Saturday, December 18, 2010

DSL - It ain't cable

Worse than cable but better than I feared. I've never tried DSL before so didn't know what to expect.

I tried NETGEAR DGN2200-100NAS modem/wifi router but it would not hold a DSL connection for more than a few minutes, so back to Best Buy for a refund for 100 bucks. There may have been a setting that would have fixed it but the manual setup page was so buggy I could never finish a manual setup. It kept insisting I had no internet and therefore it could not display the "page". I tried Netgear support and the only words I could make out were that CenturyLink needed to "refresh" my line. When in doubt blame the other vendor.

Something I though of after returning is I may not have networked the computer to a network slot on the Netgear and I may have only tried the uplink (or whatever we call it) slot. This may have enabled me to run the manual setup successfully. Oh well, too late now. I wish it had worked because it had some nice features. I was short of time and couldn't fool around.

Next I tried Actiontec GT701D and it works fine for half the price. Wow, I could even access the setup page and use it! Yes it is modem only. Works fine meaning I can get close to 10MB down and .7 to .9 up but the speed varies. 7.9MB down is common but it is still early and my phone line from the pedestal runs across the top of the snow if that makes any difference. At least it works and the speed is not as miserable as I had feared it would be. Maybe some tweaking will improve the speeds. It will have to wait until spring because I'm out of here, Florida, sunshine and Comcast.

CenturyLink support, while I was struggling with the original Netgear, was basically useless with the Netgear troubleshooting but I expected to be on my own. At least I could understand their version of the English language.


Actiontec Model GT701D
Just plug in PC. type in IP and set it up.
default
user=admin
password=password
192.168.0.1

3.0.4.1.1 current firmware
888.436.0657
support email only outside warranty

In quick setup choose the third setting RFC1483 via DHCP
adsl settings
llc- based multiplex
vpi 8
vci 35
ADSL2 plus
UBR

This modem performs well but even though I get 7 to8 MB down I can not run Netflix on best setting and even on better I will eventually get sound problems and need to pause and let it catch up. I installed a GB switch between modem and router/cables to cable Netflix directly without going through router and it helped. I previously could only have video on good setting. Now even at better the pausing requires a shorter time than previously. Picture is never a problem even on best, only the sound.

I seem to receive varied speed. I will hit valleys and that is when I get the sound problems but this will happen once at least with every item I watch.

I would advise just using this modem only solution and attach another router. Reviews on DSL modem/router combination are not great and it is more fun to just replace a $39 modem than the more expensive units that really are not all that great in the router function. Other brands are out there that have modem only construction, Trendnet for one.

On the other hand I wonder if a different modem would keep me from having the dips in speed and I would like a backup modem. Unlike cable modems, DSL modems can be impossible to find if not in major cities. You could be down for a few days waiting for a replacement. I just ordered the Netgear DGND3300 but as a refurb for $44 on ebay. It is wireless N dual band which I don't care if that part works or not. Just give me stable, consistent bandwidth.


Monday, December 6, 2010

RAM Memory Checker

RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

If you need a quick analysis of your PC for compatible RAM specs. and slot layout click the link above, download and run the system scanner. Before you buy it would be a good idea to remove the physical cover and pull a RAM stick to verify.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Disappearing DVD Drive in Windows 7

After a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate on my Gateway P-7811FX notebook, my DVD-RW drive was recognizable in Windows until after a long sleep session. Upon awakening the notebook, the drive was gone. A quick sleep/wake cycle did not have this problem but overnight would knock out the drive until reboot. Microsoft's registry fix or deleting a lower filter entry did not apply to this situation. There was no lower filter entry. I reinstalled several chip set drivers and nothing helped.

Then I installed the Intel Matrix Storage Manager. Happily I have now made it through one overnight sleep cycle and my DVD drive is visible. I thought Matrix was only for RAID and don't remember it being installed on the factory setup.

Bottom line is Intel Matrix Storage Manager is one possible solution for disappearing dvd cd drives in Windows 7.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Disable Google Instant Previews for Greasemonkey

Disable Google Instant Previews for Greasemonkey

Do you find the previews of web pages irritating? Disable them in Chrome with this Greasemonkey script. Chrome handles GM script natively.

Friday, November 26, 2010

How To Remove DRM from MOBI and PRC eBooks

This could be the solution.

Sadly Leaving My Cable Connection

Say what you want about cable ISP's but I have had positive experience with both Charter and Comcast. I am moving from Charter in one location and will be using DSL from CenturyLink. CenturyLink claims I should get 10 down, here's hopin'.

This is what I am giving up with Charter now:

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Storage On Line

I need a place to keep track of the on line storage possibilities so let's start.

Images:
min.us easy place to throw up an image and link to it. Here is an example link to an image I posted.
Here is a thumbnail of the image to see if link works in post.

imageshack.com is an old standby.
tinypic.com also works but I quit it and can't remember why.

I may add to this if I remember ...

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

How to install Windows XP from USB

Installing XP from USB can be done several ways. Here is a little program that makes it easy. Just place the XP install files in a folder and point to the folder with this little program. To download the GUI from the MSFN post, scroll down the page and you will see the Beta download referenced.

I had a MultibootISO from Pendrive Linux prepared USB drive with Puppy Linux on it. I ran this GUI and it added XP to the menu and copied the XP setup files to the USB drive. I tested it in QEMU with MobaLiveCD and it seemed to work fine as far as I went (which was to the format partition point). The setup is in the traditional 2 part XP install of other USB installs I've used but I don't remember the procedure exactly. I think the second part initiates automatically and I do believe you should not remove the USB drive until you see the XP desktop. I guess I will have to do some experimenting when I actually use it.

I'm not giving a link to the download in case there is a newer version on the site.

Why does anyone fool with XP when Windows 7 is so great? That is a good question. XP installs can be a little smaller I think. Mainly I had a request for it, so I did it.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

How To Slipstream Windows 7 SP1 Into Installation DVD ISO

How To Slipstream Windows 7 SP1 Into Installation DVD ISO: "Slipstreaming SP1 into the installation DVD or ISO can be done with the help of Windows 7 installation configuring tools. In this guide, we are using RT Seven Lite tool to integrate SP1 into Windows 7 installation DVD."

Comments: Win7 SP1 is available (sort of), it is RC (release candidate). I suppose not much will change but I am waiting for the finished product and then just a wee bit longer. This gives time for the crash and burn stuff to be revealed. But then I will want to slipstream SP1.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Wii = Weeee no disk needed anymore

"Wii and PS3 To Be Disc-Free

This is Greg Peters, VP of product development here at Netflix. If you instantly watch movies and TV shows from Netflix on a Nintendo Wii or a Sony PS3, here is the news you’ve been waiting for: starting today, you’ll be able to watch movies and TV shows without inserting an instant streaming disc into your console. Once you've downloaded the new application, you can recycle the current streaming discs or keep them as a souvenir.

Comments: Our house is a zoo and of course in the process of preserving my Wee/Netflix disk, I can't remember where I "hid" it. So after reading uncountable Wee hack posts, I came across this bit of good news. You don't even need the disk anymore. Just go the the main screen and Netflx is waiting for you.

I've read whining about Wii "only" streaming Netflix in 480. Netflix streams 480 so it has nothing to do with Wee. Regular TV is 480 so no, it is not high definition but quite good I think.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Volume Control OSD

matt.malensek: "3RVX is a skinnable volume display and controller. It shows your sound volume level with its on-screen display (OSD) and also allows you to control the volume via a skinnable slider or custom hotkeys. Supports drive eject notification, mouse hotkeys, and a wide range of customization options."


Saturday, October 30, 2010

How To Browse Your Linux Partition from Windows - How-To Geek

How To Browse Your Linux Partition from Windows - How-To Geek: "Ever need to grab a file or two from your ext4 partition?� Maybe you’ve wanted to backup a few important files while you were in Windows.� Here’s how to browse your Linux partition from Windows using a tool called Ext2explore.

