Tech Resolve

Restore your personal files after performing custom installation of Windows 7 using Micrsoft Fixit

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:57:00 +0000

In some case, you may be unable to perform an upgrade from an earlier version of Windows. If you cannot upgrade, you may be required to perform a custom installation.

In such a case, you may want to recover your personal files from the Windows.old folder, and move them to the custom installation of Windows.

While one could always follow the steps mentioned in KB932912 to restore it manually, Microsoft has now released a Fix It solution to carry out this task easily. You can use this Fix It to restore your personal files after you perform a custom installation of Windows Vista or of Windows 7.

Simply download Microsoft Fix it 50582 and run it. It will restore your personal files for you!

Now clean Cycobot(svchost.exe) infections With Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:12:00 +0000

You may have noticed Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool in your list of available Windows Updates. Heck, you may even have seen it in your Add/Remove Programs and wondered where it came from. The MSRT can actually be quite useful, and it's a fast, simple way to remove a number of common malware infections.

In an update pushed yesterday, Microsoft added Cycobot to the list of malware that MSRT can remove. It's a nasty little backdoor Trojan, and one I've seen on plenty of the systems I spend my days repairing. The full list of malware (more than 120 types) which the tool can remove is available on this page.

MSRT is a good little tool to add to your security arsenal, but a multi-app attack is always best.

Download Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool

Internet Explorer 9 Pinned site actions now available on Chrome extension

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 07:15:00 +0000

One of the ways Internet Explorer 9 seeks to "bring the Web to your desktop" is by allowing sites to be pinned to your taskbar, and use jump lists to quickly and directly access specific parts of a website. A handful of big-name sites already offer Windows 7 integration, including Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Flixster, and IMDb.

Microsoft has also shared how this works (and Scott Hanselman has posted an excellent how-to article), so it's possible for other browser makers to implement, too. If you're a Google Chrome user, in fact, you can install an extension (developed by an independent programmer) which adds jump list actions to a drop-down menu on the Omnibar!

Unsurprisingly called IE9 Jump List Tasks, the extension adds a green arrow to the Omnibar whenever you visit a supported site. If jump list actions are detected, clicking the arrow will display a menu like the one you see above. It's not quite as cool as being able to poke your taskbar icons, but it is a neat display of how the feature can be utilized in non-IE browsers. The extension also didn't work for me on all the sites I tried -- Twitter and Facebook lists weren't detected -- but it was still cool to see it pop up elsewhere, like on IMDb and Flixster.

On February 22; Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack available to download

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 07:09:00 +0000

The Windows Team blog has finally given us a concrete release date for Windows 7 SP1. On February 22, the service pack will be available to the general public for download via Windows Update or directly from the Microsoft website. The client (Windows 7) update is being released in tandem with its server counterpart, so administrators will be able to grab Server 2008 R2 SP1 on the 22nd as well.

If you jumped the gun and installed a pre-release version of Windows 7 SP1, you may need to remove it and reinstall the RTM -- so get your download manager ready.

Over 400 Windows options - True System Security Tweaker

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 06:56:00 +0000

Setting up policies and restrictions on a Windows computer isn't all that hard using built-in tools, but it's always nice to have a utility on hand which can further simplify the process. True System Security Tweaker (TSST) is a free, portable tool you can use to modify nearly 500 settings on your Windows systems.

Both 32 and 64-bit Windows installs (from XP to Windows 7) are supported, and just about anything you can toggle on or off, hide, or restrict is easily modified by ticking a checkbox. Everything from what a user sees in Control Panel to Internet Explorer and WIndows Media Player interface tweaks is listed.

TSST can also whiltelist or blacklist applications, and you can password protect the app to prevent unauthorized users from making changes. Undoing all your changes is a simple three-click operation. Interested developers can even request the Delphi source code.

Download True System Security Tweaker for Windows

Speeds up torrent downloads, Vuze 4.6 adds uTP support

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:17:00 +0000

Vuze is a solid torrent downloader, especially for less-savvy users. Its built-in media streaming and transcoding features make it a nice start-to-finish app for downloading and playing videos on just about any device. With the release of version 4.6, Vuze has added even more playback kung-fu, as well as one very important piece of bittorrent support.

Both the free and plus versions of Vuze now download torrents in a more network-friendly way, thanks to uTP support (which first arrived in uTorrent back in 2008). Several code tweaks were also made which have resulted in faster downloads, and the Vuze Crew has also tidied up the sidebar, making it easier to access the features users lean on most. Less-used options have been tucked out of the way. Vuze Plus subscribers can also utilize the Play Now feature, which analyzes a video's download speed and bitrate and begins playing when Vuze can "safely begin continuous playback."

