Which services can I disable in Windows?

Which services can I disable in Windows?

A:

First, you will want to have a restore point already created, so I will wait here while you do that, in case you haven't already done so.

Done? Okay, great, let's get going on disabling some of the services on your computer so you can save some disk space and allow your computer to run a little bit smoother.

First, click Start, Control Panel. Now, choose the Administrative Tools link (XP users will have to click on "Performance and Maintenance" first, then "Administrative Tools", Windows Vista and 7 users need only type "Administrative Tools" into their search bar). Once there, click on Services and a list of all the services installed on your computer will come up. You can maximize the window, so you can see the status of each service.

The first column contains the complete description of the service. Run your mouse pointer over the words so you can see the whole description written out. The next column is the status of each service. If it says "Started," that means that particular service is presently running. Next, you see the Startup Type, which tells you if the service starts automatically when you boot up your computer or if it has to be done manually. Some services may also be disabled. The next column is just telling you how you logged on for each service, whether it be through your local system or by a network service.

Now, we're getting to the good part. The following services are ones that can be safely disabled, while still allowing your computer to run normally. Disabling some of these services will help you save some of your disk space, which is always a great thing!

Disabling a service is pretty easy to do, but do it with caution as to make sure you don't hit the wrong thing. Just highlight the service you want to turn off and right click on it, choosing "Properties". A service sheet will come up for that service and you'll want to look under the general tab. Here, you can choose to stop the service or turn it back on (either automatically or manually). If you have XP, once you highlight the service, blue links will show up off to the left that say Stop or Restart the service. You can click on those to do the same thing as going into the Properties menu.

Okay, here's the list you've been waiting for:

Alerter: Only alerts you of administrative alerts. You don't need them.

Application Management: Processes installation requests for Intellimirror programs. Don't even know what those are? That's why you can disable it.

ClipBook: Allows ClipBook Viewer to store information and then share it with remote computers. You don't really need to do that, do you?

Computer Browser: Works with networks and if you don't have a network, you don't need it.

Distributed Transaction Coordinator: Works with databases, message queues and file systems of networks. Once again, if you don't use a network, you can disable this.

Error Reporting Service: All this does is send a crash report to Microsoft. They don't need to know, do they?

Indexing Service: Indexes files and provides quick access to those files. This is another network use, so you can disable it.

Internet Connection Firewall (ICF): Involves Internet Connection Sharing and is just another network use.

Logical Disk Manager/Logical Disk Manager Administrative: This service deals with adding drives to your system. If you're not going to be doing that, you can disable this one.

Machine Debug Manager: Works with Visual Studio debugging. You probably won't use it.

Messenger: Sends Alerter messages between the clients and servers. Another network service you probably won't need.

Net Logon: Account authentication for network domains. Don't need this one either.

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing.Network DDE DSDM: Allows other authorized users to access your computer through NetMeeting. Once again, if you don't have a network or have no need to allow other users on your computer, you can disable this one.

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager/Remote Access Auto Connection Manager: This one is the same as the above.

Secondary Logon: Enables starting processes under other credentials, which is not necessary.

SSDP Discovery: Locates UPnP devices on a home network. Sound confusing? That's why you can disable it.

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper: You'll only need this if you use NetBIOS for a local network.

Telnet: Allows remote users to log on to your computer and run programs. I'm sure you don't want other users to be able to telnet into your system, do you? Disable it!

Terminal Services: Gives access to other users to be connected to one basic machine, as well as, desktop displays and other applications. You can shut this one down.

Themes: If you don't use desktop themes, you don't need this one. If you do, keep it going.

Windows Time: Synchronizes all systems on a network time.

Workstation: Same as above.

Whew, that's a lot, huh? Just keep in mind that these are just suggestions and you don't have to turn off some of these services if you don't want to. Especially don't turn them off if you think you're going to be needing them again someday. But, at least going through the list of your services will help you to determine what's running on your computer that may not need to be. You may be surprised at all you can turn off to save you some computer space.

Note: Make sure you do not turn off any services that are not on this list unless you are an advanced user and you are certain that turning them off will not hurt your computer's operation.

Hacking Windows Vista

Hacking Windows Vista

Vista is the most radical revamping of Windows since 1995. However, along with all the fantastic improvements, there are a couple of things that likely drive you up the wall. Don’t worry, though—just join forces with author Steve Sinchak and you’ll end up feeling as though Microsoft designed Vista just for you! He shows you how to tweak logon screen settings, build custom Sidebar gadgets, personalize Aero Glass with themes and visual styles, turn your PC into an HDTV media center, fine-tune your firewall, and more.

Download Link

How to add and remove Windows Vista features

How to add and remove Windows Vista features

One of the most common problems reported lately by users of Vista is not knowing how to add or remove certain features of Windows Vista. These tips will help them to customize the Windows Vista features the way they want to. Even though the procedure is generally similar to Windows XP, in Windows Vista there is a key difference.