Most Linux distributions nowadays use the ext4 partition by default, and while there are some tools that can read the older ext2 and ext3 partitions, Ext2explore (also known as Ext2Read) is the only one that we’ve seen that is able to read all three.� In the spirit of Linux, it’s also open source.

You can download Ext2explore from the Ext2Read Sourceforge page, and runs on Windows XP SP3, as well as Vista and 7 in compatibility mode."

Comments: Now that the struggles are behind us for accessing Windows from our Linux OS (for the most part), here is a way to access your Linux files from Windows.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

USB Safeguard Encrypts Portable Flash Drives, Securely Deletes Files

USB Safeguard Encrypts Portable Flash Drives, Securely Deletes Files: "Windows only: USB Safeguard is a portable program that encrypts files on your flash drive in case you lose it. It also stores your email or phone number or shreds files in case you lose it."

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Make A Bootable USB Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10

Make A Bootable USB Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10: "Many antivirus companies are offering free rescue disks to provide their customers with an option to disinfect a system from the “outside”. That’s especially helpful in scenarios where a virus has damaged the operating system critically, so that it won’t boot anymore on its own."

Comments: I tried this for someone's notebook recently and had to make some modifications. The instructions above would not make a working bootable USB for me. Grab the Kaspersky ISO from the above link. Then go to Pendrivelinux.com and grab Multiboot USB. It worked perfectly.

You can also later add ISO's to the USB boot menu (Ubuntu 10.10 for example). It can even download the ISO and install. You choose what to install from a menu. I mentioned Ubuntu and that may seem overkill for troubleshooting but it is a no brain linux for accessing ntfs drives. I have been busy loading stuff on the flash drive. It works. I can't update the distros using ISO's so what you have is what you stay with.

Multiboot USB is an interesting and useful tool. Actually I am tempted to change the title of this post to Multiboot USB.

PS: I am working on how to update Kaspersky definitions http://agnipulse.com/2009/12/kaspersky-rescue-disk-updater/ The update is working. I should just be able to rename and copy the updated "rescue.iso" to the USB drive and have updated definitions. At least all the elements for this procedure are here somewhere.

If you are wondering what else to do with your USB dirve, look at LifeHacker's 10 things article.

Set up a Win7 install? Here is the link. (I trying to figure out how to get both 32 and 64 on the same thumb drive.) But a single works fine.

What if your BIOS will not boot from USB? Try this. (How much can I add to this post?)

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Search The Contents Of Files Quickly With File Searcher | PCMech

Search The Contents Of Files Quickly With File Searcher | PCMech: "I have previously written about the Everything tool which quickly searches your hard drive for particular files. The problem with this utility is it only searches based on the file name and not the contents. For for situations where you need to search for text inside of a file, check out the File Searcher utility."

Comments: "Quickly" may not be the right word for File Searcher but it works, although I have only given it one shot. It can be extracted and used without installing. Specific folders can be selected to cut down on process time. It found my search phrase in .xls, .zip files so far. It talks awhile but if you just can't find that old file, this can do it. The program seem to challenge my dual core P8600 at times and things bog down periodically, coming to a standstill at times. So this is not something for casual use. I finally had to use Task Manager to kill it. I'm going to try installing and see if it plays nicer with friends.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Ubuntu 10.04/10.10 Maverick Meerkat

Download | Ubuntu: "Get Ubuntu Desktop Edition Windows installer
You can download Ubuntu Desktop Edition and run it alongside your current Windows system."

Use Wubi then refer to first 10 things.

The temp monitor is not working yet so I don't know if it is running hot. Fan runs and it feels hot even without Compiz. Too bad for laptop. Nice version other than that. I'm convinced it is a poor graphics driver that does not allow the chip to down clock.

I am seeing 10.10 is out but I am sitting at 10.04. Not sure why. Probably a Wubi thing. Ha, had to set the source to "normal updates" and it found 10.10

Friday, October 8, 2010

NetSetMan - Network Settings Manager | LAN & WLAN | Freeware & Pro

NetSetMan - Network Settings Manager | LAN & WLAN | Freeware & Pro: "Are you tired of changing your network configuration on your
laptop or computer every day? Always the same procedure?"

Comments: If you use different ip addresses in different location or are just working on a problem and tire of entering the ip/dns info repeatedly, try this little gem. It can be portable.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Windows 7 Can Not See My XP Computer

There are numerous possibilities but check if the XP machine is accessible.
Go to the XP machine, open a command prompt and type ipconfig. Write down the ip address.

or

Get an ip-scanner and scan from the Win7 machine for the ip of the XP machine.

On Win7 pop up run and type the XP ip address eg. \\192.168.1.68 or whatever.

Continuing

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded

The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded. - Vista Forums: "How to Fix the Error 'The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.'"

Comments: Well this is new. My profile would not load. I used option #1 successfully. I did not use Safe Mode, just regedit. Sure beats reinstalling Windows or deleting the profile and starting over.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Chrome Tip for Copying and Pasting

Chrome Tip for Copying and Pasting: "The guys over at Google have come up with a solution! When they were building Chrome, they decided to throw in an additional shortcut that can be the answer to your copying and pasting prayer. You probably already know about the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-V to paste, but Google’s nifty little secret is the Ctrl-Shift-V and it will paste plain text only!"

Comments: No more pasting into Notepad first? Yea! Happy to know this.

Gpanion Groups Google Apps in an Attractive Easy-Access Dashboard

Gpanion Groups Google Apps in an Attractive Easy-Access Dashboard: "If your first stop after opening up your web browser is to load up various Google Apps, Gpanion is a sleek dashboard interface for all your favorites."

Comments: I have been using Gpanion for awhile now and find it useful. I have set it as my home page and the immediate information and access it provides for Gmail, Reader, Calendar and Tasks is beneficial. I fear my life is hooked into Google's evil empire.

Hint: If you would be adversely impacted by loosing your Google account, be sure you have your secondary email set up in Gmail settings. This way if some hack attempt closes down your account, Google can send verification to that secondary email. Otherwise verification can be a difficult process.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Connectify 2.1, Beta 4 finaly works

Where did you Connectify Today?: Connectify 2.1, Beta 4: "All right, it is time for us to serve up another fresh beta release of Connectify, available here:"

Comments: Looks like this beta works for me. First Connectify to work on my notebook. I have not tried them all but never could get them to work. My notebook has plain old Intel 5100 NIC which is in a ton of notebooks so don't know what the problem was.

I mysteriously started having trouble with Sleep crashing Windows 7 around the time I installed Connectify. Hard to tell if they were related. I will try uninstalling of course but would be interested to hear if anyone else had this happen. I use sleep often on my notebook so will be working on fixing it.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Repartitioning Hard Drive

I have not repartitioned a Hard Drive in awhile and I wanted to put Windows7 dual boot on an XP system. I needed to change from logical to primary and resize. I pulled out my old trusty Gparted and bad news, I forgot my XP OS was on a RAID 0 setup. Even though I didn't want to put Win7 on the RAID, just running Gparted trashed my Master Boot Record. Easy to fix (thanks Hiren) but I had to find new software. Free resources for HD partitioning has come a long way. I grabbed Partition Wizard but Easeus would probably have done as well. Easeus seems more popular for some reason.

You can have 4 Primary partitions maximum, only 3 if you have any logical partitions. There is no limit to logical partitions.

Download links:

Nice thing about Win7 is it can go on any primary drive. Change your boot priority in BIOS setup to the Win7 drive. Then use EasyBCD (free) to add your existing XP install to the dual boot option.

SlimDrivers [Automated Driver Updates] - Coming Soon

SlimDrivers [Automated Driver Updates] - Coming Soon
This driver finder works and is free for now in BETA. One irritation is the insistence on reboot after a driver install. The first time it found only Windows updates (which I have no need of) but the recent update did find 3 new hardware drivers. I don't know if it keeps the driver somewhere (have not found them yet) but even if you select several drivers and download all, it downloads them one at a time, installs and forces a reboot. Be sure to set options to handle reboot, update, etc.

