The option left behind is using an online VPN service. Most online VPN services are paid services. So if we want to use an online VPN service, we have to buy it first. But here are 5 services that I have come across and have been using over a period of time. So if you are having troubles in opening any website and your ISP or your country is blocking any site, you can easily use one of these services to access the blocked content without anyone knowing about it.

AlonWeb

AlonWeb uses the OpenVPN software which is malware free. So it’s pretty safe to use AlonWeb VPN service. Just download the OpenVPN client software below and then download the Alonweb certificate and configuration file.

Copy the configuration file in the config folder in OpenVPN installation directory.

Now register for a new user account on AlonWeb VPN service.

Connect through OpenVPN using the username and password which you just registered.

UltraVPN

UltraVPN is similar to AlonWeb. It is also based on OpenVPN service. It is also very easy to use. Just download the UltraVPN client from below and register for UltraVPN service here. Right click the UltraVPN icon placed in the status bar and select connect.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

JAP

JAP is the VPN service I mostly use now. JAP is a german service so the IPs assigned to the JAP user will be Germany based. JAP software can be downloaded below. It doesn’t require any username or password. Just install the software, run it and enjoy anonymous connectivity to the internet.

HotSpot

HotSpot has long been the best and the only VPN service that was very popular and was easy to use. But now I have abondoned it because of its advertisements that come on while we are browsing the internet. Anyways if you want to use HotSpot online VPN service, you can download it below:

PacketiX.NET

PacketiX.NET is the latest of my finds and works pretty well. But the problem is that it is a commercial software but the trial version is available. So it can be used freely without purchasing it. Just download the VPN connection manager from below and install it and make a new VPN connection in the connection manager and surf the web through PacketiX.NET VPN service.

Register with PacketiX.NET service here.

Sometimes there are multiple versions of DotNet Framework installed on the system and it’s very difficult to see which of them are installed. There is a utility called DetectDotNet which tells which versions of DotNet Framework are installed on the system.DetectDotNet is portable so it can be placed in a USB pen drive and used where ever needed.

Download:

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

There are security software like antivirus, anti-malware, firewalls and internet security suites but how do we know that they are protecting our system? This is what we should be able to know from these softwares. But unfortunately most of the security softwares do not give any information regarding this in an effort to be more and more user friendly.

There are some tools available which separately serve this very purpose of identifying the key areas of system security and letting us know what we are lacking in our system.

One of those tools is an online tool hosted at Berkeley, University of California. I think it gives a very comprehensive information about where we have secured our system and where are are lacking the security. It also gives information about the vulnerability and suggests possible solutions to block the threat.

It analyses a lot of areas including the following:

• Address-based Tests
• Reach-ability Tests
• Network Access Link Properties
• HTTP Tests
• DNS Tests
• Host Properties

Just go to the following website and press

Netalyzer

Now the problem is that if I get a short URL link from an unknown or even known person, how do I know what is the real URL? I don’t know whether the real URL is a legitimate web address or is being used for spoofing purposes. So I need to know the real URL first before I open the link in my browser to make sure that we don’t get compromised.

Today I found an extension for firefox that serves the very purpose of converting the shorter URLs back into their original ones. The extension name is Untiny.

When this plugin is installed, an icon comes in the address bar of Firefox as shown in the picture below:

The extension can be downloaded from below:

Download Untiny Firefox Extension

If you don’t want to download the extension, then you can go to http://www.untiny.com and type in the URL which you want to reveal and press Extract. Untiny will show you the real URL.

Another way to extract the original URL is to type the following in your address bar and press enter:

http://untiny.com/?url=http://tiny.pl/htk&show=y

where the red coded text is the link of the Tiny URL.

Although it provides quite a bit of information but a lot of information is still missing. I wanted a portable tool that could provide me system information with easy to understand information gathering and organization.

Today I have found System Spec which is a portable tool for gathering system information. So we can take it in our USB drive and use it wherever we want.

The home screen shows a lot of information about the hardware installed but this is only a summary. If you want to see a detailed information about your hardware, then you have to go to other tabs like Memory, Display, Drives, CPU and a lot more. Just go on and you’ll be amazed how much information this small tool gives.

I was amazed to see the specs of my RAM. It also showed that I have two modules of RAM installed and information about both of them was given separately.

