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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

50 Tips

50 Tips

1. You can rename several files at one time within Explorer. A long overdue feature, in my opinion. (See before and after screen shots.)
2. The tiles view is there for getting quick picture dimensions -- a wonderful thing for those of us who work with the Web. When you select an image, its dimensions will also be displayed in the Status bar (if it's turned on). (See a screen shot.)
3. Check out the Details view if you have a ton of similar files in the folder. In one glance, you can view the number of pages, bitrate, details, and so on. Of course, it depends on what it is you're trying to view. ). (See a screen shot.)
4. ClearType is a great reason to upgrade to XP. While it does have a noticeable impact on 2D performance, the view is spectacular. It's not just for LCD screens, contrary to popular belief. Font smoothing is so 20th century. (See before ClearType and after ClearType screen shots.)
5. Your removable drives are automatically added to the SendTo menu. I can't figure out how to get them out of there, as I never really use my floppy or Zip drives. (See a screen shot.)

6. EXIF support is built into the Explorer shell. This allows you to see embedded information from untouched digital photos. This is another awesome feature for shutterbugs.
7. Details view in MP3 folders is a must. It's very much like WiMP in the sense that you can view all sorts of song details from within the Explorer window. (See a screen shot.)
8. Being a neat freak, I appreciated the new Align to Grid feature for the Windows desktop. Now I don't have to right-click and Arrange every time I move a stupid icon. Try as you might, you can't drag desktop icons off of the screen with this option turned on. (See a screen shot.)
9. Man, you've got to play with the Show in Groups Arrange option. It's neat, and depending on how you have the folder set up, it will provide different sorting options (alphabetically by file type, general file type, and so on). Very, very cool. (See a screen shot.)
10. When you see the shutdown dialog pop up, hold onto the Shift key if you want to flip energy saving modes (from Stand By to Hibernate).
11. WiMP will now grab cover shots and detailed information for your DVDs.
12. When you put in a CD with MP3s on it, XP asks you what you want to do with it. It does the same basic thing when you insert a picture CD or plug in a digital camera. Very friendly. (See a screen shot.)
13. Icons in the System Tray are now displayed in high color. It's about time! Oddly enough, when you configure the System Tray (by right-clicking on the Taskbar and selecting Properties), in the Notification area, someone forgot to update the old icons for Paint, Network, Calculator, and so on. I get paid to notice these things, you know.
14. Zip file support is finally built into the OS. Yes, I know Me had it, too, but I hate that OS.
15. No powertoys ship with the Windows XP CD, although they will be available from Microsoft's site after October 25. They are a must for any user, experienced or not. Super Fast User Switcher, PowerToy Calculator, Alt-Tab replacement, Virtual Desktop Manager, Photo Toys, TweakUI, Command Window Here, Slideshow generator, Magnifier, HTML Generator, and TimerShot.
16. ID3v2 is supported throughout the OS (in WiMP 8.0 as well as in the Explorer shell). To edit an MP3's information, pull up its properties and flip to the Summary tab. (See a screen shot.)
17. You can store/save your current Theme to the My Documents folder. On the surface, this feature appears to be backwards compatible with classic Desktop Themes.
18. I think I've rebooted this computer less than 10 times, yet XP's boot process (from BIOS to desktop) is faster than it's ever been. Let me time the sucker. Hold on -- this should only take a minute. I take that back! It took me 45 seconds to get back up and running again.
19. MSConfig is back, baby. Windows 2000 users will appreciate its return. Of course, X-Setup works just fine on XP, too. (See a screen shot.)
20. In folders designated for pictures, the Tasks pane will give you an option to print them. Choose your images, layout, printer, and so on. If you have a photo printer, this is a spectacular feature. If you choose not to work with the Tasks pane, you can simply open an image in the Windows Viewer and print from there to get to the same wizard. (See a screen shot.)
21. You'd be surprised at how much alpha blending of icons improves the experience. No matter what wallpaper or background color you're using, they will always look smooth. (See a screen shot.)
22. SNTP/NTP time synchronization is now built into the Date and Time applet. With it, you can connect to any Internet time-server. Never miss a meeting again! (See a screen shot.)
23. When Explorer crashes, the icons are restored in the System Tray. Finally. I verified this the other day when I ran into that weird gray screen problem.
24. XP comes with a basic slideshow screen saver -- perfect for showing off your recent vacation photos. (See a screen shot.)
25. The Task Manager now has Networking performance indicators. Right-click on the Taskbar and select Task Manager for more. (See a screen shot.)



1. You can now turn off thumbnail caching to save disk space (via Folder Options). With TweakUI, you can change the default dimensions of the thumbnail images.

2. Internet Explorer now has built-in support for Google (as long as you're using the search assistant).

3. They finally updated the card backs in Solitaire. Considering how many people play it on a regular basis, it's a notable improvement.

4. Go directly to the Start Menu properties by right-clicking on the Start Button. Switch to the "classic" Start Menu if the new one annoys you. The "Highlight newly installed programs" feature is nice for download maniacs.

5. XP's movie maker truly sucks; you can't do ANYTHING with it. No transitions beyond a simple fade, no export options other than Windows Media, and so on. Save your money and get a true video editor. Better yet -- use iMovie on the Mac.

Just don't think you're gonna film a businessman flying around your neighborhood and wind up producing an award-winning film using Windows XP. It ain't gonna happen with this crapplet.

6. Microsoft's marketing campaign is a bit misleading; you can't play DVD movies without purchasing a third-party decoder first. While MP3s can be played out of the box, ripping music into this audio format is possible only through (again) third-party software.

7. Even with XP's built-in Internet Connection Firewall features, I still recommend Tiny Personal Firewall (freeware).

8. Most of you have heard about the automatic grouping of open applications in the Taskbar (when you have several instances running, Windows will put them under the same Taskbar button). Here's something else I discovered: open Internet Explorer, then Notepad, then Internet Explorer again. Look at that. It puts the same apps next to each other, no matter the order in which they were opened.

