FixWindows: 2007

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Some Useful Run Commands

Some use ful run comands
To Access…. - Start - Run Command (Some of commands works according to OS Specifications) Accessibility Controls - access.cpl Add Hardware Wizard - hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools - control admintools Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt
Calculator - calc
Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc
Character Map - charmap Check
Disk Utility - chkdsk Clipboard
Viewer - clipbrd Command Prompt - cmd
Component Services - dcomcnfg
Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl
DDE Shares - ddeshare
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* - directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter - dxdiag Disk
Cleanup Utility - cleanmgr
Disk Defragment - dfrg.msc
Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager - diskpart Display Properties
- control desktop
Display Properties - desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) - control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility - drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility - verifier
Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool - sigverif
Findfast - findfast.cpl
Folders Properties - control folders
Fonts - control fonts Fonts Folder - fonts
Free Cell Card Game - freecell Game Controllers
- joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) - gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game - mshearts
Iexpress Wizard - iexpress
Indexing Service - ciadv.msc I
nternet Properties - inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) - ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /displaydns IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections) - ipconfig /release IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) - ipconfig /renew IP Configuration
(Refreshes DHCP & Re - Registers DNS) - ipconfig /registerdns IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /showclassid IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed) - jpicpl32.cpl Java Control Panel (If Installed) - javaws Keyboard Properties - control keyboard Local Security Settings - secpol.msc Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc Logs You Out Of Windows - logoff
Microsoft Chat - winchat
Minesweeper Game - winmine
Mouse Properties - control mouse
Mouse Properties - main.cpl
Network Connections - control
netconnections Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard - netsetup.cpl
Notepad - notepad Nview
Desktop Manager (If Installed) - nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager - packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator - odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard - osk Opens AC3 Filter
(If Installed) - ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties - password.cpl
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor - perfmon Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
Power Configuration - powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes - control printers Printers
Folder - printers Private Character Editor - eudcedit Quicktime (If Installed) - QuickTime.cpl

Regional Settings - intl.cpl
Registry Editor - regedit
Registry Editor - regedit32 Remote Desktop - mstsc
Removable Storage - ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests - ntmsoprq.msc Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) - rsop.msc Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl Scheduled Tasks - control schedtasks Security Center - wscui.cpl Services - services.msc Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc Shuts Down Windows - shutdown Sounds and Audio - mmsys.cpl Spider Solitare Card Game - spider SQL Client Configuration - cliconfg System Configuration Editor - sysedit System Configuration Utility - msconfig System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) - sfc /scannow System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) - sfc /scanonce System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) - sfc /scanboot System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) - sfc /revert System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) - sfc /purgecache System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) - sfc /cachesize=x System Properties - sysdm.cpl Task Manager - taskmgr Telnet Client - telnet User Account Management - nusrmgr.cpl Utility Manager - utilman Windows Firewall - firewall.cpl Windows Magnifier - magnify Windows Management Infrastructure - wmimgmt.msc Windows System Security Tool - syskey Windows Update Launches - wupdmgr Windows XP Tour Wizard - tourstart Wordpad - write

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

5 useful Windows XP tricks

Don't just maximize your windows—go full screen
When you need a really big window, don't just maximize it: go full screen! To view a window full screen, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the window's title bar—or when the window is active, press the F11 key at the top of your keyboard—to get the biggest window possible
Add the Links toolbar to My Computer
You know what would make a great toolbar? One where you could put your favorite applications and documents so that you could open them from any window at any time. Guess what? You can and here's how: click Start, then My Computer. Now right-click the toolbar and then click Links. You now have the Links toolbar on your windows, just like in Internet Explorer. Note: Make sure that Lock the Toolbars is not checked. Click on it to deselect it if it is.
The really cool thing about the Links toolbar is that it's completely customizable. Try this: Navigate to your favorite application and drag and drop its icon to the Links toolbar. You just created a shortcut. Do this again and again for as many applications as you want to appear on the toolbar
Arranging windows on your desktop
You can display any two windows side by side on the desktop by first clicking a window's button on the Taskbar. Next, press and hold the Ctrl key and right-click the second window that you want to open, then click Tile Vertically. This works great when you want to view two Word or Internet Explorer windows at the same time
Organize your files into groups
Organize your files by grouping them. Try this: Open a folder containing several different subfolders and file types. Right-click any empty space on the window's contents pane, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Show in Groups. To arrange the window's contents, right-click again in any empty space on the window's contents pane, point to Arrange Icons By, and click Name, Size, Type, or Modified
Make your own icons
It's shockingly easy to create your own icons in Windows XP. Let's do it: Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Paint. On the Image menu, click Attributes. Type 32 for both the Width and Height of the document, and make sure that Pixels is selected under Units. Click OK to create a new 32x32-pixel document: the size of an icon.
Now add type, color, or do whatever you'd like to your image. I like to shrink photos (headshots work best) to 32x32 and simply paste them into my Paint document. When you're finished, open the File menu and click Save As. Use the dialog box to choose where you want to save your file, then give it a name followed by ".ico" (without the quotes), and click Save. (The extension ".ico" tells Windows that it's an icon file.) You just created an icon! Now you can change any shortcut or folder to your own icon—just browse to it on your hard drive.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Making Windows Xp Start 60% Faster

