Save any video from any website which has video contents to stream

This trick is for those who wish to watch youtube/metacafe videos without logging onto internet to stream it again and again, or want to make collection of videos from youtube or metacafe. This trick will always work without any 3rd party softwares such as youtube downloader or IDM.

1.> The very first step is to use a firefox browser or a chrome browser for ease for watching streaming videos.

2.> Watching the video until it completely buffers (light red colored line finishes).

3.> Now open a new tab or window, and on the address bar type: "about:cache" (without quotes) and hit enter key to see the following window.

4.> This window displays location of cache directory, where our video lies. Sort the list of cache files by "date" and "size" by clicking over them respectively. The higher sized file is our buffered video. Copy this scarily named file to your desktop.

5.> Now its time to change the name and extension of this file as "anyname.flv"
the .flv stands for flash video. Note that you must remove tick-mark from the "view folder options" which says "hide extensions of known file types".

6.> Enjoy the video as many no. of times you want.
7.> If you use the Google chrome browser dont worry, you can directly paste this following path into windows address bar:

C:\Users\varun\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache

How to make your own Windows 7 Themes

You can make your own themes in windows 7 itself, theres no need of any third party software to do this task.

1.> The first step in making a theme is to create a folder and dump all the favorite wallpapers into it. See image below for example.

2.> Now on the desktop, Right click on mouse to choose "personalise" option.

3.> Now see below to choose "desktop back-grounds" button, here you have to specify the folder in which you have dumped all the wallpapers, you can also set time and alignment of the picture in the same window, and clik "save changes".

4.> Now its about choosing the task bar and the windows color. after making changes you can click over the "windows color" button next to "desktop backgrounds". Again save changes after choosing a theme color of your choice.

5.> Now its up-to you whether you wish to also change the windows sounds at every event of closing or error events.

6.> Now there are two options to save a theme, a.) save only to your computer b.) save the theme for sharing.

7.> I prefer option b. because you can share your own made theme with your friends as a file.

8.> For saving a theme made by you, you should now "Right" click on the "unsaved theme" button in "personalize" options.

Customize Windows 7 Login Screen Using Account Screen Editor

Windows 7 Account Screen Editor" which provides an easy way to customize Windows 7 login screen background.

Run the program "Run as Administrator" Then Click on "Set background" button and choose a picture for your login screen. Click on "Default background" button to restore default login scren background.
If a picture is too large, it'll automatically resize the picture.

You can download it using following link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/300228769/Windows_7_Logon_screen_editor_by_bcubing.exe.html

Task Manager - Win7

Terminate Stubborn Processes That Can't End Process in Task Manager-Win7 

Are you tried killing the application in Task Manager. But sometime its not working. Sometimes you may not able to do so. No matter how many times you have tried to kill the process, the process still continues to run and doesn’t leave any CPU cycle for other tasks processing, ended up that you need to hard reboot your computer. This could be very irritating and inefficient. Someone can ask for What's the difference between pskill and Windows "TASKKILL". There is Not a lot of difference indeed, but TASKKILL is not available on all WINDOWS editions.
Use PsKill. Its a small utility form Microsoft Sysinternals, now you can easily and very quickly kill application.
PsKill is an executable file that doesn’t required any installation. It is not only able to kill processes locally, but also able to kills processes on remote computers. To use PsKill to kill hang process, follow the steps.

1. Download PsKill utility.
2. Extract to default System32 path.(C:\Windows\System32)
3. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open Task manager
4. On the Task Manager Go to View>Select Columns…
5. Select PID (Process Identifier) Then Click ok

6. Now You can see running application's PID

7. Press Start type cmd. Then Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER (For Administrator privilege)

8. Type pskill, space and followed by the PID value. For example, if the PID is 2412, then type pskill 9596 and press enter. The process will be terminated without affecting other running processes.

FOR ADVANCED USER

Usage: pskill [- ] [-t] [\\computer [-u username] [-p password]]

-	Displays the supported options.
-t	Kill the process and its descendants.
\\computer	Specifies the computer on which the process you want to terminate is executing. The remote computer must be accessible via the NT network neighborhood.
-u username	If you want to kill a process on a remote system and the account you are executing in does not have administrative privileges on the remote system then you must login as an administrator using this command-line option. If you do not include the password with the -p option then PsKill will prompt you for the password without echoing your input to the display.
-p password	This option lets you specify the login password on the command line so that you can use PsList from batch files. If you specify an account name and omit the -p option PsList prompts you interactively for a password.
process id	Specifies the process ID of the process you want to kill.
process name	Specifies the process name of the process or processes you want to kill.

Windows 7 Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts, which also known as accelerator keys or hot keys, are a finite set of one key or a combination of two or more keys that, when pressed, will invoke an operation or perform a task by operating system or application program running within the operating system, or simply activate and run a program. Keyboard shortcuts or hot keys make it easier for user to interact with computer, which otherwise would typically require a mouse or other pointing device to perform the operation.

Windows 7 includes many new keyboard accelerator keys that make it easier to work with menus and other commands. Normally, the keyboard shortcuts to activate the command are listed along with command in the programs’ menus (typically a letter is underlined to indicate that it can be activated by pressing the combination of Alt key with the underlined key). Some are not listed and hidden though.

Here’s the full list of Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts or accelerator hotkeys available on the operating system level and also for several built-in application programs in Windows 7, as published by Microsoft.