9. Someone at Microsoft forgot to update the individual Administrative Tools and Offline webpages folder icons. They're still ugly. Under the "Customize" tab of the folder properties dialog, you can assign a different icon for each and every folder. Sweet!

10. The Windows help system has a wealth of new features. In one swoop, you can perform queries against the local database as well as the Microsoft Knowledge Base. However, I don't think the MSKB integration is working yet. For one, it doesn't return any results on basic terms. Plus, it defaults to searching for Windows 2000 specific issues. Anyway, click the last icon in the toolbar (the document with a red checkmark in it). Tweak away!

11. The OS only comes with three Visual Styles -- which are lame to begin with. The Plus! site may have more available in time, but who really knows?

12. I thought it was rather shortsighted that XP doesn't allow you to associate WMA sounds to your events. I mean, they're shoving the format down your throat in every other application. Why not here, too? Anyway, system (default) sounds have received a much-needed upgrade

13. In Windows 2000, you really couldn't make a boot disk. Sure, you could create a set of setup disks, but nothing like a simple boot floppy. Right-click on the Floppy drive icon, select format, then place a checkmark in the "Create an MS-DOS startup disk." The MSDOS.SYS file contains W98EBD -- which leads me to believe that the files were taken from Windows 98. This won't do you much good if you have an NTFS drive.

14. When was the last time you forgot your password? Uh, don't forget it for Windows XP until you create a password recovery disk. Under Related Tasks in the User Accounts Control Panel applet, click Prevent a forgotten password.

15. The Kodak Imaging Application that came with other versions of Windows has been replaced by the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It has a few built-in options, but you can't easily view the image at its full size. While this replacement is good enough, I miss the Kodak app already.

16. People think XP doesn't support plug-ins. That's not true -- it stopped supporting Netscape-style plug-ins, but Apple updated its QuickTime control within days of IE6's release.

17. Yes, you can hide inactive System Tray icons, but why on Earth didn't they line up the double-arrow indicators with those in the main Taskbar area? Another oversight by the design team, I'm certain.

18. Window transparency works much better in XP than it ever did in 2000. Again, this speed difference could be attributed to the video driver being used.

19. Microsoft should have licensed Quicktime and RealMedia decoders. Every one of these companies wants to install its jukebox on my system. Bah humbug! At least they included the classic 6.4 player (accessible by entering MPLAYER2 on the Run command line).

20. Passport is all over the place in Windows XP. However, you don't have to sign up for a new email account if you don't want to. Just use your current email address, and make a Passport password for it. Since I'm not sure what Microsoft plans on doing with Passport, I just used my secret Hotmail account. You can change this any time via the User Accounts applet in the Control Panel.

21. Managing file associations is a dream. Right-click on a file, locate the updated Open With cascading menu (which now uses a program's default icon), then click Choose Program if you want to change how the file is opened. Plus, if you don't know what program to associate a file with, there's a nice hyperlink included in the dialog to take you to a helpful Microsoft webpage.

22. The desktop properties dialog is extensive, but scattered. For instance, the Themes tab is the first one you see, yet you have to flip to the Appearance tab in order to change how your interface works.

23. The volume mixer looks weird. Call me a stickler for details, but the Main play control is not the same width as the other controls. Not to mention, they didn't replace the yellow speaker icons for the other controls. And as if that wasn't enough, you can no longer tap ESC to quickly close the window. They should have left well enough alone.

24. Are you the type of person who notices speed increases (and decreases)? Well, as far as file operations are concerned, this is the snappiest version of Windows I've ever used. In Windows 2000, I'd select a few files on the desktop, delete them, and then two seconds later, their icons would disappear. When I do the same thing in XP, the removal is immediate. Likewise, it takes far less time for me to open the Recycle Bin when it's filled with items now.

25. The default search "doggie" is annoying for power users; thank goodness the new TweakUI will allow you to easily switch back to the "classic" Windows 2000 search feature. I don't know if this is a bug I uncovered; when I browse for a folder when I'm doing a Search, it shows me two My Documents folders. They each have the same folder structure inside of them

Monday, June 29, 2009

Delete An "undeletable" File

Delete An "undeletable" File

Delete An "undeletable" File

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.
Close all open programs.
Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE
Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.
Leave Task Manager open.
Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in.
At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.
Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.
Close Task Manager.


Or you can try this


Open Notepad.exe

Click File>Save As..>

locate the folder where ur undeletable file is

Choose 'All files' from the file type box

click once on the file u wanna delete so its name appears in the 'filename' box

put a " at the start and end of the filename
(the filename should have the extension of the undeletable file so it will overwrite it)

click save,

It should ask u to overwrite the existing file, choose yes and u can delete it as normal


Here's a manual way of doing it. I'll take this off once you put into your first post zain.

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type: command
4. To move into a directory type: cd c:\*** (The stars stand for your folder)
5. If you cannot access the folder because it has spaces for example Program Files or Kazaa Lite folder you have to do the following. instead of typing in the full folder name only take the first 6 letters then put a ~ and then 1 without spaces. Example: cd c:\progra~1\kazaal~1
6. Once your in the folder the non-deletable file it in type in dir - a list will come up with everything inside.
7. Now to delete the file type in del ***.bmp, txt, jpg, avi, etc... And if the file name has spaces you would use the special 1st 6 letters followed by a ~ and a 1 rule. Example: if your file name was bad file.bmp you would type once in the specific folder thorugh command, del badfil~1.bmp and your file should be gone. Make sure to type in the correct extension.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

5 Ways to Retrieve Data Off a Crashed Hard Drive

5 Ways to Retrieve Data Off a Crashed Hard Drive

The hard drive has the shortest life expectancy of all components, but when it inevitably fails it’s always when you least expect it. It’s an inevitability, and it always happens when you’re least prepared - the hard drive crash. Sure, you might notice it’s taking a bit longer to boot, or there’s an occasional click that just doesn’t sound right, but it’s still a surprise the day your computer fails to boot. How do you get your data off that hard drive once it’s no longer able to boot? Is it still possible? This depends on what exactly went wrong with your drive. It is safe to assume, however, that will the proper method, you will be able to retrieve at least part of your lost data.



