Windows 7

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Tips and Tricks

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How To(s)

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Wallpapers

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Quote of the Day

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Windows XP Account Policy Explained

Windows XP Account Policy Explained

See this video to know all about Windows XP Accounts Policy


Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Mapping a Network Drive

Mapping a Network Drive

If you have more than one computer on the same switch or wireless network, then you don’t have to use flash drives or email attachments to move files around. One of the best – and least understood – ways to share files on small networks of computers is to use those networks to send and receive files.


One of the simplest ways to do this is to map a network drive. If you know that you’re on a network, you can locate your computers by their share name and their workgroup. To view and change the computer name and workgroup, right-click on My Computer, and left-click Properties.


This will open the System Properties menu. 
Click the Computer Name tab to see your computer’s name, and the workgroup it’s assigned to on the network. Workgroups are a form of grouping that can be used to organize small networks. Most of the time, it’s easiest to keep all of your computers on the same workgroup, and the default is set to “WORKGROUP.” If you want to change this, or your computer name, left-click the Change button in the Computer Name tab.

 

You can change your workgroup name or your computer name here. If you want to change the workgroup name, keep in mind that workgroups are for organizing computers. Creating a separate workgroup name for each computer is not particularly useful, so most of the time, using one workgroup for all computers is fine. The network change may require a restart, so be ready to shut down and reboot your computer. Click OK when you’re done.


Once your done, or once your computer has restarted, right-click again on My Computer and thenleft-click on Map Network Drive.


This will take you to the Map Network Drive wizard. Select the drive letter that you’d like. If you don’t have a preference, you can leave this at the default. Next, you will want to find the computer and folder that you want to map a drive letter to. Click Browse to open the Browse Network list.


Here you can browse for the computer and folder that you want to map. Click Entire Network, find and click the appropriate workgroup, and then click on the computer that you want to share with. You may have to wait a moment for this list to locate and list items. Find the folder you want to share and click it once. Click OK to select the folder.


Leave the Reconnect at Logon box checked. You can now click Finish in the Map Network Drive wizard. You have now mapped a folder on a different computer to your My Computer folder. Open My Computer to see it.

This network drive will work whenever both computers are turned on and connected to the network. You can use this drive just like your C: drive and make shortcuts, browse files, and move files at will. You can do this to as many computers on your network as you’d like, too – and this is a great way to make a shared folder for backing up files!

Additional Clock in Windows Vista

Additional Clock in Windows Vista


Do you have a need for an additional clock on your desktop? Maybe you have a son or daughter in the service overseas, or perhaps relatives living in Europe? It's always good to know what time it is where they are, so you're not calling them at 3 o'clock in the morning and disrupting their rest. So, let's learn how to pin another clock up today!

1.) Right-click on your clock in the taskbar and select Adjust Date/Time
2.) Click the Additional Clocks Tab
3.) Check Show This Clock to add a clock (you can add one or both, by the way)
image
4.)Select the time zone you want.5.)Enter a display name for your new clock and click OK.
image

How to Open .Rar Files on a Mac

How to Open .Rar Files on a Mac

Rar is a file format that is used to compress computer files and make them smaller. .Rar files can be broken up into equally sized parts for archiving and they can also be password protected. To open a .rar on your Mac, you usually need special software.
  • Learn about .rar files. .Rar files are popular with Windows users (the main .rar expander being WinRar), but you can also open .rar files on your Mac.
  • Use StuffIt Expander if your computer runs Mac OS X. This program is built in to the system. You can use StuffIt Expander to decompress .rar files on your Mac (see Link below). StuffIt Expander also opens several other compressed file types.
  • Use a decompression tool such as UnrarX to open .rar files on a Mac (see Link below). UnrarX is available for Mac OS X 10.0 and higher.
  • Download software such as RAR Expander, which supports Apple scripts and can also expand multiple archives at once (See Link below).
  • Open .rar files on your Mac by dragging the files and then dropping them onto the icon for your expander software. The software will then decompress and open the files so you can use them.
Make your own compressed .rar files with compression software and save space on your hard drive. StuffIt has this capability.

