Facebook Tricks

25 Worst Passwords of 2011 [STUDY]

2011-11-18T11:19:00.001-08:00

Pro tip: choosing “password” as your online password is not a good idea. In fact, unless you’re hoping to be an easy target for hackers, it’s the worst password you can possibly choose.

“Password” ranks first on password management application provider SplashData’s annual list of worst internet passwords, which are ordered by how common they are. (“Passw0rd,” with a numeral zero, isn’t much smarter, ranking 18th on the list.)

The list is somewhat predictable: Sequences of adjacent numbers or letters on the keyboard, such as “qwerty” and “123456,” and popular names, such as “ashley” and “michael,” all are common choices. Other common choices, such as “monkey” and “shadow,” are harder to explain.

As some websites have begun to require passwords to include both numbers and letters, it makes sense varied choices, such as “abc123″ and “trustno1,” are popular choices.

SplashData created the rankings based on millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. Here is the complete list:

1. password
2. 123456
3.12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

SplashData CEO Morgan Slain urges businesses and consumers using any password on the list to change them immediately.

“Hackers can easily break into many accounts just by repeatedly trying common passwords,” Slain says. “Even though people are encouraged to select secure, strong passwords, many people continue to choose weak, easy-to-guess ones, placing themselves at risk from fraud and identity theft.”

Source text:Mashable

Google Lets Wireless Access Point Owners Opt Out of Its Database

2011-11-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

Google has announced a method to let wireless access point owners all over the world opt out of having their AP included in Google’s Location Server.

Google Location Server is a large location database that lists access points all over the world. Its purpose is not to identify people, Google says, but to be able to quickly determine the location of a mobile phone owner by looking for wireless APs that are physically close to that person.

However, some AP owners might not want to be included in the database. Now, Google is offering a simple solution: change the wireless network name (SSID) of your network so that it ends with “_nomap” and your AP won’t be included in the Location Server.

So if, for example, your SSID is “go_away,” change it to “go_away_nomap” and you’ll be set. The next time someone’s mobile phone sends information about your AP to the Google Location Server, it will note the “_nomap” tag and removed your AP from the database.

If you don’t know how to change the SSID of your AP, Google has set up a help page with detailed instructions of how to do so.

Google had its share of troubles when it collected payload data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks in 2010. Google apologized for the practice and stopped cohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifllecting the data, claiming it had done so inadvertently.

However, the incident caused a huge public outcry and inquiries into Google’s practices in several countries all over the world. With this latest move, Google is acting preemptively. By letting AP owners opt out of its location database, there’s less chance of anyone complaining over the practice of gathering AP data in the first place.

Source text: Mashable

Siri, Read My Mind: Did Hackers Just Build a Brain-Powered iPhone?

2011-11-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

If you believe this video — and that’s a big if — the era of thought-controlled phones has begun. A pair of hobbyist hackers claim to have taken Siri, the iPhone 4S feature that obeys voice commands, and turned it into an app that obeys brainwave patterns.

“It works! It really works! It’s so freaking amazing,” Josh Evans and Ollie Hayward announced Tuesday on the blog they created to chronicle what they call “Project Black Mirror.”

In the accompanying YouTube video, Evans wears EEG pads on his forehead and squints in concentration. A circuit board attached to an iPhone on the table beeps shortly later, and a mechanical voice says “calling Graham,” the third member of the project, whose phone then rings.

The hackers explain that they used the EEG pads to record the “signature brain patterns” of 25 Siri-based commands. By pairing the signatures with the commands, they effectively create a brain pattern-to-voice dictionary.

That means their system doesn’t necessarily know what a person is thinking, but it knows that certain electrical activity in the brain translates to certain commands.

When the system identifies the electrical signature in the brain, it feeds the appropriate command to a sound synthesizer chip, the audio output of which is plugged into the iPhone’s microphone jack.

The Case For

It’s hardly an implausible system. Computer interfaces controlled by electrical energy in the brain have been in development for years. A company called Emotiv created an EEG-based videogame controller in 2009. Emotiv founder Tan Lee talks about the technology in this TED video.

Scientists at the Honda Research Institute unveiled a technology in 2009 that makes its robot, Asimo, responsive to thought commands. It also used EEG technology to translate electrical signals into commands.

The Case Against

But Honda also said the real-life applications of the technology were limited. That was partly because of the way our thoughts get easily distracted, and partly because brain patterns can differ greatly between two people who are thinking the same word. In other words, anyone who wanted to use the technology would need to train it.

Jonathan Hefter, the CEO of technology company Neverware, says that if Project Black Mirror does work, it probably has similar limitations and is unlikely to be capable of executing a large number of commands.

“Black Mirror does not seem to be using a general dictionary of human thought, what we would call mind reading,” he says. “Their EEG can’t really tell the difference between you thinking about a movie you like and a song you like. ‘Mind reading’ will require a much higher resolution scanner, like an fMRI or an embedder array, and a common map and dictionary of what our natural thoughts look like.”

There’s also a possibility that the Black Mirror demonstrations posted to YouTube are the result of creative camera work rather than an interesting hack. The blog incorrectly calls the technology used to measure electrical activities of the brain ECG instead of EEG. ECG is used to measure activities of the heart.

It seems that this is a mistake someone familiar enough with the technology to use it in a thought command project would be unlikely to make. The setup is also somewhat suspicious, according to Dami Omojola, who similarly used four electrodes in a brain computer interface he created to move a cursor on a computer screen.

