Computer FIX and TWEAKS

Windows 7 shortcut tricks

2010-10-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

Try these cool shortcuts of Windows 7 OS from Microsoft.

Windows key + Left: docks current window to the left side of the screen.
Windows key + Right: docks current window to the right side of the screen.
Windows key + Up: maximizes and/or restores foreground window.
Windows key + Down: minimizes active window.

Create System Repair Disk with WIndows 7

2010-10-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

With Windows 7, you can now create a ‘System Repair Disc.’ This is a CD bootable version of Windows 7 that includes the command prompt and a suite of system tools. Very handy for those really tough spots (which, with this still in beta, could be just around the corner). To get to this, simply open the Start Menu and type: “system repair disc” in the search field.

How to know your Windows 7 Genuine Product Key

2010-10-20T22:35:00.001-07:00

Simple and Very easy method finding out your product key.

Go to MY Computer Icon.
Right-click --> properties.
Then, it will show you the basic information of your computer. Like Windows edition, processor, installed memory and more.

Scroll down to the bottom and you will see your Windows 7 product ID. That's it!

How to Disable Adobe Updater

2010-07-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Adobe Systems provides a wide range of products to create documents, images, video and other media. Adobe software includes an updater application that automatically connects to the Internet to search for available updates. This default setting causes the Adobe updater to run once a week. If you prefer to install updates manually, you can prevent the updater from automatically searching for updates by disabling the automatic search function in the application's "Preferences" menu.

•Step 1
Open "My Computer" by double-clicking on the desktop icon or clicking on the "Start" menu and selecting the "My Computer" button. Open the drive that contains your Adobe programs. By default, this is the "C" drive.

•Step 2
Double-click on "Program Files" to view software files installed on your computer. Open the "Common Files" folder by double-clicking on the folder name.

•Step 3
Locate the Adobe folder and double-click on it to open it. The Adobe folder contains files for all Adobe programs installed on your system. Locate and open the Adobe Updater folder, which will be named "Updater" followed by a version number, such as 5 or 6.

•Step 4
Locate the executable file titled "Adobe Updater" within the "Updater" folder. Double-click the file to initiate the Adobe Updater application. The program will take a few moments to connect to the Internet to search for updates.

•Step 5
After it finishes searching, a prompt window will appear to install new updates. Click "Preferences" on the left-hand side and uncheck the "Automatically check for Adobe updates" box. Click "OK" to accept the changes. Adobe Updater will not check for available updates unless manually instructed to do so.

'My Documents' files were gone after Windows Repair

2010-05-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Im facing a big problem now on how to retrieve my files under My Documents folder after a Windows XP repair. The problem started when my laptop keeps on restarting. After showing windows logo it will restart as if it keeps on booting.

I tried to boot it in Safe Mode but still no go. Though I have a back up for my files but worried with my programs installed in the laptop. So I tried to boot from my Windows XP OS CD and choose on Repair options. In the prompt I typed in CHKDSK /R to clean and repair damage or corrupt boot sectors that might prevent it from booting. Waited for several minutes to finished, then rebooted back to my Hard Drive and Boom! It was a successful repair.

But the problem Im facing right now is that my files under MY Documents were gone. I tried to check my Disk Space if it was really gone or deleted but the space was the same as if it were there.

I tried to check if the files were hidden but still it didnt come up. I'm a bit frustrated. :) The second option was to remove the Hard Drive in my laptop and put it in my enclosure and open it up to other computer to see if the files are still there. But NO luck at all. Tried several recovery softwares but failed. Right now, Im still figuring it out and finding a solution to get my files back.

Keep you posted. :)

Clean Your Computer using CCleaner

2010-04-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

I've been cleaning my computer every now and then to optimize its speed and performance. There are certain dump files that will be stored in our hard disk that could bottleneck the performance of our computer. Moreover, proper maintenance will make your computer faster, more secure and have greater privacy.

Aside from my anti-virus and anti-malware installed in my laptop namely AVIRA and Malwarebytes, Im using this powerful software called CCleaner. The software will search for unecessary files from your hard disk and clean it up. It's very easy to use and you can download the software for FREE!

It remove file fragments, temporary files, duplicate files and other clutter, erase Web tracks and clean up your registry with this all-purpose optimization and system aning tool. It even has a stronger add/remove program utility than Windows' own. You can also use CCleaner to control what programs start up when you boot your computer.

Download the software here.

