[ Solved ] Windows 7 Laptop Battery Charging Problem

Laptop battery start wearing off after about 1 to 2 years of usage. Many of these batteries suffer reduced backup and charging problems. I have an HP Pavilion laptop which I bought 1.5 years ago and the battery performance has considerably gone down with time. Sometimes I face battery charging related problems also which can be because of two reasons.

In this post I will discuss both the reasons and share the solutions.

Laptop Battery Not Charging Because Of Heating Issue

First problem which is there with some of the HP laptops is the battery charging stops when the laptop heats up. This is a weird problem, but the HP service center guy told me that the battery sensor malfunctions if it gets too hot and the charging stops. With old laptops with heating issues, this problem is very common. The work-around for this problem is to keep running on mains power or switch off the laptop for sometime to allow it to cool off.

A better solution to this problem is to get the laptop services and remove the heating problem by getting the cooling ducts clean. Also there may be heat sink related problems which cause excessive heating. After the heating problem is resolved, the battery charging will become normal.

Laptop Battery Not Charging Because Of Battery Device Driver Issues

There are some default battery device drivers which are bundles in Windows 7, these drivers try to control the battery charging properly, but for some laptops, these drivers may not function well. In such cases, users face problems like Laptop battery does not charge even when the battery is low and power adaptor is properly plugged into the laptop. In such cases, its better to download compatible battery drivers from manufacturer and install them instead of the Windows default drivers. [ via Raymond.cc ]

To un-install the default drivers, press Windows + R together to to open the RUN prompt. Type “devmgmt.msc” and press enter. This will open device manager.

On Device Manager, browser to Batteries > Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery ,right click on it and click “Uninstall”. After this restart the laptop and the battery charging should start.

Hope you find the method easy to follow.

Windows 7 Crashes On Connecting Portable Device or Media Device

Microsoft has recently announced a problem identified with certain third party portable devices and media devices which may crash Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. This problem is caused because of a Windows in-built driver race condition on attaching certain devices to Windows 7Computer. There has been no announcement about the list of such devices by Microsoft.

The error or the Blue Screen Of Death which appears on detecting such devices display a message something like :

STOP: 0×00000001 (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4) APC_INDEX_MISMATCH.

Microsoft has officially shared this problem at this support page. The fix for this problem will be rolled out with the official service pack 1 or the Windows 7 which may arrive around mid of year 2011. Till then, Microsoft has released a hotfix (link at the end of article) which will fix this issue.

So if you have every experienced that your Windows 7 desktop or laptop computer crashes on attaching certain portable device or certain media device, then it is advisable to download the hotfix and install it on your Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 OS.

Download HotFix

[ Solved ] Repair STOP 0x0000006B PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED Blue Screen Error While Booting Windows 7

Recently, on my windows laptop I faced this error of STOP 0x0000006B PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED Blue Screen. I tried many times but windows does not even boot up in safe mode or any other mode after many tries.

After some Googling I came to know that error is actually a result of issue occurs because the Bootcat.cache file is corrupted or because the size of the Bootcat.cache file is changed since the last successful start.

In order to repair this issue, you will need to delete the Bootcat.cache file is located at %SystemRoot%\system32\codeintegrity – [ or C:/windows/system32/codeintegrity ]. Once you have deleted the file restart your computer normally.

Cannot Remove, Uninstall Nod32 Antivirus

Sometimes it becomes a real problem when you decide to remove a particular anti-virus from your computer because of any reason. I guess this usually happens because of some software errors or some other mysterious damages to registry or some areas of Windows which prevents the uninstallation.

In this post I will tell you what to do if you are not able to uninstall NOD32 Anti-virus normally from Control Panel.

For a conventional uninstall, go to Control Panel > Add Remove Programs (or Programs and Features) and locate the program and uninstall. This way of uninstallation is not recommended by ESET. If you have attempted it, chances are that you might have been stuck in a case where you may find it difficult to remove it. Correct way is to go to Start > All Programs > ESET > Uninstall.

If the uninstaller does not work, ESET has released an uninstaller or NOD32 Removal tool to uninstall NOD32 properly from your computer. You can download ESET NOD 32 removal tool here. This will most probably do the job. If even the removal tool fails to uninstall the NOD 32 Properly, you can un-install it manually in safe mode.

To manually remove ESET NOD 32 Manually, boot your Windows computer in safe mode by pressing F8 key on the keyboard before Windows load. Now in safe mode, you need to remove some ESET registry entries. To delete these registry entries, go to Start > Run and type “regedit” and press enter.

Navigate to the following Registry Keys and delete these registry keys :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ESET 
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ESET 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\egui

After deleting these keys, restart your Windows PC normally and NOD 32 will be removed.

Need To Change Computer’s MAC Address ?

MAC (Media Access Control) Address is supposed to be a permanent and globally unique identification associated with a network adapter, but it is possible to change the MAC address on most of today’s hardware.

We have earlier reviewed about a tool for doing MAC address Spoofing in the article View And Change MAC Address Of Any Network Interface With Free DynaMAC Tool which does not have much options to explore. In solution to this, we are reviewing about a new tool called Mac MakeUp with a variety offeatures.

Mac MakeUp is a smart utility which basically allows you to choose a new MAC address. it is compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista, 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Since, it deals with network administrator and Internet security issues so, it needs administrator privilege to run it. The main window will look like this. You first have to select the adapter from the list. The number of all the adapters can be seen in the bottom line of the log window.

In the list of adapters, you can omit the virtual adapters by enabling the ‘Filter virtual interfaces’. ‘Virtual’ adapters mean which are not seen as hardware like dial up adapters.

You can add the new MAC address in the space shown. The manufacturer of this address will be generated automatically. You can also generate the new MAC address randomly in the option ‘Generate Random’ which will show you the list from where you can select your random option.

After selecting the desired MAC address, just click ‘Change’. You can also get back to the original MAC address by selecting ‘Remove’.

There is an option of ‘Extra info’ which does not work and stops the working of the application.

The option of ‘Auto Nic off/on’ lets you disable/enable the network interface when you change its address. With this option the change will be immediate and there will be no need to open network connections applet or use external tools.

The ‘Cycle interface now’ just disables/enables the interface when you press it. The log window also provides the option of saving it to other location by just pressing the right-click in the log window.

There are additional IP features which let you enable, disable or configure several aspect of Windows IP networking. There will be three types of items. Red items are undefined, blue ones are currently undefined whereas black items are currently defined.

TIP: It is advisable to make a backup of current settings with the option of ‘backup current settings’ before experimenting with these options.