“[In their setup] they are far more likely to be picking up the electrical signals generated by moving the larger muscles of the face such as when blinking the eyes,” he says, “[and] the lack of shielding in the leads from the head also mean there is going to be lots of ambient noise in their signal.”

Those who are willing to believe that the project is genuine may soon have a chance to put some skin in the game. The hackers’ demo video is intended for a Kickstarter funding page.

Source text: Mashable

Google Paid Search Products You Need to Know

2011-11-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

For many digital marketers, the fall of 2011 might be remembered for bringing dynamic advertising to paid search. Google’s newest offering, said to flip “the search engine on its head,” does away with the traditional keyword advertising approach in lieu of matching landing pages with the right user search.

Dynamic Search Ads is just one of dozens of innovations Google has made to its AdWords product over the past few years. Google paid search has evolved to include everything from video to coupons and a call feature, all in the name of improving advertiser results. Not every Google product is a good fit for every advertiser – in fact, some of its offerings aren’t even available to the masses yet. But Google is nothing if not progressive, and for this reason many of them warrant a closer look.

Google Image Search. Instead of advertising exclusively on Google’s web results page, this product allows brands to place their listings next to Google Images. Typically, this approach is best suited to those who’ve noted a distinct benefit to presenting consumers with a product image up front. The campaign is set up through AdWords, except that instead of uploading ad copy alone, the advertiser also submits an image that will precede the organic image search results on the page.
Google Media Ads. Previously known as Google Video Plus Box, this program was initially tested in beta with advertisers ranging from automotive to CPG. A box beneath a standard search ad would display a web-only video such as an instructional product clip, and advertisers would pay the equivalent of their cost-per-click text ad bid when the video hit the 10-second mark. The unit has since morphed into Google Media Ads and is open only to the entertainment vertical (at least, so far).
Google Product Ads/Extensions. Similar to the video extension, this unit allows brands to include additional promotional material in their text ads. The ad pulls information from an advertiser’s existing Google Merchant Center account and can include anything from images to business center maps, product titles, detailed descriptions, and prices. Brands can promote their entire product inventory through paid search and, in theory, generate more qualified clicks because they’re providing the user with more product information up front.
Google Redemption Ads/Offer Extensions. Through this program, brands can deliver a coupon directly to search engine users from their paid search ads. Several user options exist, including having the coupon emailed to a desktop or texted to a mobile phone – they can even be saved to a user’s Google Wallet. Redemption options, too, are varied: depending on what the brand is looking for, consumers can redeem in store, online, or by mail.
Google Call Extensions/Metrics. When generating phone calls is a campaign priority, Google’s call feature can help. Advertisers include in their paid search ad a unique toll-free number provided by Google that links to the marketing client’s existing phone number. Advertisers can then track which AdWords campaigns their calls are coming from, along with the duration of the calls and the caller’s area code, through their existing Google account.
Google Sitelinks. One of the most useful of Google’s newer products, Sitelinks affords the ability to include up to six additional links in your AdWords text ad. This gives brands complete and immediate control over the pages, products, and messaging they wish to promote.
Considering the length of time it can take for Google to re-index a site, and the urgency of updating ad copy and Sitelinks for such events as new product line launches, this can be a critical advantage. “You’re giving the user seven links to choose from and letting them select exactly where they want to go,” says Nathan Lewalski, one of Enlighten’s senior interactive media planners, “but you’re also gaining a competitive advantage by owning more real estate on the results page.” Click-through rates on these ads tend to be higher because users instantly know what to expect from a site. “Without paid search,” Nathan says, “it’s unlikely the user would see a brand’s newest messaging or get sent directly to new pages in time.”

Google is infamous for experimenting with its AdWords products (not to mention giving them countless different names). The advantage for advertisers is a glut of program options and a fresh take on how to supercharge those two little lines of text. Take some time to learn what’s new in Google Ad Innovations. The company’s next unit could be the one you’ve been waiting for.

Source text: Mashable.

It’s Official: Flash Mobile Player is Dead

2011-11-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Adobe confirmed what reports were saying all morning: It’s done with the Flash Mobile Player and has now thrown its lot in with the HTML5 crowd — for mobile at least.

“We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook,” wrote Danny Winokur, Adobe VP and general manager for interactive development in a blog entry this morning.

The company that built Flash and famously fought with Apple CEO Steve Jobs on the necessity for its support on all mobile devices now contends that HTML5 is the right path for mobile devices and its developer partners. “HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms,” wrote Winokur.

Flash is not dead. Adobe knows there are millions of Flash developers out there right now who want to port their products to mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad — which famously do not support Flash. For them, Adobe will work with developers to package their products with Adobe Air, a runtime that lets them deploy standalone applications on a variety of platforms without the need for a Flash player.

Flash Player support for mobile browsers will end after version Flash Player 11.1 (which has yet to be released) and then Adobe will focus on bug and security updates for “existing device configurations.”

While Adobe is not walking away from Flash, the post makes it clear the future of the software is married to HTML5. The upcoming Flash Player 12 will offer new features “for a smooth transition to HTML5 as the standards evolve so developers can confidently invest knowing their skills will continue to be leveraged.”

