Tips

AC Power Loss State in BIOS

Whenever you are away from your computer and the power goes out, your system obviously shuts down. This can be a real drag, especially if you remote connect to your system, as it will be unavailable until you are able to power the system back up.

To combat this problem, there is a setting in virtually all BIOS out there called "AC Power Loss Restore State" (or something to that effect). With this setting you can specify what happens to your system once power is completely lost and then returns. By default, most systems are set to "stay off", but other options include "turn on", or my personal choice "last state".

Setting this option can really help save you a bit of headache in the unpredictable event of losing power.

Code Collector

All developers have "generic" code which is used either throughout a large project, or across multiple projects. Of course the copy-paste function is beautiful and simple operation, but keeping track of, let alone organizing, the code bits you use over and over can be quite cumbersome.

Code Collector, a free utility, can help solve your code organization problems. The program is essentially a database of your code snips and allows you to categorize and perform "quick searches" across your library. Even better, your library is completely language insensitive so you can store Java, PHP, VB, or whatever else all in the same databases.

This is definitely a great tool for developers.
Download Code Collector here: http://www.dnjcompany.com/codecollector/

 

Manipulate Files and Folders in Dialogs

We are all quite familiar with the common dialog boxes which prompt you to save and open files and folders, but did you know you can manipulate files and folders from inside the dialog boxes?

For example, when you are browsing for a file to open, inside of the open dialog box you can right click on a file and do any of the following:
- Rename it.
- Delete it.
- Copy-Paste it somewhere else.
- Open it (outside of the dialog box you are in).
- View properties.
- Basically, anything you can do in Windows Explorer.

You can also manipulate folders in the same fashion.

 

Decode" Application Event Errors

If you ever browse your Application Event messages (in Computer Management > System Tools > Event Viewer > Application) and come across a message you do not understand, try using this website to help decipher it:
http://www.eventid.net/search.asp

EventID.net allows you to search based on the error information and pull up more information regarding it. One of the great features of the site is the user comments, so you can see how other people respond to certain events.

This site can be really helpful for you system administrators out there.

 

Get Rid of Content Advisor Password

Internet Explorer has a feature called the Content Advisor which allows one to specify content settings so as to make the net child-safe. Once enabled, you can set a password to keep your kid from getting in and changing settings. However, if the password is forgotten, you need to get around it somehow. There are utilities on the internet to help you out with this, but you can also easily disable it via the registry. To do this, open REGEDIT by typing going to the Start Menu, choosing Run and typing REGEDIT and hitting Enter. Navigate to the the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > policies > Ratings. In the right frame, highlight the "Key" entry and hit Delete. When you are done, close REGEDIT and restart Internet Explorer. Once you restart, make sure the content advisor is disabled and you're back in business.

The usual warning goes to on use of REGEDIT. Be very careful altering your registry and it can cause damage if you don't know what you're doing.

Firewall Problems

A single machine on the small corporate network (comprised of around 8 computers) that had re-installed XP on.  When  plugged it into the network, It could access network resources, but It could not access the internet.  Since the computer was connected to a server, It was thought there was a configuration problem.  DNS?  Permission error?  TCP/IP problem?  Software conflict?  Security software blocking connections?

After testing every possible solution I got to toying with the physical network connections at the switch.  I noticed that there was a firewall between the server and the internet modem, which made perfect sense.  But the bigger question was: is the firewall somehow selectively blocking a connection?  No way.  On second thought, yes, it was.  After I logged into the firewall, I noticed it had a list of IP addresses that were allowed outbound.  There was no option for adding an IP anywhere, but I noticed that the IP of the computer I was working with wasn’t on the list.

A quick reboot added the IP to the list, and magically the internet worked.

 

Windows XP by default, will group similar items together in the taskbar. Some like it, others find it annoying and hard to get used to. Well, you’re not stuck with it. To control the setting, simply right-click on the taskbar and check or uncheck the option that says “Group similar taskbar buttons”. Save your changes and you’re done.

Is your desktop a “dumping ground

A lot of people like to treat the desktop as a “dumping ground” for all their personal files, folders and shortcuts. Yes, it is very convenient, but quickly gets overwhelming and hard to navigate. If you are one of these people, a handy shortcut is to add a menu containing all your desktop items on your taskbar.

Here is how you do this in Windows Vista:

  1. Right click on your Start Menu and select Properties.
  2. Go to the Toolbars tab.
  3. Check the box for “Desktop”.
  4. Click OK.

Now a new menu will appear in your taskbar, appropriately named “Desktop”. By clicking the arrow on this item a pop-up menu of all files and folders will appear. This is a great way to access your desktop items without having to minimize all your open applications

Closing Multiple Taskbar Items at the Same Time

Here’s a quick tip which might help you in navigating your taskbar and desktop. You can highlight and close multiple taskbar windows at once by using the same syntax you use for selecting multiple files in Windows Explorer. To do this:

1.)Hold down the CTRL key and click on each taskbar item you want closed.
2.)When you are done selecting them, release CTRL and the mouse button.
3.)They will all become selected, and you can right click on any one of them and choose ‘close group’ to close all selected windows.

Now Firefox and some other browsers have a “Close all Windows” feature, but this one allows you to close just the ones you want.

