A few weeks back when I installed Windows 7, everything looked great, until I right-clicked the desktop. I always tend to keep my context menu clean and clutter-free. Since I am not a big fan of fancy Windows Gadget, removing it from the desktop right-click context menu makes sense.
Read MoreNote: Before making changes to the registry, make sure you have backed up your Windows Registry, to learn how to backup, click here.
Note: Microsoft calms that by Disabling Windows Error Reporting, solution information will not be available in the Action Center control panel.In my opinion, no solution to fix the application is ever posted in the Action Center, the only way to fix the application is to contact the developer. The only solution that are posted in the Action Center is to fix the system errors. To disable Error Reporting, open Local Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc in the Start Search and hit Enter. Read More
Recently a lot of services are popping up that lets user create an avatar from their own photos. But have you ever thought about making an avatar from a YouTube video?
While playing with Alpoy, I discovered that it can create an avatar(both static and animated) from YouTube videos. There are 3 simple steps, Collect, Design, and Manage. To begin, first click Collect tab, then select the source(YouTube), finally enter the URL of your favorite video and hit Load. You can also select the avatar from the list of pre-defined sizes or add a custom size.
Read MoreRecently, I had to scan some photos for my brother, he has an HP all-in-one DeskJet connected to the Sony Vaio laptop. The All-in-one DeskJet from HP contains scanner, copier and printer all in one box. Since he is not a computer expert, he only installed the drivers that came in the CD and did not bother to install other software from HP. And to make matters worse, he even lost the CD.
It is not surprising, since such cases take place almost daily. I too, never bother to install 3rd party apps that come with the product since they are always a piece of crap. So how would you scan documents or photos in Windows Vista without even installing a 3rd party scanning tools? Meet Windows Fax and Scan.
Read MoreHas your internet connection slowed down a bit? Or does your internet lag when connecting to a website or server? Maybe you just tried an Internet Optimizer and it slowed down your internet instead of increasing the speed? If yes, then there could be two possibilities, either you have a malformed LSP installed inside the TCP/IP handler or you have a corrupt TCP/IP and/or Winsock registry entries.
But what exactly is LSP? Layered Service Providers(LSPs) are small bits of software that use Winsock APIs to insert itself into the TCP/IP stack. Once in the stack, they can intercept and modify inbound and outbound Internet traffic, thus slowing down the internet is some cases. According to Wikipedia, it allows processing all the TCP/IP traffic taking place between the Internet and the applications that are accessing the Internet (such as a web browser, the email client, etc).
Read MoreTo free up some hard disk space you need to delete the files and folders that take up most space. But how would you find such files and folders? Since there is no build-in tool in Windows, the only way is to manually check the properties of every file and folder. This process is obviously very tiresome. We reviewed a software last year called JDiskReport that lets you analyze the hard disk space, but the downside is that it requires java runtime and is also not portable.
SpaceSniffer is a recently launched free portable tool for Windows that analyzes your hard disk and loads a visual map which shows the files and folder structured in your hard disk along with the space they are taking. Just run the tool(no installation required), select the drive or path that you want to analyze, and click Start.
Read MoreConverting Local Directories into HTML Index File is useful if you are using your system as a server. It makes searching and browsing files much more easier for masses. So far, there is no easy tool to convert the directory into HTML index file.
Dir2HTML is a free tool for Windows that converts a directory structure and files to a single HTML file. Unlike other similar tools, it has a simple-to-use Graphic User Interface(GUI) that makes converting a piece of cake. No extra or special knowledge is required to run this tool. You can create a sub-section for each subfolder or hide subfolders and also create an HTML sitemap in .htm format.
Read MoreUsually when a program hangs up on Windows, we head over to Task Manager and try to kill that program. When this method fails, we try to terminate the program with some 3rd party applications. But wait, there is even a better way of doing it.
Meet Process Assassin, it enables the user to select a non-responding application and terminate it immediately without calling any other external programs. And that too can be done in a single click. Just click Assassinate and select the program that you want to Terminate, that’s all.
Read MoreDo you use Windows Quick Launch bar to launch applications easily? It is a great feature that allows user to gain quick access to frequently used apps, but there is one big downside, it does not allow you to sort the shortcuts in groups. When you have lots of shortcuts, it gets quite cluttered and difficult to find an app.
Free Launch Bar is a free replacement for Quick Launch Bar and is fully compatible with it since they use the same folder for shortcuts. The difference is that Free Launch Bar lets you arrange the shortcuts in groups and is fully customizable. It also supports Hotkeys and integrates itself into Windows Shell.
