15 Things Every PC User Should Know

Friendly Computers would like to share with you 15 things every PC user should know.

Think you know tech? If you don't have a handle on every single one of these 15 tech facts, habits, and efficiency tricks, you're not living up to your potential.

1. Don't double-click everything. Windows 101: Double-clicking is how you open items in Windows. It's not how you open links in your Web browser, click buttons in dialog boxes, or do pretty much anything else--and if you reflexively double-click, you might accidentally zip right past something important or submit a form twice. If you don't need this reminder yourself, chances are you know someone who does.

2. Use slashes and backslashes in the appropriate situations. Let's get it straight: / is a slash (or forward slash, if you must), and \ is a backslash. Backslashes are conventionally used for Windows file paths (C:\Program Files\Whatever), while slashes are used for Internet addresses (http://www.pcworld.com/howto.html).

3. Record the exact error message. When your PC crashes, it'll usually try to tell you why it is doing so--albeit with a string of numbers and letters that you won't understand. Write the message down in its entirety (or take a screenshot, if possible) so you can later plug it into Google or give it to your tech support agent. If your PC didn't provide an error message, go to Action Center (in the Control Panel) and see if it shows up under 'View archived messages' or 'View problems to report'.

4. Bring deleted files back from the dead. When you delete a file from your PC or memory card, you're not wiping it off the actual hard drive. Instead, you're simply removing the index information that tells your PC where the file is, at which point the PC is free to treat the part of your disk that contain that file as empty space that it can write something else to. If you've accidentally deleted something, undelete utilities such as Recuva can help you find those files again as long as you haven't already written over that file with something new.

Don't leave your personal data on your old PC's hard drive. Nuke it completely with Darik's Boot and Nuke.

5. Wipe your hard drive before getting rid of it.Because your PC doesn't immediately get rid of the files you delete, you can't just reformat your hard drive before recycling or selling your old computer--because someone might be able to use an undelete app to recover your sensitive data. We have all kinds of tips for completely erasing an old drive, but the short version is: grab Darik's Boot and Nuke.

Want a totally worthless toolbar added to your browser? No? Then uncheck the box for that option before you install updates.

6. Uncheck the boxes before you install. Lots of helpful apps out there give you the option of installing search toolbars and other add-ons--and some of them are so pushy about being helpful that their installers are configured to install the uninvited extras unless you check a box saying you don't want them. Not only is each add-on another thing that your PC needs to load, but you have no idea what kind of data it could be sending out. They come bundled with the app because they make money for the app developer, not because they're particularly useful. So take a close look at what you're installing before you click Install--and in return, the installer won't change your search engine or install apps you don't need.

7. Beware of viruses living in Office docs. Experienced Microsoft Office users can take advantage of its built-in Visual Basic for Applications support to automate complex tasks with macros. However, malicious coders can use those same tools to design viruses that may interfere with your work and that of your colleagues. By default, Office is set to disable all macros and notify you when a doc you're reading contains them (to toggle this setting, in Word, select Word Options, Trust Center, Trust Center Settings, Macro Settings), so you should already be safe on this score.

8. Be skeptical of "cleaning" apps. Apps that make vague claims about improving your PC's performance and clearing out its clutter (Registry cleaners, I'm looking at you) will generally do more harm than good (if they do anything at all). To clean up your system, simply run Disk Cleanup (to reach it, select Start Menu, All programs, Accessories, System Tools); it comes with every Windows installation and it won't mess up your PC.

9. Uninstall your old apps. If you regularly download and install new apps from the Internet, you should get in the habit of pruning your collection every now and then. To do so, open the Programs and Features control panel, scroll through the list, and click Uninstall to ditch items you no longer want. You may need to take a trip into your C:/Program Files/ folder to hunt down a few additional unused apps. The less stuff you have on your PC, the less things are to go wrong.

10. Don't let a spilled drink ruin your laptop. If you keep your cool when a spill occurs, you may be able to prevent your data from disappearing and your motherboard from frying. Instead of panicking, quickly but methodically unplug the power cord and yank out the battery--don't wait for Windows to power off. Next, detach anything connected to the PC (network cables, USB devices) and pull out any readily removable components such as an optical drive. Tilt the laptop to try to drain the liquid in the direction that it spilled onto your PC, but be careful--you don't want to tilt the laptop in a direction that would allow the liquid to seep even deeper in. If you see liquid on the surface of the laptop, dab it off with a towel. At this point, unless you're comfortable disassembling your PC and cleaning it with electronics cleaner, you'll probably want to take it to a tech.

