Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows XP

Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows XP

CTRL and A Selects all the items in the active window.

CTRL and C Copies the item or items to the Clipboard and can be pasted using CTRL and V.

CTRL and F Displays the Find all files dialog box.

CTRL and G Displays the Go to folder dialog box.

CTRL and N Displays the New dialog box.

CTRL and O Displays the Open dialog box.

CTRL and P Displays the Print dialog box.

CTRL and S Displays the Save dialog box.

CTRL and V Pastes the copied item or items from the Clipboard.

CTRL and X Cuts the item or items selected to the Clipboard.

CTRL and Z Undoes the last action.

CTRL and F4 Closes the active document window.

CTRL while dragging an item Copy the selected item

CTRL+SHIFT with arrow keys Highlight a block of text

CTRL+F4 Close the active document

CTRL+ESC Display the Start menu

CTRL and F6 Opens the next document window in the active application.

ALT+ENTER View the properties for the selected item

ALT+F4 Close the active item, or quit the active program

ALT+SPACEBAR Open the shortcut menu for the active window

ALT+TAB Switch between the open items

ALT+ESC Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened

F1 key Gives help on the active window or selected item.

F2 key Rename the selected item

F3 key Search for a file or a folder

F4 key Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer

F5 key Update the active window

F6 key Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop

F10 key Activate the menu bar in the active program

Windows Logo Display or hide the Start menu

Windows Logo+BREAK Display the System Properties dialog box

Windows Logo+D Display the desktop

Windows Logo+M Minimize all of the windows

Windows Logo+SHIFT+M Restore the minimized windows

Windows Logo+E Open My Computer

Windows Logo+F Search for a file or a folder

CTRL+Windows Logo+F Search for computers

Windows Logo+F1 Display Windows Help

Windows Logo+ L Lock the keyboard

Windows Logo+R Open the Run dialog box

Windows Logo+U Open Utility Manager

TAB Move forward through the options

SHIFT+TAB Move backward through the options

CTRL+TAB Move forward through the tabs

CTRL+SHIFT+TAB Move backward through the tabs

ALT+Underlined letter Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option

ENTER Perform the command for the active option or button

SPACEBAR Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box

F1 key Display Help

F4 key Display the items in the active list

Arrow keys Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons

BACKSPACE Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

END Display the bottom of the active window

HOME Display the top of the active window

NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder

NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) Display the contents of the selected folder

NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) Collapse the selected folder

LEFT ARROW Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder

RIGHT ARROW Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder

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Batch File Restart or Shutdown PC

Open Notepad and paste the following codes then save it as .bat

works on XP, Vista, and Win7

@echo off

echo Do you want to Shutdown or Restart Windows?

echo ==================================================

echo = Press [S] To Shutdown Windows =

echo = Press [R] To Restart Windows =

echo = Press [N] To Exit =

echo ==================================================

echo Please Save all files before you continue.

:selc

set Choice=

set /P Choice=""

if '%Choice%'=='s' goto SHUTD

if '%Choice%'=='r' goto REST

if '%Choice%'=='n' goto can

echo "%Choice%" Wrong input Please try again.

goto selc

:SHUTD

echo Windows is shutting down.....

tree

shutdown -s -t 00 -f

goto ex

:REST

echo Restarting Windows.....

dir/s

shutdown -r -t 00 -f

goto ex

:can

echo TO EXIT

PAUSE

:ex

exit

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Windows Vista: Top Tips & Tricks

1. Power button default action

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The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody. You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut. Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following: powercfg.cpl,1. You could also take the long route (Control Panel Power Options Change Plan Settings Change Advanced Power Settings) Once you get to this dialog, browse down as shown to “Power buttons and lid”

From here, you can change the options:

Power button action - Changes the hardware power button action

Start menu power button - Changes the power button on the Start Menu

You can change the power button to either Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down, or even nothing for the hardware power button.

2. Hide Desktop Icon Text on Windows Vista

Some icons are just obvious enough that nobody should need text below them to tell them what the icon is for. A good example of this is the icon for Internet Explorer. We’re all really used to it by now, and the text just makes it ugly. Just right-click on the shortcut, and choose Rename. Now hold down the Alt key and type in 255 on the keypad to the right of the keyboard. You can’t use the number keys right above the keyboard, they won’t work. If you have a laptop, you can turn on numlock and then use the little number keys next to the regular letters. (You know you always wondered what they were for)

For the first shortcut on the desktop, a simple Alt+255 will do. For the next shortcut, you’ll have to enter the combination twice (Alt+255, Alt+255). For the third, 3 times… you get the idea. The way this works is that the Alt+255 character is blank, so the shortcut filename is actually just named with a character that is completely blank. Since you can’t have two shortcuts or files named the exact same thing, the second shortcut will have to be named with two blank characters.