Making Windows Xp Start 60% Faster, tutorial...
Whenever you start your computer, you are faced with a few moments of thumb twiddling while Windows XP boots and prompts you to log on. Although you should expect to wait for a few moments, sometimes Windows XP seems to boot rather slowly. In fact, you may notice that over a period of time the PC that used to roar to life seems a bit sluggish instead. Fortunately, you can perform several techniques that help Windows XP get the bootup speed you want. This chapter explores how to put these techniques to work.Stopping Unneeded Startup ServicesAlong with the core operating system and programs that Windows XP runs when it starts, there is also a host of services involved. Many of these services are necessary for Windows XP to operate correctly. However, many of them are for features in Windows XP that you may not use at all. You can peruse the services and disable any service that you do not want to run. The fewer services that run, the more quickly Windows XP will boot.Caution:Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different areas of Windows XP. The first is the System Configuration Utility. The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer boots.You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box next to the service and clicking OK. However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service in question.Open Control Panel/Administrative ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.I prefer to use the Services console instead of the System Configuration Utility because it describes what the service does. Additionally, you can double-click a service and examine its properties.Notice the Startup Type column in Figure 4-2. This information lists whether the service is automatic or manual. Manual services are only started in Windows XP when you start a process that requires the service. Some other process may require the service that has a "dependency" relationship with it; in this case, the dependency service will start, as well. Because these services do not start automatically when you boot Windows XP, you do not need to do anything with manual services.However, all services listed as automatic start when Windows XP boots. These are the services that increase boot time. As I have mentioned, many of them are necessary and important, so you should not stop automatic services from booting unless you are sure of the ramifications. You can get this information by looking at the Description column. Here's a quick look at common services you may want to live without:Automatic Updates: This service enables Windows XP to check the Web automatically for updates. If you don't want to use Automatic Updates, you can disable the service. You can always check for updates manually at the Windows Update Web site.Computer Browser: If your computer is not on a network, you don't need this service. If you are on a network, leave it alone.DHCP Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are on a small workgroup, you can still increase boot time by configuring manual IP addresses (which I explore later in this chapter).DNS Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are, leave it alone.Error Reporting and Event Log: You don't have to use these services but they can be very helpful, so I would leave them configured as automatic.Fax: If you don't use your computer for fax services, you can disable this one.Help and Support: If you never use the Windows XP Help and Support Center (found on the Start menu), you can disable this service.IMAPI CD-Burning COM: This service enables you to burn CDs on your computer. If you never burn CDs, you can disable the service.Indexing Service: Your computer keeps an index of files but if you rarely search for files, the service is just a resource hog. You can stop it and turn the service to manual.Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing: If you do not use these features, you can disable them.Infrared Monitor: If you do not use infrared devices, you can disable this service.Messenger: This service sends alert messages on a local area network (it is not the same as Windows Messenger). If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.Print Spooler: If you do not do any printing from the computer, you can disable this service. If you print, make sure you leave it as automatic.Remote Registry: This service allows remote users to modify the Registry on your computer. If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.System Restore Service: This service allows you to use System Restore. If you have turned off System Restore anyway, you do not need to turn off the service. If you do, you turn off System Restore.Themes: If you do not use themes, you can disable this service.Windows Image Acquisition: If you do not use scanners or digital cameras, you can disable this service.Wireless Zero Configuration: If do not use wireless networking devices, you can disable this service.You may have a number of other automatic services, depending on software and other configurations on your computer. So it's a good idea to look through the services and learn more about them. If you double-click a service, a Properties dialog box appearsNotice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it. However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time.However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab (see Figure 4-4). This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.Keep in mind that services are necessary for the vast functionality you get with Windows XP. Change only those services that you understand and do not use. How you use your Windows XP computer should be the best guide in terms of optional startup services.Tip:The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board. You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore.Speed Tips and Tricks for Windows XP StartupAside from startup programs, services, and the Prefetch folder, there are a number of other startup procedures and issues you can modify to help Windows XP start faster. The following sections explore those tips and tricks.Manual IP Addressing on Small Office/Home NetworksWindows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server.The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn't have to spend time solving this problem.This isn't a networking book, however, so I won't delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer.Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button.In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape.Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions in this chapter.Disabling Recent Documents HistoryWindows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me.The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it. Here's how:1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.Disabling the Boot LogoYou can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn't such a big deal.)To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:1. Select Start/Run, type msconfig, and click OK.2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK.Removing Unwanted FontsOne trick that increases your boot time a bit is to lose any fonts in the Fonts folder in Control Panel that you never use. The more fonts you have, the more processing Windows XP has to do to prep all of those fonts for use. You must be a bit careful here to not remove fonts that you might want, but there is a good chance that you can live without many of them. For instance, you may have foreign language fonts and other symbol fonts (such as Wingdings) that you never use.To delete unneeded fonts, follow these steps:1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder.Tip:You can directly delete fonts from the Fonts folder without creating the secondary folder. However, I recommend the preceding steps to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the deletion process.Stopping Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop SharingIn Windows XP Professional, you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them.Note:If you are interested in using Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance, see my book Windows XP for Power Users: Power Pack published by John Wiley & Sons.1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.2. Click the Remote Tab.3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop.Speeding Up the Dual-Boot TimeoutIf you dual-boot your computer with Windows XP and another operating system, you see an operating system selection menu on startup. If you typically boot into Windows XP and not the other operating system, you can speed up the dual-boot timeout value so that you do not wait so long for the boot process to select your default operating system and continue with the boot process. The default timeout value is 30 seconds but you can change this setting to 10. This gives you enough time to select the alternate operating system if you want but also speeds up the boot process. You can skip this section if you do not use a dual-boot configuration.Follow these steps:1. Locate the boot.ini file on your computer. It is a hidden file by default; mine is located in C:\boot.ini.2. Open the file with Notepad (which is what opens it by default).3. Change the Timeout value to 10 (see Figure 4-11).4. Select File/Save and close Notepad.Speeding Up Your PPPoE ConnectionIf you use a Point-to-Point Protocol connection over Ethernet (PPPoE), you may notice a delay in using the PPPoE connection after startup. By default, there is a 120 second delay but you can stop this behavior by manually configuring an IP address for the network adapter card. If you do not use a PPPoE connection, you can skip this section.1. Select Start/Connect to/Show All Connections.2. Open the TCP/IP properties for your LAN network interface card.3. Manually set the IP address on the TCP/IP properties to an appropriate IP address and subnet mask for your network.Reducing the Wait TimeWhen you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this:1. Open the Registry Editor.2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000.3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well.4. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well.5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000.6. Close the Registry Editor.Automatically Killing Tasks on ShutdownYou know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task automatically. Here's how:1. Open the Registry Editor.2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1.4. Close the Registry Editor.Well thats about it... when you done all the steps you machine most run faster...without ANY errors