Before opening any .rar file, always make sure to run it through a virus scanner if you don't know where the file came from.

In some cases, large files are split into multiple .rar files called "volumes." You will know if you have a multiple-volume .rar file by the file name extension. The main file that you will need to decompress will be labeled .rar00, with additional files numbered .rar01, .rar02, etc. If you do not have all of the smaller volumes, you might not be able to open the main file.

    Sunday, March 28, 2010

    How to Safely OverClock you CPU

    How to Safely OverClock you CPU

    Most processors allow overclocking only to a certain extent. Others, by virtue of their design, allow it a little more. Most processors today have their clock multipliers locked and this prevents them from being tweaked through that component. In such cases, the bus speed needs to be used, but you need to take care when you do this so that the rest of the system is not adversely affected. Keep in mind that your warranties will not cover any damage cause by overclocking; so be very sure of the extent to which you can push your system safely. The first by-product of a tweaking experiment will be the generation of heat in your critical components. So before you embark on this task, ensure you have adequate cooling for components like the processor, RAM and motherboard chipset. 

    Steps To Overlock Your CPU 

    Consult the manual to make sure that your motherboard supports overclocking through jumper settings or BIOS tweaks. Only when you are sure that you can change the CPU’s core voltage, clock multiplier or bus speed, should you go about pushing your system harder. 

    To Overclock
    • Enter the BIOS by rebooting your computer and hitting the [DEL] or the [F2] key. The exact steps will vary according to your BIOS type and version. Refer to the motherboard manual to help locate the FSB frequency and the CPU voltage settings. 
    • Increase the CPU FSB frequency in small increments of, say, 2 MHz. Change the CPU Speed/ Voltage Settings to ‘Manual’ to let you change them. Note: Throughout this exercise, monitor your system temperatures and voltages very closely. It is critical that they remain within limits for your system to run reliably. Failing to do so will result in shortening the life of your processor or even failure. It is important to start out your overclocking at the rated settings and work your way up in small increments

    • Save your settings and reboot the machine. The PC should boot normally. Check for any signs of instability. Run a CPU-intensive program or game like Half-Life 2 to stress the CPU and make sure it is working fine. 

    • Reboot and enter the BIOS again. Increase the CPU voltage, again in small increments. Restart and repeat the previous step. Continue till you feel the machine has been pushed to its limits. Reboot and enter the BIOS again. Increase the CPU voltage, again in small increments. Restart and repeat the step 4. Continue the process till you feel the machine has been pushed to its limits. A stable overclocked system is one that has the right balance between CPU FSB, voltage and bus speed settings. Overclocking is achieved by trial and error and we cannot over emphasize the importance of safety.

    Multiple Twitter Login

    How to Login Multiple Twitter Accounts


    If you are a web worker, Internet Marketer, Blogger or Social Media guy you might be having more than one twitter account on which you would like to update your status, TweetDeck which is the best desktop twitter client allows you to login in with multiple twitter accounts, if for some reason you don’t want to use TweetDeck then you can use another simple and easy to understand twitter client called Basic Twitter.


    It is a Basic Twitter client application is based on Adobe AIR platform, It can handle multiple twitter account quite easily and also provide the fast switching in between the configured accounts, you can switch easily by selecting the account through the drop down.




    As this application is based on Adobe AIR platform, you can run it on any platform including Windows, Linux and Mac.

    Download Basic Twitter To Login With Multiple Twitter Account


    Saturday, March 27, 2010

    Import mail and contacts to Gmail

    Import mail and contacts to Gmail

    If you use Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL or any other free email provider, you’ve probably considered switching to Gmail for its superior spam filter or its integration with other Google services, like Google Docs.

    Even if you have your own domain or company email address, you should consider using an extra Gmail account. Free email providers, like Gmail, are indispensable when you sign up on different sites and make your email address public. They protect your private email address from needless spam.

