Category: Windows Tricks and Tutorials

  • Easily Create Setup / Installer for any Software using InstallSimple Setup creator

    Easily Create Setup / Installer for any Software using InstallSimple Setup creator

    Hey Guys, we at TechApple, post alot of setups and installers for many softwares, ever wondered how to create setup/installer for any software.? in this post, i am going to cover the same Let’s Check out how to easily create a setup / installer for any software.[Windows] and that too without any scripting involved thus no programming language involved! 🙂

    Prerequisites

    • A simple tool / Portable Software – InstallSimple  , which we are going to use for Creating Packaged Software.
    • The Folder/Software of which you want to create Software.
    • This Tutorial 🙂 that’s it 🙂
    • You can download InstallSimple from here . Click here to download InstallSimple Setup Creator [Just 355kB].

    Method to Create/Setup using InstallSimple

    • Open InstallSimple.exe from the Downloaded zip file, you will be greeted with an image as follows , Click on Next to Continue.
    • After Click on Next you will be shown a window asking you to Enter the Window Title and Project Name, Fill in The Window Title – The text you want to show on title bar and the Name of the Software in Project Name and click on Next.
    • Now a dialog box will appear with a Message Text Label and a textbox , in the textbox enter the Custom Text/Greeting text which you want to show when setup starts and click on next.
    • Now a dialog Box will appear with label License Agreement, enter the type of license agreement for your software and click on next.
    • Now in this window “Graphics” we can specify the splash screen we want to display before the execution of the setup as well as the header image of the setup window, Click the Folder icon as shown in below figure to specify the path., CLick on Next
    • Now a window “Files to Distribute” / asking you to select source folder of your setup and setup path for your setup will appear, in source folder option click on “Browse” and navigate to the software folder of which installation you want to create and click “ok” , its generally the folder which contains your .exe setup file,and .dll files etc.., select the root folder which contains your software for source folder, and for setup path, enter the folder and location where you want to install your software ex “Program Files”,”Local user drive” etc as shown in the figure –>
    • Now a Window Labelled “Shortcuts” will appear, here select the Files of which you want to create shortcuts and the locations where you can place the shortcut can be selected on the right side pane such as “Start Menu”,”Desktop” etc, after you click on the file of which you want to create shortcut , a yellow/green color mark will appear as shown in the next figure –> After selecting the files for shortcut click on Next., select the Windows Versions and .NET framework check if you want to add., click on next..
    • Now a tab “Windows Registry”  will appear , Enter here any regitry changes you want to make e.x adding PATH variable with setup etc and click on next,
    • Now a Window  labelled ‘Build Setup” will appear! , Simply Click on Build and your Setup will be Ready!! 
    • The Build WIndow looks like this — >
    •  Congratulations!! you have successfully created your Setup! The Setup.exe can be used on Any Machine..

    The Setup itself creates the program registry,control panel and uninstaller inbuilt, so no headaches / extra efforts whatsoever!

    I hope you liked this tutorial, Do share it with your friends, and if you have any doubts/queries feel free to comment! Thanks!

  • Installing and running Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 On Windows 7/Windows 8 [x32-x64 : 32bit-64bit] with all features!

    Installing and running Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 On Windows 7/Windows 8 [x32-x64 : 32bit-64bit] with all features!

    Hello Friends,recently i had to do some college Project in Microsoft Visual basic 6.0 + Oracle SQL Connectivity, but the hell Microsoft Visual Studio wasn’t simply installing on my Lappy, so after a few hit and misses at the goal, i have found the Foolproof Method for installing Microsoft Visual Studio on your Windows 7 and Windows 8,Windows 8.1 installations that too on both the 32 bit and x64:64-bit releases of Windows 7 and Windows 8 There are a lot many reasons which are responsible for installation of Visual Studio/visual basic 6, prominent of which are

    • Compatibility Issues
    • Microsoft Java Machine issues
    • Installer/Setup run-time issues
    • and some problems which ares pecific like unable to use visual Basic components such as ADODC,OLEDB,ADODB,RDO Connection problems etc

    Lets solve each of them one by one in Detail.. 🙂 but before that , there are some prerequisites which we must implement so as our setup will be much smoother… Prerequisites

