tweaks n tricks

Best Theme Collection for Window 7

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:56:00 -0800

Here I am giving you some best and latest Theme collection for your window 7

This collection includes :

1. Dark 7 Mix Theme(My Favourite)
2. Colorful Theme
3. Embed Final Theme
4. Longhorn Air7 Beta
5. Harmony 7 Blue Alpha Theme
6. Gaia09 Visual Style
7. Windows 7 Prototype Bita2
8. Xero Theme
9. Soft7 Theme
10. Capriccio Theme

11. Windows 8 Theme
12. Longhorn Multitheme
13. OneWorld Theme
14. Leopard OS 10 Theme
15. 4 Michael Jackson Theme
16. 14 WIndows 7 Themepack
17. Aero Big Theme
18. Aero Diamond for Windows 7(64bit)
19. Aero Hilled Theme
20. Windows Nostalgia Theme
21. Only Black Windows 7
22. MAx Clear Live Black Theme
23. Windows 7 Red Theme
24. SiCo Theme
25. Windows 7 Blue Theme
26. Windows XP Theme

PART 1

http://hotfile.com/dl/30071002/d99df96/40_Best_Windows_7_Theme_Collection.part1.rar.html

PART 2

http://hotfile.com/dl/30071054/f222537/40_Best_Windows_7_Theme_Collection.part2.rar.html

PART 3

http://hotfile.com/dl/30071080/73d3a46/40_Best_Windows_7_Theme_Collection.part3.rar.html

ALL ABOUT LOCKERZ

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:55:00 -0800

Hi GuYs,

First of all, I should tell u this is not a trick , nor it is a VIRUS some kind of HACK .TODAY the whole World is talking about it. For those who knows about it they don't need any introduction. But for those who don't lemme tell you about it in full detail....

Lockerz.com is one of the best sites I've visited. Why? It's because you can get free stuff within few days of registering with no effort whatsoever. It's similar to sites such as gaminglagoon and prizerebel, but this one tops them all. Currently it's invite-only, so the only way you can get in is with an invite.

How to get an invite -

Simply mail me your E-mail and I'll send an invite your way.
The Only Way To Send Invite Is Through E-mail .
.
This might sound too good to be true, but I assure you it's all legit. As soon as I registered I got 30 points for playing a flash game (this game is available when you first log-in, when it says "loading"). An iPod touch only costs 300 Ptz (site points) and package and handling costs 20 Ptz. You don't need to make any deposits or commitments, it's so easy to get free stuff. Another example is 2GB pendrive... it's only 40 ptz....Believe me there are much more.It has to be seen to be believed.

First Come First Served

Please remember that the site is in beta, so you get more privileges when it goes public. The only bad thing is you can't get any prizes yet... but it's always a good idea to save up for when they launch the site.

EARNING PTZ

Earning PTZ is lot more simple. You just need to do three things everyday . First , loggin to your lockerz account which will give you 2 Ptz . Second , answer the daily question which will also give you 2 Ptz . Third is through referals or invites. Invite your friends and increase your points. with each friend you invite you get 2 Ptz . The most exciting part about inviting is that after 20 friends accepted your invitation you became a Z-Lister . That means you get a free T shirt to you home and also the points you receive for all the above three will be doubled . That means 4 Ptz for everything.

IS IT A SCAM?

Those who are having doubt in their minds about the genuinity of this website. So lemme make it very clear to you . This website is 100% genuine and working. Even I have also received my T Shirt from Lockerz as shown in the photo given below and a gift who's video have also been shown below. Some of you might be thinking that Lockerz don't ship in all countries , that is not right offcourse. Lockerz ships in almost every country but may be some of countries have strict custom rules due to which people dont get their prizes. So that means prize you are going to get will depend upon your country custom rules. So better first check out the rules before doing or saying anything.

..........................................

Plzz email me at dashing.just4u@gmail.com to get your invitation for the lockerz. You will receive invitation within 24 hrs.
ENJOY!!!!!!!

ALL ABOUT 'DirectX'

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:38:00 -0800

ARE YOU A GAMING FREAK!!
If YES then you must be knowing what I am going to write in this blog. So let me explain you everything related to 'DirectX'

Introduction
Gaming and multimedia applications are some of the most satisfying programs you can get for your PC, but getting them to run properly isn’t always as easy as it could be. First, the PC architecture was never designed as a gaming platform. Second, the wide-ranging nature of the PC means that one person’s machine can be different from another. While games consoles all contain the same hardware, PCs don’t: the massive range of difference can make gaming a headache.

To alleviate as much of the pain as possible, Microsoft needed to introduce a common standard which all games and multimedia applications could follow – a common interface between the OS and whatever hardware is installed in the PC, if you like. This common interface is DirectX, something which can be the source of much confusion.

DirectX is an interface designed to make certain programming tasks much easier, for both the game developer and the rest of us who just want to sit down and play the latest blockbuster. Before we can explain what DirectX is and how it works though, we need a little history lesson.
DirectX history
Any game needs to perform certain tasks again and again. It needs to watch for your input from mouse, joystick or keyboard, and it needs to be able to display screen images and play sounds or music. That’s pretty much any game at the most simplistic level.

Imagine how incredibly complex this was for programmers developing on the early pre-Windows PC architecture, then. Each programmer needed to develop their own way of reading the keyboard or detecting whether a joystick was even attached, let alone being used to play the game. Specific routines were needed even to display the simplest of images on the screen or play a simple sound.

Essentially, the game programmers were talking directly to your PC’s hardware at a fundamental level. When Microsoft introduced Windows, it was imperative for the stability and success of the PC platform that things were made easier for both the developer and the player. After all, who would bother writing games for a machine when they had to reinvent the wheel every time they began work on a new game? Microsoft’s idea was simple: stop programmers talking directly to the hardware, and build a common toolkit which they could use instead. DirectX was born.

How it works
At the most basic level, DirectX is an interface between the hardware in your PC and Windows itself, part of the Windows API or Application Programming Interface. Let’s look at a practical example. When a game developer wants to play a sound file, it’s simply a case of using the correct library function. When the game runs, this calls the DirectX API, which in turn plays the sound file. The developer doesn’t need to know what type of sound card he’s dealing with, what it’s capable of, or how to talk to it. Microsoft has provided DirectX, and the sound card manufacturer has provided a DirectX-capable driver. He asks for the sound to be played, and it is – whichever machine it runs on.

From our point of view as gamers, DirectX also makes things incredibly easy – at least in theory. You install a new sound card in place of your old one, and it comes with a DirectX driver. Next time you play your favourite game you can still hear sounds and music, and you haven’t had to make any complex configuration changes.

