Tag Archive: Windows

Emoji keyboard shortcut for Windows

Emoji-Keyboard

I’ve written before about emojis and keyboard shortcuts in google hangouts. But what if you want to enter emojis while using your windows PC?

You can, and it’s super easy…

As long as you’re running an up to date version Windows 10 you can bring up the windows emoji keyboard with a simple keyboard shortcut:

Windows Key + . (Full-stop/Period)
or
Windows Key + ; (Semicolon)

Annoyingly you can only select one emoji at a time.
Once you’ve selected an emoji, the keyboard disappears.
So if you wanted multiple thumbs up, for example you’ll have to copy+paste or bring up the keyboard again.

There’s also a skin colour selector…
Windows-Emoji-Keyboard-Skin-Colour-Selector

If this helps you out please feel free to say thanks by clicking “Buy Me a Coffee” PayPal button in the sidebar (here) or via:https://www.paypal.me/AlanHart

Thank You

Connect Tablet Front/Back Camera Not Working – Intel AVStream Camera – Error code: 0xA00F4243(0xC00D3704)

I bought a cheap (£39.99) Connect 8″ Tablet with Windows 10 from eBuyer. It’s pretty good considering the price.
One problem i have had, when switching between front and back cameras, is getting the following message…

Close other apps
It looks as though another app is already using the camera.
If you need it, heres the error code: 0xA00F4243(0xC00D3704)

After much searching online and reinstalling the camera/driver not solving the issue, there are two ways to get this to work:

windows-10-anniversary-update-download
Method 1: Install Windows 10 Anniversary Update…
(Recommended)

Visit this URL on the device:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

Click [Update Now]

Method 2: A basic workaround…

  1. Hold down the windows button and tap the power button (This is the same as holding Ctrl + Alt + Delete) (home button on other devices)
  2. Tap the [Cancel] button.
  3. BOOM! camera works!

Note: You will have to do this each time you switch…Annoying but at least it works without updating!

I believe it does this because the camera app itself is the “other app” mentioned in the error message. As the camera is already in use it fails to switch.

Performing Win + PWR (ctrl+alt+del) stops the current camera and allows it to switch.

Updating to the latest version of Windows 10 fixes the camera app issue.

If you had this problem and it helped you out please tweet or comment below stating the Tablet/Phone model you had the issue with hopefully it will help someone else.

If this helps you out please feel free to say thanks by clicking “Buy Me a Coffee” PayPal button in the sidebar (here) or via:https://www.paypal.me/AlanHart

Thank You

Pin .bat Batch File or Shortcut to Start Menu / Taskbar with Custom Icon – Windows 7, 8 & 10

So you want to pin a batch file or shortcut with a custom icon to the start menu / taskbar in Windows 7, 8 and 10?

Easily add a batch file (.bat) to the taskbar by following these steps:

1. Rename your .bat or .cmd file extension to .exe
2. Right click the newly renamed .exe file and select pin to taskbar
3. Rename the file extension back to .bat or .cmd
4. Shift+right click the newly pinned .exe taskbar icon and choose properties
5. Change the file extension from .exe to .bat or .cmd and change the icon as needed. (for lots of system icons here use the path: “%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll”)
6. The shortcut will work immediately you’ll need to reboot or just kill explorer.exe in task manager and re-run it to update/refresh the icon if you changed it.

I use the method above to launch .vbs scripts from the taskbar.
Here’s how to create a .bat file to run vbs scripts…

Open notepad to create a blank text file and add one of the following lines
wscript.exe yourscript.vbs (wscript just runs the vbs as a Windows process)
or
cscript.exe yourscript.vbs (cscript runs the vbs in a command/console window)
then save the text file as a .bat file in the same folder as the .vbs script file.

 

If this helps you out please feel free to say thanks by clicking “Buy Me a Coffee” PayPal button in the sidebar (here) or via:https://www.paypal.me/AlanHart

Thank You

VBS Option Box – Simple VBScript MsgBox / Dialog Box with Options

I needed to create a basic script to execute a user selected routine but needed a simple way to capture the users choice. Like a MsgBox but with multiple options.
Here’s some nice simple code for a VBScript Option Box in case you want to do the same.

First we create a very basic HTML file which will act as the dialog box. (the options and buttons)…

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Make a selection</TITLE>
<SCRIPT language="VBScript">

Sub OKClick
If MenuOption(0).Checked Then
ChosenOption.Value = "Option 1"
End If
If MenuOption(1).Checked Then
ChosenOption.Value = "Option 2"
End If
If MenuOption(2).Checked Then
ChosenOption.Value = "Option 3"
End If
End Sub

Sub CancelClick
ChosenOption.Value = "Cancelled"
End Sub

</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<CENTER>
<BR>
<B>Please select an option:</B><P>
<input type="radio" name="MenuOption" checked="true">Option 1<BR>
<input type="radio" name="MenuOption">Option 2<BR>
<input type="radio" name="MenuOption">Option 3
<P>
<input type="Button" value="OK" onClick="OKClick()">
<input type="Button" value="Cancel" onClick="CancelClick()">
<input type="hidden" name="ChosenOption">

</CENTER>
</BODY>
</HTML>

The hidden input above is used to store the users chosen option.
The VBScript below, opens the HTML file and loops while waiting for this chosen option value to change.
When this chosen option value changes the VBScript captures this chosen option in a variable so it knows what the user selected.

