Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with windows7

InDesign 6 is giving me a headache - literally

JoanArkham — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 06:02:33 -0800

We recently got upgraded to Windows7 here at work. (Yay?) For some reason, everything now looks like crap unless I set my resolution to the "recommended" monitor setting, 1920 x 1200. Which I did. And now the palette labels in InDesign 6 are teeny-tiny. It's especially awful in my long list of paragraph styles. I boosted the default font size through Windows, but that only affects the drop-down menus, not the labels. This is a stupid question but...please hope me! It has proven to be un-Googleable.

Help a longtime Mac user switch to Windows.

hwickline — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:20:45 -0800

I haven't used Windows since the year 2000, but a new job means this longtime Mac user needs to learn how to. A couple specifics related to image editing and task management software plus general words of wisdom/ encouragement requested within. In addition to the general feeling of at-seaness of starting a demanding new job, I find myself needing to learn a new OS: Windows 7, used in a large institution context, with all the Outlook, help ticketing and other systems stuff that implies. I've always been a Mac person (and in fact was the de facto IT guy for some small teams I've worked on in Mac shops), and find myself fighting decades of muscle memory and maybe even a little prejudice in this switch. So, my questions:

1. One of my first tasks is creating a set of images (photos overlaid with text, nothing too fancy really) that will live on a couple lobby computers as screen savers and be given to a retiring employee on a digital picture frame. On my Mac, I would fire up Keynote, size the slides pixelwise a couple different ways, drop some nice text with a partially opaque background text box on 'em, and call it a day. Here on my Windows 7 machine, I tried PowerPoint (sizes only in inches?), Paint (no transparency on text boxes?), and spent a whole morning banging my head against the problem with unsatisfying results. I don't know Photoshop, and can't believe I really need it to do what I want to do. What software would you use to complete this (really, terribly simple) task on a PC?

2. I'm a GTD person, and have happily used OmniFocus for the past several years to manage tasks. I'm trying out ThinkingRock right now, but it seems like more than I need (I generally just use projects/ tasks, start and due dates, and contexts) and that added complexity makes for more time-consuming data entry. Also, it's ugly. Do you have a favorite GTD app for Windows? Bonus points for iPhone syncing. Bonus bonus points for full cross platform so I can use it on my home Mac, too.

3. More generally, are there apps it took you a while to find, but now love, when switching from Mac to PC? Are there apps that have no Mac equivalent that you love on your Windows machine? Are there shortcuts (keyboard or otherwise) that you can't live without that you wish someone had told you about right away?

Any help much, much appreciated. Thanks!

Windows 7 Explorer List View, Sorted by Type, Default Keyboard Behavior

Lakmir — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:41:49 -0800

I usually navigate my Windows 7 Explorer windows via keyboard. I type the name of a directory, then hit enter to open it. But when the new directory comes up, typing finds the first filename alphabetically, which would be fine if I had my directories sorted by file name, but I do not - they're sorted by file type instead. Once a file is selected after typing the first letter, Windows's selection continues looking in the display order (first by type then alphabetically) but does not wrap to the beginning of the directory, so if I was trying to select a folder and ended up with a file, then I either have to click in the window or wait a few seconds and hit Home to get to the start of the window. How do I change this so it will initially give preference to file type and not just file names? An example. Let's say I have a directory, C:\test1\ with the following in it, sorted by file type:

Garbage1 [directory]
Junk1[directory]

Thing1.exe

Jalopy1.txt
Junk2.txt
Garbage2.txt
Thing2.txt

Garbage3.zip
Jalopy2.txt
Junk3.zip

If I have a window with C:\ open, and I arrow over to test1 and hit enter, it brings up the above in that order. According to this document Windows's focus will be on Garbage1, and indeed if I press space bar, it will select the Garbage1 directory. However, if instead I type "j" Windows will select Jalopy1.txt, *not* the Junk1 directory. If I then press J again, it'll select Junk2.txt, then Jalopy2.txt, then Junk3.zip. After that it'll refuse to locate anything, and will just beep at me. If I wanted Junk1, I'm out of luck and have to either wait a few seconds for Windows to forget that I was typing anything in the first place then hit home, or I have to click elsewhere in the window to again force Windows to forget that I was typing.