The post then adds, “We are super excited about the next generations of HTML5 and Flash. Together they offer developers and content publishers great options for delivering compelling web and application experiences across PCs and devices.”

Over the last six months, Adobe has added more robust cross-platform mobile development features to Flash Professional and added native iOS streaming to Flash Media Server. This aligns with our past conversations with Adobe, which included a strong commitment to Flash as a development platform separate from a technology stack.

Overall, it’s a belated victory of sorts for the late Steve Jobs who railed against the use of what he saw as a buggy, security hole-ridden platform on mobile devices. What’s unclear, though, is what Flash’s exit from the mobile arena means for Flash’s long-term, overall survival.
Source text: Mashable.

Two Schools of Thought: The Key Difference Between Apple and Google

2011-11-09T06:33:00.001-08:00

Apple and Google may look similar on the surface, but the companies couldn’t be any more different. That much has become clear to me after reading both the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson and Steven Levy’s In the Plex.

Google and Apple are technology behemoths that bucked the system, created game-changing products and are worth more than $550 billion collectively. Both companies have successful mobile phone divisions and web browsers, and both companies have a common enemy in Microsoft.

The two companies are build on completely different foundations, though. Sergey Brin and Larry Page firmly believe in the power of data and numbers, and that reliance on the metrics is the cornerstone of every major decision the company makes. “Information was the great leveler at Google,” Levy says in his book.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, believed in the power of design and often threw out the data. “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups,” he famously said in a 1998 BusinessWeek interview. “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

There is no starker contrast of the ying-yang battle of data vs. design. It’s that conflicting yet complementary relationship that sparked one of the industry’s closest friendships and, more recently, one of technology’s fiercest rivalries.

Google: Data Is King

For some reason, I decided to read both Steve Jobs and In the Plex at the same time (the former via Kindle, the latter via audiobook). It was a surreal experience, but it made it clear to me that Google and Apple are polar opposites.

Let’s start with Google. If you need proof that data is king at Google, look no further than In the Plex. The word “data” appears in Levy’s book approximately 319 times. “Design,” on the other hand, appears fewer than 60 times.

The emphasis on design comes directly from the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Here’s how Levy describes them in the beginning of the book:

“[Page and Brin] felt most comfortable in the meritocracy of academia, where brains trumped everything else. Both had an innate understanding of how the ultraconnected world that they enjoyed as computer science students was about to spread throughout society. Both shared a core belief in the primacy of data.”

The result is a company with a deliberately collegiate atmosphere, a strong meritocracy where engineers are king, and most of all a “deep respect for data.” Google is famous for making the tiniest changes to pixel locations based on the data it accrues through its tests. Google will always choose a spartan webpage that converts over a beautiful page that doesn’t have the data to back it up.

“It looks like a human was involved in choosing what went where,” Marissa Mayer once told an upset team of designers about a product design she rejected. “It looks too editorialized. Google products are machine-driven. They’re created by machines. And that is what makes us powerful. That’s what makes our products great.”

Apple: Design Is in Its DNA

Apple, on the other hand, falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. The word “design” and its variations appears in the Steve Jobs biography 432 times. The word “data” appears just 26 times in the book.

“I love it when you can bring really great design and simple capability to something that doesn’t cost much,” Jobs once told Isaacson. “It was the original vision for Apple. That’s what we tried to do with the first Mac. That’s what we did with the iPod.”

That emphasis on design derives from Jobs’s childhood experiences. Early in his life, his father taught him that it was important to craft the back of fences and cabinets properly, even though nobody would see them. Later in life, Jobs traveled through Asia and connected with the simplicity of Zen Buddhism.

Those lessons and experiences became part of his quest for perfection, a philosophy that is now essential to every product Apple ships.

Google has placed its faith in data, while Apple worships the power of design. This dichotomy made the two companies complementary. Apple would ship the phones and computers, while Google would provide Maps, Search, YouTube, and other web tools that made the devices more useful. But when Google decided to release its own mobile OS, their friendship quickly turned into a rivalry. And with Google poised to acquire a hardware company, that rivalry will only get stronger.

What can we learn from the battle between data and design? What can we learn from the relationship between Google and Apple?

Clearly no one school of thought is right: Apple and Google are both wildly successful and profitable companies that changed the world. Building a successful company (or living a happy life, for that matter) is not about embracing someone else’s philosophy, but staying true to your own beliefs about the world and learning from the mistakes you make along the way.

Second, design-focused companies tackle different types of problems than data-focused ones. A design-focused company like Apple (or Flipboard) will focus on creating revolutionary, never-before-seen products, because data isn’t great at predicting market revolutions. Data-focused companies like Google, however, have a better chance at revolutionizing existing markets because their products are simply better and more efficient. The search engine existed before Google, but the company used data to make the most effective one in the world. Apple, on the other hand, is credited with launching multiple revolutions, starting with personal computing.

Finally, while data and design are often opposing forces, they need each other as well. Jobs may have focused on design, but he didn’t ignore the data. When he saw the dropped call data from AT&T at the beginning of “Antennagate,” he rushed back from Hawaii to deal with it. The data provided the context on which he could design a response. Great design, even revolutionary ones, is built on solid data.

Source text: Mashable.

What Advice Did Steve Jobs Give to Mark Zuckerberg?

2011-11-08T03:57:00.000-08:00

Mark Zuckerberg says he asked Steve Jobs about how to build a high-quality team and great products, but denies Apple and Facebook ever talked about an acquisition.

