Inspector Gadget

[Video] Windows XP Ultimate

2008-12-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

I installed the WIndows XP Ultimate on my Laptop a couple days ago and Im loving it, it pretty much VISTA minus all the extra garbage thats makes it run extremely slow.

[How to]6 Ways To Use iPhone As An External Hard Drive

2008-12-21T23:21:00.000-08:00

If you own an iPod, you will know that other than storing music, you can also use it as an external hard disk. You simply connect your iPod to your computer and you can easily transfer files over via drag and drop. When it comes to the iPhone however, Apple sells you a larger hard disk, gives you more functionality, yet does not allow you to use it as an external hard disk. Come to think of it, the iPhone is the gadget that you are more likely to carry with you wherever you go and it is the more likely candidate to become a portable hard disk, yet you can’t do anything to it.

If you are interested in knowing how you can use your iPhone/iPod Touch as an external hard drive, here are some ways that you can get it done.

1. Discover (App Store)

discover-iphone external hard drive Discover is the only free app in the whole App store that gives you the full functionality of a wireless hard disk. With just a wireless network, you can freely upload/download files to your iPhone.

You can either use the WebDAV protocol to connect to your iPhone via Finder, Windows Explorer or Nautilus (Gnome) or use the Web interface and connect to it via your browser. If you are a Windows user, there is even a Discover Windows client that you can use to connect to your iPhone.

Discover comes with several useful features. There is an iPhone-discovery mode where you can discover other iPhones in your network and share files with them. There is also a viewer within the app that enables you to view your files while on the move.

2. Briefcase Lite (App Store)

briefcase-lite-use iphone-as-a-drive Briefcase Lite is the free alternative to the paid app Briefcase. This free app allows you to connect your iPhone to Mac and Linux in a local area network environment (Windows is not supported). Similar to Discovery, you can transfer files to/from your iPhone and use it as a drive to store whatever files you want. There is a viewer to view the various type of files while on the move.

There are several limitations to Briefcase Lite compared to Briefcase. Firstly, you can only upload files, but not directories. This means that if you have plenty of files, you have to upload them one by one, rather than upload them as one folder. Secondly, Briefcase Lite does not come with the remote login feature that is available in Briefcase. Thirdly, Briefcase Lite does not allow you to send files to another iPhone, but you can receive files from a Briefcase user.

In general, if you want basic file transfer and viewing functions, Briefcase Lite is sufficient. If you are looking for more sophisticated features like remote login and remote mounting of disk images and installing of packages, then Briefcase is the one to go.

Free Third Party Software

Other than the apps at the app store which deal on the iPhone side, there are also several third-party software that focus mainly on the computer side. You only need to install these software in your Windows and you will be able to use iphone as hard drive via the USB cable. There are several software for Mac as well but they are paid apps, so I will not mention them here.

3. iPhonebrowser

iphonebrowser - use iphone as hard drive windows

iPhoneBrowser is a Windows based file browser for your iPhone. Once you have it installed in your Windows, you can navigate the whole iPhone filesystem and drag and drop files to it. You can also perform backups in case you accidentally delete some important files.

4. DiskAid

diskaid

Same as iPhonebrowser, DiskAid is another software that allows you to browse and transfer files to your iPhone. There are lesser options, but it has a far simpler interface and easy to understand icons.
Other alternatives

If you have jailbroken your iPhone, there are some useful applications in the Cydia app that you can use.

5. Netatalk

Installing Netatalk via the Cydia app gives you the ability to connect your iPhone to your Mac using the AFP protocol. You can access your iPhone via the Finder and drag and drop any files to it.

6. OpenSSH

OpenSSH may not be the most elegant way to connect to your iPhone, but it is the best and easiest way for you to tweak and hack your iPhone. You will need a SSH client on your computer to make use of OpenSSH. Cyberduck (Mac), WinSCP (Windows) and Filezilla (Linux) are a few great SSH clients that you can use.

With OpenSSH, not only can you transfer files to/from your iPhone, you can also move the internal files around (do it at your own risk) or change the file permissions. This is useful if you are looking to hack your phone and install any cracked applications.

The above mentioned applications are some of the free alternatives to turn your iPhone into an external hard disk.

