With Windows 7 came the Windows Experience Index which gave a numerical rating for your system performance and for most systems it was obviously the hard drive that was responsible for getting low WEI scores. But things changed when an SSD (Solid State Drive) replaced the slow moving hard drive. Though expensive, they are super fast and deliver superior performance gain over traditional hard drives. Although they excel over the hard drives in speed, power consumption, noise and shock resistance, they do have some cons which could be taken care of if we could use and maintain them properly.

You could use many techniques to take full advantage of your SSD. In this guide, we’ll see the steps and its explanations which includes speeding up your SSD, Optimizing its performance and thereby maximizing its life span.

We’ve spend hours to research and collect the information on this guide that would certainly be beneficial in optimizing your ssd. So, make sure you take the time to read out the full guide if you wish to get the best from your expensive drive. While most of the steps to speed up ssd targets windows 8 and windows 7 users, some steps are common for all platforms. We’ve included a lot of general information, so that you’ll get an idea on when and where to use these steps once you’ve finished reading the guide.

Speed Up Your SSD

Playing a video file from an SSD doesn’t make a noticeable speed difference and this is the same case with documents, PDFs etc.

You’d definitely see the speed and performance of an SSD when you try read / write operation of large files from your drive. This is the case when you load games, load a bunch of images in Adobe Photoshop, loading video files in Adobe Premiere etc.

1) Enable Write Caching in Windows 7

This tweak would enable the write caching on your SSD which helps to speed up SSD by a small margin. This tweak would force windows to cache the write commands sent to the SSD, to be stored in the memory which is many times faster and thus would result in a much faster operation.

• To do this navigate to, Computer > Properties > Device Manager >Disk Drive

• Now, right click and select Properties of your SSD and click on policies tab and just select the Enable write caching in Windows option, Click Apply > OK and you’re done.

For Users who have plenty of Ram installed on their system, you may consider using your RAM as a cache for the SSD.

Note:  Consider this only if your have a proper redundant backup power supply for your system and also if you have a lot of free memory (2 – 4GB free) after loading up your daily used programs on your system.

2) Speed Up SSD by Using RAM Cache

What it does is that, the temporary read / write operations on your system would be done in the ram which is many times faster than a SSD.

• Begin the process by downloading Fancy Cache (~2MB) software.
• After installation and starting up the program, the software interface would list out the storage mediums connected to your pc.

• Select your SSD from the list and configure a cache size for it (Refer the image). The cache size may be set to suit your needs. We’ve allocated currently 3192 MB of RAM as the cache and the defer caching has been also set to enabled.
• After setting the cache size for your SSD and related options on fancy cache, click Start Caching and you’re ready with the caching setup for your SSD.

Fancy Cache is a trial software and it gives you a 180 days trial period which is plenty, to test it out comprehensively.This software really does give a significant performance boost to speed up ssd and would make the file operations agile. The result is an experience of a much responsive and snappier system.

Fancy Cache can also speed up your hard drives, but things might get worse once you try copying files which are larger than the cache size, set for your traditional hard drive in fancy cache. This happens because, once the allocated cache memory in the ram has been filled up, the stored data needs to be transferred to the hard drive. So, you may notice a lag in performance when you copy a file which is larger than the cache size. It may seem like the hard drive is carrying out the file operations at its normal speed without any speed boost via the cache, where as small file operations would be carried out much faster.

We’ve used CrystalDiskMark to benchmark ssd performance before and after enabling fancy cache and the results are as below.

SSD Performance without FancyCache

Now here are the results after we’ve configured and setup FancyCache for the ssd.

SSD Performance with FancyCache

The software actually gives you an impression that the data operation has been completed on the drive, but it actually works in the background even after that to offload the data to the drive from the memory. So, this is why we recommend you to have an uninterrupted power supply because in case of a sudden power loss, the contents of the ram gets erased and the final result would be a data loss!

Note : You may turn off Write caching in windows 7 if you are using fancy cache to speed up ssd performance.

Optimizing and Maintaining Your SSD

SSD’s use flash memory which performs notably better at purchase time than after significant usage. There’s probably no way to avoid it other than to minimize its speed degradation by reducing the frequency of read / write cycles on the SSD .

The TRIM Command

The very first step after setting up an SSD is to enable the TRIM Command in Windows. Windows 8 has the TRIM command already enabled if you are using an SSD. It is important to have the TRIM command enabled on your system as it helps to maintain the SSD’s life by optimizing the garbage collection in windows.

When you delete a file from a normal Hard drive, it basically removes the address of the particular data and the file will not be actually deleted and windows just show it as a free space. When you write new files, the data gets overwritten. Doing the same process wont speed up ssd and degrade its performance over time. So, its essential to have the data deleted properly once its not needed. For this, we use the TRIM command

3) Enabling TRIM Command to Optimize SSD

• From the Start Menu, type CMD in the search box.
• Right click the command prompt icon and choose Run as Administrator.
• Now type fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify and press Enter.
• If its shows you disabledeletenotify = 0, the TRIM command is enabled in windows and you don’t have to make any modifications. If not, it would display, disabledeletenotify = 1.
• If TRIM is not enabled, type fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0
• The TRIM Command would now be set to enabled.

4) Should You enable hibernation while using an SSD in Windows ?

The fact is that, hibernation can be enabled on windows which is installed on an SSD, as it doesn’t cause much speed degradation since the read / write hibernation data is done sequentially as large blocks of data. Hibernation really saves you a lot of time if you’re a productive windows user. So, its illogical to compromise your productivity for just a matter of gain in life span of an SSD.

Drive Defragmentation in Windows 7

Drive defragmentation helps in organizing the fragmented data and helps in improving the performance of a hard disk. But drive defragmentation doesn’t speed up SSD, as these drives doesn’t contain any rotating parts and defragmenting a drive would involve the transfer of data i.e. more read/write cycles which actually shortens the life span of the SSD. So, its always good to disable drive defragmentation in windows.

If you use a windows system with an SSD and a hard drive, you could selectively implement drive defragmentation for the hard disk alone.

Windows 8 and 7 would automatically exclude the drive that declare themselves as SSD’s or if it possess a random read speed of over 8 MB/sec. In case if it haven’t done this automatically, here’s what you’d need to do.

5) Disable Drive Defragmentation in Windows 7

• Click on the Start Menu and type Disk, the disk defragmenter will be shown under the programs.

• Click Configure Schedule in the disk defragmenter window and Click on Select disks…
• You’ll see the drives being listed out. Just exclude your SSD drive from the listed drives and proceed by clicking OK.

6) Turn Off Super fetch, Prefetch in Windows

All these tweaks would make use of the RAM to speed up the performance of the system as in the case of Fancy Cache (mention above). When you enable these options in windows, frequently used files would be moved on to RAM for faster access there by avoiding the seeking of data from SSD, but it compromises the performance of the system if you have very less memory available. So its better to disable them if you have 4GB or less memory. If you have plenty of RAM installed, enabling them might give an iota of boost and would speed up SSD performance.

• Bring up the Registry Editor in Windows by Typing regedit on RUN Window (WIN + R) and pressing Enter.
• Now navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters“

• You’ll see Enable Prefetcher and Enable Superfetch options being list out on the right window pane.
• Double click each and set the value from 3 to 0.
• Now restart your system for the changes to be enabled.

7) Placing the Page File on SSD

The page file in windows is used to improve the system reliability. When contents gets filled in RAM the unused data gets moved on to the secondary storage medium to pave way for new data in the RAM.

While most guides on Optimizing SSD Performance advice you to turn of paging on your system, the fact is that Page file read sizes are generally small and writes are comparatively large.

Considering the pagefile reference patterns and the SSD’s favourable performance characteristics over the patterns, there are few files better than windows pagefile to be stored on an SSD. So it wouldn’t make much of a performance impact in the long run of SSD.

8) Drive Compression

You might have noticed an option in your Drive Properties window to Compress your drive. If you are concerned with performance and not drive space, then its better to have this option disabled.

But if space is your concern, this might save you a few GB’s and remember, drive compression uses your CPU when file modifications take place. So, file compression may be a good trade-off for infrequently modified files and data.

9) Disabling Drive Indexing to Optimize SSD

SSDs are speedier than hard drives and have an access time of 0.1 milli second. Drive indexing results in increasing the number of file write operations doesn’t really speed up SSD and its better to have it turned off.

• Open My Computer and just right Click Your SSD and choose properties.

• Just untick the Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties option. You’ll be prompted with warnings just after clicking Apply.
• Proceed by pressing Ignore All and it would show you a processing window and would take a few minutes for the changes to be applied.

On top of all these tweaks, you must also make sure AHCI mode is enabled for your SSD. This setting is usually configured in BIOS/UEFI.

If you have gone thoroughly through the guide and implemented the required tweaks, be happy that you’ve optimized your SSD to its best performance and Life. There had been a bit of controversy regarding the hibernation setting and placing the page file on the ssd. Well, there’s nothing that you’d need to bother regarding those two settings for now as what you’ve implemented is better and safe for your SSD and your system.

We could’ve made the guide much shorter and quick, but it wont be complete unless there’re explanations for the purpose and what these settings actually do to your system. We’ve exempted those tweaks which could tamper your system reliability and almost all these ssd tweaks are safe to implement on your system; provided, you read them well.

If you like to appreciate the effort we’ve put on, please do share this guide to reach it better to the masses.

When some toolbars  might be useful, most people doesn’t prefer using toolbars and it would certainly reduce the browser work space too. Infact, unnecessary tool bars are one of the top reasons for slowing down the browsers and your system. Some toolbars even install extensions and change the settings inside chrome and firefox like changing the home page, installing bho’s and so on.

Most toolbars might give you the option to uninstall them via add or remove programs but, this might not be the same in all cases. If you don’t want to jump into these hassles in removing them, then Toolbar Cleaner would probably be the right choice for you.

This nifty utility lets you remove toolbars and BHO (Browser Helper Objects) from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

After installing and running Toolbar Cleaner, it automatically detects the browsers with the connected toolbars and BHO’s which are installed in your system.

Before the final step of its installation process, Toolbar Cleaner marks the options to install a anti phishing toolbar and chafes you to set its website as your browser homepage.

The main interface in clean without too many options to bother. Under the main Browser Tab of the Toolbar Cleaner window, you’ll see the list of unwanted toolbars being listed out.

As there are no toolbars installed inside the browsers, (image below) its shown as Nothing was found under Firefox and Chrome but could see the IDM integration Browser Helper Object being listed out under Internet Explorer. As its a useful addon for downloading files from internet, there wasn’t any need for removing any thing in particular from the browsers.

If you see any unwanted toolbars and bho’s being listed out, select and click on Remove Selected Toolbar(s)/BHO(s). A dialog box would popup succeeding the removal, asking you whether to open Control Panel to remove any related items.

The next tab shows you the list of items that gets started while you login to windows. To speed up windows startup, You may remove any items that runs during the windows logon process, if the item is of no use to you.

Hovering your mouse over any item in the list would show you an blue icon to the left of it. Moving your mouse over the icon would popup a window with the item details that includes the location of the application and related information.

The Options menu provides a way to get into the Programs and Features  menu inside Control Panel directly. This may be useful if you want to remove any particular application related to the tool bar being listed. It just got the language selection, a link to their home page and message notifications options.

Conclusion

Toolbar Cleaner works in Windows 8, 7 & Windows XP and does it job neatly in cleaning up all the nettlesome toolbars and browser helper objects from your browsers.

Download Toolbar Cleaner

Mind Mapping is a simple way to organize and create a network like diagram of ideas, thoughts, connections etc. 

Mind 8 is a Free New app for windows 8, lets see what it has got.

Installing Mind8 App in Windows 8

To get Mind8, get to the windows 8 start screen by pressing the Windows button.

Now type Mind8 in the search, and click on the Store from sidebar.

You’ll see the app being listed on the left pane and proceed by installing it and it would be shown on your windows 8 start screen. The app launches with One Click from Metro Screen.

Mind8 App Interface

The interface is very simple and beautiful with white and blue colors. The main interface shows you the mind maps created.

You may proceed by creating a new mind map by clicking the + icon on the top right corner of screen or by pressing Ctrl + N shortcut.

Features of Mind8

It has got only those very basic functionality that you’d expect from any mind mapping software. It allows you to create / delete new nodes, or edit existing nodes by pressing F2.

It’s worth mentioning that, it allows you to pin the mind maps you’ve created to the windows 8 start screen. It might help you in quickly accessing specific mindmaps, just by skipping the need for opening the direct mind8 application.

It allows you to Undo / redo the actions while you are inside the app, but once you switch from the app to its main interface, you could no longer undo / redo the actions.

If you’ve linked your Microsoft Live account with your Windows 8 PC, you could benefit from its automatic synchronizing feature that would enable access to your mind8 maps from any where.

Mind8 supports both 32bit and 64 bit platforms and language support includes English, Spanish, French, German & Italian.

It lacks some of the expected features and some cons include the following.

Cons of Mind8

• Basic formatting & highlighting.
• Adding colored labels exporting the mind maps to various formats such as HTML, JPEG, PNG or PDF.
• Sharing is limited to people using Mind8.
• Doesn’t support importing other mind mapping application formats.
• Grouping Nodes.
• Limited to Simple Tree Structure.
• Could have extended the usage of Keyboard Shortcuts.

Mind8 allows you to print the mind maps you’ve created, but that is a premium feature which asks you to pay $2.99 for enabling the functionality.

Conclusion

Mind8 doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that you’d find in other mind mapping desktop applications for windows, but if you are preferring a free and simple solution for brain storming your ideas, its worth giving Mind8 a try.

The recent pc activity data can be helpful at times in diagnosing system problems, especially if some one asks you for a solution and you dont want them to remember each and every activity done by them on the pc, which is not practical all the time.

LastActivityView is a sleek utility that logs the users actions and changes done to a pc. It’s available for almost all Windows Platforms from Windows 2000 to Windows 8 and is surprisingly small as 121KB in size that includes it program file, help file and readme file.

LastActivityView doesn’t require to be running all the time instead, it collects the information from the system logs, prefetch and registry keys and presents it to you in an easily perceivable format.

What all data does LastActivityView track on your system ?

It collects almost all sorts of system activity including startup, shutdown, file modification (includes the file you’ve recently saved in windows), system crashes, actions done by windows installer, system restore point creations etc.

Moreover, you dont want to depend on any resource hogger applications to find out what your kids / friends have been doing on your pc.

It could track actions including running of .EXE files by the user or by any other process, open folder / file, Software Installation, Networks Connected/Disconnected, System Resume from Sleep, Software Crash etc.

LastActivityView throws on you a lot of data that are well enough to track down the system changes, that have been happened on your pc.

Limitations of LastActivityView

While it lets you track all this useful data, the author reports that, the collected data might not be exact all the time. When a change in registry key is made manually by an user or when a software modifies the keys in the windows registry, LastActivityView might be wrong with the information it provides as it collects the data from last modified time.

It lets you log only those files which has been modified by the Windows Open/ Save dialogs.

A quick wipe by system cleaning utilities like CCleaner could easily shave off the data.

Using LastActivityView

The software doesn’t require any installation and the download consists for a zip file which upon extraction would directly give you the program files. All you have to do is just run the program executable file LastActivityView.exe.

LastActivityView window pops up scanning your system and shows you the recent modifications done on your pc.

You could either copy the data or selectively save it to xml/html and other formats by pressing Ctrl + S.

Verdict

LastActivityView is a freeware and besides the limitations, its just a small and helpful utility that helps you in normal cases and doesn’t require to be running in the background for collecting the system activity data.

Download LastActivityView (65KB)

We’ve listed out some of the software’s that’ll help you restore your blurred photos easily. Remember you cant get a true life recovery from a blurred photo, but these tools will definitely help you revive a good amount of detail from the blurred images.

These image de-blurring softwares make use of deconvolution algorithms to fix the defocussed or blurred photos and there are many algorithms to process the images based on the nature of blur it has been affected with.

1) SmartDeblur

SmartDeblur is a free software that can deblur photos / images based on various deconvolution algorithms. The image could be blurred either due to incorrect focusing by the camera, camera shake or due to the subject in motion.

SmartDeblur can fix the images based on the type of blur it has been affected with.

The interface is simple and minimal with options to select the defect type which includes ‘Out of Focus Blur’ , ‘Motion blur’ and ‘Gaussian Blur’. After choosing the right blur type of the image, proceed to the sliders and with a little play around with it (Radius, Smooth, Correction Strength and Edge Feather) you’ll get around a satisfactory image. The realtime  preview is shown below the settings.

Large sized images take longer to process and it depends on the system speed and performance too.

Moving on, the Settings tab will show you the constraint you could set for the image size manually and will be a value of 3000 by default and to its right will be shown the Deconvolution method to be used. Wiener and Tikhonov are the two methods which are based on different algorithms.

Below is the Test image we’ve captured from our monitor, using an iPhone 4S. The purpose was to deblur the text in the image which was shown on a LED display. While capturing the image we purposefully brought the phone too close to the screen so as to get a blurred and unreadable image.

After some tweaking and moving around with the sliders we’ve been able to deblur the photo to some extend and decrypt the letters. We use the default Wiener deconvolution algorithm to process the image which seemed better than the Tikhonov algorithm. The final image was passable though it got a bit of noise.

When the image gets affected by both Motion Blur and Out of focus blur, its gets tougher to get back the deblurred image.

Download SmartDeblur

2) Blurity (49$ Std & 99$ Pro )

Unlike SmartDeblur, blurity is not a free software and is costly. Blurity helps in removing simple motion blur and could unblur some of the out of focus photos too.

The above test image was put into blurity for a test and the results were not satisfactory as the above. But blurity did a better job with the images that had a motion blur which was one of the minuses of SmartBlur.

The Interface is simple and it provides you a basic mode and an advanced mode for debluring photos. After opening an image you need to select a portion of the image by clicking inside the image and then move on to the slider (basic or advanced) and then press Process to see the preview in the right pane next to the original opened image.

As seen above, the free version of blurity watermarks your processed images with an UNREGISTERED text.

[Image Credits]

Blurity did a better job with the above image and the final results were pretty impressive. The above image was blurred using a synthetic camera motion.

Download Blurity

3) Unshake (Free)

Unshake is free and doesn’t require an installation. Being a java based program, its runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and requires the Java Run time environment preinstalled on your pc.

The interface is simple and like the above mentions softwares, it does require some experimentation to achieve better results.

You may adjust the slider to suit the amplification you need for the photo. Too much amplification might ruin the image and more noise would be added. Unshake could also work on lines found on pictures in magazines and also for rasters and dithering.

Below is a blurred photo that has been processed using unshake.

Unlike the above two softwares, unshake takes a lot of time to process a photo with increase in size of the images. So, its better to experiment with cut down sizes of the photo before loading it with a large Megabyte sized file.

It won’t give you unbelievable results on fixing blurred photos especially when the subject is a fast moving one (too much blurred). But its always good to give Unshake a try, in improving a photo that couldn’t be replaced. It might turn useful in some cases where you might need to restore that awesome moment back to life!

Download Unshake

Consumers could also place the Windows 8 Pro order from Trusted OEM partners such as  ASUS, Dell, Acer,  Sony etc.

