A Warning, and a problem with Windows Live Essentials (particularly beta)

Hi all,

DON’T BOTHER TRYING THE NEW BETA OF WINDOWS LIVE ESSENTIALS…!

With that said, let’s carry on. It’s been a while since I blogged properly (aside from Plinky, of course) so here I am.

Recently, I wanted to synchronise my Personal Message in Windows Live Messenger with my Facebook status (MessengerDiscovery live says it does this by the way, but so far I can’t get it to work…) using the WLMessenger Facebook application. However, I couldn’t get it to work. Somebody from MS advised me to try the new beta, which has this function.

Of course, me being me I promptly tried it out and immediately regretted doing so. Within the space of the 5 minutes I gave it a go on my computer, the software hung and stopped responding I don’t know how many times, and it was generally slow and unresponsive, despite my CPU/RAM/temperature/Internet connection, etc being absolutely fine and normal. The status thing also didn’t happen by the way.

Deeply unimpressed, I decided to uninstall the new WLEssentials beta suite and reinstall the current versions I had before. Simple enough, I thought. I uninstalled them, using their own installer thing, and it said they were gone, so I fired up the current version’s installer. It said that Messenger, Writer, etc could not be installed because I already had more recent versions installed! LIES!

After a LOT of messing around for a couple of days with regedit, deleting folders and various uninstallers and registry cleaners, (speaking of which, I should probably do a Glary checkup about now…) someone helped me on Windows Live Help, and someone else on Byon’s Blog (links at the bottom) and eventually, using MyUninstaller, and everything else, I managed to get rid of it all, and all the rubbish it left behind, and installed a clean, fresh Messenger and Writer to my computer. I couldn’t thank these people enough; they’ve really helped a lot. It seems that the messed-up installations were not showing as they were filed under either windows updates or system components (or both) which MyUninstaller showed by default, but I hadn’t seen the option in Revo Uninstaller, which is my usual uninstaller. As a result of fiddling with it until 03:00 this morning, everything seems to be running ok, and I am writing this using Windows Live Writer once again!

Here is the thread on Windows Live Help, which I recommend if you’re having difficulty:

http://windowslivehelp.com/thread.aspx?postid=8b70be4f-0bb7-4317-ba49-eba1d8cd5ca6#8b70be4f-0bb7-4317-ba49-eba1d8cd5ca6

And here is the link to Byon’s Blog:

http://byon.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/windows-live-essential-beta-0×80280007-error/#comment-534

By the way, one of the many errors I had was the infamous 80040154 when trying to sign into messenger at one point. Comment here or on the links I gave if you’re having difficulty with WLEssentials, and I really recommend Windows Live Help (http://www.windowslivehelp.com/) for anything you’re struggling with because they were really very helpful.

How to get up to 10Gb of free space on Dropbox!

EDIT: I have now got a new Dropbox account which I will be using for work if I can get enough space from referrals. If not, then I’ll stick to USB! This new link works exactly the same as before. Many thanks to all those who signed up before, and thanks in advance to those who will! Free space for all! :)

Hey all,

I didn’t actually know this feature existed until yesterday. So far I have an extra 1Gb+250Mb from doing this, and hopefully soon I’ll have the full 10Gb of free space! What more can you ask for? This is so easy to do, and adds another dimension (literally) to an already indispensable piece of software. It works on PC, Mac, Linux, iPhone, etc too. That’s probably the best thing about Dropbox; it just works! That’s all there is to it!

Basically, all you have to do to start getting extra space is follow this link to sign up for Dropbox (all free) and download:

http://db.tt/ku2JooO

It’s a secure referral link rather than the standard signup page. Clicking will take you here:

Fill out the details on the right, and click the button. That will take you to the download page. If the download doesn’t start on its own then just click the link in the blue box at the top. Save the file (or run, or whatever), and you’re done!

When it asks you if you do or don’t have a Dropbox account, say you do, because you just made one on the first page! A lot of people make a second account, not knowing this.