The revelations come as part of an in-depth interview between PBS’s Charlie Rose and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. The extensive interview covers all of the bases, such as whether Facebook will ever build games (no, Zuck says) and what Zuckerberg thinks of Google+ (he calls it “their own little version of Facebook”).

However, the most interesting part of the interview comes when the trio starts discussing Zuckerberg’s relationship with Steve Jobs. “I had a lot of questions for him on how to build a team around you,” he says in response to one of Rose’s questions. “That’s focused on building as high quality and good things as you are. How to keep an organization focused, right, when I think the tendency for larger companies is to try to fray and go into all these different areas.”

Zuckerberg professes respect for Apple because, like Facebook, it is out to build a company that will change the world rather than fatten the bottom line. Rose then asks Zuckerberg whether or not the two companies had ever talked about an acquisition.

“No. I don’t think it ever really got there,” he says. “I mean, nor would I have wanted to sell it.” Sandberg and Zuckerberg then start talking about how Jobs never raised the issue because he understood that Zuckerberg had no interest in selling. We here at Mashable have heard conflicting stories about whether Apple has ever tried to acquire Facebook, but we find it hard to believe the two companies never talked about the issue at some level, whether seriously or just in passing.

Sandberg ends the interview with a strong message for women. “If you survey men and women in college today in this country, the men are more ambitious than the women,” she says. “And until women are as ambitious as men, they’re not going to achieve as much as men.”

Shutdown a computer from mobile phone

2011-11-06T04:04:00.000-08:00

You'll need the batch files which can be downloaded from Tim Matheson's site. Click

Extract these to your C:\ drive so the path to the shutdown batch file is C:\sms_functions\shutdown.bat

Open up Microsoft Outlook, and if you haven't already, configure it to your e-mail. Go into Tools -> Options, click the Mail Setup tab, then click the Send/Receive button. The Schedule an automatic send/receive every... box should be checked and the number of minutes you want it to delay before the shutdown, about 1 minute is recommended.

Next go into Tools -> Rules and Alerts, click on the options button in the upper right hand corner and click on Import Rules

Select the 'shutdown.rwz file that was found in the zip file named sms_functions you downloaded earlier.

AT LAST when you send a message from your phone to your e-mail address with the subject 'smshutdown%%' your computer will shutdown after the specified delay time.

P.s you can also make your own rule, so that you can use your own batch file and can choose your own phrase as the trigger.

Microsoft’s YouTube channel gets hijacked and wiped clean

2011-10-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's official YouTube channel was hijacked on Saturday and all videos hosted on it were temporarily removed. The hacker replaced them with others claiming that Microsoft is holding a contest.

"We are sponsoring" and "Make us a Background to Get Subbox!!!" were the titles of two rogue videos published by those responsible for the attack. Meanwhile, the channel's description was modified to read "Wish to Become Sponsored? Message me."

One message posted by the alleged hacker provides an indication of what might have happened. "I DID NOTHING WRONG I SIMPLY SIGNED INTO MY ACCOUNT THAT I MADE IN 2006 :/" he said.

This suggests that the hijacker registered in the early days of the video-sharing website. The account was claimed by Microsoft, probably citing trademark reasons, but the original email retained access to it.

It's not clear how this happened, but in 2008 YouTube started providing users with the option of linking their old accounts with their Google ones. This action became mandatory earlier this year and might have something to do with how the previous owner obtained access now.

If the user's email address got linked with the Google Account used by Microsoft on YouTube, he might have gained the ability to perform a password reset. "If that's true, then it's a colossal foul-up by YouTube that may concern other well-known brands who have established presences on the video network," warns Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos.

Microsoft didn't comment about the method used to hijack its account, but has since regained control of it and restored the deleted videos. Meanwhile, the YouTube account of the user who claimed to be responsible has been terminated for violating community guidelines.

This incident comes after Sesame Street's YouTube channel was hijacked and used to display adult videos last week. In order to avoid falling victim to such attacks, users should employ strong and unique passwords and review their Google accounts to make sure no unwanted email addresses have access to them.

For more from David, follow him on Facebook: David Murphy.

Powered by Translate Convert Any Document or Web Page to PDF

2011-10-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Here the direct link to BullZip downloads page: Downloads

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

Computer Tip to Download Almost Any Of YouTube Videos On Your PC

2011-10-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone wants to download some or other video of his/her choice from Youtube.com, Google’s site, which is one of the most popular video site.

There are lot of online sites promising some or other way to download youtube.com videos permanently on to PC. I have used most of such sites and am recommending one of a free site that lets you download youtube.com video (almost all of them except when its downloading is blocked by the uploader) on to your PC.Interesting! Isn’t it great as once you have downloaded youtube.com video, you can see it at the desired resolution without even getting connected to the Internet. And now with youtube.com offering full movies, you can download the complete movie on your PC and then see it on your LCD TV! It’s fun, right?

The procedure to download the video of your liking from yourtube.com to yours PC is easy and is explained along with screenshots:

Open the youtube.com video in your browser video or leave the youtube.com video playing if already there in your browser window.

At the top left of your youtube.com browser window, in the address bar you will see some characters before & starting with youtube.com such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYDmo0Vd2RA (shown with the red big oval in the next screenshot).

