Window XP - Keyboard Short Cuts

Do you know them All?

CTRL+C (Copy)
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CTRL+X (Cut)
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CTRL+V (Paste)
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CTRL+Z (Undo)
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DELETE (Delete)
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SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
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CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
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CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
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F2 key (Rename the selected item)
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CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
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CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
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CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
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CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
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CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
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SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
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CTRL+A (Select all)
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F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
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ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
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ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
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ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
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ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
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CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
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ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
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ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
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F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
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F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
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SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
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ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
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CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
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ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
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Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
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F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
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RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
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LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
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F5 key (Update the active window)
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BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
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ESC (Cancel the current task)
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SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)
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CTRL+SHIFT+ESC (Open Task Manager)
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If you press SHIFT+F8 in extended selection list boxes, you enable extended selection mode. In this mode, you can use an arrow key to move a cursor without changing the selection. You can press CTRL+SPACEBAR or SHIFT+SPACEBAR to adjust the selection. To cancel extended selection mode, press SHIFT+F8 again. Extended selection mode cancels itself when you move the focus to another control.
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CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)
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CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
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TAB (Move forward through the options)
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SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
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ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)
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ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button)
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SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)
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Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
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F1 key (Display Help)
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F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
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BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)
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Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
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Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
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Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
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Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
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Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
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Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
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Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
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CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
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Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
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Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
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Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
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Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)
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Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
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Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
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Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
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SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
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NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
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Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)
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END (Display the bottom of the active window)
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HOME (Display the top of the active window)
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NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
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NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)
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NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)
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LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)
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RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)
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After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:
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RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)
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LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
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UP ARROW (Move up one row)
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DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
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PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
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PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
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HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
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END (Move to the end of the line)
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CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
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CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
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SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected
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CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
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CTRL+N (Open a new console)
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CTRL+S (Save the open console)
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CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
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CTRL+W (Open a new window)
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F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
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ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
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ALT+F4 (Close the console)
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ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
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ALT+V (Display the View menu)
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ALT+F (Display the File menu)
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ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)
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CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
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ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
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SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
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F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
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F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
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CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
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CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
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ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
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F2 key (Rename the selected item)
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CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)
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CTRL+ALT+END (Open the Microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box)
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ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)
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ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)
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ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)
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ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
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CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
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ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
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CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
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CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
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CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
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CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
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CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
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CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
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CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
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CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
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CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)
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CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)
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CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)
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CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
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CTRL+W (Close the current window)
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Some keyboard shortcuts may not work if StickyKeys is turned on in Accessibility Options.
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Some of the Terminal Services client shortcuts that are similar to the shortcuts in Remote Desktop Sharing are not available when you use Remote Assistance in Windows XP Home Edition.

Listen to audio files using Gmail

One of the most overlooked features in Gmail, in my opinion, is the built-in MP3 player. It’s a stripped down version of the Google Video player and it actually works extremely well.

I have started to listen to a lot of podcasts on the net, mainly news and German learning courses, and sometimes when I am out and about, I want to listen to one of them. But if I am using someone else’s computer, I can’t just decide on my own initiative to download Winampor iTunes. This is where Gmail’s MP3 player comes riding in to save the day.

Before leaving home, if you think that you may want to listen to a podcast while you’re out, just email the MP3 file to your Gmail account.

Then just open the email, click on “play” (watch you don’t click “download” accidently!) and a small pop-up window will open with the player. It will then immediately start to load and play.

For it to work, you will need the latest version of Adobe Flash Player installed on the computer.

Quickly rename A LOT of files

To rename a bunch of files with the same name and consecutively number them follow these steps:

1. Open a folder with files you wish to rename.
2. Select all the files you wish to rename.
3. Right-click on the first file in the list and select “Rename” from the menu.
4. Now enter the name you wish to give all of the files. Make sure you don’t remove the .filetype if it is shown. Enter a (1) (preceded by a space) as the final part of the name so that all files are numbered consecutively. (edit: you can use any number as a starting point)

So if you started with a bunch of files called DCIM1234.JPG through DCIM1599.JPG you can quickly convert them to AskTheAdminPics(1).jpg through AskTheAdminPics(365).

