During my regular work, I tend to face repeated issues of Excel hanging. This can be really frustrating because a stuck Excel means a painful wait for Windows to figure out what it wants to do with the process. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can do about this because it is mainly due to addons that I have installed in Excel, which are required for me to do my job coupled with large files with tens of sheets and hundreds of rows with data. In this scenario, the method that most Windows users do is open up Task Manager and…

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Windows is powerful, but then we all crave for more power. SecondShell is a free portable software, providing useful enhancements for the Windows shell with some extra help to netbook users. Key features: Maximize windows Horizontally or Vertically Move and resize windows easily Minimize and close applications easily Use up to 10 custom hotkeys to launch your frequently used application Change the CapsLock button into middle mouse button The best part of this is that the software is portable, which means you just need to unzip it to a particular folder and run it. Download SecondShell

A shell extension is an in-process COM object which extends the Windows’ abilities. Most shell extensions are automatically installed by the operating system, but there are also many other applications that install additional shell extension components. E.g. Installing WinZip or Winrar or JetAudio on your computer will create a menu when you right-click on a file or folder. This menu is created by adding a shell extension to the system. Installing a lot of software ends up creating tonnes of shell extensions. After a while you’ll find your right-click menu totally clogged and extremely painful. ShellExView displays the details of…

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Warning: This article explains how to keep your WordPress Blog running the latest sub-version build of WordPress. It is highly recommended that you do not use the sub-version builds in a production environment. They are meant for testers. While you are reading this article, please, please keep in mind that Forum support does not cover SVN. In other words, if you decide to use the bleeding edge code on your blog and have problems with the code, you probably will not receive help from the forums. About three years back I decided to launch a WordPress Demo Blog always running…

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WordPress 2.3 Dexter has been released. Facing the dreaded database upgrade error? Check out this forum thread. And if you have shell access, read my tutorial on Upgrading WordPress via Shell. And, do remember to deactivate all plugins before you upgrade.

Almost everyone who has SSH access to their accounts will be well aware of PuTTY which is a free Telnet and SSH Client. PuTTY has saved tonnes of time because using shell is a definite time saver over most other methods. If you have just one site to manage, then it isn’t a problem. However, if you have several sites to manage, then over a period of time you would have a lot of sites stored in PuTTY. This is all perfect until you decide to reinstall your Operating System. PuTTY stores the data in the registry, precisely at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY….

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