PC Today Zone More Tips around the World

How to increase the lifespan of the battery?

2011-07-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Let's see how to do it.

1.Adjust the screen is dark.
Screen of your laptop is most power-hungry component. Screen of your laptop battery need power to maintain display quality is always clear and bright. And to maintain this energy. You need to adjust the brightness to low.

2.Modify the configuration of power.
Windows Vista powered laptop comes with several outstanding power features. It can help you get the most proficient performance when your laptop is plugged and optimize it’s life when it’s on the move.

3.Turn off Wi-Fi
As part of the energy use more. It will absorb any energy, even when you're not online. If you use your laptop outside, it is recommended that wireless network wi-fi should be turned off to save power if no power button on your laptop wireless adapter, you can go to the Control Panel to access Network Connections and disable it.

4.Turn off peripherals
USB sticks, mouse and webcam is the first device to power all the time. When not in use then it should eject your devices as soon as possible, switching off your laptop's inbuilt webcam can help conserve your laptop's precious power.

5.Remove the disc in the drive.
Having a disc spinning around in the drive also drains your resources. Just kick out your discs from the drive before you switch to battery power to acquire additional minutes from your work day.

6.Invest in some computer hardware
Usually laptops come with a six cell-battery, but a lot of makers today already provides eight or even 12-cell elective upgrades, which will definitely double your power. If you can afford it then why not invest more, in the long run you will be surprise on how much energy and money you save just by investing on the right piece.

7. Disable features
Windows Vista's new features is the Windows Aero. Whether the expert users, or users should turn it off. It saves a little energy and a laptop. Of the increased efficiency as well.

Computer Tips # 66 : How to prevent unwanted program focus in the windows?

2011-07-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

The focus of the program you are taking any other programs running. Other programs open on your screen that you can not open while you are working on. The initial setup of your window to prevent the occurrence of events may be changed from one of the programs.

You can follow the instructions below to stop the unwanted.

Note: In this step you need to change the registry tree. I suggest that you should back up your registry before the best treatment as a precaution.

How do the following.

1.Click on Start and then Run.

2.In the run window type regedit and click ok. This open the Registry Editor Window.

3.Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER and click on "+" or Double Click on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" to expand the folder

4.expand folder until the HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop Registry Key.

5.Click on Desktop.

6.The right of the screen, Find and Double-Click on the ForegroundLockTimeout DWORD.

7.In the Edit DWORD Window,select the base to Hexadecimal and edit value to 30d40.

8.Click OK and then Close Registry Editor Window.

9.Reboot your computer for the changes you made take effect.

10.After this, you will not have to worry more about unwanted pop up while you work.

Computer Tips # 65 : How to change the retention period for Autorecover in Microsoft Office 2007 and Office 2010?

2011-07-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

In Microsoft Office 2007, you have many useful features. One of them is Autorecover. This feature is related to the program to save all the data in Office 2007. It is used after the recovery due to power failure or system crash. all of your data or work in the Office application is saved automatically after the retention period. This Featureallows you to maintain your loss. By default, this AutoRecover interval is set to 10 minutes in all the Office 2007 applications. However, you can change the Autorecover interval in Office 2007. For example. If you change Autorecover Interval is 5 minutes, it willbe very helpful. Because you risk your data will be dropped.

1. Click on the Office button.

2. Click on the "Excel Options" button on the bottom of the resulting menu.

3. The Excel Options dialog box will appear. Select Save on the left hand side of the menu.

4. Check the box for "Save AutoRecover information".

5. Select how often you would like Excel to save the data for AutoRecover.

6. Click OK.

You should not set a time in a very short time. Remember that when you work on a large Worksheet and set a very short time interval such as 1 minute, this will cause your machine to slowdown because of the need to save every minute.

Computer Tips # 64 : Did you know that you can create folders to the Control Panel, Printers, Dial-up Networking is simple?

2011-06-30T03:21:00.000-07:00

It contains the following methods.

- Right click on the "Start" button and Left click on "Explore" button.

- Right click inside the "Start Menu" folder (which should automatically show up after step #1), and select "New" and select "Folder"

- To create a cascading Control Panel menu, type following for created folder's name:

Just after this you can use it in a folder.

Computer Tips # 63 : How to connect two computers and access their drives through the Internet?

2011-06-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

You can connect two computers together and use the data in the same drive as you do, you first need to ensure that Both machines have TCP / IP and NetBEUI installed and working properly and make sure that the Remote Access Services installed and running as well.

Find the IP Address of the computer A, you can find it by going to the Icon Network in Controlpanel.

Suppose, for example, 207.146.51.2 is the IP Address of PC A.

Then you need to enable File sharing and sharing isthe path that you want on your computer, A.

For example, you want to share Folder "Data" drive C.

Both computers must be running a network interface, or if already on the intranet as well.

Go in to the command prompt on PC B.

Type NET USE X: \\207.146.51.2\DATA

If you get an user name/password or logon error, use the following command instead (after you enter your username and password are correct)

Type NET USE X: \\205.159.67.4\DATA /USER:username password

This command will map drive x: is in the B loan with DATA on drive C in the A to the same data.

And now you can use the same data. Information on your own machine.

Computer Tips # 62 : How to get into Safe Mode?

2011-06-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

Looking to safe mode in Windows in for? If you can not boot into Windows in normal mode, You need to save mode to fix the problem that your computer can not boot up normally.

In Safe Mode, Windows will load the drivers and services thatonly works for Windows only. The settings in the Windows startup programs is a basic condition. To allow users to correct the problem.

In this time, I will tell you how to get the safe mode on Windows XP and windows Vista. You have to understand that. If you install the driver or changethe settings on your computer. You may want to use “Last Known Good Configuration” before you will go to safe mode.

Last Known Good Configuration is to load the last configuration active in the window. However, if it replaced each time you log into the computer, so if a problem has occurred, make sure to try this option before logging into the computer again.

there are 3 types of Safe Mode, so read the descriptions below to figure out which one is good for you.

Safe Mode – The basic option that loads Windows with a GUI interface and is usually what most people should choose when troubleshooting their computer.

Safe Mode with Networking – If you need access to the Internet or the network while in Safe mode, then this is the option to choose. This mode is useful when you need to fix a problem that requires an Internet connection so you can get updates, drivers, or other files to help fix your problem.

Safe Mode with Command Prompt – This mode will load with just the MS DOS command line prompt. Useful if you need to run a DOS command like fixboot or chkdsk.

To get into the Safe Mode in Windows 2000 / XP / Vista, re-boot the computer and then press and hold the “F8 Key” which will then bring up the “Windows Advanced Options Menu“. Scroll down to “Safe Mode” using the arrow keys and press Enter.

Note that sometimes if you press and hold the F8 key, some computers will start to beep annoyingly, so in that case, simply tap the F8 continuously during the boot up period.

If you are still not able to get into Safe Mode, you can try to kill the power on the computer to turn it off and then turn it back on. If Windows shuts down unexpectedly, it will usually bring up the Advanced Boot Options menu automatically.

You can get out of safe mode by just restarting the computer. If you’re in the command prompt, you can exit safe mode by typing in Exit.

Computer Tips # 61 : What if you want to go through the recycle bin in DOS Prompt?

2011-06-29T00:49:00.000-07:00

You probably know that when you delete a file or folder orshortcut in Windows they show up in the trash, and it's very easy to undelete. And bring it back to the house through awindow, but you know it or not. You can access it via a dos.

Go to Dos Prompt , Command Prompt

Change to the Drive you want to access the recycled files, If you deleted files from Drive C , It will go to the recycle bin on Drive C

Type CD \Recycler

Recycled files is in the "Recycled" Directory on Drive C (but this Directory is hidden not show-up on regular DIR command ) to make it visible

Type ATTRIB -r -s -h Recycler

Now you can use this directory to benormal.

Type DIR /A

There are also two special files that you can view it with notepad.

