Powerpoint file size reduction

1.       Save as PPT 2007 format if its in older format.

2.       Open the file saved in step1.

3.       Scroll and go to a slide where there is a picture.

4.       Click on picture, go to format tab. Select compress pictures.

5.       In Options

6.       Target output : click “e-mail (96 ppi)” & select “automatically perform basic compression on save” & “delete cropped areas of pictures”.

7.       Ok, Ok.

8.       This will reduce file size by almost 50%.

9.       Further can be reduced by publishing it as PDF.

10.   File – Save as : PDF or XPS – Select “Optimize for:” minimum size (publishing online). 

Using above steps a PPT file of size 15 MB got reduced to less than 5 MB.

Multiple Contact Lists in Blackberry - Transferring to outlook

This is regarding multiple address lists observed in blackberry handset. This happens when different email ID s are configured and each brings its own contact list to handset.

I am Sharing the details to synchronize all these address lists with outlook.

 1.       On BB handset go to contacts : Options.

2.       Here you will see entries in contact lists. It will show all available different contact lists (list1, default, unknown ,2,3,4.....). Each list contains nos. of contacts.

3.       Click on list1 and it will show no. of entries in that. Note it down. Disable wireless sync on BB handset for contacts.

4.       Then through BBDesktopMgr synch with outlook. (do one way sync from handset to computer). It will transfer the contacts of list1 to outlook.

5.       Again go to handset – contacts – options. Select that address list and without going in just type “rset” on keyboard. It will ask “wireless sync for list1 is not enabled. Wipe contact list anyway”.  – Say Yes and it will delete this contact list.

6.       You can verify the no. of contacts transferred to outlook against no. of contacts mentioned in step3.

7.       Follow steps 3 to 5 for each address list on handset.

 

Above is helpful especially in transferring all contacts from blackberry to a phone with exch active sync or iphone with gmail.

Task : Transferring contacts from Blackberry to Nokia Lumia handset.

In this scenario Exchange Activesync or Windows Live is configured on Nokia handset.

1) First step is to transfer contacts to MS outlook seperate Contacts Folder. One can create a new contacts folders in .pst file. Use BB Desktop Manager to sync contacts with .pst-contacts folder.

2) Once synced blackberry contacts with outlook then either use Hotmail connector & configure username@live.com account and copy contacts from .pst-> contacts to server mailbox-contacts folder or if you already have corporate mail account configured then transfer/copy contacts to that server-contacts folder.

Once all contacts are there on server contacts they will automatically get synced to nokia lumia handset with activesync in place.

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One more problem faced is after transferring contacts, for some of the contacts it was allowing only calling and not SMS from contacts menu. This is due to mobile numbers saved in fields other than (Mobile Phone field) which are Business Phone, Business Phone 2... or others on which we don't have direct control. As while adding a new contact user may not notice this.

For this before 2nd step, export contacts from outlook to excel/csv file. Open that file in excel and move contacts under heading "Mobile Phone". Save & close. Then import them again in outlook - pst - contacts.
Then follow step2.

Blackberry Performance Issues

If your blackberry handset is working/responding slow and hourglass appears at times while performing some regular task.
Follow the below steps:

1. Clear blackberry event log
On Home screen, Hold Alt key and Press LGLG. It will display event logs. Press BB key and select "Clear Log".

2. Memory Cleaning
Enable memory cleaning as mentioned below.
Settings Options - ;  Security Options - ; Memory Cleaning.

Select Memory cleaning here if already not there. Save and Exit.
Remove & re-insert battery.

Using Runas command for administrative tasks in normal user login

In Windows XP, to perform administrative tasks from normal user login.

Start - run - cmd.

Then at command prompt give following commands :

runas /user:admin cmd

It will ask for local admin password. 

After that it will open another cmd prompt c:\windows\system32:\;

On that cmd prompt we can navigate to other directories and run any installation setup files or perform administrative tasks using commands given below.

Control panel tool                         Command ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Accessibility Options           control access.cpl    Add New Hardware             control sysdm.cpl add new hardware    Add/Remove Programs        control appwiz.cpl    Date/Time Properties           control timedate.cpl    Display Properties                control desk.cpl    FindFast                             control findfast.cpl    Fonts Folder                        control fonts    Internet Properties               control inetcpl.cpl    Joystick Properties            control joy.cpl    Keyboard Properties            control main.cpl keyboard    Microsoft Exchange             control mlcfg32.cpl    Microsoft Mail Post Office     control wgpocpl.cpl    Modem Properties               control modem.cpl    Mouse Properties               control main.cpl    Multimedia Properties          control mmsys.cpl    Network Properties             control netcpl.cpl    Password Properties            control password.cpl    PC Card                        control main.cpl pc card (PCMCIA)    Printers Folder                control printers    Regional Settings              control intl.cpl    Scanners and Cameras           control sticpl.cpl    Sound Properties               control mmsys.cpl sounds

How to open two different excel files on multiple monitors

When we have one external monitor attached to laptop & we want to see two different excel files, one on each.

