Install VLC (VideoLAN Client) Fedora 8
Multimedia can be the achilles heel of Linux, but with just a little work you should be able to play just about anything your friends can. Besides Mplayer the other great video player is called VLC. It too is trivially easy to install once you have your repositories set up:
# yum -y install vlc
Once the client and a zillion dependencies get installed you can play a huge variety of video formats easy with the command vlc
Install MPlayer Media Player in Fedora 8
At some point you're probably going to want to play a QuickTime, AVI or ASF file so you'll want the MPlayer media player. Fortunately with the FreshRpms repositories it's also very easy to download and install. Then you can go ahead and install mplayer and all it's dependencies:
# yum -y install mplayer mplayer-gui mplayer-skins mplayer-fonts mplayerplug-in
This command line will download the whole kit and kaboodle, command line utilities, plug-ins, etc. If you want to play content from a command line you will want to use the gmplayer version which will include a skin-able control panel. Restart your web browser after that whole mess is done installing and you'll also have a plug-in for Mozilla so you can play embedded content. While you're at it be sure to configure mplayer to use the Pulse sound system rather than the default. It just works better. Edit the file ~/.mplayer/config and add the following line:
ao=pulse
You can enable support for mms streaming by opening Firefox and click on the special URL about:config. Right click on the list and choose New then choose String. For the preference name enter network.protocol-handler.app.mms then for the string value enter gmplayer.
Special 64-bit instructions:
The above installs the 64-bit version of everything but because your other plug-ins are 32-bits you need to run the 32-bit version of Firefox, which won't be able to use the 64-bit version of the plug-in you just installed. The plug-in can use the 64-bit version of the mplayer application just fine so all you need to do then is to install the 32-bit mplayerplug-in plus a dependency it requires. If you know of any easier way to do this please let me know below.
# rpm -ihv http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/fedora/linux/7/mplayerplug-in/mplayerplug-in-3.40-1.fc7.i386.rpm
And finally you'll probably also want some additional codecs to play all that proprietary video that seems to have infected the Internet. Go to the MPlayer Download page and find the Binaries Codec Package section then follow the link for codecs directory. There you will grab the latest all codecs file. You'll need to install those files in /usr/local/lib/codecs. Here are the steps. Remember the exact file names may change at some point. If you also installed xine you will need a symlink since it expects codecs to be in a different directory.
# gtar xjvf all-20071007.tar.bz2
# mv all-20071007/* /usr/local/lib/codecs
# ln -s /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/lib/codecs
# ln -s /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/local/lib/win32
Instal DVD Player in Fedora 8
Currently I find the DVD player that works best is the Xine Multimedia Player which is found in the Livna repository so installing it is just this simple:
# yum -y install xine xine-lib xine-skins xine-lib-extras-nonfree libdvdcss
This will install the xine DVD/VCD/CD player. Now to get xine to automatically play a DVD upon insertion instead of the Totem player which can't actually play DVDs, you can simply use the gconftool-2 utility as follows:
$ gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/volume_manager/autoplay_dvd_command \
'xine --auto-play --auto-scan dvd' --type='string'
How to turn a flash game into a profitable product?
Probably, the most effective way to profit from a flash game is to introduce a registration fee and add limitations for unregistered users. When a user downloads such a game, he will be able to play it several days, complete several free levels or play as a character with limitations in case of a multi-user game. In order to continue playing or disable limitations, the user will have to register and get a registration code. After this registration code is entered, limitations will be disabled and the user will get access to the full version.
Use the eBook Maestro PRO compiler to introduce limitations. This compiler allows you to create stand-alone exe applications out of HTML, Flash and other files.
If you want to create a game with a limitation regarding the number of days…
1. Create a directory on the hard disk and put there flash and html files.
2. Open eBook Maestro.
3. Create a new project.
4. Use the Files tab to select the directory with flash files and specify the starting html file as the default file.
5. Select “Expire after X days” on the Protection tab.
6. Initialize protection.
7. Configure the Buy Page.
8. Compile.
If you want to create a game with limitations in levels and features…
1. Create a directory on the hard disk and put the flash files that will be available to all players to it. Use the same directory for the html files these flash files will use.
2. Create a subdirectory named 'protected' in this directory. This subdirectory will contain flash files available only after registration (with new levels and features). Also, use it to save html files that protected flash file will use.
3. Now a very important part. You must configure flash files in such a way that flash files available to everyone will call html pages available only after registration. Thus, once an unregistered user tries to open an HTML file from the protected directory, he will not see the requested file, but he will be offered to register and enter his code instead.