Vuze is a free download for Windows and Mac -- Vuze Plus will run you around will run you about $25 per year.

LibreOffice 3.3, the open source office suite

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 08:00:00 +0000

LibreOffice -- the Document Foundation's fork of OpenOffice -- has come a long way since the project was first announced in September 2010. Today, the Foundation has announced that its first stable release, LibreOffice 3.3, is ready to download.

Among the many changes you'll find in version 3.3 are the arrival of new import filters and improvements to existing ones -- key features when you're trying to persuade users to migrate from competing suites like Microsoft Office, Works, or WordPerfect. Calc (the LibreOffice spreadsheet app) now boasts better Excel interoperability, SVG images can be opened and modified in Draw, and they can also be imported into Writer.

The Suite's PowerPoint alternative -- Presenter -- now ships with a presentation mode plug-in which makes controlling slideshows from your laptop a breeze. Testers will enjoy the addition of Experimental Mode, which you can toggle if you'd like to play with new features before they've officially been added to LibreOffice. It's a bit like the about:flags page in Google Chrome. LibreOffice 3.3 also sports a long list of interface and usability tweaks -- check out this page at the official site for a complete rundown.

Download LibreOffice 3.3 for Windows, Mac, or Linux

CCleaner Network Edition now available to help admins

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 07:48:00 +0000

CCleaner is one of our favorite utilties, and it's a great way to keep computers free of unwanted temporary files and registry clutter both at home and at the office. It does, however, lack certain features which LAN administrators demand -- like a management console and an easy, network-wide deployment process.

Recently, however, Piriform began testing CCleaner Network Edition, which was designed to meet an admin's needs. The new app allows you to remotely initiate scans and manage your entire network's cleaning rules and settings from a single computer. You can also scan an entire workgroup -- or all your machines -- at once. One-click deployment is built in as well, making it easy to push CCleaner NE to your workstations.

CCleaner Network Edition costs $20 per user (or less, depending on volume) and is available now from the Piriform website. A free trial is also available.

Immunet antivirus app in Google Pack

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 06:08:00 +0000

For a while now, Google has offered Google Pack -- a collection of free programs for Windows users. The bundle has always included essential apps, including tools for working with digital photos, communicating with friends, and, of course, Google toolbars for Firefox and Internet Explorer. An antivirus program has also been part of the Pack, and until very recently Avast! was the app of choice.

Now, Canadian-made Immunet has been added to the mix. Avast is still offered, but Immunet is now one of the default apps -- select company which only includes Google's own apps and Adobe Reader. To be included in that group is a big deal for the antivirus upstart, considering Immunet has only been available to download since August 2009. This is the company's second big win in 2011, having already gained a big boost in terms of enterprise credibility when it was acquired by Sourcefire.

Make your own torrents and upload them to a public tracker

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Tips is all about downloading files via BitTorrent. We'll highlight ways in which to torrent more efficiently, obtain higher download speeds, and generally make the whole process easier.

To wrap up our series of BitTorrent tips, we're going to show you how to make your own torrents. After all, torrents have to come from somewhere, right? You've been leeching for years -- isn't it time to give something back?

Just follow these simple steps:

Open up your BitTorrent client of choice. uTorrent, Vuze,Transmission -- whichever, they all work in the same way
File > Create Torrent (or simply hit the 'Create' button, if there is one)
Select a source file or directory -- this can be absolutely anything
Now you need to find some trackers. If you're making a torrent for a private torrent index, make sure you use its tracker. Otherwise, paste all of the following into the box:
udp://tracker.publicbt.com:80/announce
udp://tracker.openbittorrent.com:80/announce
http://denis.stalker.h3q.com:6969/announce
http://tracker.torrent.to:2710/announce
If you want to add a comment, go for it! Include your name, website, email address -- whatever you like
Make sure Private Torrent is unchecked, unless you're creating a torrent for a private tracker
Click Create -- then add the new torrent to your client and start seeding!

Now, if you're just making a torrent to share a file between friends, classmates or workmates, just send them the .torrent file and tell them to hop on. It's as simple as that.

If you want to share your torrent publicly, you need to upload the torrent to an index like The Pirate Bay. First register an account, and then simply click 'Upload torrent' -- the method is the same for uploading to a private site (just make sure you've used its private tracker!)