Source: Laptop Logic

Below are five different methods for getting documents, pictures, and other important files off a crashed hard drive.

1. Use an External Case
This method is the most simple available, and for many people it is also the solution they need. Simply purchase an external hard drive case that allows you to plug your hard drive into a computer with a standard USB cable. Remove the crashed hard drive from your computer and carefully insert it into the external case (make sure you ground yourself before touching it), then plug it into a different system and try to open the drive. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to navigate into your documents and other folders and copy them onto a different hard drive.
2. Use a LiveCD
Don’t have access to a second computer for doing as you please? This method will be ideal, then. You’ll need to get temporary access to a computer with Internet and a DVD burner. Download a Linux LiveCD - Damn Small Linux is the smallest, but also has issues mounting hard drives. The most simple for an average computer user would be Puppy Linux. It has a larger file size, but should recognize your drive.
Burn the Live CD ISO to a CD and insert it into your computer (the one with the crashed hard drive). Restart the computer and when it the computer logo appears, press F2 (or whatever key for your system) to enter BIOS. Change the boot sequence to CD first, Save and then Exit.
The Live CD will start, simply follow the directions on the screen–don’t worry, nothing is being done to your hard drive. The OS will start, and you should see your hard drive mounted on the desktop–something like “60GB”, etc. Plug in a second drive and copy and paste the folders over.
3. Data Recovery Software
Do the above solutions have your head spinning? If you want something a little less complicated, you may want to give recovery software a go. There are a number of different free recovery tools available, and you may be one of the lucky users who have success with the programs.
There are a large number of programs available, but the quality of each varies. A good place to start would be Data Disc Recovery–it’s free, easy to use, and works on crashed drives (it can also retrieve deleted files and others). If one doesn’t work, try a different one.
4. Freeze It
This method surprises many, but it actually does work (depending on what happened to the drive). The idea is that freezing it will constrict loose parts long enough for the drive to work properly. Make sure you have a computer ready to plug the drive into and an external case. Place the hard drive into a baggy, seal it tightly, and put it in the freezer overnight. The next day, remove it from the baggy and put it in the external drive case. Transfer the data from the drive before it warms too much and crashes again.
5. Get a Pro
If all else fails, you either have to accept that the data is gone or, if the data is really important, take the hard drive to a professional. It will be expensive, but there’s a good chance a pro will be able to retrieve some of the data for you.


Friday, June 26, 2009

List of useful Run Commands for Windows XP

List of useful Run Commands for Windows XP

Here is a list of useful commands that you can run from the Run Command prompt in windows XP. The Run Command prompt itself can be found on the start menu or with the key combination ‘WINDOWS+R’.



An A-Z Index of the Windows XP command line

ADDUSERS Add or list users to/from a CSV file
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASSOC Change file extension associations•
ASSOCIAT One step file association
AT Schedule a command to run at a later time
ATTRIB Change file attributes
B
BOOTCFG Edit Windows boot settings
BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info
C
CACLS Change file permissions
CALL Call one batch program from another•
CD Change Directory - move to a specific Folder•
CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties
CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems
CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system
CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file
CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders
CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin
CLEARMEM Clear memory leaks
CLIP Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard.
CLS Clear the screen•
CLUSTER Windows Clustering
CMD Start a new CMD shell
COLOR Change colors of the CMD window•
COMP Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
COMPACT Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition
COMPRESS Compress individual files on an NTFS partition
CON2PRT Connect or disconnect a Printer
CONVERT Convert a FAT drive to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to another location•
CSCcmd Client-side caching (Offline Files)
CSVDE Import or Export Active Directory data
D
DATE Display or set the date•
Dcomcnfg DCOM Configuration Utility
DEFRAG Defragment hard drive
DEL Delete one or more files•
DELPROF Delete NT user profiles
DELTREE Delete a folder and all subfolders
DevCon Device Manager Command Line Utility
DIR Display a list of files and folders•
DIRUSE Display disk usage
DISKCOMP Compare the contents of two floppy disks
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one floppy disk to another
DISKPART Disk Administration
DNSSTAT DNS Statistics
DOSKEY Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros
DSADD Add user (computer, group..) to active directory DSQUERY List items in active directory
DSMOD Modify user (computer, group..) in active directory
E
ECHO Display message on screen•
ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file•
ERASE Delete one or more files•
EXIT Quit the current script/routine and set an errorlevel•
EXPAND Uncompress files
EXTRACT Uncompress CAB files
F
FC Compare two files
FIND Search for a text string in a file
FINDSTR Search for strings in files
FOR /F Loop command: against a set of files•
FOR /F Loop command: against the results of another command•
FOR Loop command: all options Files, Directory, List•
FORFILES Batch process multiple files
FORMAT Format a disk
FREEDISK Check free disk space (in bytes)
FSUTIL File and Volume utilities
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FTYPE Display or modify file types used in file extension associations•
G
GLOBAL Display membership of global groups
GOTO Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line•
H
HELP Online Help
I
iCACLS Change file and folder permissions
IF Conditionally perform a command•
IFMEMBER Is the current user in an NT Workgroup
IPCONFIG Configure IP
K
KILL Remove a program from memory
L
LABEL Edit a disk label
LOCAL Display membership of local groups
LOGEVENT Write text to the NT event viewer.
LOGOFF Log a user off
LOGTIME Log the date and time in a file
M
MAPISEND Send email from the command line
MBSAcli Baseline Security Analyzer.
MEM Display memory usage
MD Create new folders•
MKLINK Create a symbolic link (linkd)
MODE Configure a system device
MORE Display output, one screen at a time
MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point
MOVE Move files from one folder to another•
MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another
MSG Send a message
MSIEXEC Microsoft Windows Installer
MSINFO Windows NT diagnostics
MSTSC Terminal Server Connection (Remote Desktop Protocol)
MUNGE Find and Replace text within file(s)
MV Copy in-use files
N
NET Manage network resources
NETDOM Domain Manager
NETSH Configure network protocols
NETSVC Command-line Service Controller
NBTSTAT Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)
NETSTAT Display networking statistics (TCP/IP)
NOW Display the current Date and Time
NSLOOKUP Name server lookup
NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape
NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights
P
PATH Display or set a search path for executable files•
PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss
PAUSE Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message•
PERMS Show permissions for a user
PERFMON Performance Monitor
PING Test a network connection
POPD Restore the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD•
PORTQRY Display the status of ports and services
PRINT Print a text file
PRNCNFG Display, configure or rename a printer
PRNMNGR Add, delete, list printers set the default printer
PROMPT Change the command prompt•
PsExec Execute process remotely
PsFile Show files opened remotely
PsGetSid Display the SID of a computer or a user
PsInfo List information about a system
PsKill Kill processes by name or process ID
PsList List detailed information about processes
PsLoggedOn Who's logged on (locally or via resource sharing)
PsLogList Event log records
PsPasswd Change account password
PsService View and control services
PsShutdown Shutdown or reboot a computer
PsSuspend Suspend processes
PUSHD Save and then change the current directory•
Q
QGREP Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.
R
RASDIAL Manage RAS connections
RASPHONE Manage RAS connections
RECOVER Recover a damaged file from a defective disk.
REG Registry: Read, Set, Export, Delete keys and values
REGEDIT Import or export registry settings
REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL
REGINI Change Registry Permissions
REM Record comments (remarks) in a batch file•
REN Rename a file or files•
REPLACE Replace or update one file with another
RD Delete folder(s)•
RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer
ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy
ROUTE Manipulate network routing tables
RUNAS Execute a program under a different user account
RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections)
S
SC Service Control
SCHTASKS Create or Edit Scheduled Tasks
SCLIST Display NT Services
SET Display, set, or remove environment variables•
SETLOCAL Control the visibility of environment variables•
SETX Set environment variables permanently
SHARE List or edit a file share or print share
SHIFT Shift the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file•
SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file)
SHOWGRPS List the NT Workgroups a user has joined
SHOWMBRS List the Users who are members of a Workgroup
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer
SLEEP Wait for x seconds
SOON Schedule a command to run in the near future
SORT Sort input
START Start a program or command in a separate window•
SU Switch User
SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain
SUBST Associate a path with a drive letter
SYSTEMINFO List system configuration
T
TASKLIST List running applications and services
TASKKILL Remove a running process from memory
TIME Display or set the system time•
TIMEOUT Delay processing of a batch file
TITLE Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session•
TLIST Task list with full path
TOUCH Change file timestamps
TRACERT Trace route to a remote host
TREE Graphical display of folder structure
TYPE Display the contents of a text file•
U
USRSTAT List domain usernames and last login
V
VER Display version information•
VERIFY Verify that files have been saved•
VOL Display a disk label•
W
WHERE Locate and display files in a directory tree
WHOAMI Output the current UserName and domain
WINDIFF Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
WINMSD Windows system diagnostics
WINMSDP Windows system diagnostics II
WMIC WMI Commands
X
XCACLS Change file and folder permissions
XCOPY Copy files and folders