    • During visual studio 6 Installation, it may ask you to install Microsoft Virtual Machine For Java,etc..and it may restart your computer continuously..so as a fix, simply Download the Following Ms-Java.bat file,and simply right click on it,and “Run it as administrator”,it will ask you for a confirmation,please select yes,it will open a box,and close that’s it!
    • Now,The visual Basic 6 Setup wont prompt you to install virtual machine for Java,thus removing a hurdle!
    • Click here to Download Ms-Java.bat  file for bypassing Microsoft Virtual Machine For Java..
    • Now lets look at the Setup! The link to torrent file of vb6 setup if you do not have it is here..>

    The First Problem which we encounter during setup is compatibility issues

    • This Problem can be solved by running the setup.exe of the visual basic 6 setup,by right click and selecting “Run as Administrator”  option..
    • it may show a dialog box like this — > fortunately,this Problem will Be Solved by simply clicking the Run Program and the Setup Started.. 🙂 , as you are running the setup,its possible that setup might become too very slow on places such as “searching for installed components” , “finishing installation” etc..dont worry its,totally normal! just wait for the setup interface to come up 🙂
    • Now you may simply Enter Serial Number,and Follow Next,Next Method of Installation and install Microsoft Visual Basic/Miscroft Visual Studio on your computer..BUT!!  if you follow this Method your Installation of Visual Studio will work,but on 64-bit (x-64) OS,Windows 7 64 bit,Windows  64-bit when you try to use Visual Basic components such as Data Grid,Active X controls,ADODC Connections,ADODB Connections for VB-SQL Connectivity it will give error..
    • The errors vary to a wide range depending upon the components selected and will be something as — ” failure to initialize provider,error 420,error 482,as well as the printer errors ” blah blah blah
    • So, in order to Make Visual Basic- Oracle SQL Connectivity we must do the following steps..
    • Please Make sure while installation/setup your Visual Basic installation directory is” C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 6\common\” or  “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 6\” and NOT“C:\Program Fiiles (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 6\common\” or “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 6\common\”

    Steps for Visual Basic – Oracle SQL Connectivity on Visual Basic 6 For 64 bit OS..!

    • The (x86) suffix at the end of Program files is responsible for the failure of various visual basic components such as data grid,ADODB,ADODC,OLEDB,Active-X,RDO,Printer Connectivity,windows common controls etc..

    you can check this figure–> if it isn’t you may change the installation directory by clicking “Change Folder” or “Change Directory” as shown in the figure –>

    • Thus,we can make it Function Properly By Installing it to Default Program Files Folder..And All the Data bound controls,standard controls,added components to VB such as ADODB,OLEDB,Data bound grid control etc properly,Windows Controls,MAPI Controls Properly..!

    Also if you already installed Visual Basic To Program Files (x86) just dont uninstall Please.. simply Perform the Following steps

    • Copy the Complete Microsoft Visual Studio Directory From c:\Program Files (x86)\ to C:\Program Files\
    • Now Go,to the Folder C:\Program Files\VB98\ andtry to run VB6.exe , it will give error as “Failed to register extension and blah blah”
    • Now simply run the “VB6.exe” from the non-x86 folder in “Run as Administrator” mode,. and voila!! Visual Basic Will Start Working,and all the Default Connectivity,Data Components which can be added from tools->components menu such as ADODB etc will start working!! thus , the VB-SQL Connectivity too will start Working!! 😉

    If you Encounter Sluggishness in IDE do the Following Steps 🙂

    1. Using Windows Explorer, browse the location where you installed VB6. By default, the path is:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98
    2. Right click the VB6.exe program file, and select properties from the context menu.
    3. Click on compatibility tab
    4. Check the following check boxes: For Windows 7:
      • Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
      • Disable Visual Themes
      • Disable Desktop Composition
      • Disable display scaling on high DPI settings

      For Windows 8

      • Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
      • Reduced Color Mode (16-Bit Color)
      • Disable display scaling on high DPI settings
    5. After saving open up VB6, It should work normally

    That’s all! a quite-lengthy tutorial indeed! 🙂 But Totally Working! if any Doubts/Problems Just drop a Comment below 🙂 thanks!