This tool also provides command line usage. You can view the commands in the ‘About Mac Makeup’ option present at the top of main window which will open a new window.

Download Mac MakeUp

Block Laptop Touchpad while typing

The problem of accidental clicks while typing on your notebook is very common and is faced by most of us who has to work all day sitting in front of the laptop typing. This problem is also faced by the notebook owners or by those who prefers to use touchpad instead of a mouse. We have earlier reviewed a toolTouchfreeze for this problem which has proved to be an effective one.
But this is a vey small application which does not provide much options to personalize the tool and sometimes misinterpret actual clicks as the accidental clicks. To solve this problem, there is a freewarecalled Touchpad Blocker which offers a better level of options compared to the previous one.
It is fully compatible with the Windows 7, vista, NT 2000 and xp. It also does not need any software for its installation.
It is a multi-lingual tool so it asks for choosing the desired language before the installation process.

After you will click ‘ok’, it will be installed within a few minutes and will appear with this icon in the notification bar.

You can open its ‘settings’ by either using a hotkey ‘Alt+click’ on the icon or using right-click option. It provides the option of enabling or disabling the program to run automatically on startup.

One of the most important feature of this tool which makes it unique is the option of setting the Threshold in milliseconds. This option will help each user in personalizing this tool by setting the threshold depending on his/her speed and blocking the accidental taps and clicks.

This option will help in avoiding the misinterpretation of actual clicks as the accidental one.

For example, i have set the threshold to 600 milliseconds according to my speed then this utility will block accidental taps and clicks depending on this threshold value.

It also provides the option of ‘beep’ when any click is blocked to make you aware about it.

Also, it provides the hotkey combination of ‘ctrl+F9’ (by default) which can not be changed. This keyboard shortcut will let you turn ON and OFF this tool without even going to its icon.

So, with this tool installed in your laptop, you can achieve the desired speed on notebook without the interruption of accidental taps and clicks. So, enjoy typing..!!

Download Touchpad Blocker in EXE File

or

Download Touchpad Blocker in ZIP Archive

Stop, Block Access To Windows Applications or EXE Files

You can easily put lock on files and folders by using various software, but it is really tough to block or prevent access to Windows applications. You might me using applications like messengers etc. which could contain your password information or there may be certain applications which you don’t want others to use without your permission.

So to block access to application the possible ways are hacking or following some long procedures for every application you want to block. But today we are going to tell you about a nifty tool named App Admin which can block any applications in a very short duration. All you need to do is to drag and drop the applications into this tool and then this tool will automatically block the access to those applications.

The best part of this tool is its simplicity and no effect on your system’s performance. It even doesn’t require to be installed and you can directly run it from its exe file or even can carry it in pen drive or other medium.

IBM 5.2 GHz Z196 – The World’s Fastest Microprocessor

IBM claims that they have developed that fastest processor with 5.2 GHz speed. Here you do not even have to use nitrogen to cool off the processor. No more, you have 1.4 GHz processor that claimed to be the fastest processor and this has been ages ago. Now you have all new IBM 5.2 GHz z196 that is designed to be the fastest in today’s time. This is a four-core slab. It has been manufactured using 45 nanometer technology and this is the reason for boasting 1.4 billion transistors. It has the ability to handle more than 50 million instructions every one second.

How to make your Twitter Replies and Messages Longer in Character?

Micro blogging is the tag that comes with Twitter. Take it or leave it. Oh please, come on. Nothing can be so rigid, right? How many times have you wished to be able to write longer Twitter messages? As you know ,Twitter messages are limited to 140 character, forcing you to write, short, straight-to-the point replies and messages which, most the time, don’t express the real meaning of what you want to say.
Let’s see how to write longer Twitter messages thanks to a couple of websites. Long Reply and Tweetmojo are two websites doing the same thing. Once the message is ready, simply click the Save Button. A short link, pointing to your message, will appear on the webpage. Just post it on Twitter and your message is put across!

How to Link Facebook with Google and Yahoo! Accounts

Recently, Facebook gave you the opportunity to link your Google and Yahoo! account to it. But what are the benefits of such an operation?
Linking Google and Yahoo! accounts to Facebook will let you skip the login procedures you need to do to gain access to such services.
As a matter of fact, from now on, every time you sign-in to Google (I mean all Google services such as Gmail, Google Picasa, Google Docs etc) and Yahoo!, you’ll automatically be logged into Facebook as well. To activate and link Google and Yahoo! accounts to Facebook, login Facebook – Accounts - Settings and click “Add a new linked account”.

How to Customize your Taskbar in Windows 7

I want to talk about a simple trick, which always goes unnoticed, which lets you customize the taskbar and change its look dramatically.
After installing Windows 7, by default the operating system will show you the taskbar with big icons and different programs. If you don’t like what you see or if you simply want to save some space, here is a simple trick to customize the taskbar:
Right click on any empty space on the taskbar.
From the menu, select Properties.
On the taskbar tab check ‘Use small icons’ and click OK.
If instead you are of the old school and want to have the classic Windows taskbar, here is the simple procedure to follow:
Right click on any empty space on the taskbar.
From the menu, select Properties.
Next to Taskbar Buttons, select ‘Never Combine’ and just click OK.
Hope you explore more out of the available options and customize the taskbar according to your convenience.

Edit Images in PDF files

Due to the light weighted and compact nature of the PDFs or commonly known as portable document files, they are popular for sharing information online. Unlike the .doc files that require the reader to have fonts and other formatting features on his computer in order to view the document PDFs display information to the recipient as is defined by the author.
You must have come across PDFs that contain images and pictures but it is not possible to extract these images directly from the PDF reader itself and in most of the cases you have to take a screenshot using your operating system that is installed and then crop it through a photo editing software.
On a PC
There are many ways in which you can crop photos from a PDF on a PC. If you a user of Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can make use of the Snipping tool.
Open the PDF document.
Scroll down to an area where the image is in full view.
Press the Win key.
On the search box, type “snipping tool.” Click the “Snipping tool” icon in the results under “Programs.”
Click the New button, and select Rectangular Snip.
Drag your cursor from one corner of the image into another, so that you get the image just as you like it.
Save the file.
If you’re using Windows XP, you can simply copy the desktop image into your clipboard, and edit it from there.
Open the PDF document, such that the image is in full view.
Press Print Screen to capture the screenshot into your clipboard.
Open an image editing software. You can use Adobe Photoshop, or even the basic Picture Manager that comes with Microsoft Office.
Create a new picture with dimensions which are similar to your desktop. If you’re using Adobe Photoshop, the software will automatically adjust the size to accommodate the image in your clipboard.
Paste the image by clicking Edit then Paste. Or simply press Ctrl-V.
Crop the picture using photo editing software’s cropping tool.
Save the file.
As can be inferred here that cropping an image from PDF is the easiest in the Mac, Windows Vista and Windows 7 because of the snipping tools, which are easily available.
On a Mac Operating System
It is quite an easy task to crop photos from a PDF file on the Mac. There are many ways to do this. Firstly you are required to take a snapshot of the image which is automatically saved as a PNG file.
Open the PDF file you want to get the picture from.
Scroll through the file such that the image is in full view.
Press CMD-SHIFT-4. Your cursor will change into a cross-hair or “target” like image.
Drag your cursor from one corner of the image to another. You will hear a clicking sound, like a camera shutter taking a picture.
This image will be saved on your PC desktop in the form of “Picture X.PNG” where “X” is the numerical sequence in which the snapshot was taken. This can be renamed as well. PNG files are, by default, viewable on web browsers, so this can even be used online.