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

    * Right Shift for eight seconds: Turn Filter Keys on and off
    * Left Alt + Left Shift + PrtScn (or PrtScn): Turn High Contrast on or off
    * Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock: Turn Mouse Keys on or off
    * Shift five times: Turn Sticky Keys on or off
    * Num Lock for five seconds: Turn Toggle Keys on or off
    * Windows logo key + U: Open the Ease of Access Center

General keyboard shortcuts

    * F1: Display Help
    * Ctrl + C (or Ctrl + Insert): Copy the selected item
    * Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
    * Ctrl + V (or Shift + Insert): Paste the selected item
    * Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
    * Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
    * Delete (or Ctrl + D): Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
    * Shift + Delete: Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
    * F2: Rename the selected item
    * Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
    * Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
    * Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
    * Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
    * Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key: Select a block of text
    * Shift + any arrow key: Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
    * Ctrl + any arrow key + Spacebar: Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
    * Ctrl + A: Select all items in a document or window
    * F3: Search for a file or folder
    * Alt + Enter: Display properties for the selected item
    * Alt + F4: Close the active item, or exit the active program
    * Alt + Spacebar: Open the shortcut menu for the active window
    * Ctrl + F4: Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
    * Alt + Tab: Switch between open items
    * Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
    * Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size of icons on the desktop
    * Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
    * Ctrl+ Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
    * Alt + Esc: Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
    * F6: Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
    * F4: Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer
    * Shift + F10: Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
    * Ctrl + Esc: Open the Start menu
    * Alt + underlined letter: Display the corresponding menu
    * Alt + underlined letter: Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
    * F10: 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 (or Ctrl + R): Refresh the active window
    * Alt + Up Arrow: View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
    * Esc: Cancel the current task
    * Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open Task Manager
    * Shift when you insert a CD: Prevent the CD from automatically playing
    * Left Alt + Shift: Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled
    * Ctrl + ShiftL: Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled
    * Right or Left Ctrl + Shift: Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

    * Ctrl + Tab: Move forward through tabs
    * Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move back through tabs
    * Tab: Move forward through options
    * Shift + Tab: Move back through options
    * Alt + underlined letter: Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter
    * Enter: Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands
    * 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: Display Help
    * F4: 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

Windows logo key keyboard shortcuts

    * Windows logo key: Open or close the Start menu.
    * Windows logo key + Pause: Display the System Properties dialog box.
    * Windows logo key + D: Display the desktop.
    * Windows logo key + M: Minimize all windows.
    * Windows logo key + Shift + M: Restore minimized windows to the desktop.
    * Windows logo key + E: Open Computer.
    * Windows logo key + F: Search for a file or folder.
    * Ctrl + Windows logo key + F: Search for computers (if you’re on a network).
    * Windows logo key + L: Lock your computer or switch users.
    * Windows logo key + R: Open the Run dialog box.
    * Windows logo key + T: Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
    * Windows logo key + number: Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
    * Shift + Windows logo key + number: Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
    * Ctrl + Windows logo key + number: Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
    * Alt + Windows logo key + number: Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
    * Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
    * Ctrl+Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
    * Ctrl+Windows logo key + B: Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
    * Windows logo key + Spacebar: Preview the desktop.
    * Windows logo key + Up Arrow: Maximize the window.
    * Windows logo key + Left Arrow: Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.
    * Windows logo key + Right Arrow: Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.
    * Windows logo key + Down Arrow: Minimize the window.
    * Windows logo key + Home: Minimize all but the active window.
    * Windows logo key + Shift + Up Arrow: Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
    * Windows logo key + Shift+ Left Arrow or Right Arrow: Move a window from one monitor to another.
    * Windows logo key + P: Choose a presentation display mode.
    * Windows logo key + G: Cycle through gadgets.
    * Windows logo key + U: Open Ease of Access Center.
    * Windows logo key + X: Open Windows Mobility Center.

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

    * Ctrl + N: Open a new window
    * Ctrl + W: Close the current window
    * Ctrl + Shift + N: Create a new folder
    * End: Display the bottom of the active window
    * Home: Display the top of the active window
    * F11: Maximize or minimize the active window
    * Ctrl + Period (.): Rotate a picture clockwise
    * Ctrl + Comma (,): Rotate a picture counter-clockwise
    * Num Lock + Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad: Display all subfolders under the selected folder
    * Num Lock + Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad: Display the contents of the selected folder
    * Num Lock + Minus Sign (-) on numeric keypad: Collapse the selected folder
    * Left Arrow: Collapse the current selection (if it’s expanded), or select the parent folder
    * Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box for the selected item
    * Alt + P: Display the preview pane
    * Alt + Left Arrow: View the previous folder
    * Backspace: View the previous folder
    * Right Arrow: Display the current selection (if it’s collapsed), or select the first subfolder
    * Alt + Right Arrow: View the next folder
    * Alt + Up Arrow: View the parent folder
    * Ctrl + Shift + E: Display all folders above the selected folder
    * Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons
    * Alt + D: Select the address bar
    * Ctrl + E: Select the search box
    * Ctrl + F: Select the search box

Taskbar keyboard shortcuts

    * Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program
    * Ctrl + Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program as an administrator
    * Shift + Right-click on a taskbar button: Show the window menu for the program
    * Shift + Right-click on a grouped taskbar button: Show the window menu for the group
    * Ctrl + Click on a grouped taskbar button: Cycle through the windows of the group

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

    * Windows logo key + Plus Sign or Minus Sign: Zoom in or out
    * Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar: Preview the desktop in full-screen mode
    * Ctrl + Alt + F: Switch to full-screen mode
    * Ctrl + Alt + L: Switch to lens mode
    * Ctrl + Alt + D: Switch to docked mode
    * Ctrl + Alt + I: Invert colors
    * Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys: Pan in the direction of the arrow keys
    * Ctrl + Alt + R: Resize the lens
    * Windows logo key + Esc: Exit Magnifier

Remote Desktop Connection keyboard shortcuts

    * Alt + Page Up: Move between programs from left to right.
    * Alt + Page Down: Move between programs from right to left.
    * Alt + Insert: Cycle through programs in the order that they were started in.
    * Alt + Home: Display the Start menu.
    * Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch between a window and full screen.
    * Ctrl + Alt + End: Display the Windows Security dialog box.
    * Alt + Delete: Display the system menu.
    * Ctrl + Alt + Minus Sign (-) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrtScn on a local computer).
    * Ctrl + Alt + Plus Sign (+) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PrtScn on a local computer).
    * Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.
    * Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.