Friday, March 9, 2007

20 Things the average person doesn't know about Windows XP

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only). 2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only). An alternative is to press SHIFT-DEL.
3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.
4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can make it show everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be the software and you can now uninstall it.
5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options.
6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than many ISPs have, so you problably can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry.
7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system. (Professional Edition only)
8
. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can change things back by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.
9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.
10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your friend's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to http://www.whois.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.
11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.
12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might go insane before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.
13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.
14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.
15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.
16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.
17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.
18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.
19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.
20. Windows XP secretly KNOWS that the average user has no idea what they are doing. Therefore, it doesn't let you do really stupid things like deleting the windows directory (at least not without spending several hours convincing it that you REALLY want to do this). Oh yeah, and internet explorer kinda sucks, get Firefox.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Why can't I see any pictures in my browser?

Several people have problems with the dreaded "red X," so you are definitely not alone when you ask this question. All of us here in the office get multiple e-mails about this subject every day, so even though we've run a tip on this before, here's a little more explanation that will hopefully help you determine the exact cause of your red X problem. One of the main areas that people see the red X is in their e-mail. If you use Outlook Express and are having trouble seeing pictures in your e-mail, open it up and go to Tools, Options and choose the Security tab. Make sure the "Block images and other external content in HTML e-mail" box is unchecked. Now, if you are sending an e-mail and people have been complaining to you about the pictures not showing up, try this: open up OE and go to Tools, Options, Send tab. Under the "Mail Sending Format," make sure HTML is selected and then click on the HTML Settings button. In there, make sure the "Send pictures with messages" box is checked. That should solve your e-mail issues. If you are having trouble seeing images in Internet Explorer, go to
, Internet Options and click on the Advanced tab. Look for the Multimedia section and make sure the box that \nsays "Show Pictures" is checked. For Firefox, go to Tools, Options and click on \nthe Web Features icon. Make sure the "Load Images" box is checked as well. \nAnother cause may be that your browser security settings are set too \nhigh, which prevents you from accessing the Web site that handles the images. In \nIE, go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab and click on the Default Level button. Make sure your settings \nare somewhere around the medium level. Another cause could \nbe your antivirus or firewall settings. Look for a setting that says "Disable \nWeb bugs" and make sure it is turned off. This should allow all the images to \npass through so you can see them. There are also a couple of other more \nsimple reasons why your images may be blocked. One is that you're looking at a \nWeb site that is busy or temporarily shut down or offline. A Web host could also \nbe working on certain things on the site, causing the images to be down. \nIf everything else we've discussed above is set correctly and you're \nstill not seeing the images, this might just be your problem. Just try the site \nagain later, that's all you can really do. Also, when you're trying to view \nimages on a Web site or in your e-mail, make sure you are actually connected to \nthe Internet, because they will not show \nup if you're not online. If you've been having trouble with the red X, \nhopefully one of these solutions will help you in fixing this awful \npredicament!",1]

Tools, Internet Options and click on the Advanced tab. Look for the Multimedia section and make sure the box that says "Show Pictures" is checked. For Firefox, go to Tools, Options and click on the Web Features icon. Make sure the "Load Images" box is checked as well. Another cause may be that your browser security settings are set too high, which prevents you from accessing the Web site that handles the images. In IE, go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab and click on the Default Level button. Make sure your settings are somewhere around the medium level. Another cause could be your antivirus or firewall settings. Look for a setting that says "Disable Web bugs" and make sure it is turned off. This should allow all the images to pass through so you can see them. There are also a couple of other more simple reasons why your images may be blocked. One is that you're looking at a Web site that is busy or temporarily shut down or offline. A Web host could also be working on certain things on the site, causing the images to be down. If everything else we've discussed above is set correctly and you're still not seeing the images, this might just be your problem. Just try the site again later, that's all you can really do. Also, when you're trying to view images on a Web site or in your e-mail, make sure you are actually connected to the Internet, because they will not show up if you're not online. If you've been having trouble with the red X, hopefully one of these solutions will help you in fixing this awful predicament!

