I just added more RAM, why won’t Windows see it? (Under 4GB)

By DustinPosted on

I just upgraded to 2 GB of RAM. Why is Windows still showing 1 GB?

If you upgraded your RAM, and your BIOS shows the added RAM, but Windows does not, give this a try. This is different than is you are adding more than 3 GB to a 32Bit version of Windows.

1. Go to the Start Orb, type “MSCONFIG” (without quotes) in the search box and press enter.

2. Click on the “Boot” tab, then “Advanced Options”.

3. Uncheck the “Maximum Memory” box if it is checked. It may be checked and set to use your old amount of memory.

This is the most common reason I see memory upgrades go un-noticed in Windows (other than the 4GB Limit on 32Bit Windows!).

List installed applications and versions from the CLI

By DustinPosted on

You can get a list of the installed applications, and their versions from a simple and easy to use command line tool. Follow these easy steps to see what is installed without installing a third party program (although there are some GREAT third party programs out there that do an excellent job!).

1. Open a command prompt (either Start > Accessories > Run or Windows Key & R).

2. Type WMIC and hit enter. You will now be in the WMIC tool, with a prompt that says wmic:rootcli>

3. Type product get name,version and hit enter. Alternatively, you can get a txt or html file by using /output:c:listapps.txt product get name,version or /output:c:AppList.htm product get name,version , respectively.

4. You will end up with a display similar to this:

My Recycle Bin is gone! How do I get it back?

By DustinPosted on

How do I get my Recycle Bin back?

A very common mistake in Windows Vista is accidently deleting your Recycle Bin instead of emptying it. There are both options when you right click the Recycle Bin, and it happens more often than you think.

You can get it back, though. Just follow these few steps.

Right Click on your Desktop and select “Personalize”.

In the left pane of that window you you see the Tasks. Click on “Change desktop icons”. In there you will see the option for Dsktop icons. Recheck the box next to “Recycle Bin”, click “OK” and close the Personalization window. You will have restored your Recycle Bin.

Send To Right Click Customization

By DustinPosted on

If you want to quickly send a file to someone or move it, you can right click it and select Send To. However, there are a lot of things you can send it to, even if they aren’t on the Send To list. Here’s how to access them, and how to add or remove items on the Send To menu.

1. Right click a file, and select Send To. This is what you get.

2. Hold down the Shift key while you right click a file and you get a lot more options on the Send To menu.

3. To add or remove items from the Send To menu, open the “Computer” folder. Type shell:sendto in the address bar. You will see what you currently have in your Send To menu. You can drag and drop items in there, or delete ones you don’t want.

What are the minimum specs for Windows Vista?

By DustinPosted on

A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:

  • A modern processor (at least 800MHz).
  • 512 MB of system memory.
  • A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

A Windows Vista Premium Ready PC includes at least:

  • 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor).
  • 1 GB of system memory.
  • Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum), Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
  • 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
  • DVD-ROM Drive.
  • Audio output capability.
  • Internet access capability.

Where are the games in the Vista Business edition?

By DustinPosted on

In the Business version of Vista, games are not included by default. This helps to keep the guys in suits busy all day without wasting time playing Solitare! Here’s how to get your games back.

1. Go to the Start Orb | Control Panel | Programs and Features

2. On the left pane, click Turn Windows features on or off

3. Scroll down until you find Games. You can check the Games or click the (+) sign and select only the games that you want. Click OK and the games will install and you are in Solitare heaven!

Where is the Run command on the Start menu?

By DustinPosted on

Windows Vista and 7 do not include the Run command in the Start Orb this time. To find it you can go to All Programs, Accessories, and Run will be in the list.

To make the Run command appear in the Start menu, you can right click the start menu, go to “Properties”, Click “Customize”, Click “Advanced” and find the “Show Run Command”. Check that option, click “Ok”, and the option to select the run command is now in the Start menu.

How To Pin Recycle Bin To Taskbar

By DustinPosted on

Windows 7 has the new Taskbar, but there isn’t anyway to move the Recycle Bin to the new bar. Here’s how.

Some people like a nice and clean desktop. Others like a huge mess, but still organized. Here is a solution so that you don’t lose your Recycle Bin among the mess of other icons.

First item of business is to create a new icon on the desktop for the Recycle Bin. Right click anywhere on an empty part on the desktop and select New Shortcut. A small wizard opens. For the location, enter

%SystemRoot%explorer.exe shell:RecycleBinFolder

And click Next.

For the name of the shortcut, call it Recycle Bin.Then click the Finish button to place the new shortcut and icon on the Desktop.

The shorcut is created, but it still does not look like the Recycle Bin, does it? Easy fix. Right click on the shortcut and select Properties. Next, you can select Change Icon. Change the location for “Look for icons in this file” to %SystemRoot%system32imageres.dll. Click OK, and scroll until you see the standard recycle bin icon and select that. Then click OK again.

Lastly, drag the new shortcut to the taskbar. Now your Recycle Bin is in the taskbar, and will show the empty icon when empty and the full icon when full. Great work!

Add a Shortcut to Troubleshooting and System Maintenance Wizard

By DustinPosted on

Windows 7 is a big step in making computers easier to use. It also has several wizards that can help a beginner troubleshoot, repair and maintain their PC. The System Maintenance wizard can check your system to see if it can make repairs to “fix” common problems. The System Maintenance program is located in the Control Panel. However, some people like having shortcuts, either on their desktop or in a folder dedicated to maintenance and support. Here is how to create a shortcut to the System Maintenance wizard.

1. Right click on the desktop and select “New Shortcut“.

2. For the location of the item, type in %systemroot%system32msdt.exe -id MaintenanceDiagnostic.


3. You can name it whatever you’d like, I used System Maintenance to make it easy to understand what it was.

4. Double clicking the shortcut invokes the System Maintenance wizard, as if you had launched it from the control panel.

Change Taskbar Window Selection Behavior to Open Last Used Program with a Single Click

By DustinPosted on

When you have your icons combined and have multiple programs on your taskbar, you might minimize your program to go to a different program or to look something up in a different window. When you want to return to your previous program, you click on the icon and get a selection of which one you want to switch to. Sure, you can press CTRL and click to open the last window you were working on, but you can change the default Windows behavior to automatically switch to the last window using a single click. Here’s how.

1. Open regedit (Start, type regedit.exe and press enter).

2. Navigate to HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced


3. Create a new DWORD (32-Bit) and name it LastActiveClick and modify the value to a “1”.

4. Restart Explorer, or reboot. To restart explorer, open Task Manager (Right click taskbar, click “Start Task Manager”. Right click the explorer.exe process, and select “End Process”. Then click File, then New Task… type explorer.exe and press enter.

5. Now when you click on your window, it will go to where you were last working. This is great for us that have multiple windows open doing a lot of multitasking, and looking for shortcuts to make it easier and more efficient.