  • 47+ Google Tips & Tricks to Enhance your Google Usage & Experience [Updated]

    47+ Google Tips & Tricks to Enhance your Google Usage & Experience [Updated]

    Google is the undisputed leader when it comes to fulfilling the User needs. Be it as a search engine, maps provider or be it gadgets, phones or even Operating System. But, What If we tell you that you are just using only 10% of the features provided by Google. Keep On reading our article below to check which trick you have been missing, and which Google tip can make your life easier –

    Google Search Tips

    1. Use Quotes to search “Specific” Phrase (String) –

    Generally google comes up with its own suggestions with tags like – “Did you Mean” or adds synonyms . However if you want to search exact strings, without synonyms use the quotes to search. Example you can search “What is GPS” to filter out results with synonyms.

    Google "Quotes" Example
    Google “Quotes” Example

    Pro Tip – This is particularly helpful to search solutions or troubleshooting queries “fix blank screen in Windows 7” , and thus will filter out results for Windows 8, 10 etc

    2.  Search by Location – “Using near me” or “near <zipcodes>

    It is well known tip that you can search for places like Restaurants, Cafe using “in” or “near” operators. Example – “Restaurants in LA” . However, you can even use the search terms with Zip code or Pin code to search places in a particular area or region instead of using the city.

    A Search query like “restaurants near 411052” will list you restaurants in that particular Zip code or pin code location. You can even use keywords like cafes, hospitals , theatres near xyz to locate the places in that area.

    Search Query using Near Zipcode / Pincode
    Search Query using Near Zipcode / Pincode

     

    3. Search in a Website – use the “site:” operator –

    Though, most of the modern websites come with inbuilt search, a few sites however lack them. This is where you can use the “site:” operator in Google search to locate the article or page you are looking for.

    Example – searching in Google “site:techapple.net Android Emulator” will list all articles related to Android Emulator of our website – tech apple, and will filter other web results.

    Google site: operator search example
    Google site: operator search example
    4. Using Price keywords – above , under , below , between (Shopping Queries)

    This Trick is essentially useful for Shopping and Purchase related keywords. Incase, if you want to search for a products above, below or within a particular budget this will generate the Results you are looking for –

    Searching for “headphones under 1000” & “wired headphones between 1000 & 2000” will give these results –

    Example with Under Query (Headphones under 1000) Example with Between Query
    5. Searching directly for Files (PPT, DOC, PDFs) “filetype:” 

    Google Search allows you to directly search for directly downloadable documents, and files. Thus saving you from the hassle to manually looking for downloading links inside various websites. Example the query filetype:pdf seo guide will give you all direct links for pdfs with seo guide content.

    filetype:pdf google search query
    filetype:pdf google search query

    Pro Tip – If you combine filetype:ppt along with site: query you can easily download  journals, documents, and assignments easily . Example “site:mit.edu filetype:pdf conductor ” will easily give you papers from mit.edu in pdf format related to conductors.

    6. Search Operators : AND , OR & – (Minus)

    The Operators AND, OR and Minus can make your search even simpler .

    Examples –
    i. AND – searching for “buy cheap and blue nike shoes” will return you with all results for blue coloured Nike shoes which are cheap
    ii. OR – searching for “buy blue OR red nike shoes” will return you results for all blue OR red Nike shoes
    iii. – (Minus) sign –
    The minus sign removes the things which you aren’t looking for. Example a search for “best mobile phones -samsung” will return all results for best mobile phones which do not contain samsung.

    Google search - sign usage
    Google search – sign usage
    7. Access Offline Sites Or Google Saved pages by cache:

    Incase if the website or URL you are trying to browse is Offline , or the page is blocked on your network. you can use this cache: keyword to open the page saved on google site.

    Example searching : cache:https://techapple.net will load a saved copy from Google’s server which is fast and accessible even if the website is not live

    8. Double dot Operator .. (with number)

    This Search string is particularly useful to find answers to question which has a number in it, or for a range or a year. Example : searching for “Which team won the world cup in ..18” immediately gives the result of “France” as shown below –

    Google Double Dot Example
    Google Double Dot Example
    9. Advanced Search : intitle: , inurl: , allintitle: , allinurl: –

    These parameters are used for Advanced search, they return the results with the results as –

    i. intitle: This can be used to display results containing the searched word in the title of the page. Example : “intitle:World Cup 2018” will display results which contain World Cup 2018 in the Page tile.
    ii. allintitle: This can be used to display results containing the all the searched words  in the title of the page. Example : “allintitle:World Cup 2018” will display results which contain all the words : World Cup 2018 in the Page tile.
    iii. inurl: This can be used to display results containing the searched word in the URL / Link of the page. Example : “inurl:World Cup 2018” will display results which contain World Cup 2018 in the Page URL.
    iv. allinurl: This can be used to display results containing the all the searched words in the url of the page. Example : “intitle:World Cup 2018” will display results which contain all the words World Cup 2018 in the Page URL.