4. After you prepare all files for compilation, open eBook Maestro.
5. Create a new project.
6. Use the Files tab to select the directory with flash files and specify the starting html file as the default file.
7. Select “Encrypted Information” on the Protection tab.
8. Use the “Subdirectory to protect” field to specify the protected subdirectory with files for registered users.
9. Initialize protection.
10. Configure the Buy Page.
11. Compile.
While configuring the Buy Page, use the «Buy Page URL» field to enter the address of the page at your site with a detailed description of how to pay for the registration and get a registration code.
After you compile it, you will get an exe file of the game with limitations. Now distribute and promote your game, get money for registration and send keys to your customers.
Use the “Key Generator” section to create registration codes for registered users.
MS OFFICE Tips
We probably use office programs - word processors, spreadsheets, email and presentation applications - more than any other kind of software on our computers. Of this kind of software, Microsoft's Office suite is the most popular.
It can, however, be hard to get to grips with all the time-saving features; all those menus, toolbars and buttons can seem overwhelming at times, particularly if you are just starting out.
Once you delve a little deeper and discover Office's hidden shortcuts and tricks, however, you can make your software work a lot harder for you and make your life easier in the process.
Use our handy guide to the 100 most useful hints, tips and shortcuts in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook and you will know just how to get the most out of your Office applications
WORD
1. Date
To stop Word from adding today's date to any year you type, changing, say, 'Letter 2004' to 'Letter 2004-08-22', go to the Insert menu, click on AutoCorrect and select AutoText in the next menu. Untick the box marked 'Show Autocomplete Suggestions'. If you want to use an AutoText shortcut in future, type the abbreviation and press F3.
. Add places
Add a folder to the Places Bar in Word 2002's Open and Save boxes to help you find files quickly. Find the folder you require in Windows Explorer, highlight it and then click on the Tools menu. Now click on the option marked 'Add to My Places'. If you are a Word 2000 user, you can download a Microsoft add-on to customise the Places Bar here.
3. Turn off fast save
Fast saves aren't much faster than normal saves and instead of properly saving your document, Word just appends anything you have added to the text to the end of the file. Nothing is ever deleted from the document file, so it can end up being huge. It's best to turn off fast saves by going to the Tools menu, clicking on Options, then on the Save tab and removing the tick from the 'Allow fast saves' checkbox.
4. No mouse styles
If you often write the same style of documents in Word, you may be aware of the Styles option, which can reduce the time you spend formatting a document. You can assign a keyboard shortcut to a style so that you don't have to use the mouse to find it by going to the Tools menu, then Customize, then pressing Keyboard and selecting Styles from the list on the left.
5. Follow style
If your styles naturally follow one another, say a particular text style always follows a particular headline style, you can cut down further on the time required to select them by going to the Format menu, and selecting Style. Choose the relevant style and click on Modify, then choose another from the box marked 'Style for following paragraph'.
6. Repeat find
To find a piece of text, press F3, enter the text you're looking for in the text box and press Enter. You don't need to keep the box open to find other instances of this text, however. Click on Cancel, and notice that the double arrows at the bottom of the right-hand side scroll bars have turned blue. Clicking on one of them will take you to the next place this text occurs, either forwards or backwards through the document, depending on which button you click.
7. AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect allows you to change text automatically as you type it, which can be handy for correcting frequently mistyped words. Click on the Tools menu, then on AutoCorrect and enter a piece of text in the left-hand column. Whenever you type it, it will be replaced by the text in the same row in the right-hand column of the dialogue box.
8. Select lots of text
It can be very difficult to select more than a few paragraphs of text at once using only the mouse, particularly if you have a fast PC, as the text will shoot past before you notice. But you can select large amounts of text easily by clicking where you want your selection to start, then navigating to the end of the intended selection using the mouse wheel or scroll bars. Then just hold down Shift and click again to select the block of text.
9. Saving grace
If you are working on several documents at once, you can save them all without closing Word in the process. Just hold down Shift and click on the File menu. You will see a new option Save All. There is also an option to Close All if you want to do so without closing Word.
10. Simple formatting
If you're going to create a number of documents that are similar in appearance, it's best to use styles to format text rather than applying the formatting yourself. This ensures that you can change it easily throughout the documents, if you need to. You can, however, use the Format Painter to copy the formats from one paragraph and apply it to another. Select the Format Painter button from the Word toolbar and click on the portion of text you want to copy a format from. Now drag the pointer over the selection you want to apply the formatting to.
11. Scraps
You can create 'scraps' in Word, which are small blocks of text from a document. Highlight some text in an open document and drag it to the Desktop, and you will see it appear as a document scrap. You can arrange and rename your scraps on the Desktop, and simply drop them back into Word documents as you need them. The scraps can be pasted into most other applications too.
12. Snappy corrections
Instead of using the spell checker once you've finished writing a document, you can correct words as you type. Right-click on a red-underlined word, and Word will show you a menu of replacements it thinks are suitable. This also works for green-underlined phrases that Word thinks are not grammatically correct. Right-clicking them will again open a menu with suggested replacements.