I would use this for driver finding first before trying others.

I have not tried it on XP yet and maybe the Windows update could be useful there.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

XP/Win7 Network Can't See Each Other

One problem might be Windows 7 is set to "handle" networking instead of "Use user accounts".
Find these settings in Network and Sharing > Advanced Sharing:


Some day I'm going to find out what "Home Group" is and what it does, way down on my list of things to do.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sync for Chrome - Use It? Nope

Edit: Sync started zapping my extensions so I quit using it. Back to drawing board.

Sync settings across multiple computers : Basic browser settings - Google Chrome Help: "You can keep your bookmarks, browser preferences, and browser theme synchronized on multiple computers, using your Google Account. This can be handy if you often switch between different computers (say, your home computer as well as your work laptop) and want the same Google Chrome settings across your computers."

Comments: Now that I use Chrome, I use Sync within Chrome to keep my extensions and bookmarks synced between the machines. Works great. I mention this only because sync with Firefox was less than stellar the last time I tried it.

I am really liking Chrome and I didn't want to (the evil Google thing).

Free Fax Possibility

K7 Unified Messaging, free Fax and voicemail to email.: "Sign up for K7, the world's leading web-based unified messaging system that channels your free voicemail and fax messages directly to your e-mail. K7 Unified Messaging provides you with a free phone number. This number enables you to have your voicemail messages and faxes delivered directly to your computer. You also have the option to view and listen to your messages right here on the K7 Web site."

Comments: Trying it. Free and working is hard to find. OK it worked. Setup activates immediately and you receive a phone number. When deactivated after 30 days of inactivity, just set up a new account. Best one I have tried. K7 is for receiving fax only.

Why would a person need this? I usually have a computer and scanner but sometimes no fax machine to receive faxes from Fred Flintstone. This covers Fred.

Sending fax try Faxaway. Costs are reasonable for sending, 11 cents per minute, but setup takes time to process a payment reserve account so set it up a few days before you need it. (I have not tried this one yet.) If you have a paid email account such as Charter or Comcast, payment can be set up online. If you only have Gmail or Hotmail the application must be sent snail mail.

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing iTunes Without Extra Bloatware - How-To Geek

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing iTunes Without Extra Bloatware - How-To Geek: "Apple released iTunes 10 a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately it’s not much of an improvement if at all. Last week Ed Bott wrote up The unofficial guide to installing iTunes 10 without bloatware. Today we take a closer look at the process of doing a minimal install of it in Windows 7 to avoid the extra junk.�"

Comments: I hate iTunes but this will help one pet peeve if you just have to use it.
These are the files to install:

Monday, September 13, 2010

CreatePDF.in: Convert Webpage to PDF and Download


CreatePDF.in: Convert Webpage to PDF and Download
Comments: So why would you want to create a PDF of a web page? No idea but now you can.

How to Resize All Window Columns with a Single Keystroke - How-To Geek

How to Resize All Window Columns with a Single Keystroke - How-To Geek: "When you’re dealing with an application that displays data in a set of columns, it’s often frustrating to have to resize each column separately—but today we’ve got a great trick for you that resizes all the columns with a single keystroke.

The secret keystroke to use is Ctrl and the Numpad’s "plus" key, and it only works if you have a separate number pad on your PC—but we’ve also found a workaround for that as well. Keep reading."

Comments: handy dandy I never knew

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Stuff list for my EVO

SMOKE ARGYLE Crystal Skin is a great and cheap soft vinyl cover case $7.95 shipped.
Micro USB cables and car adapters from MonoPrice for around $2 each.
I am leaving the face unprotected for now. I love the smoothness. Hey, it is glass not plastic.

Removing Facebook Sync from Evo

Calendar:
Go to calander. click on a day, click menu, click more, then click "calendars" and deselect the Facebook option. (Voila, no more birthdays)


"People" Facebook annoying sync behavior is disabled in similar fashion.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Just made Chrome my default browser at the office

I feel like a traitor. Yes, I have succumbed to the evil Google empire and defaulted to Chrome over Firefox - at least on one machine. I have had times when Fox is faster than Chrome and don't know why but usually Chrome is faster. I'm not sure where I will end up.

Edit: Yikes, I'm using Chrome on my laptop, too. Alas, poor Firefox ... I knew him.

My List of Android Apps (developing)

(the embed does not list all my apps)

Weather Bug (never liked it on PC but great on Android) (has radar of sorts but home entry only)
Radar Now (quick weather Radar at your location but need gps on)
WiFi Analyzer (gives graphic quality of wifi signals)
Drudge Easy (Android DrudgeReport) (super easy read)
Swype (keyboard) stupid beta keeps expiring - had to resort to PirateBay
Dolphin Browser but unconvinced of usefulness yet.
Google Maps & Street View (LifeHacker)
Google Voice (I still prefer the native Message app for SMS so far but all call GV)
FlightView works great
TuneIn Radio is great

Considering:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

TinEye Reverse Image Search

TinEye Reverse Image Search

Upload an image and TinEye searches for matches. Not sure what I would use if for yet but there must be something.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

How to prolong lithium-based batteries

How to prolong lithium-based batteries: "A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.

Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as 'digital memory'. Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate"

Comments: Some say to run your EVO battery to zero to "calibrate". Here is a somewhat official reference for doing it. My EVO has good battery life but I'm doing it once anyway. There is a caution to not do it more than once a month. If you can't trust "BatteryUniversity.com" who can you trust. Is that Ivy League?

Learn a few Gmail shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts - Gmail Help
Keyboard shortcuts help you save time by allowing you to never take your hands off the keyboard to use the mouse. You'll need a Standard 101/102-Key or Natural PS/2 Keyboard to use the shortcuts.

Comments: Learning a few keyboard shortcuts makes Gmail easier and faster.

How long to brute force your password

How Secure Is My Password?
How Secure Is My Password? Enter it here and immediately know how long a brute force would take. Wow, a word would take 5 hours but add some numbers and the time boosts to 15 thousand years.

Hat tip: Be Your Own Boss

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

EVO Froyo and Battery Life

I am seeing complaints about Froyo and battery life. It appeared true and somewhere I saw a hint to remove Advanced App Killer so I did it. I went through my list again and made sure wi-fi did not sleep, sync other than Google was turned off, etc. and my battery life is great. My idle time barely moves once I get around 70%. No, I am not watching movies. I am trying to run the battery to zero (for some reason) and it's going to be more than 24 hours of my normal use. Happy, happy.

Edit: I'm half way through day 2 and still 38%. Just using as phone and some email.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Call Free With Gmail

Call phones from Gmail - Official Gmail Blog
Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?”

Comments: Google has added free VOIP right from Gmail if you have a Google Voice number (and why don't you?). You will need Google Video Chat installed on you computer. The "Call Phone" entry will appear under your "Chat" section in Gmail. They are dishing it out so it took me a day after launch for it to appear. I have only made one call so far but it sounded great. What part of free is a bad thing?

Rooting EVO with Froyo

[Program] Updated: 8-5-10: 1 Click SimpleRoot OTA 1.47.651.1 Edition - xda-developers: "If you amazingly got your EVO with 2.2 or flashed it, theres no way to root 2.2 as of YET!!!"

Follow the above site for availability on Froyo.

Ok it has been rooted. but I'm waiting for a simpler way to come along.

Unrevoked 3 appears ready for Froyo

Swype is a great way to type with on screen keyboard

Swype is a great way to "type" with an on screen keyboard. Even though EVO's keyboard is good, I still was one finger and slow. Swype changed all that. The guide above will help you install and use it. Some data fields are slow to recognize the cursor but the advantages far outweigh any inconvenience.

