Task Manager disabled ? Wanna know how to fix it ?

Task manager has been disabled by the administrator" message. How did this happen and how can this be corrected ? There are couple of ways to fix it..........

The situation's pretty simple. If you right click on the clock in the Windows taskbar, the Task Manager item is grayed out:



Or, if you try to run taskmgr.exe manually, you get this message:

So, how did this happen?

As we'll see in a moment, there are settings you can access as an administrator that would allow you to disable and enable Task Manager in this way.

You didn't do that, you say?

Then a virus probably did.

Disabling Task Manager is one way viruses try to make it harder for you to deal with their infections. Before proceeding any further, you should run a complete and up-to-date anti-virus scan of your machine. It's possible, perhaps even likely, that you've been infected.

Once you come back virus-free, you can proceed with the fix.

If you have Windows XP Pro, there's a nifty user interface to directly edit the setting you want to repair. Click Start, then click Run and type in gpedit.msc:

And press OK. This runs the Group Policy Editor.

Once in the Group Policy Editor, expand in turn:

• User Configuration

• Administrative Templates

• System

• Ctrl+Alt+Del Options

You should see something much like this:

Double click on Remove Task Manager to change its setting:

It should be enough to click on Not Configured and then OK and Task Manager is available once again.

If you don't have Windows XP Pro, then you'll need to edit the registry manually.

Click Start, then click Run, type in regedit, and click on OK.

Expand these registry keys in turn:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER

• Software

• Microsoft

• Windows

• CurrentVersion

• Policies

• System

You should see something similar to this:

Right Click on the DisableTaskMgr item:

Click on Delete, confirm that you want to delete, and Task Manager should be available once again.

Simple Tips to shoot great snaps with your Digital Camera

Do you wish you were a better photographer? All it takes is a little know-how and experience. Keep reading for some important picture-taking tips. Then grab your camera and start shooting your way to great pictures.

• Look your subject in the eye
  Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the picture.
• Use a plain background
  A plain background shows off the subject you are photographing. When you look through the camera viewfinder, force yourself to study the area surrounding your subject. Make sure no poles grow from the head of your favorite niece and that no cars seem to dangle from her ears.
• Use flash outdoors
  Bright sun can create unattractive deep facial shadows. Eliminate the shadows by using your flash to lighten the face. When taking people pictures on sunny days, turn your flash on. You may have a choice of fill-flash mode or full-flash mode. If the person is within five feet, use the fill-flash mode; beyond five feet, the full-power mode may be required. With a digital camera, use the picture display panel to review the results.
  On cloudy days, use the camera's fill-flash mode if it has one. The flash will brighten up people's faces and make them stand out. Also take a picture without the flash, because the soft light of overcast days sometimes gives quite pleasing results by itself.
• Move in close
  If your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your goal is to fill the picture area with the subject you are photographing. Up close you can reveal telling details, like a sprinkle of freckles or an arched eyebrow.
  But don't get too close or your pictures will be blurry. The closest focusing distance for most cameras is about three feet, or about one step away from your camera. If you get closer than the closest focusing distance of your camera (see your manual to be sure), your pictures will be blurry.
• Move it from the middle
  Center-stage is a great place for a performer to be. However, the middle of your picture is not the best place for your subject. Bring your picture to life by simply moving your subject away from the middle of your picture. Start by playing tick-tack-toe with subject position. Imagine a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder. Now place your important subject at one of the intersections of lines.
  You'll need to lock the focus if you have an auto-focus camera because most of them focus on whatever is in the center of the viewfinder.
• Lock the focus
  If your subject is not in the center of the picture, you need to lock the focus to create a sharp picture. Most auto-focus cameras focus on whatever is in the center of the picture. But to improve pictures, you will often want to move the subject away from the center of the picture. If you don't want a blurred picture, you'll need to first lock the focus with the subject in the middle and then recompose the picture so the subject is away from the middle.
  Usually you can lock the focus in three steps. First, center the subject and press and hold the shutter button halfway down. Second, reposition your camera (while still holding the shutter button) so the subject is away from the center. And third, finish by pressing the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
• Know your flash's range
  The number one flash mistake is taking pictures beyond the flash's range. Why is this a mistake? Because pictures taken beyond the maximum flash range will be too dark. For many cameras, the maximum flash range is less than fifteen feet—about five steps away.
  What is your camera's flash range? Look it up in your camera manual. Can't find it? Then don't take a chance. Position yourself so subjects are no farther than ten feet away.
• Watch the light
  Next to the subject, the most important part of every picture is the light. It affects the appearance of everything you photograph. On a great-grandmother, bright sunlight from the side can enhance wrinkles. But the soft light of a cloudy day can subdue those same wrinkles.
  Don't like the light on your subject? Then move yourself or your subject. For landscapes, try to take pictures early or late in the day when the light is orangish and rakes across the land.
• Take some vertical pictures
  Is your camera vertically challenged? It is if you never turn it sideways to take a vertical picture. All sorts of things look better in a vertical picture. From a lighthouse near a cliff to the Eiffel Tower to your four-year-old niece jumping in a puddle. So next time out, make a conscious effort to turn your camera sideways and take some vertical pictures.
• Be a picture director
  Take control of your picture-taking and watch your pictures dramatically improve. Become a picture director, not just a passive picture-taker. A picture director takes charge. A picture director picks the location: "Everybody go outside to the backyard." A picture director adds props: "Girls, put on your pink sunglasses." A picture director arranges people: "Now move in close, and lean toward the camera.
  