Search and Find Files Quickly in Windows with Locate32

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sat, 15 May 2010 03:52:00 +0000

If you have Windows XP, searching files is surely not a good thing. XP’s file search takes time. On the other hand, if your computer’s operating system is Vista or the latest Windows 7, then you’re one of the lucky ones.

These two OSs have fast search system through its indexing options. However, there’s a very practical program that handles file searching quicker than Vista and 7’s indexing. It’s no other than the nifty Locate32. This software was released in early 2008 – way way ahead of Windows 7. It searches files the quickest way possible — via a simple fitted database.

Moreover, this program allows some search customization and external hard-drive integration. To try the convenience of this application, download it at http://locate32.net/content/view/18/31. For 32-bit computers, click the link like the one below.

Press the Save File button to save and download the file in your preferred local folder.

After the download is finish, open it.

As a security warning, you will be asked to confirm if you want to run the installer. Click the Run button to proceed.

Select Locate32’s destination directory, which has its default location at C:\Program Files\Locate. Press Next >.

You will then be asked if you want to include some components of the program. For software compatibility, leave all check-boxes checked (the default option) and press Next >.

The subsequent form will show you the shortcut setting. You can leave it as it is and click the Next > button.

Some additional tasks are then shown. Check all options that apply to you and press Finish.

The installation is now complete. Click OK to close the dialog box.

To open the program for the first time, go to its installation directory, which is in C:/Program Files/Locate32, and click the Locate32 icon (as shown below).

This is the software’s main interface.

Before you can search your computer, you must first update Locate32’s built-in database. Remember that you only have to update your database if you’ve added or installed new files into your computer. For this illustration, we will update the database because we are using Locate32 for the first time.

There are two ways to update the database. The first way is by clicking the File menu, Update Database, and hitting default (the default database file).

The second way is by directly clicking the Update Databases sub-menu. This is also the step if you’ve created several databases and you want to update them altogether. But for now, you only have one database.

You will know that the program’s database is updating when you see this message on your tray bar.

After the update process is finish, you will see this note on your tray bar.

You can now then search your computer. For this illustration, let’s say we want to search all filenames that contain the term “Snagit”. You will just have to input the term on the Named text box and press the Find Now button. Within just three seconds, Locate32 will display all matches.

Locate32 can also be used to search your external hard-drive or USB flash disk. Before you can do this, you must first create a new database for your hard-drive. You can also just add your external hard-drive to the existing default database.

To add some new settings, just click the Options menu and press Settings.

Click Databases and hit the New button.

Name the new database appropriately, put some information about it, and include some preferences. Click OK if all settings are reasonable to you.

Top 10 tools to automate repetitive tasks

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:47:00 +0000

Anyone who's performed the same mindless task more than a dozen times will know the benefits of finding some tool to do the job for you.

After all, why take five minutes to perform a set of repetitive commands when you might be able to press a single button, sit back and watch the task whizz by?

We've dug out 10 free tools that are designed to do the hard work, so you don't have to. Sit back, press a button, and enjoy...

1. FastStone Photo Resizer

Don't be fooled by the name, FastStone Photo Resizer does more than simply resize photos. Tick the boxes to rename or convert between various formats. If that's not enough, enable the advanced options and you can also resize, change canvas size, crop and rotate your photos, plus add watermarks, border effects and apply various adjustments (such as gamma or brightness).

In short, everything you could possibly need for bulk photo processing. It's free for personal use and just $19.95 for commercial use.

2. Phrase Express

Ever wished you could apply AutoText outside of Microsoft Office? Phrase Express enables you to do just that. Unlike AutoText you can assign keyboard shortcuts to your favourite text shortcuts, use a scripting language to produce more complicated macros, and there's a nifty predictive text option that throws up suggestions based on what it detects you're typing. Again, it's only free for personal use – prices start from US$29.95.

3. Format Factory

There are plenty of free tools for converting audio, video and photos between different formats, but Format Factory is unique in handling all three types with aplomb. Better still, it can mix and match different processing tasks in one batch, so you choose your files and how you want them converted, then leave it to its own devices.

4. Rename Master

If you find yourself facing the mind-numbing prospects of renaming a group of files, Rename Master will do the job for you in a fraction of the time. You can add, remove, append or replace part or all of the filename easily, and a built-in preview means you can easily exactly what you'll get before committing to the change.

5. Quick Search & Replace

One of the drawbacks of find and replace is that it only works on the currently open file. Quick Search & Replace enables you to search entire folders or drives for matching text strings in ASCII file - use wildcards to limit your search to specific files or types – then use the Search & Replace tab to make sweeping changes quickly.