Word shortcut keys
Most of us spend more time using Microsoft Word than any other Office application, so make use of our handy guide to Word's shortcut keys and cut down the time you spend hunting for what you want among the many menus and toolbars.
Ctrl+B Make selected text bold
Ctrl+U Underline selected text
Ctrl+I Make selected text italic
Ctrl+L Align selection or paragraph to the left of the screen
Ctrl+E Align selection or paragraph to the centre of the screen
Ctrl+M Indent paragraph or selection
Ctrl+1 Single-space all the lines in selection
Ctrl+2 Double-space all the lines in selection
Ctrl+5 1.5-space all the lines in selection
Ctrl+Space Toggle AutoCorrect
Ctrl+Del Delete the word to the right of the cursor
Ctrl+Backspace Delete the word to the left of the cursor
Ctrl+Shift+8 Toggle hidden characters that mark spaces, carriage returns, and so on
F7 Run a spelling and grammar check
Shift+F7 Use the Thesaurus
EXCEL
13. Use Smart Tags in XP
Office XP features Smart Tags, which are like intelligent links to websites or locations on your PC's hard disk. Excel will recognise certain words and show Smart Tag action buttons next to them. Go to the AutoCorrect options part of the Tools menu and select Smart Tags to see which words it will recognise. You can download and install new Smart Tags from the Microsoft Office website. You will find tags there for both Excel and Word.
14. Spot corrections and errors
If you share Excel documents with others, it can be useful to see any changes they have made. Excel 2000 used red triangular indicators to highlight cells in which there were comments. In Excel 2002, there are purple indicators for Smart Tags and green ones for possible errors in formulas. Options can be found in the Tools menu, under the Error Checking tab of Options.
15. Open older macros
You will probably not be able to open old macros (from Excel 97 or 2000 workbooks) in Excel 2002 as the program will throw up a security warning notice. If you need to use old macros, go to the Tools menu and select Options, Security, then Macro Security and make sure Low is selected. Under Trusted Sources, place a tick in the Trust add-ins and Trust Visual Basic boxes. You will then need to restart Windows before you can run your old macros.
16. View important cells
Using the Watch window you can keep an eye on important cells in a spreadsheet. Click on a cell containing data and go to the Tools menu, choose Formula Auditing and then Show Watch Window. Click on Add Watch and it will display values and formulas for any cell of any open workbook.
17. Use labels in cells
You can make Excel work with labels you have given to cells instead of having to use the cell position ('Profit' instead of 'A6', for example). Go to Options in the Tools menu, and click on the Calculation tab, then tick the 'Accept labels in formulas' box.
18. Create formulas
Create a formula by clicking on the Paste Function tool (which is marked 'fx') on the standard toolbar. If you select a function from the list, its description will appear in the dialogue box, and the Help button will explain more about the formula. Alternatively, clicking on the equals sign in the formula bar will display a list of recently used functions.
19. Links
If you are seeing error messages about broken or invalid links to other workbooks or other applications, go to the Options part of the Tools menu and choose the Workbook Options tab. Make sure the box marked 'Update Remote References' is ticked. If you tick the box marked 'Save External Link Values', you won't have to worry about maintaining links but your file may end up significantly larger.
20. Create subtotals
It's easy to create sums of columns using the AutoSum tool but what about subtotals? Creating these needn't be hard either. Just use the function =SUBTOTAL (9,B2:B10). The 9 is a function number, representing SUM, and you should replace the cell references with the ones from your own worksheet. You could place it in cell B11 and then repeat it with figures below, say =SUBTOTAL (9,B12:B20), in cell B21. If you then used the AutoSum tool in cell B22 it would just display the sum of the subtotals, from cells B11 and B21.
21. Delete vs clear
There two ways to remove information from cells: Delete and Clear. Clicking on a cell and selecting Delete (or pressing Del or Backspace) will remove the cell's value or formula, but any formatting and comments will remain in place. If you want to return the cell to its original state, with no formatting, choose Clear instead.
22. Informative printouts
Many of us have spreadsheets that spread over more than a page. If you want your column titles to print on every page, go to the File menu, click on Page Setup and go to the Sheet tab. Click on the red arrow in the box marked 'Rows to repeat at top' and select the rows that contain your column titles, then click on OK.
23. Delete comments
You can delete all the comments from your worksheet at once, for instance if you have finished the sheet and want to distribute it without annotations. Press Control, Shift and O at the same time, and this will select all the cells in the worksheet that contain comments. Right-click on one of them and select Delete Comment, then click anywhere on the sheet and all the comments will have vanished.