Source

[Gadgets]The Cabestan Winch Tourbillion Vertical Watch

2008-12-21T23:14:00.001-08:00

This watch is absolutely stunning, an engineering masterpiece... 1,352 components working together in masterful horological precision, driven by a 450 link chain and nickel silver drums. If you can afford the $275,000 to afford the base model, you can probably afford the $400,00 to get it slathered in platinum and diamonds.

[Gadgets] What Can Nokia do to trump Apple’s iPhone

2008-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

How to fix Black screen Resolution problem.

2008-12-18T12:49:00.000-08:00

I was approached with this problem 3 times within the past 2 days, so I figured I would put up a quick fix since it was so common.

The problem:
You attempt to change the resolution on your monitor.
You set it to the max ( > 1280 x 800 etc). Depending on the monitor.
Then your monitor goes black, when you restart its the same story.

No sweat, theres a simple fix for this.

Restart your comp.
Press F8 during start up (Which takes you into the bios).
Go to VGA and enable VGA mode.
Save and Exit Bios.
Your OS should now boot up.
Right click on your desktop which is now visible.
Now select a resolution around 1024 x 768.
Under the Display drop down menu select your installed monitor.
Apply and you good to Go.

[Gadget]Lenovo OPhone?

2008-12-17T13:59:00.001-08:00

Even though most of us gadget lovers are thankful to have a true open source phone (G1), most of us can agree– it could have been given a more progressive design. Enter Lenovo and the OPhone– we couldn’t have thought of a better name. O as in, well, show us your “o” face. The OPhone features a 5-megapixel camera (with Auto Focus and flash), a microSD card slot, English/Chinese input via virtual keyboard, a video recorder and Bluetooth 2.0. Not too shabby is you ask us. The drawback? You most likely won’t be able to get your hands on one of these, the OPhone is only available in China

Source

[Gadget]The Elderly assistant

2008-12-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

This device is an interesting conceptual robot created by the University of Tokyo, and is designed to assist the elderly in their daily tasks. The Mamoru may not have arms or legs for active assistance, but it does have something that many old people lack: memory.
The eyes of the Mamoru are designed for more than just aesthetics. These are wide angle camera lenses, and Mamoru is designed to scan objects with image recognition software.
How is this helpful? Let’s say that grandma can’t find her remote control, glasses, or slippers. The Mamoru will politely tell her where they are because it is not susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. It can also be programmed to remind her when to take her medication.
Of course, you have to question the ethics of this. Do you really want to leave the senior citizens that you love in the care of this robot? Sadly, all I can think about is how I want the Mamoru to be able to do more active assistance work.
I do admire that the Mamoru does not have that anime robot look like Voltron or other conceptual robots that come from the creative people in Japan. In fact, the design reminds me of Madame Foster on Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, if she had penguin like arms.

Neoi 906 World’s Thinnest QWERTY Phone?

2008-12-16T19:50:00.000-08:00

Another company has sounded off its “World’s (insert appropriate adjective here)-est” horn today as Neoi has claimed that their 906 series is the World’s Thinnest QWERTY Phone.

If this is true, then I am quite amazed at what Neoi packed into a device that looks more like a calculator than a cellular phone. To give you an idea of its size, the 906 is the size of a credit card.

This Tri-Band GSM/GPRS phone has a TFT display with 262K colors. Not only does it have a QWERTY keyboard, but it appears to have some other buttons that serve as shortcut keys of some kind. Other features include an audio player with an FM radio. The 906 can also record audio, and the camera is capable of recording video footage.

As for memory, the 906 comes with 512 MB built-in memory, plus an expandable Micro SD Card for up to 8GB of extra storage space. It is Bluetooth Compatible, and USB bi-directional. The company has said that users “will get more Applications as they evolve in beginning 2009″, and Neoi is very proud that this is “the world’s first micro-sized Java2Me Handphone”.