Paint keyboard shortcuts

    * Ctrl + N: Create a new picture
    * Ctrl + O: Open an existing picture
    * Ctrl + S: Save changes to a picture
    * F12: Save the picture as a new file
    * Ctrl + P: Print a picture
    * Alt + F4: Close a picture and its Paint window
    * Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
    * Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
    * Ctrl + A: Select the entire picture
    * Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
    * Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
    * Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
    * Right Arrow: Move the selection or active shape right by one pixel
    * Left Arrow: Move the selection or active shape left by one pixel
    * Down Arrow: Move the selection or active shape down by one pixel
    * Up Arrow: Move the selection or active shape up by one pixel
    * Esc: Cancel a selection
    * Delete: Delete a selection
    * Ctrl + B: Bold selected text
    * Ctrl + +: Increase the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
    * Ctrl + -: Decrease the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
    * Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
    * Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
    * Ctrl + E: Open the Properties dialog box
    * Ctrl + W: Open the Resize and Skew dialog box
    * Ctrl + Page Up: Zoom in
    * Ctrl + Page Down: Zoom out
    * F11: View a picture in full-screen mode
    * Ctrl + R: Show or hide the ruler
    * Ctrl + G: Show or hide gridlines
    * F10 or Alt: Display keytips
    * Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
    * F1: Open Paint Help

WordPad keyboard shortcuts

    * Ctrl + N: Create a new document
    * Ctrl + O: Open an existing document
    * Ctrl + S: Save changes to a document
    * F12: Save the document as a new file
    * Ctrl + P: Print a document
    * Alt + F4: Close WordPad
    * Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
    * Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
    * Ctrl + A: Select the entire document
    * Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
    * Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
    * Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
    * Ctrl + B: Make selected text bold
    * Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
    * Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
    * Ctrl + =: Make selected text subscript
    * Ctrl + Shift + =: Make selected text superscript
    * Ctrl + L: Align text left
    * Ctrl + E Align text center
    * Ctrl + R:: Align text right
    * Ctrl + J: Justify text
    * Ctrl + 1: Set single line spacing
    * Ctrl + 2: Set double line spacing
    * Ctrl + 5: Set line spacing to 1.5
    * Ctrl + Shift + >: Increase the font size
    * Ctrl + Shift + <: Decrease the font size
    * Ctrl + Shift + A: Change characters to all capitals
    * Ctrl + Shift + L: Change the bullet style
    * Ctrl + D: Insert a Microsoft Paint drawing
    * Ctrl + F: Find text in a document
    * F3: Find the next instance of the text in the Find dialog box
    * Ctrl + H: Replace text in a document
    * Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the left
    * Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the right
    * Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the line above
    * Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the line below
    * Ctrl + Home: Move to the beginning of the document
    * Ctrl + End: Move to the end of the document
    * Ctrl + Page Up: Move up one page
    * Ctrl + Page Down: Move down one page
    * Ctrl + Delete: Delete the next word
    * F10: Display keytips
    * Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
    * F1: Open WordPad Help

Calculator keyboard shortcuts

    * Alt + 1: Switch to Standard mode
    * Alt + 2: Switch to Scientific mode
    * Alt + 3: Switch to Programmer mode
    * Alt + 4: Switch to Statistics mode
    * Ctrl + E: Open date calculations
    * Ctrl + H: Turn calculation history on or off
    * Ctrl + U: Open unit conversion
    * Alt + C: Calculate or solve date calculations and worksheets
    * F1: Open Calculator Help
    * Ctrl + Q: Press the M- button
    * Ctrl + P: Press the M+ button
    * Ctrl + M: Press the MS button
    * Ctrl + R: Press the MR button
    * Ctrl + L: Press the MC button
    * %: Press the % button
    * F9: Press the +/– button
    * /: Press the / button
    * *: Press the * button
    * +: Press the + button
    * -: Press the – button
    * R: Press the 1/× button
    * @: Press the square root button
    * 0-9: Press the number buttons (0-9)
    * =: Press the = button
    * .: Press the . (decimal point) button
    * Backspace: Press the backspace button
    * Esc: Press the C button
    * Del: Press the CE button
    * Ctrl + Shift + D: Clear the calculation history
    * F2: Edit the calculation history
    * Up Arrow key: Navigate up in the calculation history
    * Down Arrow key: Navigate down in the calculation history
    * Esc: Cancel editing the calculation history
    * Enter: Recalculate the calculation history after editing
    * F3: Select Degrees in Scientific mode
    * F4: Select Radians in Scientific mode
    * F5: Select Grads in Scientific mode
    * I: Press the Inv button in Scientific mode
    * D: Press the Mod button in Scientific mode
    * Ctrl + S: Press the sinh button in Scientific mode
    * Ctrl + O: Press the cosh button in Scientific mode
    * Ctrl + T: Press the tanh button in Scientific mode
    * (: Press the ( button in Scientific mode
    * ): Press the ) button in Scientific mode
    * N: Press the ln button in Scientific mode
    * ;: Press the Int button in Scientific mode
    * S: Press the sin button in Scientific mode
    * O: Press the cos button in Scientific mode
    * T: Press the tan button in Scientific mode
    * M: Press the dms button in Scientific mode
    * P: Press the pi button in Scientific mode
    * V: Press the F-E button in Scientific mode
    * X: Press the Exp button in Scientific mode
    * Q: Press the x^2 button in Scientific mode
    * Y: Press the x^y button in Scientific mode
    * #: Press the x^3 button in Scientific mode
    * L: Press the log button in Scientific mode
    * !: Press the n! button in Scientific mode
    * Ctrl + Y: Press the y√x button in Scientific mode
    * Ctrl + B: Press the 3√x button in Scientific mode
    * Ctrl + G: Press the 10x button in Scientific mode
    * F5: Select Hex in Programmer mode
    * F6: Select Dec in Programmer mode
    * F7: Select Oct in Programmer mode
    * F8: Select Bin in Programmer mode
    * F12: Select Qword in Programmer mode
    * F2: Select Dword in Programmer mode
    * F3: Select Word in Programmer mode
    * F4: Select Byte in Programmer mode
    * K: Press the RoR button in Programmer mode
    * J: Press the RoL button in Programmer mode
    * <: Press the Lsh button in Programmer mode
    * >: Press the Rsh button in Programmer mode
    * %: Press the Mod button in Programmer mode
    * (: Press the ( button in Programmer mode
    * ): Press the ) button in Programmer mode
    * |: Press the Or button in Programmer mode
    * ^: Press the Xor button in Programmer mode
    * ~: Press the Not button in Programmer mode
    * &: Press the And button in Programmer mode
    * A-F: Press the A-F buttons in Programmer mode
    * Spacebar: Toggles the bit value in Programmer mode
    * A: Press the Average button in Statistics mode
    * Ctrl + A: Press the Average Sq button in Statistics mode
    * S: Press the Sum button in Statistics mode
    * Ctrl + S: Press the Sum Sq button in Statistics mode
    * T: Press the S.D. button in Statistics mode
    * Ctrl + T: Press the Inv S.D. button in Statistics mode
    * D: Press the CAD button in Statistics mode