Desktop.ini

Info

This Tips maybe useful for someone.

Computer Tips # 60 : Lazy to type the name of the directory this long?

2011-06-28T00:10:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can avoid type full long Directory name when you change Directory in Command Prompt?

Let's go and I will show you.

If you have Directory named Myworkfolders that you want to changed to. Instead of typing:

CD Myworkfolders

next time you can use:

CD Myw*

If you have multiple directories starting with the letters "myw" then you must use more characters before the *, until the name can be distinguished from the rest of the directory names in the current directory.

If you have multiple directories to change to such as:

Myworkfolders\Documents\Message

next time you can use:

CD Myw*\D*\M*

Computer Tips # 59 : How To Remove Shortcut Virus

2011-06-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

This seems to be useful tips for many people.

At this time,there is a new virus which convert folders to shortcut with 1 kilo byte size and hidden the original folder …..

How to Remove this shortcut folder and restore the original one ?

1. go to start — run — type CMD (or you can just press windows mark + R in keyboard ) .

2. in command prompt window type : ( attrib -r -h -s /s /d h:\*.* ) which h is the device or drive volume .

3. then go to drive and you will see all original folders appears ..
4. delete the folders with shortcuts ….

Finish the process. Your Folder will be available as before.

Computer Tips # 58 : Formula mistake may occur in Excel

2011-06-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

When creating a formula, it is possible a mistake may occur. The formula is not evaluated and Excel displays an error value or message. The common error values that could appear when creating a formula are described below:#VALUE This error value is displayed if you use a cell reference in a mathematical formula that contains a piece of text. This error also appears if a selection is used without specifying a function.

#DIV/0! This error value is displayed if you divide a value by zero (O).

#REF! This error value is displayed if cell reference does not exist that
is used in the formula.

#N/A! This error value is displayed if value is not available or Excel
cannot find the required value.

Circular The circular reference is a special error message displayed in

Reference form of dialog box. This error message occurs when a formula uses its own result as one of its reference or arguments. This error message is also indicated in the status bar showing the cell address containing the error.

Computer Tips # 57 : How to Translate Text to Other Languages in Microsoft Word 2007?

2011-06-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

The world has become a global village where you need to communicate with people of diverse cultures and languages. We come across people who speak different languages on the internet, or we need to communicate with different people in the global business market. Sometimes we need to translate business documents as everybody doesn’t speak the same language. Students might need to translate some facts as well as information e.g. the history of a specific country into their own language in order to learn about its history.

Everyone can’t have an access to a professional translator who could help them out in this matter. Due to this reason, word-processing programs are available who try to fulfill this requirement. Other than the different programs which fill this requirement, it is possible to translate text in Microsoft Word 2007. The feature to translate text in Microsoft Word 2007 can be used like any other translation program. In order to translate text in Microsoft Word 2007, we just have to use its built-in function.

Follow the given steps to translate word text into other languages:

Select the text you want to translate. You can type it there and then or you could paste it from somewhere. If you need to select the entire document, and if it is very lengthy, you can go back to the "edit" tab and click "select all." Or you can just highlight the entire or part of the text by clicking the left mouse button and dragging it across the text you want to highlight.

Click on Review button on Menu bar.

Click on Translate in the Review tab.

A task pane will appear on the right side of the document. Select which language you would like to translate into or the existing language it is in. Here is where you can select which language to translate to or from.

In Word 2007

The selected or highlighted text will be translated in the lower part of the task pane. You can get the translation of the same text into different languages instantly as you choose the language under the option of "To".

In Word 2003

If you need to translate the selected text into a language that is not included in the given list, click on Translation options and select the particular language you want.

This helpful feature to translate text in Microsoft Word is very handy. However, there is no substitute for a human professional translator as good and meaningful translation demands comprehension as well as understanding of cultural references, artistic quality and talent. So there are chances that the translation done by a computer program will lack profundity as well as meaning.

Computer Tips # 56 : Burn a CD on Windows XP without using software

2011-06-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

Windows XP comes with a builtin CD-copy feature that not many people are aware of. Although almost everyone has his/her favorite CD-copy software to stick with, it is still good to know about this CDR feature from Windows XP. You will find it very useful when you come to another PC that doesn't have a CD-copy software, and you can't just install your favorite software to it. With this feature, you can write some data or MP3 files to a CD/DVD, or erase a re-writable CD/DVD.

If you're using a Re-Writable CD (CD-RW), make sure the disc is blank. You might need to erase (or "format") it before use. For information how to erase a CD-RW on Windows XP without using any other software

Requirements: You need to enable the CD-R feature on Windows XP.

Insert a Formated-ReWritable CD or a Recordable (CD-R) disc into the CD drive.
From Desktop, double-click on "My Computer".
Navigate to the files/folders you want to copy to CD. Select them and press "Ctrl-c" to copy.
Browse back to the CD-ROM, and press "Ctrl-V" to paste. The files/folders will show up as temporary files/folders at this time.
On the left panel, select "Write these files to CD".
The window "CD Writing Wizard" appears with the default CD name. Change the CD name if you wish, then click "Next".
The "CD Writing Wizard" starts to write files/folders to the CD:
Once the writing process is complete, the wizard will disappear and the CD-Rom will be ejected.

Thank you for your interest.

Computer Tips # 55 : Command Prompt on Right-Click

2011-06-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

It was a tip that makes us more comfortable.

Many computer users, specially the programmers, need to launch a command prompt window every once in a while to execute some dos/shell commands. The problem is, when a command prompt window launched, the default path is normally the system path or the user profile's path. The users will then have to do all the "cd" commands to change the directories to the path he/she wants.

This trick shows you how to add an option called "Command Prompt" when you right-click on a folder in Windows. With this option, a Command Prompt Window will launch and its current directory will be the path to the folder you've selected.

The Solution
You can either edit your registry OR download the registry file and apply it on your computer.

Method I. Manually edit the registry:

Start > Run
Enter "regedit" and hit Enter
Expand to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell"
Right-click on "shell" and select New > Key
Make sure a new key is created under "shell". Change the name of this key to "Command Prompt"
Right-click on this new key "Command Prompt" and select New > Key
Change the name of this key to "command"
Here's what we should have:
Double-click on the "(Default)" text on the right window to bring up the edit box
Enter this text into the Value Data field:
cmd.exe "%1"
Click OK and close the registry.

Thanks to everyone who is interested in this article.

Computer Tips # 54 : Add Watermark to a Word Document

2011-06-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

You can insert a watermark into a Microsoft Word document as either text or image.
Here is a sample Word Document with text watermark:

And here is an example of picture watermark:

Step-by-step to add a watermark to Word document (applied for Microsoft Word 97-2010):

Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP (2002)/2003:

Open the Word document that you want to add watermark to.
Select "Format" from the top menu, then select "Background", then "Printed Watermark".
In the "Printed Watermark" dialog:

A. To insert a text watermark:
- Select the "Text watermark".
- Then, either select a pre-defined text from the drop-down, or type in your desire text on the "Text" field.
- Customize your watermark with other options in this dialog such as text size, text color, etc, then click "OK".
- Watermark is now inserted into your document.
B. To insert an image watermark:
- Select the "Picture watermark".
- Then click on the button "Select Picture...".
- Navigate to the directory where your watermark picture is located. Select it and click "Insert".
- Select a customized scale if desired, then click "OK".
- The image is now inserted into your document as watermark.

Microsoft Word 2007/2010:

Open the Word document that you want to add watermark to.
Select the "Page Layout" Tab from the top menu
In the "Page Background" group, select "Watermark".
You can now select one of the pre-defined watermarks, or if you wish to use your own text/image, select "Custom Watermark" at the bottom.
At the "Printed Watermark" dialog:

A. To insert a text watermark:
- Select the "Text watermark".
- Then, either select a pre-defined text from the drop-down, or type in your desire text on the "Text" field.
- Customize your watermark with other options in this dialog such as text size, text color, etc, then click "OK".
- Watermark is now inserted into your document.
B. To insert an image watermark:

Select the "Picture watermark".
Then click on the button "Select Picture...".
Navigate to the directory where your watermark picture is located. Select it and click "Insert".
Select a customized scale if desired, then click "OK".
The image is now inserted into your document as watermark.