Swype is not a market app so installation takes a few different steps. I used the apk file from here. Trouble finding the file? Here is a direct link for now. updated 9-21-2010

This is one app I would buy if they start charging. It is still in beta so should get even better.

Try this link for a themed version (I have not tried).

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

EVO Wonderful - Battery Life Is Fine

Edit: Did 2.2 Froyo and Appkiller is not very effective anymore. Apps keep starting so battery life is suffering. I suppose I will need to root this thing eventually.

I have now had my EVO for a day and a half. It is fantastic. The OS is quick to super quick and silky smooth. I am surprised the EVO and Android is so much better than the Palm Pre and WebOS. The faster processor is part of it, but even though WebOS is good, Android is awesome. Navigation is a dream and adding/uninstalling apps. could not be easier. Everything it does is wow. The big screen makes EVO ultra usable.

I did the battery saving hints listed on the web and after 12 hours of using it as a phone, email and some playing around, I still have 72% battery. I can definitely live with that. Not to beat on Palm but my Pre had a tough time lasting the day sitting dormant on the coffee table.

The on screen keyboard is very responsive but I still prefer buttons. Oh well, the keyboard works well and I'll get used to it. Using this big boy with one hand while driving is life threatening. Maybe when I get used to it, I will stay out of oncoming traffic. Having the screen at 25% brightness in daylight to save battery didn't help. Hey, I'm still learning.

Finally I have a smart phone worth using.

Stuff to Start: (yes you have to turn stuff off when not using it)
Apps:
Advanced Task Killer (Froyo may not like this for battery life) I think it may be better to manually control things so you know what is happening. ATK make you "think" you are controlling things without really understanding. Anyway things simply started up again under Froyo.
Curvefish:
  1. AutoSync OnOff
  2. Brightness Level
  3. GPS OnOff
  4. SilentMode OnOff
  5. Wi-Fi OnOff
  6. BatteryLife

Restore Windows 7 Security Settings To Default With Security Restore

Restore Windows 7 Security Settings To Default With Security Restore: "Quite often we come across Windows security errors such as Registry Disabled or You don’t have permission to access. Troubleshooting these Windows errors can be challenging because there are so many possible causes (in most of the cases it’s because of a virus or malicious item)."

Comments: Could be useful if totally lost, can't say I would have needed it yet.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Voice Recognition in Firefox

Firesay :: Add-ons for Firefox
Firesay enables you to surf the web using voice commands.

Say your search queries instead of typing them.
Say which sites you want to visit instead of typing URL addresses.
Say what TV shows you want to watch on Hulu

This does work and is entertaining, maybe useful. Limited commands but new.

Logitech Alert 750i

Review: Logitech Alert 750i Master System Camera
The 750i is a great camera with a few minor problems. This is obviously a new product line of Logitech and they’re working on improving the software over time. I’m also going to review its outdoor brother, the 750e, next but generally Logitech’s Alert solution seems to be stable, usable, and almost idiot-proof. The fact that you can get a camera up and running in a few minutes is fabulous and barring a few issues with networking and motion detection, it’s a great way to keep an eye on the kids, a summer home, your special “grow area,” or the dogs.
Might be the one to try. Not even available yet.

Voice Actions for Android

Just speak it: introducing Voice Actions for Android - Official Google Mobile Blog
To use Voice Actions, tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen, or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen
If I ever get my EVO ...

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Soon To Be EVO Owner

Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Android Phone’s Battery Life - How-To Geek
You’re no doubt reading this article because you’ve got a shiny new Android phone, but there’s just one problem: you’re so addicted that the battery runs out on a daily basis. Instead of putting the phone down, let’s maximize the battery life.

I guess I'll be marking some Android stuff.

Monday, August 9, 2010

JDownloader for downloading multiple files from Rapidshare (cough)

I gave up using this -
home:index [JDownloader]
JDownloader is open source, platform independent and written completely in Java. It simplifies downloading files from One-Click-Hosters like Rapidshare.com or Megaupload.com

Comments: These programs can work and not work depending what the hosts are doing at the moment. I have tried others with little success. Currently I have had good success with JDownloader. If a huge file has been split into several parts and is hosted somewhere, just start JD and copy the links. JD will detect the copy and load the que.

Why bother? If the files are on a single site, many of these sites have waiting periods for multiple files. With JD you just let it works and eventually you will have all the files, if you are lucky.

Be awake with installation. JD "offers" to install other stuff. Just say no. It wants to install FlashGet and the answer is not "no" but "cancel".

Friday, August 6, 2010

Using Clean Boot To Troubleshoot

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7
To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows Vista or Windows 7 by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot." A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts. This article describes how to troubleshoot problems in Windows Vista or in Windows 7 by performing a clean boot. This article also describes how to start the Windows Installer service and how to reset the computer so that it starts as usual.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Bypass Windows 7 Logon Password

How To Bypass Windows 7 Logon Password In Three Steps
Have you forgot your XP, Vista or Windows 7 logon password? Sure, there are a few workarounds to access your account using a bootable Linux CD but they are time consuming and boring as you need to go through a long procedure.

Bypass windows 7 logon password

In this guide, we will show you how to bypass a Windows 7 logon password in just two steps. And we are using a free tool to make this happen. So, here is the procedure to bypass Windows 7 logon password:Download
Kon-Boot CD-ISO ZIP

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Acronis Hard Drive Cloning and Backup

2019-01-21 Just use AOMEI and forget it.

Edit: I currently use Macrium but as yet can not get the recovery working on YUMI.
Edit: I use Easeus To Do Backup for imaging the systems now. Add the boot ISO to YUMI usb for recovery or cloning systems.

Acronis is free if you have one Seagate or WD drive in your system. Win7 makes a workable image of your system but if you don't have a bootable Win7 disk or running XP, Acronis can come in handy. Here are the links to get the free versions. I don't know if the bootable disk you make checks for disk brand to work. I'm guessing only the original install check for the disks.

Downloads

Removeing iTunes

Remove-it.org > Tools > ByeTunes
On what seems to be an unstoppable roller coaster of success,blah, blah
But how do I get rid of it? ByeTunes does a fair job of getting rid of most of it. If you want the whole ugly scenario see How-To Geek. I would try RevoUninstaller, then ByeTunes, then pick off Bonjour, etc.

Downloads

Download Revo Uninstaller

Download ByeTunes

Download CCleaner

Download Everything

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

New Dell Vostro Caution


Just bought a new Dell Vostro 230 for a work location. Wow these cases are cheap and thin but good enough for government work. Hard drives screw to the side of the case, no bays, hilarious. My surprise was it comes standard with a DVD ROM only - no burner. Who does that? Dell tech and I took several hours and I finally said, "I wonder if this thing is just a reader". We were both incredulous about not having a DVD-RW standard. Sure writers are cheap and now that I know - no problem but cripes, at least give a guy some heads up if you are going to change the rules. It's tough enough to find out detailed specs. on these Dells.

On the plus side they did provide an OS disk so imaging was not important.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

SmartSniff to see activity on your NIC

SmartSniff: Packet Sniffer - Capture TCP/IP packets on your network adapter
SmartSniff is a network monitoring utility that allows you to capture TCP/IP packets that pass through your network adapter, and view the captured data as sequence of conversations between clients and servers. You can view the TCP/IP conversations in Ascii mode (for text-based protocols, like HTTP, SMTP, POP3 and FTP.) or as hex dump. (for non-text base protocols, like DNS)
SmartSniff provides 3 methods for capturing TCP/IP packets :

Comments: When analyzing a slow PC I like to know if some trojan is stealing bandwidth. SmartSniff will do it on Win 7 easily.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Possible Replacement for Info Select

The Holy Grail of Ubiquitous Plain-Text Capture
Until Vista/Win7 I used InfoSelect for years. I threw every random fact, subject, number that I thought would be important. "Who was that guy who wanted me to plant Jerusalem artichoke?" OK maybe some ended up unimportant but the searches and entries were lightening fast. Info Select was expensive and became increasingly bloated with each revision(typical software path) plus another $100, would not sync. to anything and worst of all would not work under Vista/7.

