How to Open or Play .XMI Files

.xmi files are an old music file format similar to the midi format that was sometimes used in older video games.  The most well-known application that opens or plays .xmi files is probably WinAmp but it is not enabled to do so by default.  One needs to change settings, configure and associate the files with WinAmp first.  Go to Options/Preferences > Plugins/Input and choose Nullsoft MIDI player. Then go to File Types and choose the exotic music files types one wants to associate with the program.  Open and play the files you want to listen to.  It may be worth it to save the files in midi format so that they will be easier to work with in the future.

External Hard Disk Drive Enclosure Error Fix

An external IDE SATA to USB HDD enclosure can be used to connect an otherwise obsolete old IDE drive to a newer computer without a PATA/IDE port on its motherboard via USB. Unfortunately many of these devices can be pretty fragile or poorly made which causes some fairly common errors.

Hard Disk Drive Enclosure Intermittent Error or HDD Enclosure Hanging Fix 

One problem that might occur is an intermittent connection between the hard disk and the computer resulting in repeated initialization sequences and dropped connections. There are a number of possible causes but one simple remedy that is worth a shot is straightening out the wires and power connection to ensure a steady power supply to the hard disk.  Bend the wires to make sure the wires are not curling and straighten them out.  See if this reduces the disconnections and restarts and act accordingly.

Transferring Files from Old Hard Drive to New One

If one finds the setup unreliable and wants to transfer files from the old IDE drive to a newer more modern drive one should also look at the tips and use the tool in the article comparing two directories.

Paint.net 1603 Error

The paint.net 1603 error occurs during installation of the popular graphics program.  To fix this installation error make sure that the required Microsoft .NET framework is installed on your computer.  A particular version of the framework may be necessary for older paint.net versions.  Having the latest .NET Framework for example is not necessarily sufficient if the paint.net version being installed requires an older one.  In Windows check in Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program and look for "Microsoft .NET Framework" to see if it is installed on your system. Installing the latest beta development build of paint.net installs the .NET framework files automatically and is probably worth trying if the stable build of paint.net refuses to install.

Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel

Microsoft provides a virtual CD control tool for Windows XP and supposedly Vista and Windows 7 to allow the use of ISO image files through a virtual drive. This utility comes in a self-extracting zip file winxpvirtualcdcontrolpanel_21.exe that contains 3 files: VCdControlTool.exe, VCdRom.sys, and readme.txt.

Unfortunately contrary to what is written on the download webpage, the utility seems unreliable or simply incompatible with Windows 7.  For one thing it can only work on 32-bit systems not 64-bit systems.  Installation is also fraught with pitfalls and the instructions contained in the readme.txt file do not cover most of them.  Because of this it is recommended to use a third party virtual cd-rom utility like Slysoft's Virtual CloneDrive.

If one still wishes to persist, however, here are some installation tips:

Changing to compatibility mode for Windows XP reportedly helps in some cases.

"The handle is invalid" and "Cannot Open SCM: Access is denied." errors can probably be avoided by right clicking on VCdControlTool.exe and then choosing to Run as administrator.  Turning off User Account Control is another option but doing so will leave the system less secure and is not recommended.

If in the frustrating event the Virtual CDRom Control Panel claims unable to find VCdRom.sys despite following the instructions and copying it into the Windows System32 drives folder and even clicking on it directly, try using a copy of VCdRom.sys from the install directory (default is the local temp directory) or copying VCdRom.sys into the root Windows directory and try activating that.

After adding a drive letter, one may still not see the virtual drive loaded in Windows Explorer.  The solution is to open Windows Explorer or a command prompt run as an administrator. 

Remember to mount an ISO image by selecting a .iso file.  

How to Compare Two Directories

Unfortunately comparing the contents of two directories is not easy with Windows Explorer.  To quickly and easily compare the files in two directories to see which contents match and which don't the small freeware program Pathsync is recommended.

The program can quickly sort the files that two chosen directories have in common from those that are only found in one of them and offers a quick way to copy or delete the sorted files and/or synchronize the directories.

It's a really helpful tool in a situation like when an error is experienced during a copy operation involving many large files being transferred from a USB device to a hard drive and one needs to verify which files were successfully transferred and which weren't. It also comes in handy when looking for duplicate files in two directories or when comparing backups.

If looking for something with even more features such as document comparison from within text documents, another popular free program to consider for these tasks is WinMerge.  It has more power than Pathsync but is slightly more complicated. 

While it is possible to do some of these comparison tasks with native Windows command line instructions from the days of DOS such as the find and diff commands, the free download suggestions mentioned provide a less clunky and awkward interface.

How to Quickly Find the Path of a File in Windows 7

To quickly get the path location of a file in Windows 7 for a cut and paste operation, in Windows Explorer hold down Shift while simultaneously right clicking with the mouse on the file of interest.  The option "Copy as path" should appear in a menu.  Selecting that option with a left click will copy the path to the file location into the Windows clipboard. 

Google Fonts Not Displayed in Mozilla Firefox Browser

Sometimes there is a Google Fonts problem with Mozilla Firefox.  The fonts at Google Fonts aren't shown correctly and one sees only regular type. Usually this is caused by the default settings of the NoScript Add-On if it is installed. To change the NoScript settings to show Google fonts properly one must enable the @ font-face setting by doing the following:

1. In Firefox click on the Tools menu and select Add-ons (or use hotkey Ctrl+Shift+A)
2. Select the Options button that should appear for NoScript
3. Click on the Embeddings tab
4. Uncheck the box for "Forbid @ font-face"
5. Choose OK to apply change

Go back to Google Fonts and reload the page.  The previously plain type sample text should be rendered using different fonts.  For other problems with Google Fonts and Firefox try looking at this troubleshooting page.