Google Drive

Google Drive just may replace my "go to" solution for cloud storage instead of Dropbox. I'm still testing it, but it offers more free space and the paid subscription is lower than Dropbox. Sometimes it seems to be a bit slower than Dropbox. I haven't tested if you can share something without the other party having to create a Google Drive account, like Dropbox can. Google Drive has incorporated Google Docs, and you can view but not edit Google Docs without an Internet connection as explained in the link below.
https://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375012&p=local_offline

MS Office Keeps Popping Up EULA After Installing on Windows 7 64 Bit PC

OK, it's been a while since my last post. Here's something annoying! After installing MS office (2003 or 2007) on a Windows 7 64 bit PC, the EULA will start every time you start an MS Office application, even after agreeing to it. The fix is to go to the Program Files x86 folder and find the Microsoft Office/Office11 or Office12 folder, depending on your version. Next find one of the MS Office application executable, like EXCEL.EXE for example. Right click on it and left click on "Run as Administrator". It will pop up the EULA and you will agree to it. It will not pop up again after doing this. Cheers!

Convert A PC to a Virtual Machine for a Mac

For the Mac guys that have to use a PC at work on Active Directory, a good alternative is create a Windows Virtual Machine that runs on the Mac. If the Mac is your personal machine, get the ok from your network administrator first. Once that is done, download VMware vCenter Converter Standalone from this link
https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/index.php?p=converter . You have to create a VMWare account to download software. Next you need to to download VMWare Fusion for the Mac to run virtual machines. Here is the link http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/overview.html . Install both of the applications. I will post very soon a more detailed view of the process. I just finished helping someone do this and it is working flawlessly so far. Good Luck!

Project Planning Software

I stumbled upon this cool Project Planning Software called Tom's Planner. It is really easy to use and is tailored for someone like me, that hates MS Excel or over bloated enterprise project management software. You can export to many different formats and has abundant templates. Its free for personal use, but the rates are very reasonable. I wish Google would sweep them up and add them to Google's Software suite for free. Google is severely missing any project management apps. This would be a great addition. Here's the link below.

http://www.tomsplanner.com/

Microsoft Outlook Only Prints in Landscape Format

Okay, I had a user, that no matter what he printed in Outlook, his printer preferences always defaulted to Landscape mode. He would have to manually edit the print style to portrait for every email. There are few things to try to fix this. 1. Edit the global Outlook print style to portrait format. 2. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook There is a file called "OutlPrnt" This file contains the Printing Style (memo, table....) Rename the file or delete it. Restart the computer and start Outlook. Outlook will recreate the file with the default settings and style, losing your custom style if you have any. 3. Lastly go into control panel and find the printer section. Go to printer preferences of the target printer and set it portrait format. The third option fixed my problem. Of course this post is geared towards WinXp. The same applies for Vista and WinXP, just use the correct directory paths.

Picasa Android Sync Fix

Turn off account auto sync. Go to gallery and share a photo to Picasa. Upload the photo with your Google account. Go back and turn on account auto sync. Fixed!!!

Cannot Activate Windows After a Recover Install

Problem: You run the recovery install on Windows, it reboots and forces you to re-activate windows before entering Windows. The problem is, that it never lets you see the activation screen.

1. Turn On your PC

2. Press F8 repeatedly and go to Safe Mode

3. Logon as normal
(note: Administrator password is usually blank, but hopefully you know your password)

4. Allow the Desktop to fully load (answering "Yes" to continue into Safe Mode)
(note: This is just a long way of saying go to Safe Mode)

5. You can simply get into safe mode and if you have an installer for IE8 you can omit the activation reset as this will fix oobe. If not:
Click on Start - Run

6. Type in exactly: rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk (and click OK)
(note: one space, after "rundll32.exe " also the Oo are two letter o's in "oobe"; capitals and comma are important)

7. Wait a couple of seconds (although you will Not see any change)

8. Restart your PC normally (Start - Shutdown - Restart - Ok)

9. You are now able to go to Normal Mode again (For another 30 days)

10. Install IE8 and that should solve not being able to run windows update and not being able to activate.