Console Solutions

You can set up Console2 to run correctly by creating a shortcut to Console2.exe Do not give the shortcut a .exe extension. On the Advanced page, you'll need to select Run as Admin. Should do the same thing on the Console2.exe executable as well.

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Console2ABetterWindowsCommandPrompt.aspx

Command Line

Note that grep demands double quotes in Windows.

Remote Desktop

If the Remote Desktop Connection tool is missing from your menu, you can run it with the mstsc command.

Fixing Excel's Problems

Instance Problem

For Excel 2007 on Win 7: Go into options, advanced and select "Ignore DDE crap". Make the edit that follows to all of these Excel registry entries: .Macrosheet .OpenDocumentSpreadsheet.12 .Sheet.12 .Sheet.8 .SheetMacroEnabled.12

Edit: Open regedit, browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\Open rename the ddeexec key, then click on the "command" key and replace the /e on the Default and command strings both in that key with "%1" Quotes around %1 are important.

Keep in mind, if you ever update Microsoft Office or apply a patch, you will need to repeat these steps because updates override the registry changes you just made. I've seen that an extra line with the /e back in there gets inserted on top of (in front of) the %1 line in the command/command key, and it needs to be deleted.

Most helpful link: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/c42f825d-b7e8-48c8-b5af-30563b839f09/windows-7-cannot-run-multiple-instances-of-excel-using-ignore-other-applications-that-use-dde?forum=officesetupdeploylegacy

The pop error "There was a problem sending the command to the program" appears to be created when Sheet.8 has a ddeexec key. Allowing ddeexec to remain with Sheet.12 seems to enable email attached spreadsheets to open correctly.

Scroll Problem

If page up/down jump way too much, try changing to Normal mode - hit the icon on the bottom right.

Fixing Word's Problems

To get rid of the automatic extra line spacing the idiots at MS have introduced, follow these steps:

In Word 2007, possibly 2010:

1. Click in an affected paragraph.
2. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon.
3. Click the arrow in the lower right corner of the Styles section.
4. The style for your paragraph should have a bold box around it. You may have to scroll down to find it.
5. Hover the cursor over the style. A listbox arrow should appear. Click it.
6. Select Modify from the list box.
7. Click the Format button and select Paragraph.
8. Make sure the value in the After combination box is zero (0).
9. Click OK.
10. If you want this to carry forward to other documents based on the template this one is based on, click the radio button for New Documents Based On This Template.
11. OK out of everything.

Fixing Win7 WordPad's Problems

To get rid of the asinine extra spacing issue:
Open WordPad, fix spacing, and save as RTF file spacefixtemplate.rtf. Make it read-only. Go to the Properties of the WordPad shortcut, and insert the path to the template at the end of the target command box.

Dell Laptops and Docking Stations

Dual Monitor Resolution Problem

The root of the resolution mismatch problem appeared to be with the Intel chip driver. Somehow, this act also "woke up" the Windows display settings interface to work correctly. The advanced display settings tab actually correctly shows the resolution I choose now for both monitors.

I did finally solve the problem by downloading and using the Intel Graphics Command Center. For some reason, this allowed me to change the resolution.