Top 5 Important Security Tests For Your Computer

Top 5 Important Security Tests For Your Computer

Until and unless you are not attacked by any virus or spyware you think that your computer security is very high but when your PC gets infected it is too late. It is highly essential to check your Pc Security Status Frequently to stay uptodate.This Tests Prevents Hackers Attacks & Security Vulnerabilities.



1.Browser Security Check : This test will check your Browser Security. If you have good browser like Mozilla Firefox you will surely pass this test.

2.Firewall Leak Tester : This website, on one hand, enables you to test your software personal firewall thanks to different test programs ('leaktests'), and on the other hand, shows a global vulnerabilities view of the most common personal firewalls in a summary page.
Firewall Leak Tester provides also documentation and advices to improve your security dramatically.

What Firewall Leak Tester is testing ?

Nowadays, threats from the Internet are growing, both from the inside and the outside.
To answer to a security need from Internet users (us), security software firms have created "personal firewalls", softwares acting like real hardware firewalls, but on user's computers.
These personal firewalls have network level filtering, that we will name "network filtering", and an outbound application filtering that we will name "software filtering".

Due to the fact that most of these Personal Firewall offer reasonable protection against inbound attacks coming from the Internet, we will only study here their software filtering, outbound filtering that can be stressed by Trojans which try to initiate themselves by connecting to the outside to transmit data out.

To test this software filtering feature, many leaktests (""leak"" test) exist, they are programs created by different authors, each trying to bypass the personal firewalls with his own trick.

3.Firewall Test : This test will check your computer for ports that are commonly left open. Open ports could allow your computer to be compromised. This firewall test will also check for Open ports known to be used by Viruses and Trojans.

4.Online Port Scan : This test will make a scan of all your Open Ports.

5.PopUp Blocker Test : This popup test is is an automated way to check your popup blocker's ability to allow good ads.Your popup blocker will be given a series of tests that range from your standard popup to very complex popups that will slip by most popular ad blockers.

That's it if you know other useful Security Test Share it here.



How to enable/disable access to USB Pen drive

How to enable/disable access to USB Pen drive

You may want to block USB mass storage device to disallow the unauthorized use of pendrives or you may want to unblock USB mass storage device to get access (most of the case in college’s net lab). Well, this can be done by a simple registry tweak. Before doing so, I recommend taking a backup of the regustry because playing with registry can be harmful for your OS



The advantage of this is, you restrict users from copying and transferring sensitive data to and from the computer. This is mostly a necessity in: offices to protect intellectual property and cybercafe / public browsing centers to prevent users from knowingly or unknowingly infecting the system with viruses.

Here’s how you can disable USB storage device drive access in windows :

1> Click on “Start –> Run –> Type regedit and hit Enter.”

2> Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor”

3> Select the key UsbStor and double click on the Start value, which can be found in the right pane.

