Unable to open Word, Excel, Powerpoint attachment in emails

If you have experienced this error message when opening office attachment from your email client (eg Mozilla Thunderbird, MS Outlook, MS Mail)
we have the solution for you. ( word, excel, powerpoint ) aka ( xls, doc, ppt, xlsx, docx, pptx )

Word experienced an error trying to open the file. Try these suggestions:

• Check for file permissions for the document or drive.
• Make sure there is sufficient free memory and disk space.
• Open the file with the Text Recovery converter.

Office 2010 and 2013 has implemented some form of additional protection against vile and harmful files in email attachments or downloaded from the internet.

However, it may be more of a hassle than convenience for users.

Do this check before your HDD crashes on you

HDD crash = lost data.

However, this could be prevented by running this check every once in a while.

First, press the "windows" key on your keyboard.
Type in "cmd" and press enter.
This will open up the command prompt. ( black screen with white text ).

Now type

"wmic" 

and press enter.

Followed by typing this
"diskdrive get status"
and press enter.

If all is good, the response from the last command will show "Status ok".
If it shows "failed" in any response, backup the hdd and replace it immediately to prevent imminent crash.


For other ways of detecting if the HDD is about to fail, visit this link

Latest Phishing Scam from sender pretending to be Microsoft

Spam email looking like the official email

If you receive this email from Microsoft claiming that your hotmail/outlook account will be shutdown, look again.

The "CLICK HERE TO AUTHENTICATE" link will bring you to a site that looks like the outlook/hotmail login screen with funny fonts.

Do not key in your email and password in there.

It is a phishing scam where they will save your email and password to login your account to spam others.

Kindly forward this to everyone you know that uses Hotmail or Outlook domain email addresses.

Free Online Storage

Gone are the days that the personal computer (PC) are personal.

These days, the computer is just an interface to the web. And with the rising popularity of smartphone and tablets, the laptop becomes almost redundant, relatively speaking.

And since almost every one owns more than one computing device, it makes sense not to store everything on one device.

Moreover, storing important files and documents or precious videos and music on a single computer is like putting all the eggs in one basket. That becomes a hassle when these files need to be updated and synchronized across all the different folders on all devices.

Check your clock time/date settings

If you are experiencing certificate errors when browsing the web,

such as the one below

www.xoxoxo.com uses an invalid security certificate.
The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate has expired.
The certificate will not be valid until 3/27/2011 2:21 PM.
(Error code: sec_error_expired_issuer_certificate)

And no matter which browser you are using, (IE,CHROME,SAFARI,FIREFOX), the same error occurs.

There is a simple fix.

 Just set the correct date and time on your system clock and all will be ok again.

See here for an example listed

Clean Windows virus without booting into windows

At times, the Windows operating system may be severely affected by malware, spyware and virus to the extent that it is not possible to install an anti-virus, anti-malware or anti-spyware tool within the Windows operating system.

Nowadays, intelligent malware,spyware and virus are able to block out disinfectant tools and softwares that may be used to detect and eliminate the problems.

So how is it possible to clean up the operating system without booting into Windows?

2 known tools are available from renown anti-virus software companies.

1. Kaspersky Rescue Disk
2. F-Secure Rescue-CD

These are Live CDs which boots to a native environment that is independent of the operating system installed in the hard disk. And since they boot up using the files in the CD and not the hard-disk, malwares/spywares/virus in the hard-disk is unable to impair its operations.

Here are 2 very useful guides on how to use these CDs to remove the malwares, spywares and virus in your operating system.

1. Techmixer guide to using Kaspersky Rescue Disk

2. Linux-Tip.net guide to using F-Secure Rescue-CD

An easier way to download the CD images and install directly onto a USB drive instead of using CDs would be to use "Unetbootin". Just select the desired image [ F-secure or Kaspersky ] from the dropdown list of distributions and choose the USB drive to use. The "Unetbootin" application will automatically download the latest version of the Live CDs and install it onto the USB drive in one step.

A quick guide to using "Unetbootin" can be found here at PendriveLinux.com.

Unetbootin is available on operating systems such as Windows and Linux.

Speed up Windows Vista performance! Tips really work!

Vistax64 has a very good guide for speeding up Vista performance!

From boot up speed to application speed to managing services and registry optimization..

For all tech and non-tech users.

Choose which one to try.

So your Windows XP can't display Chinese Characters?

Have no fear... no more weird boxes as text font whenever you visit websites with chinese text..

To enable reading and writing of chinese text, here is a good guide.

11 Ways Computer Viruses Are Spread

11 Ways Computer Viruses Are Spread:

It is the worst nightmare of every computer user: you wake up one day and realize that you have a virus, and you don’t know quite how to get rid of it. Most people these days understand what a virus is and how harmful it can be, but they are still somewhat unsure how computer viruses spread. The truth is that there are dozens of different ways in which a virus can spread from computer to computer, but let’s take a look at the most frequent ways in which people run into viruses, spyware and Trojans on the Internet.

