Computer

Those of you who have experience with Microsoft Office should recognize the term “WordArt”.

It was that handy little feature that allowed you to take any text and really turn it into a piece of art.

If you're now switching to OpenOffice then you may have wondered a time or two if there is an equivalent feature available.

Yeah, I know, we all thought that we'd find it in the Insert menu but alas, you need to display the Fontwork toolbar to begin the process.

With the Fontwork object selected you'll find that other buttons on the toolbar become active and if you pick a 3-D design you'll find that a second toolbar is opened for you to adjust those settings.

While there are always going to be differences between OpenOffice and Microsoft I did find a significant and important difference.

After my Fontwork was created and I had moved on with my work I decided to go back and make some changes.

For the life of me I couldn't seem to select the Fontwork object at all... which I know is nonsense since we all go back to edit things later.

Anyway, here's the catch – If you can't seem to select your Fontwork object then hold down the Ctrl key while you select it. From there you're back to business as usual.

There's a lot of individual things to explore when it comes to customizing your Fontwork so take some time to play with your options. It's time to go forth and become a true artist.

^{Get Organized Now!

611 Arlington Way

Watertown,
WI 53094

A: Arrange your disks that come with all the programs you use on your computers.
Find an appropriate organizing solution. My favorite solution is to use a CD
holder which will save a lot of space.

B: Back up your hard drive onto another hard drive--a portable or external hard
drive. To protect your information from theft or fire damage the other hard
drive may be placed in a safe or at someone else's house.

C: Cords--Check to make sure none of your cords are loose and use any number of
cord holders or ties to hold cords together. I use twist ties to keep all my
wires together and I added a small label to each one for easy identification.

D: Delete any files or folders that are no longer needed this will clean up some
useable and much needed hard drive space.

E: Examine your desktop for no longer used icons or shortcuts. Organize these in
an order on the desktop that make sense for how you use them. Add any extra
icons of frequently used programs.

F: Frequently used files should be easy to find, make sure that all your files
and folders are clearly labeled and dated. Divide folders into smaller chunks.

G: Get any updates for either windows or any other programs such as spybot,
ad-aware, Adobe, etc.

H: Have a computer cleanup supply kit made up and keep it nearby for
emergencies. Make sure you include serial numbers for the different parts of
your computer.

I: Inbox clean up--Delete any no longer needed or useful email messages. Try to
empty your inbox at the end of each day in order to avoid a backlog of email.
Look at each of your different email addresses.

J: Just Do it! And clean out the computer with a compressed can of air. Make
sure your vacuum is nearby to clean up the large amount of dust inside the
computer.

K: Keyboard--Clean up using q-tips, a damp cloth, a compressed can of air, and
keyboard cleaner.

L: List all your computer supplies. Make sure you are not running low of ink,
paper, paper clips, CD's, DVD's, floppies, thumb drive, and other office related
supplies.

M: Mouse clean up--Wipe off your mouse and make sure it is not full of dust and
hair, which is especially important with older ones that have the ball.

N: Never write down passwords and keep them by the computer or taped to the
computer. Keep them in a different room of the house in a safe place.

O: Organize your files into useful folders. Think of your computer as a file
drawer system, and arrange your files into categories much like you would in
file cabinet.

P: Provide email addresses, common sites you enter, bank account information,
and associated passwords to your loved ones or let them know where this
information can be located in case of an emergency.

Q: Quickly throw out any old papers or files on your desk. Quickly go through
your desk and throw out any trash.

R: Run your different scans such as defrag, spyware, and disk clean up scans in
order to protect your computer.

S: Speakers--Dust and clean speakers with Windex. Make sure the cords are
plugged in and dust underneath your speakers.

T: Table--Don't forget the top or your desk space that is home to your computer
needs to be organized too.

U: Upgrade any old computer parts. Make sure your computer has enough ram and
memory space. Technology challenged? Get help from a computer professional.

V: Virus scan--Make sure to update the program and run your scan at least every
couple days in order to protect your computer.

W: Wipe your monitor and screen with a clean cloth and cleaner that is made
specifically for your computer especially if you have a LD screen.

X: eXamine your desk for objects or items that do not belong. Bring a box or
clothes hamper in the room to clear off the desk and return items to their
proper homes.

Y: You can take everything including the computer off the desk, clean under all
parts.

Z: Zip drives clean up--Delete any no longer needed computer files or folders.
Move some files onto your computer if no longer needed on your thumb drive.}

Any suggestions for free Internet TV providers?

A:
Sure, Ted!

It is hard living in cash strapped times with the global economy going up and down like a yo-yo. Everyone is trying to rein in their spending habits a little and compromise on some of the luxuries in life. But rather than scrapping some of the finer and more reasonable home comforts, why not combine them into one easy and more manageable package? Internet TV is one of the newest things to really take the market place by storm, since it provides free programs on the internet. Here are five great options that may be worth considering, some better than others, but each one may suit individual tastes better than another. Take a look at them all to find out which is the best.

1. Joost

A mainstream and reliable brand, Joost has made its name by providing a vast and wide ranging selection of program options that all cable companies charge the earth for. A downside to the household name is that it relies on streaming, and as such the quality can vary depending on your broadband connections reliability and speed. Despite this, it is still an underrated provider of this service. Over time, it is slowly developing and growing into a better and higher class model of itself. Well worth a try out.

2. AnyTV

Anything endorsed by PC World cannot be at the bottom of the heap in terms of quality. With a regular and reliable array of program options, it is worth a look at to see if it would be a good choice in terms of value for money.

3. Hulu

Hulu is a pioneer US provider that exudes quality and a great range of program choices. It is definitely one to consider, especially if a wide variety of global television is high on your list of priorities. With a high quality download rate and all sorts of shows, including The Simpsons, it is fully capable of entertaining the crowds all day. This is a must-try.

4. Fancast

Fancast provides perhaps the highest quality of programming and stands up there with regular high-def cable providers. The main competition of Hulu, this provider is a newer version with fewer subscribers, but it’s also slightly slicker and easier to use, too. It features default settings to fit programs to your monitor, which is great for those who are less techno-minded.

5. Miro

Miro is the top of the tops. The crème de la crème. Simply the best. Available to the world, it is the best global internet TV provider without a shadow of doubt. It is a very accessible site which is easy to use, even for a first time streamer, and has swift downloading speed and excellent quality. Definitely worth your time.

~Zahid H Javali

How long do flash drives last? Are they OK for backups?

A:
Good question, John. Let's start by distinguishing flash drives (also known as thumb drives or USB memory drives) from portable hard drives, which are both excellent for backing up your data.

A flash drive contains non-volatile memory (memory that doesn't go away when disconnected from electricity) in varying capacities, from a miserly 256 megs up to 80 gigs or more. The advantages of a flash drive over a portable hard drive are that it is lighter and very, very durable. Frequently, when a flash drive “fails”, the data can still be retrieved from the device, although no new information can be written. Typical life expectancy for a flash drive can be up to ten years.

Portable hard drives, also non-volatile memory, on the other hand, have recently become available in capacities of up to one and a half terabytes (1 tb = 1000 gigs), which is their primary advantage. Although they are more durable than internal hard drives, they are still more subject to aging and shocks than flash drives.

A newcomer to the field, the internal flash (or solid-state) drive combines the best of both worlds. Although faster, more durable and better on your notebook's battery life than standard hard drives, solid-state drives are not as yet portable, and cost about eight times as much as a standard hard drive.

So then the questions become “how much data do you have to back up” and “how much do you want to spend”?

Although thumb drives are now available up to 256 gigs, the price jump from 16 gigs to 32 gigs is substantial. A good 16 gig thumb drive will cost thirty or forty dollars, a 32 gig unit will set you back about four times that amount. A good 1 tb portable hard drive, on the other hand, can be had for around a hundred dollars. So, if you want to back up your entire hard drive, you may want to consider a portable hard drive instead of a thumb drive.

Caring for your flash drive
Most flash drives come with a cover or cap, and it's always a good idea to keep the cover on when the flash drive isn't in use. Some have a switch to retract the drive's head into the unit, and although this is handy (and doesn't include a cap to lose) it doesn't do a lot to keep dust and other contaminants from fouling your flash drive's contacts. If these contacts become damaged or fouled they can cause your flash drive to fail, either partially or catastrophically.

If you are strictly using your flash drive as a backup, it's a good idea to simply leave your drive in a safe, dry, temperature-controlled environment.

Also, if you're using your flash drive to back up irreplaceable information (such as family photos), you may want to consider redundancy. If you have photos and videos of your kids on two separate drives, it is almost impossible for both of them to fail at the same time.

Hope this answers your question.

~Randal Schaffer

Restricting Unwanted Web Sites

Everyone knows there are a ton of Web sites out there that can be harmful to your computer, unsafe for your children and just simply unwanted by everyone. I'm sure all of you have come across a site you wish you would have never seen. People are always asking me how they can filter their Internet access so that those sites are blocked from their computer. While there are many ways to do that, from installing programs to using filters provided by your ISP, there's one way I came across a couple of days ago that makes more sense and it's so simple to set up. It doesn't require you to install any software and it can be put in place by simply following the steps on the Web site. You'll be up and running in just a few short minutes. Let's check it out!

The filtering option I'm talking about is called OpenDNS. It's a company that provides free filtered DNS services to residential and educational users. So that you'll have a better understanding of how it all works, I'll need to explain what DNS is.

DNS stands for Domain Name Resolution. When you visit a Web site, you type the name of the site into your Web browser. That name is called the domain name. For WorldStart, our domain name is worldstart.com. Now, the part most people don't know is that without DNS, you would never even get to worldstart.com. Computers and the Internet don't understand names. Instead, they understand IP addresses. When you tell your Web browser to go to www.worldstart.com, it has to figure out what the IP address of worldstart.com is. And that's when DNS comes into play. When you tell your Web browser to go to www.worldstart.com, it asks a DNS server to tell it what the IP address of worldstart.com is. The DNS then tells the computer the IP address of WorldStart is 207.126.59.171 (for example). After your computer gets that information, it then connects to 207.126.59.171 and the WorldStart homepage appears.

I know that may seem a bit confusing, but here's the point I'm trying to make: if the DNS your computer connects to knows a list of bad Web sites, it can restrict your computer from going to them. That's exactly what OpenDNS does. If you configure your computer to use OpenDNS for its DNS services, the OpenDNS servers will know which Web sites your computer is trying to reach. It can then block the bad ones.

All in all, if you want to filter your Web use and block unwanted and potentially bad Web sites, try OpenDNS. It's very easy to use, even if the explanation is complicated. I promise! You can check it all out right here. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

~Gary

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Below is a list of basic terms that I have compiled that will hopefully help ease your confusion a bit.

ADWARE: This is a software program that is installed without a users’ knowledge that the program is being installed on the computer. Adware is typically used to track the computer user’s browsing habits so that ads can be specifically geared towards them. A great example of adware is gator.com. Gator.com fills in web forms, but it is one of the most aggressive adware programs out there. Not only does it bog you down with advertisements, it also bogs down your computer by stealing disk space, memory, CPU time, etc.

Adware also includes tracking cookies (see cookies below).

BACKDOOR SANTA: Okay, so you download something off of the internet that you can really use. The problem with this particular program, however, is that while you may able to use it, the program is busy collecting statistics of your computer use, the sites you visit, what you purchase, etc. When it installs this programs (without your knowledge), it also opens a door for other threats to get in. You will have no idea this is going on; no pop-ups, no extra advertising. A couple of examples of Backdoor Santa programs include Alexa and Hotbar. If you see one of these toolbars unexpectedly show up in your browser, go into Add/Remove Programs and remove it immediately; you have been hit by a Backdoor Santa.

BHO: A Browser Helper Object is a program that runs automatically when you open your browser. While some BHO’s are useful (Adobe Acrobat is one; it has a plugin enabling you to read PDF files), there are many BHO’s that take over your home page and then direct you to adult sites, or sites that are loaded with spyware.
There are trojans that use BHO’s to change, add or delete registry settings and download executable files, all unbeknownst to you. The result is a very slow computer, and it’s slow because it has been hijacked through a Browser Help Object.

BLENDED THREAT: A blended threat is an attack that seeks to make the most damage and highest speed of toxicity by mixing up different threats. A blended threat will use the characteristics of both a virus and a worm, for example, and takes advantage of a computer’s vulnerability. A blended threat might send a virus via an e-mail attachment, coupled with a Trojan Horse that will cause serious harm to a user’s computer. Nimda (admin spelled backwards) was a huge blended threat (virus/worm) and spread itself through e-mail, jeopardized websites, among other things. It became the internet’s most widespread blended threat.

BOTNETS: Botnets are a group of computers that are connected to the internet and have been taken over by hackers. The hacker is in charge of all of the computers and they behave like a “robot network” (hence the term “botnet”). The hacker who has taken over a network (small or large) can then use all of these computers to infect other computers with viruses, distribute any kind of malware, or use it to inflict any number of malicious activities.

BROWSER HIJACKER: A couple of months ago my daughter was doing some research for one of her classes and went to Google to type a search term in. She was automatically redirected to another site. And another. She couldn’t even get back to Google; she had to close out her browser.