Start excel and open file. Then drag that excel to extended desktop (external monitor). Then on laptop screen start a new instance of excel (start -> Programs -> Microsoft Excel ) and open another file in it.

"There was a problem sending the command to the program" error in Excel

Microsoft Excel 2007
1.Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options.
2.Click Advanced, and then clear the Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) check box in the General area.
3.Click OK.


Microsoft Excel 2003 or earlier versions of Excel
1.On the Tools menu, click Options.
2.Click the General tab.
3.Clear the Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) check box, and then click OK.

E-Mail address autocomplete on windows 7

The Outlook autocomplete file can be found at C:\Users\abc\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook, where abc is your username.  The file will be named the same as the default Outlook profile with .NK2 for the extension.

Windows : Adding printer in normal (non-admin) user's login.

Go to printer and faxes. :

Hold the SHIFT and right click on blank area below installed printers (or right area) and select RUN AS > Add printer and then Supply the correct administrative credentials

Then create appropriate TCP/IP port and complete printer installation.

Outlook 2007 searching for mails in personal folders in windows 7

 On a windows 7 machine, faced this problem of searching mail items in outlook 2007. 

Resolution:

Tools >> Instant Search >> Search Options >> "uncheck" the data file you want to be searched

Expanding size of OS/Boot partition on a physical machine with Windows OS.

For expanding OS/boot partition on a physical machine having windows OS. Below are steps.


1) Remove page file from OS.
2) Ensure there is required free space on that disk.
3) Boot with USB XP.
4) From command prompt : run “diskpart”

Diskpart steps :

1. Select disk 0
2. Select partition 1
3. Extend

Done. After restarting machine we can re-create the page file on the OS again.

Blackberry service book corruption - Internet not working

Due to service book corruption – Internet was not working on a BB handset.

Options – Advanced options – Service book

Delete following : IPPP for 5-click, for BIBS, BB enterprise browsing service.

On home : Press Alt + LGLG : Logs will appear – clear all logs.

Hard reboot your blackberry handset. Done.

If still you are not able use internet, call your mobile service provider and ask them to re-send service book.

VMWARE virtual machine boot partition size expansion

Remove page file from c:\ & ensure there is no snapshot of the VM for which we are considering disk expansion.
Note down partition size and .vmdk details from vsphere client. (machine1 = C:\ of which is to be expanded). Say existing C:\ is 30 GB and we want to expand to 50 GB.

Detach this hard disk i.e. vmdk from machine1 VM. (Make sure not to delete that .vmdk)

Vmkfstools –X 50G machine1_c.vmdk

Attach this machine1_c.vmdk file to another windows 2008 server or windows 7 machine using vsphere client.
Let’s consider we have used Win7 machine. Then boot win7 and from my computer – manage, go to disks. Here we can see original disk of 30 GB plus unallocated space of 20 GB.
Right click and expand it. Once done. Detach it from that machine i.e. remove the hdd from win7 VM. (No deletion).

Attach this expanded machine1_c.vmdk back to original machine.
Done.

For the above method if we do not have win7 machine and using windows xp then we need to use diskpart command to expand vmdk.

Printing to HP printer - Working from one PC and not working from others

Setup : Windows xp sp3. New HP Printer 1020.
Printer drivers installed properly & after first test page no further printing came. Whenever we give a print job just RED LED blinks few times on printer and no further progress.
Same printer checked in almost all PCs in network but same problem.
Then connected to an external laptop and worked ok.
The problem was with samsung printer driver.
Solution : Install samsung PCL6 driver only. (PS/2 driver was causing problem).

VPN error - VPN cant connect. never asked for ID and password.

Problem - Cisco VPN doesnt ask for login ID and password.

Observations - TCP/IP is working fine. Able to ping the IP address of the machine we wanted to connect to.

Solution - The Cisco VPN client connects through the TCP and UDP Protocol. Earlier it was only TCP. Changed it to use the UDP/TCP Protocol. Working fine.

Tif opening problem in Outlook

If you are using win xp pro and outlook 2003 and can't open Tif files in outlook.

Go to:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary internet Files\olk xxx
then delete this library contents.

if you cant see this library - open the hidden files and folder in the folder option

Now restart the computer to normal mode, open the outlook
and open the tif files

To locate temporary internet files you can follow as below.

Open REGEDIT.EXE and go to Edit -> Find... In the Find dialog box type "OutlookSecureTempFolder" without the quotes and locate that registry key.

That key will contain the actual folder location, and will look like:
C:\Documents and Settings\%USER_NAME%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK#\ (where # is a random letter or number)