computer & internet tips,tricks,codes

resume corrupt (incomplete) download in firefox

noreply@blogger.com (yogendra kumar soni) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:16:00 +0000

Copy link from download and re-download file.pause download and go to download location copy name of .part file
delete new .part file and rename your old file to newfilename.part
resume download in firefox.

ubuntu : remove grub mbr

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:06:00 +0000

last week i have to format my desktop which is windows XP, ubuntu dual boot to reinstall xp i put windows xp disk in drive and what i see, after booting blank screen nothing happen,i tried 2-3 times but same problem,
windows disk is working in other computers.Later i realized that grub is problem,i have searched internet the solution and finally i got a solution that doesn't need to full format or erase entire disk you need to remove master boot record (grub) and windows cd will work absolutely fine.
boot in ubuntu or ubuntu live cd.
and use dd command

sudo dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

dd command is used to backup one drive to other
raw copy low level copy etc

detailed description:

sudo : to run command as super user in ubuntu

dd : dd command

if=/dev/null source to be copied which is null

of=/dev/sda destination /dev/sda is your hard disk ;sda for sata disk

bs : size of 512 bytes is to be written (MBR is first 512 bytes of hard disk which contains boot record,partiton table etc)

This command is saying that copy 512 bytes of null to first hdd or simply erase MBR.

reboot and boot from xp cd it will work fine.

OCR – Scan document and create searchable pdf files (scan to text)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:12:00 +0000

What is OCR (optical character recognition)?

- OCR technology is used to translate typed,handwritten printed text hardcopy or scanned image material into editable text softcopy.

It is used to convert paper books and documents into electronic files, for instance, to computerize an old record-keeping system in an office.

Advantages Of OCR:

1.Don’t need to retype whole document Only need to Review weather OCR generated document is correct or not.

2.Scanned document can be used as backup if you don’t need to edit the text but Size of image is much larger then Typed Document.By OCR we can save Disk Space.

for example you lost the document from your system and you have hardcopy, don’t type whole document again use scanner and OCR software to create document.

Free and Efficient OCR program?

1.Microsoft Document Imaging

2.HP OCR engine Come with HP scanner Software.

3.freeOCR

4.GOCR

5.Chitrankan : Hindi OCR.

Commercial OCR:

1. ABBYY fine reader

2. nuance omnipage

3. readIRIS

Online OCR

1. ABBYY FineReader Online

2. http://www.free-ocr.com/

Here most effective and efficient FREE OCR that recognize text and keep unrecognized text as image is OCR software come with HP printer.

Open HP Solution Center and Click on scan documents.

Select Save to file and then select Searchable PDF or Word (rtf document) .

Scan the hardcopy and you will get the softcopy!

create own social network

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:47:00 +0000

Social networks are Web sites that offer creating profiles and interact with other people and friends, upload photo, video , send message gifts, chat and many more features. We can find people ,groups, topics etc of same interests.

what about creating own social network like orkut and facebook? yes its very easy and free of cost. We can create our own social network free of cost even my 10 yrs old sister can build social network in minutes

visit www.ning.com
and create your own social network.

features: Ning provide very easy to use and administer interface.
* easy interface.
* No programming or web designing required so any one can build easily.
* forums,chat,video, photos, groups, members,third party apps and many more .
* you can customize themes, profile questions etc
* You can make administrators and assign different roles to members.
* Can Create ads free social network or place own ads in place of ning ads.(you need to pay some money for this)

If you have a Good niche,strong desire,dedication creativity and skills then create a ning network and after you reach thousands of view/day and your network has revenue more than 50$/month place your own "ads by google"

China Mobile Sigmatel S4 flight mode problem

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Yesterday i was returning home from bilaspur with my mom, dad ,brother and sister. I was playing with my fathers china mobile, i saw flight mode option in settings, my father said me that flight mode is not working in this set, i was curious about what is the problem and i switched it to flight mode.

Flight mode is activated, but menu is also not working, now i cant switch back to normal mode. after some searching i found a trick to switch back to normal mode:

with out sim *#3646633#
you will get English menu
option 5 misc
option 6 assert testing
now menu will open
select dual mode..

in next post i will give some more codes and way to install software in china mobile.

Download source code from Sourceforge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:33:00 +0000

Many beginners don't know how to download source code from open source projects,sourceforge and google code etc.
CVS client is a software which is used to check out from sourceforge

Software needed : SVC client like tortoise svn
install in windows
download a subversion client like tortoise and install
http://www.tortoisecvs.org/download.shtml

In ubuntu:
install
sudo apt-get installcvs

enter the given checkout instruction on client and you will get all source files.