11. Turn down UAC. Both Windows 7 and Windows Vista include a security function called User Account Control, which dims the screen and flashes a dialog box whenever you install an app or change your system settings. Though this arrangement can be useful for catching sneaky apps that are trying to install or change things without your knowledge, it can also be annoying. If you use Vista, grab TweakUAC to make it less annoying without turning it off. If you use Windows 7, the default settings aren't too bad, but I recommend that you go into the User Accounts control panel, click User Account Control settings, and change the setting to the third notch down, so UAC will still warn you but it won't dim the screen.

12. Don't work in your admin account. Many PC users are accustomed to doing their everyday work while logged in to their PC's administrator account--especially in Windows XP. Doing so can save you the hassle of having to log in and out when you want to install apps or make changes, but it also leaves you much more vulnerable to viruses and malware--so don't do it.

The Control Panel is far easier to navigate when you can see all the icons at a glance.

13. Keep your Control Panel in Icon View. The Control Panel's Categories view can be useful if you're intimidated by the many different options available, but it can also make finding what you're looking for more difficult (especially if you're following detailed instructions that refer to the control panels by name). Click Classic view on the left (in Vista) or choose Large Icons from the View bydropdown menu in the upper right (in Windows 7), and you'll have ready access to all of the control panels.

Limit the clutter in your system tray by paring down the list of icons that occupy it.

14. Clear your system tray.Apps often park themselves in the system tray (the row of icons on the right side of your taskbar) and stay open without your realizing it. Take the time to clear it out occasionally. Open the Notification Area Icons control panel, and check the box on the bottom that says Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar to get a sense of how cluttered your system tray is; then right-click each one you don't need and choose Close. Your RAM will thank you.

15. Manage your power settings. If you're using a laptop, you'll want to know how to change your power settings so your PC doesn't waste battery when you need to conserve it, doesn't slow down when you need to go fast, and doesn't go to sleep at an inopportune moment. Open the Power Options control panel, and choose from among several presets containing different configurations for when you're plugged in and when you're mobile--or feel free to create your own. To access the advanced settings, click Change plan settings, Change advanced settings; there you'll find detailed options related to your battery, Wi-Fi radio, graphics card, and more.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/203395/15_things_every_pc_user_should_know.html

How to Rename Libraries, Computer, and Favorites in Windows 7 Explorer’s Navigation Pane

Friendly Computers would like to share this article with Windows 7 users.

Today in this tutorial, we'll tell you how to rename these items present in Navigation pane. By default, Windows only allows you to rename "Computer" item. You can right-click on it and select "Rename" and type whatever name you want to give.

But what about other items? You can rename them too using a simple registry trick which is mentioned in the coming steps.

We'll modify the same registry keys which we modified in the above mentioned tutorials to remove the items. We'll just edit a String value "LocalizedString" for each Navigation pane item and give it our desired name.

So without wasting any time, lets start the tutorial:

1. Type regedit in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to any of following keys according to your requirements:

Favorites - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}
Libraries - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}
Homegroup - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}
Network - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}

3. Now you'll need to change value of "LocalizedString" String value present in the right-side section. But Windows will not allow you to change its value as you won't have proper permissions.

You can use following simple steps to take permission:

Right-click on the key mentioned in Step 2 and select "Permissions...".

It'll open a dialog box, Click on "Advanced" button.

It'll open another dialog box, Go to "Owner" tab.

Select your Username from the list and click on "Apply" button and then OK.

Again click on OK button in the first dialog box.

Now again right-click on the same key and select "Permissions...".

Select your Username in the list and check the "Allow" option for "Full Control".

Click on Apply button and then OK.

4. Now double-click on "LocalizedString" String value given in right-side section and change its value to any desired name like "PC Favorites", "My Libraries", "Home Network", etc.

5. That's it. Now open My Computer and you'll see the new names for each item.

NOTE: If you want to restore the default names, you can use following default values of "LocalizedString" String value:

Favorites - @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21796
Libraries - @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-50691
Homegroup - @%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-50688
Network - @%systemroot%\system32\NetworkExplorer.dll,-1

Source: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-rename-favorites-libraries-homegroup-computer-and-network-items-in-windows-7-explorer’s-navigation-pane/

Checklist Guide for Reinstalling Windows

Friendly Computers found this checklist guide for reinstalling Windows very useful and would like to share it with you.

Do you need to reinstall Windows on your computer?  Here’s a checklist of the things you should do before you make the leap and reinstall.

Whether you’re replacing a dying hard drive in your computer or want to upgrade from XP to Windows 7, there are many reasons you may want to reinstall Windows.  Vista and Windows 7 are much less prone to major OS issues that require you to reinstall Windows, but there are many things that can make a reinstall needed.  Many people are worried about losing data when reinstalling Windows.  However, if you make sure you cover all the things in this list, you should be certain to have your new install of Windows running great with all of your data and programs running as before.