Back up files to email with just one right-click

These days, with 7 GB+ Gmail accounts and unlimited Yahoo accounts, email addresses are being used for more than just email. Many people email themselves backups of many things including important documents, music, photos, video files and much more.  This way, they are not screwed if the original copy is destroyed or goes missing.  Plus their files are accessible from any internet-enabled PC.

But it can be a drag. First you have to open a new email window, then you have to click on the attachment link, find the attachment then fill out the email address… there must be an easier, faster way to email yourself a backup of something right?   Well there is - the rather unoriginally named BackupToEmail.

This nifty little program installs an option in your Windows Explorer right-click menu which enables you to right-click on a file, choose the backup option and have it immediately sent to your designated email account.   It also installs a link in your right-click “send to” options which zips and sends the file to you.

When you first set it up, you need to tweak the program to suit yourself :

The beauty of this is that it is not locked into one email service - whether you use Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or a really obscure service, it still works.  It also supports multiple email addresses. Now just right-click on your desired file in Windows Explorer, choose “Backup to email” and it immediately starts sending via a SSL SMTP server:

The file arrives in your email extremely fast, and so far, I’ve seen nothing to give me cause for concern.  It does what it claims to do. If you like, you can also alter the registry settings if you don’t like “Backup to email” in your right-click menu.  Using this program, you can email backups to yourself in a matter of seconds - and you’ll wonder how you managed to survive without it up to now.

Sync-Don't Copy. Briefcase feature in Windows

If you maintain a backup of all your files on an external storage media (hard drive, USB etc) and each time you have to update the back up it takes hours before the "copy"ing is over and you are sick of it, then this post is for you.
In the days of Windows 2000 you must have noticed an icon on your desktop "My Briefcase", which you probably never used and therefore microsoft decided to remove it (atleast from the desktop). This feature is actually is very helpful in maintaining and reducing the time for back up.

All you need to do is connect your external storage media to the computer > open the Hard Drive Folder > File > New > Briefcase and a Brief case icon will get created in your External Storage Media.

Now go to the folder on your computer which needs backing up and simply drag and drop it into this Briefcase icon. First time it will take a little while for the folder to copy, since all the files and folders are being copied for the first time. This way you can drag and drop all the folders you need to back up seperately or may be drag and drop your entire internal drive.

After several days (depending upon you usage), when you feel the need to update your back up, simply connect the external storage media to your computer and double click on the brief case and the briefcase will immidiately determine which of your folders needs updating, by comparing it with the original files on the computer and the same will be visible as status in front of the folder names in the briefcase. Now all you need to do is select the folder you want to update and click on "update this item" under "briefcase tasks" on the task menu (left coloumn) of the briefcase. The briefcase will display the changes required and update the back up after confirmation from you. That's it...

The following points need to be noted:

1) Any deletion of files/folders in the original folder will be deleted in the back up

2) Any changes made in the files will be made in the backed up files as well

3) Simmilarly any changes made in the back up files/folders in the briefcase, through some other computer, such as editing or deletion will get replicated in the original folder.

So, basically briefcase feature synchronizes your files and folders with the backup instead of copying it all over again, hence saving time.

Read more on it at the microsoft site

Ways to protect personal data from online fraud

In this digital age, it’s becoming increasingly hard not to share your personal data, such as passwords, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc online because even if you prefer Paper and Phone when performing transactions, most companies prefer doing everything online for financial reasons. Unfortunately, some companies do not put in place the necessary stringent policies and procedures needed for your personal data to be secure.

Moreover, for those of us who prefer not to make an online transactions, find it increasingly irresistible to avoid the convenience and lucrative deals that the whole online world has to offer to us.

Following are a few ways to protect personal data from online fraud which you can look out for while undertaking the online deals in future and feel secure...

