Category: Windows

  • How to Close Pidgin Chat Windows with the Escape Key

    Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim) is a free, multi-protocol instant messaging application for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  Pidgin is highly customizable and supports popular instant messaging networks like Google Talk, MSN/Windows Live Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Chat, and can connect to services like Facebook Chat through plugins (or directly through the XMPP messaging protocol). In recent […]

  • A Return to Old-School Gaming: Emulators and Retro Games

    A Return to Old-School Gaming: Emulators and Retro Games

    Back in the early ’90s things were different and, in some ways, better. MC Hammer was lighting up MTV with inflatable pants, Compuserve 3.25″ diskettes were confusing households across the US, and my family’s 66 MHz Pentium PC was a $3500 fiery hellbeast that made the Pentagon as nervous as current-day Wikileaks. And the video […]

  • Evolve Your Living Room with a DLNA HDTV and Windows Media Player

    It’s a fact: Gone are the days that homes are built with computer rooms and family/living rooms in their floor plans.  The future of sit-down family entertainment is here, and dear lord its about time.  This month, my family decided to purchase a nice, new Samsung Series 6 6300 LED TV and a brand new […]

  • Ask Techerator: How can I search by only File Name in Windows 7?

    Techerator team: I’ve just switched from Windows XP/Office 2003 to Windows 7/Office 2010.  Before, I could easily find files in Word & Excel by simply typing a word that I knew was in the filename…. Now with Windows7/Office 2010, by searching in the upper right corner search box, the directory instead lists all the files […]

  • Cross-platform SyncMate Lets You Sync Files with All Your Devices

    With everybody being so connected digitally these days, keeping basic information synced to all of your devices can be a nightmare. The nightmare can be even more difficult if you are the owner of an Apple computer and have a Windows or Nokia phone (and even worse if your understanding of network sharing is limited). […]

  • A Developer’s Guide to Troubleshooting Microsoft SharePoint Errors

    Anybody that has worked with Microsoft SharePoint as a developer knows that it can be an exercise in frustration for the strangest of reasons. One only has to see a handful of helpful error messages such as “An unexpected error has occurred” to understand exactly what I mean. Yes, one may look through the logs […]

  • Fix: “Print driver host for 32bit applications has stopped working” Error in Windows 7

    One problem I’ve experienced when using my Windows 7 64-bit computer with networked printers is that I intermittently get the error: Print driver host for 32bit applications has stopped working It appears that this problem occurs for most people when printing to network printers, but I was seeing it even when not printing (I would […]

  • Easily Hot Swap SATA Hard Drives With HotSwap!

    One advantage that SATA added over previous connection standards is the ability to hot swap devices. This allows users to add and remove devices, such as hard drives and optical drives, without restarting the computer. While it is possible to manage these hot swapped devices in Windows, it doesn’t always work properly and can be […]

  • 3 Easy Ways to Improve Search in Windows 7

    One of my favorite features of Windows 7 is the improved search.  Windows Search is quickly available in the Start menu or in any open Explorer window. To improve search performance, Windows 7 uses a background indexing feature.  Indexing pre-searches specified locations on your computer and compiles the results into the search index.  When you […]

  • How to Enable Windows 7′s “Aero Snap” Feature in Earlier Versions of Windows

    One of my favorite features in Windows 7 is Aero Snap, which automatically resizes and snaps applications to the sides of your screen when you drag them near.  If you’ve got several windows open on one screen, this is a great way to manage your space (and I’ve learned it’s even more useful when working […]