These OEM  partners have build more than 800 different windows 8 certified devices already.

Windows DVD upgrade package comes in five different designed covers though they are made for the same Windows 8 Pro version.

Customers in the U.S could avail this offer via your local retailers and also via Amazon.com, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot & Microsoft Store.

Users who purchase an eligible windows 7 PC between June 2, 2012 and January 31, 2013 would be able to upgrade to windows 8 Pro for just $14.99 USD starting from October 26th on-wards. 

1) Who all could upgrade to Windows 8 Pro ?

Users who run the genuine version of Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 are eligible for the windows upgrade for the aforementioned price.

2) I’m from outside US, does the upgrade made available today, support my language ?

No. The online upgrade (from October 26th) of windows 8 pro would support 23 currencies, 37 languages and would be available for 140 countries worldwide.

3) How many Windows 8 licenses you could avail as an upgrade ?

The offer limits the number of licenses up to 5 per customer.

Microsoft states that the upgrade offer including the packaged DVD and online version for Windows 8 Pro would be made available till January 31st, 2013. So, make sure you upgrade your systems sooner or before the date.

The pricing could have minor variations when you purchase windows from independent re-sellers as various factors such as exchange rate, duties, local taxes get added up with the price.

Rohos Logon Key is a free software that lets you assign a usb drive as a key for logging into your pc. This utility makes logging in / out process in windows snappier.

Using a USB drive to login to windows would also help you in situations where you require to provide a hardware based locking system or  when you’d need to let some one else to use your pc while you are away and you dont want to let them know your windows password. This would be the case if you’ve used the same windows password for your other sensitive accounts you own both online / offline.

You would also have the option to manually login to windows by entering the user account password manually, while the software allows you to login via a usb drive.

Before using , it would be better to know the advantages of the software as this is some thing that concerns with the security of your pc.

Advantages of Rohos Logon Key

• The system would be protected even when windows is in safe mode
• You doesn’t require to remember the password. But it better to ensure that its written down some where in case if you encounter any issues with your usb drive
• The password is not stored in the usb drive in open form and is copy protected an encrypted using AES-256 bit key
• Supports Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP and Windows 2000

Setting up a USB Drive to Login to Windows

• After the installation, Run Rohos Logon Key to bring up its window. If you are using the free version of the software, you’d see Setup USB Key & Upgrade Now as the two options in the main window

•  Click on Setup USB Keyto start he process
• You’d be prompted by the application to enter the windows user account password once. Keep an eye on the drive letter of the usb drive if you’ve multiple drives plugged on to your pc
• After entering your user account password, press Setup USB Key
• The application would assign the particular USB drive to be used as a login key to your system and would popup a message upon successful completion
• You may test it now by disconnecting the USB drive from your pc and pressing Windows key + L on your keyboard to lock your system and plug the usb drive again to affirm the login to your pc

Download Rohos Logon Key (2.18 MB)

Rohos Logon Key is available as free download, but it also offers a paid version which has advanced security features such as the secure two factor login, access restriction to pc based on USB key, Emergency logon to help you in case you lose access to the PIN code or your USB drive.

Gmail started indexing the attachments, so one could now search inside file attachments and it works for .doc, .pdf, .ppt files etc.

Searching For Mails that has Attachments

• To search for a particular email just type has:attachment in the search box, followed by the keyword ie. your file name.

• For example, if you want to find the mail which had a pdf file name photovoltaic.pdf, just search has:attachment photovoltaic.pdf .

• Gmail will list you all the mails that contain attachments with that particular name.

This is just a basic feature, which google should have added long before.

Note : This feature is not available for Google Apps Business Users at the moment.

Google Takeout would allow you to download data stored on google accounts to your pc. You could either download all the data in various services in one go or you could selectively choose the services which you’ll need to download the data from.

As Google Takeout allows behemoth sized file downloads, its obvious that you would end up downloading substantially large sized files if you have a lot of data stored on google accounts. This could be more for people who would have uploaded thousands of youtube videos to their youtube account.

Downloading Data From your Google Account to PC

• Go to Google Takeout , and it will ask you to enter the google account password once, to login.
• The next page would list the various google accounts from which you could actually download the account data.
  
• By default you’ll be on the tab to download the data from all your google accounts at once.
•  Switch to the Choose Services  tab if you need to selectively choose the accounts.

• After selecting your accounts, Press CREATE ARCHIVE.
• It would take some time (depending on the amount of data) for google to build up the data for you to start the download.

• If you have tons of data stored you could tick the ” Email me when ready ” option and leave. You’ll be notified once the data gets ready for download.

• Once the data has been processed for download it would be marked as completed and the download button would be made available.
• The size of the download and number of files would also be shown near to the download button.
• Now just press download to begin exporting the data.

• Once the download starts, the download could be paused and resumed later if needed.
• Remember, your Google Account data which has been made available for download, would be only available for a week’s period (Refer to the “Created on ” and ” Available until” dates in the previous image).

Windows 7 supports only the previous XPS file format and doesn’t allow you to open the Oxps file format. While in windows 8, .oxps format is the default XPS document format. Microsoft has released and OXPS to XPS File Converter that would convert the .oxps files to the .xps file format.

Note :

1. You must be running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for this update to work.
2. To start the download from microsoft website, you need to pass the genuine windows validation test as its available as an update for windows 7 systems.

If you’ve turned on Automatic Updates in Windows 7, you might have already installed this tool as an update (KB2732059).

Using the OXPS to XPS Converter

1. Download the tool using the below link.
2. Use the tool to convert the .oxps file to an .xps file.
3. Open the .xps file in XPS Viewer.

Download OXPS to XPS Converter for Windows 7 (32-bit)

Download OXPS to XPS Converter for Windows 7 (64-bit)

Download OXPS to XPS Converter for Windows Server 2008 R2

However, if you’d like to make save the documents as xps by default then here’s how.

Making .XPS as the Default file Format in Windows 8

After implementing this change in windows 8, the applications will now choose the xps format over the oxps format as the default option. But you could always choose to save in the oxps format from the Save as type combo box.

1. Press Win + R key to bring up the ‘RUN’ window and type gpedit.msc and press enter.
2. This would bring up the Group Policy Editor. Navigate to Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Printers
3. On the right pane of the window you would need to double click on “Change Microsoft XPS Document Writer (MXDW) default output format to the legacy Microsoft XPS format (*.xps)” which would bring up the corresponding options.
4. Now the Options window would popup.
5. Change the option from Not Configured  to Enabled and press Apply > OK.

Avid PDF users might consider switching to google chrome as it supports direct PDF viewing functionality inside the browser.

Firefox 15 now comes with the ability to view PDF files without depending on any third party addons. Though firefox comes with PDF viewer built in, it is not enabled by default.

Enabling PDF Reader in Firefox 15

• Make sure you are using Firefox 15, Press Ctrl + T to open up a new Tab in firefox.
• Now in the address bar, type about:config and press Enter and you’ll be shown a warning before proceeding further. Click on ‘ I’ll be careful, I promise! ’.
• Type browser.preferences.inContent in the search bar to see the corresponding entry being displayed.
• Doubled Click on the entry to change its value from False to True.
• Similarly you’ll have to type pdfjs.disabled in search and change its value from True To False.
  

  Setting pdf.js disabled to True

• Now from the Menu bar click on Tools > Options > Applications and type PDF in the search box beneath.
• Firefox would show you the default application set to open up PFD files. Under Action, choose Preview in Firefox and you’re set.
  

  Setting Firefox 15 default PDF Viewer

Firefox would now be able to show you PDF files within the browser itself without requiring any of the additional addons or plugins.

Taskbar Pinner is a nifty utility that allows you to pin almost any thing to your windows takbar.

With Taskbar Pinner, You could PIN

• Any Folder
• Any Drive
• Control Panel items including network connections, God Mode etc
• Libraries
• Shell Objects like RUN command, Windows Switcher, Minimize All
• any folder, file and drive via Windows Explorer Context Menu
• Folders and Files via drag and drop to the application window
• Folders and Files via command line : taskbarpinner.exe "path\to\desired\location"

Taskbar Pinner supports windows 8 and windows 7. Taskbar Pinner is Free and doesn’t require an install.

The download is available as zip file and on extracting it you will see two folders windows 7 and windows 8 respectively.

Make sure you choose and run the correct version for your operating system; the author has mentioned this specifically in the readme file that come along with the pack.

To Pin some thing, you could either launch the Taskbar Pinner app or tick the option to Enable the Pin to Taskbar option in the windows explorer right click context menu.

Download Taskbar Pinner  (205 KB)

After you’ve disabled the lock screen in windows 8, you wont be taken to the desktop directly. You still need to bypass the new metro screen to get to your desktop. So its a two step process where, we’ll see how you could bypass the lock screen and then how to disable the metro screen in windows 8.

Disabling Lock Screen in Windows 8

This method would remove the lock screen and you’d be directly taken to the login screen in windows 8 afterwards.

• Press Win + R on your keyboard to bring up the RUN window.
• Type gpedit.msc and press enter to bring up the Local Group Policy Editorin windows 8.
  
• On the Local Group Policy Editor window, Navigate to
  

  Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization

• Now, On the Right side on window, you’ll see the Do not display the lock screen option being listed.
• Double Click it to bring up its corresponding options window and you’ll see three options being shown regarding the lock screen.

• Choose Enabled and Press OK.

You’ll no longer see the lock screen window from now on. On starting up windows 8, you’ll be directly taken to the logon screen. So, after entering your password, you’ll be taken to the Windows 8 Start Screen. Next we’ll bypass the metro window in windows 8.

Skipping Windows 8 Metro Start Screen

Skip Metro Suite is a small app that lets you skip the start screen in windows 8 and directly get to the desktop. It provides two other options as well, to Disable the Switcher and Charms Bar in Windows 8.

The tool has been released for windows 8 release preview and it works well on our Windows 8 RTM machine too. The download is a zip file which you need to extract to get the install file and application file. Install the app and press the windows key on your keyboard to see the app in the windows 8 start screen. Launch it and just tick the Skip Start Screen option and proceed by clicking on Save Settings.

Download Skip Metro Suite (445 KB)

From now on you’ll skip both the lock screen and the windows 8 metro start screen and get to the desktop directly.

Accessing the Win+X Menu in Windows 8

There are two ways to call up the Win + X Menu a.k.a quick access menu. The (Windows key + X) will open up the menu or you may access it by right clicking on the lower left corner of your screen.

The above is the Win + X menu which pops up with the default system functions. However if you wish to add more functions to the Win + X in windows, the Win + X Menu Editor will help you do this easily. It will help you to  group the items, Rename the items, delete the existing functions and also add your favorite program shortcuts to the menu.

Download Win+X Menu Editor (apprx. 5 MB )

The download contains both the x64 and x86 versions and the actual file is apprx 75KB.

Using Windows 8 Quick Access (Win+X) Menu Video

If you are finding it a bit difficult to get to the shutdown, restart options in windows 8, then here’s how you could add them to the win + X menu on your desktop.

Windows 8 Power Shortcuts is a free script created by Marcin Grygiel that would easily bring up the shutdown, lock, sleep, sign out options in the win + X menu in windows 8.

Though the script was released for Windows 8 release preview, it works on the RTM version of windows 8 too.

Download: Windows 8 Power Shortcuts v1.1 (English) x86 (32 bit)
Download: Windows 8 Power Shortcuts v1.1 (English) x64 (64 bit)

Disabling  Facebook Notifications

• Click on the notification icon and to see the notification bar popping up.
• Now hover over a particular notification you wish to disable.
• You would see a small cross mark ‘ x ‘ to the top right corner of that particular notification.
• Just click on the cross mark and you will be asked to turn off that particular notification. Just click Turn off and proceed. Its good that facebook prompts you again to confirm the action, as this would help is disabling notifications accidentally.
• You dont have to worry about getting notifications from that particular place again from now.

This is just a simple method to selectively disable the unwanted notifications in facebook notification center. You may also consider tweaking the settings in your account area, to get more control over the notifications you are receiving.

• Right Click your ‘ C ‘ drive (Assuming you’ve installed windows 8 in C drive), and select Properties.
• Now Choose ‘ Disk Cleanup ‘. From the upcoming window, select  ’ Clean up system files ‘.
• Now check the box to the left of  ’ Previous Windows installation(s) ‘, you could see the amount of space consumed by this folder in the window.
• You may now proceed by pressing ‘ OK ‘. This would free up a good amount of space and if you would like to go a bit further, click the ‘ More Options ‘ tab and clean the older system restore points. Consider this step only if you are sure that your system is stable, error free and is in a state which you’d like to work on / restore to. This would preserve only the recent restore points that have been created and will delete all those old ones.
•  If you are interested in doing a through cleanup, then download CCleaner.
• CCleaner would help your clear browser data, System Thumbnail Cache, Recent Documents, Recycle bin, Application specific data from VLC player, IDM, Window Media Player etc. and it includes a Custom Folder option which enables to add the folders which you’d like to get cleaned when needed. And best of all CCleaner is Free.

Apart from the above safe methods, there are still more methods to get more free space like disabling hibernation, reducing system page file size, disabling system restore, compressing files etc.

Here are the easy steps to get features enabled on your system (PC, Tablet).

STEP 1:  Go to desktop, PC users move cursor to the top right corner and then downward. Whereas tablet users just need to swipe down from the top right corner to see the charm bar. Go to search and type “Add Features” and select “Setting”. You will be shown up with some options. Choose “Add features to windows 8″.

STEP 2: The computer will ask you for the permissions, allow it and a pop-up will appear to ask you that whether you have product key or not, choose “I already have the product key” and use this key.

MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7.

STEP 3:  Click on button “Next” and check the appropriate option to agree with license agreement, then click on “Add Features”. The computer will start adding features to your windows 8 RP. It’ll take some time depending upon your PC. Once the process get completed, simply restarts your computer and you’re done

STEP 4:  Now to enable or disable any features, simply go to desktop once again, make charm bar visible using the method described in STEP 1. Type “Add Features” in the search bar and choose “turn windows features on and off”. A complete list will appear including all the enabled and disabled features.

Complete list of available Windows 8 features and their details are below.

1. .Net Framwork 3.5 (Include .NET 2.0 and 3.0) :

Besides a lot of improvements, it also includes number of feature like workflow foundation, windows communication foundation, windows presentation foundation and windows cardspace from previous versions. Whereas, new features are deep integration of language query, data awareness, ASP.NET AJAX, new web protocol, full tooling support and some new classes.

2. Net Framwork 4.5 Advanced Services :

By using this ultimate feature along with C# and VB programming language, you can easily create your own metro style apps. It has a lot of improvements and new feature to work with C# like never before. Apart from that, it also offers enhanced support of ASP.NET, managed extensibility framework, windows communication foundation, windows workflow foundation and windows identity foundation.

3. Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services :

It was previously known as active Directory Application Mode (ADAM). It is basically developed to provide support to Window Server and the applications which rely on directory enabling. Some same services also appeared on surfaced in past, but this one is the most refined and flawless than all of those. The best part of ADLDS is that it doesn’t rely on any other service or application to do its work.

4. Hyper-V:

In easy words, you can consider it something related to Cloud computing. Hyper-V basically allows user to perform the most complex tasks while handling with cloud storage like migration and cluster shared volumes for storage flexibilities in quick and easy way.

5. Internet Explorer 10:

It seems that Microsoft understands the threat Internet explorer is facing after the release of latest versions of Chrome and Firefox. This is the reason that the company is releasing one after one version of IE. Its look and a lot of features have been revealed in preview versions, but we think Microsoft must release the final version with a big boom.

It has two different versions, one supports the plug-ins and one does not. Other notable features includes

• CSS3 multi-column layout
• CSS3 grid layout
• CSS3 flexible box layout
• CSS3 gradients
• ES5 strict mode.
• HTML 5 support

6. Internet Information Services:

It was previously known as Internet information Server. Internet Information Services is basically a web server application and set of features specially developed for server editions of windows. However, various different versions of Windows XP, Vista and 7 are also equipped with it.  Its latest version 7.5 supports following famous protocols.

• HTTP
• HTTPS
• FTP
• FTPS
• SMTP
• NNTP

7. Internet Information Services Hostable Web Core:

Hostable Web Core (HWC) is basically an integrated part of Internet Information Service (IIS). Using this awesome feature, you can host the whole IIS functionality on your own server. Apart from just making it online, you can also edit it and can set its time period after which it will destroy itself. This process will surely not affect any other application or service running on the server.

There are two famous and working methods to host this feature on your web in .dll format.

• WebCoreActivate
• WebCore Shutdown

8. Media Features:

This feature is divided into two further parts, one is Windows Media Center and other one is Windows Media Player. Name of these features depicts their functions by their names, but let us explain for noobs. Windows Media Center  is basically a supporting feature of windows media player and includes all the codecs, extensions and other technical stuff. Whereas windows media player play all kinds of media files whose codes are saved in windows media center.

9. Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) Server:

It is one of the masterpieces whose method of working shows that it has some kind of artificial intelligence, but this is not the case in actual. It is basically works on simple principal of store and forward.  MSMQ is responsible for making sure the running of application at different times on heterogeneous networks.

10. Print and Document Services:

This feature enables the sharing of printers over the network attached with your computer. If you have just one printer in the network, you can make it server printer as well. Print and Document service let you handle all kinds of printer related tasks from any computer in the network.

11. RAS Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK):

You got VPN users on your network? If yes, then use this feature to set up customized Dial-up Networking connections or dialers for such users. This awesome feature offers multiple advantages like automatic configuration, security, pre-configure web proxy setting on VPN clients, phone book service, leveraging the routing and remote access quarantine features.

12. Remote Differential Compression API Support:

It is a set of API widely used by applications to detect the removal, rearrangement and insertion of data in files. These API provides the detailed information about even a small change in application and on demand only the changed portion of files is shown to user. It is very useful over a limited bandwidth network like wide area network (WAN) connections.

13. RIP Listener :

This feature listen the route updates which use the routing information protocol sent by router. It basically helps the network to work more smoothly and also provide you the facility of not updating the static routers manually. The important point to keep in mind before enabling is that it doesn’t supports the highly segmented network because it does not broadcast the subnet mask information.

14. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP):

It is an internet standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. The devices supports this feature include switches, routers, workstations, printers, modem racks, server and others. It is not for normal users, but widely used in network management systems to keep track on attached devices.

15. Simple TCPIP Service (i.e echo, daytime etc):

TCP/IP is the most famous protocol used by internet nowadays. In other words, you can understand it as a collection of some command line utilities include “quote of the day” protocol, daytime protocol, character generator, echo protocol and discard protocol.

16. Telnet Client

To connect with other computer on same network using Telnet, client files are used by host computer to share data with the target PC. However, proper configuration is required to establish a successful connection between two PCs.

17. Telnet Server:

This is the file need to deploy on the target PC with which you want to establish connection.

18. TFTP Client:

It is a limited version command line utility which cannot transfer files more that 33 Mb. This is the reason due to which it is not very useful in most of the cases. However, in low level projects, experts recommend it. Nowadays, some very useful replacements like WinAgent’s TFTP have appeared on surface which have through it out of the scene.

19. Windows Gadget Platform:

Did you ever wish to develop a windows gadget by your own? If yes, then this feature can fulfill your dream. It is a framework for creating and hosting gadgets. It was specially made for said purpose so that developers can develop compelling and personalized desktop gadgets.