    Furthermore, if one account were to succumb to the endless onslaught of spam, you can always create a new email account or switch to another email provider.

    To help you make the transition as smooth as possible, Gmail offers a quick and easy way to import all previous mail and contacts from any email provider. Of course, you can also transfer and redirect emails from other Gmail accounts.

    Gmail’s import option is compatible with any email provider using POP3. This means that any emails and contacts from Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL can be safely transferred to your new Gmail account.

    Here’s how to import emails and contacts from any email provider to Gmail. 


    First, login to your Gmail account.


    Then, click on the Settings button located on the top right corner of the window, next to the Sign outbutton.

    In the Settings window, click on the Accounts and Import tab.

    Under the Import mail and contacts section, click on the Import mail and contacts button.

    Type in your old email address (ex: name@yahoo.com) and click the Continue button.

    Now, input the password you chose for your old email address and click on Continue.

    In the next step, Gmail allows you to choose what to import to your new email address.




    All the option boxes are checked by default. However, if you only want to import your contacts, uncheck the Import mail box.

    If you don’t want to redirect new emails from your old address to Gmail, uncheck the Import new mail for next 30 days box. Moreover, if you’re switching to Gmail because your email address is blocked with spam, it might be a good idea not to redirect any new emails since you’ll also redirect the spam.

    In addition, you may want to label redirected emails with your old email address or give them a more suggestive name.

    After configuring your import options, click on Start import.

    Finally, click the OK button to finish the import process.

    The import process will take place in the background, so you can use your Gmail account normally, and it will continue, even if you log out of Gmail and close your browser.

    If you don’t see any imported email or contacts right away, be patient, as the process may take up to 2 days to complete. 




    You can always check the status of your import by clicking on Settings and then on the Accounts andImport tab.

    If, for some reason, you want to stop the import process, follow the above instructions to reach Import mail and contacts, click the stop button on the right and confirm by clicking OK

    Friday, March 26, 2010

    Need a Co-Author

    Need a Co-Author

    Thank you very much for showing interest in my blog. Every day when I see a new flag in the Flag Counter or the increased number of visitors, I think all the time I have invested in building the blog, collecting and typing all these information, making pictures for elaborating the subjects is not wasted. As you may have noticed that number of topics I used to post in a day have come down because I have joined a new office now-a-days and don't get much time to post in the blog, I want someone who is interested to post in my blog. I mean a co-author of my Blog. Anyone who is interested may contact me through e-mail or call me. My Blog is mainly a technology Blog but I keep posting nice and sharable topics also which I think should be shared with you all. So you can call it a All-in-One blog but emphasis is given to Technology, specially IT.

    My Contact Details 

    Emails: anindya384@gmail.com
                anindya384@yahoo.com
                anindya2604@gmail.com
               
    Mobile: +91-9975123235
                +91-9022472921

    Thursday, March 25, 2010

    Displaying Your Own Logo Before The Windows XP Login Screen

    Displaying Your Own Logo Before The Windows XP Login Screen 

    Three-step Process 

    First, design an appropriate bitmap and save it in the “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data” directory as LogoName.BMP. Use the 8.3 naming convention. Since the Application Data directory is a hidden directory, you may need to unhide it by opening Windows Explorer and going to Tools > Folder Options, click on the View tab and check the 'Show hidden files and folders' option. Click on Apply and then on OK

    Next, open the registry editor by going to Start > Run, typing “regedit” and pressing [Enter]. Navigate to the key “HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\ControlPanel\Desktop”. In the right pane, double-click on the string called “Wallpaper”. Under ‘Value Data’ enter the full path to your bitmap image—for example, “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\LogoName. BMP”. Now doubleclick on the string called “TileWallpaper”, and change the value according to your preference— the value ‘0’ will not tile the image, while the value ‘1’ will tile it. 

    Next, doubleclick on the string called “Wallpaper Style” and change the value according to your choice; here the value ‘0’ is normal, while the value ‘2’ will stretch the image to fit the screen. If you don't want to tile or stretch your wallpaper, and would rather choose its position on the screen, you will need to create two new data strings in this same registry directory. 