In Windows XP and earlier versions, to turn a feature off you had to uninstall it completely from your computer. In Windows Vista the features remain stored on your hard disk, so you can turn them back on if you want to. This can be a good thing as you don't have to insert the Windows Vista DVD each time your want to turn on a features. Also, this is not so great because you won't be able to save any disk space by removing the features you don't need. It seems that, in this case, Microsoft traded ease of use for additional hard disk space.

Turning on or off Windows Vista features can be done from Programs and Features. One of the ways to find it is to search for the word programs in the Start Menu search box.

In the Programs and Features window, click on Turn Windows features on or off. If UAC (User Account Control) is enabled you might need to make an additional confirmation.

Now you will see a list with all the available Windows Vista features. Some features are grouped together in folders, and some folders contain subfolders with additional features. To view the contents of a folder, double-click it or click on the "+" sign.

If a check box of a folder is partially checked or appears dark, then some of the items inside it are enabled and some are disabled. If a feature is checked then it is enabled already. The features that are not checked are disabled.

For this tutorial, we will choose first to disable one of the Windows Ultimate Extras. As you can see in this screenshot, both the Windows DreamScene Preview and the final version are listed as installed. We will disable the Preview version as it is not needed anymore.

Also, we would like to disable the Windows Vista Games. So we scroll up to the Games folder and deselect it.

You can enable or disable any of the listed Windows Vista features. After you decided upon what to add or remove from Windows Vista, click on OK. Windows Vista will perform the appropriate actions.

Wait until the progress bar disappears. Then, Windows Vista might ask you to restart the computer so that the required changes will be implemented in the system.

Add/Remove Programs - nowhere to be found in Vista?

Add/Remove Programs - nowhere to be found in Vista?
 
Don't worry - we had the same problem when we launched Windows Vista for the first time. Add/Remove Programs is not missing - it was just renamed for some reason to Programs and Features and it is very easy to find, like always.

First, go to Control Panel. If you don't you use the Classic View you will see a section called Programs and beneath it there is the Uninstall a program option. Click on it and you arrived to the right place

If you are using the Classic View, you will find Programs and Features in the list of items that start with the letter "P".

Another option would be to type "add remove" in the search box and Windows Vista will return the shortcut to Programs and Features.

Enable the "Copy To Folder" and "Move To Folder" options in your right click menu

Enable the "Copy To Folder" and "Move To Folder" options in your right click menu

Like most computer professionals, I always try to find tweaks that improve the speed of my system or, at least, some usability aspects. In Windows XP, one of my favorite tweaks is one that enables the "Copy To Folder" and "Move To Folder" options in the right click menu. After using Windows Vista for a few weeks I tried this "trick" and I was glad to see that it still working.

Enabling these two options requires some changes in the Windows Registry. Working with the Windows Registry is rather complicated so we tried to simplify things as much as possible. All you need to do is download the attached archive, extract it and follow the procedure described below:

First, Click here to download the archive file. After you extract it, you will see two files: enable_move_to.reg and enable_copy_to.reg.

We provided two separate files so that you can enable only one option, in case you don't need both. When you run a ".reg" file, an UAC prompt will ask your permission to Continue.

Then, the Registry Editor will ask your permission to continue.

Once you press the Yes button, the necessary settings will be added and the Copy & Move To option will appear in the right click menu.

Note: You need to have administrative rights in order to enable these two options.

Type text in any language

Type text in any language

Type international languages using a Windows computer with an English keyboard

Introduction

You may only occasionally need to type text that includes international and accented characters, perhaps when writing to a friend in another country or booking a holiday abroad, but for others it is a constant problem.

This is especially so for language students and foreigners living in English-speaking countries where most computers are equipped with English keyboards.

Fortunately, Windows can cope with the needs of all these users, though the technique that’s most appropriate varies according to circumstances.

This Workshop will introduce the main methods of typing international characters — using the Windows Character Map, keyboard shortcuts, Microsoft Word special keys or by ‘remapping’ the keyboard – and will help you choose which is most appropriate for you.

1. Both XP and Vista are equipped with an accessory called Character Map, whose job is to help you type foreign characters and other special symbols. For casual users this is the simplest approach because it involves no setting up of the computer and there is no need to memorise any special keys or techniques. To open Character Map, click the Start button and place the mouse pointer over All Programs, then click Accessories, followed by System Tools, followed by Character Map.

2. When it opens, Character Map displays a table of all the characters that can be typed in the conventional way using the keyboard plus many additional symbols and foreign characters. Hundreds more characters are available by using the scroll bar at the right-hand side of Character Map. Every time the chevron at the bottom of the scroll bar is clicked, another line of characters is revealed. Use the upper chevron to scroll back to the beginning. Fortunately, the most frequently required accented characters are on the initial screen.

3. At the top, Character Map displays the name of the font selected when Character Map was last used. It’s a good idea to change this to the font being used in your current document because when you copy characters from Character Map to another program, they always retain their selected Character Map font. To change the font, click the current font name to display a dropdown list. If you have a lot of fonts, use the scroll bar (as you did in Step 2) to view them all. Click to select the font you wish to use.

