Some Useful Tutorials

7 Google Search Tips and Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:38:00 +0000

If you use Google (and who doesn’t? Oh! well maybe these people don’t), here are a few simple, interesting and useful Google search tips and facts you may have forgotten all about:

The asterisk is a search wildcard. For example, searching for three*mice finds three blind mice, three button mice, etc.
Google search currently has a hard limit of 32 words - that’s keywords and special syntax combined. Search terms after the first 32 words are ignored.
Google’s Boolean default is AND, which means that, if you enter query words without modifiers, Google will search for all of your query words.
The Google synonym operator, the ~ (tilde) character, placed in front of any number of keywords in your query, asks Google to include not only exact matches, but also what it thinks are synonyms for each of the keywords. For example, search for ~legal, you will get results for lawyer, attorney, law, etc.
Google is case insensitive. If you search for Three, three, THREE, even ThrEE, you get the same results.
Numrange searches for results containing numbers in a given range. Just add two numbers, separated by two periods, with no spaces, into the search box along with your search terms. For example, If you’re looking to spend $800 to $1,000 on a nice 3 to 6 megapixel digital SLR camera, Google for: slr digital camera 3..6 megapixel $800..1000.
Page size in Google results is never going to be more than 101 KB. That’s because Google doesn’t index more than 101 KB worth of a given web page.

[from awads.net]

5 little-known Gmail features you may not yet know about

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:15:00 +0000

source: gmailblog.blogspot.com
When we began rolling out a new Gmail code architecture a few weeks ago, we also launched some new features to help improve the speed and convenience of managing email.

I've been using several of these new additions over the last few weeks, and while they might seem small on their own, they really can add up to save you a lot of time and hassle. That's why I decided to list my five favorite new features that are so new, you may not have noticed them. We are still rolling them out to IE6, international and Google Apps users, but for those of you who noticed a new contact manager among other recent improvements in our latest version, here they are:

5. "Archive and next" shortcut
We added a bunch of new shortcuts to Gmail, but one that I've found to be a true time-saver is what I call the "archive and next" shortcut. When I have a lot of mail, it can be really annoying to have to open a message, click "Back to Inbox" and then select the next email I want to read. So once you enable shortcuts in Settings, you can simply press the left bracket key "[" while viewing a message to archive it, and then immediately open the next oldest one. When I see a long list of unread messages, I like to open the first one and then just hit "[" to swiftly move through my mail and archive as I go. (P.S. By clicking the right bracket "]" you can also move the other way if you want to open newer messages after you archive).

4. Share mail searches with friends
How many times do your friends tell you, "I can't find that email you sent me." Now you can prove that you did indeed send that message, despite the accusations. All you have to do is search for the message using your expert mail searching skills, and when you find it listed in the results, just copy and paste the URL and email it to your friend. When he or she goes to that link while in Gmail, your friend's Gmail will run the same search you ran and will be able to locate that "lost" email instantly. For example, if you wanted to share a search for "pick me up at airport," so flight information can be located, you would send over this URL: http://mail.google.com/mail/#search/pick+me+up+at+airport.

3. Browser navigation and history
Your web browser is now a great way to navigate Gmail. Instead of having to find the right links on the page to move from inbox to messages to other Gmail views, you can use the browser navigation buttons (back and forward) to jump back and forth between emails. You can also open your browser history and click on specific emails that you've read to go right back to them. This allows you to quickly access certain emails without having to re-read your inbox. Browser history is something that often doesn't work well on complex web apps like Gmail, but we've gone to great lengths to make it work right.

2. Bookmark emails
I frequently need to save a single email for a period of time, such as a message that includes an important phone number. But I don't want to create a separate label for one message, and I also don't want to archive all the email that comes in after that message just to keep that thread near the top of my inbox--and hopefully the top of my mind. This problem is now easily solved by a new ability to bookmark specific emails. All emails now have dedicated URLs, so just by adding a browser bookmark while viewing a message, you can return to it whenever you want, just like a regular web page--although you will still have to log in to Gmail if you've signed out.

1. "Filter messages like this"
I find filters to be one of the most useful features in Gmail, but sometimes it can be hard to set them up quickly. So we added a new capability that makes a filter based on the message you are reading, so you can keep track of future similar emails. By clicking on the dropdown menu in the upper right-hand corner of every email (the upside-down triangle), you can now see the option to "Filter messages like this." Not only can you easily create a filter based on the sender, but this is especially handy if you are trying to filter emails sent to mailing lists. We automatically set up a filter for you based on the "list ID" header, which does a better job of finding emails sent to mailing lists.

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noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:31:00 +0000

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XP Tips & Tweaks

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 04:09:00 +0000

100 Keyboard shortcuts (Windows)

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:50:00 +0000

CTRL+C (Copy)

CTRL+X (Cut)

CTRL+V (Paste)

CTRL+Z (Undo)

DELETE (Delete)

SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)

CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)

CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)

F2 key (Rename the selected item)

CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)

CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)

CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)

CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)

CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)

SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)

CTRL+A (Select all)

ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)

F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)

ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)

ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)

ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)

CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)

ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)

ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)

F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)

F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)

SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)

ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)

CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)

ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)

Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)

F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)

RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)

LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)

Microsoft Offers 'Office Live' Storage to Office Users- pre registration

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:06:00 +0000

Twenty months after the company first brought forth its vision of Web-driven applications, Microsoft announced this morning a re-targeting of its Office Live approach, spinning off "Office Live Workspace" as a free service centered around individuals who already use Microsoft Office.

The new service opens up storage space for as many as "1,000+ documents" (the exact specifications have never been released) to users of the conventional Office suite. Meanwhile, the existing Office Live services become rebranded as "Office Live Small Business," with some upgrades to its options. Free users of the Basics tier will now have access to 500 MB of online storage, while $19.95 per month buys users a second half-gigabyte and professional Web site generation capabilities.

In a prepared Q&A this morning, Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes explained how his company is trying to parcel out the "cloud" - the invisible storage region where Microsoft hosts storage and services - for new clients who perhaps haven't taken advantage of it yet.

"We believe that the future of technology at work will be a combination of local software on client PCs or on-premise servers, along with services available in the 'cloud,"' Raikes stated. "Our approach is to give customers the choice, flexibility and power of both software plus services. Think of it as a continuum, ranging from pure software to pure services approaches. Most customers will be somewhere in the middle. Different customers will make different decisions and even customers with similar situations will make different decisions for what they want on-premise and what they want as a service from the cloud."