And it has got loads of information about the hard drive too. It gives the information that, otherwise, is not very easy to get. Only techie people will be able to extract that information with the help of advanced system tools.

It was fun exploring this little tool in terms of size but it’s huge in terms of information.

Website

Download

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

The world cup of Twenty20 cricket is taking place for the second time in England. The tournament has 12 teams. For fixtures, scores and more information about all the teams, you can go to one of the following sites:

http://www.cricinfo.com

http://www.cricbuzz.com

http://www.cricpoint.com

http://www.cricketpulse.com

I have been searching for a site that streams all the Twenty20 cricket matches live. I have found many sites but all of them require payments and memberships. At last I have found a site that is streaming all the ICC World cup Twenty20 matches for free. You can go to the following site and see all the matches live.

Site: www.crictime.com

Usually the site is slow to open because of the load on the servers. If you experience problems in streaming the matches, try the other servers. There are four servers that stream the matches. Select the one which streams best for you.

Go to Start Menu –> Run –> control userpasswords2 and press Enter.

User Accounts Dialog Box will appear, Go to Advance Tab and Click on the Manage Password Button. In Stored User Names and Password press  the Remove Button and Remove all users information that you want to delete.

If you have any questions or queries regarding Computer Technology, please post your question in our forums.

It is a difficult job and takes a long time. But you can do it online in few seconds.

Just click on the link below and choose an effect. Next browse for your photograph.

It will create your photograph in the selected effect. Then click on save to disk. That you have done.

I created the following photographs from the original one:

Original one is:

And the ones I created from this service:

And this one also:

Go to the following website and try with your own photos

http://www.photofunia.com

Today I’m writting about a little tool I’ve created today: Change Task Manager 1.0.

It does exactly as it’s name suggests, allows user to change default windows task manager and use either Process Explorer or Process Hacker.

One day I was browsing the internet from an internet caffe and my computer was running so slowly and finally was blocked. I tried to launch Task Manager, but however internet caffees block it and don’t allow user to stop processes or programs from task manager. So I thought it would be a nice idea if I could use any alternative software to replace default task manager. I usually use Process Explorer, and I created a little tool to install it,  and Process Hacker, and to allow me to change betwen them if I want.

Now whenever I go in internet caffees I simply install it and voila! I can do what I want!

Note: When you uninstall, it will restore windows task manager as default.

Hope you will like it.

…and be techdated… USB Hidden Coppier v.1.2Pro is comming now…!

Download:

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

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We have already written about disabling services to speed up Windows XP and also about disabling some services to speed up Windows Vista. But the problem with these manual methods is that only moderately literate users can understand which services are important for them and which are slowing down the system and need to be disabled.

Today while browsing the internet, I found a small free utility which can do all this hectic work automatically. It will automatically disable services which are not used by most of the people. It’s called Vista Services Optimizer. This free tool can optimize the performance of Windows Vista a lot.

Another advantage of Vista Services Optimizer is that it is not only automatic for general users but also can be used by advanced users as it also offers manual selection of services to be disabled. Vista Services Optimizer will provide a detailed overview of almost all the services.

Vista Services Optimizer can also inspect the performance of the system. So if the performance of the system is going down, you can optimize it a little more.

And last but not least, it’s safe to use Vista Services Optimizer as it creates a backup of the system state so that if anything goes wrong, the backup of the system is readily available and can be restored immediately.

Website

Download

1- C’t Offline Update

C’t Offline Update is a small software which lets you choose the operating system for which you want to download the updates. You can always stay up to date by manually downloading all the updates for your version of Windows. The advantage of C’t Offline Update is that the downloaded updates remain downloaded and ready for installation if you decide to re-install Windows again.

Website and Download

2- Windows Updates Downloader (WUD)

Windows Updates Downloader is a enhanced approach to download Windows updates for offline use. It lets you select which updates to download in addition to selecting your operating system. Once you download Windows Updates Downloader, you have to download the latest Update Lists (ULs). The link to downloading Update Lists is also given below.

Website

Download

Update Lists

3- Windz Updates

Windz Updates functions like the original Windows Update site. It requires a plugin to be installed to detect which updates are needed to be installed on your operating system. It is especially useful when anyone does not want to use the default Internet Explorer. Windz Updates plugin is not compatible with Internet Explorer while it can be installed for Opera and Mozilla Firefox. When the installation is complete, just scan for updates and install them.