Read MoreEditor’s Notes: We have covered before a tip on editing a PDF document online, this post will concentrate on quickly creating and editing a professional PDF document on Windows desktop.
Free PDF Editor is a free portable app for Windows that lets you create and edit any PDF file instantly. You can now create a PDF document in minutes without have to learn the complex functionalities and advanced features. It is a WYSIWYG PDF builder, you can add text, insert images and shapes, resize them, customize the fonts, and much more.
To begin, simply run the executable file and it will load up instantly. Since it is a portable tool, you can run it from USB drive too. Now start adding text, images, shapes, pages, etc using the top toolbox.
Read MoreDid it ever happen to you that a friend or co-worker while using your computer deleted an important file or modified some system settings by mistake? Microsoft has included in Windows 7 an exciting new feature called Guest Mode that prevents anybody from making changes to your computer. Guest Mode is not the same as Guest Account, so don’t be confused between the two. An Administrator can enabled Guest Mode on any user account. According to Lifehacker enabling the Guest Mode,
It can also prevent a user from accessing any local drive that you mark as protected. In other words all changes and installations made by the user will be automatically deleted when he/she logs off. The user can however copy the files and save them to the external USB drive in order to prevent them from getting deleted.
There are many services out there that let you shorten the URLs. Instead of sharing long URLs, you can share the shorter version. This comes really handy if you share links frequently on Twitter, FriendFeed, etc, but otherwise it can be quite a headache. With short URLs, you never know where the link might take you.
TinyURL Decoder is a GreaseMonkey script for Firefox that decodes the shortened URLs and shows the original URL instead. Don’t get confused by the name of the script, apart from decoding Tinyurl links it also decodes URLs from almost all other link shortner services. The complete list can be found on the developer’s script homepage.
If you use Firefox and are looking to increase your productivity, then this tip is for you. Split Browser is a free add-on for Firefox that splits your screen to make space for more content. It is suitable for those users who have large screens, i.e screens larger than 19” or those who have high desktop resolutions.
Note: Split Browser is quite an old Firefox add-on, I am reviewing it here for those users who haven't heard about it before and for for those who don’t know how to use it.
It only splits the content area, not the whole browser. You can open tabs in new content window, just right-click the tab, select ‘Split Tab To’ and then select the area where you would like to split.
Read MoreDo you have multiple networks and would like to manage them all in one place? NetSetMan is a free tool for Windows that lets you manage up to 6 different network profiles. Want to change the IP of a network or maybe you want to change the DNS server? Instead of following the extra-long steps in Windows XP and Vista, you can now manage all network settings from one simple window.
Read MoreIf you are one of those users who tested Windows 7 beta, you will know that one of the most handy feature is that we can reorganize the tabs in the taskbar. Sadly this important feature(that increases productivity) lacks in older version of Windows, i.e XP, Server 2003/2008, and Vista.
Taskix is a free tool that adds the ability to move and reorder the taskbar tabs easily. Simply drag the tab that you want to move and it will reorganize itself. It is a robust program that has a very small memory footprint. And yes, it supports multiple monitors too.
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Read MoreEveryone needs to take frequent breaks while working on a computer, by not taking breaks there is a big chance your eyes are going to pop up(okay, not pop out, but at least your eyes will surely get damaged). Relaxing your eyes after every few hours while working on a computer is recommended since it is a healthy exercise and can prevent your eyes from going all crazy. Below I have reviewed two tools that will help you in relaxing your eyes and making them healthier than ever. ;)
Workrave is a portable program that assists a user in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). It frequently alerts the user to take micro-pauses, rest breaks, and puts a restriction to the daily work limit. It shows a small floating window where you can see the time left for each breaks. You can however close this window if it annoys you, closing this window will not close the program.
Read MoreBefore I begin, let me explain how CladDVD.NET is different from other DVD Ripping tools. Suppose you have a DVD which includes 2 versions of the same movie, theatrical and special edition. You want to Rip only theatrical version(main version) of the movie, what will you do? Almost every DVD ripping tool will rip the whole DVD, which means both versions, which can be quite a headache. On the other hand, CladDVD lets you choose a specific version of the movie to rip, saving lots and lots of time.
Insert the DVD and load up this tool, on the main screen you will find two modes: PGC and DVD. If you have two different versions of the same movie, they will be named as PGC 01 and PGC 02. The version with less playtime is usually the main movie, and the one with longer playtime is obviously a special edition of the movie.
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