Quick PC Solutions News

How to Budget with Mint

quickpcsolutions — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:47:45 +0000

How to Budget with Mint

Lee Sherman

Automatically categorized transactions

The first step to creating a realistic budget is knowing where you spend and how much.

The good news: this is extremely easy to do — almost entirely automatic — if you are a Mint.com user. When you first sign up for Mint.com you’re asked to add all of your financial accounts, so that you can see all of your spending in a single place. You’ll get an at-a-glance view of your balances across all accounts — there’s no need to log into multiple websites and track multiple payment channels.

Once Mint.com starts tracking your transactions, it auto-categorizes them so that you can see exactly what you are spending and where. You don’t have to go through the laborious process of tagging your transactions: Mint does it for you.

It has a number of default categories, such as Food, Entertainment, Home, Kids and so forth, so that you not only know how much you spend at a particular merchant, but also in any given spending category.

But it’s flexible. If you’d like to categorize your iTunes purchases as food (music being food for the soul, after all), and not as entertainment, Mint won’t stop you. You can also create custom categories, such as Home Remodeling withing Home (or Food for the Soul within Food, if you will).

You’ll be able to tell immediately what your average spending is in any given category.

One of the most useful features of Mint’s budgeting tool is the abiltiy to uncover spending trends and pinpoint opportunities to save. For example, you can track your spending and income over time in order to get a true picture of exactly how much money you’ll have left over at the end of the month.

With that information, you can then take financial planning to the next level and set your financial goals, such as “Buy a new car,” “save for retirement” or “go on your dream vacation.” This is where Mint.com’sGoals feature comes in, making it just as easy to set and track goals progress as it is to set and track your budgets.

Mint.com lets you compare your spending from one year to the next or from one month to the next. You can set your budgets to roll over each month, so you can make adjustments as you go along.

Charting your course

With Mint.com, you can create a budget based on your actual spending, not based on some pre-determined notion of what you should be spending. Pie and bar charts break down your spending by category so that you can see exactly how much of your income goes to mortgage or rent, groceries, dining out, and much more.

What sets apart a budget you created with Mint from an Excel spreadsheet is that your Mint budget is based on actuals, not hypotheticals. We’ve added 16 interactive graphs that show you exactly how you are spending over time. With the graphs you can see exactly where you need to cut back in order to get your budget back on track.

Mint.com starts you out with a preliminary budget that you can adjust as needed to reflect your personal values and financial goals.

Budgeting scenarios

Mint.com’s budgeting tools are flexible enough to deal with a number of possible budgeting scenarios. Unlike with a spreadsheet or the tried and true back of the envelope approach, you can play around to see how changes in your spending or income will affect how much money you’ll have left over at the end of the month.

Other tools lock you into specifying a dollar amount for each category on a monthly basis, but Mint.com lets you enter irregular expenses that don’t occur monthly.

You can even see how one-time only expenses that you may not have accounted for will affect your savings plan.The ability to look forward allows you to use Mint.com as a planning tool that lets you see exactly how much money you’ll have left at the end of the month.

Monitoring Your Budget

You’ll want to make sure to log in to your account regularly to adjust for changes in your spending and income patterns. But Mint.com is also proactive in helping you with both setting up a budget and maintaining it. Not only do we auto-categorize your transactions and provide a starter budget. We also send you either SMS or email alerts for when bills are due or when there’s been unusual spending in any of your accounts. By keeping a closer eye on your spending you’ll be able to keep your budget on track.

Ready, Set, Goals

Now that you know how much money you’re spending each month and how much you have left over, it’s time to get familiar with Mint’s Goals feature. If you haven’t set a goal yet with Mint.com, give it a try. The process is just as streamlined and automatic as our budgeting tool. You can find out how to set and track financial goals with Mint.com here.

Mint’s approach to budgeting and goal-setting is simple, automatic and, above all, flexible enough to accommodate a variety of budgeting and saving approaches.

Prep for Facebook’s Timeline Layout: 6 Must-Do Privacy Tweaks

quickpcsolutions — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 05:29:12 +0000

Prep for Facebook’s Timeline Layout: 6 Must-Do Privacy Tweaks

By Ian Paul, PCWorld Dec 16, 2011 9:11 AM

Get ready for your Facebook past to come back with a vengeance; the social network is now rolling out its new profile layout, Timeline, to all users worldwide. Timeline is basically an online scrapbook that displays your Facebook activity in reverse chronological order going back to when you first joined the social network.

This means you and your Facebook friends will be able to peruse your social networking history with just a few clicks. Previously, there was no practical way to view your older activity on Facebook.

If Timeline’s debut has you wondering whether you can hide the embarrassing bits of your Facebook life before your new profile goes live, the good news is you can. But you’ll only have seven days to make any changes to your Timeline before it becomes your default profile.

Get Timeline

There are three ways Timeline could arrive on your profile. You can activate it now by visitingFacebook’s Timeline page. You could also wait for Facebook to notify you that Timeline is available and then choose to activate it. Finally, for those who want to resist Timeline as long as possible, you can do nothing and Facebook will eventually move you over to the new look. In each case, you get a full seven days to edit your profile just the way you want it before it goes live. You can also choose to publish your Timeline at any time during the seven-day editing period.

I’ve been using Timeline since September and found it to be an interesting way to revisit all my past Facebook activity. Here’s a quick checklist of five things you’ll want to think about checking on your Timeline before your seven days are up.

Hide Old Posts

If you want to get rid of an old status update, photo, article link or like, go to the post on Timeline and hover over its top right corner. Click the pencil icon and select “Hide from Timeline.” If you’re hiding Facebook app activity, such as the Washington Post Reader app, the menu options to hide activity may be different.

If you’re having a hard time finding a particular post, look for a set of navigation links to the right that list your content by year. Click on the year you think your embarrassing post might have happened to find it. You can also drill down further by selecting a specific month.

