I develop applications using Microsoft Visual Basic. When I have finished writing a piece of software, the application is compiled into an executable file. When such files are run on Windows Vista a message appears saying that “An unidentified program wants access to your computer” and seeks permission to continue. I have attempted to overcome this problem by changing user account permissions and security settings within the Vista configuration, but this has not resolved the problem. Is there any way to disable this annoying notification for files which are known to be safe? (more…)

When pasting text from a source (such as web pages) into Word often the original formatting is retained, which can cause havoc within the Word document. I always find it easier to paste the text as absolutely plain text, to which I can then apply my own formatting. This can easily be done in Word 2007 by going to the “Home” tab > “Paste” > “Paste Special” > “Unformatted Text”. Additionally, if you already have text in the document and you wish to remove formatting from the text, click the “Clear Formatting” button within the “Font” section on the “General” tab. (more…)

When I connect my 128 MB Shintaro Flash Drive into the computer it automatically commences transferring files using Windows Explorer. Once the transfer has finished, the computer restarts. I have tried using other USB ports on the computer, but the same behaviour occurs. I also tried a different flash drive with the same results. However, the flash drives work fine on a different computer. How can I stop the files from automatically being transferred and the computer restarting? (more…)

Until recently, whenever I connected a digital camera to my computer the ZoomBrowser EX program automatically started and downloaded my photos into the My Pictures folder (within the My Documents folder on my computer). However, since installing the Google Picasa2 software on the computer, ZoomBrowser EX no longer appears. Instead, Picasa2 proceeds to download the photos automatically to an unknown location, and I cannot access the original photo files except through using the Picasa2 software. I would like to return to using ZoomBrowser as the default photo program, but I am unsure how this can be done. The computer is running Windows XP SP2. (more…)