So for conventional office users, there's a smaller cloud for storage and extra services. Meanwhile on the other end of the sky, there's enterprise customers who the Microsoft hopes will take advantage of more of the cloud - the "continuum" to which Raikes refers.

For those venturing into the continuum, Microsoft is planning another tier of Web services outside of the "Live" umbrella and into another brand entirely. For now, it's being called "Online," and it's extending to services based on products it already offers to enterprises as server software, though in the form of professional hosting.

For instance, Exchange Online will apparently provide e-mail hosting services for businesses based on the Exchange format supported by Outlook and other enterprise e-mail apps. SharePoint Online and Communications Online will provide hosting services for document sharing and everyday communications, as the company has already promised.

Although details on these two new services remain sparse, Raikes painted at least a partly cloudy picture of their new product tier.

"For the past two years, Microsoft Managed Solutions (MMS) has been piloting a program targeted to a select group of customers," he stated this morning. "Today, MMS officially falls under 'Online' services and is available for customers with 5,000 seats or more. Online service offerings from Microsoft are for organizations with more advanced IT needs where power and flexibility are critical. These services will give businesses the ability to control access to data, manage users, apply business and compliance policy, and meet high availability standards while providing performance, scalability, security, management features and service-level capabilities to support mission-critical applications and systems."

If you're keeping score at home, there's one more services tier to add to your list: It's called "Labs," and Microsoft plans to attach it to a version of Exchange services for testing with select customers. For now, the company says, it plans to select colleges and universities, as well as other product groups whose lives and livelihood may yet be touched by the benefits of the cloud.

source: betanews.com

Sign Up Free

Microsoft Launches Translation Service

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:48:00 +0000

Microsoft launched a service for automatic translation called Windows Live Translator. The site lets you translate a text limited to 500 words or a web page from English to German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Russian.

Microsoft uses Systran to produce most of the translations, but also offers an option to translate computer-related texts using a machine translation system developed in-house. Microsoft's translation technology has been used to translate technical materials, including MSDN Library.

"Recent research in Machine Translation (MT) has focused on data-driven systems. Such systems are self-customizing in the sense that they can learn the translations of terminology and even stylistic phrasing from already translated materials. Microsoft Research MT (MSR-MT) system is such a data-driven system, and it has been customized to translate Microsoft technical materials through the automatic processing of hundreds of thousands of sentences from Microsoft product documentation and support articles, together with their corresponding translations."

Microsoft intends to integrate this service into Live Search and provide a feature already available in other search engines for a long time. Windows Live Translator's presentation is extremely interesting: the default view shows the original page and the translation side by side in two vertical frames. If you hover over a sentence in one of the pages, the sentence is highlighted in both pages. If you scroll in one of the pages, the other page performs the same action. This is an interesting approach especially for those who speak both languages fairly good or want to learn a new language. Unfortunately, it's difficult to read a page that requires to scroll horizontally.

source: translator.live.com

Want Security? Drop Windows and Move to Linux, or Mac OS X

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:44:00 +0000

There is no silver bullet solution for security, and no foolproof client operating system. But the fact of the matter is that while neither Linux, nor Mac OS X and not even Windows Vista are panacea solutions for protecting users, they are all less attacked than Windows XP and older versions of the Microsoft platform.

And the lack of an evolved threat environment goes hand in hand with the perception of security. The fact of the matter is that Microsoft has played a counting game with the security flaws of various rival operating systems since Vista was introduced, just to highlight it as the most secure Windows platform to date.

But the sheer volume of vulnerabilities is not the sole relevant aspect when delivering a measure for security. In the context of a virtually inexistent threat environment, the kind enjoyed by Mac OS X and Linux, vulnerability measuring games amount to nothing, as there is little to no malicious code to exploit them. This of course is intimately connected with the market share of each operating system.

Windows Vista is currently just over the 6% milestone, and in this respect, just as obscure as Mac OS X, while Linux is still struggling under 1%. In contrast, Windows XP enjoys over 80% of the operating system market. Now a target exploit could hit even blindfolded...

"It is worth noting that almost all of the malware I find in my day to day work will only run on Windows computers. All operating systems suffer from vulnerabilities and personally, I refuse to enter the ‘my os is better than your os’ argument. But using an operating system other than Windows will prevent the majority of malware from running," revealed a member of the Sophos Labs.

Case in point: "Virus Top Twenty for August 2007" compiled by Kaspersky Lab and "The top ten list of web-based malware threats in August 2007" put together by Sophos. The first features no less than 20 examples of malware with Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.q reigning supreme at the top, and all for Windows. Sophos' top ten is also exclusively focused on the Windows operating system.

"Cybercriminals are successfully using email and the web in co-ordination to infect innocent internet surfers," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. "Home users and businesses alike need to take more steps to protect themselves from online threats, or risk being hit time and time again. It should be clear for everyone to see that businesses, web hosts and ISPs are failing to properly defend their websites. Fraudsters are continuing to find rich pickings on the internet, duping users into handing over their personal information."

source: news.softpedia.com

Genuine Windows Vista vs. Pirated Windows Vista

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:37:00 +0000

Enlarge picture Essentially there is absolutely no difference between a genuine and pirated copy of Windows Vista in terms of functionality. Sure, there is a very good chance that the counterfeit version of the operating system would contain malicious code and that the user experience would be gravely diminished because the fabric of the platform has been tampered with in the cracking process.

But unless pirates get caught with their hands deep in the Vista cookie jar a pirated version of the operating system will function identically with the genuine product. Now, unlike Windows XP which was sent barefoot into the world, Vista comes with a built in Software Protection Platform that automatically reacts if the code has been or the product key have been mismanaged.

In this context, Microsoft has worked to emphasize the benefits associated with acquiring and using genuine software. "Improved user interface and innovative visuals and navigation with Windows Aero. Speeds up PC performance with readily available USB devices using Windows ReadyBoost. On-going access to updates and downloads such as Windows Media Player. Full features and protection from spyware and malware with Windows Defender. Access to product support from Microsoft," the Redmond company revealed.