How To Display and Re-Locate the Quick Launch Toolbar

If you have opened more than one program, you might like to display and use the Quick Launch bar. The Quick Launch bar makes it easy to access frequently used programs like media player and your e-mail, and to open an Internet Explorer window. Windows XP loads several programs in the Quick Launch, including Showdesktop. One click on Show Desktop minimizes all the programs on your desktop. Another click restores them just as you\’d left them.

To display Quick Launch on the taskbar

  1. If the Quick Launch bar is not displayed, right-click an empty area on the taskbar and click Properties.
  2. On the Taskbar tab, under Taskbar appearance, select the Show Quick Launch check box and click OK.

Once the Quick Launch toolbar is showing, you can re-position it to your liking. Using your mouse, go and click the little line on the toolbar that looks like a few vertical dots, then while holding the mouse button down, drag the toolbar out onto your desktop. It will then be hovering in the middle of your screen. Drag the toolbar again to any side of the screen you want until it "sucks up" to that side of the screen and anchors there. You can then resize the toolbar to be the width/height you want. When you are done, if you want the toolbar to always be on top, right click on the toolbar and select "Always on Top

Repositioning The Taskbar

For the most part, most Windows users keep their taskbar at the default location which is the bottom of the screen. Of course you can change this in several ways.

  • If you want to hide the taskbar when you are not using it, right click on the taskbar, select Properties and then check the box to auto-hide. This will make the taskbar “disappear” until you hover your mouse over the spot where the taskbar “should” be.
  • To change the docking position, simply right click the taskbar and make sure the option to lock is not selected. Then click and drag the taskbar to either the top, right or left edge of the screen.
  • To resize the height of the taskbar (or width if you have it docked on the side), again make sure the taskbar is not locked and then click on the outer edge (the cursor will change to a double arrow) and drag to the desired size.
  • Combine any of the above.

Text Messaging via Email

 

Did you know it is possible to text message someone from your email account? Almost all of the major cell phone providers have an email address set up so that you can send and receive texts to phones. Let’s say for instance you need to get in touch with someone, but you have your laptopand not your cell phone on you. Or, in other situations, if your friend has unlimited texts and you have a limit, why not save your texts and use email? It doesn’t cost you anything and you can send and receive just like you would on a normal cell phone. Not to mention, you will save your fingers from being sore from texting!

Here is a basic overview of the different carriers for SMS and MMS via email.

Sprint:

[10DigitNumber]@messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-Mobile:

[10DigitNumber]@tmomail.net

Verizon:

[10DigitNumber]@vtext.com

AT&T:

[10DigitNumber]@mobile.mycingular.com

Just replace [10DigitNumber] with the ten digit phone number you are trying to reach (area code + local number).\

If you do not know the carrier, or do not want to try to remember the address of the person you are trying to reach or do not want to print the list off to remember, there is another way you can text via email.

A service called Teleflip allows you to send emails to its domain and let it figure out which provider is used. It will also forward any replies back to your email address. This service will allow you to send up to 1,000 messages per month for free. After that, you can subscribe to their premium package to get unlimited messages.

 

!

Touch Up Your Photos (All Windows Versions)
!
If you're like me, most of the photos you take on your digital
camera need some sort of adjustment: red eyes, too bright, too
dark, not centered, or just really bad shots. Windows doesn't come
with a tool specifically made for photo editing to fix many of
these problems, so you have to look elsewhere. Adobe Photoshop can
do everything, but it's VERY expensive and it's just plain
overkill. So what do you do? That's where Noromis PhotoLab comes in.

Noromis PhotoLab is the first photo printing software that lets you
transfer photos from your digital camera, automatically enhance,
and then print at home in just two mouse clicks. Process all your
photos in a batch and enjoy your digital memories. Built-in
intelligence automatically adjusts exposure, contrast, color
balance, saturation and sharpness, and automatically fixes red eyes
- individually for each photo or in a batch. Fine tune adjustments,
crop, rotate, refine skin appearance, and reduce digital noise.
Your your original photo is always maintained. Supports Undo on all
actions. PhotoLab scales photos and chooses the best layout for
perfect, professional prints.

Features:

* Auto enhancement: automatically fix the exposure, contrast, color
balance, saturation and sharpness. Fine tune the results if you
want.
* Editing: apply custom edits: rotate, crop, refine skin appearance
and undo any individual fix. Manual edits are applied at one time
to your original photo. The original is always saved, allowing you
to go back and undo changes.
* One click editing tools:
  o Rotate right or left: Rotate 90 or 270 degrees.
  o Auto fix/Adjust Auto Fixes: Auto fix or fine tune the Auto
Fixes.
  o Fix red eye: Automatically fix red eyes.
  o Reduce noise: Automatically detect and remove digital noise.
  o Refine skin appearance: Brighten, smooth, or adjust the hue of
skin tones.
  o Crop: Define a crop box, or crop to a standard photo size.
  o Fix history: View a list of changes you've made so far, and go
back and remove one or more of them,while retaining the other fixes.
* Printing: for the first print, Noromis PhotoLab helps you to
configure your printer to get the best photos your printer can
produce. After this one-time configuration, Noromis PhotoLab
remembers your photo print settings and resets them every time you
print using Noromis. After printing, your printer will return to
its previous setup.
* Sharing: your photos are your memories. Use Noromis PhotoLab to
share them with your friends and family. Normois Photolab will
automatically reduce the file size of photos you email. You can
email or save photos either individually or as a slide show.

It's free to try (Shareware), so give it a test run and see what
you can do with your "bad" photos.

