Category: Microsoft Windows

  • Deleting entries from the Run MRU List

    If you’re like me, you use the run menu. A lot. One of the features I like about the run menu is that it stores your recently used commands in a list, called the Most Recently Used list (MRU for short). From time to time, I like to remove superfluous items from that list. Here’s how:…

  • Managing startup applications in Windows 10

    In earlier versions of Windows, I – and I would assume many with me – used the Startup folder in the Start menu to manage startup applications. In Windows 10, however, this folder is no more, and so we must find other ways of dealing with them. There are three ways to do so, all…

  • Stop iTunes from opening when connecting an iOS device

    Last week, I showed you how to disable the feature of iTunes and iPhoto opening when you connect an iOS device. The same issue occurs on Windows computers, too. Here’s how you resolve it: If you want to disable it for all devices, you need to disable the iTunesHelper.exe login item. To disable it for…

  • Managing login items on Windows 8 and 10

    Last week, I showed you how to manage login items – i.e. programs automatically loaded on login – in Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows. From Windows 8 onwards, this has become far simpler. Here’s how you do it: Open the Task manager Go to the Startup tab Enable or disable as you like As before…

  • Manage login items in Windows 7

    It’s always a good idea to keep track of login items – i.e. what applications are being automatically opened when you log in. In Windows 7 (and, if memory serves, on previous versions of Microsoft Windows), this is done through the MS Config tool. Here’s how: In the start menu, click Run (or hit Win+R…

  • Change password in a remote desktop session

    Most Windows users will be familiar with using Ctrl+Alt+Del to change their password on a local computer, and that works well for that purpose. However, that command is not forwarded to a computer to which you are connected remotely, as it triggers locally. So how, then, can we prompt a change of our password without waiting for it…

  • Enabling or disabling the Switch User option

    Some time ago, a user called in, saying that the Switch User option had suddenly disappeared. I connected to her computer, and sure enough, there was no Switch User option in either the Lock Screen or the Ctrl+Alt+Del-screen, and the option was greyed out in the Start Menu. Luckily, getting it back was easy enough. Here’s how: Start…

  • Start Local Group Policy editor

    Every now and again, I find that I need to have a look at, or even edit, the local group policies on a computer. To do this, we use a tool called Local Group Policy editor. Here’s how to start it: Open the run prompt, either by hitting “run” in the Start menu, or by…

  • Resolving error code 0x9c47 when installing Internet Explorer 11

    A user called in, wanting help troubleshooting an installation of Internet Explorer 11 that repeatedly and persistently failed. The error code was the same, 0x9c47. The error code means that a Windows Update, KB2729094, could not be found on the computer. Because it is listed as a prerequisite for IE11, the installation failed. It did not matter one…

  • #TBT: A better Task Manager

    This post originally ran in April 2008. I am reposting it now, as part of my throwback thursday project, to give some of my older quality posts some love. SysInternals Process Explorer is in common use the world around these days, and a tool I use a lot.  Windows Task Manager is a decent enough tool,…

  • Citrix: Resolve SSL Error 61 on Windows

    Some weeks ago, I had a user call in, saying that she got the following error message when trying to launch applications from our Citrix farm: Luckily, this error is readily remedied, by installing an update for Root Certificates from Microsoft. Once the update was installed, the application launched without further incident.