Entries from January 18, 2009 - January 24, 2009

Sunday
Jan182009

How to add the Print Directory feature for folders in Windows XP and in Windows Vista

image Had a recent request from a customer to be able to print a directory listing and other than using screen capture  techniques or applications like Jing or Snagit from TechSmith. I did a brief search and found a Microsoft Tech Article describing a method of adding in a batch file that can be called to print directory listing from within Explorer.

The Intro to this paper describes the process as: This article describes how to add the Print Directory feature for folders in Windows XP and in Windows Vista. After you follow the steps that are described in the "More Information" section, you can right-click a folder and then click Print Directory Listing to print a directory listing of the contents of a folder.

You can find this article at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/321379

Bob

Sunday
Jan182009

Linksys has a new Power Line Ethernet System

I am ordering in  new product from Linksys to see how well it works. Let me describe the situation for you and see if it might sound familiar. I know that not many of you have setup a Media Center System in your home but we are using one to host up music and television to our kitchen under counter TV using a Linksys Media Center Extender. The problem is that it is connecting wirelessly and every time we turn on the microwave it disrupts the signal between the wireless router and the extender. The easy fix for this is to run a wire to the room and eventually that will probably be what I’ll do, but I don’t crawl through tight spaces as well as I used to so it isn’t that easy of a project.

So… Out comes Google Search and I begin to look into what is available in today’s technology using Ethernet connectivity through your household power grid. Linksys has several products that fit into this category but the ones I am particularly interested in are the new Power Line Series 300 products. These devices turn your existing electrical wiring into a digital network instantly. The PLE300 and PLS300 will dish out speeds up to a staggering 200mbps which is ideal for supporting HD content video.

The PLE300 is a single connection device for extending your network into those hard to reach areas and the PLS300 provides a 4-port switch to allow you to connect multiple devices to this box. The concept is great, next week I will report on how well it works. Wish me luck!

Bob