Originally, DirectX began life as a simple toolkit: early hardware was limited and only the most basic graphical functions were required. As hardware and software has evolved in complexity, so has DirectX. It’s now much more than a graphical toolkit, and the term has come to encompass a massive selection of routines which deal with all sorts of hardware communication. For example, the DirectInput routines can deal with all sorts of input devices, from simple two-button mice to complex flight joysticks. Other parts include DirectSound for audio devices and DirectPlay provides a toolkit for online or multiplayer gaming.

DirectX versions
The current version of DirectX at time of writing is DirectX 9.0. This runs on all versions of Windows from Windows 98 up to and including Windows Server 2003 along with every revision in between. It doesn’t run on Windows 95 though: if you have a machine with Windows 95 installed, you’re stuck with the older and less capable 8.0a. Windows NT 4 also requires a specific version – in this case, it’s DirectX 3.0a.

With so many versions of DirectX available over the years, it becomes difficult to keep track of which version you need. In all but the most rare cases, all versions of DirectX are backwardly compatible – games which say they require DirectX 7 will happily run with more recent versions, but not with older copies. Many current titles explicitly state that they require DirectX 9, and won’t run without the latest version installed. This is because they make use of new features introduced with this version, although it has been known for lazy developers to specify the very latest version as a requirement when the game in question doesn’t use any of the new enhancements. Generally speaking though, if a title is version locked like this, you will need to upgrade before you can play. Improvements to the core DirectX code mean you may even see improvements in many titles when you upgrade to the latest build of DirectX. Downloading and installing DirectX need not be complex, either.

Upgrading DirectX
All available versions of Windows come with DirectX in one form or another as a core system component which cannot be removed, so you should always have at least a basic implementation of the system installed on your PC. However, many new games require the very latest version before they work properly, or even at all.

Generally, the best place to install the latest version of DirectX from is the dedicated section of the Microsoft Web site, which is found at www.microsoft.com/windows/directx. As we went to press, the most recent build available for general download was DirectX 9.0b. You can download either a simple installer which will in turn download the components your system requires as it installs, or download the complete distribution package in one go for later offline installation.

Another good source for DirectX is games themselves. If a game requires a specific version, it’ll be on the installation CD and may even be installed automatically by the game’s installer itself. You won’t find it on magazine cover discs though, thanks to Microsoft’s licensing terms.

Diagnosing problems
Diagnosing problems with a DirectX installation can be problematic, especially if you don’t know which one of the many components is causing your newly purchased game to fall over. Thankfully, Microsoft provides a useful utility called the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, although this isn’t made obvious. You won’t find this tool in the Start Menu with any version of Windows, and each tends to install it in a different place.

The easiest way to use it is to open the Start Menu’s Run dialog, type in dxdiag and then click OK. When the application first loads, it takes a few seconds to interrogate your DirectX installation and find any problems. First, the DirectX Files tab displays version information on each one of the files your installation uses. The Notes section at the bottom is worth checking, as missing or corrupted files will be flagged here.

The tabs marked Display, Sound, Music, Input and Network all relate to specific areas of DirectX, and all but the Input tab provide tools to test the correct functioning on your hardware. Finally, the More Help tab provides a useful way to start the DirectX Troubleshooter, Microsoft’s simple linear problem solving tool for many common DirectX issues.

25 Secret Codes For NOKIA PHONES

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:56:00 -0800

Today in this topic I present you some useful and very interesting secret codes related to NOKIA PHONES. You can use these codes for unlocking , checking IMEI number , formating and many more. So LETS START....

FIRSTLY, some most commonly used and easily accessible codes for NOKIA

Nokia 1610/1630

IMEI number: -*# 0 6 #

Software version - *#170602112302#

Nokia 1610/1611

IMEI number: -*# 0 6 #

Software version: -* # 1 7 0 6 0 2 1 1 2 3 9 2 #

Simlock status: - # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #

NOKIA3110

*#06# -IMEI number

*#3110# -Software version

##002# - allows to turn off voice mail.

*#7780# - restore factory settings
*#746025625#(or *#sim0clock#) - to check if clock of sim (SIM-Clock) can be stopped (SIM-Clock-stop is akind of standby mode which saces battery)
*#92702689# (or *#war0anty#) -"warranty code:"- you have to enter one of the following codes:

6232 (OK)displays month and year of production date (ie "0198")

7332 (OK) - displays date of last repair - if there is (ie. "DATE NOT SAVED")

7832 (OK) - displays date of purchase - if there is (ie. "DATE NOT SAVED")

9268 (OK) -displays serial number

37832 (OK) -sets purchase date in format MMYY (MM - month, YY - year)- attention: you can set it only once, so beware !

87267 (OK)-displays message "Confirm Transfer?" - meaning is unknown (?)

* # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 # -Simlock info

*#31# (call) -sets if your phone no. will be hidden or not (works only in some networks)

*#76# (call) -sets if target phone number when you call should be displayed (works only in some networks)

*#77# (call) -(work s only in some networks)

*#33/35# (call -displays message "Service not active".

**31# (call) -your no. will not be showed to others when you make a call

SOME TRICKS RELATED TO SYMBIAN SMART PHONES( e.g. - NOKIA N95 , N97, N72 , N70, 7210 etc)

SOFT FORMAT - *#7370# ( This will erase all data in phone memory and will reset all the phone settings)

HARD FORMAT - Switch off the phone and PRESS and HOLD 'GREEN' KEY (call) , '3' key, ' * ' key , and switch on key simultaneously until you see a screen with formating written on it. ( This is In depth formating and it will delete everything even viruses and other types of programs which creates problem in mobiles)

You can run as no of programs on your phone as you want. just press 'MENU key or 'RED' key after opeing a program and start another program. You can see all the programs running in the background simultaneously by PRESSING AND HOLDING' MENU' key.

These phones have a wide range of softwares available for them.

These phones support both symbian softwares and java softwares thats why they are preffered over simple java phones. These are called smart phones because they are just like you computer. you can rum a lot of programs simult. can play high quality games , can manage you files with file manager with features like hiding and locking folders and most amazingly you can also download torrents or browse internet with a computer like experience.

Most of the secrets codes working in other mobile phones also works with them.

HOW TO CAUGHT A VIRUS

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Mon, 1 Feb 2010 03:05:00 -0800

Caught A Virus Yourself?

If you've let your guard down--or even if you haven't--it can be hard to tell if your PC is infected. Here's what to do if you suspect the worst.

You must have heard this one before? ==> You must run antivirus software and keep it up to date or else your PC will get infected, you'll lose all your data blah blah!! and you'll incur the wrath of every e-mail buddy you unknowingly infect because of your carelessness.

You know they're right. Yet for one reason or another, you're not running antivirus software, or you are but it's not up to date. Maybe you turned off your virus scanner because it conflicted with another program. Maybe you got tired of upgrading after you bought Norton Antivirus 2006, 2007, and 2008. Or maybe your annual subscription of virus definitions recently expired, and you've put off renewing.