Computer Sound Card Color Codes

2010-04-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sound Cards in computers have different color codes for each input/output peripherals like Microphones, Headphones, Speakers, etc.. Most sound cards have uniform or standard color coding for each connectors. Sometimes it may vary depending on the manufacturer. So better consult the manual if you have unstandard color codes.

The common three colors at the back of your tower for sound card is Pink, Lime Green and Light Blue. But new additional jacks may be present on newer sound cards for rear and mid surround speakers.

Sound Card color codes with each associated description:

PINK - Microphone

LIME GREEN - Line-out, Front Speakers, Headphones

LIGHT BLUE - Stereo Line-in

ORANGE - Subwoofer and center out

BLACK - Rear Surround Speakers for 5.1 and 7.1 systems

GRAY - Middle Surround Speakers for 7.1 systems

GOLD - Midi / Game port (Joystick)

Note: The number of jack connectors you'll find on your soundcard will depend on how many audio channels it has:

* Stereo cards with just two audio channels will have only the green (output), blue input) and pink (microphone) jacks.

* A few sound cards with 8 (7.1) audio channels do not provide the gray (Middle Surround Speakers) connector. If your computer is equipped with this type of card and you want to use all the 8 channels you will need to connect your motherboard to a 7.1 home theater system using the SPDIF digital connector.

* Some motherboards with 4 or 6 channels don't have the black (Rear Surround) and orange (Subwoofer and Center) jacks. These cards will use the blue jack for both line in and rear surround speakers out, and the pink jack for both mic input and subwoofer/center out. Therefore, whenever you want to use any of these jacks for a different function, you will have to manually remove one jack connector and plug in another.

One Click Shutdown Shortcut for Windows

2010-04-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

In a rush? Need to shutdown your computer in just one click? Actually, you can do it by simply creating a shortcut icon in your desktop. If you want faster and simple way to shutdown, just follow these instructions on how to create shortcut for Shutdown and Restart process in Windows.

Go to Desktop. Point your mouse cursor in any vacant/blank space in your desktop. Then Right-Click, New and select shortcut.

A screen will pop-up. Copy and paste the command below in the Text Field.

%windir%\system32\Shutdown.exe -s -t 00 (Note: its two zeroes)

For Restart Shortcut just replace -s with -r:

%windir%\system32\Shutdown.exe -r -t 00

Click Next.

Give appropriate name for the shortcut made. Then Click Finish.

Check your desktop for the shorcut icon.

To test if its working, Double Click the icon and BOOM!

Note: The shortcut made will automatically shutdown and stop all processes. Therefore, it's advisable to save your files before executing the shortcut.

The shortcut will definitely have a default unknown type of image or icon. To change the icon, Right-Click on the shutdown shortcut made then Properties.

Click on change icon button.

Choose an icon then Click OK for both dialog box.

That's it!.. Have Fun!!

Setting IP Address via Windows Command Prompt

2010-04-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

We can set IP address using command prompt in Windows by executing some commands. But you should be in the administrative level. To go to command prompt, Click Start then look for Run. Type in cmd and Click OK. Or you can try shortcut key using WINDOW+R to access run then cmd.

A black screen will pop-up which is the command prompt. To set static IP you can type the following:

netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.100.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.100.1 1

You will notice that the name is equal to Local Area Connection (refer to sample image below), this is usually the name of your Network Interface Card or NIC for single LAN. If you have more than one NIC cards in your system it may vary.

Let's break down the given example of IP addresses above.

192.168.100.10 is the IP Address for your Computer.
255.255.255.0 is the Subnet Mask
192.158.100.1.1 is the default gateway
1 is the gateway metric. Just leave that as is.

Note: The given values may not be the same with your settings.

Now, if you want to enable the setting to DHCP which means that your NIC can obtain automatic IP address from the router, just simply execute this command.

netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" dhcp

To check if you have succesfully configure the IP address, type ipconfig /all in the command prompt.

Some would require setting up DNS or Domain Name Server for Primary and Secondary. We can actually also set DNS using Command Prompt.

For Primary static IP addressing run this command:

netsh interface ip set dns name="Local Area Connection" static 120.45.6.1

For Secondary static IP addressing run:

netsh interface ip add dns name="Local Area Connection" 120.45.6.2 index=2

To configure DNS by enabling DHCP just execute this line of command:

netsh interface ip set dnsservers name="Local Area Connection" source=dhcp

Then again you can check by running ipconfig /all in the command prompt.

How to use ophcrack to crack password in Windows

2010-04-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ophcrack is a free software to crack passwords in any OS platforms. It runs in Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. I've tried using this when my friend forgot his User Login password for Administrator account. He has Windows XP Professional Operating System. Tried several password combination but still no luck. Ophcrack came to the rescue!

