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Everyday Windows Desktop Support, Advanced Troubleshooting & Other OS Tidbits

Archive for August 17th, 2010

Stop Sending Your Web Browsing Analytics to Google

Posted by William Diaz on August 17, 2010


Google offers a browser add-on that prevents them from collecting data on the web sites you visit. However, you can do this in IE natively, without the need of Google’s add-on.

  1. In Internet Explorer, open the Tools menu and click Internet Options.
  2. Click the Security tab and then click the Restricted Sites icon.
  3. Click the Sites button.
  4. In the box at the top, add *.google-analytics.com and push the Add button.
  5. Click the Close button, and then the OK button to dismiss Internet Options.

See the TechNet IEBlog here for details.

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The Case of the Missing Windows CD\DVD Drive

Posted by William Diaz on August 17, 2010


In a large organization, this can actually be quite common. Many a floor support tech has been dispatched to try to correct by physically checking or replacing the drive. The symptom is that the CD\DVD drive letter is missing in Windows. In the vast majority of cases, this is a software issue and can be resolved remotely, without the need for someone to open the system. The cause is the result of class filters becoming corrupted or modified in some way, usually because of a badly written or incompatible driver, firmware update, or after installing CD\DVD burning software.

To correct the issue, navigate to this location in the Windows registry: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. Delete the upperfilter and lowerfilters strings and reboot. Read the rest of this entry »

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