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CIO Executive Council

A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives

Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.

Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices

Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.

Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices

This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.

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Feature

Six Ways to Make Windows Vista and XP Work For You

Print directory folders, dump dopey Balloon Tips, save ornery files. Plus: I debunk a bogus performance trick.

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By Steve Bass

June 04, 2008 — PC World —

Had enough of Windows' shenanigans? I'll show you how to print elegant folder lists, dispatch Balloon Tips and annoying icon wizards, and copy files that won't copy. Plus, I debunk a performance hoax that's making the rounds on the Net.

Windows XP SP3: The Perfect Reason to Avoid Upgrading to Windows Vista

Should Microsoft Throw Away Vista?

Developers Target XP over Vista by Wide Margin

DISABLE CUSTOMIZE NOTIFICATIONS

The Hassle: In your last column, you explained how to hide and restore the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the System Tray. Easy for you to say--the Customize option in the Taskbar tab of the Properties menu on my PC is grayed out.

The Fix:Leave it to Microsoft to make things confusing. Right-click the Taskbar andÂ choose Properties--'Hide Inactive Icons' is checked, right? Clear that check box, click Apply, and you're in business. And if you ever trash your system tray, grab a copy of the Taskbar Repair Tool: It's a miraculous freebie ($5 for the Pro version) that fixes dozens (36 to be exact) of taskbar, quick-launch, and system-tray problems.

BATTLE BALLOONS AND ICONS

The Hassle: I bought a laptop with Windows Vista (I know, silly me).Â The OSÂ keeps asking to remove desktop icons, and the Balloon Tips are driving me nuts. Have a solution?

The Fix: I agree--Windows' Desktop Cleanup Wizard is ever so annoying. (Hey, Microsoft, I like my old, unused shortcuts!) In XP, you can disable the wizard with a VB script from Kelly Theriot. Grab the freebie from our Downloads library. It's safe, so ignore any security warnings.Â The process isÂ easier in Vista: Right-click on the Desktop, choose Properties, Desktop, Customize Desktop, and clear the Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard Every 60 Days check box. You can ditch Balloon Tips in XP with Doug Knox's VB script ; in Vista this script can be a killer, so you'll want to read the instructions on the gHacks page about it. PRINT ANY FOLDER LIST

The Hassle: My friend asked for a printed list of all my MP3s. I spent an hour and still couldn't figure out how to do it.

The Fix: There's an easy way to do this, and a hard way. Me, I'm lazy (it's the genes), so I use Karen's Directory Printer.Â The free utilityÂ generates folder and subfolder listings in every way imaginable, including (or excluding) the file size, creation date, and attributes. For you purists avoiding extra programs, Microsoft has a weekend project to print folders from your context menu in XP or Vista. Be aware, though, that it involves batch files, folder mods, and Registry hacks.