Now we have a sweet looking icon on the desktop, with no bothersome text beneath it. If you use this tip to rename a folder, you will not be able to rename the folder back using the right-click rename. I’m not sure why this is. What you’ll have to do is open a command prompt and change directory into the containing folder (For instance, the desktop folder), and run this command: ren “Alt+255” “NewFolderName” You will need to actually type the Alt+255 characters where illustrated in the command. It will appear as a space. Note that the Recycle Bin icon won’t work this way.

3. Enable Hidden BootScreen in Windows Vista

The Windows Vista BootScreen is pointless, but Microsoft decided to hide a more visually appealing boot screen that can easily be enabled with very little trouble. I’m not sure why they didn’t make the boot screen better.

1) Press Win+R, type msconfig and press Enter.

2) If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.

3) In the "System Configuration" window, click on the Boot tab.

4) Select your Windows Vista installation and under "Boot options", check "No GUI boot". Press OK.

5) In the dialog that appears, check "Don’t show this message again", and then click on Restart.

6) Your computer will now reboot, and you will see the Aurora boot screen with text that says "Starting Windows Vista".

Note: You may get a Windows Defender error on the next startup. You can enable the system config utility using the tray icon and this error will go away.

4. Fix for COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working Error in Vista

If you’ve been getting the error COM Surrogate has stopped working whenever you browse folders containing Divx avi files, it looks like the latest Divx update to codec version 6.5 fixes the issue, but it also seems to remove the thumbnails. If you want to upgrade, just use the divx update checker to grab the new version. Looks like it’s finally fixed, at least the error message is now gone, although I really wish they would have just gotten the thumbnails working instead.

If you are using Nero, you will need to update to version 7.7.5.1 to fix the problem. I think this is the source of the error for most people.

If you’ve upgraded Nero and Divx and still have the problem, you can try renaming the file C:Program FilesCommon FilesAheadDSFilterNeVideo.ax to NeVideo.ax.bak This will break Nero Showtime, however.

5. Stop an Application from Running at Startup in Windows Vista

Back in the old days, there were a lot of places an application could hook itself to run at startup. You had to check the registry in more than one place, as well as your start menu. With Windows Vista, there’s a built-in panel that handles all that for you. To quickly get to this panel, you can open Control Panel, and then type “startup” into the search box. The link for “Stop a program from running at startup” shows up immediately. You could have also opened Windows Defender and fooled around with the menus until you find the right spot, but this seems quicker to me. Now you can see the Windows Defender screen that lets you manage the startup programs. You can choose to Remove or just Disable any startup item using this panel, as well as lots of other useful information so that you can see what each item is.

6. Emptying Windows Vista Temp Files Directory

Windows Vista Disk Cleanup wizard is really not all that bad, but I did find a small problem with it… It doesn’t fully empty your temp folder. It only allows you to delete temporary files that haven’t been modified in a week. If you’ve recently done a lot of editing or something that generates large temporary files, you may want to manually clean up. Just type in %TEMP% into the start menu search box, and hit enter. You’ll immediate be taken to the temporary files folder, where you can delete whatever you feel like.

7. Disable User Account Control(UAC) For Administrators Only

If you can’t stand the User Account Control prompts, but you’d still like to retain a little bit of security, you can disable it for Administrator accounts only. What we’ll be doing is actually changing Windows Vista to automatically elevate the privilege level for administrators without prompting. The nice thing about doing it this way is that regular users as well as Internet Explorer still run as regular users, and would still use the normal security mechanisms. To configure this setting on Windows Vista Business and Ultimate, you can use the Local Security Policy configuration.

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Just type in secpol.msc into the Start menu search box and hit enter.

Now browse down to Local Policies Security Options

Find the following in the list: “User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode” and double-click on it.

Change the setting to “Elevate without prompting”. You should be all done.

This is an easier method that you can use to do the same thing from the GUI interface.

