Windows

How to add a generic printer in Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , ,
How to add a generic printer in Windows 10

Sometimes you need to add a generic printer in Windows 10.

Windows 10 makes the setup of newer hardware pretty automatic, but if you have a legacy or specialized printer that has to be set up as a generic printer in Windows, the process isn’t intuitive. Here’s how to set it up.

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Windows 7 spies on you like Windows 10 now

Dave Farquhar security, Windows , ,

This is a few days old now but needs to be addressed–a lot of people were planning on staying on Windows 7 because they don’t like Windows 10’s new privacy settings, but unless you uninstall some stealthy updates, Windows 7 spies on you too.

Microsoft used to call this “scroogling,” and launched a massive PR campaign against Google, but now they’re doing exactly the things they blasted Google for doing, only they’re collecting money to do it.

So basically Microsoft is trying to have it both ways now–charge for the OS, but treat the consumer as a product. Windows 7, of course, was a paid upgrade, and Windows 10 is only free under special circumstances–businesses and OEMs still pay for it.

To make Windows 7 and 8 stop scroogling you, uninstall KB3068708,  KB3075249, and KB3080149, all of which have the word “telemetry” in their description.

IEcapt is a command-line web browser that outputs screenshots

Dave Farquhar Windows ,

Sometimes you need to capture a web page in PNG or JPG format. And if you need to do that, it probably helps to be able to do it in an automated fashion, like by a script.

That’s IEcapt‘s purpose in life. IEcapt renders web pages using the Internet Explorer engine, then outputs it as a graphics file. Uses include e-mailing a dashboard to someone or capturing steps when technical writing. Sure, you can use a tool like Snagit or Greenshot, but IEcapt is free and can be automated.

If you need IEcapt, you probably already know it.

Enabling 320kbps bitrate MP3s in Windows Media Player in Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Music, Windows , , , ,
Enabling 320kbps bitrate MP3s in Windows Media Player in Windows 10

I had a maddening issue in Windows Media Player on my Windows 10 machine where I could only rip CDs at a maximum bit rate of 192 kbps. Since storage is so cheap anymore, I prefer to rip at 320 kbps. Here’s how to enable 320kbps bitrate MP3s in Windows Media Player in Windows 10. Read more

Mechbgon’s guide to safe computing on Windows

Dave Farquhar security, Windows , ,

Mechbgon.com, the same place that published the outstanding guide to application whitelisting I mentioned last week, also has a guide to general security when building Windows PCs.

I think he overvalues UEFI and Internet Explorer 10, but if everyone followed his advice, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d be much more secure than we are right now. Although I mildly disagree on a couple of points, he has some outstanding advice in there.

The guide hasn’t been updated for Windows 10 yet, but most of what he says, if not all of it, will still apply and won’t be all that different to set up.

Advantages of Windows 10

Dave Farquhar security, Windows , , ,
Advantages of Windows 10

Now that Windows 10 is out, the questions I see most frequently are why someone should upgrade, or what benefits they get if they upgrade, or if there indeed is such thing as advantages to Windows 10.

While I understand the skepticism, and I think most people probably should wait a few months before upgrading a Windows 7 machine that’s working well, there are a number of compelling things Windows 10 has to offer.

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Curing random errors when installing Office 2013

Dave Farquhar Software, Troubleshooting, Windows , , ,

I got lots of random errors installing Office 2013 when I went to do it, including error code 112-4 and error code 0-4, and some other install errors mostly ending in 4 that aren’t documented on Microsoft’s web site. Although previously undocumented, these errors are fixable. Read more

Accessing the Programs and Features control panel app from the command line

Dave Farquhar Windows ,

From time to time I have to pull up Programs and Features (formerly known as Add and Remove Programs in obsolete versions of Windows), but I’m not an administrator. Not normally, at least. When I need to do so, I run cmd.exe using my administrative ID–I created a shortcut and pinned it to my Start Menu so I can right-click cmd.exe and select “Run As”–and then, from the command prompt, I type appwiz.cpl. Then I can make all the changes I need to make, without the hazards associated with logging in as an administrator and running everything with admin rights.

Network printers with mismatched Windows versions

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Windows , , , , ,

Jim, one of the longest-running of my longtime readers, wrote in last week about his experiences getting a venerable HP Laserjet 1100 working between two dissimilar Windows machines. Network printers with mismatched Windows versions always present a challenge.

Not only that, as time wears on, new challenges rise up to replace any old ones that don’t exist anymore. I’ll let Jim share, then add my own experience.

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Add a TCP/IP printer in Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , , , , ,
Add a TCP/IP printer in Windows 10

Sometimes you have to manually add a TCP/IP printer in Windows 10. For example, I have an older HP Laserjet 4100 with a Jetdirect network card in it that I use to print from all of my PCs over my local area network (LAN). Getting Windows 10 to print to it isn’t difficult but it’s hardly intuitive.

If you have your network printer already set up but just need to change its IP address, I covered that here. If you want to share a locally attached printer with other computers on your network, you can do that too.

Printing straight to the TCP/IP address of the printer is convenient. It means you don’t have to have another computer powered up when you want to print.

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