4. You can choose to insert individual accented characters from Character Map into the current document or you can create the entire word in Character Map. The choice is yours and probably depends on how long the word is and how many accents it contains. In the case of a French word such as garçon, we’d plump for copying the special character of single c with cedilla. Do this by double-clicking the c with cedilla in Character Map, and when the character is displayed in the panel at the bottom of Character Map, click the Copy button.

5. Using the buttons on the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of the screen, switch to Microsoft Word or whatever program you are using to create the current document. Click in the document to position the text-entry cursor where you would like the special character to appear, and then paste it into place using the keyboard paste shortcut (hold down Ctrl and press V). Alternatively, click the Edit menu and select Paste. In either case, you may need to use the normal Insert and Delete keys to tidy up any extra spaces and line breaks that may appear.

6. If you tend to use just a few accented characters, but you use them frequently, there is a quick way of inserting individual characters by using keyboard shortcuts. To do so, make sure that Num Lock is on, and then hold down the left Alt key and type the appropriate three- or four-digit code on the numeric keypad on the right of a standard keyboard. For example, Alt and 0234 produces an e with a circumflex as used in the French word fenêtre. You can view a complete list of Alt codes for every European language at the Vistawide language website (www.snipurl.com/aldti).

7. The Character Map and Alt and numeric code techniques work with all Windows programs, but there is an even more convenient trick if you are using Microsoft Word. Let’s say you want to insert an e with an acute accent above it, as in the word passé. Simply hold down the Ctrl key and tap the apostrophe key to indicate you require an acute accent, then release the Ctrl key and tap the E key. In fact, Ctrl can be used together with several other punctuation marks to produce the accent that most closely resembles each mark.

8. If you need to type long passages of foreign text rather than just a few odd words, it is faster to modify the English keyboard layout so that it emulates the appropriate foreign language. To avoid confusion you can stick temporary key labels over those keys that are different from English or you can print out a chart and keep it next to the keyboard for reference. You will find suitable keyboard charts for most European languages on the Wikipedia website at www.snipurl.com/algur.

9. Setting up an English keyboard to work like a foreign one is not as difficult as it sounds, and once it has been done it is possible to switch between English and alternative languages with a couple of clicks. To set up an alternative keyboard using Windows XP (the procedure is similar, though not identical, in Windows Vista), click the Start button and then click Control Panel. When the Control Panel opens, click the underlined link labelled Date, Time, Language and Regional options.

10. When the Date, Time, language and Regional options are displayed, click the link for Regional and Language options to view its dialogue box. At the top of the dialogue box, click the Languages tab and then the Details button. This opens a second dialogue box entitled Text Services and Input Languages. It displays the languages that are currently installed and the keyboards used to access them. In the example pictured here there is a single language (English) and a single keyboard (United Kingdom).

11. Click the Add button. This displays a small dialogue box containing two dropdown lists with which you can choose to install new languages and new keyboards. Because we’re only interested in typing foreign characters while continuing to use Windows in English, it is only necessary to install a keyboard, and not the language itself. To do this, click on the panel labelled Keyboard layout/IME to view a list of keyboards, and then click the one you desire. Use the scroll bar (as you did in Step 2) if the language you require is not visible. Click OK.

12. The Text Services and Input Languages dialogue box now shows a single language (English) but two keyboards (French and United Kingdom). Click the Language Bar button to view a small dialogue box labelled Language Bar Settings. Ensure that the only option to be ticked is Show the language bar on the desktop. Click OK to close this dialogue box, then OK to close the Text Services and Input Languages dialogue box, and then OK to close the Regional and Language options dialogue box. Close the Control Panel by clicking the X in its top right-hand corner.

13. You can now switch between the French and UK keyboard layouts by clicking the tiny keyboard icon that is displayed next to the icons on the right of the Windows Taskbar. On clicking this, a small window appears in which you can select the appropriate layout. If you select the third option, which is Show the language bar, it turns the discreet keyboard icon into a toolbar that can be moved around the screen. To return to the keyboard icon, click the Minimise icon (a tiny bar) at the top right of the toolbar.

14. You can now test the new keyboard layout by opening Wordpad or any word processor and typing QWERTYUIOP[]. If the French keyboard is selected, this produces the sequence AZERTYUIOP¨£. Exactly the same techniques as those described in Steps 9 to 12 can be used to install additional keyboard layouts for other languages. Unwanted keyboard layouts can be removed by following Steps 9 and 10, highlighting the offending layout and then clicking the Remove button. When no alternative keyboards are available, the keyboard icon on the Windows Taskbar is no longer displayed.

Disk Cleanup to Solve some Computer Problems

Perform a Disk Cleanup and then Check your hard disk for errors.

You can help solve some computer problems and improve the performance of your computer by making sure that your hard disk has no errors.

Open Computer.

Right-click the hard disk drive that you want to check, and then click Properties.

Click the Tools tab, and then, under Error-checking, click Check Now. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

To automatically repair problems with files and folders that the scan

detects, select Automatically fix file system errors. Otherwise, the disk

check will simply report problems but not fix them.

To perform a thorough disk check, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. This scan attempts to find and repair physical errors on the hard disk itself, and it can take much longer to complete.