It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But chances are, either you're infected right now, as we speak, or you will be very soon.

For a few days in late January, the Netsky.p worm was infecting about 2,500 PCs a day. Meanwhile the MySQL bot infected approximately 100 systems a minute (albeit not necessarily desktop PCs). As David Perry, global director of education for security software provider Trend Micro, puts it, "an unprotected [Windows] computer will become owned by a bot within 14 minutes."

Today's viruses, worms, and so-called bots--which turn your PC into a zombie that does the hacker's bidding (such as mass-mailing spam)--aren't going to announce their presence. Real viruses aren't like the ones in Hollywood movies that melt down whole networks in seconds and destroy alien spacecraft. They operate in the background, quietly altering data, stealing private operations, or using your PC for their own illegal ends. This makes them hard to spot if you're not well protected.

Is Your PC "Owned?"

I should start by saying that not every system oddity is due to a virus, worm, or bot. Is your system slowing down? Is your hard drive filling up rapidly? Are programs crashing without warning? These symptoms are more likely caused by Windows, or badly written legitimate programs, rather than malware. After all, people who write malware want to hide their program's presence. People who write commercial software put icons all over your desktop. Who's going to work harder to go unnoticed?

Other indicators that may, in fact, indicate that there's nothing that you need to worry about, include:

An automated e-mail telling you that you're sending out infected mail. E-mail viruses and worms typically come from faked addresses.

A frantic note from a friend saying they've been infected, and therefore so have you. This is likely a hoax. It's especially suspicious if the note tells you the virus can't be detected but you can get rid of it by deleting one simple file. Don't be fooled--and don't delete that file.

I'm not saying that you should ignore such warnings. Copy the subject line or a snippet from the body of the e-mail and plug it into your favorite search engine to see if other people have received the same note. A security site may have already pegged it as a hoax.

How to Sniff Out an Infection

There are signs that indicate that your PC is actually infected. A lot of network activity coming from your system (when you're not actually using Internet) can be a good indicator that something is amiss. A good software firewall, such as ZoneAlarm, will ask your permission before letting anything leave your PC, and will give you enough information to help you judge if the outgoing data is legitimate. By the way, the firewall that comes with Windows, even the improved version in XP Service Pack 2, lacks this capability.

To put a network status light in your system tray, follow these steps: In Windows XP, choose Start, Control Panel, Network Connections, right-click the network connection you want to monitor, choose Properties, check "Show icon in notification area when connected," and click OK.

If you're interested in being a PC detective, you can sniff around further for malware. By hitting Ctrl-Alt-Delete in Windows, you'll bring up the Task Manager, which will show you the various processes your system is running. Most, if not all, are legit, but if you see a file name that looks suspicious, type it into a search engine and find out what it is.

Want another place to look? In Windows XP, click Start, Run, type "services.msc" in the box, and press Enter. You'll see detailed descriptions of the services Windows is running. Something look weird? Check with your search engine.

Finally, you can do more detective work by selecting Start, Run, and typing "msconfig" in the box. With this tool you not only see the services running, but also the programs that your system is launching at startup. Again, check for anything weird.

If any of these tools won't run--or if your security software won't run--that in itself is a good sign your computer is infected. Some viruses intentionally disable such programs as a way to protect themselves.

What to Do Next

Once you're fairly sure your system is infected, don't panic. There are steps you can take to assess the damage, depending on your current level of protection.

If you don't have any antivirus software on your system (shame on you), or if the software has stopped working, stay online and go for a free scan at one of several Web sites. There's McAfee FreeScan, Symantec Security Check, and Trend Micro's HouseCall. If one doesn't find anything, try two. In fact, running a free online virus scan is a good way to double-check the work of your own local antivirus program. When you're done, buy or download a real antivirus program.

If you have antivirus software, but it isn't active, get offline, unplug wires-- whatever it takes to stop your computer from communicating via the Internet. Then, promptly perform a scan with the installed software.

If nothing seems to be working, do more research on the Web. There are several online virus libraries where you can find out about known viruses. These sites often provide instructions for removing viruses--if manual removal is possible--or a free removal tool if it isn't. Check out GriSOFT's Virus Encyclopedia, Eset's Virus Descriptions, McAffee's Virus Glossary, Symantec's Virus Encyclopedia, or Trend Micro's Virus Encyclopedia. Else go for some free antivirus versions like AVG free and download it with latest updates available on the website

A Microgram of Prevention

Assuming your system is now clean, you need to make sure it stays that way. Preventing a breach of your computer's security is far more effective than cleaning up the mess afterwards. Start with a good security program, such Trend Micro's PC-Cillin, which you can buy for $50.

Don't want to shell out any money? You can cobble together security through free downloads, such as AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, ZoneAlarm (a personal firewall), and Ad-Aware SE (an antispyware tool).

Just make sure you keep all security software up to date. The bad guys constantly try out new ways to fool security programs. So check for regular updates or turn on automatic updates else it will not be worth for your money and time.
Speaking of updating, the same goes for Windows. Use Windows Update (it's right there on your Start Menu) to make sure you're getting all of the high priority updates. If you run Windows XP, make sure to get the Service Pack 2 update. To find out if you already have it, right-click My Computer, and select Properties. Under the General tab, under System, it should say "Service Pack 2.". One thing more, those who dont have a genuine windows don't do this step otherwise it can cause trouble. Microsoft will caught you so stay away.

Here are a few more pointers for a virus-free life:

Be careful with e-mail. Set your e-mail software security settings to high. Don't open messages with generic-sounding subjects that don't apply specifically to you from people you don't know. Don't open an attachment unless you're expecting it.

If you have broadband Internet access, such as DSL or cable, get a router, even if you only have one PC. A router adds an extra layer of protection because your PC is not connecting directly with the Internet.

Check your Internet ports. These doorways between your computer and the Internet can be open, in which case your PC is very vulnerable; closed, but still somewhat vulnerable; or stealthed (or hidden), which is safest. Visit Gibson Research's Web site and run the free Shields UP test to see your ports' status. If some ports show up as closed--or worse yet, open--check your router's documentation to find out how to hide them.

GOOD LUCK....

How To Change Win XP START BUTTON

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Mon, 1 Feb 2010 02:31:00 -0800

Many of you are familier with this thing and are using this trick. But for those Who Don't know about this interesting trick I am writing this blog. This trick is all about changing the start button of your windows XP i.e. changing the text of the start button where you see START written , you can modify it and write anything you want like your name , your girlfriends name or something else. So lets see......

Here I am explaining TWO simple steps on how to change your start button:

Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource Hacker is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from http://www.ziddu.com/download/8396066/ResHack.zip.html

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe .Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.

Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!NOTE-make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.

MOVIE FORMATS

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:01:00 -0800

In my last post, I told you about movie tags and prints. In this post i will tell you about various movie formats. You must have heard about VCD , Super VCD (SVCD), Divx , XviD etc. Now let us talk about them in detail.

The Various types of formats and their definations are as follows:

VCD -
VCD is an mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352x240 (NTCS). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74.

SUPER VCD(SVCD) -
SVCD is an mpeg2 based (same as DVD) which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480x480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. To get a better SVCD encode using variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple "passes". this takes a lot longer, but the results are far clearer.

XVCD/XSVCD -
These are basically VCD/SVCD that don't obey the "rules". They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on the player to whether the disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-ripping by people who don't intend to release them.

KVCD-
KVCD is a modification to the standard MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 GOP structure and Quantization Matrix. It enables you to create over 120 minutes of near DVD quality video, depending on your material, on a single 80 minute CD-R/CD-RW. We have published these specifications as KVCDx3, our official resolution, which produce 528x480 (NTSC) and 528x576 (PAL) MPEG-1 variable bit rate video, from 64Kbps to 3,000Kbps. Using a resolution of 352x240 (NTSC) or 352x288 (PAL), it's possible to encode video up to ~360 minutes of near VCD quality on a single 80 minute CD-R. The mpeg files created will play back in most modern standalone DVD players. You must burn the KVCD MPEG files as non-standard VCD or non-standard SVCD (depends on your player) with Nero or VCDEasy.

DivX / XviD -
DivX is a format designed for multimedia platforms. It uses two codecs, one low motion, one high motion. most older films were encoded in low motion only, and they have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at the encoding stage, making a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and the bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. Due to the higher processing power required, and the different codecs for playback, its unlikely we'll see a DVD player capable of play DivX for quite a while, if at all. There have been players in development which are supposedly capable, but nothing has ever arisen. The majority of PROPER DivX rips (not Re-Encs) are taken from DVDs, and generally up to 2hours in good quality is possible per disc. Various codecs exist, most popular being the original Divx3.11a and the new XviD codecs.

CVD -
CVD is a combination of VCD and SVCD formats, and is generally supported by a majority of DVD players. It supports MPEG2 bit-rates of SVCD, but uses a resolution of 352x480(ntsc) as the horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.

DVD-R -
Is the recordable DVD solution that seems to be the most popular (out of DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+R). it holds 4.7gb of data per side, and double sided discs are available, so discs can hold nearly 10gb in some circumstances. SVCD mpeg2 images must be converted before they can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. DVD>DVDR copies are possible, but sometimes extras/languages have to be removed to stick within the available 4.7gb.

MiniDVD -
MiniDVD/cDVD is the same format as DVD but on a standard CDR/CDRW. Because of the high resolution/bit-rates, its only possible to fit about 18-21 mins of footage per disc, and the format is only compatible with a few players.
Thats all aboout the movie formats i will discuss about some more useful information related to movie downloads in my next post.
PLZZ LEAVE YOU COMMENTS.......

TYPE OF MOVIE TAGS & PRINTS

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:09:00 -0800

Almost everyone who is using a PC and has an internet connection must have heard about these words. Yes i am talking about movie tags or what you can call as different types of movie prints or rips like Camrip, Dvdrip, Xvid rip etc etc. In this post i will explain in detail all types of tags related to movies which will help you out while downloading any movie from torrents or through a website. So CHECK IT OUT!!!

FIRST OF ALL
Lets talk about the camrip. Actually its name suggests its defination.

CAMRIP -
A camrip is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera make shake. Also seating placement isn't always idle, and it might be filmed from an angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there's text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we're lucky, and the theater will be fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.

OTHER TYPES WHICH ARE ALSO SIMILAR TO THAT OF CAMRIP.

TELESYNC (TS) - A telesync is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically, check the sample before downloading the full release. A high percentage of Telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.

TELECINE (TC) -
A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. A great example is the JURASSIC PARK 3 TC done last year. TC should not be confused with TimeCode , which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film.

SCREENER (SCR) -
A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a 4:3 (full screen) a/r, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a "ticker" (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder thru poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others.

DVD-SCREENER (DVDscr) -Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD.

Downloading these 1st kind of rips is not considered good because it is most poor quality when it comes to sound and display and is also not original

SECONDLY
now let us talk about different types of original and good quality prints. So these are as follows:

DVDRip -
A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail (for example, Star Wars episode 2) again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.

VHSRip -
Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly skating/sports videos and XXX releases.

TVRip -
TV episode that is either from Network (capped using digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sending the program around to networks a few days earlier (do not contain "dogs" but sometimes have flickers etc) Some programs such as WWF Raw Is War contain extra parts, and the "dark matches" and camera/commentary tests are included on the rips. PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card, generally giving the best results, and groups tend to release in SVCD for these. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are all supported by the TV scene.

WORKPRINT (WP) -
A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print (Men In Black is missing all the aliens, and has actors in their places) and others can contain extra scenes (Jay and Silent Bob) . WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained.

DivX Re-Enc -
A DivX re-enc is a film that has been taken from its original VCD source, and re-encoded into a small DivX file. Most commonly found on file sharers, these are usually labeled something like Film.Name.Group(1of2) etc. Common groups are SMR and TND. These aren't really worth downloading, unless you're that unsure about a film u only want a 200mb copy of it. Generally avoid.

THIRDLY
Left are the silvers and their discription is as follows:

Watermarks -
A lot of films come from Asian Silvers/PDVD (see below) and these are tagged by the people responsible. Usually with a letter/initials or a little logo, generally in one of the corners. Most famous are the "Z" "A" and "Globe" watermarks.

Asian Silvers / PDVD -
These are films put out by eastern bootleggers, and these are usually bought by some groups to put out as their own. Silvers are very cheap and easily available in a lot of countries, and its easy to put out a release, which is why there are so many in the scene at the moment, mainly from smaller groups who don't last more than a few releases. PDVDs are the same thing pressed onto a DVD. They have removable subtitles, and the quality is usually better than the silvers. These are ripped like a normal DVD, but usually released as VCD.

After the formats and rips now lets talk about different types of tags. When downloading a movie you will see different types of scene tags these are basically used to make the users judge which one is good for them. So lets talk about them in detail:

PROPER -
Due to scene rules, whoever releases the first Telesync has won that race (for example). But if the quality of that release is fairly poor, if another group has another telesync (or the same source in higher quality) then the tag PROPER is added to the folder to avoid being duped. PROPER is the most subjective tag in the scene, and a lot of people will generally argue whether the PROPER is better than the original release. A lot of groups release PROPERS just out of desperation due to losing the race. A reason for the PROPER should always be included in the NFO.

