Change Your Desktop Wallpapers the Easy Way with DeskSlide

Looking to add some variety to your desktop instead of looking at the same wallpaper day in and day out? Have fun changing your wallpapers automatically with DeskSlide.

DeskSlide Setup

As soon as you finish installing DeskSlide and start it up, you will be presented with the Configuration Wizard. The Currently Displayed Photo Window will also automatically display at the same time. Click “Next” to get started.

This is where you will be able to add any photo folders that you want to DeskSlide’s photo library list. Click on the “Plus Sign” to add a folder and on the “Minus Sign” to remove one.

Here is an example of how the listing will look. Once you have finished, click “Apply” and then “Next”. You can also include subfolders if you desire (very nice!).

Choose the layout style that you would like to use with your photos and decide what DeskSlide will do with small photos. Notice that you can specify a specific size for what is classified as a small photo (nice!). Click “Next”.

Specify the amount of time that you would like in between changes to your wallpaper. Click “Next”.

That now has DeskSlide configured to suit your personal style. Click “Finish” to exit the Configuration Wizard.

DeskSlide Management

Once you have exited the Configuration Wizard, you will be able to view the Currently Displayed Photo and the Current Photo List Windows. You can easily access both windows at any time as shown here.

The Right Click Menu for the Current Photo List Window…

And the Right Click Menu for the System Tray Icon.

Conclusion

If you are looking for an easy way to add some variety to your desktop, then DeskSlide can provide a simple hassle-free way to change your wallpaper and brighten up your day. Have fun!

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Add keyboard languages to XP, Vista, and Windows 7

Do you regularly need to type in multiple languages in Windows? Here we’ll show you the easy way to add and change input languages to your keyboard in XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Windows Vista and 7 come preinstalled with support for viewing a wide variety of languages, so adding an input language is fairly simply. Adding an input language is slightly more difficult in XP, and requires installing additional files if you need an Asian or Complex script language. First we show how to add an input language in Windows Vista and 7; it’s basically the same in both versions. Then, we show how to add a language to XP, and also how to add Complex Script support.

Please note that this is only for adding an input language, which will allow you to type in the language you select. This does not change your user interface language.

Change keyboard language in Windows 7 and Vista

It is fairly simple to add or change a keyboard language in Windows 7 or Vista. In Windows 7, enter “keyboard language” in the Start menu search box, and select “Change keyboards or other input methods”.

In Windows Vista, open Control Panel and enter “input language” in the search box and select “Change keyboards or other input methods”. This also works in Windows 7.

Now, click Change Keyboards to add another keyboard language or change your default one.

Our default input language is US English, and our default keyboard is the US keyboard layout. Click Add to insert another input language while still leaving your default input language installed.

Here we selected the standard Thai keyboard language (Thai Kedmanee), but you can select any language you want. Windows offers almost any language you can imagine, so just look for the language you want, select it, and click Ok.

Alternately, if you want, you can click Preview to see your layout choice before accepting it. This is only the default characters, not ones that will be activated with Shift or other keys (many Asian languages use many more characters than English, and require the use of Shift and other keys to access them all). Once your finished previewing, click close and then press Ok on the previous dialog.

Now you will see both of your keyboard languages in the Installed services box. You can click Add to go back and get more, or move your selected language up or down (to change its priority), or simply click Apply to add the new language.

Also, you can now change the default input language from the top menu. This is the language that your keyboard will start with when you boot your computer. So, if you mainly use English but also use another language, usually it is best to leave English as your default input language.

Once you’ve pressed Apply or Ok, you will see a new icon beside your system tray with the initials of your default input language.

If you click it, you can switch between input languages. Alternately you can switch input languages by pressing Alt+Shift on your keyboard.

Some complex languages, such as Chinese, may have extra buttons to change input modes to accommodate their large alphabet.

If you would like to change the keyboard shortcut for changing languages, go back to the Input Languages dialog, and select the “Advanced Key Settings” tab. Here you can change settings for Caps Lock and change or add key sequences to change between languages.

