windows fax cant install or not working (xp)

in some cases when you try to install windows fax your installation cant continue or stops suddenly, below mentioned solution tried and tested by me (at client place) after doing this i can successfully install windows fax. to do this follow these steps.

1. click start and run
2. type esentutl /p %windir%\security\database\secedit.sdb and press enter
3. after pressing enter it will open warning message and allowing you two options, ok or cancel
4. dont worry , click ok
5. when finish, try to install windows fax again, the installation will continue with no problems.

additional - for the above problem, re-registering the cfgmgr32.dll file could also solve the problem, to learn how to register dll file please see this post.

password protect outlook 2003 (personal folder)

if you want you can protect your outlook 2003 personal folder using password, after doing this when you open outlook 2003, it ask password to view your personal folder, to do this follow these steps.

1. open outlook 2003 (using your profile)
2. now right click personal folders in the left side and click properties for "personal folders"
3. in the opened properties window click advanced in general tab
4. now click change password button
5. type your password in the new password field and verify it by re-typing in verify password field

**note - dont select "save this password in your password list" otherwise you are not prompt for password when you open outlook 2003.


6. click ok
7. click apply and ok for all properties window

now try open outlook 2003, it should ask for password to continue, in here also remember not to save you password in the list.

re-enable windows update from group policy (xp)

before doing these steps make sure you have administrative privilege for you user account, to enable windows update follow these steps.

1. click start and click run
2. type gpedit.msc to start group policy
3. in there navigate to computer configuration > administrative templates > windows components > windows update.
4. now in the right side double click configure automatic update
5. in the opened window click enable then click apply and ok.

**you can check also windows update service is up and running**

to do this

1. click start and click run
2. type services.msc to start services window
3. in the right side find automatic update and double click to open it
4. now in the general tab check under startup type
5. in the drop down menu select automatic as startup type
   
6. click apply and click ok
   

excel 2003 formulas not working

when excel formulas suddenly stops working, the only place you have to see is excel options, to do this follow these steps,

1. open excel 2003
2. click tools, then click options
3. in the opened window, click calculation tab
4. in there check under calculation, if your calculation mode set to manual, change it back to automatic mode.
5. after change click ok
6. now check your excel work sheet, the formulas work correctly.

**these settings may apply similar way in office 2007**

create batch file for shutdown and restart

This will show you how to create batch file to shutdown or restart your pc, also you can schedule it by any given time, follow these steps.


Create batch file for shutdown (with shutdown message box)

• First create new text document
• Now inside text document type c:\windows\system32\shutdown -s -f -t 300 (the value 300 is 5 min, (60 x 5) if you want you can raise or reduce the value or put 00 for immediate shutdown)
• Now save the file as with the extension of .bat (ex- shutdown.bat)
  
• Important - make sure you uncheck "hide extensions for known file types" in folder option before naming the batch file. otherwise it wont create batch file,it will create only text file named as shutdown.bat.txt

Create batch file for restart

• First create new text document
• Now inside text document type shutdown -r -f -t 300 (if you want restart immediately without countdown set value to 00)
• Now save the file as with the extension of .bat (ex- restart.bat)

Create schedule for shutdown

• Open schedule task folder (start > run > type tasks > press enter)
• Double click add schedule task
• Click next
• Click browse button
• Specify the shutdown.bat file we created
  
• In the name field type anything, and select the action under "perform this task"
• Now proceed with the schedule task, and click finish at the end.

Note - to immediately cancel shutdown or restart job, type shutdown.exe -a in run command and press enter.

customize "send to" items in windows xp

You know you can customize "send to" menu and you can add more new destination in Send To lists. this can be done in a simple way, follow these steps.

• Click start, click run
• Type sendto and press enter
• This will open window with default Send To lists (Compressed (zipped) Folder, Desktop (create shortcut), Mail Recipient, My Documents)
• Now drag-and-drop any program, folders and drives, shortcuts to this folder
• For example - we take Microsoft word program, go to the program installation folder, find winword and drag-and-drop it to the send to folder
• Now to verify new location, right click on a text or a wordpad document, point to send to, click winword
• This will open the selected file with the Microsoft word
  

disable automatic update and service

If you want to disable automatic updates for windows you can do it by in control panel or system properties, but you know that even if you turn off updates in here automatic update service will continue to run in background. in order to disable this service follow these steps.

• Click start , click run
• Type services.msc and press enter
• Now find the automatic update service and double click to open it
• Now stop the service by pressing stop button under "service status"
• Then under "startup type" select disable
• Click apply and ok

From now on "windows update" and "windows update service" will be stop