Check The Log

If you want to keep a post on your Timeline, but don’t want specific people to see it you can change an individual post’s settings using your Activity Log. Click on “Activity Log” underneath your Timeline cover photo to see a single page listing of all your Facebook activity organized by date.

Some of your activity, such as when you write on a friend’s wall, can’t be restricted although you can delete these posts if you want. Posts that appear on your profile such as status updates and article links can be restricted. To start, click on the cog icon next to a post you want to restrict. A drop down menu will appear with controls similar to Facebook’s new inline privacy controls. You can choose to make an old post public, only for friends, only you or a custom setting that excludes particular people.

You can also filter what type of data your activity log shows you. This could be helpful if you’d like to see a list of just your profile posts, or notes, or likes and so on. To do this, navigate to the top of the activity log and click on the “All” drop down menu on the far right of the main column and select your filter.

Feature Old Posts

If you have a post you’d like to feature, such as a photo of a wedding or graduation, hover over the top right corner of the post again. This time, instead of the pencil, click the star icon and the post will stretch out to fill the width of Timeline’s main column.

Facebook automatically features some events and posts for you such as when you started work at specific job or graduated from college. If you’d prefer not to feature these posts, just click the star icon and they will shrink down to a regular size post.

Set Your Cover Photo

The top of your profile will now include a large photo called the cover photo that will be one of the first things people landing on your profile will see. You get to choose which photo you’d like to add there so take a few minutes to figure out what you’d like to put there. Keep in mind your cover photo is not private, so anyone on Facebook could potentially see it.

View As Public

After you’ve edited your Timeline, you may want to check what others will be able to see on your revamped profile. To do this click on the cog icon underneath your cover photo and select “View As…” from the drop down menu. This will automatically show you how your profile looks to the public and your subscribers if you have any. You can also enter the name of any of your Facebook friends at the top of the page to see exactly what they’ll see on your Timeline. Once you’re finished, click the “Back to Timeline” button.

That’s it. Your Timeline is ready for you and your friends to enjoy a trip down your digital memory lane.

Staying Lean Over The Holidays!

quickpcsolutions — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:24:56 +0000

Staying Lean Over The Holidays!

by Gregg Gillies Dec 15, 2010

You know the drill. Most people gain fat over the end of year holiday season. They eat anything and everything in sight. There are plenty of social gatherings and they all center around food! And not just any food but holiday food like pies loaded with tons of sugar and calories not to mention all the processed food available.

In addition to this, there are plenty of time constraints as well, so not only do we eat poorly; we tend to skip workouts or stop working out altogether over the holiday season.

So what the heck can you do to prevent this? How do you overcome the holiday challenges of:

Too little time
Too many holiday parties
Too much stress
Being surrounded by people constantly encouraging you to ‘enjoy’ the holidays (i.e., eat and drink lots of bad stuff!)

For starters, how about looking at the holiday season in a different way? Instead of trying to minimize the damage, why don’t you make it a challenge to yourself to improve your results over the holiday season? Don’t climb out of bed New Year’s Day, hate what you see in the mirror and try and gather up the momentum to hit the gym and reverse the damage.

You don’t have to wake up new year’s day and hate what you see.

Hop out of bed, New Year’s Day, check out your improved physique in the mirror, be proud of it, and use that positive feeling to keep improving!

The great thing is, you can do both! You can enjoy the holiday season and improve your health and fitness. It does not have to be one or the other. This brings us to step number one.

1. Be Prepared

If you’re prepared for what the holiday season will bring, you can enjoy it and still get great fitness results. It’s not having a plan or goals that causes most of us to go off the deep end, abandon our workouts and eat and drink everything in sight. But if you have a goal and a plan to get to that goal, it’s far less likely this will happen to you.

You can go one of two ways; you can make or you can take. You can either make excuses (we all do this easily enough, especially during the holidays) or you can take positive action. Which one is most likely to happen if you are prepared, have a goal and have a plan? That’s right, taking positive action.

So set some goals for yourself. I’ve had some injuries recently, forcing me to take some time off, so I’m carrying a few extra pounds. Today, as I’m writing this, I’ve decided I want to obliterate 10 pounds of fat over the holiday season. It won’t be easy, but now that I’ve set a goal to do it, I’m looking at the holiday season in a much different way, and I’m excited about it!

Set some goals and create a plan to help yourself from going off the deep end this holiday season

2. Nutrition With A Mission

When you’re prepared, you can still indulge and enjoy your favorite holiday foods without your fitness goals falling apart. Being prepared keeps you from going overboard and stuffing your face with everything.

By sticking to the plan and making some changes for the holidays, you can still enjoy holiday food.

Increase Your Fiber Intake

Fiber has a wide variety of health benefits, both directly and indirectly (due to the loss of fat with a high fiber nutrition program). Fiber plays a very important role in intestinal action, i.e., keeping you ‘regular’. It helps flush cancer-causing substances from your body.

A nutrition program high in fiber is a vital key to any fat loss plan. Fiber helps you to feel full, making it easier to eat fewer calories. In addition, more calories are burned from digesting high fiber foods. In fact, by increasing your fiber intake to 35 grams a day you can burn up to an additional 250 calories. While it’s recommended you get 25 – 35 grams of fiber per day, most Americans get 14 grams of fiber per day. You may want to consider getting 35 – 40 grams over the holiday season. To make it easier to get this amount (and limit your calories) you should consider getting a high quality fiber supplement. One of my favorites is Colon Cleanse by Health Plus.

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Colon CleanseThe colon is one of the primary organs involved in the body’s internal detoxification and elimination process. A clean colon, that has a healthy balance of intestinal flora, is the body’s first line of defense.Get all your Health Plus products.

