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I have tried installing build 10074 in a Virtual Machine using Oracle Virtual Box. (My former installation of the Technical Preview will not load – it says it needs to be repaired, but does not indicate how to do that.)
Hoaever, I get to a point where it says “Your PC needs to be restarted” – but then I can find no way to restart it (I presume it means the virtual machine needs restarting), as when I click inside the window and capture the mouse, no mous pinter appears, and I can’t find how to get to the Start/Restart button…
What can I do?
Paul

I have seen one review that says Publisher can’t handle a publication of more than 100 pages. Is that correct? The review says there’s a workaround by creating two PDF files and then merging them. I didn’t read the entire post, but it sounded like different software is required to merge PDF files. Anyone have any experience with these issues (publication size and merging PDF files)? (The page size would be standard 8.5×11 inches.)

I have Publisher 2007, and I have created a document, without any difficulty, which contains 148 pages – I haven’t tried anything bigger yet. I have had no problem with the file becoming corrupted, and I do update it fairly regularly, adding bits, etc. I would assume any later version of Publisher would do at least as well.

With regard to merging PDF files, you can certainly do that quite easily with Adobe Acrobat (but, of course, that costs money!). I’m not sure about Adobe Reader.

I am just about to try Foxit PDF Reader’s ability to merge two pdf files…
It seems that this is not supported.

Anyone tried to do this with Adobe Reader?

There is a website that will merge two pdf files into one: http://www.pdfmerge.com/
You can also download a piece of software from the same site to install on your own computer which will do the same thing for you.
The website DOES work – I have just tried merging two PDF files, each of about 74 pages, into one, successfully. Took less than a minute to do the job!

Paul

It has been there since 7.55 over a year ago.

Thanks, Bruce – I will have to update…

LANGALIST PLUS

How to use speedy Thunderbolt devices on Windows

By Fred Langa Thunderbolt, a high-speed hardware interface used mainly by Apple devices, also works on Windows PCs — though with some limitations. Plus: Solving some problems running Windows 10 Technical Preview on a Win8 PC, and an obscure setting that will prevent Java updates from installing third-party, add-on software.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/langalist-plus/how-to-use-speedy-thunderbolt-devices-on-windows/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.

I tried, Fred, to do what you recommend to prevent Java from offering unrelated software, but my Java Control Panel does not offer the option you mention under Advanced>Miscellaneous. Is this because I do not have the latest Java?

Fred,
I appreciate your comments regarding Windows Gadgets, and will disable them now. But do you know of any alternative apps (for Win 7) for an on=screen clock and calendar? The weather gadget I can do without…
Paul Allerton

That’s how mine was listed also on win 7 Pro SP1 x64, before I hid it.

Many of you have said that you had “hidden” an update – how do you do that?
I am also being offered an update (KB3021917) (to Win 7 64bit with SP1) which says: “This update performs diagnostics in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) in order to determine whether performance issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed.” So it sounds like KB2952664 mentioned by somebody above. It is marked as ‘important’, but is not pre-selected by Windows Update. I wonder whether this one should be installed or “hidden”?
Paul

Another solution might be MyMorph (of which there is also an online version called DocMorph) available at http://docmorph.nlm.nih.gov/docmorph/mymorphinstallation.htm.
It seems to work well. You have to register before using it, but it is free to use. I don’t know if there are any limitations on the size of documents to be converted. An interestting point is that it can also convert a JPG file to Text using some kind of OCR – and it DOES work – I have tried it.
Paul

There is a website I have used occasionally, called Zamzar, which will convert files of up to 100 Mb to PDF, and I have found that normally it does a good job: http://www.zamzar.com/
It allows drag and drop of multiple files.
Paul

Thanks for the posts in reply. I use Adobe Reader as my reader as I also use Acrobat for creating, and more importantly, editing PDFs, adding forms, etc. This last is a critical activity.

There is so much animus against Adobe Reader (see this thread, and many others) that I wonder whether anyone has installed, for example, Foxit Reader, on the same machine as Adobe Acrobat. I suspect that the results would be unpredictable, to say the least. Or, do I not need Adobe Reader at all, and just use Acrobat as my reader (even bigger footprint!)?

I have Acrobat 9.5 installed, and I use that for reading PDF files as well as editing them, creating them, etc. I do not have Adobe Reader installed. I have no problems there. I use Foxit reader within Windows XP Mode on my Win 7 machine – no probelms there either.
Paul

Go to the insert tab, on the right of the layout you will find Date and Time. Click on it and a menu will give you the option you want.

In Word 2007, that only allows you to insert today’s date in some chosen format. It does not solve the problem of unwanted auto-completion of the year by a complete date…

I have also seen this problem but rarely. I use Word 2007 with UK English and my observations suggest that the 2014-11-6 option only appears when editing other people’s documents (ie documents where presumably that was the default option when created). Does Word keep this option as part of its formatting?