The software was very easy to deal with. First, you need to download the file and burn it in a DVD/CD. Download OPHCRACK HERE. Choose between XP and Vista.

Now, insert the Ophcrack CD in the DVD/CDROM Drive and reboot your computer. We need to boot your computer in CDROM, therefore, upon reboot Press F12 to go to BOOT Menu but this key may vary, so please check the key to access Boot Menu Order in your computer. Then, select CDROM drive as the first order boot device.

If you successfully boot up in the CD, you will see a Ophcrack CD screen and choose automatic. Then wait for several minutes to load the files and after successful loading, a GUI or graphical user interface will came out having all your account name with it's associated password. Write it down and restart your computer and remove the CD. Be sure to revert back the boot order sequence. Hard Drive should now be the first booting device. Login using the cracked password and BINGO!

This software is not suitable for cracking or hacking email, friendster, facebook or twitter accoun passwords. :)

Watch this video for additional reference.

I have 169.x.x.x IP Address?

2010-04-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Most home or small office network setup consists of a Modem from the Internet Provider, a router and one or more computers. So basically the setup runs this way, Modem (ISP)>>Router>>Computers.

For this kind of setup, you will have 169.x.x.x Ip address once you can't access internet anymore or can't connect to the network. Therefore we can say that 169 IP address is the default IP of your Network Interface Card. This is a card in your PC where we connect the RJ45 Cable from your Router or Broadband Modem.

The router acts as your DHCP server which will automatically assign a unique private IP address to each computer attached to the device. Usually a normal Private Ip address coming from the router has this pattern, 192.168.x.x. If you have this kind of pattern it means that your router is giving you a valid IP Address and you should have internet connection without any problem. So 169.x.x.x Ip address comes out when the router is not giving you the correct IP address or simply your connection between the router and computer encountered some problems. Thus, most likely you can't access Internet and other computers in the same network.

If you happen to experience this problem, the first thing you should do is to reboot or power cycle everything-modem, router, then computer. This will usually resolve or fix the issue.

You can check the IP address by reading my previous article about Knowing IP Address of Computer. After checking, if you have 169 address try to reboot by following the below steps sequentially.

Shutdown the PC.

Unplug the router.

Unplug the modem. Wait a minute or two.

Plug the modem back in and wait until all lights are green.

Plug router back in. Wait a minute.

Then, turn on computers.

Again, check the IP address in your PC if the router is now giving you a valid one.

Tips: It is important that once in a while you will reboot everything even though you havnt encountered this kind of problem. Sometimes, it can help to attain better internet speed and connectivity. Also, you can do isolation if rebooting still doesn't resolve the issue like checking the cables and try swapping it from a working computer.

Clean up and optimize your second hand Computer

2010-04-07T03:04:00.000-07:00

If you purchased a second hand or brand new computer there are programs that will consume a lot of hard disk space but you don't actually need it. In addition, it will also make your computer very slow upon boot up process because of the start-up files associated to the softwares. Therefore, it's better to remove them permanently to free up some space and optimize your computers' performance.

Now, the question in your mind is how to remove all its content or how to remove that unnecessary softwares? Im not that techy and don't have that strong background in computers, can I do that? Will it be as easy as hitting DEL key?

Okay. I will introduce to you a a tool that you can download and let the .exe file run in your newly or second hand purchase computers. The process will be as easy as counting 1,2,3.. It will be a no sweat process that even your 2 year old baby can do it. Owsss! Really? It depends on the I.Q. =) Anyway, to get started download PC Decrapifier.

After you successfully downloaded the file, click the executable icon to run. Just Click Next for Welcome screen and Licensing. Then select if you are running the utility on a new computer or not and then click Next.

Then, it will give you an option to create restore point for Windows System Restore feature. Just Click Next if you decided not to Create a restore point.

All of the programs that load automatically on startup will be displayed. These are the programs that will make your boot up process very slow. Check the programs you want to remove and click Next. A confirmation window will pop-up afterwards to confirm your changes.

Click OK to confirm.

Next you will be shown all of the applications or softwares installed on your computer. Check the items you want to uninstalled or removed and click Next. Click OK to confirm the removal.

The software will then uninstall the chosen applications and there are instances that there will be addtional confirmation boxes that will appear to completely uninstall the program. Now, your computer will be a lot faster and cleaner. Hopefully, can attain better performance.