Thank you so much my Followers.

Computer Tips # 53 : Convert any Document or Web Page to PDF

2011-06-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Somebody just told you that you need to have Adobe Acrobat (Writer) to create a PDF file? Guess what, you can get away from that pricey piece of software if you just need to convert some documents to pdf, without a need of fancy editing the pdf document.

Here's how. Thanks to the BullZip, who provides a Free Pdf printer. With this free tool, you can simply "print out" your document or webpage to a pdf file, just about the same way as you print it out to a printer.

You can visit BullZip.com for more information about the software.

Here the direct link to BullZip downloads page: Downloads

To get started, first follow the link above and download Free Pdf Printer from BullZip, then install it to your computer.
Once you're done, you might need to close the program (or the web browser) which you're currently viewing the document. This helps refreshing the list of available printers on your computer.
Once you get back to the document you want to convert, perform the same steps are you print out the document, i.e. File > Print ...
When you see the Print window pop-up, select "Bullzip PDF Printer" under "Printers", then click "OK".
BullZip PDF Printer will then start to analyze your document and display a new pop-up window, where you can direct it to the location you want to save the pdf file.
Follow the pop-up windows and.. hola! The PDF document is created!

Computer Tips # 52 : Create Ghost Bootable SD Card or USB Flash Drive

2011-06-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

It's a good practice to create an image of your hard drive before you start using it. Especially when you had to build that computer from scratch and spent hours installing the operating system and all of your favorite apps...

As Symantec Ghost becomes more user friendly, people start to recognize this idea. The idea also works well when you need to clean your PC from viruses. In case anything goes wrong with the operating system, you just need to restore the image using the Symantec bootable CD.

However, the problem comes when we deal with the new version of those small laptops: The netbooks! which usually don't come with a built-in CD-ROM drive to bootup the PC.
The most simple solution would be buying an external CD-ROM drive, which costs you money. And in some cases, you just want to bootup the Symantec Ghost.... with whatever available!

The good news: Almost every recent laptop/netbook comes with a card reader, and even if you wasn't lucky enough, your laptop/netbook should have a USB port!

This guide will tell you how to create a bootable SD card or a USB flash drive with Symantec Norton Ghost.
This task can be done with several different versions of Symantec Ghost; however, the steps from this articles are based on Symantec Ghost 14.

What you need?

Symantec Ghost 14 bootable CD. (Some other versions might also work)
A PC with bootable CD/DVD drive.
An SD card (either SD or SDHC), or a USB thumb drive. The size can be as minimum as 1 GB. You can also pick a large SD card if you want to store your hard drive image to the card as well.
An SD slot or a card reader (for SD card) or a USB slot (for thumb drive)

Follow the steps in order. Use this guide at your own risks.

First, check to make sure your CD/DVD drive is bootable. (See your BIOS manual or PC user guide for details since this is out of the scope of this article).
- For SD card: Make sure the SD slot or the card reader is available. if it's a card reader, connect it to the PC. Also insert the card.
- For USB thumb drive: Make sure the drive is inserted into one of the USB slots.
Bootup the computer using the Symantec Ghost CD (Details vary on different computers). On Windows XP, during the startup, you should see the prompt "Press any key to boot from CD...".
Once the Symantec Recovery startup is complete, you should see the main screen of Symantec Ghost 14 Recovery similar to this image:

5. Select "Analyze" from the left menu.

6. Then click on "Open Command Shell Window". A command prompt window will display.

7. At this command prompt window, type: "diskpart" (one word, without quotes) and hit enter. The prompt now changed to "DISKPART>"

8. Now type "list disk" and hit enter. You should now see a list of all available disks. Base on the size of each disk listed, find the one that matching your SD card (or thumb drive) and note its disk number under "Disk ###". If you don't see your SD card (or flash drive) listed, verify if it is inserted or plugged in (you might need to restart the computer and try again).

9. Type "select disk " (replace with the disk # noted from the previous step) then hit enter.

Important!! Besure to select the correct disk (your SD card or thumb drive) as you will be erasing the drive.Sample image with a 4-GB SD selected:

10. Create a primary partition for the the disk by executing the following sequence of commands:

clean

create partition primary

select partition 1

11. Set the primary partition active, type: "active" and hit enter

12. Perform a quick format with the following command:

format fs=fat32 quick

13. Then type:

assign

exit

14. Your SD card (or the flash drive) is now bootable and will act similar to a local hard drive. In order to boot this card with Symantect Ghost Recovery, copy all contents from the Symantec Ghost disc to the SD card (or the flash drive). Besure to copy everything including any hidden files/folders.

The SD card or flash drive is now bootable and will boot your laptop/netbook to Symantec Ghost Recovery utilities exactly the same way as of the CD (To boot with the card on your laptop/netbook, don't forget to set your bios to search for the SD card or USB external devices in the boot sequence).

Computer Tips # 51 : 230+ Keyboard Shortcuts for Top Web Services

2011-06-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

Prepare your fingers, and throw your mouse away: you’re not going to need it. For your weekend reading, we’ve prepared a list of the most useful keyboard shortcuts for our favorite web services. So, if you need a quick reference as to which key does what on what site, this is where you find it. Enjoy!

GMail

c – compose a new mail
/ – puts your cursor in the search box
k – move to newer conversation
j – Move to older conversation
n – next message
p – previous message
o or Enter – open a conversation
u – return to conversation list
y – archive a conversation
m – mute (archive and make all future messages from this conversation skip the inbox)
x – select conversation
s – star a message or conversation
! – report spam
r – reply to a mail
a – reply to all recepients
f – forward message
Esc – escape from input field
ctrl+s – save draft

key combos

tab then Enter – send message
y then o – archive your conversation and move to the next one.
g then a – go to all mail
g then s – go to starred conversations
g then c – go to contacts list.
g then d – go to drafts
g then i – go to inbox

Official list of Gmail shortcuts

Google Reader

j/k – selects the next/previous item in the list
space/shift-space – moves the page down/up
n/p – in list view, selects the next item without opening it
o – in list view, expands or collapses the selected item
enter – in list view, expands or collapses the selected item
s – stars the selected item
shift-s – shares the selected item
m – switches the read state of the selected item
t – opens the tagging field for the selected item
v – opens the original source for this article in a new window
shift-a – marks all items in the current view as read
1 – displays the subscription as expanded items
2 – displays the subscription as a list of headlines
r – refreshes the unread counts in the navigation
shift-n/p – selects the next/previous subscription or folder in the navigation
shift-x – expand or collapse a folder selected in the navigation
shift-o – opens the item currently selected in the navigation
gh – goes to the Google Reader homepage
ga – goes to the “All items” view
gs – goes to the “Starred items” view
gt – allows you to navigate to a tag by entering the tag name
gu – allows you to navigate to a subscription by entering the subscription name
u – hides and shows the list of subscriptions
? – displays a quick guide to all of Reader’s shortcuts

Official list of Google Reader shortcuts

Google Calendar

c – Allows you to create a new event. + c allows you to create an event in a new window.
/ – Places your cursor in the search box
p – Moves your calendar view to the previous date range
n – Moves your calendar view to the next date range
t – Moves you to the current day
d – Displays your calendar in the “Day” view
x – Displays your calendar in a customized view
w – Displays your calendar in the “Week” view
m – Displays your calendar in the “Month” view
a – Displays your calendar in the “Agenda” view
q – Opens “Quick Add”
Esc – Brings you back to the default calendar view

event view

Enter – Expands a collapsed region
Tab – Moves your cursor to the next field
Alt then s – Saves the event
Esc – Brings you back to the default calendar view

Official list of Google Calendar shortcuts

Google Maps

arrow keys – pan the map in various directions
page up, page down, home and end – pan out even wider
+/- – zoom in/out

Official list of Google Maps shortcuts

Google Video

space bar – play/pause
right/left arrow skip -jump back 5%
up/down arrow – increase/decrease the volume 5%
m – mute
f – toggle full screen
Esc – return from full screen to normal mode

Official list of Google Video shortcuts

Google Docs

Ctrl+B – bold
Ctrl+C – copy
Ctrl+I – italicize
Ctrl+P – print
Ctrl+S – save
Ctrl+U – underline
Ctrl+V – paste
Ctrl+X – cut
Ctrl+Y – redo
Ctrl+Z – undo
Shift+Tab – move to previous cell/row
Tab – move to next cell/row

The above are only the shortcuts which work in both docs and spreadsheets. For a full list of all keyboard shortcuts in these two apps, see below.