Back up Your Files

As more and more of our lives and memories are stored on computers, losing your files is not an option.  We strongly urge everyone to always have complete backups of their data, but even still, you may have many files you need to move when installing Windows.  You’ll want to have a copy of your documents, music, videos, pictures, and more copied to another hard drive or disk before you reinstall.  If you’ve never changed the default storage locations, most of your files should be stored in your User folder, which you can access by entering%UserProfile% in the address bar in Explorer.

You can copy the files to an external hard drive, flash drive, DVD, Cloud Storage, or even another partition on your primary hard drive; just make sure not to delete the files during the upgrade.

Backup Email

Many programs such as Outlook save data on your computer as well, and if you forget to backup Outlook data you can lose years of work.  Here’s how you can copy your PST files from Outlook to your backup drive so you can easily add them to Outlook again once you reinstall Windows.

Find Your Programs to Reinstall

Windows without programs doesn’t let you do much with your computer, so you’ll want to make sure you can easily install all of your programs again once you’ve reinstalled.  You could make a list of all your installed programs from your All Programs menu in the Start menu, or you could look through your Program files folders to see what you currently have installed.  Then, you’ll need to locate product keys for commercial programs.

This can be difficult and time consuming, so thankfully there’s easier tools to help you find all your programs.  System Information for Windows is free for personal use and a great tool that will list the programs you have installed on your computer, as well as the product keys you’ve used to activate them.  It will also list all of your hardware, so you can download drivers if Windows doesn’t automatically find them with Windows update.

Check out our article on how to get detailed information about your PC.

If you have lost the installer disks for your programs, a quick web search can often turn up trial downloads that you can activate with your existing product keys that you may have found with SIW.  Or, you could try out some alternates to the programs you’ve been using for years.

Great Free Alternatives to Popular Programs

If you’ve been using your computer for many years, you may have a variety of old for-pay and shareware programs installed on your computer.  When you look through your list of applications, you might want to consider trying out some newer, free alternatives to other programs.  Here’s some we like:

• Antivirus – Microsoft Security Essentials is a great, free antivirus and antimalware application, which you can use instead of Norton, MacAfee, or other expensive antivirus solutions.  Check our overview of the new MSE 2.0 beta, too.
• Archiving Files – Were you using an older version of WinZip or WinRAR before?  Try out 7-zip; it’s an excellent free alternative that works with most file archival formats such as zip, rar, cab, and more.
• CD/DVD Burning – Windows 7 can burn ISO files to disks without extra software, but if you need extra features, try out the free ImgBurn instead of reinstalling the copy of Roxio or Nero that came with your computer.
• Windows Live Essentials includes Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Messenger, and Writer, all of which are great tools that can replace many other for-pay programs.  The new Beta edition includes even more features, including advanced photo merge and touchup tools in Photo Gallery that previously were only available in tools like Photoshop Elements.  For more photo tools, try out Paint.NET or Picasa.
• Music and Video Tools – Most of us don’t pay for media player programs, but while you’re reinstalling, why not try out new programs such as Zune for Windows or the fully customizable Foobar2000 music player.
• If you’re looking for replacements for other applications, check out the Alternatives website.  This site lists for-pay and free alternatives to many popular programs, and you might even discover some you’ve never heard of.

Cloud Applications

This could also be a good opportunity to try out more online applications.  From Google Apps and the new Office Web Apps to Mint.com and Picnik, there are web apps that can replace many standard desktop applications today.  If you have broadband internet connection, web apps can often be a great way to use newer applications for free.

You may still want to keep Microsoft Office installed for the times you need to work offline, the service goes down, or you lose your web connection. Even if you use an older version of Office, you might want to keep it incase you’re not comfortable putting all your documents online.

Installing Windows

When you’ve got all your data and programs backed up, you’re ready to install Windows.  You can install it from a DVD as normal, or if you have USB flash drive you could install Windows directly from it.  We’ve recently installed Windows 7 on a new hard drive in only 15 minutes from a flash drive; it’s amazingly quick. 

Once you’ve got Windows installed again, you’ve got 30 days to activate it.  But, if you’d like more time to make sure everything’s working properly, here’s yow you can extend the trial to 120 days so you can use it for nearly 4 months without activating.  That should be more than enough time to make sure everything’s working perfectly!

Quickly and Automatically Reinstall Apps

You can now copy your files back from your backups and get your programs reinstalled.  No one likes clicking through dozens of installers, so we recommend you try out Ninite, a great tool that makes it a snap to install a lot of free and trial programs in a couple clicks.  Check out our review of Ninite for more info.