To check for both file errors and physical errors, select both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

Click Start.

Depending upon the size of your hard disk, this may take several minutes. For best results, don't use your computer for any other tasks while it's checking for errors.

Note:

If you select Automatically fix file system errors for a disk that is in use (for example, the partition that contains Windows), you'll be prompted you to reschedule the disk check for the next time you restart your computer.

Vista Ultimate delete User Profile

Did your Vista OS deleted your user profile, after an update?

This has happened to many of us and it is still remain as a known issue. This can give you you a scare when you are unable to log in to your computer and you have urgent work to finish.

You can try to fix it by booting into the safe-mode and doing a System Restore.

To get into the Windows Vista Safe mode, as the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu". Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key. Then to do the System Restore follow these steps:

Go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore.

Or press the WinKey on the keyboard, type Restore then press enter.

Tip: Right click on “System Restore” in System Tools, then click “Pin to Start Menu” easy access.

Press continue at the “Windows needs you permission to continue dialog box.

Select “Choose a different Restore Point”.

If “Choose a different restore point” was selected the “Choose a restore point” dialog box will appear. Choose a restore point an click on Next.

Now click Yes to continue.

The system will reboot and a dialog box will appear saying "system Restore completed successfully", if the restore was successful.

Well, that may fix the problem and you have your computer back to work on.

This is a known registry issue , and a registry fix would be a solution. You can try the following if the above did not work for you. Here, let me share the experience of Nigel, and how he fixed this problem, and if this ever happen to you, you can try too..

" I would get an on-screen error somewhat like

The user profile service service failed the login. User profile cannot be loaded.

In the application errorlog (eventvwr.msc) there were errors from the user profile saying

Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded. Check that you are connected to the network, and that your network is functioning correctly.

DETAIL - Access is denied.

Arrgh. Another reboot no joy... Fortunately I had another id on the machine with admin privilige so I logged on.

After much googling I found out that the critical files are under

c:\users\MYUSER\ntuser* . Crucially the "ntuser.dat" file is actually a registry hive, so my running "REGEDIT", selecting HKEY_USERS in the nav, then "load hive" from the menu, I could browse my settings. So the file was not corrupt, it was there.

What now? Well I found additional registry entries with REGEDIT under

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

There was 1 line for each profile. Crucially if a profile is bad there are 3 things worth checking

a) Ensure the key name doesn't end in ".bad"

b) Ensure the RefCount value is 0

c) Ensure the State value is 0

Having done the above, the profile then worked fine, and I'm now back up and running with all settings intact.

Phew. I certainly learnt something in the process, and hope this helps you too!"

Unable to rename Folders in Vista, after an update?

Unable to Rename Folders in Vista, after an update?

Your Vista Computer was working fine until you have done an update. This

failure to rename or move files and folders issue seems to affect users

installing official released KB938979 update from Microsoft.

We might try the following folder rename tool first to see whether it could be helpful. To simplifies the troubleshooting process, please follow the link below and download "Folder_rename_fix_32.zip"

http://www.biline.ca/dl_files/Folder_rename_fix_Vista_32.zip

To install the file:

1. Download the Folder_rename_fix_Vista_32.zip and extract the file which is called 'FD32.reg'.

2. Double click the FD32.reg file (Note: If prompted, please click Continue on the User Account Control (UAC) window.)

3. You'll get a registry editor warning asking "Are you sure you want to continue", please click Yes.

If you can't install that way, please extract it to a specific location, let's say drive C:\, then go Start button-> copy and paste "regedit c:\FD32.reg" (without the quotation marks) in the Start Search box and click Enter. It should also pop up the registry editor warning box and click Yes.

I hope it would fix that rename problem in your pc!

A Click A Day to Secure, Clean, Repair, & Optimize Your PC

Advanced SystemCare Free

(formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 20 MILLION downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning, free PC repair software is a "must-have" tool for your computer. 100% safe with no adware, spyware, or viruses; a PC maintenance program that’s incredibly easy to use.

What's new:

+ Improved Spyware Removal function

+ Added "Game Booster"

+ Supported "Google Chrome" privacy sweep

+ Improved "disk defragment" engine

+ Improved "Utilities" section

* Fixed bugs in update function

* Fixed general bugs

Key Benefits Enjoy That New PC Feeling Again

Designed for the latest Windows system environment. Gives your PC better speed and reliability. Powerful Hard Drive Defragmentation

High-speed Disk Defrag function to defragment hard drives up to 10 times faster than other defragmentation tools. Next-generation Registry Clean and Optimization

Safely cleans registry junk, compacts registry bloats and defragment the whole registry for maximum performance. Defends PC Security with Extra Protection

Detect and analyze Windows security environment. Scans and removes spyware and adware using up-to-date definition files. Prevents spyware, hackers and hijackers from installing malicious items on your computer. Erases and updates your PC’s activity history. Quick and Extensive Clean-up for Hard Drives

Boosts your system’s performance by cleaning missing files, destroying unwanted files, deleting obsolete files, and removing junk files. Supports clean-up of over 50 different types of junk files. Speeds Up PC Performance and Internet Access

Tunes up Windows by unleashing the built-in power of your system. Dramatically improves both system and Internet performance up to 400%. Fixes Multiple System Errors

Does more than a registry cleaner, keeping your PC stable and running at peak efficiency. Repairs PC configurations by eliminating system bottlenecks and preventing crashes. Extremely Easy to Use

Completes its work with just one click. Scans, repairs and gives personal care to your PC in one minute. Safe and Free

100% free with no spyware or adware! Advanced SystemCare Free is a safe and trusted solution from a leading software vendor.

