Monthly Archives: March 2009

thunderbird: how to delete tags that you don’t need

Computer Aid Posted on by

I like using tags in Mozilla Thunderbird, but I found an odd problem.

I only need 2 tags… lets call them “me” and “wife”.

Since Thunderbird 2.x has a few built-in tags, I just added 2 extra tags via: right-click on a message, then select: tag -> new tag

But how do you remove existing tags like: “to do”, “important”, “work” ?

I was surprised to find very little info about it.

A google search either found people not being able to tag/untag messages, or people saying it can’t be done.

Yet I was sure I saw a way during my initial test of Thunderbird.

And then I found it:

tools -> options -> display -> tags -> select the tag you don’t want -> press delete button.

viadeo: please remove me from your mailing list

Computer Aid Posted on by

I seem to have the most fun when new web2.0 social sites decide to ban me for self promotion.

This time its Viadeo.com

I try to login, and I get the message: account suspended.

Yippee, a site that actually provides a “normal” message when they decide to ban/suspend you.

Looks like viadeo are a step better organised that stumbleupon and Mixx

But now I have another problem:

Viadeo send me regular emails (usually titled “your personalised summary”), with my account stats and other latest happenings.

The solution should be simple enough: a link at the bottom of the email to remove myself from the mailing list…viadeo2

I click on the link, I get sent to the viadeo website, where I must sign in before I can stop getting the emails… catch 22

Sigh

OK, I flag the email as spam, and I now have some material for another blog post!

moving emails from the bat! to thunderbird

Computer Aid Posted on by

I’ve been wanting to try using IMAP for my emails, and I found out that my existing email client (the bat!) seemed to have poor support for IMAP.

So I decided to switch to a more mainstream email client. I decided on Mozilla Thunderbird.thunderbird2

My first hurdle was moving thousands of emails in about 200 folders, into thunderbird.

I found the only realistic way to do it was folder by folder.

In theBat!, I would select all the emails in a folder, then tools -> export -> unix mailbox

Then give the file a name… usually the same name as the folder you are exporting from, and save it to c:documents and settings{username}Application Datathunderbirdprofiles{long string of letters and numbers}MailLocal Folders

Repeat the process for all folders

Start Thunderbird, and all the exported folders will appear in Local Folders

Just drag and drop them to the correct place.

NOTE: I tried to make it easier by duplicating my TheBat! folder structure in thunderbirds “Local Folders”, only to find that Thunderbird will not show the contents of exported unix files unless they are directly in Local folders.

Hmmm, not a promising start.

kcut b24 vinyl cutter

Computer Aid Posted on by

Customer can’t get PC and vinyl cutter to work.

The vinyl cutter is a KCut B24 (from Creation HK) and for now, its setup in plotter mode (ie its less dangerous to use a pen instead of a sharp blade).

I try the supplied driver CD, but connecting the plotters USB generates the XP new hardware wizard… The instructions say to “detect driver automatically”, but it doesn’t find the driver.kcutpro

I can’t find the driver anywhere on the net… I eventually direct the new hardware to find the driver on the internet. It never seems to work when you need it, but this time, it finds a driver, installs it, and it seems to integrate into XP correctly.

I then see that the KCut USB is actually an FTDI USB to serial driver (ie it somehow treats USB as a serial device, where its given a COM port, and you can specify baud rates and handshaking options… Something  I last remember using about 10 years ago 😮

Anyway, I then install the supplied drawing/cutting software (ie a simple paint program, with plotter “drivers” for at print/cut time) Its called ArtCut, and it ain’t easy to use.

What makes things worse, is it only allows you to output drawings to: COM1, COM2, USB, LPT1

Of course, the KCut driver is configured at COM5 .

It should be simple to fix: control panel -> system -> hardware -> device manager -> ports -> USB serial port (COM5) -> right click -> properties -> port settings -> advanced -> pick a port number.

But since COM1 and COM2 were already in use, I moved COM1 to COM11, then COM5 to COM1

Now I configure artCut, but the plotter/cutter still wont budge.

The plotter is set for a baud rate of 19200… I try all sorts of combinations of baud rates and flow control… but without some proper documentation, I get nowhere.

I even connect up the plotter using a real serial port (the B24 has both a serial and USB ports), but I just can’t find the right setting.

I try some other cutter software applications from the net (shareware and free trials), like signgo and vistool, but they don’t work.

I signup with signcut X2, trying to get their free trial, but they just seem to ignore me…

After many hours, I eventually admit defeat.

Customer will look for other free trial software, and might yet get it going, but for me, I could no longer justify the time spent working on this.

Faulty power button

Computer Aid Posted on by

I’m told that a PC power button has stopped working.

The PC owner has a young (maybe 2 year old) daughter, who likes to push buttons and often has sticky fingers, so I’m not surprised.

The last time I visited, the button would often stick when pressed, and wouldn’t easily spring back out.

Given that this PC also has a reset button, then the easiest thing to do is to unplug the power button wires from the motherboard, and plug the reset wires into the power header.

So, the reset button becomes the power button, and the old power button becomes a toy for the toddler.

But the PC refuses to start. Sometimes the fans will spin, other times it will beep (indicating a hardware error).

Eventually, it starts to look like a power supply problem. I explain this to the owner as I’m going to the car to get a new power supply. His wife overhears, and says: “oh yeah, something happened with the power the other day… sparks were flying and everything…”. 😐

OK, plug in the power supply, and everything works fine.

Regarding the faulty power button: have you fixed a faulty computer component in an unusual way?

CD Drive doesn’t appear in XP/Vista

Computer Aid Posted on by

This has happened to me once or twice since I have had my own computer and it is typically a pretty easy error to fix.

What exactly is the error?

There are some instances that cause your CD Drives not to appear in My Computer. Although there is a CD in the drive and hear it working the operating system doesn’t recognise the disk.

What causes the error?

Typically, this issue occurs after uninstalling software like Nero and Alcohol 120% which installs virtual drive software onto your computer. Sometimes files are uninstalled incorrectly and it causes your physical drives to become disabled also.

How can I fix the error?

In XP/Vista simply open your device manager (from control panel, or run devmgmt.msc). This application lists all the devices that are installed on your system. The program will also note if the hardware is disabled or installed incorrectly.

Head down to the DVD/CD-ROM Drives and drop down that menu. You should see a number of devices equivalent to the amount of CD Drives you have.

Select the drives the aren’t working and right click on them.

Find and click uninstall. Confirm the operation.

Restart your system. Upon restart, the device should reinstall. It will appear in My Computer and Device Manager as before but only this time you will find the drive works!

This doesn’t fix my issue!?

If this doesn’t fix your issue it may be a larger issue like a dead CD/DVD drive. If you believe it isn’t your drive, check inside your computer and make sure all cables are properly fitted and in the proper place. Sometimes disconnecting and reconnecting the cables helps.

Also take a look at:

vista loses drive

DVD gone from XP

Justin Merrill
A philosophical soldier for the thermonuclear age.