Open up Control Panel, and type in user account into the search box.

You’ll see the link for “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”. Click it.

Uncheck the box, and reboot your computer. You should be done with obnoxious prompts!

8. Using Windows Vista System Restore

Windows Vista has a feature called System Restore that automatically backs up registry and system files whenever you install new software or drivers. This feature is useful when you install evil software that makes your computer run really slow. But don’t worry, System Restore won’t remove Windows Vista.

Using System Restore in Windows Vista

There are two places that you can use the system restore feature from. From within Windows, you can just type restore into the Start menu search box, and you’ll immediately see System Restore at the top of the start menu, or you can type rstrui into the search box and hit enter. Your choice. You will immediate see a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point. You can select “Recommended restore”, and just click next, or you can choose a different restore point. If you do choose a different restore point, you will see a list of restore points that you can choose from. Click one of them, and you will have to confirm and then restart your computer to roll the system back. If your system won’t boot If you can’t even get into windows, you can boot off the installation dvd, and choose the “Repair your computer” option on the lower left hand side. Click next on the next screen. Now choose System Restore from the System Recovery dialog. It will take a few seconds to come up, and you will see the same screen that you would see in Windows. Click next, and on the next screen select the drive that your copy of Windows Vista is installed on. Click Finish, and Vista will roll back to the previous restore point. Really pretty simple stuff. I absolutely recommend keeping the system restore feature on in Vista !

9. Verify the Integrity of Windows Vista System Files

Windows Vista includes a utility that will scan your system for corrupt, changed or missing system files. Running this from the command prompt is much easier than booting off the dvd into repair mode. To run this utility, you will need to open a command prompt in administrator mode. You can do that by right clicking the Command Prompt in the list and choose "Run as Administrator" Once you have an administrator command prompt open, you can run the utility by using the following syntax: SFC [/SCANNOW] [/VERIFYONLY] [/SCANFILE=] [/VERIFYFILE=] [/OFFWINDIR= /OFFBOOTDIR=] The most useful command is just to scan immediately, which will scan and attempt to repair any files that are changed or corrupted. You can run that command with this command: sfc /scannow

10. Disable Hibernation & delete the Hibernation file

Windows places a file on your hard drive that it uses when your computer goes into hibernation mode. If you do not use hibernation mode, or your computer does not properly support it, you may want to disable hibernation and clear the file off your hard drive to free up some space (the file will use as much space as you have in physical memory, so if you have 1GB of RAM, it’s going to use 1GB of your hard drive space).

Disable Hibernation:

1. Click Start, All Programs, and then right click on "Command Prompt".

2. From the context menu click on "Run as administrator".

3. If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.

4. In the command prompt window, type "powercfg –h off" (without the quotes).

5. Close the Command Prompt window.

Delete the Hibernation File:

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click "Disk Cleanup".

2. If prompted to choose a drive, select the drive in which Windows Vista is installed on to and press OK.

3. Disk Cleanup will scan the hard drive and present you with a list of options.

4. Check "Hibernation File Cleaner", and then click OK.

5. When asked "Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?" click on the Delete Files button .

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Common Computer Myths

Understanding the world of computer is complicated sometimes. If you’re not a techie person, there are some false ideas that you might believe about computers. These are actually misconceptions regarding your PC. Due to lack of knowledge or old ideas acquired from an individual, it’s quite surprising that there are many myths about your machine.

This article examines some of the most common computer myths, and eventually may help you understand the world of computer better.

Myth 1: To increase the speed and performance of the computer, it needs to upgrade the hardware. It’s true that upgrading the component like the memory will improve your PC, but it’s not always the case. Aside from doing this, consider other factors that cause your machine to slow down. These are unwanted programs, unclean registry and other stuffs inside your computer. So, try first to remove temporary internet files, uninstall unnecessary programs, clean the system registry and defrag your hard drive before spending money for new peripherals.

Myth 2: A faster PC will boost up the Internet. Probably this is true when comparing a 4-year old computer hardware to a recent one. But in most cases, computer is not actually the main problem for poor Internet speed. It really depends on your Internet connection speed. Using a dial-up connection is really slower than having a DSL Internet service.