This behavior is extraordinarily annoying. Does anyone have a fix, aside from hitting the space bar every time I open a new directory?

Where can I purchase a non-oem version of Windows 7 Upgrade Pro w/ SP1?

colecovizion — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:05:40 -0800

I'm looking to upgrade our XP PC's to Windows 7. I'm having a hard time finding a legitimate source for non-oem Windows 7 pro upgrade with SP1 already baked in. Thanks for any help!

Remote Desktop Connection woes

ricochet biscuit — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:15:10 -0800

My work computer is a laptop running Windows 7. I am working far from my office this week (as I often do) and I connect to my work server through Remote Desktop Connection. Typically this is pretty much problem-free, but for the last two or three days, when I log in to the server, I am seeing the server's desktop not as a full screen, but in a window about 10" wide on my 17.3" laptop screen. As well, while the laptop's screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio, the window looks to be 4:3. Attempting to resize the window through the Maximize/Restore Down icon avails me naught: I can mouse over the edges of the window and drag it to a new size, but it maxes out at the size that I mention, which covers maybe 60% of the screen's real estate. Numerous reboots and resets have not rectified it and I am at a loss as to how to proceed. It is not a crippling obstacle, of course, but it is an annoyance. I have not changed any settings anywhere, and the only unusual thing that happened before this began is that last weekend I was teaching a course and doing some presentations on this laptop. When I plugged in the projector's cable, the display on laptop immediately resized each time to the projector's aspect ratio, which looked to be about 4:3. Unplugging afterwards, everything went back to the regular display each time.

I have used this machine with a projector before and seen the same resizing of the display on my screen, but I have not had it hooked to a projector in several months, and after a hard drive failure this winter, a new hard drive went into the machine in February or early March. Last weekend was the first time it was used with a peripheral since then.

Note: I work for an NGO and this is a work computer, so suggestions to move to a different software package may not be helpful. Most of us work remotely and none of my coworkers are encountering this problem, so I am not in a strong position to ask everyone else to get rid of their laptops as well and go with some new approach.

Also, I am so very much not a techie guy, so explanations that patronize my understanding of this stuff are just fine. Explain it to me like I am eight.

I need Apple Remote Desktop, but for everything else

the matching mole — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:57:48 -0800

How do I send a Unix command to a bunch of Red Hat servers at once from Windows 7? I used to manage hundreds of OS X computers with Apple Remote Desktop, and life was good. I could watch the clients, reboot the clients, send Unix commands to the clients, get reports from the clients, and make them dance the limbo if I felt like it. Now I’m working on a Windows 7 workstation managing Windows Server 2008 and Red Hat 5 servers. I need a Windows 7-based tool that will let me remotely manage Windows and RHEL servers with the same functionality as ARD.

I’ve found COTS that gets me pretty close, like VisionApp, and Remote Desktop Manager. Those apps will let me throw PowerShell scripts at Windows boxes all day long.

But here’s what I need the most: the ability to send Unix commands to several RHEL servers at once, and get the output back in one place. From Windows 7.

Yeah, I know, I might be crazy. Does such an application exist?

Ah Windows!

bluejayway — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:29:01 -0800

The Windows laptop that I have been using for work has slowly been dying 1000 little deaths. They seemed to be all software related, So I decided to do a clean install. The install, from a USB, failed before it even got started. There was a missing DVD driver that could not be located anywhere. I canceled out of the install and try to boot up normally, But that won't work either. I have an error in my BCD file. I am faced with two choices, it seems to me. First, go buy a new cheap laptop. Second, take a chance and buy Windows 7 media from the store. Those cost in the neighborhood of $200 versus, $600 or so for a new laptop. Obviously, the new laptop will be more or less guaranteed to work, while trying to reinstall from fresh media is no guarantee.