24. Keep track of online orders
When you order online, it can be hard to keep a record of all your orders. You can, however, transfer the table from the confirmation email the retailer sends you into an Excel workbook. Open the email and click at the start of the table, then hold down Shift and click at the end of the table. Right-click on it and choose Copy, then open a blank Excel worksheet. Right-click on a cell and choose Paste. You may have to correct the formatting for it to look better.
25. Figuring out formulas
If you have a formula that's puzzling you because you can't figure out how it was derived, click on the cell that contains it, and choose the Auditing option in the Tools menu, and select Trace Precedents. You will see blue dots in the relevant cells, with arrows pointing towards the formula. When you have finished, choose Remove All Arrows.
26. Import finance data
You can import data from most online banks and finance programs into Excel, but it's often not quite as simple as just opening the document in Excel. It will usually be in Comma Separated Value (.csv) format. In Excel, click on the File menu and choose Open, then choose 'Text Files (*.txt, *.prn, *.csv)' from the 'Files of type' box, and select the CSV file you obtained from the bank website. Once it has opened, just adjust the column widths so they look right.
27. Show zeros the door
You can remove zeros that you don't need from your cells by going to Tools, Options and then View, and removing the tick from the Zero values box. If you want zeros to appear in certain cells, give those cells the custom format '0;-0;;@'. To enter a custom format, go to Format and Cells, and choose the Number tab, then select Custom and enter the format. For dashes to appear instead of zeros, use the custom format '0;-0;?-?;@'.
Excel shortcut keys
Don't get bogged down in Excel's options and commands. Use this guide to its keyboard shortcuts to fly around the keyboard and get your work done without having to take your hands away to move the mouse all the time.
Ctrl+- Delete the current cell or selection
Ctrl+Shift++ Insert cell or selection
Ctrl+; Insert current date at the selected cell
Ctrl+Shift+; Insert current time at the selected cell
Ctrl+K Insert a hyperlink or web link
Ctrl+Tab Switch to the next worksheet in the workbook
Shift+F3 Open the formula window
F11 Create a chart
Ctrl+Space Select all of the current column
Shift+Space Select all of the current row
Ctrl+Shift+1 Format the current cell with commas
Ctrl+Shift+4 Format the current cell as currency
Ctrl+Shift+5 Format the current cell as a percentage
Ctrl+Arrow key Move to the next used cell in the direction of the arrow key
Ctrl+F Open the search box
Group policy for Windows XP
Monday, April 20, 2009
One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!
Licensing Issues
Here you can find a Description of the things which are done by the Program or you can manually change the following settings to have the same effect:
- MediaPlayer: Don't Acquire licenses automatically - Open the MediaPlayer-Extras - Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the groupbox 'Internetsettings' and uncheck 'Acquire licenses automatically'.
- MediaPlayer: No identification by internetsites - Open the MediaPlayer-Extras-Options... Click the tab ‘Player’, look at the groupbox 'Internet settings' and uncheck 'Allow identification by internet sites'
- MediaPlayer: don't download codecs automatically - Open the MediaPlayer-Extras-Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the groupbox 'Automatic Updates' and uncheck 'Download Codecs Automatically'
- Error report: Don't report errors - Open the Explorer, right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties', click on the Tab 'Advanced' and click the button 'Errorreports', in the upcoming dialog uncheck all 3 items and select 'Disable Errorreports'
How to Stop Hackers (How To Catch A Hacker)
Some one wrote this great Post at orkut about Catching Hackers
I don't know who exactly the writer of this great post is...
Here is what he had to write :
"just wrote this guide to give you some tips of which you may not have heard yet. Hopefully, it won't come to a hacker getting in, but if it does...
Tip 1: Hackers cover their tracks. Experienced hackers cover them more thorougly, but amateur hackers sometimes leave things behind. Don't expect them to leave any really big evidence behind; expect more of little things here and there you might find surprising. For example, if you're writing a term paper and a black hat hacker accidently saved it when he took a paragraph out- that's suspicious. Where did that paragraph go? Well, for one thing, now you know he was in that area. Check the folders surrounding the file- you might find something.
Tip 2: Decipher between the type of hackers that are attacking you. Experienced hackers will have a more in depth look around when they penetrate your system. They won't touch much because they know that that won't add too much to their knowledge. But if you know a hacker's been in, and some files are messed with, and you have a log of someone guessing passwords to a file or something of that sort, its probably some newbie who's just starting out. These are the easiest hackers to catch. They usually get so caught up in thoughts like "I'm in!" that they forget the basics, such as work behind a proxy.