Best Looking Desktop EyeCandy : compiz-fusion (compiz )

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:05:00 +0000

Compiz is Composite Window Manager for Xwindows system.It uses 3D hardware acceleration to generate extremely good 3D desktop effects.It is very light weight doesn't make much impact on performance.

compiz and its fork Beryl merged together and this cause born of new software package compiz-fusion. Compiz fusion is the best eyecandy you ever seen for your desktop. Compiz fusion on flickr See here

you need to install compiz,compiz-fusion packages,compizconfig-setting-manager on your linux.Compiz will already install if you use ubuntu, you need to install compiz-setting-manager.

some of the best desktop effect that i used are
1.3D desktop Cube
2.Rotating 3D desktop cube
3.Burn animation add on(Windows closed with burning effect)
4.rain desktop effect.
5.Transparent windows
and many awesome effects.......
to see screenshots by Aeolian

http://compizfusion.blogspot.com/search/label/Compiz%20Fusion

for more information visit
www.compiz.org

Ubuntu cant login after keyboard layout changed! problem solved using autologin gdm.conf

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:24:00 +0000

Some days ago i am reading blogs from the bloggers of bhilai,one of my favourite blog is "aarambh" by mr sanjeev tiwari.I decided to write a post to make Ubuntu linux a complete hindi desktop,i changed language from English to Hindi and keyboard layout to bolnagri(hindi) (this is the mistake).After reboot i cant login because user name and password are in English and i cant type is english.
I tried many things,changed xorg.conf file,reconfigure xserver etc but nothing happen finally i got an idea that if i can login automatically into system (gdm ) then i can change setting back to English layout.
following are the step by step procedure to autologin ubuntu using gdm.conf

Step 1.boot the system,you can see login screen,
Step 2.Switch to console using Ctrl+ALT+F1.
Step 3.login using your username and password(you can login with username
and password in console).
Step 4.Run the following command to edit gdm.conf file.

sudo nano /etc/gdm/gdm.conf

find the line

autologin=false

edit this with following:
# Automatic login, if true the first attached screen will automatically logged
# in as user as set with AutomaticLogin key.
AutomaticLoginEnable=true
AutomaticLogin=mahendra

mahendra is username of my system.

Step 5.save the file and restart gdm.

to stop the gdm

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

to start the gdm

sudo gdm

done! now you can login into system and change the keyboard layout.

if you cant then restart your system next time you are automatically logged in.

if you face any problem comment me!

Automatic Dialup internet connection on startup or by command line

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:59:00 +0000

If we need to dial our dial-up internet connection on system start-up ( after login) here is a simple method to Automate this.It can be used in System automation scripts.
If we need to dial our dial-up internet connection on system start-up ( after login) here is a simple method to Automate this.It can be used in System automation scripts.

Step 1.Select your dial up connection you want to dial for example "dataone" is name of dialup connection in my pc

Step 2. Create a batch file

you have to create a batch file named "dialup.bat" using notepad and write following lines

rasdial "connection name" username password

Connection name is name of your dial up connection
username provided by service provider
password your password provided by service provider

Step 3. Put your file "dialup.bat" in startup folder.

for more information on rasdial command
please type command

rasdial /?

or visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490979.aspx

Bhuvan-"Indian google earth by isro"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:41:00 +0000

bhuvan
Indian Earth Observation Visualisation
It is a Google Earth like service provided by ISRO for India.
Speed is sometimes slow and quality is lower than google earth but it is Very good Effort by ISRO.
Bhuvan is a geoportal that provides high resolution satellite imagery of virtually the entire India over the internet. Many other features are built in, including 3D terrain and information on many thematic data.
You need to create an account to access it
http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/

check the faq to know more
http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/faq100.html

windows XP Cant Detect Hard disk,Vista Preinstalled laptop !

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Many beginners have this problem that Windows XP cd cant detect hard Disk in recent Vista installed Sata Hdd laptops.

Recent laptops use Sata Hdd in ACHI mode and Windows XP SP2 disk cant detect the Hard Disk in ACHI mode.You need to Change BIOS settings to Disable ACHI mode or SATA mode.