Sadly, it is not known when the 906 will be coming out, as the site doesn’t seem to give a release date or a price

source

[Cool Gadgets] Scallop Cam

2008-12-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

Sure, you could set up a security camera that has weak resolution and a static viewpoint, or you could set up the Digital Window from Scallop Imaging.
The Digital Window uses five ordinary cellular phone cameras for a 180-degree panoramic view. Special software allows the device to graft the pictures together, so the footage is contained on one wide screen instead of five individual camera shots.
You got to hand it for Scallop Imaging for creating a camera with multiple eyes, and they took their technology one step further when it comes to video quality. The Digital Window can shoot at seven megapixels at 15 frames per second, which will give a lot more distinction to motion shots that would normally end up as a blur on most security video cameras.
If you do the math, the Digital Window shoots at 100 megapixels per second! This is provided the user has a 10/100 Ethernet connection. You might notice the Ethernet port on the bottom, so you might want to make certain that the other end is connected to something with a massive hard drive.
So, is the Digital Window the beginning of an age where 180-degree security cameras are watching us? Will they all be connected to Big Brother? Nah, 1984 is better never than late.

tonedup

Verizon’s Take on the iPhone by LG Voyager

2008-12-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine has this phone and asked me to put a few ringtones on it for him. Now I was never a fan of LG, but I was surprised by the craftsmanship and unique software ability available on this phone. The thing that really got me was the touch screen and the layout of all the applications. Verizon Wireless announced today a series of new holiday phones. Among the bunch (which includes the new BlackBerry Pearl 8130) is the aptly named Voyager, by LG. The Voyager looks strikingly similar to the iPhone, and it’s no surprise, considering the huge amount of success Apple has encountered with the trendy touch screen technology. One benefit the Voyager has over the iPhone is the flip-down QWERTY keyboard, making it easier for those who have trouble with the tiny touch-screen keyboard. It also has a secondary screen for e-mail, texting, and games. The Voyager supports V CAST TV for live digital TV viewing and stores as much as 8GB of media on a microSDHC card, and has a 2megapixel camera.

LG VX10000 Specifications:
Provider: Verizon Wireless (1.9GHz / 800MHz CMDA)
Form Factor: Laptop-like w/ QWERTY keyboard
Dimensions: 4.64H x 2.12W x 0.71D (inches)
Battery Life: 240 mins talk time & 480 hours standby
Screens: 480 x 240 pixel TFT external & internal
Digital Camera: 2 megapixel camera and camcorder
Storage: 185MB internal + microSD (8GB max)
Special: external touch screen and mobile TV
Others: Bluetooth 1.2 + Stereo Speakerphone
Price: $299 with a new 2-year contract

How to Speed Up Your Storage Card ten folds(Well close)

2008-12-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

XDA Developers found a way to dramatically improve your SD Card speed, by only applying a simple cab tweak.
Note: this tweak applies only to devices sporting a physical SD/miniSD/microSD slot, so no Internal Storage like HTC Touch Diamond.

Applying the supplied cab will change some registry entries in your device (changes which are reversible by simply uninstalling the cab) that will make your Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 Operating System take advantage of Direct Memory Access and improved File System Caches. It’s not magic, the potential has always been there, but so far unused on stock devices. Your memory card will not perform faster but your system will take advantage of its (close to) real speed.

We’ve benchmarked tnyynt SD TuneUp on an HTC Touch HD, with a Sandisk Class 6 8GB microSD Card (the one supplied with the device, to be more specific), using SKTools benchmark option for Storage Card Read, Storage Card Write and Storage Card File List, just to come up with the conclusion that installing this tweak will at least double your file system access for Storage Card (red bars), which is useful for accessing files stored on it, let it be file operations like copy/move or basic everyday usage like media playback.

Source

[Cool Gadgets] -Energy generating Revolving door.

2008-12-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

Moving away from a coal based economy is one of the top priorities for many governments. Clean energy is what is being looked at, including wind energy and solar energy. Boon Edam has come up with a very cool idea. It’s the first energy generating revolving door.

This new concept revolving door has recently been installed in Netherlands-based Natuurcafé La Port. Each time a customer walks in or out of this coffee shop, they are doing their part towards a greener world by generating a little bit of energy. The door is expected to generate 4600 kwh of energy each year. This may not seem to be a lot of energy, but imagine if such a door or similar product was installed in a large number of locations.