Tip to protect yourself
My friend was setting up a webserver once. His first time too, and he wasn't to anxious to set up some good software to protect against hackers and viruses. He didn't put up one IDS, and before you know it, the obvious happened. But this time, a newbie had struck. The nice log files showed, bluntly across the screen, multiple instances of a foreign IP address that stood out. Some stupid newbie had tried to login as "uucp" on my friend's XP computer, with a password of "uucp." Well, that's great, but he also had tried the same user/pass combination three times, enough to get himself logged nicely. Even a semi-brainless user with some form of neurological system knows that uucp isn't a default XP account. Again, excitement toiled this hacker's brain, and maybe if he hadn't done that, along with a few other stupid things, he wouldn't have gotten caught. What other things did he do? Well, lets see. He openned 35 instances of MS-DOS. He tried to clean the printer's heads, and he edited a .gif in notepad. Then he uninstalled a few programs and installed some html editor, and replaced four files with the words "14P." he might as well have posted his phone number. In a few days, we had tracked him down to a
suburban town in Ohio. We let him go, not pressing any charges, because he had done nothing really damaging and had provided me with an example of a moron for this guide.
Tip 3: Don't go crazy if you lose data. Chances are, if it was that important, you would have backed it up anyway. Most hackers nowadays wish they were back in 1989 when they could use a Black Box and having a Rainbow Book actually meant something. Most hackers aren't blackhat, they are whitehat, and some even greyhat. But in the end, most hackers that are in systems aren't satisfied by looking around. From past experiences, I have concluded that many hackers like to remember where've they been. So, what do they do? They either press delete here and there, or copy some files onto their systems. Stupid hackers (yes, there are plenty of stupid hackers) send files to e-mail addresses. Some free email companies will give you the IP of a certain e-mail address's user if you can prove that user has been notoriously hacking you. But most of the time, by the time you get the e-mail addy it's been unused for weeks if not months or years, and services like hotmail have already deleted it.
Tip 4: Save information! Any information that you get from a log file (proxy server IP, things like "14P", e-mail addresses that things were sent to, etc.) should be saved to a floppy disk (they're not floppy anymore, I wish I could get out of the habit of calling them that) incase there's a next time. If you get another attack, from the same proxy, or with similar e-mail addresses (e.g: one says Blackjack 123@something.whatever and the other says Black_jack_45@something.znn.com) you can make an assumption that these hackers are the same people. In that case, it would probably be worth the effort to resolve the IP using the proxy and do a traceroute. Pressing charges is recommended if this is a repeat offender.
Tip 5: Don't be stupid. If you've been hacked, take security to the next level. Hackers do talk about people they've hacked and they do post IPs and e-mail addresses. Proof? Take a look at Defcon Conventions. I've never gone to one, but I've seen the photos. The "Wall of Shame"-type of boards I've seen have IPs and e-mail addresses written all over them in fat red, dry-erase ink. Don't be the one to go searching the Defcon website and find your e-mail address posted on the Wall of Shame board!
Tip 6: Don't rely on luck. Chances are, sometime or another, you're going to be targeted for an attack. Here you can rely on luck. Maybe they'll forget? Maybe they don't know how to do it? If you think this way, a surprise is going to hit your face very hard. Another way you could stupidly rely on luck is by saying this: It's probably just a whitehat. On the contrary, my friend, it's probably just a blackhat. A blackhat with knowledge stored in his head, ready to be used as an ax. It's your data. You take the chance.
How to fasten up Windows XP..??
1. DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES:-
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next
2. OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons
3. SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING:-
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer
4. IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE:-
Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
NOTE: This program is shareware and some features require activation.
Once Installed:
1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows
5. OPTIMISE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION:-
There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.
1. Download and install
2. Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
3. Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
4. Check Optimal Settings then Apply
5. Reboot
6. OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE:-
If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.
Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.
7. SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE:-
If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.
1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSys
tem”
3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
7. Click ‘OK’
8. MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER:-
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\”
4. Select “MenuShowDelay”
5. Right click and select “Modify’
6. Reduce the number to around “100″
7. This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood.
9. IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED:-
This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.
1. Go to Start then select Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
3. Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\Desktop\’
4. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
5. Right click and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the value to ‘1000′
7. Click ‘OK’
8. Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
9. Right click and select ‘Modify’
10. Change the value to ‘1000′
11. Click ‘OK’
12. Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\ .DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
13. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
14. Right click and select ‘Modify’
15. Change the value to ‘1000′
16. Click ‘OK’
17. Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\’
18. Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
19. Right click and select ‘Modify’
20. Change the value to ‘1000′
21. Click ‘OK’
10. IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE:-
If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.
1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
3. Click on the System.ini tab
4. Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
5. Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
6. Click OK
7. Restart PC
11. ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE:-
XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:
1. Open ‘Device Manager’
2. Double-click ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers’
3. Right-click ‘Primary Channel’ and select ‘Properties’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’
4. In the ‘Current Transfer Mode’ drop-down box, select ‘DMA if Available’ if the current setting is ‘PIO Only’
Getting an Older Program to Run on Windows XP
1.Right–click the executable or the program shortcut to the executable, and then click Properties.