SUBBED -
In the case of a VCD, if a release is subbed, it usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burnt throughout the movie. These are generally in malaysian/chinese/thai etc, and sometimes there are two different languages, which can take up quite a large amount of the screen. SVCD supports switch able subtitles, so some DVDRips are released with switch able subs. This will be mentioned in the NFO file if included.

UNSUBBED -
When a film has had a subbed release in the past, an Unsubbed release may be released

LIMITED -
A limited movie means it has had a limited theater run, generally opening in less than 250 theaters, generally smaller films (such as art house films) are released as limited.

INTERNAL -
An internal release is done for several reasons. Classic DVD groups do a lot of .INTERNAL. releases, as they wont be dupe'd on it. Also lower quality theater rips are done INTERNAL so not to lower the reputation of the group, or due to the amount of rips done already. An INTERNAL release is available as normal on the groups affiliate sites, but they can't be traded to other sites without request from the site ops. Some INTERNAL releases still trickle down to IRC/Newsgroups, it usually depends on the title and the popularity. Earlier in the year people referred to Centropy going "internal". This meant the group were only releasing the movies to their members and site ops. This is in a different context to the usual definition.

STV -
Straight To Video. Was never released in theaters, and therefore a lot of sites do not allow these.

OTHER TAGS -

*WS* for widescreen (letterbox)
*FS* for Fullscreen.

RECODE -
A recode is a previously released version, usually filtered through TMPGenc to remove subtitles, fix color etc. Whilst they can look better, its not looked upon highly as groups are expected to obtain their own sources.

REPACK -
If a group releases a bad rip, they will release a Repack which will fix the problems.

NUKED -
A film can be nuked for various reasons. Individual sites will nuke for breaking their rules (such as "No Telesyncs") but if the film has something extremely wrong with it (no soundtrack for 20mins, CD2 is incorrect film/game etc) then a global nuke will occur, and people trading it across sites will lose their credits. Nuked films can still reach other sources such as p2p/usenet, but its a good idea to check why it was nuked first in case. If a group realise there is something wrong, they can request a nuke.

NUKE REASONS :: this is a list of common reasons a film can be nuked for (generally DVDRip)

** BAD A/R ** :: bad aspect ratio, ie people appear too fat/thin
** BAD IVTC ** :: bad inverse telecine. process of converting framerates was incorrect.
** INTERLACED ** :: black lines on movement as the field order is incorrect.

DUPE -
Dupe is quite simply, if something exists already, then theres no reason for it to exist again without proper reason.

REGISTRY & ITS TWEAKS continue......

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:24:00 -0800

In my previous post you have learned about the introductory and learning part of Windows Registry. In this post you will learn some important and essential tricks about the registry or we can say Hacking windows registry.So let us start....

All of you should know about the structure of registry, its editing and how to make its backups. If not then go through my previous posts. because you will need it in this post. Now let us learn about the

TYPES OF REGISTRY BACKUPS:

It?s very important that before you do editing you make a backup of the current registry. If you ignore this warning, it might prove deadly for you?so better listen to me.
Open your registry. Go to Start>Run , type regedit . When you invoke the Export function from File>Export, you are given a choice of different file types that can be saved :
Registration Files (*.reg)
Registry Hive Files (*.*)
Text Files (*.txt)
Win9x/NT 4 Registration Files (*.reg)
All Files

Each one of the different file types above plays an important role in how the data you export is saved. Choosing the wrong type can give you unexpected results. So let me explain you quickly these file types.

Registrations Files : The Registration Files option creates a .reg file. This is the most well known file format used for backing up the registry. The Registration File can be used in two ways. As a text file it can be read and edited using Notepad outside of Registry Editor. Once the changes have been made and saved, right clicking the file and using the [Merge] command adds the changed file back into the registry. If you make additions to the registry using regedit and then merge the previously saved Registration File, anything that you've added via regedit will not be removed, but changes you make to data using regedit that previously existed in the saved Registration File will be overwritten when it is merged

Registry Hive Files : Unlike the Registration Files option above, the Registry Hive Files option creates a binary image of the selected registry key. The image file is not editable via Notepad nor can you view its contents using a text editor. However, what the Registry Hive Files format does is create an image perfect view of the selected key and allow you to import it back into the registry to insure any problematic changes you made are eliminated.

Text Files : This option does just as the name suggests. It creates a text file containing the information in the selected key. It's most useful purpose is creating a record or snapshot of a key at a particular point in time that you can refer back to if necessary. It cannot be merged back into the registry like a Registration File.

Win9x/NT 4-

Registration Files : This option creates a .reg file in the same manner used by the Registration Files option. It's used by previous Windows versions and serves no purpose in XP unless you want to merge a key from XP into a previous version of Windows.

Out of the give above choices , the safest method of backing up registry is to use Registry Hive Files option. No matter what ever you do or goes wrong in editing, importing the image of the key will eliminate all changes.

**Note-> I have included the exact name/value between [ ] brackets. [ & ] should be ignored, only the data inside them should be considered.

Now let us talk about some tricks related to the registry.Hacking the Windows registry doesnt involve any kind of complications. It is just a basic editing done in Registry Editor. Here are some tricks:

Customize Windows Media Player Title Bar

Change the title bar to read Windows Media Player provided by , so if I had entered text ?DASHING? , it would read: Windows Media Player provided by DASHING

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft

Create the Key [WindowsMediaPlayer]
Create String value named [TitleBar]

Data Type: REG_SZ // Value Name: TitleBar
Double click TitleBar and Enter the text to be displayed in the title bar.

Exit Registry / Reboot

Minimize Outlook 2002 to the System Tray

If you frequently access Outlook during the day it?s more convenient to have it minimized to the system tray rather than invoking it each time you need to send/receive e-mail. This tweak minimizes Outlook 2002 to the system tray:

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Preferences

Modify/Create Data Type DWORD named [MinToTray]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Specify Default IE Download Directory

This tweak changes the default directory where downloads initiated in Internet Explorer are stored on the system.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [Download Directory]
Value Data: [Enter Path to Directory to be Assigned as Defualt for Downloads]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Force Use of Classic Start Menu

This tweak loads the Classic Start Menu and makes it impossible to change back to the Windows XP version

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Modify/Create the DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoSimpleStartMenu]
Value Data: [0 = Default / 1 = Force Classic Start Menu]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Hide/Show Internet Explorer Desktop Icon

By default, Windows XP does not show the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop. Using the registry tweak below allows you to control whether or not the Internet Explorer icon is displayed.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoInternetIcon]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Increase Menu Display Speed

When you click on the Start Menu there is some delay to display the contents , just for no reason. Effects are pretty though. The default speed can be adjusted with a quick registry entry.