  

Most pictures won't be that involved, but you get the idea: Take charge of your pictures!!

How to disable the annoying User Account Control [UAC] feature in Windows Vista easily?

User Account Control in Windows Vista is a feature of the operating system that has generated a consistent amount of criticism. As far as I can tell, basic ignorance was the foundation for the UAC complaints that have diminished following the general availability of the operating system. There is one simple reason for this and the people that are running Vista already know that you can barely notice the UAC prompts.

Microsoft does provide users with numerous ways to disable or tone down the feature. And there is even a piece of free software that centralizes the UAC functionality options into an easy to use interface. TweakUAC 1.0 Enables users to either enable or disable the UAC and also offer an intermediary solution dubbed Quiet Mode.

TweakUAC is a freeware software utility that can be used to quickly turn UAC (User Account Control of Microsoft Windows Vista) on or off, or to make UAC operate in the quiet mode.

Turn UAC off
This option turns UAC off completely. If this is what you want, select this option, press OK, restart the computer, and you won’t see the elevation prompts anymore. Windows Vista will operate pretty much like Windows XP does when you login to its administrator’s account.

Switch UAC to the quiet mode
This option does not turn off UAC; instead, it only makes UAC to operate in the quiet mode. In the quiet mode, UAC does not display the elevation prompts for the administrators. That is, when you attempt to do an administrative task, you will be allowed to proceed automatically, without prompting you to confirm the operation. All other features of UAC would still be enabled: the programs will run with the standard user permissions by default, and the standard users will still see the elevation prompts (the quiet mode applies to the administrator accounts only).

Leave UAC on
If you have previously turned UAC off or switched it to operate in the quiet mode, you can use this option to restore the original behavior of UAC.

Note that if you turn UAC off or swicth it to operate in the “quiet” mode, Vista starts displaying a warning message in its taskbar. You can turn that message off, though: double-click on the shield icon in the taskbar to open Windows Security Center. Then click on the “Change the way Security Center alerts me” link, in the left panel. Finally, choose one of the “Don’t notify me” options.

Note also that if you have used the Local Security Policy tool of Windows Vista to change the advanced configuration options of UAC, they will not be affected by TweakUAC; you would have to use the Local Security Policy tool to modify them.

You can download this cool Freeware from here : http://www.tweak-uac.com/download/

How to easily connect 2 Monitors [dual] in Windows?

With monitor prices heading downward - it's simply more productive to have Dual Monitors. Most graphics cards with two video outputs usually support dual monitors, so it shouldn't be a problem. Here's a simple way to add that extra monitor to your Windows PC.

What you need to do is go into your display properties (Right click on desktop -> Properties) and go to the settings tab. If two monitors appear in the settings window, your computer is set up to support dual-monitors. Right click on Monitor Two, and select "Attached." Then check the box below that says "Extend my windows desktop onto this monitor." Chick apply, and you have two monitors! You may have to adjust resolution and color settings to get it just right.

There are a number of advatages to having dual monitors, including being able to have two programs up at once, much more desktop space, etc. The only real downside is that it takes more of your video cards processing time and memory, and takes up more room on your "real" desktop, but I personally love dual monitors. One for your business and the other to surf the web away!!

If you have any problems setting it up, consult the manual. (Or the products website if you've lost that) There may be something specific to your video card that I wouldn't know about.

Do let me know your thoughts on dual monitors.

List of Services that you don't need in Windows Vista to make it work faster

Windows Vista makes all kinds of assumptions about your computing habits and the features you may or may not need, and it inevitably installs some overhead that you simply don't need. You can get rid of all that very easily and make your machine work faster.