Disclaimer: While these tips are intended to make the online transactions secure they offer no guarantee that following them will make them 100% secure.
1. Keep your personal and sensitive data off your computer - What can a virus or spyware program possible to with your personal data if you don’t store it on your computer? It’s simple and very effective. Try your best to keep bank account numbers, passwords, etc off your computer. If you want to keep it in electronic format for easy access, that’s fine, simply buy a flash drive and store all the sensitive files there. Keep it in a safe place and if you need to refer to the documents, then just plug in your drive. Lots of people tend to leave their computers on for long periods of time and it can be compromised at any time, so if there is no data to steal, then you’ve already done a lot to prevent data theft! If you REALLY want it on your computer, then at least make sure you encrypt it.

2. Avoid saving credit card info, etc on shopping sites - Many web sites today, such as eBay, give you the option to save your credit card info so that you don’t have to type in all the information each time you want to buy something. That’s great for them, easy money and more sales, but what about you? What if someone eventually does hack into their database (and don’t worry many people are trying everyday) and downloads thousands of credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc? It might take an extra minute, but it’s better to not save your info on any shopping site.

3. Do not use the same password for every last thing on the Internet - Yes we all hate passwords, but hackers love people who don’t use passwords or who use passwords like “john” or “joe”. You don’t have to keep a different password for EVERY site, that would be crazy, but definitely not just one. These days just about everyone has numerous online accounts and so if a hacker figures out one password, they’ll go ahead and try to see if it works on any other site. Make sure passwords are different a more complicated. Just throwing in a number or symbol at the end will make it hundreds of times hard for a person to crack your password!

4. Always think before providing information when solicited - If you ever get an email that has a link in it that requires ANY personal information, make sure you go to the web site yourself manually by typing in the address. Half the time links in emails point to fake addresses with very close names. Also, at times you will be bombarded by scams from Nigeria, etc that sound way too good to be true (like someone would actually pay more for your item than what you listed it at)!!! And just because a web site exists does not mean it it legitimate! If you’ve never heard of the site before, just type it into Google once and see if anything like “XXX IS A SCAM” pops up!

5. Clear your browser’s cache after an online transaction - Sometimes your browser will save certain information you typed into forms, etc when you are online, so it’s always good to clear that after you’re done. Also, if you get that message sometimes from your browser asking you whether you want it to automatically save your passwords, etc, click NO. It’s another small pain, but it might help you one day!

6. Turn your computer off or on standby when you’re not using it - This might sound low-tech and it is, but it’s really effective. This is kind of like the first tip, if your computer is not on, then what can a hacker, virus, or anything else possibly do? Nothing! So if you have a desktop at home, make sure you turn it off or put your laptop into sleep mode when you’re not there. Why open it to attack if you’re not even using the computer?

7. Make sure the URL has an HTTPS instead of HTTP - The S makes all the difference! You’ll notice that when you buy something from Amazon or another big site, once you being to checkout, the URL always starts with a HTTPS. This means that the communication between your computer and their server is secure and encrypted. If someone tries to read the data as it travels across the Internet, they won’t be able to understand or decipher it. If you’re buying something from a smaller site and they don’t have HTTPS, just call them and buy it. Not worth risking data passing unencrypted over the net.

8. Use a secure Internet browser when you are online - Firefox is considered more secure than IE and that’s what a number of sites also have tested. Personally, I use Firefox and you should consider it if you’re using IE 7. IE 7 has more security features than ever before, but it still has lots of holes also. Using a more secure browser can help protect against browser hijacking, etc. Anyway, most viruses are written for IE since it’s more common, so it’s more likely to be hacked.

9. Lock your computer at home and at the office - This is another one of those tips that most people don’t think about, especially at your office. If you leave for lunch and your computer is just on without a password-protected screen saver, what will stop a snoopy co-worker to get onto your computer and look through your My Documents, etc? It may not seem likely, but it can very well happen and it’s better to press CNTRL-ALT-DELTE and press Lock Computer or put a password on your screen saver than have some co-worker copy your tax returns from last year!