    10. Find Related Websites by related: keyword

    If you like a website, and would like to find more websites which are similar and related to it , you can use the “related:” keyword in the search query.

    For example, a search for “related:techapple.net” will show all websites which are related to or similar to our website

    Google Conversion Utility & Math Tools

    Did you know you can use Google as your calendar, calculator, stopwatch, reminder and even conversion tool ? . Let’s have a look onto the set of Google Conversion and Mathematic Tools Provided by Google . Simply search with the Keyword example “calculator” and the result will be displayed –

    1. Calculator –
    Google Calculator
    Google Calculator

    Search for Calculator (Simple and Easy)  –

    2. Timer – 
    3. Stopwatch
    4. Flip a Coin (Coin Flip)
    5. Currency Conversion & Charts (Stock Charts)
    6. Metric & Unit Converter (Physical & Electronic Units)
    Google Conversion
    Google Conversion

    Convert from one unit to other unit be it length, temperature etc. The Conversions supported are –

    • Area
    • Data Transfer Rate
    • Digital Storage
    • Energy
    • Frequency
    • Fuel Economy
    • Length
    • Mass
    • Plane Angle
    • Pressure
    • Speed
    • Temperature
    • Time
    • Volume
    7. askew (Surprise) !

    Just search for “askew” in Google and you will know what we are talking about! 🙂

    Google Image Search Effective Tips

    Now, Google Image tab too has some great tools and tips which can make your work of finding images a lot easier . Let’s have a look onto some of them –

    1. Particular Size (Standard or Custom Size)

    The Size tab inside the images.google.com which is available within the tools section as highlighted in the screenshot below can make finding images a lot easier, you can filter by standard sizes or even the exact size you require as shown below –

    Google Image Sizes inside the Tools
    Google Image Sizes inside the Tools
    2. Usage Rights (Copyright, Free to Use)
    Google Images for Copyright free images
    Google Images for Copyright free images
    3. Type of Image (Animated, Static)
    Google Image type of Image Search
    Google Image type of Image Search

    Google I’m Feeling Lucky Tricks

    The I’m feeling lucky button takes you to the first page of the result and also has some neat features or tricks which can amuse you and be the cool person.

    Do I’m feeling lucky for —

    1. “Google Gravity”  “I’m feeling, wait a sec to experience the effect of gravity. (Enjoy the Game)

    2. “French Military Victories” and see the funny side 😛

    3. “Google Reverse/Mirror/”elgoog”and the Mirror effect is on.

    4. “Google Sphere” and see the spinning effect.

    5. “find Chuck Noris” (A must search keyword for al Chuck Norris Fans) :D..

    6. “who is the cutest” and see who’s so cute and beautiful/handsome.

    7. “2204355”  and see (You’ve been Chicken Rolled..)

    8. “Google Loco” and see what’s moving.

    9. “LOL Limewire” and see that you are as a pirate.

    10. “Google Loco”  Loco stands for crazy in Spanish. When you enter the phrase Google loco then you will notice that the elements of the page you’re directed towards will be jumping.

    11. “Google Magic” Now this one, as the name suggests, has some fishy traits.

    12. “Google Gothic” This gives you a series of gothic themes

    13. Google Games:

    a. “Google Pacman” You will find a series of Pacman themes and games
    b. “Google Easter Eggs” Similar to Google Pacman, you can also find some cool Easter theme and play the “Bunny Easter Eggs”
    c. “Atari Breakout”

    14. “Google Mew”

    15. Epic Google

    16. Rainbow google

    17. Annoying Google

    18. Google color (Ex: pink,blue.)

    19. Early Google

    20. Google Heart Page

    21. Google Unusual Language

    22. Google Hacker

    23. Google 133t

    24. Google Klingon25. Google Piglatin
    26. Google Bork
    27. Google Pirate