Todd Boss

Nov 3

How to Make Your Android or iOS Mobile Device Show in the “Devices” tab in Spotify

I’ve been a Spotify user for a few weeks now, and recently subscribed to the premium service so that I can sync tracks to my Android device. However, I found that I couldn’t get my local music to sync over wifi to the phone. I though perhaps it was a problem with my Droid X2, but as it turns out, the problem was actually a Windows Firewall setting (thanks to Rex S. for the tip). Here’s how to fix it in Windows 7:

Press the Windows key, then type “allow a program”.
Find “Allow a program through Windows Firewall” at the top of the Start Menu and click on it.
Scroll down the list to find Spotify.
Check the boxes for the networks you want Spotify to be able to access. You will likely find that “Public” is already checked. You’ll want to check “Domain” and/or “Home/Work (Private)” depending on which type(s) of network you connect to.

In a few moments, your device should show up in the “Devices” tab and you will be able to sync all of your playlists!

Jun 21

Shell Commands to Access the Special Folders in Windows 7/Vista/XP

Somehow, I never realized that these little shortcuts to the Windows system folders existed.

Mar 3

Man upgrades Windows 1.0 to Windows 7

Apr 30

UnknownDevices Recognizes Your Hardware When Device Manager Can't

Feb 12

Windows patch cripples XP with blue screen, users claim

Better headline:

PC Repair Technicians Laud New Microsoft Patch as “Pennies from Heaven”

Nov 17

Windows 7 Tip: Power Efficiency Reports Tune Up Windows 7's Energy Use

Running powercfg -energy as Administrator will generate a nice (albeit slightly cryptic) HTML report showing you how to configure your device to save energy.

Oct 30

Penny Arcade! - In The Seventh House

Oct 28

Microsoft selling crapware-free PCs in its stores

If you’re going to buy a Windows PC and you’re not comfortable rebuilding your own machine, this is the way you should do it.

Sep 22

How to install your old HP Photosmart 7350 printer in Vista/Windows 7

My trusty old Photosmart 7350 (circa 2003ish) has always installed automagically in whatever OS I’ve thrown at it (Linux included). Windows 7, not so much. As it turns out, you need to install the driver for the Deskjet 5550 (included with Windows 7), and then mess around with the port settings a bit. After that, no problems (yet).

Aug 6

Windows XP Login Logout Loop (Virus)

If you find that upon logging into Windows you are immediately logged out without even a peek at your desktop, you are probably suffering from the effects of a virus that nukes some Windows System files or the registry values that point to them. The fix is pretty easy. Just take a look at the link above. You may need a Windows install CD (or in my case, a Linux LiveCD) to restore userinit.exe back to its proper place in windows\system32. I found an extra copy hanging around in windows\i386 that I copied over there (I’m not sure, though, whether or not that file is the proper version for SP3, so YMMV).

I’m too busy to mess around with viruses on my own PC. That’s just one more reason why I use Ubuntu.