Shut Down your External Hard Drive When not in Use

If you are in a practice of regularly turning off your external hard drive it will definitely extend its life span significantly, in addition it also provides the added benefit of conserving power and keeping the data on the drive safe so that no one can access a drive without power.
But you have to be careful while removing the drive as you will need to make sure that the system is not actively using the disk. If you attempt to remove or shut down the external hard disk before ensuring the above it may result in the data that is being worked to be put at risk of being corrupted or damaged.
Double click or right click on “My Computer” to open it from your desktop or open it from the “Start” menu.
Right-click on your external hard drive and select “Eject.” The system will tell you when it has been safely removed.
Unplug the external drive from the system. Disconnect its adapter as well to conserve some more power.

How to Extract Text from Scanned PDF Documents and Images

The built-in OCR engine of Google Search provides a great utility for converting scanned PDFs into text by just putting all of your scanned PDF images onto a public website and wait for Google spiders to convert them into editable digital text.
Nevertheless there are two drawbacks associated with this. The PDF conversion process is very time consuming, you need access to a public web server where you can upload the PDF images so that Google bots can find them.
If you do not have the patience to wait for a long time and require performing instant OCR without downloading any of the software tools, you must try OCR Terminal – which is an online Optical Character Recognition service where you can upload scanned images, multi-page PDF documents or even screenshots and convert them into searchable text documents.
The conversion results are decently quite accurate and it also restores the document formatting and layout. You can also download the extracted text as RTF or a Word Document. The output is also available as a PDF image though I didn’t find that option very useful.
OCR Terminal is available for but there is a constraint that you are allowed to convert up to 30 scanned pages in a day and it allows for text extraction only from documents that are in English. They are also in the process of developing a desktop client that will allow users to convert scanned PDFs or TIFF images and get them back as formatted Word files without the web browser.
Note: The OCR Terminal service can also help you to extract text from newspaper clippings or images of whiteboards that you may have captured with the help of the camera that is available on your phone.

Windows 7 Phone : Review

The biggest revolution in the Microsoft’s current mobile operating system has arrived and has fallen from grace. The entire OS has been redone and the old Windows applications won’t work. It is a successor of the Window’s mobile operating system.
HARDWARE:
We haven’t seen the retail-quality device till now and both LG and Samsung have came up with their respective prototypes and we might see them on the store shelves this year.
Company is laying down the ground rules and making an attempt to compose more consistent experience across phones, but it doesn’t mean that there won’t be any variety. There will be different features for different devices like hardware keyboards, and front facing cameras but there will be a steady tone in the nature of windows phone 7 handsets.
Let’s see the detailed specs given so far:
Only large 800 x 480 (WVGA) touchscreen will be permitted at first, but later 480 x 320 (HVGA) will make an appearance.
Five specific hardware buttons are there: Start, back, search, camera button and power.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with DirectX 9 support and it is well said that the platform is well flexible to expand to other cjips in the future.
256 MB of RAM or more.
8GB of internal flash storage or more.
No support for the micro SD cards.
Wi-Fi.
AGPS.
Accelerometer.
FM radio.
5 megapixel camera or better with flash.
It has 3.7 inch capacitive touchscreen with a front face camera.
SOFTWARE:
So what’s the difference between Windows phone 7 and the previous Windows mobile? Basically, every interface patterns we have seen in previous versions are wiped out here and the design has been utterly destroyed in a nice way.
There are no more start menu, drop downs, check boxes, radio buttons, windows, and list of icons….and we can go on and on. Microsoft has worked on developing new ways to navigate a phone, and there are no icon grids, no task manager and no card view.
Windows have come up with a UI concept called “Metro”. Lots of minimal, negative space and primary colours, it is a type-and-motion heavy interface.
There are two themes present for the OS i.e., light text on black screen or black text on white screen and have a choice of picking four colours: red, orange, blue and green.
The unlock screen is somehow similar to Zune’s and a photo has to dragged upwards to unlock the screen, though it also includes date, time, upcoming calendar items, number of unread messages and number of missed calls.
There is a Start screen which is made up of movable “tiles” in a narrow strip down to the middle of the screen in sets of two across, or longer single tiles.
Tiles are animated and live and there is a change always which comes in the form of status updates from friends, new photos, new messages and so forth.
All new touchscreen keyword is present but with an important auto-correction.
MULTITASKING:
Media/e-mail sync is the built-in applications and the browser can run in the background.
It supports “page states” which are like cookies on websites. When the app is navigated away from the screen, the page state is committed to memory and when it is needed again the UI is reconstructed from the state.
Microsoft will offer a service named Microsoft notification service which will push app notifications to devices without the app needed to open. This notification will appear on the top of the phone that can be tapped to take you to that application.
Copy and paste feature is notably missing and is a big disappointment.
HUBS AND FIRST PARTY HUBS
PEOPLE HUB:
It takes contacts from Gmail, exchange, Facebook, twitter, Windows live and others, aggregating contact information and status updates in a single view.
PICTURES HUB:
Take updated images and the pictures gallery from the Facebook, twitter and others. It also allows updating and making comment on the photos of yours in Facebook and other social networking sites. Pictures applications plug-in are also offered to edit the pictures as well as sharing it.
The main view of this hub keeps yours recently contacted people in the first view dynamically and allows to jump to any of yours recent feeds and updates.
GAMES HUB:
It integrates with Xbox live. It allows browsing gamer profiles and spotlight feeds and Xbox live and achievements. Microsoft had said that they want games which are easy to play in “minute mobile” and are focusing on turned–based games to start but we have seen few 3D XNA games shown off, which are filled with X box achievements and other features from live.
MUSIC + VIDEO HUB:
It’s a Zune HD in your phone. You will be able to access Zune pass here also and can download and browse music over Wi-Fi and 3G.
These are some apps and games that are demoed so far:
ASSOCIATED PRESS.
It makes full use of panorama view and gives you a different experience which can find on the Androids and iPhone versions. There is a nifty browsing tool that flips out images in a fan.
HUSH HUSH.
It is a diary application which almost looks like a diary and it functions very well on the large WVGA displays.
MLS.
With the cooperation of major league soccer it is an official application developed. All the statistics, reviews and updates are given of your favorite teams in major league soccer.
GOO SPLAT, BATTLE PUNKS, And THE HARVEST.
These games are from different backgrounds. Goo splat is an XNA game on Zune HD while the other two are the 3D games capable of showing off Xbox live integration.