10. Be careful who you give your computer to when it needs fixing - Unfortunately, if you’re not a tech person, you probably have to hand over your computer to someone else when something goes wrong. I’ve done a lot of computer fixing and one thing I’ve noticed is how ridiculously easy it would be for me to download ALL of their personal information to my external hard drive or flash drive. People simply trust technical support people too much. If someone is going to fix your computer, have then come over to your house and just watch as they do it. When you’re off in another room while they fix your computer, they can also be copying your entire hard drive for themselves.

11. Use advanced techniques like encryption, anonymous browsing, virtualization software, etc - Lastly, if you really want to do more than just the usual, you can encrypt your data, browse the Internet anonymously, or run IE or Firefox in a virtual environment. The advantage of the latter is that you can actually catch a virus or spyware program in the virtual environment and it won’t affect your operating system at all. You can read more by searching “virtualization software” in Google.

BugMeNot.com - Bypass Compulsory Registration

BugMeNot.com is an internet service that provides usernames and passwords to let Internet users bypass mandatory free registration on websites.

It aims to allow Internet users to access websites that have registration walls (for instance, that of The New York Times) without the requirement of compulsory registration. This came in response to the increasing number of websites that request such registration. Many Internet users find this to be an annoyance at best and a potential source of spam e-mail at worst.

Office Ergonomics - Risks of working at a desktop workstation and how to avoid them

I just came across a really cool presentation for people who work at dekstop workstations that explains the common ergonomic mistakes people make, allows you to assess your own posture and office ergonomics, and provides guidelines on the best ways to setup your own workstation at the office in order to reduce strain, back pain, etc.

The presentation, from Kearney-Abrams, is broken up into three main parts:

1. Selft Assesement Tools - Talks about how your wrists are positioned, what’s touching your chair, where are your feet, etc.

2. Pain and Strain Risks - Goes through the major risk factors that cause pain and strain when using a workstation, awkard postures, contact stress, and visual fatigue.

3. Ergo-Smart Workstations - Walks you through visually and tells you how to setup your workstation in the best possible way!

Watch presentation here

Use GMail as an online data base - most amazing mail service ever

Google Toolbar and GMail come together to create a wonderful way to store anything from the web, view it anywhere, and find it quickly! In order to do this, there are a couple of more advanced features that you have to first setup in GMail: labels and filters.

Labels in GMail basically allow you to create “sub” email addresses for your GMail account. For example, let’s say I create a label called “Microsoft”, so what that means is that I know have an email address as the following: username+Microsoft@gmail.com, where user name is your GMail account name. This is a really great way to create email addresses that you can use to sign up for sites that you may end up getting spam from! Let’s say you need to sign up at a site because your company wants you to view a presentation or your friends want you to sign up on some new social networking site, well using labels you can create labels like “Work” or “MySpace” and then sign up to those sites with username+Work@gmail.com! Now it you want to view all messages from MySpace, simply click on the labels and all of those messages will appear.

This kinda sounds like folders almost, right? But what makes labels better than folder is that you can apply multiple labels to one email! So if you were using folders and you had a “Work” folder and a “Funny” folder, then what you would do if you got an email from a work buddy that was a joke! Well with labels you can apply funny and work to one email and it’ll show up on either of those when you click on the label!

But you may ask, how does that make any difference if it’s all coming to my Inbox anyway!? Well, that’s where filters come in! Filters bascially allow you to specify a condition whereby your email can be associated with a label, archived, etc. One of those conditions can be if it’s coming from an email address with your label attached to it. So if a mail is coming in from username+Myspace@gmail.com, you can have those emails automatically tagged with your label “MySpace”. And if you decide you hate MySpace, all you have to do is create a filter that tell GMail to delete any emails coming to that address!

Now getting back to how to use GMail as a database! What we want to do is create a GMail label that corresponds to how we want to store web pages. Maybe you want to create labels called “News”, “WorkStuff”, “Fun”, “Interesting”, etc. To create our label, log into your GMail account from the web browser so that you’re on the main Inbox page.

One the bottom, along side the left menu bar, you’ll see a box called “Labels“, which should have nothing in it if you’re haven’t done this already. Click on Edit Labels to get started creating a label.

