It can sometimes be very useful to have links in your web browser spawn third-party applications for you. A user recently submitted a question wanting to have a URL open an SSH connection with PuTTY. As he learned, this can be done by creating a custom URL protocol. Read more… »

Take Nilpo.com with you wherever you go! We’re proud to announce that Nilpo.com is now mobile ready and there’s no extra URLs to remember! Read more… »

So you’re working with WSH and you’re wondering how you can get or set the contents of the Windows clipboard. Unfortunately, WSH does not have this ability natively and there are no COM objects or WMI methods for performing this action either, but you’ll be happy to see this workaround that will let you get and set the clipboard contents using Internet Explorer. Read more… »

Properly constructed incremental backup schemes use a file’s archive bit to determine what files to include in each backup increment. Currently indexed files should have the archive bit set, while modified or newly created files should have it unset to mark them for inclusion in the next backup. The following code sample can be used to set the archive bit based on a file’s creation date in WSH. Read more… »

So you’ve taken the plunge and upgraded to the new Windows Vista operating system and you’re trying to make yourself at home in this new operating system. Everything is good but every time you turn around you’re seeing a dialog that “Windows needs your permission to continue”. You’re thinking to yourself, “I just performed the action. Wasn’t that enough permission?”

That’s the new User Account Control or UAC and you’re probably wondering how in the heck you can make it go away. Stay tuned and learn how to disable UAC.

Read more… »

One of the chief complaints I hear all of the time is that Microsoft Outlook does not provide exit confirmation when closing. Since most Outlook users keep it open at all times for new mail notification, it’s nice to know when you close it accidentally. Unfortunately, Outlook does not have an option to display exit confirmation, but with this quick tip you can easily simulate its functionality. Read more… »

I’m going to show you two easy ways to automate tasks in Windows, but first let’s establish some specifics about what we want to do.

The easiest way to clean temporary folders is to use Windows built in Disk Cleanup Tool which can be started either from All Programs > Accessories > System Tools on the Start Menu or from the command line using cleanmgr.  By default this program has a GUI Interface meaning that it displays prompts that require user input in order to run, so before we can automate it we need to create saved settings for it to use so that we don’t have to do it manually. This is useful if your schedule your automated task to run when you are not at your computer. Microsoft has already considered this scenario and built the Disk Cleanup Tool with this option. Read more… »

Okay, class, today we’re going to talk about virtual memory. I’ve chosen this topic because there are quite a number of inaccuracies in common circulation. Here are a few false beliefs about virtual memory.

1. More is better.
2. There is a set rule for determining how much you need.
3. Setting a static swap file size will make virtual memory more effective.
4. Emptying the Pagefile will increase system performance.
5. You can eliminate the page file if you have enough physical RAM installed.

All of these are false!!!! Read more… »

NTFS5, the native file system used by Windows XP has a very cool feature called EFS, or Encrypted File System. EFS is an invisible file encryption method that is built directly into the file system. This provides an extra layer of protection for keeping your folders private.

This guide will explain what it is and how to use it effectively. Please note that the EFS features have been removed from Windows XP Home Edition. “Removed?” You ask. Yes, removed, as I said earlier EFS is built into NTFS (NT File System), the ability to enable it has been removed from XP Home Edition. Read more… »

Let’s assume for a minute that you have a dynamically created site. You have an unknown amount of users creating accounts on your site. Each user account is created in a subdirectory on your site and you would like to provide your users with a subdomain for their account. In other words, you want this http://username.domain.com to point to http://www.domain.com/username. Let’s also assume that you don’t want to have to establish DNS for every subdomain you create. Read more… »