Recovering Files After Recycle Bin was Emptied

2010-04-06T01:08:00.000-07:00

Recycle Bin is where the deleted files from our Windows laptop or computer are stored. It's like a trash can where we dispose our so called 'garbage'. In computer, garbage is a file or data which we don't longer needed. We delete that particular file primarily to free up some space in our hard disk drive.

If you will delete a file from your hard disk, it will basically go to your Recycle Bin. It will be stored there for a longer period of time unless you will permanently delete the contents. You might not know that the garbage files being stored in the recycle bin are still eating up space in your hard disk drive. That's why we tend to delete all the contents inside the bin to attain 100% clean up. But there are times that we accidentally deleted a file that is important or can be used for future reference. Then, we check the Recycle Bin for a chance to recover that file but no luck. So, how can we recover files or data after the Recycle Bin was emptied? Is it possible?

Yes! There are certain softwares that can retrieve deleted files, partitions, formatted partitions. Im using this demo version software which is called Windows Data Recovery - Recover Deleted Files from FAT & NTFS Partition.

Recover Data for FAT & NTFS is an advanced Windows Data Recovery Software designed to restore windows files from Windows OS based FAT & NTFS file system. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS can recover windows files damaged by virus attacks, power failures and software faults or files lost from deleted and formatted partitions. Software restores windows files deleted using Shift+Del or emptied from Recycle Bin. Get everything back using Recover Data for FAT & NTFS even when the drive's partition table, boot record, master file table (MFT), or root directory is lost or corrupt.

Recover Data for Windows Data Recovery Software and Windows Partition Recovery tool to recover deleted files and lost data from deleted, corrupted or formatted partition created using Windows Operating System. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS Recovery Software runs only on Microsoft Windows® 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Windows 7 Operating Systems. Windows data recovery software supports Windows 7 data recovery and also supports almost all the Windows partition/file system such a FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 installed on Hard disk, Pen drive or USB drives etc.

Recover Data for Windows partition recovery program effectively recover windows 7 partition data and restore windows 7 files. Try Windows 7 data recovery software and scan Windows 7 hard drive and fix windows 7 corruption. You can quickly get windows 7 data with Recover Data for Windows Data Recovery.

Using Recover Data for FAT & NTFS - Windows Recovery Software and vista data recovery tool, you can browse the content of files in your hard disk drive or any other storage media just as you do it in Windows Explorer. Windows Data Recovery Software recovers or restores windows deleted files & folders and marked them in RED color. Recover Data for FAT & NTFS - Windows File Recovery tool performs intensive scan to recover windows files from FAT & NTFS partition. Using Recover Data for FAT & NTFS you can search particular file by its name or mask with file filter & file search tool.

But Still prevention is better than cure. Even the best data recovery technology cannot guarantee successful results in all cases. If you want to have a real peace of mind in respect of your data, I suggest to backup your files.

You can visit the site for Download.

Aiseesoft New DVD Ripper Software

2010-04-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

I just want to introduce to you a new software from Aiseesoft studio which is considered as the best DVD Ripper software. System requirements to run the software is that you must have at least 800MHz Intel or AMD CPU, 512MB RAM or more. Operating System is Windows XP, Windows Vista but compatible with Windows 7.

The software cost around $35 but you can download a free trial HERE.

This is the description and features info from their site (http://www.aiseesoft.com/dvd-ripper.html)

A DVD Ripper that could easily rip DVD to MP4, H.264, AVI, WMV, FLV, MKV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, 3GP, 3GPP, VOB, DivX, MOV, RM, RMVB, DPG, etc, even rip DVD to HD video, like HD H.264, HD AVI, HD MPG, HD TS, HD WMV, HD MPEG 4, HD MOV, HD ASF, also convert DVD to audio, like MP3, WMA, M4A, AAC, WAV, etc. with super fast DVD ripping speed and excellent image and sound quality.

Aiseesoft DVD Ripper support almost all popular portable players, with the Best DVD Ripper software, you can easily rip your DVD to PSP, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPhone (3G), iPhone, Zune, Zune 2, Blackberry, Nokia, Creative Zen, Sony Walkman, iRiver PMP, Archos, PS3, Apple TV, Xbox, iPAQ, NDS, Pocket PC, Mobile Phone, etc. It is really outstanding and best DVD Ripper software.

The Best DVD Ripper provides easy and powerful movie edit functions, such as video trimming, video effecting, watermark adding and video cropping, which cater to customer’s personal need. Compared with other DVD Ripper software, the best DVD Ripper has more settings you can customize, such as customize video and audio bitrate, adjust resolution, set frame rate, etc.