I need this to work tomorrow. There are no computers that I can borrow. I am an independent contractor and have no work resources beyond this computer. So, what should I do? Is there anything that I have not thought of?
Thanks!

Backup an image of a boot drive to a RAID 1 & perform restoration?

ihavearedcouch — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 02:17:57 -0800

I have a PCI-E SSD as my boot drive, and a win7-created RAID 1 on two 3TB drives. My boot drive has my user folder on it, but my documents, music, pictures, videos, etc folders shortcut to their respectable folders on the RAID. I would like this to be a full redundancy scheme and it is, but I've run into several nags and I would like to know how to fix them and prepare a fix-it plan before any of the drives fails. The PCI-E SSD is OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 240GB.

First the nags:
The backup is more than 240GB. I am thinking that Windows is including not only multiple versions of files but also backing up the target's shortcuts as well. This is stupid considering that the RAID 1 has already taken care of those folders. How do I make automatic periodic image backups of the boot drive only and without versions of the files? (I would still like restore points for the boot drive--but that still fits in the 240GB, right?)

Preparing for the worse:

-If my PCI-E SSD fails, I will have to temporarily resort to a mechanical drive until I replace the SSD. How do I quickly restore the boot image (stored on the RAID 1) to this mechanical drive? Lastly, once I've obtained the replacement PCI-E SSD, how do I restore the most recent boot image to that? I've heard it's super difficult. Any surefire methods and instructions?

-If one of my RAID 1 drives fail, how can I locate the bad drive, replace it and restore the mirror without putting the good drive in risk?

I am willing to spend money on software, but only if its “set it and forget it” and offers flawless restoration. Also, I because of limited case space, I rather avoid setting aside another drive or a separate partition for a perfect image copy of the boot drive.

Honestly, I feel that once these questions are answered, this HD setup is a very redundant and cheap way of keeping a hold on my life's data work and a functional computer. If anyone can offer answers to any of the questions here I will greatly appreciate it and I will give back to the community by spreading this method.

One example of this would be building computers for family and friends. I've heard too many stories of people's drives going bust, so this would make the computer I build for them very reliable. The only problem is I need to provide instructions in case something does go wrong.

Lastly, I question if there is a method to move a software raid to a hardware raid if in the future I happen to upgrade to a better motherboard that supports multiple raids (since the pci-e ssd is technically a raid as well). How would I do this?

Bonus question: Let’s say I was to install a “Hackintosh” on a separate SSD/HD. What would be the way to make the RAID visible and editable by Mac OS X? How would I do a boot drive image backup onto the RAID as well?

Many thanks.

Laptop Gives Error: Operating System Not Found

Green With You — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 08:37:05 -0800

My friend's laptop runs windows 7. After resetting last night she's getting an Operating System Not Found error during boot. Assuming the hard drive hasn't completely failed, what are the best, simplest tools she can use to either fix the problem or at least get her important data off the drive? She has access to another computer with a cd/dvd burner, an 8GB USB flash drive, and blank cds. She doesn't have access to the system restore disc or anything like that. She can get a blank DVD if that's simplest. I was leaning toward Knoppix as the Linux distribution for a live dvd, but if there's an easier way I'd love to hear it. Thanks.

Computer recovery after reset to original settings

dorey_oh — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:48:27 -0800

Computer froze up, only letting me access the recovery manager. Burned 6 recovery disks, then reset to original factory settings. Reinstalled the recovery disks, the program said it was successful, but the files are nowhere to be found. What next? I have an HP laptop running Windows 7, about 3 years old. Hate to admit it to all the computer people out there, but I had never set it up to backup files. Will be fixing this gap in future, assuming I have files to backup.

The computer stopped starting up, only went to the recovery manager. Tried running the checkup, that didn't fix it. Ended up burning 6 recovery disks, then resetting to factory settings. Now the computer starts, at least.

After making sure that I could access the programs the files were from (mainly just Word, Excel, that sort of thing), I reinstalled the recovery disks. File names went whizzing past, end screen said recovery was successful. However, I can't find any of the files on the computer. Where did they go? Or what step did I miss? What do I do now?