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Play Your Media on Any Device
!
There are so many different file formats available, and each song
or video always seems to be in a format that's not playable unless
you jump through hoops and install new software and codecs each
time. With a file conversion program, you can take a media file and
make it playable on almost any device. That comes in very handy
when you want to email videos or songs you've made to your friends,
but they don't have the program that can play the format you saved
it in.

With Conversion Genius, you can just change it into a format
everyone has, like Quicktime, and never have to worry about your
friends not being able to see the wonderful two hours of family
movies you just sent them. For me, that means I can take my Flip
Video movies and play them back on my iPhone.

Here's some key features of Convert Genius:

* Simply Convert any Media Files

Convert Genius is a solid, flexible and format-rich conversion
package that converts between most popular video/audio formats,
such as MP3, AAC, M4A, AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, MP4, RM, RMVB, H.264,
VOB, DivX, easily and effectively with high quality, making the
files ready for play in your devices.

* Straight-forward and Intuitive Interface

Convert Genius is very easy to operate without any technical
knowledge required. The program is designed to be a very easy,
intuitive and effective to use for adding files, specifying output
settings and formats converting with a few clicks. Within minutes
you can have the formats of choice. In addition, if you are willing
to take some time to explore the other built-in features you will
be amazed to find so many powerful settings dedicated for your
chosen formats, which are designed by the professional and
experienced media experts in the industry.

* Various Audio/Video Codec Settings and Output Formats

Customize Output Formacts, Audio/Video Codec, Movie Dimension and
Frame Rate Convert Genius allows various customizations including
output formats, audio/video codec, movie dimension and frame rate.
It supports converting between almost all popular video formats
including DVD, VCD, SVCD, MOV, RM, AVI, MPEG, WMV, 3GP, etc. with
different video codec(including DivX/Xvid MPEG-4 format), movie
dimension and frame rate. With the function of AVI to MPEG, AVI to
VCD/SVCD/DVD and the file size limitation of each output clip, you
can further make the movie fit well with CD/DVD disc. You can also
convert video formats to all popular audio files, including MP2,
MP3, AC3, RA, M4A, OGG, AAC etc.

* Extremely Fast Conversion With High Quality

Multithereading support and optimized conversion engine Since
Convert Genius supports multithreaded process, you can convert
multiple media files at the same time, and all the conversion
processes will be done easily and quickly with high quality. You
can add, remove or clear the media files if you like in the file
list by simply clicking the specific buttons. Once you are ready
for the encoding process, click the "Start" button, each converting
task is executed in sequence.

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Improve PC Memory Management (All Windows Versions)
!
Cacheman 7 is an application designed to improve the performance of
your computer by optimizing several caches, managing RAM and fine
tuning a number of system settings. Unlike other tuneup utilities,
Cacheman works as a system service, minimizing resource usage and
tweaking Windows at system-level. Auto-Optimization makes it
suitable for novice and intermediate users yet it is also powerful
and versatile enough for computer experts. Backups of settings
ensure that all user modifications can be reversed with a single
click.

Cacheman takes Memory Management to the next level. You can define
which applications have the most importance to you. When your
system runs out of RAM Cacheman will take it away from non
essential programs and give it to the important ones. This is a
drastic improvement to the default Windows memory management. You
can even limit the RAM amount a specific application can use.

Auto-Optimize is a one-click function which will examine your
system and apply automatically best settings and system tweaks in
order to improve performance and stability. You can also make your
computer more suitable for a specific task by selecting individual
Auto-Optimization profiles like "Gaming Computer" or "Network
Server".

Give Cacheman 7 a test run today and see how much faster it can
make your computer run!

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Speed Up Your Internet (All Windows Versions)
!
We all take the Internet for granted nowadays but what your
computer has to do to allow you to surf is actually amazingly
complicated. Windows has a long list of settings for tuning the
performance of your Internet connection. That's fine if you're a
computer expert, the rest of us will generally make things worse
rather than better - if we can find all the well-hidden settings in
the first place.

Ashampoo Internet Accelerator analyzes your computer and optimizes
all the relevant settings with a single click. You don't need to
know anything, just select the automatic optimizer and you're done.
The new version also includes an Internet connection speed test
tool so you can test your performance directly.

In addition to automatic optimization advanced users can still
access all the individual settings and adjust them manually.

Easier to Use, Plus New Tools and Settings

With a redesigned layout, this program is even easier to use.
Everything is explained directly, you'll probably never have to
refer to the help. In addition to this there's been added a set of
new tools and features for managing your Internet connection.

Boost and Configure Internet Explorer and Firefox

Internet Explorer and Firefox are the two most popular browsers and
you can now configure them and boost their performance right from
internet Accelerator. In addition to performance-enhancing settings
you also get direct access to a large number of useful browser
settings, all in one place.

Internet Cleaner tool

Your browser saves a record of everything you do and every page you
visit. The new Internet Cleaner tool lets you quickly delete your
complete surfing trail, with separate settings for Internet
Explorer, Firefox and Opera.

Hosts File Checker

Your computer's "Hosts" file lists the location of known Internet
sites and is always checked first for the address when you access a
site. Spyware and other malicious programs can use it to redirect
you to fake and dangerous sites - the new Hosts File Checker makes
sure this isn't happening.

Interactive Checking for Key Parameters

In addition to optimizing your access speed Internet Accelerator
can also interactively check some advanced parameters on your live
connection to work out the best settings. You don't have to use
this feature, but it's there if you want it.