2.Select the Run this program in compatibility mode check box.
3.From the list, select an operating system that the program runs in comfortably.
If necessary, also change the display settings and/or resolution, or disable the Windows XP visual themes.
Run the program again when you’re finished changing the settings. Adjust the compatibility settings again if the program is still not running smoothly: a program that’s unhappy on Windows 2000 may flourish on Windows 98.
"STOP” ERROR MESSAGES AT SHUTDOWN
Some users have gotten an error message similar to the following when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP:
STOP 0000009F, DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
STOP 0x0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
STOP 0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
TechNet and the Microsoft Knowledge Base have numerous articles discussing this type of error condition; for example, these. As a review of these articles will show, these are commonly device driver problems, but may also be caused by troublesome software (such as the notorious CrashGuard), or a problem in a system service. MSKB article Q262575 discusses a shutdown problem of this type, known to exist in Windows 2000 due to a resource (IRQ) conflict, if you have PACE Interlok anti-piracy software installed. This problem may occur in Windows XP as well.
Microsoft advises the following as one approach to these problems: Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select “Last Known Good Configuration.” If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a previous working condition. (Would System Restore accomplish the same thing? I don’t know, and don’t have a broken system to test it on.)
Microsoft reported similarly that these STOP code error message occur when Windows XP is trying to shut down devices. He says that he has seen this twice: once with Logitech Quickcam installed (with an unsupported driver), and once with a USB DSL modem that would hang if it wasn’t disconnected before shutdown.
SHUTDOWN WORKS, BUT IT’S REAL SLOW.
If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users have reported a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Thus far, it appears that this is a consequence of software that is running when shutdown is attempted, and it also may have something to do with particular hardware. If you are experiencing this problem, be sure to close all running programs before attempting shutdown and see if this solves your problem. If so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which program(s) are involved.
One specific solution for this was provided by Microsoft support. ” In Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services. (You can also get this by launching SERVICES.MSC from a Run box. This utility is also built into the Computer Management console.) Stop the Nvidia Driver Helper service. Many other friends quickly confirmed that this solved this “extremely slow shutdown” problem for them.
POWERDOWN ISSUES.
“Powerdown issues” are quite distinctive from “shutdown issues.” I define a shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn’t make it at least to the “OK to shut off your computer” screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther, then it has shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown correctly after that. This is a different problem, and I encourage that people reporting these issues to make a very clear distinction in their labeling.
When Windows XP won’t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon, click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check the box labeled “Show Hidden Devices.” If it’s available on your computer, there will be a red X on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the powerdown problem.
This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other factors can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that case, consider the following tips:
· If you are changing the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will likely fix it.
OTHER KNOWN ISSUES & HINTS.
· BIOS UPGRADE.
As with every new operating system that comes along - especially one that is as much of a “step up” as Windows XP is from Windows 9x - the recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is updated. Many people have reported that this has solved their shutdown problems (and had other advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier versions of Windows
Create a Password Reset Disk
If you’re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your computer when you forget your password. To create the disk:
1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
2.Click your account name.
3.Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.
4.Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk.
5.Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user account.
Set Processes Priority
Follow this tip to increase the priority of active processes, this will result in prioritisation of processes using the CPU.
CTRL-SHIFT-ESC
1.Go to the second tab called Processes, right click on one of the active processes, you will see the Set Priority option
2.For example, your Run your CDwriter program , set the priority higher, and guess what, no crashed CD’s
How to Convert FAT to NTFS file system
Saturday, April 18, 2009
To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.
Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.
NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).
Keyboard Shortcuts
When speed counts, the keyboard is still king. Almost all the actions and commands you can perform with a mouse you can perform faster using combinations of keys on your keyboard. These simple keyboard shortcuts can get you where you want to go faster than several clicks of a mouse. You'll work faster on spreadsheets and similar documents, too, because you won't lose your place switching back and forth between mouse and keys.
Here are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts:
Copy. CTRL+C
Cut. CTRL+X
Paste. CTRL+V
Undo. CTRL+Z
Delete. DELETE
Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE
Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item
Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Rename selected item. F2
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW
Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select all. CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder. F3
View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER
Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4
Switch between open items. ALT+TAB
Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10
Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC
Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW
Refresh the active window. F5
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task. ESC
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.
Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:
Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB
Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move forward through options. TAB
Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB
Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter
Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER
Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys
Display Help. F1
Display the items in the active list. F4
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE
If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts:
Display or hide the Start menu.