As you can likely tell by now, I'm not much of a computer person. If your best recommendation is to take it to someone else, feel free to say so. I've already gotten info on computer repair places in my area. AskMe is my last try at fixing this myself, before handing the computer over to someone else before I screw it up further.

In search of a lasting wireless network solution

Rhaomi — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 07:12:09 -0800

After wasting two different off-days trying to get my damnable modem+router working, I want to return them both and get something entirely new. Any good recommendations for a solid, reliable DSL modem and wireless router set-up with decent NAS support? THE STORY SO FAR:

- had an ISP-supplied hybrid modem/router for a few years that worked fine
- bought a new laptop last year and swapped the hard drive for an SSD
- decided to use the spare hard drive as an external drive for storing large media files and performing automatic backups
- bought an Apricorn USB hard drive enclosure designed to support NAS stuff
- bought a Western Digital My Net N600 router with a USB port designed to support NAS stuff (the old modem had no USB ports)
- ran into endless bizarre problems trying to get the N600 maintaining a connection to the old modem in bridge mode
- discovered plugging in and using the external drive was crashing the router firmware
- exchanged N600 for a better-spec'd N750
- more bizarre problems; dropped connections; router web interface sluggish
- tried installing a firmware upgrade from the official website
- now the router won't even boot up, *not even after a paperclip factory reset*

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

There are just too many potential glitches and conflicts here for me to deal with any more -- the fact that the modem is old (and in bridge mode), the general bugginess of Western Digital's routers, the fact that I'm using a laptop hard drive instead of one purpose-built for NAS work.

So I want to start from scratch. New DSL modem. New router. Maybe even a new hard drive and/or hard drive enclosure if that might help.

What I need to know:

- What's the best option for a reliable dedicated DSL modem? No-frills is fine as long as it's reasonably fast and can support a PPPoE connection type.

- What's the best option for a reliable wireless router with support for an external USB hard drive? I'm willing to spend more if it can buy me quality, dependability, and a no-hassle set-up with a decent web interface. I'm seriously tired of troubleshooting unaccountable wifi problems via unhelpful router settings pages that crash often and don't tell me anything useful.

- What's the best option for a reliable external hard drive set-up? I'm not doing enterprise-level stuff here -- I just want it to store my iTunes, my movies, and have some space left over to automatically back up a ~256GB SSD. I already have a laptop hard drive in the Apricorn enclosure I mentioned, and it did allow me to (temporarily) access my files wirelessly. But I'm not sure if the crashes I mentioned were due to the Western Digital router being shoddy or the hard drive/enclosure set-up being inappropriate for that purpose. Should I maybe reformat the hard drive for use as a NAS? Or would it be better to just get a purpose-built USB NAS drive?

I'd also be interested in a decent combination DSL modem/router with NAS support if that would be easier to set up. My current, years-old modem/router hybrid works flawlessly, but just doesn't have any USB ports to plug a drive into (only a USB B port, which apparently can't support that kind of thing).

Any recommendations -- especially based on personal experience with the device -- very much appreciated!

Windows 7 remote desktop annoyance.

paper chromatographologist — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:47:21 -0800

Windows 7 remote desktop won't reveal the name of the user logged in. Back when I would remote onto a Windows XP desktop at work, and there was already a user logged into that computer, Windows would reveal that user's name. Microsoft has apparently disabled this feature in Windows 7, much to my annoyance. I've tried working with my employer's IT help desk and their only suggestion has been to purchase multi-seat, annually-renewed license to a big enterprisey remote/virtual server management suite.

Google is not helping me today. Can anyone tell me how to "un-disable" this feature and make Window 7 tell me (and any other user trying to remote in) who's currently logged in to the remote computer?

(One workaround we've tried, but still has some bugs, is to put a startup script on the Windows 7 computer that writes a record of the login to a file on a shared drive. Then, when this works, you can just check that file to see who's logged in. We could probably work out the kinks in this method, but it just seems ridiculous to have to do this.)

Mac->Windows migration for a small office: tips and suggestions?