New Features:

- Intuitive new layout - everything explains itself
- Boost and configure Internet Explorer and Firefox
- Internet Cleaner - quickly erase your surfing trail
- Internet Speed Test - check your connection performance
- Hosts File Checker - stop spyware redirecting you
- Interactive auto-check for key Internet access settings

You can download the free trial version now and see it in action!

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Wipe Files Permanently
!
Think you deleted that file or folder? Think again. Just getting
rid of data in the recycle bin isn't always enough.

When you trash a file or folder in the recycle bin or by using
shift+del, Windows doesn't delete a file permanently. Instead, it
marks those data blocks as safe for rewrite. The data may not be
immediately accessible to the directory, but it's always possible
that deleted data can still be retrieved.

Remo File Shredder shreds deleted data leaving no traces of
sensitive and/or critical data using a variety of user adjustable
options.

File Shredder lets you easily shred any kind of data, as well as
clear unused disk sectors, so that recovery is impossible.

Using a standard tree view, you can drag and drop your files safely
into the "Shred zone" and let File Shredder do the rest.

File Shredder offers 9 shredding patterns exceeding the standards
prescribed by the U.S. Department Of Defense.

Select the data you wish to shred, select your shred standard and
the data is gone.

File Shredder Features:

* Power file shredder to eliminate files, folders, and deleted data.
* Unused space shredder to remove deleted data
* Schedule shredding tasks with inbuilt scheduler to shred files at
a specified time or at the startup of your Windows.
* Password protect the application for access control
* Several military and government shredding patterns to shred data
* Automatic live update to keep the software up-to-date
* Extremely easy to use, several on screen instructions, context
sensitive help

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On-Screen Keyboard (All Windows Versions
!
The On-Screen Keyboard is an accessibility utility that displays a
virtual keyboard on the computer screen that allows people with
mobility impairments to type data by using a pointing device (like
a mouse) or joystick. Besides providing a minimum level of
functionality for some people with mobility impairments, On-Screen
Keyboard can also help people who do not know how to type. And it
also makes for a neat trick to show your friends and co-workers.

Here's how you do it:

If you're using Vista or Windows 7, click on the Windows button at
the bottom left of your screen and type in osk in the box and hit
Enter.

For everyone else, click on the Start button and select Run. Then
type in osk in the box and click OK.

You can also access the On-Screen Keyboard in your Accessories
folder. In Vista, it's in Accessories > Ease of Access folder, and
in older versions of Windows you can find it in the Accessories >
Accessibility folder.

PC Speed Maximizer (All Windows Versions)
!
Don't you wish you could keep your computer running like new? You
computer is like most other pieces of equipment you might use; it
needs to be kept clean, maintained, and fixed. And I'm not just
talking about your hardware - your operating system, registry, hard
drive, and file system also need to be maintained.

PC Speed Maximizer will scan your system and find out what needs to
be done to keep your computer running like new. The program is
designed so that even novice users can use it.

Here's some of the things PC Maximizer can do:

* Automatically optimize your registry settings to prevent crashes
and help speed up your computer.
* Remove privacy and temporary files to protect your privacy.
* Delete junk files to free disk space and improve performance.
* Remove broken short cuts
* Tweak a variety of system and windows settings for optimal
performance
* Remove unnecessary programs from starting with Windows to
increase the speed of starting Windows and to free up memory and
improve performance.

That's not even half of it either! I haven't even talked about how
it optimizes your Start Up Manager and lets you set System, Internet,
and Security settings for your computer.

Download and run the Quick Scan to give you a quick overview of the
status of your computer.

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Turn Off System Beeps (All Windows Versions)
!
If those loud beeps that sound off when you boot your computer
annoy you, there is an easy way to turn them off.

1. Start Regedit by clicking the bottom left Start or Windows
button, then typing in "regedit" and hitting Enter.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound
3. Once there, locate Beep on the list on the right
4. Right click on it and select Modify
5. Change the data value to "no"
6. Reboot your computer and the beeps will be gone!

If you want to turn the beeps back on, just repeat the above steps,
except than you'll change the value back to yes.

Get Any Lost Photos Back, Fast (All Windows Versions)
!
The days of camera film are coming to an end. Everything is being
stored digitally. The downside of this is that it's easier to lose
your photos. Your pictures may become corrupted or you might
accidentally delete a folder with your photos. So what are you to do
if this happens to you?

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery recovers lost or deleted digital
photos from all storage devices like camera cards, and USB devices.
Whether you've deleted important photos by accident, or have lost
pictures because of one or more corrupted media devices, Stellar
Phoenix Photo Recovery will bring any digital photo back.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery software works with any type of
digital card reader or storage media. When you conduct a scan of
the device in question, Stellar Phoenix displays any images it
finds and allows you to recover all of them quickly.

You can use Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery Software in cases where:

- File system corruption of the storage media
- Unintentional or intentional formatting
- Turning the camera off unexpectedly
- Accidental deletion of files
- Corruption or damage to the media (including JPG/JPEG format)
- Pulling out the memory card when the camera was running

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery can rescue pictures from almost
every storage device. Here's a list of some of the storage mediums
that it can recover photos from: Hard Drives, USB Drives, Memory
Sticks, Flash Cards, Sony Memory Stick, IBM Micro Drive, SD Cards,
SDHC Cards, MMC Cards, XD Cards, CompactFlash Cards, SmartMedia
Cards, Secure Digital Cards, Zip Disks, Mini Disks, and more!

