Desktop Shortcut to FTP via Windows Explorer

Here’s another obvious one that will save you lots of time accessing your FTP site. No more going through your browser, logging in, and then opening your FTP in Windows Explorer to get an easy to use folder view.

For ages I’ve been doing exactly that, which is a pain to need to go through all of that just to open your FTP site in windows explorer. I’ve discovered a much better way to access your FTP, so that all you need to do to open your FTP in windows explorer is open a shortcut on your desktop, no browsers or logging in required.

Recently someone showed me a way to log into an FTP site using just the URL, by simply entering the following into the internet browser:
ftp://username:password@www.sitename.com

Give that a try with your ftp username and password, and site name. It will load your FTP and log you in.

This alone you could use to log in automatically, but we want it to open in windows explorer automatically as well.

So now if you copy that above address into your start menu search box, and wait for the one internet file to be found, you can hold Alt, and then drag that file to your desktop to create a shortcut.

The link on your desktop will now open your FTP in windows explorer, and will log you in automatically every time.

You can then rename it to something more meaningful, and then you’re set! No more using your browser to access your FTP, and no more needing to log in each time.

Making the Windows 7 Taskbar more like XP

This is an easy one, but I thought I would show it anyway.

Basically when I first started using Windows 7, it took a while to get used to the combined program icons on the taskbar, so I thought I would show this quick way to make it a bit more familiar for those of you that prefer the XP style taskbar.

To make the change, right click an empty part of the taskbar, and select Properties.

Under where it has Taskbar buttons, you can select ‘never combine’, which will make each window its own item on the taskbar, instead of grouping windows together.

You can also choose to check the ‘use small icons’ checkbox, which will make the taskbar not quite as thick as usual, and more like XP.

Click ok, and then your takbar will look like this:

Simple. As you can see each of the 2 internet explorer windows have their own items on the taskbar, and each item has a title.

Dynamics CRM 2011 SketchFlow Stencils

Magnetism’s Dynamics CRM 2011 SketchFlow Stencils “mSketch” have just been released.

The mSketch stencils allow you to create your Dynamics CRM 2011 customizations using the stencils and Expression Blend 4, to create ‘sketchy’ forms that your customers can interact with, to give you important feedback that will save you development time and money.

Check out the mSketch product page to view some screenshots, or to find out more information:  http://www.magnetism.co.nz/solutionscasestudies/solutions/msketch.aspx

Update Rollup 14 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Update Rollup 14 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 has been released, you should download it and upgrade now. http://bit.ly/bHtrKX

Making MSN Minimize to the System Tray, not the Task Bar

For ages I’ve been annoyed that MSN minimizes to the windows 7 task bar, instead of the system tray like in older versions of windows.

I’ve been investigating with my good friend Google, and have found a simple, and very effective way to achieve this. As described in this blog, it is as easy as setting the msnmsgr.exe file to run in compatibility mode for vista, which will cause MSN to minimize to the system tray when closed, rather than to the task bar like in windows 7 by default.

Simply navigate to the MSN root folder, which should be under C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Messenger. Then locate the msnmsgr.exe file, right click it and select Properties.

Click on the Compatibility tab, and then check the box called Run this program in compatibility mode for, then from the drop down select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2).

Click Ok, and then restart MSN.

And that’s it, MSN will now display in the System tray, instead of the task bar.

Update Rollup 13 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Update Rollup 13 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 has just been released! Download it now

http://bit.ly/bUCDwO

Rollup 12 for Dynamics CRM 4.0

Update Rollup 12 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 has just been released, and is available for download at http://bit.ly/90mOtY