Monday, September 29, 2014

Slew Of Problems Reported In Windows 8.1

It was believed that Microsoft’s latest OS version Windows 8.1 update addressed many a number of Windows 8 problems. But, recent reports from customers indicate that a slew of new problems have emerged. Some of the customers I got in touch with spoke of two new major problems with their Windows 8.1 machines; problem with the fonts and problem with the mouse pointer.

The first problem, the issue with the fonts, pops up when users launch any application or programs. The fonts of texts on the dialogue boxes or screens appear blurry and many a number of users find it hard to read them. The second major issue is related to the mouse pointer. It happens when users play any high-end games in their PCs. When certain games are played, say Half Life, Call of Duty, Tomb Raider or Counter Strike or Hitman, the mouse pointer appears very large or very small. The size of the mouse pointer there will be entirely different from the default size of the same in places like Windows Explorer or other Desktop applications.

What are the causes of the problems?

Experts who analysed the issue have found out that the problems were caused by some of the new features and updates introduced in Windows 8.1. It is reported that the newly introduced bitmap scaling and changes brought to mouse input processing are the culprits. These two changes are reportedly causing a number of issues with certain desktop programs. Apparently, they are behind the unusual behaviour of the mouse pointer while playing certain games.

How to address the issue?

If you are facing any of the above mentioned issues on your new Windows 8.1 PC, here are a few troubleshooting steps that you can work out yourself.

Download and install Hotfix from Microsoft support site

Microsoft has rolled out hotfixes via its support site to assist users to address Windows 8 problems due to the newly introduced features in Windows 8.1. The hotfix that is intended to address mouse pointer issues is codenamed KB2908279. If you are seeing unusual behaviour with the mouse pointer while playing games in your Windows 8.1 PC, go to the Microsoft support site, download the said hotfix and install it. Restart your PC after the installation of the hotfix. The issue should be fixed.

If the above method didn’t work, try fixing the issue by running the application or game, which has the problem, in compatibility mode. You can also get the issue fixed by contacting the Windows support desk.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Update For Automatic Windows 8.1 Upgrade Unveiled

Windows 8 users have enough reasons to rejoice now. The software giant Microsoft has unveiled an update which would enable Windows 8 users to migrate to Windows 8.1 automatically. So, hereafter, users do not have to worry about how to upgrade to Windows 8 / Windows 8.1. The update is also available for Windows 8 RT.

How does the update work?

If you have enabled automatic Windows Update in your Windows 8 PC, you must have already received the update that would take you to Windows 8.1. To know whether you have already received the update, search for the update by its codename KB2973544. If the update is not installed yet, you can download it from Microsoft Download Centre. The update is totally free. In order to upgrade to Windows 8.1 automatically through KB2973544, you may have to provide your Windows 8 license key. So, be ready with it to activate your OS once the upgrade is made.

Microsoft insists installation of previous Windows updates to install KB2973544

It is reported that users who haven’t installed previous Windows updates are facing issues while installing KB2973544. If you face any problems while installing the update, check whether you have installed all the previous updates. You can go to Microsoft Download Centre and get all the previous updates. By any means, you should have installed the previous update KB2871389. Upon the successful installation of KB2973544 on your Windows 8 PC, it becomes capable of getting upgraded to Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 RT.

KB2973544 is exclusively meant for enabling Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT to automatically upgrade to Windows 8.1. Hence, you do not have to do any manual upgrade once you have this update installed on your PC. Let your OS do the upgrade automatically.

Automatic Windows 8.1 Upgrade option not available for volume-licensed PCs

If you have Windows 8 OS installed on volume licensed PCs, do not expect that the installation of KB2973544 would do the automatic Windows 8.1 upgrade. Microsoft has clearly mentioned in its support site that the automatic upgrade is not available for such computers. In order to upgrade your volume-licensed PCs to the latest Windows 8.1 update, get in touch with the Microsoft support desk.