4> In Value data part, put 4 (numeric value four), if you want to disable USB storage and put in 3 (numeric value 3), if you want to enable USB storage on your computer.

The change will be effective immediately, however sometimes a reboot may be required. This hack will ensure that all the USB storage devices are disabled / blocked or enabled according to your choice.



Thursday, June 25, 2009

15 Awesome Tips for a Long Lasting Laptop

15 Awesome Tips for a Long Lasting Laptop

Times are tough, and even with falling prices, the purchase of a laptop computer constitutes a serious investment for the average consumer. Give your laptop a couple more years with these simple tips. There are a lot of ways to extend the life of your notebook, most of which are very simple and which just about anyone can do. If you take care of your laptop from year one, you’ll be thanking yourself heartily during years four, five, six and beyond. And even if you’re already in the latter years, it’s never too late to start.



Source: Laptop Logic

This guideline is divided up into three categories, each with five easy to apply tips. General Maintenance applies to computers in general and not just laptops, Battery Maintenance will help you get the longest life out of your laptop’s battery, and Laptop Common Sense will have you kicking yourself for not already following the tips when all along you knew you should.Oh, and almost nothing on this list will cost you anything.

General Maintenance

1) Use Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware SoftwareMost laptops ship with at least some sort of anti-virus software like Norton or McAfee, but these frequently expire after a short time. Viruses and spyware can be crippling to a computer, and have a tendency to build up over time and get worse. Running weekly scans can nip these problems in the bud. If you don’t feel like ponying up for a paid subscription service, there are plenty of free ones, such as AVG.

2) Keep Your Laptop Up To DateYour computer was up to date when you bought it, but unless you’ve set up regular updates that was the last time. Beyond your anti-virus software, which should be kept up strictly, both Microsoft and Apple offer regular updates for their operating systems to correct bugs and plug up vulnerabilities. Updating your software regularly will help keep your laptop in working order and stop many problems before they can threaten the usability or potentially the life of your computer.

3) Defragment Your Hard DriveWhen you save something on your computer, it gets physically written on a portion of your hard drive. As time goes on and your hard drive fills, this storage becomes somewhat disorganized, and your hardware must work harder and spend longer to find data. Defragmenting your hard drive rearranges the data into an organized structure. Defragmenting regularly will extend the life of your hard drive as well as make everything on your computer run just that much smoother.

4) Keep 5-10% of Your Hard Drive EmptyBy the time you’ve had your laptop for a few years, your hard drive will seem impossibly small. It’s important, however, to keep at least a small percentage of your hard drive empty at all times. Operating systems use a portion of your hard drive space for Virtual Memory, and if you don’t leave them any room your computer will slow down tremendously, potentially overheating or crashing under the stress. Key life-extending features like System Restore require empty space to function as well.

5) Use a Surge Protector When ChargingThis probably belongs in the common sense section below, and the reason for it should be obvious. Surge protectors help protect your computer from an electrical surge in your socket, such as might come from a bolt of lightning or a large appliance turning on. Without this, your laptop is vulnerable to being short-circuited and could fry after any surge. Surge protectors are extremely cheap and can be useful too, as most have multiple outlets.Bonus- personal preference 5+) Use Older SoftwareOften software will come out with a new version that is just the same thing with more graphics, which can be a drain on an older computer. For non-essential items like chat programs and the like, sometimes using an older version can help your computer run smoothly and error free. If you want to try this, check out http://www.oldversion.com, a great free resource for this.

Battery Maintenance

1) Charge Fully, Your First Time And Every TimeWhen you open your new laptop for the first time, it’s always a temptation to turn it on and begin playing with it. Resist this temptation! Proper conditioning of your battery by charging it fully before its first use and then discharging it completely and repeating once or twice ensures that your battery’s capacity starts at its highest. Your battery also has a preset number of charges/discharges, so it’s important to charge/discharge fully to extend the life of your battery too.

2) Avoid Battery Memory EffectBattery memory is what causes your laptop to stop charging before the battery reaches 100%, or to turn off before it reaches 0%. This is caused by not charging your battery fully or not discharging it fully – the battery “remembers” where it stopped charging/discharging and doesn’t go any further. Modern Li-Ion batteries are thankfully not subject to this, but if you’ve got an older battery avoid this effect at all costs. It can render a battery frustratingly useless.

3) Store the Battery Partially ChargedIf you’re not going to be using your laptop for an extended period of time, it’s a good idea to remove the battery and store it. Batteries discharge slowly over time, but storing a battery fully charged/discharged can permanently damage the battery by causing it to lose capacity or worse, go entirely dead. Charging the battery to 40% minimizes the negative long term effects of storing.

4) Use the Battery At Least MonthlyIt’s important to keep your battery in good condition through occasional use. If you typically use your laptop plugged in, you are not using your battery, and this can cause the capacity to shrink. At least once a month, your battery will benefit from a full charge/discharge cycle. This keeps the battery stronger, the capacity fuller, and helps its overall longevity.

5) Avoid Extreme TemperaturesYour battery was designed to work at a certain temperature, and it’s completely normal for it to heat up a little during use. Subjecting your battery to extreme temperatures it’s not prepared for can damage its life. Cold temperatures are not good for it, but excessive heat is the real battery killer. Simply making sure not to leave your laptop in your car during the summer could save you from buying a new battery the next day.Bonus tip 5+) Daily Use TipsThe above tips will help keep your battery in good shape, but there are tons of things you can do to cause your computer to consume less energy. Dim the LCD, mute the speakers, turn off features like WiFi if you’re not using them, make use of the power settings and be sure to use both hibernate and standby where appropriate. This is only a start, but using as little power as possible while operating on batteries can help you squeeze some extra time out of your battery’s capacity.

Laptop Common Sense

1) Take Care of the LCDLCDs on laptops are designed to outlast the usefulness of the laptop they’re connected to, but can be easily damaged by a simple careless mistake. Don’t lift the laptop up by the display (it will bend) and be easy on the hinges. Only clean the display with something soft and never store anything under the LCD when its closed. These precautions seem obvious but you basically need only treat the LCD with care and it will last for as long as you need it to.

