Fix PC Errors

PC Error Repair Resources

Archive for March, 2008

YouTube Insight – Check Your Video Stats

March 28th, 2008

For all you videos buffs out there I thought I’d let you know about a cool new tool that YouTube has released for all its users. It is an analytics tool so that you can track detailed stats about any video you upload to Youtube. It is called YouTube Insight and was only released yesterday.

The stats can include things like how many people watch your video, which details things like what time of the day is the most popular viewing time for your video and what day of the week is the most popular day for your video. It also tracks where in the world your video is most popular, for example it can tell you that this week it was watched 1000 times in England but only 200 time in the US. It also gives state by state statistics for the US.

This can assist anyone in making better videos for their viewers, and for those of you who use YouTube for business purposes you can now accurately target your videos more effectively.

To access this new feature you have to login to Youtube and access My Account, from here you have to go to Videos, Favorites, Playlists. Here you will see a list of all your videos, now just click on the About This Video link to the right on the specific video you want. You will now be in the YouTube Insight interface where you can check all the stats I have talked about.

Here are some screenshots from the YouTube Insight interface;

YouTube Insight – You can view stats here by days of the week

YouTube Insight - View stats by day of the week

YouTube Insight – View stats here by different countries

YouTube Insight - View stats by different countries

If anone has been using Insight over the last day or so please leave some comments on what you think of it, it is such a new feature that we haven’t heard much about it yet.

5 comments »

Posted in Useful Stuff

Accessing Msconfig

March 27th, 2008

I had an email from Melany and she has a question regarding msconfig. She is attempting to stop bootup programs from this blog post and she cannot manage to access msconfig.

I have made a quick video here showing exactly how to access msconfig, remember I use Vista so it could look slightly different to anyone using xp;

[swf]http://www.pc-error-free.com/images/msconfig.swf[/swf]

No comments »

Posted in General, PC Errors

Improving Your Computer’s Speed With ReadyBoost

March 26th, 2008

Today I’m going to talk about a cool feature on Vista that will allow you to run programs faster using nothing more than a data stick.

Computers run on RAM (Random access memory), it is a type of computer data storage that allows any stored data to be accessed in any order. In layman’s terms RAM can influence the speed of your computer, the more RAM you have the faster your computer will run.

Most PC’s or Laptops come standard with about 1 GB of Ram, and you can easily add more RAM (I currently have a laptop with 1GB standard of RAM which I boosted up with a extra 1GB RAM). But even after adding 2GB of RAM to any machine using Vista as the operating system you will still find that it can be slow.

What you need to use is the new function called Windows ReadyBoost. Windows ReadyBoost is a new concept in adding memory to a system, all you have to do is add a non-volatile flash memory, such as that on a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive and you can improve performance. The flash drive essentially becomes RAM, so on top of the RAM installed on your computer you can also have portable RAM.

Using Windows ReadyBoost is a simple process, simply follow these points;

Insert a flash drive
In the Removable Disk Properties pop up select ReadyBoost
Here you can select to use the device for system speed (note: You may receive a warning saying this device does not have the required performance characteristics for use in speeding up your system)
It will now recommend how much space you should reserve for optimal performance (my 512 MB data stick shows I should reserve 430MB)
Click apply
Click OK

You should now see an improvement in your computers speed thanks to the ReadyBoost. Here is a screen shot of the Removable Disk Properties;

ReadyBoost Screenshot

2 comments »

Posted in General, Useful Stuff, Vista Errors

Windows Media Player Error C00D119D

March 25th, 2008

C00D119D: Cannot Play this File

I had an email from Vanessa asking about this error she keeps getting in her media player, this is what the error is;

Windows Media Player cannot play this file because the associated Windows Media metafile playlist is not valid.

A metafile is a file that contains information about other files. A Windows Media metafile playlist, a file with an .asx, .wax, .wmx, or .wvx extension, can be used to instruct the Player to play a group of digital media files in a specific order. Metafiles are usually created by a content provider, such as an Internet radio station.

If you created the metafile, verify that it contains items. For information about creating valid Windows Media metafiles, see the Windows Media Player Software Development Kit (SDK) at the Microsoft Web site.

The fastest way to fix this and other errors with Media Player is to run our free scan. Click here to scan your pc now. This will fix errors and speed up your pc.

No comments »

Posted in Media Player Errors

Tags: Fix Errors Media Player

How to Edit the Sidebar Clock in Vista

March 20th, 2008

There are so many new things to learn in Windows Vista, and a cool new feature is the sidebar which has a clock in it.

To edit the clock you must first add the clock to your side bar, just right click in the sidebar and click add gadgets. Now select the clock and it will be added to your sidebar. Now to edit it just follow the next points;

Hover over the clock and click the edit button
From here you can do the following;
- Select from a range of different clock faces
- Name your clock
- Select the time zone for your clock
- Select to add the second hand
Now click ok and you are done.

