The Elvidge Family

When you get the error message "Installation ended prematurely because of an error" just run the following command by going to Start -> Run  "cmd" and enter the following command.

sc delete "gb-pvr recording service"

Now rerun the install file.

I have been searching for months to fix why my HP6980 printer won't print duplex automatically since installing Windows 7 - finally the answer which works for me:

"Do the following:  go to the Printers folder, right click on the Deskjet 6980, Printer Properties, Device Settings,  Installable options, Duplex unit, set to installed, OK.

If your driver does not support duplexing with the above then go to the Printers folder, right click on the Deskjet 6980, Printer Properties, Advanced, New Driver, Next, HP, click on Windows Update and wait a few minutes for the list to update, HP Deskjet 6980 series (HP), Next, Finish, then if necessary go to Device Settings and set the duplexer to installed."

Taken from HP Support forum.

Here are some examples of useful search terms in Google Mail - particularly useful if wanting to delete / clear out your mailbox.  Usually a term & input seperated by a colon.

1. Dates; you can search before a certain date eg: "before:2009/01/01"  (can use "after" too or both to give mail between 2 dates)

2. Attachments; you can search by the filename or type eg:  "filename: pdf" (all pdf documents) or "filename:minutes" (all attachments with "minutes" in the name).

Search for any attachment eg: "has:attachment"

3. Use the "AND" "OR" statements to search using more than one term eg  "filename:pdf AND before:2009/01/01"

Complete Gmail search list

Here are some tips to turning GMail into a more user friendly interface.

1. Work Offline.  By installing 'Gears' add-on for your browser, you can access your archived e-mail/calendar/docs even if you are offline.  simply install the Gears add-on for your browser (or just click the 'Offline' link at the top of the page and follow the prompts.

2. Use different signatures for each e-mail accounts (and with multiple options per account).  Download and install the'Blank Canvas GMail Signatures' add-on for Firefox.  To set-up, simply compose an e-mail message and you'll notice a new menu that allows you to create your signatures using HTML code.  Somtimes this feature doesn't work and requires you to re-start your browser.

3. Enable additional features in GMail (not included in the Labs settings).  Install Greasemonkey which is needed to run Better GMail 2 which has a number of tweaks for Gmail such as hiding chat & spam folders, tree-style labels (which is GREAT!) and a few other tweaks.

4. To add spell-checking.  When typing in the browser - right click and select 'check spelling' .  The spell checker is now enabled.  Right-click again and you can add English-British & other languages.