20. Windows Identify Foundation 3.5 Windows Location Provider:

This ultimate feature helps the developers for simplifying the user access. It basically externalizes the user access by using claims in applications. by using this feature developers can enhance the productivity and security of applications.

21. Windows PowerShell 2.0:

It is a command line and scripting environment specially developed for administration and automation. The best part is that it was built on .Net framework which means that it can run on all kinds of platforms.

22. Windows Process Activation Service:

It is a supporting feature of Internet Information Services (IIS) which allows WPAS to work without any dependency on HTTP. This wonderful feature let the Windows Communication Foundation service use all the important features of IIS by using non-HTTP protocol.

23. Windows Search:

It is widely used feature by almost all kinds of computer users. Windows search make it possible for you to search each and every part of your computer for any required file or folder.

24. Windows TIFF IFilter:

It stands for Tagged Image File Format. IFilter let you search the files of this format which are mostly documents based on text content. Apart from that it also includes compression for those files in formats like LZW, JPG, CCITT v4, CCIIT v6 and others.

25. XPS Services:

It is a service commonly used by Microsoft for the protection of their fixed document content. These special documents are mostly released by company in XML format, but there are dedicated applications to read them.

26. XPS Viewer:

In latest version of windows, there is a dedicated application for the reading of XPS documents whereas in earlier versions, it was possible to read these documents just by using internet explorer.

STEP 5: You can also add gadgets to your desktop like clock or calendar. To do so, simply go to “add gadgets to the desktop” from add feature area and all the gadgets will appear on screen. You can also download more of them from the internet.

So thats it. You may now, enable or remove the features you wish to from Windows 8 Release Preview.

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If you are using any android or Apple device, then you may be using any app killer application in your cell phone, but you don’t need to use any tool or software to close an app in windows 8. Simply follow this detailed guide aided with screenshots and save the resources of your tablet or PC.

There are actually four methods of closing any metro app. Let’s discuss each of them in detail. (Method 3 & 4 are quick and simpler)

Methods 1:

First method is same like killing any running application in windows xp, 7 or Vista. That is, open the Task manager and you will get full list of running metro apps, simply right click on the target app and click on “End Task”. This method comes handy when some programs refuse to close even after you follow the normal methods of closing an app. Check out the screenshot below for better understanding.

Method 2:

In the Switch list menu of Windows 8, you can get the complete list of running metro app. If you want to kill of any of them, then simply right click on the target, click on “close” and you are done.

Tip: To open the Switch List, simply press and hold the “Windows button + C” and switch list like the image below will appear.

Both of above methods are comparatively technical and take some time to kill an app. Next two methods are simpler and will help you to kill any app just within seconds.

Method 3:

In this method all you have to do is to drag the running app from the very top of screen and drop it at the extreme bottom of the screen. That app will get killed.

Method 4:

This is actually a keyboard shortcut which you may have used  to close any app in earlier version of windows as well. We are sure that most of you must have guessed it. That is Alt+F4. While using any app, simply press this keyboard shortcut and the app will be killed instantly.

Working and behavior of metro apps are surely like android and iOS apps, but killing any app is not that difficult. No matter you are using windows 8 in tablet or PC, these methods are applicable in both kind of devices.

Even after providing the maximum detail, if you face any issue in this guide, feel free to let us know in the comment section below. We will get back to you with working solution as soon as possible.

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As the increase in the crave of windows 8 release preview, people would love to have an easy guide to upgrade from their old operating systems (Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Developer Preview, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP) to this astonishing window. It might be possible that you can’t keep your files, settings and programs depending upon your old OS.

So here’s how to update your current windows version to the windows 8 customer preview.

STEP 1: First of all you need to download the setup file from the link given below. Provide your country name, valid email and click on “windows 8 release preview”. It will ask you to download a program named “windows 8 release preview upgrade assistant“. Save it to the location of your choice.

Download Windows 8 Release Preview

STEP 2: Now run the update assistant. Before downloading, the assistant will automatically check the compatibility of your system with windows 8 and will make a printable report. Then it will automatically select the suitable system either 32-bit or 64-bit for you.

STEP 3: After checking the compatibility, it will show you the product key for the windows. Note it down somewhere to use it thereafter.

STEP 4: Now it will start downloading. Note that you can pause and resume the download using the built-in feature of your system.

STEP 5: As the download completes, it will start preparing the setup files

STEP 6:  Finally it will ask you the way you want to install your windows 8.

For detailed installation instructions visit the FAQ section of windows 8 Release preview.

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RIM eyes business market

This newsbreak has come at a time when RIM has categorically stated its intention of owning the business market, so to speak. This in turn could mean that Apple’s own plans of making inroads into the enterprise might suffer a setback. Trend Micro’s report has highlighted ‘corporate-grade security and manageability’ that has tilted the enterprise’s attention towards the direction of BlackBerry 7.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server the cornerstone

BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) is one of the major reasons why Blackberry provides more secure platform for its users. Owing to BES the user would need to ask the operator to download a particular app in their BlackBerry, and hence this supervision reduces the risk of malware installation. BES wards off the possibility of installing some of the most menacing features – like the password protection removal – hence, ensuring the security of the phone. Merely the user-provisioned devices that get internet through BIS (BlackBerry Internet Services) don’t have those features that BES gives the user, and hence, this makes it the cornerstone of RIM’s success.

iOS 5 the best of the rest

Blackberry 7 might’ve sat at the top of the pile according to the Trend Micro report, but iOS 5 wasn’t too far behind the leader; and ahead of the chasing pack of Windows Phone 7.5 and Google Android 2.3. The fact that all iOS applications are ‘sand-boxed’ in a common memory environment, gives users protection on iOS. Also, the characteristics of iPhone and iPad also add to the iOS security.

Apple or RIM

Apple has the edge over Blackberry because it doesn’t allow any options for adding removable storage. This effectively provides the users another thick protective layer. Another thing that goes in Apple’s favor is that BlackBerry IT administrator has total control over the BlackBerry device, while the IT department of iOS can only configure items after the user’s permission.

Even so, there are a few factors that increase the risk factor in iOS devices. Cybercrime, for example which is a billion dollar industry, has targeted the platform simply because of its overwhelming popularity.
Jailbreak

Jailbreaking is another problem that needs to be dealt with. The problem with Apple is that it has the tendency to dictate a few terms and the users don’t take the domineering wife personification too kindly when it comes to their cell phones. There have been instances when Apple has blocked content, and has also thrust additional Wi-Fi hotspot functionality charges. This uncompromising attitude has in turn led to a lot of users jailbreaking their phone, and it goes without saying that a jailbroken phone is a long way away from being a secure phone.

Neglecting enterprise users

Owing to consumerization and BYOD, every device has now become a risk to business. And by going for a platform that appeals to the consumers, the needs of enterprise users are often disregarded. Despite some platforms evolving to cater to enterprise needs, the consumer market is still the targeted front.
Hence, while RIM might’ve conjured up the ingredients for the taste buds of the businesses, there is still a lot of room for improvement. And as far as iOS is concerned, its security risks in the enterprise are manageable but there are problems on the cost and support front.

But its not just scheduling the sending of your emails, now RightInbox enables you to follow the up to the minute information about, at what time your email is being opened by the receiver of your email.  It incorporates so efficiently and smoothly that sometimes it becomes almost impossible to remember that it’s not just a built-in feature.

It is basically an addon available for Chorme and Firefox. Installation process of Right Inbox is very easy all you have to do is to just head to their download site and install the extension as normal in Google Chrome or Firefox. Next time you login to Gmail, you’ll see a Gmail-style pop-over to activate Right Inbox. At this point you have to authorize it to access your Gmail account and choose the account you wish for. If you use several browsers in that case you’ll be required to install the extension in all your browsers, however, you’ll only have to authorize it just once.

On the other hand, if you are already enjoying the valuable utility of RightInbox then while composing a new email you will come across an absolutely fresh function there. Alongside the check box adjacent to the title of Track. Now the choice lies in your hand Just check the box, if you would like to be alerted when your e-mail is being unveiled. RightInbox is so active and watchful that as quickly as the receiver unwraps the email you will be received back with an alert email to inform you that your sent email has been unclosed by the respective receiver.

We are living in our “give me now” world that’s why we have become so much habitual about constant contacts and immediate and speedy feedback to emails. RightInbox has come up with the best possible solution for our expectations.  Along with response tracking Right Inbox is also improving its product to include more features like, improvements for sending large files, finding bulky attachments, email marketing and more. Keep visiting ComputingUnleashed to stay along with the updates.

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We published a detailed guide on getting back the old start button in windows 8. Classic shell is comparatively easy method for the said purpose, but you should not miss that as well.

Classic shell is a commonly used upgrading application which recently got modified in order to well assist windows 8. The good news is that this very recent addition of Classic Shell can also be downloaded from the link provided at the end. It will simultaneously be active on x86 and x64 versions of Windows 8.

With the help of Classic Shell for Windows 8, you can also try adding supplementary Skins for the Start Menu by downloading new skins. Although, Classic Shell contains a couple of eye-catching skins as well.

Once  you download a new skin, simply place them in the Classic Shell\Skins folder. Afterward, open the start menu settings and decide upon your new skin. One good news for the creative mind that you can craft your own skin as well.

The main Classic Shell tool has translations in 35 languages with regard to the elements  like the toolbar labels, the Explorer UI and the start menu items. By default, things like the settings UI, help files and the installer are only in English. Here we should pay gratitude to some supportive participants who translated Classic Shell  in other languages  like Russian , Bulgarian. German etc..

Usage:

When you open the Classic Shell setting in Windows 8, you will probably find just primary settings. To get access to more settings, all you need to do is choose and go for  “All Settings” option nearby the bottom left of the window. Eventually, it would let you backup all your custom settings to an XML file. After that simply Right-click on the “Start”   and then on ” Exit” to close the application.

Requirements:

There are some important system requirements of  Classic Shell like it works on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows 8 CP.

Features

Classic Shell is an extremely user friendly application , with its installation you can do following tasks:

• Instantly modify the appearance of explorer.
• Customize the start menu.
• Also decide upon Windows XP classic, Windows XP simple and Windows Vista style navigation.
• Cover up the search box.
• Convert the classic explorer toolbar.
• Insert icon  for common folders.
• Show/hide the horizontal scroll bar.

Download Classic Shell for Windows 8

Are you one of those millions who missed the classic start menu? Don’t forget to let us know about your opinion in the comment section below. Keep visiting to stay along with our updates.

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You can download NirSoft’s UserAssistView it is free of cost and surprisingly consumes only 35KB space. It is an highly effective application that operates by reading the tracking data, which will kept documented in the UserAssistRegistry key. Once you run the program on your pc, UserAssistView stores all the related details, including the time. It maintains a record of the number of times you’ve run a specific program.  Not only this, but it also has the ability to decide which programs are required to be located in the Most Recently Used area of the Start menu.

Moreover, it provides you with all the notions related to a specific program. UserAssistView demonstrates all the required info columns which are categorized in the following order:

• Item Name displays the path of applications.
• Count presents the number of times each program has been run.
• Modified Time holds the details about  the last time the process was modified so you can time frame it.
• Class ID serves  you in finding the recently prevailing class ID key of the application

If you believe that the entire useful theory of tracking history is going to be enjoyed only by you, then believe us that you are thinking on the wrong line because there is a probability that someone else can also do the same by applying  the same method on you.

There is no need to get alarmed, just keep reading. If your boss or administrator is using the same utility on your PC, then simply clear the UserAssistView registry key. Now you can leave the PC without leaving any traces of programs you opened.

If you are a geeky enough, then you could find a lot of nifty utilities which keep track all the activities others do on your PC, but if you are not one, then just install it and it would help you.

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]]>UserAssistView enables you  to have a speedy access to the information which tells you all the details concerning programs, which someone else have opened in your absence. It is highly efficient program which facilitate you to test out how your children, staff or anyone else is  using a your  PC . You can download NirSoft’s UserAssistView it ...http://www.computingunleashed.com/access-details-of-all-programs-being-opened-on-your-pc.html/feed/0http://www.computingunleashed.com/get-23gb-free-space-in-dropbox.htmlHow to'sDropboxMarkSun, 25 Mar 2012 08:24:51 PDThttp://www.computingunleashed.com/?p=222823 GB of space in your Dropbox account is no more a dream now. If you are not aware of it, then Dropbox is basically an application which is best for file synchronization. On making a new account on Dropbox, initially you just get a 2 GB of space which surely is not sufficient enough to sync all of your ever wanted data.

You may have read so many procedures which claim to enhance your storage without paying any additional cost. For example, connecting Dropbox to your social media accounts, referring it to your friends, posting your referral link on Facebook and Twitter, sending it out to your Friends and Family, connecting a .edu Email address to your account and by completing the Dropbox Tour. However, all these methods enhance the storage by a few MB of data or may be a few GB. Think about 23GB. Yes, now it is possible. You can now get an additional space of 23 GB on your Dropbox absolutely free of cost.

All those wishing to enhance their storage just follow the tutorial below. However, it must be noted that there are two methods that can be followed. For those who have an android mobile can follow our first tutorial and those who do not have an android mobile may follow the second one.  The free 23GB space is valid only for a period of 2 years!

Tutorial one: ( Andriod mobile users)

Note: You will be required to uninstall your on hand Dropbox App from your Android Phone. To do so, go to Settings, click on Applications, go to Manage Applications, click on the Dropbox and then tab on Uninstall. Wait till the application is uninstalled successfully from your mobile.

Step 1. Download and Install the modified version of Dropbox application.

Step 2. Run the application. Enter the details of your Dropbox account.

Step 3. Check your E-Mail for an Email from Dropbox. The email should be like this.

“Congrats on becoming a Dropbox Guru! We’ve awarded you 23 GB of bonus space for the next 24 months! You now have 27.38 GB on Dropbox. To get even more space, check out our upgrade options.”

 And that’s all! Go on enjoying the free space!

Tutorial Two : (Non-Android mobile users)

Note: It is a bit technical. You will be required to install the Android Emulator and Android SDK. You will also be required to create an Android Virtual Device.

Step 1. Download and install the modified version of Android SDK from this link for your operating system.

Step 2. Go to the installation directory and run SDK Manager.exe

Step 3. A long list of package will appear in front of you. Un-check all of them and check just “Tools” and “Android 2.3.3″. Hit on Install Packages, choose “Accept” and click on “Install”.

Step 4. Once all the packages will be installed, close the windows and run AVD Manager.exe from the installation directory.

Step 5. Click on “New” and fill the empty fields as shown in the image below and hit the “Create AVD” button.

Step 6. Now close this windows and run AVD Manager.exe once again, but this time select the AVD you just created in above step and click on “Start”.

Step 7. Log on to this address from android browser.

Step8. After downloading and installing the Dropbox, run it and login by providing the credentials.

Step 8.  Check the space allocated to your account and enjoy the 23GB additional Free space.

(credits XDA-Developers)

If you face any issue in above guides, must write in comment section. We will digg out the issue and will get back to you as soon as possible.

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The guide shows how iPad functionality can be made possible within Windows 8. For the walk through guideline, Microsoft has also purposed a photo journal. There are numerous areas where Microsoft has established a focus like search, content manipulation, navigation, and gesture support.

It is certainly not a very direct instructional how-to tutorial. However, it does show Microsoft seeing iPad developers as a major key to its attempt in building support for tablet-native applications. The guide eventually leads to the tools for a more directly help port applications.

Windows 8 is in an attempt to quad traditional PC developers. By making use of the Intel-based systems and ARM-based tablets that are obviously targeted at the iPad. Although Microsoft has always established the finest tablet computing category its approach of supporting PCs with pen support had let Apple immediately overtake it. The ARM systems introduced recently will be directed by Microsoft and designed with an eye towards tight hardware and software integration.

It not surprising that Microsoft is   now well aware to the reason behind Windows 8 being better than iOS. This is also shown in their images posted. Viewrs can enjoy a much noticeable larger screen as compared to the 9.7 inch iPad. It is of no doubt that the iOS is purely a mobile OS whereas Windows 8 takes the lead in both the desktop and tablet OS.

Well if you are aware of the Windows 8 and have an experience of working with iOS then the guide posted will hopefully prove to be of value to you in comparing the two platforms for optimizing your application and of course improve the work flow.

So all those who end up saying yes it’s the better option, they can just go on and download Windows 8 Consumer Preview or Windows 8 Beta version.

Although this is still in beta stages, it is much stable and easy to use. Until now, nobody pointed out any serious bug in it and million of people are using it on their laptops and desktops. Don’t forget to check Windows 8 exclusive tricks and tips, check out the Windows 8 category.

Some new users are facing difficulty in using it without any start button, all such users and you should not miss a guide on How to Get Back Old Start Button In Windows 8.

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To get rid of this situation safely, here is a step-by-step simple guide. If you ever experienced this issue or even not, you will certainly not face it again. We also have a solution for the critics of app store or guys who want to completely disable it.

STEP 1: Simply go to metro interface and right click on Windows App Store icon.

STEP 2: Now you can see two options at the bottom of the screen. Select the second one, “Turn Live Title Off”.

It is a small, but useful tip. You can do the same trick for any app that stop responding. Just like windows 8, its tips and tricks are also in beta stages. So if it doesn’t work for you or you face any other issue with this trick, then let us know. We will dig out other method as soon as possible and will get back to you in the shortest possible time. However, its working for us just like a charm.

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Let’s start the guide before anyone around you spend a notable time in windows 8 app store.

STEP 1:  First of all open “Run” by pressing Ctrl+R, type “gpedit.msc” and hit enter.

STEP 2: It will open the group policy editor, here go to the Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Store.

STEP 3: Now you must be able to see the “Turn off the Store Application” on the right side of this interface, simply double click on it, select the enabled option and click on apply and then OK. Now you can close it.

That’s it. Now restart your PC, click on windows 8 app store and you’re done.

Final version of windows 8 is rumored to be launched in October 2011. This guide will also be helpful for network administrators if they want to use windows 8. We are sure that they will never want to keep the app store remain turned on for the users. What do you think? Share your opinion and any further ideas in the comment section below.

As mentioned earlier that Windows 8 has an in built server technology which is named as Routing and Remote Access (RRAS) that provides the following services:

• Dial-up remote access server
• Virtual private network (VPN) remote access server
• Internet Protocol (IP) router for connecting subnets of a private network
• Network address translator (NAT) for connecting a private network to the Internet
• Dial-up and VPN site-to-site demand-dial router

Here we will go through the steps to configure and organize RRAS as a VPN server on windows 8. We will try to go through different configuration scenarios in order to point you to various formation options in RRAS server role. However you may  skip some of those depending upon your requirements.

STEP 1: First of all bring the mouse arrow to the extreme bottom right of screen and when the side bar appears, hit the “Settings”.

STEP 2: Now go to Control Panel and open “View Network Status and Tasks”. Click on Set up a new connection or network.

STEP 3: Select Connect to a workplace then click on Next

STEP 4: Select Use my internet connection (VPN).

STEP 5: Type the IP address or computer name where you wish to connect and your connection name under the destination name field.

STEP 6: Click on create and you are done.