I also use Word 2007 and UK English, and I find this problem occurs even in documents that I create myself.

Got it, thanks to hints from responders – thank you both.

Tools . . . AutoCorrect Options . . . AutoText tab . . . uncheck Show AutoComplete suggestions

Job done :rolleyes:

Phew, that’s been bothering me for ages but I only just got around to addressing it.

In Word 2007, there is no option for “Show Auto-complete suggestions” – but there is, instead, “Show Auto-correct options buttons”, which is not the same thing, and there appears to be no way of doing exactly the same as MartinM suggests… Any other solutions?
Paul

There is a program called DRM Converter, which claims to be able to convert any Audible files to MP3: http://drm-converter.com/.
I would not know if Audible have blocked its operation or not, but there is apparently a Trial version that gives you 30 seconds or so of converted file. Perhaps if it works, you could think about buying the full program – the simplest version does Audio files, and seems to cost $39.99
Cheers

I am a busy healthcare professional http://www.Naturopath4you.com and with the exception of my many journals and newsletters, I rarely have time to read things like books.
My solution has been to listen to audiobooks as I drive, but this presents a problem. Audible, which has a huge selection has everything in .aa audio format (audible audio).
It is their proprietary format and they wish it to be Unconvertible to other formats, supposedly for copyright protection. I understand the reasoning as I have copyrights on all my educational DVDs and on my website and these are not cheap.
However- when you purchase a real book, you own it and can rip out or dog ear its pages, highlight phrases, lend it to friends etc.
I only have time to listen in my car while driving. They (Audible) give you the ability to use iTunes in order to burn their audio books onto CD’s but that permanently ruins 12 to 20 CD’s which is a tremendous waste of money. I wanted to convert their audio files to MP3, load them on a thumb drive and insert that into my car radio till I finish the book. Then load the next book and listen to that one. When I phoned audible (wow, you van actually get a real person on the phone) they told me I could buy an iPhone or similar device and the required attachments to connect it to my cars radio and then load the book from iTunes onto the device. I told them I don’t need or want another device, I just want to convert their books to MP3 and use a thumb drive which they said could not be done due to copyright laws and their proprietary .aa audio format. Searching for .aa to MP3 converters on line, I found quite a few and downloaded their trial versions. Most did not work or the quality sucked. Tune Convert worked perfectly and so I bought it and have used it for the past year to accomplish my task and listen to my audio books. It recently stopped working due to Audible changing the DRM coding on their .aa files. I contacted Tune Convert and they said that due to a communication from Audible, they would no longer make their program able to do the .aa conversion (which sucks). A couple of other programs can do it but they only work in real time and the audio needs to be turned up on the computer during the conversion so I cannot have it doing its work in the background and books are generally 12 to 20 hours or more!
Tune Convert did multiple books at the same time WAY FASTER than real time and with no such audio problem.
Any suggestions? I really have enjoyed all the books I can “read” while driving and I would like to find a solution to keep converting .aa to MP3 and listening to more books

I quite agree with you, jsachs177.

I purchased successive copies of Paint Shop Pro until v8 (using their heavily discounted ‘Upgrade’ program.) I even bought v9 but couldn’t use it… too complex, too confusing.

I’ve gone back to using v7.04 (running quite happily in Windows 7) and can’t ever see this changing.

I, too, am still running Paint Shop Pro, version 7.04, which runs quite happily in my Win7 64-bit setup, and does all you have specified. You can download the program (various old versions) from http://www.oldapps.com/Paint_Shop_Pro.php. I don’t know what you do about a license – you may find your old license for your old version still works…
Incidentally, look at the comments towards the bottom of the page after you download the program, particularly the query by Marianne Sicignano, and the reply by Kevin Woodgate…
Good luck!
Paul

I am not sure about the Android Tablet, but with the iPad (at least iPad3) you can print documents from it on your printers, provided the iPad is on the same network as your PC. You need to install the app PrintCentral (even the free iPhone version of it will do) on your iPad, and a small program called WePrint on your PC, which is basically a print server. Once you have them istalled, the process of setting them up to print is relatively simple. I cannot give you the details immediately, as I am away from home, but I had no difficulty in making them work together.
I would imagine there is a similar thing somewhere for the Android.
I think there are various ways of getting documents onto your iPad from your PC – one way is to open a (free) Dropbox account and install Dropbox on your PC and on your Ipad – you can then access any documents in your Dropbox folder omn your iPad, and even edit them with an app such as Pages or QuickEdit (formerly known as Office2 or something like that). Also there is an app called FileApp for iPad which works with Evernote on your PC (both free).
Best of luck.
Paul