6. AmpSoft WinOff

If you want to shut down, restart or put your computer into low-power mode at a specified time (or after a set period of time) then AmpSoft WinOff is the tool for you. It's particularly suited for that file server you installed in the attic...

7. Start-Q

Start-Q is designed for those systems where so many programs are competing for start-up resources your PC practically grinds to a halt after logging on to Windows. Use this to set the order in which your programs load, enabling you to reclaim system resources and start using your PC as soon as possible after the desktop appears.

8. Print Conductor

Need to print a load of documents in a hurry? Print Conductor might be the solution you need. It supports up to 16 file types, assuming you have the required programs (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe Reader) installed. Sadly, the program cannot print web pages if you have IE8 installed as it doesn't recognise the installation.

9. Batchrun

Batchrun is designed to help create simple batch files for launching programs, performing various file tasks and killing processes (gracefully or otherwise).

10. AutoHotKey

AutoHotKey enables you to create your own macros for use in any – or selected – programs. Either program your own scripts or – if you're lazy like us – record a combination of keystrokes and mouse clicks to generate your macro. It's based on AutoIt for those who want something even more powerful – if equally more complicated.

Free up memory in Chromium with a single click

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:58:00 +0000

You may not have played with Chromium's (or Google Chrome's) task manager before. It's really more intended for developer use, but it does provide some valuable functionality for the rest of us as well.

One which has been added recently is the ability to free up memory. Like other browsers, Chrome and Chromium can get a little RAM-hungry after extended browsing sessions. By adding the --purge-memory-button switch to your command line, you'll get exactly that -- a purge memory button on the Task Manager screen.

Once you've made the change, your shortcut's target should look like this (on Windows, of course):

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Chromium\Application\chrome.exe --purge-memory-button

Press shift + ESC after you've been browsing for a little while in Chromium top bring up the task manager. Press the purge button, and you'll notice several of your memory figures drop (some quite drastically).

This is a fairly recent addition to the Chromium nightly builds, so it has yet to arrive in the developer or beta versions of Chrome. Keep your eyes peeled, though - it's sure to arrive soon, at least on the dev channel.

Ubuntu 10.04 beta now available for download

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:50:00 +0000

With the final release of Ubuntu 10.04 due in just under a month, things appear to be right on schedule at Canonical. Yesterday the Lucid beta download page went live and eager testers rapidly descended upon the mirrors.

Watching Lucid evolve has been exciting. It's clear that Canonical is intent on creating a version of Ubuntu which can appeal to a broader base of computer users with a more select set of default programs, new visuals, built-in easy access to social networks via Gwibber, and loads of other improvements.

One key addition to the beta is Wubi. If you're not familiar with it, Wubi is a Windows program which allows you to install Ubuntu on the same drive as your Windows install. It's an extremely simple way to take Ubuntu for a test drive -- or make it a permanent fixture on your system.

If you give Ubuntu 10.04 a try at this point, it's important to remember that you will encounter glitches. There's still plenty of work to do (and bugs to squash) at this point. Wubi, for example, was able to install 10.04 and modify my Windows boot menu, but GRUB failed to load and I couldn't boot into Ubuntu.

Overall, however, the Lucid beta feels fast, it's very usable, and I can definitely see myself using 10.04 as my primary OS. Will the computing masses feel the same way? Probably not, but there's no doubt that the improvements in Lucid will help increase in Ubuntu's market share.

You can download the Ubuntu 10.04 beta and try it out for yourself

6 Tips For Google Chrome

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:29:00 +0000

It is true that Google chrome features minimal features and allows the user to surf on the net with ease by knowing some of the interesting tips in Google Chrome user can enhance the browsing experience and navigate within and between the web pages easily. Here in are some tips for Google Chrome that come in handy while surfing and to move around the features faster.

1) Like in the Firefox you can also open new web pages in the same window by tabs. To open a new tab press Ctrl + T a new tab will open in the same window. If you wish not to save any browsing history in the browsers history you can choose incognito mode by pressing Ctrl + Shift + N this opens a new window that runs in incognito mode such that you won’t leave a trace of the web pages that you have visited in this window on your computer. You can also right lick on any link and choose to open in incognito window.

2) If in case you have accidentally closed a tab you can retrieve the tab immediately. To open the recently closed tab just click on the back button and hold it for few seconds all the recent visited pages will be displayed in the popup menu. Open a new tab and right click or hold on the back button from the popup menu select the tab and it gets restored. Or you can just press Ctrl + Shift + T to open the last closed tab if you press the key combination once again the perversely closed tab will open.