Right click on this address in the youtube.com video address bar window at the start of the youtube.com and select just before & with the help of mouse. Ignore the characters after & in youtube.com address of your choice of video.

As you right clicked on the youtube.com video address bar, a small menu window with various standard options will come, select Copy.

Now open a new tab in your browser window, type savevid.com and press Enter key of your keyboard.

Site savevid.com will open and you will see a small rectangular white bar opposite to URL in the top left.

Right click on this URL bar and click Paste.

You will see the youtube.com address of the video of your choice that you wanted to download on to your PC appear in the savevid.com download URL space.

Click on Download on Savevid.com opposite to URL bar (shown in the next screenshot)

If this is is first time you are downloading video from savevid.com, it will prompt for installation of a plugin along with Java. Install the same without any worries and follow the instructions that appear for Running the Java etc.

Also, after the installation of Plugin at Savevid.com is over, click on Download again (make sure that the youtube video address is there in URL window)

If you again get the warning that Savevid.com plugin is not installed ignore it and click on some option to inform the window alert that it’s already installed.

Now after clicking on Download, you will see a small window on left showing the picture of video of yours choice on left along with different formats of the video to be downloaded such as .flv, .mp4, .3gp and HD etc. with the relevant sizes (shown in the enext screenshot) The more the size of the video format, the better will be the quality of the video downloaded from youtube.com. But take care of the hard disk space on your PC because if you download too many high resolution videos, finally you may end up with shortage or no hard disk space. Click on which format of video you want to download, choose the download path on your PC (Drive\folder) and click on OK on the Video Download window.

Now, depending on your Internet connection speed and the size of the youtube.com video being downloaded, the desired youtube.com video will be completely downloaded on to your PC secondary storage media selected by you, i.e hard disk, USB disk etc.

Once the video has been downloaded on your PC from youtube.com via savevid.com download online tool, you will need the relevant video player to play the relevant file. VLC video player can play almost all of the video files.

Note: Not all of the videos can be downloaded from youtube.com via savevid.com but yes mostly all of them. Youtube videos where the uploader has put restriction on its download cannot be downloaded via savevid.com but I have found very less cases of restrictions of not downloading the youtube.com video.

Also, another big plus point of savevid.com is that it can download not only online videos from youtube.com but also videos from reputed video sites such as:

http://www.dailymotion.com

http://www.metacafe.com

http://www.break.com

http://www.veoh.com

http://www.myspace.com/video

http://www.blip.tv

http://www.wegame.com/videos/

http://www.5min.com

http://www.gametrailers.com

http://www.livevideo.com

http://rutube.ru (Russian video site)

http://vimeo.com/

http://current.com

http://www.funnyordie.com

http://www.ehow.com/videos.html

http://www.megavideo.com

The above URL’s of the video sites from where videos can be downloaded using savevid.com is as per the names of the videos sites available at savevid.com front page. There can be changes in the above URL’s of the video sites from where savevid.com can download videos in future.

Hide all drives from My Computer

2011-10-14T03:32:00.000-07:00

How to Hide the drives(c:,d:,e:,...etc) in your Computer...

This is a great trick you can play on your friends. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer.

Go to Start -> Run.
Type regedit
Now go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives (it is case sensitive).
Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) .
Now restart your computer.
So, now when you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown(all gone...).

To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item that you created. Again restart your computer. You can now see all the drives again. Magic.......

Command Prompt on Right-Click

2011-10-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

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

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

Use this trick at your own risk.

Here's what you'll get:

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

Method I. Manually edit the registry:

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

Method II. Download and apply the registry file:

Download this registry file Here
Unzip it to a temp folder, then double-click on the .reg file to add the registry data.

Show/Hide Hidden Files and Folders using Windows Registry

2011-10-10T03:45:00.000-07:00

This is an alternate method to show/hide hidden files and folders on a Windows PC. Most likely, you should use this simple method to do the same thing if you don't want to take risks modifying your registry.

IMPORTANT This article will guide to some steps to modify your Windows Registry. Stop if you're not familiar with the Windows Registry. Making a wrong change on the Windows Registry could cause critical problems to your computer.

Proceed at your own risks

Open the "Registry Editor" ("Start" >> "Run", then type "regedit" and Enter).
Expand to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
If the value "Hidden" exists, double-click on it to edit its value to (1 = show hidden, 2 = do not show)
If the value "Hidden" does not exist, create it as follows
Name: Hidden
Type: DWORD
Value: 1
(1: show hidden, 2: do not show)

Unlock All mobile phones now for free ! [OLDER VERSION]

2011-10-08T02:20:00.000-07:00

You can follow the video tuttorial or the steps :)

1. Download and install the program

2.Lauch it

3.Choose your mobile brend

4.Choose your model

5.Enter your IMEI number (you can view it by pressing *#06#)

6.Choose your Country

7.Choose your Operator

8.Press Calculate

Cheers :)

Download the softwere from HERE.

Windows XP Secrets

2011-10-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

Notepad Secrets

Create a log

Open Notepad
On the very first line, type in ".LOG" (without quotes) then press Enter for a new line
Now you can type in some text if you want, then save the file.
Next time when you open the file, notice its contents. Notepad automatically adds a time/date log everytime you open the file.

Text becomes unreadable

Open Notepad
On the very first line, type in "dont eat the donut" (without quotes) then save and close the file. Note: the file should have only one line of the text above.
Now, open the same file. You'll notice the text becomes unreadable squares. (try this with different text with the same format and length).

