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PC Apps/Scripts

Teamviewer Bomgar remote desktop sessions hangs or disconnects

If your Teamviewer, Bomgar or any other remote desktop service is hanging or disconnecting the fix may be as simple as switching off Wifi channel optimisation on the broadband router your target computer is connecting to the internet on

This was required to resolve remote desktop session interruptions to a user with a Virgin Media Hub 3 device in their home

Uncheck the box highlighted in red below and “Apply Changes” to resolve the issue

Wifi Channel Optimization setting to disable

Windows Store and apps failing to launch after upgrade

If you’ve been having problems launching the Windows Store or launching windows metro apps after upgrading from Windows 8 and none of the other troubleshooting suggestions have worked, this probably means the upgrade has caused registry permission issues.

The following registry path indicates a typical registry location associated with a Metro app:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\SystemAppData
\WinStore_*examplemetroapp*

What you’ll need to do is check all the “PSR” folders in any sub folders of
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel
\SystemAppData\WinStore_*exampleapp*\
To see if you’re denied access to any of the PSR folders
If you are go and grant yourself ownership of the PSR folders you’re denied access to

That should sort the Metro app/Windows Store launch issues.

Hopefully you don’t have lot of Metro apps installed otherwise re-granting ownership can become a bit tedious.

If you do have a lot you can of course re-grant yourself ownership of the root folder and enable inheritance so the permission change get’s applied to all folders under the following registry location and to all PSR folders as a result:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\SystemAppData

Note: Very important – If you don’t know what the registry is please don’t modify it.

How to open corrupt or damaged PDF files

If you’re having problems opening PDF files that have been damaged or corrupted you may have some luck with MuPDF.

I found this lightweight PDF reader when a colleague at work was having trouble opening a PDF sent in via e-mail. Adobe Reader, Adobe Pro, Foxit Reader and GScript all failed to open the file in question – MuPDF was the only one to succeed.

Plus there’s nothing to install – just extract the exe from it’s zip archive and run.

Cross OS keyboard sharing with Synergy

I’ve tested Synergy at work for some time now but the current release is the only one I’ve found to be stable enough to recommend which is why I’m posting a blog update now.

What does Synergy do?

Quite simply it shares one mouse and one keyboard so they can be used across up to three computers simultaneously.

Say you have a PC, Mac and Linux computer sitting side by side, Synergy will allow you to control all of these using a single mouse and keyboard.

Synergy also allows you to copy clipboard text from one computer to the other. Very useful for those times you have a website url open on one computer and need to open the same on another.

Copying and pasting of files isn’t possible yet – but you never know what the future may bring.

I’ve tested Synergy on Windows 7 and OSX 10.6 using the following 1.4.10 Beta releases:

Windows7

OSX 10.6

I use my PC as the Synergy server (the keyboard and mouse I want to use is attached to this computer) and the Mac as Synergy client (the computer I want to control with the server keyboard and mouse).

Of course it’s possible to swap so it’s the other way around but this is the way I have it configured at the moment so I’ve written my config instructions to reflect that. If you manage to configure your PC/Mac in the setup I’ve outlined you should have no problem getting Synergy re-configured the way you prefer further down the road.

Ok so once you get Synergy installed on your PC you’ll get a dialog box similar to the below:

Synergy PC Server Setup

Choose the “Server (new setup)” radio button then click on “Finish”

You’ll then see the main Synergy admin window:

Synergy PC (Server) Config

At which point you’ll click on the “Configure Server” button to get access to the “Server Configuration” window:

PC (Server) Config 2

Drag the monitor icon to the relevant space the Mac occupies on your desk then double-click on it to add a screen name and alias for the Mac (the Synergy client) using your current Mac host name. I’ve given an example from my configuration below.

For “Screen name”: MyMac

For “Aliases”: MyMac.local

Once you’ve populated both fields, click on “Add” first then “OK” to save your changes.

PC (Server) Config

Once changes are saved and you’re back at the Synergy admin dialog click on the “Start” button to start the Synergy server service making it ready to accept a connection from the Mac (client).

If you want the Synergy server service to start each time you restart your PC (I know I do) select “Edit – Settings” in the Synergy admin dialog and enable both “Start Synergy after logging in” and “Automatically start server/client” followed by “OK” and “Apply” back in the Synergy admin window.