Recovering Data From a Partition that Became Inaccessible After Interruption in Resizing

Ever partitioned your hard drive, just to find a large number of your files unavailable? Or found inaccessible or deleted files while resizing an existing partition? Well, I have faced one such problem! A month back, when I tried to resize my partition, there was power failure! When the power came back and I rebooted the system, I found that a large number of my files in that partition were missing. And I didn’t know how to perform file recovery.
Here is what I did?
Clicked on ‘Start’.
Selected ‘Control Panel’.
Choose ‘System and Maintenance’.
Opened ‘Administrative Tools’.
Selected ‘Computer Management’.
Clicked ‘Disk Management’ under ‘Storage’
Right-clicked the volume that I wanted to shrink, and selected “Shrink Volume”.
In the dialog box that opened up, I specified in MB, the amount of space I wanted to extract from that volume.
And moments after I hit ‘Enter’, there was power failure.
When the power came back, and I booted my system, the volume had become inaccessible. I had not even taken a backup, and didn’t know how to perform File Recovery. I frantically searched the internet to find out what could be done in such a situation. And then I came across a lot of information on the internet, a lot of which was of no use, and also information about various file recovery software. But nothing that suited my needs. Frustrated, I discussed with a friend of mine, who suggested to me, to use these software for file recovery. Seeing me confused, he sat with me, and we attached my hard drive to his computer. What followed was pure magic.
To begin with, we took a complete backup of every single file that was available, and also created a clone of the drive, lest something were to go wrong. We deleted the partition in question to begin with. Then we started the recovery software, and choose partition recovery followed by selecting the hard drive. We got a couple of partitions, and we immediately chose the partition that we had just deleted. Followed by this, we selected recover. This done, we selected file recovery, and selected this recovered partition as the location from where recovery had to be performed. And lo-and-behold, all my files started appearing in front of me. We extracted all these files on to a USB, and I had all my files with me.
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery software saved my life, and ensured that everything was back to normal for me. Compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000, and support for FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS, and NTFS5 file systems, this file recovery software can easily stand the test of time.

Disable your Visibility Status from Selected People on Facebook Chat

You may have a number of people who are your friends and are added in the friend list of the Chat utility that Facebook provides. But you want to hide your visibility or rather your online status from certain friends on Facebook. Now how would you do this? This post will help you on accomplishing the same.
You need to know that Facebook has incorporated friend list with Chat, providing the facility of choosing among friends to whom you intend to appear online.
For an example say you want to show your online status to only your family members who are added in your friend list and be offline from the rest of your friends who are added. In comparison with the new feature of Facebook which helps you to achieve this, earlier you had to go offline to hide yourself from others and thus you were not able to appear offline to some selected friends.

True Time Tracker: Information About your System Usage Patterns!

Do you want to know how exactly you’re spending your time on the internet or your usage patterns on a particular project or subject? If your answer is Yes, then the True Time Tracker is what you really need.
The True Time Tracker is a free application and is extremely simple. It overpowers the other numerous time tracking applications in terms of simplicity and ease of use. You just need to start it up, allow it to run in the background, and it will generate several charts which would detail your usage patterns and the time spent. These charts basically include information about:
What programs you run?
Which sites you visit?
How much time you spend idle?
So, in brief, you just initiate the true time tracker and let it sit in your system tray. As a consequence of this, it will track a number of statistics about how you’re spending your time.
Also, you can organize your usage by project or subject if needed. Thus, with the help of this tracker you can sort out your time for the purpose of billing clients. You can also derive figures and data to see how much time you’re wasting. This can be done by setting the work websites and programs as “work” and unimportant websites like Facebook and Orkut as “leisure” or “time wasters”.
You can also adjust the True Time tracker to print out pie charts of your time management to PDF at any time.
Thus, the True Time Tracker would reduce a great deal of complexity which you might have faced on other time tracking applications.
Note that the True Time Tracker is a free download and is compatible with Windows only.

Keep Track of Usb Devices Inserted in your PC

Windows is an operating system that has the ability to record previous activities carried out in your system. All of us computer savvy people are well aware of how to get a sneak peek into web browsing history and view hundreds of cookies linked with all websites seen. We’re also pretty grateful to all programs that help us to delete such information and guard our privacy.
Most folks, I’m sure are oblivious to the fact that our operating system keeps track of all USB devices that were once inserted at any point of time or those that are currently connected to the PC too! By courtesy Nirosoft we have access to a freely available, handy program that can be easily downloaded.
For detailed information and queries you can look up at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page to Download.
This program, which is around 1MB in size helps a user to extract all this information, scrutinizes specific details and summarizes it in a table. It can successfully run on Windows XP and higher, on any 32 and 64 bit processor without a problem.

clicked from a PC, it is visible that it covers:
The device description: It can be a mass storage, Generic Bluetooth, Virtual Box USB, 3ComOfficeconn.
Type: Mass Storage, Bluetooth Specific, Vendor specific
Connected: Yes/No
Safe to unplug: Yes/No
Disabled : Yes/No
USB Hub: Yes/No
Drive letter: Yes/No
Among other things, which aren’t mentioned above the device’s name, its serial no date/time that device was added, VendorID, ProductID, is included. This provides utility to find out whether somebody secretly used your computer system, inserted any external device and copied out personal or private details without letting you know. In other words, it’s a safety trap about which the culprit may himself not be aware of!
In my opinion, it is an effective trouble shooting tool. USB Deview is a small utility that not only stores a lists of all USB devices that are at the moment connected to your computer, or just the one’s previously used, but in addition:
USB Deview also allows one to uninstall other USB devices that were previously used
To disconnect USB devices that are currently connected to your system
To disable and enable other USB devices.
USB Deview can also be used on a remote computer, as long as you login to that computer as an administrator-user.