Display the System Properties dialog box. +BREAK
Show the desktop. +D
Minimize all windows. +M
Restores minimized windows. +Shift+M
Open My Computer. +E
Search for a file or folder. +F
Search for computers. CTRL+ +F
Display Windows Help. +F1
Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. + L
Open the Run dialog box. +R
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.
Open Utility Manager. +U
Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts:
Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds
Open Utility Manager. +U
Keyboard shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:
Display the bottom of the active window. END
Display the top of the active window. HOME
Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW
Open Blocked Websites....
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Steps are described as follows :-
1. Go to Google
2.Type transparent free proxy address free
3.Click on the transparent proxy fresh transparent proxy list
4.Look for a proxy address with port 8080
5.Now go to tools menu of internet explorer
6.Go to internet options
7.connections tab
8.click Activate use a proxy server for ur LAN options
9.Put that number that you found in the website with 8080 port and hit Ok
10.Again Ok Now open any websites. ...........
Five Tips On Google Search
Sometimes when you search on Google you might not get the desired results or you might need to search a lot by changing the keywords you are searching for. These tips may helpyou in getting the desired results. Read them carefully and apply them while searching on Google to get best results.
1. The “+” Sign :
Google ignores some words like the, how and many other digits and words which actually slow down the search speed. Now if a common word is essential for you and you want google to look for it the just give a space, put the “+” sign and type in the word. By this google makes sure that, that word is actually included in the search as well. I came to knew of this as i was searching for a book, but google was not showing the desired results, i used this technique and was able to get the details I was looking for.
2. Synonym Search with “~”(Tildy) Sign:
If in case you want to search for the term as well it’s synonym, then in that case just add the “~” sign just in front of your term, you will then see the links for the same terms synonym. This can be really helpful in case you are searching for some specific results
3. Use of Keyword “OR”:
In case you want the Search results to show two different categories then in that case you can use the Keyword “OR”. This will make sure that you will get the results accordingly. Similarly you can also use “AND”, but in this case google will show you pages where both the parameters are met, whereas in case of keyword “OR”, any parameter that matches up, those links will be displayed.
4. Getting links of Specific Site:
Sometimes you might visit a site but not able to find the links or accurate pages in that site. What do you do? Just click on links to get the specific page? Well a simple answer is search through Google. Suppose you want to search for groups site in google.com, then simple type in “groups site:google.com”. You will see op tins coming for the google groups. This is a pretty old method is very useful to get to a specific page of a site. The code for this would be “site:”
5. Search within a Range:
You can search in Google within a desired range be it be Money, Weight, Age or any thing else, you just need to define the range and you will get the results you require. You need to type in the range as separated by “..”. But make sure you specify the unit as well like for money, weight, length or any thing else. Like, for Example:- TV 21..32 inches
Admin Password Recovery
1. Insert Windows CD in your cd-rom and start your computer
2. Keep your eye on the screen messages for booting to your cd Typically, it will be “Press any key to boot from cd”
3. Once you get in, the first screen will indicate that Setup is inspecting your system and loading files.
4. When you get to the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to Setup Windows now
5. The Licensing Agreement comes next - Press F8 to accept it.
6. The next screen is the Setup screen which gives you the option to do a Repair.
It should read something like “If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it”
Use the up and down arrow keys to select your XP installation (if you only have one, it should already be selected) and press R to begin the Repair process.
7. Let the Repair run. Setup will now check your disks and then start copying files which can take several minutes.
8. Shortly after the Copying Files stage, you will be required to reboot. (this will happen automatically – you will see a progress bar stating “Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds”
9. During the reboot, do not make the mistake of “pressing any key” to boot from the CD again! Setup will resume automatically with the standard billboard screens and you will notice Installing Windows is highlighted.
10. Keep your eye on the lower left hand side of the screen and when you see the Installing Devices progress bar, press SHIFT + F10. This is the security hole! A command console will now open up giving you the potential for wide access to your system 11. At the prompt, type NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter. Voila! You have just gained graphical access to your User Accounts in the Control Panel.
12. Now simply pick the account you need to change and remove or change your password as you prefer. If you want to log on without having to enter your new password, you can type control userpasswords2 at the the prompt and choose to log on without being asked for password. After you’ve made your changes close the windows, exit.
Most Common Computer Problems and Their Solution
1. I can't see Hidden files/folders in my computer. Even I enable the option "Show hidden files/folders" in "Tools -> Folder Options", its automatically disabled again.
Solution1: Go to your Start menu, click on Run and open up your Registry Editor by typing "regedit" without the quotes and pressing OK.
Once there go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folde r\Hidden\SHOWALL
Delete the value CheckedValue. (Its type should be REG_SZ and data should be 0 or 1.)
Create a new DWORD value called CheckedValue (same as above, except that the type is REG_DWORD) by right clicking on the right pane->New->DWORD Value. Modify the value data to 1 (0x00000001).