That’s it! Once you start to use Dropbox, you will automatically get an extra 250Mb of space, just for signing up. You can also easily take this up further to 2 and a half Gb by completing the “Get Started” steps (go to the Get Started tab at the top of the Dropbox website after signing in).

Anyone who does this will have my eternal gratitude, because not only do you get an extra 250Mb, but so do I! (to a maximum of 8Gb). You can do the same thing after following my referral link by inviting other people yourself, thereby getting even more space (I won’t get space from that, but you will!)

(My old one)

An Unconventional (but tasty) Cure for Tooth Pain

Hey all,

Recently I’ve been suffering from some pain from my wisdom teeth as they push their way through my gums. I’ve tried loads of different ideas, from simply eating on the other side, to eating only on the painful side (some say it helps wear away the painful inflamed gum, not sure if it’s good to do though, didn’t seem to help me much!), to Ibuprofen, to aspirin, to using Bonjela teething gel!

The problem is, Bonjela gives me stomach aches for some reason. I don’t quite understand that but never mind…

So my dad gave me an idea, and I didn’t think it’d work at first, but I tried it anyway. All he said was this:

1. Get 1 teaspoon of Scotch whiskey (the stronger the better)
2. Put it in your mouth, and tilt your head to hold the Scotch over the area that is painful for as long as you possibly can.

If all goes well, the pain should go! Mine went for around 16 hours or so when I tried this – it worked much better than anything else. If it doesn’t work then never mind – you’ve had an excuse for a drink! Well, a taste at least. :P

Using Windows apps as a Browser!

Hi all,
Access the Internet through Notepad, Paint, Calc, etc…
What you need:

• Computer + MS Windows
• Internet connection
• A body with which to operate said system…
• Electricity, etc, to power said system. Also fuel for said body. I recommend chips. I love chips. Chips love me… ^_^

A long time ago I found out this neat little trick that will get through school filters, if they’re not clever and annoying like they are at my college and remove the bit we need. Anyway, that aside, it’s a funky move that seems to be little-known too, so listen carefully. I’ll only say this once. Sorry about the slightly condescending highlighting by the way, I used to like playing with Snipping Tool you see. (ahh, the novelty of upgrading OS back in the day…)

Here goes…
I’ve only tried this on XP (skinned to be old btw in the pictures – it was done on a knackered old relic so I did all I could to make it comfortable in its final years…) but I assume it might work on older systems. I haven’t as yet found how to do a similar trick in Vista – I assume there is a way, but I have yet to find it as the Help function seems different in Vista/7. By the way, I know it’s not technically hacking as such, more a little-known feature, but never mind.

Step 1 – Choose your App:
Open up a Windows app. I know for sure that this works with Notepad, Calculator and Paint. Haven’t tried it in any others yet but logic suggests that it could work with others too.

Step 2 – Getting a Little Help:
Go over to Help. Funny that this the only time I’ve ever actually used a Windows app’s Help function!

Clicking Help Topics will take you to this screen:

Step 3 – The Easiest of All Hacks:

This is the most simple, easy and ridiculous of hacks in the world. Right-click the bar at the top of the window (whatever its proper name is…) and go to Jump to URL…
The MicroSoft Leprechauns will then bring you this funky monkey box:

Simply type in where you want to go (the example being my old forum, The Sanctuary, at http://schamael.proboards.com) and Bob’s your uncle! Well, unless you’re me. Then Paul is in fact your uncle. But he is my uncle. Get your own…

… O_o …

Assuming you’re connected, you’ll get this:

Enjoy! and use responsibly…

How to make FLASH BOMBS and FLASH POWDER

As quite a pyromaniac myself, things like this amuse me. In my travels, I have come across a few, shall we say, slightly irresponsible websites like these:

Here is a guide to making flash powder:
http://splodetv.com/video/how-make-flash-powder

And here is the bomb guide:
http://splodetv.com/video/how-make-flash-bombs-0

Obviously the misuse of this information is nothing to do with me; it’s just there for your entertainment because it’s cool to look at. Seriously though, it is ridiculously dangerous and I recommend that you don’t bother. If you do, just be careful, eh? And don’t use them stupidly either.

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