With the Best DVD Ripper software, you can get excellent image and luxuriant sound in smaller file size just within a few clicks. Easy and fast in DVD rip!

What do I need to share my Internet Connection?

2010-04-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

Do you have two or more computers at home? And only one can access internet? Do you want to share it so that all of you can surf the web simultaneously at home? Well, what you will need to buy is an additonal hardware called router.

The basic router has one WAN port for the internet and 4 ports for your laptops/desktops but you can purchase router with more than four ports. So basically, if you have router you can share your internet connection to other users or computers. The flow would be like this: ISP Modem>>Router>>Computers. But keep in mind that your internet speed or bandwidth will be shared as well.

How to connect two computers to play Warcraft, etc..

2010-04-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Connecting two computers without using a switch is possible for you to play games like warcraft, starcraft , counterstrike, etc. What you will need is just a crossover cable. What is a crossover cable?

It is a type of cable used to connect :

-Switch to Switch
-Hub to Hub
-Host to Host (Laptop to Laptop, PC to PC, Laptop to PC)
-Hub to Switch
-Router to Host

This cable looks the same with your cable that connects your computer to your Modem for internet connection but differs in pin configuration. The one you are using right now is called Straight Through Cable. It is used to connect PC to Switch or Hub and Router to Switch or hub. When you try to examine the end of the cable it has eight wires with different colors but actually only four wires are working or being used. The figure below shows straight cable pin configuration.

As you can see, only the pin number 1,2,3,6 or colors White Orange, Orange, White green , Green are active or used.

For Crossover cable it has pin configuration shown below.

Since you are now familiar with the cables, let’s start learning how to connect two computers using the crossover cable for you to play games with your brother, sister or friends.

These are the simple steps for you to follow.

1. Connect the crossover cable. One end to your computer and the other to the computer you want to connect to. It’s basically, Computer1>Crossover Cable>Computer2.

2. We will now set the unique IP address in both computers. It is called static IP addressing. We will use IP address 192.168.100.1, Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 for computer 1 and 192.168.100.2, Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 for Computer 2.

3. Now, let’s input the assigned IP addresses to each computer.

Note: These steps were performed in Windows XP OS.

Go to desktop and look for My Network Places Icon. Right Click and choose properties. Look for LAN or high-speed internet. Then, right click on that icon and choose Properties.

Then, Local Area Connection Properties window will show up. Look for Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and double click to open up Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) properties. In that window choose for option Use the following IP address and input the IP address and Subnet mask given and leave other fields blank. See Image below.

Then Click OK.

For the second computer follow same procedures above but the IP address should not be the same with the first computer. To check if you have successfully input the Address, read this article on How to know the IP address of PC.

Then, you are good to go!

How to disable Autoplay

2010-03-31T03:41:00.000-07:00

Are you annoyed by autoplay when inserting USB or Flash drive in your laptop? Did you know that this autorun or autoplay feature will lead your laptop into infections because of worms and viruses? That's why it's better to disable that feature before its too late. I will teach you how to disable autorun/autoplay in Windows XP.

Follow these easy steps..

1. Go to Start, then RUN.

2. Type gpedit.msc and Click OK.

3. Group Policy window will show up.

4. In the left side pane, Under Computer Configuration, look for Administrative Template.

5. Navigate Administrative Template and look for System.

6. Click the folder System to show up the options on the right side pane.

7. Look for Turn Off Autoplay then double click.

8. Then a new window will pop-up, select which drive you tend to disable. I suggest to choose All drives to leave you more secured from viruses.

9. Finally, click OK.

"Your System is low on Virtual Memory Error"

2010-03-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

I have this old model laptop from DELL which is Latitude C600 and the specs are ancient one. The Processor is Pentium 3 with only 256MB RAM plus a flashdrive like hard disk of 10G. Antique? :) That's why I'm always scratching my head when I used this for internet because it runs like snail. But Im still optimizing the specs just to do my internet surfing hobby. I need to deal with this until I could by a new one.

One time, I came accross with this kind of error or warning saying, "Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information, see Help."

According to Microsoft,

"With virtual memory, the computer can use hard disk space as random access memory (RAM). The computer uses virtual memory to augment the ordinary RAM that is installed on the computer. If you reduce the size of the paging file, the Office program may not start correctly or may not start at all. This behavior may occur even if the computer has a large RAM."

This error is expected especially if your laptop or computer has very low RAM and hard disk capacity or value. Plus the Pentium III processor! It would definitely generate this kind of error or warning. If you will encounter this, try to follow my steps to have a higher value for virtual memory. These steps were done in Windows XP OS.