Source

[Cool Gagdet]- Transform into Tony Hawk at the office

2008-12-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting idea: if your chair at the office has wheels so you can zoom around from fax machine to filing cabinet, why should your feet miss out on the fun?
The Webble is an active footrest which claims to have some health benefits, but really it seems like a cool toy to me!
It rolls on four smooth gliding coasters and features a spring suspension and mesh membrane for comfort and flexibility.
According to the guys who made it, “The Webble’s open frame combines strength and style in an unmistakable form that challenges the assumption that life under your desk couldn’t possibly be fun.”
Well under my desk is a plethora of empty crisp packets and enough pairs of shoes to put Emilda Marcos’s collection to shame. That indicates a bit of fun going on, but I sense what I really need to get the party happening down there is a Webble.
This device comes in black, red or silver and would also be handy for skating down the hallway the next time you have to visit the kitchen.
I mentioned that the Webble also had added health benefits. The idea is that as the Webble increases your leg activity while you’re seated, it promotes better physiological being.
The Webble was created as a workplace wellness product, and to liven the place up a bit seeing as we spend so much time there.

Source

How to Temporarily mute computer speakers over night.

2008-12-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Have you ever fallen asleep and left your computer only to be awaken by an email alert or messenger prompt. The following software allows you to remedy that problem.
It can also be useful in the workplace. If you have a regular meeting you go to each week, it may be worth having your computer mute the sound of your laptop while you are in the board room.

The process is fairly simple. We need to use a free third party utility to allow the mute to take place. I am going to use a program called Mute.

The next step is to set up a scheduled task to enable and disable these utilities. All of these utilities unload themselves from memory once they have run. This means that unmuting can still be controlled through your normal muting methods.

The setup for Vista and XP are slightly different, but you will find them both here.

Start off by downloading your desired mute program and save it somewhere you can get to easily.

Windows XP:

Open “Scheduled Tasks” (inside accessories of the start menu)
Double Click “Add Scheduled Task”
Click “Next”
Browse to your utility; E.g. C:\mute.exe
Select when you want it to run. (I chose Daily).
Click “Next”
Select what time you want the task to run; E.g. 12:00am
Enter in your username and password
Click “Next”
Tick the Open Advanced Properties tick box
Click “Finish”
In the Run box, make it “C:\mute.exe on”

You will need to follow the steps above to make a second task to unmute your computer in the morning. You will need to change the name of it to unmute so that it does not conflict with the initial task.
This will need to have the off argument instead of on.

That’s it. Your computer should now mute and unmute itself at the times you specified.

Windows Vista:

The Vista setup is similar to the XP setup, but you get a few more options. You can set it to only occur if the computer has been idle for longer than 10 minutes. This means that your computer game or movie won’t be interrupted.

Open “Task Scheduler” (inside accessories of the start menu)
Click “Create New Task” (not basic)
Give it a name “Mute”
Go to the “Triggers” tab
Click “New” (defaults to schedule)
Enter the frequency and time you want the mute to occur
Click “OK”
Go to the “Actions” tab
Click “New” (defaults to run program)
Browse for your program and put in the necessary arguments; E.g. On
Click “OK”
Go to the “Conditions” tab
Here, define how long you want the computer to be idle before activating the mute.
Click “OK”

You will need to follow the steps above to make a second task to unmute your computer in the morning. You will need to change the name of it to unmute so that it does not conflict with the initial task. This will need to have the off argument instead of on.

That’s it. Your computer should now mute and unmute itself at the times you specified.

Exciting new iPhone Apps and Gadgets

2008-12-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a short video showing some apps and some of its main features.

Disk Heal , Tweak and fortify security.

2008-12-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

Disk Heal is a utility that performs various tweaks to optimize your PC in terms of appearance, security and also performs tweaks for common applications as well. In addition it allows you to fix common errors which are caused by certain viruses as well.

Disk Heal - Features

Below are a list of functions that Disk Heal can perform on your computer.

Fixes Disk Problems:

Can't open your drive just by clicking it? Getting error messages like "Could not find something" or an Open With dialog? Disk Heal fixes these problems in just one click.

Fixes Task Manager inaccessibility

Fixes Folder Options inaccessibility

Fixes Registry Editor inaccessibility

Can't access any of the above three features, Disk Heal fixes this problem

Fixes File/Folder inaccessibility:

Has a virus hidden your files/folders and you cannot unhide it? Use disk heal to fix this problem.