Conclusion

Don’t forget to keep your clean install of Windows up to date with Microsoft Update and protected with Security Essentials!  Also, make sure to setup a good backup solution such as Windows Backup and Restore to make sure you don’t lose any of your data if your new hard drive suddenly dies.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/23890/checklist-guide-for-reinstalling-windows/

Your Windows 7 Reliability Monitor

Friendly Computers found this article useful to keep your PC on the right track and would like to share it with you.

One of the cool little features that arose from the ashes of the disaster known as Windows Vista was the Reliability Monitor. A little-known tool which is almost hidden within the action center, the Reliability tool is great for tracking your computers reliability.

I remember using it when I was running Vista and nearly forgot about it until I was reminded by a weekly podcast to which I subscribe. I did my best to see if we have ever covered the Reliability Monitor here on Windows7News and as far as I can tell, we haven’t.

“Reliability Monitor is an advanced tool that measures hardware and software problems and other changes to your computer. It provides a stability index that ranges from 1 (the least stable) to 10 (the most stable). You can use the index to help evaluate the reliability of your computer. Any change you make to your computer or problem that occurs on your computer affects the stability index.”

Per Microsoft, the Reliability Monitor is intended for advanced computer users, such as software developers and network administrators, but it is easy to use, so even moderate users will have no problem using the tool to track their system over time.

There are two ways to find your PC’s Reliability history:

You can use Windows Search and begin typing the word ‘Reliability’ until the option shows.

Or

Right-click on the white flag in your taskbar to open Action Center.

Click Maintenance. Then, under Check for solutions to problem reports, clickView reliability history.

In Reliability Monitor, you can:

• Click any event on the graph to view its details.

• Click Days, or Weeks, to view the stability index over a specific period of time.

• Click items in the Action column to view more information about it.

• Click View all problem reports to view only the problems that have occurred on your computer. This view does not include the other computer events that show up in Reliability Monitor, such as events about software installation.

The layout of the program is pretty self-explanatory and very basic.

You can click on specific unreliable instances to view the details.

The Reliability Monitor is a very basic program with a very basic use. It’s one of the many useful tools provided natively in Windows 7 which can help you keep your PC on the right track.

Source: http://www.windows7news.com/2010/07/28/reliability-monitor/

What's Useful in the Safari Extensions Gallery

Friendly Computers would like to help you to choose some useful Safari Extensions.

Safari's Extensions Gallery has gone live, and there's quite a bit to look through and add to your browser at launch. We took a gander through the offerings and picked out some of the extensions worth noting. Here's the list.

To use these extensions, you'll need to have Safari installed, and have it updated to the latest version. Both Macs and Windows installations have Apple's updating software you can use to grab the 5.0.1 copy, but if you've disabled Apple's Software Update on Windows, you'll need to grab a fresh copy manually.

We've provided links to the extension maker and a direct installation link for each extension we picked out, with each link coming from the extension maker. You may be asked whether you want to Open or Save the file we're linking to (choose "Open"), and if you're sure you want to install that extension ("Install," we presume). To manage these extensions once you've got them installed, head to your Safari preferences and look for the newly-enabled Extensions menu.

Social Networking

Better Facebook: Automatically hides posts you've already read, removes some of the cruft from the site, notifies you of new comments and un-friendings, and more. [Install in Safari]

Shut Up: Kills comments on many sites where you might get sick of them. [Install in Safari]

Bookmarking

Procrastinate: Adds text articles to bookmarking and reading services like Instapaper, Read it Later, and Delicious from an all-in-one toolbar button. [Install in Safari]

Twitter Tools

Twitter for Safari: Twitter's official client for sending tweets, but also reading tweets and seeing Twitter profiles related to the page you're on. You can easily tweet about a page you're looking at, too, with a pre-shortened URL. [Install in Safari]

E-mail

GmailThis: Sends an email through Gmail's compose window, with the page you're on pre-loaded in the subject and body text. Basically, a fancy bookmarklet, but with a nice button. [Install in Safari]

TrueNew Count for Gmail and Google Apps: More than just providing a count of the messages marked unread, TrueNew's counter shows you how many messages are unread since the last time you looked at Gmail or Google Apps. [Install in Safari]

Shopping

InvisibleHand: Like the Firefox and (slightly scandalous) Chrome extensions, InvisibleHand checks the shopping item pages you're looking at to see if the item is offered elsewhere—Amazon, Buy.com, and the like—at a cheaper price. [Install in Safari]

Entertainment

A Cleaner YouTube: Claims to transform YouTube into a "quiet and peaceful place" by cutting out most of everything except the video itself. [Install in Safari]

Turn Off the Lights: As with its nifty Chrome counterpart, this little button throws a shade over everything except the video you're watching on YouTube, Vimeo, or embedded clips. [Install in Safari]