Oktober — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:59:49 -0800

I've been the all-around IT guy for a small office of 30 for a few years now. We've been primarily a Mac shop this whole time, but new business requirements mean that we'll probably be buying more windows machines going forward. I've been tasked with a pilot program to migrate 1/3 of our office over this year, with the assumption we'll bring everyone else over next year. Details inside: 1)We're running a mix of 10.6-10.8 on a variety of <3 year old macbook pros. We've got an Xserve handling files, open directory, and vpn. Mail is handled by an exchange server at our parent entity. This, of course, presents its own set of problems because we have to back up massive amounts of mail locally.

2) I was originally a windows guy, but I haven't done enterprise level windows work since the XP/2003 days, I'll admit I'm a little rusty. The pilot would be ~10 laptops plus a server to act as the AD Domain Controller. What am I forgetting?

3) I'd like to do this the right way (AD + Roaming Profiles, right?) but we may not have the budget for a serious SAN able to accomodate all of that data. What's a realistic amount of per-user storage for roaming profiles?

4) I'm seriously unhappy with our backup solution now (Retrospect 9 + LTO4). What's the standard on the windows side? Backup Exec?

How Can I Remotely Restart a Program on a Windows 7 Computer?

Bugbread — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:10:51 -0800

Any ideas on how I could have one PC listen for a specially formatted packet/etc., and when it detects that packet/etc. shut down a program? I have a Windows 7 computer which I am using to serve media files to a media player connected to my television. I've tried many media server programs, and the one that works best for me is Twonky. However, about once a day (at different times of the day), Twonky stops responding. When that happens, I have to go to the other room and shut down the "Twonkyserver.exe" program. When I shut it down, it automatically restarts, and Twonky works fine.

However, 1) it's a bit of a pain in the butt to go to the other (non-heated) room to do this, and 2) when it happens and I'm not at home, my wife and kids can't watch anything.

I've tried using Windows 7 remote access to access the computer and manually restart the program, but it takes waaaaay too long to do almost every day.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to configure the main box to, say, listen to a specific port or something, and then from the living room PC, double-click on something (a batch file, etc.) which would send a command/specially formed packet/access a specially designated port/etc. to the main PC. The main PC, detecting this special traffic/packet/etc. would in turn run a batch file, etc. which just shuts down twonkyserver.exe (which would then automatically restart). So I (or my wife, or eventually my kids) would know "when the TV stops working, double-click this icon on the living room desktop, and wait 10 seconds". Any ideas?

How to save create a Photoshop action to that saves files to server

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:17:51 -0800

Previously we used a Photoshop cs5 Action to save images that were already on our Windows file server to another folder on the server. We got a new server. The Action now longer works, seemingly because the path is different, though the drive letter is the same. I've attempted to record a new Action, following the steps in the old Action, but there's a problem. The new action records the name of the file, so all new files saves with that Action are saves names of the file used to record the action. The original action did not save the name of the file used when recording the action. We would like the new action to do what the old Action did How can I get Photoshop to record this action and not save the name of the file, so it can be used by multiple people on different Windows 7 machines? Our workflow is simple, we get jepgs of photos, open them, color correct for our publication and then press the button for the "save to new folder" action, which saves all the files in a specific folder on the server.

But with the server switch, that Action is no longer working.

The action literally has two major steps:
Save
As: Tiff
Byte Order: IBM PC
With LZW Compression
In: \\Windowsserver\pubname\specialfolderforeditedphotos\
---
Close

Is there anyway I can go into the action and change the path? I don't see an edit step or some such option in the Actions Pallete.

The Adobe forums weren't helpful, as they insist saving to servers isn't supported. Which is fine, but it worked before and would like it to work again.

Any ideas?

Boost my in-law's WiFi signal (from 1500 miles away)

caution live frogs — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:59:21 -0800

My father-in-law needs help connecting his Windows 7 laptop to a WiFi network; he is apparently dealing with an interference issue that stops him from connecting while at home. This is complicated by the fact that I am 1500 miles away and will not be able to help in person. He is not tech savvy. Suggestions? In-laws are in Texas during the winter. They live in a retirement community with WiFi. There is a WiFi access point right next to their home. They cannot connect to it. If they go across the street, their computer connects just fine, so I know it isn't a problem with whether the computer works or not.

