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Once my wife saw my Dell Vostro V13, it didn’t take long before we had two Vostro V13s.

The Vostro V13 is an ultrathin notebook with a 13” 1366×768 nonglare screen and a full-size keyboard. It’s two-thirds of an inch tall with the lid closed and weighs just 3.5 pounds. The aluminum body oozes style and elegance, with curved edges and a polished exterior that is surprisingly solid for such a light machine. It has the same appeal as some very expensive ultrathin laptops, the Dell Adamo and Sony Vaio Z, but sells for far […] continued

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There’s finally a solution to a bug that Adobe has allowed to stand unpatched for far too long. This only applies to a few of you but you’ll be glad to see it if you’ve been one of the victims.

Background: if you use Outlook 2007 to open an e-mail message with a PDF attachment, you should be able to preview the attachment directly in the Reading pane. When you click on the attachment, you’ll first see the dialog asking you to confirm that the attachment comes from a trustworthy source. (Leave the box checked for that warning […] continued

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Here’s a weird bug in Windows 7. I haven’t run into it myself but I love oddball glitches like this. (My favorite continues to be the discovery that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony could cause the installation of Windows XP Service Pack 3 to fail.)

The glitch: If you set a solid-color desktop on your new Windows 7 computer instead of a custom wallpaper, you may experience a thirty-second delay before the desktop appears.

Doesn’t happen if you choose a photo for wallpaper or install the Coca Cola theme or use anything else – just a solid color. Microsoft […] continued

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Windows Snap is one of the best new features in Windows 7. Here’s my original post describing how it works.

On a single monitor, you can display two windows side by side with a couple of mouse movements, as shown in the picture above:

If you drag a window until the mouse cursor touches the left side of the screen, the program expands to fill exactly half the screen.

If you drag another program until the mouse cursor touches the right side of the screen, the other program expands to fill the right half of the

[…] continued

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There have been countless blog posts about the GodMode Windows 7 trick. If you create a new folder – on your desktop, say – named GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}, you will get access to a hidden list of hundreds of Windows settings, many of which are not listed in Control Panel. Whoa Nellie! That’s some powerful stuff!

Here’s an article with screen shots of all the settings displayed in the GodMode folder.

It didn’t take long for the buzz to die down a bit. The first letdown was the discovery that the name “GodMode” (a tip of the […] continued

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Here’s an updated list of ways to be safe and secure with your computer.

Install updates from Microsoft promptly. Look in the lower right corner for the gold shield (WinXP) or update icon (Win7/Vista).

Install updates to Acrobat, Flash, Java, and Quicktime promptly. Each will alert you from the lower right corner.

• An easy and safe way to keep up with updates: visit Secunia Online Inspector once a month and follow its suggestions.

Install antivirus software and keep it up to date.

Know the name of your antivirus software. If you get a security

[…] continued

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Happy holidays from all of us at Bruceb Consulting! All my best wishes for an abundance of happiness and good cheer!

I’m looking forward to working with you in 2010 in a rapidly changing world of technology. These are the trends that will shape next year for small businesses:

• WINDOWS 7  Many of you will be getting new computers to replace the aging, slow Windows XP systems under your desk, and finding that Windows 7 is quite delightful for work and play.
• MULTIPLE COMPUTERS  You’ll be more likely to have several computers as prices drop

[…] continued

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Previously:
Windows 7 taskbar
Customize Windows 7 taskbar – restore quick launch
Customize Windows 7 taskbar – expand buttons

I use a lot of programs. (If you have a morbid desire to know how many programs you use, install this little gadget from Wakoopa. Remember, this is not a contest – please, no wagering.)

You can pin 20 or so icons on the Windows 7 taskbar, more than enough for most people, but I wanted easy access to more even programs and shortcuts without cluttering up my desktop. The Quick Launch bar wasn’t […] continued

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You can make the Windows 7 taskbar use expanded buttons with text, like Windows XP or Vista, if you don’t like the new collapsed icons.

Right-click on the Windows 7 taskbar and click on Properties.

Then click on the dropdown menu by Taskbar buttons and choose either “Combine when taskbar is full” or “Never combine.”

Make a note of the checkbox for “Use small icons.” The screen shot above shows small icons; the screen shot below shows large icons.

If you have programs pinned to the taskbar, they will show up without text when they are

[…] continued

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Most people are happy with the changes to the Windows 7 taskbar. It combines the Vista/WinXP taskbar with the Quick Launch bar and expands on them with rich visual feedback when the mouse hovers over the icons and thumbnails pop up. There are more details about the Windows 7 taskbar here.

When you get a Windows 7 computer, I suggest you leave the taskbar alone. After a short time, I think you’ll appreciate how much thought went into its changes. It feels completely natural to me and I miss it now when I sit down at […] continued

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