STEP 7: You can now safely close the Network and Sharing Center for getting connected through created VPN connection.

STEP 8: Now go to setting in right bar once again and now click on the wireless connection. List of available connections will appear. Hit the one you just created and click on connect to get connected using this connection.

STEP 9: Another important thing to be mentioned over here is that we can enjoy the liberty to change the properties of the VPN connection. To do so Right click the VPN connection from the Network Panel and select Properties, now you are free to launch, rename, delete, and change settings of the connection.

Here you go, enjoy Windows 8 RRAS VPNs network’s functionality that is found on any network, such as sharing of data and access to network resources, printers, databases, websites, etc. Setting up of RRAS network connection technology has replaced the need to requisition and maintain expensive dedicated leased-line communication circuits once typical in wide-area network installations.

Windows 8 codec Pack is a concise yet comprehensive package. It will automatically remove other popular codecs from your computer before installing this. With the assistance of codecs pack, you won’t need to make any adjustments in your system in order to enjoy your media content immediately.

With Codec pack your Windows Media Player and Media Center will instantly recognize all your files as playable and instantly play the unsupported video formats.

Download link is provided at the bottom of this post, but be attentive while installing the Codec pack because if the installation dialog is not followed cautiously it will turn out to an undesirable ending.

After installing the windows 8 codec pack successfully, here comes the point where you will become capable to play a tons of video as well as audio formats including amr, mpc, ofr, divx, mka, ape, flac, evo, flv, m4b, mkv, ogg, ogv, ogm, rmvb, xvid and many more other video formats on default Windows Media Player.

A handful list of proficiencies of Windows 8 Codec Pack:

• Has Built-in update notification.
• Can create playlists.
• Allow use of the PDVD12 decoders for 32bit Live TV.
• Permits single-click operation for Bit streamed Audio.
•  Displays colored thumbnails together with FLV’s and 10bit MKV’s
• Allow the Preview Pane for ALL newly supported file types.
• Supports the procedure of Xbox360 as Extenders to playback MKV files.
• Support playback of MOD audio files and M4A files containing ALAC.
• Users are capable of Enabling or Disabling codecs installed on their system.
• Has the built-in function to Tweak.
• Supports ‘Add to Windows Media Player List’ using right click on all files such as MKV.

Download Windows 8 Codec pack

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All you need to do is to become a little creative and instinctive so that you can generate such characters that can command the start button to work as we desire. You will definitely give it a try when you come to know that there is  no loss of RAM in the whole process.

So to have the fun of creating your own Windows 8 start button just trail the tutorial below:

STEP 1:Download and install  AutoHotkey.

STEP 2: Now right click on on desktop or in any folder and select “AutoHotKey Script” In “New” Section.

STEP 3: After doing that successfully  paste in the code at the end.

( Send, {LWin down}{LWin up} )

STEP 4: Save the script and make sure the format is .ahk

STEP 5: If you see the NotePad Icon of this file, then it won’t work. To make it work like a charm, right click on it, select “open with” and click on”AutoHotKey”.

STEP 6: Now right-click to select the “Compile Script” option in order to produce an executable file.

STEP 7: Choose “Create Shortcut” option by right click on the newly created executable file.

STEP 8: Now right click on the option and go to properties and then hit the “Change icon” option to choose the icon of start button.

STEP 9: There will be just couple of icons, but to get a large collection of icons, click on “Browse” and open this file.

C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll

STEP 10: Now choose your favorite icon, click on “OK”, then on “Apply” and close the window. We are choosing the windows icon here.

STEP 11: Simple right click on the shortcut and select “Pin to Taskbar” option on the context menu.

STEP 12: Here you go… Just press the button and you will see the Metro Start screen will come up.

Finally you will be amazed to notice that Zero memory is used in the process. Indeed, if you want, you are fit enough to uninstall AutoHotkey .

Credit [HowtoGeek]

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Let’s have a look at “Buffer’s Analytics Dashboard” first. This tool basically holds your tweets. After filling them in buffer, you can then allow the tool to schedule them for you.

Among the many features is the ability to add a ‘buffer icon’ to the browser. The icon permits you to tweet whichever page you desire.

Buffer analytic dashboard is sparkling and uncomplicated to sight.  It tells you statistics including quantity of people who have actually clicked on the link in your tweet and how many and who retweeted your tweet.

Buffer allows you to line up your tweets and then sent out at times when the audience is most active.

It gives you full authority to set the time on which you want the tweets to get published.

Apart from many other awesome features, there is no limitations n number of account you can register. You can manage as many Twitte/Faebook account from Buffer Dashboard as you want.

Moreover, “link shortening” drop down let you choose the service in which you want the links to get shortened.

To add a new Twitter or Facebook account, simple click on the “+” button in front of your current profile name, a pop-up will appear. Click on Twitter or Facebook according to your need and a new account tab will appear on profile tabs. Check out the image below.

Twitsprout

Now let’s have a look at the second tool, the TwitSprout. This tool allows you to trail social media doings for any Twitter account & Facebook Page. Fundamentally, Twitsprout is a one page twitter social media analytics and intelligence service.

It is a pleasant and uncomplicated way to have a glance at your twitter account’s growth and alterations. The tool makes use of graphs to present the statistics.

Twitsprout is at present in beta. You are required to email/tweet and request to be added to this list. 

To start with it simply signup by giving you Name, Password and email account and you are ready to go. As soon as you will be in your account, a pop-up will appear with a button ” Add New Account” as shown in the image below. Click on it and choose Twitter or Facebook to add your account.

The worst part of this tool is that it takes too much time to collect the data. You have to wait for six days until TwitSprout collect all your data. However, it is just for the first time and once done, it will keep you updated with analytic of your twitter account.

Once the waiting time will be finished, you can view analytic in several different scales like hourly, daily tweets, daily growth and historical account growth.

If you are not getting enough information from these graphs, then simply click on the Question mark in the bottom-right corner of interface and you will get the extermination of each parameter of these graphs.

All these features proves it a best twitter analytic tool, but it has couple of limitations as well like you can add up to only three twitter accounts in it at a time in a free package plan. Whereas, if you have a plan to use it for a Facebook fan page, then you have to purchase any of its premium plans.

Do you want to share anything new about these tools or is there any other tools better than these? Let us know in the comment section below.

Stay tuned for more awesome tools related to social media websites.

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Skype Auto Recorder allow you to make “Record” and “Don’t Record”  list to give you full power  that whose call you want to record and whose not.

Skype Auto Recorder has many other splendid features as well. The application does not require any actions from user except initial configuration and keep working in silent mode. The filter in this application basically filters the recorded conversation of  contacts or group of contacts to different files.

Using Skype Auto Recorder is the easiest thing on this earth. Just follow our guideline below and start recording conversation in Skype.

Download Skype Auto Recorder

Step 1: Install the extension.

Step 2: Open Skype, click on “Allow access” and the extension will send the extension to system tray.

Step 3: Go to system tray context menu, click on Skype icon and access the  Settings dialog.

Step 4: Here create Skype contacts filters. You can enable/disable recording of voice calls from unfiltered contacts.

Step 5: To enable recording calls from unfiltered contacts, choose a separate folder to save the call recordings.

Step 6:  Now click OK to save the changes.

Now the application will record calls automatically as soon as the call is accepted. A small recording sign over system tray icon will appear indicating that voice call is being recorded.

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This application is quite easy to use. It allows you to launch and login into your Skype accounts automatically on Windows startup. The application is supported with Skype 4, Skype 5, Windows XP, Vista, Win7.

In order to use the application, just follow the steps below:

Step 1: First download the application to your computer nad launch it.

Step 2: Open the start menu folder in the Skype Launcher.

Step 3: In the  Configuration window add multiple accounts.

Step 4: Now specify settings. You  can alter settings regarding the Launch on Boot, Notice Autologin, Alternative Login, Double Timeouts etc.

Step 5: Now run the application. The Skype Launcher will login all your accounts one by one with some delay after each login.

It is important that you make it sure that notifications option is checked in configuration so that you can get the notifications each time an account is logged in.

So just download the software and start enjoying the new experience.

Download Skype Launcher

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]]>All the Skype hype is feeling the warmth of a new sun with this innovative new update. Now you can log in through numerous Skype accounts all at the same time. Yes, it is possible with the Skype Launcher. Nowadays, most of the people use several Skype accounts for different reasons like Office, Freelance, Personal etc. With Skype Launcher you ...http://www.computingunleashed.com/skype-launcher-allow-to-log-in-from-multiple-skype-accounts.html/feed/0http://www.computingunleashed.com/tutorial-on-creating-make-partition-in-pendrive.htmlHow to'sPendrivesMarkSat, 11 Feb 2012 12:01:33 PSThttp://www.computingunleashed.com/?p=2092Do you want an additional partition to be created for your system? Then here’s a tutorial on creating a partition on the PENDRIVE. Note that this is an advanced tutorial so it is advised that you should try it only after having a firm grip over the procedure.

Before you start, it is important for you to know that pendrive is detected as an operating system so in order to make a partition on the pendrive you have, portray the pendrive as a hard drive to the system. By creating numerous drives you are able to save your important data and protect it from viruses during the process.

Before starting the STEP 1, make a backup of your pendrive since you might need to format it during the process and download the drivers you will need during the process.

Download USB drivers

Now just trail these easy steps and you will be done!

Step 1:  Plug in your USB drive and open device manager. Now you will be able to see the hardware devices that are connected to your computer. Simply scroll down to the disk drives and click on it and then on the “properties” button.

Step 2: Once the pendrive properties window opens, choose detail tab and then “device instance path”. When you see a string of characters, copy it and close the window.

Step 3: Now open the folder of USB drivers you had downloaded and open the file named “cfadisk.inf ” in any text editor notepad or wordpad.

Step 4:  Once done, search for the words “device_instance_id_goes_here” in line number 26.

Replace this string with the string that you copied from the pendrive properties tab. Save the file and close your text editor.

Step 5:  Open the pendrive properties window again. Go to  ‘Driver’ tab and click on update driver.

Step 6: Click on browse from computer and then on “let me pick from a list of drivers” as shown in the image below.

Step 7: When the subsequent window appears, uncheck the box “Show compatible hardware”. Then click on the “Have disk button” and on “Browse”. Now choose that .inf file that we edited and click on OK.

Step 8: Now a warning message should popup. Just ignore it and click on yes. Progressing further the computer should start the installation of the driver. Ignore the other warnings that pop up. Then click on install. Wait for the system to complete the installation.

Congratulations! You are done. Your operating system will now detect the pendrive as a hard disk. Since pendrive appears to be a hard drive now you can move on to make partitions just the way you do it normally.

If you face any difficulty in this guide then let us know in the comment section, our experts will get back to you in minimum possible time.

PhotoPixar is a photo application that can be used to create photos album in seconds. It allows you to create albums in a video mode. The application has a simple user interface. You can create slideshows from photos in JPG, BMP and PNG format.

In order to run PhotoPixar, the specs required are Pentium 4 or above, 512 MB RAM, 20 MB Free space, Windows XP /Vista/ 7.

In order to create albums with PhotoPixar just follow these three easy step below:

Step 1: Import the images that you desire to be in your album. In order to import the images click the “Import Photos” button. You can also drag and drop the required photos onto the interface.

Step 2: To add required effects to images click Add Templates from the left side. You can choose from various effects for example leaves, bubbles, dragonflies, butterflies etc. The bar on the right side can be used to change backgrounds.

Step 3: Now click Publish Album and click the Save button to finish the process.  Now if you wish to upload it on facebook click the facebook icon to share it. Or you can also click Upload to upload the album on PhotoPixar’s server.

That’s all. Now you can create photo albums in less than few minutes.

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SmartScreen Filter is a security module that improves, on the whole, the security of the operating system. It verifies the rating and other things before installing any application. If the security module finds superior rating of the application, only then it allows the application to get installed on computer.

However, there are times when we desperately need to install particular software, irrespective of how much security threat it prone. So, in order to do that, we need to disable or turn off SmartScreen feature. Only then it becomes possible to install those software or application.

We are providing our readers a tutorial on how to turn off or disable SmartScreen filter in windows 8. Just trail these easy steps:

Step 1: Open the control panel from the UI screen and go to “more settings”.

Step 2: Now click on “System and Security”to see another window appearing on the screen – “ActionCenter”.

Step 3: Simply click on “SmartScreen Setting” in left side bar.

Step 5: Now select the radio button labeled as “Give a warning before running unrecognized programs from the internet, but don’t require administrator approval.”  To completely remove it, click on the radio button labeled as Turn off Windows SmartScreen and on OK.

That’s all. Now you can proceed on to install the software or application bypassing the Windows SmartScreen Filter.

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The application is available in Dutch and in English version. Whereas, the latest version available is 2.2.001. The application requires PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later and at least one version of Firefox.

For the ease of our readers, here is the step wise easy guideline. Just follow it and you will be trough with no problem.

Step 1: Launch MultiFirefox and create a profile. Now the application will automatically exit and launch its own profile manager. Once you have created the desired number of profiles, simply click Exit.

Step 2: Now launch the application again and you will see that all profiles that you made are listed. Here comes the application’s job. It will automatically detect different versions of Firefox and lists them.

Step 3:  Choose a profile and the version of Firefox and click on Launch Firefox.

And you are done!

It is of significance to note that you set the application to check for downloads automatically.

We would also want to highlight that the application will not permit you to run Firefox 3 and Firefox 4 consecutively. However, an easy way out is that you can exchange to some other version and thus avoid the conflict. Whereas, if used with only one version of Firefox, this is the easiest way to run multiple profiles.

Hide All is a Mac application that allows you to minimize all the applications and Finder windows with just a single click. The application simply makes the desktop empty preventing the hectic task of closing every application individually.

The application has very simple interface. It just comprises of four buttons. These buttons are used to minimize all windows, to restore the windows that have been minimized, to hide the application and fourth is to quit it.

The new version 1.6.4 is now available. It requires PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.

The application, after its launch, restores the windows which have been minimized earlier. There, it can be said that the application is merely used to minimize and restore windows that have been minimized using the application. It should also be noted that the application fails to restore if you minimize the application after the launch.

Let’s have a brief overview of the working of the application. If you wish to minimize all windows, then simply click Hide All Apps. Wait for a few seconds and the windows are gone. Now if you wish to restore the windows just click UNHIDE ALL APPLICATIONS. That’s simply all!

Having a backup is handy when you want to reinstall your operating system and the softwares all from the beginning or when you want to replace your existing hard disk with a new one with all your previous data in the old hard drive. Though making a backup copy of your disk is a time consuming process, its well worth it. We list some of the free tools that will help you do this.

XXCLONE : Windows

XXClone has got a very good reputation around the web. The program copies the files one by one, so that it doesn’t copy empty space. But the advantage is that the copied data would be fragmented so files could be accessed faster.

This feature makes the utility different from other disk imaging softwares. If you have a hard drive partition that doesn’t boot, xxclone helps to copy that data too.

XXClone comes with features to make quick boot disk, clone a non system volume, make bootable copy of your hard drive, shutdown your pc after a backup is completed etc.

The hyper sync algorithm option under the its advanced tab will help you make faster backups.

The app can clone a volume into another which has a different file system ie. You can copy from FAT to NTFS file system. With these good features, the program it self is compact and small in size when compared to the size of installation files of other backup programs.

EASEUS Todo Backup : Windows

Todo backup guides you from beginning till the end to make a successful backup of your data. Easeus comes with neatly labeled big buttons and clean interface, the program wont be so complex for new newbies. It has a Universal Restore feature that lets you create a snapshot of your system which that is not hardware specific. This means you could use the same backup copy to restore to a pc with different hardware configuration.

It also comes with the feature to mount snapshot copy of your hard drive and you could browse the files and folders and pull individual files if needed. Easeus Todo Backup is for people who are willing to backup and cull backups manually.

The program also comes with a linux distro CD which help you recover your system during a crash. If you think of backing up and copy hard drive data for replacing your old hard drive with a new one, the disk cloning feature will help you do the data migration easily and you could schedule backups too so that the program will do the job in the background.

Easeus has the ability to convert the backup images to virtual drives, with which you can easily create VHD and boot from windows 7. It provides you the option to compress, encrypt and split resulting backup image.

With all these nifty features, Easeus Todo backup stands head to head with those commercial applications.

DriveImage XML : Windows

DriveImage XML is small sized utility, that will help you to make copy of all the files on the drive even if they are in use. It will help you to restore the backup images to drives without the need of rebooting windows.

The program uses Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Services to make copies of the files in parallel while the drive is being used.

The problem with the tool is that, if you want to do a complete system restore with the backup image, you need to boot into another drive because it wont allow you to restore the backup to the same drive you are booted into. But this problem could be fixed by making the target hard disk as a slave drive (may be on another pc) and you could boot into the primary disk of that machine and perform the system restore to your actual primary drive (slave on other machine). Next you need to make the restored drive as Active via the Windows Disk management tool and then reboot to boot from the restored hard disk.

It has a Drive to Drive feature that helps to create the clone of an entire partition to another free partition, and that too without the need of creating an image. Unlike other programs DriveImage XML helps you to create backup image of USB/Flash Drive.

Paragon Backup & Restore Free – Copy Hard Drive Entirely

PBR lets you copy  hard drive with your important files or just specific files by setting up filters to filter out copying music, movies & other not so important files. This becomes really handy when you have a backup medium with comparatively small size. It can create backups as VHD’s (Virtual Hard Drive) for Microsoft Virtual PC, Virtual Box, Fusion & VMWare.

Like the above said softwares PBR gives you the options to compress, encrypt, split, mount and schedule backups. If you want to to restore only specific files, PBR has the option for that too.

Its unique features include the ability to create differential backups, shutdown your pc after the backup process, ability to set filters for backups, create bootable USB/Pendrives and the  disk management functions such as Formatting a had drive, changing drive letters, make a partition as active, create partition, assign partition etc.

The Differential backup feature is helpful if you are in the habit of making continuous backups. Using differential backup will ensure that only the modified files are being backed up instead of copying all the files and making a full backup each time. But remember differential backups would eat up much more space than a full backup since it creates a new image file every time.

For using the differential backup feature in PBR, you need to first create a full backup of your hard drive. Afterwards you should choose the differential backup option which would ask you to point out the full backup image. Paragon compares the full backup image with the files present on the system to check whether they have been modified.

Although the program is Free, you need to get a product key from Paragons website inorder to use the program for domestic purposes.

Clonezilla : Open Source

Clonezilla stays apart from other free backup creation tools by being friendly to more advanced users. It copies and restores only used sectors in a hard drive.

Clonezilla lacks the incremental and differential backup features which are seen in most of the other free disk imaging softwares. The interface is not user friendly, users accustomed to user friendly backup programs might find it difficulty in initially creating hard drive backup’s with clonezilla.

Clonezilla comes in two flavours, Clonezilla Live – using a CD/DVD or USB to clone (single PC) & Clonezilla SE (Server Edition): A DRBI server is used to copy hard drive’s in multiple machines.

It supports a plethora of file systems and Supports Windows, Mac & Linux.  If you are concerned about a program that offers backend support then, this is not for you as it is an opensource program, Clonezilla well suits you if you are looking for a solid backup program that could copy hard drive data robustly.