Her computer had been hijacked. A browser hijacker redirects a computer’s usual browser settings to those of their customers’ websites and can also add their favorites to your own. The hijacker writes external code that will change your home page to one of their choosing, in addition to changing registry settings so that even if you manually change your home page back, it will automatically revert itself to the hijacker’s hope page choice.

The hijacker sometimes plants a special file that redirects your computer to one of their choosing, such as an adult site or a sponsored search.
When I went to get rid of this thing that my daughter had contacted, I found that the hijacker would not let me open any of her anti-spyware programs, and would not let me access any page to download anything to get rid of it. I ended up doing quite a few things to get rid of it; it had compromised her system pretty badly.

COMPUTER VIRUS: Computer viruses are programs that are written to intentionally infect and destroy your computer. Executable files are the easiest way for a virus to get into your system. A virus is inactive until it is activated, i.e. running an infected file or starting a computer with a disk that is already infected. A virus runs the gamut of making your computer behave oddly all the way to erasing your hard drive. Viruses do not infect zip files, unless the zipped file was infected before it was zipped (compressed). Viruses sometimes copy themselves to infect other computers, thus the virus grows. Every program that is infected is in effect acting as its own virus, causing the virus to spread.

COOKIES: No, don’t think chocolate chip. Cookies (on computers) are small files that are downloaded to your computer to send information back to its website. They are normally a good thing. Let’s say you are an eBay user. You would normally have to log in every time you go to your account if it weren’t for the small cookie that has been placed on your system. By having that cookie, your computer is saying,”Okay, we’ve been here before, it’s safe to go here again, we don’t have to provide ID”, thereby eliminating the annoying always-have-to-log-in situation.

Here’s the however.

However, certain websites place their cookies (called Adware tracking cookies) on your system that send information to them regarding your online activities and then send that information over to their parent company, all without your knowledge. The information on the websites you visit allows them to display advertisements that attract your interest.

Tracking cookies are not necessarily dangerous, they just slow down your system a lot; you could even find yourself receiving pop-up ads even when you aren’t on the internet.

DIALERS: Dialers are pieces of software that get installed on your computer and have the ability to make phone calls from your modem without the user’s knowledge or consent. They connect your computer to other computers (usually pornographic) through your telephone line and are usually pay-per-call, so you are charged the whole time you are connected.

GRAYWARE: I hadn’t even heard of this one. If an application is classified as annoying or objectionable, yet it isn’t considered to be dangerous or as serious as malware, it is called Grayware. Grayware can encompass Adware or dialers; they are pretty much programs that have been written solely to harm someone’s computer. (What possible enjoyment do these people get from hurting my computer? Do they sit around and laugh about “all of these people who are probably not using their computer right now because of us”? Seriously, don’t these virus/malware program writers have anything else to do? I digress.)

KEYLOGGERS: “The World’s Best Keylogger! Capture every keystroke guaranteed! Secretly record everything on your computer!” Yeah, that’s all fine and good if you think your kid is logging in hours in the internet on some sites he’s not supposed to; some companies use them to monitor their employees’ activities. Unfortunately that isn’t the only thing keylogging is about.

A keylogger is software designed to record everything typed into a computer – passwords, user id’s, e-mail addresses, credit card numbers, etc. It can be installed the same way any piece of spyware or malware can be done. You can get it by going to certain websites, or you may download a file that has a keylogger attached and you probably won’t even notice it. Without your knowledge someone is watching every keystroke you make.

MALWARE: Malware (short for malicious software) is software designed to invade a computer without the owner’s consent. Malware encompasses viruses, worms, trojan horses, and spyware. In short, it is the general term for all malicious software.

PHISHING: Phishing is email fraud, plain and simple. I don’t know if you ever get that occasional e-mail from a poor misguided underprivileged soul needing “only $10,000”; that’s Phishing. Most Phishing e-mails look pretty legitimate. “Banks” will send e-mails reporting of fraudulent schemes and ask for private banking information that “will help them determine if you have been a victim” and redirect you to a fraudulent site where any information that is given to that site is sent to the attacker. I once got an eBay e-mail informing me that “suspicious account activity” and that I needed to log in and check my account. I am usually on top of things and knew this was bogus and reported the e-mail to eBay. Had I clicked on the link provided, I would have been redirected to the attacker’s site of choice, not eBay. The lists of Phishing scams are endless.

SPYWARE: Spyware is tracking software that hides itself and gathers information without the computer user's knowledge or permission. Spyware collects personal information, redirects a user to websties that have viruses or forward browsing preferences on to a thrid party. Spyware is just what it says: It “spies”.

STALKING HORSE: Stalking Horses are bundled into many popular programs and are often presented as additional software that you need. The Stalking Horse then sends ad networks send ads to your computer.

TROJAN HORSE: A trojan horse is a highly damaging program that can wreak havoc on your computer. The difference between trojan horses and viruses is that a trojan horse, unlike a virus, does not copy itself; rather, it disguises itself as a legitimate program and has destructive code built in so as to destroy a computer system without the user’s knowledge.

WORM: A program that makes copies of itself over a network, using a computer’s resources, shutting down systems, as well as damaging and compromising the computer’s security.

I hope this guide gave you a better understanding of all of the lovely computer hazards we all face. It is quite daunting out there! In Part 2 of this series I will give you ways to protect yourself, as well as non-failing programs that will rid you of most of this garbage.

So be safe – it’s a jungle out there!

~Lori

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Hacktivism

The word "hacktivism" is a portmanteau of the words hack and activism, and is described as "the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends. These tools include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service attacks, information theft, web site parodies, virtual sit-ins, virtual sabotage, and software development." Or so says author Alexandra Samuel.

To put it in more simpler terms, however, hacktivism can be quickly described as hacking for a cause. The lines that separate hacktivism and cyberterrorism are not defined well, however, and have caused controversy in the past. One side says it's fine for attacks to be malicious, where others prefer a non-destructive approach to get their message across.

Do a Google search on “Hacktivism” sometime and check out some of the hacktivist events from the past few years. There's some pretty interesting stuff that's happened!

~Andrew

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Back Up Your Data

Just about everybody has important data on their hard drive, from digital pictures to important documents, emails, bookmarked websites the list goes on and on. In my experience people are pretty lax about backing up their PCs, and I think this really is an area that deserves attention. With a good back up set you can bounce back from a fatal hard drive crash and be up and running with all the your pictures, documents, downloads, email and favorites before you know it. Having important files stored on removable media is also a good safety precaution in case you get a virus.

There are a couple of different ways to back up important data, from the casual copy and paste to running complicated scheduled backups. There is no wrong way, as long you have a copy of everything you need.

You can save the data on a couple of different types of media (CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Flash memory, even external hard drives) but for home use I really recommend either CDs or DVDs. Flash memory can store data but it's not really something you want to save data to and store away unless there is no other option. CDs and DVDs are cheap, hold a lot of data, work on any PC and are easy to store.

If you use CD-RW, or DVD-RW you can actually save money by setting up a "round robin" with your backups. To do this, you need at lest 3-4 of the same backup set, take the oldest and erase it. Now use the blank disk for the new backup, the next time you do a backup use the oldest disk in the set and so on and so forth.

As for the methods of backing up, I find it's easiest when all my intended files and folders are organized in structured manner and not scattered all over my hard drive. This is a good way to insure that you don't forget anything important by hunting for a bunch of individual files. An easy way to stay organized is to create a descriptively labeled folder structure and try to be diligent about saving your data to it's designed folder.

Another good practice is to test your backups, don't just take the burning software's word for it. After a backup, explore the disk and randomly go through files and open them up to make sure that they're complete and not corrupt. Learn from my experience, waiting for a complete system failure is not a good time to check the validity of your backups. This is a good way to get yourself in a lot of trouble as well —I know if didn't back up the pictures or movies of our kids I wouldn't be able to live with my self.

Once you have all your ducks in a row, it's time to back up. There are a number of ways to do this as well. The easiest is to open you burning program and select data CD and go through the folder then explorer and grab the folders you want to back up. When you select a folder you should see it in the "burn" selection window, once you done with your backup selection choose "burn".

If you have Windows Xp or a newer operating system, you have the luxury of being able to open up the blank CD or DVD in Windows Explorer and copying and pasting the desired folders right onto the disk and select "Write files to CD" and Windows will do the rest for you.

Most burning software has their own backup services, and there are a number of third-party back up titles out there. The nice thing about using these types of software is the options. Things like compression, backup jobs, and incremental backups. These are nice features especially when you have some backups that you want to insure are up to date. For instance, you can create a "Back up Set" which is basically a saved and named list of folders and files that you want backed up. This makes the whole process so easy—you can create a backup set and once a week or so your can run it and it will either create a new back up or save just the changes to the backup. These are two options that are usually found in backup programs. If you use "backup sets", it's important to keep the files organized, and in all the correct folders. You can also schedule Backup Jobs, which are basically backup sets that are scheduled to run at predetermined times, and intervals (i.e. once a week Friday at 6:00).

PCs are constantly becoming a bigger part of peoples' lives, and the information being stored on the PCs is becoming more important. Performing backups is essential for protecting your data.

Stay safe out there,

~Chad

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Q:
I have been seeing a lot about the dangers of “rootkits” around the internet. I went to your spyware terms page to find it out what it is and it is not listed. Could you tell me what it is?

A:
My bad, I missed that one. I don’t know how I did, since it is one of the most dangerous threats out there! Here you go:

Rootkits are becoming more and more prevalent and are an incredible danger to desktop users. A rootkit (or root kit, it doesn’t matter how you spell it) is a set of tools that are programmed to install on a computer without a user’s knowledge and give the attacker full control over the system with administrator’s rights access.

But doesn’t all spyware install on a computer without the user’s knowledge? What’s different about a rootkit?

Let me delve into this a little bit deeper.

Yes, all spyware is installed without a user’s knowledge. Some are annoying, and some can mess with your computer pretty badly; however, with a bit of help from the forums and spyware removal software, most of the time you can get rid of it without doing a complete reinstall.

Not so with rootkits.

Rootkits are an incredibly dangerous form of malware. They do not discriminate when it comes to operating systems; Windows, Linux, Unix, and even Mac systems are vulnerable. Rootkits hide malware that install a backdoor to allow an attacker to take full administrator rights and have complete access to the infected computer.
A rootkit takes over your entire system and it does this by masking itself as a legitimate file, network connection, registry entry, etc., thus anti-virus/spyware programs do not detect them because they think that the file is a genuine part of the operating system. Once the computer has been hacked then the attacker can mask intrusion – not just to that computer, but to other computers on the network. Because of the way that rootkits are programmed, there is no guarantee that you will rid yourself of a rootkit due to its intricate (programming) code; in addition, removal will most likely damage your operating system due to its stealth capabilities. The stealth capabilities of rootkits are the scariest part of malware; rootkits often hide malware along with themselves (Can anyone say “Rootware”? I am not kidding.) . Because rootkits do so much damage if left undetected, a new install of your operating system is practically inevitable.

Because rootkits have now become a pandemic issue, McAfee, Panda, Symantec, and other internet security manufacturers are now coming out with online scanning tools just for rootkits. There are also rootkit-removal software programs that have now come out with “Anti-Stealth technology”, which seems to be working.

So where do you find all of this stuff to prevent, detect, and destroy? Below are links to various resources concerning rootkits.

RESOURCES:

Rootkill Remover Software

Avira AntiRootkit Tool
Avira AntiRootkit Tool is geared towards the advanced user. It scans registry entries, processes and files hidden to the user. It provides all necessary information and allows for quarantine.

Blacklight
Even though many experts agree that reinstalling your operating system is the only sure way to get rid of a rootkit infection, f-secure disagrees and says that Blacklight detects rootkits in worms and spyware. This program uses “anti-stealth technology” with good results, the company reports.

Prevx
This program boasts that it has the “largest real-time threat database”. Written up by PC World for the Editor’s Choice Award for 2009, this program does super-fast 1-2 minute scans, alerts you if your pc is infected, and includes free removal of adware. This program has powerful rootkit detection capabilities. A highly recommended program. This software is free.

RootkitBooster (Trend Micro)
From the manufacturers of HijackThis comes RootkitBooster. This program scans hidden files, registry entries, processes, drivers, and Master Boot Record (MBR) rootkits. You can also clean hidden files or registry entries. A very handy program.

Rootkit Detective (McAfee)
From the well known anti-virus software provider. Kind of geared towards knowledgeable folks. It scans all processes for rootkits; a fairly new rootkit tool.

Sophos
Claimed by experts to be the best, Sophos detects and removes any rootkits installed on your system. It is easy to use, making the removal of rootkits a breeze, and without compromising your system. This program is free; there are upgrades available, along with a nice list of security software.

Systernals Rootkit Revealer
From the publisher: “RootkitRevealer is an advanced rootkit detection utility. RootkitRevealer successfully detects many persistent rootkits including AFX, Vanquish and HackerDefender (Note: RootkitRevealer is not intended to detect rootkits like Fu that don't attempt to hide their files or registry keys).” I very highly recommended program.

UnhackMe
Another highly recommended program, UnhackMe is used by a great deal of malware-busting forums. UnHackMe detects hidden registry entries, processes, services, drivers, etc. It also detects and removes trojans, adware, and spyware.
It has a fully functional evaluation version; after the evaluation period you must purchase it to use it.

