Often times when a printer has been installed and working and it stops working with nothing being changed the problem is a corrupted print job that is stuck in the print queue.  These can be cleared by stopping the print spooler, deleting the files in the print spooler folder and restarting the spooler.  How is this done you ask?  With this batch file you can complete these tasks automatically. 

Copy the text below and paste it into a text document named clearspooler.bat .  Run the file to work the magic.  If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 you’ll have to right click the file and run it as administrator.

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Jump lists allow programs to give you a pop up menu from their program icon.  This can be used to access most recently used documents, open a new program window, access program features or many other options.  There are two ways to activate this feature from a taskbar icon.  The traditional way is to right click the icon to get the jump list to pop up.  A more graphically beautiful effect is to click and drag the icon up or down.  The jump list will slowly open while fading in from transparent to opaque in sync with the speed with which you drag the mouse.  This is another of the of the touches that beautified Windows 7.  Although Windows is still far from being as polished as Linux and Mac OS X, it did a lot of catching up.

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If you have a typical home network, you probably have a desktop PC and a laptop (maybe even a netbook).  The laptop probably connects wirelessly to your network and you may use it to access files on your desktop from time to time.  A scenario that you may run into is one where you either travel and have files you work on with the laptop that  you need to access from the desktop, or vice versa.  3rd party software, or a tool like Synctoy (from the MS powertoys), allow you to do so, but setup can be cumbersome, and then automating the process requires more work.  Windows XP contained a built in “Offline files utility” which was rough around the edges and required some setup.  Fortunately for Windows Vista/7 users, Offline file sync has been simplified.

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It can be a shock to the system getting used to the new Windows 7 task bar, which is a combination between the traditional Windows task bar, the Mac dock, and the Linux gnome panel.  One way to ease the pain is to ungroup the icons in the task bar. 

By default, Windows 7′s task bar has large icons that are pinned to it ala the traditional Windows Quick Launch toolbar.  It also condenses the traditional task bar buttons that represent running programs into an Icon for each program.  It can take a while to get used to this behavior, however, since at first glance it’s hard to determine what is a running program and what is an application shortcut (although there are ways to tell the difference at a glance).  It’s also difficult to tell how many program windows are open if you don’t know how.

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This tip is especially useful if you don’t have the best eyesight.  By default the Windows Quick Launch bar contains small versions of all your program icons, which helps you have more of them visible,  but if you run a high resolution on a small monitor, it can be difficult to tell which icon is for which program.

There is a way, however to make Vista display large icons, so you can tell what each icon represents and in some cases, even read the tiny text in the icon. › Continue reading…

This tip is more helpful if you’re a Vista or Windows 7 user, although it works in Windows XP as well.  Opening the task manager can be a pain, since you when you do the three finger salute (Ctrl + Alt + Delete), there’s a pause, then the session options screen comes up.  Rather than just getting a task manager, you’re re-routed to a screen giving you options including logging off, and locking the screen, as well as Task Manager.

To go straight to the task manager without delay, right click an open area on the taskbar and select Task Manager.

Windows Tip: Keyboard Shortcuts.

    Getting around in Windows
with a keyboard and mouse can be simple once you learn the interface,
but learning keyboard shortcuts will make life even easier. 

•     To
  get to the system properties dialog, which is just a click away from
  the device properties dialog, hold down the Windows key and press the
  Pause/Break button.

•     To open Windows Explorer, hold down the Windows key and press ‘E’.

•     To
  minimize all windows and show the desktop hold down the Windows key and
  press ‘D’.  Doing so again will restore all of your windows.

•     Need to
  lock  your computer quickly to keep prying eyes away while you’re away
  from your desk?  Hold down the Windows Key and press ‘L’ to lock your
  computer.  If you’re user account has a password, it will be required
  to get back to your desktop.

•     Need a quick and easy way to create
  screen shots in Windows?  Press the print screen button on your
  keyboard.  This creates a screen shot in the system clipboard.  Now
  simply start an image editing program (I recommend IrfanView (www.irfanview.com
  ).  Simply press ‘Control’ and ‘V’ to paste the image in and you have
  your screen shot. 
  

•     To make a screen shot of the active window, press ‘Alt’ and ‘Print Screen’ to capture the image, and then use ‘Control’ and ‘V’ to paste the screen shot into an image editor.The process is even more natural in Linux and Mac OS
  X. 

Freeware recommendation:
    Try Irfan View, the free image editor at www.irfanview.com.
Irfanview lets you view, convert, optimize, create thumbnails from, and
batch process images in a quick, lightweight application that has been
a recommended app for years.  

Website recommendation: 
    Check out Pownce at www.pownce.com .  Pownce is Social networking meets blogging, meets filesharing and more.  

Recommended podcast:
    Check out Keith and the girl at www.KATG.com
 .   If you have a commute or a boring job, Keith and Chemda and their
cast of guest hosts will give you an hour or two of joy as you laugh
your ass off every day.