Official list of Google Docs & Spreadsheets shortcuts

Netvibes

main panel

h – show help
arrow keys – navigate through modules
e – edit module
d – delete module
p – publish module
Enter – perform action on module (depending on the module, it can be open feed, start typing, etc)
Esc – removes focus from current module
a – add content to your Netvibes page
j and k – navigate through tabs

tabs shortcuts

t then o – opens tab options
t then 1,2,3,4 – sets the number of columns to 1,2,3 or 4 in the current tab
t then r – rename tab
t then d – delete tab

content panel

h – show help
a – add new feed
b – go to Netvibes ecosystem
t – close the content panel

feed reader

h – show help
n – next item
p – previous items
a – mark all as read
u – mark all as unread
Esc – close feed reader

Official list of Netvibes shortcuts

Wikipedia

+ – add a new section (talk pages only)
. – opens your user page if logged in
= – protect/unprotect the current page (sysops only)
c – shows the content page associated with the current article
d – delete/undelete the current page (sysops only)
e – edit this page/show source of current page
f – search Wikipedia
h – current page’s history
j – shows all of the pages that link to the current one
k – shows recent changes in pages linked to the current one
l – opens your watchlist (logged – in users only)
m – move the current page and its talk page (non – move – protected pages only)
n – opens your user’s or IP’s talk page
p – shows a preview of your changes (on edit pages)
q – shows a list of all special pages
r – shows a list of recent changes to the Wikipedia
s – saves the changes that you have made (on edit pages)
t – opens the current article’s talk page
u – allows you to upload images or media files
v – shows what changes you made to the text (on edit pages)
w – adds the current page to your watchlist (logged – in users only)
x – loads a random article
y – opens a list of your user’s or IP’s contributions
z – goes to the Main Page

Official list of Wikipedia shortcuts

Blogger

(these shortcuts work when editing posts)

control + b – Bold
control + i – Italic
control + l – Blockquote (when in HTML – mode only)
control + z – Undo
control + y – Redo
control + shift + a – Link
control + shift + p – Preview
control + d – Save as Draft
control + p – Publish Post
control + s – Autosave and keep editing
control + g – Hindi transliteration

Official list of Blogger shortcuts

Remember the milk

t – Add a new item to the current list
c – Complete the selected task/s
p – Postpone the selected task/s by one day if they have a due date
d – Change the due date of the selected task
f – Change the repeat of the selected task
g – Change the time estimate of the selected task
s – Change the tags for the selected task
u – Change the URL for the selected task
l – Change the location for the selected task
y – Add a note to the selected task
r – Rename the selected item
z – Undo the last action
1 – Set the priority of the selected task/s to 1
2 – Set the priority of the selected task/s to 2
3 – Set the priority of the selected task/s to 3
4 – Set the selected task/s to have no priority
Del – Delete the currently selected task(s)
a – Select all items in the current list
n – Select none of the items in the current list
k – When on a list, move the cursor up
j – When on a list, move the cursor down
i – When on a list, select an item
h – Switch between tabs (e.g. Task and Notes)
m – Toggle multi – edit mode on or off (default is off)
Tab – Save input and move to the next input field
Esc – Remove the cursor from the current input field

Key Combos

Ctrl + Shift + / – Moves the cursor to the search box
Ctrl + Shift + 6 – Switch to the Overview screen
Ctrl + Shift + 7 – Switch to the Tasks screen
Ctrl + Shift + 8 – Switch to the Locations screen
Ctrl + Shift + 9 – Switch to the Contacts screen
Ctrl + Shift + 0 – Switch to the Settings screen
Ctrl + Shift + Right – Switch between tabs (e.g. move to the next list)
Ctrl + Shift + Left – Switch between tabs (e.g. move to the previous list)
Ctrl + Shift + l – Skip to Login screen (from homepage)

Locations Shortcuts

Arrow Keys – pan/move around the map
Page Up, Page Dn, Home, End – Pan – Move around the map, wider pan than arrow keys
+/- – Zoom In/Out
Ctrl + Shift + l – Moves the cursor to the location ‘go’ box

Official list of Remember the Milk shortcuts

Pandora

Space – play/pause
right arrow – skip song
+ – mark as “thumbs up”
– – mark as “thumbs down”
up arrow – increase volume
down arrow – decrease volume
Shift+up arrow – max volume
Shift+down arrow – mute

Official list of Pandora shortcuts

Yahoo Mail

m – check mail
Shift+m – check all mail
Ctrl+ – close current tab
n – new message
Shift+n – new message in its own window
r – reply
Shift+r – reply in a new window
a – reply all
Shift+a – reply all in a new window
f – forward message
Shift+f – forward in a new window
k – mark as read
Shift+k – mark as unread
l – flag
Shift+l – clear flag
del – delete item
p/Ctrl+p – print
Ctrl+s – save draft
Ctrl+Enter – send message
v – turn reading pane on/off
Ctrl+[ - navigate through tabs
Ctrl+] – navigate through tabs
Enter – open message in its own tab (when message is selected)
Enter – edit contact info (when contact is selected)
Ctrl+f – find a word or phrase in message
F11 – expand window to max height
Ctrl+. – next message (in message tab)
Ctrl+, – previous message (in message tab)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+up arrow/down arrow – next/previous message
Ctrl+Shift+End – skip to oldest unread message
d – move message to folder
Esc – close read – message tab
Ctrl+Shift+End – start a new chat

Official list of Yahoo! Mail shortcuts

WordPress

All letters uppercase – effectively, it means you have to press Alt+Shift+key

Alt+P – publish
Alt+B – bold
Alt+I – italic
Alt+Q – Blockquote
Alt+T – more (Read More tag)
Alt+U – ul (Unordered list)
Alt+O – ol (Ordered list)
Alt+L – li (list item)
Alt+A – link
Alt+C – code
Alt+S – ins
Alt+D – del

Thank you so much.

Computer Tips # 50 : Change Text on XP Start Button

2009-06-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Change Text on XP Start Button

Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from h**p://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.

Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.[/b]

Computer Tips # 49 : Caught A Virus?

2009-06-27T20:23:00.003-07:00

Caught A Virus?

If you've let your guard down--or even if you haven't--it can be hard to tell if your PC is infected. Here's what to do if you suspect the worst.

Heard this one before? You must run antivirus software and keep it up to date or else your PC will get infected, you'll lose all your data, and you'll incur the wrath of every e-mail buddy you unknowingly infect because of your carelessness.

You know they're right. Yet for one reason or another, you're not running antivirus software, or you are but it's not up to date. Maybe you turned off your virus scanner because it conflicted with another program. Maybe you got tired of upgrading after you bought Norton Antivirus 2001, 2002, and 2003. Or maybe your annual subscription of virus definitions recently expired, and you've put off renewing.

It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But chances are, either you're infected right now, as we speak, or you will be very soon.