Download Link

Windows Live Mail - A short overview

Windows Live Mail - A short overview

In November 2007 Microsoft launched a new e-mail client called Windows Live Mail. This client is one of the tools included in the Windows Live set of services and software products. Windows Live Mail is the successor of both Outlook Express and Windows Mail. This means that in the future it will be the only supported free e-mail client, and all development work going forward will only be on Windows Live Mail. For this reason, you might consider going to the download page and start using it.

But, before you do that, let's see what novelties Windows Live Mail has to offer.

The first thing you will notice is its new and fresh look. For an e-mail client, Windows Live Mail has a pretty slick look and integrates very well with both Windows Vista and Windows Live.

If you don't like the default look or you get bored with it, you can easily change it at anytime and have Windows Live Mail look the way you want to. It takes only two clicks to do it.

Another positive thing about this aspect is the fact that users can easily change layouts and use the one that best suits their needs. The interface is very minimalistic: you have a small number of buttons which cover only the basic actions and configuration options. Just like in the latest version of Windows Explorer, the menus are hidden by default. To activate them you will have to check the 'Show all menus' as shown in the screenshot below.

Configuring Windows Live Mail is very easy, especially if you have worked with Windows Mail or Outlook Express. Most of the configuration options are found in the same menus, so no surprises there.

One feature that was appreciated by our readers in Outlook Express is the possibility to work with multiple e-mail identities. Just like Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail does not offer this feature. All you can do is import or delete existing identities.

Aside from its new interface, Windows Live Mail has several new features, which are not present in Windows Mail. The most notable are:

Easy e-mail configuration - if you use Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo Mail Plus! (paid service) you no longer need to know the addresses of the e-mail servers, ports and so on. Just type your e-mail address, password, display name and Windows Live Mail will make all the additional configuration for you. Read our guide on how to configure Windows Live Mail to connect to Windows Live Hotmail and MSN Mail and see how it is;

Separate inbox folders for different POP accounts - if you work with multiple e-mail accounts you will have separate folders for each of them. This can also help users who loved the e-mail identities feature;

RSS Feeds - you can easily subscribe to your favorite RSS feeds and read them directly from your inbox;

Synchronization with Windows Live Contacts - Windows Live Contacts is integrated with Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Spaces to provide users access to their contact's profiles and information. This means that you will be able to access the same contacts list when your work on your PC or when you access your Windows Live Hotmail from the web;

Better picture/photo messaging - when sending pictures via e-mail you can add frames or borders to them, change their size and layout or even edit them;

Emoticons and Inline spell checking - the spell checking is always a welcome feature. The available emoticons are the ones you know from Windows Live Messenger. Even though they are not very impressive, they sure are a nice new feature.

As a downside, I have noticed that some security solutions, including version 7 of Kaspersky Internet Security, do not detect Windows Live Mail as an e-mail client and do not install the spam filters; this means that the sent and received e-mail messages are not being scanned. I'm sure this will get fixed with future updates but until then it can be quite a problem if you are not very familiar with security on your computer.

After working for a while with Windows Live Mail, I must say it is pretty fast and easy to use. I'm sure many of you won't have a hard time learning how to use it. Except the security problem I've mentioned, Windows Live Mail has no other major weaknesses. Even though the new features are not revolutionary, they certainly build up and create a pretty solid e-mail client which will please many users.

How To Install and Setup a Microphone, in Vista

How To Install and Setup a Microphone

I always wanted to hear my voice. I tried recording on an old cassette but didn't like the results and it was hard to rewind exactly at the point at which my voice was heard. Thankfully the technology evolved and now, with the help of microphones and computers, I can hear my voice crystal clear. However, to make a microphone work in Windows Vista, sometimes you need to do a few little extra steps than the regular plug and play. So, with that said, in this article we will show you how to quickly make your microphone work in Windows Vista.

Setting up the Microphone

Before you start communicating with your computer you need to have a microphone set up. To do this, plug the microphone into your computer. Generally, the color of the microphone jack has the same color as the slot you need to plug it into. If that is not the case, then consult the manual of the sound card and see what is the appropriate port for the microphone.

Next, click on the Start Menu button and click on Control Panel.

Once the Control Panel window opens, click on Hardware and Sound.

When you are in the Hardware and Sound list, click on em>Sound.

In the Sound window you have three tabs: click on the Recording tab.

Once you are in the Recording tab, right click on the microphone device you just plugged in and select the 'Set as Default Device' option.

