Category Archives: Software Tips

Windows 8.1 disable web search

I like the Windows 8 search feature as it allows you to quickly find settings, programs and other items with a quick text search. However, I do not like the new Window 8.1 Bing web searches that get integrated into the search pane 🙁 The web searches: -make the entire process seem slower and less responsive -raise privacy issues, as your searches (which may be intended to be local and private) are sent to MS -make the results more confusing

Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error. — WordPress

When installing or upgrading a plugin in WordPress, you may get a message like this: Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error. The specifics may look something like this Fatal error: Access level to WPsite_Firebar_List_Table::get_table_classes() must be public (as in class WP_List_Table) in /xyz/wp-content/plugins/codecanyon-9861906-firebar-notification-bars-for-wordpress/admin/model/list-table.php on line 460 The error is likely due to an outdated version of WordPress. Upgrade to the latest version and your issue will hopefully be resolved 🙂

ACPI\SMO8810 Windows 8.1 Dell Latitude driver download [SOLVED!]

If you have a Dell Latitude running Windows 8.1 with an Unknown Device ACPI/SMO8810, this is the driver download link you need: ST Microelectronics Free Fall Data Protection This applies to all of these Dell laptops: Latitude E5440 (Late 2013) Latitude E7440 (Mid 2013) Latitude E7240 (Mid 2013) Latitude E5540 (Late 2013) Latitude E7450 (Late 2014) Latitude E5250/5250 (Late 2014) Latitude E5550/5550 (Late 2014) Latitude E5450/5450 (Late 2014) And it is backwards compatible for the following OSes: MS Windows 7 32-bit

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