Increase Your EFA Intake

Getting enough of the good fats will help you lose fat, build muscle, and recover faster from your workouts. In addition, it has myriad health benefits, including being good for your heart.

But that’s not all. Essential fatty acids may also:

Memory support
Strengthen your immune system
Minimize the damage caused by free radicals

Good fats include: polyunsaturated (especially Omega-3′s), such as those from fish and nuts (especially almonds), as well as monosaturated fats, such as those from peanut butter, olive oil,egg yolks, and fish oil. You can also get them from:

To minimize excess calories during the holidays (so you can enjoy the treats) take fish oil capsules every day.

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Fish Oil SoftgelsOptimum fish oil is a natural supplement filled with Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Fatty acids are the basis of fats and oils, and, despite popular belief, are necessary for overall health.Get all your Optimum products.

Eat More Protein

Increasing your protein intake will boost your metabolism and help to maintain your muscle mass, both key ingredients in losing fat and keeping it off.

Specific food combinations can help to burn calories by ramping up your metabolism. As I mentioned above eat carbs that are rich in fiber. They take longer to digest and you will feel “fuller” for longer periods of time.

Along with carbs rich in fiber, take in more protein. Your body burns more calories when you eat protein than it burns digesting either fats or carbohydrates.

Eating more protein to burn fat was confirmed in a study published in the American Journal of Physiology. One group was fed a high protein diet (just over one gram per pound of bodyweight per day) while the second group consumed a protein diet near equal to that of the RDA. The group eating the high protein diet burned more fat than the group consuming protein near equal to the RDA.

Your body burns more calories when consuming protein than when eating fats or carbohydrates.

One great way to boost your metabolism, burn more calories, and keep you from eating way too much is to have a little whey protein with some fiber about 15 or 20 minutes before a meal.

Arrange Your Treat (Cheat) Days

This goes back to being prepared. If you look at your upcoming holiday schedule and can pinpoint the four or five days you’ll be most tempted or really want to indulge (such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday office party), you can arrange the rest of your schedule to make those your one day per week treat days.

By combining the other nutrition tips (more fiber, protein and EFAs) with a good nutrition schedule, you can enjoy the holidays and make progress!

Your Thanksgiving week may go like this:

Monday – All Protein Day
Tuesday – Low Carb Day
Wednesday – Low Carb Day
Thursday – Enjoy It All!
Friday – Low Carb Day
Saturday – First Two Meals Carbs And Protein, Low Carb The Rest Of The Day
Sunday – Same As Saturday

Want to indulge in some of those great holiday treats like pie on non-treat days? Instead of having it after a big holiday meal, save the dessert for post-workout. Have a serving of a goodwhey protein powder with water for your protein and then have that piece of apple or pumpkin pie. Your body is ready to soak up protein and simple carbs right after a workout.

With some planning and discipline you should be able to enjoy all those holiday treats.

Graze

Lastly, when it comes to holiday eating and fighting off Holiday Weight Gain Syndrome, eat slowly and graze. Let’s face it, most of us go to the holiday dinner table already full from the appetizers. Don’t make this mistake. But don’t go to the dinner table starved, either!

Graze (snack) on appetizers like shrimp cocktail, almonds, cashews, and other nuts. And don’t forget some great tasting protein bars. Protein bars and protein powders are a life saver for me, especially during the holidays.

Take a walk after dinner (before dessert if you are going to have it!).

Snack on appetizers, but don’t go to the dinner table already full.

3. Make HIIT A Focal Point During The Holidays

In order to maximize your chances of avoiding holiday weight gain and improving your fitness, not to mention finding the time to fit your workouts into your schedule, we’re going to be performinghigh intensity interval training.

High intensity interval training will help you burn fat faster and with much less overall training time, eliminating the no time excuse of the holidays.

Even so, most people today still perform endless amounts of low intensity aerobic exercise and wonder why they aren’t making the fat loss progress they want.

I believe this happens for two reasons.

Most people still aren’t aware of the incredible fat burning potential of high intensity interval training (HIIT).
This type of cardio fat loss training is very hard work. It’s much easier to walk on a treadmillor spin a stationary bike for an hour than it is to do 10 or 15 minutes of interval training.

HIIT training is hard work and ends up being avoided by many.

With a typical aerobics fat burning program, you perform your exercise (treadmill, stationary bike,elliptical trainer, etc.) In a steady state manner at around 60 – 75% of your max heart rate. Usually, your sessions last 30 minutes to an hour and a half.

With interval training, your workout sessions are much shorter and you can add a lot more variety into your program. High intensity interval training is just like it sounds – you’ll alternate all out aerobic exercise with active rest.

Check out my article Beat The Christmas Bulge With Interval Training for a lot more detail on specific interval training programs for the holidays. It even focuses on routines with zero equipment so you can do them anytime, anywhere over the holidays.

Conclusion

By putting all these things into play, you can not only avoid the dreaded holiday weight gain syndrome, you can make improvements in your body over the holidays, and all this will leave you pumped up and motivated for the new year instead of frustrated and upset because you let yourself backslide over the holidays.

Your workouts will be hard. They’ll also be very short so suck it up and crank up the intensity for a successful holiday season!

HD audio & MS UAA won’t install on XP SP3

quickpcsolutions — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:15:44 +0000

HD audio & MS UAA won’t install on XP SP3

I’ve had this come up 3 times since doing slipstreamed SP3 installs.

I have the fix, thought I’d share it.

I didn’t find this in a search of SG, so excuse me if it’s already been posted.

MS UAA is required for Realtek HD audio to work (and I expect on any other HD audio).

The fix is you have to tell your rig it’s SP2, then install UAA, then the HD audio will work.

here’s the reg key:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows\CSDVersion

you have to change the dword value

values for XP SP’s:

hex 100 = SP1

hex 200 = SP2

hex 300 = SP3

when done you change back to hex 300 and restart

screen shot:

Originally Posted by Norm

There are idiots everywhere.