I am hoping Simple note does the trick (and I can resurrect my old InfoS data base which I still miss monthly) "Who sold me that commercial washer so cheap 6 years ago?" I now have data skattered all over and can't find anything.

Evernote, although good, didn't push my button.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Network Logon Will Not Remember Credentials

Windows 7 – Fixing The Mapped Drive Credentials Problem | The Gadget Grill
When you log on to a network volume and assign it as a mapped drive, there is a “Remember my credentials” checkbox on the login dialog. One would expect that this should add the login credentials to the Credentials Manager, so that the details are retained and you can automatically log in to that mapped drive the next (and every subsequent) time that you restart the Windows 7 system.

Fix is in the link.

Here is another discussion on the subject.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Path Too Deep (too long file name)

Windows can only handle around 25x characters (including spaces)for files and folders in a path or they can not be deleted or removed. I had a rogue back-up program write files and folders too deep to count. Here is what worked and what did not.

Unlocker programs.
Nix - didn't even try, locking was not the problem.

Renaming all the files and folders to "1" in attempt to get below the limit.
Nix ... I had too many folders deep and renaming stopped working at some level.

RD /S from elevated command.
Nix

Java program claiming abilities.
Nix

Map the folder to virtual drive and work from there.
Unknown because next solution worked.

Here is the winner - very simple. (lost track of who gave it)

If you have Vista or Win7 you're all set to go, or you're on XP then you need to download the Windows Resource Kit Tools installer. Basically you just need to have robocopy.

Make an empty folder say C:\temp

(go to elevated command prompt)
Then use robocopy to copy it to the folder that you can't delete say C:\TooDeep

robocopy C:\temp C:\TooDeep /E /MIR
("TooDeep" is the first folder in the path. Be sure to leave space between /e and /mir)

The /MIR option makes robocopy mirror temp onto TooDeep, or in other words deleting extra files and folders.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Process Assassin

Software Dynamics - Process Assassin - Terminate an app.
Process Assassin enables the user to select a not responding application
and terminate it immediately without calling any other external programs.

In addition the program has some predefined options concerning the termination
of some famous applications such as Mozila Firefox.


Comments: Some processes will not stop. Try this stand alone solution.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Slow Computer Fixing

I just worked on someone's Dell P4 that was heading for the dump. All they do is internet surf, store photos, email. It felt like wearing concrete boots and I wondered if there was hope. It does make you appreciate dual/quad core. The hard drive was continually thrashing, it would hang for minutes, everything was slow motion.

I did the standard tweaks of old for XP - little improvement. It didn't appear to have a virus but Spybot did remove 5 spyware offerings, still small improvement. CCleaner, JKDefrag, I finally thought to check the hard drive for UDMA and it was PIO so I changed cable, no win so reverted to old cable. Then I uninstalled the controller driver and rebooted x2. It recognized DMA and improved more but not happy. Uninstalled the second controller driver to check but no big difference.

Tried to update the system drivers. One would think the original drivers would be fine because it was all original Dell but the OS had been updated to SP3 and beyond. I used the Dell update chipset driver without much improvement. I ran Spinrite over night had more improvement but I couldn't tell what Spinrite did because it was done but locked up in the morning. The thing had only 512 RAM so I tried 2x512. Better but not enough to donate the RAM so I reverted to 512.

Finding motherboard drivers newer than Dell's took awhile. Google is hopeless for most drivers because of all the scams out there trying to pick you off by offering free downloads and then trying to charge for an actual download. Sure, I'm going to pay for an Intel driver. I used the Intel driver search page with the driver name reported from a few free system reporting programs. Actually DriverAgent does a fair job of reporting out of date drivers but I just use it for the report. Then I find the driver some other way. Anywho, the new motherboard (chipset) drivers did wonders. I know, why is that surprising? I say again, it was original equipment. Was something in Windows SP3 not liking the old drivers? The Windows drivers for that motherboard may have been fine too but I was not doing a fresh install if I didn't have to.

It was good enough for my surfing friend but it would have driven me nuts. I had already uninstalled everything I though might be a problem. At least HDTune reported the hard drive was scoring 45-50 and not 1-3. I decided to deep 6 AVG and bingo the thing came alive. Not that AVG typically would be a problem but I suppose it was an old install and something had gone south. Installed Microsoft Security Essentials with no speed drop.

Now it works as well as a P4 is going to work. Sure I did a bunch of other tweaks from days gone by. I could use it without screaming. But the moral is every slow computer is not always only burdened with crapware, although plenty are. I'm not sure there is a good checklist and I approach it like herding cats. I'm no tech. (it had already been at the tech.)

Computer behavior usually gives you the direction of where the problem is. Hard drive thrashing was definitely a key. I assumed the small RAM was causing much of the thrashing. The tech. wanted to put in a new hard drive and that would have been a disappointment. An older system will probably have several issues but it should still be able to keep a surfer happy.

Could it have been something else? Certainly, but then different symptoms would have been prominent.

Driver Finding

Finding a driver can be a project.

Try Slim Drivers or any of the similar programs.

DriverAgent can help to identify the driver name or what driver is out of date (it can also be useless YMMV). I would not pay for DriverAgent but only use it for identification.

Intel's driver search page can be good for Intel drivers.

Other free programs can give you ideas as to the driver names i.e. SIW.

Good old Windows Device Manager would be my first stop.

Belarc makes a nice report. Bottom line you will do some hunting.

Once you know the driver name then Google for it. It has become difficult using Google to search for drivers because of all the for pay sites hawking their wears.

If your system is working great now, after months of driver updates, you should make a backup of your drivers. Try DriverBackup.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Clone Hard Drive Using Ubuntu Live

Clone a Hard Drive Using an Ubuntu Live CD - How-To Geek
Whether you’re setting up multiple computers or doing a full backup, cloning hard drives is a common maintenance task. Don’t bother burning a new boot CD or paying for new software – you can do it easily with your Ubuntu Live CD.

Comments: I had to clone a hard drive recently and fortunately I had Acronis 10 which worked fine but what if I had nothing: Ubuntu Live is always a download away and How-To-Geek has the instructions.

Edit: EaseUS To Do does a great job. You do need to disable the service and the two start ups when done, if you don't want them to be taking resources when you are no longer using the program. Remember to turn on the service again if you need to use the program.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

TinyChat - Free Video Chat

Tinychat - Free online video chat rooms
Another have not used but want to remember service. Multiple Chats and Cameras. Even desktop share maybe, can't tell.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Control Sysinternals Suite & NirSoft Utilities with a Single Interface

Control Sysinternals Suite & NirSoft Utilities with a Single Interface - How-To Geek
Sysinternals and NirSoft both provide helpful utilities for your Windows system but may not be very convenient to access. Using the Windows System Control Center you can easily access everything through a single UI front end.

Links

Download Windows System Control Center (WSCC)

Download Windows Sysinternals Suite

Download individual NirSoft Utilities programs



Comments: I have not decided how useful this is but sounds like a good idea to throw it on your portable Swiss Army Knife. I don't remember the programs being updated all that often but the centralized list and access is handy if you are on a foreign computer with your thumb drive.
Via HowToGeek

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Check Facebook Privacy Settings

ReclaimPrivacy.org | Facebook Privacy Scanner
This website provides an independent and open tool for scanning your Facebook privacy settings. The source code and its development will always remain open and transparent.

Comments: Use Chrome or IE not Firefox

Monday, May 17, 2010

Open With - A Handy Firefox Add-on

Open With :: Add-ons for Firefox
Need to test your web pages out in Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Opera (or anything else for that matter)?

Open With adds options to various parts of your browser for opening the current page in another browser.

Comments:
I spotted this on LifeHacker and I like it. I still prefer Firefox over Chrome but when I need to open a page in IE or Chrome (for speed or whatever) this add-on appears to do the trick.