Myth 3: The constant reason for computer performance failure is a virus. This misconception can be observed on novice PC users. This myth originated from “joke” emails stating that your data from your hard drive will be deleted. And this prank messages have been around since the evolution of Internet. Today, email services on the Internet have virus scanner that checks the file before it can be downloaded. It is also recommended that you get a reliable anti-virus software to protect your machine and also know if a malicious program is the main cause of the problem.

Myth 4: Getting the most expensive, fastest CPU is the best. Yes, getting a faster processor is better. But actually, it really depends on your needs. In reality, it’s usually not cost-effective to get the most costly CPU because having a powerful computer doesn’t only rely on the processor. There are other factors that you need to consider and balance such as type of memory, motherboard and video card.

Myth 5: Installing a good video card is necessary when planning to watch DVD movies or edit photos. Some users are buying expensive video card because they think they need them for their everyday computing activities such as DVD watching and photo editing. But practically speaking, you don’t need it especially if you are just using your PC for common tasks. And if you do gaming, video creation, animation and 3D rendering, buying a graphic card really makes sense.

Myth 6: Don’t leave the computer running. The debate whether it is bad to leave the PC on or not is not a big issue nowadays. Modern computers have power management and energy-saving features that allow you to configure the system to “go to sleep” or “hibernate” mode. Apart from that, a desktop computer comes with exhaust fans so it won’t overheat easily.

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Learn How To Optimize PC Performance

The main culprits causing poor PC performance are computer viruses, spyware, hard drive clutter, failure to de-fragment the PC hard drive, and lack of regular registry cleaning. Take care of these things and your PC will provide your with years of optimal service.

Computers require more than an occasional dusting and brushing. They need maintenance and care of the operating system and software. A highly recommended way of caring for your computer is to use registry cleaners and/or similar software to optimize Windows performance. These programs methodically scan your registry, reorganize and match all registry files with programs or applications that use the specific files. Good programs also provide the option to repair damaged files and recover lost files.

The great thing about registry cleaners is they keep a record of all the repairs done by the user. Previous registry changes are easily recovered if needed. Cleaners can be customized to scan only the items you select. In this way invalid or wrong registry entries are detected and removed to help optimize Windows performance. Some cleaners also defragment a computer system for you, thereby providing you with a useful, cost-effective measure to maintain optimal performance. Good cleaners eliminate the need for expensive maintenance checks and computer professionals. The best online registry scanners help users optimize their slow performing computers easily and effortlessly.

Some Causes and Solutions For Sluggish Performance

A sluggish computer is never a good thing and is often a sign of worse things ahead. Fortunately you need not worry when your computer starts acting up because there are effective, user-friendly ways of determining the cause. Follow these five simple steps to enhance your PC's performance, reliability, and speed.

Step 1 -- Get Rid of Computer Viruses

Computer viruses are the main culprits for slow PC performance. Many of these unwanted bugs pop up suddenly when you click on certain links or visit certain websites. Viruses definitely affect your PC's speed and can even infect your system without your knowledge.

The solution is simple. Install an antivirus application onto your computer to block viruses from infecting your computer when you connect to the internet. Use your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.) to find free antivirus software that you can download and install. These programs will detect computer viruses and remove them and other malicious programs. Always check the option to keep this software updated because a lot of viruses are created daily.

Step 2 -- Rid Your System Of Spyware

Spyware is usually installed on your PC without your personal consent. Even good antivirus programs cannot detect all spyware (also called malware) in your system. You need an antispyware application to detect and remove malicious spyware. Search online for Spybot Search & Destroy and install this antispyware software in your computer system.

Step 3 -- Reduce Hard Drive Clutter – This Also Improves Perfomance

Surfing the net for a long time fills your browser cache with files that dramatically slow down PC performance. This is because Windows stores every website you visit and every image you download in files on your hard drive. This can greatly affect your PC's speed and performance and can be a danger to your Internet security. A good solution I’ve found is Cyberscrub Privacy Suite software. It cleans the cache, deletes duplicate files and enhances my PC's speed and performance.

Step 4 - Defragment Your Hard Drive

Lastly, defragging the hard drive speeds up PC performance. Use the Defrag utility provided with your Windows system and set it to run at a time when you won’t be using your computer as this step is time consuming. Once your hard drive is properly defragmented you’ll enjoy excellent performance once again.

Step 5 -- Dramatically Improve PC Performance With Registry Cleaner Software

Windows errors are often the reason why a PC underperforms. Registry Mechanic is one of the best programs you can use to thoroughly clean your registry files, duplicate files, and any other files not properly installed on your PC.