Of course that once the Windows Genuine Advantage mechanism does identify a pirated version of Vista, restrictions are set in place to drastically ruin the ride for pirates. And in the end, the Reduced Functionality Mode simply makes it all not worthwhile. A pirated copy of Vista, once detected will deliver "constant desktop warning if user is running a non-genuine version. Great new features are disabled, such as Window Aero and Windows ReadyBoost. Updates and downloads are denied, such as new releases of Windows Media Player and Windows Internet Explorer 7. Information stored on the PC may be exposed to on-going risks from spyware, and malware. PCs will go into reduced functionality mode if not activated with a valid product key," Microsoft explained.

source: news.softpedia.com

Disable and Turn Off Windows Vista Search Indexer and Indexing Service

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:24:00 +0000

Windows Vista has greatly enhanced its search algorithm where the search process is now not only faster, but users can also easily search for almost all kind of files, documents, pictures, videos, emails and contacts in Outlook 2007, and even commands or application programs’ executables.

To achieve the fast searching speed, indexing service plays a pivotal role. Windows Vista starts to crawl and index files on hard disks right after installed with a low priority background process. If you notice that your hard drive activity LED light is constantly flashing even if computer is idle, this is probably due to indexer at work.

Disable Windows Search Service
This method effectively stop and disable all search indexing processes, and is the recommended way.

1. Click on Start button, then select Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools, and double click on Services applet. Alternatively, simply type “Services” (without quotes) in Start Search box.
2. If User Account Control asks for permission, click Continue.
3. Locate an service named Windows Search. Right click on Windows Search, and then select Properties on contextual menu.
4. Click on Stop button to stop the indexing service immediately.
5. On the Startup Type dropdown box, select Disabled.
6. Click on OK button.

To re-enable the Windows Seearch, simply change back the Startup Type.

Disable Indexing on Drives
This method allows users to selectively disable indexing on certain drives which rarely used or searched. However, it may take a long time to apply new attributes to all files, folders and sub-folders to exclude them from indexing.

1. Open Windows Explorer from Accessories.
2. Right click on the drive (or drive letter) that you want to turn off the indexing.
3. Select Properties on the contextual menu.
4. Unselect (untick) the Index this drive for faster searching option.
5. Click Apply or OK button.

To re-include the drive, simply select the option again.

source: mydigitallife.info

How to Perform a Full Manual Defrag of Your HDD under Vista

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:13:00 +0000

If you have tried doing a defragmentation of your hard disk under Windows Vista, you would have noticed that the defrag utility does not really give you any detailed information about your hard disk fragmentation level, show you the defragmentation progress while defragging, and in certain situations even defragment when you ask it to. Thanks to myhouse for this article.

This guide shows you how you can perform a full defrag of your hard disk under Vista and get at least a basic report on your hard disk fragmentation before and after defragmentation.

What's Happening Here
There are a number of changes between Windows Vista's defragmenter and XP's defrag tool. In general, Vista's defragger is designed for the average user and is thus tuned for automatic behind-the-scenes work: by default, the defrag utility is scheduled to run weekly. It defragments all the partitions on all your hard disks automatically. Unlike the Windows XP defragmentation tool however, it will only defragment files with fragments smaller than 64 MB on NTFS file systems. The lack of any useful user interface in the Vista defrag utility is consistent with this design decision of having an automated defragger running behind the scenes without user intervention.

Before you get too upset, let me say that this is a generally useful setting for the average user. Let's face it, if you are reading this, you are not an average user. Many users I know don't defragment their hard disks. They don't even know the concept, let alone how to get it done or what use it may serve. The default Vista setting is sensible for such users - a weekly schedule is more than adequate: too frequent and the constant defragmentation causes additional wear and tear on the hard disk for very little additional gain. And for most people, not moving file fragments if they are more than 64 MB is a good compromise - it speeds up the whole defragging process, and the fragments are large enough so that in most cases they don't cause significant slowdowns in the system.

Manual Defragmentation
There are of course reasons why you might want to override this default mechanism. For example, a full defragmentation of the hard disk may speed up certain hard disk backup operations. If you're doing it on a large scale with many computers, the time savings when backing up a properly defragged hard disk compared to one where the files are broken into many fragments may be significant. Another possible reason might be if you are capturing video on your computer and don't want any frames to be skipped; if the disk is fragmented without a contiguous free space for the entire video file, the hard disk head may have to skip over occupied sectors in the middle of recording, causing your recording software to skip frames.

To get Vista's defragger to give you some information about your hard disk, and to control which hard disk or partition it defragments, you will need to use the command line defragmentation utility. It will still not give you any feedback while defragmenting, just as the GUI version of the defragmenter will not, but at least you can get information on the fragmentation level of your hard disk, control whether to defragment even if the file fragments are larger than 64 MB, and control which partition or hard disk to defragment.

To use the command line defrag tool in Windows Vista, you have to run the Command Prompt as an administrator. In Vista, this is not automatic even if you are logged in as the administrator. Click the Windows button (previously the Start button in earlier versions of Windows), the All Programs menu item and the Accessories menu item. Right click the "Command Prompt" button and select "Run as administrator". A command prompt window will appear. Everything you run in this Window will be run with administrator rights.

1. To view a file fragmentation analysis of (say) your C: drive, type:

defrag c: -a -v

The "-a" parameter tells the defragger to perform a fragmentation analysis. The "-v" option tells it to be verbose in its report. If you want a report on drive D: or some other drive, substitute that drive letter in place of c:.

Be aware that defrag may tell you that you have no fragmented files even if you have some. On NTFS partitions, the reporting function of defrag does not consider fragmented files with fragments greater than 64 MB as fragmented. If you need truly detailed information, you may have to consider getting a third party defragmenter such as those listed on the Free Defragmentation Utilities page on thefreecountry.com.

2. To defragment a particular drive, say C:, type:

defrag c: -v -r

The "-r" option tells the defragmentation utility to treat files that are fragmented with 64 MB fragments or larger as though they are not fragmented. This partial defragmentation is the default for "defrag", and it's the only way the GUI defragmenter in Vista works.

You can also force the defragmenter to defragment everything. That is, even if the file fragments are larger than 64MB, the Vista defragmenter will still attempt to put the file into contiguous sectors. To do this, run the defragger with the following options:

defrag c: -v -w

As you have probably have guessed, "-w" tells the Vista defrag tool to do a full defragmentation. All file fragments will be consolidated where possible.

source: keznews forum

17 Microsoft blogs you must read

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:02:00 +0000

Handy list of fantastic blogs from Microsoft employees.