Website and Download

4- SoftwarePatch

Softwarepatch is rather a specialized site which contains some but not all the updates to different Microsoft softwares including Microsoft Windows. If anyone wants to download a specific update or a Microsoft software, then this site is a suitable choice.

Website

5- Shavlik Patch Google Gadget

Shavlik provides a google gadget for downloading and installing the latest patches for the system. You must be running Google Desktop to run this gadget.

Website

Download

What Rohos Mini Drive does is that it creates an encrypted partition on the USB drive which can only be opened if correct password is given. So how to protect the items on your USB drive using Rohos Mini Drive? Just download and install Rohos Mini Drive. Run Rohos Mini Drive and it will automatically detect if there is any removable drive already inserted. The it gives the options of creating an encrypted partition on the USB drive. You can give the partition size.

Rohos Mini Drive program doesn’t create a real partition on the USB drive. So when you insert your USB drive into USB port, only one drive letter will appear in Windows. Second (secured) drive will appear only after you active it by entering a password.

The click on Create disk and the partition will be created. On the USB drive one folder called _rohos and a file called Rohos mini.exe are created. If you go to another computer and insert your USB driver there, you just have to execute Rohos mini.exe file. It will automatically create a partition called R: (R drive is the default. You can change in the configuration). Access the R: drive from My Computer and place anything in it. When you’re done, just right click the Rohos Mini Drive icon in the system tray and select disconnect R: Now you can safely remove your USB drive. The data is safe and sound in your USB, encrypted and password protected.

If you want to backup your encrypted data, just go to _rohos folder (which is hidden and marked as system folder) and copy the rdisk.rdi file to a safe place. If you want to restore, go to the main interface of Rohos Mini Disk and select Restore.

Homepage: http://www.rohos.com/products/rohos-mini-drive/

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Today I came across another software which can hide any folders and files and only the person who knows the password can unhide it. It is safe to hide folders with WinMend Folder Hidden because the folders and files can’t be shown even on a different system.

Install WinMend Folder Hidden and give a password to access the program again. Now Hide and unhide files and folders from the menu. All the items will be hidden instantaneously.

When you want to unhide the folder or file, just open WinMend Folder Hidden again. It will ask for the password you had set previously.

Key in the password and it will open. Now select the items you want to unhide and select Unhide. It’s that simple!

WinMend Folder Hidden can even hide files and folders in the USB drive. And it’ll not be shown even if I take the USB drive anywhere else.

Now about a few problems I’m having with this software..

I don’t know whether I’ll be able to retrieve the hidden files and folders if I re-install Windows and then WinMend Folder Hidden.

There is no disaster recovery or backup solution given by WinMend Folder Hidden.

If anyone has the answers to these questions, please do let me know.

Homepage:
http://www.winmend.com/folder-hidden/

Download:

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I also use DFX Audio enhancer for enhancing voice quality in my Windows Media Player. The problem with DFX is that it’s not free and I love freewares.

While crawling the internet, I came across a very good site which offers to make the audio louder. It has four levels of loudness. Light, Loud, Louder, Loudest. Choose whichever you want to make your audio.

No software installation is required. You just have to upload the audio clip and then download the louder version instantaneously. The limitations of this service include that it only allows 10MB of audio clip to be processed. And the other limitation is the file format. Only wav and mp3 formats can be processed. But usually only these file types have a low audio quality. So it normally remains good and useful most of the time.

Site: http://www.vloud.com/

[via]

1. Tried to find videos from popular video streaming sites like Youtube or Dailymotion etc?
2. Tried to play videos including DVDs using a media player and got an error of codec not installed?
3. Wanted to send videos and movies to your friends but failed due to size limitations of the file hosting services?
4. Wanted to convert one video format to another but couldn’t find an appropriate converter?
5. Wanted to manage all your videos in one place but couldn’t find a better video catalog?
6. And many more questions regarding videos.

PUMP is one software that has an aim to answer all these questions and features in one box. That is PUMP will have all the features that one can think of related to videos from searching the videos online, to downloading them and managing them in one place. Most of the features are already incorporated. You can see the features in the following video.

Right now PUMP is in closed beta but don’t worry I have got the invite codes for my visitors so that Technize users can test the software before it is even released to rest of the public.