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USB Security and Access Control Solution

Why Restrict USB Drives from accessing your computer ?

We use USB Drives everyday and are grateful for the service they provide, but on the downside, there are three reasons people should restrict or control USB Drive Access into their computers. 1. Virus Traffic 2. Personal Privacy 3. Data Theft

Virus Traffic: There are many people these days that use USB Drives on a daily basis. At work or at home you’ll find many people carrying their USB Drives with many good and bad files. The most draw back to using USB Drives is Virus Traffic. A USB Drive will carry viruses to all accessed computers.

Most Antivirus software today are specialized with internet virus sources and are paying little attention to viruses coming directly from USB Drives. Autorun virus is one of the most types of viruses that might tamper with your computer files and settings coming from a USB Drive and the Antivirus won’t even notice.

Imagine 1000 employees each with a personal USB Drive that carries god knows what type of viruses from home and plugs in his/her USB Drive into a network PC of 1000 users !!! You can prevent this problem from happening ahead of time by using USB Drive Monitor to control USB Drive access to your computers.

Personal Privacy: in todays world even the little brothers and sisters carry USB Drives in their little pockets. If you’re at home and you keep personal notes, pictures, videos, or even working on an important project; you need to have your computer secured.

Otherwise with one little innocent mistake all your data will be gone after your little sibling inserts a USB Drive into your PC. Your private information might be uploaded on the internet as a silly joke.

You can use the USB Drive Monitor to secure your PC from Foreign USB Drives or even lock and unlock your PC by using your configured Personal USB Drive. You can activate a screensaver or generate a sound or custom text alert to intruders. You’ll have full control over your PC.

Data Theft: Its a good practice to use USB Drives at work, but with rules and regulations. Without proper USB Access Control you’ll have your company data and privacy at risk.

Solution One: You can have a master PC that logs USB Drive files by using USB Drive Monitor to identify unique hardware key and user name as well as log USB Drive file content and use this PC as a checking gateway for your company.

Solution Two: You can assign a USB Drive to be officially used inside the company only and restrict all other USB Mass Storage Devices. You can configure this USB Drive by using the USB Drive Monitor and securing the program with a password used by the administrator. The USB Drive monitor can be configured to delete files on unauthorized USB Drives inserted into any computer to make sure no data is lost.

Solution Three: Its the important information that needs to be protected. Your company can assign specified PCs to have confidential and important data and secure then with the USB Drive Monitor. You can have all USB Mass Storage Devices disabled, Sound and Text messages enabled, Task Manager disabled, Screensaver enabled and file deletion on Foreign USB Drives inserted will still be an option.

This way you set the rules and the USB Drive Monitor will enforce them for you.

More reasons……..

Personal Home USB Drive Monitor Usage

Do you ever wonder how your little brother or sister got your funny or embarrassing photos and distributed them to all your family and friends? Do you want that to happen again ? Do you remember when your little brother or sister deleted your most important term paper a day before its due ?

why wait ? get the USB Drive Monitor and keep their USB Drives away from your PC or Laptop by using your USB Drive as a unique access key!!!

How? by bringing up a screensaver and securing your PC once you take out your Personal USB Drive from the computer and disables them once your Personal USB is plugged in again.

This program can be used by parents as a parental control tool to monitor what their kids download on their USB Drives by using the USB Drive Monitor as a computer surveillance software to monitor computer USB Drive activity.

USB Drive Monitor Office PC Usage

You can keep your computer secured and locked when you leave your desk by using the built in USB Drive Monitor Screensaver and activating the Access Key Mode. You can use your configured Personal USB Drive to disable and enable the screensaver or use a personal password. You can also disable the use of all USB Mass Storage devices except for your own Personal USB Drive.

You can simply take out your configured USB Drive and the screensaver will automatically lock your computer, You can disable Task manager or simply disable the use of Mass Storage Devices except your Personal USB Drive, Preventing Data Theft and securing your PC from unauthorized use of USB Mass Storage Devices on your computer. By inserting your USB Drive again you can access your PC and get to work again without inputting a password.

Do you have really important work information stolen from your computer ? you can set the USB Drive Monitor to invisibly log all foreign USB Drives activity from access times in seconds to file name contents as well as foreign USB Drive name and most importantly the Unique Hardware Serial Number of the Foreign USB Drive. This way you can know who and when copied files from your computer.