Security

LastPass: One of our favorite universal password systems, LastPass is an elegant little plug-in for storing your passwords, filling them in automatically, and yet keeping them encrypted and available anywhere you go. [Install in Safari]

Web of Trust: Reads out everything the very excellent Web of Trust community knows about the site you're on—encryption, trustworthiness, vendor reliability for various components, and so on. [Install in Safari]

Photos

Awesome Screenshot: Like its Chrome counterpart, Awesome Screenshot handles the capture, annotation, sensitive data blurring, and upload/sharing aspects of grabbing web pages, no extra software needed. [Install in Safari]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5598524/whats-useful-in-the-safari-extensions-gallery

Add Some Visual Flair to the Task Manager Display in Windows 7

Friendly Computers would like to help you to customize Task Manager Display in Windows 7.

If you love to customize your system as much as possible, then we have a fun way for you to change the color scheme for the Task Manager Window. Those Performance and Networking tabs will have a fresh new look in only a few minutes.

Before

The default color scheme for the Performance and Networking tabs is not bad, but if you love customizing your system then even this can be changed.

Getting Started with Task Manager Modder

Task Manager Modder comes in .7z zip file and has a single file inside (Task Manager Modder.exe). All you will need to do is place it in an appropriate Program Files folder and create a shortcut. When you start Task Manager Modder for the first time you will have to agree to the EULA in order to use the program.

You will see an embedded Task Manager Window inside the program window for viewing color modifications and the color controls at the bottom.

Here is a closer look at the color adjustments toolbar. You can select from the set of included colors for each option or enter your own custom color codes if desired. During our tests we chose the colors included with the program.

Here are three examples that we set up on our system. You can have a lot of fun experimenting with the color schemes to get that “just perfect look��. When you have everything fixed just the way that you like click on Modify Taskmgr. Keep in mind that if you have the Task Manager Window open it will temporarily close while the colors are changed then restart. Click Exit when you are finished modifying the color scheme.

After

Our Task Manager Window definitely had a different look and feel to it afterwards.

If you need or want to change back to the default color scheme just click on Restore Taskmgr. As discussed above, if you have the Task Manager Window open it will temporarily close while the colors are reset then restart.

Conclusion

By changing the colors in Task Manager, it could actually help you identify performance issues easier. So if you love to customize as much of your system as possible, then you can definitely have fun with Task Manager Modder.

Links

Download Task Manager Modder

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/22470/add-some-visual-flair-to-the-task-manager-display-in-windows-7/

5 Ways to Use Bootable Linux Live Discs

Friendly Computers found this article useful and would like to share it with you.

In the almost 20 years since Linux was first released into the world, free for anyone to use and modify however they like, the operating system has been put to a lot of uses. Today, a vast number of servers run Linux to serve up Web pages and applications, while user-friendly versions of Linux run PCs, netbooks, and even Android and WebOS phones.

One incredibly useful way that Linux has been adapted to the needs of modern computer users is as a "live CD," a version of the operating system that can be booted from a CD (or a DVD or, in some cases, a USB drive) without actually being installed on the computer's hard drive. Given the massive RAM and fast CPUs available on even the lowest-end computers today, along with Linux's generally lower system requirements compared to Windows and Mac OS X, you can run Linux quite comfortably from a CD drive.

Live discs allow you to radically transform the nature of the machine you're working on -- without modifying the installed operating system and software at all. There are a number of reasons you might want to do this. The most obvious is to test a new version or different distribution of Linux before deploying it, saving yourself the surprise of incompatible software or nonfunctional hardware after installation. But even if your business does not plan to deploy Linux as a desktop or server operating system, there are still good reasons to have a live Linux CD or two on hand.

Live CDs are great for system diagnosis and recovery when disaster strikes; they're also useful for securing and testing your network. And for road warriors, the ability to boot up a familiar, customized operating system on any machine, anywhere in the world, has an obvious attraction -- as do specialized live distributions designed to provide security and anonymity for workers with sensitive data or communications to protect.

Live discs are read-only, which means they're quite secure, since malware can't make any changes to the core system. If you do get an infection, it disappears as soon as you reboot.

Here are five ways to use live Linux in your business, as well as pointers to distributions best suited to each particular task.

1. Test-drive Linux

Over the years, Linux has developed from a usability nightmare into a fairly straightforward desktop operating system. With professional-quality productivity tools like OpenOffice.orgfor creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations and GIMP for image editing, as well as versions of familiar applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, Adobe Reader and Flash, most common business tasks can be done pretty easily on a Linux system.

You can see how well adapted Linux is to your business by running several of the most popular desktop distributions from a live CD. Perhaps the most refined and user-friendly desktop system available right now is Ubuntu, which includes just about every application you could ever ask for, from business productivity apps to programs for multimedia editing, Web design, running databases, serving up Web pages and chatting online.