Windows Journal keyboard shortcuts

    * Ctrl + N: Start a new note
    * Ctrl + O: Open a recently used note
    * Ctrl + S: Save changes to a note
    * Ctrl + Shift + V: Move a note to a specific folder
    * Ctrl + P: Print a note
    * Alt + F4: Close a note and its Journal window
    * Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
    * Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
    * Ctrl + A: Select all items on a page
    * Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
    * Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
    * Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
    * Esc: Cancel a selection
    * Delete: Delete a selection
    * Ctrl + F: Start a basic find
    * Ctrl + G: Go to a page
    * F5: Refresh find results
    * F5: Refresh the note list
    * F6: Toggle between a note list and a note
    * Ctrl + Shift + C: Display a shortcut menu for column headings in a note list
    * F11: View a note in full-screen mode
    * F1: Open Journal Help

Windows Help viewer keyboard shortcuts

    * Alt + C: Display the Table of Contents
    * Alt + N: Display the Connection Settings menu
    * F10: Display the Options menu
    * Alt + Left Arrow: Move back to the previously viewed topic
    * Alt + Right Arrow: Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic
    * Alt + A: Display the customer support page
    * Alt + Home: Display the Help and Support home page
    * Home: Move to the beginning of a topic
    * End: Move to the end of a topic
    * Ctrl + F: Search the current topic
    * Ctrl + P: Print a topic
    * F3: Move the cursor to the search box

How to fix corrupted files in XP

** Contents **
(1) Introduction
(2) Required
(3) Actual Tutorial
(4) Copyright Notice

// Introduction //
This tutorial has been made so people that are having problems with corrupted files, can learn how to fix them easy.

// Required //
+ Windows XP operating system
+ Windows XP cd

// Right to the tutorial //
+ Place the xp cd in your cd/dvd drive
+ Go to start
+ run
+ type in 'sfc /scannow' (without the ')

Now it should all load, and fix all your corrupted file on windows XP :)

Change XP Boot Screen

If you would like to change your boot up screen follow the directions below.
These instructions assume that you have a place to download the boot screen from the net.
If you would like to download a boot screen, visit http://www.themexp.org

1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)
2. Download the .zip to your computer
3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)
4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)
5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe
6. Reboot your computer as you normally would

Make a PDF file Speak

Note : This trick works for Adobe Reaader 6.0


Do you ever wonder how nice it would be if instead of reading
through the pdf file you could just make it speak.

Is it Possible ?
The answer is yes.

It can be done in 3 simple steps.

Step 1. Press : Shift+Ctrl+Y (To Activate Read Aloud Property)
Step 2. Press : Ctrl+Shift+B (If you want to hear the entire Topic)
Step 3. Press : Ctrl+Shift+V (If you want to hear the entire Page)

Changing the DOS background colour

The value DefaultColor controls the foreground and background colors used in command prompt windows. It has a default value of 0, for standard white text on a black background.
CHANGING DOS BACKGROUND
Open your registry (press win+r and type regedit , hit enter )
goto


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]

u'll find "DefaultColor"

You can replace it's value with a two-digit hexadecimal number, in which the first digit selects a background color and the second a foreground color. The hexadecimal codes are:

Hexadecimal value Color
0 Black
1 Blue
2 Green
3 Aqua
4 Red
5 Purple
6 Yellow
7 White
8 Gray
9 Light Blue
A Light Green
B Light Aqua
C Light Red
D Light Purple
E Light Yellow
F Bright White


A value of F0, for example, would give black text on a white background, and 1E would yield yellow text on a blue background.

The change should take effect the next time you open a console window.

ADD FOLDER TO "SEND TO" MENU

Many a times we require a FOLDER too often, like to store our Multimedia files and all !!!

No no need to access the folder and carry out the traditional COPY & PASTE !!!

Just add it too "SEND TO" !!!

Do as follows :

** Open any FOLDER.

** Then, TOOLS >> Folder Options

** Click view TAB.

** In LIST of Advance Settings, click Show hidden files and folders !

** Now, go to C:\Documents and Settings

** Here, double click and open your (username) folder !

** Now, open SendTo folder.

** Here copy and paste the shortcut of your favorite folder.

That's Done !!!

Now, tranfer files to your favorite folder :

** Right Click the file
** Then, Send To
** Click the folder name !

Hide ur drives || Lock ur drives

Open Registry (go to run command, type "regedit" and press enter)

then go to this key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer

now right click in right side pane and create DWORD Value (blue color)

Rename it as "NoViewOnDrive" (for locking drive)
or
Rename it as "NoDrives" (for Hiding drive)

double click on it and put some numbers to lock ur desired Drive and click ok.

DRIVE NOS.
FOR A : 1
FOR C : 4
FOR D : 8
FOR E : 16
FOR F : 32
FOR G : 64
FOR H : 128

finally restart or log-off the computer to take effect.


Keep in mind that "0" is Default Value to Disable or remove this setting..


After locking the drive when u try to open it, u will see a msgbox like this
"This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator"

Prevent PenDrive Virus

Prevent PenDrive Virus
:: Do the following ::

1) Disable autorun/autoplay function of your pen drive.

2) Now plugin your pen drive and open any folder of your computer.
(Do not open any folder from ur pen drive.)

3) Now goto tools then select Folder Option
In that box mark the Show Hidden Files & Folders option.
Also Uncheck Hide Extension for known file types & Hide Protected OS files.

Now click apply and ok buttons and close that folder.

4) Nome come to desktop.
On the Desktop, click on windows Start button and select Search for files & folders.

When the search dialog box appears on the screen, in that click on All Files & Folders, now click on More Advanced Options then select search Hidden files & folders.


Now go above & in Look In option, select your pendrive letter (For example E: Or G:)
and hit Enter.

5) Now if you see any unknown .Exefiles, simply delete them all.