2) Take Care of the KeyboardLike the displays, with proper care a keyboard should easily outlast the life of the laptop, but a silly accident can render it useless. Many laptops today are “spill resistant”, but I wouldn’t recommend testing it – don’t drink around your laptop. Don’t eat around it either, as crumbs or grease can fall between the keys and cause malfunctions. Hit the keys gently and dust them once in a while and your keyboard should last year after year.

3) Be Aware of TemperatureExtremes in temperature can be extremely dangerous for a laptop. I mentioned that heat is a battery killer, but the display can be damaged by extreme conditions as well. Using the laptop when the environment is too hot can cause failures from overheating, and using it in an environment that is too wet and humid can cause similar malfunctions. Modern rugged laptops excluded, your laptop is meant to be used on a desk in your home or office. Keep it somewhere temperature controlled and this will never be a problem.

4) Watch Your FanYour fan is responsible for cooling your CPU so that it doesn’t overheat in normal conditions. A large number of problems related to overheating are solved simply by moving the laptop to a new position where the fan’s exhaust is not blocked. Even if there is nothing large obstructing it, it’s important to make sure dust doesn’t build up in the fan as that can cause overheating too. Make sure your fan is clear to fan away excess heat and your laptop will live longer, guaranteed.

5) Protect Your Laptop From Jolts With a CaseLaptops are sensitive instruments, and they are never more vulnerable than when they are traveling. Constant bumping and shaking can cause parts to shift and can permanently damage the laptop. Using a cushioned laptop bag will preserve it from the shocks of travel, and storing it in a laptop bag when not in use can help prevent any number of accidents. This is virtually the only item in the list that isn’t free, but it’s a small price to protect your computer and the bag can last for a lifetime of laptops.Bonus – personal preference 5+) Use External PartsUsing external hardware, such as a monitor, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc., can help extend the life of your internal hardware by preventing wear and tear. At the same time, it can provide a more comfortable experience at home. While this can be expensive, if you regularly use your laptop you may find the investment worth your while.


(Of course, if we’re spending money, buying new RAM and occasionally replacing the battery can also do wonders for your performance and overall enjoyment of the laptop as well. But that’s another article.) Follow these simple tips and you easily will extend the life of your laptop.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

How to Create A Shutdown Timer for Windows

How to Create A Shutdown Timer for Windows



Do you know that you can make your PC shutdown at a time u wish to?
Here is the trick!!
How To Make A Shutdown Timer!



METHOD # 1


* Right click on your desktop and choose "New=>shortcuts".
* In the box that says "Type the location of the shortcut",
type in "shutdown -s -t 3600" without the quotation marks and click next.

Note: 3600 are the amount of seconds before your computer shuts down. So , 60secs*60mins=3600secs.

* Make up a name for the shortcut and you're done.
* You can change the icon by right clicking=>properities=>change icon=>browse



TO ABORT:
To make an abort key to stop the shutdown timer just create another shortcut and make
the "location of the shortcut" to "shutdown -a" without the quotes.

METHOD # 2

{EASIER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE}

Here is another trick to shutdown at a specific time, for example you wish to shutdown at 11:35am.

Type this in
start=>Run

Type Code: at 11:35 shutdown -s

TO ABORT:

Type this in
start=>Run

Code: shutdown -a


Thursday, June 18, 2009

Understanding Google

Understanding Google

Meet Google, the "coolest kid" on the cyberblock!

Google is popular, and popularity means it may be tough to get in initially. Even if you do everything right, it could take months to see results, at least if you use their URL submission page. However, there is hope! There's a method to get indexed in 24 hours, so don't even bother submitting through the URL page.

But before you get to that, you should know about the guidelines you must follow to ensure that your site not only gets listed, but also doesn't get banned. Plus, you should learn about elements of your website that Google won't look at.

How to Get Google to Read Your Keywords First

Google's bots read web pages from the topmost left corner of your site to the bottom right. However, most sites are designed with all of the links on the left side, and the content on the right. Yet the problem with this design is instead of seeing your content first, Google sees the links first. Your links may not be seen to be as optimized as your content.

One solution is to use three panes rather than two. Keep the normal left and right panes, but add an extra pane at the top left of the layout. Don't put keywords in this extra pane. With this area "blank" when the Google bots read the site, rather than going for the links as they normally would, the bots see that a portion of where the links are is "blank." This then forces it to read the content first, which is more keyword-rich than the links.

Note that not all search engines read sites this way, which is why this guideline was dedicated to optimizing for Google. You could be on the safe side and use the layout anyway, especially if you do plan to submit to Google, which you should. It doesn't take away from the look of the site, and by using it you ensure that your content gets read first. If you don't use it, you aren't giving yourself the best opportunity to rank highly in Google search engine listings. Making tables isn't very hard to do. Most word processors and even WYSIWYG HTML editors provide them, so take advantage of it.

Things That Google Ignores

There are some HTML attributes that Google pays no attention to when it goes through its crawling process. While you won't get penalized if you use these attributes, why waste your time with them if they're not going to count anyway?

Of course, there are exceptions to these rules, as noted in the numbered list below. There are also some elements listed that you will choose not to include.

1. The keywords and description attributes of the meta tag. The keywords and description attributes are read by other search engines. However, the boost you get from having them isn't as much as if you follow the other techniques, such as proper link building. If you submit to Google only, you may not want to include the keywords attribute, but focus on a smart "upsell" or "positioning," "branding" of your message in the description attribute. Other search engines use them, so you should go on and include them.

2. The comments tag. The comments tag is an optional tag designed more for the website designer than for search engines or browsers. You use it to make personal notes related to what the upcoming coding does. It's especially useful if other webmasters are working on web pages that have been started by someone else. Still, it isn't a necessary tag, so you can omit it if you want.

3. The style tag. This tag has attributes that specify what your site will look like. This deals with styling of your page (CSS). If you're using extensive CSS, include the file as an external reference.

