GET THE PDF OF THE WEBSITE YOU WANT

PDF my URL

Usually, I don’t list a website for the top spot of the newsletter, but I simply had to today! If you’re looking for a quick way to save a webpage for offline viewing, then I suggest checking out PDFmyURL. Just go to http://pdfmyurl.com/, and put the address of the site you want to save in the box…



…now hit the nifty-looking “P” icon off to the right, let the site do its work, and when the download window pops up save it! It’s that easy! 

GOT TO KNOW ABOUT THE PEN FLICKS HERE

I think the reason people love touch screens is because of how natural the hand gestures feel. For example, to scroll down a document, it feels better to just swipe down instead of pressing a little arrow key. If you’re looking to bring some of these intuitive gestures to your Windows computer, then might I humbly recommend that you enable Pen flicks.
To utilize pen flicks, your computer must be touch screen, or your laptop’s trackpad must support gestures. If you have a graphics tablet, then that will also allow pen flicks as well.
Begin by pressing the Start button, and selecting Control Panel.
Select the Classic view, and double click Pen and Input Devices.


Now choose the Flicks tab, and check the box labeled Use flicks to perform common actions quickly and easily.


Now you have two options: the navigation flicks, or the navigational flicks with editing. I personally prefer the latter, as it allows me to copy and paste with ease. Choose the option that best suits you, and of course, you can always change this setting.
If you select Customize, you can hand select what action a flick in a certain direction will perform. If you’d like to add a custom keyboard shortcut, just select the add option. For example. I made it so that a downward flick will close the program using the keyboard shortcut Alt+F4.


Finally, one last setting I’d like to bring to your attention is the flick sensitivity. If you find that you have to repeat a gesture several times before Windows recognizes it, then you should make the sensitivity more relaxed. However, if you find gestures are occurring by accident, than you should move the slider to the precise setting.


I hope this setting makes your computer feel a little bit more natural. Enjoy!

AUTOMATIC IMAGE RESIZING

Automatic Image Resizing in Internet Explorer

Have you ever been browsing around, looking for images in Internet Explorer and come across a picture that you know won’t fit your screen, but you click on it anyways? Well, recent versions of IE have this neat feature called Automatic Image Resizing, which will shrink large images so they can be viewed with ease.

Today we’re going to learn how to turn it off. Why, you ask? Well, say you’re hunting around for high resolution images and you want a genuine idea of how big it really is. Automatic Image Resizing will need to be turned off to do so.

Automatic Image Resizing On


Automatic Image Resizing Off


Click Tools>Internet Options and click the Advanced tab. Scroll down until you see “Enable Automatic Image Resizing” and un-check the box next to it. Now you’ll see images in their natural full-sized state! You can turn Automatic Image Resizing back on by following the same steps and re-checking the box.

Enjoy!

HOW TO REMOVE A PADLOCK TO YOUR FOLDER IN WINDOWS 7

In windows 7, when I look at user folders, I see some folders have padlocks on them and others do not, what causes this and how do I remove the “padlock”. When I look at the properties of each folder, I cannot detect any difference.

How to Get Rid of the Mysterious Padlock Icon From Your File Folder

Windows 7, as in previous version of Windows, allows the creation of multiple user accounts with varying degrees of privileges on the same computer or network. As such, there are users whom have the ability to make the same changes that the computer’s owner can make (Administrator accounts). There are also users with limited abilities in updating and changing computer settings (Standard User accounts,) and users with very limited privileges whom are dis-allowed from making nearly any change to the computer’s configuration (Guest accounts.) These differing account types allow for multiple users to use the same computer without, for the most part, disturbing the programs, settings, or display of others whom they share the computer with. Occasionally however, changes made from one user account can create confusion within other user accounts; particularly when actions on one user account change how familiar icons look or behave throughout all user accounts.

One such example can be found when a formerly normal looking shared file folder displays a padlock next to itself when viewed.

Baffling as this may be when first discovered, there’s actually a simple explanation for the odd little golden padlock icon suddenly appearing next to a previously standard looking folder: another user has changed its’ “permissions” and has “locked” the folder.

When creating shared file folders in Windows 7, there are a variety of options available which allow a user to safeguard information contained within these folders, by restricting how folders are shared amongst various users on the computer or network. By right clicking on a file folder, then selecting Properties, followed by the Security tab, you can view and modify various security options (permissions) available to different users, for that particular folder. Owners of a particular folder can choose to allow or deny other users full or partial abilities to view, edit, modify, or delete said folders and files contained within, as they see fit. As each user can change folder permissions, confusion can arise when multiple users start to change and update permissions without notifying other users of the computer on the network. Adding additional confusion, Administrator accounts and Standard User accounts have differing abilities when modifying folder permissions. Generally speaking, most permission changes made by a Standard User account, can be overridden by an Administrator account, but not vice versa.