Online Scanners:

F-Secure Online Scanner

Kapersky Online Scanner Pro

ESET Online Scanner

Panda ActiveScan 2.0

Sites to check out:

Rootkit.com - A pretty advanced website dedicated to rootkits.

Antirootkit.com - A great website with lots of rootkit downloads and articles to educate you on rootkits. It also has a pretty extensive list of rootkit removal tools.

In a nutshell, a rootkit can cause serious damage to your computer and if you don’t detect and get rid of it, will lead you to a complete re-install. Thus you should make sure of these three things:

1. Make sure that you have security programs installed and running. (Please note that it has to be anti-rootkit software – remember that anti-virus programs miss rootkits a lot of the time)

2. Make sure that you install the latest security updates.

3. Make sure that all of your anti-rootkit software is up-to-date; there are newer versions and patches that must be downloaded so as to keep your system protected against any new-emerging threat.

Spyware. Gotta love it, huh? Keep a close eye on your system so that nobody else can!

~Lori

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Ten Windows Vista Tips

Here are some helpful Windows Vista tricks to try out.

1.) To quickly change the size of the desktop icons, select one and hold down the Ctrl key and scroll with your mouse wheel. You can do the same in other windows, in order to increase the font size too.

2.) Sharing a folder with other people in your network is even easier with Vista. Open any Windows Explorer window (say My Documents, for example) and highlight it. From the command bar, select Share. Then use the down arrow to select all the users in your list or you can type the name of the person in the network you want to share with and click Add. After that, you can select the permission level you want to grant to that person. Vista can also auto-generate an e-mail that will allow the recipient quick access to the shared document.

3.) The Vista magnifier is a very handy tool if you have trouble seeing what’s on your computer screen or if your eyes get strained from reading text. To access it, simply press Win + U (Win is the button with the flag on it). From there, select Start Magnifier.

4.) Microsoft releases a lot of operating system upgrades and at times, one can lose track of what updates have been installed on their PC. With Vista though, this job is a cakewalk. Go to Start, Control Panel, move to Windows Upgrade and in the left side bar, click View upgrade history.

5.) The Briefcase feature that has been a common fixture in previous Microsoft operating systems is a useful way to sync PCs. This is especially true for the ones that are not on the same network. This useful feature appears again in Vista.

Go to the folder where you want to create a new Briefcase and right click. Select New, Briefcase. Give the Briefcase a name so it’s easier to locate. Now, simply drag or copy any files that you want to sync into the Briefcase. Once you have selected all the files, right click the Briefcase and select Send To. Choose the removable media you want to copy it to.

Next, simply insert the media on which you copied the files into a second PC, open the Briefcase and make any changes you want to the files. Then save the changes. Once you're back on the first PC, reinsert the media, right click the Briefcase and select Update All.

If you are using the Briefcase feature over a network, simply move the Briefcase to the second PC and once you or the other user has made changes to the files, right click the Briefcase and select Update All.

6.) If you, for some reason, don’t like the sound of audio notifications in Vista, you can replace them with visual ones. Simply switch on the visual notifications for sounds and then choose the visual warning that you want.

Go to Start, type "Ease" in the Search box and hit Enter to open the Ease of Access Center (or press the Win key). Select "Use text or visual alternatives for sounds." Place a checkmark on "Turn on visual notifications for sounds (Sound Sentry)." Then under "Choose visual warning," select the option you would like to use and click Save. Now, no more will you hear the repetitive Windows sounds. You have to love it!

7.) If you can't or don't like pressing combination keys (like Ctrl + Alt + Del, for instance), you can set up your keyboard so you can press the keys one at a time. Again, go to Start, type "Ease" and hit Enter to open Ease of Access Center. Select the option that says “Make the keyboard easier to use." Under "Make it easier to type," place a checkmark next to "Turn on Sticky Keys" and then hit Save.

8.) One of the coolest things that ever happened to mankind was speech recognition for computers. Speech recognition allows you to control your computer by voice. By using it, you can do virtually all the tasks you can do with a mouse and a keyboard. For example, starting programs, opening menus, dictating text into documents, e-mails, etc. To activate the speech recognition feature, click Start, type "Windows Speech" in the Search box and hit Enter to open the Windows Speech Recognition window. Select Start Speech Recognition and follow the simple tutorial to set up your microphone and the actual speech recognition. Once you're done, remember to set the speech recognition to start each time you log on to your computer.

9.) If you are a busy bee and have multiple documents open in applications (like, say five Word documents that you are simultaneously working on), you can switch between each document by pressing the Ctrl + F6 key combination.

10.) So, one of your close friends has moved away and you can’t seem to keep track of their time difference. No problem! You can simply add an additional clock in Windows Vista. To do so, click the clock, go to Date and Time Settings and click the Additional Clocks tab. You can add two additional clocks to the tray and select the time zones for both.

I am sure all you Vista users will find these tips useful and the ones who haven’t upgraded yet can at least get an idea of the new features available with the new operating system. Go give these a spin!

~Yogesh Bakshi

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What is the difference between Downloading, Uploading and Installing?

A:
Here's a blow by blow:

Downloading - This is moving a file that's on the Internet (or over a network) onto your computer. For most of us, downloading is just a matter of clicking a download link on a web site and saving the file to disk.

Uploading - This is the opposite of downloading. With uploading, you take a file from your computer and send it to a computer on the internet (or a computer / server on a network). Usually this is done with an FTP client, but some modern web sites you'll come across will allow you to send files to them with your web browser.

Installing - This is often confused with downloading, but it's a different animal. When you install something, you basically "put" the program on your computer so you can use it. Normally this is done via a setup program or "wizard" to make installation easy. Once you're finished installing a program, you can usually run it from your Start Menu, Programs area.

~ Steve

Do you have any information on the Reliability Monitor in Windows Vista? I think it's something I would be interested in using, but I don't know a lot about it yet. Anything you can tell me would be a big help. Thanks!

A:
The Reliability Monitor is to track down any malfunctions that may be occurring within your Vista computer system. It pinpoints any problems you may be having and it also helps you to fix them right away. Once you run the Reliability Monitor, it gives you a graph of all your software installs, uninstalls and any errors that have been recorded within those programs.

Here's what it looks like:

To start the Reliability Monitor application, click on your Start button and in the search box that comes up under that, type in "reliability." Once your results show up, select the option of Reliability and Performance Monitor. Then click on Reliability Monitor.

Once you have that open, you will see your Reliability Index value in the very top right hand corner. That value is set based on how smoothly Vista runs on your computer. It starts at 10, but it can decrease, depending on everything you have on your system. For example, if you try to install some older programs onto your Windows Vista computer, they might end up crashing if they cannot be supported by Vista. If that happens, your value will go down.

Your Reliability Index is updated on a daily basis, which is very convenient. Since it is done that way, you can check your status one day, wait a week or two and then check it again. If some of the same applications or pieces of hardware are causing trouble on a regular basis, you'll know it right away and you can take the next steps in getting them fixed.

So, what if the Reliability Monitor does find a few problems with some of your software or hardware? Well, once you find all of that out, you'll need to troubleshoot them. Then if you're not able to fix them properly, you may have to remove them from your Vista computer completely. Otherwise, your Vista computer will not run at its full capability. And if that happens, you're the only one losing out.

Now, as I said earlier, the Reliability Monitor does try to give you some tips on getting your problems fixed. Whenever it finds a malfunction on your Vista computer, the Reliability Monitor will record the date on which it happened and it will give you examples of the events that led up to the point of when the problem actually started. All of that information will be displayed in the System Stability Chart within the Reliability Monitor application. The errors are then marked with a red circle with a small "x" inside.

Once you get your report, you can go through the list of errors found on your computer and then look back through all the information given to see what might have caused the problems in the first place. For example, if your computer crashed at one time or another, you can go back through your report and see what might have caused it to happen. Often times, things that happened a few days (or even weeks) earlier can be the reason for a persistent problem. And that's exactly what the Reliability Monitor is here to show you.

Go on and check it out. You might be surprised at what's going on inside your Vista computer, even now as we speak. Good luck, my Vista user friends!

~ Erin

Is there a way to tell if someone else has been using my computer in my absence? For example, the last time it was booted?

A:
Windows XP and Vista have an Event Viewer to help you keep track of what your computer is doing. An event is anything noteworthy that happens to your computer. To bring up the E.V. in XP go to Start/Run and type the following...

eventvwr.msc

The same process applies to Vista, only you type it in the Search Box.

Events are stored in three log files: Application, Security, and System. These logs can be reviewed and archived. In Vista these can be found under the "Windows Logs" section.

For our purposes we want the System log. Click on "System" in the left-hand column for a list of events. Look for a date and time when you weren't home and your computer should have been off.

By double-clicking the event you can get more details on what the event was. Just click on the link for that says, "For more information..."

You can also use this log to see how long someone was on the computer. Just look at the time the computer was turned on and off for that day. Oh look, Junior was on for 6 hours! No wonder the yard work wasn't done.

~David

Free Alternatives for Windows Programs

New substitutes for built-in Windows programs have been popping up all over the place. The alternatives listed below can sometimes be more useful or simply more fun. We all need a little change once in a while, right?

Replacements for Wordpad include...
* OpenOffice – a Java based office suite that is perfect for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more. It allows you to store your information in an international open standard format.

* AbiWord – You are able to collaborate with multiple people on one document at the same time. You can store documents online, share them with your friends, and convert formats easily.

Replacements for Notepad
* Notepad++ – a text editor that supports several languages. It has a higher execution speed and smaller program size. It’s trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions since it uses less CPU power.

* Notepad2 – this is a fast and light weight Notepad-style text editor with syntax highlighting. Since it can be run without installation, it doesn't need to access your system’s registry.

Replacements for Calculator
* Power Calculator (Windows XP only) – an upgraded calculator where you can graph and do various other functions the regular Windows calculator cannot.

Replacements for Built In Unzipping Utility
* 7-Zip – is a self extracting file archive with a high compression ratio. It is a powerful file manager, command line version, and has localizations for 74 languages.

* TUGZip – is an archiving utility that provides support for compressed, encoded, and disc-image files.

Replacements for Windows Media Player
* foobar2000 –this is an advanced freeware audio player that only plays audio. You can easily customize it and it supports various formats without plugins.

* iTunes – the ultimate Apple Media player which has access to millions of songs and videos through the iTunes music store.

* Songbird –This integrates itself with online music content. You can select the features you want and change the interface to suit your mood.

* VLC Media Player – Plays various media formats, but does not contain a library.

* Miro – This is a popular open-source for videos. You can download torrents, podcasts and play any video. There is support for video websites like Youtube.

Replacements for Windows Media Center
* XBMC for Windows – an entertainment hub for digital media and it is open source. It is the ideal solution for your home theater.

* Elisa – a support system for various media formats, devices, and Internet integration.

Replacements for Paint
* GIMP – the GNU Image Manipulation Program allows photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring.

* Paint.NET – Has various features such as support for layers, unlimited undo options, and tutorials.

Replacements for Remote Desktop
* TightVNC – With more features, it can set up servers and client software on the main controlling computer.

* UltraVNC – Very similar to TightVNC, it can also support text chat, encryption, and Java viewer.

* TeamViewer – You can transfer files without having to change your firewall settings. Great for both Windows and Mac.

Replacements for Windows Photo Gallery / Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
* Windows Live Photo Gallery – An upgraded version of Windows Photo Gallery that gives you tons of photo library tools.

* IrfanView – With various features such as manipulation and conversion, this is a great light image reader.

* XnView –Much like IrfanView, this also includes manipulation, conversion, and meta data editing.

Replacements for Windows Movie Maker
* Jahshaka – Has various more functions than Windows and is open source to boot!

* LiVES – mixes realtime video performance and non-linear editing so you can edit and make videos right away. No need to worry about formats or frame sizes.

Replacements for Windows Messenger
* Windows Live Messenger – Has various functions and is integrated with Yahoo messenger.

* Pidgin – Can be integrated with Yahoo, AIM, Gtalk, Jabber, and several others.

* Digsby – Not only can it support various protocols, it can also be integrated with Facebook.

* Miranda IM—smaller, faster, and easier this is an open-source multi-protocol instant messenger.

* Yahoo! Messenger –Has tons of settings and skins, and allows you to see updates from Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook.

Replacements for Windows Explorer
* xplorer2 – Features like dual pane and tabbed browsing make this the upgraded version of Windows Explorer.

* Free Commander – Also offers dual pane, tabbed browsing, archive handling, and file wiping features that are easy to use.

Replacements for Windows Firewall
* Comodo Firewall Pro – offers firewall protection, antivirus software, and proactive security. You will get protection for both inbound and outbound connections.

* ZoneAlarm Free Firewall – Protects your computer from hackers by hiding it from unsolicited network traffic.

Replacements for Start Menu
* Vista Start Menu –a much larger start menu that is easier to navigate for your applications and tasks.

* Launchy –launches your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks by typing in a portion of the application name.

* ViStart – For XP users, this reduces the time needed to search for programs since it indexes your program shortcuts. When you type part of the program into the start menu, it will be able to find it right away.

Do a Google Search today and give these alternatives a try!