The default value is 400. Set it to 0 and the delay is gone. If you are not able to adjust pick a number that suits your style and make the change.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Modify/Create String value of Data type REG_SZ Named [MenuShowDelay]

Value Data: [Default = 400 / Adjust to Preference]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Change the Location of Special Folders

This tweak allows changing the location of special folders on the system. Any of the folders listed in the registry key may be moved.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserShell Folders

Modify/Create String value of Data type REG_SZ Named [Various Folder Names]

Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value] // Value Name: Consult RegEdit for Folder Names

Value Data: [Move the folder to the new desired location using explorer, and then edit the matching folder in RegEdit to reflect the new folder location]

Exit Registry and Reboot

Faster Browsing in Windows Explorer on Network Computers

By default, a Windows XP machine connecting to a Windows 95/98/Me computer will search for scheduled tasks or enabled printers on the remote computer. Two sub-keys control this behavior. Deleting them will speed up browsing on the remote computer.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace

To Disable Scheduled Task Checking
Value Name: {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Delete the sub-key in the left pane of Registry Editor

To Disable Printer Checking
Value Name: {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Delete the sub-key in the left pane of Registry Editor

Exit Registry / Reboot

Add Administrator Account to Log In Screen

When Windows XP is first installed it requires you to enter at least one name of a user who will access the computer. Once you create this name the default Administrator account vanishes. To access it, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard Windows 2000 logon dialog. Log on as Administrator from this point. To log the Administrator off, click [Start] [Log Off] and [Log Off] when the [Log Off Windows] selection box appears. The Log On screen with the available users will be displayed.

To Make the Administrator Account Always Visible on the Login Screen use this Registry Tweak.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Administrator]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Internet Download Connections

Increase Simultaneous Internet Download Connections. Increases the number of allowed simultaneous connections to ten (10).

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server]
Setting for Value Data: [0000000a]

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [MaxConnectionsPerServer]
Setting for Value Data: [0000000a]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Connected Web Files and Folders

Connecting web files and folders allows a primary .htm or .html file to be moved in conjunction with files associated with the primary document. Once the primary document has been defined, create a sub-folder using the same name as the primary document but assign it a .files extension. Whenever the primary file is moved, the sub-folder will also move and remain as a sub-folder of the primary.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoFileFolderConnection]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Enabled (Default) / 1 = Disabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Hide/Show My Documents Folder on Desktop

By default, Windows XP does not show the My Documents folder on the Windows desktop. Using the registry tweak below allows you to control whether or not My Documents is displayed.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\ShellFolder

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Attributes]
Setting for Value Data: [Default = 0xf0400174 / Hidden = 0xf0500174]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Create a Hidden User Account

This tweak allows an account that is normally displayed on the Welcome screen to be hidden from view. To log on using the account it's necessary to use the Log On To Windows dialog box similar to the one in Windows 2000 i.e. press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Type Name of Account to be Hidden]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Account is Hidden / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

While the account is hidden on the Welcome screen, note that the account profile will be visible in C:\Documents and Settings or wherever user profiles are stored as well as in Local Users and Groups.

Create Legal Notice Logon Dialog Box

In situations where you need users to read a legal notice before logging on, this tweak will create the caption for the notice.

Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [LegalNoticeCaption]
Value Data for LegalNoticeCaption: [Type the Caption for the Dialog Box]

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [LegalNoticeText]
Value Data for LegalNoticeText: [Type the Data for the Legal Notice]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Manage Internet Explorer Error Reporting

This tweak removes the IE Error Reporting tool from appearing with the option to send browser debugging reports to Microsoft.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Note:- Create both values listed below and set according to the bold type for the tweak to function properly.

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [IEWatsonEnabled]
Value Data: [0 - Disabled / 1 - Enabled]

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [IEWatsonDisabled]
Value Data: [0 - Disabled / 1 - Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

REGISTRY AND ITS TWEAKS

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Wed, 6 Jan 2010 09:33:00 -0800

You must have heard the word 'registry' many times may be on the internet or some game or software etc etc. So you should also be curious to know about registry.So I created this post to let you know about what exactly is registry, its features and some tweaks related to registry. So let us start with our main questions:

What is the Registry?
The Registry is a database used to store settings and options for the 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 95, 98, ME and NT/2000. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, software, users, and preferences of the PC. Whenever a user makes changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations, System Policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the Registry.
The physical files that make up the registry are stored differently depending on your version of Windows; under Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT, for Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while under Windows NT/2000 the files are contained seperately in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory. You can not edit these files directly, you must use a tool commonly known as a "Registry Editor" to make any changes (using registry editors will be discussed later in the article).

Now you know exactly what registry is all about so now you must also want to know how to open REGISTRY EDITOR. so the thing is simple GOTO=>Start=>Run=>write 'regedit'=>press enter. A new window will appear thats what exactly is Registry Editor.
(NOTE: some virus blocks certain features of the windows in order to secure themselves. so if you find some error while you try to open windows registry editor then get your PC scanned . It may be infected.)

The Structure of The Registry
The Registry has a heirarical structure, although it looks complicated the structure is similar to the directory structure on your hard disk, with Regedit being similar to Windows Explorer.

Each main branch (denoted by a folder icon in the Registry Editor, see left) is called a Hive, and Hives contains Keys. Each key can contain other keys (sometimes referred to as sub-keys), as well as Values. The values contain the actual information stored in the Registry. There are three types of values; String, Binary, and DWORD - the use of these depends upon the context.

There are six main branches, each containing a specific portion of the information stored in the Registry. They are as follows:
- HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT - This branch contains all of your file association mappings to support the drag-and-drop feature, OLE information, Windows shortcuts, and core aspects of the Windows user interface.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER - This branch links to the section of HKEY_USERS appropriate for the user currently logged onto the PC and contains information such as logon names, desktop settings, and Start menu settings.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - This branch contains computer specific information about the type of hardware, software, and other preferences on a given PC, this information is used for all users who log onto this computer.
- HKEY_USERS - This branch contains individual preferences for each user of the computer, each user is represented by a SID sub-key located under the main branch.
- HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG - This branch links to the section of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE appropriate for the current hardware configuration.
- HKEY_DYN_DATA - This branch points to the part of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, for use with the Plug-&-Play features of Windows, this section is dymanic and will change as devices are added and removed from the system.
Each registry value is stored as one of five main data types:
- REG_BINARY - This type stores the value as raw binary data. Most hardware component information is stored as binary data, and can be displayed in an editor in hexadecimal format.
- REG_DWORD - This type represents the data by a four byte number and is commonly used for boolean values, such as "0" is disabled and "1" is enabled. Additionally many parameters for device driver and services are this type, and can be displayed in REGEDT32 in binary, hexadecimal and decimal format, or in REGEDIT in hexadecimal and decimal format.
- REG_EXPAND_SZ - This type is an expandable data string that is string containing a variable to be replaced when called by an application. For example, for the following value, the string "%SystemRoot%" will replaced by the actual location of the directory containing the Windows NT system files. (This type is only available using an advanced registry editor such as REGEDT32)
- REG_MULTI_SZ - This type is a multiple string used to represent values that contain lists or multiple values, each entry is separated by a NULL character. (This type is only available using an advanced registry editor such as REGEDT32)
- REG_SZ - This type is a standard string, used to represent human readable text values.
Other data types not available through the standard registry editors include:
- REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN - A 32-bit number in little-endian format.
- REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN - A 32-bit number in big-endian format.
- REG_LINK - A Unicode symbolic link. Used internally; applications should not use this type.
- REG_NONE - No defined value type.
- REG_QWORD - A 64-bit number.
- REG_QWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN - A 64-bit number in little-endian format.
- REG_RESOURCE_LIST - A device-driver resource list.
Editing The Registry

The Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE) is included with most version of Windows (although you won't find it on the Start Menu) it enables you to view, search and edit the data within the Registry. There are several methods for starting the Registry Editor, the one method is which we have already discussed above in our post. An alternative Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE) is available for use with Windows NT/2000, it includes some additional features not found in the standard version, including; the ability to view and modify security permissions, and being able to create and modify the extended string values REG_EXPAND_SZ & REG_MULTI_SZ.
Create a Shortcut to Regedit
This can be done by simply right-clicking on a blank area of your desktop, selecting New, then Shortcut, then in the Command line box enter "regedit.exe" and click Next, enter a friendly name (e.g. 'Registry Editor') then click Finish and now you can double click on the new icon to launch the Registry Editor.This makes us easy to open registry editor coz you dont need to write the commands every time or look for the registry editor in windows file system.
Using Regedit to modify your Registry
Once you have started the Regedit you will notice that on the left side there is a tree with folders, and on the right the contents (values) of the currently selected folder.

Like Windows explorer, to expand a certain branch (see the structure of the registry section), click on the plus sign [+] to the left of any folder, or just double-click on the folder. To display the contents of a key (folder), just click the desired key, and look at the values listed on the right side. You can add a new key or value by selecting New from the Edit menu, or by right-clicking your mouse. And you can rename any value and almost any key with the same method used to rename files; right-click on an object and click rename, or click on it twice (slowly), or just press F2 on the keyboard. Lastly, you can delete a key or value by clicking on it, and pressing Delete on the keyboard, or by right-clicking on it, and choosing Delete.

Note: it is always a good idea to backup your registry before making any changes to it. It can be intimidating to a new user, and there is always the possibility of changing or deleting a critical setting causing you to have to reinstall the whole operating system. It's much better to be safe than sorry!
Importing and Exporting Registry Settings

A great feature of the Registry Editor is it's ability to import and export registry settings to a text file, this text file, identified by the .REG extension, can then be saved or shared with other people to easily modify local registry settings. You can see the layout of these text files by simply exporting a key to a file and opening it in Notepad, to do this using the Registry Editor select a key, then from the "Registry" menu choose "Export Registry File...", choose a filename and save. If you open this file in notepad you will see a file similar to the example below:

Quote:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup]
"SetupType"=dword:00000000
"CmdLine"="setup -newsetup"
"SystemPrefix"=hex:c5,0b,00,00,00,40,36,02

The layout is quite simple, REGEDIT4 indicated the file type and version, [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup] indicated the key the values are from, "SetupType"=dword:00000000 are the values themselves the portion after the "=" will vary depending on the type of value they are; DWORD, String or Binary.

So by simply editing this file to make the changes you want, it can then be easily distributed and all that need to be done is to double-click, or choose "Import" from the Registry menu, for the settings to be added to the system Registry.
Deleting keys or values using a REG file
It is also possible to delete keys and values using REG files. To delete a key start by using the same format as the the REG file above, but place a "-" symbol in front of the key name you want to delete. For example to delete the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup] key the reg file would look like this:

Quote:

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup]

The format used to delete individual values is similar, but instead of a minus sign in front of the whole key, place it after the equal sign of the value. For example, to delete the value "SetupType" the file would look like:

Quote:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup]
"SetupType"=-

Use this feature with care, as deleting the wrong key or value could cause major problems within the registry, so remember to always make a backup first.

Regedit Command Line Options
Regedit has a number of command line options to help automate it's use in either batch files or from the command prompt. Listed below are some of the options, please note the some of the functions are operating system specific.

* regedit.exe [options] [filename] [regpath]
* [filename] Import .reg file into the registry
* /s [filename] Silent import, i.e. hide confirmation box when importing files
* /e [filename] [regpath] Export the registry to [filename] starting at [regpath]
e.g. regedit /e file.reg HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT
* /L:system Specify the location of the system.dat to use
* /R:user Specify the location of the user.dat to use
* /C [filename] Compress (Windows 98)

* /D [regpath] Delete the specified key (Windows 98).

MAINTAINANCE OF SYSTEM REGISTRY

How can you backup and restore the Registry?

Windows 95

Microsoft included a utility on the Windows 95 CD-ROM that lets you create backups of the Registry on your computer. The Microsoft Configuration Backup program, CFGBACK.EXE, can be found in the \Other\Misc\Cfgback directory on the Windows 95 CD-ROM. This utility lets you create up to nine different backup copies of the Registry, which it stores, with the extension RBK, in your \Windows directory. If your system is set up for multiple users, CFGBACK.EXE won't back up the USER.DAT file.

After you have backed up your Registry, you can copy the RBK file onto a floppy disk for safekeeping. However, to restore from a backup, the RBK file must reside in the \Windows directory. Windows 95 stores the backups in compressed form, which you can then restore only by using the CFGBACK.EXE utility.

Windows 98

Microsoft Windows 98 automatically creates a backup copy of the registry every time Windows starts, in addition to this you can manually create a backup using the Registry Checker utility by running SCANREGW.EXE from Start | Run menu.

What to do if you get a Corrupted Registry
Windows 95, 98 and NT all have a simple registry backup mechanism that is quite reliable, although you should never simply rely on it, remember to always make a backup first!

Windows 95

In the Windows directory there are several hidden files, four of these will be SYSTEM.DAT & USER.DAT, your current registry, and SYSTEM.DA0 & USER.DA0, a backup of your registry. Windows 9x has a nice reature in that every time it appears to start successfully it will copy the registry over these backup files, so just in case something goes wrong can can restore it to a known good state. To restore the registry follow these instruction:
[list=1]
* Click the Start button, and then click Shut Down.

* Click Restart The Computer In MS-DOS Mode, then click Yes.