USB Drive Monitor Large Company PCs Usage

Monitor your employee USB Drive usage activity. The USB Drive Monitor can be a very effective employee monitoring tool. You don’t have to disable all USB ports on your company computers and loose all the great things they offer. You can still use the mouse, keyboard, wireless dongle, bluetooth and all the cool things a USB port offers, Just disable USB Mass Storage Devices.

You can control USB Drives access by configuring a USB Drive for all computers or configure a USB Drive for every employee computer. You can also configure one Company USB Drive to be used by all your subordinates to control information and virus trafficking. Its possible to disable all USB Mass Storage Devices including USB Drives except for one Company USB Drive that will work on all computers in a controlled and secure way.

You can simply allow all USB Drives in your company. If there are any data loss or data theft, you can easily investigate the USB Drive Monitor Log file for data traffic and USB Drive usage on any suspected computer.

You can get a Copy of the Log File that contains the following information:

Drive Index

Logging Time

Drive Letter

Drive Label (Name)

Drive Size (GB)

Drive Unique Hardware Key

File Contents up to 3 Folder Levels Deep

Download Link Click Here

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Know More About USB Sticks

Now a days in the market there is high demand of usb sticks among its consumers. Seeing this the producers of usb sticks concentrating more on the reliability of its products. Consumers should know that usb sticks aids in transferring files between two computers. The user of usb sticks should know that it relates to oooms and usb sticks are made in such a way that having the feeling of the computer and office's natural environment. Consumers should know the meaning of usb sticks, meaning the natural name used for a normal stick. And mechanically such sticks derived from wooden pieces due to their natural beauty. Later on in professional and personal usb memory sticks such usb sticks are coverted showing the features composed in t

hem now coming in the market. Normally consumers use two types of installation for play usb sticks in their devices available in the market. Consumers should also have the information that the first usb stick is having the usage as usb sticks wherein other for specific U3 sticks.

Consumers should know that usb sticks plays an essential role in operating different kinds of machines such as for supporting work in everyday's life. But these installers were not able to copy many programes on such usb sticks which has the usage for linking the button bar inthe systems. In this same way u3 usb sticks is a unique device helps in showing menu icon in several system tray while supporting several auto-run programmes through the usb sticks.

So the first installer aids the consumers to copy already present installation of Total Commander

with plugins and settings files to these usb sticks. Such usb stick installer is quite beneficial to work on various kinds of machine like to act as support work. Such installer will not able to copy programmes on the usb stick later, which is having the usage on linking on the button bar. In the same way the U3 usb sticks act as another installer is a special device aids to show menu icon in the system tray while inserting with supporting auto-run progrmmes from these usb sticks. Now consumers would able to make best usage of mobile internet connection for their laptop and desktop by using vodafone mobile connect usb stick available in themarket. Consumers can then use their laptop everywhere at any time due to the aid of usb stick. The vodafone mobile connect usb stick aids in providing faster speed connectivity to internet with the aid of vodafone edge network.

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What is Usb ?

Consumers should understand the concept that usb is device are getting used for estabilishing communication between the pc systems and several other peripheraldevices. Consumers come across regularly for having the usage of usb. Consumers should know that usb is manufactured for replacing different types of serials and parallel ports in the market. Now the usb has the ability of connecting computer peripherals such as mice, pdas, gamepads, keyboards, and joysticks and many more . Not only few of these but usb can joined scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, flash drives, and external hard drives from their computers. Now in the market usb is considered as the famous product acting as connecting tool for many pc systems. Basically usb is produced in the marekt for personal computers but seeing the interest of consumers now is getting used in several other devices such as pdas, video game consoles and many more. The usb also acts as a power cord between device and ac adapter which is infact a pluggecd in a wall plug for the work of charging in these electrical devices.

In 2008 it is seen that around two billion usb devices were purchased by the consumers and now the data has gone upto six billion till the latest reports available. Consumers of usb should know that the design of usb is based on standardized facts laid by usb implementers forum, following the industry standards body set up by those companies who are leading in computer and electronics industries. Such bodies of standards includes agere, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and NEC and many more. The usb system now carrying asymmetric design which includes host, multitude usbports, and several other peripheral devices connecting with a star topology.