Synergy-PC-Auto-Start

Now swap to your Mac and install Synergy on that. Immediately after installing you’ll see a “Setup Synergy” dialog like the one you got on your PC.

Mac (Client) Setup

Select “Client (Add to Setup)” in that dialog box and click on the “Done” button. You’ll then see the Macs Synergy admin dialog:

At which point you need to add the name of your PC (the Synergy Server) – Mine is called “MyPC” then I clicked on the “Start” button to initiate the Mac client connection.

If you’ve successfully configured Synergy you should now be able to move the mouse between your PC and Mac screens seamlessly. You should also be able to copy and paste text between both computers.

Don’t forget to drag the Synergy icon into your dock on your Mac to make it easily accessible.

Press the CTRL button on your keyboard and mouse click on the Synergy icon then enable “Keep in Dock” and “Open at Login” to make sure the Synergy client auto starts once you next login to your Mac.

Synergy Auto Launch

Hope you have some success with it – and don’t forget to donate if you’d like to support Synergy.

* Update – I indicated above that you should be able to swap your Synergy client/server configuration so that the Mac is the Server and PC is the client but I’ve since found out that this is not possible (at least not on the OS version’s I’ve tried above). So you’ll need to try Synergy on a newer version of OSX or swap your Mac keyboard and mouse to your PC if you prefer using them to your PC’s keyboard and mouse.

Skydrive – A great way to sync your files across all devices

I’ve had a hotmail account since the service first came out in 1996 – it was the “fashionable” web mail client to use until G-Mail landed at which point my hotmail account started gathering internet dust bunnies.

I’ve now found a reason to go back though thanks to SkyDrive – Hotmail’s Cloud service.

SkyDrive has seen many iteration’s and re-incarnations with names such as Live Mesh, Live Sync etc but this version seems to do exactly what it says on the tin. For a free service (with 7GB of cloud storage) the performance is great (compared to how it used to be under the Live Sync name) and it’s compatible with iPhone and iPad via a free app, so you can sync your files across Win7, OSX, iOS and  WP7.

There’s no official Microsoft app for Android yet but there is a 3rd party Browser for Skydrive app available for the Android platform.

I’ve had no problems with the service at work either. Our proxy server hasn’t interrupted the service or prevented me accessing my Skydrive files at any time during the past month I’ve had the application installed on my Win7 PC so it’s a thumbs up all round.

Try it out

Extract text from print so you can work with it on your PC – requires Office and scanner

1. Scan your page as pdf then save to your desktop.

2. Drag the pdf/jpg into OneNote which is an Office program

OneNote

3. After dragging the jpg/pdf into One Note select “Insert the file as printout so I can add notes to it” in the following dialog box and click on “OK”

4. From there click on the pdf/file to highlight it then right click and select “Copy text from Picture” (for jpgs) or “Copy text from this page of the printout”/”Copy text from all the pages of the printout” (for pdfs)

You should then be able to paste the copied text into any application you require.

It’s not 100% accurate but if the text on the page is type print, legible and a paper copy is all you have the above will eliminate having to re-type pages of text.

Firefox crashing

If you’re having problems with Firefox crashing on your PC – the most likely culprit is Flash.

You’ll need the latest version of the Adobe’s Flash Plugin which you can find here:

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

If the install fails using the above link the most likely reason is that your proxy/firewall is stopping the online installer from downloading the required install files.

In that case try downloading and installing from here (hopefully you have local admin privileges on your PC):

http://download.macromedia.com/pub/flashplayer/current/support/install_flash_player.exe

 

A Start Menu on each dual screen – Actual Multiple Monitors

This is one for the Windows dual screen users out there.

I found this app just today but it seems to be working a treat.

If you’re a dual screen user you know only a single task bar can be displayed in Windows even though you have access to two screens.

Well not any more. Actual Multiple Monitors takes care of the above shortcoming (at least until Win8 comes out) by displaying a Start Menu on each monitor, each with their own set of windows so you can minimize or maximize to either monitor. How cool is that?

Actual Multiple Monitors

 

The Blog of Martin Birrane