Paint Secrets

Create a trail image

Open Paint, then open an image.
Right-click on the image and select "Select All"
Now hold the "Shift" key and move the image around. The image will be drawn with trail.

10x Zoom

Open Paint, then open a small image.
Select the zoom "Magnifier" tool.
Windows Paint lists out the zoom options from 1x to 8x, but there is a 10x...
After selecting the Magnifier tool, point the mouse right at the border line right under "8x" and left-click. There you go.. the hidden 10x.

Other Secrets

Where is the relaxing music that you've heard during Windows XP Installation?

The file is in:
C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma

Game Secrets

Solitaire: Instant Win

Press Alt + Shift + 2 to instantly win

Solitaire: Draw only 1 card (instead of 3)

Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift then click on unopen cards to draw.

FreeCell: Instant Win

Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 while playing, then click Abort.
Now move one card.

FreeCell: Hidden Game Modes

Go to "Game" menu choose "Select Game"
Here you can choose from game mode 1 to 1,000,000. But -1 and -2 will also work (hidden modes)

Hearts: Show All Card

Warning! this requires a modification on your registry. Be sure you follow the steps carefully. Damage your registry might damage your Windows.

Open the "Registry Editor" by: "Start" >> "Run" then type "regedit" and press Enter
Expand to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Hearts
Right-click on the right panel and create a new String value with the name "ZB"
Double-click to open this key "ZB" to edit its value. Then enter "42" and close the Registry Editor.
Start Hearts and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F12 to show all the cards

Minesweeper: Stop The Timer

When you start to play a new game, the timer is ticking...
Press Windows Key + D to show desktop.
Now come back to the game by selecting it from the taskbar. The timer is stopped.

Pinball

Unlimited Balls: Type bmax at a new game to get unlimited balls (no notification).
Extra Balls: Type 1max at a new game to get extra balls.
Gravity Well: Type gmax at a new game to activate Gravity Well.
Promotion: Type rmax at a new game or while playing to get instant promotion and raising rank.
Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,...
Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,...
Test Mode: Type hidden test with a new ball or new game. Now you can use your mouse to drag and move the ball where you want.

Output Dos Command to File

2011-10-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is a small trick that many Dos users might already know. The trick just shows you how to run a Dos command and instead of displaying the outputs on the screen, it saves the outputs into a file.

This trick is very helpful when you want to save the result of a dos command to a file to email it or read/print it later. For example, you can print out your network configuration data and email it to a technical support.

Here's how

simply put a ">" and the destination file at the end of the dos command. Examples:

This command outputs the IP configurations to the file "ipdata.txt" in "C" drive:
ipconfig /all > C:\ipdata.txt

This command outputs the "Path" configurations to the file "pathdata.txt" in the floppy drive "A":
path > A:\pathdata.txt

This command outputs help text of the command "copy" to the file "copyhelp.txt" in "C" drive:
copy /? > C:\copyhelp.txt

Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys

2011-10-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is a listing of some common shortcut keys in different versions Microsoft Windows.

Some shortcut keys below are not supported in all versions of Windows.
The shortcut keys on this page are only applicable for Windows in general, if you are looking for shortcut keys for a specific application (i.e. Excel, Word, etc..) please see the links at the bottom of this page.

Use at your own risk.

Shortcut Key	Supported Window Versions	Short Key Description
Alt + (double-click)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Open Properties dialog of selected item.
Alt + Enter	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Opens properties window of selected item.
Alt + Esc	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch Between open tasks available on the taskbar.
Alt + F4	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Close the top (focused) window.
Alt + Tab	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch between open windows.
Alt + Tab + Shift	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch between open windows, backward.
Ctrl + Alt + Delete (or Del)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Bring up the Windows Task Manager, or reboot computer.
Ctrl + Esc	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Bring up the Windows Start menu.
Ctrl + '+' ('+' key on the keypad)	98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Autofit the widths of all columns (if available) in current window.
Ctrl + F4	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Close sub window/tab.
Ctrl + Tab	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch between existing tabs (within a window).
Ctrl + Tab + Shift	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch between existing tabs (within a window), backward
F1	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Open Help for Windows or focused application.
F2	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Rename.
F3	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Find/Search.
F4	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Select drives or display the list of drives
F5	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Refresh.
F6	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch focus to the address bar (if exists).
F10	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Switch focus to the top menu bar.
Shift + F10	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Same as mouse right-click on the select item.
Print Screen	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Capture a screenshot of the entire desktop to clipboard.
Print Screen + Alt	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Capture a screenshot of just the top(focused) window to clipboard.
Shift + Delete (or Del)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Permanently delete selected file(s)/folder(s) (bypass recycle bin)
Shift (hold while inserting an audio CD to drive)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Prevent autoplay.
* (keypad) on Windows Explorer.	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Expand all sub-directories from the selected item.
+ (keypad) on Windows Explorer.	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Expand only the first level of selected item.
- (keypad) on Windows Explorer.	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Collapse

Most keyboards have a Windows Key (key with a Windows icon). This key provides additional shortcuts for Microsoft Windows. Below is a list of the shortcut keys by combining the Windows key and other keys.

