How to Restart Explorer on Windows Vista

How to Restart Explorer on Windows Vista

My image viewer glitches sometimes and really messes with my computer experience. To fix it, I used to restart my computer, if I happened to be downloading something or if I happened to be in a call, I'd have to stop doing anything productive and wait to restart my computer.

I was messing around and decided to try and restart explorer in hopes of avoiding an entire restart, and by golly, it worked.

So, here's how to restart Explorer in Windows Vista:

Method 1:

Open Task Manager (Crtl+Shift+Esc or Crtl+Alt+Delete or Right-click on Task Bar and Select Task Manager)
Click on the processes tab
Click on explorer.exe and then click end process



A confirmation box will pop up, click End Process again



To restart explorer:

Open the Task Manager Again
Click the File Menu
Select New Task (Run...)
Type explorer.exe and then click OK



Everything is back. Yay.

Method 2:

Press Crtl+Shift and right click on any blank space in the Start Menu.
Release Ctrl+Shift and click on the Exit Explorer option
Restart Explorer using the Restart Method outline in Method 1

How to Rotate Video

How to Rotate Video

I had a video that was crooked that I wanted to make into a GIF. I made the GIF and then tried to rotate it. I looked for software, I searched for hours for something that would rotate a GIF, then I realized you can rotate videos in Windows Movie Maker.

Simply open Windows Movie Maker. Load your video in Movie Maker. Click tools. Click effects. Scroll down to the rotate options. Choose the one that works. Publish your movie. Problem solved.

How to get your Recycle Bin after you've accidentally deleted it from your desktop

How to get your Recycle Bin after you've accidentally deleted it from your desktop

Apparently you can delete your recycle bin icon from your desktop in Windows Vista, I did it yesterday, here's how I got it back.

This is really simple.

1 - Right-click anywhere on your desktop and click the personalize option.

2 - A folder will open, look at the upper-left corner of the folder for a few items. Click the Change Desktop Icons option.

3 - A new folder will open. Check the Recycle Bin and click OK. You can also add a My Computer icon, a User's files icon, a Network icon, and a Control Panel icon.

It's so simple I figured you didn't need pictures to help you out.

So that's how you do it. That's how you get your recycle bin back after accidentally deleting it.

How to Make Mozilla Firefox Your Default Browser With MSN Messenger - Fixing the Firefox/MSN/Hotmail/Internet Explorer Glitch

How to Make Mozilla Firefox Your Default Browser With MSN Messenger - Fixing the Firefox/MSN/Hotmail/Internet Explorer Glitch

I don't like using Internet Explorer, it's really slow on my machine, but MSN Messenger insists on opening Internet Explorer every time I try to open my email. There are several solutions to this problems, I've found that some work for people, others don't, but at least one of these methods should work for you.

Method 1 - Set Firefox as your default browser in Firefox.

Doing this is simple, you open Firefox, click on the Tools menu at the top of the browser, and select Options. In the Options box, select Advanced Options, click the General Tab, and then click the Check Now option at the bottom of the box. If Firefox isn't your default browser, it'll ask you if you want to change it to the default browser, click Yes and then close Firefox.

After you've done that, you can try your luck with MSN. Unless you're one of the lucky ones, chances are it's not going to be this easy for you. But it has worked for a few people so I thought I'd include it.

Method 2 - The Internet Explorer Bait and Switch

You're going to set Internet Explorer as your default browser, this can be done by opening Internet Explorer, selecting the tools menu, then Internet Options. When the Internet Options box opens up, select the Programs tab, at the very top it says Default Web Browser - Make Default, click on the Make Default button.

After you've done that, reset your computer. You want to do this next step as quick as possible to hopefully avoid any programs in the background that will get in the way of it working. Open Firefox as soon as your computer has loaded and follow the steps in Method 1 to make Firefox your default browser.

Test it with MSN again, don't worry if it didn't work, there's still a couple options left.

Method 3 - Change your default browser through your Operating System.

If you're using Vista, click the Start button, then click the Default Programs button located in the right column. Click the Set Programs and Computer Defaults button located at the bottom of the Default Programs folder. A window will open, select the Custom button and it will expand the Custom information. Select Mozilla Firefox to make it your default browser and press the OK button.

If you're using Windows XP, click the Start button and open the Control Panel. Click on the Add or Remove Programs option. In the left column, select the Set Programs Access and Defaults button. Click on the Custom button and choose Mozilla Firefox as your default browser and then click the OK button.

Now try to open your email with MSN and see if it works. If it doesn't work, there's one more option.

Method 4 - Outside Programs to the rescue

I saved this method for last because it's a little annoying to have to install outside programs but this one is almost guaranteed to work. You need to download and install MSN Messenger Plus! You need to make sure that you allow Messenger Plus! To load plugins on your account or this won't work. Once you have MSN Messenger Plus! Installed, do a Google search for StuffPlug and install the plugin. After StuffPlug is installed, select the Open Hotmail in default browser option.

Messenger Plus! is an outside program and it runs on SponsorWare, if you don't want it on your computer, be sure that you uncheck the "Install SponsorWare" box when you are installing Messenger Plus!

This method has been known to work for almost everybody, but if you don't want to install outside software, there's one final solution.