3) The address bar of the Google chrome serves two functions, it can be used to open a URL or just type in the keyword to search on Google or any of the default search engine. You can see suggestions returned by Google while you type in the address bar such that you can directly go to that page. It also gives matching websites from the history so that you can say keystrokes by directly selecting the URL from the suggestions.

You can also bookmark a web page quickly by clicking on the star symbol that is present next to the address bar. Security features in Google chrome has enhanced if the Google chrome detects any of the web pages that tries to send data using SSL you can know it. The address bar background color will turn gold and the URL in the address bar will appear green and a lock symbol will appear next to the address bar.

4) In the Google Chrome you can see what all the Tabs and plug-ins running in the background and also know how much memory they are using with the help of the built-in task manager. To improve the speed or to close any of the unnecessary tabs or plug-ins you can select it and press end task to close. Or you can just press Shift + Esc to open the Task manager

5) You can open a link in a specific tab by just dragging the link to the tab and the given link opens in that tab. If you wish to open the link in between two tabs then just drag the link to the space present between the tabs the links opens in the select position selected by you. By pressing Ctrl + 1 to 8 you can directly go to that tab the number represents the tab position on the tab strip in a window. Crtl + 9 take you directly to the last tab. To switch between tabs press Crtl + Tab or Crtl + Shift + Tab to move forward or backward through the tabs.

6) Crtl + B enables you toggle bookmark bar on and off and to open the history page press Crtl + J you can also link your Google account with the Google Chrome to store your browser history. If you choose to remove any of the items from the history page you can select the item and click on remove to delete it. You can also clear the history page to do that click on wrench icon that is present at the top and click on the clear browsing data.

To delete cookies click on the wrench icon select Options and in the under the hood section click on show cookies button and select remove all or you can remove any of the cookies.

Download This Article

AbiWord: Free Word Processing Program

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:23:00 +0000

‘AbiWord 2.6.8′ is a GNU free software which has been developed by AbiSource Community. This application is similar to Microsoft Word. This is a fully-featured word-processing program which is available for free.

Features:

The application works on multiple platforms and combines sophisticated usability and great interoperability. It works on operating systems like Windows, Linux, QNX, FreeBSD or Solaris.
It features a powerful framework for supporting custom extensions.
This application has a lot of features which can be used for personal needs or daily work.
This is a unique word-processor because it is a cross-platform word-processor.
AbiWord can be run in many languages, which is why it has a massive potential user base.
This application is suitable for typing letters, papers, reports or memos.
This Word processor can read documents from industry standard document types like OpenOffice.org documents, Microsoft Word documents, WordPerfect documents, Rich Text Format documents, HTML web pages and many more.
AbiWord’s advanced document layout options enables to give your document that professional or scientific look.
AbiWord has a built-in spell checker and this feature is available for over 30 languages.
This application supports left-to-right, right-to-left and mixed-mode text, which means that it supports Arabic and Hebrew languages as well.
This application also has Mail-Merge feature, which help you in mass mailing.
AbiWord has a powerful command-line interface in order to facilitate it in a server environment. This feature allows you to print documents, generate form letters or convert documents to any file format.
This application requires very few resources to run.
AbiWord’s functionality can be extended with the help of a variety of plugins that range from Document Importers to Thesaurus, a Text Summarizer and Image Importers.
This application has a special feature of integrating itself perfectly with operating system it runs on. The application utilizes the functionality which is provided by the system, for things such as printing or image loading.

This version of AbiWord is the latest stable release, which has been improved by performing important bug fixes, as compared to the previous version of v2.6.6.

The changes brought about in this release of the application are as follows:

Export table border and cell styles properly for OpenDocument documents
Make the auto-save feature to actually work and allowing for user selected time interval
Make sure that valid documents are written out by the Office Open XML exporter
Many memory leaks have been fixed

Technical features:

The size of the application is 5.63 MB
The operating systems on which this application can work are: Win 2K/03/XP/Vista
The url available for download is Link

Windows Screenshot for AbiWord:

Download This Article

Analyze and Improve Your Writing with PaperRater

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:51:00 +0000

Does the thought of writing make you nauseated? Do you struggle with grammar? If you are a student, do your papers look like a red-ink blood bath when the teacher returns them to you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Paper Rater might be the answer to your problems.

Using PaperRater is easy—copy and paste your entire paper, including works cited (if writing a research paper) into the text box. Paper Rater warns that it is only designed to work with high school level writing and above.

Next, select the kind of paper you have written. If you are writing for the Web, using the essay analysis is probably the best idea. There are options for just about any kind of writing, though, including movie reviews.

