Someone asked me today about a problem they were having with XP, when he minimised any program it disappeared. It wasn’t minimising to the toolbar, I said I’d have a hunt for the answer, here it is…

I would still recommend a full Antivirus and Spyware scan before running this fix, as it could more than likely be either of those. If it comes back clean then download and run the following file:

I found this after a quick search on google, thanks to Kell’s Korner for the solution http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm (Go to line 240).

For those of you who have attended one of my Office training courses you will know that I prefer to use the keyboard instead of the mouse. If you’ve attended recently you’ll also know I have been saying I’ll get an office keyboard shortcuts post on here for a while, well here it is…

(By the way, sorry it took a while)

I’ve still got some more to do (Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher), and I’ll get them up soon.

Sorry it’s a few days late, I did promise someone in a training course I would put this up last week but it’s just been a bit hectic.

Windows Vista, some people want it, some people don’t, some people just aren’t sure. For those who do and those who need some encouragement, there’s a tool that will tell you what hardware and software you need to upgrade 1st or if you need to upgrade at all.I don’t want to go on about this tool because it is pretty self explanatory, but I will say one thing. It’s not perfect, it is to be used as a guide. The software side of things are not always correct. Or sometimes just a little unnecessary , like telling you that windows messenger will need to be upgraded. The Vista upgrade should handle that!

The tool is obviously from Microsoft, and you can get it from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

If you’re thinking of upgrading it’s worth having a quick look through the rest of that page 1st.

… Also if you do upgrade an XP machine to vista (which I haven’t done yet) I’d love to hear how you got on! just drop a comment to the end of this.

So Vista was released recently. Looking very different from XP, lots of new features, more bundled software and considered by most to be a ‘major’ update to the Windows OS. Then there is Windows Mobile 6, not quite major improvement I was hoping for.

I recently started to see some of the ‘hype’ about WM6 (Previously Crossbow). So I started to dig around trying to find out some more. I should explain, I have an O2 XDA Exec running WM5, which I do like! It practically runs my life (The Battery died on it the other day and I can’t remember the number of things I forgot whilst I didn’t have my XDA). So when I saw there may be a chance to ‘improve’ what I’ve got, I got excited. As much as I love my XDA there are areas that could do with being improved!
Unfortunately I must say I was quickly disappointed with what I read about the ‘new’ version.  To me it looks more like WM5.1 then 6, as Mobile-review.com said “Nevertheless, the brand-new operating system could be called “Windows Mobile 5.0 Second Edition” read the review here. I found this to be quite a good in-depth review of the OS.
I then had a look at the videos of someone demonstrating the new features of WM6, again I was disappointed :-(  They start by showing new programs and settings, although this is finished within about 40seconds, the next 3 minutes was spent playing every tone that comes with the OS. Maybe I’m missing something but to me it is more important to show the new settings and programs than the tunes? Unless the OS really doesn’t have much else to show!?!!
WM6 does have some updates that I do like the look of like integration of VOIP, True HTML email, embedded Live, improved messenger…
Unfortunately it’s just not enough to warrant spending money on upgrades. That is if the upgrades are available! Personally I think unless O2 make WM6 a free upgrade I’ll wait for Photon (WM7) which is planned to be the mobile equivalent of Vista!

I’m very late on the whole Wikipedia thing. I probably used it first the first time just before Christmas. I can definitely say I find it useful. I wouldn’t say it has become a website I visit regularly.  Since my first visit I’ve probably gone back no more than five times.
Although, looking through Steve Lamb’s Blog today I saw that someone had come up with some software change the whole Wikipedia experience. Wikipedia Explorer made by Dot net Solutions allows you to browse or search Wikipedia articles using there 3D explorer or network view.
It takes a bit of getting used to, and it reminds of some Mind Mapping software I once used in a desperate attempt to think straight (didn’t work). But I’ve been playing with it, and have so far spent longer using this in one night than I’ve ever spent on the Wikipedia website.
If you’ve got some spare time, download it and have a look, although once you’ve found a good starting point you really can lose yourself because every article shows you the links to loads of other articles.
I’m still playing and making the decision as to whether or not I like it enough to keep it. Let me know what you think!