Windows XP had the Add/Remove Windows Features button in the Control Panel. Similarly Vista has something called as Add/Remove Programs applet. Turn it off or Uninstall what you don't need.

Open Control Panel and click Uninstall a Program to launch Vista's Uninstall or Change a Program Window. In the Tasks pane on the left, click Turn Windows Features On or Off. Check the list of features. Each feature is preceded by a checkbox which, if filled, indicates the feature is installed. If you hover the mouse over a feature, a help tooltip appears to tell you what it is. Uncheck any feature you don't need. Some of the features are headings with a sub-list below them; just click the little + sign to expand.

Click the Start button and type in services.msc and hit Enter. (The cursor jumps to the Search bar in the Start Menu when you click the Start button; you can usually just punch in whatever program or module you want to run right there). The Services applet appears. Each service is basically a little nest of software support code for something the computer can monitor or do.

Well-written services include a description of what they do (note that lots of third-party services don't include a description). The Status column in the Services window shows whether or not the service has been started.

Startup Type means how the service starts:

• Automatic means the service starts when Windows starts.
• Manual means the service starts when Windows detects that something needs it.
• Disabled means the service doesn't start at all.

Most services are either set to Automatic or Manual. There's no need to change any manual services; they only start when it's necessary for them to do something. There are probably some automatic services you really don't need, though.

To change how a service starts, right-click it and click Properties. If you don't want a service to load, first stop the service by clicking Stop. Then, pull down the Startup Type list and set the service to Manual or Disabled.

If you're not sure about a service, it's safer to set it to Manual; that way, if something calls it, it should start up. If you know you don't need a service, set it to Disabled.

The services you need depend on what you do with your PC. For instance, if you're not using ReadyBoost, you can disable that service; you can disable Windows Error Reporting if you don't want to report errors; you can disable Tablet PC Input Service if you don't want to use Tablet PC features; and so on.

You can almost certainly disable some services that start automatically by default:

• Computer Browser
• Distributed Link Tracking Client
• IKE and AuthIP IP Keying Modules
• Offline Files
• Remote Registry
• Tablet PC Input Service (unless you're using a tablet PC)
• Windows Error Reporting

Some services that you absolutely should not disable include:

• Multimedia Class Scheduler
• Plug and Play
• Superfetch
• Task Scheduler
• Windows Audio
• Windows Driver Foundation

Feel free to experiment with services; just keep track of which services you tweak and, if something doesn't work, re-enable the last service you turned off. Streamline the system by shutting down as many services as you can, based on your own unique needs.

As an example, here are the services I've disabled on my networked machine:

• DFS Replication
• Computer Browser
• Distributed Link Tracking Client
• IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules
• IP Helper
• IPsec Policy Agent
• KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator
• Offline Files
• Remote Registry
• Secondary Logon
• Security Center (Use caution if you disable security services!)
• SSDP Discovery
• Tablet PC Input Service
• Terminal Services
• Windows Defender

There is a lot more you can do easily to Boost the performance of your Vista PC.

How to easily Transpose Rows and Columns in Excel

Columns can be transposed into rows, and rows can be transposed into columns very easily in Excel.

Note: Data from the top row of the copy area appears in the left column of the paste area, and data from the left column appears in the top row.

Here's how you can do it.

1. Select the cells that you want to switch and click Copy.
2. Click the upper-left cell of the paste area. The paste area must be outside the copy area.
3. Click the arrow to the right of Paste and then click Transpose.

How to give Folders a Mouse-Over Description in Windows

The Desktop.ini file is a text file that provides Windows with configuration information. Please note, this tip, while not overly difficult, is of a more advanced level. Before you change any *.ini settings, make sure you copy and paste the original text into an e-mail, or somewhere else so that you can restore the original file in the event of unexpected results.

• Lets now see how you can Give Folders a Mouse-Over Description of your own
  

  When you hover your mouse pointer over a folder icon, you see a pop-up that contains the folder's size and the names of the first few files or folders it contains. There are cases when this information, along with the folder's name, is helpful in identifying the folder's contents; however, there are other times when you have to open the folder to really see what's in it.

  You can add a detailed explanation about the folder's contents to the pop-up by creating a Desktop.ini file, which is a straight text file, and adding a special entry to it.

  1. Create a new Notepad *.txt file and type in the following:
     [.ShellClassInfo]
     InfoTip=Type your detailed description
  2. Save the file as Desktop.ini and copy it into the folder you want to describe
  3. Go to File > Save and close Notepad
  4. Click Start > Run, type in the command line, ATTRIB +S "folder name" (e.g. ATTRIB +S " C:\Documents and Settings\[your userid]\My Documents")
  
  You'll see your detailed pop-up description the next time you mouse over that folder.