Unlike Windows 8, Windows 8.1 update is integrated with many good features, fixes and security enhancements. If you are troubled by frequent Windows 8 problems and curse the moment you thought how to upgrade to Windows 8, upgrade your OS to Windows 8.1 and have peace of mind.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

How To Enable Delegate Access In Outlook 2010

Every time a new version of a Microsoft product or service is released, folks show extreme eagerness to try it out because they know that there will be a few brand new features added to it. One of the new features added to Outlook 2010 version is Delegate Access. This feature allows you to give permission to a person of your choice to access your Outlook account. This nominated person will be able to view, edit or send emails or other items from your Outlook account. Undoubtedly, this is a highly useful feature and can be of great help when it is not possible for you to access your Outlook account.

This article explains how you can enable Delegate Access in your Outlook application by making changes in your Outlook email setup. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the instructions given here are primarily aimed at helping users who have upgraded their email server to the latest Exchange 2010. If you are using a different email server, there might be a few differences in the procedure. The entire process involves two different steps; choosing your delegates and then giving them the permission.

Choosing the delegates

  • Launch your Outlook 2010 application and navigate to the tab labelled File. 
  • Choose Info followed by Account Settings from the resulting menu. 
  • After that, click the Delegate Access option and select the Add button. This will display a new dialogue box labelled Add Users. 
  • Choose the delegates from the list and select the Add button. 
  • Save the changes by selecting the OK button. You have successfully chosen delegates to do Outlook tasks on behalf of you. Now, you have to provide each of your delegates with permission to the access your Outlook account.
Providing delegates with permission
  • Open Outlook and navigate to File>Info>Account Settings>Delegate Access. This will display a new window labelled The Delegates.
  • Go through the instructions given in the dialogue box and make sure that you have understood the terms and conditions.
  • Select the Add button and choose delegates from the list of chosen delegates in the list. Outlook will display a new window titled Delegate Permission. You will see different levels of permission in the window. Decide the level of permission you wish to give to your delegates.
  • Choose the permission level and click OK to save the changes and exit the window.
You have now successfully enabled Delegate Access in your Outlook 2010 account after making necessary changes in the Outlook email setup.

Download The Fitbit App For Your Windows Device

If you wish to stay fit and healthy, it is a good idea to keep track of your daily activities. It is not feasible to write down these details as and when you do it. However, if you have a good app to keep a track of these activities, it would be wonderful. One such app developed with this purpose in mind is Fitbit. The app, which was released in Play Store, was a big success with large number of downloads. However, users of Windows Phone devices were still unable to get acquainted with the app since it did not support Windows devices.

Now, if you are using a Windows Phone device and wish this app to keep a track of your daily activities, then here is good news for you. According to Windows support forums, Fitbit has become the first app to track your fitness activities on Windows Phone. Until now, the app was available only to Apple iPhone and Android users. Therefore, the news is going to make thousands of fitness freaks working with Windows Phone devices happy.

The app has numerous features integrated in it. With the app, you can set new fitness goals and then start working towards the fulfillment of the goals. You can monitor the progress of the goal and you are allowed to make changes to the goal as per the requirements.

Another feature of the app is its ability to keep in touch with your friends and loved ones who have installed the app. Windows support blogs find that the app provides techniques to send and receive messages with friends. You may create leaderboards with the app and this will help you to compete with each other in a group.

Windows Phone 8 users have been witnessing the release of several apps over the past few weeks. They include the apps for some of the famous programs like Uber and Adobe. Microsoft has been encouraging hardware developers to release apps for the platform. This measure seems to have helped the platform, as most of the famous apps are available in the platform. Users may download the app from the Windows Phone Store. The app is designed to work with the Fitbit devices like Fitbit One and Fitbit Flex.