Blooming Pictures on Facebook

What is Bloom?
On the popular social networking site Facebook, a java based application which supports version 1.5.0 and higher. It is compatible with different platforms. Blooms works cross platform in the sense, it is versatile enough to support the following operating systems:
Windows, both 32 and 64 bit processors
Mac OS.
Linux OS.
What all can I do with it?
Sitting back at your desktop, form and upload albums and also view albums created by people on your list. Bloom can be used to upload videos, tag friends and customize privacy settings for the same, import EXIF information into photo caption, and many more things.
How to go about it:
As you log into your account, the application’s main interface is right before you.
Options to create, upload, view (download) pictures. Certain parameters like album, name, location, description, privacy etc can be personalized. You can also rotate photos as per your choice.
In the File menu, you can access preferences.
Advancement in Bloom is the capability to upload photos behind a proxy server.

Micromax X505 Psych: Review

Micromax launched a music phone named Micromax X505 which has 2.8 inch stylish full touchscreen with a 2 megapixel camera and changeable back covers. This device is named Psych after the word Psychedelic which is a type of music.
USP:
The USP of the Micromax X505 is the Music. It is totally music centric phone and comes pre-loaded with MTV content in collaboration with the music channel MTV.
Another USP of Micromax X505 is that it features Yamaha Audio Amplifier and SRS WOW HD technology.
Key Features of Micromax X505 Psych:
2 megapixel camera.
Facebook ready.
2 Psychedelic back panels inside.
Nimbuzz.
Snaptu.
Detailed Specifications Of Micromax X505:
Dimensions: 104.8 x 56 x 12.9 mm.
Operating Frequency: Quad Band GSM.
Display: 2.8 inch QVGA Full touchscreen display.
Video Player: MP4, 3GP, AVI.
Integrated Opera Mini Browser.
Java.
Battery: Li-ion 900 mAh.
Standby Time: Upto 5 days.
Talktime: Upto 3 hours.
Memory Expansion: Micro SD card upto 8 GB.
Multi format music player.
Bluetooth with A2DP.
The price of Micromax X505 is not revealed yet.

How to Share Files on Twitter?

Twitter is the best place to share your thoughts in the Internet. As a matter of fact, thanks to its micro-blogging features you can share whatever you like with other users in a matter of seconds. One of the biggest limits of Twitter is that you can only share tweets, small sentences you can now change can now share Longer Tweets than 140 characters. But what if you wish to share documents and files?
FileSocial.com is a wonderful website that lets you share photos; documents and whatever file you like on Twitter.

The way it works is rather simple. All you have to do is:
Type your Twitter login and password.
Write a twitter, attach the document you want to share and you are done.
Your Twitter will display a “tweet” with your message and a link to the file.
You can also backup your Twitter account and can also easily search Twitter in real time.

Delete specific Files from Multiple Folders

The application Folder Cleaner is a kind of utility that provides features used for batch file deletion and also offers a great utility to delete some specific kind of files from multiple folders.
Folder cleaner includes a very useful search option which offers you the freedom to delete files categorized under a particular category. You can preview and analyze in advance the deleting process using the build-in file analyzer.With this you can specify or mark a list of folders rather than only choosing a single folder. For the purpose of simplicity in the task of listing down the folders, take help of the search engine and locate the different files you intend to delete from local drives and removable media.
You can even select the folders manually by making use of the right-click menu. Use the toolbar to access the tools and features.
When you are done with the listing of the folders, the next step is to list down the folders and then choose the folders and manage the cleaning options to delete the specific files in some uniform manner. It should be noted here that you can use filters to either include or exclude a specific file type from the deletion process.
You can also check out the deletion process in order to display and view the number of files to be cleaned. To clean the selected folders click on the Recycle bin button. This application works on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 2007.

Enjoy Indian TV Live on your PC or Mobile Phone

You can watch Indian TV channels live on your computer or mobile phone through the Internet using the free Mundu TV app.

How to Deactivate My Caller Tune?

BSNL Customers send sms “BT DCT” to 56700

Vodafone Postpaid Customers send sms “Can CT” to 111

Vodafone Prepaid Customers send sms “Can CT” to 144

Bpl Postpaid Customers can dial *800# for any service request

Bpl Prepaid Customers can dial *555# for any service request

Reliance Mobile Customers send sms “unsubct” to 51234

Airtel Customers can call *678#

India will have 11-Digit Mobile Numbers in coming years.

With phone operators expected to run out of 10-digit mobile numbers soon, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is now considering an 11-digit numbering system.

“With so many telecom service providers and a growing customer base, the need for new numbers and their consequent shortage will be felt soon,” a senior telecom official told reporters on Saturday.

Senior DoT sources said that TEC recommendation for the new numbering plan had already been forwarded to the government for a final decision.

The telecom department had come up with a 30-year numbering plan in 2003 but the fast growth in the telecom subscriber base has forced the authority to relook into its policy and consider 11-digit numbering system.

“The infrastructure is ready and this should be implemented within two years,” one of the technical official said. Telecom operators said the new policy would not cause any technical problems.

The only two other countries to use 11-digit numbers are China, whose subscriber base of 624.16 million (as in January) is far ahead of India, and the UK, which uses it apparently for technical reasons as its subscriber base is much lower.

“The change, however, will be in the software only and it will not take more than a month to upgrade the changes,” the telecom official said.

All Airtel Mobile Codes

1. How to Check Main account Balance :::: *123# n then call.
2. How to Check A 2 A Balance of Call:::::: *123*1# N then Call.
3 How to Check A 2 A Balance of Messages:::::*123*2# N then Call.
4. Balance Transfer::::: Minimum Balance Required to transfer is Rs 240. Procedure::: *143*Senders Mob No# N then Call. Sender>>> Rs 55 Deducted n Reciever>>> Rs 50 Credited. Allowed this Procedure Twice a Day.
5. Validity Extension:::::: Procedure:::::
*144*001# N call >>> Deduction Made:::: Rs 8>>>1 day Validity Extend.
*144*005# N call >>> Deduction Made:::: Rs30>>>5 Days Validity Extend.
*144*010# N call >>> Deduction Made:::: Rs 50>>>10 Days Validity Extend.
*144*030# N call >>> Deduction Made:::: Rs140>>>> 1 Month Validity Extend. Bt Now these days Rs 98 recharge option is available in which u get 1 month Validity N Rs 9 Talktime.
6. Automatic Validity Extension ::: Activate ::: *144# N then Call. Rs 6 Deduction. Deactivate :::*144# N then Call. Status Check :: *144*999# N then Call.
7. Postpaid to Prepaid Recharge:::::: *107*375* Senders Number(ie Prepaid Number)# N then Call.
8 Excuse Me Service :::: Activation Procedure :::: *104# N then Call… Charges >>>> Rs 1/ request. U Get a Fake Call frm Airtel.
9. Check the Value Voucher Validity::::: *121# N then Call.
10. Check the Validity :::: *122*1# N then Call.
11. Recharging Paper Coupon:::: *120*16 Digit Pin No# N then call.