~Zahid Javali

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Dreaded “Driver Power State Failure” Error Message

You’ve been working like a little trooper all morning and rightly decide you’ve earned yourself a coffee break. Having left a whole bunch of documents open on your computer, you’re horrified to find an error-filled blue screen waiting for you on your return. Anything not saved before you turned your back has disappeared into the ether.

Sound familiar?

There are a million and one reasons why a computer would commit this act of betrayal – after all, if such problems didn’t exist, neither would WorldStart. These blue screens filled with incomprehensible jargon are a common side effect of Windows grinding to a halt, and there’s no way of explaining the cause of every “Blue Screen Of Death” (as they are frequently dubbed). However, we can tell you what causes, and how to fix, a particularly common one which has been plaguing people for a while now…

The Symptoms
This message usually comes up in capitals near the top of the screen, followed by some rather unhelpful advice which isn’t much use to neither man nor beast:

After thinking about it for a while, your computer may restart by itself or stay locked on this blue screen till you manually hit the power button.

The Diagnosis
It’s a particularly common error which baffled users for a long time. It turns out that Windows, both Vista and earlier versions, don't like going into ‘sleep mode’ while there are particular devices plugged into the physical computer itself.

The types of things most likely to cause the error are certain iPods, digital cameras and mobile phones. Chances are you plugged one of these in via a cable (perhaps to backup music, photos or other media onto your computer’s hard disk) at some point in the past and left the computer long enough for Windows to activate its hibernate mode, i.e. shuts down your monitor and runs on low resources until you touch the keyboard or move the mouse. This energy-saving function is generally on by default, and forgetting to unplug a digital camera after you have finished moving files is easily done.

The Cure
After you’ve done the above even just once, the error message may crop up again regardless of whether you have a device plugged in or not. The good news is, it’s easily fixed.

Microsoft acknowledged this problem and recently released an easy to install, secure download which solves your woes. Simply click here, let the installer run its course and your computer will never have nightmares during sleep mode again.

~ Zeke Iddon

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Time Tracking Software

Time management is key to efficiency, which is why we need ways to track our efficiency at home or at work. We feel more accomplished after a busy and engaging day. Here is where time tracking software is becoming more popular, so you can measure your performance through the day. Listed below are some of the more effective ones:

Paid Time Tracking Software

1. Achieve Planner – uses an ABCD Priority System. You can jot down all the things that you need to do at one time. It will put all of these together in one area and let you prioritize what needs to get done first and last. You are able to take control of your time and get your life organized.

2. Cyclope Employee Monitoring Software – this is a great tool for companies, that allow CEOs and managers to figure out how much productivity an employee is bringing to the table. It breaks it down like this:

- total time spent during a working day
- total active time spent
- total overtime spent
- total idle time spent (not at PC or paper work time)
- total time spent online

It will also let you know how much time a department has spent on different activities in a day or week. It will allow for internet filtering and printer monitoring. Since time is money, it’s time to get the ball rolling by using it in your organization.

3. Chrometa – Chrometa believes that tracking time shouldn’t take time. It tracks your time automatically based on your PC work. It will show how long you’re spending on documents, emails, applications, calls, meetings, and more. Sometimes we forget what we did two days ago at work. It will be able to recall everything you’ve done so you know what to tell your boss. Your life will already become simpler.

4. Dovico – This tool is designed for business users to help increase project profitability. It has an easy to use timesheet spread that helps compare your budget with the actual time and money that you are spending on it. There’s a great demo that you can watch on the website to see the application working properly.

5. Klok – the main screen of Klok shows you in hierarchy, a list of all your clients, projects and/or tasks and a calendar view showing the current week. Even when you are going into a meeting it will track your minute by minute actions so that nothing goes un-noticed.

6. Manic Time – is able to track your computer usage hourly and your applications. Meaning it will check how long you’ve been on Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Windows Messenger, etc. Within these applications it will list out what you were doing on each site. This detailed analysis will help you personally to see what needs to be changed for tomorrow.

7. ProjectHamster – think of a “To do” list that you might stick on your refrigerator each day. Hamster creates this agenda style screen shot that lets you add your activities daily and the time it takes to do them. After a while you can see how many hours you have spent on what and create a time report for yourself or an employee.

8. Rachota – Rachota displays data about your activities in diagram form, customized HTML reports, or analyzes measured data. It can even give hints to improve a person’s time usage. It’s considered a personal time tracker.

Free web-based online time tracking software

9. 1TimeTracking –allows you to track the real cost of a project for your own cost analysis on fix cost or billing after. This is a great tool to reduce non-billable time in the company. The best part about this is that you don’t have to waste your time micro managing your employees.

10. ClickTime – this online timesheet accounts time tracking, billing, cost accounting, and payroll all in one. Managers can export reports to PDF or Excel, determine the ratio of everyone’s billable time, see who has or hasn’t logged in, and review and approve employee expenses electronically.

11. SlimTimer –allows you to create tasks and share them with coworkers and managers. You will be able to time your work and run reports through Excel, subscribe to its RSS Feed, or simply email it. No longer will you feel like you have to explain all the time you have spent working without any credit.

12. Toggl –a web based software that allows you to incorporate it in various applications that you are already using such as Gmail. It has some of the most secure connections like SSL security which is also used in Internet banking. You know your business information will remain confidential. The real-time charts and reports for the whole team will make it worthwhile to use.

These tools can help optimize anyone’s time. If you are a stay at home mom who has a hard time prioritizing all the errands, you can plug in your tasks and make a guide for yourself. If you are a student who just can’t meet paper deadlines and balance studying, you can get help. If you are an employer you can better track your employee’s performance. Sounds like a win-win for everyone involved.

~Zahid Javali

Star Trek Wallpapers

If you are a Star Trek fan then doubtless you have a favorite series and starship(s) that you love. Get ready to enjoy viewing the fleet of ships that we have gathered together for you in our Star Trek Wallpaper collection.

Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen's resolution.

Note: This particular wallpaper can be trimmed up height-wise to fit your monitor’s size very nicely.

For more fun wallpapers be certain to visit our new Desktop Fun section. Looking for some great icons to go with your new Star Trek wallpaper? Then be certain to check out our Sci-Fi Icon Packs collection here.

Backup Your Computer for Free with GFI Backup

There are many services and software that allow you to backup your computer files, however the majority of these programs are usually not free and can be quite costly. Fortunately, GFI Backup Utility isn't like that, because it allows you to backup your entire computer for free! The following information shows how to backup your files with GFI.

Step 1: Download GFI Backup Utility

The first thing you have to do is download GFI. This can be done by going to the GFI homepage [GFI.COM]. Under the “Products” tab, select “GFI Backup Home Edition”. Next, enter some of your information and download the product. The software is about 10MB, so it will not take long to download.

Step 2: Backup Your Computer

Once you have finished downloading GFI, open the program and click on “Backup”. The following screen will ask you to enter a task name—which must be entered to begin the backup process. The rest of the information is optional.

Select the type files in your computer you want to backup. GFI allows you to backup registry keys, files & folders, Emails, and user settings.

Choose where you want to backup data. After you have selected the files you want to backup, you will have the option to choose where you want them stored. You can store your files in DVDs, CDs, USB flash sticks or an external hard drive.

Step 3- Restore Your Files

After you have backed up your files, you will able to restore them to your computer. To restore your files, open GFI, and simply click on “Restore”. The following screen will give the options to restore entire or individual backups.

~Jean-Baptiste Juderson

ScreenSwift 5.0

What ScreenSwift does is allow you to create flash desktop wallpapers that actually behave just exactly like a flash file. This isn't some stagnant image. You can either store the entire flash movie as a wallpaper and when you want to see the movie action select the "Play" button and get some popcorn.

There is nothing to the set up. All you need are some .swf files—which is easy enough with this tip. From there you simply input the path to the file you want to use, select "Preview and Build" and the program makes a little .exe (program). When the .exe creation is complete then just double click it, and watch the installation. It's very quick and you will see the Movie starting page come up with some sort of start button.

The Wallpaper doesn't constantly run, however; only when you elect to run it but selecting the button to do so.

This is really cool and something a little different; if any of you know how to edit flash movies you could really make some cool desktops.

I hope you enjoy this one.

Download site:
http://www.tenmiles.com/flashwallpaper/download.php

~Chad

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Log In Dos and Don'ts

"Your Password or Username is Invalid. Please Try Again." Does that sound familiar? Or, how about the two images below? Do those look familiar?

Do you often get errors when you're trying to log in to certain accounts, such as your e-mail account, for instance? An error message will say something like "Your password or username is invalid. Please try again." Then, when you try again, the same thing happens. How frustrating! Well, the problem actually lies within the little things you may do without even realizing it's messing up your Internet connection. Let's check it out!

Here are some dos and don'ts you can follow when you're trying to log in to your e-mail account, etc.

Don’ts

- Don't hit the Submit or Log In button more than once. Or, if you're using your keyboard, only hit the Enter key once.

- Don't touch anything else after you've clicked the Log In button or hit the Enter key on your keyboard. Just let it do its thing!

- Don't touch or move your mouse until the system has finished logging you in. If you do, you may end up knocking out your Internet connection.

- Don't jump or switch to another screen, window or program while you're being logged in. That is a no no!

- Don't try or attempt to open any new programs or applications while you're trying to log in.

- Don't copy and paste your password or username into the text boxes.

Dos

- Do limit the programs you have open before trying to log in. Having too many programs open at once before you log in to an account may interfere with your connection, especially if your RAM or disk space is low. Wait until you have logged in to hook up any external devices, music programs or other applications as well. If they can wait, just wait!

- Do make sure you hit the period key ( . ) on your keyboard instead of the comma key ( , ) when logging in. You should also do that with the "n" and "m" keys. For example, one of the most common mistakes is somebody@yahoo,con, which should be somebody@yahoo.com. It is a very simple mistake to make and it is sometimes hard to catch.

- Do use the drop box if your account has one for your username. That will automatically type in your username for you and it will eliminate errors.

- Do use your mouse cursor to move from field to field or text box to text box, instead of the Tab key on your keyboard. That way, you can ensure you're always filling in the correct text box.

- Do make sure your CAPS Lock key is not activated.

Most log in accounts are case sensitive as well, so it's important that you pay attention to the letters in your username and password as you're typing them in.

If you have followed all of the above guidelines and you're still getting an error message, simply try to log in later on. Or, try logging in to your account on a different computer. If you're still getting an error message after that, you may want to contact the Administrator who maintains the accounts. They should be able to help you further.

Following the guidelines of these dos and don'ts will surely save you time and frustration in the future!

~Tweety Dimes

Fix Icon Display Problems by Rebuilding the Windows 7 Thumbnail Cache

Have you ever been browsing through photos or videos on your PC, and noticed that the thumbnails weren't showing up properly? Sometimes they get corrupted, and you can quickly rebuild them to fix the problem.

Just for some background, let's walk through what we're talking about. Normally, when you're browsing around your files, you'll see thumbnails for pictures and videos that you are viewing. These thumbnails are all generated, and stored in a cache to make browsing files faster.

But sometimes... the cache gets corrupted, and we need to rebuild them. Here's an example of what happens when it goes out of whack...

All you have to do is open up Disk Cleanup through the start menu search box (just type in disk cleanup to find it)

Just make sure that Thumbnails is checked, and then click OK to run through the cleaning process.

8 PC Tips That Will Help Your PC
Run at Optimal Speed

Having a fast, secure, glitch-free PC is easy.

Comodo Security Solutions, Inc.
525 Washington Boulevard, Suite 1400,
Jersey City, NJ 07310
United States
8 Tips For PC Users:

Get in Shape

Get in Shape
Here is a chance to follow through on the empty promise of getting in shape: Tune up your PC instead, and don't break a sweat. To get warmed up, start with a FREE 30 day trial of livePCsupport.
This software gives you access to 24/7 LIVE PC experts who can remotely connect to your PC and perform a full tune up while you go for a quick jog!

Get 24/7 PC Support

Get a Tune Up From
One of Our PC Experts

Don't be too Generous

Don't be too Generous
Think twice before providing information about yourself on the Internet, especially on social networks liked Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. Disclosing info like your address or phone number, your employer and your educational and career history, all provide valuable background for ID thieves.

Fix Broken Windows

Fix Broken Windows
If you received a new PC this past holiday season, it may be time to give your PC a tune-up. Doing so is a good dose of preventative medicine that can head off problems when you add new programs. Start by running the Windows Update feature inside your Web browser (it's under the Tools menu). This will automatically check for other upgrades and patches for Windows.

Boost Security

Boost Security
We all know that anti-virus isn't enough- so why don't we do something about it? Make sure you and your PC are protected on all fronts this new year with Firewall, Anti Spyware, a secure WiFi connection.

Avoid Adware

Avoid Adware
Adware typically installs itself on your PC as part of a software download. Once there, adware does tricks like putting commercial links and ads on Web pages you visit--without your or the site's consent. Ideally, you keep adware off your PC by being careful about what you download.

Clean the Digital Basement

Clean the Digital Basement
PCs can be a lot like a basement. Before you know it, you can collect piles of electronic dust. Your hard drive is likely littered with megabytes of useless files, which many programs generate as emergency data backups. You may want to launch our FREE System Cleaner to make sure your PC runs at optimal speed and your memory is not tied up with.