1. Click Start or Go to Desktop, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Performance pane, click Settings.
4. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
5. In the Virtual memory pane, click Change.
6. Change the Initial size value and the Maximum size value to a higher value, click Set, and then click OK.
7.Click OK to close the Performance Options dialog box, and then click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.

That's it!

How to block Internet Sites in Windows

2010-03-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

Do you have common computer in your home? And your 10 year old daughter or son can access internet without any restrictions in the sites? Are you worried that they might accidentaly access a pornographic websites that can pollute their fresh virgin minds? Well, I will show you a simple trick that you can use to block unecessary sites, not only sex related, nude picture sites but all internet web sites you wanted to.

This method is so simple to follow that even if your not that techy, you can seamlessly implement it. This tutorial was tested only in Windows Vista and Windows XP but no harm in trying with other Windows Operating System like Windows 7.

The first step is to open the command prompt. You can do so by clicking Start then find Run or you can perform keyboard shortcut which is WINDOW+R. Then, type cmd in the textbox. Click OK. See sample image.

Command prompt window will then open up. In the blinking cursor, type this commad:

notepad C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Then ENTER.

A notepad file will open up similar to the image below.

Then under 127.0.0.1 localhost type:

127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com (this is a sample website that you want to block)

If you want to add other sites, just type another entry below the first one. It will show like this:

127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.friendster.com
so on..
so on..

Then save it by FILE>SAVE. Or shortcut CTRL+S. Close the text file.

To test, open your Internet browser and try to access the block sites you entered a while ago.

Awesome?

How to unblocked it? Or back to the default one?

Well same steps above, just delete the entry you added and save the notepad file.

Shorcut key for closing windows in desktop

2010-03-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

People loves shortcut. Isnt it? Me, I do. Not because Im lazy but sometimes we need to know some tricks inorder to finish our task quickly and easily but the same result with the long method. Are you a type of computer user that opens up a lot of windows for internet explorer, firefox, google chrome, etc..? Then, I will share to you this basic keyboard shortcut on how to close all windows in seconds and even milliseconds!

Right now, I have 10 IE windows open for 10 different sites, one for Anne Curtis Nipple Slip search,lol! and 9 other interesting blog sites from my fellow bloggers.

This shortcut is also important if your alone in your room watching pinay celeb scandals or any pinay sex teen movies and suddenly your Mom came in. :) (based on experience!) So, you can close right away what are you watching with this keyboard shortcut quickly.

Here's the very very basic code! Just Press ALT+F4 in your keyboard. That's it!

How to recover data from dead hard disk

2010-03-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Have you experienced a scenario were your laptop or computer will not boot up? And then you've been told to back-up the files from that hard disk and reformat? Then, this is the way where you can back it up. This is by using Ubuntu Live CD from Linux to back up or recover the data.

How to use Ubuntu Live to recover files from Dead Windows hard disk?

Ubuntu Live CD is very important and helpful in recovering your important documents and files from your dead windows operating system. Actually, Ive tried this when I had problems with my other laptop when Blue death screen came out and no other options for me to recover my files from that end of life hard disk of Hitachi. Even reformatting can't resolved the issue and the only painful resolution is to buy a new one. And it was not that easy for me to find a replacement because it was an old type of hard disk which has IDE interface. The challenge for me that time is how to get back my files and important documents from that retired hard disk. Im so happy that UBuntu CD live came to the rescue! I’ve used this CD as a way to copy the files to my flash drive from my defective partitioned hard disk.

So now I will share to you the steps on how to backup files from your dead windows. But we need to have a copy of this Ubuntu Live CD of course. This is a free software which we can get it from the internet. Try to search for Ubuntu CD in the web and register in their site. They will eventually send you a copy of the software right from your doorstep for FREE! Awesome right?

Here's the steps..

Insert the Ubuntu Live CD in your CD-ROM. We will use this CD as boot CD. Once it boots up you will see UBUNTU main page screen and have an option that says, “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer”. See Image below.

Once the system has started up, the first thing you want to do is choose Places \ Computer from the menu.

This should show you all the drives available in the system, including your Windows drive. In my case, that is the 52.4 GB volume.

You can try and double-click on the drive to open it… and if it immediately works then lucky you! Most of the time it’s going to give you an error saying “Unable to mount the volume”, because Windows didn’t shut it down properly.

Click the Details link so that you can see the full message, and leave this window open. You’ll see a “Choice 2″ in the message, which includes the commands to force Ubuntu to use that drive even though there’s something wrong.