If U want to know Any Kind of recharge Information >>>> Simply Type in Ur Text Message ::: RC Amount>>>>170(Toll Free) U get all the Information.

BSNL Mobile Internet Settings

3G Internet and TV Settings

To download these settings please send SMS in the format to 58355.
The settings will be pushed to your handset, please Save/install these settings.

For browsing the Internet through laptop or PC please use “bsnlnet” as your APN. For browsing from mobile handset plese use “bsnlwap” as your default APN.

1. GPRS Setting :
It enables to browse any site on internet by Laptop or PC through handset or datacard having BSNL SIM. Charge on browsing will
be implied.

1.Setting Name bsnlnet
Access Point Name bsnlnet
Homepage http://www.bsnl.co.in
Authentication Normal
User Name -leave blank
Password -leave blank

2. WAP Setting :
It enables to browse any site on internet by handset. Charge on browsing will be implied.

Setting Name bsnlwap
Access Point Name bsnlwap
Port 9201 for Wap 1.0
device
8080 for Wap 2.0
device
Proxy IP 10.220.67.131
Authentication Normal
User Name -leave blank
Password -leave blank
Home Page http://
wap.cellone.in

3. Portal Setting :
It enables to browse only CellOne WAP Portal
(http://wap.cellone.in) which have unlimited contents like polytone, truetone, video tone, wallpaper, animation, theme, video, mp3
etc to download into your handset device . No charges on browsing through this setting but charge on download of GPRS contents will be implied.

Setting Name bsnlportal
Access Point
Name bsnlportal
Port 8080 for Wap 2.x device
9201 for Wap 1.x device
Proxy IP 10.220.67.131
Authentication Normal
User Name- leave blank
Password -leave blank
Home Page http://wap.cellone.in

4. MMS Setting :
It enables to send and receive MMS from Mobile Handset. No charges on browsing through this setting.
Setting Name bsnlmms
Access Point Name bsnlmms
Port 8080 for Wap 2.x
device
9201 for Wap 1.x
device
Proxy IP 10.210.10.11
Authentication Normal
User Name -leave blank
Password -leave blank
Home Page http://bsnlmmsc.in
Top

5. BSNL LIVE Portal Setting :
It enables to browse only BSNL Live
Portal
(http://bsnllive) which have unlimited
contents like ringtones, wallpaper,
animation, theme, video, latest mp3 songs , movies, games etc to download into your handset device. Charge on browsing and
content download will be implied..
Setting Name bsnllive
Access Point Name bsnllive
Port 9201 for Wap 1.0
device
8080 for Wap 2.0
device
Proxy IP 10.220.67.131
Authentication Normal
User Name- leave blank
Password -leave blank
Home Page http://bsnllive.net

6.BSNL’s Mobile TV Streaming :
It enables data streaming of various
content
i.e :Movies, Videos Clips and Live Tv
Channels, available at BSNL Live Portal.
This
setting is to be saved in the Media
player of
Mobile Handset. Charge on data
streaming
will be implied.

Setting Name bsnlstream
Access Point Name bsnlstream
Homepage None
Authentication Normal
User Name leave blank
Password leave blank

7.CP’s Mobile TV Streaming :
It enables data streaming of various
content
i.e : Videos Clips and Live Tv Channels,
provided by third party content
provider
through there own application. Charge
on
data streaming will be implied.
Setting Name bsnlmobiltv

Access Point Name bsnlmobiltv
Homepage None
Authentication Normal
User Name- leave blank
Password -leave blank
In Nokia handset the APN settings also
needs to be done in Real Player for TV.
(Open Real Player: Options-> Settings-
>
Connection-> Network->default)
APN (Should be “bsnlstream”
Minimum Port: 5001, Max Port: 32768
2. APN “bsnlwap” (Not Required for
Sony
Ericsson Sets)
- Set proxy IP: 10.147.4.131
- Port: 8080
And check all wap sites with this APN.
With this APN, On the handset
download the
MobiTV Application (3PP Application).
Send SMS MY3GTV to 55447.
And you will receive the WAP Push
from
Apalya TV. Click on the link and
download
the application.
Once Application is downloaded on
the
handset, you can watch live TV from
the
Applications on the
handset using
httpnorth3g.bsnlmobile.in.
For TV
SMS MY3GTV to 55447.
1. After Receiving WAP push, Click on the link and download the application.
2. For Sony Ericsson sets, click on ?et Activation Key link & Press submit After receiving the activation key, put the activation key
and press purchase
3. Pl. check the compatibility list of handsets, whether the set is supported by the Apalaya server.

Nokia codes

With Nokia codes or Nokia secret codes you can access hidden features and gain information about your Nokia phone. Many of the Nokia codes are only normally used by Nokia engineers. Nokiainfo.net takes no responsibility for any data loss resulting in using these Nokia codes.

Nokia code Code function

*3370# This Nokia code activates Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) – Your Nokia cell phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is reduced my approx. 5%
#3370# Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR)
*#4720# Activate Half Rate Codec – Your phone uses a lower quality sound but you should gain approx 30% more Talk Time
*#4720# With this Nokia code you can deactivate the Half Rate Codec
*#0000# Displays your phones software version, 1st Line : Software Version, 2nd Line : Software Release Date, 3rd Line : Compression Type
*#9999# Phones software version if *#0000# does not work
*#06# For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number)
#pw+1234567890+1# Provider Lock Status. (use the “”*”" button to obtain the “”p,w”" and “”+”" symbols)
#pw+1234567890+2# Network Lock Status. (use the “”*”" button to obtain the “”p,w”" and “”+”" symbols)
#pw+1234567890+3# Country Lock Status. (use the “”*”" button to obtain the “”p,w”" and “”+”" symbols)
#pw+1234567890+4# SIM Card Lock Status. (use the “”*”" button to obtain the “”p,w”" and “”+”" symbols)
*#147# This lets you know who called you last (Only vodofone)
*#1471# Last call (Only vodofone)
*#21# This phone code allows you to check the number that “”All Calls”" are diverted to
*#2640# Displays phone security code in use
*#30# Lets you see the private number
*#43# Allows you to check the “”Call Waiting”" status of your cell phone.
*#61# Allows you to check the number that “”On No Reply”" calls are diverted to
*#62# Allows you to check the number that “”Divert If Unreachable (no service)”" calls are diverted to
*#67# Allows you to check the number that “”On Busy Calls”" are diverted to
*#67705646# Phone code that removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330
*#73# Reset phone timers and game scores
*#746025625# Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone supports this power saving feature “”SIM Clock Stop Allowed”", it means you will get the best standby time possible
*#7760# Manufactures code
*#7780# Restore factory settings
*#8110# Software version for the nokia 8110
*#92702689# Displays – 1.Serial Number, 2.Date Made, 3.Purchase Date, 4.Date of last repair (0000 for no repairs), 5.Transfer User Data. To exit this mode you need to switch your phone off then on again
*#94870345123456789# Deactivate the PWM-Mem
**21*number# Turn on “”All Calls”" diverting to the phone number entered
**61*number# Turn on “”No Reply”" diverting to the phone number entered
**67*number# Turn on “”On Busy”" diverting to the phone number entered
12345 This is the default security code
press and hold # Lets you switch between lines

