Tag: tool

HP Touch Screen Calibration

As a technician, you come across problems that make you just hit your head agaisnt a wall. Recently I had one of those problems where I had an HP IQ804 touch screen where the mouse would not respond correctly to where I touch at all. I’d say it was off by about 4-7 cm. I could not even click the start button because the mouse would not track my finger.

Now when I tried to do the calibration, it would not work as it doesn’t exactly calibrate the mouse more so how big your finger is. So that got me into a head against the wall scenario. While doing so I starting to poke the num lock key to look at the light flash and then I tried to pressing caps lock, num lock , and scroll lock to see if i get a pattern. On the 5th time I hi scroll lock the mouse moved.

After much step repeating and experimenting I realized that by pressing scroll lock 5 times put the screen into the ACTUAL calibration mode. So here is what I did:

  1. Press scroll lock 5 times fast.
  2. Get a small flat object like the back of a screw bit or pen top.
  3. Tap and hold DIRECTLY on the mouse pointer for about 2 seconds and release.
  4. The mouse will move just repeat those steps till the mouse goes back to the center of the screen
  5. Done! Your touch screen is now calibrated.

All that’s left is to run the other “calibration” program from control panel so your screen knows how big your finger is.

Unwanted Toolbars, Pop-ups, Viruses

In my previous post, I spoke about getting your Internet Explorer to go back to default settings to get rid of tool bars and pop ups. I mentioned how when installing some free programs you get them, but I didn’t elaborate too much on it. In this post I am going to go a little more in-depth into that topic which could most possible prevent you from getting unwanted pop-ups and viruses.

So first of, I am going to deal with those toolbars. The ones that have several and dozens of advertisements on them. How did you get them? You don’t remember installing them but they are there somehow. Well here is what happens. Someone or a company will create a program and post it as free and you downloading it thinking, “Great! Now I don`t have to pay x-amount of money for a program that does what this does!”  It is true you are getting the program free, but how is the person or company making money? The get sponsored that’s how.

They place other programs (mainly toolbars) in with their program and as you are installing said free program you will come across a screen while clicking next, it will ask if you want to agree to allow having third party tool bars and or software installed. Here is where you say no if you don’t want all those tool bars and such. All you have to do is just uncheck the box that asks if you agree (Not to the actual program you want but to the tool bars and third party programs) and now you don’t get those “extras.”

Now apart from just that way of getting toolbars and other programs you don’t want, there is another way you get them. Pop-up’s. The internet users worst enemy. Even if you have a good pop up blocker they can get through but having them pop up is not where you get the software from. It’s when you click on them. You seem the everyday, “Congratulations you are visitor # 1,000,000, click here to claim your prize.” Or “Shoot 5 iPad’s to win a free iPad!”

Truth is majority if not all of these pop ads are scams and/or fake. Just to get you to click on them so websites get views and the site owner makes money from the views or you get some program you never heard of and didn’t want or worse yet, you get a virus.

So in summary, when installing programs just be wary of extra programs it tries to install, and don’t click on pop-up’s no matter how legitimate they may seem. Those prizes are fake. There are some tool bars that are not all bad, for example the Google search bar is perfectly fine. The bad tool bars are usually bundled it freeware and shareware programs.

 

How to Reset Internet Explorer

So you had your computer for a while now, programs and files are starting to stack up, especially those free and shareware programs that do everything you needed from those the expensive programs.

However you’re Internet Explorer if filled with search bars and the occasional pop-up that shares the same name as that tool bar, and you don’t remember installing them. Well here is the downside to the great free programs. They are free for a reason. People sponsor these programs by having them included their toolbars and search engines in their program so while your clicking away at the next button in the install you miss that page that as if you want to install X Toolbar or X search engine.

On top of that you may have dabbled with your browser settings, or maybe you worked with a company that modified the settings on your browser for work purposes and now at home nothing works right. Well now you can easily reset Internet Explorer back to its default settings.

Preparing

Now when you do the reset, it will put EVERYTHING back to default meaning bookmarks, history, passwords stored ect will no longer be there but I shall show you how to keep some of them.

Back Up

  • Now if there are any bookmarks you would like to keep here is what you do;
  • Click on file. (if you don’t see file try pressing the “Alt” key on the keyboard)
  • Click on “Import/Export.”
  • Select “Export to a file” then click next.
  • Select “ Favorites” click next and next again.
  • Specify where you would like to save and then hit “Export.”
  • Also before you restore if you had any add-ons you may want to make a list of the ones you want to install later. You can do this by going to the tools menu and clicking on “Mange Add-ons” and go through and decide on what you will get after.

Time to reset Internet Explorer

  • Time to reset Internet Explorer, just follow these steps and all will go well;
  • Open your Internet Explorer and click on tools (Remember if you don’t see it try pressing “Alt” on your keyboard.) then click on “Internet Options”.
  • Go to the “Advanced” tab
  • Here you will see a section saying “Reset Internet Explorer settings” with the button saying “Reset…” you guessed it, click on “Reset…”
  • A pop up window will come up you can select the “Delete Personal Settings” option if you like, I would recommended it but it is at your digression as there may be something in those settings that may be causing you problems. Now just click on reset and when it is done it will request that you restart Internet Explorer, just hit OK when that comes up.
  • After you close Internet Explorer and reopen.
  • Now it’s time to bring back your bookmarks. Go to “File” (Remember “Alt”) and then click on “Import/Export.”
  • This time select “Import” and click next. Choose “ Favorites” then click next.
  • Now point to where you saved the back up of your favorites.

And you’re done! All that’s left is to find the add-ons you use to use and re-install them but other than that everything should be back to how it was the day your first doubled click Internet Explorer. If after adding back your add-ons your browser starts going slowly again then you need to go through you add-on list to find out which one it was.