Feel Better

Feel Better
Are you suffering from eye fatigue and a painful crick in your neck? Be kind to yourself by taking the time to learn proper workplace ergonomics. One way to relieve eye strain is by investing in a liquid crystal display monitor.

Don't Bite

Don't Bite
Don't fall prey to Online Phishing this new year! Phishing is a scam where the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking emails appearing to come from some of the Web's biggest sites, including eBay, Paypal, BestBuy, your bank, in an effort to phish for personal and financial information.
How can you identify a fake site?
One great way to is by downloading our FREE Verification engine.

Stream Media and Live TV Across the Internet with Orb

Looking for a way to stream your media collection across the Internet? Or perhaps watch and record TV remotely? Today we are going to look at how to do all that and more with Orb.

Download and install Orb on your home computer. (Download link below) You’ll want to take the defaults for the initial portion of the install.

When we get to the Orb Account setup portion of the install is when we will have to enter information and make some decisions. Choose your language and click Next.

We’ll need to create and user account and password. A valid email address is required as we’ll need to confirm the account later. Click Next.

Now you’ll want to choose your media sources. Orb will automatically look for folders that may contain media files.

You can add or remove folders click on the (+) or (-) buttons. To remove a folder, click on it once to select it from the list and then click the minus (-) button. To add a folder, click the plus (+) button and browse for the folder.

You can add local folders as well as shared folders from networked computers and USB attached storage.

Note: Both the host computer running Orb and the networked computer will need to be running to access shared network folders remotely.

If you have a TV tuner card connected to your PC,you can opt to configure Orb to stream live or recorded TV. Click Next to configure TV. Or, choose Skip if you don’t wish to configure Orb for TV.

If you have a Digital tuner card, type in your Zip Code and click Get List to pull your channel listings.Select a TV provider from the list and click Next. If not, click Skip.

You can select or deselect any channels by checking or un-checking the box to each channel. Select Auto Scan to let Orb find more channels or disable the ones with no reception. Click Next when finished.

Just as we did with the Digital tuner, select or deselect any channels by checking or un-checking the box to each channel. Select Auto Scan to let Orb find more channels or disable the ones with no reception. Click Next when finished.

Media files are accessed through a web-based interface. Before we go any further, however, we’ll need to confirm our username and password. Check your inbox for an email from Orb Networks. Click the enclosed confirmation link. You’ll be prompted to enter the username and password you selected in your browser then click Next.

Your account will be confirmed. Now, we’re ready to enjoy our media remotely. To get started, point your browser to the MyCast website from your remote computer. (See link below)

Once logged in, you’ll be presented with the MyCast Home screen. By default you’ll see a handful of “channels” such as a TV program guide, random audio and photos, video favorites, and weather.

You can add, remove, or customize channels. To add additional channels, click on Add Channels at the top right…

To access your full media libraries, click Open Application at the top left and select from one of the options.

If you have a TV tuner card you configured for Orb, you’ll see your program guide on the TV / Webcams screen. To watch or record a show, click on the program listing to bring up a detail box. Then click the red button to record, or the green button to play.

When recording a show, you’ll see a pulsating red icon at the top right of the listing in the program guide.

If you want to watch Live TV, you may be prompted to choose your media player, depending on your browser and settings.

If you try to stream live TV in Orb while Windows Media Center is running on your PC, you’ll get an error message. Click the Stop MediaCenter button and then try again.

On the Audio screen, you’ll find your music files indexed by genre, artist, and album. You can play a selection by clicking once and then clicking the green play button, or by simply double-clicking.

Video works essentially the same as audio. Click on a selection and press the green play button, or double-click on the video title.

You can change the default streaming format in the control panel settings. To access the Control Panel, click on Open Applications and select Control Panel. You can also click Settings at the top right.

Select General from the drop down list and then click on the Streaming Formats tab. You are provided four options. Flash, Windows Media, .SDP, and .PLS.

To create playlists, drag and drop your media title to the playlist work area on the right, or click Add to playlist on the top menu. Click Save when finished.

Orb allows you to share media playlists across the Internet with friends and family. There are a few ways to accomplish this. We’ll start by click the Share button at the bottom of the playlist work area after you’ve compiled your playlist.

You’ll be prompted to choose a method by which to share your playlist. You’ll have the option to share your playlist publicly or privately. You can share publically through links, blogs, or on your Orb public profile. By choosing the Public Profile option, Orb will automatically create a profile page for you with a URL like http://public.orb.com/username that anyone can easily access on the Internet.

The private sharing option allows you to invite friends by email and requires recipients to register with Orb.

You can also give your playlist a custom name, or accept the auto-generated title.

Users who visit your public profile will be able to view and stream any of your shared playlists to their computer or supported device.

Orb can stream media to many portable devices and 3G phones. Streaming audio is supported on the iPhone and iPod Touch through the Safari browser. However, video and live TV streaming requires the Orb Live iPhone App. Orb Live is available in the App store for $9.99.

To stream media to your portable device, go to the MyCast website in your mobile browser and login. Browse for your media or playlist.

We found streaming music to both the Droid and the iPhone to work quite nicely. Video playback on the Droid, however, left a bit to be desired. The video looked good, but the audio tended to be out of sync.

By default Orb runs in the system tray on start up. To access the System Tray Control Panel, right-click on the Orb icon in the system tray and select Control Panel.

From here you can add or remove media sources, add manage accounts, change your password, and more. If you’d rather not run Orb on Startup, click the General icon.

It may seem like a lot of steps, but getting Orb up and running isn’t terribly difficult. Orb is available for both Windows and Intel based Macs. It also supports streaming to many Game Consoles such as the Wii, PS3, and XBox 360.

Recover that Photo, Picture or File You Deleted Accidentally

Have you ever accidentally deleted a photo on your camera, computer, USB drive, or anywhere else? What you might not know is that you can usually restore those pictures—even from your camera's memory stick.

Windows tries to prevent you from making a big mistake by providing the Recycle Bin, where deleted files hang around for a while—but unfortunately it doesn't work for external USB drives, USB flash drives, memory sticks, or mapped drives.

The great news is that this technique also works if you accidentally deleted the photo... from the camera itself. That's what happened to me, and prompted writing this article.

The first piece of software that you'll want to try is called Recuva, and it's extremely easy to use—just make sure when you are installing it, that you don't accidentally install that stupid Yahoo! toolbar that nobody wants.

Now that you've installed the software, and avoided an awful toolbar installation, launch the Recuva wizard and let's start through the process of recovering those pictures you shouldn't have deleted.

The first step on the wizard page will let you tell Recuva to only search for a specific type of file, which can save a lot of time while searching, and make it easier to find what you are looking for.

Next you'll need to specify where the file was, which will obviously be up to wherever you deleted it from. Since I deleted mine from my camera's SD card, that's where I'm looking for it.

The next page will ask you whether you want to do a Deep Scan. My recommendation is to not select this for the first scan, because usually the quick scan can find it. You can always go back and run a deep scan a second time.

And now, you'll see all of the pictures deleted from your drive, memory stick, SD card, or wherever you searched. Looks like what happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas after all...

If there are a really large number of results, and you know exactly when the file was created or modified, you can switch to the advanced view, where you can sort by the last modified time. This can help speed up the process quite a bit, so you don't have to look through quite as many files.

At this point, you can right-click on any filename, and choose to Recover it, and then save the files elsewhere on your drive. Awesome!

If you don't have any luck with Recuva, you can always try out DiskDigger, another excellent piece of software. I've tested both of these applications very thoroughly, and found that neither of them will always find the same files, so it's best to have both of them in your toolkit.

Note that DiskDigger doesn't require installation, making it a really great tool to throw on your PC repair Flash drive.

Now you can choose whether to do a deep scan, or a really deep scan. Just like with Recuva, you'll probably want to select the first one first. I've also had much better luck with the regular scan, rather than the "dig deeper" one.

If you do choose the "dig deeper" one, you'll be able to select exactly which types of files you are looking for, though again, you should use the regular scan first.

Once you've come up with the results, you can click on the items on the left-hand side, and see a preview on the right.

You can select one or more files, and choose to restore them. It's pretty simple!

Good luck recovering your deleted files! And keep in mind, DiskDigger is a totally free donationware software from a single, helpful guy... so if his software helps you recover a photo you never thought you'd see again, you might want to think about throwing him a dollar or two.

Is there any way to include my favorites on my Windows XP Start menu?

A:
I don’t know about you, but I have about a billion favorites and go to my list quite frequently. To do this, I very obviously open my browser (Internet Explorer) and go from there.

I forgot that there is another quicker way to get your favorites without even opening your browser.

First, go to your Start button and right-click it. Left-click on Properties.

You will now see two types of start menus. Note the one that you have.

If the “Start Menu” option is checked, first left-click on Customize.

Left-click on Advanced.

Next look under “Start menu items” and check “Favorites Menu”.

Click on OK, and then click on Apply, and OK again.

This is what it now looks like.

If you have your computer setup with the “Classic Start Menu”, first left-click on “Customize”.

Then look at the list under “Advanced Startup Options” and put a check next to “Display Favorites”. Click on OK, and then click on OK again.

This is what it now looks like:

Now when you go to your Start up menu, your Favorites are right there, ready and waiting. : )

~Lori Cline

Desktop Fun: Adventure Icon Packs

Do you long for adventure and excitement? If so you can add some of that goodness to your desktop with our adventure icon packs collection.

To give you an idea of how these icons could look on your desktop we have an example set up here using the “LOTR - Armoury of the Third Age” set shown below.

If you enjoyed this icon collection then make certain to visit our new Desktop Fun section for more customization goodness!

Use an Ubuntu Live CD to Securely Wipe Your PC's Hard Drive

Deleting files or quickly formatting a drive isn’t enough for sensitive personal information. We’ll show you how to get rid of it for good using a Ubuntu Live CD.

When you delete a file in Windows, Ubuntu, or any other operating system, it doesn’t actually destroy the data stored on your hard drive, it just marks that data as “deleted.” If you overwrite it later, then that data is generally unrecoverable, but if the operating system don’t happen to overwrite it, then your data is still stored on your hard drive, recoverable by anyone who has the right software.

By securely delete files or entire hard drives, your data will be gone for good.

Note: Modern hard drives are extremely sophisticated, as are the experts who recover data for a living. There is no guarantee that the methods covered in this article will make your data completely unrecoverable; however, they will make your data unrecoverable to the majority of recovery methods, and all methods that are readily available to the general public.

Most of the data stored on your hard drive is harmless, and doesn’t reveal anything about you. If there are just a few files that you know you don’t want someone else to see, then the easiest way to get rid of them is a built-in Linux utility called shred.

Open a terminal window by clicking on Applications at the top-left of the screen, then expanding the Accessories menu and clicking on Terminal.

Navigate to the file that you want to delete using cd to change directories and ls to list the files and folders in the current directory.

As an example, we’ve got a file called BankInfo.txt on a Windows NTFS-formatted hard drive.

We want to delete it securely, so we’ll call shred by entering the following in the terminal window:

Notice that our BankInfo.txt file still exists, even though we’ve shredded it. A quick look at the contents of BankInfo.txt make it obvious that the file has indeed been securely overwritten.

We can use some command-line arguments to make shred delete the file from the hard drive as well. We can also be extra-careful about the shredding process by upping the number of times shred overwrites the original file.

By default, shred overwrites the file 25 times. We’ll double this, giving us the following command:

BankInfo.txt has now been securely wiped on the physical disk, and also no longer shows up in the directory listing.

If you’re disposing of an old hard drive, or giving it to someone else, then you might instead want to wipe your entire hard drive. shred can be invoked on hard drives, but on modern file systems, the shred process may be reversible. We’ll use the program wipe to securely delete all of the data on a hard drive.

Unlike shred, wipe is not included in Ubuntu by default, so we have to install it. Open up the Synaptic Package Manager by clicking on System in the top-left corner of the screen, then expanding the Administration folder and clicking on Synaptic Package Manager.

wipe is part of the Universe repository, which is not enabled by default. We’ll enable it by clicking on Settings > Repositories in the Synaptic Package Manager window.

Check the checkbox next to “Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)”. Click Close.

You’ll need to reload Synaptic’s package list. Click on the Reload button in the main Synaptic Package Manager window.

Once the package list has been reloaded, the text over the search field will change to “Rebuilding search index”.

Wait until it reads “Quick search,” and then type “wipe” into the search field. The wipe package should come up, along with some other packages that perform similar functions. sshot-7

Click on the checkbox to the left of the label “wipe” and select “Mark for Installation”.

Click on the Apply button to start the installation process. Click the Apply button on the Summary window that pops up.

Once the installation is done, click the Close button and close the Synaptic Package Manager window.

Open a terminal window by clicking on Applications in the top-left of the screen, then Accessories > Terminal.

You need to figure our the correct hard drive to wipe. If you wipe the wrong hard drive, that data will not be recoverable, so exercise caution!

A list of your hard drives will show up. A few factors will help you identify the right hard drive. One is the file system, found in the System column of the list – Windows hard drives are usually formatted as NTFS (which shows up as HPFS/NTFS). Another good identifier is the size of the hard drive, which appears after its identifier (highlighted in the following screenshot).