PC World Tips for making Windows faster, safer and better

PC World came up with an extensive guide to optimize the Windows platform to make it faster, better and safer.

The tips described can be applied for all variants of Windows, namely, XP, Vista, Windows 7.

Enjoy customizing

Source : PC World : Essential Windows Tricks

How to Speed Up Your Netbook

Netbooks are the trend now!

Lightweight, long lasting power consumption, etc.

But as it is backed by a low power, relatively lightweight ATOM processor, you might feel that it starts to become slow after using the netbook for a couple of month..
Fear not, Digitaltrends has got a good guide to make it fast and snappy again!


How to Speed Up Your NetBook

You bought your netbook for portability, convenience and mobility– you didn't buy it so you could stash a bunch of games, files, programs and pictures on it ...

Read more at Digitaltrends.com"

What Is Window's Registry & Its Associated Problems?

What Is Window's Registry And Its Associated Problems?:


Read the link at BestArticle.org for more explanation and how critical and complicated the Windows Registry really is....



Computers and Technology Articles - http://www.bestarticle.org/computer/"

Preparing Your Computer for Windows 7

Windows 7 is a completely different breed from the good ol' XP... Before migrating to this new operating system, be armed with the knowhow and hardware requirements..

Preparing Your Computer for Windows 7:

"There's some validity to this claim, since the operating system you're using has probably become bloated or bogged down by files and unused registry entries ...

Full article from Newsfactor Network here"

How to use WinDBG Debugger to troubleshoot a BSoD?

TechRepublic has a good write up on how to find out the cause of each BSOD.
Step by step guide in the link below!


How do I use WinDBG Debugger to troubleshoot a Blue Screen of Death?:

" Have you ever wondered how to obtain extra information from the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) that will sometimes show up and give you ...

Read the rest from TechRepublic"

How To Uninstall / Remove System Adware Scanner 2010 Virus (Removal Guide)

How To Uninstall / Remove System Adware Scanner 2010 Virus (Removal Guide): "

Soft Sailor (blog)

We will still use Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to remove the System Adware Scanner 2010 virus and the protection driver, although it is originally blocked, ...

PC fits into keyboard, uses only five Watts - News - Linux for Devices

Thai based PC manufacturer Norhtec launches keyboard PC!
An entire PC and its hardware stashed inside a keyboard.

Previously seen on SGLNX, was the release of a Norhtec tablet that runs on AA batteries.

SGLNX: Affordable Linux Touchscreen Tablet running on AA batteries.

In no less than 3 months, Norhtec suprised everyone one again with this keyboard PC.

Take a look at this keyboard PC aka Gecko Surfpad in action below:

PC fits into keyboard, uses only five Watts - News - Linux for Devices


Today is 18th December 2009
Time now is 14:26 hrs

Back up a freshly baked and customized XP/VISTA operating system

Now that you have a new laptop or desktop, you'd probably spend the next 2-3 days installing all the mission critical applications, that you are used to, from the last PC that you'd been using.

MSN messenger, Winzip, Nero, PowerDVD, Firefox, Chrome, Java runtime, anti-virus programs, etc.

You'd probably also customize the appearance of the desktop such as the start up menu color, background picture and even a sound scheme that features your own voice....

Only after fully customizing it, you'd feel the PC is ready for use.
Then the fear of losing the 2-3 days of customization work sinks in.

What if the PC is infected with some serious spyware and virus and you have to reinstall everything all over again?

Quick and Dirty guide to Blue Screen of Death(BSOD) aka stop errors

Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is also known as a Stop Error. This happens when your Windows Platform OS encounters a critical error.

While most users tries to overcome it conveniently with the hard reset button, hoping it might not occur on the second boot up, this might happen again.

BSOD made public

I can't help but post this.

After seeing it on a Sunday in a news article...

BSOD aka Blue Screen of Death, the famous screen that all Microsoft Windows operating system displays everytime it encounters an unrecoverable fault.

To top it off, the display panel is huge and it is located in a busy public mall.

And not to mention the lost of revenue for the vending machine during the inoperable hours..



Today is 26th July 2009
Time now is 12:11 hrs

Heat and PC failures

The PC case is usually ventilated via air vents and holes that allow air to circulate in and out of the case.

Most cases nowadays also have fans that help to circulate the air in and out so as to regulate the temperature inside the casing. This, however, also brings in dust and fine particles into the casing. In time, the dust will form a thin layer on the boards and microchips. This then prevents the components from being cooled effectively by the air exchange. If left unattended, the dust will form up to the point the the inlet vents are completely choked and unable to deliver cool air into the PC case.

This phenomenon actually will cause the PC to overheat and cause PC problems such as BSOD or even cause the PC to have bootup problems.

Here are some additional reading and solutions.

Lockergnome : Heat and Dust can kill a PC
SimplePCTalk : Dust & Dirt + Computer = Heat & Failure
PCToday : Create a Dust-Free environment

If you have never open the PC case before, it's good time to start cleaning!

Today is 4th June 2009
Time now is 10:45 hrs