Run Commands

I know there are a lot of people who love using the run prompt or the
* Accessibility Controls : access.cpl
* Add Hardware Wizard : hdwwiz.cpl
* Add/Remove Programs : appwiz.cpl
* Administrative Tools : control admintools
* Automatic Updates : wuaucpl.cpl
* Bluetooth Transfer Wizard : fsquirt
* Calculator : calc
* Certificate Manager : certmgr.msc
* Character Map : charmap
* Check Disk Utility : chkdsk
* Clipboard Viewer : clipbrd
* Command Prompt : cmd
* Component Services : dcomcnfg
* Computer Management : compmgmt.msc
* Date and Time Properties : timedate.cpl
* DDE Shares : ddeshare
* Device Manager : devmgmt.msc
* Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* : directx.cpl
* Direct X Troubleshooter : dxdiag
* Disk Cleanup Utility : cleanmgr
* Disk Defragment : dfrg.msc
* Disk Management : diskmgmt.msc
* Disk Partition Manager : diskpart
* Display Properties : control desktop
* Display Properties : desk.cpl
* Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) : control color
* Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility : drwtsn32
* Driver Verifier Utility : verifier
* Event Viewer : eventvwr.msc
* File Signature Verification Tool : sigverif
* Findfast : findfast.cpl
* Folders Properties : control folders
* Fonts : control fonts
* Fonts Folder : fonts
* Free Cell Card Game : freecell
* Game Controllers : joy.cpl
* Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) : gpedit.msc
* Hearts Card Game : mshearts
* Iexpress Wizard : iexpress
* Indexing Service : ciadv.msc
* Internet Properties : inetcpl.cpl
* IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) : ipconfig
/all
* IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig
/displaydns
* IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /flushdns
* IP Configuration (Release All Connections) : ipconfig /release
* IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) : ipconfig /r
* IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) : ipconfig
/registerdns
* IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /showclassid
* IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /setclassid
* Java Control Panel (If Installed) : jpicpl32.cpl
* Java Control Panel (If Installed) : javaws
* Keyboard Properties : control keyboard
* Local Security Settings : secpol.msc
* Local Users and Groups : lusrmgr.msc
* Logs You Out Of Windows : logoff
* Microsoft Chat : winchat
* Minesweeper Game : winmine
* Mouse Properties : control mouse
* Mouse Properties : main.cpl
* Network Connections : control netconnections
* Network Connections : ncpa.cpl
* Network Setup Wizard : netsetup.cpl
* Notepad : notepad
* Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) : nvtuicpl.cpl
* Object Packager : packager
* ODBC Data Source Administrator : odbccp32.cpl
* On Screen Keyboard : osk
* Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) : ac3filter.cpl
* Password Properties : password.cpl
* Performance Monitor : perfmon.msc
* Performance Monitor : perfmon
* Phone and Modem Options : telephon.cpl
* Power Configuration : powercfg.cpl
* Printers and Faxes : control printers
* Printers Folder : printers
* Private Character Editor : eudcedit
* Quicktime (If Installed) : QuickTime.cpl
* Regional Settings : intl.cpl
* Registry Editor : regedit
* Registry Editor : regedit32
* Remote Desktop : mstsc
* Removable Storage : ntmsmgr.msc
* Removable Storage Operator Requests : ntmsoprq.msc
* Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) : rsop.msc
* Scanners and Cameras : sticpl.cpl
* Scheduled Tasks : control schedtasks
* Security Center : wscui.cpl
* Services : services.msc
* Shared Folders : fsmgmt.msc
* Shuts Down Windows : shutdown
* Sounds and Audio : mmsys.cpl
* Spider Solitare Card Game : spider
* SQL Client Configuration : cliconfg
* System Configuration Editor : sysedit
* System Configuration Utility : msconfig
* System File Checker Utility (Scan Imm
* System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) : sfc /scannow
* System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) : sfc
/scanonce
* System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) : sfc /scanboot
* System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) : sfc
/revert
* System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) : sfc /purgecache
* System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) : sfc
/cachesize=x
* System Properties : sysdm.cpl
* Task Manager : taskmgr
* Telnet Client : telnet
* User Account Management : nusrmgr.cpl
* Utility Manager : utilman
* Windows Firewall : firewall.cpl
* Windows Magnifier : magnify
* Windows Management Infrastructure : wmimgmt.msc
* Windows System Security Tool : syskey
* Windows Update Launches : wupdmgr
* Windows XP Tour Wizard : tourstart
* Wordpad : write

Bandwidth Explained!

This is well written explanation about bandwidth, very useful info.



BandWidth Explained

Most hosting companies offer a variety of bandwidth options in their plans. So exactly what is bandwidth as it relates to web hosting? Put simply, bandwidth is the amount of traffic that is allowed to occur between your web site and the rest of the internet. The amount of bandwidth a hosting company can provide is determined by their network connections, both internal to their data center and external to the public internet.


Network Connectivity

The internet, in the most simplest of terms, is a group of millions of computers connected by networks. These connections within the internet can be large or small depending upon the cabling and equipment that is used at a particular internet location. It is the size of each network connection that determines how much bandwidth is available. For example, if you use a DSL connection to connect to the internet, you have 1.54 Mega bits (Mb) of bandwidth. Bandwidth therefore is measured in bits (a single 0 or 1). Bits are grouped in bytes which form words, text, and other information that is transferred between your computer and the internet.

If you have a DSL connection to the internet, you have dedicated bandwidth between your computer and your internet provider. But your internet provider may have thousands of DSL connections to their location. All of these connection aggregate at your internet provider who then has their own dedicated connection to the internet (or multiple connections) which is much larger than your single connection. They must have enough bandwidth to serve your computing needs as well as all of their other customers. So while you have a 1.54Mb connection to your internet provider, your internet provider may have a 255Mb connection to the internet so it can accommodate your needs and up to 166 other users (255/1.54).


Traffic

A very simple analogy to use to understand bandwidth and traffic is to think of highways and cars. Bandwidth is the number of lanes on the highway and traffic is the number of cars on the highway. If you are the only car on a highway, you can travel very quickly. If you are stuck in the middle of rush hour, you may travel very slowly since all of the lanes are being used up.

Traffic is simply the number of bits that are transferred on network connections. It is easiest to understand traffic using examples. One Gigabyte is 2 to the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes. To put this in perspective, it takes one byte to store one character. Imagine 100 file cabinets in a building, each of these cabinets holds 1000 folders. Each folder has 100 papers. Each paper contains 100 characters - A GB is all the characters in the building. An MP3 song is about 4MB, the same song in wav format is about 40MB, a full length movie can be 800MB to 1000MB (1000MB = 1GB).

