixed by right-Clicking the WLan icon in the Tray and choose Troubleshoot.

What this does amongst other things is to reset your wireless connection using the ipconfig release and renew feature. And usually it will do the trick.

But if this is a reoccurring problem that means something else is wrong.

Your TCP/IP protocol might be corrupted and needs resetting. This is for some reason something you need to do yourself and (as far as I know) not being done by the Troubleshooter. Read the rest of this entry »

Hardware is by far the ugliest part of a computer because information on this subject is obscure and difficult to find.

For example, imagine you need to know what kind of RAM is installed or whether or not you have free slots on your motherboard: you’ll have a hard time finding an upgrade. You need a free slot to install new RAM, and you may need to use the same type of RAM on all slots.

Windows has an information tool, to see it press WinKey + R, type msinfo32.exe and press Enter. But the information is not exactly what you are looking for.

The device manager also has a lot of good information but sometimes you may need something more sophisticated.

Read the rest of this entry »

New to using the command prompt? Check out the Windows Command Prompt Beginner’s Guide

The internet changes very quickly; for that reason, stepping back to the basics is very important. As you may know, the internet is no more than a collection of interconnected networks.

In this post I will show a list of basic network commands. Even if you haven’t used any of these before, it is useful to know they exist. As always, increasing your knowledge is the better way to achieve your goals.

To run these commands, open a command prompt:

1. Click Start and then click Run (or Winkey+R.)
2. Type cmd and press Enter.

arp -a

This tool handles the resolution of a IP to a physical address. The command gives a list of IPs and physical addresses on your local network.

Read the rest of this entry »

The problems you must face using an Antivirus are not always obvious. By not properly uninstalling an antivirus programs, you can experience system instabilities.

It is not unusual that you find problems when installing a new antivirus program due to traces of the older one.

The first choice you should use is the uninstaller that comes with the software. But if something happens on the process the following list can solve your problems:

Panda

Panda has created an uninstall program for every product, so select the proper one:

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2007 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2008 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2009 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2010 Uninstall Utility

Kaspersky

Removal Tool for Kaspersky Lab Products

This removal tool can uninstall all versions of Kaspersky Antivirus and Internet Security but under 64 bit operating systems versions 6 and 7 of the products.

Norton

For reasons that I don’t understand, Norton Antivirus leaves a lot of  traces even if you uninstall it using the default uninstaller.

Norton Removal Tool

F-secure

F-secure has created an extensive page about how to removal its antivirus:

Advanced F-Secure product removal

There is an uninstaller tool but F-secure only recommends it as a last resort.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender Uninstall Tool

Avg

Avg Remover

Avast

Avast Uninstall Utility

McAffe

How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee consumer products using the McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool

Which program did we miss? Now you’ve removed your bloated AV software, check out the free Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).