4. The script tag. This tag lets the browser know that a block of JavaScript code is about to be initiated. While Google ignores the information in this tag, it's still useful if you want to take advantage of JavaScript. You would use JavaScript when you want to run applets, special programs that run in a separate browser window. Use of this tag may or may not be optional, depending on what your site is for.

5. Duplicate links. If you have duplicate links to the same page, Google only counts the first one.

6. Interlinking to points on the same page. Interlinking involves picking a point on your web page called an anchor that you want another anchor to link to. This practice is commonly used when websites present very long copy on the same page. Readers can click on links throughout the document to jump to other parts of the document. It's very effective for increasing readability, but it's another optional device. Worst case, you could break up the copy and make more subtopic links.

7. Graphics, animation and video. Google pays no attention to these types of content, but it may notice the descriptive attributes surrounding them and certainly their URLs.

8. Boolean words. They are words like a, an, the, is, etc. If you're optimizing for Google only, don't bother including these keywords.

How Not to Link to Sites That Are in a Bad Neighborhood

Basically, sites that are in a bad neighborhood are those that post on link farms, splogs, or other sites using black hat SEO techniques. Stay away from these types of sites. Do you know that if a person you're linking to posts on these types of sites, you could get in trouble with Google as well? It's unfair, but true. And don't think that because a site has a good page rank today that tomorrow it won't use black hat techniques that would mess up your site. This is why you need to keep your eye on the sites to which you link.

One way you can do this is to read the page rank bar on the Google toolbar. This is better than using linkvendor.com, because it tells you if a site has been banned, whereas linkvendor.com may not. If the page rank bar is gray, that indicates a ban. However, don't confuse being banned with having a page rank of 0. Just because a site has a 0 page rank, that doesn't mean it's linking to sites in a bad neighborhood. It could just mean that not enough time has passed for the webmaster to get the site to rank high enough in search engines to receive a higher page rank. Recently, for example, there was a proxy problem (now fixed) that erroneously returned sites with a page rank of 0 which in fact were ranked higher.

How to Get Your Site Listed in Google in 24 Hours or Less

Wouldn't it be nice to start seeing your site in Google's search engine results in 24 hours or less? It should be first noted that if a site is crawled but not yet indexed, the results aren't visible to search users. For example, if you enter the full domain of your site with the "http://www." and your site hasn't been listed yet, it won't show up in Google's results. When your site does get indexed, if you enter the full URL, you'll see your site listed. This listing contains the URL, the title of your website, and a description.

To get your site indexed quickly, you won't use Google's submission form (google.com/addurl.html). Using this method may take 2-6 weeks to get your site indexed.

So, what do you need to do to get your website indexed in 24 hours or less? The first step is to visit Google and enter a broad, generic keyword that's relevant to your site. This is the rare time that the broader the keyword, the better. Don't worry about trying to go for niche markets with this step, because you're going to want to have access to sites with the highest level of traffic. Once you enter the keyword, you see the Google listings. Use the "Page Rank" indicator on the Google toolbar to see what the page rank is (or you could use SEO Elite or LinkVendor, but doing it right from the browser is faster).

To refresh your memory, the higher your page rank, the more websites that are linking to you. Keep an eye out for sites that have a page rank of 5 or higher (with the higher ranking being the better one). Visit each of these sites to see if they offer a link exchange. Remember, if they do they'll advertise it in the same way you did yours, through a "Link to Us" web page or something similar. Look for the contact information if it's listed. If it's not listed, use the Whois utility found through domain name services or SEO Elite to find their e-mail address. Use the same methods of e-mail etiquette you learned about before and send them an e-mail asking if they're interested in a link exchange. Remember to post their links on your site first before you send out the e-mail.

Just make sure the site you choose has a page rank of over 5. If you advertise your site on a site with a page rank of 5, your site will get indexed in three days or less. If you advertise your site on a site with a page rank of 6, you can get your site indexed in less than 24 hours.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

INCREASE UR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

INCREASE UR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

If you have 512 megs or more of memory,
u can increase system performance
by having the core system kept in memory

steps are

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
Set the value to be 1
Reboot the computer

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

iPhone 3G Battery Saving Tips

iPhone 3G Battery Saving Tips

Following its previous hit (read iPod) that has revolutionized the portable music player now Apple has also decided to join the mobile-phones market.
Here comes the impressive iPhone 3G with its Multi-Touch capability. With elegant design and massive built-in features, Apple has once again successfully become the trendsetter. But it also come with some flaws mainly for the battery issues. For some users, the capacity of iPhone 3G battery is still not sufficient to cope with all of its power-hungry features. As a 'on-the-go' gadget that combines communication, Internet, and entertainment functions, battery here holds critical role to enjoy this gadget to the max. The battery duration which can last for only 1.5 day is a bit annoying for most users.

Heard from its name, you should've known that this latest version comes with 3G support as its new feature. As 3G excels in Internet speed, browsing becomes faster and more enjoyable. But, its battery capacity really lets you down here, you can't browse or download for too long before the battery finally runs out of power. So, in this post I'll give some tips and tricks to prolong your iPhone 3G battery:

1. Lower the brightness level

iPhone 3G has brighter screen compared to its elder brother. That's a nice upgrade, but it consumes more power as well. So, try to lower the brightness level if you are inside a brightly-lit room.

Go to Settings>Brightness

Turn off auto brightness, then slowly slide down the level till everything still visible on screen. I think 10% brightness is still possible.

2.Turn off WiFi and 3G if not used

One of the advantages of iPhone 3G is its 3G and WiFi capability to browse in a hotspot area.
But, that does not mean you should activate it all the time. Though it is idle, battery energy will still be used to stabilize the phone network. This become worse in poor 3G signal area.

Go to Settings>General>Network

3. Turn off vibration on games

Though it gives you more realistic and thrilled experience, vibration will further consumes more energy. Try to turn off that feature when playing games.

