Sunday, April 27, 2014

Remove Ask Toolbar From Windows Registry

Ask toolbar is a search engine utility application designed for web browsers. The toolbar is released by Ask.com. Usually, the toolbar gets installed in a user’s web browser when they download and install any applications or programs from online.

Uses of Ask toolbar

Ask toolbar allows users to access the Ask search engine without opening a separate tab for it in the web browser. This enables users to look for important information while surfing online. Usually, the toolbar is safe enough. However, if you have a slow internet connection, the toolbar can further slow down your browser performance. If you want to remove the Ask toolbar from your PC owing to any specific reasons, you can do so without too many difficulties. You can either remove it from the Control Panel or from the Windows registry. Removing the toolbar from the Control Panel is the easiest method. However, it leaves chances for the toolbar to reappear in the browser. On the other hand, if you remove the toolbar from Windows Registry, you can be assured that it won’t reappear.

How to remove Ask toolbar from Windows Registry
  • Navigate to the Start button and select the Run option.
  • Enter regedit in the type field, and press the OK button. Windows Registry Editor will be launched now.
  • Locate the following registry key in the left pane of the window.
           HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\appdatalow
  • Now, go to the right pane of the window and locate askbardis and bar respectively. Right-click each one and select Delete from the resulting dropdown menu.
  • After that, go to the following registry key in the right pane
           "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\classes\appid
  • Locate the genericasktoolbar.dll which can be found in the right pane and delete it by right-clicking and selecting the Delete button from the dropdown menu.
  • Following that, go to the left pane of the window and select the following Registry Key
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Folders\C:\Program Files. Now, go to the left pane and right-click Ask.com and delete it by selecting the Delete button from the dropdown menu.
  • Exit the Registry Editor window and restart your PC. Ask toolbar would no longer be there in your web browser.
The above instructions on how to remove Ask toolbar from Registry Editor would have helped you get rid of Ask toolbar from your PC. When you remove Ask toolbar via Registry Editor, you need to be extra careful as any mistake made in the Windows Registry Editor could leave your computer with more complicated problems.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Google Vs Windows Competition Taking A New Turn

As far as technology is concerned, competition is always tough. Unlike small business firms, competitions faced by big software giants are unpredictable. They need to be focused and should have foresight to anticipate the moves from their competitors and only this strategy could help them to face the risks.

As you are aware, Microsoft and Google are competitors and it is quite obvious if the competition is taking a new turn. As per the recent news, people using Windows Phone could bid goodbye to the Google Voice apps as Google has decided to bring something new and the terms and services of Google are new as well.

As per recent updates, May 15, 2014 will be considered as the last date of usage of Google Voice apps on Windows Phone. But there are other loopholes for accessing Google Voice on mobile web even though it is not a preferred method. Even though the new move from Google is due to their competition spirit, they have a different explanation regarding the same.

According to Nikhyl Singhal of Google, “Finally, we want to make Google Voice as secure as possible. There are a few third-party applications that provide calling and SMS services by making unauthorized use of Google Voice. These apps violate our Terms of Service and pose a threat to your security, so we’re notifying these app developers that they must stop making unauthorized use of Google Voice to run their services and transition users by May 15, 2014.“

The new decision of Google will definitely affect the people using Windows Phone for accessing Google apps and they might treat Windows Phone as a less secure platform due to the initiative taken by Google. There are people who dial Windows support number and enquire about the credibility of Windows phone.

Normally, a single number is offered to users by Google Voice, which you can share with your family and friends. You could use this number for any type of phone no matter whether it is your landline or cell phone. Your number will also be secured by Google Voice if you do not want it to be displayed.

Other than ending support for Google Voice over Windows Phone, Google is also dropping Exchange ActiveSync. From all these moves, we can definitely get to a conclusion that the competition is quite tight and Microsoft should have to think about new plans to face the competition. We can definitely expect more people to contact Microsoft by dialing the Windows support number and they would definitely enquire about the fate of Google Voice in Windows phones.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Recalling An Email Message In The Outlook Program

Many of us know the feeling of sending an email message and then realizing that we have forgotten to add some important information, sent the email message to a wrong person, or said something that we did not intend to say. If you have sent this email message from the Microsoft Outlook 2010 program, you have the option to recall the message so that you will be able to make the intended changes in the message. The user can also choose to delete the message completely to replace it with a new one. You should understand that these things could be done only if the recipient has not opened the email that you have sent.

The steps to retrieve Outlook email messages are explained below in this article.

Instructions
  • Turn on your computer and then launch the Microsoft Outlook program.
  • In the Outlook program interface, click on the Sent Items folder from the folder list that is located in the left side of the window.
  • Double click on the email message that you wish to recall.
  • Now you can click on the Message tab that is located at the top of the window. 
  • Click on the Actions drop-down in the Move section of the ribbon that is located at the top of the window.
  • You may then click on the Recall this message button. 
  • Click on either the Delete unread copies of this message option or on the Delete unread copies and replace with a new message option.
  • Check the box that is located on the left of Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient  if you wish the be informed about the status of your recall or you may remove the check mark if you do not wish to be told.
  • You may now click on the OK button to finish the recall process.
These are the steps to retrieve Outlook email messages. These steps can be used to get back the message only if the receiver has not opened the email that you have sent. Even if you recall the message, edit it, and resend the message, your receiver will know that you have sent an email and then recalled it. You will have to keep an answer ready to the question of the receiver regarding recalling of the message.

Microsoft Plans Kinect Integrations With Windows Computers

Looks like the age of hands free applications may soon become a reality, all thanks to Microsoft. Microsoft announced today that they will bring in the Xbox Kinect to Windows based machines. This change could have a huge impact especially for the healthcare and engineering industry.