Macrium Reflect Free Edition – Windows

Macrium Reflect is one among the most downloaded programs used to copy hard drive data.  The program doesn’t have the differential backup feature that the paragon offers, but it is very simple to use. It gives you slightly more compressed version of the backup files than Paragon and is similarly faster. With macrium xml definition files can be created which can be saved for creating backups later. Double clicking the xml file would start the backup operation without any user input.

It also comes with the feature to mount backups and restore files individually. Like most of the other utilities it creates the backup by copying sector by sector and stores the data to a single file.

Verdict

- So which is the best Free tool to make backups & Copy Hard Drive Data?

All of these tools excel with their own unique features, but without making this long, the best utility to make consistent backups and suits most users will be the Easeus Todo backup and Clonezilla considering their features and usability.

Which is your favorite tool to create backup of your data ? Which utility do you recommend ? Let us know in the Comments..

You might sometimes delete the bookmarks accidentally or the bookmark might not work due to a corrupt file. You’ll be saved in such a situation if you have activated the cloud sync service that Firefox provides. Yes, firefox sync feature is staggering useful if activated, you’ll not have the pain of moving your firefox data to another pc for resuming your browsing session. Syncing firefox on a new pc would help you resume the work you’ve paused in another pc. Its really that useful. Sorry about talking too much regarding this, I’m sure this tend some users to start using the sync feature if you’ve still haven’t started using it.

Restore Bookmarks in Firefox

1. Bring up the Bookmarks Manager Library by Clicking Bookmarks > Show All Book Marks.
2. Click on “ Import and Backup “ to see the drop down menu.
3. It is important to create a current backup of your existing bookmarks. (This is important!). For this click on “ Export Bookmarks to HTML “.



4. After creating the backup, Hover the mouse over “ Restore “ option this show you backups of bookmarks created by firefox on different dates.



5. Clicking on a date would restore the bookmarks but it overwrites the existing bookmarks. No worries, just import the bookmarks backed up earlier and you’re set to go.

There is another option for creating backup of the bookmarks file manually. For this you need to click the “ Backup “ option which shows up when you click on “ Import and Backup “ . The backup file would be saved in JSON format.

You will see an option below those bookmarks backup (see step 5) , to “ Choose File ” which will help you to restore the bookmarks using the json file.

Did you come across such a situation where you lost all the bookmarks ? Did you get them back via any other option ? What did you do to restore them ?

After jailbreaking your iphone, open up cydia and search for iblacklist. Now install the app. The full version of the app costs 12$.  The free version allows you to add upto two numbers.

1. Once the app is installed, tap on iblacklist and the window will popup showing a number of options from that tap on ” Enable “.

   

2. By default the call and sms blocking will be set to ON. You’ll also have the options to turn ON blocking for the mms and facetime.
3. Now tap go to the main screen of iBlacklist and tap on ” Blacklists ” > You’ll have the options to add a new black list. By default you’ll see a ” General BL  ” list. You could either create a custom list or move ahead by tapping on it.
4. Tap on the (+) sign and you’ll see more options to Add the number from contacts, add from recent calls and from recent messages. Now add the number using any of these options and tap on ”  Save “.
5. The main screen of iBlacklist gives you option to set a password for security.
6. From the main screen tap on Call Settings and you can configure the Filter Options such as Show status bar icon, sound notify, vibrate, block calls with less than x number of digits etc.
7. The  ” Action Setup  ” option on the main screen allows you to set the actions to be performed when you receive the call. Tap on it and you’ll see Whitelists & Restricted Number.
8. Now tap on ” Restricted Number “  & you could choose whether you need to give a Busy Signal, Accept & Hangup, Voicemail. Besides the other two options choose any of these three which suits you the best and tap on Save.
   
9. Now save you settings and you’re set to block the mobile numbers.

• Insert the Windows 8 DVD into the drive / a bootable windows 8 USB Drive.
• Open up “ Control Panel ” from the main Mero Window.
•  Click on ” General ” and you could see the ” Reset Your PC & Start Over ” option on the right pane.
• After Clicking on the ” Get started ” button you will see the following screen.
• Click on ” Next ” and windows will bring up another screen asking whether you want to remove all the files from all the drives or you just want to remove the files in the drive windows 8 is installed. Clicking on the ” Show me the list of driver that will be affected ” option will show you the drives that would be affected during windows reset process (Applicable only when you choose  ” all drives ” option).
• Clicking on ” Only the drive where Windows is installed ” is preferable if you are concerned with the files stored in other drives.
• Now click ” Reset ” option in the window displayed. The Windows 8 reset process would start off and reboot your PC.
• The process would take a while and once this process is finished, you’ll be asked to enter the Windows 8 product key. If you are using the developer version of windows 8, you can progress by clicking the ” Skip ” button.
• Now Accept the Windows 8 License Agreement and Windows will ask you to enter the Computer Name.
• Thats it. Your Windows 8 PC will be back to new again.

If you don’t want your files to be removed and only need to have a fresh copy of windows 8 installed its better not reset windows 8. Instead go for the Refresh your PC option which will preserve all your documents while doing a reinstall of the operating system.

1) Turn OFF Location Services

Applications like camera, compass, maps, find my iPhone etc uses the location service to keep track of your location. You can turn the setting to off if you don’t use it at all or you could selectively turn off the location service of an app that you are not using frequently.

Settings > Location Services > Turn Off (completely or selectively)

2) Turn OFF Bluetooth

Keeping bluetooth enabled while it isn’t necessary would eat up your battery life as the device would timely keep searching for new devices to connect. So turn it off when unnecessary.

Settings > General > Bluetooth > OFF

3) Turn Auto Brightness ON

Allowing the iPhone/ iPhone / iPad to automatically adjust its brightness level would ensure that it adjusts the brightness level suitably for you while making use of the battery optimally.

Go to Settings > Brightness > Turn ON Auto-Brightness

You could also adjust the brightness level afterwards to make it suit for you.

4) Disable Ping

Ping service can be seen just below iTunes.

Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions > Ping > OFF

5) Turn OFF iCloud Sync

Being one of the newly introduced feature in iOS 5 that help you to keep your files synced across the cloud, you could turn it to off if you doesn’t really use this service or you could disable it completely or selectively. Mail service may be disabled in iCloud, as emails are already stored in the cloud.

Settings > General > iCloud > Turn Off

6) Turn OFF Time Zone Adjustment

To disable Time Zone adjustment, tap

Settings > Location Services > System Services > Set Time Zone to Off

7) Disable Diagnostic & Usage Reports

Enabling this feature would send error reports to apple. To disable it,

Settings > General > About > Diagnostic & Usage > Don’t Send

8) Disable 3G & Cellular Data

You could turn off the 3G and data services if you are connected to the internet via Wifi or if you are not planning to use internet services.

Settings > General > Network > 3G, Cellular Data> OFF

9) Turn Off Push Notifications

If you don’t want the device to fetch new mails frequently, you could turn it off or increase the time interval for fetching new data as that would increase the battery life.

Settings > Mail,Contacts,Calendars > Fetch New Data > Set to Manual or a higher time interval

10) Turn Off Vibration

While the vibration alerts you in silent mode, its better to turn it off if you use it in the general mode. To turn off vibration, Tap on

Settings > Sounds > Vibrate > OFF

These tips would help you get some more battery life out of your iPhone / iPad / iPod touch running iOS 5.

iTunes Lyrics Adder is working in Windows 7, Windows Vista & Windows XP. The software runs using .NET Framework.

Without much further waiting let’s begin the tutorial:

• First things first, check if your computer has a good recent version of .NET Framework installed. If it doesn’t then head on down here and download and install it. It’s not that big just about 50-60 MB.
• Now that your PC fits the minimum requirements we can move on to the actual tutorial. First is to download and install iTunes Lyrics Adder from here.
• Now that you have it installed run iTunes then while iTunes is running run iTunes lyrics adder.
• If you have doubt whether some songs may contain comments in Lyrics section then don’t select “Only search and add lyrics to songs without one”. After picking which one you want just select one of the repositories to download the lyrics from such as azlyrics.com or mp3lyrics.org. Now all you have to do is wait for the search and adding process to complete and you are done. Also a log of the songs for which lyrics have been found and added will be shown after the process.
• If you want to check the lyrics that you just added to your songs in iTunes just right click on the song and then select the Lyrics tab.

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This process is now so simple with the Air Video app. It acts as a server and streams the videos to your iphone. Air Video is available as both Windows and Mac Versions. The app needs to be installed on both your PC and your iphone.

After launching the app it goes into the Windows Taskbar near the notification area. Double clicking the icon will launch the application window showing the shared Folders Tab (See the Screenshot).

Shared Folders tab will be blank during till you add folders to it. The bottom Window has the options to add a Folder, iTunes Playlist or Remove the ones if you already have added any. Shared Folders tab shows you the Folders with videos you have added for streaming to your iphone.

Now Click on the Start Server Button to get the air video server running. Next you need to download the Air Video app from App Store. Air Video app is free but it displays videos which are randomly selected from the shared folder. The full version lists all the videos.

After downloading and installing Air Video app on your iphone, turn on the Wifi From Settings. Now choose your local network connection if multiple networks are available.

Now start the Air Video app on your iphone. Now tap on the “ + “ on top left of the app. Your pc will be automatically detected and the computer name would be displayed. Tap on the name, it will present you with the folders you’ve added to the desktop app to stream videos to iphone.

If the videos aren’t properly formatted for iphone, Air Video has the option to Play the Vide with Live conversion. During Live Conversion, the desktop app uses the pc to make it compatible for playing on the iphone.

You could also stream via the internet, for this launch the Air Video application on you pc and go to the Remote tab. Now tick the box showing, “ Enable Access From Internet ”.

On doing so you will see a pin number being displayed below it. Note down the pin number displayed.

Now on the Air Video app on your iphone, Tap on the “ + “ on top left and tap on “ Enter Server PIN “.

Enter the pin number you noted down earlier on the screen and tap on Save. Now you can stream the videos via internet.

The additional settings in the desktop versions include the ability to password protect, Starting Air Video along with windows, listening to custom port etc.

Air Video is just a great app that is a must have for all the media enthusiasts.

Without any further delay let us begin the tutorial now.

• Check whether you have .NET Framework installed in your PC. If you do not have it then visit this page and download it.
• Now that your PC passes the Minimum System Requirements for using the software we can continue with the rest of the tutorial.
• Visit this page and download the free tool. Once you download it just extract it then run it.
• Modifying the Background Image is pretty much straight forward just select the image and pick the directory for which you wish to use the image for. The software even allows you to use the same image for all subjects folders.
• If you are not able to see any changes then just open Task manager and click End Process on Windows Explorer. Now press Windows Key + R, type in explorer.exe and click on OK.
• That’s all you have to do to use a custom background for Windows Explorer in Windows 7.

For more such helpful tips and tricks Like our Facebook Page. If you are facing any difficulties with the customization then fell free to comment below.

Without further waiting lets move on to how to use the free tool:

• Using Wireless Network Watcher is pretty much straight forward and simplistic. First download the file from here. It is a small file just around 250 KB. After downloading the tool extract it then run it.
• It will scan your Network quickly and display the results. The results will display the IP Address, MAC Address and the device’s Name and Manufacturer.If you want to save the results just select all the results and click on “Save selected Items” button.
• This would help you quickly note down the culprit who has gained access to your wireless network unauthorized.

That’s it now you can easily find out if anyone is using your Wireless connection behind your back. For more such helpful tips subscribe to our RSS  Feed or like our Facebook Page.

Some people tend to be frustrated over the quick advance from 3G to 4G service, because they feel as if the wireless companies are merely putting out something new and asking people to pay all over again for wireless Internet service. However, most people who have made the switch to 4G service would say it is well worth the upgrade, as, in many cases, 4G service is considered to be up to four times faster than 3G. This is almost difficult to believe, if you have enjoyed the clarity and fast download speeds of 3G wireless service; however, 4G is bringing us the quickest and most reliable wireless Internet we have ever seen, at fairly competitive prices.

If you are considering making the switch to 4G and have been reading about different providers, you may have noticed a sort of debate raging between what Verizon calls LTE service and another type of service called WiMax. Essentially, these are the two leading competitors that have emerged in the 4G market, and while both services offer you access to 4G level service and speed, there are a few differences between them that you may want to be aware of before choosing a provider.

WiMax service tends to have more of a flat rate, whereas Verizon’s LTE offers different rates based on the amount of data space, etc. that you want available on your wireless device (basically, how much you are going to use it). Additionally, Verizon’s LTE service offers automatic 3G/4G combination service, meaning that if you venture into an area where 4G service does not yet reach, your device will, on its own, switch back to 3G so that you never lose the Internet. These are just a few of the basic differences between the two services; more can be seen on their respective web pages, and you would be encouraged to give them a look when choosing your provider.

1. Like our Facebook Page (on the Right) and +1 (button below) the post.
2. Now just Like this post by clicking on the Like button below.
3. Once you have completed all the steps leave a comment below with your facebook id.(Verification will be done, So Make sure you complete all the steps to Get a Google Plus Invite).

Complete the steps fast for better odds for being able to join Google+.

Note : – Google+ is now officially open to all, get a google plus account at here.

• First download and install RDM+ on your PC. Download it from here.
• Install the desktop Client on your PC. Ensure that you have Active Sync on your PC. If you don’t then download and install it from here.
• During the the installation you will be asked to create an ID and after the installation you will be using this ID so pick a remember-able ID and Password. After the installation open RDM+ and note the computer number given to you.
• Now run RDM+ for Smart Phone or Pocket PC and follow the instructions given in it. Enter the ID and password and Computer Number when it is asked.
• Now all you have to do to access your PC from your phone is connect to your PC while RDM+ is running on your PC and run the RDM+ app on your Windows Mobile.

That’s it. It may not be as good as using Windows on your PC but you can do pretty much anything you would do on your PC on your Windows Mobile Device now.

Speed might be one of the main reason why you have opted for a far more expensive internet connection and still you get slow download speeds when in need? So, if you are in a similar situation, then its time to find out whether your isp is reducing your download speed.

Go To Glasnost and run a test. The test might take up to 500 seconds and it would check for both uploads and downloads separately. Glasnost also checks by running the tests using at different ports on your pc since ISPs can use port numbers or other transport protocol identifiers to check a flow’s treatment. For example, P2P traffic is sometimes identified based on its port numbers.

A java applet runs on your system to emulate the data flow that is then used by Glasnost and the results page is displayed.

You need to run the test at different times of the day mainly during peak hours and make sure you are not browsing or downloading during the test to get accurate results.

With Glasnost you can check the download speed for P2P apps like BitTorrent, eMule etc. and Email, SSH Transfer, HTTP transfer, Flash Video etc..

Just follow these simple steps to prevent Facebook from tagging you Automatically:

• Click on Account drop down menu and then select Privacy Settings.
• Now scroll down and click on Customize Settings. Scroll to the Things Others Share section and click Edit Settings near Suggest photos of me to friends. Now a dialogue box will appear as in the picture above. Just click on the drop down arrow near Enabled and change it to disabled.
• That’s it. Now photos of you won’t be automatically tagged.

If you ever feel like re-enabling this option just follow the same tutorial and change the Disabled to Enabled again. For more such helpful tips subscribe to the Computing Unleashed RSS Feed.

It is very simple to get a different IP address. In this tutorial we will just be using a simple software, Hotspot Shield. Hotspot Shield is a security software that helps keep your privacy. It changes your IP Address thereby letting you gain access to all the sites that block you based on your geographic location. Hotspot shield is completely free and available for the following OS:

• Windows 7
• Windows Vista
• Windows XP
• Windows 2000
• Mac OS X 10.4
• Mac OS X 10.5
• Mac OS X 10.6
• Mac OS X 10.7

Just follow these simple steps and you will be able access restricted sites in no time:

• Go to this site and download and install Hot spot Shield.
• Once you do that run the program.

• Wait for a few seconds till you are connected and thats it. This is what the newly opened window should look like. You will be having an IP Address that will show that you are somewhere in the United States.
• If you want to be sure that you are properly connected just check the location that is given by your IP Address by going here.

That’s all there is to do. You will now be able to access restricted sites on your geographic location. For more of such helpful tutorial subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Unlocking Boot Loader:

• First thing is to download the two packages you will need for unlocking boot loader – Fast Boot Package and the Sony Ericsson Drivers.
• Once you have downloaded then extract them. Now that you have extracted them the next thing you need to is find your xperia play IMEI number. To see your phone’s IMEI number dial *#06#. This will show the IMEI number. Keep the screen like that. Don’t press OK just yet. Now visit this site in your PC.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Continue. Accept the Terms and Conditions then you will be asked for your IMEI number, Name and Email. Fill them in and submit it to receive a KEY. Note it down.
• Next step is connecting your Xperia Play to your PC in fast boot mode. So first Switch Off your phone. Then holding the Search Button in your phone plug in the USB Cable. Windows will show an error in installing the drivers. This is where we use the Drivers we downloaded earlier. Now open Device Manager from Control Panel. Your phone will appear in Other devices drop down Menu. Right click it and click Update Driver Software. Click on Browse for Driver Software. Select the Folder to which you extracted the drivers(All the Folders need to be included so be sure to select a folder that has all these folders as sub-folders) and Click Next. Click on Install Anyway in the Warning that Appears. The Installation should finish in a few seconds.
• Now that your phone has its drivers installed we can begin the actual unlocking process. Open the fastboot folder. Holding Shift key Right click there and then click Open Command Prompt here. Once Command Prompt is open type fastboot.exe -i 0x0fce getvar version. This command is to ensure that your phone is properly connected. If your phone is properly connected this will retrieve a version number. Next type in fastboot.exe -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0xKEY. Replace KEY with the Key you git earlier from the Sony Ericsson  Website. Hit Enter. This will take a few seconds to finish executing.
• That’s it. Now just unplug your xperia play mobile.

How to Root Xperia Play:

• First thing is to download the necessary Root Package from here.  After downloading it copy it to the fastboot folder mentioned in the earlier section. Note down the name of the .img file you just downloaded. In the provided link the name is play_modded. Once you are done copying it, open Command Prompt there as we did earlier by Holding Shift, Then Right Clicking then clicking Open Command Prompt here. In Linux and Mac open Terminal.
• Now execute the command:
  >For Windows - fastboot flash system play_modded.img (If you are using a different image change the command as required)
  >For Linux - fastboot -i 0x0fce flash system play_modded.img
  >For Mac - fastboot-mac -i 0x0fce flash system play_modded.img
• Now just wait while the file is flashed onto your phone.

via [XDA Developers]

If you are not familiar with it yet then check out the Blackberry Play Book’s specs below:

• 7-Inch LCD Full-touch Screen
• QNX OS, also supports Android 2.3 Apps
• 3 MP front camera and 5 MP back Camera
• 1 GHz Dual Core Processor
• Micro USB and Micro HDMI support
• 3.5 mm Audio output jack
• 7 Hour Battery Life
• Pre-installed PDF reader, Word, PPT viewer and dedicated YouTube application
• Multitasking support
• Wi-Fi support (3G version not yet released)

The Blackberry Play Book can be bought from HomeShop18.com, Amazon.com, Shopyourworld.com and Ebay.in. The prices can vary from site to site. But an average price is provided below.