    When at “HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\ControlPanel\Desktop”,right-click on the right pane and select New > String Value. Name the string “WallpaperOriginX” and set the value to the number of pixels from the left edge of the screen that you want the picture to be located. Now, create another String Value, call it “WallpaperOriginY” and set its value to the number of pixels from the top of the screen. Close the Registry Editor, and reboot your machine to see your work. 

    If you find any problem in doing this tweak, then please e-mail me to get clarified.

    Wednesday, March 24, 2010

    Change Start Button Text with System Time and Date

    Change Start Button Text with System Time and Date


    Fire-up your favorite browser and punch this URL in the address bar: http://startclock.osnn.net


    Go to the "Click Here to Download" link and it'll take you to the download page http://startclock.osnn.net/files


    Now download the StartClock.Zip from the parent directory. Then extract the file StartClock.exe to any folder of ur choice.


    Double Click on the extracted file and set the configurations as per your choice. Click Exit.


    You are done. The "Start" button has now been changed into Time and Date of you system.


    Press "Ctrl + Alt + X" to exit the program. 


    Enjoy





    Tuesday, March 23, 2010

    Multiple GTalk

    Multiple GTalk


    As I just posted a topic on How to use multiple Yahoo Messenger at the same time...Why not GTalk also ? Now-a-days people use gmail a lot. Many of us are having more than one GTalk IDs. Here is a simple method to use multiple GTalk at the same time on the same computer. See the picture below.




    Here is how you do it: -


       Find the shortcut of GTalk in your Start Menu or Desktop.
       Right Click on the Shortcut > Click Properties
       Now in the Target Box just append the path with "/nomutex" (Without quotes)
       Click OK.


       After doing this, the path in the Traget Box shall look something like this "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex


    Now you'll be able to open and Login as many GTalks as you want with different IDs.


    ==Please Uncheck "Remember Password" for better results.

    How Google Search Works

    How Google Search Works 
    There is a nice youtube video on how does google search actually works, you may know many things that were shown in the video before, but some of things may be new to you, you'll get all answers about How Google Search Works after watching the video.




    About Google.com ?
    As a company, Google focuses on three key areas: Search, Ads and Apps. Search is their core technology; ads are their central business proposition; and apps are the umbrella over their web-based software that you can access anywhere, any time. While each of these has a lot of technology under the hood, the basic tenets for Search, Ads and Apps are very simple. They’ve created some short videos explaining the principles behind their core services.

    Go to http://www.google.com/howgoogleworks/ to know and understand how does three main things focused by google works

    Monday, March 22, 2010

    Multiple Yahoo Messenger

    Multiple Yahoo Messenger 

    Do you have more than yahoo IDs and want to chat simultaneously from both the IDs on Yahoo Messenger ? I have three yahoo ID and I chat from all of them at the same time using yahoo messenger. Doesn't it sound interesting ? If you too want to do the same then just follow these easy steps.
      
    1. Go to Start > Run > type Regedit > Press Enter
    2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER-->Software-->Yahoo-->Pager-->Test
    3. On the Right side if the page, Right click and choose new Dword Value.
    4. Rename it as " Plural ".
    5. Double click and assign a decimal value of 1.
    6. Now close registry and restar yahoo messenger and try Multiple Login
    You'll be able to open as many yahoo messenger window as you wish. Have Fun...........

    Virus Alert

    Virus Alert

    Get this sent around to your contacts ASAP.

    PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
    You should be alert during the next days: 

    Do not open any message with an attached file called 'Invitation' regardless ofwho sent it, It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer.

    This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/hercontact list, that is why you should send this e-mail toall your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

    If you receive a mail called ' invitation' , though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

    This virus was discovered by McAfee, and there is no repair yet for this kindof virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

    Saturday, March 20, 2010

    Un-hide Windows 7 Hidden Themes

    Un-hide Windows 7 Hidden Themes

    Windows 7 created a special theme for some reasons and it does get activated when we select the region while installing the windows 7, otherwise it just stays disable. But don't worry you can manually activate these themes by following simple 10 steps. 

