New Avira Free Antivirus doesn't show up in the right-click menu

If you updated from a previous version of Avira Antivir to the new 2012 version, it could have happened that the entry from the right-click context menu to quickly scan files disappeared. As this a pretty useful shortcut to scan questionable files, you might want to get it back.

It's very simple:

1. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.

2. On the list of programs that appears, look for the Avira Free Antivirus entry. Select it and press Change at the top, or right-click it and select Change.

3. On the new window that pops up select Modify and press Next. The default settings are usually the best settings, so you might want to leave everything like it looks and press Next until the modifications are complete. When you pressed enough Next, simply press Finish.

4. The right-click context menu should now be visible again.

How to install the USB drivers for your Samsung Galaxy 3 (Apollo, I5800, I5801)

If you too were having problems with your Samsung Galaxy 3/Apollo/I5800/I5801 phone not being recognized by Windows, look no further.

1. You will need to download the drivers for another phone called Samsung Galaxy S.

For Windows (XP/Vista/7) x86 (32 bits).
For Windows (XP/Vista/7) x64 (64 bits).

2. Locate the file you downloaded and unzip its contents. Plug in your Galaxy 3 using the USB cable and redirect the driver installer to the folder where you unzipped the contents. If the driver installer doesn't show up, you can go to Control Panel > System > Device Manager then look for the problematic device, right-click, select Update driver...

3. The USB drivers should install correctly and your phone will be recognized by Windows.

How to remove the "AMD VISION" entry from the right-click menu

When you right-click on your desktop or in a folder you will see an AMD VISION Engine Control Center (formerly know as ATI Catalyst) entry in your right-click menu which allows you to have a direct access to the AMD Vision Control Center and fiddle with your graphics card settings. If you find this annoying and don't use that function or you have other means to access it (like from the Start menu) you might want to wish to remove it.

Removing the AMD Vision entry context-menu entry:

1. Open regedit.exe. (Start > Run.. (alternatively Windows + R) > type regedit > press OK)

2. Navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\ACE

3. Double-click on the (Default) key and rename the value data to whatever you wish or put a few dashes in front of it to disable it, as shown in the picture:

4. Changes take effect immediately. You can close regedit.exe.

Note: these steps are valid for any version of Windows.

How to have the bookmarks toolbar on Firefox show only the icons.

If you're like me you like simple and straightforward things, so it's only normal that want your workplace to look that way. This will show you how to have the favorites on your Firefox bookmark bar show only their fancy favicons instead of all that text taking up place. For this you will need to add some lines of code to the file called userChrome.css. I have uploaded it here, for you lazy folks.

Here's how you do it:

1. Close Firefox and navigate to your Firefox user folder (NOTE: Firefox 4.0 users and up. If the Chrome folder doesn't exist you will have to create it, just like it shows here, and then place userChrome.css inside of it). 

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\{your username}\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\Chrome

Windows 7/Vista: C:\Users\{your username}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{profile name}\chrome

Linux users: /home/{your username}/.mozilla/firefox/{profile name}/chrome

2. Find the file userChrome.css. If it doesn't exist, you can make a copy of the file userChrome-example.css and rename it to userChrome.css or create the file with your text editor and save it as userChrome.css.

3. Add this code at the end of userChrome.css:

/* Hide the bookmark toolbar icon labels */
.toolbarbutton-text {
display: none !important; }

4. Save the file and restart Firefox.

Alternative (and faster) solution:

Install the Roomy Bookmarks Toolbar extension for Firefox. It will let you quickly change a number of settings of your bookmark bar, including removing the text on your favorites.