Clear, Delete or Remove History In Google Chrome

Just like any other browser, Google chrome also stores your web browsing history – so it logs all those website and their web pages you visited, remembered passwords, cookies, session history etc.

However you can stop Google chrome to log history by running it in incognito mode, you can simply open incognito mode under options and select new incognito mode or Else you can clear all the Google chrome history simply anytime just through a keyboard shortcut.

Open Google chrome, and then press Ctrl + Shift + Del to show the Google chrome history dialog and then select the data which you would like to clear from Google chrome.

After selecting the options, just click Clear Browsing data and all your Google chrome history will be cleared. You can also access this clear history dialog through Google chrome options >> Under the hood tab.

We hope you find this little Google chrome tip useful, we will keep posting more Google chrome tips in future.

End program – WMS Idle message on windows shutdown

Fix:
The fix is simple, disable the Nero 7 scout service if it is enabled.
For this, go to Start > All Programs > Nero > Tools > Nero Scout.
On this screen ,Uncheck Enable the Nero scout.

How to remove Facebook profile from Google Search

The steps of hiding profile from serch listing is as follows:
# Goto Facebook & login into your account.
# find the “Settings” & click “Privacy Settings”.
# Click “Search” option on Privacy Settings page.
# Then click “Close” button on the info pop-up box.
# Click to uncheck “Allow”box and then click “Confirm” button on pop-up box.

Desktop Remain Blank | Windows Explorer or Explorer.exe Does Not Load / Run

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch task manager
2. Click File | New Task
3. Now type regedit and click Ok
4. Browse the following registry path
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoft
Windows NTCurrentVersionImage File Execution.options
5. Under this registry path, you will see subkeys named explorer.exe and iexplorer.exe.
These keys must be pointing to files created by the virus that have been removed (virus/spyware); explorer32dbg.exe and iexplore_dbg.exe.
6. Delete the explorer and iexplorer keys entirely.
7. Close Registry and restart your computer

Hibernate option missing from windows vista

On the command Prompt windows, type the following two command in order:
• powercfg /hibernate on
• powercfg -h on

windows-recovery-console-for-use-in-case-of-windows-crash

In order to install recovery console on windows you will need Windows XP Bootable CD once and then follow the procedure below:
1. Insert the Windows XP Bootable CD into CD-Rom drive
2. Click on Start > Run
3. Type “d:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons” where “d” is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive.
4. A Windows Setup Dialog will appear press Yes to confirm the installation.
5. Restart your computer after installation, and the next time you restart your computer you will see Microsoft Windows Recovery Console in the startup boot menu.

1. How to Remove Content Advisor Password in Internet Explorer

The following steps will remove any password set in the Internet Explorer Content Advisor and allow you to reset the program to its original state.
1) Click on Start and choose Run.

2) Type in RegEdit and select OK.

3) Now click on the little plus sign to the left of H_KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

4) Continue to drill down, always clicking on the plus sign at the left of the named key, through Software, Microsoft, Windows, Current Version and Policies.

5) Now click on the Ratings folder.

6) In the right pane of the RegEdit window, you'll see an icon

called Key. Click on it and press Delete.

7) Next, choose Registry and then Exit to exit RegEdit. You've just deleted your original Content Advisor password.

8) Restart the computer and run Internet Explorer again.

9) Choose View and then Internet Options (or Options for version 3.x). For IE 5 or greater, Click on Tools, Internet Options.

10) Click on the Content tab and click on Disable. When asked for a password, don't enter anything; just click on OK. This will disable Content Advisor because there's no longer a password.

Restore missing User account pictures and the default Wallpapers

If some of the user account pictures and the default wallpaper images that ship with Windows XP are missing, you may use the information in this article to restore them back.

Solution Click Start, Run and type %Windir%\INF Locate the shl_img.inf file. The file may be shown as shl_img, if you have configured Windows Explorer to hide known file extensions. To see the file extensions for all file types, then try this: On the Tools menu in My Computer, click Folder Options. Click the View tab. Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box. Right-click the shl_img.inf file, and then click Install Windows will now attempt to restore the missing picture files, and may prompt you for the Windows installation source path. Point to %Windir%\i386 folder, or insert your Windows XP CD.

Hiding Recycle bin on the desktop

If Recycle bin icon on your desktop is of no use to you, you can remove it by following the
below steps :

Go to Start -> Run and type Regedit and press enter. Wait for the Registry Editor navigate to the below path.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

right-click on {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} folder and click delete. This will remove recycle bin from the desktop.

If you want to put it back, create {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} folder under NameSpace folder in the same registry path.


Note: You must have administrative rights to do this.

Change the Windows Default Installation Path

Sometimes when you add components or software to Windows XP, the Windows installation files are needed. Windows XP will prompt for the installation CD. To facilitate the process, you can copy the i386 folder on the CD to you local hard drive and change the registry, so that XP will look for them automatically Open Regedit (registry editor) Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

On the right pane, double click string value "Source Path" and change the value to the correct i386 folder (e.g. D:\i386 to E:\i386). Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

On the right pane, double click string value "Source Path" and change the value to the correct i386 folder (e.g.. D:\i386 to E:\i386). Close Regedit.