* Change to your Windows directory. For example, if your Windows directory is c:\windows, you would type the following:

cd c:\windows

* Type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each one. (Note that SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0 contain the number zero.)

attrib -h -r -s system.dat
attrib -h -r -s system.da0
copy system.da0 system.dat
attrib -h -r -s user.dat
attrib -h -r -s user.da0
copy user.da0 user.dat

* Restart your computer.

Following this procedure will restore your registry to its state when you last successfully started your computer.

If all else fails, there is a file on your hard disk named SYSTEM.1ST that was created when Windows 95 was first successfully installed. If necessary you could also change the file attributes of this file from read-only and hidden to archive to copy the file to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT.

Windows NT

On Windows NT you can use either the "Last Known Good" option or RDISK to restore to registry to a stable working configuration.

How can I clean out old data from the Registry?

Although it's possible to manually go through the Registry and delete unwanted entries, Microsoft provides a tool to automate the process, the program is called RegClean. RegClean analyzes Windows Registry keys stored in a common location in the Windows Registry. It finds keys that contain erroneous values, it removes them from the Windows Registry after having recording those entries in the Undo.Reg file.

So this is some introduction part about registry and some of its features. I will discuss the remaining part of it LIKE TWEAKS N TRICKS related to registry in my next post.I will appriciate your comments, feedbacks and problems....

Ways To Secure Your PC

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Tue, 5 Jan 2010 08:32:00 -0800

SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS
After instaling a fresh windows and before entering the internet, You must take the following precautions to protect your PC from some common threats.These are as follows:

Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly. You can find them free of cost at microsoft website only if your windows is genuine . Windows 2000,XP,VISTA and 7 users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options. Windows updates provides you essential security features which secures your PC from certain threats.

Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate and ZoneAlarm offer free versions. I suggest ZoneAlarm because it always asks you before any incoming and outgoing traffic to leave or enter you PC. Even the firewall came with windows XP dont have that additional features, but windows vista & 7 provides enhanced security features.Google it and you will find many links to download these firewalls

Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy . SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.Just type 'free spyware' and you will find a no. of links to download spyware software.

Block pop-up spam messages in Windows 2000 & XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel Administrative Tools Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would F96aT$1. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.But make sure you dont forget these otherwise it will be a problem for you also.

If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.If your emails are just for household purpose or not of the professional type i suggest better open your emails in internet explorer or mozilla firefox. it will be little more time consuming but this method is more secure because email accounts like gmail or yahoo can trace infected mails, viruses and spams thus protecting your pc also.

Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition(www.grisoft.com) . And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at( www.pandasoftware.com/activescan) and (http://housecall.trendmicro.com.Grisoft) even provide free and regular updates for all users and i ve also personally used it so i suggest it is the best free antivirus.
Sites like Macfee,Norton, ESET etc provides free online scan for your computer.I suggest it is the best way if your PC is actually infected and needs to be cleaned up. But remember always scan from a trusted site like the above given names because there are many sites which can fake you and will gain access to your computer and steal essential data thus leading to your own lose.

If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at (http://security.ziffdavis.com) so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person.Better check details because it will tell you the exact senders address and it cant be faked. Don't trust unknown websites.Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support.". Otherwise your account can be used for illegal purposes also.

11 REASONS WHY PC CRASH, YOU MUST KNOW

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:07:00 -0800

If you are using a PC or a leaptop and using Microsoft Windows XP or some other old addition then your PC or leaptop must have crashed many times. There are many reasons leading to PC crash. As I am using my PC for past 5 years, i' ve also faced such problems and found certain solutions for it. so let us see what are the problems that actually causes PC CRASH.

Fatal error:

The system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Microsoft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

Hardware conflict:

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

Bad Ram:

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

BIOS settings:

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

Hard disk drives:

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors:

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

Viruses:

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

Printers:

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

Software:

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

Overheating:

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

Power supply problems:

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

Plzz leave your comments and doubts here....

23 WAYS to SPeeD Up WinXP

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:00:00 -0800

PC slowdown has become most common these. Even the newly purchased PCs starts slowing down in days or months.So the customer ends up with purchasing some memory boosting or speed boosting softwares, which i actually thinks is useless.Here are 23 suggestions that will work for you. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your PC. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.

To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.

If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.

Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.

Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.
Your comments plzzz....

How to safeguard files when Computer CRASHES

noreply@blogger.com (Dashing) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:41:00 -0800

First thing to keep in mind: If your computer hasn't crashed yet, it will in the future! So instead of waiting for fate to strike, take some precautions now:

BACK-UP! Buy some decent DVD-R discs and put everything useful in them. When you have more useful stuff, backup again. Do this often.

Keep your computer healthy. Use an antivirus, an anti-spy, and a firewall. Keep them updated. Check regularly for Windows critical fixes.

Don't install software that would do dangerous things to your hard drive. A boot manager would fall in this category.

Use a registry cleaner before and after you install or uninstall any software. Many of the problems that will keep Windows from booting are caused by sloppy software that mess up your registry. A good registry cleaner is Tune-up Utilities.

Code:
http://www.tune-up.com/

Run chkdsk now and then. Go to Start> Run. Type chkdsk /F. Press enter.

In case your PC has already crashed, read the following:

Most important: Don't panic! Panic is like a little demon that whispers in your ear to format your hard drive and reinstall everything. Don't do it! You will lose all your data and the little demon will laugh at you.

To be exact you can still recover your data if you format your drive (by using special software), but only if you don't write anything on the disc afterwards. In other words format + windows install = bad idea. If you reinstall windows without formating your drive, you will only lose the files on your desktop and "My Documents" folder.

In all occasions you should make sure to safeguard your files before attempting any kind of repair!

So let's go about how to do that:

The fast way: Go to this site:
Code:
http://www.knoppix.org
. Knoppix is a Linux distribution than runs from a CD. Download the Knoppix ISO and burn it. Put it in your CD drive. On startup access BIOS and change the boot sequence so that your computer boots from the CD drive. Save settings and exit. Upon reboot, Knoppix will load.

Knoppix is much like windows and it comes with its own CD burner. Locate it, launch it and backup everything you want on CD. Now you don't have to worry anymore!

The less fast way: This requires that you have access to a second PC. Open the case of your computer and remove the hard disk.

Install it as a slave on the second PC.

Depending on respective configurations, you may have to change some jumper settings on the drive. Read the manual for help with installing hard drives and setting jumpers.

After this is done, boot the second PC. If everything went out ok, you should be able to access your drive without problems. (Edit: Note that Win98 cannot recognize a local NTFS (Win2K/XP) disk.)

Copy everything you need from your own hard drive to the other one. Now you don't have to worry anymore!

Replace your computer's hard disk, fix all problems and reverse the process to copy the data back to your computer, or take CD backups on the other PC.