If you were to transfer this MP3 song from a web site to your computer, you would create 4MB of traffic between the web site you are downloading from and your computer. Depending upon the network connection between the web site and the internet, the transfer may occur very quickly, or it could take time if other people are also downloading files at the same time. If, for example, the web site you download from has a 10MB connection to the internet, and you are the only person accessing that web site to download your MP3, your 4MB file will be the only traffic on that web site. However, if three people are all downloading that same MP at the same time, 12MB (3 x 4MB) of traffic has been created. Because in this example, the host only has 10MB of bandwidth, someone will have to wait. The network equipment at the hosting company will cycle through each person downloading the file and transfer a small portion at a time so each person's file transfer can take place, but the transfer for everyone downloading the file will be slower. If 100 people all came to the site and downloaded the MP3 at the same time, the transfers would be extremely slow. If the host wanted to decrease the time it took to download files simultaneously, it could increase the bandwidth of their internet connection (at a cost due to upgrading equipment).


Hosting Bandwidth

In the example above, we discussed traffic in terms of downloading an MP3 file. However, each time you visit a web site, you are creating traffic, because in order to view that web page on your computer, the web page is first downloaded to your computer (between the web site and you) which is then displayed using your browser software (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.) . The page itself is simply a file that creates traffic just like the MP3 file in the example above (however, a web page is usually much smaller than a music file).

A web page may be very small or large depending upon the amount of text and the number and quality of images integrated within the web page. For example, the home page for CNN.com is about 200KB (200 Kilobytes = 200,000 bytes = 1,600,000 bits). This is typically large for a web page. In comparison, Yahoo's home page is about 70KB.


How Much Bandwidth Is Enough?

It depends (don't you hate that answer). But in truth, it does. Since bandwidth is a significant determinant of hosting plan prices, you should take time to determine just how much is right for you. Almost all hosting plans have bandwidth requirements measured in months, so you need to estimate the amount of bandwidth that will be required by your site on a monthly basis

If you do not intend to provide file download capability from your site, the formula for calculating bandwidth is fairly straightforward:

Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Views x Average Page Size x 31 x Fudge Factor

If you intend to allow people to download files from your site, your bandwidth calculation should be:

[(Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Views x Average Page Size) +
(Average Daily File Downloads x Average File Size)] x 31 x Fudge Factor

Let us examine each item in the formula:

Average Daily Visitors - The number of people you expect to visit your site, on average, each day. Depending upon how you market your site, this number could be from 1 to 1,000,000.

Average Page Views - On average, the number of web pages you expect a person to view. If you have 50 web pages in your web site, an average person may only view 5 of those pages each time they visit.

Average Page Size - The average size of your web pages, in Kilobytes (KB). If you have already designed your site, you can calculate this directly.

Average Daily File Downloads - The number of downloads you expect to occur on your site. This is a function of the numbers of visitors and how many times a visitor downloads a file, on average, each day.

Average File Size - Average file size of files that are downloadable from your site. Similar to your web pages, if you already know which files can be downloaded, you can calculate this directly.

Fudge Factor - A number greater than 1. Using 1.5 would be safe, which assumes that your estimate is off by 50%. However, if you were very unsure, you could use 2 or 3 to ensure that your bandwidth requirements are more than met.

Usually, hosting plans offer bandwidth in terms of Gigabytes (GB) per month. This is why our formula takes daily averages and multiplies them by 31.


Summary

Most personal or small business sites will not need more than 1GB of bandwidth per month. If you have a web site that is composed of static web pages and you expect little traffic to your site on a daily basis, go with a low bandwidth plan. If you go over the amount of bandwidth allocated in your plan, your hosting company could charge you over usage fees, so if you think the traffic to your site will be significant, you may want to go through the calculations above to estimate the amount of bandwidth required in a hosting plan.

Caught A Virus

Caught A Virus?

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


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

You know they're right. Yet for one reason or another, you're not running antivirus software, or you are but it's not up to date. Maybe you turned off your virus scanner because it conflicted with another program. Maybe you got tired of upgrading after you bought Norton Antivirus 2001, 2002, and 2003. Or maybe your annual subscription of virus definitions recently expired, and you've put off renewing.

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

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

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

Is Your PC "Owned?"

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

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

* An automated e-mail telling you that you're sending out infected mail. E-mail viruses and worms typically come from faked addresses.
* A frantic note from a friend saying they've been infected, and therefore so have you. This is likely a hoax. It's especially suspicious if the note tells you the virus can't be detected but you can get rid of it by deleting one simple file. Don't be fooled--and don't delete that file.

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

Sniffing Out an Infection

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

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

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

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

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

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

What to Do Next

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

* If you don't have any antivirus software on your system (shame on you), or if the software has stopped working, stay online and go for a free scan at one of several Web sites. There's McAfee FreeScan, Symantec Security Check, and Trend Micro's HouseCall. If one doesn't find anything, try two. In fact, running a free online virus scan is a good way to double-check the work of your own local antivirus program. When you're done, buy or download a real antivirus program.
* If you have antivirus software, but it isn't active, get offline, unplug wires-- whatever it takes to stop your computer from communicating via the Internet. Then, promptly perform a scan with the installed software.
* If nothing seems to be working, do more research on the Web. There are several online virus libraries where you can find out about known viruses. These sites often provide instructions for removing viruses--if manual removal is possible--or a free removal tool if it isn't. Check out GriSOFT's Virus Encyclopedia, Eset's Virus Descriptions, McAffee's Virus Glossary, Symantec's Virus Encyclopedia, or Trend Micro's Virus Encyclopedia.

A Microgram of Prevention

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

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

Just make sure you keep all security software up to date. The bad guys constantly try out new ways to fool security programs. Any security tool without regular, easy (if not automatic) updates isn't worth your money or your time.

Speaking of updating, the same goes for Windows. Use Windows Update (it's right there on your Start Menu) to make sure you're getting all of the high priority updates. If you run Windows XP, make sure to get the Service Pack 2 update. To find out if you already have it, right-click My Computer, and select Properties. Under the General tab, under System, it should say "Service Pack 2."