Now, to test and see if it really works, tap the microphone with your finger a few times. In the Sounds window, the empty lines next to the default microphone should fill up with a green color.

If you are in the Recording tab and you can’t see your microphone device, right click on any device shown in the Recording tab. In the contextual menu, click 'Show Disabled devices' if it isn’t marked with a check sign.

If you still can’t see your microphone, you might have not plugged it properly or you need to install a driver for it to work. In the first case, check to see if you have plugged it properly into your computer, plug it again or, if it is on a USB port, plug it in another USB port. As for the second case, use the drivers from the manufacturer’s site or from the CD that came along with the product.

Read the text aloud

At this point Windows Vista may still not recognize that the microphone has been activated. So we need to make Windows Vista aware of the tone and sound of our voice.

Important: The following steps will be also done in the Windows Speech Recognition article so, if you came to this article from that one, you can now go to that one and continue reading from there.

Open the Control Panel window and click on Ease of Access.

Now, in the Ease of Access window, click on Set up Microphone.

Choose the microphone device that you currently use and click on the Next button.

A few indications are given and, if they are followed, will give a better user experience. Once you have read the advice given, click on the Next button.

If you accidentally selected the wrong device or want to go back to a previous page of the setup, click on the blue Back arrow positioned in the top left corner of the setup wizard.

Read the given text aloud and, afterwards, click on the Next button.

In some cases the microphone does not work in the wizard setup, although it might be enabled and functions properly according to the Recording tab. If this happens, close the wizard setup and, after you checked to see you have the correct microphone device enabled, open the setup wizard again.

In my case, for example, I have activated the microphone on the headset only when I got to this step and it doesn’t seem to work. A few taps on the microphone shows me that it works in the Recording tab, but does not work in the setup wizard, so I must restart the wizard setup.

Now, assuming you read the text and clicked on the Next button, the wizard setup will tell you that the microphone has been set up and also you will be prompted about setting up the Speech Recognition by pressing the Finish button.

If you encountered any problems while setting up your microphone and you managed to solve them, let us know about it. Others might find useful the solution you have found.

How to use the Send To menu in Vista, and how to customize it

How to use the Send To menu in Vista, and how to customize it

Even though it is also found in older versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems, not too many people notice it and use it. Simply put, the Send To menu allows you to quickly send files and folders to another location. In this tutorial I will show you how to use this menu and how to add other useful entries (locations) to it so that you can be more productive when you need to move files to a certain location.

How to use the Send To menu

To use the Send To menu, all you need to do is to right click your desired file or folder and click on Send To. In the Send To menu you can see places where you can send your files or folders.

By default, the places where you can send a file or folder are the following: all your so called 'removable drives' such as the memory sticks that are plugged into your computer, your CD/DVD-RW drives, a 'Compressed (zipped) Folder' which is the equivalent of archiving the selected file or folder, your Desktop which is the equivalent of creating a shortcut on your Desktop towards the selected file or folder, your Documents folder and 'Mail Recipient' which means attaching it to a new e-mail message using your default e-mail client.

How to add your own options to the Send To menu

To add your own options to the Send To menu, follow this procedure:

First, click on the Start button and, in the search box, type shell:sendto and click on the shell:sendto search result or press Enter instead. The Send To window will appear.

If you can't get to this folder by following the procedure above, then open Windows Explorer and type %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo into the address bar.

In the Send To window you can add your own favorite places where you want to send other files or folders. Once you have decided about the place where you want to send other files or folders, create a new shortcut of that favorite place in the Send To folder. You can create shortcuts toward a folder, a disk drive or a program. If you don't know how to create shortcuts, you can read this tutorial to find out how to do it.

Once you have added all the shortcuts you wanted to the Send To folder, you can right click on any file or folder from your computer and send them to any of your new favorite places. If you want to remove a location from the Send To menu, just delete its shortcut from the Send To folder.

Important: By default, when using the Send to menu, you just send a copy of the selected file or folder to the preferred place. The file or folder will also remain in its initial location. If you don't want to have a backup copy then right click on that file or folder, go to the Send To menu, press the Shift button from your keyboard and, while still holding it, click with the mouse on your preferred destination from the Send to menu. This will be the equivalent of making a 'Cut and Paste' procedure in Windows Explorer.

How to avoid problems: As an advice, do not overload the Send To list because it will load much more slowly. Also, if you add to many applications, the Send To list will become very crowded and it will be hard for you to find what you seek. A better choice for opening a file in different applications would be using the Open With option or setting the default programs for opening specific file types.

Resize Your Photos with Easy Thumbnails

Resize Your Photos with Easy Thumbnails

Looking for a good program to create resized copies of your pictures with? Then Easy Thumbnails is a program that you should take a close look at. And, It's Free.

Download Easy Thumbnails (version 3.0)

Setup

Installation is quick and easy…in the final install window you will have the opportunity to add a “Make Thumbnail” shortcut to Windows Explorer if desired.

Once you have finished installation and started Easy Thumbnails up, this is what you will see. Notice that there are no menus or options to have to worry about…everything that you need to use the software can be found in the first two tab areas (very nice!). The Original Image and Preview Output tabs are accessible at all times.

