Link: http://www.heerengandhi.com/2009/07/29/firefox-icon-went-missing-in-windows-7-heres-a-fix/comment-page-1/

• Intel Core i3-370M Processor (2.4 GHz)
• Nvidia G310M Graphics Engine with 1 GB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM and Optimus Technology
• 4 GB of DDR3 1066MHz DRAM (2 GB x 2 slots)
• Intel Wireless 802.11 b/g/n + WiDi
• 500 GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System (which I upgraded to Pro)
• 13.3-Inch HD (1366×768) LED Display
• HDMI Port
• USB 3.0 port
• Bluetooth
• 8 cell 5600 mAh battery

The one thing it doesn’t have that I realized just now is that the computer doesn’t have an optical drive. I didn’t know that before. I guess I assumed that all computers except for netbooks have them. It’s not really a big deal though.Since my laptop kind of died on me earlier, there weren’t many things I could do to solve the problem. I pretty much only had three options: get my laptop repaired, buy/borrow a monitor for the duration of my stay, or buy a new laptop.

Repairing my laptop was definitely the first thing I tried. I researched on how to fix it, but I couldn’t even get the screws out to even peek at the insides. Right now, I still think that the problem inside the computer is just a loose connection. Unfortunately, I can’t confirm that. I could let Dell fix the computer, but my warranty expired a long time ago. I also bought the computer from Canada and would have to go through lots of red tape just to get it repaired by Dell Europe.

The next thing I tried was to find someone who had an extra monitor I could borrow. Since all my friends in Germany are all interns or thesis students, they all had only a laptop and not an extra display. Although, I did manage to borrow one for like a week until I had to return it. I could have bought a new monitor, but then it would have been really been difficult to bring home a 20 something inch screen (if I’m buying a monitor to keep then I wouldn’t buy anything smaller). I didn’t feel like buying a cheap one and just leaving it behind when I leave Germany either.

In the end, I ended up buying a new laptop (with much financial assistance from my parents). I figure my old laptop is getting old anyways (2007), and for the past year and a half it had been failing to keep up with my intense computer usage habits. When I return to Vancouver, I’ll get this laptop repaired and then my parents could use it (or my brother if he decides that he needs to bring a laptop somewhere).

Switching the Language for Windows

To do this, go to the Control Panel and open the Regional and Language Options.  This might be hard to do when Windows is in a different language so just look for the icon that has a globe on it.  Depending on the version of Windows, switching the language may not be possible.  And also, different versions of Windows put these buttons in different places within the Language Options.  Click around the tabs, and there should be a drop down box for you to change the language.  Once that’s done, restart the computer.

Switching the Language for Office

Hopefully switching the language for Windows worked, because it would really help for this part, although it isn’t necessary.  Not every version of Office supports changing languages.  It depends on the version that was installed.  Go to the Start Menu, find Microsoft Office, and then Microsoft Office Tools.  Under there, there should be an icon for Language Settings.  The icon has a globe and an A on it under Windows 7.  Open it and change the language.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter reads This blog is on fire!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,600 times in 2010. That’s about 16 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 85 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 120 posts. There were 48 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb. That’s about 4 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 23rd with 83 views. The most popular post that day was South Korea: Yet Again Swallowing the Bitter Pill.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were zamunda.net, facebook.com, dailyblogged.com, google.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for p1i windows 7, p1_usb_signed_drivers, p1_usb_signed_drivers.rar, p1_usb_signed_drivers package, and failed to load resource sony ericsson.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

South Korea: Yet Again Swallowing the Bitter Pill November 2010
1 comment

Connecting a Sony Ericsson P1i to a Windows 7 x64 Computer in Phone Mode December 2009
1 comment

Snow Leopard on a Dell Inspiron 1520 June 2010
17 comments

How to Install Solidworks 2008 on a x64 Operating System November 2009

SolidWorks 2010 Side-By-Side Configuration Error Fix August 2010
5 comments

The application failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect.  Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool.

I used my Google-fu and found that the cause of this error is due my computer not having the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable.  A copy of the setup file for this is in the SolidWorks 2010 disc.  It is in the folder (DVD Drive):PreReqsVCRedist.  After installing that, the error disappeared and SolidWorks starts properly.

http://www.windows7news.com/2009/02/01/automatic-logon-into-windows-7/

http://www.blogsdna.com/5067/instantly-link-windows-live-id-with-windows-7-user-account.htm

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8247-windows-xp-mode-install-setup.html

If the applications don’t appear, disable and enable the “Auto-Publish” setting within the VM”s settings

Working with Virtual Applications

By default, applications installed in the Windows XP VM are auto-published to the Windows 7 host. This means that your Windows XP applications appear on Windows 7’s Start menu. You can then launch your XP applications without having to first load the Windows XP VM and then launch them from the virtual Windows XP’s Start menu.

In order for a Windows XP application to be auto-published to the Windows 7 host, the application must be installed in the All Users profile in the Windows XP VM. However, not all applications are installed in the All Users profile by default.

So, what if the application that you want to be able to run from within Windows 7 isn’t auto-published? Or what if an application is auto-published and you really don’t want it to be available from within Windows 7? Fortunately, you can take control of the auto-published using a couple of tips.

If the XP application that you want to be able to run from within Windows 7 isn’t auto-published, you can force it to be so simply by creating a shortcut to the application in the All Users profile in the Windows XP VM. When you do so, the application will be auto-published to the Windows 7 host.

Access the Windows XP VM, right-click the Start button, and select the Open All Users command. When Windows Explorer launches, open the Programs folder. Once there, you can either drag-and-drop the shortcut from Windows XP’s Start menu to the Programs folder or you can launch the Create Shortcut wizard, as shown in Figure A.

Any edition of Windows 7 other than Home
VMWare Player (free)

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10911/run-xp-mode-on-windows-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualization/

To activate GodMode, create a folder somewhere and name it:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

I have no idea how people found out about this, but we can still enjoy it.  Now you can open it up and see what kind of stuff you can do on it!