The good news is that you can download this program for free and run
the free scan. The scan will let you know if it can recover the
photos you're looking for. If it works and you need to recover
those photos, you can buy the software. If not, no harm done - it
didn't cost you a cent to try.

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How to Create a Password Reset Disk
!
Windows allows you to create a password reset disk, just in case
you forget your password and can't login, because, well, that would
be a bummer. Here's how.

Windows XP:

1. Go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and click on your
username.
2. Under Related Tasks on the left pane, click Prevent a forgotten
password. A wizard will show up.
3. Click next and follow the directions to create your reset disk.

Windows Vista:

1. Click on the Windows button at the bottom left, then open the
Control Panel, double-click on User Accounts, and click on your
username.
2. Look on the left pane and click Create a Password Reset Disk.
3. Click next and follow the directions to create your reset disk.

The disk will now contain your encrypted password. If you forget
your password, you can just use the Password Reset Wizard to create
a new one. Just make sure to create another reset disk once you
changed your password. So if you forgot your password and changed
it to a new one, create another reset disk by repeating the above
procedure again.

Setting Children Safeguards (All Windows Versions)
!
The Internet is a dangerous place... for a kid. Porn, predators,
and Internet addiction are just a few things you have to worry
about. You can't be watching over your child's shoulder 24/7, so
what can you do? (drum roll please) Yes, you guessed it - there's a
program for that!

KidsWatch parental control software is a fast and easy solution for
safeguarding the Internet activity of children. In addition to
providing a secure Internet experience, KidsWatch can maximize the
amount of time a child spends on the computer to prevent usage
abuse, and late-night computer activity. Consider these features,
which can optionally be activated by the parents:

KidsWatch Software Features:

* Computer time limits set by child for any period of time.
* Monitor Internet chats, including Instant Messages.
* Blocks or limits web Access.
* Filters adult web content
* Prevents online gaming and gaming software downloads.
* Prevents illegal music or software downloads.
* Provides parents email alerts and security reports.

KidsWatch is much more than the best-rated time management
solution. It is loaded and preloaded with many optional benefits
and features that improve the security and the quality of the
Internet your children see.

Installing KidsWatch on a computer is customizing the Internet, by
child, the way you want your kids to experience it.

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Create an Accessible Toolbar (All Windows Versions)
!
You can create your own accessible toolbar on your desktop that
will show the content of any folder you choose by following the
below steps:

1. Go to your Windows Desktop and create a folder (right-click
while at the Desktop, then select New > Folder).
2. Click on the new folder and drag it to one of the edges of your
screen and let go of the mouse button to create the toolbar.

Your toolbar is now created. Now right-click inside your new
toolbar and you can customize it some some more. Select Auto-hide
so that the toolbar only appears when you move your mouse over to
that side of the screen. Select Always on Top to always have your
toolbar showing. You can even drag your new toolbar to any other
side of your screen, or to the middle where it will turn into a box.

Duplicate File Cleaner (All Windows Versions)
!
Duplicate files cause not only waste space on your hard drive, but
they can also increase the time it takes to load programs. And it's
even more important to remove duplicate files from your hard drive
if you're almost out of disk space. Why? Other than the obvious
reason of not having any space left on your hard drive for your
computer to function, the more files you have on your hard disk,
the more times it needs to spin to access the data its looking for.
That means longer load times and more wear and tear on your hard
drive. Take it from me - I just bought a new hard drive last month
because my old one (chock full of files) stopped working.

If you want your hard drive to last longer and want to speed up
your computer a bit, then you'll want to check out Duplicate File
Cleaner. Here's some of things it can do:

Fast Find & Clean Duplicate Documents, Musics, Photos, Outlook
Emails

* Innovative search engine with fast speed
* Verify the duplicate content detailed to Byte-by-byte
* Duplicate Outlook Emails Detector with more criterias
* Duplicate Music Detector with more criterias


Support Any Mobile Device

* Duplicate File Cleaner can find and remove duplicate files in
your iPod, iPhone, Zune, Zip, PSP, Mp4,etc


History Function

* Scan history logs your scan results and allows you deal with your
duplicate files when you have time. Remove history allows you to
restore what you have removed to a folder.


Intelligently Scan Your System

* The industry-leading scanning engine can analyze and detect
leftover files in background instead of manual intervention.
   

Cover More Formats

With Duplicate File Cleaner, you can easily and fast find out and
clean various kinds of duplicate files.

* Duplicate document
* Duplicate Music
* Duplicate Photos
* Outlook duplicate emails

And too much more to list!


Yes, this program does cost money, but the scan is free. That means
you can download & run the program and scan your computer and see
if duplicate files are a problem on your computer. If not, your
computer is fine and no harm done and it didn't cost you a cent. But
if you do have problems, the next step is up to you.

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Activate Your Mouse "Snap To" Feature (XP, Vista)
!
You can enable the Microsoft Windows mouse "Snap To" feature to
automatically focus the pointer on dialog box buttons. By
activating this feature, your mouse cursor will automatically move
to the default button on any dialog box that appears in Windows.
This will save you a little time from not having to move you mouse
cursor to the "OK" button each time a dialog box appears. To enable
this feature follow these steps:

1. Open your Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Mouse icon
3. In the Mouse Properties window, click the Pointer Options tab
and check the "Automatically move pointer to the default button in
a dialog box" option.