  Note: If you don't see a pop-up when you mouse over a folder, you need to enable a couple of settings. Go to Tools > Folder Options and then select the View tab. Then, in the Advanced Settings list, select the check boxes for Display File Size Information In Folder Tips and Show Pop-Up Description For Folder And Desktop Items. Click OK.

Easily Fix and Recover all Incorrect or Corrupt Windows System Files

SFC.EXE is a Windows system files resource checker that scans the integrity of all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions. SFC comes packaged and built-in since Windows XP
era, and is also included in Windows Vista.



However, not many users seem to ever use the the useful utility when the Windows operating system is in trouble or running into problem. Some may not even aware of SFC existence, probably because that the program is not listed in Start Menu’s All Programs listing. Beside, most advanced users prefer to use Ghost imaging or cloning software to backup a clone copy of entire disk, which can then be restored when there is system failure. Most users simply wipe off the hard disk and reinstall a fresh and clean copy of Windows.

However, sometimes, some problems and errors can be fixed immediately without much trouble and hassle by using SFC.EXE. It’s especially the case when user has using Windows for a period of time, and has made considerable changes to system settings and has lots of user files.

To use SFC.EXE, open an elevated privilege command prompt as administrator by type Cmd in Start Search box, and right click on Cmd appear in search result and then select Run as Administrator. Entering sfc /? will display help and usage guide of the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker.

Generally, the only command that needs to be run and most effective is 'sfc /scannow'

The command will scan integrity of all protected system files, and if problem is detected, the program will attempt to repair the files automatically. After running “sfc /scannow” command, wait for the progress to reach 100% completed, and then restart the computer. After restart, all system files will be exactly the same as if when Windows Vista or XP is just installed.

However, because the process is effectively restore and revert system files back to original factory state, thus all changes, personalizations and customization to the system, such as theme crack, logon screen, startup screen will be reset to original Microsoft style. If you facing problem after changing the display language options in registry with new MUI language packs, this utility can fix the problem too.

SFC can restore a lot of system files and fix a lot of errors and problems instantly, so when encountering any issues, try “sfc /scannow” command first, and it may solves the problem. Note that some restoration may require users to insert Windows XP installation CD or Windows Vista installation DVD. And don’t worry that updates or hotfixes have to be downloaded and applied again, as SFC is not complete system restore, it just replaces corrupted or problematic system files, if it detects one.

Easy Fix for : Windows Picture and Fax Viewer doesnot open / Thumbnails for images don't showup

Seems like my weekend was marred with multiple computer issues. While I fixed the issue with "How to fix Windows Explorer crash when viewing folder with .avi / movie files?" - I had a second issue that came up. Which I suppose was caused with my several trial and error of many solutions to fix my original issue. The new problem was that none of the images files used to open up on double-click. Even When I point to the image file and ask it to open with "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" - nothing used to happen. Simply Nothing!!

I was for once shocked and even was thinking of an eventuality to re-install my Windows XP from scratch or using a third party picture viewer like IfranView. But I just started to analyse where things could go wrong (being a techie does help :) ). I could finally zero in on a unscrupulous dll being un-registered.

Well, the solution is simple. Open the Command Prompt (Run > cmd) and type the below lines and things will start to work fine.

regsvr32 /i %windir%\system32\shimgvw.dll

This possibly re installs the dll associated with the Picture and Fax viewer.

How to easily Unprotect/Remove Password from a Protected Excel Worksheet

You may already know how easy it is to protect Microsoft Office Excel worksheets and workbooks from unauthorized changes with the help of a password. But, what to do if you can’t remember the password you used for protecting OR you downloaded an excel from the internet and would like to have a look at the formula's or the embeded information - but all that data might be inaccessible due to the password protection.

I have a very simple method by which you can easily recover the password and also un-protect the worksheet or workbook. Please note : this method will only remove the protection from the excel file and not the password used to open the excel file itself.

Open the excel file which is password protected and goto Macro's (I am using Office 2007 so the menu's maybe different View >> Macros). Click on "Record Macro >> OK" and then click on "Stop Recording" from the same menu. Now goto "View Macros", you will find a Macro with a default name E.g. Macro1 - Select the macro name and click on Edit. Now a Visual Basic Editor opens up. Re-place the default code and Paste the below code.