For a few days in late January, the Netsky.p worm was infecting about 2,500 PCs a day. Meanwhile the MySQL bot infected approximately 100 systems a minute (albeit not necessarily desktop PCs). As David Perry, global director of education for security software provider Trend Micro, puts it, "an unprotected [Windows] computer will become owned by a bot within 14 minutes."

Today's viruses, worms, and so-called bots--which turn your PC into a zombie that does the hacker's bidding (such as mass-mailing spam)--aren't going to announce their presence. Real viruses aren't like the ones in Hollywood movies that melt down whole networks in seconds and destroy alien spacecraft. They operate in the background, quietly altering data, stealing private operations, or using your PC for their own illegal ends. This makes them hard to spot if you're not well protected.

Is Your PC "Owned?"

I should start by saying that not every system oddity is due to a virus, worm, or bot. Is your system slowing down? Is your hard drive filling up rapidly? Are programs crashing without warning? These symptoms are more likely caused by Windows, or badly written legitimate programs, rather than malware. After all, people who write malware want to hide their program's presence. People who write commercial software put icons all over your desktop. Who's going to work harder to go unnoticed?

Other indicators that may, in fact, indicate that there's nothing that you need to worry about, include:

* An automated e-mail telling you that you're sending out infected mail. E-mail viruses and worms typically come from faked addresses.
* A frantic note from a friend saying they've been infected, and therefore so have you. This is likely a hoax. It's especially suspicious if the note tells you the virus can't be detected but you can get rid of it by deleting one simple file. Don't be fooled--and don't delete that file.

I'm not saying that you should ignore such warnings. Copy the subject line or a snippet from the body of the e-mail and plug it into your favorite search engine to see if other people have received the same note. A security site may have already pegged it as a hoax.

Sniffing Out an Infection

There are signs that indicate that your PC is actually infected. A lot of network activity coming from your system (when you're not actually using Internet) can be a good indicator that something is amiss. A good software firewall, such as ZoneAlarm, will ask your permission before letting anything leave your PC, and will give you enough information to help you judge if the outgoing data is legitimate. By the way, the firewall that comes with Windows, even the improved version in XP Service Pack 2, lacks this capability.

To put a network status light in your system tray, follow these steps: In Windows XP, choose Start, Control Panel, Network Connections, right-click the network connection you want to monitor, choose Properties, check "Show icon in notification area when connected," and click OK.

If you're interested in being a PC detective, you can sniff around further for malware. By hitting Ctrl-Alt-Delete in Windows, you'll bring up the Task Manager, which will show you the various processes your system is running. Most, if not all, are legit, but if you see a file name that looks suspicious, type it into a search engine and find out what it is.

Want another place to look? In Windows XP, click Start, Run, type "services.msc" in the box, and press Enter. You'll see detailed descriptions of the services Windows is running. Something look weird? Check with your search engine.

Finally, you can do more detective work by selecting Start, Run, and typing "msconfig" in the box. With this tool you not only see the services running, but also the programs that your system is launching at startup. Again, check for anything weird.

If any of these tools won't run--or if your security software won't run--that in itself is a good sign your computer is infected. Some viruses intentionally disable such programs as a way to protect themselves.

What to Do Next

Once you're fairly sure your system is infected, don't panic. There are steps you can take to assess the damage, depending on your current level of protection.

* If you don't have any antivirus software on your system (shame on you), or if the software has stopped working, stay online and go for a free scan at one of several Web sites. There's McAfee FreeScan, Symantec Security Check, and Trend Micro's HouseCall. If one doesn't find anything, try two. In fact, running a free online virus scan is a good way to double-check the work of your own local antivirus program. When you're done, buy or download a real antivirus program.
* If you have antivirus software, but it isn't active, get offline, unplug wires-- whatever it takes to stop your computer from communicating via the Internet. Then, promptly perform a scan with the installed software.
* If nothing seems to be working, do more research on the Web. There are several online virus libraries where you can find out about known viruses. These sites often provide instructions for removing viruses--if manual removal is possible--or a free removal tool if it isn't. Check out GriSOFT's Virus Encyclopedia, Eset's Virus Descriptions, McAffee's Virus Glossary, Symantec's Virus Encyclopedia, or Trend Micro's Virus Encyclopedia.

A Microgram of Prevention

Assuming your system is now clean, you need to make sure it stays that way. Preventing a breach of your computer's security is far more effective than cleaning up the mess afterwards. Start with a good security program, such Trend Micro's PC-Cillin, which you can buy for $50.

Don't want to shell out any money? You can cobble together security through free downloads, such as AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, ZoneAlarm (a personal firewall), and Ad-Aware SE (an antispyware tool).

Just make sure you keep all security software up to date. The bad guys constantly try out new ways to fool security programs. Any security tool without regular, easy (if not automatic) updates isn't worth your money or your time.

Speaking of updating, the same goes for Windows. Use Windows Update (it's right there on your Start Menu) to make sure you're getting all of the high priority updates. If you run Windows XP, make sure to get the Service Pack 2 update. To find out if you already have it, right-click My Computer, and select Properties. Under the General tab, under System, it should say "Service Pack 2."

Here are a few more pointers for a virus-free life:

* Be careful with e-mail. Set your e-mail software security settings to high. Don't open messages with generic-sounding subjects that don't apply specifically to you from people you don't know. Don't open an attachment unless you're expecting it.
* If you have broadband Internet access, such as DSL or cable, get a router, even if you only have one PC. A router adds an extra layer of protection because your PC is not connecting directly with the Internet.
* Check your Internet ports. These doorways between your computer and the Internet can be open, in which case your PC is very vulnerable; closed, but still somewhat vulnerable; or stealthed (or hidden), which is safest. Visit Gibson Research's Web site and run the free ShieldsUP test to see your ports' status. If some ports show up as closed--or worse yet, open--check your router's documentation to find out how to hide them.

Computer Tips # 48 : Can't See Secure Sites

2009-06-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Can't See Secure Sites

Fix the problem with seeing them secrue sites (banks or online stores) i found this very usefull to me at my work (isp backbone support lol, at the time i was regular support )

Any way... what u need to do is make a new notepad file and write in it the followng DLL's.. just copy-paste these

regsvr32 SOFTPUB.DLL
regsvr32 WINTRUST.DLL
regsvr32 INITPKI.DLL
regsvr32 dssenh.dll
regsvr32 Rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 sccbase.dll
regsvr32 slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 Cryptdlg.dll

and save it as > all file types, and make it something like securefix.bat.

then just run the file and ur problem should be gone.

Computer Tips # 47 : cannot use my password to get back into Windows XP

2009-06-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Cannot use my password to get back into Windows XP

Because of the security features built into Windows XP, it is virtually impossible to get back into the system without the password.
You have several options to try and get around this problem.

If you have access to another user account with administrator rights, you can use that account to change the password
of the account that is locked out. You can also use the default Administrator account that is built into Windows XP.

First you need to boot the system into Safe Mode.
1.Restart your system.
2.When you see the blue Dell globe or screen, press the ( F8 ) key about 3 times a second.
3.You should get the Windows startup menu. Use the (Up or Down) arrow keys to highlight (SafeMode)
4.Press (Enter) on (Safe Mode), then press (Enter) on (Windows XP).
5.The system should boot to Safe Mode.

Once you are at the Account Log on Screen, click on the icon
for the user account with administrator rights, or click on the icon
for the administrators account.
Note: For Home the Administrator account isn't normally shown & in Safe Mode you have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys twice to show.
For PRO you can do this in normal mode

When the system has booted to the desktop, use the following steps to change the accounts password.
1.Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools.
2.Click Computer Management.
3.Double click Local Users and Groups, double click the folder Users.
4.Right click on the account name that is locked out, and click on Set Password.
5.You may get a warning message about changing the password, simply click proceed.
6.Leave the New Password box blank, also leave the Confirm Password box blank.
7.Click OK, and OK again.
8.Then close all Windows, reboot the system and try to log in.

