Category Archives: computer tips

Fix Chrome blurry fonts on Lenovo Yoga 2 13

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One of the first things I do on a new laptop is install Google Chrome. Sadly, Chrome and Windows 8 do not play well on even moderately high-resolution laptop screens 🙁 Case in point, my new Lenovo Yoga 2 13 (not the pro model) has a 1920×1080 13.3″ display which is fairly pedestrian by today’s pixel density standards. Regardless, Chrome fonts look very blurry when compared to IE or most other Win8 applications. Solution: adjust Chrome properties Go to Desktop

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Windows 8 disable left swipe (Yoga 2 Pro etc.)

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In Windows 8 left swipe is fine for touchscreens, but it is majorly annoying with touchpads 🙁 Thankfully, on laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 2 and Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro it is fairly easy to disable the edge swipe recognition on the trackpad: #1 Open the Synaptics Pointing Device Properties Detailed instructions: at the Windows 8 desktop look at the taskbar notification area (bottom of the screen, right-hand side of the taskbar). Find the Synaptics icon which looks like a small

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Dell Inspiron/Vostro wireless driver for Windows 7 (Atheros 1506 802.11b/g/n)

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Recently I setup a new PCIt is a nice Dell 660s small form factor (SFF) PC which came Windows 8. The end users needed Windows 7 and that meant it was time to install one of my spare Windows 7 Professional SP1 licenses. Overall the process went smoothly, however, Windows 7 did not have a driver for the 660s’ wifi adapter. Thankfully, I was able to find a compatabile driver that has been working perfectly. Here is the download link: Dell

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Dell 660s Ethernet driver for Windows 7 (Realtek RTL8111F network controller)

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Recently I setup a new PC for Branson’s Nantucket’s architectural department. It is a nice Dell 660s small form factor (SFF) PC which came Windows 8. However, some of their architectural software is only compatible with Windows 7. That meant it was time to install one of my spare Windows 7 Professional SP1 licenses and everything went smoothly. However, Windows 7 did not have a driver for the 660s’ ethernet controller. Thankfully, I was able to find a compatabile driver

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5 monitor setup

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My good friend John Odom recently sent me a photo of his current office setup: John absolutely loves his three 23″ Apple Cinema Displays. I originally had one of them in college and then added another in law school. Eventually I traded them to him for some architectural work and he recently added a third to complete his setup. The two LCD TVs in the background are for viewing live reports and surveillance cameras. Overall he has a very nice

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How to install Optimus drivers

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Recently I did a clean Windows install on a Dell 6430 laptop. The laptop has an NVIDIA dedicated GPU as well as integrated Intel HD graphics. The best part is, NVIDIA’s Optimus feature. This cool technology can save power (use Intel graphics) when doing desktop type tasks and then switch automatically to the more powerful NVIDIA dedicated card when playing games etc. Sometimes the drivers can get a bit tricky but I can good success with the following: First, install

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Surface Pro 3 vs. iPad air (aspect ratio, screen size, PPI and more)

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Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro 3 tablet today. Some of the biggest changes from the original surface tablets: new screen size and aspect ratio! The Surface Pro 3 gets a 3:2 aspect ratio which is quite similar to the iPad with its 4:3 ratio. See the table below from pixensity.com for more details: Manufacturer and model name Year introduced Screen size Screen area Resolution Ratio PPI  Microsoft Surface Pro 3 2014 12″ 66.46 square inches (10″x6.7″) 2160×1440 3:2 216.33 Apple

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Replace keyboard on ASUS Q200E/S200E/X202E

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A nice reader recently asked for help on how to replace the keyboard on an ASUS X202E notebook. While I have some photos on the initial disassembly process, I did not have photos of the rest of the process. A significant amount of searching did not yield a complete guide to the process 🙁 However, I did find some good instructions for similar ASUS models so I am compiling that information here: Laptop replacement keyboard (without frame) for ASUS Q200

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