Enter Bios.
Depends on Your manufacturer you can find IDE or SATA mode for your HDD
Change the mode to "IDE" OR disable Sata.
press F10 Key and Reboot

I will try to provide specific instruction for some major manufacturers.

download online flash games,videos songs with opera browser

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:53:00 +0000

From a long time i was searching any trick to save online games,videos and songs from internet. last month i was trying to save content from cache of browser after some tries and searching in internet i found some posts that require some softwares but with opera browser we can save these files without any additional software.

Step 1.Install Opera Browser.

you need to install opera browser

http://www.opera.com/browser/download/

Step 2.Delete Private Data

In tools menu of Opera Browser Select Delete Private Data.

Click delete.

Step 3.Go to Page.

Paste the link or type url of the page just after Deleting Private Data.

Step 4.Wait

Wait for sometime and let the video or game download completely.

Step 5.open cache in new tab

Open a new tab and click on

tools menu >advanced>cache

find the largest files(in most cases) or appropriate file with your own understanding from the cache which is your file(Game or video etc)

Step 6.Save linked content

Right click on item and click on "save linked content as"

Step 7. Almost done

Check the extension of file if its correct save it otherwise sometimes it doesnt show extention then save it with appropriate extension like .flv,.swf,.mp4,.wav,.mp3 etc

to run on-line flash game see my post on Embedding Flash file in a web page

browser automation and testing with iopus imacro

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:19:00 +0000

Imacro from iopus is an extremely powerful,easy and useful automation solution.we can automate web browsing,web testing,performance measurement etc.
Suppose your task is to extract all the information from a table of a website,everyday and you got tired of this tedious task;and someone say that you dont have to do this only press a button and sit down on your chair;have a coffee or do any other work.
You can do this using imacro.I m using imacro firefox add on for this task.for more information visit
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3863

or

http://www.iopus.com/imacros/firefox/?ref=fxmoz

task you can do:

automatic visiting links(can be used for automatically clicking ads.......:) )
automatic data extraction from a site
automatically save images and files from a site
measure performance of site.
automatically filling forms.
use with other language like javascript,vbscript, batch etc

Send any mp3 song in orkut scrap

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:42:00 +0000

I use this trick often to send any song (mp3) to my orkut friends in their scrapbook.

two thinngs u need for this trick
1.Code that is used to embed flash based mp3 player.We can get this code from photobucket or www.123orkut.com .

in other words code below:

<embed src="http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q113/Zackuzt/mediaplayer.swf" width="304" height="18" allowfullscreen="false" flashvars="&file=http://sound11.mp3pk.com/indian/rab_ne_bana_di_jodi/rabnebanadijodi03(www.songs.pk).mp3&height=18&width=305&showeq=false&autostart=true&repeat=false&shuffle=false&volume=100" </embed>

2. URL of song such as http://sound11.mp3pk.com/indian/rab_ne_bana_di_jodi/rabnebanadijodi03(www.songs.pk).mp3

Replace the songs url after "file=" with the url or download link of ur song.

note : Use site which provide permanent link or direct location whic doesnt change or died after some time like www.songs.pk.

paste modified code in scrap book and send the song!

connecting GPRS using bluetooth or cable (all mobiles and providers)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:49:00 +0000

connecting gprs via bluetooth or cable :
I have used Airtel GPRS from a long time and i have connected my pc to internet via GPRS using nokia ,samsung and china mobiles using both cable and bluetooth.
I have searched many times in internet but didn't find any Good artical which teach users the concept of connectivity.
Lets discuss how any phone is connected to PC ,how it works as modem and how modem connects to internet.
1.Connecting Mobile to PC:
We can connect any mobile which support connectivity to pc via bluetooth or cable.

2.installing modem
For Cable :
1.install cable driver then connect cable to usb port then to
mobile your device is detected then open Device manager and see
ports list you find the com port no of your device.
2.open control panel>phone and modem option click add check
dont detect modem and click nextselect standard manifacturer
then standard 33600 bps modem. 3.click next select the com port of your and click finish
you installed modem now you have to set initialisation string.

For bluetooth connectivity:
turn on Bluetooth of both device and pc and search for
bluetooth from ur PC.
Select Dial Up Networking service.
Follow the instructions and complete wizard.
Dial Up network Service automatically install the modem and creates dial up connection you have to Set initialisation string.