Consumers should know that usb carries many host controllers as each host controller support several usb ports to the consumers . Consumers should understand the fact that usb devices has the linking format in series with the aid of hubs. Consumers should understand the concept that the usb is a product of joint efforts of several companies like Compaq, Digital, IBM, Intel, Northern Telecom, and Microsoft only. Also usb aids in providing connections for storing devices by the usage of set of standards known as usb mass storage device class. This was actually earlier manufactured with the intention of traditional magnetic and optical drives which was later backed several devices of several kinds such flash drives.

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Farmville Tips and Hints – Tree and Animal Profit Values

In FarmVille you now have the ability to harvest your animals in addition to your crops to earn money. Below I have compiled a list of profits for trees and animals with their corresponding profit and cost margins. I am assuming that the initial cost of all of the items listed below is zero since it’s possible to gift these items to yourself.

Formulae:

Plot Profit/Hour = (Sell Value/Production Time) * Items Per Plot

Plot Profit/Day = (Plot Profit/Hour) * 24

Table 1: Animal and Tree Profits per Day in Farmville

*This is how much you would make per week if you were able to completely fill a single farmable plot with this animal/tree. It should be noted that the horse and cows take up twice as much space as the other animals. This is why the lot profits for them are so low.

**This animal was only available for a limited time.

Something I like to do is to sell the trees that have a lower payout because to me it's just not worth crowding my farm with them. You may feel differently but the fact that you still have to harvest each on individually can be a bit tiresome. Especially when you don't gain any experience from doing it. Olive trees and Pomegranate trees are obviously the best ones and all of those should be kept at all times.

Animals are a different story all together. Recently a Dairy Farm was added to the game which conserves space considering how much virtual space Farmville Cows take up. Ducks, rabbits, sheep and chickens don't take up much room but the bigger animals like horses and goats offer some of the higher payouts.

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Switching Power Supply

Switching power supply is a power supply form factor that incorporates high-frequency input switching to generate desired DC voltage. The use of switching regulator in the circuit makes it a regulated power supply system.

Switching Power Supply: An Introduction

Switching power supply provides modulated power supply by combining low-loss electronic components such as:

Inductors

Capacitors

Transformers

These power supply systems enable electronic connection through switches to regulate the power relay function. Effective circuit status switching between power on (saturation) and power off (cut off) generates required power supply for the device. The switching power method utilizes higher frequency than the AC supply, thus creating a continuous waveform. This facilitates the output supply to a smaller transformer than the input one.

Switching Power Supply: Advantages

The switching power supply method has gained global recognition as it offers the following advantages:

It can generate any voltage with little impact of input variations

It produces higher efficiency due to the use of low-loss components and duty cycles in power regulation

It has a small size due to high operating frequency

It features low heat generation

It is light weight

It produces minimal noise when switching frequencies of the power unit

Low-cost switching power units can produce noise due to input operations. Also, electronic design to connect inductors, capacitors and transformers pose severe challenges.

Switching Power Supply: Classifications

Switching power supply method can be used for four different input-output combinations:

AC to AC – in the form of a frequency changer

AC to DC – offline DC output

DC to AC – in the form of power inverter

DC to DC – in the form of voltage converter

A good switching power supply mode maximizes the performance of the electronic device in which it is installed. It demonstrates top performance by regulating input and output supply. Several electronic production companies manufacture switching power supplies and assist clients in choosing the best one for their devices. Custom switching power supply systems are also made for specific power regulation requirements.

To get detailed information on the type of switching power supply you require, visit www.cypower.com. CyPower is a highly trusted online platform for engineers and buyers to search for power supply units. The site offers access to top power supply manufacturers’ product catalog and is an authorized distributor of their products.

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Troubleshooting Four Common Network Card Problems

As the network card is popularized all over the world, it has become a bridge between computers and the network. Once the network adapter goes on the fritz, PC users will suffer lots of unaccountable troubles and feel helpless. Here I will list some common network card malfunctions and their solutions:

Network connection

A network card usually has two indicator lights (LED): the green light shows that the card is receiving electricity; the orange (10Mb/s) or red (100 Mb/s) light indicates network activity (sending or receiving data). When a network card is working regularly, its lights are sustained (flickering when transmitting data), but if the lights become too bright or too dark every now and then, furthermore, computer drops online frequently, most possibly this net card and its PCI slot are poorly connected. Different from other PCI devices, if you often plug net card or move computer, the network connection is easily loose because of poor contact. You can fix this glitch by plugging the net card again or changing to another free PCI slot. Moreover, if there is too much dust on the card, the card’s golden finger is severely oxidized, or the network cable connector is broken, the network connection also would be unstable, well then you need to clean the card, wipe the golden finger with some paper or change a connector.