Shortcut Keys	Description
WINDOWS-KEY	Bring up the Windows Start menu.
WINDOWS-KEY + F1	Bring up the Windows Help.
WINDOWS-KEY + e	Open Microsoft Explorer.
WINDOWS-KEY + f	Windows Search.
WINDOWS-KEY + Ctrl + f	Search for computers
WINDOWS-KEY + d	Minimizes all and bring up desktop, or restore all
WINDOWS-KEY + l	Lock the computer (Windows XP & newer).
WINDOWS-KEY + m	Minimizes all windows.
WINDOWS-KEY + Shift + M	Restore all. Opposite with WINDOWS-KEY + M and WINDOWS-KEY + D.
WINDOWS-KEY + r	Open the run window.
WINDOWS-KEY + u	Utility Manager.
WINDOWS-KEY + Tab	Cycle through the programs on task bar.
WINDOWS-KEY + Pause/Break	Open the System Properties window.

Internet Connection Sharing on Windows XP

2011-10-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

This trick shows you how to share your internet connections on multiple computers within a workgroup with Windows XP. Windows XP has a built-in feature that called "Internet Connection Sharing" (ICS) that allows home users to share their internet connections on multiple computers.

If you are not familiar with the network configurations, the easiest way to share your internet connection is to purchase a router or hub. Use this trick only if you don't have a router, or don't want to use a router, or if you just want to try out the feature.

A simple way to understand this feature is, you are making your host computer (the computer directly connects to the internet) functioning as a router for other computers.

What do you need?

A "Host" computer that running Windows XP. This computer must have at least TWO (2) network adapters. One adapter - let's call it "Adapter #1" - connects to the internet and another, "Adapter #2", connects to a hub or directly to other computers.
Client computer(s), which run any version of Windows. A client computer can be connected to the host computer directly by a cross-over cable or indirectly through a hub.
This trick assumes that the host computer is connected to the internet and you are able to access the internet on this computer.

Configure the Host Computer

Logon the host computer as Administrator.
Click Start >> Control Panel.
Click Network and Internet Connections.
Click Network Connections.
Right-click the connection that you use to connect to the internet (the connection with Adapter #1). This connection can be either a high-speed internet connection or a dial-up connection.
Click Properties.
Click Advanced tab.
Under Internet Connection Sharing, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you are sharing a dial-up Internet connection, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box if you want to permit your computer to automatically connect to the Internet.
Click OK. You'll reieve the following message:
When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set to use IP address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other computers on your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a good idea to set them to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable Internet Connection Sharing?
Click Yes.

Configure the Client Computer(s)

To use the shared connection from the Host computer, a client computer must be configured with "Automatic IP address". The main configurations are:

Configure TCP/IP Automatic IP
Configure Internet Connection

The steps for the above two configurations are vary on different versions of Windows.
The following procedures are for Windows XP client computers.

Log on to the client computer as Administrator or as Owner.
Click Start >> Control Panel.
Click Network and Internet Connections.
Click Network Connections.
Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
Click the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the This connection uses the following items list, and then click Properties.
In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Obtain an IP address automatically (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.
Click Start >> Control Panel
Click Network and Internet Connections.
Click Internet Options.
In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Connections tab.
Click the Setup button. The New Connection Wizard starts.
On the Welcome to the New Connection Wizard page, click Next.
Click Connect to the Internet, and then click Next.
Click Set up my connection manually, and then click Next.
Click Connect using a broadband connection that is always on, and then click Next.
On the Completing the New Connection Wizard page, click Finish.
Exit Control Panel and test the internet. You might need to restart the computer.

Add Watermark to a Word Document

2011-10-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Microsoft Word 2007/2010:

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

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

Turn ON/OFF Num Lock on Startup

2011-10-02T07:19:00.001-07:00

Most of standard keyboards come with a small numeric keypad which identified by the numbers from 0 to 9. However, this numeric keypad is also served for some other functions such as "Page Up", "Page Down", "End", "Home", etc... depending on which mode of the "Num Lock" is being used. Many Windows users find this numeric keypad useful to type the numbers faster. But oopps... after hitting a several keys on the numeric keypad, you recognize the outcomes are not what you expected. Then you recognize the "Num Lock" mode is "OFF", so you just need to switch it on, and... start over your typing! The bad news is, by default, Windows turns the Num Lock off; however, the good news is, you can configure Windows to turn this Num Lock ON so that whenever you mean "number", you really get a number.

Read on, you'll get the details how to set Windows to keep the Num Lock status "ON" as default. In fact, you will need to make a small change on your Windows Registry to turn the Num Lock ON everytime Windows starts up.

Proceed at your own risks

This tip modifies the Windows Registry. So be aware and careful when following the steps. Damage the Windows Registry might damage your Windows.

Open the "Registry Editor" ("Start" >> "Run", then type "regedit" and Enter).
Expand to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\
Within the keyboard folder, you should have a string value named "InitialKeyboardIndicators" with a value of 0, 1, or 2.
Double-click on this string value "InitialKeyboardIndicators" and edit the value to what you want. Below is the explaination of the values:
0: Num Lock is turned OFF on startup
1: Disable Num Lock
2: Num Lock is turned ON on startup

Hide Files or Folders Using Command Prompt

2011-10-02T07:18:00.001-07:00

Trick to hide files and folders using Command Prompt
The most important thing is that, once hidden with this method, the files/folders cannot be viewed by any search options even if you click "Show All Hidden Files and Folders".