In our case, the hard drive we want to wipe is only around 1 GB large, and is formatted as NTFS. We make a note of the label found under the the Device column heading. If you have multiple partitions on this hard drive, then there will be more than one device in this list.

Your hard drive will be completely wiped. It may take some time to complete, depending on the size of the drive you’re wiping.

If you have sensitive information on your hard drive – and chances are you probably do – then it’s a good idea to securely delete sensitive files before you give away or dispose of your hard drive. The most secure way to delete your data is with a few swings of a hammer, but shred and wipe from a Ubuntu Live CD is a good alternative!

Windows Mail Shortcuts

It appears as though a healthy portion of Worldstart readers out there are using Windows Mail as their primary E-mail client. This is great, but I realized that I haven't offered up a single tip on WM since I've been writing here!

Please accept my most sincere apologies in the form of some helpful keyboard shortcuts! ;)

Main window

CTRL+O or ENTER - Open selected message
CTRL+ENTER or CTRL+Q - Mark as read
TAB - Move between message list, Folders list, and Preview pane
CTRL+W - Go to a newsgroup
Left arrow or + - Expand newsgroup conversation
Right arrow or â€“ - Collapse newsgroup conversation
CTRL+SHIFT+A - Mark all newsgroup messages read
CTRL+SHIFT+M - Download newsgroup messages for offline reading
CTRL+I - Go to Inbox
CTRL+Y - Go to a folder
F5 - Refresh newsgroup messages and headers

Main window and View Message window:

CTRL+M - Send and receive
CTRL+N - Open or post new message
CTRL+SHIFT+B - Open contacts
DELTE or CTRL+D - Delete message
CTRL+R - Reply to message author
CTRL+SHIFT+R or CTRL+G - (newsgroups only) Reply to all
CTRL+F - Forward message
CTRL+SHIFT+F - Find message
CTRL+P - Print message
CTRL+> - Go to next message
CTRL+< - Go to previous message
ALT+ENTER - View selected messageâ€™s properties
CTRL+U - Go to next unread message
CTRL+SHIFT+U - Go to next unread newsgroup conversation

Message window

ESC - Close message
F3 or CTRL+SHIFT+F - Find text
F7 - Check spelling (when sending)
CTRL+SHIFT+S - Insert signature (when sending)
CTRL+ENTER or ALT+S - Send message or post to newsgroup
CTRL+TAB - Switch among Edit, Source, and Preview tabs in Source Edit view

Happy shortcutting!

~Andrew

Revo Uninstaller

One thing I can't stand is having a computer full of programs that I don't use anymore! Extra programs on a computer do nothing but slow it down. That's why it's a good idea to go through your system every once in awhile and uninstall programs you don't use anymore.

Usually, uninstalling is done by going to your system's Control Panel and opening the Add/Remove Programs section (listed as Programs in Vista). That way works just fine most of the time, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it. The other day, that type of problem happened to me. I was trying to uninstall a program and it just wouldn't come out. There were leftover files and registry entries all over the place. Because of that, I started looking for a program that would fix my problem.

What I found is called Revo Uninstaller. Revo Uninstaller is a free program that accurately and safely removes unwanted, stubborn programs from your computer. It begins by making a system restore point, which is great, because if anything goes wrong, it can be undone. Next, it runs the regular uninstaller for the program you want to remove. After that's completed, it will do one of two things. If you choose the Safe uninstall, it will show you the leftover files and registry lines and allow you to delete them yourself. If you choose the Moderate uninstall, it will do everything for you.

I chose the Moderate option and didn't run into any issues. However, choosing the Safe method gives you more control over the uninstall. So, the choice is yours!

When it comes to uninstallers, this program is great. You can download the Revo Uninstaller for yourself right here. Enjoy!

~Gary

The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials

The Apple iPad is the latest new toy, and we've put together a comprehensive list of every tip, trick, and tutorial that we could find to help you get the most out of it—and we're even giving one away to one lucky reader. So read on!

Note: We'll be keeping this page updated as we find more great articles, so you should bookmark this page for future reference.

Want Your Own iPad? How-To Geek is Giving One Away!

Disable the "clicking sound" on the iPad Keyboard

Does the clicking sound when you tap the iPad keyboard bother you? Thankfully it's easy to disable with a couple of taps.

Enable and add bookmarks to the Safari Bookmarks Bar on your iPad

By default, Safari doesn't display the Bookmarks Bar. This tip shows you how to change that.

Clear the Cache, History and Cookies in Safari for the iPad

You're probably used to clearing this kind of data right from within the browser. Not so with Safari on the iPad - but here's how you can.

How to add more Apps to your iPad Dock

Convert PDF files to ePub files to read on your iPad with iBooks

ePub is the format that iBooks are in. So for those of you with large eBook collections in PDF, here's how you convert them to read in iBooks.

How to force your iPad to restart

Has an app caused your iPad to freeze up, and you can't escape? This tip shows you how to force your iPad to restart.

How to export Keynote for iPad presentations to your Mac or PC

Exporting Keynote presentations from your iPad to your Mac or PC isn't as straight forward as you might have expected. This tutorial shows you how.

How to import presentations to Keynote on your iPad

How to import documents to Pages on your iPad

This guide shows you how to transfer documents (MS Word or Pages) from your Mac/PC to your iPad.

How to insert photos in a Pages document using iPad and share it as a PDF

Want to spice up that doc with a picture you just took? This tutorial will show you how - and how to export that document as a PDF.

How to lock your iPad

If you have kids or co-workers/friends who think it's funny to mess with your iPad - lock it.

How to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature from outgoing email on your iPad

Does everyone need to know you just sent that email from your iPad? Probably not. This guide shows you how to remove the "Sent from my iPad" signature and replace it with your own (or none).

How To Sync Multiple Calendars to the iPad With Google Sync

This tutorial will show you a workaround on how to sync multiple calendars on your iPad using Google Sync.

How to determine the MAC address of your iPad

If your network restricts connections via MAC address - this guide will show you how to determine what yours is.

How to take a screenshot of your iPad

Do you need to take a screenshot of your iPad? This quick tip shows you how to do just that.

How to delete apps from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad

Anyone who had an iPod Touch or iPhone before they had an iPad won't need this tutorial. But if you're new to the experience, this one will help.

How to determine the iPad ECID on Windows and Mac

iPadintosh shows us how to determine the iPad's ECID code - something you'll want to have come Jailbreak time.

iPad Apps: Twitter and social networking essentials

Enggadget has you covered with reviews of the first slew of iPad specific Twitter and other social networking apps.

What does your website look like on an iPad?

iPad Peek is a web based tool that allows you to enter any given URL, and it will display that page the same way Safari on the iPad does. Great for web site owners who don't have access to an iPad.

Stream Music and Videos to your iPad

Gizmodo reviews the iPad app StreamToMe, which allows you to stream media from your Mac to your iPad across your local network. Their feelings in a nutshell - worth the $3, but not perfect.

Apple iPad : Change links in Google Reader to point to full HTML webpage

How to connect an iPad to your existing wireless keyboard

This video will show you how to connect your iPad to a wireless keyboard if you're having any problems - and from the sound of things, quite a few folks are.

How to get started with the iPad

Mashable has a very entry-level guide that will help you set up your iPad for the first time.

Essential iPad Apps

Downloadsquad gives mini-reviews to 8 iPad apps that you should install as soon as you get your iPad.

Videos: The Official iPad Guided Tours

From none other than Apple! Great getting started videos for all the included iPad apps.

The Official iPad Manual

When you buy an iPad, you don't get a manual. But that's not to say there isn't one. Apple provides a 150 guide for your iPad in PDF format.

How to print from your iPad

Sure, it's actually just an App (PrintCentral - $9.99 USD), but as of right now, it's the only way.

How to make your own iPad Wallpaper

A perfectly detailed tutorial on how to make your own wallpaper for your iPad. The author also provides a really nice sample wallpaper, published under the Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Got any more tips? Share them in the comments, and we'll update the post with the links, or just the tip itself.

Stream Music and Video Over the Internet with Windows Media Player 12

A new feature in Windows Media Player 12, which is included with Windows 7, is being able to stream media over the web to other Windows 7 computers. Today we will take a look at how to set it up and what you need to begin.

Note: You will need to perform this process on each computer that you want to use.

Open Windows Media Player and go to the library section. Click on Stream and then “Allow Internet access to home media.”

The Internet Home Media Access pop up window will prompt you to link your Windows Live ID to a user account. Click “Link an online ID.”

If you haven’t already installed the Windows Live ID Sign-In Assistant, you will be taken to Microsoft's website and prompted to download it.

Once you have completed the Windows Live download assistant install, you will see Windows Live ID online provider appear in the "Link Online IDs" window. Click on "Link Online ID."

Next, you'll be prompted for a Windows Live ID and password. Enter your Windows Live ID and password and click "Sign In."

A pop up window will notify you that you have successfully allowed Internet access to home media.

Now, you will have to repeat the exact same configuration on the 2nd Windows 7 computer. Once you have completed the same configuration on your 2nd computer, you might also need to configure your home router for port forwarding.

If your router supports UPnP, you may not need to manually forward any ports on your router. So, this would be a good time to test your connection. Go to a nearby hotspot, or perhaps a neighbor's house, and test to see if you can stream your media. If not, you’ll need to manually forward the ports. You can always choose to forward the ports anyway, just in case.

Note: We tested on a Linksys WRT54GL router, which supports UPnP, and found we still needed to manually forward the ports.

Open Windows Media Player and make sure you are in Library view. Click on "Stream" on the top menu, and select "Allow Internet access to home media."

The "Internet Streaming Diagnostic Tool” will pop up. Click on "Port forwarding information" near the bottom.

On the "Port Forwarding Information" window you will find both the Internal and External Port numbers you will need to forward on your router. The Internal port number should always be 10245. The external number will be different depending on your computer. Microsoft also recommends forwarding port 443.

Next, you’ll need to configure Port Forwarding on your home router. We will show you the steps for a Linksys WRT54GL router, however, the steps for port forwarding will vary from router to router.

On the Linksys configuration page, click on the Administration Tab along the top, click the "Applications & Gaming Tab, and then the "Port Range Forward" tab below it.

Under "Application," type in a name. It can be any name you choose. In both the "Start" and "End" boxes, type the port number. Enter the IP address of your home computer in the IP address column. Click the check box under "Enable." Do this for both the internal and external port numbers and port 443. When finished, click the “Save Settings” button.

Note: It’s highly recommended that you configure your home computer with a static IP address

When you’re ready to play your media over the Internet, open up Windows Media Player and look for your host computer and username listed under “Other Libraries.” Click on it expand the list to see your media libraries. Choose a library and a file to play.

We found media streaming over the Internet to work fairly well. However, we did see a loss of quality with streaming video. Also, Recorded TV .wtv and dvr-ms files did not play at all.

Installing the Updated XP Mode which Requires no Hardware Virtualization

Good news for those of you who have a computer without Hardware Virtualization, Microsoft had dropped the requirement so you can now run XP Mode on your machine. Here we take a look at how to install it and getting working on your PC.

Microsoft has dropped the requirement that your CPU supports Hardware Virtualization for XP Mode in Windows 7. Before this requirement was dropped, we showed you how to use SecureAble to find out if your machine would run XP Mode. If it couldn’t, you might have gotten lucky with turning Hardware Virtualization on in your BIOS, or getting an update that would enable it. If not, you were out of luck or would need a different machine.

Note: Although you no longer need Hardware Virtualization, you still need Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate version of Windows 7.

For this article we’re installing it on a Dell machine that doesn’t support Hardware Virtualization on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit version.

The first thing you’ll want to do is go to the XP Mode website and select your edition of Windows 7 and language. Then there are three downloads you’ll need to get from the page. Windows XP Mode, Windows Virtual PC, and the Windows XP Mode Update (All Links Below).

Windows genuine validation is required before you can download the XP Mode files. To make the validation process easier you might want to use IE when downloading these files and validating your version of Windows.

After validation is successful the first thing to download and install is XP Mode, which is easy following the wizard and accepting the defaults.

After you’ve come back from the restart, you’ll need to install KB977206 which is the Windows XP Mode Update.

After the update is configured and you return from the second reboot, you’ll find XP Mode in the Start menu under the Windows Virtual PC folder.

Then you’re given a message saying setup will share the hardware on your computer, then click Start Setup.

While setup completes, you’re shown a display of what XP Mode does and how to use it.

XP Mode launches and you can now begin using it to run older applications that are not compatible with Windows 7.

This is a welcome news for many who want the ability to use XP Mode but didn’t have the proper hardware to do it. The bad news is users of Home versions of Windows still don’t get to enjoy the XP Mode feature officially. However, we have an article that shows a great workaround – Create an XP Mode for Windows 7 Home Versions & Vista.

Recover your Gmail Password with a Secondary Email Address or an SMS message

Forgetting or losing your mail account password is a common problem with web users. Maybe you have a lot of email accounts and passwords to remember . Or may be you had created a Gmail account long ago and haven’t used it for months.

In such situations, forgetting the password is normal, but you should also know the procedure to recover it, as well. Following are two ways to recover Gmail account password, in case you lose it

Using a Secondary Email Address

A secondary email address acts as a backdoor of your primary email account. Suppose you forgot the password of your primary email account and can’t login. In that case, you can request a password reset of your primary email account using your secondary email address. The link to reset the password would be sent to your secondary email account.