On the right side, you’ll see the Settings options with the Labels tab opened. It’s pretty simple to create a label as you might be able to tell. Simply type in the name of label and click Create. You’ll now see your label in the list above:

Now in order to setup our filter to catch the emails with that label and Archive them, we’ll need to create a filter. We want to archive the emails so that they don’t show up in our Inbox and clutter everything up. Click on Filters, which is right next to Labels.

On the Filters tab, click Create a New Filter at the bottom of the orange box:

In the Filter options box, you want to type into the TO address field the following: username+label@gmail.com. For example, I created a Programming label, so I’ll type in Aseem1234+Programming@gmail.com (it’s not case sensitive) and click Next.

Now we can choose the filter action that we want performed. Check the “Skip the Inbox (Archive it)” option and select “Apply the label” and choose the label we just created:

Click Create Filter and we’re done with the first part! Once you get the hang of it, it’ll only take a few minutes to create a new filter if you need it! Now we need to send our pages to Google for storage! So how do we do that? We use the new Google Toolbar! Make sure you have the latest edition of the toolbar otherwise you may not have all of the options.

Once installed, you’ll see at the far right an option called “Send to”:

Click on that and choose “GMail”. An IE window will automatically open that will take either all of the content from the page or whatever content you manually selected and attach it to an email that you can now send to your new address, which is for me was Aseem1234+programming@gmail.com

Click Send and your GMail account will recogize it with the label and will automatically archive it for future searching! And that’s it, you can now use GMail to store all your web pages! And it really stores everything on a web page if you don’t manually select anything, so it can take up a good amount of space eventually! But right now Google is giving 7GB+ space and increasing, which should last almost forever.

Now if you want to search all that vast data that you’ve stored, simply log into your GMail account, and in the search box at the top, type in the word “label” followed by a colon and the name of your label. For example, “label:programming” and then after that type in a keyword(s) that you want to search on. So if I’m looking for something on Foxpro in my programming label, I would type “label:programming Foxpro”:


Article credit: Steve Rubel from MicroPersuasion

Fax feature on Windows XP

For those who have to run down to the STD booth to send a fax every now and then or for those planning to buy a fax machine for home or small business use; stop for a moment and think about the faxing feature on windows XP, it’s easy to setup and maintain and you don’t need to spend on extra hardware equipment because most of computer already come with a modem integrated in it for faxing. In what you will need to invest is on a scanner if you want to be able to fax hard paper copies through your computer.

Windows faxing does not come installed by default on Windows XP, is an optional feature you need to install manually, to do that go to start>settings>control panel>add or remove programs>Add/Remove Windows Components when the windows component wizard comes up check the fax services and hit next, you will need to insert your windows XP installation CD to complete the fax services installation.

At this time you should make sure the telephone line is plugged into the modem port on your computer, this should be the same port as the one you use for dial-up, so if you are using dial-up you should be all set, I guess you won’t be able to get onto the Internet while sending faxes though.

To open the fax console, go to, Start>All programs>Accessories>Communication>Fax>Fax Console and the first thing you will get when you run the fax console is to configure the Sender Information which should be easy if you have that information at hand.

After the sender information, you will be asked to select the modem you are using, and if you want to send and receive faxes, it also gives you the option to answer the fax calls automatically after the rings you specify. Clicking next it will ask you for the TSID, that should be your name or fax number, do the same for the CSID and click next.

Next you will be asked if you want to print the faxes or store a copy on a folder on your computer or a shared folder on the Network, by default all faxes are stored on the fax console inbox.

And from there you are basically done.

Please test the setup if it’s working by going to file on the fax console and try to send a fax to anyone you know to see if actually works.

How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Files

Oh crap! You deleted a file a few days ago that you just realized you still need! And on top of that you already emptied out your Recycle Bin, so there’s nothing there! Well basically, Windows has nothing built-in that will help you recover your deleted file. However, thanks to the way Windows works, when you delete a file or even empty it from your recycle bin, Windows does not actually DELETE the file off the hard drive, it simply deletes the reference to the file.

