Minty White : Windows Vista Maintenance

Backup all Your Important Files to Multiple Discs CD/DVD/BluRay [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 06:26:04 GMT

If you store photos on your home PC and don’t back them up, I really recommend you do. Hard drives fail all the time yet I still get many emails and PMs asking for help with data recovery. Even if you use an online backup solution, I still recommend...(read more)

Move the Search Index Cache from Your SSD to an HDD [Updated]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:34:23 GMT

If you’re using an SSD, there are a few things you can do to extend its life. One of the things you can do is move the search index cache. The Search Index I/O activity can take a considerable toll on your system drive by keeping it busy. If you...(read more)

Avoid Getting Locked out of Windows when You Forget Your Password [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:00:34 GMT

Recently, we encouraged you to set (or change) a password for your Windows account. If you lose your password, you face the reality of losing access to your files and settings. In this guide, we show you how to create a password reset disk for your PC...(read more)

Set or Change Your Windows Account Password [Quick Tip]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:04:46 GMT

While it may be relatively easy to crack a Windows account password, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use one. If your PC is mobile, you have even more reason to use this basic level of protection. This guide will show you how to set a Windows...(read more)

Maintain Your Hard Drive and File System with Windows Check Disk [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:11 GMT

If there’s a piece of equipment that works hard in your PC, it’s your hard disk drive (HDD.) HDDs operate at anywhere between 4200 and 15000 RPM (perhaps higher) while in use. In other words, these things spin anywhere between 70 and 250 times...(read more)

Start Windows in Safe Mode [How To] [Quick Tip]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:12:31 GMT

Safe mode is a mode within Windows used for troubleshooting problems. In Safe Mode, Windows operates with limited functionality—only basic files and drivers are loaded to start Windows. Once in Safe Mode, you can more easily remove viruses, remove stubborn...(read more)

Sysinternals Live Executes Sysinternals Tools Directly from the Web

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:01:53 GMT

In the previous guide, you learned about the Sysinternals tools. In this guide, you’ll learn how to launch Sysinternals tools from the web. This can save valuable time and give you the tools you need when you need them i.e. you’re at a friends...(read more)

Use Windows Sysinternals Tools to Tune and Administer to Your PC

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:00:50 GMT

We like using Sysinternals tools here at Windows Guides; these tools bring core Windows functions together and help you administer to your systems more easily. In this guide, we’ll cover the basics: What are the Sysinternals tools? How to download...(read more)

Install Windows PowerShell 2.0 [Vista] 1.0 [XP] [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:01:24 GMT

If you’re using Windows Vista or XP, you’ll need to install Windows PowerShell. PowerShell 2.0 works with Vista and Server 2003/8; if you’re on XP, you’ll miss PowerShell 2.0 features and be stuck with version 1.0. Note: Windows...(read more)

Fix Corrupted Windows Files with sfc /scannow (Do This) [Quick Tip]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:27:23 GMT

If you’ve ever asked a PC help question in a forum, it’s likely someone suggested you check for corrupted or out of version protected system files. To do this: Open a Command Prompt (Click Start, type cmd, and click cmd.exe.) Type sfc /scannow...(read more)

The Intel Driver Update Utility Keeps Your Intel Hardware Drivers Up to Date

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:00:53 GMT

Device drivers act as an interface (or communication channel) between your operating system and your hardware. To learn more about drivers, read computer drivers: the basics. It’s important to keep your drivers updated to take advantage of code...(read more)

Troubleshoot Windows Update Errors [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:00:26 GMT

While Windows updates can be a pain and dealing with issues can be even more painful, Windows updates are essential to running a secure and reliable PC. Due to the vast popularity of Windows, there are many people trying to find vulnerabilities all the...(read more)

Guidelines for Dealing With Computer Uninstall Errors

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:00:46 GMT

In this guest post, James Ricketts discusses how deal with computer uninstall errors. Find out more about James at the end of this post. Uninstalling applications is never as seamless a process as installing them. Although Windows PCs come with a built...(read more)

Hibernate VS Sleep VS Shut-Down

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:45:41 GMT

There are many ways to shut down and restart your computer: Power-Off, Reboot-Button, Hibernate and Sleep. But which does what and which should you use when ? The answer depends mostly on you. Are you into saving energy or boot-up time? How often do you...(read more)

Free LockedUp Applications without Brute Force [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:14:34 GMT

Once in a while, one of your applications will lock up and you would have to kill it (in the good sense of the word). Of course this will cause you to lose any unsaved data. At least you will learn to save your work more often, right? But wait, there...(read more)

Windows Wont Load? Use a System Repair Disc/USB Drive to Fix Your PC

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:00:30 GMT

Previously, we showed you where to download Windows 7 and how to burn it to disc, put it on a thumb drive, or boot from it while using your current Windows 7 installation: Download Windows 7 and Burn it to Disc/put it on a Thumb Drive [How To] Having...(read more)

Delete Empty Directories and Subdirectories [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:00:16 GMT

Recently, I asked iTunes to organize my music directory (getting music from different sources other than just the iTunes store left it a little messy and I decided I’d let iTunes do its thing) and it did a great job; however, it left a bunch of...(read more)

Windows Commands (cmd) to Help Manage Your PC & Improve Productivity

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:00:32 GMT

Previously we showed you a collection of shortcut commands you can use, to save you time, from the run dialog and Thomas showed you tips to become a command prompt superuser. In this guide, we’ll show you some commands you can use on the Windows...(read more)

Solutions to Error 651: The modem has reported an error

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:00:00 GMT

You try to initiate the dialer in Windows 7 and only found that it doesn’t work and returned with an Error 651: Your modem (or other connecting device) has reported an error. You had tried to restart your PC, your router, your modem etc. and the problem...(read more)

Transfer Entire Drives, Directories, Large Files etc. with Xcopy [How To]

Windows Tools, Help & Guides | Mintywhite.com — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:00:59 GMT

If you are looking to transfer lots of files, large files, a large amount of data, or a combination of the above, you should consider using Xcopy—a command line tool used to copy data. In this guide, we’ll take a look at: The basic syntax of Xcopy...(read more)