Apple has introduced its new iPhone
Now with 3G capability

4. Download and purchase applications through iTunes on PC

Though it is viable to do it directly on phone, try to search and download the applications on your PC. Since it will consume much energy to browse and download the data.
Hence, it's better to download via PC and then manually synchronize from iTunes to your iPhone 3G.

5. Set auto-lock function in minimum time

This is used as precaution only. So, it's not possible to activate some features accidentally when you forgot to lock the screen.

Go to Settings>General>Auto-Lock

6. Turn off Push Data

Turn off to reduce energy consumption. Don't worry! You can still fetch the data per time interval.

Go to Settings>Fetch New Data

7. Charge iPhone via PC

You can charge iPhone by connecting to USB port without synchronizing it. Or if you have a car charger, charge it when you are driving.

As you should know, the battery on iPhone is difficult to be replaced by own effort. So hopefully above tips and tricks can help you to maximize your iPhone 3G.



Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Disable copy paste function

Disable copy paste function

Sometimes we have important files that we don't want to share with others.
But, how if people accidentally find those files and duplicate or sent them to their portable storage.
To avoid above condition, simply applying this simple tip and the copy paste function will be unavailable.
Here are the steps:
1. Click Start>Run>type regedit then ok
2. Click HKEY_LOCALMACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Control
3. Right click on Control choose New>Key then name it StorageDevicePolicies
4. Right click on StorageDevicePolicies then choose New>DWordValue then name it WriteProtect
5. Double click on WriteProtect, then change its value to 1
6. Then restart your computer
If succeeds, Error Copying File or Folder warning will now appear when trying to copy paste files
To return to default condition, simply change the value become 0 again.


Monday, June 8, 2009

New Feature In Windows 7 : Virtual WiFi Technology

New Feature In Windows 7 : Virtual WiFi Technology

After the research of almost a decade the researchers from the Microsoft support has released a new technology in the Windows 7 called as V WiFi (Virtual Wi-Fi). It is a technology which virtualizes wireless adapter into as many wireless adapter depending upon the requirement, and make the machine to think that it has many wireless adapter in it thus provides the ability to connect to multiple hotshots simultaneously i.e. it allows a single wireless adapter to act like two, two NIc in one machine.

This Virtual Wi-Fi feature will make it easier to set up a mesh network where every system in the network act as a repeater i.e. one adapter grabs a signal and another passes it another.

The Virtual Wi-Fi (VWIFI) feature has been included in Windows 7 for the first time which is in its RC1 Phase of evolution. Although no drivers are reportedly available to take advantage of the feature so this feature is still waiting to come out and play.

Some users wonder why more than one wireless card would be needed inside your computer. There are a very few circumstances where multiple wireless adapters would be needed. For instance, users could connect to one wireless network and use the virtual adapter to turn their machine into a hot spot that other computers could connect to and share the internet access.
After the research of almost a decade the researchers from the Microsoft support has released a new technology in the Windows 7 called as V WiFi (Virtual Wi-Fi). It is a technology which virtualizes wireless adapter into as many wireless adapter depending upon the requirement, and make the machine to think that it has many wireless adapter in it thus provides the ability to connect to multiple hotshots simultaneously i.e. it allows a single wireless adapter to act like two, two NIc in one machine.

This Virtual Wi-Fi feature will make it easier to set up a mesh network where every system in the network act as a repeater i.e. one adapter grabs a signal and another passes it another.

The Virtual Wi-Fi (VWIFI) feature has been included in Windows 7 for the first time which is in its RC1 Phase of evolution. Although no drivers are reportedly available to take advantage of the feature so this feature is still waiting to come out and play.

Some users wonder why more than one wireless card would be needed inside your computer. There are a very few circumstances where multiple wireless adapters would be needed. For instance, users could connect to one wireless network and use the virtual adapter to turn their machine into a hot spot that other computers could connect to and share the internet access.
Another good usage scenario for the technology would be connecting to a wireless network while also connecting to a wireless ad hoc network at the same time. Istartedsomething reports that supporting Virtual Wi-Fi is going to be a requirement for WLAN drivers sporting the Windows support Certification Logo. The drivers will be coming to add support for the feature.

The feature is described as, “On Windows 7 and later, the operating system installs a virtual device if a Hosted Network capable wireless adapter is present on the machine. This virtual device normally shows up in the “Network Connections Folder” as ‘Wireless Network Connection 2’ with a Device Name of ‘Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport adapter’ if the computer has a single wireless network adapter. This virtual device would be used exclusively for performing software access point (SoftAP) connections. The lifetime of this virtual device is tied to the physical wireless adapter. If the physical wireless adapter is disabled, this virtual device will be removed as well.”

The caveat to the technology is that only one virtual adapter can be created.


Remove Invalid Entries from os selection menu

Remove Invalid Entries from os selection menu

Remove Invalid Entries from Operating
System Selection Menu
A common complaint after reinstalling XP is the appearance of a boot screen asking the user
to select the copy of XP that is to be loaded, even when there is only one copy of XP on the
system. XP provides a method that eliminates the danger of manual editing of boot.ini by
using the System Configuration Utility.
Click Start > Run .Type msconfig and click OK to open System Configuration Utility. Select
the tab labeled BOOT.INI. Click the button labeled. Check All Boot Paths. A dialog box will
open detailing the location of any invalid operating system locations. Confirm you want to
remove the entry and reboot the system

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Things you must know about Internet

Things you must know about Internet

The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain, however, that these number in the millions.

No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.

All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.

An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.

The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.

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COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET

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WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.

The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web's ability to work with multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of the Internet.

The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.

Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.

The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.

The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic "push" of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.

For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.

E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.

A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person's e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.

TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.

Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.

With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.

FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.

If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.

FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably the most common program is the listserv.

A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.

Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.

USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list member.

Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.

There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.

The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.

FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.

RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.

FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.

Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the "chat room" to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.

A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online's Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.

Other types of real-time communication are addressed in the tutorial Understanding the World Wide Web.

MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and their variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on the Internet, and many can be joined free of charge. For more information, read one of the FAQs devoted to MUDs available at the FAQ site at.
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