Now give it a try and see if you like it. If it's not for you, just
uncheck the same box.

Speed Up Windows Explorer (All Windows Versions)
!
You can speed up the display load time of Windows Explorer by
disabling the option to search for network printers and folders. If
you don't know what Windows Explorer is (it's a Windows program
that lets you browse directories and folders on your computer),
then you probably never use it and this tip won't do anything for
you.

By default, each time Windows Explorer is opened it will try to
locate any printer or folder on your computer network. If your
computer is not on a network and/or you have no network printers,
folders being shared, disable this option by following these steps:

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click the Tools drop down menu and then Folder Options.
3. Within the Folder Options tab click the View tab.
4. Uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers."

A Better Add/Remove Programs (All Windows Versions)
!
Have you ever been bothered with software applications that can't
be completely uninstalled by the standard Windows Add/Remove
Programs? You are in the right place!

With Perfect Uninstaller, you can uninstall unneeded applications
in your system easier and faster. The Standard Add/Remove Program
often can't completely uninstall some applications, leaving program
fragments and broken registry keys. Perfect Uninstall not only
uninstalls the applications themselves, but also cleans the
registry files they leave over. It will protect your PC from
corrupted registry errors and improve your PC performance and speed!

Features and Benefits:

* 3 times faster than the standard Windows Add/Remove program!
* 3 ways of application view: by Icons, by List, by Details.
* Remove programs that could not be removed by Add/Remove program.
* Completely clean the empty/corrupt registry entries that a
certain application left over.
* Protect your registry from empty/corrupted errors, improve PC
performance.
* Forcibly remove hidden application installed in your system.
* Fast point to the folder where application installed.
* Navigate to a selected program's Registry Entry, Installation
Folder and its Web Site.
* View detailed information of a certain application installed on
your computer.
* Easy to use and friendly user interface.
* Show details about currently installed applications.

Just click on the link below to download the free demo. Remember, a
clean computer is a happy (and less error prone) computer! ;)

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Clean Out the Prefetch Folder (All Windows Versions)
!
Windows uses a system called 'prefetch' to preload and organize
much of the data necessary for commonly used files and
applications. A folder called 'prefetch' is used to store the
information the operating system needs to carry out this operation.
You can imagine that after several months of use, the prefetch
folder may become filled with older and unneeded references to
software and files.

It's a good idea to manually empty the older files out of the
prefetch folder every few months. To do this, navigate to
'C:\Windows\Prefetch' and delete all .PF files that are older than
a week or two.

Make USB Drives Faster (Vista)
!
If you leave your USB Flash Drive connected to your computer all
the time, it's possible to make it faster.

1. Click Start, type Device Manger and then click the Device
Manager link.

2. Expand the Disk Drives entry, right-click the USB disk icon and
select Properties.

3. On the Policies tab tick 'Optimize for performance' and click OK.

If you remove your USB drive, you'll have to do the above process
to gain the increased speed once you connect it again.

Automatically Backup Your Files (All Windows Versions)
!
FinalSync is an intuitive utility of file synchronization and file
backup which automatically synchronizes and backs up your photos,
emails, MP3 files, user data and other important files between
desktops, laptops, USB flash drives, shared folders of Local Area
Network, FTP and WebDAV servers, as well as Windows Mobile devices
and more.

Who should use this?

If you are "office staff" -- It's very important to backup files to
the remote FTP and WebDAV servers to guarantee the safety of data
when Trojans, virus and malicious software overflowing everywhere
nowadays. FinalSync is specially designed for you to backup your
changed files to remote servers automatically according to
automated task settings.

If you are a "music fan" -- It's really troublesome to manually find
out the newest download songs in thousands of music files from your
computer. But FinalSync can intelligently identify the new songs
for you, and synchronize them from your computer to MP3 player.

If you are a "shutterbug" -- What concerns them most is to preserve
the precious photos everlastingly and safely. Without doubt,
FinalSync can reassure your backup. It is not only able to perform
satisfactorily in preserving your photos, but also make you find
new photos from camera quickly and exactly, and then copy to the
specified folder in your computer automatically by using its
intelligently identification and automated copy functions.

If you are a "business person" -- It is very important to ensure
that the files being updated the same on both devices when
transferring data between PCs, from PC to laptop and vice versa. So
FinalSync is available to guarantee the backup files are the same on
both devices by using a USB flash driver or removable hard disk as a
transport to synchronize the changed files.

Whether you need to find changed files including other new files,
deletion files and revised files and so on from two folders or
thousands of files, you need this professional synchronization
software FinalSync to ensure the files consonantly between both
folders.

You can download the Free trial version by clicking on the link
below, downloading the FinalSync installer, and running it.

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Is Your PC Connecting To Websites Without You Knowing?
!
If your computer is running slow or your internet speed isn't as
fast as it should be, there's a small chance that some malicious
software (malware, spyware, adware) is using your internet
connection in the background without your knowledge. So how do you
find out if that's the case? Easy! We're going to use a simple DOS
command:

1. Click Start or the Windows button in the taskbar and type "cmd"
in the Run box.
2. Type "netstat -b 5 > activity.txt" and hit Enter.
3. Wait about 2 minutes and then press Ctrl+C.
4. Now type "activity.txt" to open the results in your text editor
(usually it will be Notepad).

