If you are on wireless connection and need to download some games (or other business related applications) you may want to know and control the usage.  This has been part of the OS for a while now but with Creator Update it will also allow you to meter wired connections.

Here is how to do it.

1. Click Settings.
2. Then click on Network & Internet.
3. Then click on Ethernet
4. In the Ethernet menu click the network connection
5. Slide the switch to set as a metered connection

If you don’t have the Creator update (you really need to update and get in the ring with the rest of us) or if there is a problem doing it the “easy way” then you can always try the old registry method.  Which is coming up in my next post

Im a gamer. I have said this before and it still is true. I’ve tried to quit: no gaming PC in over 4 years (but I do have a Xbox One).  And now this

Cities: Skylines has come out.  I haven’t bought the game (yet – as I just bought Watch Dogs 2 since it is part of the Gold discount package this month) but wow does it look like fun. It really brings me back to one of the best simulation games of all time: Sim City

I spent hours as a kid playing that game and this new incarnation (conceptually) has all the bells and whistles. Planning power grids, setting garbage collection schedules and city planning: so much fun!  I will be buying this one for sure.

And Watch Dogs 2 is also a spectacular.  The first one was one of the best (most fun) games I have ever played and the new one does not disappoint. I have really grown to like sandbox games like this. It has some great new vehicles to control (like construction equipment and armored cars), more options of things, and ways, to hack and lots of great new story content too.  That was one of the best parts of the first game and they really picked up the gauntlet with this one.

Gauntlet… now there is another game.. but that will have to wait for me to get more free time – yeah, right

Good game!

Here is the second part of the hibernation post. This time we are looking at Windows 10.

1. Starts off similar to Windows 7 with either going to Control Panel (if you can find it in Windows 10 – it is still there!) or by typing “Power Options” in the search box
2. Click on “Choose what the power buttons do”
3. If the choice are not all listed then you may have to select “Change settings that are currently unavailable”
4. Scroll down and check “Hibernate”
5. Now when you shut down you will have the Hibernate option as well
6. Side note: using the keyboard shortcut Alt-F4 still works and brings up a list of all the available shutdown/logoff options – and hibernate is there too!
7. rtsS cvbClciIf th choice ssdfsNow

One of my many nicknames is D-bear cause you don’t bother the bear when he’s sleeping (shout out to ICCYCC friends present and past).  This next post is all about hibernation. It is a great feature of the OS. It takes the contents of RAM and dumps them to a file called hyber.sys on the C: drive. Layman’s terms: When you power up you get all your files back more quickly.

In Windows 7

1. Go to Control Panel -> Power options
2. Left hand side -> Change when computer sleeps
3. At the bottom of the sleep plan window click on “Change advanced Power settings”
4. Scroll through the options until you find Sleep->Allow Hybrid Sleep
5. Turn this off – it seems counter intuitive.  Make sure it is off for both battery and power when using a laptop (not needed but just highlighting that there are 2 choices for laptop users so configure them properly)
   
6. Click OK
7. Now on your start menu you will see the hibernate option
   

But wait! There’s more! In my next post will show you how to do the same thing in Windows 10

Stay tuned!

This is the mantra of IT – or at least it should be.  We put lots of effort into this in terms of our infrastructure but what about documentation. I know to most techs that is a four letter word but its true. Why not make it easy?  We all have a list of emails that we send out on a regular basis and instead of typing them out each time why not use a template? Here’s how to do it in Outlook 2010

1. Create a new email
2. Fill in the To, Cc, Subject, body and add a signature
3. Now, instead of sending go to file and select Save As
4. In the “Save As Type” select Outlook Template (OFT) and give the file a memorable name (“Khan”? – no, something that will tell you what it is in the future)
5. MAKE SURE TO NOTE WHERE YOU ARE SAVING THE FILE as you will need it in one of the next steps
6. Now you will need to back into Outlook and find the developer tab
   1. If you don’t see that tab go to File ->Options -> Customize Ribbon -> and in the right side pane select “Developer tools”
      
7. Click Okay
8. Here comes the sneaky bit.  That path from step 4. above? You are going to need it.
9. First create a folder called Templates (or something more creative if you have the caffeine levels for that)
10. Open the folder
11. Now open File explorer and browse (or copy-pasta) to the path where you saved the template.
12. Copy the file to the new outlook folder you created in 9. above and voila
13. The email should show up in that folder and it will stay there
14. Jut open it like a normal email and send – it will send – but will also stay in that folder

Ta da, magic!  Emails that stay in a folder even when sent

Keep your stick on the ice!!

Well actually there is 3 steps. The one I will not cover in this article is convincing the higher-ups that you need an assistant. Once you have won that fight you will want them to manage your inbox and calendar for you as well as getting coffee and picking up the laundry. I mean, they are there to help, right 😉

Ok, so, step one.  Setup the mailbox permissions

1. Open Outlook
2. Go to File tab -> Info -> Account settings -> Delegate access

   

3. Click Add
4. Find the user
5. In Outlook 2010 the permissions pop-up automatically so select your choices and then click okay
   
6. Done part one

Step two add the mailbox to the assistant’s computer.

1. On the assistant’s computer Click File -> Open -> Other User’s Folder
   

2. Enter your name (the name of the person who setup the delegate access in the first part).
3. Select what you want to see and click Okay

Make it so, delegate 🙂

It is a long standing mantra in customer service: “The client is always right”.  Well the axiom does not apply to Exchange.  In some recent work we had to look at rules and compare server rules to client rules and see who wins the resulting fist fight

Here is the long and short: The server side rules take precendence. Client side rules only apply when the client is running. Now there is one exception here and that is that rules setup on a client PC can be client rules or server rules depending on what options you select.

Now this is particularly important as client side rules only apply when the client (PC and Outlook) are running.  So these rules can be a bit “finicky” since they have more dependencies than the server side rules.  If you are on another PC and in Outlook your client side rules do not apply. Rules like moving email to a folder, moving email to a PST or playing a sound when email arrives will only work on your PC when Outlook is running.

Server rules run no matter where you are and Outlook does not need to be on for them to be active.The easiest place to setup these rules (as a user) is in OWA (Outlook Web Access – webmail for Exchange users).

One rule to rule them all 🙂

It has happened to the best of us. We finish our thesis/doctoral essay/blog post and somehow the file disappears or is incomplete.  Frustration!  There are many ways to solve this but first – an ounce of prevention 🙂

Always make sure that the autorecover is set to save the file every XX minutes – I use it a 5 mins (10 on my work machine).  This is found under file-options-save

This location also begins our file recovery journey.  Note that a fewl lines lower is  the autorecover file location.  Click on browse and it will show files it has saved there.

The reason for the blog is I just found something that I had not been aware of before and that is the file- info- manage versions button.  This is another place to go and see if your lost data has been hiding there.  Just click on the “Recover Unsave Documents” button and it will open a new location which may hold the missing info.

I’m sure there are tons more ways to find lost files but these ones are quick and easy

Happy hunting!