There are also applications that can recover the password for you.
The following companies provide these applications at a cost.
iOpusฎ Password Recovery XP here.
LostPassword.com, here.
Asterisk Password Recovery XP v1.89 here.
Windows XP / 2000 / NT Key here.

If the above information does not help in recovering the password, the only option left is to
format the hard drive then reinstall Windows and the system software.

Computer Tips # 46 : Calculating Offsets

2009-06-27T20:14:00.001-07:00

Calculating Offsets

This tutorial is more of a tip than a tutorial. It just explains how to calculate offsets for jumps and calls within the program you are patching.

Types of Jumps/Calls

Here I will just describe the different types of jumps and calls which you will come across:

Short Jumps
Short jumps be they conditional or unconditional jumps are 2 bytes long (or 1 nibble if your Californian ;-). These are relative jumps taken from the first byte after the two bytes of the jump. Using short jumps you can jump a maximum of 127 bytes forward and 128 bytes backwards.

Long Jumps
Long jumps if they are relative are 6 bytes long for conditional jumps and are 5 bytes long for unconditional jumps. For conditional jumps 2 bytes are used to identify that it is a long jump and what type of jump (je, jg, jns etc) it is. The other 4 bytes are used to show how far away the target location is relative to the first byte after the jump. In an unconditional jump only 1 byte is used to identify it as a long unconditional jump and the other 4 are used to show it's target's relative position, as with the conditional jumps.

Calls
There are two different types of calls which we will use. The normal type of call works the same as the long jumps in that it is relative to it's current position. The other type gives a reference to a memory location, register or stack position which holds the memory location it will call. The position held by the later is direct e.g. the memory location referenced may contain 401036h which would be the exact position that you would call, not relative to the position of the call. The size of these types of calls depends on any calculations involved in the call i.e. you could do: 'call dword ptr [eax * edx + 2]'. Long jumps can also be made using this method, but I didn't say that earlier as to avoid repetition.

Tables
Here is a brief list of all the different types of jumps/calls and their appropriate op-codes. Where different jumps have the same Op-Codes I have grouped them:

Jump Description Short Op-Code Long Op-Code
call procedure call E8xxxxxxxx N/A
jmp u nconditional jump EBxx E9xxxxxxxx
ja/jnbe jump if above 77xx 0F87xxxxxxxx
jae/jnb/jnc jump if above or equal 73xx 0F83xxxxxxxx
jb/jc/jnae jump if below 72xx 0F82xxxxxxxx
jbe/jna jump if below or equal 76xx 0F86xxxxxxxx
jcxz/jecxz jump if cx/ecx equals zero E3xx N/A
je/jz jump if equal/zero 74xx 0F84xxxxxxxx
jne/jnz jump if not equal/zero 75xx 0F85xxxxxxxx
jg/jnle jump if greater 7Fxx 0F8Fxxxxxxxx
jge/jnl jump if greater or equal 7Dxx 0F8Dxxxxxxxx
jl/jnge jump if less 7Cxx 0F8Cxxxxxxxx
jle/jng jump if less or equal 7Exx 0F8Exxxxxxxx
jno jump if not overflow 71xx 0F81xxxxxxxx
jnp/jpo jump if no parity/parity odd 7Bxx 0F8Bxxxxxxxx
jns jump if not signed 79xx 0F89xxxxxxxx
jo jump if overflow 70xx 0F80xxxxxxxx
jp/jpe jump if parity/parity even 7Axx 0F8Axxxxxxxx
js jump if sign 78xx 0F88xxxxxxxx

Calculating Offsets (finding in the xx's in table)

You will need to be able to calculate offsets when you add jumps and make calls within and to the code you have added. If you choose to do this by hand instead of using a tool then here are the basics:

For jumps and calls further on in memory from your current position you take the address where you want to jump/call and subtract from it the memory location of the next instruction after your call/jump i.e.:

(target mem address) - (mem location of next instruction after call/jump)

Example
If we wanted to jump to 4020d0 and the next instruction *after* the jump is at location 401093 then we would use the following calculation:

4020d0 - 401093 = 103d

We then write the jump instruction in hex as e93d100000 where e9 is the hex op-code for a long relative jump and 3d100000 is the result of our calculation expanded to dword size and reversed.

For jumps and calls to locations *before* the current location in memory you take the address you want to call/jump to and subtract it from the memory location of the next instruction after your call/jump, then subtract 1 and finally perform a logical NOT on the result i.e.

NOT(mem address of next instruction - target mem address - 1)

Example
If we wanted to call location 401184 and the address of the next instruction after the call is 402190 then we do the following calculation:

NOT(402190 - 401184 - 1 ) = ffffeff4

We can then write our call instruction in hex as e8f4efffff where e8 is the hex op-code for relative call and f4efffff is the result of the calculation in reverse order.

If you want to practice with different examples then the best way to do this is to use a disassembler like WDASM which shows you the op-codes and try and work out the results yourself. Also as an end note you don't have to perform these calculations if you have enough room to make your jump or call instruction into an absolute jump call by doing the following as represented in assembler:

mov eax, 4020d0
call eax (or jmp eax)

Final Notes

Make life easier and use a program to do this ;-)

Computer Tips # 44 : Bypass Internet Censorship

2009-06-27T02:54:00.000-07:00

Bypass Internet Censorship

I remember not so long ago someone was asking about ways to get around and view sites that were blocked by the administrators, or some web filtering device, either at work or at school, hope this helps.

www.zensur.freerk.com

Computer Tips # 43 : Burning BIN/CUE Images with Nero Burning Rom

2009-06-27T02:50:00.000-07:00

Burning BIN/CUE Images with Nero Burning Rom

BIN/CUE image format is quite common on the Internet. It might seem that finding an appropriate software for burning these images is quite hard. Luckily, it's not. In addition to Golden Hawk CDRWin, the original software for BIN/CUE format, you can also use Nero Burning Rom to burn the images.

Please make sure that you have the latest version of Nero, which now is 5.5.10.0

Verify the CUE-sheet and open it with Nero
Before doing anything else you have to verify that the path in the CUE-sheet is correct. A CUE-sheet is a plaintext file describing the structure and the location of the BIN-file. You can open up the .CUE -file using, for example, Notepad.

The file should look something like this:

FILE "IMAGE.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Usually the CUE-filename and the BIN-filename have the same body -- e.g. IMAGE. All you need to do is verify that there is no path information on the
FILE "IMAGE.BIN" BINARY
-line. Ie. it should NOT read e.g.
FILE "C:\TEMP\IMAGE.BIN" BINARY
If there is any path information on the line, just remove it so that you have just the name of the .BIN-file as in the example above. Also make sure that the name of the .BIN in the CUE-sheet is the same as the actual .BIN file you have on hard-disk.

Next load Nero Burning Rom and choose File, Burn Image....

Load the CUE-sheet in Nero
Choose the Files of Type: dropdown menu and select All Files *.*. Next just locate the .CUE file, select it and click Open. Make sure you select the .CUE -file, not the .BIN -file.

Burn the image
All you have to do then is choose the writing speed, select the Disc-At-Once Write Method, and click Write.

That's it! After a couple of minutes you'll have a CD with the BIN/CUE Image written on it.

NOTES:
--> Do not worry if the BIN file seems larger than the capacity of your CD-R or CD-RW. Bin files are raw data and once burned, the file size is smaller.

--> If you have a DVD burner, just burn the cue/bin directly onto the DVD. Then use Daemon Tools to mount the cue/bin image when you use the files. This way you maintain a true exact image. And Daemon Tools (also Alcohol CDR burning software, which has the same feature) mounts the image, and you see the files instead of the bin/cue.