Set objExplorer = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")

objExplorer.Navigate "file:///C:\Script\option.htm"
objExplorer.ToolBar = 0
objExplorer.StatusBar = 0
objExplorer.Width = 400
objExplorer.Height = 230
objExplorer.Visible = 1

Do While (objExplorer.Document.All.ChosenOption.Value = "")
Wscript.Sleep 250
Loop

strSelection = objExplorer.Document.All.ChosenOption.Value

objExplorer.Quit

Wscript.Sleep 250

Select Case strSelection
Case "Option 1"
Wscript.Echo "You selected Option 1."
Case "Option 2"
Wscript.Echo "You selected Option 2."
Case "Option 3"
Wscript.Echo "You selected Option 3."
Case "Cancelled"
Wscript.Quit
End Select

Of course, instead of echoing the selected option you would put the code you want to run under each case.

This is a nice flexible solution allowing you to easily add/remove options.

You can do away with the OK button and, in the HTML, add onClick="OKClick()" to the radio button elements, so the user only needs to click once on the option they want.


If this info helps you out, tweet me to say thanks or

Because I’m so nice you can download the VBS and HTML files in this handy VBS Option Box Script Zip(851 bytes)
Note: make sure to put the HTML file in "C:\Script\" to test. (Or change the line in the .VBS file pointing to the location of the HTML file.

Dreamweaver CS3 won’t start in Windows 7

I’m still using Dreamweaver CS3 for some web stuff. It does all I need it to do, or at least it did until it suddenly just decided to not load anymore!

I tried rebooting, tried running as admin, tried running in compatibility mode etc.
Finally I found that there now appears to be a some kind of issue with Windows Aero, on my laptop at least.
So, after much frustration I finally got it to work.

If your Dreamweaver CS3 has stopped loading in Windows 7 you can get it to work by just changing these settings …

1. Right click the Dreamweaver shortcut and then click “Properties”.
2. Click the “Compatability” tab.
3. Under the “Settings” section:
Tick “Disable visual themes” and “Disable desktop composition”
(It does seem to work without ticking “Disable visual themes”, but a couple of times it didn’t start so I left mine ticked just in case.)

You’ll notice that you lose your nice aero transparency / colours etc but at least you can now use Dreamweaver CS3 on Windows 7 again!

You could disable Windows Aero completely, or just the Aero Peek feature, but seems overkill to change the entire OS appearance just for the sake of one misbehaving application.

If this helped you please tweet me (@alanhart) or comment below to let me know!

Security Centre Could Not Change Automatic Update Settings – Windows XP

Had a very annoying problem with Automatic Update & Security Centre on Windows XP earlier today.

Had the red icon warning that automatic updates were turned off. Clicked the icon which opens Windows Security Centre tried to enable Automatic Updates but wouldn’t work instead it gave me a lovely message stating

“Security Centre Could Not Change Automatic Update Settings”

… very helpful!

I found out that somehow Windows XP had gone a little screwy on the Windows Update side of things and more importantly i found out how to get Windows Update & Security Centre talking nicely to each other.

Here’s how I fixed this problem:

Click Start, select Run  (or hold WinKey + R) and type:

regsvr32 wuapi.dll

Press enter after this and wait for the success message

“DllRegisterServer in filename.dll succeeded”

Then do the same for all the files below:

regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 atl.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll

Hope this helps you. If it does give me a tweet and let me know :)
If not, i guess it’s back to Google for you!

 

Note: There may be another reason for this…

If, when visiting the Windows Update website and searching for available updates, you see the 0x8007043B error

This error may occur if WUAUSERV and BITS services are not configured correctly in the windows registry.
See Microsoft article here: http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/v5consumer/showarticle.aspx?articleid=19&ln=en

How To See Total Recycle Bin Size – Easily!

I wanted to be able to see the total size of my recycle bin and was surprised to learn that this feature doesn’t exist in Windows 7!

I wanted to  be able to instantly see if the recycle bin size was getting too big and to empty the recycle bin without having to minimize windows etc, saving a few clicks (Every second counts!).

I came across this useful tool called MiniBin…

MiniBin is a free (and small) recycle bin size viewing tool for your Windows system tray area (the area next to the clock in your taskbar).

MiniBin - Recycle bin System Tray Tool Icon

Besides saving you a few clicks, Minibin may also come handy when you are hiding the recycle bin from your desktop or if you are using a replacement shell that provides a system tray but no usable or customizable recycle bin.

Whatever reason you have to use Minibin, It’s fast and easy as well as totally customisable. MiniBin even lets you use your own icons, use your own language… and it’s it’s 100% portable (you can choose to run at startup etc or just choose to install it to a folder (no registry entries or anything installed to system folders)

A few cool things about MiniBin:
– Tiny file size: only 312 KB when extracted!
– Sit’s in system tray – Mouse over icon to see recycle bin size info
– You can specify the recycle bin size at which the tray icon displays as full.
– Customisable icons – comes bundles with tons of icon themes!

I love MiniBin and i’ve only been using it for a few weeks!

Download it here… (MiniBin-3.8.3.0-Setup.zip) (100Kb)

Source: http://www.e-sushi.net/minibin/

Access registry on another external hard drive

If you need to open a windows registry hive from an old/external/slave hard drive that has a windows installation on it.

I recently had a machine go down at work, wanted to get the user’s email up and running asap so i attached their hard dirve to my laptop using a usb to SATA adapter and exported their outlook account settings, which are stored in the registry and imported them into a new pc.
See my article: how to backup outlook 2007 account settings.

1. Open REGEDIT
2. single click to hightlight the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch.
3. in the menu click FILE and choose LOAD HIVE
4. browse to the location of the old registry hive.

where “x:\” is the drive of the slave/external hard drive…

“user” is located in x:\docs and Settings\user\NTUSER.DAT
make sure you open upper case “NTUSER.DAT” and not “ntuser.dat” if it exists.

other registry hives are located at x:\windows\system32\config

if you’re not sure or unclear on any of this, please comment and ask.