Category Archives: Tips & Tricks

Advice, tips and Information.

Third Party Products & Services Tips & Tricks

Disk Partition Management Software – Free Versions

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AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. With the help of Partition Assistant, you can not only resize partitions, move partition, split partition, merge partitions, create  and format partitions, but also migrate OS to SSD, copy and clone whole disks and convert disks between GPT and MBR without any risk of data loss.

This is especially useful when you cannot get windows disk management to organize your partitions how you want them.

OS supported: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP (all editions, 32 & 64 bit).

Link to main AOMEI website

Alternatively try: MiniTool Partition Wizard

Tips & Tricks Workshop Tales

WiFi Printer unreliable connection fix

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I have been asked to fix various printer connectivity problems that seem to have the same characteristics:

  1. WiFi Printer connected to network/router by wireless only
  2. Windows PC trying to access printer seems to work ok initially then loses connection after some time has passed.

Apple computers do not seem to be affected and switching devices on/off can temporarily resolve the issue. I have seen this affect HP and Epson printers and running an ethernet connection from the router to the printer – if the printer has a network socket – seems to fix the problem.

After following the manufacturers troubleshooting advice many times I now believe this is connected with the intelligent network scanners that the manufacturers install with the device drivers to allow for changes of IP address. If you look at the the Port tab under the printer properties you will see that a special entry (for HP it’s called:  <SerialNo> HP network re-discovery port monitor) has been created. If you find the IP address of the printer and add or select an existing port entry using this IP address rather than the ‘special’ entry the problem may be solved.

This would require updating if the IP address of the printer gets updated by network changes – so perhaps a fixed IP address would be more reliable.

YouTube

Tips & Tricks

Laptop and notebook battery care advice

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1. The main recommendation to assure the longest life for a battery is to make sure it is fully charged before first use. The latest battery chemistry of Li-ion and Li-Pol are versatile and can be charged at any time and do not deteriorate or suffer with erratic charging patterns and times. The battery chargers are sufficiently sophisticated to fully charge the battery at any time.

2. If you do not use your Laptop Battery for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the Laptop, store it in a clean, dry, cool place away from heat and metal objects. NiCad, NiMH and Li-Ion batteries will self-discharge during storage; remember to recharge the batteries before use.

3. Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can¡¯t create as much power.

4. Exercise the battery, at the minimum you should use the once at least every couple weeks. If you haven’t used your battery in sometime then use the break-in procedures again as described above.

5. For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.

6. Leaving a battery in a laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery.

Tips & Tricks

How to reset TCP/IP by using the NetShell utility

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Start up an Administrator Command Window:

Enter ‘netsh int ip reset‘ then press the Enter key.

 

Note: You must be logged on to the computer as an administrator to perform the steps.

To Open a Command Window

For Windows 10 – right-click over the start button – select the Command Prompt (Admin) option.

 

For Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
On the Start screen, type CMD. In the search results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
For Windows 7 and Windows Vista
To open a command prompt, click Start and then type cmd in the Search programs and files box.
Under Programs, right-click the CMD.exe icon, and then click Run as administrator.
When the User Account Control box appears, click Yes.

 

For Windows XP
To open a command prompt, click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, enter the following command, and then press ENTER: cmd

Tips & Tricks

Forgotten Wifi Password Recovery

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If you already have a Wifi connection profile on your device then you can display the Password Key for that connection by starting up an Administrator Command Window:

Firstly enter ‘netsh wlan show profiles‘ then press the Enter key, choose the relevant Profile Name.

Then enter ‘netsh wlan show profile ProfileName key=clear‘ then press the Enter key – replacing ProfileName with the one required.

If you get a response ‘The Wireless AutoConfig Service (wlansvc) is not running.’ it could mean you have no Wireless hardware (Wifi Card/dongle/transceiver) on the device.