What you’ll want to do is open a new Terminal from Applications \ Accessories \ Terminal on the top menu. Once you’ve done that, then you’ll want to type in a bunch of commands, which I’ll walk you through.

First, we’ll want to switch to “administrator” mode, which in Linux terms is known as “root”. The simplest way to do it is with this command:

sudo /bin/bash

Now we’ll need to create a directory that we’ll mount the drive on. The full explanation of mounting drives is a little complex, so just run this command:

mkdir /media/disk

Now comes the tricky part. You’ll need to type out a command very similar to this one, but you’ll need to replace /dev/sda1 with what you see in that message box we showed you above. This command tells Ubuntu to use the ntfs-3g driver, and force mount even if there is a problem.

mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /media/disk -o force

If your drive is FAT32 instead of NTFS, then you can use the following command instead:

mount -t vfat -o umask=000 /dev/sda1 /media/disk

If you are having problems figuring out whether you have NTFS or FAT32, and you can’t figure out which /dev/whatever to use, then type in the following command at your prompt (make sure you already ran the command to run things as root)

fdisk -l

In the output you should see a lot more information about the available drives… you can see in this example that the filesystem type is NTFS and the device name is /dev/sda1.

At this point, you should be able to access your hard drive through the icon in Computer.

Note: If you have more than one drive in the computer, or more than one partition, they should show up separately in Computer. You should perform the same steps as above to open those drives up as well.

Backing Up to External USB

The absolute simplest thing to do at this point is to plug in an external USB drive, which should place an icon on the Ubuntu desktop, and most likely immediately pop up a nautilus window showing the contents of the drive.

Note: I plugged in a USB Flash drive for illustration… it would be better to plug in a full external USB drive so you’ll have more space for backups.

What Should I Backup?

If you aren’t extremely technical, you might be wondering what on earth you should be backing up… and that’s a very good question.

1) Best Method

If you have loads of empty space on your external drive or network share, you should simply backup the entire contents of the drive, and sort through it later. It’ll take a little longer, but at least that way you can be sure everything has been backed up.

2) Still Good

You should try and backup your entire user folder… on XP you’ll go to “Documents and Settings”, and on Vista you’ll go to “Users”, and you should see your username in the list:

You can simply copy this entire folder to your backup drive, which should contain your music, documents, bookmarks, and most of your important files.

Important Note: This will not backup your application files, and you should look around your drive and see if you’ve saved anything important somewhere else. This is especially true if you have more than one drive. Again, your best bet is to simply backup everything.

Thats it!! Goodluck!

Resolving Error: Network Path Was not found when accessing shared Folder in Remote Computer

2010-03-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Did you encounter this error when accessing shared folder in your remote computer?

Well, I will teach how to resolve this problem in very simple steps so no need to call an IT or a computer guy to overcome this error. Even if you’re not that techy and computer savvy, I assure you that you can easily follow these troubleshooting steps.

If you cant access a shared folder from other computer, this will be the first error that you will encounter that says something like “ \\'Shared Folder' is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.”

The First troubleshooting step is to check the Workgroup Name of your computer to that of remote computer. You must be in the same workgroup name.

How to check workgroup name?

Look for My Computer Icon in your desktop, then point the mouse cursor into that Icon and right click. Find Properties. System Properties windows will then pop-up. In that window, go to computer name tab and below Full computer name you will see Workgroup. Check both computer if you have same workgroup name. If it’s not then click on change option or button in that same window.

Second is to check if the other computer is ON. This might also be the reason why you cant access the other computer. If its turn on, then check for network connectivity between the two. How to do it? You can check network connection by executing a ping. This is done by simply typing 'ping IP Address' in the command prompt. See image below.

Note: You should know the IP Address of that computer that you wan to access to. Read this article to know the IP Address.

If the network connection between the two computers is good, it should have a reply which is same result in the sample image above; otherwise it will show Request time out.

If the above steps didn’t resolve the issue, then you might have a corrupted Client for Microsoft Networks service. To resolve this is to reinstall this service that is with Microsoft.

How?

Go to desktop and look for My Network Places Icon or Logo. Right Click>Properties. Then, find the Icon under LAN or high Speed Internet. The icon looks like two computers together. Then in that icon Right Click>Properties. A window will then appear. Click or highlight Client for Microsoft Network from the list. Refer to the image below (Note: This will cause restart!!).

Then, Click Uninstall. Then Click Yes to confirm. Click Yes again to restart your computer. After the restart, go to that window and install Client for Microsoft Network again. Then final reboot to take effect.