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Access and Launch Windows Utilities the Easy Way

Tired of having to dig through the Control Panel (or deeper parts of the Start Menu) just to access and use various Windows Utilities? Enjoy having super quick (and easy) access to those utilities with Windows Utilities Launcher.

Note: Requires .NET Framework 3.5+ (link provided at bottom of article).

Setup

Windows Utilities Launcher is wonderfully simple to set up…just unzip the exe file, place it in a “Program Files” folder, and create a shortcut. Get ready for instant access goodness!

This is what you will see as soon as you start Windows Utilities Launcher… In the “Utilities Tab Area” you can quickly access the utilities shown with a single click of the button beneath each listing. Notice that you can easily minimize Windows Utilities Launcher to the “System Tray” or exit the program using the two buttons in the lower right corner. Windows Utilities Launcher will also display the version of Windows that you are using in the “Status Bar”.

Note: Windows (Computer) Info works on Vista & 7 only.

The “Settings Tab Area” lets you decide if you would like to have Windows Utilities Launcher start up with Windows each time and if you would like to have the app start as minimized.

The “About Tab Area” provides basic app information and also a way to contact the developer.

The Right Click Menus

Time for a closer look at the “Right Click Menu” setup for Windows Utilities Launcher. Here you can see the main menu… Notice that there are two additional apps that you can access here (Notepad & Calculator).

Use the “Windows Utilities” sub-menu as an alternate way to quickly access individual Windows Utilities.

Windows Utilities Launcher in Action

For our example we decided to access the “Date and Time Utility”. With a single click the “Date and Time” window opened very quickly. We had the same great result on any of the other utilities that we chose…quick and easy access.

Conclusion

Windows Utilities Launcher is still in the earlier stages of development, but this little app is already demonstrating how easy it should and can be to access common Windows Utilities. This is definitely worth trying out…have fun!

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C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSCTF.dll - invalid Windows image?

Error sytems:

When I right-click on the Desktop to choose Properties, it appears a message box :
- The application or DLL C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSCTF.dll is not a valid Windows image. Please check this against your installation diskette.
And then, I've ever accessed the Properties anymore.

======================================================================================

Insert your windows CD. Search the cd for the file MSCTF.dll, once it shows up right click on it, click copy. Then open another window and go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 then right click an empty spot in there and click "Paste". Something will come up asking "This file already exists. Would you like to replace it?" Click "Yes" Or "Replace". Then restart your computer. That should fix all your problems and lead you to a wonderful and fufilled life.

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Receive Error When CD is Put in Computer

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Issue:

Receive error when CD is put in computer.

Cause:

There are several possible reasons your CD-ROM may generate errors when placed in the computer. Below are the most common reasons, which are also discussed in this document.

1. Dirty CD-ROM drive or CD causing CD not to be read properly.
2. Third-party program running causing issue.
3. CD-ROM not setup properly.
4. CD is a bad burned CD or CD was copied from protected CD.
5. CD is auto-running causing error.
6. Windows is corrupted causing CD to generate error.

Solution:

Dirty CD-ROM drive or CD causing CD not to be read properly

Generally, it is very common for dust, dirt, hair or other material on a CD or CD-ROM drive to cause the CD to be improperly read or generate errors because data cannot be read from the CD.

• See our Cleaning page for additional information on how to properly clean your CDs and CD-ROM drive.

Third-party program running causing issue

It is possible that third-party programs that may be running or running in the background are causing errors with the CD; it is recommended you close all programs as well as End task any programs that may be running in the background to ensure they are not causing your issues.

• See document CHTSR for additional information on how to temporally remove all third-party programs that may be running in the background.

CD-ROM not setup properly

If the CD-ROM is not installed or setup properly this can cause the CDs to not be read or be read properly. If you are using Windows 95 or Windows 98 it is recommended that you check in Device Manager and verify no conflicts or errors are currently occurring with the installed CD-ROM drive.