Finally, click Get Report.

Paper Rater instantly evaluates the paper for plagiarism, grammar, style, word choice and vocabulary. Each of these categories is marked in a different color, making edits easy.

For grammar issues, words or phrases are underlined in green. Click on the underlined words and Paper Rater tells you how to fix the issue.

The same options are available for word choice and spelling issues. Spelling problems are underlined in red, while word choice problems are underlined in blue. Word choice issues have an option to explain the problem, in case you do not understand why your expressions are faulty.

Style is also analyzed, but not underlined. In the academic world, using the passive voice is completely forbidden. Paper Rater explains the passive voice, then tells you how to fix it. Avoiding to be is first on the list.

Paper Rater also rates your vocabulary. If you used big words correctly, you will receive praise.

Unfortunately, Paper Rater has one deficiency that cannot be overlooked. The plagiarism checker is not a keen as it should be. The paper we used for our test is almost completely plagiarized (the student that submitted the paper received an F), yet this was Paper Rater’s analysis:

Those attempting to plagiarize should be warned that this particular paper was caught immediately with TurnItIn, the most popular of the plagiarism detection tools for teachers and professors worldwide. The student copied directly from Wikipedia for part of the paper, yet Paper Rater did not catch it.

So, if you are looking for advice on grammar, style and vocabulary, Paper Rater is an excellent tool. But, if you are looking to see if your cheating methods will fool your teacher, it’s best to either not cheat, or use a different analyzer.

Create a “Switch Between Windows” Shortcut in Windows 7

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:43:00 +0000

The Aero Desktop introduced in Windows Vista and now part of Windows 7 made amazing visual enhancements to an otherwise static desktop found in previous versions of the operating system. One useful feature is the ability to cycle through open windows and programs using a three-dimensional interface.

Unfortunately, Microsoft made access to this feature a bit complicated for some people. By holding down the Windows key on the keyboard and continually tapping the Tab key, you can cycle through your open windows in three dimensions.

Given that this feature is difficult to access, most people resort to the taskbar to switch between windows. However, there is a way to create a shortcut to this feature so you are just one click away from using the Aero Desktop 3-D windows switching method. Read on to learn how.

Create a Switch Between Windows Icon

To create your Switch Between Windows shortcut, begin by right clicking on thedesktop and selecting New and then Shortcut.

Windows will then ask you for the location of the item. Type the following line into the input box:

C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe DwmApi #105

Notice that there is a space between exe and DwmApi and another space between DwmApi and #105. Also, if your copy of Windows is on another driver other than C, change C to the drive where Windows is installed.

Click on the Next button and Windows will ask you to name your shortcut. Type in the name Switch Between Windows and click the Finish button. Truthfully, you could name this shortcut anything you want but it makes sense to use the name above so you can identify it easily later.

You should now have the Switch Between Windows shortcut on your desktop. However, you can give it the appropriate icon so it is easier to identify.

Right click on the Switch Between Windows shortcut and choose Properties.

On the Shortcut tab, click the Change Icon button.

Click the Browse button and locate the file at:

C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll

Be careful because there are several files in that folder with similar names. Again, if your copy of Windows is installed on a driver other than C, change the driver letter to wherever you have Windows installed. Choose the icon in the upper left hand corner that looks like a bunch of stacked windows.

Click the OK button and then click the OK Button on the window underneath. The icon of your Switch Between Windows shortcut should change to the one you chose.

Using the Switch Between Windows Shortcut

Now that you have the new shortcut, click on it and notice that you don’t have to hold down any keys to make it work. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to flip between open windows and use the Enter key to choose the window you want.

However, storing the Switch Between Windows key on the desktop would mean that you need to minimize all windows currently open to get to it. To make your new shortcut more convenient to use, drag the shortcut to the taskbar to pin it. Now your Switch Between Windows shortcut will always be visible and ready to use.

Using the Windows key plus Tab combination is an awkward method of switching between windows using the Aero desktop. By creating a shortcut and pinning it to the taskbar, you always have the ability to use this feature in a much easier way.

Enable Windows 7 Check Boxes

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:34:00 +0000

Have you ever needed to clean out a folder with a lot of files in Windows Explorer in Windows 7 but you only want to delete selected files? Well, instead of using the cumbersome Ctrl-Select method, which is prone to errors that cause you to start over, there is an easier way.

Windows 7 allows you to select files in Windows Explorer using check boxes. Simply select the files you want by selecting a check box next to each file. You do not need to use the Ctrl key.