Ubuntu's installation disk is itself a live CD, so if you decide to install the system later you can just run the installer from the Ubuntu desktop.

2. Recover aging hardware

Linux in general has lower system requirements than other contemporary operating systems, but there are a few distributions that are specially designed to take advantage of old, even ancient, computer hardware, letting you squeeze a few more years of life out of systems you wouldn't even think of running Windows on -- including machines with broken hard drives.

Both Damn Small Linux (DSL) and Puppy Linux are designed for older systems, requiring only a Pentium 486 or equivalent CPU and 128MB of RAM to run well. DSL can even run with just 64MB of RAM. Both launch a usable, if somewhat stripped down, user interface that's perfect for tasks like sending and receiving e-mail, creating documents and surfing the Web -- in other words, basic administrative tasks.

3. Secure your network

Linux is already one of the more secure operating systems, since it was designed from the start as an Internet-connected system. Running it from a live CD makes it even more secure, since the disk image cannot be modified. Several distributions take advantage of the inherent security of the live CD to transform old computer equipment into powerful secure gateways for your network.

Zeroshell can be installed on any PC with a 233-MHz processor and 96MB of RAM to transform it into a fully featured gateway router and firewall. All the advanced features you'd expect from a modern gateway are present, including authentication via RADIUS server, quality-of-service monitoring and traffic-shaping, VPN and the ability to act as an 802.11a/b/g router on machines with the appropriate wireless cards.

4. Restore failed systems and recover lost files

When Windows fails to boot, smart IT professionals reach for their live Linux CDs. Whether the problem is a corrupted operating system or a damaged hard drive, you can boot up Linux from the CD drive, allowing you to read and copy files, run diagnostics or perform other maintenance tasks like partitioning drives.

While most Linux distributions have an assortment of at least some useful diagnostic and recovery tools (and often, looking at a drive through another operating system can be immensely useful in itself), specialized distros like the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) designed to run from discs are ideal for dealing with technical problems.

UBCD is the Swiss Army knife of recovery discs, containing more than 100 tools for performing deep sector-by-sector analysis of a hard drive's physical surface, recovering deleted or damaged files, rebuilding file tables, examining boot-sector errors and plenty more.

5. Work anonymously

Transform any computer into a paranoia-inspired privacy powerhouse using a CD-based distribution such as TAILS, The (Amnesic) Incognito Live System. With TAILS, you can surf the Web in total privacy -- all outgoing traffic is anonymized using the Tor service, which bounces your packets through random servers worldwide before delivering them to their destination.

In addition, the software included with TAILS is configured for privacy by default: Firefox comes with JavaScript and cookies disabled; the e-mail client, Claws, includes integrated GnuPG encryption; the Pidgin IM client is configured for Off-the-Record messaging, which encrypts and strips identifying information from your messages; and so on. Since it boots from a Live CD and saves no information on the host machine, once you remove the disc all traces of your activity simply disappear.

Find more live Linux distros

These choices only scratch the surface of the available Linux systems that can be run from a live CD -- Wikipedia's "List of Live CDs" entry names about 100 different Linux versions with live CDs, as well as live CDs based on other operating systems such as BSD, Solaris and even Windows. If you have a preferred Linux version, check the list -- chances are it will run from a live CD, with all the portability and security benefits that implies.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/201542/5_ways_to_use_bootable_linux_live_discs.html

See Image Previews in Craigslist Listings

Friendly Computers would like to share this article with you.

I love Craigslist, but does the service have to be souser-unfriendly? I mean, would it kill Craig (or whoever's in charge these days) to offer some kind of image preview in the listings? As it stands, you have to click through every single item to see whatever photos lie beneath.

To paraphrase a popular slogan, there's a Firefox add-on for that. CLIP (a.k.a. CraigsList Image Prefetcher) adds thumbnail image previews to all Craigslist listings and search results. (And speaking of thumbnails, click the one up top to see a larger version of what CLIP does.)

Even better, CLIP adds previews of the listings themselves. Just mouse over the little arrow to the right of any item and the underlying ad text appears in a pop-up box. That should save you a lot of unnecessary clicking.

While you're at it, be sure to check out CL Genie, a free service that sends you an e-mail whenever a new Craigslist listing matches your search term(s).

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/201530/see_image_previews_in_craigslist_listings.html

Remove Those Stubborn Files From Windows 7

Friendly Computers found this article useful and would like to share it with you.

Every so often you download a file, and when your finished with it, you go to delete it and then you get the famous error message. ” Windows was not able to remove the selected file because it is currently in use” this just drives me nuts when I see it. Ok, right so I just go and close whatever window I had open that caused the file to be in use and try again.