As reported on Windows-Connected, Brandon LeBlanc has posted a handy list of all team blogs by Microsoft employees, covering practically every area the company has a stake in. Here's the 17 related to Windows Vista:

Windows Vista Team Blog
Internet Explorer Team Blog
Windows Mobile Team Blog
Tablet PC Team Blog
Microsoft Update Team Blog
Microsoft RSS Blog
Microsoft Photography and Video Blog
XPS Team Blog
Windows Home Server Team Blog
Windows SideShow Team Blog
Windows Ultimate Blog
Windows Core Networking Blog
Windows Vista Security Blog
Shell: Revealed Blog (Windows Shell)
Network Access Protection Blog
Windows Sidebar Team Blog
Windows Genuine Advantage Blog

For those interested in other Microsoft products and services (such as windows Live) take a look at the full list and bookmark a few – they are always a great source of news, tips and advice about how to get the most out of your computer.

source: windowsvistamagazine.com

How to fix Vista's network bottlenecks

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:58:00 +0000

As much as I enjoy using Vista, I’ve definitely noticed that in some networking activities, it definitely seems to struggle. Particularly compared with Windows XP.

For the most part it’s not a problem – I just assumed that Vista’s beefy network stack was responsible, and made a mental note to fix it at some point. And then forgot.

But recently I encountered a really frustrating problem. Using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect from a Vista Enterprise machine to a Windows 2003 server, the performance was so woeful that I was starting to worry whether there was a problem with the server.

As it happens, my fears about the server were unfounded, but the thought that Vista’s networking stack was to blame turned out to be correct. The Next Generation TCP/IP stack in Windows Vista supports something called Receive Window Auto-Tuning. This is nothing to do with the RDP “window” you see on the screen, but rather a TCP buffer which TCP/IP clients use to ensure smooth transmission.

Essentially, the TCP receive window is the amount of data that is sent in one chunk before waiting for an acknowledgement to come back from the machine at the other end. It's one of the trickiest things to optimise in TCP/IP because you need to balance throughput with reliability -- if you transmit too much data in one go, if there is an error in the data flow, the whole lot has to be sent again. Windows XP was originally tuned for dial-up connections (lots of errors, so very small chunks of data were sent) but this caused performance problems on high speed broadband networks.

n XP SP2, Microsoft increased the receive window value for better performance on broadband, but it's still not optimal for many situations.

Vista is supposed to improve on this situation: Vista has a new feature called "Receive Window Auto-Tuning" which constantly monitors bandwidth capacity and latency, and adjusts the TCP window on the fly for any given situation. It also enables TCP window scaling – by default the maximum TCP window size if 65,535 bytes, but window scaling allows a client to advertise that it’s optimised to receive a bigger window than this – it’s designed to prevent TCP window bottlenecks in high-bandwidth environments. Vista’s maximum advertised TCP window is 16MB.

Therefore, in a given situation a Vista machine will typically receive much more network data than a Windows XP, which can result in network spiking. This isn’t necessarily a problem in itself, but it does increase the importance of actually using TCP/IP QoS (Quality of Service), which is installed and enabled by default in Vista.

The problem with Vista's new-fangled network stack
All this automatic tuning of the Vista network stack sounds great in theory, but the problem is that some clients don’t support TCP window scaling, or do but don’t have it enabled. Additionally, some firewall products also don’t support it. In either scenario, the result is dropped packets which affects network performance horrendously -- your traffic is literally dropping into a black hole, never to be seen again.

So if you’re experiencing excessive network lags on your Vista machine, especially compared to non-Vista machines, it might be worthwhile disabling auto-tuning. Do this by opening up an administrative Command Window (right-click, Run as administrator), and type in the following command:

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

You may also need to type in:

netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled

The changes take effect straight away, with no reboot needed. Bear in mind that this is a global change, so it may really be worth your while to sit down and nut through your network's QoS settings to get things running happily without disabling auto-tuning.

Personally, I needed to RDP to that server as a matter of urgency, and disabling auto-tuning definitely did the trick.

source: apcmag.com

Vista SP1: Create a recovery disc

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:44:00 +0000

One of the new administrative tools Windows Vista Service Pack 1 provides is the ability to create a recovery disc. Thanks to pacpis for this news.

At first, the name might fool you into thinking the type of discs system manufacturers provide to you when you purchase a new computer to restore your computer to a factory state, but this is not that. A more appropriate name would be “Windows repair disc”.

To be blunt, this tool creates merely a slimmed-down Windows installation disc. It takes a normal Windows installation disc image and strips out all the “installation” functionality leaving only the repair tools and common system files.

What a lot of people don’t know (or need to know) is that their Windows Vista DVDs are in fact running Windows PE, an extremely lightweight version of Windows that can be booted from removable media for the purpose of system maintenance. Up until now, creating a Windows PE image was not an easy task. This tool basically simplifies it down to just two clicks.

You can find the tool in the “Start menu” > “All programs” > “Maintenance” > “Create a Recovery Disc”. You will need either a blank CD or DVD along with your original Windows installation disc. It will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

If you boot this CD/DVD, it will look identical to your Windows installation disc. You will be asked to choose a language and even present you the “Install now” button. If you do decide to go on, you won’t get very far before an error stops you.

To enter the Windows Recovery Environment, click the “Repair your computer” link at the bottom of the welcome screen and select the Windows partition you wish to repair. After this, it will present you with a list of options including startup repair, system restore and command prompt. This is identical to the repair screen you would see in your installation disk. From here, you can even do a literally last-minute backup by sticking in a USB flash drive and copy documents across. Because it runs Windows, most USB drivers are available and it’ll work out of the box.

Because this is not an actual Windows install disk, it only takes up a few hundred MBs to fit on a CD, and you are free to make as many copies as you like and even share it with others. It’ll be even better if you can create a bootable USB version.

source: istartedsomething.com

12 Tweaks - Squeeze Every Last Drop of Performance Out of Windows Vista

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:35:00 +0000

Windows Vista is a resource hog. Microsoft’s latest operating system will swallow every last bit of hardware resources you throw at it in the race for a top user experience, a concept synonymous with high performance.