Saturday, March 3, 2007

What is defragmenting and why should I do it

Fragmentation is caused when an operating system breaks a file into pieces because there is not enough space on the storage device where the file was originally saved. One example of this would be where a file was originally saved, then modified causing the file to be larger in physical space than first anticipated, the operating system will then break the file into 2 or more pieces and store them in different parts of the storage area. The system would then keep a record of where the different parts of the file are stored, this is achieved through the use of a File Allocation Table (FAT) or similar file system such as NTFS . Then, when the operating system requires the file again, it will query the file system (FAT /NTFS /or other) to find out where the different parts of the file are located on the partition (drive). Defragmentation is the term given to the process of scanning the file system and rejoining the split files back into consecutive pieces. The process of defragmenting can be time consuming, but it is one of the easiest ways to increase the performance of your PC, the frequency of which a PC should be defragmented will directly depend on the amount of usage

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Tired of Using the mouse

Click the Start menu, and then click All Programs. Right-click the program that you want to start with a keyboard shortcut, and then click Properties

Click in the Shortcut key box. Now press the letter on your keyboard that you want to use to start the program. Make it easy to remember—for example, press I for Microsoft Internet Explorer

Click OK

Now test your shortcut. Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys, and then press the letter you chose

Friday, February 23, 2007

What is a Trojan

We have all heard the term Trojan Horse, but what exactly is it? A Trojan Horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a harmless application. Unlike viruses, Trojan Horses do not replicate themselves, but they can be just ad destructive. One of the most dangerous examples of a Trojan is a program that promises to rid your compute of viruses, but instead introduces viruses into your computer.
The Trojan can be tricky. Who hasn't been online and hand an advertisement pop up claiming to be able to rid your computer of some nasty virus? Or, even more frightening, you receive an email that claims to be alerting you to a new virus that can threaten your computer. The sender promises to quickly eradicate, or protect, your computer from viruses if you simply download their "free", attached software into your computer. You may be skeptical, but the software looks legitimate and the company sounds reputable. You proceed to take them up on their offer and download the software. In doing so, yo have just potentially exposed yourself to a massive headache and your computer to a laundry list of ailments.
When a Trojan is activated, numerous things can happen. Some Trojans are more annoying than malicious, such as changing your desktop settings or adding silly desktop icons. The more serious Trojans can erase or overwrite data on your computer, corrupt files, spread other malware such as viruses, spy on the user of a computer and secretly report data like browsing habits to other people, log keystrokes to steal information such as passwords and credit card numbers, phish for bank details (which can be used for criminal activities), and even install a backdoor into your computer system so that they can come and go as they please.
To increase your odds of not encountering a Trojan, follow these guidelines:
1. Remain diligent. Trojans can infect your computer through rogue websites, instant messaging, and emails with attachments. Do not download anything into your computer unless you are 100% sure of its sender or source.
2. Ensure that your operating system is always up-to-date. If you are running a Microsoft Windows operating system, this is essential.
3. Install reliable anti-virus software. It is also important that your download any update frequently to catch all new Trojan Horses, viruses, and worms. Be sure that the anti-virus program that you choose can also scan emails and files downloaded through the internet.
4. Consider installing a firewall. A firewall is a system that prevents unauthorized use and access to your computer. A firewall is not going to eliminate your computer virus problems, but when used in conjunction with regular operating system updates and reliable anti-virus software, it can provide additional security and protection for your computer

Where Is All The Vista Software?

Version 1.2 of Microsoft's list, dated Thursday, lists 104 apps that have earned the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo. Of those, 23 are Microsoft applications, meaning just 81 third-party apps have earned the Vista logo.
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Those numbers are slightly misleading, however; another 682 applications have been certified to "Work With Windows Vista" which means, that they, well, work. Of these, 80 are Microsoft applications.
The difference between the two lists seems to be the large number of older products that have been tested against Vista; for example, one of Microsoft's self-published games, Dungeon Siege 2, carries the "Works With Vista" logo but not the "Certified" logo— probably because the game was released in 2006, before Vista was launched.
Just a few popular apps carry the Vista certification: Cyberlink's PowerDVD, Nero 7 Premium, Raxco's PerfectDisk disk optimization tool, Trend Micro's PC-cillin, and Ulead's VideoStudio 10.
Slightly more worrying, though, is the relative unimportance of a vast majority of the applications carrying the "Works With" logo.

Vista Special

Almost all versions of Windows Vista come with enhanced Windows Media Center functionality, which allows you to create, store, organize, edit, and view personal and public media. The Start menu choices in Windows Media Center in Windows Vista are Pictures + Video, Movies, TV, Music, Spotlight, Tools, and Tasks. If your computer is outfitted with the proper hardware, you can turn your PC into a complete home theater system, including a DVD player and recorder, a movie theater, a movie studio, a television, a personal video recorder, a jukebox, a music server, and a photo library.
One feature of Windows Media Center really stands out for me though: the Spotlight. Here are a few more things you can do with Online Spotlight, including but not limited to:
Access free television shows, Internet radio, news, movie trailers, podcasts, and videos from AOL, Yahoo!, Reuters, MSN TV Today, and ABC.
Download and purchase movies and TV content through subscription services such as Movielink, TVTonic, CinemaNow, and Comedy Central.