Nope still doesn’t work. Right then, I’ll close every single window and program, that should do the trick. Try to remove the file again, but nope still you keep getting that error message.

You’re getting worried at this stage, is this a virus or what? So you go and reboot your machine, then you go once more to delete the file, but still no luck, error message yet again.

So what do you do? Are you stuck with this file forever? Well not anymore, now there is a program called “Unlocker” which will solve all your problems.

It works with both Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit (there is a different version for each so be sure to download the right one) and even better it’s free.

It works out which processes are running and causing the file to be in use, and kills them which then allows it to delete the file. What’s more, you don’t even have to reboot your machine unlike other file removal programs.

Just a word of note though, because of the nature of this program, several antivirus programs mark it as a false positive and think it’s malware. But rest assured, it’s not and there’s proof of that on the developers blog

You can download the

32 Bit version here

64 Bit version here

Source: http://www.windows7news.com/2010/07/08/remove-stubborn-files-windows-7/

Mount a Windows Share in OS X and Have it Reconnect at Login

Friendly Computers thought that this article will help you to mount Windows share in OS X and have it reconnect at login.

Something Mac users often need to do is be able to access files stored on Windows shares. Here’s a good way to mount those share, and keep t1hem mounting at login.

Mounting the Windows Share

When you are in Finder you can click Go and Connect to Server or you can type Command + K to get to the same menu.

In Server Address you will need to put the location of you Windows share with this formatsmb://server/share where server is the name or IP address of your Windows machine andshare is going to be the folder or drive you want to mount.

If your Windows share requires authentication it will ask you for that info here.

Now if you have Connected Servers showing on your desktop, it will show up on your desktop an in Finder.

Making the Share Mount at Login

To keep the share showing up when you have to log out seems pretty difficult. The internet is littered with ways to write scripts to allow you to do this. But OS X makes it pretty simple if you are just needing to add the share to your machine.

You will need to be in System Preferences for this, which you can get to by clicking on the Apple Menu and then going to System Preferences.

Then you will go to Accounts.

Once in Accounts, you will need go to the Login Items tab. Then you will just drag the share from your desktop or Finder window into the Login Items list.

If your share requires authentication, it may be possible to add the username and password into your keychain with the check box in the authentication window. Some shares will not work with the keychain though.

This is pretty nice if you are working a lot between OS X and Windows, and need to move files between the two.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21600/mount-a-windows-share-in-os-x-and-have-it-reconnect-at-login/

Change Your Wi-Fi Router Channel to Optimize Your Wireless Signal

Friendly Computers would like to share this article with you.

If you live in an apartment complex you’ve probably noticed more than just the passive-aggressive network IDs that your neighbors use—very likely you’ve had problems with your wireless connections dropping out, or just not being as fast as you’d like. Here’s a quick fix.

Of course, this isn’t the only thing you need to do to make sure your wireless network is running at maximum speed, but for today’s lesson we’ll show you how to pick the right channel to make sure you can stream the new Futurama episode to your laptop without skipping.

Note: if your Wireless network is working fine, please don’t mess with it. Or at least, don’t blame us if you break it.

Figuring Out the Right Wi-Fi Channel

The first thing you need to do is grab yourself a copy of the free inSSIDer utility, which will scan your wireless network and probably reveal some humorous names from your weird neighbors. If only they could learn how to park their cars like decent human beings.

Let’s take a closer look at that window… you’ll need to choose the right channel band, depending on the router you are using. Mine is a Linksys dual-band Wireless-N router, which has two separate networks… if you aren’t sure, go for the 2.4 GHz one first, and then click the Start Scanning button.

Note: If you have more than one network card enabled, make sure the drop-down has your wireless card selected.

Ideally you’ve selected the right one, and after waiting for a minute or two, you’ll see your network in the list. For example, my test network is called lhdevnet, and it’s currently running on channel 6. If you looked closely at the screenshot earlier, you’d see that there are loads of networks in my apartment complex using the same wireless channel.

Looks like it’s time to change the channel. Hopefully Futurama is on.

Change Your Wireless Channel

If you’re using a Linksys router, you’ll need to browse to the address of your router, which is probably set to http://192.168.1.1 but could be assigned to another address. You can run a quick ipconfig command at the command prompt to check:

In my case the address is different (because I changed it, of course), but what you’re looking for is the Default Gateway for your Wireless connection, and then go to http://<Default Gateway> in your browser. Enter in the password that you hopefully remember, and head to the Wireless –> Basic Wireless Settings tab.

My router has two separate bands, but your router might just have a single band here. In my case, what I’ve done is set the 2.4 GHz band to only be used for Wireless-G, and the 5GHz one to Wireless-N only. Since I’m not having any problems with the Wireless-N settings, I’ve left those on auto.