For example, when you go to a library to find a book, you usually go to the index catalog and find the aisle number for your book. If you delete the index that tells you which aisle that book is located at, the book is still there, but no one may ever find it again! That’s the same way deleting works in Windows, the index to that file is deleted, but not the file itself. But of course, this now means that Windows can use that space to write other files when the time arises! It counts that space as free space, so you have to hope that Windows has not already written over that section!



The program that can help you recover your deleted files is Recuva (to be pronounced as Recover). It’s from the same people who wrote CCleaner, which is a great program to delete temporary files and clean out your registry.
http://www.recuva.com/download/downloading

Set up a wireless connection through laptop without a WiFi router

This article will help you convert your Windows XP and Vista based laptop in a Wireless HotSpot. One you setup your laptop as HotSpot then you do not need a router, switch, hub, etc… to form a network, in fact other laptops or PC’s can connect or access the internet through this newly created HotSpot

What do I need to set a HotSpot?

1. Active Cable Internet
2. Laptop
3. WiFi on Laptop
4. Wired net connection

Once you have all the above things mentioned, you are all set to follow the steps:

How to setup HotSpot on Windows Vista:

1. Got to Control Panel
2. Click on “Network and Sharing Centre”
3. Under Tasks choose “Setup New Connection”
4. Wireless “Ad-hoc network”
5. Now type in a “Network Name”
6. Choose “WEP” password if you don’t want to share the connection with the entire world
7. Click “Internet connection sharing”
8. Done!

Now a WiFi enabled machine will be able to connect to the network you have just setup with the WEP password

Lets setup a HotSpot on a Windows XP machine:

1. Go into Control panel
2. Open “Network Connections”
3. Right click on "Wireless Connection" and click on "Properties"
4. Click on the "Wireless Networks" tab and select the check-box which says “Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings”
5. Under “Prefered networks” click “Add”
6. Type a name in “Network name” text box
7. Select “Shared” from the options under “Network Authentication”
8. Under Data encryption select “WEP” and type in your password in “Network Key” field and now click "OK"
9. Now the new HotSpot should show in the list of preferred networks.
10. Click on the “Advance” button and select “Computer-to-computer (ad hoc) networks only" and press close
11. Hit “OK”, we are done with the wireless connection properties

One more step, we have to change something in the wired connection setting so that it knows that it has to share connection with the computers accessing our HotSpot.

1. Go to local Area Connections, right click it and select properties
2. Go to the “Advanced” tab and under Internet Connection Sharing check the box which says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection” and make sure the box under that is NOT selected so that no one can disable the network remotely.
3. Hit “OK”

I hope this helps setting up a wireless connection without a WiFi router. Have FuN!

Ways to make your computer run faster - I

In this article (and subsequent parts), I hope to compile a list of all the different methods and tricks that I’ve used to get the last bit of juice out of a slow PC. Whether you are using an old PC or the latest and greatest in hardware, you can still use some of these to make your PC run faster.

There are probably a lot of great tweaks that I’ve missed here, so do let me know if you have suggestions for additions through comments.

1. Defragment your computer hard disk.

My computer> right click on any drive> Properties> select tab 'Tools'> click on 'Defragment now'> Select Drive to be defragmented> and click 'defragment

You can also use user frendly free tools like Smart Defrag

2. You should also defragment your windows pagefile and registry by using Microsoft's free tool PageDefrag.

3. Clean up hard drive disk space being taken up by temporary files, the recycle bin, hibernation and more. You can also use a tool like TreeSize to determine what is taking up space on your hard drive.

4. Load up Windows faster by using Startup Delayer, a free program that will speed up the boot time of Windows by delaying the startup of programs.

5. Speaking of startup programs, many of them are useless and can be turned off. Use the MSCONFIG utility to disable startup programs.

6. Clean your registry by removing broken shortcuts, missing shared DLLs, invalid paths, invalid installer references and more. Read my earlier post on CCleaner which is the best free registry cleaner.

7. One of the main reasons why PC’s are slow is because of spyware. There are many programs to remove spyware such as SUPERAntiSpyware.