Check out the new Photo Gallery in Windows Vista. You can sort pictures and videos by keywords, tags, the date the pictures or video were taken, ratings, and other metadata. You can even create Search Folders that contain up-to-date and "live" data, which changes each time you open the folder. You can create your own metadata to totally organize your photos and videos using any type of organizational set you'd like.

Windows Media Player 11 is another new feature included in Windows Vista. Windows Media Player 11 has a deeply integrated music library for both online and offline content, with an interface that looks more like a Web site than computer application. And with a new integrated feel, Windows Media Player 11 makes online, network, and offline content indistinguishable. Windows Media Player 11 also connects to additional hardware easily and offers easy-to-use tools for following the process of any task (downloading music, burning CDs, synching music, or streaming video, just to name a few). You can learn more about Windows Media Player

Automatic Restart

When you are running Windows XP, you may have noticed that every so often (rarely) that Windows reboots without you asking it to. This tends to be caused by a Blue Screen error. If you want to see what this error is, you will have to check the error log list because Windows reboots too quickly for you to read what happened. Well with this tip you can disable the Auto-Reboot so you can finally read, and see the blue screen error.
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> System
Go to Advanced
Under the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings...
Under System Failure un-check "Automatically restart

Turning Off System Restore

When you install Windows XP (Or when it comes pre-installed), Windows XP keeps a backup of system files in the System Volume Information folder. This system can take up large amounts of space on your Hard Drive which you may not want it to. If you no longer want Windows to back up your system files please do the following.:
Open the Control Panel
Double click on system
Click the System Restore tab
Check "Turn off System Restore on all drives
Click Apply
You can now delete the System Volume Information folder.
Warning! If you turn this off you will not be able to use Windows System Restore to restore your system in case of failure

Long Pause During Windows Startup

SymptomsAfter you choose to start Windows from the Boot menu, you may experience a long delay (or pause) before your computer finishes starting. Note that this delay may range from 10 seconds to a minute. Also, this delay occurs before the Starting Windows progress bar appears, and your computer may appear to stop responding (hang) during this time.
CauseThis behavior can occur if Windows is installed on a drive or a partition to which Windows cannot gain access with normal Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) INT-13 or INT-13 extension calls. When Windows Setup determines it cannot use BIOS calls to start, it uses scsi() or signature() syntax in the Boot.ini file instead of multi() syntax.
When booting a system that requires scsi() or signature() syntax, Ntldr loads an additional device driver (Ntbootdd.sys) to initialize and interrogate the boot controllers in your computer. Ntldr then seeks the associated boot drive attached to the controller to finish loading the kernel. These additional operations take more time in Windows because of the Plug and Play nature of the operating system.This behavior is expected, however, Windows Setup may use scsi() or signature() syntax, even if your computer can boot using the normal BIOS calls. This may occur on Integrated Drive Electronics-based computers when using a large capacity boot drive. In this case, you can try adding an additional entry in the Boot.ini file and use multi() syntax on the new entry to boot from. Note that if this works, your computer starts without pausing.

Change Drive Letter in XP

When you add drives to your computer, such as an extra hard drive, a CD drive, or a storage device that corresponds to a drive, Windows automatically assigns letters to the drives. However, this assignment might not suit your system; for example, you might have mapped a network drive to the same letter that Windows assigns to a new drive. When you want to change drive letters, follow these steps:
Right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
Under Computer Management, click Disk Management. In the right pane, you’ll see your drives listed. CD-ROM drives are listed at the bottom of the pane.
Right-click the drive or device you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the drive letter you want to assign, and then click OK.

Create a Password Reset Disk

Microsoft has enhanced security features in XP including the ability to create a floppy diskette to recover your password in case it is forgotten.
Click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts.
Click on the account which you want to create a password disk.
Click Prevent a forgotten password which starts the Forgotten Password Wizard . This is found under Related Tasks.
Insert a blank, formatted disk into drive A, and click Next.
Enter the password in the Current user account password box.
To use the recovery disk, at the Welcome screen:
Click the user name whose password is on the recovery disk.
Click the question mark button, this causes the "Did you forget your password message" to appear.
Click use your password reset disk. This will start the Password Reset Wizard

Stop Password Expiration

After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14 days. By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will expire after 42 days. And 14 days in advance, Windows will start warning you of this fact

Go to Start > Run > type control userpasswords2
Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window.
Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header.
Select Users in the Local Users and Groups.
In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties.
On the General tab, check Password never expires.
Click Apply and OK (all the way out).

Disable error reporting

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

How to turn off Auomatic Updates

Click Start , click Control Panel , and then double-click System.
Click the Automatic Updates tab, and then click Turn off automatic updating. I want to update my computer manually

Where has Scan Disk Gone?

Scandisk is not a part of Windows XP - instead you get the improved CHKDSK. You can use the Error-checking tool to check for file system errors and bad sectors on your hard disk.
Open My Computer, and then select the local disk you want to check.
On the File menu, click Properties.
On the Tools tab, under Error-checking, click Check Now.
Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box.
All files must be closed for this process to run. If the volume is currently in use, a message box will appear prompting you to indicate whether or not you want to reschedule the disk checking for the next time you restart your system. Then, the next time you restart your system, disk checking will run. Your volume will not be available to perform other tasks while this process is running.
If your volume is formatted as NTFS, Windows automatically logs all file transactions, replaces bad clusters, and stores copies of key information for all files on the NTFS volume.