As such, when you see a familiar file folder suddenly appear with a padlock next to it where there had previously been none, the first thing to do is to check the folders’ permission settings:

(Note: These steps assume you either have ownership of the folder in question, or are logging in using an Administrator account.)

Step 1. Right click the file folder.



Step 2. In the context menu which appears, select Properties.



Step 3. Click on the Security tab; find the name you log in with under Group or user names: and click to select it.



Step 4. The Permissions for box will update to show the permissions for the user account you selected.



Step 5. Scroll through the permissions list and check for any permissions which should not be associated with this folder (i.e. permission for Full Control of the folder has been set to deny for this user, when it should be set to allow.) If a wrongly set permission is found (any permission set to Deny,) follow these steps to fix it:

Step 5-1. Click the Edit button in the middle of the dialog box.



Step 5-2. In the dialog box which appears, select the user whose permissions are incorrectly set.



Step 5-3. Check the Full Control, Allow check box under Permissions for (NAME)



Step 5-4. Click the Apply button followed by the OK button on all dialog boxes, and check your folder icon.



Once permissions have been reset to Full Control, the padlock next to your folder icon should disappear. If any permissions are still set to Deny, the padlock will typically remain until Full Control is granted.



If, after following the above steps, you are still unable to remove the padlock icon from the folder, you may need to log in as an administrator or folder owner, backup all files located in the folder, delete, and then re-create the file folder to fully remove the errant icon. Doing so will also remove any previously defined permissions, and will un-share the folder from any other users who had been granted access to it. Why this process is occasionally necessary to clear the padlock icon from a file folder is not completely clear, other than that it is just an as yet unresolved glitch in Windows 7. However, if you really must rid your file folder of an annoying padlock icon, and all else fails, this method will usually do the job.

ADDITIONAL SECURITY TO YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

Facebook Login Notifications

Hey, Facebook users – Did you know that you can set up America’s favorite social networking site to send you an e-mail or even a text message if anyone tries to access your account from a new device?

It’s great for that extra layer of security – and I highly recommend it!
Here’s how:

While logged in to Facebook, click the arrow next to your name, then Account Settings.



Once at the Account Settings control panel click the security category off to the left, then click Edit.



Now simply choose how you’d like to receive a notification when/if your account is accessed from a new/different computer. Click Save Changes when you’re finished!

Added security to your system

Ctrl+Alt+Del to Log On – Windows 7

If you’re looking to add an extra layer of security to your Windows 7 system, then you may want to consider implementing a bit of a “human touch”, just to be extra sure. 

By requiring users to physically hit Ctrl+Alt+Del to access the log on screen in windows, you ensure that malicious programs (ones that try to mimic a system logon to hack passwords) can’t even make it through the front gate.

Here’s how you do it:

Hit Start, and in the search box type netplwiz – click the icon that appears in the list above.



Once the User Accounts window opens up, click the Advanced tab. At the bottom you’ll see the Secure logon field. Put a check in the box next to Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete



Hit OK, and you’re all set! If you want to go back to a Ctrl+Alt+Delete-free world again, just follow these steps and un-check the box!

knowing network problems from command prompt

You don’t have to be an IT expert to troubleshoot pesky network and Internet connection problems.  All you need is the Command Prompt utility. Any computer users familiar with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 recognize it. Well, that utility hasn’t gone away; it’s still around, just hidden in the background.
Here’s how to access it, and how to troubleshoot basic network problems from your computer.
Press the Windows key on your keyboard. Type the text cmd in the search box – in XP this is called “Run” – and press Enter.
Here’s what should appear:

Basic rule of troubleshooting: always start with the closest possible source. You need to check your own computer for network connectivity first. Type ping 127.0.0.1 and press Enter. Your Command Prompt window should look like this if your computer’s network card has no problems:


You’ve just sent four requests for dummy data to your computer’s “loopback” IP address and it (hopefully) replied to each one. An IP address is a unique tag for your computer that tells the server where to send data; the loopback address is used for testing your computer’s network card. If there were intermittent problems or if your card were completely non-functional, the ping would have experienced some loss.
The next step up the chain is your default gateway, which is in most cases the network router. Any data entering or exiting the network has to pass through the router. To diagnose the router, you need to ping its IP address. Type ipconfig at the command prompt and look for the entry next to “Default Gateway.”


Now, ping your router the same way you pinged the loopback address: type ping <your default gateway>. In this example, you’re pinging the default gateway at 10.0.0.1. If the connection between your computer and the router is strong and stable, all four of your data packets should get a response. If not, your router has connectivity problems. As a note, wireless connections are prone to drop signal, so keep that in mind when working with a wireless router.
Let’s say you’ve tested your computer and router and that everything checks out, but you still can’t connect to a webpage. So, perform the ping test on it. Let’s use Yahoo! for an example:

Yahoo! works. Just to be sure, do another ping test, this time to Google:

Google’s homepage checks out. If you were able to ping two remote sites successfully,  you don’t have a problem with your network or Internet connection.