Disable Application Error Memory Could Not Be Read Popup
There are some software especially game servers that are very buggy that crashes one or a few times a day and trying to determine what causes the crash may take a lot of time. In the mean time, you may need to keep the application running all the time by auto restart the process whenever it crashes.
You can use software that can help you to check if the process is alive or not and will auto run the program if it found not running. But the problem is if the processes crashes with an Application Error window saying “The instruction at “0×00000″ referenced memory at “0×00000″. The memory could not be “read”. Click on OK to terminate the program. Click on CANCEL to debug the program.” If you do not click the OK button to fully close the process, the watcher program will still think that the process is still running.
Here is how you can disable the application error popup window:
1. Press Win+R key to launch the Run box, type regedit and click OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows\
3. Double click on ErrorMode at the right pane and set the value data to 2.
4. Restart your computer
For your information, the 0 value data by default means that all popup messages are visible.
As for 1, only system messages are invisible. An example of this type of message is: “Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low.” When set to 2, all messages are invisible. So setting 2 to ErrorMode will suppress all error popups that has to do with memory could not be read.
Check Windows Operating System Name, Version, Build Number and Service Pack
People that are more experienced in computers will know what version of Windows are they using. You will be surprised that how many people doesn’t really know what version of Windows they are using when asked. One of the most simplest way to know the version of Windows operating system on Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP is by clicking the Start Menu itself will display the what type of Windows it is running. However when comes to Vista and Windows 7, the new Start Menu no longer displays the Windows version but the good old System which you can access from Control Panel or by right clicking My Computer and select Properties. It will show the Windows version and the service pack if there is any that is installed.
The Version Number and Build Number are not shown there but you can get this information by opening any folder, simultaneously press Alt+H which will highlight the Help from the menubar, and then click About Windows. The About Windows dialog will show you the version number and also the build.
An easier way to get all the information on one window is by using CheckOSVer. This is a small and free application that when ran, it shows the operating system name, version, build number, service pack and common controls version.
Don’t Sleep Prevents Shutdown, Restart, Hibernate, Standby in Windows 7
There are times when you want to keep your computer running because you are running some critical software that needs to be active. The last thing you want is your wife or your kids to think that you are no longer using the computer and helps you to shut down the computer. You can either leave a note informing not to shut down the computer or simply disable the Shutdown or Restart in Windows Start menu.
Don’t Sleep is a small and tiny software that is able to block the standby, hibernate, shutdown, logoff, and even screen saver and turning off monitor with a single click. It does not modify your system files as it only hooks the Windows API and blocks the commands which means Don’t Sleep must be running and active or else it won’t block the shutdown, restart and etc.
We have tested Don’t Sleep in Windows XP and it worked perfectly. The shutdown, restart, hibernate or standby wouldn’t do anything if you click on it. However for Windows 7, it works a little differently. If you have Windows Aero enabled, when trying to shut down, restart or do anything that is blocked with Don’t Sleep, you will be presented with a dark colored screen saying (Waiting for) Don’t Sleep 1.13. This program is preventing Windows from logging off / shutting down / restarting. Blocking of logoff didn’t work in Windows 7 when AERO is enabled. If you are running on Windows 7 Basic, then Don’t Sleep will not work. Hopefully the developer of Don’t Sleep realizes this and finds a fix for this issue.
Map Any Folder or Directory to Virtual Drive Letter
There are reasons why you will need to map a folder to a drive letter. One of the example of such use is if you want to copy a disc content to the hard drive and let the program load from the hard drive which reduces the disc reading and makes it load faster. Using Virtual CD can solve this problem too but normally these kind of software installs drivers or services which takes up additional system resource even if you do not use them.
There is a built-in command SUBST which associates a path with a drive letter and because it is a command line application, novice users might find it hard and confusing to use. The easier way is to use a frontend GUI for SUBST called vSubst.
vSubst is a 18K small, portable and free program that lets you map a drive letter to a folder of your choice with an interface. You can add, remove or even set it persistent so that when you reboot your computer, the mount is still there without re-adding it again. One thing you should take note of is you should NOT run SCANDISK, DEFRAG, FORMAT, FDISK or similar programs on virtual drives! Works on all versions of Windows including Windows 7 32-bit.
Find Time and Date of Windows Installation with SystemInfo Command
Have you ever wondered when was the last time you installed Windows on your computer? Or probably someone gave you a lame excuse of they reformatted their computer and they can no longer find the file that they were supposed to give you because the lost it in the first place? It seems impossible to find the exact time and date of Windows installation on the computer from Control Panel or any part of Windows but in fact there is a hidden command to reveal this information without using any third party script or even software.
The command to reveal the Windows installation date and time is:
systeminfo|find /i "install"
You will need to type this in command prompt to see the results or else it will just flash and exit. A more interesting and manual way of find this information is through the registry. Navigate to the following path HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CURRENTVERSION and look for InstallDate. The given as the number of seconds since January 1, 1970. If you find yourself lazy to use the calculator, try converting the seconds to years with this online unit converter.
This method should work with all versions of Windows. We have tested it on Windows 7 and it worked perfectly.
Auto Remove or Delete Empty Unused Folders or Directories in Windows
We noticed that even after doing a clean installation of Windows, there are some folders that are empty that doesn’t contain any files at all. We are not really sure why is that but probably Microsoft has missed cleaning up a few folders. Although empty folders or directory doesn’t really take up any space at all, leaving them in computer is somehow messy. If the folders are not needed in the first place, they should be removed to keep the computer tidy.
There are more than 10,000 folders in a clean Windows 7 installation computer and checking for empty folders one by one is going to waste a lot of your precious time. The simpler and automated way is to use JoseDelEmpty which is able to delete the empty folders in your Windows computer.
JoseDelEmpty is only 12KB in size after installation and the executable file can be copied to a USB flash drive because it is portable and doesn’t require any dependency. You will need to specify a folder to start checking for empty folders. We have tested and this application must check from folder but not the drive. So browsing to the C:\ drive will not work but C:\Windows will work. You can also set whether JoseDelEmpty to ignore system or hidden folders for safety because most of the folders that are system and hidden belongs to Windows and might be important.
Learn About Windows Tips, Tricks and Secrets from WinTricks
There are many tips and tricks as well as secrets which some are useful and some for fun such as easter eggs. Easter eggs are hidden secrets where the developer includes a fun eye candy feature where it doesn’t create anything useful but just for fun. There are information on Windows and software tips and tricks being posted everywhere on the Internet and searching for each one of them is tough because you will end up finding duplicate tips. The easier way to learn about Windows and software tips & tricks, you can download WinTricks.
WinTricks is one of the largest and most up-to-date programs for Windows tips, tricks, and secrets available today! WinTricks includes tips/tricks for all versions of Windows, plus the Registry, Desktop, AOL, Laptop, Internet, and more. You will find that this program is easy to navigate with complete instructions on all of our Tips and Tricks. The latest release includes new Tips/Tricks for 7, Mozilla Firefox and more. Also includes a new interface, a Favorites feature and minor bug fixes
Basically after installing WinTricks, it opens a Windows help file with all the tips and tricks compiled into the database. It has a few category for you to choose from and you can also search based on keywords. The tip ans tricks ranges from Windows 95 up to the latest Windows 7. Learning computer tips and tricks can’t get any easier than this.