At work, in forums, in poetry classes, everywhere!

WebSites-n-Services.com

UAA (Universal Audio Architecture)

quickpcsolutions — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:48:39 +0000

UAA (Universal Audio Architecture)

» HP Customer Care

Support details

» What is UAA?

» How do I get UAA drivers?

» I am trying to install an audio driver and a window opens stating I need a UAA Bus driver. Why?

» Where can I learn more?

This document pertains to HP and Compaq desktop PCs that came with Windows Vista and XP.

What is UAA?

UAA is Microsoft’s Universal Audio Architecture; an audio driver architecture model supported by the operating system.

Many HP and Compaq PCs have Intel High Definition Audio which uses UAA and Realtek ALC. All of these audio components work together to provide a high-definition audio experience on your HP or Compaq PC.

Figure 1: Example of Realtek Audio and Microsoft UAA Bus driver listings in Windows XP Device Manager (Vista is similar)

How do I get UAA drivers?

If you are trying to install an audio driver update, and a UAA error opens, and your computer is using Realtek HD Audio, try downloading and installing the latest driver from Realtek’s support site:http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/ (in English).

If your computer is using Windows XP, you can download Microsoft’s UAA from Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) Bus Driver for High Definition Audio (sp33867) (in English).

In order to install UAA in Windows XP, do the following:

Download and save sp33867 to your hard drive. Save it in a location where you can easily find it later.
Open Device Manager.
Click the plus sign next to System devices .
Right-click Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio and select Disable .
Wait about 5 seconds for Windows XP to disable the device.
Right click Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio again and select Uninstall.
Double-click sp33867 that you downloaded earlier and install the files according to the instructions.

When the installation is complete there will be no notification and sound will still not work.
Restart the computer.
After the computer has been restarted. If sound is still not working, install the sound driver.

I am trying to install an audio driver and a window opens stating I need a UAA Bus driver. Why?

Before the audio driver can be installed, the installer first needs to verify that the correct UAA files are installed and are intact. If the installer cannot detect the proper files for UAA, the installer opens the message window and exits the installation. The installation does this to protect your PC from further problems that could occur if the UAA files were missing or the wrong files were used.

These messages are most likely to occur if you have changed or upgraded the operating system (for example, from Windows Vista to Windows XP). These messages can also occur if the login account does not have the proper permissions to install the software. Obtain and install a new audio driver package that matches the new operating system. For XP, you may need to install an Updated UAA driver package it, before you install an XP audio driver: Microsoft QFE Update (KB835221) to Support UAA Bus Driver(hosted by HP in English).

Where can I learn more?

More detailed information about UAA can be found at Microsoft at Audio Device Technologies for Windows(in English).

How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging

quickpcsolutions — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 04:35:31 +0000

How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q315263

To continue receiving security updates for Windows, make sure you’re running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). For more information, refer to this Microsoft web page: Support is ending for some versions of Windows

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to examine a small memory dump file. You can use this file to determine why your computer has stopped responding.

Back to the top

Small memory dump files

A small memory dump file records the smallest set of useful information that may help identify why your computer has stopped unexpectedly. This option requires a paging file of at least 2 megabytes (MB) on the boot volume. On computers that are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or later, Windows create a new file every time your computer stops unexpectedly. A history of these files is stored in a folder.

This dump file type includes the following information:

The Stop message and its parameters and other data
A list of loaded drivers
The processor context (PRCB) for the processor that stopped
The process information and kernel context (EPROCESS) for the process that stopped
The process information and kernel context (ETHREAD) for the thread that stopped
The Kernel-mode call stack for the thread that stopped

The small memory dump file can be useful when hard disk space is limited. However, because of the limited information that is included, errors that were not directly caused by the thread that was running at the time of the problem may not be discovered by an analysis of this file.

If a second problem occurs and if Windows creates a second small memory dump file, Windows preserves the previous file. Windows gives each file a distinct, date-encoded file name. For example, Mini022900-01.dmp is the first memory dump file that was generated on February 29, 2000. Windows keeps a list of all the small memory dump files in the %SystemRoot%\Minidump folder.

Back to the top

Configure the dump type

To configure startup and recovery options to use the small memory dump file, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click System.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
In the Write debugging information list, click Small memory dump (64k).
To change the folder location for the small memory dump files, type a new path in theDump File box (or in the Small dump directory box, depending on your version of Windows).

Back to the top

Tools to read the small memory dump file

You can load small memory dump files by using the Dump Check Utility (Dumpchk.exe). You can also use Dumpchk.exe to verify that a memory dump file has been created correctly. The Dump Check Utility does not require access to debugging symbols. The Dump Check Utility is included with the Microsoft Windows 2000 Support Tools and the Microsoft Windows XP Support Tools.

For additional information about how to use the Dump Check Utility in Windows 2000 and in Windows NT, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

156280 How to use Dumpchk.exe to check a memory dump file

For additional information about how to use the Dump Check Utility in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

315271 How to use Dumpchk.exe to check a memory dump file

Note The Dump Check Utility is not included in the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Support Tools. To obtain the Dump Check Utility if you are using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, download and install the Debugging Tools for Windows package from the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx

You can also read small memory dump files by using the WinDbg tool or the KD.exe tool. WinDbg and KD.exe are included with the latest version of the Debugging Tools for Windows package.
This Web page also provides access to the downloadable symbol packages for Windows. To use the resources, create a folder on the disk drive where the downloaded local symbols or the symbol cache for symbol server use will reside. For example, use C:\Symbols. You can use the following symbol path with all the commands that are described in this article:

SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

If you download the symbols to a local folder, use the path of that folder as your symbol path.