Solution 2: Open regedit and goto:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
In right-side pane, change value of "Hidden" to as following:
1 - To show hidden file
2 - To not show hidden files
If it doesn't work, then scan your computer with an anti-virus software.
2. Task Manager Disabled:
Using Group Policy Editor - for Windows XP Professional to Enable Task Manager.
* Click Start, Run, type gpedit.msc and click OK.
* Navigate to this branch:
User Configuration / Administrative Templates / System / Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options / Remove Task Manager
* Double-click the Remove Task Manager option.
* Set the policy to Not Configured.
Enable RegEdit [It is not tested]
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Policies\System]
"DisableRegistryTools"=dword:00000000
Save the text file as any name u with extension .reg
example:- "enable.reg"
After that double click to run the file.
Note:DO SCAN YOUR MACHINE WITH A GOOD ANTIVIRUS. BECAUSE THIS PROGRAMS DON'T TURNED OFF BY HIMSELF OR AUTOMATICALLY. IT HAS TO A VIRUS EFFECT OR A ADMINISTRATOR HAS TO MANUALLY DISABLE THIS PROGRAMS.
3. Restore Deleted Recycle Bin Icon from Desktop:
Method #1:
1. Right-click an empty area of your desktop
2. Select Properties
3. Click the Desktop tab
4. Click the Customize button
5. Click Restore Default
6. Exit all windows and restart your computer
Method #2:
Note: Be sure to make a backup copy of your registry prior to making any changes.
Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter]
Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
Hold the mouse on NameSpace and right-click once. From the resulting menu, select Edit>> New>> Key
Copy and Paste the following Key code (including the brackets):
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Press Enter on your keyboard, exit the registry editor and restart your system.
4. Blank User Accounts Applet :
Problem:
When you double-click User Accounts applet in the Control Panel, the User Accounts applet opens, but it may be completely blank.
The buttons Back | Forward | Home are displayed in the dialog.
Resolution:
To resolve the problem, type these commands from Start, Run dialog:
regsvr32 jscript.dll
If that does not help, execute the following commands as well.
regsvr32 nusrmgr.cpl
regsvr32 /i mshtml.dll
5. Force windows XP to reboot upon crashing:
This registry edit will cause your system to reboot itself automatically upon crashing. This can be useful if you have a reason for keeping your system on 24/7:
Open REGEDIT
Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl'
Edit the 'AutoReboot' value to '1'
6. Stand By Icon Disabled:
Problem:
I reinstalled my windows and now "Stand By" option is Grey out in shutdown dialog box and I can't use it.
Sol: Install VGA drivers from your motherboard CD and the option will be enabled. If you don't have the motherboard CD, then go to the manufacturer site and download the required drivers.
7. Improving the Slow Boot up time:
There are a variety of reasons why your windows XP system would boot slowly. Most of the times it this has to do with the startup applications. If you would like to speed up the bootup sequence, consider removing some of the startup applications that you do not need. Easiest way to remove startup apps is through System Configuration Utility. Go to Start then Run and enter MSCONFIG and go to the Startup tab. Deselect/UnCheck application(s) that you do not want to startup at boot time.
Virtual Memory too low Warning Trouble in win xp and vista
When there is less physical memory than needed, then some virtual memory (virtual RAM) is created on the disk. When there is a limit set to the size of virtual memory usage and there is not enough of it present there is a warning that frequently comes “Virtual Memory too low”.
Solution 1 :
This problem occurs when physical RAM + Virtual RAM (usually created on hard disk) together are not sufficient to take care of the currently needed RAM size, or this situation is about to arise. This usually happens when some fixed upper limit for Virtual Memory has been set. To solve this problem, you can either upgrade you physical RAM on your computer (recommended), or you can set the Virtual Memory to system managed size or you can do both. Setting Virtual Memory to system managed size means windows will set it to higher size whenever needed automatically,for this,
Right click on My computer --> goto properties, goto advanced tab, click on performance settings, now click on advanced, now click on advanced, now click on change button for Virtual memory.
On this screen select the System managed size, press OK. After this re-start your computer. This will solve the virtual memory too low problem.
Solution 2:
Recommended solution is to upgrade your physical memory (RAM) according to requirements of the kind of applications that you run on your computer. If you upgrade RAM or not, the following procedure will help prevent this warning by increasing the virtual memory limit.
Right click on My computer icon and click properties.
This will show system properties window. Click on a advanced tab and click on the settings button under heading performance.
This will open performance options window. Click on advanced tab and click on change button under heading virtual memory.
Check if the space available is set to some custom value or double the RAM size ?
If it is not double the RAM memory size , then select the size option set the virtual memory size double the RAM Size and press set button and press OK button.
Restart the computer.
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