IdaVista Custom Software and Website Technologies
Shaping the internet of the Future!Computer Tips and Tricks
We hope you find these useful.Beginner Tips
Print Screen? |Advanced Tricks
ODBCs For Dummies | Locking your PCWhats the Print Screen Button For?
What happens when you press that print screen button on your keyboard? Nothing, Right? What a useless waste of valueable real estate on your keyboard don't you think? Well, Not exactly.
In the OLD DOS Days the print screen did exactly what it advertised. It printed what showed up on your screen. Now that is a nice concept. Yep, it sent it straight out your parallel port to the attached "DOT MATRIX" Printer. But now it "seems" to do nothing. Isn't the evolution of the computer supposed to add functionality and not take it away? Do you now have to spend $25.00 for a utility to get screen shots?
The Keyword there is "seems". Although you may not see anything come out on your printer, hear any bells go off or see any awesome special affects, there really is something going on.
Here is an experiment. Right now, push that useless button. Make sure you push it all the way down. Look really close, can you see what it does? Still nothing, eh? Click on your start button and go to programs/accessories/paint. Click Paint to open it. After you have opened paint you can click on edit/paste. Look there it's a picture of your screen similar to this one.
Back to TopWarning: Incorrect use of the Windows registry editor may prevent the operating system from functioning properly. Great care should be taken when making changes to a Windows registry. Registry modifications should only be carried-out by persons experienced in the use of the registry editor application. It is recommended that a complete backup of the registry and workstation be made prior to making any registry changes.
Importing and Exporting ODBC Settings
I don't know about you but working for a company with a large number of employees, I have found that ODBC Connections can truly be a pain. Have you ever experienced configuring multiple ODBC Connections on numerous machines? It can be time consuming and a pain in the you know what.
Did you know that odbc settings are actually stored in the system registry? They are, along with just about every setting known to windows. Registry settings can be exported from one registry and imported to another registry with a simple double-click on the .reg file. Cool, huh? You say, "Thats great! But the registry is huge, how am I supposed to find it?".
Well you can actually find the ODBC Settings are stored in 2 locations. That should make it really easy to find, huh? One setting is for user odbc's and the other is for system odbc's. User ODBCs are actually set up under a specific user account and system ODBCs are for all users on the pc.
ODBC settings are stored in the following locations:
Lets put this knowledge to use.
You begin by opening the registry editor by clicking start/run and typing in regedit and click ok.
Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER depending on which ODBC you want to export. Click the plus sign next to SOFTWARE and click on odbc.
Click File, Export and save the file on your desktop, in my documents or any other place you would like.
Pretty slick, eh? Once you have saved the file, you can edit it to remove any ODBCs that you dont want. You can save it somewhere on your network and voila your users can browse to it and double click the .reg file, reboot and you are able to resume your game of Doom, Driver or Grand Theft Auto or even read poetry. Whatever blows your skirt up!
Back to TopCreate a shortcut that will Lock your PC
We all know that it is important to lock your pc when you leave your desk. This is especially important in cases where confidentiality is important. In can help prevent identity theft and protect your system from unwanted guests. Nuff said about that.
Have you ever wanted a shortcut that you could double-click that would automatically lock your NT Based Computer? I have one for you.
All you need to do is right click on your desktop and select new/shortcut. Type the following Location: %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe user32,LockWorkStation and name it LockPC, Paris Hilton, Odd Baby Names or whatever else tickles your fancy.
Voiala, you now have a shortcut that will lock your pc. You can edit the properties to set it to use the icon of your choice (picture of pamela anderson or whatever else you want).
Back to Top