EasyBCD Beta - Highly Recommended

EasyBCD 2.0 Beta Builds - The NeoSmart Forums
This is a locked topic with the latest beta builds for EasyBCD 2.0.
This thread will be updated whenever a new build is available for public testing. You may subscribe to this topic for notification of the availability of new builds.

Comments: Grab this free and excellent program for all you BCD needs. If you do not know what BCD is then you don't need it - yet. To get the Beta you need to register in the forum. The Beta adds a few new features. The non Beta can be had without registration. You can extract the installer and run stand alone.

The forum practically begged me to make my first post so it looks like a friendly place :)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

UIF Files Are Troublesome

Did you end up with a .uif file? What do you do with it? If you have MagicISO no problem. Many people dislike MagicISO because it makes these proprietary .uif files. But you can extract this .uif to a standard .iso with a free program named uif2iso. You do not need MagicISO. Just search for this handy stand alone program. I don't know if it works with every .uif file but it has worked for me.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Mint - A Great Way To Track Your Credit Cards

I just started using Mint and find it very useful. Logging into credit card and mortgage accounts individually is frustrating. Mint centralizes and automates credit card and mortgage monitoring. Weekly emails let you know where you stand. Highly recommended.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Disable Autoplay When USB Inserted

Plug in a USB drive in Windows 7 and Windows Media Player starts automatically. I find this irritating. I finally killed it buy doing the following. All steps may not be needed but I hate auto play of any kind so fine.

Type Win Key then type "group" select edit group policy.
Expand Administrative Templates and select "All Settings".
Find the two "turn off autoplay" entries and enable them.


Type Win Key then type "autoplay" and start it.
Remove the check in upper left corner.


I don't care which of these I did not need to do. I'm just glad to be rid of it.

Edit: Media Player has started popping up again. Go to Services and stop/disable Shell Hardware Detection. Hope this finally does it.

Archive of Newpaper Front Pages - Handy Blogging

Newseum | Today's Front Pages | Star Tribune

Monday, May 10, 2010

We Transfer - Another Large File Transfer Site

WeTransfer Transfers Large File Transfers Hassle Free - File Sharing - Lifehacker
You can select as many files as you want to send at one time—as long as you stay below the 2GB per transfer cap—and send an email notice to 1-20 recipients with a note attached. During our test upload times were speedy and the email notification was dispatched quickly to our recipient. Files are held for 14 days before deletion.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Norton Removal Tool - A Must Have

Uninstall and Remove Norton Products Completely with Norton Removal Tool » My Digital Life
If you have installed Norton application software from Symantec Corporation, the programs can be easily uninstalled and removed with Norton Removal Tool

Comments: A reminder of where to find it. If you have Norton, do yourself a favor and use the removal tool.

Friday, April 30, 2010

CutePDF Out / Bullzip In

FREE PDF Printer
The Bullzip PDF Printer works as a Microsoft Windows printer and allows you to write PDF documents from virtually any Microsoft Windows application.

This program is FREEWARE with limitations, which means that it is FREE for personal and commercial use up to 10 users. It does not contain any advertising or popups. For commercial applications with more that 10 users there is a commercial version of the product available at www.biopdf.com.

Comments: Cute is out and Bullzip is in. Does the same thing and much more flexible.

Scanning Wi-Fi In Windows 7

Two programs that work:
Inssider - Uses the Native WiFi API to get wireless information. Can be extracted and run stand alone. Looks better but they both work.
Vistumbler – is an AutoIt script that uses the netsh to get wireless information. Open source and can be downloaded as stand alone.

Ubuntu 10.04 Try

Wubi 9.10 worked fine to install Ubuntu 10.04
Run System Admin Update Manager.
Set appearance to advanced and let it look for video driver.
Click on an MP3 and Ubuntu will search out the codex pack to install.
Install Flash 10 through Ubuntu Software Center and Firefox will play embedded YouTube. (Thank Heavan)
They put the "close window" x on the left. (mind bending)
Installed these Firefox extensions:
Adblock Plus
BBCodeXtra
Evernote Web Clipper
Greasemonkey
LastPass
QuickDrag
ScribeFire
What the hey, Gimp is gone?
Future ScanSnap S510 install maybe: http://gscan2pdf.sourceforge.net/ and here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7391379&postcount=7
No Printer tried yet.
Installed Shutter for screen clips and edit/upload. http://shutter-project.org/faq-help/ppa-installation-guide/
Example clip here:

Installed Wine and tried a couple screen capture and writing programs. Unimpressed. Can't save/write anything to disk.
CPU usage is 25 ot 45 percent both cores at idle.
Here is a shot with every process sleeping but System Monitor:

Not familiar enough with Linux to know what the problem is. First guess would be Compiz but only a guess. Makes you admire Windows.
Activated the sensors with sudo sensors-detect
Holy cow I am running +74C on both cores!
Can't seem to get a visual for LM-Sensor to work.
I turned off visual effects and it helped.

Here is a typical Win7 on the same laptop:

Some say uninstalling Compiz will help with the temps.

Ubuntu works but Windows is better, no surprise. The heat is a big issue on my laptop and I would have to get that fixed somehow. But I will end up back in Windows anyway so no biggie.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Ubuntu (trial post on my findings for Karmic Koala)

I might be a tad late trying Karmic, the new version comes out tomorrow.

First, Wubi installed Ubuntu Karmic Koala as a dual boot on my Windows7 drive, no problem. It automatically grabbed the 64 bit version to match my Windows system and I may have been better off choosing 32. I'm not sure and this would be a long involved story so just be aware. 64 is running fine by the way. If you want something other than what Windows is using, you must make a selection (probably download the version and point Wubi to it).

Accessing data on NTFS disks was in the past tricky in Linux. Now it's a piece of cake. Go to places and data and there it is. Ubuntu may have been doing this for awhile.

In Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala the internet could be slow. The fix is easy but it took me awhile to find it. Enter the OpenDNS numbers in the DNS server for your router and/or wireless adapter. Here are the numbers: 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220, For my simple needs this fixed things. Others may have needed further massaging. Here is an example of someone needing more settings.

By the way, I am constructing this post in Bilbo Blogger (now called Blogilo). The name change is a shame. I love the name Bilbo Blogger. Look up Bilbo in the Ubuntu Software Center and install it. Bilbo is still cranking away trying to upload so I grabber the HTML and pasted it into Blogger manually. Maybe it is a Hobbit thing. I will probably use ScribeFire in the future.

I could not get the display settings to advanced until I let Ubuntu update so just do it. Run Update Manager. Karmic now has many updates. Now my windows wiggle.

Wireless auto connected on Karmic. Jaunty (previous version) required manual connection (click a button). I like the auto connect, my memory is short and it keeps me from troubleshooting my wireless unnecessarily.

Cropping an image is easy with F-Spot but you must open F-Spot from the Applications menu. If you right click the image then choose F-Spot, only a simple viewer activates. F-Spot Photo Manager does a few adjustments but the crop is handy for blog posting. Use Gimp for more complicated functions. The first time Gimp opens it takes awhile to register things. After that Gimp opens quickly.

As I find things I may come back and mention them. Tomorrow I will probably try Lucid Lynx but the downloading will be intense. If Wubi for Lucid is not up then I will wait, unless I can just update the current install. Who knows?

Install software from ???? The more obvious stuff is easy. But there are curious locations for software and upgrades. After my experience with Bilbo for instance, I tried BloGTK. It was available in the Synaptics Package Manager so I installed it. According to the BloGTK page there was a newer version. Some day I will figure out how to do this stuff with the command line. But for now I found the location of the update and added it to Synaptic. Note the screen shot. OK, it's impossible to read, but you get the idea (so right click and view will ya). The software site gives you the location and you enter the location into Synaptic. But forget BloGTK, it is painfully primitive.