Perform Tweaks:

Performs various other tweaks to optimize your pc including:

Security Tweaks:

-Password protect these features

-Enable/Disable Task Manager
-Enable/Disable Folder options
-Enable/Disable the registry editor
-Lock the location of 'My Documents'
-Enable/Disable Display Properties
-Enable/Disable 'Search'
-Enable/Disable 'Run'
-Enable/Disable Control Panel
-Enable/Disable Shutdown
-Enable/Disable CPU Beep
-Enable/Disable CD Auto-run
-Hide/unhide Start->(All) Programs menu
-Enable/Disable the Context menu in My Computer & Desktop
-Enable/Disable My Computer
-Hide/Show 'Pinned' items from the Start menu
-Remove 'Manage' in My Computer Context Menu

Appearance Tweaks:

-Change drive icon
-Enable/Disable Clear-Type (Also known as 'Font smoothing' Fonts)
-Enable/Disable smooth scrolling
-Hide/Show the left panel from My Computer
-Hide/Show the current user in the Start menu
-Hide/Show the windows version on the Desktop
-Hide/Show windows error messages on startup

Internet Explorer Tweaks:

-Enable/Disable Auto-complete
-Check if Default Browser
-Lock current home page
-Increase simultaneous downloads to 10

Control Panel Tweaks

-Hide\Show Accessibility Options
-Hide\Show Add\Remove programs
-Hide\Show Console Options
-Hide\Show Date\Time Options
-Hide\Show Display Options
-Hide\Show Fax Options
-Hide\Show Hardware Wizard
-Hide\Show IR Port Options
-Hide\Show Regional Options
-Hide\Show Internet Settings
-Hide\Show Joystick Options
-Hide\Show licensing programs
-Hide\Show Keyboard\Mouse Options
-Hide\Show mail Options
-Hide\Show sound Options
-Hide\Show dial-up Options
-Hide\Show network & connectivity Wizard
-Hide\Show modem Options
-Hide\Show Netware client Options
-Hide\Show ODBC options
-Hide\Show PC card Options
-Hide\Show port Options
-Hide\Show power Options
-Hide\Show scanner and camera Options
-Hide\Show server manager Wizard
-Hide\Show speech Options
-Hide\Show System Properties
-Hide\Show Telephone Properties
-Hide\Show TweakUI Properties
-Hide\Show User Manager Properties
-Hide/Show WSP client options NEW!
-Hide/Show Quicktime preferences NEW!
-Hide/show Norton Live update client NEW!
-Hide/Show Compaq Agent NEW!

Batch file that cleans your PC for you.

2008-12-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

Before you proceed please take a look at the filel extensions(.jpg) and make sure you want to delete these, if I've miss any extensions feel free to add them in if you know what your doing.
This script will clean the cookies and private information in your computer.

- Copy the code below
- Open notepad
- Paste
- Save As
- CleanPc.bat
- Save
Click and run it.

//Start to copy here//

@echo off
cleanmgr /sageset:1
cleanmgr /sagerun:1

TASKKILL /F /IM explorer.exe

cd /d c:\

attrib +a -s -h -r thumbs.db /s
del /s /f thumbs.db
attrib +a -s -h -r *.tmp.log /s
del /s /f *.tmp.log
attrib +a -s -h -r “%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent\*.*”
del /f /q “%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent\*.*”
attrib +a -s -h -r *.gid /s
del /s /f *.gid
attrib +a -s -h -r *.fts /s
del /s /f *.fts
attrib +a -s -h -r *.cnt /s
del /s /f *.cnt
attrib +a -s -h -r *.old /s
del /s /f *.old
attrib +a -s -h -r *.diz /s
del /s /f *.diz
attrib +a -s -h -r *.bak /s
del /s /f *.bak
attrib +a -s -h -r *.tmp /s
del /s /f *.tmp
attrib +a -s -h -r *.chk /s
del /s /f *.chk
attrib +a -s -h -r *.dmp /s
del /s /f *.dmp
attrib +a -s -h -r *.00? /s
del /s /f *.00?
attrib +a -s -h -r index.dat /s
del /s /f index.dat
attrib +a -s -h -r fw*log.txt /s
del /s /f fw*log.txt
attrib +a -s -h -r zalog*.txt /s
del /s /f zalog*.txt
attrib +a -s -h -r backup*.rdb /s
del /s /f backup*.rdb

start explorer.exe
@exit

//End copy here

Hope this is handy

Neat solar powered Gadgets

2008-12-08T20:51:00.001-08:00

As the darkness of winter descends, a splash of sun can power up your mood ... and your gadgets too. That's the idea behind the Solar Ski Jacket from Zegna Sport ($1,350), shown here. As you hit the slopes, solar cells in the jacket's neoprene collar convert sunlight into energy to directly charge up gadgets such as iPods and cell phones or a rechargeable battery. An hour of direct sunlight will charge up a phone for about 35 minutes of talk time. The battery requires four to five hours for a full charge. The collar and battery are detachable for use even when you're inside by the fire or skiing on a warm and jacketless spring day.

