Category: Tricks

  • Excel 2010 ribbon tab unresponsive when opening spreadsheet

    This is yet another reason file preview should never have been implemented in Windows explorer by Microsoft…though truth be told this bug has been resolved in later version of Office 2010 and Office 2013. Here’s the problem: After opening an xls or xlsx file, the ribbon at the top containing various commands named HOME, INSERT,…

  • Dllhost has gone haywire because of poweliks

    Dllhost.exe spawning multiple instances may seem suspicious but it is not necessarily a virus. Dllhost.exe is a wrapper application that is part of Windows 7 and can be used to run DLL files as applications and running some DLL’s as threads can be legit windows system activity. Last week, however, I had a workstation exhibiting…

  • Disable HDMI hot plug detection in Windows 7

    Whether you’re running Windows Media Center or another homebrew HTPC/DVR where Windows 7 is the underlying operating system, you may have noticed that HDMI hot plug detection can be extremely annoying. New receivers that allow you to switch between different HDMI connected entertainment devices, often also register an HDMI hot-plug or auto-detect event in Windows…

  • Outlook 2013 cannot open default OST file

    Microsoft Outlook 2013 can be finicky with add-ins. IMHO it’s more touchy about them than Outlook 2010, but that’s open to debate. Long story short, Outlook 2013 on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 can run into issues where it doesn’t terminate all processes after a user closes the program. Consequently, the user no longer sees…

  • Deploying the Java JRE to workstations using a GPO

    Java updates the JRE about once a month and it’s a good idea to keep java up-to-date. But what if you want to deploy Java to workstations in your active directory domain? And what if you want to disable java update/download notifications that cause users install the ask toolbar or McAfee Security scanner? Then you’ll…

  • Bulk-create external email contacts in Exchange/Office 365

    Say someone asked you to create an exchange distribution group with a thousand new external email addresses. Well, back in the day, you’d download some shady utility off the web and cross your fingers hoping not to spend the rest of your day cleaning up a failed bulk import with ADSIedit. Well, with Exchange 2007…

  • Gmail App reporting incorrect unread count

    I don’t know why, but this has been driving me nuts. Thanks OCD. When I check my Gmail on using the App on IOS or Android, it reports that I have 3 unread messages in my inbox. No matter how far i scroll down in the inbox using the app, however no unread messages are…

  • Shoretel is keeping Outlook from launching

    If you’re running the Shoretel Communicator and Outlook 2010/2013, you may have seen a situation where Outlook doesn’t launch and hangs at the splash screen stating “loading profile…”. This is actually caused by a small program named agent.exe that is part of Shoretel Communicator. This agent.exe program is designed to download contacts from your email…

  • Public folder 2gb limit in office365

    Office 365 has an undocumented issue with storage quotas on public folders. Office365 subscriptions offer 50GB of mailbox storage for public folders, but if you copy more than 2GB of data into a freshly created public folder within office365, you’ll get an error about the folder being full. Here’s how to resolve this issue: [step…