Sub Macro1()
'
' Breaks worksheet and workbook structure passwords. Jason S

' probably originator of base code algorithm modified for coverage

' of workbook structure / windows passwords and for multiple passwords

' Jason S http://jsbi.blogspot.com

' Reveals hashed passwords NOT original passwords

Const DBLSPACE As String = vbNewLine & vbNewLine

Const AUTHORS As String = DBLSPACE & vbNewLine & "Adapted from Bob McCormick base code by" & "Jason S http://jsbi.blogspot.com"

Const HEADER As String = "AllInternalPasswords User Message"

Const VERSION As String = DBLSPACE & "Version 1.0 8 Sep 2008"

Const REPBACK As String = DBLSPACE & "Please report failure to jasonblr@gmail.com "

Const ALLCLEAR As String = DBLSPACE & "The workbook should be cleared"

Const MSGNOPWORDS1 As String = "There were no passwords on " & AUTHORS & VERSION

Const MSGNOPWORDS2 As String = "There was no protection to " & "workbook structure or windows." & DBLSPACE


Const MSGTAKETIME As String = "After pressing OK button this " & "will take some time." & DBLSPACE & "Amount of time " & "depends on how many different passwords, the "



Const MSGPWORDFOUND1 As String = "You had a Worksheet " & "Structure or Windows Password set." & DBLSPACE & "The password found was: " & DBLSPACE & "$$" & DBLSPACE & "Note it down for potential future use in other workbooks by " & "the same person who set this password." & DBLSPACE & "Now to check and clear other passwords." & AUTHORS & VERSION

Const MSGPWORDFOUND2 As String = "You had a Worksheet " & "password set." & DBLSPACE & "The password found was: " & DBLSPACE & "$$" & DBLSPACE & "Note it down for potential " & "future use in other workbooks by same person who " & "set this password." & DBLSPACE & "Now to check and clear " & "other passwords." & AUTHORS & VERSION

Const MSGONLYONE As String = "Only structure / windows " & "protected with the password that was just found." & ALLCLEAR & AUTHORS & VERSION & REPBACK

Dim w1 As Worksheet, w2 As Worksheet

Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer, l As Integer

Dim m As Integer, n As Integer, i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer

Dim i3 As Integer, i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer

Dim PWord1 As String

Dim ShTag As Boolean, WinTag As Boolean

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

With ActiveWorkbook

WinTag = .ProtectStructure Or .ProtectWindows

End With

ShTag = False

For Each w1 In Worksheets

ShTag = ShTag Or w1.ProtectContents

Next w1

If Not ShTag And Not WinTag Then

MsgBox MSGNOPWORDS1, vbInformation, HEADER

Exit Sub

End If

MsgBox MSGTAKETIME, vbInformation, HEADER

If Not WinTag Then

MsgBox MSGNOPWORDS2, vbInformation, HEADER

Else

On Error Resume Next

Do 'dummy do loop

For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66

For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66

For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66

For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126

With ActiveWorkbook

.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)

If .ProtectStructure = False And .ProtectWindows = False Then

PWord1 = Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)

MsgBox Application.Substitute(MSGPWORDFOUND1, "$$", PWord1), vbInformation, HEADER

Exit Do 'Bypass all for...nexts

End If

End With

Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next

Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next

Loop Until True

On Error GoTo 0

End If

If WinTag And Not ShTag Then

MsgBox MSGONLYONE, vbInformation, HEADER

Exit Sub

End If

On Error Resume Next

For Each w1 In Worksheets

'Attempt clearance with PWord1

w1.Unprotect PWord1

Next w1

On Error GoTo 0

ShTag = False

For Each w1 In Worksheets

'Checks for all clear ShTag triggered to 1 if not.

ShTag = ShTag Or w1.ProtectContents

Next w1

If ShTag Then

For Each w1 In Worksheets

With w1

If .ProtectContents Then

On Error Resume Next

Do 'Dummy do loop

For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66

For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66

For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66

For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126

.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)

If Not .ProtectContents Then

PWord1 = Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)

MsgBox Application.Substitute(MSGPWORDFOUND2, "$$", PWord1), vbInformation, HEADER

'leverage finding Pword by trying on other sheets

For Each w2 In Worksheets

w2.Unprotect PWord1

Next w2

Exit Do 'Bypass all for...nexts

End If

Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next

Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next

Loop Until True

On Error GoTo 0

End If

End With

Next w1

End If

MsgBox ALLCLEAR & AUTHORS & VERSION & REPBACK, vbInformation, HEADER
'
End Sub

Finally, run the Macro(View >> Macros >> View Macros >> Run). You will get the password of the protected workbook and worksheet in Excel. I have tested the above in Microsoft Office Excel XP / 2003 / 2007