Method 5 - Add a tab to your bookmarks in Firefox and link a bunch of email accounts together.

The main reason I want MSN to open Hotmail in Firefox is because I have a bunch of email accounts and it's easier to load Messenger and click the email tab than it is to punch in my email/password every time I want to use Firefox to check my Hotmail. Hotmail now lets you link up to 5 email accounts, so, to save the headaches above, simply set a Bookmarks Toolbar Bookmark for Hotmail, punch in your info, save it, then go into Hotmail and link all of your accounts together.

That's it, all the possible solutions to the MSN/Hotmail/Firefox problem, hopefully the first one worked for you, if not, hopefully one of them worked for you.

Thanks for reading.

How to rip full Facebook Albums

How to rip full Facebook Albums

Whether you're trying to rip your own albums for safekeeping or collect pictures of that girl you like (stalker), the best way to rip full Facebook Photo Albums is to use an easy to install add-on in your Firefox browser.

Below, I will outline the installation and use of said add-on.

Step 1 - Open your Firefox Browser, click tools, and select Add-ons.



Step 2 - When the Add-On box opens, click on the "Get Add-ons" button.



Step 3 - Type Facepad into the Get Add-ons Search Box and press enter or the magnifying glass.



Step 4 - Click "Add to Firefox"



Step 5 - Click "Install Now"



Step 6 - After the installation is complete, you will have to restart your browser, do that, then log into Facebook and right click on the title of an album you want to download. Select the "Download Album with FacePAD" option.



You can also select an individual page inside the album. This has been glitchy for me though, sometimes it downloads the full album, sometimes it downloads the single page.



Step 7 - Watch as your pics download to your hard drive. The only annoying thing is the pop up message that lets you know that page 1 is being downloaded, then page 2, and if there is a page 3, it lets you know that too. Still, it's better than doing it by hand.

How to Install Additional Fonts on Windows Vista

How to Install Additional Fonts on Windows Vista

Windows Vista has made it pretty easy to install fonts, even then, I didn't know how to do it right off the bat. Below are several ways you can go about installing additional fonts on your Vista machine.

The easiest way to install a new font to your Vista computer is to simply right click on the font or fonts that you want to install and select the Install option from the right-click menu. That's it, it's as simple as that, the font will be installed if it is compatible and you'll be using it in seconds. The only extra step you might come across is clicking continue if you have User Account Control activated on your computer.

Another way to install fonts is to open your control panel, switch to classic view, and open the fonts folder. When the fonts folder is open, you simply right-click on some blank space and select the Install New Fonts option that appears in the menu. Doing it this way is a real pain as you then have to navigate through folders until you find the fonts you want to install. Once you've found the font(s) you want to install, click install and you're finished.

I recommend you learn to do it both ways as the second option is how you go about doing it on an XP machine, but stick to the first option if you value your time.

How to turn your iPod Shuffle into a Regular MP3 Player

How to turn your iPod Shuffle into a Regular MP3 Player

iTunes sucks. I bought an iPod shuffle because it didn't have all the bells and whistles of the other iPod's and I thought that the iPod Shuffle might not be trapped in the iTunes realm. I was wrong. It made my head hurt.

I search the internet for hours, finding a site that solved my problem with only an hour to spare before a 12 hour shift. Lucky for me, it was easy to understand, and even easier to implement.

So, if you're looking to turn your iPod Shuffle into something other than a controlling girlfriend, there's only one place you need to go:

http://shuffle-db.sourceforge.net/

How to make you normal sized picture really BIG on forums

How to make you normal sized picture really BIG on forums

It's simple, instead of using forum code ([img] tags) you use the HTML code and you change the width value of the code. Change the "300" to "1700" and you're done.



Normal Code:



Huge Code:

How to delay or speed up subtitles in VideoLan (VLC) Player

How to delay or speed up subtitles in VideoLan (VLC) Player

I finally found subs to a movie I've had on my harddrive for a year. The subs didn't line up. I fixed it. Here's how:

1. Open VLC Player.
2. Click the File Menu.
3. Click Open File.
4. Click Browse to Open the Movie.
5. Check the "Use a subtitle file" Box.
6. Click Browse to Open the Subtitle.
7. Click "Advanced Settings"
8. Move the Delay into the minus if the subtitles are too fast, move it into the positive if the subtitles are too slow.

I don't know if there is a better way, but that's how I did it. It was guess and test, but it only takes a few minutes to line it up and you're good to go.

edit:

Brian added this:

You can also just press 'H' and 'J' while the video is running to align the subtitles backward and forward in time. The increments are in milliseconds so it can be pretty easily fine tuned that way, but I don't know if there's any way to save that setting.

How to Turn off the Explorer Click Sound in Windows Vista

How to Turn off the Explorer Click Sound in Windows Vista

This annoys me to the point of shoostings.

Here's how you shut if off for good.

1 - Open up the Sounds Configuration Panel by entering mmsys.cpl into the start menu search box. You can also go through the control panel, but through the search box is quicker and easier.



2 - The below window will open. Click the sounds tab.



3 - Scroll down to the Start Navigation option. It's near the bottom. Set the Start Navigation Sounds to NONE and press apply.



4 - Or just do what I do and turn all of the sounds off so you don't have to deal with all of the other annoying stock sounds and chimes.