Author: Ed Bott

Tech journalist. Author of 25+ books. ZDNET Contributing Editor since 2006. Contact info: https://edbott.com/contact-me/

Tip of the day: Save a tree with Print Preview

I’m on a crusade to encourage every Windows user to remove the Print button from the Internet Explorer toolbar. Why? Because more often than not, clicking the Print button causes you to waste paper by printing at least one more page than you really need. (Invariably, you’ll get a blank page – or one containing just a single line of text – when you click Print.)

The solution? Preview before you print. By adding a preview, you can see at a glance whether you’re about to waste a page and then use the Print dialog box to specify that you only want to print the current page.

In Internet Explorer you can replace the Print button with the Print Preview button. (Firefox doesn’t provide this option.) Right-click the toolbar and choose Customize from the shortcut menu. Find the Print button in the Current Toolbar Buttons list on the right, select it, and then click Remove. In the Available toolbar buttons list, select the Print Preview button and click Add. Click Close to make the change effective.

Print_preview

Get in the habit of using the Print Preview option. To print Web pages from the Preview window, click the Print button, which in turn opens the Print Options dialog box, where you can choose which pages you want to print.

Tip of the day: Stop wasting paper when printing Web pages

Sometimes you want to print just part of a Web page, but clicking the Print button spits out page after page of information you don’t want or need. Here’s an easy solution that works the same in Internet Explorer and Firefox:

  • Use your mouse to select the text you want to print. 
  • Click File, Print. (Don’t use the Print button!) In the Print dialog box, look for the area labeled Page Range and choose the Selection option.

If the Selection option is grayed out, you forgot to make a selection. Click Cancel and try again.

Tip of the day: Get your downloaded programs organized

If you’re like most people, you store downloaded programs in a variety of locations-on the desktop, in the My Documents folder, or wherever the Save As dialog box happens to be pointing when you download a file. I recommend that you look for these downloaded program files on your hard disk and pull all of them together into one well-organized Downloads folder. You can then transfer the whole collection to your new PC by copying that folder, and when you’re ready to reinstall that software, you can do so quickly and efficiently by working through all the items stored there. Spending a few extra minutes getting organized now can save you hours later.

Continue reading “Tip of the day: Get your downloaded programs organized” →

“Poisoned” media files wrap-up

The other day I mentioned Microsoft’s new Security Advisory service. The first update in the series has been released, and (surprise!) Microsoft Security Advisory (892313) covers the issue of Windows Media files that can serve as vehicles for delivering unwanted software:

In March 2005, Microsoft issued an update to Windows Media Player to address the issue discussed in this advisory. Microsoft was made aware that malicious attackers can potentially create media files that could then trigger the launch of a Web site without further user interaction. This Web site could potentially then try and trick the user into downloading and executing malicious software add-ons, such as spyware. This social engineering attack abuses a by-design feature in Microsoft Windows Media Player Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology that requires users to have a license to playback a media file.

It’s an excellent summary of an issue I’ve been writing about since the beginning of the year, and I hope it’s a sign of a new awareness about this sort of security issue.

(And a tip of the hat to Eric L. Howes, Ben Edelman, Andrew Clover, Suzi at Spyware Warrior, and Ryan Naraine at eWeek for their input on this issue.)

Keeping files in sync

Thomas Hawk has a legitimate complaint about Windows Explorer:

When I try to copy the letter from one drive to my back up, inevitibly (on nearly every letter) I get an I/O device error that stops my copy job. No viruses, no spyware (at least according to MSFT’s own new software, Adaware and Spybot combined).

Why not have smarter OS software that says, hey, guess what, I can’t copy this file, should I just skip it and go on or should I abandon the whole copy job altogether.

I use a program called FileSync to work around this issue. My digital music collection is fully backed up on three different computers with no file copy errors. It’s a very inexpensive shareware program ($15, last time I looked) and works exceptionally well.

Tip of the day: Show hidden files with a simple script

In its default settings, Windows Explorer conceals two types of files: those with the hidden attribute set, and those designated as system files. Some people, including my occasional writing partner Woody Leonhard, think you should always enable the display of hidden files. I don’t agree – in general, I prefer to keep system and hidden files hidden except when I need to solve a particular problem. To change Explorer’s settings so hidden and system files are visible, open any Explorer window and click Tools, Folder Options (or click the Folder Options icon in Control Panel). On the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab and select the Show hidden files and folders checkbox. Then scroll down a bit further and clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) checkbox. (You’ll have to click past a warning dialog box to make this change.) When you close the dialog box and return to the Explorer window, you’ll see all the files in that folder, including those marked as hidden and system files.

Show_hidden_files

It is annoying to make this change, and equally annoying to undo the change when you’re finished with the current task. So for Windows XP Inside Out, we came up with a script that automates the process. The script examines the registry to see whether hidden files (those with the Hidden attribute set) are displayed in Windows Explorer. If not, it modifies the registry so that hidden files and super-hidden files (those with the System and Hidden attributes set) are displayed. The script also assumes that you probably want the option to edit file name extensions, so it changes settings to make all file name extensions visible as well. If hidden files are already displayed, the script assumes you want to undo the previous set of changes and modifies these three registry values accordingly.

I’ve made the script file available for download in compressed (Zip) format: Click here to download the file, extract it to a convenient location, and run it whenever you want to toggle hidden files.

If you want to view the script contents first, click here to see the text in a separate browser window. Remember to save the script file with the .vbs extension.

When the script runs, it changes the current settings and displays the results in an information box. If the script won’t run properly on your computer, check to see whether your anti-virus or security software is blocking Visual Basic script files.

Tip of the day: Keep your computer cool

Sometimes the cause of Windows problems isn’t software at all. If you suddenly begin experiencing mysterious crashes, pay attention to when they occur. Overheating inside your computer case can cause memory chips, CPUs, and other heat-sensitive parts to stop functioning properly. If your computer consistently begins crashing a short time after you power on, heat may be the problem. Here’s a short list of things you can do to diagnose and repair heat-related problems:

  • Check the power supply fan and make sure air is blowing from the inside out. A broken fan will cause problems in no time.
  • If your PC has a separate case fan, check to see that it’s operating properly as well.
  • If your computer’s BIOS includes a temperature reading (many new models do), check it by restarting and going into the BIOS setup after you’ve been running for a while.
  • Clean out those dust bunnies! Take your PC’s case off and use a can of compressed air to carefully blow out dust that may be clogging up ventilation ports.
  • With the cover off, check your CPU fan. This device sits right on your CPU and blows heat away. If it stops working, your computer will, too.

Those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere are about to head into the hottest time of the year. So now’s a good time to ensure that your cooling systems are working as they should.