Drivers

Network card is the same as other hardware devices: its imperfect driver may bring about problems. If your card encounters some inexplicable errors, you can download and set up the latest drivers from some professional websites to repair these errors. In case your network adapter’s malfunction happens after you updated driver, you can restore the driver with the driver program that came with your adapter.

Magnetic field problem

Network adapter is easily interrupted by the magnetic field, so you should avoid putting your computer near to the devices like microwave oven, fridge or TV that have a large and strong magnetic field.

Network cables

Poor network cables and connectors would also affect your net card working. In addition to selecting better twisted pair, you should also note that whether the connection between your network adapter port and connector is in good, and whether the order of the data lines in the connector accords with the international 568a and 568b network cables (especially those self-made connectors).

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5 Common Motherboard Problems

Problem 1 New CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) settings can not be saved.

It is often owing to the motherboard

battery is under voltage; you need to change the battery. If the voltage is still too low, it may have two possibilities.

One, the motherboard circuit goes on the fritz, and you'd better take it

to the pro.

Second, the problem is in the motherboard CMOS jumper, and sometimes you have cleaned CMOS by mistake or set it as using the external battery, so it can not save the new CMOS data.

Problem 2 Computer crashes or CD-ROM reading slows

down after setting up motherboard drivers.

It usually happens in some inferior motherboards: when you finish installing your motherboard drivers and restart the machine, you can not enter the Windows 98 interface in the normal mode, furthermore, the drivers can not be unloaded. For this, you'd better find out the latest motherboard driver and install it, if still failed you have to reinstall your operating system

.

Problem 3 Mouse is unavailable wheninstalling or booting up your Windows system.

Its cause in software is generally the incorrect CMOS settings. In the Power Man

agement of the CMOS, there is an item called modem use interrupt request, which is commonly default as 3, and you can change to choose one of other options except 3.

Problem 4 Computer crashes when setting the CMOS

The source of this tiresome ordeal usually hides in the CPU or the motherboard Cache, sometimes maybe the poor heat dissipation in the motherboard gives rise to such crashes. For the Cache problem, you can fix it by disabling the Cache in the CMOS, but certainly that w

ould affect your Internet speed. If not the Cache problem, probably you have to replace your CPU or motherboard.

Problem 5 Motherboard COM port, Line Print Terminal port or Integrated Drive Electronics port doesn't work properly.

This usually happens when you hot plug the relevant hardware, firstly you need to disable the COM port, the Line Print Terminal port (sometimes you even need to disable the Integrated Drive Electronics port) that built-in the motherboard, and then use a multifunction card instead.

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How To Defragment Your Computer Hard Drive

Have you ever noticed that as time goes by your computer you bought just doesn't seem to be running as quickly as when you first bought the machine? Computers are kind of like a home, unless they are cleaned and maintained regularly they can get junked up with last weeks garbage. Formatting the hard drive is one of the quickest and easiest ways to help.

Because the typical hard drive uses a physical magnetic arm to gather data from the disk, the physical location of data on the platter can have a significant impact on the speed at which your drive can read information. As time goes by, files get moved and new programs are installed and others are uninstalled, bits and pieces of different files can get scattered around the drive and that's what we call "Fragmentation".

The goal of defragmenting your computer hard driveis to take all those bits and pieces that are lying around the drive and rearrange them on the platters back in a logical way, allowing the hard drive to retrieve files faster and therefore speed up the computer.

Microsoft includes a tool to do this within Windows XP. You can find it by going to:

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter

Disk Defragmenter will open and allow you the option to "Analyze" any hard drive you have installed on the system. This process takes a few seconds and will return with a result that will recommend if you should defragment the drive as well as a more detailed report.

Here is a typical result. As the analyzer works it will show you the fragmented areas in red and the contiguous files in blue. When you press the "Defragment" button, the program will begin rearranging as many files as possible into contiguous files thereby speeding up your computer, and hopefully saving you some time and frustration in the process.

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