Microsoft has launched the Kinect in 2010 as a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" designed for their Xbox gaming console platform. The Kinect sensor is a unique device which allows users to interact and play games using physical gestures, as opposed to pressing multiple buttons on a gaming controller.

Microsoft has now decided to expand on the Kinect platform by integrating it with their Windows operating systems, indicated information week. Microsoft is keen on launching the software out for developers to create applications and programs that are integrated seamlessly with the Kinect and continue running on Windows based desktops, laptops and possible even touch devices. The Microsoft research team has high hopes of this integration and look forward to the Kinect platform becoming a useful tool for manipulating machines and computers. "When we first saw the Kinect it became completely obvious that what we wanted to do was control the universe with our fingertips. We believe that Kinect can be more than just a great platform for gaming and entertainment. It opens up enormous opportunities that span everything from delivering new personal experiences to addressing societal challenges in the fields of healthcare and education."

The new Kinect platform could really be a huge change in the computing world but Microsoft better do it with perfection. Of late many of their innovations have caused many issues, and annoyed users have been pestering the Windows tech support team for days. Either way the Windows tech support team may still have lot on their hands when this entire integrated platform comes out.

Overall, however, this move sees the software giant taking a huge leap forward in the computing world, and involving themselves more into hardware – a wonderful sight to see. As Windows-based computers dominate most PCs and laptops across the globe, this new platform integration could impact many more than just the healthcare and engineering industries. The Kinect sensor support had been bought out successfully on the Xbox 360 gaming console for the Netflix application which lets users use voice or gesture to control the Netflix interface. It is one of the fastest selling gadgets, and probably one of the coolest. Looks like JARVIS from Iron Man may soon become a reality.

Simple Steps For Getting Rid Of Ask Toolbar

Normally speaking, Ask toolbar is a benign toolbar that just helps its users access the Ask.com search engine, without having to open a separate tab for the same while surfing other web pages. Nevertheless, the toolbar is highly vulnerable to attacks from malwares causing, it to assume the features of a malware application. If the Ask toolbar that has been installed in your web browser is infected, it will alter your default browser settings like replacing the default web page or search engine with malicious ones. If you doubt that the Ask toolbar that you have is infected due to any strange changes that you notice, it is recommended to remove the toolbar right away. Here are the instructions to help you out with this.

Instructions to remove Ask toolbar

The steps of removing Ask toolbar vary depending on the web browser you are using. For instructional sake, we list down the steps for uninstalling the toolbar from Internet Explorer web browser.

Steps
  • Launch your IE web browser.
  • Go to the arrow button that you can see on the right side of the Search option. This will display a dropdown menu with multiple options. Select the option titled Manage to display the toolbar options.
  • Now, go to the left side of the panel and locate the option titled Search.
  • Press the option. This will display a new page titled Search Options.
  • Select the box before the link that states Set and keep Google as the default search engine.
  • Press the Save button in order to save the changes you have made in the settings and exit the screen.
If you are using Mozilla Firefox as your default web browser, you need to work out a different set of steps to remove Ask toolbar from your web browser. Here they are.

Steps
  • Launch Firefox web browser.
  • Go straight to the arrow button located at the left side of the address bar and press it. A dropdown menu will be displayed now.
  • Press the option titled Manage Search Options from the dropdown menu. A new screen listing all the search engines installed in the web browser will be displayed now.
  • Locate Ask.com in the list and highlight it.
  • Press the Remove button located at the side of the screen.
  • After ensuring that that the search engine is removed, press the OK button to save the changes you have made and exit the window.
You have learnt how to get rid of Ask toolbar from Internet Explorer as well as Mozilla Firefox browsers. To know how to remove the toolbar from other browsers, visit the help forums of the respective browser.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Modified Notifications While Moving Or Copying Files In Windows 8

Microsoft has modified the dialog that is displayed while copying or moving files in Windows 8 OS. Some of the users say that it is an improvement over the dialog that is displayed while the users copy or move files in the older versions of the Windows operating system.

By default, the information displayed in the dialog is limited. The dialog shows only the number of items that are being copied, the names of the source and the destination folders and the progress of the copying or moving process in percentage. In addition to these things, you get controls to pause the operation or cancel it. If you click on the More Details button that is displayed in the dialog box, additional information will be displayed to you. This has made many users do the Windows 8 transfer.

The most interesting thing is the transfer graph that is displayed in addition to the basic information that is discussed above. The graph gives the user an idea about the speed with which the operation takes place, and also displays the ups and downs in the process. These changes have made many users think about going for the Windows 8 transfer.

Enable Full Details Permanently

When the user switches to the new file dialog, all the future operations of the session are also displayed on it. But, once the user shuts down the computer or logs off and then logs on again, you will be taken to the basic display again. If you wish to make this change permanent, you will have to change the value of a preference in Windows Registry. The steps to be done are explained below in this article.
  • Skip to step number three if you are already on the Start Screen of Windows 8 OS.
  • Tap on the Windows key to see the Start Screen in your computer.
  • Type in regedit in the search box and then click on regedit.exe from the search results. 
  • From the User Account Control window, select Yes.
  • Make use of the sidebar that is located on the left side of the screen to go to the following key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\OperationStatusManager
  • Find the EnthusiastMode that is located on the right side of the screen. If it is not present there, you will have to make it. Right click on the entries that are located on the right, select New and then Dword from the context menu.
  • Name the mode as EnthusiastMode.
  • Once it is displayed, double click on it, and change its value to 1.
These are the steps to enable full details in the copying or moving dialog box. If you have any doubts, you can contact our tech support team.