Disk Error Checking in Windows XP

Double-click My Computer, and then right-click the hard disk drive that you want to check.
Click Properties, and then click Tools.
Under Error-checking, click Check Now.
Click Start.

Windows Defender

In 2004, Microsoft purchased existing antispyware technology from Giant Software and rebranded it Microsoft AntiSpyware beta 1. For beta 2, Microsoft has changed the name to Windows Defender beta 2, has given the app a face-lift, and has added a much more robust scanning engine. In testing done by Download.com, Windows Defender (tested last December as Microsoft AntiSpyware beta 1) did very well, finishing near the middle of the list for removing known spyware and better than average overall. With more than 25 million users currently running Windows Defender, Microsoft plans to include this free antispyware app in all editions of Windows Vista, due for release in the fall of 2006.
During our installation, we were asked whether we wanted to join Microsoft Spynet. Spynet is one way Microsoft builds its database of spyware. Members report suspicious code, which Microsoft then analyzes, and if the code is found to be malicious, Microsoft adds it to a spyware database. We also had the option of receiving automatic database updates but not join Spynet. And, of course, there's an option not to receive automatic updates as well. With beta 2, you don't have to have administrator status on a given PC to run Windows Defender. Microsoft wants other account holders and guests to be protected against spyware, as well. And Microsoft has added support for 64-bit editions of Windows in this release.
Once installed, Windows Defender beta 2 offers a cleaner look and feel compared to that of Microsoft AntiSpyware beta 1. Scanning and removal tasks are surfaced, and all administrative tasks can be found under the Tools toolbar. Microsoft says the system tray icon will disappear whenever your system is clean, and pop-up messages warning you of dangerous activity are sized in proportion to the threat involved. For example, low threats will be a simple pop-up balloon, and severe threats to your system will involve a large dialog box in which you will have to enter a response before continuing to work.
Under the hood, Microsoft has redesigned its antispyware scan technology, offering real-time protection against potential threats. This, in addition to tighter integration with Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1 (currently in beta), means that when you surf to a potentially dangerous Web site, you'll see the threat messages from Windows Defender as the page is loaded. Windows Defender beta 2 also has the ability to scan Microsoft Outlook file attachments.
In Windows Defender beta 2, new antispyware definitions are automatic (if you so choose)--an improvement over the original beta 1 offered last year. Moreover, automatic updates are free, making this the only free antispyware app to make such an offer. Defender gives you three levels of scan: QuickScan, Full Scan, and Custom. All three scans dig deep into compressed files, ferreting out hidden malicious executables.
Tools included within Windows Defender beta 2 include Software Explorer, which provides a snapshot of apps in your Startup folder that are currently running, along with network-connected processes and Winsock service providers, with details about each listed item. This allows you to monitor real-time processes on your PC like never before.
A controversial feature in this beta is automatic removal. In the Tools section, if you select the box next to "Apply actions on detected items during scanning," Windows Defender will automatically remove those items without you giving further consent. Other antispyware vendors have faced lawsuits with definitions and automatic removal with spyware vendors arguing that the end user should specifically remove the item, not the antipsyware app. Microsoft says that by selecting this option, you are giving permission for Windows Defender to remove future detected spyware. We'll see if this option remains in the final release.
Testing for beta 2 was unavailable at the time of this writing. , Windows AntiSpyware beta 1 ended in the middle of the pack for overall performance. A full system scan required only 6 minutes, 55 seconds and identified many of the big-name spyware programs. Each trace was assigned a threat level, making it easy to identify particularly malicious threats. Microsoft AntiSpyware beta 1 also offered thorough definitions for spyware found on our system (something that remains true in Windows Defender beta 2). However, Windows AntiSpyware beta 1 left traces behind on our test machine for BookedSpace, eXact SearchBar, and Search Exe.

HAL.DLL Missing or Corrupt

Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.Typically this will be #1
Type bootcfg /list to show the current entries in the BOOT.INI file
Type bootcfg /rebuild to repair it
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Stopping the Messenger Service

Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services
Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"
Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties
Click the STOP button
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar Click

Repair An Installation XP

If XP is corrupted to the point where none of the previous solutions get it to boot,you can do a Repair Install that might work as well as keep the current settings. Make sure you have your valid WindowsXP key.The whole process takes about half an hour depending on your computerIf you are being prompted for the administrator's password, you need to choose the 2nd repair option, not the first.
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD
At the second R=Repair option, press the R key
This will start the repair
Press F8 for I Agree at the Licensing Agreement
Press R when the directory where WindowsXP is installed is shown. Typically this is C:\WINDOWS
It will then check the C: drive and start copying files
It will automatically reboot when needed. Keep the CD in the drive.
You will then see the graphic part of the repair that is like during a normal install of XP (Collecting Information, Dynamic Update, Preparing Installation, Installing Windows, Finalizing Installation)
When prompted, click on the Next button
When prompted, enter your XP key
Normally you will want to keep the same Workgroup or Domain name
The computer will reboot
Then you will have the same screens as a normal XP Install
Activate if you want (usually a good idea)
Register if you want (but not necessary)
Finish
At this point you should be able to log in with any existing accounts.