The Files Tab is used to navigate and select the files that you want to work with… You can also specify a different location to save newly created pictures in if you do not want them placed in the same folder/area as the originals.

The Settings Tab is where you specify the sizes of the resized pictures that you will be creating. Notice the drop down menus, jpeg quality selection, photo correction adjustments, and the ability to rotate the photo as well.
The About Tab provides basic information about the program, access to the Help Files, and an easy click-and-go website button.
The News Tab provides News Updates for Fookes Software…

A Closer Look at the Settings

Here is a much closer and detailed look at the drop down menus available in the Settings Tab…

The Resize Menu lets you choose between “No Resize”, “Best Fit”, “Shrink To Fit”, “Enlarge To Fit”, and “Stretch To Fit”.

The Algorithm Menu provides you many choices to select from…choose the algorithm that best suits your needs.

The New Name Menu lets you decide the renaming scheme that you would like to use for your newly created pictures. Choose from “Auto Detect”, “Add Nothing”, “Add Prefix”, “Add Suffix”, and “Rename”.

Note: It is recommended to use a suffix, prefix, or renaming so that your original files are not overwritten.

Easy Thumbnails in Action

Time to try things out! For our example we chose an anime picture that was quite large…notice that the file name, image size in pixels, and file size are all displayed in the Title Bar. We also have the Original Image Tab displaying at the moment… Click on the file that you want to work with to select it.

Now over to the Settings Tab where we have entered in our desired size for our soon-to-be new picture. The Preview Output Tab shows a much smaller version of our original picture.

Note: You will need to calculate the new size for your photos.

To create your new picture, click on “Make”. Once Easy Thumbnails has finished, you will see the following message window. That is all there is to it!

Note: If you are wanting to work with batch processing and all of the photos are the same size, the “Make All Button” will help you make short and easy work of it.

Checking back to the Desktop Files display shows that our new reduced size picture is sitting there ready to go.

Conclusion

Easy Thumbnails is a good dependable photo resizing program that will make a nice addition to your photo app collection.

How to do Disk Clean up in Win-Vista

Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking Disk Cleanup.

2.In the Disk Cleanup Options dialog box, choose whether you want to clean up your own files only or all of the files on the computer. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3.If the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection dialog box appears, select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click OK.

4. Click the Disk Cleanup tab, and then select the check boxes for the files you want to delete.

5. When you finish selecting the files you want to delete, click OK, and then click Delete files to confirm the operation. Disk Cleanup proceeds to remove all unnecessary files from your computer.

Some Tips on -Windows Vista

Some Tips -Windows Vista

Search for a file in Windows Vista

One of the ways to search for a file on Windows is the Search box available in every folder. You can type in any word associated with the file you’re looking for; Windows will look for that word in the file names, file contents, and file properties of all the files in the current view. To filter your search, say by files modified on a particular date, you can type ‘modified: ’ in the Search box. Similarly, to search only by file name, type ‘name: ’.

Now launch programs by searching for them

Starting up an application was never easier or quicker. No need to go through the Start menu and then several sub-menus. Just start typing the name of the program into the bar at the bottom and have Vista bring up the name of the program you need instantly!

A quicker way to launch your programs

Windows Vista assigns shortcuts to all the items in your Quick Launch toolbar, on its own, depending on the icons’ positions in the sequence. So if you want to open the program whose icon is the fourth in your Quick Launch bar, just press the Windows key + 4.

Clear up your Windows Sidebar

Is your Sidebar cluttering up your life? To get in a little breathing room, right-click gadgets that you don’t use frequently and change their opacity settings to 40 percent. These gadgets will now fade out of view when you are not using them.

Set a new theme for your PC

To change your Windows Vista theme, right-click your desktop and select Personalise. Next, click Themes; in the dropdown menu, choose the theme you want, and click Apply.

Clean up your temporary files

If you’ve recently been doing something with your computer that generates a lot of temporary files, you may want to make sure all those files are cleaned out of your system to free up precious space. To do this, just enter %TEMP% into your Start menu search box and press Enter. The temporary files folder will open, allowing you to delete files and prevent unnecessary clutter.

Speed up your system

Is your PC running slowly? Go to your Power Options control panel and look for the Power Saver setting that is set at 50 percent (default setting in Vista). Change this setting to High Performance and let your PC run faster.

Check for memory issues with your PC

Worried about memory defects in your PC? You can use Vista’s in-built tool to diagnose issues. Enter the word “memory” into your Start menu search box, and you will be taken to the Memory Diagnostics Tool. A dialog box will open and ask you whether you want to reboot your PC immediately or later. Vista will then run the Memory Diagnostic Tool while starting up.

Resize icons on the fly

If you want to resize the icons quickly in Windows Vista Explorer, press and hold the Ctrl key, and scroll up or down with the mouse wheel.

Faster shortcuts in Vista

Go to the Control Panel and search for the term “underline”. In your search results, you’ll get a link for Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys. Click this, and in the next screen, go to the checkbox for Make it easier to use keyboard shortcuts. Select this. Now, whenever you go to any menu, the access keys for each function will be underlined. Pressing Alt with this key would enable the function.