And yet, there are scenarios in which Vista will eat away CPU cycles, huge amounts of random access memory, completely hug a ReadyBoost USB device and still underperform. The operating system will choke even on the most common of tasks, abandoning the user to slowdowns in system performance and to unresponsive processes catalyzed by nothing more than routine and mundane actions. No doubt, Vista has a few rough corners in terms of reliability and performance, but there are a few solutions available, until Microsoft delivers the first Service Pack in 2008.

1. Hardware
Is there something you can do beforehand to boost Windows Vista performance? Well, of course there is. Build or choose a hardware architecture to tailor fit the resource-hungry operating system. If you can buy a new system along with the platform, or if you can upgrade, do it. We have all seen the minimum Vista system requirements, and they are completely unrealistic. I mean, 800 MHz 32-bit or 64-bit processors, together with 512 MB of RAM, with at least 448 MB of system memory that has to be available to the operating system before the rest up to 512 MB is allocated to an on board graphics solution, DirectX 9 graphics card with 32 MB of graphics memory and a 20 GB hard disk will deliver only minimum performance.

1 GHz 32-bit and 64-bit processors, 1 GB of system memory, Windows Aero-capable graphics card – a DirectX 9 item with WDDM driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, 32 bits per pixel, and 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum) and 40-GB hard disk. I wouldn't settle for less than a 2 GHz processor, with 2 GB of RAM, and at least 256 MB of graphics memory. Just trust me on this one.

2. Give Vista a Couple of Tries
This is another pseudo-tweak, but do get ready for the real thing! Believe it or not, you actually have to train Windows Vista. The operating system's Memory Manager handles physical memory different from past versions of Windows, courtesy of SuperFetch. Essentially, the memory management technology in Vista will keep track of usage patterns across the operating system and will store content in memory, optimizing both frequently accessed applications but also handling low-priority I/O background processes. In order for SuperFetch to create a pattern of behavior, you will have to actually use the machine. One area where you will notice a definite improvement over XP is on continuing your work after the operating system has performed background tasks on an idle computer. Unlike the Standby List management in Windows XP, SuperFetch will repopulate memory with evicted data and code whenever it is available. But even this process will take place with a very low priority I/Os.

3. Windows Vista Aero-Less
The Windows Aero graphical user interface in Windows Vista is a breath of fresh air. But the extensive visual effects will take their toll on the general performance of the operating system. The best solution in this regard is to turn Aero off altogether and to opt for using the rudimentary Windows Vista Basic or Windows Standard GUIs. Such a move will boost performance, and as you have already undoubtedly noticed, Aero can slow down your workflow quite a lot. But if you've got a sweet tooth and simply cannot do without eye candy, then Windows Aero can be tweaked in order to hug less resources.

Open Control Panel and type the following in the Instant search box in the right hand side corner: "advanced system settings". Open the result Control Panel and click on the Settings button in the performance area, just under visual effects, processor scheduling, memory usage and virtual memory.

4. Kill Desktop Window Manager
"The new Windows Vista desktop composition feature fundamentally changes the way applications display pixels on the screen. When desktop composition is enabled, individual windows no longer draw directly to the screen or primary display device as they did in previous versions of Microsoft Windows. Instead, their drawing is redirected to off-screen surfaces in video memory, which are then rendered into a desktop image and presented on the display. Desktop composition is performed by the Desktop Window Manager (DWM), a new component of Windows Vista", Microsoft explained.

5. Virtual Memory and Processor Optimization
While personalizing Windows Aero is among the few modifications you can make to the surface of the operating system, the System Properties dialog box also offers you the best place to configure the amount of virtual memory for Vista. To the right of the Visual Effects, you will notice the advanced tab. The area towards the bottom is reserved for virtual memory. Vista even delivers a small definition, revealing that virtual memory is a paging file in an area on the hard disk that Windows users use as if it were RAM. Right, all you have to understand is that virtual memory is an extension of the physical memory of your system. It is a very good idea to have a paging file for all the physic hard drive on your machine, but not for all the drives on a single disk.

6. Trim the Startup Monster
An ideal performance scenario would involve Windows Vista running under the default installation. This is of course not possible. The invariable problem with adding applications to the operating system is that they will impact the overall results of the operating system, and nowhere is this more visible than in the startup process. There is no comparison between Vista booting up in the default deployment, and a startup after you have installed countless applications. First off, always make sure that applications you no longer use are uninstalled. There's no point in having them hanging around just to slow down Vista.

7. Mute User Account Control Elevation Prompts
User Account Control is a security mitigation introduced in Windows Vista as a measure to train users and software developers to use standard privileges only as opposed to administrative rights. The UAC's presence is necessary as it will permit the users to have control over how services, processes and applications access critical areas of the operating system. While the feature is not even close to the nagging monster it was "advertised" to be, it will deliver an impact on performance. Follow this link in order to learn how you can switch it off.

8. The Windows Error Reporting Service
Microsoft, in all its wisdom, has built Windows Vista in such a manner that the operating system will generate error reports after error reports in response to various exceptions across the platform. The Redmond company claims that error reports are an integer and essential part of the automatic feedback process designed to ultimately improve user experience on Windows Vista. The reality is that you can send tons and tons of error reports to Microsoft, and there is absolutely no guarantee that the company will address any of them.

9. Disk Defragmentation and Hard Drive Management
With Windows Vista, Microsoft has virtually taken the user out of the disk defragmentation equation. Defrag is now pretty much and automated process designed to run in the background. But even though it is performed with the most basic level of system resources, it will make itself felt in terms of overall performance. All you have to do is uncheck the "Run on schedule" option of the feature. Still, it is an excellent idea to defragment your hard drive and also to make sure that there is sufficient free space. Keeping the files stored in discontinuous sectors and ensuring a healthy amount of free space will help boost Windows Vista performance.

10. The System Restore and Volume Shadow Copy Services
System Restore is an essential element of the back-up infrastructure of Windows Vista. Right click on My Computer, choose Properties, and click on the System Protection option in the left hand side menu. Windows Vista can create automatic restore points for all the partitions on your hard drive. In this manner, you will be able to restore the operating system to an earlier point in time or use the Volume Shadow Copy service in order to revert a file or folder to a previous version. Building restore points does affect Windows Vista. In my opinion, this is a trade-off that you should learn to live with because of the virtual inestimable value of System restore. However, if you prefer a more hands-on approach to back-up, then you can uncheck all the boxes for the specific volumes on your hard drives in order to prevent the creation of restore points.