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

* Be careful with e-mail. Set your e-mail software security settings to high. Don't open messages with generic-sounding subjects that don't apply specifically to you from people you don't know. Don't open an attachment unless you're expecting it.
* If you have broadband Internet access, such as DSL or cable, get a router, even if you only have one PC. A router adds an extra layer of protection because your PC is not connecting directly with the Internet.
* Check your Internet ports. These doorways between your computer and the Internet can be open, in which case your PC is very vulnerable; closed, but still somewhat vulnerable; or stealthed (or hidden), which is safest. Visit Gibson Research's Web site and run the free ShieldsUP test to see your ports' status. If some ports show up as closed--or worse yet, open--check your router's documentation to find out how to hide them.

Firefox Speed Tweaks

Yes, firefox is already pretty damn fast but did you know that you can tweak it and improve the speed even more?

That's the beauty of this program being open source.
Here's what you do:
In the URL bar, type “about:config” and press enter. This will bring up the configuration “menu” where you can change the parameters of Firefox.

Note that these are what I’ve found to REALLY speed up my Firefox significantly - and these settings seem to be common among everybody else as well. But these settings are optimized for broadband connections - I mean with as much concurrent requests we’re going to open up with pipelining… lol… you’d better have a big connection.

Double Click on the following settins and put in the numbers below - for the true / false booleans - they’ll change when you double click.

Code:
browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs – true
network.http.max-connections – 48
network.http.max-connections-per-server – 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy – 8
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server – 4
network.http.pipelining – true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests – 100
network.http.proxy.pipelining – true
network.http.request.timeout – 300


One more thing… Right-click somewhere on that screen and add a NEW -> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0”. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. Since you’re broadband - it shouldn’t have to wait.

Now you should notice you’re loading pages MUCH faster now!

Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts

Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts:


First, create a shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking on the desktop, choosing New, and then choosing Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. In the box asking for the location of the shortcut, type shutdown. After you create the shortcut, double-clicking on it will shut down your PC.

But you can do much more with a shutdown shortcut than merely shut down your PC. You can add any combination of several switches to do extra duty, like this:

shutdown -r -t 01 -c "Rebooting your PC"
Double-clicking on that shortcut will reboot your PC after a one-second delay and display the message "Rebooting your PC." The shutdown command includes a variety of switches you can use to customize it. Table 1-3 lists all of them and describes their use.

I use this technique to create two shutdown shortcuts on my desktop—one for turning off my PC, and one for rebooting. Here are the ones I use:

shutdown -s -t 03 -c "Bye Bye m8!"
shutdown -r -t 03 -c "Ill be back m8 ;)!"

Switch
What it does

-s
Shuts down the PC.

-l
Logs off the current user.

-t nn
Indicates the duration of delay, in seconds, before performing the action.

-c "messagetext"
Displays a message in the System Shutdown window. A maximum of 127 characters can be used. The message must be enclosed in quotation marks.

-f
Forces any running applications to shut down.

-r
Reboots the PC.



Enjoy.....:-)

How to Bypass BIOS Passwords

How to Bypass BIOS Passwords

BIOS passwords can add an extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers. They are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password. Unfortunately, BIOS passwords can also be a liability if a user forgets their password, or changes the password to intentionally lock out the corporate IT department. Sending the unit back to the manufacturer to have the BIOS reset can be expensive and is usually not covered in the warranty. Never fear, all is not lost. There are a few known backdoors and other tricks of the trade that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS

DISCLAIMER
This article is intended for IT Professionals and systems administrators with experience servicing computer hardware. It is not intended for home users, hackers, or computer thieves attempting to crack the password on a stolen PC. Please do not attempt any of these procedures if you are unfamiliar with computer hardware, and please use this information responsibly. LabMice.net is not responsible for the use or misuse of this material, including loss of data, damage to hardware, or personal injury.


Before attempting to bypass the BIOS password on a computer, please take a minute to contact the hardware manufacturer support staff directly and ask for their recommended methods of bypassing the BIOS security. In the event the manufacturer cannot (or will not) help you, there are a number of methods that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password yourself. They include:

Using a manufacturers backdoor password to access the BIOS

Use password cracking software

Reset the CMOS using the jumpers or solder beads.

Removing the CMOS battery for at least 10 minutes

Overloading the keyboard buffer

Using a professional service

Please remember that most BIOS passwords do not protect the hard drive, so if you need to recover the data, simply remove the hard drive and install it in an identical system, or configure it as a slave drive in an existing system. The exception to this are laptops, especially IBM Thinkpads, which silently lock the hard drive if the supervisor password is enabled. If the supervisor password is reset without resetting the and hard drive as well, you will be unable to access the data on the drive.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Backdoor passwords

Many BIOS manufacturers have provided backdoor passwords that can be used to access the BIOS setup in the event you have lost your password. These passwords are case sensitive, so you may wish to try a variety of combinations. Keep in mind that the key associated to "_" in the US keyboard corresponds to "?" in some European keyboards. Laptops typically have better BIOS security than desktop systems, and we are not aware of any backdoor passwords that will work with name brand laptops.

WARNING: Some BIOS configurations will lock you out of the system completely if you type in an incorrect password more than 3 times. Read your manufacturers documentation for the BIOS setting before you begin typing in passwords

Award BIOS backdoor passwords:

ALFAROME ALLy aLLy aLLY ALLY aPAf _award AWARD_SW AWARD?SW AWARD SW AWARD PW AWKWARD awkward BIOSTAR CONCAT CONDO Condo d8on djonet HLT J64 J256 J262 j332 j322 KDD Lkwpeter LKWPETER PINT pint SER SKY_FOX SYXZ syxz shift + syxz TTPTHA ZAAADA ZBAAACA ZJAAADC 01322222
589589 589721 595595 598598

AMI BIOS backdoor passwords:

AMI AAAMMMIII BIOS PASSWORD HEWITT RAND AMI?SW AMI_SW LKWPETER A.M.I. CONDO

PHOENIX BIOS backdoor passwords:

phoenix, PHOENIX, CMOS, BIOS

MISC. COMMON PASSWORDS

ALFAROME BIOSTAR biostar biosstar CMOS cmos LKWPETER lkwpeter setup SETUP Syxz Wodj

OTHER BIOS PASSWORDS BY MANUFACTURER

Manufacturer Password
VOBIS & IBM merlin
Dell Dell
Biostar Biostar
Compaq Compaq
Enox xo11nE
Epox central
Freetech Posterie
IWill iwill
Jetway spooml
Packard Bell bell9
QDI QDI
Siemens SKY_FOX
TMC BIGO
Toshiba Toshiba

TOSHIBA BIOS

Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot

IBM APTIVA BIOS

Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot


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Password cracking software

The following software can be used to either crack or reset the BIOS on many chipsets. If your PC is locked with a BIOS administrator password that will not allow access to the floppy drive, these utilities may not work. Also, since these utilities do not come from the manufacturer, use them cautiously and at your own risk.

