A critical look of Microsoft Outlook

My friend Jon has a critical look of Microsoft Outlook, which you might like to read too.

How to rotate a video

You can rotate videos 90 degrees in Virtualdub.
To convert an mpg file into avi format for Virtualdub, you can use RAD video tools.
Both programs are free.

Get extra COM ports to appear in Device Manager

Another tip from guest James Saunders:

I noticed while configuring my Bluetooth devices that they were using quite high COM port numbers (COM8, COM9, COM10), and each time I installed a new device the COM port numbers would keep on rising.
Windows has a habit of assigning COM ports to connections which, even after the device is removed, still remain allocated to that device. As you connect new devices they get assigned the next free COM port number, and before you know it, you are using COM ports 30-40.
Although they are configured in Windows, they will not show up when viewing the hardware configuration in control panel. These COM ports can not be seen even after selecting ‘Show Hidden Devices’. The only time these COM Ports are visible is when the device is connected.

In order to get these extra COM ports to appear in Device Manager, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start -> Click Run
2. Type ‘cmd.exe’ in the textbox and click OK.
3. Type ’set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1′ and hit ENTER.
4. Type ‘cd \windows\system32′ and hit ENTER.
5. Type ’start devmgmt.msc’ and hit ENTER.
6. When the Device Manager opens, click View -> Show Hidden Devices.
7. Click on the + sign next to the Ports to see the full list of COM ports being used.
8. Highlight the port you wish to delete and then press delete. Accept when asked to do so and continue with any more that you wish to delete.

Thanks James!

Take a screen shot of a wmv movie file

When I’ve tried to take a screen shot in Windows Media Player of a wmv file, I’ve found that the program gets snapped, but not the movie itself. You can take a screen shot from a wmv file by importing it into Windows Movie Maker. Just slide the preview screen to the part of the movie you want to grab, and press print screen. You can then paste the screen shot in a paint program and crop it to show only the video.

How to access the web via Microsoft Calculator

Here is a tip from special guest expert, James Saunders:

This is a simple trick on how to access the web via your standard
Microsoft Calculator. When your browser(s) is/are messed up for some unexplainable reason or your computer has had Internet Explorer locked down by an IT Admin:

1. Open your MS Calculator. This is normally found in
   Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Calculator.
2. Open the help-window by pressing the F1 key.
3. left Click on the little yellow Question mark icon in the top left of the help window.
4. Click “Jump to URL”.
5. Enter URL address (e.g “http://www.jlsnet.co.uk/”) and click OK.

The webpage will appear in the Help window and you can browse ad usual and use the back and forward buttons to navigate likewise.

Thank you James.