For more information about the dump file options in Windows, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

254649 Overview of memory dump file options for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000

Back to the top

Install the debugging tools

To download and install the Windows debugging tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx

Select the Typical installation. By default, the installer installs the debugging tools in the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows

Back to the top

Open the dump file

To open the dump file after the installation is complete, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
Change to the Debugging Tools for Windows folder. To do this, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
cd c:\program files\debugging tools for windows
To load the dump file into a debugger, type one of the following commands, and then press ENTER:
windbg -y SymbolPath -i ImagePath -z DumpFilePath

kd -y SymbolPath -i ImagePath -z DumpFilePath

The following table explains the use of the placeholders that are used in these commands.

Placeholder	Explanation
`SymbolPath`	Either the local path where the symbol files have been downloaded or the symbol server path, including a cache folder. Because a small memory dump file contains limited information, the actual binary files must be loaded together with the symbols for the dump file to be correctly read.
`ImagePath`	The path of these files. The files are contained in the I386 folder on the Windows XP CD-ROM. For example, the path may be C:\Windows\I386.
`DumpFilePath`	The path and file name for the dump file that you are examining.

Sample Commands

You can use the following sample commands to open the dump file. These commands assume the following:

The contents of the I386 folder on the Windows CD-ROM are copied to the C:\Windows\I386 folder.
Your dump file is named C:\Windows\Minidump\Minidump.dmp.

Sample 1:

kd -y srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols -i c:\windows\i386 -z c:\windows\minidump\minidump.dmp

Sample 2. If you prefer the graphical version of the debugger instead of the command line version, type the following command instead:

windbg -y srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols -i c:\windows\i386 -z c:\windows\minidump\minidump.dmp

Back to the top

Examine the dump file

There are several commands that you can use to gather information in the dump file, including the following commands:

The !analyze -show command displays the Stop error code and its parameters. The Stop error code is also known as the bug check code.
The !analyze -v command displays verbose output.
The lm N T command lists the specified loaded modules. The output includes the status and the path of the module.

Note The !drivers extension command displays a list of all drivers that are loaded on the destination computer, together with summary information about their memory use. The!drivers extension is obsolete in Windows XP and later. To display information about loaded drivers and other modules, use the lm command. The lm N T command displays information in a format that is similar to the old !drivers extension.

For help with other commands and for complete command syntax, see the debugging tools Help documentation. The debugging tools Help documentation can be found in the following location:

C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\Debugger.chm

Note If you have symbol-related issues, use the Symchk utility to verify that the correct symbols are loaded correctly. For additional information about using Symchk, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

311503 Use the Microsoft Symbol Server to obtain debug symbol files

Simplify the commands by using a batch file

After you identify the command that you must have to load memory dumps, you can create a batch file to examine a dump file. For example, create a batch file and name it Dump.bat. Save it in the folder where the debugging tools are installed. Type the following text in the batch file:

cd “c:\program files\debugging tools for windows”

kd -y srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols -i c:\windows\i386 -z %1

When you want to examine a dump file, type the following command to pass the dump file path to the batch file:

dump c:\windows\minidump\minidump.dmp

13 Tips to Surviving Sudden Unemployment

quickpcsolutions — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:52:33 +0000

13 Tips to Surviving Sudden Unemployment

Thirteen can also be lucky when looking for a new job

By Will Penny — Library Journal

Everyday, across the country, peoples are fired. Pick your favorite euphemism. He resigned, he’s pursuing other opportunities, he’s no longer with us. It happens, and like an elephant in the family room, our profession doesn’t talk about it. I found scores of articles in Library Literature on writing a power résumé, preparing for an interview, finding jobs on the Internet, and negotiating a salary. But when it comes to fired workers, we pretend it doesn’t happen.

Here’s how it usually goes down. One day, most likely a Friday, the boss calls you into her office. Another manager, or someone from Human Resources, sits silently in the corner. The partnership is no longer working, you are told. Turn in your keys. Hand over your security card. Give me your computer password. Here are boxes to clean out your office.

Curling up in a fetal position in bed is acceptable for a week, but then you need to rejoin the world. You’ve got to find a job and kick the elephant out of the house! Follow these 13 survival tips, and your unemployment will be short, productive, and maybe even enjoyable.

13: Avoid daytime television. Daytime TV wastes time and warps your sense of reality. Watch enough divorce court, and you’ll think your spouse or significant other is cheating on you with the overfriendly grocery clerk. Watch enough soap operas, and you’ll think that that same grocery store clerk is having a sex change operation so that he or she can marry his or her half-brother. Talk shows are no good either. How many makeovers, celebrity interviews, long-lost brother reunions can you watch and still claim (especially to yourself) you’re expanding your reference knowledge of pop culture? The commercials are the worst. Before you can say, “Raise my credit limit,” you’ll be maxing out your credit card on ed hardy, designer sunglasses, and coach purses. If you’re watching TV, how can you be looking for work?

12: Talk to someone, other than yourself. Get out of the house at least once a day and visit a bookstore, museum, or park. Wander the local mall. Strike up conversations with strangers. Ask clerks for help, even if you don’t need any. Stay sane.

11: Cut expenses. Unless you’re independently wealthy, in which case start a foundation and leave the job-hunting to those of us who want or have mortgages, you need to count your pennies. Skip the Trey Songs concert. Eat bologna sandwiches. Postpone the trip to Vegas. Your current job—looking for work—doesn’t pay and carries no benefits. Expect the job search to take 12 months, and enjoy the relief when you find work sooner.

10: Find free things. No, I’m not suggesting digging through restaurant dumpsters or swiping your neighbor’s newspaper. Craigslist has a huge free section. With google in hand you’re an information specialist. Find them and treat yourself to a few hours of R and R.

9: Remember, life isn’t fair. Whether laid off or fired, according to experts, you go through five stages of coping with job loss: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance. It’s rarely a straight progression. Some days you will feel angry, other days sad, and, eventually, you’ll say good riddance.