11. The Indexing and Search Service
"Windows Vista includes an indexing service that enables Windows Desktop Search to provide fast searches for documents, photos, e-mail messages, and other data. The service runs by default and uses the NTFS file system’s unique service name (USN) journaling feature to track changes in file system content. By default, only portions of the main system volume are actually indexed. Some of the indexing service I/O is performed at low priority, which means that it is delayed when normal-priority work is accomplished. If Windows Vista detects user activity such as mouse movement or keyboard input, it can throttle this activity," Microsoft stated.

In order to turn off Vista's Indexing and Search service in Windows Explorer right click each drive and select Properties from the contextual menu. The last option on the bottom of the General tab is "Index this drive for faster searching". Uncheck it to stop the indexing service.

12. Turn Off Windows Ballast
Windows Vista comes with a set of features that are nothing more than excess ballast in certain situations, managing to reverberate on the operating system's performance. Some you don't need at all, and some you simply don't want dragging along. Microsoft provides in Vista the option to switch them off without actually removing them from the platform. In Control Panel choose "Uninstall a program" under Programs and then "Turn Windows features on or off". The Indexing Service, Remote Differential Compression, Tablet PC Optional Components, Windows DFS Replication Service, Windows Fax & Scan and Windows Meeting Space, ActiveX Installer Service etc. can all pretty much be disabled, with the exception of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0. The beauty of this feature is the fact that none of the items is lost. In case you change your mind, or discover that you need a component, revisit the location and check the box next to it. It's that simple.

Take Matters into Your Own Hands

In addition to the examples featured above, you can further take matters into your own hands. All you will need is a 2+ GB Flash drive to use with Vista's ReadyBoost option. "Windows ReadyBoost-capable Flash Devices extend the disk caching capabilities of Windows Vista main memory. ReadyBoost-capable devices can be implemented as USB 2.0 flash drives, Secure Digital (SD) cards, or CompactFlash cards. Using ReadyBoost-capable flash memory devices for caching allows Windows Vista to service random disk reads with performance that is typically 8-10 times faster than random reads from traditional hard drives," Microsoft explained.

Last but definitely not least, while you are waiting for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to be delivered in the first quarter of 2008, you can get a taste of the refresh on you copy of the operating system today. Since early August, Microsoft has made available a couple of Compatibility, Performance and Reliability packs designed precisely to smoothen some of the rough edges of the platform. You will be able to download both from here, but the company has also pushed them via Windows Update.

source: news.softpedia.com

20 Hidden Windows Vista Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:28:00 +0000

The default installation of Windows Vista weighs in at approximately 8 GB. In fact, Microsoft's latest operating system won't even install with less than 15 GB of space available on the hard drive.

This is valid for both the low-end and the high-end editions of the platform. A full Vista installation will take up no less than 40 times more hard disk space compared to Windows 95's 200 MB and five times more than Windows XP's 1.5 GB. Part of the reason why Vista hugs so much hard disk real estate space is the fact that the operating system brings to the table a plethora of built-in administrative tools that ship by default with the platform.

In this context, the term hidden, is not entirely accurate. Advanced users and system administrators have no problems tracking down and using the administrative tools in Vista. But at the same time, an average user could pass right by them, just because of their low footprint in the operating system's fabric, as they simply have a way to go by virtually undocumented and unnoticed. But this does not mean that the tools are not there, it just requires a bit of digging under the surface. And you will be surprised of how many long-time Windows users have failed to take a deeper look under the hood of the operating system, even if it would make their life so much easier.

You'll be surprised of what is lying beneath. But at the same time you have to understand that a large part of these utilities are not new to Vista, although they all suffered enhancements. Some of them are obviously survivors from older editions of Windows. But this is besides the point. You should at least be aware of the luxuriant resources within your grasp, provided of course that you are running Windows Vista. Also, while the tools exemplified in this article are to a certain degree common to all SKUs of Vista, you would do better to focus on the high-end editions of the operating system, such as Business, Enterprise and Ultimate, and less on Home Basic and Home Premium, as some items might be missing or limited in functionality on the latter two examples of the platform.

1. Task Manager
Right, I thought I would debut with something as common as the Start Menu. The Windows Task Manager can be launched via Ctrl + Shift + Esc, or by Alt + Ctrl + Delete, as well as by right clicking the Taskbar and choosing Task Manager from the options in the contextual menu that pops up. The Windows Task Manager in Vista is designed to run with standard user privileges, and as such, will not deliver a User Account Prompt. The tool will permit you to manage Applications, Processes, Services, and to monitor Performance, Networking and the active Users through the corresponding tabs. If you are looking to kill a program that is not responding, identify the process associated with a certain program or simply check the CPU cycles or the amount of system memory cached, then Task Manager is the simplest and most accessible tool.

2. Network and Sharing Center
"The Network and Sharing Center puts you in control of your network connectivity. It's a place where you can check your connection status, view your network visually, and troubleshoot connection problems. The Network and Sharing Center informs you about your network and verifies whether your PC can successfully access the Internet—then summarizes this info in the form of a Network Map," reads a fragment of Microsoft's description of the resource.

3. Backup, Shadow Copies, System Restore
There is an intimate connection between backup, shadow copies, system restore and restore points in Windows Vista. And there are two locations that will permit you to both have a general perspective of the status of the capabilities mentioned and to configure them, the Backup Status and Configuration and the Backup and Restore Center. Both can be launched by entering "Backup" in the search box under the Start Menu.

4. Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption
Available exclusively in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate, Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption is designed to help ensure the privacy of sensitive data by encryption. Although the default configuration of BitLocker requires a Trust Platform Module, the fact of the matter is that TPMs are rare in use outside of corporate environments, but users will be able to use the tool nonetheless, although without some functionality. With Windows Vista SP1, the Redmond company will also allow users to encrypt additional volumes on top of the operating system drive, protected by default.

5. Program Compatibility Wizard
The Program Compatibility Wizard under Control Panel and Programs will permit you to use an older program with Windows Vista. The tool is designed to help users that are experiencing functionality issues with an application in Vista, although the problems were not there with a prior version of Windows. The wizard will detect all the programs installed, and also permit the selection and testing of compatibility settings. Everything from display settings, to desktop composition and to administrative privileges can be set through the wizard.