    1. Open Windows Explorer 

    2. Click Organize, and select Folder and Search Options. 

    3. Go to View tab. 

    4. Select Show hidden files, folders and drivers and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). If prompted with confirmation, click Yes. 

    5. Click OK. 

    6. Browse to the following folder: \Windows\Globalization\MCT\ 

    7. There are five folders in the name with format MCT-XX (where XX is AU, CA, GB, US, or ZA) which represents globalization settings for each region. Go into the folder that you want to activate its theme. 
    Note: AU, CA and ZA regions have the same themes. 

    8. Open the Theme folder inside the selected region folder. 

    9. Double click on the XX.theme file to apply the theme to the Windows 7 desktop system. Once a theme is ran and activated, the theme will be remembered and saved into Personalization options, so that user can change or select the theme again directly from Personalization settings screen. 

    10. Now to go to Folder Options to reverse the first 5 steps to hide the hidden and protected system files and folders again.

    How to Hide Partitions Without Any Software

    How to Hide Partitions Without Any Software

    We all use Computer and have some important data also in the form of some pictures, Videos, Audios, documents etc. We want to hide and protect our personal data. There are several freeware software which provide us facility to hide folders and drive as well. We save the data into some folders and hide them to protect that data. But What if you have no software to do this Or don't wanna use that kind of software to hide and protect your data ? Here is the solution, I am sharing here an easiest way of How we can hide a complete Drive without using any software. Just follow this tip step by step.

    1    Goto Start > Run and then type DISKPART or Simple Press Win key+R and type DISKPART, then press Enter. You will see a new window shown in below picture


    2    Now Type list volume and hit enter. Now you will see a list of all drives of your computer. 

    3    Now Just select the Drive which you wanna hide. Suppose You want to hide D drive then see the volume number of Drive D which will be shown beside the Ltr D, See below picture



    4   In my computer the Volume Number of Drive D is 3 (this number can be different in your computer). Now to hide the D drive, Type Select Volume 3 (Select the appropriate number according to your computer) and hit enter

    5     Now Type remove letter d and hit enter. This step will hide your D Drive.

    6     Now, No one will be able to access D drive But you want to see the drive back or want to un-hide that drive then type Select Volume 3 (Select the number of drive which you used during hiding the drive or just type List volume to check the volume number of hidden drive.) And then Type assign letter d and press Enter 

    This will bring back your hidden drive again.

    Note : This Method normally Hide all drives but Not C drive or where the Window is installed.

    Having any problems ? Discuss in comment

    BarCodes Reading

    BarCodes Reading 

    How will you come to know if the item you are purchasing is made in China or not


    This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you. 

    The whole world is afraid of China-made "black hearted goods". 

    Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ? 

    If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA
    471 is Made in Taiwan . 

    This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves. 

    Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ", so they don't show from which country it is made. 

    However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are: 

    690, 691 & 692 … then it is MADE IN CHINA . 
    00 - 09 … USA & CANADA 
    30 - 37 … FRANCE 
    40 - 44 … GERMANY 
    49 … JAPAN 
    50 … UK

    Friday, March 19, 2010

    Download Mukhosh By Protik (Bengali Songs)


    Download Mukhosh By Protik (Bengali Songs)

    Hey all you Bangla Band lovers. Here is the beautiful album Mukhosh _ Protik. I love this album and just uploaded the album to my FileFront Site.

    To download the full album just Click Here

    Thursday, March 18, 2010

    Photoshop Tutorials - Layer Mask

    Photoshop Tutorials - Layer Mask
    Use the eyedropper tool to get a sample of any color in your document.
    Click and the sample will now become the foreground color that you can work with.
     

    For this educational tutorial, get an eyedropper sample to get your new foreground color in the color picker. Now drag the background layer of this photo to the new layer icon.
     This will duplicate the layer so you can change some pixels on.