• BlackBerry Play Book 16GB – Rs. 32,999
• BlackBerry Play Book 32GB – Rs. 39,999
• BlackBerry Play Book 64Gb – Rs. 45,999

This feature can be made available in Windows 7 by installing Aura.  Aura Beta 3 also brings an option to make Aero Color change with IE 9 Tab color along with the Getting Color from the Wallpaper and from Active Window icon. Aura requires .NET Framework 3.5 or better to run. Just follow these simple steps to make Aero Glass color change automatically with Wallpaper Or IE 9 Tab color:

• First download Aura from here. Install it just like any other program.

• Open Aura and Select “Get Color from Wallpaper” and Check “Use IE 9 Active Tab Color”. If you want to change the color Intensity then click on “Click here to open color settings”.
• Apply it. Then close it and make sure it is not running in the background.
• Now open IE 9 and then Open Aura again. That’s it.

Now as long as you have Aura running in the background Aero Glass Color will change with the Wallpaper when IE 9 is not running and change according to IE9 Active Tab color when IE 9 is running. Using Aura you can also make the Aero Glass Color change with the Active Window Icon.

Just follow these simple steps in order to use a Custom Background in Gmail :

• Log into Gmail like usual. Don’t use Basic HTML version. Now near the top right corner you should be able to see “Settings”. Click on that.
• Now select Themes Tab. This will reveal the default themes provided by Google. Along with the Default themes there will be a “Create Your Own Theme” option. Click on that.

• A new window should open as shown above. Now just modify the basic colors of the theme by clicking on the down arrows in this window. If you click on the down arrow in the top left corner there will be “Select” option allowing you to put a custom background as shown in the picture. Also click on the arrow at the bottom left corner and select an image.
• Remember that you are using the same image twice so there may be some kind of cut line in the image. If you want to get rid of this the only way is to use a single image. You can either crop the image into the required resolutions or just add background in the top left arrow menu only. This will give you a single image as long as the height of the window is less than or same as that of the image you used. The best method is to just use a really long image . If you are putting a tiled background then you do not have to worry about aspect ratios that much. Just add the tiled background in both menus.

That’s it. Now you can use your own custom images as background in Gmail.

Just follow these steps to get your Windows as good as new:

Remove additional User accounts

Having many Users on your computer can lead to loss of a lot of memory on your Hard disk as the preferences of all the Users will be saved. So it is best to remove these additional accounts. To remove additional User accounts:

• Run cmd.exe to open Command Prompt. In command Prompt type this in net user administrator /active:yes and press Enter key.
• This will activate the Default Administrator account. Now just Log off from your Account and Log into the Administrator Account. After that right click Computer then click Properties.

• On the left sidebar you can see “Advanced System Settings”, click that to open a system Properties Window. Click the “Settings” option near User Profiles. After that just select all the other accounts and delete them.

Remove 3rd Party Applications

Installing 3rd party softwares always take a toll on your PC. They can leave behind many side effects such as Invalid Shortcuts, Empty Folders, Saved Preferences, Log Files and Options in Context Menu. These side effects are the reason why a lot of people prefer to Reinstall Windows once in a while. But there is no need to resort to such drastic measures all the time. You can actually remove all these problems with a few Tweaks in Windows Registry or with some softwares. Follow the following steps in order:

• Uninstalling Third Part Applications – To uninstall all of your 3rd party applications you have to take Programs and Features in Control Panel. Then just right click each of the programs that are not by Microsoft that you have installed in your PC and click Uninstall. If the Uninstaller asks whether or not to keep Preferences, choose to Delete these Preferences. This is the only actual time consuming step all the others are very fast when compared to this step.

Remove Files and Folders Left behind

• Now we are going to fix any damage done to the registry and also remove anything left behind after uninstalling of programs such as empty folders and also invalid shortcuts. For this we have for you a simple, free tool – Glary Utilities. Download it, Install it. You don’t have to upgrade it or anything. It has all the features that we need without updating. Open Glary Utilities and Under “1-Click Maintenance” Click on Scan for Issues. This should take a  couple of minutes only. This will remove all invalid shortcuts, traces, temporary files etc. Now only thing remaining to do on Glary Utilities is to remove empty folders.  So go to Modules in main window of Glary Utilities. Then click duplicate file finder. Now just select the drives in which you installed softwares. If you have drives which you maintain by yourself for storing data it is not necessary to check there. After the list of empty folders is generated by Glary then just check the ones you wish to delete or to just click Check All under the Check option and then click Delete Checked Folders. If you are sharing any folders on a network they will cause some trouble in deleting. So if you do have any shared folders then stop sharing them. To do so right click Computer then Manage. In the Computer Management windows that will now open select shared folders then Shares. You can stop sharing folders from here by right clicking on them and clicking Stop sharing.

• Now all that is left in this section is to remove logs from your PC. This is quite simple. Just run cmd.exe to open Command Prompt. Type in Del *.log /a /s /q /f. That’s it.

Remove Shell Components and Startup Programs

This step is for those who decided to skip the 2nd step i.e. Removing 3rd party applications. Usually after uninstalling any program shell components that it added will be removed. In case was some error and it was not removed then you can remove them by following these simple steps.

• Removing New Menu Items – If you have any items in this menu that were left behind after un-installation of a program due to some error or because you did not un-install the program then you can remove it using this simple tool. This tool helps disable these items from New Menu. Download it from here. Open the program and select the item you want to remove from the New Menu  and click Disable.
• Removing Right Click Menu Items – Installing many softwares will lead to piling up of such items. You can remove them using this software. Just go to the Remove Tab from the Main window, right click on the item then click Delete.Download the software from here.
• Removing Start Up Items – You can either use some software such as CCleaner,  Glary Utilities etc. or you can do it my Opening System Configuration and then removing them. To open system Management run msconfig. Then under the Startup tab in the System Configuration just un-check the items you want to remove.

Your Windows installation should be as good as new if you follow these simple steps. It is best after following these steps to create a Restore point. To create a restore point just search for “Create a restore point” in start menu. Click the Result to open a System Properties Window. Then just click Create. That’s it. Now you have a Clean Windows Installation and also have a restore point in case Windows ends up in its old unclean state again.

Requirements

# 1) Windows 8 Setup DVD or ISO File.

# 2) USB Drive with more that 4 GB Space available.

# 3) You must be using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating system while following this guide.

# 4) Utility to mount iso files (if you are proceeding with the ISO file)

Installing Windows 8 From USB Drive

1) Connect your pendrive / usb drive to your pc and backup the data inside it.

2) Click the Start button and type CMD inside the search box. Right Click the cmd.exe icon and click on Run as Administrator. Windows command prompt will now open up.

3) Now inside the command prompt window type DISKPART and hit enter.

4)After seeing the following message (above) type LIST DISK and press enter. The command will help you find out the disk number of your plugged in usb drive.

5)The Below image shows the usb drive being labelled as Disk 2 with the size shown as 14GB. It is actually my 16GB pendrive. This might be different in your case.

6)Now execute the following commands one by one. In the SELECT DISK 2 command the disk number is obtained from step 5.

SELECT DISK 2

CLEAN

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS

ASSIGN

EXIT

The Format option might take some time to finish depending on the size of the flash drive.

7)Minimize the command prompt windows after the format process has been complete.

8)Next we need to update the USB drive with the bootmgr code for this, either  Mount the Windows 8 ISO file using a virtual disc utility (MagicDisc is a good one) or Insert the Widows 8 setup DVD and note down the drive letter.

9)Bring up the command prompt window and type I:\>CD BOOT (I is the DVD drive / virtual drive in my case).

10)Now finally execute I:\boot>BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 K:

11)Close the Windows command prompt window and copy all the contents from widows 8 DVD or mounted virtual drive to the USB drive.

Note: For booting from your pendrive you need to enter the BIOS setup and enable the boot from Removable drive option (you may refer to the Mother board manual and check how to change the boot device priority).

After enabling the option to boot from removable drive, just plug in your USB drive and proceed with the windows 8 installation.

PDAnet is a great software to tether your Android Phone. But the full version costs around $15. It does allow a trial period and even after the trial period you can browse the Internet but the only problem is not being able to use secure connections. So you won’t be able to use Gmail etc. But if you are tethering just for emergency situations for browsing sites then should just use trial as you can always check your email from your phone. But buying the app for $15 is much better than paying around the same thing but on a monthly basis to your cellphone company.

• First download PDAnet for your computer from here and install it as you would with any other software. It does not require any configuration. In case you don’t have Internet on your PC then don’t worry as you can download PDAnet PC software on your phone after installing PDAnet on it.
• Next download PDAnet for your Android phone from here or just search for it in the Android Market.
• After installing PDAnet on your Android phone run it. Then tap Enable USB Tether as in the picture.
• Now just plug in your Android phone using your USB Cable and it will connect to the Internet Automatically, if it doesn’t then right click the PDAnet icon in the system tray and click Connect to the Internet.

PDAnet is also available for other OS such as Palm OS, Blackberry, iOS and Windows Phone and can used on Mac OSX also.

Just follow these steps to turn on your PC using your Android Device:

• First we have to make sure WoWLAN is supported by your PC and that it has been enabled. In some PCs Booting via Network Adapter may be disabled. If you are not sure whether it is Enabled or know that it is Disabled, then Reboot your PC. Now take your Motherboards BIOS and look whether an option such as “Boot to Network” or “Internal Network Adapter Boot” or something similar under Boot Options has been Enabled. If not Enable it.
• Now we have to look if your Network Card supports WoWLAN. It is available on most Network Cards, even if they are a couple years old. But just to be safe will we check it. To check:
  >First Open Control Panel(Run “control panel”). Then Open Device Manager. Then double click on Network Adapters then right click your Network Adapter and take Properties. Navigate to the Power Management Tab in the newly opened dialog box.  Make sure “Allow this device to wake the computer” is checked. If the option is not available then WoWLAN is not supported by your Network Adapter.
• If your computer supports WoWLAN and WoWLAN feature has been enabled then we can begin the actual tutorial. Lets finish off what is there to do on your PC before we move on to your Android device. PC AutoWaker requires two pieces of information from your computer to control it remotely. First is your WLAN Access Point Name (SSID). You can get this by just going to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center. You can get SSID from your Android Device but just in case it may by chance fail to detect it we will just find it from the PC itself. Or you can just head to Settings>Wireless & Networks>Wi-Fi Settings in your Android Device to get it.
  
• Now that you have the SSID the next step is to get your PC’s MAC Address. To get the MAC Address first Run( Windows key+R ) cmd.exe. This will open Command Prompt. Now type in “ipconfig/all”. You will be provided a long list of information. Just note down your computer’s MAC address(Physical Address) from this list. Now you are read to do to the remaining of the tutorial so get your Android Device.
• First thing is to install PC AutoWaker. Go to Android Market, search for the app and install itor just head here to install. Once installation is over you can start adding PCs which you want to remotely control with your phone.
• To Add a PC first open PC AutoWaker . From its main screen select Add PC. Now just provide a name for your PC, then your PC’s MAC Address, then the SSID ( There is a get current connection information option. But just in case it might fail is why this tutorial explains how to get it manually. ).  Now the App will ask if you want to wake the computer automatically when your phone connects to this WiFi connection. You can un-check it if you want to wake your PC only manually.
  
• To Wake your PC manually open PC AutoWaker Main screen. Tap on the PC that you registered. It is open a dialog box. From that tap Wake. If you only have one PC registered with the App then just tap Wake All from the Main Screen.

• First is Google News. It is easy to use. Just type in the search box and begin. It shows a timeline also so it is easier to find what exactly you were looking for. You will also be notified if the articles you are clicking are not free for viewing. In addition to being a huge archive of old Newspaper articles you can also get latest new.
• The Olden Times is a great place to find really old Newspaper articles. It has articles dating back to 1788. But there are no recent articles. It only has articles till 1920. But everything is free. So that is a great advantage.
• Newseum is a great way to find news articles from different places. It provides the front pages of around 800 newspapers from all around the world. You can the front pages of different newspapers of previous days and not just the current day. Its great for finding something that happened a few days ago or more that you may have missed.
• Trove is provides a large collection of newspapers but it comprises of only newspapers from Australia. The newspaper articles are available here as PDF files.
• A similar place is the Library of Congress. It provides newspaper articles from 1880s to 1920s. It comprises of articles from across America. It is available as PDF here also.
• Using Wayback Machine is a great way to get old articles as you can view exactly how a page looked like in the past. The websites of most Major Newspapers provide many articles in the homepage. So to get old articles just use Wayback Machine to reach the date that you want. Type in the website and you will get many images of the site. Just navigate to the one you want.
• NewspaperARCHIVE provides the largest newspaper article collection dating back to 1753. It will cost $9.99 per month when considering a year subscription.
• TimesMachine provides a large database dating back to 1853. It has a very easy to use interface. But it is available to home delivery subscribers only.
• Times Archive provides free viewing of front pages of newspapers dating from 1785-1985. For viewing specific articles a per day charge of £4.95 has to be given.
• The Boston Globe provides free articles till 1979 and the older ones cost $2.95 per article.The collection of articles dates back till1924. It is a cheaper alternative if you looking for a specific article.

By using these sites you can find old newspaper articles very fast. If you know of any more such sites feel free to comment.

The best option for buying an iPad in India is to just buy it off the Internet. If you order it from Shop Your World you will get it in 6-8 weeks. The 16GB, 32 GB and 64GB prices are given below:

• iPad 2 16GB (Wi-Fi) – Rs 36,500.00
• iPad 2 32GB (Wi-Fi) – Rs 42,900.00
• iPad 2 64GB (Wi-Fi) – Rs 49,500.00

This site accepts all major Indian Credit and Debit Cards.

iPad 2 has also come to eBay.in but the cost vary from seller to seller. So head over to eBay and check out the different pricing available.

So are you going to buy iPad 2? Please leave your views about the iPad 2 as comments.

There is another option to get rid of this frustration.

>First Install Eternal Sunshine Extension for Google Chrome.

>Now you need to collect the usernames of the people you want to hide. Getting the username is simple. While some people like to set their over unique username which you can find from their profile link, others have their username shown as a number after http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= . This number is what you need to use to hide them. If you want to hide a lot of people I suggest copying all the usernames first into a notepad file, its just easier that way.

>Now that you have the usernames copy each username, click on the eternal sunshine icon near the address bar. Just paste the username using Ctrl +V then hit Enter.

After hiding a person on Facebook with Eternal Sunshine:

• His/Her Updates will not be shown in News Feed.
• If the person was added as Family earlier, then the Family status will be removed.
• His/Her Photo Album or Photo Page will not be suggested in the Side Bar.
• He/She will be removed from Frequent Friends on Chat List.

Using Eternal Sunshine is a great extension if you have a lot of friends, out of which you do not stay in touch with many of them. It helps ignore the person without Unfriending them.

Windows Hider is a free tool that helps you to categorize your running Applications and Windows and then hide or show them according to your needs. With this tool you can organize your Windows and Applications into different groups.

The name of these groups can be changed and also then different groups can be hidden or shown with a single click or use of a hot key. Also, the software allows you to choose whether or not a group will be muted.The Hot keys can be set from Options> Settings. There are hot keys to hide Windows Hider,Mute sounds of all groups and also to un-mute all groups.

In short this is a great freeware to help make working on your computer faster and more productive.

To set Bing as your default search engine just visit this page. Your browser will be automatically detected if it is one of the above mentioned browsers. The instructions to set bing as the default search engine of your browser could be found on the same page.

Subscribe to Computing Unleashed for more tricks and tweaks like these!

>First, Download Java from here and install it.

>Now you have to download the Android SDK from here. While downloading for windows select the Compressed .zip file, not the “recommended” .exe file.

>Once that download is done, extract the contents of the .zip file. After the extraction, open SDK Setup.exe.

>Now the SDK will get a list of packages available from Google. If there is an error go to Settings and check “Force https://…”.

>Now you will be shown a list of platforms. Unless you want to try all the versions of Android, select only the versions you want to try as each Platform is about 50-75 MB in size. For the others select them then click Reject.

>Now you will be able to see an “Installing Archives” dialog box. Once the download is over click on “Close”.

>Next we set up the Virtual phone. Click on “Virtual devices”, then “New…”.

>Now just select the Skin, SD Card Size& Android Version you want. Now Give a name to your Virtual Device and then click “Create AVD”. When you click this there can be a small time lag till a message comes that the Virtual Device has been created.

>Now select your virtual device from “Virtual devices” and select “Start…”.

>Now a screen with “ANDROID_” will comes with the underscore blinking.

>After which the Android Start Up screen will become visible and then you will reach your home-screen. Thats it. Now you can use your Android Virtual Phone.

With the Emulator you can do many things that you can do with a real Android such as:

• Browse the Internet just as in an Android Mobile.
• Check out the Menus, Widgets, Wallpapers, Settings etc…
• Install free Apps off the Internet.

Sadly with this emulator you will not be able to use the Android Market Place to download Apps.

In order to restore your Gmail Contacts to a previous state :

>Select Contacts on the right sidebar. Then depending on which group of contacts you wish to restore, select the group.

>On top of the contact list you will be able to see an option “More Actions”. Click that and then select “Restore contacts…”.

>Now select the time you want to restore your Contact List to. And click “Restore“. Thats it. As simple as that. You can restore back to 10 minutes, an hour, a day, a week or even a month.

Now you have no reason to be scared while managing your Contacts.

Earlier, the only option to make changes to a pdf file was to purchase the Adobe Reader.

PDF Files are usually made non writable ie. only readable. But now, editing pdf files has been much easier with the new free alternatives for Adobe Acrobat Reader and other free online tools that would help you modify pdf files with ease.

Editing PDF Files Online

Here, are some of the tools and services that will help you in modifying pdf files.

#1) PDF Escape is an online PDF Editor that will help you edit / modify PDF files for free. This free tool will also help you modify the contents of a password protected pdf file too.

All you have to do is to navigate to the site, upload the required pdf file and then make the required modifications and download it. Its that simple!

You could use the PDF Escape online service either as a Registered or Unregistered user. Users who register would have the ability to log back into previously worked sessions and save the file in their respective online accounts.and the registration is free.

#2) PDF XChange is a free desktop version of pdf editor and viewer.

If you are looking for advanced pdf editing PDF XChange will help you. Editing embedded images, adding new text into the pdf file etc. would be very easy.

#3) Fillanypdf will help you in filling pdf forms online for free.

To fill a pdf form online just upload the desired pdf file either from your pc or from a link. You could also link it so that other people could also fill the form, share them etc. PDFFiller is a similar service that allows typing into any sort of pdf form online.

It’s not recommended to upload your confidential documents online, the Free offline pdf editor like PDF XChange would be a viable option in such cases.

There are some other ways in which you can remove these pesky Ads:

>If hiding Ads each time you log in doesn’t bother you then you could just click the Hide Ad option arrow on the side of the advertisement. Of course this is only temporary. But while checking mail from a computer which you do not use regularly then this is enough.

>While using your personal computer you may want a more permanent solution.  There are solutions for both Firefox and Google Chrome. For Mozilla Firefox just install this add-on. For Google Chrome install this extension. Installing the above extension or Add-On will remove the Ads and thus provide more space for your use.