Start by navigating to the folder containing the files you want to select. Then, selectFolder Options from the Tools menu.

The Folder Options dialog box displays. Click on the View tab and scroll down under Advanced settings until you find the Use check boxes to select itemsoption. Select the check box next to that item to turn it on. Click Apply and then click OK.

Now when you put your mouse over a filename, a check box displays to the left of the filename. To select that file, select the check box.

Now you don’t have to worry about accidentally letting up on the Ctrl key while selecting your files and having to start selecting them all over. Any files you select using a check box stay selected unless you click the check box to unselect the file.

Discover All Devices Including Those Behind Firewalls With Fing

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Remember Look@Lan? Users criticized it as a bloated monitoring software that wouldn’t work. For some it was a life-saver, as it happens to monitor everything happening over the network. The app is long dead and born from it’s ashes comes a whole new network discovery tool called Fing.

Fing is, as of now, only a command-line tool, the GUI is coming soon according to the developer. It is faster and smarter than Look@Lan and aims to become an ultimate network discovery application. It can detect all devices, both wireless and wired, including those which are behind the firewalls.

Run Fing executable and you will see the command line window as shown in the screenshot below.

Hit D to Discover networks, S to Scan networks, P to Ping, or I to Display Information. You will be asked a bunch of questions before the process starts.

The result are not shown in command-line tool, rather they are saved as output in Log or Table, in Text or CSV format depending on the user. While testing we were impressed to find out the information contained in the output file, it did indeed manage to find out all devices over the network.

The app is not exclusive to Windows, versions for Linux and Mac are also available. According to the developer, it works seamlessly on Windows 7.

Download Fing

Comical – A Desktop Application For Web Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:55:00 +0000

Web Comics are gaining quite some popularity these days with hundreds of new comic publishers starting up every year. Among these comics are few that stand out but what better way than to read them on the desktop? As an avid comic fan, subscribing to multiple comic feeds and following them can be both hectic and tiresome.

Meet Comical. It is a straightforward desktop application for popular web comics that can download the daily comics for you without having to visit all the websites. Unlike ComicRack and Comic Books Reader, the app lists all the daily comics on the left sidebar making them easier to download and read in one click. Since it is based on open XML format, anyone can add support to additional comics.

There are a bunch of options, allowing users to import directory, images, copy to clipboard, launch the comics in full screen, and more. The text that accompanies the comic but is not included in the comic itself can also be read by hovering the mouse over the small text at the bottom of the comic.

Download Comical

How to Upgrade from Windows 7 RC to Final

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:20:00 +0000

So the Windows 7 deadline is fast approaching. Officially, there's no way to upgrade from your RC to retail. But in the real world, it only requires a Windows 7 ISO image and editing a single file in Notepad.

Here are the quick text instructions. After the jump you can find detailed (and possibly really boring) screenshots.

Get the MS USB/DVD Download Tools (Password : techresolve.blogspot.com)

Put your Windows 7 Utlimate ISO on a USB stick. Note that it must be Ultimate, and that it has to correspond to the one you've got installed (x86 or x64).

Edit sources\cversion.ini and change MinClient from 7233.0 to 7000. Save and close.

Install from within Windows so that it upgrades (installing by booting from the USB will give you a fresh install and defeat what we're trying to do here).

And if you'd like to see the excruciatingly detailed screenshots, keep on reading.

Make sure your USB device is large enough. It actually has to be empty, as I later discovered.

Point the USB/DVD Download Tool at your ISO file. (Must be Windows 7 Ultimate, because the RC was Ultimate).

Click USB device here.

Click Begin copying.

This is where you get the alert if your USB drive isn't empty. If you get this, select Erase USB Device (obviously, back it up first if you want to).

Now the DVD tool does its thing:

Now go to the USB drive, and sources\cversion.ini. Double-click it to open it in notepad.

Change this:

To this:

Save and close. You can now upgrade your Windows 7 RC with the Final version by installing it from within Windows.

On Screen Volume Control Indicator For Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:40:00 +0000

Depending on the manufacturer, some sound cards and laptops come with a eye candy on-screen volume control indicator software. Even though it can be useful, many users have no choice but to use the default Windows Volume Control options. After all, what’s the point of having an eye candy interface without any functionality?

3RVX brings not only an on-screen volume control indicator but also includes hotkeys to take full control of it. The on screen volume displays are skinnable and by default you will find 8 different skins, with more that can be downloaded from the developer’s site.

Once launched, the app sits in the system tray and can be set to launch with Windows. The behavior and display settings are customizable and so are the hotkeys. Right-click the system tray icon and hit Settings, here you can change the general settings, display settings, hotkeys, and choose the skin.