Cmos password recovery tools 3.1
!BIOS (get the how-to article)
RemPass
KILLCMOS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings

Many motherboards feature a set of jumpers or dipswitches that will clear the CMOS and wipe all of the custom settings including BIOS passwords. The locations of these jumpers / dipswitches will vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer and ideally you should always refer to the motherboard or computer manufacturers documentation. If the documentation is unavailable, the jumpers/dipswitches can sometimes be found along the edge of the motherboard, next to the CMOS battery, or near the processor. Some manufacturers may label the jumper / dipswitch CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD. On laptop computers, the dipswitches are usually found under the keyboard or within a compartment at the bottom of the laptop.
Please remember to unplug your PC and use a grounding strip before reaching into your PC and touching the motherboard. Once you locate and rest the jumper switches, turn the computer on and check if the password has been cleared. If it has, turn the computer off and return the jumpers or dipswitches to its original position.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Removing the CMOS Battery

The CMOS settings on most systems are buffered by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard. (It looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, the CMOS may reset itself and the password should be blank. (Along with any other machine specific settings, so be sure you are familiar with manually reconfiguring the BIOS settings before you do this.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours. Some batteries are actually soldered onto the motherboard making this task more difficult. Unsoldering the battery incorrectly may damage your motherboard and other components, so please don't attempt this if you are inexperienced. Another option may be to remove the CMOS chip from the motherboard for a period of time.
Note: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's, and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all. IBM Thinkpad laptops lock the hard drive as well as the BIOS when the supervisor password is set. If you reset the BIOS password, but cannot reset the hard drive password, you may not be able to access the drive and it will remain locked, even if you place it in a new laptop. IBM Thinkpads have special jumper switches on the motherboard, and these should be used to reset the system.


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Overloading the KeyBoard Buffer

On some older computer systems, you can force the CMOS to enter its setup screen on boot by overloading the keyboard buffer. This can be done by booting with the keyboard or mouse unattached to the systems, or on some systems by hitting the ESC key over 100 times in rapid succession.


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Jumping the Solder Beads on the CMOS

It is also possible to reset the CMOS by connecting or "jumping" specific solder beads on the chipset. There are too many chipsets to do a breakdown of which points to jump on individual chipsets, and the location of these solder beads can vary by manufacturer, so please check your computer and motherboard documentation for details. This technique is not recommended for the inexperienced and should be only be used as a "last ditch" effort.


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Using a professional service

If the manufacturer of the laptop or desktop PC can't or won't reset the BIOS password, you still have the option of using a professional service. Password Crackers, Inc., offers a variety of services for desktop and laptop computers for between $100 and $400. For most of these services, you'll need to provide some type of legitimate proof of ownership. This may be difficult if you've acquired the computer second hand or from an online auction.


DirectX explained


DirectX explained

Ever wondered just what that enigmatic name means?

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


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

DirectX is an interface designed to make certain programming tasks much easier, for both the game developer and the rest of us who just want to sit down and play the latest blockbuster. Before we can explain what DirectX is and how it works though, we need a little history lesson.

DirectX history
Any game needs to perform certain tasks again and again. It needs to watch for your input from mouse, joystick or keyboard, and it needs to be able to display screen images and play sounds or music. That’s pretty much any game at the most simplistic level.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Diagnosing problems

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

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

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





ENjoy............;-)

Get unlimited bandwidth from your host for free

Get unlimited bandwidth from your host for free


NOTE: This applies only to specific hosting companies, due to the
specific setup needed and does have its drawbacks.

While setting up hosting space with a specific company I often deal
with, I noticed that they used a shared IP. (IP shared by two or more
websites/domains.) Well, the rates for unlimited bandwidth were
around $50+ per month, which I found unreasonable. I didnt require
much space, and didnt want to be limited to a mere 3 gig of traffic
per month.

Back on track... When setting up the acct, the hosting company needs
to know the domain name so that they can direct it accordingly.
(example: 'http://www.123.4.567.890/~user1/ ,
'http://www.123.4.567.890/~user2/ etc)

At this point you can give a url that doesnt belong to you at all. As
long as the nameservers dont change, that should have absolutly no
negative effects on you or your site whatsoever.

How it works is this:
The host propogates you a certain amount space on its servers, and
monitors the traffic that enters their space through the domain its
registered under. Being that the domain isn't connected to the site
at all, it registers ZERO traffic.

Zero traffic registered = can't possibly go over bandwidth
restrictions
can't possibly go over bandwidth restrictions = free unlimited
bandwidth

Now the problems with this (besides the ethical ones) is that your
host may offer X amount of mail addys with the acct
(you@y...) and these will not work, as the name isnt on their
DNS. However, some domain companies allow you to set it up
regardless. Another problem seems to be strictly cosmetic, but can be
highly problematic... Once you attach the domain you want onto the
site, each page comes up/w the ip/UN the host propagated to your
acct. Its at this point where you have to have a phenominal 10-15
character alphanumerical or better (#, &, etc) pw, or your site will
be vulnerable to attack since the attacker already has your UN. This
only gives attackers a slight advantage as the amount of time it
would take to brute force a 10 character pw @ a rate of 1,000,000 per
second is 10 years. Add numbers and case sensitivity to that and it
becomes approx 26,980 years.

While I'm on it, I may as well add that if you use this method,
obviously you are going to be using the lowest cost hosting plan
available, which in turn will offer the least amount of space. Thats
why free hosts were invented.

Free hosts suck as a general rule. Who wants a site smothered in ads?
However, if you upload all your programs, graphics and other large
files (have a backup of course) to a reliable free host and target
them accordingly from your site you have just freed up a signifigant
amount of space. The only setback/w this is having to keep an index
card or file around/w your pws, as you should never use the same one
twice, and want to use complicated ones.