Setting initialisation string:
Goto control panel >phone and modem , double click on the modem u installed to open properties and click on advanced tab in extra ininitialisation string
&D2+CGDCONT=1,"IP","apn.name"
or
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","apn.name"

FOR AIRTEL :
APN="airtelgprs.com "
so initialisation string becomes
&D2+CGDCONT=1,"IP","airtelgprs.com"
click OK
Create Dial Up:
create a dialup connecting use the modem you installed.for dial no *99# or *99***# or search on net if these numbers not working .
Done!
dial the connection .
Enjoy Surfing !

Note: Always connect the Cable on Same Usb Port because if you change port COM port number also changed and you have to install modem again for this port number.

connecting gprs with any mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:52:00 +0000

I used Airtel GPRS from a long time and i have connected my pc to internet via GPRS using nokia ,samsung and china mobiles using both cable and bluetooth.

I have searched many times in internet but didn't find any Good artical which teach users the concept of connectivity.

windows xp easter eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:40:00 +0000

Easter eggs:
Windows xp contains many inbuilt functions and secret functions and some mysterious flaws that are called Easter Eggs.

1.Mysterious 4-3-3-5:

Open notepad and type: bush hid the facts
Save it with any name and reopen and you should see 9 squares instead of the text.

2.Sam's Slang :

if you open control panel >>speech

in preview text box type: crotch

press preview button

you will notice that sam says "crow's nest"

3. slang again:

this time type : soy

there are many Easter Eggs ,google and search some interesting Eggs.

set wallpaper in any drive as desktop

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Hi friends, today in my friends system which has Crystal he can set wallpaper or background image in any drive, i think how can i do this in my system with windows xp i know that .ini file can do this so i searched for desktop.ini options and codes and found a resource on Desktop.ini.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hwiegman/desktopini.html

to set background at any drive
1. open notepad
2.paste following code

[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
IconArea_Image="file path of wallpaper"

3.save as "desktop.ini"
in the drive you want to set the wallpaper

Opera mini:Ultimate browser for mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Opera Mini

Opera mini is an ultimate browser for for your gprs and java enabled mobile.There are some cool features which give you good browsing experience for browsing.Its recent version is Opera Mini4.1 which had more features that give you desktop like browsing experiance

you can download it from mini.opera.com

How to create Own XP disk

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Unattended Windows CD

1 year ago i had formated my system and install a fresh copy of windows XP sp2 its very tedious task to reinstall XP then drivers and updates then general applications and then developers tools.I m thinking about a solution by which i dont need to sit down before system to monitor SETUP and Enter details such as KEY,computer name timejone etc. so i searched internet and find an ultimate resorce to create windos xp CD which contain all settings,key,driver and some application like office suit,Firefox,themes etc and some registry optimization.

Advantages of this Method:
1.You dont need to sit before during full system installation insert a disk and go where you want to go when you return your system is ready with windows XP and drivers with some small softwares.

2.some of the Branded PC come with a recovery discby which you can't do a fresh XP installation you can create a bootable cd from this method.

Requirements: windows XP disc (i386 folder),nlite,dot net framework.

Method:There are two method of creating a Unattended CD
1.manual method.
2.nlite method

i describe Nlite method here
Step1.Install dot net framework then nlite.
link to download nlite is Nlite download page
link to download Dot Net Franework Dot net framework download
2.Copy Windows XP disc in your hard disc in a new folder.
3.start nlite ;browse and locate the folder,nlite detect the service pack automatically.
4.Click on the buttons like that you want to do like Integrate drivers,unattended,create ISO image etc.
5.click next and enter detailes that required
6.At last Nlite prompt for location to save ISO image of your Unattended+slipstreamed driver integrated CD.

Note:before using CD check this Using Virtual PC .

for more information check: www.msfn.org
unattended xp guide http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/
Sitemap http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/sitemap

change pendrive icon into your photo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:41:00 +0000

you can change icon of your pen drive and CD's to your photo or any other image for this you don't need any special tool
Step1:copy your photo in ".bmp" format.
Step2:open notepad and copy following code

[autorun]
icon=photo.bmp

save as "autorun.inf" in pendrive

remove and insert again you can see your photo as icon of pen drive.

Automate DiscCleanup

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:12:00 +0000

This method describes how to run the Disk Cleanup tool (Cleanmgr.exe) by using command-line switches. Cleanmgr.exe is designed to clear unnecessary files from your computer's hard disk. You can configure Cleanmgr.exe with command-line switches to clean up the files you want.

1.start >run>cleanmgr /sageset:n
2.set options you want.
3.run these settings at any time no need to configure again using
cleanmgr /sagerun:n

note:where n is a number which can be from 0 to 65535.