Web Hosting

Web host is a service provider that places your web site on a computer which is connected to the internet. This then gives people who surf the internet a way to access your website. The computer that the web hosting company uses is typically just like the computer you have at home, the only difference being that it is set up to serve up web sites and is therefore called a "server".
A web host will typically have a fast connection to the Internet and they may host thousands of web sites on many servers. The web host essentially rents out space to you so that you can get your website up on the world wide web.
Some large web hosts own their own datacenter (collection of servers), some rent a server from a larger web hosting company and then resell the space under their own company name. In this case the web host will manage your account on the server, but they will be renting the actual web space from another much larger company.
Above is the picture of a datacenter. Which contains many PC's all connected to the Internet It is very expensive to own and operate a datacenter. Datacenters have reliable and fast connections to the Internet and also have backup power and high security.Most web hosting companies do not own a datacenter, but rent web hosting space in a datacenter.
There are literally thousands of web hosting companies available in the market, all with different types of plans and at different prices. It can be hard to wade through all the options, especially if you are completely new to web hosting and just want to get your website up on the web. All web hosting plans have some basic common features.
Server Type
This is the type of server software that is running on the server. Windows 2000 server, Linux and Unix are common server types. If you have a basic website then the server type does not matter. If you have a more complex website that has database functions and serves up dynamic pages, then the server type will be more important
Disk Space
This is the amount of actual space available to you for storing your website on the web server harddrive
Bandwidth / Month
This is a measure of how much website traffic is available to you. Every time somebody looks at your website, data has to be passed over the Internet from the web server where your site is hosted to the browser of the person looking at your site. Bandwidth is a measure of how much transfer is available. High traffic sites like Yahoo for example have very high bandwidth requirements, but the average site does not
Email Accounts
How many email accounts you can have with the web hosting account.
How Does My Website Get a Name ?All websites typically have a name - just like we are called www.FindMyHosting.com - This is a name that points to the space on the web where your website is physically located. In reality, your website will have an address which is just a set of numbers. This is called an IP address and it looks something like this 205.11.109.64 An IP address is a unique address (just like a street address) for your website location. Domain names like www.FindMyHosting.com are really just a pointer to the real address. This makes it much easier to remember websites.
When you buy web hosting it can be easier to let the web host handle everything associated with this. You just tell them the name that you want (www.yoursite.com for example) and so long as that name is available, they will set up your web hosting space so that when people type in that www address, it will automatically go to your website. If you already have a domain name and need to transfer it to a web hosting account, then the domain records have to be pointed to your web hosting company. Most web hosts will handle this for you, but if you need to do it yourself then you will need to contact the company where you registered your domain name and provide the Nameserver address of your web hosting provider. Your web host will tell you what their Nameservers address is.
You probably don't want to buy your web hosting plan until your website is ready, but you might want to buy your website name early to prevent somebody else taking the name you want. Almost all companies that sell domain names will park your domain on their servers until you are ready to buy web hosting.
Different Kinds Of Web HostingThere are different kinds of web hosting setups and dependent upon your website and budget, any of these may be the right type. This is not a discussion of the features a web hosting plan may offer - just a description general types of web hosting1. Free Web HostingIt is possible to get free web hosting accounts. These are great for small websites, but normally you have to have a banner ad at the top of every page. Some free accounts let you use your domain name (free virtual hosting) and with some your website address is a subdomain of the free hosting company (www.yoursitename.freehosting.com). This second type is called Free Sub-domain hosting.
Hosting for small websites can be very cheap, but If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, then free web hosting may be right for you.
I don't care about having ads at the top of every page in my website
I don't care about the performance / reliability of the website
I don't expect any customer support
My website is very small and will never grow
2. Shared HostingThis is the most common type of web hosting account and can be very low cost. With paid shared (virtual) hosting you pay a monthly fee and get a share on a server. For very low cost plans you may only have a small amount of disk space and a low amount of bandwidth (although this will probably not be a problem for the vast majority of websites). With cheap virtual hosting plans you maybe one site amongst hundreds on the same server - in this case reliability may suffer. For slightly more expensive plans you will probably find better reliability.
3. Dedicated HostingWith dedicated hosting you have a full server dedicated to your website. This gives you a lot more freedom and you can host potentially hundreds of your own websites. Typically you will have access to the server just like you have access to your PC at home. Dedicated servers are normally reserved for large ecommerce type websites, sites that get a lot of visitors (thousands a day), or for people that want to start their own hosting company and sell shared hosting accounts. A dedicated server is more reliable, but also much more expensive being at least $100 a month vs $1 - $20 range of a shared hosting plan.
4. Colocated HostingThis is very similar to dedicated hosting, except that you own the server rather than rent it. Your server is placed in the datacenter and connected to the Internet through the web hosting providers fast Internet connection. You will then pay a fee for maintenance and bandwidth.
So What Web Hosting Plan Is The Right One To Buy?You have a lot of choices in the web hosting market and it can be very confusing to find the best deal that meets your needs.
The 1st step before you start to look for a web hosting company is to determine what your needs are. It can be very tempting to look for plans that offer everything. There are many such deals available, even at a low price, but you will be storing up trouble for yourself. Take a step back and determine exactly what you need and then use FindMyHosting to find a plan that matches at the right price from a web hosting company that you are comfortable with.
Step1 - Determining Your Needs
1. DiskSpaceWeb pages (html) are normally very small - on average 40 - 50KB. This means you can store a lot of web pages in a small amount of diskspace. Images take up more space, but unless you have a big database driven site - it is unlikely that you will need very much disk space. Below is terminology used to describe disk space. If you have a computer at home or the office, then you will be already very familiar with this.
Disk Storage Space Terminology
1 Byte
1 character. This sentence is 25 bytes
1 KB
1000 Bytes
1 MB
1000 KB
1 GB
1000 MB
. If you own a computer at home you will already know that harddrives are very cheap these days. Many web hosting plans will offer large amounts of disk space. This is fine, it doesn't hurt to have the extra space - but unless you have a huge site - you will more than okay with 20MB.2. BandwidthBandwidth is always stated as a monthly limit in either MB or GB. This is the amount of actual data that can be transferred from the web server that holds your website, to the browser of the person who is looking at your website. If you go over the limit, then either you will have to be an extra fee, or your website will not be available. The amount of bandwidth you use is obviously related to the amount of traffic (visitors) that you receive.
There are web hosting companies that offer Unlimited bandwidth. This sounds like a good deal. The truth is that this is nothing but a lie and you should steer clear of web hosting companies that offer unlimited bandwidth. Bandwidth is a commodity that costs the web hosting company money - unlimited bandwidth is not only impossible, but would cost an unlimited amount of money. When web hosts offer unlimited bandwidth they are trying to trick you. They know that you will probably not use very much bandwidth. The moment you try to use a lot of bandwidth - then you will find your website shutdown.
For most web sites you will not need much bandwidth. Probably 99% of all websites use less than 2 GB of bandwidth a month. If you intend to have a lot of downloads of software, audio or video, then you may end up using a lot more bandwidth, maybe 50 GB. Adult sites typically use a lot of bandwidth. Sites like mp3.com require an enormous amount of bandwidth, but for the average site - a low level will be enough in almost all cases.

