Windows has the ability to change wallpapers or background pictures on your computer at random, but sometimes you need a little bit more convenience and control.
One program I use is Wallpaper Randomizer. - http://sector-seven.net/software/wallpaper
I have the program set to change the background every 15 minutes. But sometimes it didn't happen. It would get stuck occasionally on certain pictures.
I have a folder on my hard drive with pictures in only for backgrounds on my desktop. I have Wallpaper Randomizer set up to access that folder. My pictures are a mix of .bmp, .jpg, .png, and .gif.
Wallpaper Randomizer will pick a picture at random, copy it to it's own program folder, convert it to a .bmp format and set it up as your wallpaper/background. In my case it ran into three different pictures that it had trouble with.
When the program stopped working I noticed it had two copies of the picture in it's folder instead of one but the second picture was a .jpg format. Also when the program couldn't change the pic I noticed the shortcut key to change pictures, in my case, windows + F5, didn't work.
I found out a simple solution; I went to the program folder and and just deleted both pics. Then I pressed the windows key on my keyboard and the F5 key at the same time to refresh the background.
I sent an email to the developers and they where not aware of the issue. We both agree that it might be a glitch with my pictures and not with the program since it seems to stall on the same pictures. It recently happened again to a completely different picture. It's not a big issue with me, I know how to clear it out.
There is another program that I like to use called Wallpaper Master - http://jamesgart.com/wallpaperchanger/
So far no problems yet. Both programs are Free but paid versions with more options are available.
I've been asked a few times to copy compact cassette's to a music CD. How many people remember those or know what they are? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Cassette
I use:
A compact cassette player. I have two. A GE model no. 3-54738, AM/FM stereo radio cassette player and a Sony Walkman. Neither has any output plugin options except for earphones.
Then I use a Toshiba DVD Video Cassette Recorder D-VR7. I wrote about this one before http://hitanykey.webs.com/oct5_2011.html
I cannot hook up the cassette player directly to my computer so I had to improvise. I have a wire, 3.5mm Stereo plug to two RCA plugs that has a plugin on one end that fits into the earphones jack on the cassette player and as two RCA plugins on the other end, they are red and white.
I have to hook it up from the earphone jacks from the player to the audio inputs of the Toshiba DVD Video Cassette Recorder using this cord. Then I can start the tape playing and record directly to a DVD.
Once done I finalize the DVD and put it in my computer and now I have to rip it to my hard drive. I use a program called Next DVD Ripper 3.51 - www.nextvideosoft.com
I put in the DVD, open the program, click on Rip DVD, then I chose the MP3 button on the new window that pops up. And then Start. Then another little pop up window titled DVD title, subtitle and audio track then I click on OK.
And we are not finished yet. Now I need to separate the tracts. I do this through VLC - www.videolan.org/vlc/
I open VLC and first I had to go into view and check Advanced controls. This give you a few more buttons to control the video including a recording button.
So now its just a matter of opening up the ripped MP3 and playing it on VLC. When I get to a song that I will be putting on the CD I hit the record button. It turns a lite blue and then when the song ends I click on the record button again to stop recording. And I repeat it over and over till all the songs have been turned into individual mp3 format songs.
The songs will either be stored in My Videos or My Music. They will be named similar to - vlc-record-2015-03-05-08h10m51s-whatever.mp3.
Now you have to burn them of on a CD-R. The following procedure is for Nero 10 my current software. Procedures for other burning software should be very similar. I open up Nero and click on the Music icon on the left hand menu and then pick Audio CD in the right hand menu.
Then I open the folder with all my songs and just drag them over to the Nero window. Once all songs are dragged over just click on Next. If you want more than one copy change the Number of copies: and then click on the Burn. Putting in a blank disk at this point helps a bit.
To copy a cassette to a music CD, that's how I do it.
A woman called because she couldn't get her iPhone to update. The solution was simple to disable the anti-virus. I have Avira and to disable it I would right click on the icon down by the clock and uncheck the option to Enable Real-Time Protection. Most programs have a similar option but it may be worded differently. Research online to figure out what to do for your program and don't forget to re-enable it after.