8. Remove unwanted softwares (aka junk software) from your PC by using the add and remove application in your control panel. Be careful to avoid removing any essential program.

9. Delete your Internet browsing history, temporary Internet files, cookies to free up disk space.

10. Move or change the location of your My Documents folder so that it is on a separate partition or hard drive.

Gmail Drive - Use your Gmail space as online storage space

Utilize your 7 GB+, ever increasing, Gmail space effectively...

http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm

Gmail Drive enables you to use your gmail account as a virtual storage drive that is accessible from windows explorer. It adds a drive icon to "My Computer" that allows you to access your storage space like any other folder, and upload files via drag and drop. The uploaded files appear in your Gmail inbox as messages with the files attached. The messages have a special subject, so you can use the spcial Gmail inbox tools to automatically move them to a seperate label.

To know more/download software...click here

Now access your Mom’s PC sitting in your office

Picture this- Your mom has complained about a virus warning being displayed on her computer. You have the solution for it and you know it won’t take more than a minute for you to solve the issue if you have the infected machine infront of you.. The only problem is that you are in another city. What will you do?

Welcome LogMeIn – A simple and secure access to a computer from anywhere using a omnipresent web browser.

After a quick registration, you need to install the software ON the machine (target machine) that you want to control. [In the case above, provide your credentials to login to the site and ask your mom to click on the download link to install the software]. Installation is not required on the computer FROM which you want to control other machines.

Once software is installed on the target machine, simply log into LogMeIn.com. Click on the machine name and you will be connected to the target computer. Once connected to the Target PC, Click on Remote Sharing and start controlling your Mom’s PC.

CallingAmerica- How to make free phone calls to America?

Skype.com lets you make free calls to America and practically all over the world, so what’s the difference? The difference lies in the words free and phone. CallingAmerica.com lets you make free call from your PC to any phone or landline present in US.

First question arise, how do they make money then? Through advertising. A small ad is played on the caller side before the call gets connected. Note: Ad is not played on the receiver side.

Some more features:

• Registered users can make unlimited calls but upto 15 mins in length each. Unregistered users can also make unlimited calls but upto 2 mins each only. There is no registration fee. You simply need to fill a form and you’re done.
• It’s completely web based. No need to download any software.

CCleaner - Very effective tool to make your computer run faster and it is free

"CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!" http://www.ccleaner.com/

This software is great for removing unwanted or extra files and to clear up your system। It is far superior then windows disk cleanup। As it does not create fragments and also searches far more quicker and faster. It is a very very good programe also to remove traces of internet site you visited and cookies and such. However this programe does not have a 'Unwanted files compressing system' like windows disk cleanup. It also help you to due with issues such as fragmented links and files.

The layout of this software is also easy to use and it has a simple plain layout. A checklist is also present for what you want and do not want to be removed.

This programe also has the 'Analyse' function which tells you what you would removed and the amout of space which will be freed. It evens give you a case-by-case analysis of the different types of files.

Extremely useful Gmail tips

I just can't get enough of the wonderful utilities of Gmail...This is in continuation of my last post on "custom from"...a few more excellent tips.

DAMN, I FORGOT TO ATTACH THAT DOC

No more fret about it. With this option enabled, Gmail will detect that you wanted to attach a doc but forgot to and it will prompt you to do so. Go to your Gmail account > labs and enable this feature as shown. It seems that this feature scans for words like “attachment”, “find attached” etc. to detect missing attachment. Simple but a lovely idea.

SECURE YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT

Worried that someone else might be reading your emails from the cyber cafe you went to and forgot to log out from? No more. Gmail now providesSign out all other sessions facility. Scroll down to the bottom of Gmail page after login. Click on Details. You will get this pop up. You know what to do with this button now. Rest in peace.