So, if you are a Windows Phone user and wishes to keep a track of your fitness activities on your mobile device, download the Fitbit app today. By following the systematic guidelines and keeping track of the daily fitness activities, you can cut down your weight in a stipulated amount of time.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

How To Set Up Your Outlook E-mail Account

If you receive several emails in a day, it would better to use an email client to get the job done instead of using webmail services like Gmail or Outlook webmail. Email programs like MS Outlook have many different productivity apps that will help you with your daily tasks and allows you to handle your work well.

If you have an internet connection at home, you can setup email in Outlook to channel all your emails through the email client. You can setup multiple accounts and can manage them all at once and setting up the email account requires this process only once.

To setup the Outlook account, here is what you have to do:
  • Open Outlook from the Start menu, which is brought up by clicking on the Start icon.
  • Once Outlook has loaded, click on Tools and then select Account Settings. This will bring up the Account Settings dialog box.
  • Click on the Email tab to bring up all the email account settings.
  • Click on Add New Email Account. This will bring up a wizard that will help you setup email in Outlook.
  • Fill in all the relevant details, making sure all the details are accurate. If any of the information is false, you will not be able to successfully register.
  • Once you have filled in the required information, click on Next. Outlook will now try to automatically configure your email account.
If it succeeds, you will get a Congratulations message and you will be able to access all your emails. If not, you will have to make the following changes:
  • Click on Manually Configure Server Settings. This will bring up advanced settings for the Server type.
  • Click on the radio button for the Server type and select the server type that your email provider requires.
  • Click on Next to see the next configuration screen and type in the settings that your email provider requires. A simple Google search will reveal you the required settings.
  • Click the Test Account Settings button. It will ping the Outlook server to check if all your settings are right. Click on Close when you are done.
  • Click Next and then Finish when you see the Congratulations message.
As you can see, setting up email in Outlook is an extremely simple process if you know the procedure. If you have any trouble connecting to the email server, you can give our support services department a ring and we will do our very best in solving any issue that you are facing.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Procedure To Get Microsoft Outlook Log File

Microsoft Outlook is without doubt the most useful email management software we have ever seen. There are many top-notch features in the email client application, apart from the basic features like sending or receiving emails. Some of the striking features in Outlook include organizing contact details, task allocation, scheduling meetings, managing appointments, etc. This software is so good that when its entire caliber is utilized, your email experience will be enhanced. Outlook is like a chameleon when it comes to customizability, as it adjusts to the needs of users perfectly. These amazing features get Microsoft Outlook to the list of most preferred products by Microsoft.

In this article, we will see how Microsoft Outlook supports logging the communications that occur between Outlook and other types of email servers. These logs can be extremely helpful when it comes to troubleshooting issues that affect the transfer of messages between Microsoft Outlook and the email server.

When we consider a Kaspersky Anti-Virus malfunction, Kaspersky Lab specialists request for additional data like dump files and trace. In case Microsoft Outlook is installed on the host, you will require the log file for troubleshooting. Here is how you can activate Microsoft Outlook log file generation.

In Microsoft Outlook 2010
  • Go to the File button in Outlook email client application, and then click on Options. Thereafter, click on the Advanced tab, located in the left frame.
  • After that, check Enable troubleshooting logging option located under the Other section in the right frame,.
  • Click on the OK button, and restart Microsoft Outlook to let the changes take place.
In Microsoft Outlook 2007 and older versions
  • Go to the Tools menu in the application, and click on Options. After that, click on the Other tab.
  • On clicking, the Advanced Options link there, you will be able view the section were you can enable logging option.
  • Just tick on the checkbox against Enable logging (troubleshooting) option, and click on OK twice. Finally, restart Microsoft Outlook to let the changes come in effect.
When you have enabled this option, the application troubleshooting log will start registering all the necessary information concerning interaction between Microsoft Outlook and the email server every time a mail is sent or received. This way you will be able to get Microsoft Outlook log file.

Hope the above instructions were useful. For other Outlook related articles, you can peruse the articles posted in our blog.