Though iPhone owners are the envy of many a crowd, the gadgets do have a notorious flaw: A limited battery life, especially when they are used to simultaneously surf the Web, listen to tunes, and text with friends. Enter the Solar iPhone Charger from Solar Arcadia ($45.95). The case made from reclaimed sheepskin doubles as a solar charger that supplies juice directly to the smart phone, even under artificial light. The limited life of Apple's batteries "is really one of the more important reasons people are buying this," said Deborah Robinson, the chief executive officer of Novothink, the research and development firm that created the case.

Some more Tweaks for your PC

2008-12-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

A few things that may slow down your Pc.

1. Is your browser by default plain, or did you install many extensions, themes and cursor symbols? Those slow down speed, so removing them is the best solution if you have a slow PC.

Switch to Windows Classic Theme by right clicking on Desktop and go to Properties.

2. Pictures on the desktop background. A blank wallpaper is the best. Animations or even sounds in the background slow PC even more. Remove Shortcuts on the Desktop. This will be described further below as well.

Right click on My Computer icon and select properties. Go to Advanced Tab, and select Settings next to Performance. Finally select Adjust for best performance. Click OK twice. That is one of the best Win XP tweaks.

3. Sounds also cause speed problems, so removing them is another good tweak. These include also startup and shutdown sounds. Remove sounds from your control panel. Double click on the Sounds icon. (Only do this if you don't want any sounds at all).

4. A lot of MsWord, Notepad, Image and similar files scattered around on your desktop or located in shortcuts can be removed or arranged.

Create new folders, and organise your files. A folder for MsWord documents, images, sounds and Notepad files so you do not waste space.

Shortcuts on your desktop, in start menu and anywhere else can be removed to tweak XP. These are unwanted and are safe to be removed. You know if an icon is a shortcut or not because once you click delete you can read:

“Are you sure you want to delete this shortcut?”

5. Use the search tool to find unwanted files. WIn XP search tool allows you to search for certain file types. For example you can search for only images .gif or .jpg. You can find all the images on your PC, and remove all the unwanted image files.

Same with sound files, documents and you will be amazed about this stuff that has piled up during the years. A brand new computer does not need to search for these files.

Be careful though when using this tweak. Do not remove files you are not sure what their use is. Some files may be system files useful for your PC to work well.
Doing so can damage your PC.

6. Bookmarks or favorites inside your web browser have their negative side too. Same with cookies, cache and browser history.

Remove unwanted sites from your favorites. In Internet Explorer remove cache, cookies and history by selecting Tools, Internet Options and clicking the desired action.

In other browsers these options can also be tweaked from the menu which is usually under Tools. Remove these unwanted files often, or weekly. A weekly or more often job is clearing your recycle bin which helps cleaning wasted space.

The tweaks mentioned above will organise your PC for a faster performance. It is the basic for XP users who suffer from slow speed. Even if your PC is not slow, some of the tweaks are still useful in the long run.

Use msconfig to quicken your startup

2008-12-08T11:37:00.001-08:00

If your finding that your start up takes forever, it probably because you have a large number of programs running in the background at startup. This can be remedied simply through "msconfig".

What is msconfig?
A small form of “Microsoft System Configuration Utility” which is a built in Windows special tool.
What is it use for?
It is designed to help you troubleshoot problems with your computer which ensure that your computer boots faster and crashes less.

Your computer will be slow or can even crash when you run a lot of programs in your computer. Most of the people have the programs running from the starting up point as there are a lot of hidden programs running in the background before the Windows even run or after Windows is running. Some of these hidden programs are essential, but most of them are just useless. Turning off some of these hidden programs can significantly increase your computer’s performance and reliability.

You can use MSCONFIG to help in terminating those unwanted hidden programs.