Computer Tips # 42 : Burn .bin file Without A .cue file

2009-06-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Burn .bin file Without A .cue file

You do exactly the same as for iso files, but when you click on “burn image,” you don’t browse to the bin itself, but instead to the cue file, and you open that one.
When the writer starts to burn, it will automatically search for the bin file and start burning it. In fact, the cue file tells the burning program where it can find the bin file that is attached to it. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you use the right cue file when you burn a bin. i.e both cue and bin files that are attached to each other must be located in the same folder, and every bin file has it’s own cue file.

Normally, when you download a bin file, you can download the appropriate cue file as well. If you do not have the cue file (or feel bold) you can make the cue file yourself, which is really easy to do:

a. Open notepad

b. Copy the folowing text into notepad:

FILE“nameofimage“BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Where nameofimage.bin is the name of the bin file you want ot burn.

c. The rest is easy: just save the notepad text with the name of the bin, but with the cue extension.

d. The file should be saved in the same folder as its appropriate bin file and should be something like myfile.cue

Or you can use Alcohol 120% to burn directly from the bin file

Computer Tips # 41 : BulletProof FTP Server Tutorial

2009-06-26T09:06:00.001-07:00

BulletProof FTP Server Tutorial

Configuring your Bulletproof FTP Server Tutorial

I am not sure where I found this tutorial, It’s been a while…It might even have been here... ..So if it is one of yours, my hat goes off to you once again....

After reading the excellent tutorial on "Creating an FTP" that Norway posted…

(I would suggest reading and following his tutorial first, then following up with this one)

I thought that perhaps this tutorial might be pretty helpful for those interested in knowing how to configure their Bulletproof FTP Server that don't already know how... Here's how to get started…

This is for the BulletProof FTP Server 2.10. However, It should work fine on most following versions as well.

I'm assuming you have it installed and cracked.

Basics
1. Start the program.
2. Click on Setup > Main > General from the pull-down menu.
3. Enter your server name into the 'Server Name' box. Under Connection set the “Max number of users" to any number. This is the limit as to how many users can be on your sever at any time.
4. Click on the 'options' tab of that same panel (on the side)
5. Look at the bottom, under IP Options. Put a check in the box “Refuse Multiple Connections from the same IP”. This will prevent one person from blocking your FTP to others.
6. Also put a check in the 'Blocked Banned IP (instead of notifying client). VERY IMPORTANT! If somebody decides to 'Hammer' (attempt to login numerous times VERY quickly) your server/computer may CRASH if you don't enable this.
7. Click on the 'advanced' tab
8. At the bottom again look at the 'hammering area'
9. Enable 'anti-hammer' and 'do not reply to people hammering' Set it for the following: Block IP 120 min if 5 connections in 60 sec. You can set this at whatever you want to but that is pretty much a standard Click 'OK'

Adding Users
11. Setup > User accounts form pull-down.
12. Right click in the empty 'User Accounts' area on the right: choose 'Add'
13. Enter account name. (ie: logon name)
14. In the 'Access rights' box right click: choose ‘Add’.
15. Browse until you find the directory (folder) you want to share. In the right column you will see a bunch of checkboxes. Put a check in the following ones: Read, Write, Append, Make, List, and +Subdirs. Press 'select'.
16. Enter a password for your new FTP account.
17. Click on 'Miscellaneous' in the left column. Make sure 'Enable Account' is selected. Enable 'Max Number of Users' set it at a number other than zero. 1 for a personal account and more that one for a group account. Enable 'Max. no. of connects per IP' set it at 1

18. Under 'Files' enable 'show relative path' this is a security issue. A FTP client will now not be able to see the ENTIRE path of the FTP. It will only see the path from the main directory. Hide hidden flies as well.
Put a tick in both of these.

Advanced:
You don't need to do any of this stuff, but It will help tweak your server and help you maintain order on it. All of the following will be broken down into small little areas that will tell you how to do one thing at a time.

Changing the Port
The default port is always 21, but you can change this. Many ISPs will routinely do a scan of its own users to find a ftp server, also when people scan for pubs they may scan your IP, thus finding your ftp server. If you do decide to change it many suggest that you make the port over 10,000.
1. Setup > Main > General
2. In the 'Connection' Area is a setting labeled 'Listen on Port Number:'
3. Make it any number you want. That will be your port number.
4. Click 'OK'

Making an 'Upload Only' or 'Download Only' ftp server.
This is for the entire SERVER, not just a user.
1. Setup > Main > Advanced
2. In the advanced window you will have the following options: uploads and downloads, downloads only, and uploads only. By default upload and download will be checked. Change it to whatever you want.
3. Click 'OK’

While you are running your server, usually you will end up spending more time at your computer than you normally do. Don't be afraid to ban IP's. Remember, on your FTP you do as you want.

When you are online you must also select the open server button next to the on-line button which is the on-line Button

You also have to use the actual Numbered ip Address ie: 66.250.216.67

Or even Better yet, get a no-ip.com address

Computer Tips # 40 : Bulk Editing Of .xxx to .zip or .mp3

2009-06-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

Bulk Editing Of .xxx to .zip or .mp3

ets us say you have just download a new album or game
but all the files are .xxx and you need them to be
zip's, rar's, mp3's etc.....
then do the following

-create a new folder
-put all the files needing editing in the new folder
-then goto "run" in the start menu
-type in CMD and click ok

-the next thing needsa few bits of old dos commands
-you need to navagate CMD to the folder whree the files are
-you can do this by 1st getting the total adress of the folder
-and then typing it in cmd with a "cd" in frount
QUOTE
cd c:\xxx\yyy\ccc\

once you in the folder where the files are you can move on
nb u can cheek you in the right folder by typing dir to get a list of files

-now type in....
QUOTE
rename *.* *.zip

Nb change the zip to what ever the extention needs to be (.rar, .mp3 ect)

all done
you should hv now changed the .* to what ever you needed

Computer Tips # 39 : Broken Ie, How to fix it

2009-06-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

Broken Ie, How to fix it

So one of your friends, “not you of course”, has managed to nuke Internet Explorer and they are unsure how they did it. You’ve eliminated the possibility of viruses and adware, so this just leaves you and a broken IE. Before you begin to even consider running a repair install of the OS, let’s try to do a repair on IE instead.

THE REPAIR PROCESS

Start the Registry Editor by typing regedit from the Run box. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Active Setup \ Installed Components \ {89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383} and then right-click the “IsInstalled value.” Click Modify. From there, you will change the value from 1 to 0. All right, go ahead and close the editor and reinstall IE from this location. /http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG

If messing with the registry and something goes horribly wrong, you can use “Last Known Good Configuration (F8 Safe Mode)” or a Restore Point to get back to where you were before, with your settings. Then you can try again, this time taking care to watch the portion of the registry you are changing. Most people who have troubles with this end up changing the wrong registry key.

Hope this tuturials helps some members.

Computer Tips # 38 : Border And Text Effects In Psp8, For use with PSP8

2009-06-26T03:35:00.000-07:00

Border And Text Effects In Psp8, For use with PSP8

Do you want to jazz up your graphics? Want to add a bit of pazazz to your art? Well, this guide features some knowledge, border effects, and even directions to make your own swirlie brushes!

Now, open PSP and get ready to learn! Let's start off with the basics.

-------------------------------------------------
-Border Effects

There are two main types of borders, solid borders, and decorative borders. A solid border is like a colored line that raps around the outside of your image and separates graphics from the rest of the page. You can have borders inside the outside borders to make awesome layer effects. Decorative borders are almost the same, except they are not completely connected. (Example - Dashed Borders)
-------------------------------------------------
Dashed Borders
Open PSP and create an image about 380 x 100 pixels with a white background.

Draw a bit with your paintbrush, just add some color. Now maximize your image.

It should take up the whole page. Now go up to the toolbar on the very top and click "Selections" and go down right below that and click "Select All" There should be a dotted line going around the outside of your image.