I know nothing about the park network, but pretty safe to assume that it's b/g/n with a required password.

Their winter home is a trailer underneath a permanent roof. Their neighbor suspects the roof itself is blocking the signal due to the way it was constructed. In addition, their laptop is pretty inexpensive, so it could be a weak internal WiFi antenna. Last I knew, when they arrived it worked, but after more neighbors arrived at the park for the season and begin using WiFi, they couldn't connect.

Option 1 is an external WiFi adapter that can pull a better signal. I worry that adding a second WiFi adapter will cause more headaches. I haven't ever added a USB adapter to a laptop that already had working WiFi. It will be extremely difficult to walk him through disabling the internal adapter. Plus, unless Windows is smart enough to re-enable it automatically, he will call me asking why WiFi no longer works if he leaves home without the USB adapter.

I would much prefer Option 2, having him set up a WiFi to wired bridge. Can you do this on a network you don't control? As long as it is possible to choose the right SSID and set the password on the bridge using a web interface, then he should be plug and play with an ethernet cable. This seems like the simplest option as he could move the device to anywhere it gets a good signal, would not have to make any changes to internal devices on the laptop, and most problems would be solvable by power-cycling the device.

My father-in-law is not thrilled about it but is willing to spend $30-$50 to get online. Given that I am not there to either help him select a device or get it set up, I don't want him buying anything that a teenager at Best Buy foisted off on him. I am more than happy to buy something off Amazon/NewEgg, for example, and have it shipped to him, but I don't want him stuck with a device that won't help or can't be configured by a tech-illiterate senior citizen.

Asking here for hardware recommendations, keeping high ease of use and low cost as the two primary goals here.

Windows 7 and the unseen wireless router

Inner Universe — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 06:47:26 -0800

I've been blessed with the task of finding out why my father's windows 7 laptop can't connect to his new Virgin Media Broadband router. The laptop can't find the router, and I can't find a fix... The broadband router is newly installed, the laptop less than a few months old, but it seems like the laptop can't find any wireless networks whatsoever. A lot of the suggestions and fixes involve changing the router's security or downloading drivers, but obviously the laptop can't connect, and I'll be damned if I know how to mess with the Virgin box, as my own is much different.

As I'm posting this at his place, I can verify that the router works fine; another laptop in the house can also connect easily with just the SSID. The fault must lie with the laptop/operating system but... For once, I'm stumped. Any ideas on how to get W7 to detect the wireless router? I should hopefully be able to progress from there.

Dealing with Windows 7 and a partitioned hard drive

kthanksbai — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:21:21 -0800

I have a new Dell XPS computer that has a partitioned hard drive. Apparently, (pre-installed, no disc) Windows 7 is running on the 256 GB portion, not the 2TB partition, which is much too small for all of my documents and music. I've copied some files on to the partition and, not surprisingly, Windows 7 does not see them via My Documents, My Music. How can I make this work as it should? Or is it possible? Here's an opportunity for you computer experts to snicker at my ignorance although I know Mefites are generally really kind in their replies.

I bought a new computer because I want and need power, baby. I'll spare you the details because I don't think you need them to help me or tell me I'm fucked.

I opted for a 2TB hard drive because I could. Yesterday as I was migrating files, I was shocked to receive a notice that there was no more space. Since then, I've learned that the hard drive is 256GB SSD SRT enhancement +2TB SATA Hard Drive 7200 RPM.

I am running Windows 7 because there was no way in hell I was ready to migrate to Windows 8. (One of the reasons I chose this model was because they had an option for Windows 7.)

So here's my problem. Apparently (pre-installed, no disc) Windows 7 is running on the 256 GB part. And my documents are more than 258 GB which is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the photo, music and video files.

