Shortcuts for the Spot Removal Tool in Lightroom

In Lightroom, we can now click-drag to create a Brush Spot.  As in previous versions a single click will create a circle spot and auto-find a source.

• Tap “Q” to access the Spot Removal tool.  Shift + Q toggles between Clone and Heal modes.
• Command -drag (Mac) | Control -drag (Win) creates a circle spot and allows you to drag to define the source.
• Command + Option -drag (Mac) | Control + Alt -drag  (Win) creates a circle spot that scales from the center.
• Command + Shift -drag(Mac) | Control  + Shift -drag (Win) creates a circle spot that scales from anchor.
• Holding down Shift (before starting to paint with the Spot Removal tool) constrains the brush stroke to horizontal or vertical.
• If you click to set a circle spot and then Shift + click in a different area Lightroom will connect the first spot with the new spot via a straight brush stroke (a great way to remove telephone lines).
• To enlarge a brush spot after drawing, use the Size slider in the Spot Removal  options panel.
• Backslash (/) – select new source for existing circle or brush spot.
• Tap “H” to hide the interface.
• Option -click  (Mac) | Alt  + (Win) -click  deletes a spot (the icon displays as a pair of scissors).
• Option -click  (Mac) | Alt  + (Win) -drag over multiple spots will batch-delete spots.
• Tap “A” to toggle the Visualize Spots feature (manual controls are found in the Toolbar)

How to Refresh or Reset Your Windows 8 PC Without the DVD

Original is here

 

How to Refresh or Reset Your Windows 8 PC Without the DVD

We have already shown you how you can use the new refresh and reset features in Windows 8 instead of formatting your PC, the problem is that you are required to insert your Windows DVD every time you want to use the features. Here’s how to do it without the DVD.

Refresh or Reset Your Windows 8 PC Without the DVD

The first thing you need to do is create a new folder on the root of your primary drive and call it “Windows8Files”



Now insert your DVD into your PC, or mount the ISO File and navigate to:

D:\sources

Copy the install.wim file off your DVD into the Windows8Files folder we just created.





Next we need to launch and administrative command prompt, so move your mouse to the bottom left of your screen and right-click then select Command Prompt (admin) from the context menu.



Now we need to run the following command: 

reagentc.exe /setosimage /path C:\Windows8Files /target C:\Windows /Index 1





Now you can refresh or reset you PC as normal, except it wont ask you to insert your DVD.

How to Manually Activate Microsoft Office 2010/2013

The following commands should be done from a command prompt using Elevated Permissions. 

First, find out the address of the Key Management Server (KMS) using DNS replacing the example ".domain.com" with the proper domain for your workstation and environment.

I am using "dig" instead of "nslookup" because it is what I am most familiar with. If using "nslookup" go into interactive mode and change the query type to SRV before searching.

c:\>dig SRV _vlmcs._tcp.domain.com

For example, if your Company Domain is "acme.com", the command would be:

c:\>dig SRV _vlmcs._tcp.acme.com

Next, change to the MS Office 2010 directory. On Windows 7 x64 it is:

c:\>cd "\program files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14"

Office 2013 may be in directory Office15:

c:\>cd "\program files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15"

Display the current activation status

cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus

Next, set the default server to be used where "lic_server.domain.com" is the one discovered using the DNS lookup above.

cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:lic_server.domain.com

For example, if your company domain is "acme.com" and the license server hostname is "mslicenseserver01" the command should be:

cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:mslicenseserver01.acme.com

Activate Office

cscript ospp.vbs /act

How to Manually Activate Windows 7 Enterprise

How to Manually Activate Windows 7 Enterprise against a domain License Server

How to find the address of KMS servers

dig SRV _VLMCS._tcp.yourdomain.com

The correct sequence of events for converting a MAK activation back over to a KMS client is as follows:

• Open an elevated command prompt.
• Run this command : slmgr.vbs /ipk "win7KmsKey", where win7KmsKey comes from the appropriate value in this table.
• Run this command: slmgr.vbs /ato

Now, for the above to work automatically, the machines need to be able to resolve _vlmcs._tcp.yourdomain.com. There's a number of ways this can be achieved:

• For domain-joined machines, this should work by default (so long as it's joined to the same domain, of course)
• For non domain-joined machines, you can either set the computer's primary DNS suffix (in with the change computer name settings), or
• Specify a DNS suffix search order via the DNS tab in the network adapter's properties or via local group policy.

If you do not intend or have the ability to use the automatic discovery, you can use the following commands to manually configure where the client initially looks:

• slmgr.vbs /skms kmsServer.yourdomain.com:1688 (you could use the IP address instead of the hostname if you have no DNS resolution occurring at all)
• slmgr.vbs /ato