You especially want to avoid tarring the many for the sins of the few. I had lunch with a headhunter a couple of weeks after my resignation. He asked me how many people I worked with in my job. I estimated 400 to 500 people. He then asked how many did me wrong. It was fewer than the fingers on one hand. Don’t let a few bad apples, he warned me, sour you on people.

8: Seek revenge, sweet revenge. It’s human and understandable. Your former employer hurt you bad, and you’ll want to strike back. Instead of indulging in pointless vigilante fantasies, expend your energy on achieving true and lasting revenge—get a better job.

7: Reevaluate your priorities. You have been given the gift of spare time. Use it to think deeply about your life. What did you enjoy about your last job and what do you want to avoid next time? If you could live anywhere in the world, had the education and money you needed, what would be your ideal job? What truly matters to you? Unless Shirley MacLaine is correct, we get only one life. Make sure at the end it’s filled not with regret but purpose and meaning.

6: Interview, often. Thankfully, I had several spring training interviews before I got to a position I truly wanted. I needed the interview practice to get right with the past. I feared the dreaded question—Why did you leave your last position? What I discovered was that the dreaded question was simply that: a single question. The interviewers were far more concerned about whether I matched their needs. By repeatedly talking about my departure, the stigma gradually faded. In my saner moments, I could view the event philosophically. It happened, I learned from it, and I’m moving on with my life.

Like a well-written book, my departure story went through several drafts. Some versions emphasized the elephant’s trunk, others the tail, and so on. An interview is not a therapy session. Stick to the facts, emphasize the positives, focus on your accomplishments. Trashing former employers rarely wins points with future employers.

5: Be patient. For you, finding work is one of the most important things in your life. For potential employers, your unemployment means nothing. Weeks will pass before you’ll get an interview or a final decision is reached. Until you receive the rejection letter, you’re still in the game. Follow up with potential employers: write a note, send an email, make a phone call. The name of the game is to keep your name in the game. But don’t overdo it. Calling an employer every day will certainly create an impression—desperate loser.

4: It’s OK to say, “No, thank you.” Only, and I mean only, after the job offer is in hand, can you decide if you want the job. Money, benefits, and location are legitimate reasons to decline an offer. Another is the organization’s stability. The interview may reveal that the board or top management isn’t working with a full deck. Your last job ended up being hell; that’s why you’re no longer there. You’ve been given a fresh chance at happiness, so don’t blow it by taking a return trip.

3: Be nice to people. It is the right thing to do, and you never know who knows whom. I once interviewed with a trustee who knew my former board president. Even though I didn’t list him as a reference, she called him to get the skinny on me. Remember what you were taught in Sunday school: play nice. You never know who might help you get a job, stop you from getting a job, or be your next boss.

2: Lean on family and friends. Unemployment is a bummer. It’s unsettling and filled with angst. Will I get a call for an interview today? Will I have to move to Nevada, New York, or Ohio? Will I have to start delivering pizzas? The black dog of despair is looking for any chance to nail you. Your best defense? Those who love and care about you. Seek their support and understanding and good cheer. But, don’t forget your unemployment status is a Post-it™ note in their busy lives. Sometimes, you’ll have to ignore your pride and make the first move: call them, email them, tell them, “Hey, you need to take me to lunch.” True friends and family will make time for you.

1: Follow the advice of polar explorer Borge Ousland. He completed the longest unsupported ski trek in history, 1,767 miles across Antarctica via the South Pole. His mantra: “Never give up, even if all seems hopeless. Never give up.”

28 Time-Saving Tricks for Google, Facebook, and More

quickpcsolutions — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:37:13 +0000

Save time and money with our favorite secret tricks for Google, Facebook, YouTube, eBay, and several other sites you already use.

Zack Stern

Apr 18, 2010 6:26 pm

28 Time-Saving Tricks for Google, Facebook, and More

Save time and money with our favorite secret tricks for Google, Facebook, YouTube, eBay, and several other sites you already use.

Zack Stern

Apr 18, 2010 6:26

Recommends

Think you know all of the tricks at your favorite Internet sites? Think again.

Even if you’re on Google, Facebook, and YouTube every day, you might not be tapping those sites’ full potential. Read on to speed up your Internet abilities, unlock new features, and find a new favorite tip or two.

Google Gimmicks

Search within a site: Narrow down your search results to a single site. Type (search query) site:(domain); an example would be entering: video card tips site:pcworld.com to find pages only at that location. You can even limit results to within sections of a site, as in this example: twitter site:pcworld.com/businesscenter.

Search for file types: Maybe you want to track down a certain document that’s a PDF. Enter your usual search string plus filetype:pdf to find only those pages. This method also works with PostScript (ps), Office docs (doc, ppt, xls), Rich Text (rtf), Plain Text (txt), and more. You can find a list of searchable file types here.

Exclude results: Include a minus sign to exclude certain results. Suppose you want to find news about Apple unrelated to the iPad. Type Apple -iPad. You can also combine the previous tips, such as Apple -iPad -site:apple.com and Apple -iPad -PDF.

Get local details: Forget manual time conversion; just enter time [city] (as in Time Tokyo) to get the current local time. Or try weather [city] for a forecast. For more local details, try [city] map, movies [city or ZIP code], and [restaurant name or cuisine] [city or ZIP code]. This works for a few other regular search strings, like Weather [city], stock quotes, and more–check out Google’s full list.

Make conversions: Swap units of measure, such as measurements of volume or distance; this works for converting different currencies, too. Try [number and unit] in [new unit] such as 7 inches in cm or 30 Euros in USD.

Bing Bonanza

Find links to files: Find pages that host or lead to certain file types, such as music. Enter [search term] contains:[file type] such as Wilco contains:MP3 to find MP3s from the band Wilco. Try this kind of search with many other file types, such as WMA, PDF, AAC, DOC, and nearly anything else.