With these small modifications you can use Yahoo Mail without annoying Ads taking up valuable space.

You could get many friend requests in facebook and if you have approved someone once and want to block that person for a while, then here is how to do it. Follow the below given steps to block someone on Facebook.

1. Login to your Facebook account.

2. Click on the ” Account ” option on the top right which brings a drop down menu.

3. From that, select ” Privacy Settings “.

4. Click the ” Edit your lists ” link under ” Block Lists ” at the bottom of the page.

5. Now type the name or email address of the person you want to block in the respective fields and block him/her.

If you feel that you need to unblock someone whom you blocked in the past, then go to block lists and click on the ” Unblock ” option available there.

The first thing to do is to find the causes  for battery depletion specific to your phone usage.To do this you can just use the Android’s Built-in Battery Usage Screen. To get this just go to Settings, then About Phone, then battery.You will reach a screen like this one.

The main causes for exhaustion of the battery are the calls made and the Display. Usually in phones in which the brightness is set to a value around half, the percentage is usually much higher.

Now we begin making changes to the phone in order to increase battery life.

>Firstly reduce the brightness to a less but still comfortable value. But if you are using the phone in the outdoors for most of the time then set it to a higher value as performance is more important than battery life.To reduce the brightness go to Settings then Display then Brightness. Using the auto adjust option is usually the best option but if you need maximum battery life it is better to just use manual  adjustment. In display also reduce the Screen timeout time to as low as you are comfortable with.

>Back Ground Task running is a serious drain on the battery so try and use a Task Killer like Advanced Task Manager or Tasker. If some of these background problems are not used by you much then just uninstall them from the phone from Settings then Applications then Manage Applications.

>Another common cause for battery consumption are the apps that sync constantly with the Internet. These include the Email Application, Facebook Application and even your Twitter and Seesmic  Apps. In the Email App go into Account Settings and then reduce the Email check Frequency. in the Seesmic and twitter Apps go into Settings and then background Updates to set the Update Interval. in the Facebook App from the main screen go to Settings then Refresh Interval to adjust the Interval.

>If you use Internet on your phone rarely then you can use APNDroid to kill off the Internet Connection on your phone. It works on T-Mobile and AT&T but not on Verizon.

>The main way to increase battery life is to use the phone efficiently. The best way to do that is to change your phone’s processor clock. For this however you need a rooted phone. SetCPU is a great app available in the Android Market and you can set the value of the processor clock a different times. If you set the value to a lower one then obviously you will get less performance but better battery life.

>You can also recalibrate your battery for better battery life. but this will have effect in some cases only. But its better to try it on your phone also. To recalibrate your battery first drain it completely then after it switches off turn it on again and wait till it switches off after it switches off charge it completely for around 8 hours and then repeat the process. In some cases where there was damage done to the battery, a large difference can be seen.

>Next we deal with the most easily seen battery killers-the Widgets on the Home Screen which use Data from the Internet  and also the Animated Wallpapers that most people use. If you want to you can keep the Animated Wallpaper as even if you do remove it there will only be a small difference in the Battery Consumption.

>Next is how you use your phone. Some common problems such as using the phone every few minutes just to look at the home screen and leaving it in hot environments can majorly drain the battery.

>Leaving your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on can drain your battery if its being continuously used. So if your phone uses these at regular short intervals for example to search for a Wi-Fi network when you are outside, then its better to switch Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Off. Do so just go into Settings then Wireless and Networks and then you can switch off both.

>If you need GPS a lot then use Wireless Networks instead of Use GPS Satellites and also you may want to turn off features that use GPS of the Twitter, Weather and other such apps.

If you do all these you will notice a significant change in the battery life. Just remember that the key to having long last battery life on your Android is to think minimalistic. If you have any other tips just leave it as a comment.

More features include Game Center, folders in iPad and the findmyiPhone app is now free with the new update.

You could update your idevice to the new iOS 4.2 just by connecting to itunes and then selecting the device and by choosing update.

If you dont prefer this metheod, here are the direct download links for the iOS 4.2 IPSW

iOS 4.2 for iPad:

• iPad

iOS 4.2 for iPhone:

• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 3G

iOS 4.2 for iPod touch:

• iPod touch 4th Gen
• iPod touch 3rd Gen
• iPod touch 2nd Gen

iOS 4.2 for Apple TV:

• Apple TV

Note : You need to have the latest version of itunes 10.1 if you want to update to iOS 4.2 via itunes.

The working is pretty simple. If you turn Auto Monitor ON then the software monitors your Clipboard and it will be shown as in the Above Picture. Once it is displayed in the software you can change the Case and then you can either press Clipboard if Auto change is not Selected or if Auto Change is selected then just paste it back into whatever it was that you Copied/Cut it from in the first place. You can even keep it “Always on Top”.

This software helps you to correct many common mistakes such as:

>Forgetting to put Capitals in the beginning of sentences. To correct the mistake use “Sentence Case”.

>Changing back to lower case if you accidentally typed with Caps Lock ON. To do this use ”lower case” or “tOgGle cAsE”.

>You can change it to all capitals if you had forgotten to turn ON the Caps Lock or had the Caps Lock on and then typed by holding Shift by using “UPPER CASE” or “tOgGle cAsE”.

>You can change the case to Title Case in case you forgot by using “Title Case”.

>If you forgot that Caps Lock was ON while typing a heading or a sentence and used Shift such that the alphabets that need to be Capital are small and those which need to be small are in Capitals then just use “tOgGle cAsE”.

This a great software for those who have to type a lot but are careless while typing. It helps relieve frustration in a great way.

With this, you will be able to make changes such as making the menu bar always visible (to make menu bar visible the first time,you may have to press Alt key) (if switch this off menu bar will be always invisible), adding menu bar on top, setting InPrivate Filtering to Always ON, Adding 3D Border between the Web page and toolbar, Making Internet Explorer Start Up in to Internet Explorer in Full screen mode, Changing Size of Toolbar icons, Changing the maximum number of Simultaneous Downloads and Rows in the Favourites Home Page.

Like other Browsers Internet Explorer 9 also will keep track of your history and make a favourites page from that data. But using IE9 Tweaker v1.0 helps you create the Favourites page by yourself. To do so, Firstly click “Create Custom Favourites Homepage“ which will open a new Window as seen below.

Just edit the Home Page by adding the Web Addresses and you are done. Just make sure you select “Set homepage to custom page”. This comes in handy if you find new sites or if you like to keep The Favourites Page organized.

To get the free 15 minutes of International calling you will have to register.To register just visit this site.Enter the info that is asked  and you are done.To make free calls you will have to enable the usage of 3G and Wi-Fi in VoIP Settings.

Using Vopium you can also chat with your friends on Google Talk,Skype,AIM,ICQ,Windows Live Messenger,Yahoo and Twitter.Vopium is not only available for Android but also for other platforms such as Symbian,java,iPhone,Blackberry and Windows Mobile.

Google Instant can be activated in beta/dev/canary versions of Chrome. To activate it just:

>about:labs in the search/address bar of Google Chrome.It will open up a page as seen below. Just select ‘Enable’ on Instant.

>Now all you have to restart Chrome.

You are now ready to search using Google Instant directly from your Address/Search Bar.

You can speed up your Internet Explorer by:

>Disabling Add-Ons and Accelerators

To remove add-ons first take the menu bar by pressing Alt.Now select Tools>Manage Add-Ons.

Here you will be able to see your Add-ons and the time that they consume on their startup.Just select the ones you don’t need and select disable. You could remove them all if you are looking for maximum speed or just a few which which you use less often as each Add-On consumes very less. Also disable Accelerators which you do not usually use by selecting Accelerators in Add-On types and selecting disable.

>Stopping Auto-Update of feeds

Updating of feeds can slow down your browsing is you have subscribed to a large number of feeds or have a slow net connection.To stop auto-update of feeds, select Tools in the menu bar(to show menu bar press Alt) now select Internet Options.

Go to the Contents Tab and select Settings in Feeds and Web Slices.

Now you can either uncheck “Automatically check feeds and Web Slices.

>Turning On Pop-Up Blocker

Select Tools in Menu Bar then Internet Option.Under Internet options select Privacy Tab.Now check Turn-On Pop-Up Blocker.

Having a fast Browser is always important and can make all the difference. After following the above steps you will find out how fast Internet Explorer 9 Beta really is.

>First you need to download and install Unfriend finder for your browser.At the moment it is only available for Opera, Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.If you are using Mozilla you will also need to install Greasemonkey.

>The next step is to login to your Facebook account. You will see an additional option “Unfriends” to the options on the on the upper right side of the Facebook window.Click it to see the people who have deleted you from their friends list.The only problem is that you will get to know of your Facebook friends removing you from their friends list only after few days of removing.

Another great feature of this application is that you can see the people who ignored your friend request now just like Facebook notifies you when someone accepts your friend request in Notifications in Upper left side of the Facebook window.

Please remember that by installing this application you will have access to information which may cause you to become sad and bitter.Maybe this is one of those features Facebook left out for the sake of the users.

Nokia E7 Specifications

Dimensions

123.7×62.4×13.6mm (LxWxH)

Weight

176g

Estimates Operating Time

>Talk Time (WCDMA/GSM): 5 h/9 h

>Standby Time (WCDMA/GSM): 20 d/18 d

Display

>4-inch polarized AMOLED

>Full Touch Screen(640×360 pixels)

>Clear Black Technology

Multimedia

>8 Mega Pixel Camera with dual LED Flash

>720p Video Recording

>Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound

>HDMI Out

>Receive live updates from different social networking sites.

>Three different customizable Home Screens

>Music Player supporting MP, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA, AMR and others

Navigation

>Positioning using GPS, A-GPS, WLAN and Cell-ID

>Free Navigation Forever from Ovi Maps in 70 Countries and includes guides from Lonely Planet and through Michelin for tips on travel,restaurants,weather and hotels.

The Business Aspect

>Comes loaded with the needed apps such as QuickOffice,World Traveler,  F-Secure Anti-theft and Vlingo.

>Other Business apps such as Bloomberg, F-Secure Mobile Security and others available through Ovi Store.

>Mail for Exchange

>Microsoft Communicator Mobile

>Support for intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft Share Point Server allowing access to corporate systems.

Connectivity

>WLAN IEEE802.11 b/g/n

>Bluetooth 3.0 allowing Stereo Headsets

>GPS, A-GPS and Cell-ID positioning

>Micro-USB 2.0 for file transfers and charging.

>USB On-the Go

>TV Out

>HSDPA Cat 9 allowing speeds of 10.2 Mbps,HSDPA Cat5 allowing 2.0 Mbps

Colors

Green, Blue, Orange, Silver White and Dark Grey

Security

>Cisco and Juniper SSL VPN Support along with rich IPsec VPN compatibility.

>Microsoft ActiveSync certificate based Authentication for higher security and F-Secure Anti-theft allowing lock,wipe and locate of misplaced mobile through Software update in 1Q2011

>Rich OMA DM support with enforceable encryption and device controls such as Camera And Bluetooth

Pricing and Availability

This awesome phone is set to release in the fourth quarter of 2010 and is priced at 495 Euros excluding taxes.

Will Strafach has developed a new fix that will help you get HDR Feature in iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G. If you need to apply the fix on your iphone, you’ll need to have a jailbroken iphone.

Enable HDR Photos in iPhone 3GS & iPhone 3G

#1) Search for “ OpenSHSH “ in Cydia and install OpenSHSH .

#2) Next you need to get to the following files.

(For iPhone 3GS  Users)

/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/N88AP.plist

(For iPhone 3G Users)

/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/N82AP.plist

#3) Now, Add a key with the name “hdr-image-capture” with a boolean value of “true” to the “capabilities” section of this property list. Save the plist.

#4) Replace the original file your iphone with the modified version of the file using SSH.

#5) All you need to do is just reboot the iphone.

Thats it! you are now ready to take HDR photos on your iphone 3G or 3GS.

>To get started download MakeiPhoneRingtone.

>This problem makes ringtones but they have to be 40 seconds long or less and needs to be in AAC format. So we first have to prepare the songs to be used in MakeiPhoneRingtone app.

>Select iTunes-Preferences-General-Import Settings. Now adjust the settings as in the picture.

>Now find the sons you want to make ringtones out of in your iTunes library. Now right click it and select Get Info.

>Now adjust the time in options tab as shown in picture. You can select your own starting and stopping time to get the best part of the song, as long as it is less than 40 seconds.

>After Changing start and stop time right click the song and select Create AAC version. The conversion will take a few seconds per song.

>Now open MakeiPhoneRingtone and drag the newly created AAC files into it from iTunes library.

>If you make AAC files that are more than 40 seconds you will get the following warning.

>If you follow the steps correctly the files will come in the ringtones folder in iTunes instantaneously.

>Now just sync your iPhone to use the ringtones. Make sure you select sync ringtones before syncing.

You can now use the ringtones for different  contacts or for alarms. Try experimenting with the start and stop time to get best ringtones. You might even become addicted to experimenting with these ringtones.

>To do so just add “pdf” or “filetype:pdf” after your search topic.

>Press Enter or Click search

>You will be able to see [PDF] before the results, this means that the link will lead you to a PDF file.

>If the “quick view” option is there after the result, it means you can preview the PDF file using Google Docs before downloading it.The PDF will be opened for preview in a separate window.

Now you can get what you need quickly without going through multiple results which provide none of the info that you are searching for.

There are many legal ways to get paid apps from the Appstore. But patience is a must for some of these ways. A jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch is not needed to get the apps. Here are a few ways by which you can get paid apps for free.

#1) FuelMyApp helps you to get paid apps for free inreturn of a review for it. You are first required to buy the app buy yourself then give it a review within 72 hours of purchase. then you will receive a refund via Paypal. But there is speculation that positive review are only getting refunds.

>Giveaways can be found in many place such as AppSafari.com where paid apps are given away every day. Promo codes which are updated every few days are there for all apps.

Other sites such as OpenFeint.com

and FreeAppADay.com also provide paid apps free of cost but only 1 app is available per day.

#2) FreeAppAlert updates you with all the latest Free Apps on Appstore. (Some of these apps don’t usually stay free for long)You can even get daily emails on Free Apps with links to view the app on the Appstore or FreeAppAlert.com

#3)AppMiner is a free app that lists all free apps and Apps with changed prices. From your iPhone/iPod Touch you can select apps from it which launches the AppStore. An interesting feature is that you can add apps to your watchlist and then get notifications on price changes.

#4) Appshopper lists price variations in paid apps and notifies you when there are price changes in apps in your wishlist if you signup for a free account. You can even list only the popular apps instead of searching for a long time through Apps which are not popular.

All apps are with the information about it which you would normally get in the Appstore. Similar services are provided by Apptism and 148Apps.

To install Froyo manually on your Droid Incredible all you have to do is follow these steps:

>Check if you are on a stock ROM as this update will work only if you are.

>Download the Official Android 2.2 Firmware.

>Make a copy of the downloaded file to the root directory which is your microSD and name it as “update”.zip.

>Switch Off your phone. Now reboot it with Volume down button pressed.

>Now in the bootloader screen select recovery using volume keys to navigate and power button to select.

>Upon seeing the “/!\” symbol press volume up and power to show recovery options. As earlier use volume keys to navigate and power button to select “apply sdcard:update.zip”.

>When the installation completes you will see “Install for sdcard complete”, now just select “reboot system now”  to finish.

>First you need to have Jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch. Check out other posts on this site for help with jailbreaking.

>After that you need is Cydia,which is an alternative to your iPhone/iPod Touch’s installer.

>Now using Cydia install dTunes(which includes Safari download plug-ins in its installation) and Mobile Terminal.

>Now visit a torrent site of your choice in Safari and download the .torrent files.(Note that download will start only if plug-ins are installed properly)

>Then open dTunes and select the .torrent file which you downloaded using Safari.

>Now open Mobile Terminal and type the command ./gettorrent to begin downloading.(Down speed depends on not just your Internet Connection but also the number of seeds, so look for torrents with larger number of seeds.)

>After the downloads finish, you can retrieve it from root/var/mobile/Library/Downloads.

Things could go wrong if the browser wont start up and you don’t remember the password correctly. You wont be able to view those stored passwords in the browser.

Google Chrome Password Decrypter is a small utility that would help you recover those stored passwords in google chrome without opening the browser.

Google Chrome Password Decrypter is created to work on Linux, MAC OS X and Windows.

One handy feature that this utility provides is the ability to export the restored passwords to a file.

Download Google Chrome Password Decrypter

The Parental Control feature in Kaspersky not only allows you to block access to specific websites, it gives you a lot of good options like blocking persons in IM’s, limit internet usage, restrict usage in specific days, Restrict the type of downloads  and many more..

Block Sites Using Kaspersky Parental Control

• From the Kaspersky Window, click security and bring up the Parental Control.
• Now click the “Enable Parental Control” check box and choose “Child” from the drop down menu under “ Operation Profiles “.
• Click on the Settings button on the right side of the window. You will see the Parental Control window being opened now.
• Click Settings in the Parental Control Window. The “Child” profile settings window will be opened now. Go to the Restrictions tab and click on the ‘Set Restrictions’ radio button and tick the checkbox left to ‘Block access to web addresses’ option.

  

• On choosing the Select Option you could add the websites which you need to block.
• You could also block unwanted sites by choosing the categories below.
• Now Proceed by clicking OK on all the windows. You will be asked to enter a Password to make sure that others cant change the settings back.

Now access to all those selected websites will be denied by kaspersky on all the browsers.

Yes thats right you can now watch some of the Bollywood and Hollywood movies in HD quality for free in Youtube. The movies coming under these channels can be watched legally without shedding out any money.

Though the movies are free, you will be shown advertisements before the movie gets played.

via [Techie-Buzz]

Download iRecovery for Windows. If you are using an OS other than Windows XP SP2 run it in Windows XP SP2 using compatibility mode and make sure you run it as the Administrator. Windows users need to install Libusb-win32 to run iRecovery.

>After successfully completing the installation of the program, run the test program and list the usb devices, excluding my new device.

>Start iRecovery in Terminal/Console and make sure that you use ”iRecovery -S”  instead of iRecovery.

>Now all that is left to do is execute the following commands.

setenv auto-boot true

saveenv

/exit

>And then ofcourse reboot your iPhone by pressing Home and sleep together for 10 seconds and you are done.

Here i will explain how you can Configure MAX CDN service with the popular W3 Total Cache Plugin.

After logging in to the MAX CDN account,

• Click “Manage Zones” and then Click “Create pull zone”.

You will now see a screen as shown below.

• You could fill the required fields by referring the above image.
• On the “Custom CDN Domain” Field you could enter a custom subdomain name if you want. for eg. cdn.mydomain.com. You only need to set the correct cname records for the subdomain if you are using it.After saving the zone, MaxCDN will give you a new domain name for which you could create a CNAME record that points from your CDN URL (cdn.mydomain.com) to the long URL that MaxCDN provides.
• Make sure you tick the enable compression option if your webhost support it.

Installing MAX CDN into WordPress using the W3 Total Cache Plugin

• Now Open up the General Settings tab on W3 total Cache and scroll down the settings page to see the Content Delivery Network Option.
• Now tick the enable option and select Mirror: Netdna/MAX CDN from the drop down list.
• Now go to the cdn settings page of w3 total cache plugin and enter the host address you got earlier from max cdn for eg cdn.mydomain.com . This would be the case if you have setup the cname records other wise it will be the long url provided by max cdn itself.