Where I am having a problem, however, is my Wireless-G devices—so what I’ve done is chosen channel 9, since it’s the only channel that’s not being used by any of my neighbors, who are using mostly channels 1 and 6, though a few are using 11 as well.

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the most common channels to choose, and most routers will use one of them as the default channel—but the general idea is to be as far away from everybody else as you can.

Note: I’ve also configured my router for 20 MHz only on the 2.4 GHz Wireless-G band, just because that was the only way it would let me choose the standard channel manually.

If you are using a different router, the IP address will generally be the same, but you’ll have to figure out how to change the Wireless channel without any screenshot tours. It’s usually fairly easy, though, once you know what you’re looking for.

Fun Technical notes

If you look closely, you’ll notice that each of the channels are 5 MHz away from each other, but the Channel Width for 2.4 GHz is actually 20 MHz. What this means is while that the channel might be set to channel 6, it’s also partially using 5 and 7, and probably slightly interfering with 4 and 8.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/change-your-wi-fi-router-channel-to-optimize-your-wireless-signal/

Two Ways to Remove People From Your Vacation Photos

Planning summer vacation? Friendly Computers found this article very useful and would like to share it with you.

No matter where you travel this summer, you're probably going to have some trouble taking photos--not necessarily because of any technical issues with your camera, but because there will be so many people in the way of what you're trying to shoot. I've explained before how to erase tourists from your photos using Corel Paint Shop Pro, but this time around I've got two different techniques to share with you: One you can use in almost any photo editor from Adobe Photoshop Elements to GIMP, and an even easier method that works in Adobe Photoshop only.

The Traditional Method: Cloning

One of the oldest and most beloved photo editing tricks, cloning is a handy way to discreetly remove small objects from a photo. To clone away an unwanted element, you just "paint over" it with some texture from a nearby part of the photo. When done well, it can be almost impossible to tell anything was changed, and it's a great way to eliminate tourists from vacation photos. Take this airshow photo, for example, with a distracting pole in the shot. Rather than cropping it out, I'll clone it away.

Most photo editors have a Clone tool. In Photoshop Elements, you can find it in the 15th cubby from the top of the toolbar on the left side of the screen; it looks like an old-fashioned ink stamp. (In GIMP, it's also an ink stamp, sixth from the end of the toolbar.) After you select the tool, find a part of the photo that you can use to paint over the unwanted bits. Look for a section of the photo that would naturally be there. If a tourist is standing in front of a tree, for example, can you copy bits of foliage?

Next, hold the Alt key and click on the part of the photo that you want to use as your source. Also, you might need to adjust the size of the clone brush--you can adjust that in the Tool Options palette at the top of the screen. Make the size big enough that you can dab and paint sections of the photo with each stroke. It shouldn't feel like you're etching with a sharpened pencil.

You can also experiment with the opacity control in the Tool Options palette. Setting the opacity at 100 percent will completely obliterate the unwanted element, but the source material that you're cloning might look unnaturally pasted in as well--reducing the opacity can help to blend the new and old parts of the photo.

When you're ready, just start painting. Wherever you paint, you'll replace the pixels under your brush with "borrowed" bits from the source location. There's an art to painting with the Clone tool. Like learning to play a musical instrument, you'll need to practice with it before your results look realistic and attractive--just like my airshow shot, without that annoying pole.

An Easier Method: Stacking Photos in Photoshop

If slaving over the Clone tool sounds like too much work, then I've got a fast and simple solution that you might enjoy. The downside? Not only does it require the full Creative Suite edition of Photoshop, but it's also a technique you have to plan for when you originally take the photo.

In a nutshell, Photoshop can take a series of similar photos and automatically remove parts that don't belong in all the photos, leaving behind only those sections that are identical in every one. Here's a crowded shot, for example, with people moving around in the scene.

Here's what to do: When you take a photo of something in which a bunch of tourists are cluttering up the photo, take a bunch of photos so that, over a handful of shots, you thoroughly photograph every bit of the scene. In each photo, you'll have unwanted people, but they'll move around from shot to shot, leaving the background consistent in every frame you shoot. It's best to shoot this on a tripod, but if you're hand-holding the camera it might be okay; just be sure to keep the framing as consistent as possible in every photo.

When you get home, load all the photos into Photoshop and then choose File, Scripts, Statistics. Change the Stack Mode to Median, and then click Add Open Files. Finally, click OK. That's all you need to do. Photoshop will think for a little while (depending upon how many photos you supplied), and you will end up with a photo with no tourists, almost like magic. I took a series of six photos to get this human-free photo.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/200184/two_ways_to_remove_people_from_your_vacation_photos.html