Trick to show your name after time in taskbar

Trick to show your name after time in taskbar

Here is a trick to add your name in place of AM and PM beside time in the taskbar.

It's simple and exciting.

Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language option -> Customize (beside English US) -> Go to TIME tab -> Change AM symbol and PM symbol from AM and PM to your name -> Apply -> Ok ...IS it changed

May be not ...Now go to time in taskbar and Double Click it to open "Date and time property" ...Look at the place where time changes in digital format i.e. 02:47:52 AM , click to arrow to chage the AM or PM by selecting and press arrow.

It will Show your name Apply -> OK.

How to Auto Start PC in a Scheduled Time?

Your pc must be hibernating or at standby for auto wake.

click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks.

Double-click the "Add Scheduled Task" icon to launch the Scheduled Task Wizard, and click Next. Select a program you'd like to run when your system wakes up (or u can simply select explorer.exe if u have no choice), and schedule the task. On the wizard's last page, check "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish" before clicking Finish.

In the resulting Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab, check Wake the computer to run this task, and click OK.

How to Fix External Drive Connection Problem in Windows Vista

In default mode, Windows Vista only permits NTLMv2 authentication on a network due to security reason. Certain external drives are incompatible with this authentication type. To fix this problem, LM and NTLM authentications need to be enabled. Here is the method:

1. Click Start button.
2. Select command/search field, type secpol.msc. The Local Security Policy utility will open.
3. Examine the left menu and select Local Policies \ Security Options.
4. Examine the right pane, scroll down to find Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level. Double click on it.
5. Examine the Local Security Setting tab and there will be a drop down menu with several options. Select “Send LM & NTLM – use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated.”
6. Some dialogs will appear. Accept it all.
7. The computer will restart.

Explanation of Computer Virus

WHAT IS A VIRUS?

1) Virus is a little program whose activity can destruct/destroy some files

and a computer system.If this program does not open, it's inactive and

could not or will not destroy anything.

WHAT IS A VIRUS-EMAIL?

2) The virus program is brought to you by an email as attachment. It has a server itself (virus server). File virus attachments cannot go to

another email, such as an email was sent by user (netter), member, moderator etc to be as their attachment. It must be brought to you by

email itself,that we called EMAIL Of VIRUS.

WHAT'S THEIR ADDRESS?

3) EMAIL OF VIRUS would be sent by any email address of any account, that

it found and cracked from some mailbox or address-book of other person anywhere. So that why the email of virus looks like it was sent by our

friend, our member,our moderator etc..... even it is able to email a

virus by our own email address.

HOW TO SEE IS THAT A VIRUS ATTACHMENT?

4) To identification of virus attachment:

a). it has a small size ( <150kb>

b). it has extension file name such as below:

*.scr

*.clp

*.pif

*.bat

*.exe

*.com

*.txt

*.doc

*.lhz

*.rhz

and some time it's compressed by *.zip file.

Also by the fake name HotMovie.MPEG__________scr.

Actually the file is virus file with extension .scr

HOW TO SEE IS THAT AN EMAIL VIRUS?

5) You are would able to understand an email virus from their SUBJECT,most

of them contains an amazing statement or unusual word, such as

below:

Weah ^_^ )

Hokki=)

Hi

ello!=))

Hello -:))

Hey, dude, it's me ^_^

access Mpeg

Re:your text

Re:Text message

Re:Msg reply

Re:Is that your document?

Re:Hot Movie(MPEG)

Re:Information...

Re;Important info

Re:This is your photos!:)

and more, and more...

If you received emails with the subject matter as above, you should delete even with out opening.Most of these viruses can be avoided if you use an anti-virus program and up-date it every week.

NOTE:

Don't have words in your email subject which resembles a virus mail Otherwise your email would be deleted by recipient[s].

BEWARE it's dangerous.

*** If one of your file is infected by virus, it will change into function

of a virus and might infect all files in your hard disk.

There are several large players in the anti-virus software. These links will

take you to their web-sites.

Norton Anti Virus

http://www.symantec.com

Trend Micro Incorporated

http://www.antivirus.com

Data Fellows Virus Information

http://www.datafellows.com

Symantec Antivirus Research Center

http://www.symantec.com/nav/index.html

AVG

www.grisoft.com

Norman Data Defense Systems

http://www.norman.com/local

Dr. Soloman's

(a Network Associates company)

http://www.drsolomon.com

iRiS Software

http://www.irisav.com

Alladin Knowledge Systems

http://www.esafe.com

Proland Software

http://www.pspl.com

Computer Associates

http://support.cai.com

Command Software Systems, Inc

http://www.commandcom.com

Central Command

http://www.avp.com

Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team [A.V.E.E.R.T] (a Division of NAI Labs)

http://www.avertlabs.com

Sophos, Inc.

http://www.sophos.com

McAfee, Inc. (a Network Associates company)

http://www.mcafee.com

A good site to get further help from if you need it is:-

http://getvirushelp.com