You can then schedule the task to run at a specific time by using the Scheduled Tasks tool.

To start the Disk Cleanup tool, either run the Cleanmgr.exe command, or click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.

Disk Cleanup supports the following command-line options:

• "/d driveletter": - This option specifies the drive that you want Disk Cleanup to clean.

Note: The /d option is not utilized with /sagerun: n.

• "/sageset: n" - This option displays the Disk Cleanup Settings dialog box and also creates a registry key to store the settings that you select. The n value, which is stored in the registry, allows you to specify tasks for Disk Cleanup to run. The n value can be any integer value from 0 to 65535. To have all of the options available when you use the /sageset option, you might need to specify the drive where Windows is installed.

• /sagerun: n - This option runs the specified tasks that are assigned to the n value if you use the \sageset option. All drives on the computer are enumerated and the selected profile runs against each drive.

For example, in Scheduled Tasks, you could run the following command after you run the cleanmgr /sageset:11
(this will show a window of disc cleanup in which you select options you need then press OK to save setting at number 11)

schedule task:
now you can Disk Cleanup with selected options by following command:
cleanmgr /sagerun:11

This command runs Disk Cleanup and includes the options that you specified with the cleanmgr /sageset:11 command.

The options for the files that you can specify for Disk Cleanup by using /sageset and /sagerun include:
• Temporary Setup Files - These are files that were created by a Setup program that is no longer running.

• Downloaded Program Files - Downloaded program files are ActiveX controls and Java programs that are downloaded automatically from the Internet when you view certain pages. These files are temporarily stored in the Downloaded Program Files folder on the hard disk. This option includes a View Files button so that you can see the files before Disk Cleanup removes them. The button opens the C:\Winnt\Downloaded Program Files folder.

• Temporary Internet Files - The Temporary Internet Files folder contains Web pages that are stored on your hard disk for quick viewing. Disk Cleanup removes these page but leaves your personalized settings for Web pages intact. This option also includes a View Files button, which opens the C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 folder.

• Old Chkdsk Files - When Chkdsk checks a disk for errors, Chkdsk might save lost file fragments as files in the root folder on the disk. These files are unnecessary.

• Recycle Bin - The Recycle Bin contains files that you have deleted from the computer. These files are not permanently removed until you empty the Recycle Bin. This option includes a View Files button that opens the Recycle Bin.

• Temporary Files - Programs sometimes store temporary information in a Temp folder. Before a program quits, the program usually deletes this information. You can safely delete temporary files that have not been modified within the last week.

• Temporary Offline Files - Temporary offline files are local copies of recently used network files. These files are automatically cached so that you can use them after you disconnect from the network. A View Files button opens the Offline Files folder.

• Offline Files - Offline files are local copies of network files that you specifically want to have available offline so that you can use them after you disconnect from the network. A View Files button opens the Offline Files folder.

• Compress Old Files - Windows can compress files that you have not used recently. Compressing files saves disk space, but you can still use the files. No files are deleted. Because files are compressed at different rates, the displayed amount of disk space that you will gain is approximate. An Options button permits you to specify the number of days to wait before Disk Cleanup compresses an unused file.

• Catalog Files for the Content Indexer - The Indexing service speeds up and improves file searches by maintaining an index of the files that are on the disk. These Catalog files remain from a previous indexing operation and can be deleted safely.

fastest broadband

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:31:00 +0000

A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has the world’s fastest internet connection.

Sigbritt Löthberg’s home has massive 40 Gigabits per second connection, thousands of times faster than the average residential connection and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.

Sigbritt is no ordinary 75 year old. She is the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg who, along with Karlstad Stadsnät, the local council’s network arm, has arranged the connection.

Sigbritt will now be able to enjoy 1,500 high definition HDTV channels simultaneously. Or, if there is nothing worth watching there, she will be able to download a full high definition DVD in just two seconds.

create a folder with name "com1" or "con" etc

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Please try to create a folder named "CON" or COM1 or COM2 etc.
You cant do it here is a trick to do this:
create a new folder rename it with "com1" and after com1 type ALT+0160 with num pad.
press enter your folder is of name com1.you can create folder of any restricted name.

concept:

windows system had many reserved words like con,com1,com2 for ports etc.If you create folder with that name there must be conflict so you can not make folder with these name.