6. Microsoft Management Console 3.0
"Microsoft Management Console (MMC) hosts administrative tools that you can use to administer networks, computers, services, and other system components," reads an excerpt of the Redmond company's description of the resource. The Microsoft Management Console 3.0, also known as Console Root or Console 1, has been around since Windows 2000. You can open it by typing "mmc" in the Search box under the Start menu, in a Run dialog box or in a command prompt window. MMC is essentially not an administrative tool, as it does not perform any such tasks, but it does provide hosting for various components including: Local security Policy, Computer Management, Event Viewer, and the Reliability and Performance Monitor as snap-ins which can be added for local or remote computers on the network.

7. Computer Management
Computer Management is a collection of administrative components. Accessible by entering "Computer Management" in the Search box under Start Menu, you can find items placed in three categories: System Tools, Storage and Services and Applications. Computer Management comes with the Task Scheduler, Event Viewer, Shared Folders, Local Users and Groups, the Reliability and Performance Monitor, Device Manager, Disk Management, as well as Services and WMI Control.

8. WMI - Windows Management Instrumentation
"Effective management of PC and server systems in an enterprise network benefits from well-instrumented computer software and hardware, which allow system components to be monitored and controlled, both locally and remotely. Microsoft is committed to simplifying instrumentation of hardware and software under Microsoft Windows operating systems. Microsoft is also committed to providing consistent access to this instrumentation for both Windows-based management systems and legacy management systems that are hosted in other environments. The foundations for manageability in Windows operating systems are Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI; formerly known as WBEM) and WMI extensions for Windows Driver Model," reveals the company's introduction on WMI.

9. Services
Typing "Services" in the Search box under the Start Menu will open the tool with exactly this name. Essentially, the utility will provide an exhaustive list of all the processes in Windows Vista complete with name, description, status and startup type. The console will allow you to stop, restart or start various services across the operating system, as well as getting an insight into all the properties of the services enumerated by the tool.

10. Disk Management
Disk Management in Windows Vista is under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Storage. A breeze to navigate if you were to ask me. The system utility will help you manage partitions and hard disks. Disk initialization, creating volumes, and formatting with the FAT, FAT32, or NTFS file systems are all tasks offered by Disk Management.

11. Device Manager
"Device Manager provides you with a graphical view of the hardware that is installed on your computer. All devices communicate with Windows through a piece of software called a device driver. You can use Device Manager to install and update the drivers for your hardware devices, modify hardware settings for those devices, and troubleshoot problems", is the overview Microsoft provides of the tool. Device Manager permits users to modify hardware configuration settings, get a complete overview of all devices, perform device drivers installation and uninstallation actions, as well as enable and disable certain items.

12. Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor
Under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools, the Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor is the big brother of the monitoring features provided by the Task Manager. The tool will offer a closer view at the CPU, the hard disk, Network activity and System Memory. Users can both monitor the system's performance in real time or choose to create logs of data collected and stored for further analysis.

13. Local Users and Groups
This is the perfect location to manage accounts in Windows Vista. You will be able to create and handle user accounts and the details related to them such as Groups and privileges. The Local Users and Groups console offers a location to activate the two built-in accounts that ship with Vista: Guest and Administrator. While Guest can be all but ignored, I am sure that the account for the Absolute Administrator of Vista is the kind of freedom some users will want.

14. Event Viewer
"The Event Viewer is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that enables you to browse and manage event logs. It is an indispensable tool for monitoring the health of systems and troubleshooting issues when they arise. Event Viewer enables you to perform the following tasks: view events from multiple event logs; save useful event filters as custom views that can be reused; schedule a task to run in response to an event and create and manage event subscriptions", reads the tool's overview.

15. Task Scheduler
The Task Scheduler is also hosted under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools and the name is pretty much explanatory. You can use the tool to schedule automated tasks in concordance with a specific time or a certain event. The utility will also offer a complete library of scheduled tasks allowing you to delete unnecessary items, in addition to options such as run, disable and modify.

16. Memory Diagnostics Tool
Normally, you will access the Memory Diagnostics Tool via the Windows Vista installation disk. But there is also another way. The utility can be found under Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools and, when launched, it will offer to restart immediately and check for RAM problems, or analyze the system memory the next time the computer is started. This is a very useful tool that will identify and diagnose memory problems.

17. System Configuration
System Configuration can be launched by entering "msconfig" in the Search box under the Start menu. It will offer users five tabs and with them the possibility to manage the startup process, boot options, the services across Vista, a reduced list of start-up items as well as providing shortcuts to a range of tools in the operating system. Under the Tools tab, you will be able to find some more hidden Vista goodies such as Internet Protocol Configuration, UAC and easy access to the registry.

18. System Information
"System Information (also known as msinfo32.exe) shows details about your computer's hardware configuration, computer components, and software, including drivers," reads the general description of the tool. System Information offers users a view over System Summary, the Hardware Resources and the Software Environment. The tool will display information about the operating system and its general settings, hardware and programs. Just type "msinfo32.exe" in the Search box under the Start Menu in order to launch it.

19. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a bit of a hidden gem in Windows Vista. Located under Control Panel, Administrative Tools the tool is a bundle between a host firewall and Ipsec. If you want control over packets for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, then this utility is the right answer for you, no doubt about it. You will be able to configure rules that will then apply to all incoming and outgoing traffic.

20. Local Security Policy
Also placed under Control Panel, Administrative Tools, the Local Security Policy will allow you to configure policies for the Vista Accounts, Local Policies, Public Key Policies, Software Restrictions Policies, IP Security Policies on Local Computer and the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

source: news.softpedia.com

Google and its blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:55:00 +0000

Some File Hosting Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:43:00 +0000

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File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited
URL: www.bigfileupload.com

QuickDump
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: download bandwidth limit of 500MB per hour
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.quickdump.com

Content-Type
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 7 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 7 days)
URL: www.content-type.com

Upload-File
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: 50 Downloads
File Life: 30 Days
URL: www.upload-file.net

StreamUpload
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days
URL: www.streamupload.com

JumboFile
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.jumbofile.com

Easy-Sharing
File Size Limit: 75MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days
URL: www.easy-sharing.com

Turbo Upload
File Size Limit: 70MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.turboupload.com

SaveFile
File Size Limit: 60MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 14 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 14 days)
URL: www.savefile.com

FileHD
File Size Limit: 60MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.filehd.com

InternetFiles
File Size Limit: 60MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.internetfiles.org