Here is a link for Linux info. from Tom's Hardware recently. And here.
This is developing into a link list:
10 things to do after 10.04 install

Getting Into Your Passworded BIOS

How to Reset a BIOS Password
The best method to reset a BIOS password depends on what BIOS the computer has. Common BIOS's include AMI, Award, IBM and Phoenix. Numerous other BIOS's do exist, but these are the most common.

Some BIOS's allow you to require a password be entered before the system will boot. Some BIOS's allow you to require a password to be entered before the BIOS setup may be accessed.

Comments: Trying to fix your HP/Compaq or whatever and can't get into the BIOS? Try this page. I have not tried any of this and am not needing to use it at present but the last time I needed this information I could not find it. Marked for future reference.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

No Windows Steady State In Win7 ... but Guest Works

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 7 Feature Focus: Guest Mode
Configuring Guest Mode

From a user experience perspective, Guest Mode is almost completely hidden in Windows 7. You can't access it from Start Menu Search (Go ahead, try. I dare you!), nor can you search for it from within Control Panel. It's like it's not there at all.

But it is. To find Guest Mode, open Control Panel, User Accounts and Family Safety, and then User Accounts. (Shortcut: Open the Start Menu and click your logon picture in the top right.) Then, click on Manage another account. From the list shown there, select the account for which you'd like to add Guest Mode. Or, if you don't have an account for this purpose, create one first.

Comments: If you have a motel lobby (library, mean kids, etc.) and used Steady State on XP then you will have to set up a Guest Account in lieu of Steady State in Windows 7, because Microsoft ain't given you no stinkin' Steady State for Win7. Mr. Thurrott explains how to do it.

Download the instructions from Microsoft.

Lifehacker describes using Guest mode.

Securing a guest account

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Uninstall Office 2007 Hair Pulling Cure

Uninstall Microsoft Office 2007 in Vista and XP » Raymond.CC Blog
Raymond seems a tad touchy about copying any of his "article" so I will just supply the link. I am currently uninstalling Office 2007 with Revo and the zillions of office entries ... I'm tempted to Rip it out with this little program.

Here is the little site that has the program. Gotta love the site's name: Refuse to Suffer.

I have no idea how to tag this???

OK, I ran it (I only had a couple pieces of Office remaining) and it worked. I had a runtime error the first run and then ran as Admin. I would chance it again but no guaranties. I'm throwing the ripper on my portable drive to impress some future troubled soul. Now to install good old Office 2003. Why did I uninstall 2007? I had become increasingly irritated at seeing all the unnecessary files, for you see I had not been cautious when installing and got the whole useless load. Besides, I hated the menu bar.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Cursing Your USB Flash Drive Lately?

USB Flash Drive Comparison part 2 – FAT32 vs NTFS vs ExFAT
So what have we learned from all of this, besides the fact that I need to get a life and out from in front of this computer?

We’ve pretty much learned the same thing we did from the original article really, that OCZ and Super Talent are the drives to own in terms of speed.

In terms of file systems, I would have to call FAT32 the winner only because it’s the most compatible with everything or every other operating system basically.

NTFS of course really isn’t compatible with everything, and ExFat is only compatible with Vista, but I’ve read that it can be easily made compatible with XP, but I haven’t tried it myself.

If we go back and look at the SiSoft Sandra test, the best scores were achieved using ExFat, then FAT32 came in second and NTFS in last.

Sandra 2009 and Diskbench are totally different tests with different results, if we go back and look at the Diskbench tests we can see:

For Copying to the USB drive FAT32 took the least amount of time, with NTFS coming in second and ExFat taking on average the longest time to Copy to the drive.

Copying From and Reading From the drives were very similar in their results though, most of the time the File Systems were close, with at points NTFS taking a bit longer while FAT32 and ExFAT were nearly identical.

So in my opinion the all around best choice is FAT32, or the default for most all USB drives out there today, it seems to give us the best average performance overall.

Comments: Check the whole article. I put the summary here. Flash drives are great for porting around a few small files but transferring 3 gigs drives me crazy. What is the answer? USB3 of course, and buy fast models, and use sync.

If you want to see how miserably slow (or gloriously fast) your USB flash drive is grab USBDview.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Post to Blogger, et. al. From Reader With "Send To"

Become a Google Reader Power User - PCWorld
So, how do you get at all these goodies? Simple:

1. Head to Google Reader and click Settings, Reader settings.

2. Click the Send To tab.

3. Click to place a checkmark next to any of the services you want to add to Google Reader's Send to menu. (The aforementioned Save as PDF option is enabled by default.) Note also the option to create a custom link if you want to include a service that's not already there.

4. Click Back to Google Reader and you're done.

Now, look at the bottom row of any item you want to share. You'll see a number of options (most of which are self-explanatory, I think), culminating with Send to on the far right.

Click it, and then click the option you want. Simple as that. Gotta love that Google Reader.

Comments: This is very cool but I doubt I will use it much (say ScribeFire). It evens grabs the main graphic. I'm not sure how power userish this is but I had never noticed it.

iTunes Replacement "CopyTrans Manager"

I have been using Floola to transfer media to iPod Classic but noticed CopyTrans Manager included in my Liberkey. I like Copy Trans better (I think). I'm not going to delineate all the why's but it is a little more intuitive or friendly or something. Granted I have only used it once so far.

Searching for iTunes replacement never brought CTM to my attention before. Too many people crying for attention.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Screen Capture Flip-Flop

I seem to keep flip-flopping around on my screen capture programs. I would like to simply draw a box on the screen, grab it, then annotate, re-size if necessary, upload to a free server and grab the link. Is this asking too much?

I'm back to TPUCapture from TechPowerUp. No I can not annotate or re-size but I can do everything else. It leaves a little watermark in the lower right corner but they deserve it for making a great little free program/service. I quit it a few versions back because it didn't work well with Win7 (or maybe it was just time to flip-flop) but it works well again.

If you need to annotate use Snipping Tool first then use TPU to grab the annotated clip. I loved FastStone for this but the free version became squirrely in Win7.

TPUCapture downloads with an installer but dropping the installer on Universal Extractor gives you the folder and TPU runs fine as an executable. Wow! LegRoom is being tagged as malicious by Firefox? What's up with that. I wouldn't worry about it.

So until my next flip-flop ... I'm trying to warm up to FireShot but it is clunky and limited to browser shots.

To make this even more long winded. I tried the old free FastStone Capture again (part of my Liberkey Suite) and it worked fine. It is a far better annotator than the Snipping Tool. FS can even re-size. So I have gone full circle.

In Chrome Awesome Screenshot Capture works well for browser captures.

Drag Drop Attachments To Gmail

Drag and drop attachments onto messages - Official Gmail Blog
I used to have to click "Attach a file," find the photos, click them, etc. Starting today, if I'm using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox 3.6, I can just drag and drop the files to attach them — easy as pie.


Comments: This is great but you need to Update Firefox to 3.6 to make it work. Just sayin'.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Dual N and G Network Setup

If you have an N router and both G and N adapters accessing the network, then performance will drop to the lowest common denominator. Setting up a dual system and letting the G adapters connect to the G router and the N adapters connect to the N router would be a better solution. Good instructions are hard to find. Here is a good start on the Netgear site. Here is another discussion on the procedure. Or here.

It does not matter which router feeds into the other because even 100 Ethernet is faster than N class wifi.

High points are:
1. Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router (only one allowed).
2. Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. Do not use the WAN port.
3. If the "primary router" has a 192.168.1.1 base address for example, and the DHCP pool is 192.168.1.2 thorough 192.168.1.100 (change this if needed).
Secondary router is set to 192.168.1.250 or some number outside the pool.
4. Create separate SSIDs (to know which is N or G) and use different channels for each wireless router. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are good choices.
5. Security needs to match on both routers.
6. Secondary router may require static IPs on the wireless PCs if DHCP information is not being relayed correctly from the secondary router.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Plantronics 655 USB Headset

Amazon.com: Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset: Electronics
Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset
Comments: Currently $34.79. Leo Laporte's podcast people use it so I assume it is good. Marking for future purchase.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Microsoft Fix It Center

Microsoft Fix it Center Online
Microsoft Fix it Center makes getting support easier than ever because automatic troubleshooters solve the issues you have now and prevent new ones.