• Now click Save Settings. Thats it.

Your static files will now be served from the max cdn network.

I use W3 Total Cache plugin for speeding up my website. The only setting i left behind was the cdn integration option and now that too is filled. Now the website is blazing fast in loading! Thanks to MAX CDN.

Why i choose MAX CDN Service for my Speeding Up My Website?

MAX CDN is used by most popular websites like Mashable, BuySellAds, User Voice, Copy Blogger etc. and is very easy to implement even on complex websites and supports almost all web host’s control panels.

You only need to pay they as per the usage and the cost per GB is just 0.09$. This is much lower than 0.23$ offered by Amazon service and similar competitors. The also have very good customer care support from Mo-Fr 9am to 7pm (PST) phone and chat support plus 24/7/365 email support is available by true CDN experts.

Here is a small chart that shows it all.

I am sure you will be impressed by now on seeing the chart.

Features of MAX CDN

• Compatible with shared hosting, virtual private servers and dedicated servers / clusters
• Transparent content delivery network (CDN) integration with Media Library, theme files and WordPress itself
• Caching of (minified and compressed) pages and posts in memory or on disk, caching of (minified and compressed) CSS and JavaScript in memory, on disk or on CDN
• Caching of RSS (comments, page and site) feeds in memory or on disk, caching of search results pages (i.e. URIs with query string variables) in memory or on disk
• Caching of database objects in memory
• Minification of posts and pages and RSS feeds, Minification (combine and remove comments / white space) of inline, embedded or 3rd party JavaScript (with automated updates)
• Minification (combine and remove comments / white space) of inline, embedded or 3rd party CSS (with automated updates)
• Browser caching of CSS, JavaScript and HTML using future expire headers and entity tags (ETag)
• JavaScript grouping by template (home page, post page etc) with embed location management
• Non-blocking JavaScript embedding
• Import post attachments directly into the Media Library (and CDN)

For now, as per the promotion offer, you you get their service for just 39.95$ for 1TB usage. This would be a fruitful amount for new users.

Get MAX CDN For 39.95$ – 1TB Usage

If you don’t know what a cdn is, its just a way to distribute your websites files into different high speed servers around the world so that when ever you load the particular website, it will load much faster. Since the contents are being delivered  from a server much near to you.

There are some advantages of using a cdn network

#1) First and foremost, your website will load 2–3 times faster than the current speed. This would result in getting more page views for your website.

#2) As google now consider website load speed as a ranking factor, this would also help in boosting your serps (Search Engine Ranking Position).

#3) Since most of the files on your server gets delivered from the cdn servers, the load on your hosting server also decreases considerably and there wont arise a need to spend more for more bandwidth.

Should i use a CDN Network for my Website?

Still if you are in doubt whether you need to use a cdn network or not then here are some points for you to consider.

#1) A normal site visitor wont stay for long in your website if it doesn’t load fast. At least it should have an average load speed ie. under 10 seconds.

#2) Using a CDN Network will help you more in reducing the server load, especially when you are using a shared server, as the mostly used files are being taken off from the server where your website is hosted and delivered from the cdn server.

#3) You could use more plugins and heavy theme files for your site as this create a problem as the files are being delivered much faster than normal.

#4) Using a CDN network would definitely help you in speeding up the website when all other options like compressing images, reducing http requests for JavaScript’s and css files etc don’t offer much speed difference while loading the website.

For Computing Unleashed, we use the MAX CDN network to serve the static files such as images, css and JavaScript files. You could see and feel how fast the website load now. The site now load 3 times faster than before(after implementing the cdn network). We found the MAX CDN network very useful and its easy to setup.

Windows 7 doesn’t provide a specific option to backup the drivers alone. Double Driver lets you easily do it.

With Double Driver you could backup, view and restore the installed drivers in windows 7 quickly. The program usage is very easy.

After downloading Double Driver installation package, extract the contents and run the dd.exe file.

Features of Double Driver

• List, save, and print drivers details
• Backup drivers from current Windows
• Backup drivers from non-live/non-booting Windows
• Backup drivers to structured folders, compressed (zipped) folder, and self-extracting capability
• Restore drivers from previous backup
• Available in GUI and CLI application
• Portable (no installation required)

The utility is small in size (2.03MB) and is easy to use.

Download Double Driver

A web service called TwtImage will help you search and find shared images on twitter very easily.

The usage in very simple. Just enter the keyword to be searched in the box and press enter, the corresponding images will be displayed below. Initially 25 images would be displayed and clicking on the “load more” button will load more images.

The cloud tag seen displayed the most searched terms. On clicking an image you will be directed to the original source.

Right now, TwitImage indexes images shared on sites like TwitPic, TweetPhoto, yfrog.com and img.ly.

So when the next time you would like to find an image shared in twitter, TwtImage.com will help you in finding it out.

1. Tap down on the text which you want he font size to be increased. Hold the finger for a few seconds.
2. Now a small popup with Select, Select all, Paste, Copy Style options would appear. Pick “Select All” from those.
3. With the text selected, tap on the “i” icon on the top menu (You could find it some where below the battery status indicator icon ).
4. With the style tab being selected in the window, go to the bottom of the options shown under. You will find the “Text Options” at the extreme bottom.
5. You can now use the up or down arrow keys to increase the font size on the document in ipad.

Disable Autorun in Pen Drive in Windows XP, Vista or 7

1. Type in ” gpedit.msc ” in Run to open Group Policy Editor.

2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System.

3. In the right side, double click on ” Turn off Autoplay “.

4. Check the enabled option and change the ” Turn off Autoplay on ” option to ” All drives “.

5. Apply the changes to disable autorun of pen drive.

That’s it! The Autorun feature will be now disabled.

Let’s come to the topic now. If you want to Boot your Droid X in recovery mode, then here are the instructions to do it.

1. Turn off your Droid X.

2. Press and hold the Home button and then power button simultaneously until Motorola’s logo apperas.

3. Release the Home button but continue to hold the Home button until an exclamation mark is displayed on the screen.

4. Release the Home button and press the Search button one time.

That’s it! Now your Droid X will enter into recovery mode.

NOTE: Use the volume up and down buttons to till you get the ” reboot system now ” option and press the camera button after that.

You might have given the option to save the password for that particular site when your browser asked, the first time while entering the user name and password while logging in. The browser will automatically display the password if you have saved it before and you only need to press the login button. But if you need to know / don’t remember the password that is hidden behind the asterisk characters here is dead simple way to see those passwords quickly.

For firefox users, there’s always the option to see saved passwords. But this trick is far more simple than that and works on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Netscape, Safari and Opera. Here’s what you have to do.

Visit the login screen of the desired website.

The browser will automatically shown the passwords in the fields, but will be hidden with the asterisks characters.

Now, Copy and paste the following code in your address bar and press enter.

The password will now be shown in a small window.

Tip: Always note down the important passwords of your online accounts in a piece of paper and keep it safely. Never leave the passwords for the browsers to remember.

There are four security zone settings in internet explorer. In the case of normal usage,  the settings coming under the Standard Internet Zone will be used unless the sites are listed in the trusted sites or restricted sites zones.

To get to the Internet Options go to Tools > Internet Options from the main menu and navigate to the Security Tab.

Now increase the security level by moving the sliding bar upwards based on the requirement you need. For eg, if the pc is intended for public use, its more wise to set the security settings to high or medium level.

Setting the slider to high level might prevent some sites from loading and some features on sites get disabled. And there’s always the Trusted Sites list where you could add those frequently used sites.

This will ensure that all the features of the sites you visit would be available irrespective of the security level you set.

Users with some expertise could go for the custom settings. If you have deep knowledge regarding web technologies or if you could find out what a particular setting does, then this one is the best option to go for. You bump up the security and disable unwanted features as well.

Are there any more tips you would like to include with this? Post it in the comments.

Some use special softwares to monitor the installation process of the trial softwares (so that the complete modifications done by the software installation can be tracked) and later uninstall the software completely once trial is over while some would totally reinstall windows just for the sake of running that trial software again and again. There are some other good programs which can do some date alterations so that these trial programs could be run forever.

Time Stopper is a tiny utility which eliminate the time limit existing into trial software usage period. This tools support the usage of more than one trial software with it. You can configure the program to make a program to be run at a particular date. So, you don’t have to worry about altering the usual system time from the system tray. This trick might now always work with all the softwares.

How to Use Time Stopper Software To Run Trial Softwares

1. After opening the time stopper program, Browse and locate the exe of the program to be done
2. Now choose a date and time. Make sure you choose a date that is after the program installation and is before the expiration date of the program.
3. Now click open software on the desired date.

You could also create a shortcut to run the software another time without the need of opening time stopper software again.

Download Time Stopper

Note :- This post is for educational purposes only. Do support the software manufacturers by purchasing the licensed softwares if you like them.

We don’t usually notice them easily but when we come to see a dead pixel in our monitor, there’s that feeling of un-comfortableness that remain in our mind. The dead pixels could form either due to the malfunctioning of the transistor responsible for carrying current to the pixel. Dead Pixels are some times found on a newly bought LCD monitor. But in such cases you could opt for a replacement if the manufacturer permits so. Before opting for a replacement, make sure you have checked the manufacturers warranty claims because most manufacturers don’t bother giving a replacement for a single dead pixel.

In case of you want to check for any such non working pixel in your monitor, try using the Dead Pixel Locator software.

If you see any dead pixel on your LCD Screen, there are quite a few things you could do at your home or office.

How To Repair Dead Pixels on LCD Monitor

# 1) JScreenFix is an online tool to fix Dead Pixels Easily.

The tool launches a small applet in a separate browser window and you can drag the window to the respective spot or run it in full screen. The app could fix dead pixels with in under 20 minutes.

#2) Turn off the monitor. Now apply mild pressure over the pixel area and then rub the area around the stuck pixel with a soft  microfiber cloth. This is important because there is a big chance of scratching your LCD Screen surface if you other clothes which have rough texture. Now with the pressure applied over the pixel area turn on your monitor. The dead pixels might be gone when you turn on the monitor.

If the pixel is still stuck on your screen and does not go  even after trying the above mentioned methods, you could contact the manufacturer for a replacements if the warranty claim permits so.

Also Read: How To Check For Dead Pixels Before buying an LCD Monitor

The printers come with features like direct connection to the internet via an Ethernet cable or Wifi and you could easily take those prints without the need of installing any device drivers.

How the printing is done via Email?

Every printer will be assigned a unique email address to which we send the documents, pdf’s and pictures to be printed. This opens a new way for printing directly via new devices such as mobiles, ipad etc. All those devices which could be used to send email could be used to print your  required stuff.

Multiple email attachments will be printed on separate sheets and you only need to make sure that you have sufficient paper and ink stuffed in the printer. The printing process would take around 25 seconds. During this time the documents to be printed are send to hp’s data center and it is then rendered to the correct format there and sent to the printer and the printing job starts.

Apps For Printer

This printer can now be fetched with new apps too like in the ipad and iphone, these will help you get webpages directly and print them. HP ePrintCenter has details about the new apps available for hp printers. Google calendar can help you to take printouts of calendars etc.

There is another great feature too. The printer helps you store Scanned documents to the google docs directly. The scanned images will be stored into your google docs account as a a pdf file.

In short these are some great features that we wish to have in our home printer right now. Go can go to Hp.com for more details.

The Sn0wbreeze developer iH8sn0w has come up with a new update to Sn0wbreeze 1.7 to lets you to jailbreak iPod Touch 3G only if you have SHSH blobs saved for iPod Touch 3G 3.1.2.

Download Sn0wbreeze 1.7

Also Read: How to Update iPhone 2G to iOS 4

These addons will help you get a lot of seo information regarding your site. This is what most of the webmaster would love to see. Because only with those details we could identify where our site is and upto where we could take it to. All you need to do is take a note on those info’s and do the necessary steps to improve the SERP. The newbie’s might be not know on what all factors does the search engine ranking position (SERP) of your site depends upon. But with these good seo addons for firefox you will learn those parameters and would be able to outrank your competitors in the search results.

#1) Seo Quake Addon

Soon after installing Seo quake and restarting firefox this add addon integrates into the Google Search results. Each and every search result will be enhanced with numerous seo information. So you don’t need to do each and every search analysis to know your competitor’s information.

Seo quake displays the Google PR (Google PageRank of current page), Google Index (Number of indexed pages. Google version), Google link (Number of links, pointed to the current page. Google version (Except links from concerned domain)), similar parameters for many other search engines (Yahoo, MNS, Yandex, Rambler, Baidu) and some other miscellaneous parameters.

Download SEO Quake Addon For Firefox

#2) SEO For Firefox

This addon is similar to seo quake. But it provides a lot more and different information. After installation the addons integrates into the search results inside firefox and various information like Page rank, Domain Age, Linksm number of .edu links, .edu page links to the page, .gov links, del.icio.us, technorati links, alexa rank, cached pages, dmoz listing, no of page links, bloglines subscribers, listings on dir.yahoo.com and finally the who is information ragarding any website.

Apart from this it also provides links to various other seo tools such as Google Trends, Overture View Bid, SEO Book Keyword Research Tool, Google Traffic Estimator, Google Keyword Sandbox to help you more with this.

Download SEO For Firefox

#3) SEO Professional FireFox Toolbar

Personally I use this addon mainly helps in getting the number of yahoo backlinks to a website. But there are some other features that makes me like this addon more. Apart from displaying the backlinks count you can also set it to display the google page rank and S-Rank.

Right clicking its navigation icon shows off even more seo tools and functions. They include options such as WHOIS information, Indexed Pages (Seznam, Google), Google Analytics, Google Keyword Tool, Google Insights and Searchability Seznam.cz. All these options are actually links to their corresponding pages. For eg, if you click on Indexed pages (Google), a new tab will be opened in firefox showing the indexed pages in google search results.

Just after loading a website, its details such as backlinks, Page rank etc are displayed instantly.

Download SEO Professional Addon

#4) SEO Doctor Addon For Firefox

This is one of my favorite addons which i‘ve been using in firefox since I found it. Seo Doctor Addon differs from the other seo addons. Upon Installing the addon, you will see a small flag displayed at the left side of firefox status bar and one inside the address bar. Thee color of the flag changes to Red, Yellow and Green based on the SEO optimization of the current webpage. If the SEO optimization is done perfectly, it gives off a 100 score and green flag and that’s what every webmaster should look into when seo optimizing their websites.

To the right of the flag, the Preserved Page Rank (Page rank flow), Links n Page, Daily Visitors to site/search engine visitors, and no follow links highlight and an option to disable seo doctor will be displayed.

Like the SEO professional addon, this too gives of instant results on loading a webpage. All you need to do is to click on the flag and that would open up a small window from the bottom of firefox. You will see a lot of seo parameters and suggestions being displayed inside this window.

Download SEO Doctor For Firefox

And if you have any doubt regarding fixing those red items in seo doctor addon, just drop in a comment below, i can help you.

With each separate core running at a speed of 1.2 GHZ these would handle almost all the processing like hot knife on butter.

Other features includes support for a powerful GPU, 24-bit WXGA 1280 x 800 resolution support, HSPA+ networks and 1080p video encode/decode support.

The new MSM8260 and MSM8660 are substantial since they are going to be the first ever dual CPU Snapdragon from Qualcomm.

This device possibly targets the new comer from HTC ie the HTC Vision.

HTC Vision Specs

The phone is expected to have a 4.3inch display, dual-CPU processor and the Gingerbread (upcoming firmware for Android). The new phone is said to come with a new display technology which we have never experienced before.

Screen Shot Of how the HTC Vision might look like

The MSM8260 and MSM8660 chipsets for mobiles would deliver much powerful performance which includes

• Scorpion 1.2 GHz processor and 600 MHz DSP for high levels of web application and multimedia performance
• Support for innovative 3D/2D user interfaces and console-quality gaming via dedicated, high-performance graphics engines
• 16 megapixel camera
• Full 1080p HD video playback and recording
• Support for DTS/Dolby 5.1 surround sound
• Integrated Assisted-GPS, including support for Glonass satellite services
• Support for stunning 24-bit WXGA (1280 x 800) displays
• 45nm process technology for ultra-low power consumption

Note:- Before proceeding with ant thing ensure that you have a backup of the wordpress database.

1. Login to the Hosting panel of your account and choose Subdomains and create a new subdomain eg. media.yoursitename.com/.

   

2. Now login to your wordpress dashboard and navigate to Settings > Miscellaneous (“Media” in WordPress 3.0) and enter the new location for the images upload folder.

   

   You could not only store images in the folder, but also your css and javascripts can be hosted in the subdomain, you only need make the desired changes to the themes files after that.

3. As seen in the image above don’t select the check box “organize my uploads into month and year-based folders”.
4. Here I have used the default wordpress images folder. (It might create a problem if you have subdirectories in there ie if you have organized the uploads into month and year-based folders before). So, its better if you could start using a new directory like public_html/imgs to upload your images.
5. Now all the images you upload from now on will be downloaded from the subdomain.
6. If you’ve got some expertise in wordpress then you can continue with the rest of the steps. Else stopping here would do just fine.
7. => Advanced Level Proceed with Caveat!
8. If you want to update the images in your post and media library to the new address, so that the previous images also will be pushed to the subdomain, just run these queries from phpMyAdmin.

   

   

9. Now run the following mySQL query.

10. UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content,'http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/','http://images.yourdomain.com/')

11. Make sure you dont forget to make the necessary changes to the urls in the query before running it.
12. The url of images inside the posts will be updated by now with the new domains address. Now we have the url’s in the media library left. So run the following query too.

13. UPDATE wp_posts SET guid = REPLACE(guid,'http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/','http://images.yourdomain.com/')

14. Now we need to update the search engines too with the new address for the images and also we need to avoid duplicate content as google would now see two urls for the same image. So open up your .htaccess file in the wordpress root directory and add the following code to it.

15. RedirectMatch 301 ^/wp-content/uploads/(.*)$ http://images.yourdomain.com/$1

16. Most probably this should be added before the # BEGIN WordPress line.
17. That’s it, the images will be hosted in the new subdomain.

A competent alternative to all such programs is UltraRDC.

The developer of this program faced a similar situation like yours. He even mentions it in the program’s introduction:
“If you’re like me, you spend a lot of your day with a multitude of terminal services windows open to the machines that you’re setting up, fixing, etc. There are a few apps out there geared towards managing these windows and connections but, at least to me, they tried to do too much. I really needed something to just display my windows in a tabbed interface and, other than that, stay out of my way.”

With that aim in mind, the developer took the help of Weifen Luo’s excellent DockPanel Suite and was able to apply a Visual Studio look and feel to his program, with tabs for each terminal services window and an auto-hiding pane for favorites and history.

The entire program is designed to be user friendly and makes it easier to add new remote connections and connect to them through simple mouse clicks.

Windows 7 features including support for tabbed thumbnails, Aero peek, and jump lists are also supported by UltraRDC.
UltraRDC is a 1.6 MB setup file to download, is compatible with Windows operating systems, and can be gotten from HERE.