“I have my password typed in a form or window, but I forgot what it is! All I see are Asterisks (*******) – how do I reveal them?”

I’ve tried quite a few password revealers, and to be honest, few of the free ones work. I did find one, however, that seemed to work pretty consistantly.

On the computer that has the password, go download and install Passware’s Asterisk Key.

Using Asterisk Key with Outlook 2007

1. Open the Window with a password in it, then click “Recover” in Asterisk Key. Voila!

“When I view thumbnails in Vista, they appear for just a second, then disappear. All that is left is the default image icon. How do I fix this?”

“One of the folders on Vista aren’t displaying properly. Sometimes it won’t save my view settings. How do I fix this?”

Vista Displays default icon, rather than the thumbnail

The answer is simple; reset the folder view settings!

Note: This fix will involve using the Registry Editor. Fix This Thing recommends readers use caution when editing the Registry, and back up files prior to doing so.

Just so everyone knows, I am using Windows 7  RC2 here, but Vista looks similiar.

How to Delete the Vista Folder View Settings in the Registry Editor

1. Click the Start Button. Type “regedit” in the Search box. click “Yes” in the UAC box (if applicable).
2. Click “regedit” in the search results window.
3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\
4. Right click the “Bags” folder, click Delete. Right click the “BagMRU” folder, click delete.
5. Click “Yes” on the delete confirmation window.

Now you can Restart your computer, and all those Vista Thumbnail and Folder viewing problems will be reset!