Remove the background image: Bing sure is cute, but its big photos can be distracting. Visit http://www.bing.com/?rb=0 for a plain, gray version of the site.

Save searches as RSS feeds: If you want to stay on top of hits to a search query, turn it into an RSS feed. After loading your results, append &format=rss to the end of the new URL, and view it in your favorite RSS reader.

Fix Your Facebook

Hide application notices: Are you sick of Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other Facebook apps cluttering your feed? Mouse over the entry, and click Hide. You’ll block those alerts from your wall.

Invite a list of friends to an event: You don’t have to manually click a bunch of friends to send event invitations. Instead, create a list first. Click Friends in the left column, and use Create a List on top to pick certain friends. When making an event invitation, click the Filter Friends tab to show only the list. Click Select All.

Hide content from certain contacts: Keep your mom and work acquaintances from seeing messages intended for your inner circle. Click the lock privacy icon, and choose Customize.

From there, you can hide the post from specific people, or show it only to your entourage. For more on Facebook’s privacy settings, read “Protect Your Privacy With the New Facebook Settings.”

Cut to the core: The Lite version of Facebook strips away most of the clutter in the main design. It’s great if you’re on a slow Internet connection, browsing on a netbook, or just want to avoid the usual mess.

Browse to lite.facebook.com to give it a try, and click the link at the top of the page to toggle back to the full site.

Twitter Tweaks

Schedule tweets: You can set up a schedule for your Twitter account, so posts can go up while you are asleep, or–heaven forbid–are away from your gadgets.

This way, you’ll be able to tweet across time zones (so your international followers won’t have to scroll all the way down to hear from you, perhaps), and keep your Twitter account active when you need to focus on a project.

Many sites offer this feature, including HootSuite,SocialOomph, and Twuffer. I like Twuffer for its simplicity, although the others have additional features, such as Facebook support.

Get deals by following companies: Some of your favorite companies might post deals to Twitter. You’ll have to sort away businesses that spam followers too often, but I like following @amazonmp3,@amazongames, and @woot.

If you really want to step up your hustle, make a new Twitter account specifically for landing freebies so the spam won’t get to your real one. Keep it all straight with a twitter client that manages multiple accounts, such asTweetdeck. Also, check out “How to Win Prizes on Twitter” for more tips.

Learn about current events: Look for your localHappen.in feed, which charts Twitter chatter based on your location.

If a bunch of people in the same area post “bridge out,” Happen.in will repost the details so that you keep on track of regional events and trends. The Twitter Website includes similar functionality in the right-hand column. Adjust those Trending settings to set it for your area.

Expand URLs:Shortened links could send you to a funny YouTube clip, a popular article in the New York Times, or a site designed to riddle your PC with malware. Use aGreasemonkey script (a Firefox add-on) and just hover your mouse over the cryptic URL to see the full version at the bottom of the window.

If you’re in a different browser, try pbtweet or read How to Use Greasemonkey Scripts in IE, Chrome, and Safarifor more details.

Texting Tips and Smartphone Secrets

Toggle mobile formatting: Many Websites detect your mobile browser and offer up a mobile version of themselves with bigger fonts and simpler formatting. If a site doesn’t do this automatically, try putting m. or mobile. at the front of the Web address (URL), as inhttp://mobile.pcworld.com.

If you want to swap a mobile site into its full, PC design, look for a link at the top or bottom of the page.

Get e-mail as texts: You can have email messages sent to your phone as texts, which can be convenient. Maybe your RSS reader can forward content as e-mail, and you want to be alerted to updates in a rarely used feed.

Enter your 10-digit mobile phone number prefix and carrier suffix, such as 2223334444@txt.att.net. Here’s a list of other carriers. Also, read “10 Killer Texting Tricks” for more SMS goodness.

Send text messages from AIM: Your PC can send texts to a mobile phone for free. Within an AIM client, send a text to the number with + and the country code prefix. For example, a San Francisco message might be directed to +14151112222.

eBay and Craigslist

Mind your eBay reserve: Tiptoe through starting prices when auctioning off an item to save money. If you’re pricing something near eBay’s thresholds of $1, $10, $25, $50, and $200, cut back by just a cent to save yourself a little cash, which can add up for high-volume sales.

If you list something at $199.99 for example, eBay charges $1. For a $200 starting price, eBay charges $2. For more information, check out the eBay Feespage.

Spell poorly: If you’re buying hard-to-spell product, try searching for misspelling or common typos (“playstaion”), or enter * as a text wildcard such as “playst*”. (eBay will find hits for one or more additional characters.)

You might stumble over auctions that others haven’t found–which means less bidding competition. If selling, enter a few of those errors into your listing to snare misspelled searches (though probably not in the title–you don’t want to disappear from the correctly-spelled search results).

Search Craigslist with RSS: Keeping an eye out for a free leather couch on Craigslist? Save yourself from searching every 10 minutes by setting up an RSS feed for the search results by entering your search within Craigslist and clicking the RSS button in the lower-right to add it to your RSS reader of choice.

Entertainment Extras: YouTube, Hulu, Flickr, iTunes, and Xbox Live

Download YouTube and Hulu: Watch online videos away from the Internet by downloading them to your PC. The simplest methods usually work best for noncommercial video, such as random YouTube home movies. But at press time, I got StreamTransport to save videos even from Hulu. Play clips back with VLC.

Watch high-quality YouTube: Bump up the resolution in supported clips. Just click the number and arrow in the play bar; it’s likely 360p by default. Pick a higher number for the best quality.

Link straight to part of a YouTube clip: Instead of sending people to the beginning of a clip, you can create a link that plays from a spot in the middle that you choose. Just add #t=[number]m[number]s to the end of the URL, such ashttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf6IQgFxpIA#t=00m11s to begin 11 seconds in.