3. Email AccountsHow many email accounts will you need? Normally 10 is enough, but if you think you might want more then you can use
4. SupportYou need to ask yourself questions like do you want phone support, or will email support be ok? Do you want support 24 hours a day? If you have a small website that is not critical (i.e you don't pay your mortgage with website earnings) then you probably don't need phone support or 24/7 support. It costs web hosting companies to provide this type of support, don't pay more for a plan that offers this if you don't need it.
5. Server TypeIf you have a small website, then it is unlikely that you will need to select a particular type of server for your website. Windows 2000 server web hosting tends to be a little bit more expensive than Linux. If you need to run a Microsoft SQL server database, or use Microsoft Active Server pages then you should choose Windows2000. If you have no clue what these things even are - then you don't need Windows2000 - you will almost certainly be fine with any type of server.6. Other Features like Databases, Server Side Scripting Web hosting plans can offer a myriad of confusing features. For the small website it is unlikely that you will ever need to know about any of them. If you are a web designer creating complex database driven sites then you will already know what you need. If after creating your site you have never heard of ASP, ColdFusion, SQL Server, mySQL - then chances are that you don't need to worry about any of these things. If you plan to add a message board to your website then you will need a mySQL database. This is the most common database used with discussion boards.
Step2 - Finding The Right Web Hosting Plan To BuyFinding the right web hosting plan is the purpose of FindMyHosting.com - so you are at the right place. You can enter your needs into the easy or advanced search tools, or you can use one of the preset searches then refine your search.
There are many web hosting directories on the web. They all claim to be great resources. For the most part they are great resources...for the web hosting companies, but not for you, the web hosting consumer. Almost all of these web hosting directories are a place where web hosting companies advertise and they are in business only to generate advertising income from hosting companies. For the consumer they are worthless because you can not find any unbiased information. These advertising based web hosting directories have list of recommendations, top 25 lists, platinum lists etc...they are all just advertising lists similar to the ads in junk mail that might arrive through your mail slot. Avoid these sites, they have no value because you cannot trust any information you will find in them.
FindMyHosting has no advertising and no hosting company can buy an unfair advantage. When you do a search we return a list of web hosting plans that all match your search criteria that you can then evaluate. Read ratings from other customers, check real-time reliability numbers, look at other sites they host, check out their website and compare plans side by side with other plans.
Remember to use the Glossary if there are any terms that are unfamiliar and also click on any search option to open a window that will give you an in-depth explanation of what that term means.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Restore desktop

Restore Desktop - is a Windows Context Menu addition that automatically saves and restores the icons´ positions on the Windows desktop after a resolution change.
How many times you change screen resolution and discover that your neatly placed icons have shattered all over the screen. No more! Restore Desktop magically restores icons´ positions after display resolution changing. You can also restore saved icons´ positions manually by control-click on the desktop.The utility is very small, works automatically and requires no training at all. Just install it and forget about improperly placed icons on your Desktop.

Download from http://www.freewarefiles.com/program_2_4_19709.html

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Is your Pc Windows Vista ready?

Check here http://www.pcpitstop.com/vistaready/default.asp

Watch Bill gates introduce Vista here http://www.microsoft.com/events/executives/billgates.mspx?wt_svl=20049a&mg_id=20049b

Mirosoft Power Calculator

Overview
This application allows you to complete many different types of conversions; it also includes all the mathematical functions offered in Microsoft Calculator. Download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=32b0d059-b53a-4dc9-8265-da47f157c091&DisplayLang=en

Adaware

Ad-Aware Personal remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. This free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers. Key Features
User-controlled spyware removal
Customizable Scans
Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology
Extensive Lavasoft Detection Database
ADS scan
Blocks browser hijackers
Quarantine manager
download free here http://http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php