Hiding the most wanted files and folders is very important nowadays and it's really a tedious job too. In order to make this tedious job an easy one, i'm going to deliver you a the trick now.

For Example: You have a folder named "collegephotos" and this folder is stored in (Disk Drive E). You think that it should not be seen by strangers who use your PC.

For that you need to follow the following instructions

Press windowkey+R: Run command dialog box appears.
Now type "cmd" and hit enter. A command prompt window displays.
Now type "attrib +s +h E:\collegephotos" and hit enter.
The folder "collegephotos" will be hidden (Note: It cannot be viewed by any search options)

(To view this folder again, use the same command but replace '+' with '-' on both flags 's' and 'h')

How to delete cookies

2011-10-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

Most cookies are easy to delete. Just pick your browser from the choices below and follow the instructions. If your browser isn't listed, please contact us.

You probably have Adobe Local Shared Objects on your computer, also known as LSOs or Flash cookies. Generally you can't delete them with browsers controls, but Adobe's website offers tools to control Flash cookies on your computer. Users of the Firefox browser can also get an add-on to detect and delete Flash cookies.

Google Chrome

Click on the "Tools" menu and select "Options".
Click the "Under the Bonnet" tab, locate the "Privacy" section and click the "Clear browsing data" button.
Select "Delete cookies and other site data" to delete all cookies from the list (alternatively, you can remove all cookies created within a specific time period by selecting the period you want from the dropdown list).
Select "Clear browsing history" to delete traces of which websites you've visited.
Select "Clear download history" to delete records of which files and programs you've downloaded.
Select "Empty the cache" to delete cached website pages.
You can also delete saved passwords (which log you into websites) and saved form data (such as your name and address).
Then click on the "Clear browsing data" button.
Click on the Close button when you've finished.

Internet Explorer 9

Open Internet explorer window
Click the “Tools” button
Point to “safety” and then click “delete browsing history”
Tick the “cookies” box, then click “delete”

Mozilla Firefox

Click on Tools, then Options (or Edit | Preferences on Linux)
Select Privacy
In the Cookies panel, click on Show Cookies
To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the Remove Cookie button
To remove all cookies click on the Remove All Cookies button

Opera

To delete all cookies at the end of every session, select it in the privacy settings under Tools > Preferences.
Click on Manage cookies to delete specific cookies or cookies from specific domains.

To delete all cookies immediately, go to Delete private data on the Tools menu.

How to make a computer faster: 6 ways to speed up your PC

2011-10-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Note: Some of the tools mentioned in this article require you to be logged on as an administrator. If you aren't logged on as an administrator, you can only change settings that apply to your user account

1. Remove spyware, and help protect your computer from viruses

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. From the websites you visit to user names and passwords, spyware can put you and your confidential information at risk. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance. To combat spyware, you might want to consider using the PC safety scan from Windows Live OneCare. This scan is a free service that helps check for and remove viruses.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials for free to help guard your system in the future from viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious software (also known as malware). Microsoft Security Essentials acts as a spyware removal tool and includes automatic updates to help keep your system protected from emerging threats.

The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is another utility that checks computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software, including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom, and helps remove any infection found.

2. Free up disk space

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you to free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to:

Remove temporary Internet files.
Delete downloaded program files, such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets.
Empty the Recycle Bin.
Remove Windows temporary files, such as error reports.
Delete optional Windows components that you don't use.
Delete installed programs that you no longer use.
Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

To use Disk Cleanup:

Windows 7 users

Windows Vista users

Windows XP users

3. Speed up access to data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk as a file is opened (to piece it back together). The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter (sometimes shortened to Defrag by users) is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end to end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to run Disk Defragmenter
In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals (weekly is optimal), there are other times you should run it, too, such as when:

You add a large number of files.
Your free disk space totals 15 percent or less.
You install new programs or a new version of the Windows operating system.

To use Disk Defragmenter:

Windows 7 users

Windows Vista users

Windows XP users

Running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis is a proven way to help keep your computer running quickly and efficiently. If you'd like to learn how to schedule these tools and others to run automatically, please read Speed up your PC: Automate your computer maintenance schedule.

4. Detect and repair disk errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should run this utility once a week to help prevent data loss.

Run the Error Checking utility:

5. Learn about ReadyBoost

If you're using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can use ReadyBoost to speed up your system. A new concept in adding memory to a system, it allows you to use non-volatile flash memory—like a USB flash drive or a memory card—to improve performance without having to add additional memory.

6. Upgrade to Windows 7

If you try all the previous remedies and your computer still isn't as fast as you would like it to be, you may want to consider updating to Windows 7.

Formating a PC/LapTop

2011-10-02T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello guys ... I'm gonna show you how to format & install Windows XP on your PC/LapTop :)

It's very simple ... just follow this Steps :)

1.Boot your CD

2.Wait until the partition shows

(2.1) If you have partition Delete it (Select it -> Press D -> Press L).

3.If you don't have partition, press C to create

4.You can chooese how much space you want on that partition (BTW you can create a lot of partitions)

5.Chooese the partition on you want to install the Windows

6.Then choose this "Format the partition using the NTFS file system" or "Format the partition using the NTFS file system "

7.Wait while your PC/LapTop restarts

8.When the computer restarts don't press anything, just wait to start the Windows

9.While waithing it'll show you one Window ... Press the Next button and accept the Agreement

For more details view this video :)