You can simply run the MSCONFIG tool in Windows XP by following the process below:

Go to Start Menu-> Run
Type ‘MSCONFIG’
Microsoft’s System Configuration Utility will launch.
Click on the Startup tab.
You will then view a list of startup items. Startup items are programs that are automatically loaded every time you turn on your computer. So you can simply uncheck the check box and remove the unwanted programs to run next time.
Click on OK button.
A message will pop up which will say “You must restart your computer for some of the changes made by System Configuration to take effect.” Click on “Restart” and your computer will automatically reboot or “Exit Without Restart” if you want to carry on with the projects you are currently working on your computer.

Thats all folks.

toneup s.o.a

The Poets(Rhymers) helper.

2008-12-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

WordMatcher I made 3 years ago, simple program for those that are very new to computer science. Its pretty useful if your a poet or you write rhymes.

IF YOUR ON A PC RUNNING WINDOWS you must have java Runtime and java SDK to run this program.
Get em here
Otherwise if your running any form of linux you should be good to go.

Dictionary Code below.
words.txt

WordMatcher.java code below.
Copy The source below or download it from the link below.
WordMatcher.java

Download the bat file and place in the same directory
runIt.bat

The runIt.bat files automatically saves as a text file, open it and save it as a batch file runIt.bat

Once you have all 3 downloaded be sure that all 3 are saved in the same directory.
Double click runIt.bat and there you go.

Source code below.
import java.io.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class WordMatcher extends JTextArea{
public static void main(String[]args)throws IOException {

find();
String cont = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null,"Would you like to match another word Y/N");

while(cont.equalsIgnoreCase("Y")){
find();
cont = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null,"Would you like to match another word Y/N");
}

System.exit(0);
}
public static void find()throws IOException{
String str = "", lastTwo ="", words = "";
int counter = 0, found = 0, limit = 14;
FileReader fr = new FileReader("words.txt");
BufferedReader bf = new BufferedReader(fr);
JTextArea output = new JTextArea(40,40);
JScrollPane scroller = new JScrollPane(output);
str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Enter last two letters of the word you wish to find a match for");

lastTwo = bf.readLine();
while ((bf.readLine()) != null){

if(str.equalsIgnoreCase(lastTwo.substring(lastTwo.length()-2))){
if(counter words += lastTwo+", ";
found++;
}
else{words += lastTwo+"\n"; counter = 0;}
counter++;
}
lastTwo = bf.readLine();
}

if(found > 0 ){
output.setText(words);
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,scroller);
}
else{
output.setText("NO MATCHES FOUND");
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,scroller);
}
}
}
End of WordMatcher made by Fabii

How to remove autorun.inf and prevent virus spreading and infection

2008-12-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

One way to get you close to fullproof virus protections, not fully but close.

Disable your autorun. This is very significant in protecting your computer against online threats. A lot of viruses today uses the autorun.inf file to spread themselves and infect your computer. Autorun.inf contains a command that instructs the computer to run a specific file usually on a CD/DVD disc. In genuine cases , it runs a setup in case of a software installation disc. In the other case it may run a virus and gets your system infected. Same is the case for Mass Storage Devices such as Memory Sticks and Flash Drives. Autorun.inf is typically used by CD Installers to autoplay their installations, but Hard disks by default should not have AUTORUN.INF in the drive.

As you can see from the above image the Drive D: contains a hidden file autorun.inf. This a possibility that drive D: is infected with virus and the autorun.inf file may contain a instruction to spread the virus whenever you double click drive D:. To remove this, Restart your windows into Safe Mode with Command Prompt. On drive D and all other root directories type the following commands:

1. attrib -h -r -s autorun.inf
R Read-only file attribute.
S System file attribute.
H Hidden file attribute.
2. del autorun.inf

Repeat these steps for all of the other drives root’s directories to disable autorun.inf .
How to disable AUTORUN from Registry
Here are the steps to disable autorun via registry. But before doing anything as a safety measure always backup your registry.
Go to start –> Run –> Type Regedit
Look for the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer as shown below:

Double-click the NoDriveAutorun DWORD entry and type the value HEX: FF (255 in Decimal).

If the NoDriveAutorun does not exists, you can create it by right-clicking the right side area of the regedit window, then click New–>DWord Value –> type NoDriveAutorun.
Close the registry and restart the computer. This procedure will disable all the autorun for all drives of your computer and should prevent the autorun function of infected USB drives or CDs and avoid the infection of viruses.

How to Beat death.

