Oracle released version 7u51 of Java on Tuesday. Along with the update's release, they flipped the switch on a security setting to block unsigned or self-signed Java applets. This impacts previous version of Java 7 but not Java 6. As a result, if you have Java 7 installed and try to run a Java application, you may get a message like the following that says: "Application … [Read more...]
How to modify the Regular Maintenance scheduled task in Windows 8.1
This morning, my computer was awake and humming though I know for certain that I put it in Sleep mode last night. The computer was updated to Windows 8.1 and I never caught Windows 8 having this behavior. To figure out why the computer was awake, I first checked out the event log. Under the Windows Logs, System I was able to find an event from Power-Troubleshooter. It told me … [Read more...]
Configure Adobe Acrobat and Reader to open PDFs at 100% by default
For years (years!), I have been annoyed by a behavior of Adobe Reader and Acrobat. When you open up a PDF, the viewer will scale the PDF to fit your resolution. On my monitor with 1680x1050 resolution, PDFs would start off zoomed to 174%. On my other monitor with 1920x1200 resolution, documents would start zoomed in to 232%. Every time after opening the PDF, I will click the … [Read more...]
How to hide the Apps bookmark in Chrome
With a recent update, Google Chrome added an Apps shortcut to the far left of the Bookmarks bar. It has a colorful icon and provides quick access to the apps added to Chrome since the New Tab page was also redesigned. However, you can't move the Apps shortcut to a different location or into the Other Bookmarks folder. To remove or hide the Apps shortcut, it's actually rather … [Read more...]
Use command prompt to remove folders with odd names
I noticed Symantec flagging malware that kept getting downloaded to this infected computer. The rootkit on it kept trying to download the malware and Symantec kept deleting it (even though it missed the rootkit's initial infection). I managed to get the computer cleaned up with a handful of scanners and it seems like the rootkit and various downloaders and trojan droppers were … [Read more...]