    Switch back to the background layer by clicking on it so it’s highlighted in the layers palette. Now press the new layer icon to create a new and blank layer above the background layer.

    Now you can ‘fill’ this new layer with your foreground color several ways in which I teach. For now go to Edit: Fill and choose the default foreground color and press OK. This will fill the layer with the new color you have chosen from the eyedropper tool.
    Now this blank layer is filled with your foreground color.

    Select the original copy you made in the layers palette which should be above the fill layer.
    Now click on the new layer mask icon.
    What you are going to do is simply ‘hide’ pixels by using the layer mask; they’re still there just hidden. By hiding some of the pixels on this layer you can let the layer beneath blend into this layer.
    Grab your gradient tool  with black as the foreground color  and choose foreground to transparent as shown.
    Now simply drag up with the gradient tool from the bottom at a slight angle towards the top (about 3 screen inches worth). Because you are on the layer mask, these pixels will now be hidden.
    In case you didn’t know it you are now learning my secret weapon (gradient layer masking).
     

    This is the #1 technique that professionals use in graphic design. It’s used in 90% of all movie posters (so that should say something). Any beginner can create professional results by mastering this process.



    Go to the channels palette and view the 'grayscale' layer mask.

    Once again you can see the black area is the area that you have masked or hidden and the white is the area that is left. The red you see is the rubylith. You can click on and off with the \ key. Or you can turn the eye off in the channels palette to turn the rubylith on and off.
    When you are done looking in the channels palette make sure that you reselect the RGB image composite to keep working on the document and layer.
    When you right click on the layer mask you have many options to choose from. Try disable layer mask. This will turn it off with an X in the icon and will bring all your hidden/blended pixels back. This is so much better than erasing (using the layer mask).
    Right click again and you can "re"-enable it.
    Remember that when using layer masks, if you want to keep hiding pixels you must make sure that the layer mask icon itself is highlighted in the layer.  Otherwise you’ll think you’re hiding pixels and instead you’re on the layer itself instead of the layer MASK. It will take plenty of experience to get used to this.     
    Choose a darker spot with your eyedropper tool.
    Now select the fill layer in the layers palette to make it the ‘active’ layer. Press alt backspace to fill this layer with your new chosen color.

    Grab your type tool and just enter some complimentary text that you think would fit with the image you’ve chosen.
       
    I have 100’s of images from Photos.com that are personal picks (being a visual person) and are of the highest quality. I highly recommend a subscription to Photos.com.  It's a great tool to have in your arsenal as well as my training.
    Combining a few more things here, go to the Shapes tool (U) and choose a shape.
    You can also use the flyout menu to add All
    and then choose append.  
    This will ‘load’ all of the default shapes for you to choose from.  

    You can have all kinds of fun playing around with these shapes but it’s really cool when you deliberately start to put together a ‘design’. It’s then that the individual components start ‘adding up’. 



    To make things simple, just keep the option on shape layers.   Now drag across with your chosen shape to the size you think it should be.

    Remember that it will fill with your foreground color.

    If you want to change the color of the shape layer just click the color picker on the upper right in the options bar.



    Remember that you have lots of tools at your disposal. Go to Edit: Free Transform Path (it is recognized as a Path because as I said in another tutorial shapes can be edited as paths).

    Now hold the Ctrl key and angle your object in to the center as shown.
    To add some more pizazz to your shape layer you can go to the blending options/layer effects and do some fun stuff. Try a gradient overlay and choose one that is close to your color theme. You can also change the angle or scale of the gradient which will apply to the layer.
    You can also create your own custom gradients. I teach this on PhotoshopDesign.NET and in my Basic Photoshop video training. Here I’ve chosen a custom made gradient.
    Here is the shortcut to getting the gradient overlay effect.
    You can also get there via right clicking on the layer and choosing blending options.
    Here is the result of just a few of these basic Photoshop skills put together.
    The fun has only just begin. It gets exciting when YOU start harnessing all of the Power that lies in Photoshop with your creativity and new knowledge of Photoshop. Just wait until you see what you can do!