http://samanathon.com Windows Tips, Tricks and Hacks Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:31:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I have to admit that I absolutely love Office 12, I've be using it on Ubuntu since 8.04 and OpenOffice just doesn’t compare! So, I needed to install Office 2007 onto Ubuntu 9.04 (as I did a clean install). If you do too, follow along with my handy guide! Uninstall Previous ... http://samanathon.com/how-to-install-microsoft-office-2007-in-ubuntu-9-04/ Microsoft just made the official release of Internet Explorer 8 available to the public. This new version boasts new features and, best of all, passes the Acid2 Browser Compatibility Test! This is the first version of IE to pass this test! What is The Acid2 Browser Compatibility Test? The Acid2 test is ... http://samanathon.com/internet-explorer-8-passes-the-acid2-browser-test/ The creator so The Simpsons have updated the main title in honor of the series' first-ever high definition episode! http://samanathon.com/watch-the-newly-updated-hd-main-title-of-the-simpsons/ I saw this video on Vimeo and I had to share it! It is the story of the original Star Wars trilogy as told by someone  who as seen bits and pieces of each movie and it's hilarious! She's so close, yet so far... The editing alone is worth your ... http://samanathon.com/star-wars-from-bits-and-pieces/ Recently, I was checking out my traffic logs and I noticed that there was another site that was hotlinking some of my images (actually, this blogger had copy/pasted the entire content of my posts) and, because I don't like people to steal my bandwidth (or money), I edited my existing ... http://samanathon.com/how-to-create-an-htaccess-file-to-prevent-hotlinking/ I've shown you how to group group similar windows on the Taskbar via a registry hack. Here's how to accomplish the same task via the GUI. How To Right-click your Taskbar and click Properties. Under the Taskbar tab, tick the "Group similar taskbar buttons" option. Click the "OK" button. http://samanathon.com/windows-tip-group-similar-windows-on-the-taskbar-all-the-time/ If you are a heavy instant message user, you now have the ability to chat with Facebook user directly from Pidgin! In addition to all of the IM happiness, you can also "send & receive messages, add or remove friends, receive notifications, search for Facebook friends and set your Facebook ... http://samanathon.com/add-facebook-chat-to-pidgin/ If you like your Windows Taskbar neat and organized, you can force Windows to automatically group similar program windows together. There is a way to accomplish this tip view the GUI, but I like Registry Hacks! How To As always, please read this important information on editing the System Registry. Hit the Windows ... http://samanathon.com/registry-hack-group-similar-windows-on-the-taskbar-all-the-time/ After view CNN's Photosynth of President Obama's Inauguration, I was inspired to create my own. It didn't exactly work out as I expected, but I love that we as Internet users have access to amazing (and free) tools like this! Here's my description of the Super Fort: The Super Fort, created with ... http://samanathon.com/my-first-photosynth/ Over time, your computer's hard drives can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down disc drive performance and sometimes make data writing difficult or even impossible. Windows has a built-in tool called the Error Checking Utility that can automatically detect and repair disc errors. The utility will search the hard ... http://samanathon.com/windows-tip-detect-and-repair-disk-errors/ I thought that this was an interesting display, it shows the different internal components of Hitachi's 37" Wooo LCD monitors. I included some annotations for the video but you can view a high resolution image of the sections (click image for a larger view): Video [youtube width="640" height="505"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NtDjZEdGVw&fmt=18[/youtube] http://samanathon.com/ces-2009-hitachi-37-wooo-lcd-blow-up/ I've shown you how to log off of your user account via a shortcut and, if you're on a computer with multiple user accounts, you can also create a shortcut to quickly switch users. This utility disconnects the current session (it does not log off the account) when no command-line ... http://samanathon.com/windows-tip-create-a-shortcut-to-quickly-switch-users/ Recently, Songbird 1.0 was release to much fanfare. As both a Pidgin and Twitter user, I wanted Songbird to tweet and update my "Now Playing" status automatically (the IM accounts that support this feature, most do). Through a couple of plugins, I was able to get the whole thing working. ... http://samanathon.com/how-to-configure-songbird-to-update-pidgin-and-twitter/ Just a quick post: I just found out that I'll be attending CES yet-again! 2009 will make five straight years!! I just hope that I won't be sick like I was last year... Check out my CES coverage from 2007. http://samanathon.com/going-to-ces-2009/ YouTube user blinktwice4y has created a beautiful love song based on Mario Kart! Spend the two minutes to watch this video - it will brighten your day! I've watched this video a dozen times now and it never gets old. [youtube width="425" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDBpQVhCMb8[/youtube] http://samanathon.com/a-beautiful-love-song-based-on-mario-kart/ I wrote an article detailing how to install How To Install Microsoft Office 2007 In Ubuntu 8.04 which seems to pretty hit and miss for a lot of users. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in CodeWeaver's CrossOver Linux free download program. Although this program was ... http://samanathon.com/install-microsoft-office-2007-in-ubuntu-810/ There are several ways to boost your computer's performance and I've detailed several ways, including how to start your day with a fresh computer. If that's not enough for you, you can configure your computer to automatically deframent the hard discs on boot up. To make Windows boot up faster, you ... http://samanathon.com/registry-hack-how-to-defragment-your-hard-drive-on-boot/ When coping mulipte files from one folder to another, Windows displays a couple of options: Yes Yes to All No Cancel But what about the "No to All" option? It's acutally there, it's just not obvious - and it's really easy! How to enable the "No to All" option Hold down the "Shift" key Click the No button That's ... http://samanathon.com/no-to-all-functionality-when-copying-files-in-windows-xp/ In the past, I've written a tip on how to organize your Windows Start Menu and it's one of my favorite tips – I use it religiously after I've installed a new program on my machine. Enter iTunes. The problem is, every time iTunes is updated (and why isn't Apple patching instead ... http://samanathon.com/batch-file-itunes-start-menu-shortcut-updater/ Update I have updated this guide. Please read: How To Install Microsoft Office 2007 In Ubuntu 9.04. I have to admit that I absolutely love Office 12, OpenOffice just doesn't compare! So, I needed to install Office 2007 into Ubuntu. If you do too, follow along with my handy guide! Install Wine First off, ... http://samanathon.com/how-to-install-microsoft-office-2007-in-ubuntu-804/