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.

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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

Once again we prevail (I really wish we had smiles here). A few days back I posted an article about creating your own handwritten font. Unfortunately I missed the fact that it was no longer a free service, upsetting some of our faithful readers. So I took it upon myself to rectify this and contacted yourfonts.com.

They kindly offered a 50% discount coupon code for our readers.

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Windows Forums member Obinna Osobalu shares the announcement of the release of Windows 7 Serivce Pack 1 Beta.

Today at Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010, Microsoft announced the public availability of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 service packs. This early release of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta is not available for home users. In order to download and install the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta you must currently have a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 already installed.

According to Microsoft, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms based on customer and partner feedback, and is easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta will help you:

• Keep your PCs supported and up-to-date
• Get ongoing updates to the Windows 7 platform
• Easily deploy cumulative updates at a single time
• Meet your users’ demands for greater business mobility
• Provide a comprehensive set of virtualization innovations
• Provide an easier Service Pack deployment model for better IT efficiency

Download the beta Service Pack of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 from TechNet Evaluation Center.

It’s no secret — I really don’t like gadgets on my desktop; however, I frequently see people using them. So, I thought I’d give some  a try (I tried at least 100) and here are the 10 most useful gadgets I found.

Have any gadgets you can’t live without? Let us know about them in the comments.

Here’s a list I put together for Windows Vista

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Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is becoming a good alternative for those who prefer to have a free security solution.

How to get the Latest MSE Definitions

If your system cannot connect to the internet, due to a virus infection, this is your only way to be updated.  If you are experiencing problems updating your antivirus you can use this method.

The following links download the utilities, different for 32 and 64 bit operating systems,  that install the latest definitions:

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x64- based versions of Windows

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x32- based versions of Windows

Hint: Am I running Windows 32 or 64-bit?

When installing on Windows 7 and Vista you need to run as administrator. Right click mpam-fe.exe, click Run as administrator, and then click Run.

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