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Tech Guides for Everyone

Fix overheating laptop or desktop (Windows XP)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDEA7NzEUpM]

Overheating issues on Windows XP are frustrating, and while common among laptops, desktops can also fall victim. Today I will show you a neat trick to reduce or stop overheating in its tracks.

I will presume you have already done the following?

  • Clean all air vents, fans & filters
  • All Windows Updates installed
  • Virus Scanned & infections removed
  • Malware scanned & infections removed

If you’ve checked those issues and you’re still having overheating issues and shutdowns, follow text guide below or watch the video above.

NOTE* Windows XP has very basic options for CPU power management (Windows Vista, 7 and 8 give you direct control of the CPU throttle) so my advice is to try option 1 below first, if that doesn’t work then try option 2, if that doesn’t work I have included some links to software and articles about power management in Windows XP..

Fix overheating issues on Windows XP

Option 1

  1. Click on the Start Menu Windows XP Start Button button bottom left
  2. Click on Control Panel menu item, the click the Power Options icon
  3. The Power Options Properties window should now be open
  4. Choose the Minimal Power Management option from the drop down list
  5. Click on Apply and then OK to close the window
  6. All done!

Option 2

  1. Click on the Start Menu Windows XP Start Button button bottom left
  2. Click on Control Panel menu item, the click the Power Options icon
  3. The Power Options Properties window should now be open
  4. Choose the Presentation option from the drop down list
  5. Click on Apply and then OK to close the window
  6. All done!

There are a number of apps and articles available to control Windows XP power schemes if the above options don’t help, listed below.

Change homepage in Internet Explorer (XP, Vista, 7)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkonXxXS2sE]

Today I will show you how to change your homepage in Internet Explorer running on XP, Vista or 7 and it’s pretty straight forward too. Did you know you can also have multiple homepages open on startup? A handy feature for news junkies.

Watch the video above or follow the text guide below.

Change your homepage in Internet Explorer (XP, Vista, 7)

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. Click on the Gear icon IE Tools icon at the top-right of your browser window
  3. Click on the Internet Options menu item
  4. The Internet Options window should now be open, select the General tab
  5. Look for the Home Page heading near the top
  6. Enter URL web addresses into the text-box, one per line (hit enter for new line)
  7. URL format is: http://www.google.com/ replacing google with the web address
  8. Now look for the Startup heading (just below the text-box)
  9. Make sure the Start with home page option is selected
  10. When you’ve finished, click OK to close the Internet Options window
  11. Restart Internet Explorer to test if your homepages appear on startup.
  12. You’re all done!

Reset Firefox to default settings (WIN)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNmVFshcOkU]

Occasionally you may need to reset Firefox (on Windows) back to its default settings to get it working again. It’s reasonably easy and I’ll show you how in this guide.

Watch the video above or follow the text guide below.

Reset Firefox back to default settings

  1. Open Firefox
  2. Click on the Settings Menu icon Firefox settings icon at the top-right of the browser window
  3. Look for the question mark (?) icon and click it on
  4. Click on the Troubleshooting Information menu item
  5. There should now be a Reset Firefox… button on the page, click it on
  6. Now click on the Reset Firefox button on the pop-up window
  7. Firefox will now reset back to default settings and alert you when it’s finished
  8. Firefox will restart automatically
  9. You’re all done!

Microsoft ends support for Windows XP

Microsoft to end support for Windows XP
April 8th is D-Day for Windows XP and Office 2003

Well folks the time has finally arrived (after 12 long years) for Windows XP to be relegated to the software dustbin of history 🙂 Microsoft will officially end support for XP on April 8th 2014, which means no more updates or technical support.

If you, your company, business or organization still use Windows XP, it’s well-and-truly time to upgrade (actually you should have done that already). And just to make your life more difficult, Microsoft will also end support for Office 2003 on the same date! (April 8th). Oh the pain!

If you are still using Windows XP on your home system (desktop, laptop etc) then upgrading is pretty easy. Just purchase a new copy of Windows, pop the disc in and follow the prompts for an upgrade install. The same applies to Office 2003.

If you are a business, company or organization still using Windows XP, your upgrade task will most likely be large and complicated (more computers = more complex task). This is a job for a technician, or possibly a team of technicians, to which you will pay a handsome fee, sorry. On the bright side, after upgrading you’ll be clear for another 10 years depending on the version you choose, and you’ll also have a much more stable, reliable, feature-rich computer system that is capable of utilizing all the latest security and management protocols. This means your business systems will be much more secure.

My advice is to take the plunge and upgrade your Windows XP system, it will be worth it.