To add a custom skin, download the skin from the repository provided by the developer, extract them, and add the folders inside the Skins directory. To quickly open the Skins directory, navigate to Skin Chooster tab and hit Open Skin Folder.

We have posted few volume indicator skins below for your viewing pleasure.

What makes it a useful app are the hotkeys, hold Win key and move the mouse wheel up and down to increase and decrease the volume respectively. Win+Middle Mouse Button will Mute and Unmute the Volume.

Download 3RVX

Download 3RVX Skins

For best experience give it a shot on Windows 7. It does however also work with Windows XP and Windows Vista.

How To Trigger Wake On LAN Using The MAC Address

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

So you want to have your machines go to sleep when they are not working and then be able to remotely connect to them and have them automagically respond? This is cross platform and can potentially work on any computer.

The computers can be in a totally powered off state (but still connected to the power outlet) and woken up all the way to a simple stand-by mode. This is called Wake On LAN. According to Wikipedia, Wake-on-LAN is an Ethernet computer networking standard that allows a computer to be turned on or woken up by a message. The message is usually sent by a simple program executed on another computer on the local area network. Wake-on-LAN is also known asWake on LAN, WOL, or sometimes WoL. It may also be known as Remote Wake-Up or RWU.

Before we begin, we should go over the system requirements for using Wake On LAN. The system you are launching the Wake On LAN command from does not need to match the requirements — just the machine you will be waking up. Here they are, right from the sameWikipedia page:

Wake-on-LAN support is implemented on the motherboard of a computer and the network interface, and as such, is not dependent on the operating system running on the hardware, although the operating system can sometimes control the Wake-on-LAN behavior. If the network interface is a plug-in card rather than being integrated into the motherboard, the card may need to be connected to the motherboard by a cable. Motherboards with an embedded Ethernet controller which supports Wake-on-LAN do not need a cable.

If you are having issues with WOL, check your BIOS setting and make sure if the Ethernet card is a add-on card, it is still connected to the motherboard via a cable.

There are many ways to trigger a Wake On LAN event and we will be exploring how to do Wake on LAN using the Mac Address of the machine in question. The MAC address is a unique address given to your network adapter or NIC. To find your MAC address, you can dig into your network adapter’s properties. But to find a remote machine’s MAC address or yours easily, we can use this simple command line application MCGETMAC.EXE. Download that and run it from the command line like so:

You need to go to Start – Run and type CMD then navigate to the directory you stored MCGETMAC.exe and then run it using either of these two syntaxes:

MCGETMAC.exe Hostname

MCGETMAC.exe IP Address

So I could use MCGETMAC.exe 127.0.0.1 to return my local machine’s MAC address or I could use MCGETMAC.exe KarlXP to grab it. Once you have it, store it in a safe place. Next, we will need to download MC-WOL.EXE both of these files are from here.

Save that EXE file to the same place you have saved MCGETMAC.exe for ease of use. Now you can go back to your CMD window and type MC-WOL.exe and the MAC address. In my case, I typed MC-WOL.exe 00:0C;F1:F9:6F:F2 and hit Enter. This was my result:

The “Magic Packet” was sent to my remote machine and I was able to wake it up. Now I can include these commands in batch files or scripts and save power and money while I am at it!

Have you ever used the Wake on LAN feature with the mac address? Any luck getting it to work properly?

Windows Search Indexer

noreply@blogger.com (Sajeev C) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:14:00 +0000

We know that the default Windows Indexing and Search feature is quite slow, Everythingand neoSearch are both excellent 3rd party tools that can quickly index your files and perform a quick real-time search as you type. There is however another tool that has been left in the dark called Index Your Files.

Index Your Files is a more advanced search tool with an explorer-like interface that shows the preview of the files, unlike Everything and neoSearch which have a simple user interface. The indexing takes some time but is quite fast.

It indexes the content of the files as well and searches by name, date, size, or wildcards. The indexing and searching operations can be performed in the background. The results can be arranged by name, folder, extensions, date, and size. Not to forget that it integrates in the Windows Explorer context menu.

In order to work faster, it creates multiple databases as compared with other tools that use a single database to work with. The databases can be found listed in the Index Menu tab where you can add, edit, delete, import, or export it.

Apart from indexing local files, it works equally fast in indexing the files over local networks. The indexing can be scheduled from within the program. It has to be noted that the preview pane on the right side of the interface shows both the text content and images. Since it is portable, you can run the app from the USB memory stick.

Download Index Your Files