We're almost done! YAY! Ok, now look on your keyboard. Go to the very top row next to the F1, F2, F3, F4, and look to the right of the F12 button. It should say "Print Screen". Press it, and it will take a picture of everything currently open on your computer that you can see. Now go to the top toolbar once one. Go under "Edit", move down to "Paste", then move your mouse to the right and select "Paste as New Image"

Now, your image has a dashed border, but you can see all the unwanted parts of your workspace. So go to the left toolbar and click the crop tool. It is the small square with a line through it.

Now drag the segment the crop tool makes just around the image. You might want to zoom in some (Click the magnifying glass on the left toolbar on the spot you want to zoom in). Once you have it fully outlined with the crop segment, double-click to crop it. Wallah! Your image now has a dashed border. So just go to the top toolbar once again, go under "File" and click "Save As". Then, select the spot and name to save it.

-------------------------------------------------
-Font Suggestions and Styles

So you know how to make a cool border for your images. Now what about fonts? Well usually, for siggies, you would put a bigger font saying their name, and a smaller font with sub-text. Look at my signature:

See how it says "Anonymous" in a large font that matches the background; then under it, it says "SOD's coolest member" (my sub-text) in a smaller font? That's the usual format for text on signatures. Of couse, this isn't the only way.

Now, for some font suggestions:

Larger Fonts
Laurenscript
Baby Kruffy (This one is awesome!)
Casual
Chick
Cheri
Walt Disney
Mullet
Dolphins (yippee!)
Jelly Belly
Flubber
Porky's
Gilligan's Island
Cheeseburger

Smaller Fonts
Redensek
Mullet
Georgia
Acknowledge
Tahoma

-------------------------------------------------

Helpful Links

http://peachie.nu
(a few popups though)

Font Places

http://www.dafont.com/en/
http://www.1001freefonts.com/
http://www.fontfreak.com/
http://www.acidfonts.com/

Computer Tips # 37 : Boot Winxp Fast

2009-06-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

Boot Winxp Fast

Follow the following steps

1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:\windows\prefetch\ntosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:\
2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.
6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".
7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"
8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".
9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".
10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.
11. Reboot your computer.

Computer Tips # 36 : Boot Block Recovery For Free

2009-06-26T03:30:00.000-07:00

Boot Block Recovery For Free

You don't need to pay a measly sum of dollars just to recover from a boot block mode. Here it is folks:

AWARD Bootblock recovery:

That shorting trick should work if the boot block code is not corrupted, and it should not be if /sb switch is used when flashing the bios (instead of /wb switch).

The 2 pins to short to force a checksum error varies from chip to chip. But these are usually the highest-numbered address pins (A10 and above).

These are the pins used by the system to read the System BIOS (original.bin for award v6), calculate the ROM checksum and see if it's valid before decompressing it into memory, and subsequently allow Bootblock POST to pass control over to the System BIOS.

You just have to fool the system into believing that the System BIOS is corrupt. This you do by giving your system a hard time reading the System BIOS by shorting the 2 high address pins. And when it could not read the System BIOS properly, ROM Checksum Error is detected "so to speak" and Bootblock recovery is activated.

Sometimes, any combination of the high address pins won't work to force a checksum error in some chips, like my Winbond W49F002U. But shorting the #WE pin with the highest-numbered address pin (A17) worked for this chip. You just have to be experimentative if you're not comfortable with "hot flashing" or "replacement BIOS".

But to avoid further damage to your chip if you're not sure which are the correct pins to short, measure the potential between the 2 pins by a voltmeter while the system is on. If the voltage reading is zero (or no potential at all), it is safe to short these pins.

But do not short the pins while the system is on. Instead, power down then do the short, then power up while still shorting. And as soon as you hear 3 beeps (1 long, 2 short), remove the short at once so that automatic reflashing from Drive A can proceed without errors (assuming you had autoexec.bat in it).

About how to do the shorting, the tip of a screwdriver would do. But with such minute pins on the PLCC chip, I'm pretty comfortable doing it with the tip of my multi-tester or voltmeter probe. Short the pins at the point where they come out of the chip.

AMIBIOS Recovery bootblock:
1. Copy a known working BIOS image for your board to a floppy and rename it to AMIBOOT.ROM.
2. Insert the floppy in your system's floppydrive.
3. Power on the system while holding CTRL+Home keys. Release the keys when you hear a beep and/or see the floppy light coming on.
4 . Just wait until you hear 4 beeps. When 4 beeps are heard the reprogramming of the System Block BIOS went succesfull, so then you may restart your system.

Some alternative keys that can be used to force BIOS update (only the System Block will be updated so it's quite safe):
CTRL+Home= restore missing code into system block and clear CMOS when programming went ok.
CTRL+Page Up= restore missing code into system block and clear CMOS or DMI when programming went ok.
CTRL+Page Down= restore missing code into system block and do not clear CMOS and DMI area when programming went ok
Btw: the alternative keys work only with AMIBIOS 7 or higher (so for example an AMI 6.26 BIOS can be only recovered by using CTRL+Home keys).
Boot Block Recovery for FREE

************************************************
BLACKOUT Flashing
*************************************************

Recovering a Corrupt AMI BIOS chip
With motherboards that use BOOT BLOCK BIOS it is possible to recover a corrupted BIOS because the BOOT BLOCK section of the BIOS, which is responsible for booting the computer remains unmodified. When an AMI BIOS becomes corrupt the system will appear to start, but nothing will appear on the screen, the floppy drive light will come on and the system will access the floppy drive repeatedly. If your motherboard has an ISA slot and you have an old ISA video card lying around, put the ISA video card in your system and connect the monitor. The BOOT BLOCK section of the BIOS only supports ISA video cards, so if you do not have an ISA video card or your motherboard does not have ISA slots, you will have to restore your BIOS blind, with no monitor to show you what’s going on.

AMI has integrated a recovery routine into the BOOT BLOCK of the BIOS, which in the event the BIOS becomes corrupt can be used to restore the BIOS to a working state. The routine is called when the SYSTEM BLOCK of the BIOS is empty. The restore routine will access the floppy drive looking for a BIOS file names AMIBOOT.ROM, this is why the floppy drive light comes on and the drive spins. If the file is found it is loaded into the SYSTEM BLOCK of the BIOS to replace the missing information. To restore your BIOS simply copy a working BIOS file to a floppy diskette and rename it AMIBOOT.ROM, then insert it into the computer while the power is on. The diskette does not need to be bootable or contain a flash utility. After about four minutes the system will beep four times. Remove the floppy diskette from the drive and reboot the computer. The BIOS should now be restored.

Recovering a Corrupt AWARD BIOS
With AWARD BIOS the process is similar but still a bit different. To recover an AWARD BIOS you will need to create a floppy diskette with a working BIOS file in .BIN format, an AWARD flash utility and an AUTOEXEC.BAT file. AWARD BIOS will not automatically restore the BIOS information to the SYSTEM BLOCK for this reason you will need to add the commands necessary to flash the BIOS in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The system will run the AUTOEXE.BAT file, which will in turn flash the BIOS. This is fairly easy. Here are the steps you need to take.

ท Create a bootable floppy diskette
ท Copy the BIOS file and flash utility to the diskette
ท Create an text file with any standard text editor and add the following lines

@ECHO OFF
FLASH763 BIOSFILE.BIN /py

In the above example I am assuming that you are using the FLASH763.EXE flash utility. You will need to replace the FLASH763 with the name of whatever flash utility you are using, and replace the BIOSFILE.BIN with the name of the BIOS file you are using. You will also need to change the ‘/py’ to whatever the command is for your flash utility to automatically program the BIOS without user intervention. If you do not know the command to automatically flash your BIOS type the name of the flash utility with a space and then /? to display the utility’s help screen. The help screen should pecify the command switch to automatically flash your BIOS. If you are using the FLASH763.EXE utility then the switch to automatically flash your BIOS is ‘/py’.