Category Archives: Software Tips

Show passwords in FileZilla [Portable]

Recently I needed to regain access to a client’s FTP site where the password had been lost. Resetting the password was going to be problematic so instead we recovered the password by accessing FileZilla’s saved password list: For Portable FileZilla: FileZillaPortable\Data\settings\sitemanager.xml For regular FileZilla it should be similar to: %APPDATA%\filezilla\sitemanager.xml Open the sitemanager.xml file and browse to the Pass listing for the particular site that you need access to: This instructions are for Windows. I hope they are helpful to you 🙂

HP 23xi black border when using HDMI [SOLVED]

If you connect your HP 23xi display to a PC with a ATI or NVIDIA video card you may encounter a black border around the edge of the screen. Thankfully, there is an easy fix! For ATI/AMD, change scaling options: Right Click on Desktop Select “Catalyst Pro Control Center” Advanced -> ATI Catalyst Control Center -> Graphics -> Desktops & Displays Please select a display. (Click the black downaward arrow in the corner of the display graphic) -> Configure Scaling

Open PDF files in different Foxit Reader windows (not tabs) [SOLVED]

Foxit is a very nice PDF reader, however, a few versions back they made a change that is limiting for multiple monitor users. Specifically, PDFs open in separate Foxit tabs rather than their own windows. This can make it tough to compare two documents side-by-side etc. Thankfully, there is an easy fix to allow multiple Foxit PDF windows: File -> Preferences -> Documents -> Check the “Allow Multiple Instances” box -> Click OK That is all there is to it!

Stop Foxit Reader from opening the “start” tab [SOLVED]

Foxit is a nice PDF reader, but they recently made some changes that I find annoying. Primarily the new “Start” tab that opens every time you open a document 🙁 Thankfully, the start tab is easily disabled in Foxit Reader: File -> Preferences -> General -> uncheck Show Start Page I also like to disable the advertisement: File -> Preferences -> General -> uncheck Show Advertisement 🙂

Format FAT32 on 64GB, 128GB, 256GB USB flash drives on Windows

Need to format a > 32GB USB flash drive as FAT32 but Windows won’t let you? No problem, here is a free and safe utility that you can use to format your thumbdrive:   (dl website) More details and background: Recently I needed to format a 64GB USB flash drive as FAT32. This was for use in a Chevrolet vehicle that requires FAT32 and 32K cluster sizes in order to read from high capacity USB flash drive. I ordered a

Fix GOM Player distorted sound

If your GOM Player has very distorted/scratchy/popping noise during video playback, then here is a setting you will want to check: Preferences -> Audio -> Audio Effects tab -> Voice Filter -> Disable Setting the audio effects voice filter to ‘None’ resolved the sound issue for me. Previously the ‘cut’ filter had been checked and it was causing some terrible sound issues on certain videos, I am not sure how the checkbox ever got check but it could have been

Update Quicken 2015 to R5 for taxes

Quicken has recently (3/24/2015) released their version R5 patch for Quicken 2015. If you like to have all your financial software up to date while doing taxes, you may want to backup and then perform the upgrade! There are a couple ways you can update, you can find info on both below. #1 Perform a “One Step Update” from the Tools menu in the application, after the update completes it should show you a notice about the new update: After

Updating VMware Tools fails [SOLVED] isolation.tools.guestInitiatedUpgrade.disable = “FALSE”

Updating VMware Tools fails with the error: Update Tools failed. Edit the virtual machine’s vmx file (2007298) Symptoms You are unable to update VMware Tools. Updating VMware Tools fails. You see the error: Update Tools failed. Edit the virtual machine’s vmx file, add the line below and try again. Please read KB article 1714 on tips for editing a vmx file. isolation.tools.guestInitiatedUpgrade.disable = “FALSE” To resolve this issue, enable VMware Tools updates from within the guest by updating the virtual machine