For a couple months now I haven’t been able to update my precious Windows 7. I would get a message that the updates failed with, “Windows Update error 80072efd.” I tried all the steps from the Windows Help and Support window (running the Windows Update troubleshooter and adding the Windows Update websites to the Windows […]
Category: Windows 7
Open a Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 7, Vista and Windows 2008
Often, even if you are logged on as a user which belongs to the local Administrators group, you may have to open a command prompt (or other program) as “administrator.” Simply right-click the shortcut (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt) and select Run As Administrator. Applies to: Windows 7 Windows 2008 Windows Vista
Keyboard Shortcut to open Windows Task Manager in Windows 7 and Vista
Microsoft changed things up again. Back in the day (Windows 2000, 2003, XP, etc.) you could easily open Windows Task Manager using Ctrl + Alt + Del, then pressing T. Now in Windows 7 and Windows Vista you can still use Ctrl + Alt + Del which displays a screen whith options like Lock this Computer, Switch User, Log Off, Change Password, […]
Restarting IIS using the command-line
You can restart IIS and disable Reliable Restart using the command prompt and Iisreset.exe. See the following command-line usage and parameters. iisreset [computername] /RESTART Stop and then restart all Internet services./START Start all Internet services./STOP Stop all Internet services./REBOOT Reboot the computer./REBOOTONERROR Reboot the computer if an error occurs when starting, stopping, or restarting Internet […]
Find Last Reboot Time in Windows 7, Vista and Windows 2008
Have you ever wanted a quick and easy way to know how long your Windows 7 (or Vista or Windows 2008 server) system has been running? When it was last restarted or rebooted? There are a few easy ways this can be done, most from the Windows command line. So open a Windows command prompt […]
How to Enable or Disable Hibernate in Windows 7
The hibernate feature allows operating system to save and write the running state and contents of RAM as a file (c:hiberfil.sys) or partition to non-volatile storage such as a hard disk, before powering off the computer. Hibernation allows system to quickly restart and restore to the previous state when hibernation was invoked, instead of having to […]
Add “Open with Notepad++” to the Context Menu for All Files in Windows 7
Having the context menu option, “Open with Notepad++” (my favorite FREE Windows text editor) is invaluable, making it easy to quickly and easily open files with just a (right) mouse click or two. This registry hack is nothing new, it’s been around forever… think of this as a refresher course. Also note that you can […]
How To: Create A Show Desktop Shortcut on Windows 7 and Vista
While Windows 7 (and Vista, if I remember right) does have a “Show Desktop” shortcut – it’s in the system tray, to the right of the clock – you may long for the days when it was in the Quick Launch toolbar like in XP or Windows 2003. Not to fear. You can easily create […]
Securely delete files in Windows
The only way to ensure that deleted files, as well as files that you encrypt with EFS, are safe from recovery is to use a secure delete application. Secure delete applications overwrite a deleted file’s on-disk data using techiques that are shown to make disk data unrecoverable, even using recovery technology that can read patterns […]
Getting the Most out of Windows Command Prompt
If you are like me you use the command prompt a lot. It seems each time I logon to a new system I have to setup the command prompt just the way I want. The first thing I do is create a shortcut in the Quick Launch toolbar. Next I modify that shortcut so it […]