what this trick do.this trick put an hidden char of UNICODE ALT+0160 at the end of folder name so its not "com1" its "com1 ".(a blank after com1 ).
note : try start menu > accessories>system tools>char map and find equivalent character of ALT+0160

lasik

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:19:00 +0000

LASIK (Laser-Assisted In, Situ Keratomileusis) is one of the surgeries that treats refractive errors of the eye. LASIK is a variant of excimer laser photorefractive keretectomy (PRK). Although LASIK is a newer procedure, it is common as surgical techniques and instruments improve. The primary difference between LASIK and PRK is that prior to the use of the laser to change the shape of the cornea, a machine called microkeretome is used to create a thin flap of cornea, which is folded back, and laser treatment is then performed under this flap. Visually recovery is usually faster as well, because the surface layer of the eye does not need to reheal after being removed as it does in PRK.

LASIK is an exciting surgical procedure that is capable of correcting a wide range of nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism. LASIK is the acronym for laser assisted in-situ keratomileusis. The name refers to the use of a laser to reshape the cornea without invading the neighboring cell layers. LASIK is currently the most commonly performed refractive procedure in the United States and in India .

Lasik was first performed in clinical trials in the U.S. in 1991. It was officially approved in 1996 in the U.S. It is important to note that the major components of the procedure have a long history. Ophthalmologists have been reshaping the cornea for over 50 years, creating a protective layer of tissue for over 35 years, and using the excimer laser since the 1980's.

LASIK combines the precision of the excimer laser that is used in PRK surgeries with the flap technique that characterizes ALK. First, no removal of the corneal surface tissue is necessary and therefore, postoperative pain is substantially reduced compared to PRK. Second, postoperative visual acuity is restored within a few days rather than weeks. Finally, there is less corneal scarring in the long-term, less change due to healing (regression) and thus greater stability of the correction.

LASIK improves the uncorrected vision for distance - one's visual capacity while not wearing corrective lenses - in most patients who have the procedure. Nearly all patients can expect to achieve 20/40 vision, which most states consider good enough to drive without having to wear contacts or glasses, and many can expect to achieve 20/20 vision or better. However, there are no guarantees that you will have perfect vision. People who are most satisfied with the results of laser correction clearly understand the potential risks and complications and possess realistic expectations of what their vision will be like after surgery.

The effects of LASIK are permanent. The effects of LASIK do not wear off. But, it is important to realize that a person's eye can still change internally. That is why many surgeons recommend having the procedure done after the major eye changes have occurred in one's life. For instance, LASIK is not recommended on children because their eyes change a great deal. They would need the vision fine-tuned in a few years. If the procedure is performed after the age of 18, the chance of long-term stable correction is more likely. Even the eyes of patients over the age of 18 can still be changing. Therefore, we recommend a good conversation with your surgeon so they can review the changes you have had and help you make a decision whether or not you should wait until the changes have slowed down. Patients should also note that while results are usually stable, they can be modified by enhancement procedures - procedures performed after the initial one - if necessary.

You can resume most normal activities immediately after surgery. However, for at least two weeks you will need to avoid activities that would cause perspiration to run into the eyes. You should wear safety glasses while playing contact sports whether or not you have had surgery. But, if you do not routinely wear safety glasses, your surgeon may recommend wearing them for at least one month after LASIK. You will also need to avoid such activities as contact sports and swimming for several weeks. It is important to talk specifically with your doctor about limitations on activities after LASIK.

Fast visual recovery characterizes this operation. Most patients achieve good vision the day after surgery and find that their eyes feel fairly normal within a day. However, vision can continue to improve, and best vision can still take two to three months to occur. Most patients who have LASIK do not wear glasses for their daily activities. However, patients may need to wear reading glasses if they are over the age of 40. This is caused by the normal aging of the eye known as presbyopia. This condition occurs with or without LASIK. Some patients may need a minimal prescription for some activities such as night driving.

Most people in their 40's or older will need reading glasses if their eyes are corrected for distance because the eye's lens loses flexibility as we age. Some patients in this age group select monovision, such as is done with contact lenses. This option allows patients to use one of their eyes for distance and the other to see up close. Although monovision proves to be satisfactory for some patients, many are not comfortable with this arrangement. We will be happy to discuss this with you to meet your individual needs.

We feel it is of extreme importance that you meet the surgeon who performs the procedure prior to making an informed decision on whether to have the surgery. Our surgeons will discuss the risks and benefits of LASIK with you and will try to tell you what you can expect.