• Additional information on Device Manager can be found on our Device manager page.

CD is a bad burned CD or CD was copied from protected CD

If you have created a CD (burned a CD) and are unable to read it or are getting errors with the CD, it is likely that either the CD was burned improperly or that the CD you copied was protected and that it cannot be copied. It is recommended you either attempt to burn the CD again or verify with the software vendor to verify that the CD is not protected from being copied.

CD is auto-running causing error

If you are using Windows 95 or Windows 98, autorun can, in some cases, cause errors when first placed in the computer. It is recommended that you eject the CD from the computer and when the CD is placed back into the computer, hold the left shift key on the keyboard. Holding the left shift key down will disable the auto-running feature temporarily. Once the CD-ROM light is done flashing, if you receive no error, open My Computer and right-click on the CD-ROM drive and click Explore to see if you receive errors reading the CD.

Windows is corrupted causing CD to generate error

If you are running Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME, it is possible that Windows may be corrupted causing the CD-ROM drive to not be properly read and we recommend that it be tested from MS-DOS. Before trying the below recommendation, ensure that you have tried all of the above steps first.

We recommend that you use a bootable diskette that has CD-ROM drivers on it and test the CD-ROM drive from MS-DOS.

If you receive errors from MS-DOS it is likely that the CD-ROM drive is bad.

If you do not receive errors from MS-DOS and the CD-ROM drive reads properly, it is likely that Windows is corrupted and we recommend that it be reinstalled.

• Additional information on bootable disks can be found on our boot disk page.

Bad drive / bad discs

If you've determined you're only encountering errors with only one disc you can attempt to recover the data from the disc and/or test the drive further using the software programs in document CH001090.

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USB Device not Recognized in Windows

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Are you getting a “USB device not recognized” error whenever you plug in a USB mouse, keyboard, or other USB device? I love USB and have 5 ports on my computer so that I can connect my mouse, keyboard, camera, phone, and printer to it all at once!

However, last weekend, my computer stopped recognizing my USB devices! The strange thing about it was that the USB ports were not bad because all of my devices were still getting power to them. I could still charge my cell phone without a problem!

So I started with the normal fixing methods, including uninstalling the drivers for my devices and reinstalling them. That didn’t work! Next I tried System Restore thinking that maybe I had installed something and it caused a conflict with the USB system drivers. That didn’t work!

I read online that in order to fix this problem I should go to Device Manager and uninstall all of the devices under USB Controllers. Restarted the computer, reinstalled the USB drivers, but the problem STILL did not go away!

You may also see in Device Manager that the device shows up as an “Unknown Device”.

So how did I finally fix the problem? Well, apparently it’s a super simple solution! No need to edit the registry, uninstall drivers, or anything of that sort.

Simply UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE POWER SUPPLY. Yes that’s it! Note that this does not mean just turning off your computer because modern computers don’t really turn off when you press the power button as the motherboard still gets power.

First to explain, the motherboard is where all of hardware of the computer is connected to, including the USB ports. Sometimes the motherboard needs to be “rebooted” also because something can go wrong, i.e. all your USB ports suddenly stop working. The small microprocessor on the motherboard will reload the drivers and your USB ports should be back to recognizing all devices!

So first turn off your computer using Shut Down or pressing the power button and then UNPLUG it from the wall outlet. Let it sit for about a minute and then plug it back in.

Hope this helps someone fix that pesky “USB device not recognized” Windows error!

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Upgrade to Windows XP SP3

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Windows XP SP3 - What You Need to Know

Windows XP SP3 is the final service pack for Windows XP. It includes over 1,000 service patches that have been released since SP2, as well as several patches and updates provided by SP1 and SP2. In addition to all of these patches and hotfixes, Windows XP SP3 also includes a few new features. The Windows XP SP3 package was made public on May 6, 2008, after a few last-minutes delays to resolve compatibility problems.