The activity.txt file will list everything that has made an
Internet connection in the past two minutes. It will also show
which process connected to which website in this time: your
browser, IM clients, email programs or any software that requires a
net connection, etc. Look through the activity.txt file for any
process names or website addresses that you are not aware of. If you
find one, I suggest going to Google and typing a search "what is
(name of strange process)" and see what it is. Most will probably be
some system function or from one of your programs, but if you come
across something bad, you now know what it is and can search Google
again to find out how to get rid of it.

A Faster Way to Reboot (All Windows Versions)
!
Did you install new program in Windows and need to restart your
computer? Or maybe your PC is acting slow and you want to restart
it to get everything speedy again. Normally you just restart the
machine, but did you know you can just restart Windows?

Restarting your whole computer is called a cold boot, while
restarting only Windows is called a warm boot. Those of you whose
computers take FOREVER to load will love being able to warm boot
your computer. It's really simple to do:

Step 1: Hold the Shift key and click on Restart (located in the
Start Menu).

Yes, that's it - just one step. Yay! But now you have to figure out
what to do with all that extra time you're going to get from not
waiting for your computer to reboot.

Stop Fraudulent E-mails and Spam (All Windows Versions)
!
You've got mail... or, is it just junk in the trunk?

Are you sick of wasting your time sifting through "junk" emails
that could contain evasive threats? ParetoLogic Spam Controls
offers a hassle free solution. Boasting one of the best detection
rates in the industry, ParetoLogic Spam Controls will automatically
scan your inbox and safely quarantine spam.

This will give you more time to focus on other things and keep
potentially harmful phishing attacks away. While phishing attacks
can appear to be just annoying junk email telling you that you have
won money or asking for your assistance, they are actually much
more dangerous. These emails, some of which seem to come from
legitimate sources, are actually sophisticated attempts at learning
your credit card or banking information. Once they have hooked that
information, the would-be thieves then steal your money and identity.

Don't become a victim of devastating phishing attacks!

Other spam controls rely primarily on outdated principles such as
keywords and lexical analysis of the email message content.
ParetoLogic Spam Controls employs an advanced spam pattern
classification to identify spam based on known patterns. This
sophisticated approach helps ParetoLogic Spam Controls boast one of
the highest detection rates in the industry and find spam in text,
html or even graphic formats. Your computer is protected against
all the latest threats as ParetoLogic Spam Controls has free
updates for the life of your subscription. As well, it comes with
the backing of a customer care and support program that is second
to none.

Try it free. Just click on the link below, download and install.

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Create a Shortcut to Clear Memory (Vista)
!
Windows Vista Memory Management is excellent. But if you are an
intensive user that notices your computer running a little slow
after using it for a while, you usually have to reboot to clear the
problem up.

Instead, you can create a shortcut on your desktop that will allow
you to reduce resource usage and or remove idle processes when
clicked. Here's how:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select New > Shortcut.

2. Copy/paste the following into the box:

%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

3. Click Next, name it 'Clear Memory', and click Finish. Give it a
suitable icon so it looks nice.

Now you shouldn't have to reboot so often. Cool beans! (does anyone
even say that anymore?)

Your Computer Talks! (All Windows Versions)
!
Imagine my surprise when I found out that Windows has the ability to
talk to me! Windows comes installed with a program called Narrator,
which is designed to assist readers who who have impaired vision or
are blind. The Narrator option allows your computer to read the
words on your screen using the computer's speakers.

It's really simple to do. Here's how:

For Windows XP, Select Start > Programs > Accessories >
Accessibility > Narrator

For Windows Vista, Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > Ease
of Use > Narrator

Or you can just hit the "Windows" key plus the letter "U" on your
keyboard to open up a menu with the Narrator and a bunch of other
useful utilities.

Read through the Navigator introduction (or have Navigator read it
for you) and select whatever options you'd like. Play around with
it and see what it can do. Have fun with your new toy!

Gain Speed (Vista)
!
If Vista seems a bit slower than you expected, give this a shot.

Vista comes with a new set of battery and power schemes. The
default power setting in the "Power Saver" plan limits the CPU to
50 percent, so it makes sense to increase it to the max.

Go to your Control Panel and open the Power Options control panel
and change your plan to "High Performance" to give push your
processor to its top rated speed.

advanced Defrag Your Hard Drive (All Windows Versions)
!
Your hard disk will be badly fragmented in the course of time, so
defragmentation is very important for your system's optimization.
It is suggested to keep defragging your computer hard drive at
least once a week to keep it optimized as much as possible. A
computer hard drive that isn't defragged on a regular basis will be
slower, and as a result your computer will run slower.

What is a disk fragment? Disk fragments are created by the
allocation of the file in the magnetic disk. Any storage action on
the magnetic disk likes creating, deleting, moving, updating and
copying files will also lead to fragmentation and consequent
performance loss, and this fragments can hardly be erased even you
reinstall the operation system.

How can these fragments affect my computer? It is a fact that as
the time goes by, the accumulation of fragments in the hard drive
becomes bigger and bigger, fragmented drives greatly affects the
system performance in a negative way. As the hard drive reads and
merges these separate fragments every time you open a file, it will
eventually cause problems such as system slowdowns, PC crashes,
slow startup and shutdown, it will even shorten the disk life span.

What is Advanced Defrag? Advanced Defrag is an award-wining defrag
program which is designed to help you handle the above mentioned
problems and keep your computer running like new. The program
applies advanced defragment arithmetic which enables you to
completely and fast analyze & defrag all the fragment found in your
computer hard drive, effectively maximum the system performance and
improve your working efficiency with the computer.