2008-12-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

Ahh the good old Blue screen of death, in my early days as I youth when I encountered this screen I would simply reinstall my OS. This however is not very feasible for many, so here are some trouble shooting tips.

Usually more than one issue may be the cause of stop errors but here are some few points of things to do in order to solve this type of Blue Screen of Death error.

Restart your PC. Many stop errors are caused by once-off hardware issues. Sometimes a mere reboot will resolve those.

Open your computer and reinsert all modules, be very careful when doing this make sure the computer is powered down and down touch the pins on the ram. If your RAM has found some way out of their sockets, windows may be having trouble writing on it.

Remove all recently added hardware and see if the issue does not go away.
Investigate whether similar errors have occurred in the past. You can do it by going to your event viewer (this is done by going to control panel, administrative tool, event viewer).

Clean up your registry. If there is a drivers conflict, a registry clean up may easily pick this type of error.

Update your device drivers. I suggest, as far as possible that you get all your drivers directly from the device vendor, rather than downloading from third party sites. In fact these may cause compatibility issues of their own.

If all else fails, GOOGLE it or go to forums pertaining to these problems..

Hope this is Helpful

tonedup s.o.a

A few tweaks without editing the Registry.

2008-12-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Tweak from the start menu.
If you right-click on your start menu button and choose “properties” and then “task list”, you can change a few irritating features. For example, XP normally hides “inactive program icons” in the system tray. You can easily disable that irritating feature so they ALL show up. You can also remove the clock if you don’t need it.

Soup up the Trash bin.
If you right-click on your trash bin and choose “properties”, you can tweak a few trash features. For example, you can turn off the eternally annoying “are you sure you want to delete this?” dialogue . You can also reduce the space in your trash bin and you can even disable the trash bin so that anything you delete bypasses the trash and gets deleted off the system immediately (be careful with this one though).

Turn off the boot/log off music
When you turn your computer on and off, Windows gives you a stupid tune. You can easily disable this music (as well as other sound effects) by going to your system set-up (in your start menu) and choosing the sounds & audio devices option. Clicking on the “sounds” tab, you can see a list of all the sound effects and you can either change them or disable them. Now you can have a silent boot up in the morning!
You can also add you won music, it has to be in wave file format though.

Rid your computer of those damn “thumbs.db” files
when you have pictures on your hard drive, Windows makes a cache to make the picture load faster next time. The cache is called “thumbs.db” and is normally cloaked so you have no idea it is there. But these “thumbs.db” files build up and up and it takes up a lot of hard-drive space.To reveal them and delete them, go to your Windows Explorer and choose Tools, Folder Options, and make sure that Show common tasks in folders (in XP) is selected under the General tab. This will give you a Windows warning that doing this may potentially hurt your system but in my opinion, it’s safe enough. This will then reveal the hidden system files, including the “thumbs.db” caches in each folder. Deleting them will free up some disk space and some folder clutter. But when you load the pictures again, the “thumbs.db” cache will return so you need to keep on top of this and delete them on a regular basis.

Hope these help
Fabii

tonedup s.o.a

The matrix falling code

2008-12-05T03:14:00.000-08:00

Here is an easy batch file to create the matrix falling code effect, you can tweak to make it look closer to the matrix version.

Copy the following code between the lines to notepad and save it as Matrix.bat

NOTE: You must save it with the .bat extension or it wont work.

;---------------------------------------------------
@echo off
color 0a
:A
echo S T a y a s g j v 2 7 8 3 Z X S T a a1 Z X S T a y h g j v 2 7 8 3 2 T a y h 3 Z X
echo 2 a s v a 1 6 2 a s v 2 7 Z X S T a T Z X S T a 6 y h g j v 2 7 8 3 S T a y h g j
echo A 1 6 2 a s g j v 2 7 8 3 Z X S T a a1 Z X S T a y h g j v 2 7 8 3 2 a s X 8 3 Z X X y
echo a 1 6 2 a v a 1 6 2 a s X S T a T Z X7 Z X S T a T 8 3 Z Xy h g j v 2 7 8 3 7 8 3 2
echo a 1 6 2 a v a 1 6 2 a s X 8 3 Z Xy h g jS T a T 8 3 Z Xy h g j v 2 7 8 3 a s v 2 7
goto A
;-----------------------------------------------------------
Now double click that file and you have your falling code.