Category Archives: Software Tips

Fix bad sound on Lenovo ThinkPad [SOLVED]

If you read my blog you probably know that I am a big ThinkPad fan. Lenovo has continued the classic IBM lineup and now there is a ThinkPad for almost any taste. My current favorite is the Lenovo ThinkPad T470. This 14″ beauty is nearly perfect for work and travel. However, from the factory it does suffer from a (fixable) issue that seems to plague many modern ThinkPads… terrible sound!  Specifically, the sound is extremely echo prone… After listening to

[SOLVED] Lenovo BSOD on Windows 7, Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown

One my clients uses a number of Lenovo mini PC systems. The systems perform very well for their intended purposes, however, some of the systems were sporadically shutting down (blue screen of death). Thankfully, disabling Bluetooth devices/adapters in Device Manager seems to have permanently resolve the issue. The client did not need the bluetooth capability in the first place, so now all is well 🙂 For reference, here is the error message and assorted diagnostic info: Problem signature: Problem Event Name:

When closing TeamViewer it automatically locks my PC back to the logon screen?! [SOLVED]

Recently I had a client dealing with a Windows PC always being locked when they logged into their machine via TeamViewer. They wanted to be able to login directly to the machine without a password prompt so they tried disabling automatic lock via Windows Power Settings, no luck. They tried auto logon via control userpasswords2, no luck. Thankfully, I was able to fix the issue by utilizing the following TeamViewer option: Actions -> Lock -> UNCHECK Lock on session end Screenshot:

Best Ethereum mining GPU [Sep 20th, 2016]

Currently, as of September 20th 2016, the best GPU for mining Ethereum is the AMD RX 480. The criteria are cost, hashrate (in MH/s) and power usage. My current top pick is the Sapphire Radeon NITRO+ RX 480 8GB model with 1342 Mhz core clock speed, for approx 27-29MH/s. At current rates this $279 card should mine about $750 USD of Ethereum a year. 4GB or 8GB? 4GB models of the RX 480 offer a lower initial cost, but resale value

Remove pre-installed Windows 10 apps

While I have kept most of my office systems on Windows 7, I do still have a few Windows 10 devices around. One of the most annoying things about Win10 (other than MS’s policies about user data collection etc.) is the number of apps that are pre-installed after a fresh install 🙁 Thankfully, there are ways to remove most Windows 10 built in apps: [Guide] How to Remove All Built-in Apps in Windows 10 – AskVGhttp://www.askvg.com/guide-how-to-remove-all-built-in-apps-in-windows-10/UPDATE: Tutorial updated to include instructions for

Reviewer plugin: php version may not be greater than 10 character

While trying to activate the “Reviewer” plugin by evoG, I encountered the following error: Thankfully, after a little looking around I found where the PHP version is passed to the activation routine. By manually specifying a short PHP version (< 10 char) I was finally able to active the plugin 🙂 Here are the relevant sections to edit: /wp-content/plugins/reviewer/admin/includes/class-license-page.php NOTE: I recommend backing up your file before editing. If you encounter an error like this, I hope these tips will

[SOLVED] Moto G 3rd Gen (2015) SD card not accessible via USB

If you have a Motorola G3 (2015) phone with Android 6.0 and a microsd card installed, you may find that the card is inaccessible via USB/PC: Here is how to fix it: Go to Settings, Apps, 3-dot menu, select Show System (to show system apps) Scroll down thru apps to External Storage, select that, pick Storage, pick Clear Data (which also clears the Cache). Go back to the app list and do the same for Media Storage, as you did