Benefits from Advanced Defrag: Enhance the efficiency of windows
operation system, accelerate the launch time of programs, improve
the file access speed, keep up the optimal speed across the network
as well as extend the hardware life thus avoid unnecessary costly
updates or reinstallations, Advanced Defrag is definitely a good
choice for saving your bill.

Unlike the traditional Windows defragment, usually you would have
to spend an hour or even more time to get it done. Advanced Defrag
will give you a completely different experience. Advanced defrag is
especially designed for large modern hard drive. It applies
advanced defragment algorithm which is able to finish any disk
analyze within 1 minute, and it will take no more than 20 minutes
to finish any defrag action on any disk partition among 40G to 60G,
although it is fast, the effect is much better then the Windows
defragment, generally it can result in a 20% performance increase.

Give it a try and watch your PC's speed increase! To download the
trial version of Advanced Defrag, click on the link below.

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Use Keyboard Shortcuts (All Windows Versions)
!
Using your mouse isn't the only way to use Windows. Here's some of
the things you can do using just the keyboard:

Alt-Enter opens the highlighted file or folder's Properties dialog.

In Windows Explorer, highlight a folder and press
Shift-NumPadAsterisk to open the folder and all subfolders.

Click in Windows Explorer's details pane, then press
Ctrl-NumPadPlus to size each column exactly as wide as its largest
item.

To delete permanently, bypassing the Recycle Bin, highlight a file
or folder and press Shift-Del.

The Windows key brings up the Start menu, of course; but it does
quite a bit more when used in combination with other keys:

Win-D toggles between showing the desktop and restoring all windows.

Win-E invokes the Windows Explorer window.

Win-L locks your system until you enter your password--or lets you
switch active users, if you're using Fast User Switching.

Win-M minimizes all windows.

Win-R brings up the Run dialog.

Win-S, in Microsoft Word 2002 or later, invokes Windows'
text-to-speech engine, which will read either highlighted text or
everything from the cursor on.

Win-U invokes the Utility Manager, which controls accessibility
program options.

Win-Pause/Break brings up the System Properties dialog.

Missing the Windows key? Ctrl-Esc will bring up your Start menu,
though it won't allow you to use Windows-key combo commands like
those above.

You can create your own keyboard shortcuts to your programs by
right-clicking on their shortcut icons (in the Start menu or on the
desktop), then clicking in the Shortcut key field and pressing a
key. Ctrl-Alt-that key will now start the program. If you don't
want the Ctrl-Alt combo, you can press Ctrl-Shift-x, Shift-Alt-x,
or Ctrl-Shift-Alt-x instead. Take note that you can't use Esc,
Enter, Tab, Space, Print Scrn, Del, and Backspace - they are
reserved.

How to Adjust the Windows Taskbar (All Windows Versions)
!
The Windows taskbar is the bar that normally appears at the bottom
of your screen that shows the programs you have loaded. Then
suddenly one day you do something and the taskbar is now showing on
the side of your screen and you can't get it back to where it was,
or it's twice as thick as it normally should be. Or maybe you'd
rather change things up and move your taskbar to the side and make
it bigger to fit all your programs.

Moving the Taskbar:

1. Right-click on a blank area in the taskbar and deselect "Lock
the Toolbar" by left-clicking on it. If there's not a checkmark
next to it, it's already unlocked.
2. A divider line should now be showing next to the Start button.
Left-click the area between the Start button and your divider (if
you're using Vista, you can left-click in any blank area of the
taskbar).
3. While keeping the left mouse button pressed, drag the taskbar to
the new location (top, bottom, left or right). The taskbar will
jump to the new position.
4. Release your mouse and right-click any blank area and Lock the
Toolbar.

Resizing the Taskbar:

1. Move your cursor to the top edge of the taskbar and when you see
it change to a double up/down arrow, left-click and then drag it up
or down to make it bigger or smaller.
2. Release your mouse and right-click any blank area and Lock the
Toolbar.

Unlock Toolbars to Work With Them (All Windows Versions)
!
A toolbar is a collection of buttons or icons--usually displayed
across the top of the screen--that represents the different tasks
you can do within a program. For example, in Microsoft Internet
Explorer, there is a toolbar for the standard Internet Explorer
command buttons, one for entering an Internet address, and one for
quick links you can set up.

When you open a toolbar, it will appear in a particular spot on the
screen. If you want to change the location of the toolbar you can
move it by dragging it to the new location. You can also resize the
toolbar by dragging its edge. If you find a toolbar that cannot be
moved or resized, the toolbar may be locked.

To unlock a toolbar:

1. Make sure you have only one window open for the program. (You
can look at the taskbar at the bottom of your screen to verify
this.) Then, right-click the toolbar.

2. If Lock the Toolbars appears on the shortcut menu and is
selected (a check mark appears to the left of it), click Lock the
Toolbars to unlock the toolbar. If you see Lock the Toolbars, but
no check mark appears to the left of it, the toolbar is already
unlocked.

Note: If Lock the Toolbars does not appear on the shortcut menu,
you may not be able to move or resize the toolbar.

If you are able move the toolbar, once you've moved the toolbar to
the location where you want it, select Lock the Toolbars so that it
isn't inadvertently moved. To make sure the change is permanent,
lock the toolbar, exit the program, and then reopen it. The toolbar
should be locked.