Easy Way to Share Multiple Folders

If you need to share multiple folders, running the program SHRPUBW.EXE at Start -> run, will bring up a simple dialog box to let you:
Browse to the folder you want to share
Enter in a Share name
Enter in a Share description
Set permissions.
Several choices are available. Restart the process from within the same program

Hidden FDISK Switches

Here are a few additional switches that can be used with FDISK:

/Status - Give the status of the partitions. Similar to option #4
/FPRMT - FAT32 in drivers smaller than 512 MB
/MBR - Fix master boot record
/PRI:xx - Primary partition of size XX in megs
/EXT:xx - Extended partition
/LOG:xx - Logical drive in extended partition

Rename Multiple files at once in XP

It is possible to rename more than one file at a time in windows XP, to do this, select all the files that you want to rename and right-click on any one file and rename it, all other files you selected will be renamed to the same name that you renamed with an incremental number added to it.

Network Connection Always Shows Access Denied

If you are always getting Access Denied errors when trying to connect to a XP computer in the network, and you know you have the correct user names and passwords on the computer, the solution may be a simple registry edit. Start Regedit and navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Lsa

Change the value of a key named "restrictanonymous" to 0 instead of 1 Don't change "restrictanonymoussam" value. Reboot computer for the changes to take effect.

Turn off CD Auto Play

To turn of CD Auto play, open My Computer Right click on your CD ROM and choose Properties Click on the Auto Play tab In the drop down box you can choose the Action for each choice shown in the drop down box or Go to Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc Computer Config -> Administrative Template -> System Double click Turn off Auto play Enable it.

Boot menu countdown timer

If your computer has more than one operating system installed, you can change countdown timer at the boot menu to any number of seconds by editing the boot.ini file located in the boot partition
( Usually C:/boot.ini ).

Ex:- [boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(...

Changing "timeout=30" value to "timeout=5" will make the boot menu to appear for 5 seconds, the value can be anything between 0 and 999.

Browse the internet Faster and Safer, download and install Mozilla

Mozilla Firefox is a free web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite, managed by the Mozilla Corporation. It is the second-most popular browser currently worldwide, after Internet Explorer. Firefox includes tabbed browsing, a spell checker, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, and an integrated search system that uses the user's desired search engine. Functions can be added through around 2,000 add-ons created by third-party developers, the most popular of which include NoScript (script blocker), Stumble Upon (website discovery), Tab Mix Plus (adds many customizable options to tabs), FoxyTunes (controls music players), Adblock Plus (ad blocker), DownThemAll! (download functions) and Web Developer (web tools).

Disable Search from Looking in ZIP Files (make faster search)

Compressing files, folders, and programs decreases their size and reduces the amount of space they use on your drives or removable storage devices. Drive compression decreases the amount of space used by all of the files and folders stored on that drive. Windows XP Search can get slow if you have a lot of compressed files on your hard drive. You can speed up your searches by disabling this.

Click Start - Run. Type:
regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\zipfldr.dll /u Click OK.
To turn this feature back on: Click Start - Run. Type:
regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\zipfldr.dll Click OK.

Disabling Right Click on the Desktop

It is possible to disable the right click on the desktop. Start regedit Navigate to

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

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named "NoViewContextMenu" Setting for Value Data: 0 or 1 (0 = Enabled / 1 = Disabled) Close regedit and reboot computer

Increasing Graphics Performance

The graphics performance on slower computers is very poor as shadows, fades, slides effects are enabled by default in Windows XP. If you disable all these, you can speed up your computer.

To turn these off follow these steps :

Right click on My Computer icon on desktop, Select Properties and wait for the System Properties dialog box. Click on Advanced tab and Under Performance, click on the Settings button, now in the next dialog box in the Visual Effects tab, uncheck all of them except Show shadows under mouse pointer and Show window contents while dragging options. Click on Apply - OK and close System Properties dialog box. You will now notice increase in performance of your computer.

View Windows System Info

You can follow this tip to view the windows system information:

Open command prompt (DOS Prompt), type systeminfo then press Enter. Once the system has finished gathering the information you can view the windows system information: OS Name, OS Version, Original Install Date, System Up Time, etc

General keyboard shortcuts

General keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL+C (Copy)
* CTRL+X (Cut)
* CTRL+V (Paste)
* CTRL+Z (Undo)
* DELETE (Delete)
* SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
* CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
* CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
* F2 key (Rename the selected item)
* CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
* CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
* CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
* CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
* CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
* SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
* CTRL+A (Select all)
* F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
* ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
* ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
* ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
* ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
* CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
* ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
* ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
* F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
* F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
* SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
* ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
* CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
* ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
* Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
* F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
* RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
* LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
* F5 key (Update the active window)
* BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
* ESC (Cancel the current task)
* SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)
* CTRL+SHIFT+ESC (Open Task Manager)


Dialog box keyboard shortcuts
If you press SHIFT+F8 in extended selection list boxes, you enable extended selection mode. In this mode, you can use an arrow key to move a cursor without changing the selection. You can press CTRL+SPACEBAR or SHIFT+SPACEBAR to adjust the selection. To cancel extended selection mode, press SHIFT+F8 again. Extended selection mode cancels itself when you move the focus to another control.

* CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)
* CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
* TAB (Move forward through the options)
* SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
* ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)
* ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button)
* SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)
* Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
* F1 key (Display Help)
* F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
* BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)


Microsoft natural keyboard shortcuts

* Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
* Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
* Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
* Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
* Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
* Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
* Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
* CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
* Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
* Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
* Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
* Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)


Accessibility keyboard shortcuts

* Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
* Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
* Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
* SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
* NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
* Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)


Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

* END (Display the bottom of the active window)
* HOME (Display the top of the active window)
* NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
* NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)
* NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)
* LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)
* RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)


Shortcut keys for Character Map
After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:

* RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)
* LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
* UP ARROW (Move up one row)
* DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
* PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
* PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
* HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
* END (Move to the end of the line)
* CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
* CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
* SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)


Microsoft Management Console (MMC) main window keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
* CTRL+N (Open a new console)
* CTRL+S (Save the open console)
* CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
* CTRL+W (Open a new window)
* F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
* ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
* ALT+F4 (Close the console)
* ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
* ALT+V (Display the View menu)
* ALT+F (Display the File menu)
* ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)


MMC console window keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
* ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
* SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
* F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
* F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
* CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
* CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
* ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
* F2 key (Rename the selected item)
* CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)


Remote desktop connection navigation

* CTRL+ALT+END (Open the Microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box)
* ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)
* ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)
* ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)
* ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
* CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
* ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
* CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
* CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)


Microsoft Internet Explorer navigation

* CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
* CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
* CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
* CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
* CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
* CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
* CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)
* CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)
* CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)
* CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
* CTRL+W (Close the current window)