First of all I would like you to see the video explaining what actually PUMP is:

This video pretty much explains what actually PUMP does. Right now I’m also testing the software and am finding it very much useful for my own use. I would strongly recommend to atleast test it once. I hope if you use it once, you’ll use it forever

If you want to download PUMP, go to the following URL:

http://pump.vipeers.com/download.php

When asked for the invitation code, give the following code:

PUMP-TECHNIZE-1000

The download will start for you. This invite code is valid for 1000 downloads, so hurry up and grab your download before the invitation code expires. Please test the software and give your comments here. I would love to hear from you on this sweet software.

A program or software may stop responding due to several reasons including but not limited to hardware conflicts, lack of resources or bugs in the software itself. Generally the approach taken to kill/close the processes that are not responding is to go to task manager and “End Task” the frozen app. But if this happens frequently, then it’s better to try out one or all of the ways that I am mentioning here.

1- Kill

Kill is a little app written with AutoHotkeys which does the work as its name suggests. It can kill any process or application with only one click. If the application stops responding, just double click the Kill app and then click on the window that you want to terminate.

Download:

2- xKill

xKill is a similar app to Kill but it’s more advanced in the sense that it can run in the system tray and has a shortcut to activate kill mode. So if an application is not responding, just press Ctrl – Alt – BackSpace. This will activate the kill mode and clicking on any window will terminate that process. To deactivate the kill mode without killing any app, just press Esc.

Download:

3- Registry hack

Windows has an Auto End Task timer which means that after a specified time interval, the not responding applications will be terminated automatically. Setting this Auto End Task timer to 0 seconds will terminate the not responding apps instantaneously.

To alter the registry setting for this timer:

Go to Start –> Run –> regedit

Go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

In the right hand pane, find the key called “WaitToKillAppTimeout”, double click it and set the time to wait for not responding applications to come back to normal. The time is in milliseconds. If you want to end the task immediately, give the value as 0 but this will not be wise.

4- Taskkill batch file/Command Line

There’s a Windows command called Taskkill which is used to terminate processes. Simply create a shortcut with the following command:

taskkill.exe /f /fi “status eq not responding”

You can also download this shortcut from the following location and use it from wherever you want.

5- Process Assassin

Process Assassin is a software utility that can terminate the not responding applications. If any application is not responding, just select it from the Process Assassin menu and terminate it. Process Assassin also includes a predefined set of famous applications that can be terminated easily.

Download:

Overclocking is the process of running a computer component at a higher clock rate (more clock cycles per second) than it was designed for or was specified by the manufacturer, usually practiced by personal computer enthusiasts seeking an increase in the performance of their computers.

More details about what is overclocking can be have from here.

ClockGen is a small software which combines overclocking of different components of the system and hence makes it very easy to overclock from one place. Another good thing about ClockGen is that it is portable meaning it doesn’t need to be installed. Just unzip it in a folder and run it from there.

A ClockGen software allow to dynamically overclock several devices of your system : CPU, memory, AGP and PCI bus

The main ClockGen window shows available functions on your system, therefore the layout may depend on your system specifications. If ClockGen is able to find a clock generator on your system, the buttons “PLL Control” and “PLL Setup” are present.

You first have to select the clock generator (PLL), so click on “PLL Setup”.
In some cases, ClockGen will be able to detect the PLL that is used by your system, especially if your mainboard is equipped with an nVidia chipset. In this case, you won’t be able to change the PLL model, and you can directly go to the “PLL Control” step.

Homepage: Although this little utility is from CPUID, I was not able to find this utility from their website. So I downloaded it from Extremeoverclocking.

Download: Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Method 2
Go to Start>>regedit and navigate to the follwing key.
HKLR/Directory/Shell and in the right hand pane change the default valus data as none.
Exit the registrty
Method 3
If you are not familiar with the registry editor then dont worry, just download the following registry file from the following link and double click on it to run.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
Method 4
You can use this small utility ” Flash Disinfector“. Just download and run it from you computer. Note that before running ” Flash Disinfector” close all your programmes and windows. The screen may go blank for a moment while you are running this utility. But don’t worry, this is normal.

Youmay need to restart your system after going through the above process.

http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/sUBs/Flash_Disinfector.exe