Here are the steps to recover your email password using a secondary email account in Gmail:

1.Login to your primary email account and click the “Settings” link placed at the right corner of the screen.

2.Select the “Accounts and Import” tab and click the “Google account settings” link at the bottom of the page.

3.This will take you to the settings page of your Google account. Click “Change password recovery options”.

4.For security reasons, you will be asked to sign in again. In the next page, add the email address of your secondary email account.

5.Click save and you are done.

Whenever you forget the password of your primary email account, you can request a password reset as described later in the article.

How to Recover Email Password using an SMS Message

Using a secondary email address for recovery options is good, but what if you lose the password of your secondary email account as well? How are you going to recover the password of your primary email account, if you do not have access to the secondary email account in the first place?

Hence, you should associate a phone number with your email account. Here are the detailed steps to achieve the same:

1.Visit the settings page of your email account as described in the above section of the article (refer to steps 1, 2 and 3).

2.In the page to change the password recovery options, you will see the option to add your mobile number with your email account. Select your country from the drop down menu and enter the phone number in the text box as shown below:

3.Click “Save changes" and you are done.

Test your Email Recovery Options

Now that you have added the secondary email address as well as a phone number, you should test the settings to see whether it works as planned. Here are the steps to follow:

1.On the Gmail login page, enter a wrong username and password combination and click “Can’t access your account” link.

2.On the following page, select “I forgot my password” and click the “Reset your Password here” link

3.On the next page, enter your email user name once again and hit “Submit”

4.You will receive a password reset email in your secondary email address. Just click the link and you will be allowed to reset the email password of your primary email account. If you have added your mobile number, you will receive an SMS message on your mobile containing a 5 digit code. You need to enter the code in the password reset page to complete the password reset process.

Both of the methods mentioned in the article should be implemented to be on the safe side, in case you forget the password of your email account. Have you set up recovery options of your email account yet?

~Amit Banerjee

Too Much Security?

Everyone knows that securing your computer is important these days. Without securing your system and network, you can run into all kinds of problems. On the other hand, there is such a thing as too much security. If your computer is overly secure, you will lose functionality and your computer will become more of a pain than anything else. Here are a few things that can cause you computer trouble from being too secure!

Too Much Antivirus – When it comes to damaging computers, viruses are the king. When your computer has a virus, you can see anything from performance problems to identity theft results. While it is important to have good antivirus software, you should never have more than one antivirus suite running on your system at once. Having more than one type of antivirus software can cause them to malfunction, leaving you with no protection.

Too Many Firewalls – Along with an antivirus program, firewalls are very similar. A good firewall is important, but having more than one can cause major issues. Since firewall software is designed to close ports and seal shut your system, overlapping two of them can cause them to block each other and leave you with Internet connectivity troubles.

Security Settings Set Too High – I'm sure most of you have looked at Internet Explorer's security settings at one point in time (you can look at them now by clicking Tools, Internet Options, Security tab). Those settings have a range from low to high. Most of you will see that your computer is set to medium or medium high. That is perfectly fine. While IE does have the option for high, you will see that setting your system that way will not help you at all. When your browser security is set too high, it blocks almost everything. You will not be able to see most Web sites and the ones you can see, will be missing items.

Privacy Settings Set Too High – Right next to the Security tab in Internet Explorer, you'll find the Privacy tab. That tab mostly controls your cookie settings. Keeping control of your cookies is a good thing, but not having any cookies is just as bad. If you set your privacy settings to the highest setting, your browser will not allow any cookies into your system. Therefore, many Web sites will not work for you.

Those are just a few things to keep in mind. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends. But not too safe!

~Gary

Well, that's unexpected! Don't forget to rate or add to this tip here!

Add Extra Toolbars to your Windows Taskbar

I personally like to keep my desktop clean with minimal icons on it and just change the wallpaper from time to time. After all, what is the point of having pretty wallpapers on your desktop if you are going to have ugly icons all over it? So in order to do this, while at the same time retaining high productivity, I classify all the frequently used shortcut icons into groups and have them as a pop-up menu (an additional toolbar) I can access from the windows taskbar. I find that my productivity with the computer remains the same, but my desktop is much neater and cleaner when the icons have been moved to pop-up menus (additional toolbars).

These additional toolbars are similar to the quick-launch toolbar which comes as a default toolbar in Windows.

Adding a toolbar to the windows taskbar is very simple and can be achieved as follows

1.) Add all the shortcuts you want together into a folder.

2.) If you want shortcuts to be grouped together into sub-sets, then add a sub-folder with shortcuts within it

3.) Right click on the taskbar and choose Toolbars>New Toolbar.

4.) Navigate to the folder required and then click on “Select Folder”.

5.) The toolbar should appear on the taskbar and will function similar to the Quick Launch Toolbar.

6.) In order to remove/disable a particular toolbar, right-click on the taskbar, choose Toolbars and then remove the tick mark against that particular toolbar.

Note: I normally group all the shortcuts into various sub-folders and put all the sub-folders together under a root-folder which I place within My Documents. I then create a toolbar which points to the root-folder. I tend to keep the quick launch toolbar on the left next to the Start button, and add additional toolbars on the right next to the System tray. I use the space in-between for tabs of open windows/currently running applications.
I find this method highly efficient as I can use the available space effectively and I also know exactly where all my shortcut files are and can modify them if required with the change reflecting in the toolbar immediately.

Example of a Toolbar

The screenshot above indicates a toolbar named “Unused Links” which was created in the above fashion. It contains all the links I don't want cluttering my desktop and makes them readily available. The classification into groups facilitates easy retrieval in case I need anything in future. As described earlier, I have it on the right extreme of the windows taskbar, adjacent to the system tray.

~Deepak kannan

before you open any attachment, make sure you know who sent it. Even if you do know the sender, if you aren't expecting it, you might want to send a quick note to your friend and make sure they really sent it—especially .pps files since they can contain viruses. Also, do not open any attachments with .exe , .scr or .pif file extensions.

Nothing worse than getting a file from a friend and you don't have the right program to open it. Here are some common file extensions and the programs needed to open:

.doc - Microsoft Word
.pps - MS PowerPoint
.xls - MS Excel worksheet
.wpd - Corel WordPerfect
.pdf - Adobe Acrobat
.jpg - JPEG graphic file
.zip - Zip (compressed) file
.sit - Stuffit (compressed) file
.scr - Windows Screen Saver (DO NOT OPEN)
.pif - Program Information File (DO NOT OPEN)

The good news is that most software developers offer freeware viewers that will allow you to see, but not alter, content.

.doc - Microsoft Word Viewer

.pps - PowerPoint Viewer

.xls - Excel Spreadsheet Viewer

.wpd - Wordperfect
Corel no longer offers a viewer, but there is a third-party application called "Lightning" that includes a Wordperfect viewer.

.pdf - Acrobat Reader

.jpg - You can view these in your web browser or most imaging software.

.scr - USE CAUTION if you receive a screen saver via email. They can contain worms or viruses.

.pif - DO NOT OPEN! This is most likely a virus. Clicking it will run a program or code that can mess up your computer.

As for compressed files (.zip & .sit), I recommend 7 Zip, because it's free.

There are also freeware/shareware programs for opening .zip files such as WinZip . In addition, with Windows XP you can save any zipped file to your desktop or a folder and access the files without unzipping (just click it like any other folder—drag items out to run them).

So, next time you get an attached file in your email but don't have the program to open it, just grab a viewer.

~David

How To Skip Commercials in Windows 7 Media Center

If you use Windows 7 Media Center to record live TV, you’re probably interested in skipping through commercials. After all, a big reason to record programs is to avoid commercials, right? Today we focus on a fairly simple and free way to get you skipping commercials in no time.

In Windows 7, the .wtv file format has replaced the dvr-ms file format used in previous versions of Media Center for Recorded TV. The .wtv file format, however, does not work very well with commercial skipping applications.

Our first step will be to convert the recorded .wtv files to the previously used dvr-ms file format. This conversion will be done automatically by WtvWatcher. It’s important to note that this process deletes the original .wtv file after successfully converting to .dvr-ms. Next, we will useDVRMSToolBox with the DTB Addin to handle commercials skipping. This process does not “cut” or remove the commercials from the file. It merely skips the commercials during playback.

Download and install the WTVWatcher (link below). To install WtvWatcher, you’ll need to have Windows Installer 3.1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

If you get the Publisher cannot be verified warning you can go ahead and click Install. We’ve completely tested this app and it contains no malware and runs successfully.

After installing, the WtvWatcher will pop up in the lower right corner of your screen.

You will need to set the path to your Recorded TV directory. Click on the button for "Click here to set your recorded TV path..."

…and you'll be prompted to browse for your Recorded TV folder. If you did not change the default location at setup, it will be found at C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV. Click “OK” when finished.

The process should only take a few minutes per file. Note: If WtvWatcher detects an error during the conversion process, it will not delete the original WTV file.

You will probably want to run WtvWatcher on startup. This will allow WtvWatcher too constantly scan for new .wtv files to convert. There is no setting in the application to run on startup, so you’ll need to copy the WTV icon from your desktop into your Windows start menu “Startup” directory. To do so, click on Start > All Programs, right-click on Startup and click on Open all users.

Drag and drop, or cut and paste, the WtvWatcher desktop shortcut into the Startup folder.

Next, we need to download and install theDVRMSToolBox and the DTBAddIn. These two pieces of software will do the actual commercial skipping. After downloading the DVRMSToolBox zip file, extract it and double-click the setup.exe file. Click “Next” to begin the installation.

Unless DVRMSToolBox will only be used by Administrator accounts, check the “Modify File Permissions” box. Click “Next.”

When you get to the Optional Components window, uncheck Download/Install ShowAnalyzer. We will not be using that application.

Next we need to install the DTBAddin. Unzip the download folder and run the appropriate .msi file for your system. It is available in 32 & 64 bit versions.

Just double click on the file and take the default options. Click "Finish” when the install is completed. You will then be prompted to restart your computer.

After your computer has restarted, open DVRMSToolBox settings by going to Start > All Programs, DVRMSToolBox, and click on DVRMStoMPEGSettings.

On the MC Addin tab, make sure that Skip Commercials is checked. It should be by default.

On the Commercial Skip tab, make sure the Auto Skip option is selected. Click "Save."

If you try to watch recorded TV before the file conversion and commercial indexing process is complete you’ll get the following message pop up in Media Center. If you click Yes, it will start indexing the commercials if WtvWatcher has already converted it to dvr-ms.

Now you’re ready to kick back and watch your recorded tv without having to wait through those long commercial breaks.

The DVRMSToolBox is a powerful and complex application with a multitude of features and utilities. We’ve showed you a quick and easy way to get your Windows Media Center setup to skip commercials. This setup, like virtually all commercial skipping setups, is not perfect. You will occasionally find a commercial that doesn’t get skipped.

Our Look at Opera 10.50 Web Browser

Everyone has been talking about the newest version of Opera recently but perhaps you have not looked at it too closely yet. Today we will take a look at 10.50 and let you see what this “new browser” is all about. The New Engines

A Look at the Features Available If you have installed or used older versions of Opera before then the default look after a clean install will probably seem rather different. The main differences in appearance are mainly located within the “glass border” areas of the browser. opera-(10.50)-01

The “Speed Dial” setup looks and works just as well as in previous versions. You can set a favorite wallpaper or image as your background and choose the number of “dials” using the “Configure Speed Dial Command”. opera-(10.50)-02

One of the “standout” differences is the “O Button”. All of the menus have been condensed into this single access point but it only takes a few moments to find what you are looking for. If you have used the style before in earlier versions of Opera some of the items have been moved around. For those who prefer the “Menu Bar” that can be easily restored using the “Show Menu Bar Command”. opera-(10.50)-03

If desired you can actually “extend” the “Tab Bar” downwards to display thumbnails of your open tabs. Just use your mouse to grab the bottom of the “Tab Bar” and adjust it to suit your personal needs. The only problem with this feature is that it will quickly use up a good sized portion of your available UI and browser window space. opera-(10.50)-04

The “Password Manager” is ready to access when needed…the background for the button will turn a shiny metallic blue when you open a webpage that you have “Login Information” saved for. opera-(10.50)-05

One of the new features is a small “Recycle Bin Button” in the upper right corner. Clicking on this will display a list of recently closed tabs letting you have easy access to any tabs that you may have accidentally closed. This is definitely a great feature to have as an easy access button. opera-(10.50)-06

For those who were used to how the “Zoom Feature” looked before it has a new “look” to it. Instead of the pop-up menu-type listing of “view sizes” present before you now have a slider button that you can use to adjust the zooming level. opera-(10.50)-07

For our default setup here the “Sidebar Panels” available were: “Bookmarks, Widgets, Unite, Notes, Downloads, History, & Panels”. Additional panels such as “Links, Windows, Search, Info, etc.” are available if you want and/or need them (accessible using the “Panels Plus Sign Button”). opera-(10.50)-08

The “Opera Link Button” makes it easy for you to synchronize your “Speed Dial, Bookmarks, Personal Bar, Custom Searches, History & Notes”. Note: “Opera Link” requires an account and can be signed up for using the link provided below. opera-(10.50)-09