Comments: I guess it is an easy way to get at troubleshooters. Not sure of other advantages.
Maybe this (FixWin) will be sufficient.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Touchfreeze automatically locks touchpad

touchfreeze - Project Hosting on Google Code
Annoyed when you are typing a document and accidentally the palm of your hand brushes the touchpad, changing the position of the cursor in your document or accidentally clicking on an option. TouchFreeze is simple utility for Windows NT/2000/XP that solves this problem. It automatically disables touchpad while you are typing text. Like syndaemon on x-windows.
Comments: Have not used but marking for future.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Remove Old Java Installs

JavaRa Updates and Removes Old and Redundant Java Versions - Windows - Lifehacker
Windows only: Tiny utility JavaRa cleans up older or redundant versions of the Java Runtime Environment
Comments: Look in Add/Remove Programs, do you have 4 versions of Java? Dump them with this little gem. Updates Java too and removes the startup entry. This is a good way to update Java and have control over the process.

Port Forwarding Program

Download Simple Port Forwarding | Simple Port Forwarding™
Comments: This interesting little program will handle port forwarding. As yet I can't see why it is any improvement over directly tweaking the router's setup page but the program is kinda cool. Maybe it could be useful, someday ... for something.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Blu-Ray Ripping

Bottom line is MakeMKV is easy. See below for getting beta keys after 30 day trial.
MakeMKV beta code here https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053
Instructions here https://www.howtogeek.com/161498/how-to-backup-your-dvd-and-blu-ray-movie-collection/
DVDFab beta files here and works but is harder to use.
Blu-Ray/HD DVD Copy Helper free for copying Blu-Ray. Both 64 and 32 bit. It works but ...

You may be better off using LifeHacker's instructions.

I am using a cheap Liteon reader from NewEgg.

DVDFab looks like it will expire except for the HD Decryption part. Copy appears to remain functional even after expiration. It takes around 45 minutes to copy 24GB to the hard drive on my system. It copies a full quality DVD in 10 minutes. Interesting, I had an Avatar BD which would not play on my Integra player and was giving errors on my BD reader. I set DVDFab to ignore all read errors (look in settings) and it copied with a a few minor skips. I was impressed.

HandBreak is the next step for reducing the size of bluray monsters and retaining HD quality. I could not get HandBreak to process the bluray when decrypting with Copy Helper. HandBreak recognized the disk and started the process but seemed to hang on file 3. Maybe I did not give it enough time.

HandBreak works great on the file transfered to the hard disk with DVDFab (after I found the huge 24 GB file) (VLC will play it for testing). I chose MKV packaging. Set the output directory first. Then choose the folder where the mts files are. It will search subfolders and if there are multiple mts files, HandBreak will combine them in the output. Don't try to add all the files in the que, let HB find them. The movie I am currently working on does not require 1920 to look good so I opted for the "loose" 720. I also chose the AC3 pass through. The encoding estimates 52 minutes which is a 10 minute time savings by choosing pass through audio. HandBreak's time estimate appears wonky so I don't really know if it saved time or not. Encoding actually took 1 hr. 10 min. The mkv file size ended up being 1.73 GB. I can see the difference in 720 but it is still very good. File size reduction is staggering.

I must say, on a movie like Avatar the visible quality difference between mkv and m2ts is noticeable.

Now I need some way to play these on HDTV. Can't decide WDTV or Roku or ???. I chose Roku and it plays mp4 files with some pixelation but chokes on large mkv files. The part it plays is great but it folds half way through. Roku's Netflix interface may be worth the price and it does allow some personal media playback. I really need to build a small HTPC.

Alternative ripping:

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Optimize Services (lazy man's version)

Smart PC Utilities - Download Center

Comments: Today's huge memory and fast processors eliminate some of the importance of optimizing services. If you are a big time gamer the "Gaming Mode" on this program might be handy. If you have an old PC, this program might give it more life. View video here. I have not tried it.
via: Gizmo

Friday, March 26, 2010

Install Windows From USB

Install Windows From a USB Flash Drive - WinToFlash | Portable USB Pen Drive Applications
Install Windows from USB. WinToFlash, created by Novicorp, is a tool that can be used to copy your existing Windows XP, 2003, 2008, WinPE, Vista, or Windows 7 CD/DVD Install Disk – Setup Disk to a USB Flash Drive. Upon completion, you should be able to Install Windows using a Flash Drive. Very useful if you own a Netbook or Notebook PC that can boot from USB but does not have an optical drive

Get it here.
This can be done other ways but if this works, why bother rolling your own.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Stalled Printer Repair

Stalled Printer Repair Cancels Print Jobs Without Waiting Years, No Batch File Required - Printers - Lifehacker
Just fire up Stalled Printer Repair next time you're staring at a stuck job in the print queue that won't be deleted.

Comments: We know how miserable stalled print jobs can be to delete. This portable program fixes it (I guess).

Stalled
Printer Repair
[Fantastic Freeware]

NeoRouter Another Possible VPN

NeoRouter Free Portable Remote Desktop | Portable USB Pen Drive Applications
NeoRouter Free Portable is a Freeware Remote Desktop Client created by NeoRouter Inc. It can be used for Remote Desktop, Folder Sharing, Printer Sharing, Chat and more. It supports Windows, Linux, and Mac computers.

Free AVG Rescue CD May Be Worth Noting

Free AVG Rescue CD Helps gets Unbootable PCs Working
AVG have just released a free rescue CD that can be used to recover your computer when the system cannot be loaded normally, such as after an extensive or deep-rooted virus infection.

The AVG Rescue CD enables you to fully remove infections from an otherwise inoperable PC and render the system bootable again

This could also be handy for folks who this week were locked out of their PCs by a faulty update installed by BitDefender and Bullguard (which uses the same engine and signatures) which rendered many 64 bit machines useless.

The AVG Rescue CD aims to help people so affected to recover their system. Essentially, it is a portable version of AVG Anti-Virus embedded in a version of Linux so it doesn't need Windows to operate.

AVG Link http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd#tba2

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Garmin Map Update

Garmin Nuvi is easy to update. Grab a copy of the most recent "CN Full North America NT 20xx.xx Unlocked IMG" and put it in a folder named "Garmin". There must be a torrent file of it somewhere. Transfer that folder to an empty SD card and plug it into the Nuvi. It should now work without further input. Check by going to Settings>map>map info and you should see two versions. I unchecked the old version so be safe. An old 2GB card should be sufficient but I used a 4GB I had lying around.

The file is over 1GB so both old and new can not fit on the internal Nuvi memory. One of my Nuvi units looked like it would allow me to delete the old map file and the other unit had "delete" gray in my PC menu. I decided not to chance it and just used the SD card method. This violated my OCD leanings slightly but it worked.

The 2010 Garmin GPS Update: Hacked | Haklabs.com
Garmin GPS systems are great if you don’t know how to find your way to an address but their maps often get outdated in a few years as new infrastructure is developed in your city. Many find the $80 update somewhat of a pinch in their pockets so here is a solution for those people!

Comments: Interesting.

Scan A File With "Everything"

VirusTotal - Free Online Virus and Malware Scan
Virustotal is a service that analyzes suspicious files and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines.

Comments: If you have a file, let's say a program you wish to install that came from some mysterious source, and you want to check it for viruses, use Virus Total and have the file scanned by every virus scanner know to man. Some files are still benign even if a few detect false positives. You must be the judge.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Pin Not Available

Crazy Error I had not seen before. Pin not available blah blah. I restarted a few times and it finally worked. If it doesn't some say to...