GMAIL SIGNATURE IN REPLY-TO EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT IT

This is something new from the Gmail’s super creative team. With this option enabled, you need not cut-paste your signature from the bottom to just after your message. As soon as you click on reply, your signature will automatically appear on the very top. This is especially useful in long mail exchanges. This feature can be accessed on under the "labs" page on gmail

SHOO AWAY SPAMMERS

Gmail considers r.o.w@gmail.com the same as row@gmail.com. This can be an excellent way to find out your spam mail source. Bloggers submit their email ids to many places. With each submission there is a potential for email abuse. The way to get around this is: Instead of submitting your mail id like row@gmail.com, submit it as r.ow@gmail.com to one, asro.w@gmail.com to another, and so on. Set up filters in Gmail corresponding to each of the mail ids submitted by you. Now when you receive spam, you can identify its source based on the unique filter that has been set up for it.

Digsby - Social Networking, IM and Email managed on the same platform

Digsby helps you manage all your IM, e-

mail, and social network accounts from one easy-to-use application. Digsby lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. It provides notifications when new

e-mails arrive and lets you perform actions such as "Mark as Read" or "Report Spam

" without having to go to your inbox while also keeping you up-to-date on what's happening on your social networks with pop-up notifications and a news feed of recent events for Facebook,

MySpace, and Twitter.

Many people are members of multiple IM, Social networking, and email services, and like to keep up with each of these. Generally, these

services offer a download that lets you chat, post, or monitor your account. Their tools are aimed specifically at their product, and don't work for anything else. They tend to take up lots of space, and can lack important features. Enter the combined client. Currently, there is no combined email monitoring/social network monitoring tool apart from Digsby, but that will likely change soon. Most combined clients focus on the IM system, allowing one tool to connect to multiple networks. This is nice, because then you can view all your friends and such in one location.

Why Digsby is revolutionary

Digsby is similar to all other IM combined clients in function, but in form. it goes a step above. It allows you to chat on all the major networks, as well as monitor your email and social network site.

Buddy List and IM service

Instead of segregating each service to its own area, like the other tools do, Digsby mixes them together, removing barriers. You can still tell who is on what network, by a symbol added to their picture, but they are all listed in one large contact group. You can easily start chats with people on multiple networks by double clicking their name, no need to change windows or panes. Furthermore, if your friend is on multiple networks, you can combine all their contacts into one. Clicking that will allow you to start messaging them on whatever network(s) they are online with.

PopUp alerts

One thing that one client does (AIM) that is quite nice is that it pops up messages when you get a new message, and has an input box on

those messages so you can reply to the message. Digsby does this as well, but for every network. In addition to IM, these popups work for social networks and email, so you can catch that message as it hits your inbox.

Tabs

If you are chatting with multiple people at once, then each chat is put into its own tab. While this isn't revolutionary, it is nice, and deserves merit.

Social Networks

Many people have facebook, myspace, twitter, etc accounts. Updating these can be a chore, usually involving cellphones or browsers. Digsby integrates with many of these, allowing you to update your status, see your friends status, and much more. This is one of the nicer features, and allows for quick status updates, so you can let your friends know EXACTLY what you are doing.

Email

Both Google Talk and Yahoo! Im offer alerts for when you get new emails, but unless you see the alert when you get it, you miss information about it. Digsby shows similar alerts with its popup, but also allows you to view the summaries of your unread messages, and preform various quick actions on them. This is useful if you are waiting for that memo about the company picknic, or just want to stay on top of your email.

Multiple Computers

One problem of most mixed im clients is you have to configure them separately on each computer you want to use. Digsby doesn't require you to do this. The settings you have on one computer work on ALL computers. This is preformed through a digsby account. You sign up for a free account, and then set it up. Whenever you want a digsby client to mirror your settings, even temporarily, just sign in to that client. All your networks will load, as will all your settings and customization. This really is elegant.

InSite widgets

Wouldn't it be nice to allow visitors to your blog/website/social network page chat with you in real time, without forcing you to have a browser open? Digsby lets you do this as well. By adding "widgets" to your pages, people can come and chat with you, without having to use Digsby. The chat client is flash based, so it is speedy and easy to embed, as well as offering several color choices and customization options. If someone you don't wish to talk to starts chatting you up, you can block their ip address.