How to connect Laptop to Television

2010-03-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Connecting your laptop to television is very easy if you have all the necessary connectors needed to implement it. I tried this once when I went back from a trip and I've decided to connect my laptop to our HDTV to view my pictures and videos in a bigger screen together with my family. PC to TV connection is very nice especially when we want to see a movie from our laptop or have something to share in a bigger audience. It was like a computer tv.

There are many options to choose from if we want to connect PC to TV. One is PC to TV S Video, which uses S-Video port. Another is connecting laptop to TV via HDMI or VGA ports. I will share to you a video as your guide on how to connect PC to TV and what are the needed connectors and what are the options available for you to do such.

How-to: Remotely shutdown computer Using Command Prompt

2010-03-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

'Shutdown' in computer language is like going to bed and sleep. Computer needs to rest like human beings. When we say remotely shutdown a computer, it simply means to turn off other computers or laptops that are connected via LAN using your computer. Let say, you have 2 computers in your home, 1 is located in the ground floor and the other one is in your bedroom which is in the second floor.

Think of scenario that you are in your bedroom using your computer for about 8 hours and you feel like you want to go to bed and sleep but you still need to go down to shutdown your other computer in the ground floor. One solution is to know this simple trick. But remember that this will only work if you are connected via Local Area Network using Switch or Router Switch to your remote computers.

Here's the flow to follow..

This method below requires you to have an administrator account on the computer that you will perform the shutdown or else you will encounter an error "Access is Denied".

This method will require you to have either the IP address or machine name of the computer or computers you want to shutdown remotely.

All of the methods below were created using Windows XP. Vista offers the same commands and a few extras, while Windows 2000 has similar commands. If you use 2000, change the “-“ to a “/”.

Microsoft has included a tool that comes with Windows that will be the focus of most of this article. I always like to use inbuilt utilities when they are available. In this case the command is “shutdown”.

If you open up a command prompt (Start > Run > Cmd) and type “shutdown” without "", you will see that there are a bundle of arguments you can use with the shutdown command. The -m argument followed by the machine name, and a -r(restart trigger) will shutdown your computer. The best way for me to explain it is through examples.

In the command prompt, try the following:

shutdown -m \\computername -s ---(Using Computer Name)

shutdown -m \\192.168.5.100 -s ---(Using IP Address)

Note: Dont follow the IP Address in the example it might vary. On how to know the IP Address of computer read on this post: Knowing IP address of Computer

Lets break it down:

The shutdown command gets the ball rolling

-m \\computername should be the name of the computer you want to shutdown.
-s tells the remote computer to Shutdown.

There are a number of other arguments you can use.

-r tells the remote computer to Restart
-l tells the remote computer to logoff

So now, you can try it! Good Luck!!

How to convert Files like Excel, Word, etc.. to PDF format

2010-03-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

There are certain times that we want to convert for example a Word Document into PDF format but we dont know how to do it. Later, I will teach you on how to convert files into PDF form which is very easy as learning A,B,C..

PDF stands for what? Well it's an acronym for Portable Document Format. PDF is very important especially if you send a file to someone which is only intended for reading or viewing purposes because you can't edit pdf files unless you return it to its original form.

Follow these simple instructions to get started.

The first thing that we should have is to download a 'Cute PDF Writer' software. It's a printer subsystem that allows you to print various documents to PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format).

The program is very simple to install and use. It doesn't have a graphical user interface, so there's no need to configure it. Just install it by following the steps of the setup wizard and you're ready to create PDF files. Since this is a virtual printer driver, you don't need to install extra converters or Office components to create the PDF files.

I tried to print to PDF a large variety of files, like text files, Office documents, graphic files, presentations, table files (MS Excel, OpenOffice.org Calc). The virtual printer performed the selected tasks flawlessly.

The program is free for home and commercial use. You can customize the output resolution, quality settings, predefined page size, etc.

To install Cute PDF Writer, Click this link.

If you have already succesfully installed the software, then I will teach how to convert MS Excel, Word, Openoffice.org, etc. into PDF format which will then be readable using Adobe Reader.

First is to open the file that you want create a pdf copy. Then press CTRL+P which is keyboard shortcut method for Printing.

A Printing Option will then appear on your screen and in the Name part choose CutePDF Writer as your virtual printer (See image below).

Then press OK button. A new window will appear asking you on where you are going to save the pdf file. That's it!

You can now view it in PDF format by going in to the directory where you save the file. Good Luck!