Want to share files with your family and friends? “Unite” allows you to do that and more. With "Unite" you can: "Stream Music, Show Photo Galleries, Share Files and/or Folders, & host webpages directly from your browser". We have a more in-depth look at “Unite” in our article here. Note: Use of “Unite” requires an Opera account. opera-(10.50)-10

Got a slow internet connection? “Opera Turbo” can help with that by running the web traffic through their “compression servers” to speed up your web browsing. Keep in mind that “Opera Turbo” will not engage if you are accessing a secure website (i.e. your bank’s website) thus preserving your security. Note: “Opera Turbo” can be set up to automatically detect slow internet connections (i.e. crowded Wi-Fi in a cafe). opera-(10.50)-11

Opera has a built-in “Private Browsing Mode” now for those who prefer anonymous browsing and want to keep the “history records clean” on their computer. To access it go to “Tabs and windows” and select “New private tab” or “New private window” as desired. opera-(10.50)-12

When you open your new “Private Tab or Window” you will see the following message with details on how Opera will handle browsing information and a large “door hanger symbol”. Notice that the one tab is locked into “Private Browsing Mode” while the others are still working in “Regular Browsing Mode”. Very nice! opera-(10.50)-13

A miniature version of the “door hanger symbol” will be present on any tab that is locked into “Private Browsing Mode”. opera-(10.50)-14

If you are using Windows 7 then you will love how things look from your “Taskbar”. Here you can see four very nice looking thumbnails for the tabs that we had open. All that you have to do is click on the desired thumbnail… opera-(10.50)-15

The “Context Menu” looks just as lovely as the thumbnails and definitely has some terrific functionality built into it. opera-(10.50)-16

Add Enhanced Aero Capability If you love “Aero” and want more for your new Opera install then we have the perfect theme for you. The theme’s name is Z1-AV69 and once you have downloaded it you will need to place it in the “Skins Subfolder” in Opera’s “Program Files Folder”. Note: For our example we used version 1.10 but version 2.00 is now available (link provided below). opera-(10.50)-17

Once you have restarted Opera, go to the “O Menu” and select “Appearance”. When the “Appearance Window” opens click on “Z1-Glass Skin” and then click “OK”. All of a sudden you will have more “Aero Goodness” to enjoy. Compare this screenshot with the one at the top of this article…the only part that is not transparent now is the browser window area itself. opera-(10.50)-18

Want even more “Aero Goodness”? Right click on the “Tab Bar” and set “Tab Bar Placement” to “Left”. Note: You can achieve the same effect by setting the “Tab Bar Placement” to “Right”. opera-(10.50)-19

With the “Speed Dial” visible you will be able to see your wallpaper with ease. While this is obviously not for everyone it does make for a great visual trick. opera-(10.50)-20

Portable Versions Perhaps you need this wonderful new version of Opera to go with you wherever you do during the day. Not a problem…just visit the Opera USB website to choose a version that works best for you. You can select from “Zip or Exe” setup files and if needed update an older portable version using a “Zipped Update Files Package”. If you are updating an older version keep in mind that you will need to delete the old “OperaUSB.exe. File” due to changes with the new setup files. During our tests updating older portable versions went well for the most part but we did experience a few “odd UI quirks” here and there…so we recommend setting up a clean install if possible. opera-(10.50)-21

Conclusion The new 10.50 release is a pleasure to use and is a recommended install for your system. Whether you are considering trying Opera for the first time or have been using it for a bit we think that you will pleased with everything that the 10.50 release has to offer. For those who would like to add User Scripts to Opera be certain to look at our how-to article here. LinksDownload Opera 10.50 for your location (Windows)Get the latest Snapshot versions for Linux & Mac Sign up for an Opera Link account View In-Depth detail on Opera 10.50's features Download the Z1-AV69 Aero Theme Download Portable Opera 10.50

Fine Tune Your Printing Choices

So, you're in need of a hard copy from an MS Word file, but you don't need the entire file.

Maybe you just need a page or maybe even just a section or two.

If that is all you need, why are you printing the entire document?

Good question and unfortunately, there's no good answer.

So, let's explore a few ways you can get Word to print only what you need.

To begin, you'll need to go to the Print dialog box (File menu / Office Button, Print choice or Ctrl + P).

In the Page Range section, you'll find a few choices.

By default, the All choice will be selected, but you could change it to Current page, which will print only the page where the cursor is currently located. You also could choose the Selection option, which prints whatever text was highlighted before you went to the Print window.

Below that, you'll find the Pages option. This is where all the printing flexibility comes in.

In this field, you can enter a combination of information to get Word to print exactly what you want, with nothing more and nothing less.

To print whole pages, you can request them by page number.

2 will print only page two of the document.

2, 5 will print only pages two and five of the document.

3-8 will print only pages three through eight of the document.

3, 4-7 will print only pages three and four through seven.

Okay, so you get the idea with whole pages, but here's a quick bonus.

By entering page numbers in reverse order, such as 7-2, you will get Word to print them in reverse order.

Why reverse order?

Well, if Word prints the last page first, it will be at the bottom of the pile when you take the stack off the printer. That means no more shuffling pages to get them into the correct order!

(You could also set the reverse order option through your Printer's Properties window).

Now, moving on to printing sections. (To do this, you have to work with a document that's been broken into sections by inserting section breaks).

To denote the printing of just a section, use the letter "s," followed by the section number.

For example, if you wanted to print section two of the document, you would enter "s2" in the Pages field.

You can use the comma to separate non-consecutive sections and the hyphen to print a range of sections.

Need to mix the page numbers with the sections?

No problem!

Use the letter "p," followed by the page number and then "s," followed by the section number.

For example, "p2s3" means print page two in section three.

This too can be combined with the comma and hyphen to print both consecutive and non-consecutive parts of the document.

Now, go on and get creative and take control of your printed pages!

~April

Now you're a print professional! rate or add to this tip here!

Use Gmail as an extra drive

Ever needed some online space to store files before sending them as email attachments? Maybe you need a way to store your presentations, pictures, documents or even your video collection online?

Online storage services require that you subscribe to a data plan. In addition, they don’t offer a secure connection or a decent amount of storage space unless you pay a monthly fee.

If you already use Gmail, you know it’s one of the best email service providers in the world. Gmail offers powerful spam protection, enhanced security and more than 7 GB (and growing) of free online storage space for emails.

However, emails require only a small amount of space for storage, leaving the rest of the space unused. So, why not use Gmail’s free space to store other files besides emails?

Gmail Drive is a free shell extension that allows you to do just that. Gmail Drive creates a new system partition in My Computer and integrates the space offered by Google into Windows Explorer. It allows you to use the online space as if it were just another hard drive attached to your computer. You can transfer files by drag & drop or copy/paste from your PC directly into your Gmail Inbox. And, it works with any version of Windows!

As great as Gmail Drive is, it does have some limitations. Gmail itself imposes most of these limitations.

Gmail has a limit of 25 MB per file. To counteract this, Gmail Drive will automatically split bigger files into smaller pieces.

While normal Windows operations such as creating new folders and copy/paste work well, Gmail Drive does not assign an actual drive letter (such as C :) to the drive it creates in My Computer. This prevents its use by some older Windows applications and all DOS programs.

In addition, because of limitations inside Gmail, file names are limited to 40 characters.

The first step towards enjoying your new storage space is to have a Gmail account. To sign up for a Gmail account, visit https://www.google.com and click on Gmail above the Google search bar.

Then, click on Create an account, and fill in the form with your information.

If you already have a Gmail account, you can skip this step.

The next step is to install Gmail Drive.

Begin by pointing your browser to http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on one of the two download links. Then save the file to your desktop for easy access.

Next, open gmailfs115.zip with your favorite file archiver (I recommend 7-zip since it’s free) or right-click the file and choose “Extract All” from the menu.

After you’ve unpacked the zip file, go to the gmailfs115 folder and double-click Setup.exe.

If you get an Open File – Security Warning, click on Run to give Windows permission to start the installation.

After the installation program finishes making changes to your computer, close the help window.

If you go to My Computer ("Computer" for Windows Vista and 7) you will see a new drive in the Other category.

Double-click the GMail Drive to open the login window. Then, in the Username field input your Gmail id (ex: johndoe21) and in the password field input the password you chose for your Gmail account.

Check the Auto Login box to make sure that next time you double-click the drive you’ll be logged in automatically.

Before you click OK to connect to Gmail, click the More button to reveal some advanced options.

First, make sure the “Preserve Filenames” option is checked.

Second and this is very important, check the Use Secure HTTP option. This will make the connection between your computer and Gmail secure.

Lastly, check the Use Draft Folder option. This will send files to your draft folder instead of cluttering your inbox.

The other option, Use Proxy Authentication is only useful if you connect to the internet using a proxy server.

Now that you’ve checked all the important options, click OK to connect to Gmail.

Then you can drag & drop or copy/paste any files to Gmail Drive, and it will send them as email attachments to your Gmail Drafts folder.

The speed at which you can copy files to and from Gmail Drive will depend on the speed of your internet connection.

~Cosmin Ursachi

How to Add and Manage Shared Folders on Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server comes with some shared folders in different categories by default, and chances are you’ll want to create your own as well. Today we show you how to create your own shared folders, manage permissions, enable folder duplication, and more.

Note: For this article we’re accessing the Home Server Shared Folders from Windows 7.

After installing Windows Home Server you’ll notice that the default shared folders are Music, Photos, Public, Recorded TV, Software, and Videos. These folders cannot be deleted, but we can create our own folders if needed. We can also go through and change permissions and view folder histories.

You can access your shared folders on the server a few different ways. One is to double-click the Shared Folders on Server icon that was created on the Desktop when you installed WHS Console.

Open WHS Console and under Shared Folders right-click and Open the folder you want.

Which ever method you use, it’ll open the Shared Folders directory and you can begin browsing through your data.

Adding a new folder is pretty straight-forward. Open Windows Home Server Console and under Shared Folders click Add from the toolbar or right-click an empty area in Shared Folders and select Add from the context menu.

Either way it will pop up the Add a Shared Folder wizard where you type in the name for the folder and give it a description if you want to. You’ll need to decide if you want to enable folder duplication or not. With it enabled, it duplicates the folder and files contained in it across multiple drives on the server. It will take twice as much space on the total storage of your server and can take a while for the process to complete. In this example…these files are going to be large video files, and we don’t need to create a duplicate.

Next we need to select the type of access each user will have for the new folder. The types of access are as follows…

The folder has been successfully created and you can close out of the wizard and start adding files.

Now in Windows Home Server Console we can see the created folder named DVD Movies. We also see the Description, it’s currently empty, Duplication is off, and a status of Healthy.

If you ever find that you need to delete a shared folder you created, right-click the folder and select Remove from the menu.

Then click finish on the warning message if you’re sure you want to delete it. Remember that if a folder is duplicated, that will be deleted as well. Also you can’t delete the folders that were included by default by WHS.

We can also go back and change the properties and user access to the folders at any time. In this example we created a Documents shared folder and want to enable Folder Duplication and change user access. Just right-click the folder and select Properties.

The Properties window appears and under the General tab we want to mark the box next to Enable Folder Duplication. You need at least 2 drives on your server to enable folder duplication. What it does is automatically duplicate the folder and its contents over to another drive. It also syncs the folder with the duplicate. So for example if you take a file out of the folder, that is updated in the duplicate as well.

This is very handy incase one of the server drives fail, you’ll still have access to the folder contents. Remember that duplication takes twice the amount of space of total storage space. You might want to use this feature for your most important files and documents.

Click on the User Access tab to change the type of access each user has to the folder.

You’ll get a message reminding you that the new permissions won’t go into effect until the user logs off then back on to the machine.

If a user tries to access a file that you haven’t assigned rights to, they’ll get a File Access Denied error message.

You can also check out folder history and see how it has grown over time. Right-click a particular and select History…which brings up a screen showing what’s been going on. You can choose to display week, month, year, or a full history.

If you try to view the history of a folder that hasn’t had enough time to accumulate any, you’ll get the following error. A folder needs to be in operation for a minimum of one week.

Windows Home Server is an excellent way to centralize all of your data, and access it from different machines throughout the house or small office. Managing the shared folders on the server will be one of the main administrative functions you’ll need to do. You’ll be able to administer user account access to the folders on the network and over the web. The Folder Duplication feature is a great way to ensure there is redundant backup of your most important files.

What is Microsoft Silverlight?

A:
Good question! Silverlight, as described by Microsoft, is: “...a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Silverlight offers a flexible programming model that supports AJAX, VB, C#, Python, and Ruby, and integrates with existing Web applications....”

That, however, makes absolutely no sense to me, so let's just simplify it by saying that MS Silverlight is basically like Microsoft's version of Adobe Flash. It was originally developed as a means to deliver presentation-like material quickly and efficiently to your web browser.

Obviously things have advanced from just presentations, because now there are games, applications and productivity software that use Silverlight as their foundation.
Below is an example of a flight simulator that uses maps provided by Bing.com.

If you're curious, head over to http://silverlight.net/ and check the “Community” section for examples of all the neat things that can be done. I've been cruising around there for about half an hour and still haven't scratched the surface of everything Silverlight can do.

~Andrew