RapidSharing
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 60 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 60 days)
URL: www.rapidsharing.com

UploadSend
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.uploadsend.com

UploadFront
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.uploadfront.com

FreeUploader
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.freeuploader.com

Momoshare
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 15 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 15 days)
URL: www.momoshare.com

FriendlyShare
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.friendlyshare.de

orb-z
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: 200 Downloads
File Life: 15 Days
URL: www.orb-z.com

UploadHut
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days
URL: www.uploadhut.com

SupaShare
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 14 Days
URL: www.supashare.com

FileHost
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.filehost.ro

ushareit
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.ushareit.com

SceneWorld
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: 1000 Downloads
File Life: 50 Days
URL: www.sceneworld.net/up

GetFile
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 14 Days
URL: www.getfile.biz/upload/cl.html

YourFile
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: yourfile.org

BigFilez
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 14 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 14 days)
URL: www.bigfilez.com

Your File Link
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.yourfilelink.com

MyTempDir
File Size Limit: 40MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 21 Days
URL: www.mytempdir.com

Send File
File Size Limit: 40MB
Download Limit: 10 Downloads
File Life: 10 Days
URL: www.send-file.co.uk

FileBuffer
File Size Limit: 40MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 7 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 7 days)
URL: www.filebuffer.net

UltraShare
File Size Limit: 30MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.ultrashare.net

UploadTemple
File Size Limit: 30MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 21 Days
URL: www.uploadtemple.com

SendMeFile
File Size Limit: 30MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 14 Days
URL: www.sendmefile.com

Upload2
File Size Limit: 25MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 1 Year
URL: www.upload2.net

filegone
File Size Limit: 25MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 100 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 100 days)
URL: www.filegone.com

UploadTown
File Size Limit: 20MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: www.uploadtown.com

11MBIT.in
File Size Limit: 20MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.a1.11mbit.in

Refrozen
File Size Limit: 20MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.refrozen.com

Crazefiles
File Size Limit: 20MB
Download Limit: 50 Downloads
File Life: 14 Days
URL: www.crazefiles.com

hackz.nu
File Size Limit: 20MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.hackz.nu

Zhube
File Size Limit: 20MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 15 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 15 days)
URL: www.zhube.com

KeepMyFile
File Size Limit: 15MB
Download Limit: Unknown
File Life: Unknown
URL: www.keepmyfile.com

Hyperupload
File Size Limit: 10MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited
URL: www.hyperupload.com
WebFileHost
File Size Limit: 10MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days
URL: www.webfilehost.com

Free-Transfer
File Size Limit: 10MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 7 Days
URL: www.free-transfer.de

Oxedion
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 180 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 180 days)
URL: www.oxedion.de
Special Note: Claims not to log IP addresses of uploaders/downloaders!

mihd
File Size Limit: 52MB (up to 1GB for premium users)
Download Limit: no download restrictions
File Life: files kept for several months
URL: www.mihd.net

The Information given here is mostly for Free Users. Premium Users usually will get better access.

Lynda.com - Learning @ Your Own Pace® -Video Tutorials

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay Yadav) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 00:08:00 +0000

lynda.com

Mission: Helping you learn, master, and apply digital tools and techniques.

Lynda Weinman, a Web graphics and design veteran, wrote the very first industry book on Web design, Designing Web Graphics, in 1995. She is a prominent educator and the author of dozens of best-selling books. Weinman was a faculty member at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, in 1989, and has worked as an animator and motion graphics director in the film special effects industry.

Weinman has worked as a consultant for Adobe, Macromedia, and Microsoft, and has conducted workshops at Disney, Microsoft, Adobe, and Macromedia. She has been a keynote speaker, moderator, and lecturer at numerous design, animation, Web design, and computer-graphics conferences. Weinman and her husband Bruce Heavin co-founded lynda.com, a training company with headquarters in Ojai, CA, in 1995. She co-founded the Flashforward Conference and Film Festival, the largest Adobe Flash® conference in the world, in 2000.

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

Some of the best Tutorial CDROMs will be shared shortly.

How to hack Gmail passwords?

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:59:00 +0000

I personally haven't tried it. I found it from one of the downloads.

How to Lock a folder without any software?

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 11:07:00 +0000

Suppose you want to lock the folder games in d: which has the path D:\Games. In the same drive create a text file and type
ren games games.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Now save this text file as loc.bat

create another text file and type in it
ren games.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} games
Now save this text file as key.bat

Now you can see 2 batch files loc and key. Press loc and the folder games will change to control panel and you cannot view its contents. Press key and you will get back your original folder.

from : theynd forum

Free Access To Websites Without Registering!

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:07:00 +0000

Go to

-http://bugmenot.com/

and type the URL of the website you want to log into.
Examples:

-http://www.nytimes.com/, - http://www.winnetmag.com/
etcetera.

Another (and better) way is changing the user agent of your browser to:
Googlebot/2.1+

-http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html

This is very easy in Mozilla's Firefox. Download and install the User Agent Switcher from

-http://www.chrispederick.com/work/firefox/useragentswitcher/
and add the Googlebot user agent.

Have fun!

-]Edit[- Now this kicks ass, was just browsing entire forum without even needing to login to view restricted areas, and it works on other sites
And no, you cant access the hidden forums either, already tried that.

Disable The Send Error Report, to Microsoft!

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:32:00 +0000

To disable the stupid feature in WinXP which tries to send a report to microsoft every time a program crashes you will have to do this:

*************************************************************************

Open Control Panel
Click on Preformance and Maintenance.
Click on System.
Then click on the Advanced tab
Click on the error reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
Select Disable error reporting.
Click OK
Click OK

*************************************************************************

CMD Prompt here, add to folder context menu windows xp!

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:13:00 +0000

Want to add the open cmd prompt to folder context menus
also drives and My Computer

copy what's below the code line to notepad and save as cmd here.reg

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmd]
@="Command Prompt"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmd\command]
@="cmd.exe /k \"cd %L\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd]
@="Command Prompt"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd\command]
@="cmd.exe /k \"cd %L\""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\cmd]
@="Command Prompt"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\cmd\command]
@="cmd.exe /k \"cd %L\""

Clear Unwanted Items From Add And Remove!

noreply@blogger.com (Vinay) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:07:00 +0000

Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT).

Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Uninstall,

and remove any unwanted subkeys under "Uninstall."