New Features Offered by Windows XP SP3

Windows XP SP3 also includes a boatload of patches and security fixes, as well as four new XP features.

1. The first new feature was the "Blackhole" router detection algorithm. This addition will allow your Windows XP machine to deal with network routers that silently drop various types of network packets, improving the reliability of communication over network paths.
2. The second addition is the Product Key-less Install Option. As the name of this feature suggests, it allows you to complete the installation process without having to enter your Windows product key. But don't worry, Windows will ask for the product key later, as part of Genuine Advantage. Whew!
3. The third new feature offered by this release is the Network Access Protector Compatibility module. This module, which is also in the Vista code, allows organizations running Windows XP to take advantage of new features in Windows Server 2008, and allows XP to better protect network assets by requiring compliance with a set of "health" requirements imposed on remote systems that want to connect to the network.
   
4. The final addition offered by Windows XP SP3 is the Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module. This module, according to Microsoft, encapsulates several different cryptographic algorithms for use by other kernel mode drivers. It ummm, well... let's just say it boosts overall security. Yeah, that sounds good.

Who Should Install Windows XP SP3

If you are a Windows XP user; if you use the Home Edition, Tablet PC Edition, Professional Edition or the Media Center Edition; and you intend to continue to use this OS, then you need the Windows XP SP3 even if you have been downloading and installing patches as they were released. If you have failed to keep up to date with the latest XP patches, and if you have not installed SP1 or SP2 then you will need to install at least Windows XP SP1 before you try to install the Windows XP SP3.

Reports About Windows XP SP3

So far the reports back on Windows XP SP3 have been limited but positive. You won't notice any changes to the look and feel of Windows XP, but some users have reported an increase in performance by as much as 10 percent after installing this service pack. It seems unlikely that you'll have any serious problems caused by upgrading to SP3, but if you have trouble after doing so, you can boot up into Safe Mode and uninstall Windows XP SP3 using the "Add and Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel, or by doing a System Restore.

UPDATE: After publishing this article, I received some reports from users who installed SP3 and it turned out to be a show stopper. The common thread seems to be certain HP/Compaq systems with AMD processors. If you get stuck with an SP3 problem, you can visit this HP SP3 help page, or Microsoft has setup a free SP3 tech support hotline: 866-234-6020. See more in the comments below.

Where to Get Your Copy of Windows XP SP3

The best place to download Windows XP SP3 is at Microsoft's website. To begin, read the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview document which provides instructions and information packets that you can download in PDF or Word format.

You can download the XP SP3 package via Windows Update, which is recommended for people who want to update just one computer. If you are updating multiple computers, you may want to download the stand-alone SP3 installer. Weighing in at 316MB, it will take a while to download, though. Expect about an hour if you have DSL, or about 15 minutes on a zippy cable modem connection.

If you're in no hurry to get XP SP3, just wait until sometime this summer and Windows will automatically download and install XP SP3, assuming you have that option enabled in Windows Update (and you should). Go to Control Panel / Security Center to make sure Automatic Updates are turned on.

Microsoft warns against other sites claiming to offer XP SP3 downloads, and this is good advice. If you find the SP3 package anywhere else, it's probably a rogue copy that will wreak havoc on your system.

Sticking With it or Moving On?

The biggest question that has been raised since the release of the final patch service pack for Windows XP is whether Windows users should stick with XP or upgrade to Vista. I'd put it this way: if you have a machine that's running Windows XP, and you're happy with it, stay away from Vista for now. It's well documented that Vista requires more system resources from your computer and will run SLOWER than the same machine with XP installed. I just purchased a new PC for my Dad, who is in his 70's, and was happy that Dell offered the option to install XP.

If XP SP3 delivers the security and performance improvements promised, then many users are going to stick with XP instead of dealing with a new set of problems in Vista. Have you installed the SP3 package? Share your experience here by posting a comment below...

source : http://askbobrankin.com/upgrade_to_windows_xp_sp3.html

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