Here is a quick video tutorial of editing the windows vista sidebar clock;

[swf]http://www.pc-error-free.com/images/edit-clock.swf[/swf]

No comments »

Posted in General, Useful Stuff

Tags: Windows Vista

Easily Update Your Drivers

March 17th, 2008

Updating drivers can be a real nightmare! Finding the right drivers always takes a ton of time and involves sifting through all kinds of annoying websites.

If you have ever had to reformat your PC, it is most likely that the drivers CD is missing somewhere, so you then need to dig around for dozens of drivers just to get your PC back to factory condition.

Well the good news is, we have found a great little program that will automatically scan and update all of your drivers. This program (Driver Detective) has access to over 1,000,000 drivers and finally provides an extremely easy method for updating and installing drivers.

Download Driver Detective – Free Download

This program is suitable for updating any type of driver on any brand of PC. Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, Compaq, HP, etc etc. You can also use it for updating: audio drivers, video drivers, network drivers, printer drivers, usb drivers, and the list goes on.

Update Vista Drivers

Driver Detective has a new feature that makes upgrading to Windows Vista very simple. There is a Vista Upgrade Wizard that will automatically bring all of your Vista drivers up-to-date.

Try it out – Click here

No comments »

Posted in General, Windows Software

Tags: Drivers Windows Vista

Create a Screenshot

March 17th, 2008

A few people have been asking me about creating screen shots of their computers for various reasons. To make a screen shot is a simple procedure, but it may be different depending on the computer and operating system.

The basic way to make a screen shot is to press (prt sc)+alt and then simply paste the image into your image program (I use fireworks).

That was always the way I used to do it before when I ran my old computer on XP, but now I have upgraded my laptop and it now runs on Vista. And of course (prt sc)+alt does not work any more!

All I have to do now is to use (prt sc)+(fn) and it does the same job as (prt sc)+alt. I have looked around to see if is a Vista thing or maybe a type of computer thing (I now use a HP).

If anyone knows the answer or has anything else to add please leave a comment.

No comments »

Posted in General, Useful Stuff

Editing the Speed of Double Clicking on Your Mouse

March 14th, 2008

I had an interesting email from a lady who was complaining about the speed she had to double click icons with her mouse. I know it sounds odd but she was getting a sore hand from clicking so fast. It is a very simple fix to change the speed in which you double click things, just follow these steps (I made a quick video to show you as well);

Right click your desktop and select personalize
Click Mouse Pointers
Click the tab Buttons
Halfway down the tab you will see the double click speed
Just set the double click speed you want
Click apply and ok
Done

Here is a quick video showing you how to do it;

[swf]http://www.pc-error-free.com/images/double-click.swf[/swf]

No comments »

Posted in General, Useful Stuff

Watch Youtube Videos on Your TV

March 12th, 2008

If you have ever wanted to sit back in your lounge room and watch YouTube on your TV then get ready! TiVo has announced that by the end of the year all TiVo users will be able to indeed watch YouTube clips on their TV.

“For users, the exciting news is that they will be able to actively participate in the YouTube community from just about anywhere, including the online destinations and Web communities they already love and visit regularly,” said Jim Patterson, product manager at YouTube, in a blog post.

“For partners and developers, YouTube has grown into much more than a Web site. It has become an open, general purpose, video services platform, available for use by just about any third-party Web site, desktop application, or consumer device.”

Now TiVo users with a broadband Internet connection and a TiVo Series3 box, which includes the high-definition model, will be able to search, browse and watch YouTube videos directly on their TVs. This comes after millions of people being able to view YouTube Clips on their cell phones.

“TiVo’s strategy is to bridge the gap between Web video and television and make as much content available as possible for our subscribers,” said Tara Maitra, the vice president and general manager for content services at TiVo.

No comments »

Posted in General, Useful Stuff

How to Turn Your Firewall On or Off

March 12th, 2008

I have had a few requests from people worried about getting virus’s and other bad stuff on how to turn on their Windows Firewall. The firewall for those who are unsure is simply a program that allows or denies things entering your computer, you could even call it a PC bouncer!

A firewall is a very important tool to have enabled on your computer, so follow these simple steps to activate your Windows Firewall;

Go to start then control panel
Scroll down and click on Windows Firewall
The Windows Firewall box should now pop up
Now click on Turn Windows Firewall on or off
You may need to allow permission (may be different in XP)
Here you can check if your computer is running the firewall
If it is not, click On
Now click Apply
Click OK and your Firewall will be activated

Here is a basic video on how to turn on your firewall which I made quickly although it doesn’t seem to show all of the steps, so use the steps above and the video to successfully turn on your Windows Firewall.