Initiate console game downloads: Microsoft’s Xbox Live site might seem superfluous on a PC. However, you can queue up downloads and activate purchases through your computer, and when you log in back on the console, they’ll transfer automatically.

Upload to Flickr through e-mail: Instead of manually uploading photos, you can send them through e-mail. This can work well from an old mobile phone to quickly send pictures from a PC. In the Emails & Notificationstab of the Account options, click Create an upload-to-flickr email address to configure the feature.

Search and link to iTunes content in a browser: The iTunes store lives in its own application, but you can access specific apps, songs, searches, or anything else with a URL. To search, try http://itunes.com/[search term] such ashttp://itunes.com/evernote. If your search comes up with a single result (as in this example), you’ll jump to that page within iTunes. To copy a direct URL to an iTunes store page, right-click an item within iTunes, and choose Copy Link.

A special Thank You from PC Solutions / Happy Thanksgiving

quickpcsolutions — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:04:17 +0000

ATTENTION! Are You Frustrated With Your Slow and Problem-Prone Computer?

quickpcsolutions — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:14:57 +0000

ATTENTION! Are You Frustrated With Your Slow and Problem-Prone Computer?

We Can Make It Run Like New Again…

Dear Customer,

Are you struggling with viruses, crashing, system problems or slow computer performance? If so, than keep reading…

I’ve designed a brand new service called the “Total Computer Restoration” service that will:

Give you 99% problem-free computing
Increase computer performance by 753%
Double your computer’s life
Generate 217% faster internet speeds

Our patented “Total Computer Restoration Service” will actually wipe your hard drive clean and reload a fresh copy of your Windows operating system while preserving all of your personal files.

Computer professionals have known for years that this is the best way to solve problems and maintain a healthy computer.

But don’t take my word for it. Look at what a few of my previous customer’s had to say:

Lolita: “PC Solutions does a wonderul job! They fixed 2 of my computers at a fair price. I would recommend him to anyone looking for computer, IT work.”

Maria: “I dislike the way geek squad rapes me for computer repair services, with PC Solutions I know I am always getting a competitive rate with triple X slash A+ service.. Thanks PC Solutions!”

Monika: “PC Solutions energy and commitment to his clients is remarkable. PC Solutions does the right thing for its clients, frequently performing a rescue mission when other IT companies mess up the job. Highly recommended & very friendly! We’ll do business again! “

Michelle: “PC Solutions energy and commitment to his clients is remarkable. PC Solutions does the right thing for its clients, frequently performing a rescue mission when other IT companies mess up the job. Highly recommended…”

I stand behind my 100% “You Can’t Lose” Money Back Guarantee.

Test drive my “Total Computer Restoration” service today by putting it to the “acid test” for a full 30 days, and if for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the results we will issue you a 100% “no questions asked” refund on the spot!

If you call today and schedule an appointment, I’ll give you In-Home service at no additional charge.

My direct line is: 562-212-3950

Good Computing,

PC Solutions
Henry Husges
562.212.3950
service@quickpcsolutions.com
www.quickpcsolutions.com

Quick PC Solutions News

How to Budget with Mint

How to Budget with Mint

Automatically categorized transactions

Charting your course

Budgeting scenarios

Monitoring Your Budget

Ready, Set, Goals

Prep for Facebook’s Timeline Layout: 6 Must-Do Privacy Tweaks

Prep for Facebook’s Timeline Layout: 6 Must-Do Privacy Tweaks

Get Timeline

Hide Old Posts

Feature Old Posts

Set Your Cover Photo

View As Public

Staying Lean Over The Holidays!

Staying Lean Over The Holidays!

You don’t have to wake up new year’s day and hate what you see.

1. Be Prepared

Set some goals and create a plan to help yourself from going off the deep end this holiday season

2. Nutrition With A Mission

Increase Your Fiber Intake

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Increase Your EFA Intake

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Eat More Protein

Your body burns more calories when consuming protein than when eating fats or carbohydrates.

Arrange Your Treat (Cheat) Days

With some planning and discipline you should be able to enjoy all those holiday treats.

Graze

Snack on appetizers, but don’t go to the dinner table already full.

3. Make HIIT A Focal Point During The Holidays

HIIT training is hard work and ends up being avoided by many.

Conclusion

HD audio & MS UAA won’t install on XP SP3

HD audio & MS UAA won’t install on XP SP3

UAA (Universal Audio Architecture)

UAA (Universal Audio Architecture)

» HP Customer Care

Support details

Other solutions customers found helpful

How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging

How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging

To continue receiving security updates for Windows, make sure you’re running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). For more information, refer to this Microsoft web page: Support is ending for some versions of Windows

On This Page

SUMMARY

Small memory dump files

Configure the dump type

Tools to read the small memory dump file

Install the debugging tools

Open the dump file

Sample Commands

Examine the dump file

Simplify the commands by using a batch file

13 Tips to Surviving Sudden Unemployment

13 Tips to Surviving Sudden Unemployment

Thirteen can also be lucky when looking for a new job

By Will Penny — Library Journal

28 Time-Saving Tricks for Google, Facebook, and More

Save time and money with our favorite secret tricks for Google, Facebook, YouTube, eBay, and several other sites you already use.

28 Time-Saving Tricks for Google, Facebook, and More

Save time and money with our favorite secret tricks for Google, Facebook, YouTube, eBay, and several other sites you already use.

Google Gimmicks

Bing Bonanza

Fix Your Facebook

Twitter Tweaks

Texting Tips and Smartphone Secrets

eBay and Craigslist

Entertainment Extras: YouTube, Hulu, Flickr, iTunes, and Xbox Live

A special Thank You from PC Solutions / Happy Thanksgiving

ATTENTION! Are You Frustrated With Your Slow and Problem-Prone Computer?