Category Archives: Questions and Answers
Q&A Monday: USB Printer in DOS
Question: I currently have a legacy software at my current job that runs in DOS and have printed to a printer that was connected via parallel cable. Recently that printer has bit the dust and I bought a new USB printer to replace it, but now the program wont print, but the printer works in…
Q&A Monday: Increase Simultaneous Downloads
Question: Because of my job I spent a lot of time downloading files from the internet, my productivity is killed by the simultaneous download limit in Windows. Is there anyway to work around this limit or a nifty program that will let me easily download more? Joseph James Dallas, TX Answer: Now I have tried…
Q&A Monday: FaceTime Chat Ports
Question: I am a Mobile Administrator of my company, and recently some of the users have preordered the iPhone 4 and they started to receive these phone’s last week. There is a new feature called FaceTime, which lets users do a face to face chat on their phone, like Skype. The users are able to…
Q&A Monday: Network Design
Question: Hello Jim, I have only been a network administrator for only a short period of time, and recently I’ve been asked by a friend to design a network for his new business. I’ve only managed a network that was already in place when I accepted the job, and haven’t had much experience designing a…
Q&A Monday: Disable Taskbar Preview
Question: Hi Jim, I am a big fan of you blog, and found your site a while back while looking for blue screen problems I was having on my XP machine. I just bought another computer with Windows 7 on it, and I hate the task bar preview, is there a way to get rid…
Q&A Monday: Upgrade vs Fresh Install
Question: Hi Jim, I am a new System Administrator, and the first thing that is assigned to me was to plan our upgrading our operating systems to Windows 7. Our environment is a mix of Windows Vista and Windows XP, and I’m not sure if we should just use the upgrade option or complete…
Q&A Monday: Remotely Turn on Computer?
Question: I constantly turn off my home office computer when I am not using it to save energy. I don’t think this is possible, but I thought there would be no harm in asking you the question anyway. Is there a way for me to remotely turn on my computer when I am not in…
Question and Answer: Stop Domain Users from Installing Files
Question: I have Windows 2003 domain and some users have local admin rights. I would like to prevent these users from installing any software on their PCs. Bobby Clem Boulder, CO Answer: In an ideal world we wouldn’t have users who were also local administrators, but we in the IT world often have perfect…
Q&A Monday: Reinstalling Wan MiniPort
Question: My WAN miniport has gone missing. I accidentally deleted it durring some computer troubleshooting. Do you know how to get it back short of a complete Windows re-install? Thanks, Howard S. Jordan Montgomery, AL Answer: It’s been a while since I’ve been in this situation, but this should work: Download devcon.exe from some Microsoft site. Open netrasa.inf…
Q&A Monday: Test your Security
Question: Hi, I’m not a computer expert, but I just switched internet providers and I want to make sure that my home network is secure by seeings what “ports” are open? –Leah J. Hemby, Stockbridge, GA Answer: There is a website that I’ve used and recommended to other to use to self test their own…