One of the things I like about Windows 7 is the easy navigation to My Docs, Music, Pictures etc., but when I load the documents to the 2 TB partition, Windows 7 doesn't locate them (which is not unexpected). I can manually choose My Computer and navigate to the partition but I'd prefer not to have to do that: I'd really like to use the Windows 7 links. Is this possible?

Internet, you're being weird. Stop it.

Rhaomi — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:01:41 -0800

Trying to set up a new wireless network and running into all kinds of strange problems. Connections dropped every few hours! Some machines work, some don't! Can connect to internet, can't connect to router! DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER (literally). Please help. The set-up is a little convoluted, but does work (until it doesn't).

The original router is an ISP-provided 2wire HomePortal 1700HW, a combination DSL modem/router that plugs directly into a phone jack and broadcasts it as a WiFi network. It's a few years old but has worked decently on its own up to this point, so I don't think the problem lies there.

The newcomer is a brand-new Western Digital My Net N600 router, acquired both to improve on the range of the old one and to provide networked storage capability for shared music and such.

Configuring the two of them to work properly was a bit of a dog, but I finally did get it working. The phone jack plugs into the old 2wire, now set to bridge mode to disable its built-in wireless capability. The 2wire plugs into the N600 via Ethernet. And the N600, armed with all the correct PPPoE login information from the ISP, correctly connects to and interprets the DSL coming in from the 2wire and broadcasts it out. Even the network storage works!

Problem is, every couple of hours this connection fails, and in the weirdest way possible.

Right now, I'm typing this on an old 'n' busted laptop running Windows XP. It's currently connected to the N600's wireless network and can browse the web no problem. All the status lights on the routers are green, running an ipconfig command returns normal IP address information (including the router's IP), I can ping the router at that location fine.

But I can't connect to the router's settings page (192.168.1.1). WTF?

Also, a visiting Chromebook can connect to the network but can't load any websites... except for AOL webmail, of all things. A test email sent from a phone showed up in the inbox fine, while Google, Facebook, etc. look dead. Not even Gmail, mail.live.com, or even just plain old aol.com work -- just mail.aol.com. This Chromebook doesn't have a data connection, btw, just WiFi. I say again: WTF?

Meanwhile, a newer Windows 7 laptop can't connect to the N600 network at all ("Unable to connect..."), and even plugging directly into the N600 router via Ethernet won't work -- I can ping it fine, but neither websites nor the router settings page itself will load.

Various mobile devices are likewise denied -- various iPhones and iPads can't connect to the network at all.

Power-cycling the N600 router solves all these problems and things work alright for all devices... for a few hours. Until everything craps out again, for no apparent reason.

What could be triggering this issue, and how do I fix it? I've dealt with wonky router stuff before, but it seems totally bizarre to me that:

- the status lights on both routers are fine, including the N600's "internet connection OK" light
- ONE laptop can connect to the router's WiFi and browse the web, and can ping the router, but can't access the router itself
- the other laptop can ping the router through a wired connection, but can't access the router settings or browse the web that way
- a Chromebook can connect to the network and can load *one* website (mail.aol.com), but nothing else
- no other device (apart from that first laptop that mysteriously works fine) can connect to the WiFi network at all

Any thoughts or advice appreciated; I'd love to get this problem fixed rather than have to venture back to Best Buy and try to find a replacement (maybe an N900? who knows).

How to "copy on drag" text in Windows 7?

moxiequz — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:10:13 -0800

I need to copy text between a commercial text editor (TextPad 6.1.3 by Helios) and a home brew program used by my company. When I try to do this now, the highlighted text is moved/cut rather than copied. Is there a Windows 7 or TextPad setting I can use to force the behavior to copy rather than cut the text? Haven't had much luck with google, hoping there's a simple solution here. Some more possibly relevant details:

The Java program used by my company has an edit window which is the target of the text I want to copy. Changes to this program are not immediately possible so while I would be interested in hearing about them for future use, I'm more interested in Windows or TextPad settings I can alter immediately (if there are any of course).

