Muthusrinivasan's Blog

If you spend time working at the Command Prompt, you know how frustrating it can be to navigate between different folders using the Change Directory (CD) command. For example, if the folder name contains multiple words, you must remember to enclose the name in quotes. And, if there’s even one typo in the folder name, you have to start all over. Fortunately, you can use the Command Prompt history feature to easily correct typos without having to type the entire command from scratch.

However, you can save yourself from ever having to type folder names at the Command Prompt simply…

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Windows XP is a good operating system, but getting it to perform at peak capacity can sometimes be a frustrating affair. You have so many options when it comes to tuning the system that sometimes it’s hard to figure out where to begin. That’s where a product like NitroXP comes in handy. With it you can fine tune Windows XP on your workstation and squeeze a few more drops of performance out of it. Here’s how it works.

What’s NitroXP and how do I get it?

NitroXP is a shareware offering from RoadSide Software. It provides an easy way to optimize several…

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One of the many features of Windows XP’s Start Menu is the most frequently used programs list. When it comes to configuring this feature, Windows XP provides you with only two controls: the ability to completely clear the list and the ability to specify the maximum number of programs that can appear on this list at any one time. However, there is one other thing that would be nice to be able to control and that is preventing certain applications from appearing on that list.

For example, you probably don’t need to have often-used but inconsequential applications such as Calculator or Notepad…

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Have you ever tried to select a bunch of files in Windows Explorer while holding down the Ctrl key, and then all of a sudden there are duplicate copies of all of those files sitting in the folder? Really irritating, so how do we fix it?

To illustrate the problem, you try and select a number of files by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each one… and then suddenly you’ve got a ton of copies of all your files. This gets even more annoying in a large directory, because now you’ve got to remove the copies.

The reason this…

Continue reading about Fixing Annoyances: Stop Windows from Copying Files Accidentally When Ctrl-Click Selecting

Running into duplicate data in an Access Database can be quite annoying during the hectic workday, so I decided to write up a technique to help identify the duplicate records so you can manually handle them.

There are many causes for duplicate data: for instance if you have multiple users entering data simultaneously via linked tables, or you might inherit a table with duplicate data already entered.

First open the MDB (Microsoft Database) containing the table you want to check for duplicates.  Click on the Queries tab and New.

This will open the New Query dialog box.  Highlight Find Duplicates Query Wizard then…

Continue reading about Create a Query in Microsoft Access to Find Duplicate Entries in a Table

One of the few things about Vista that just drives me crazy is the problems with Windows Explorer. I prefer to use Details mode for certain folders, but it seems like Vista constantly "decides" that the folder should show a different set of columns than what I had previously chosen.

The problem is that Vista "Auto-Detects" the folder type for you, but it seems to always detect it incorrectly, and then your folder just stops showing the right columns…

Manually Resetting Folder Types

Normally this happens because Vista has detected the folder as the wrong type… you had a single music file in…

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Whether you are doing graphics/web design work or just taking screenshots, it’s often very difficult to move the mouse precisely enough to select pixels the way you’d like, so I went looking for a solution.

There’s a number of methods you can use, from configuring the default mouse settings, to enabling Mouse Keys to move the mouse pointer with the keyboard, or my favorite: Using the Precision Booster feature in IntelliPoint.

Slow Down the Mouse Pointer System-Wide

If the mouse moves too fast for you, you can always slow down the mouse pointer by opening the Mouse Properties window in Control Panel (either…

Continue reading about Boost Your Mouse Pointing Accuracy in Windows