Right clicking in the TextPad window doesn't bring up any obvious solutions. I'm not looking for "right click to copy", or keyboard shortcuts. I'm looking to alter the behavior on "highlight/drag". If there's another text editor that I can use which has the copy/drag behavior I'd be interested in that. Many thanks.

The "FBI" wants $200 from me.

Huplescat — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:41:58 -0800

Can anyone help me with a malware problem in system 7, possibly related to a recent ransomware attack? The attack hit me last week and totally shut down my computer. It also disabled my firewall and killed MSE and Malwarebytes. I was using MSE for real-time protection and reserving Malwarebytes for scans only. I managed to get my computer, a Lenovo Thinkpad T-61, running again by going to system restore in safe mode with networking. Then I re-installed both anti-virus programs, using my old XP machine, and ran scans that found nothing.

Everything seemed fine until yesterday, when I noticed some problems with browsing. I ran scans that, again, found no problems… but I was unable to access safe mode to run scans or to do a restore. Then I checked the firewall and found it disabled and refusing to re-start.

My next move was to download a trial version of Kapersky, partly for the firewall that it has. Kapersky found no problems on scan, but this morning as soon as I went on line it caught two backdoor Trojans trying to install. It removed those, then did a rootkit scan and a full scan that turned up nothing

That’s about it, except to say that I’m no computer guy, Windows 7 is new to me, I don’t have the installation discs for this computer, but I do have the product ID #. My cousin, a project manager in IT, picked up the machine when her company did their yearly upgrade. I dread the thought of having to resort to combo fix, but I might be persuaded to give it a shot. I found a couple of Exploit. Drop. Gs. killers online but they seem to require access to safe mode. I wonder if those are any good and, if they are, might they work outside of safe mode.

How can I clone an XP drive and install that on a Windows 7 system?

filthy light thief — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 08:06:58 -0800

I have two laptops, an old XP machine with a dying power supply, and a new Windows 7 machine that could easily store the old XP harddrive. Can I clone the XP drive and make a dual boot system on the Windows 7 machine?

Starting up Windows 7 from scratch (twice)

jroybal — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:54:57 -0800

I'm reformatting the hard drive of my parent's Windows 7 PC to give to somebody. That's all well and good--software is reinstalled, drivers are updated, Windows Update looks happy. When I started the machine for the first time after Windows 7 installation was complete, it did it's standard thing where it asked what the user name was, what the PC name was, basic settings, etc. Is there any way to redo that setup for the new owner when they turn it on for the first time? In effect, what I'm almost looking for is a way to automate the deletion of the user account I created and the initiation of the creation of a new user account? Is this a thing? Is there anything I can do to replicate the "fresh out of the box" part of turning on a new PC while still being able to maintain all the up-to-date software and drivers? I'm not finding any leads on Google. Thank you!

Hoping to make my hdd time travel forward

peacay — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 06:55:33 -0800

I moved an SSD to a new system. Now I can't access files on the old hdd that were created during the time the SSD was a part of that old system. Can they be brought back to life? I got a new pc a couple of days ago. I took the SSD off the old system and put it on the new one. Win7 and all the progs were reinstalled on that SSD.

I had used the SSD with the old hdd for about a year. The old hdd works fine but it also had win7 installed (since I first bought that pc) and when I boot this old system up on that hdd, I'm finding everything the way the pc was a year ago, prior to installing the SSD : in other words, I've lost a LOT of stuff in this transition these last couple of days.

Nothing really happened to that old hdd during this change, so I'm wondering if I - being possessed of only modest tech knowledge - can make the old hdd spit out recent files created in the last year and if so, how would I go about doing that?? Thanks.

Win7 Devices and Printers hangs up

tommasz — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:43:14 -0800

I have a Dell laptop with Windows 7 32-bit on it and I'm having the weirdest issue with it. The "Devices and Printers" control panel window hangs every time I open it. It gets to about 90% of the way, according to the progress bar, and then stops. I can manage my printers using the Admin tools but everything else is unreachable. Is there any way to fix this short of a Windows re-install? This is a work laptop and I'd rather not have to go through our IT service department since they'll nuke everything on it that wasn't there when I got it.