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8 Sites for Free Stock Photos

thecomputerboss — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:01:10 +0000

If you’re a designer, you know there are licensing hassles involved with using certain photographs in your commercial designs. To avoid this trouble, you can go with stock photos. These are photographs that are meant to be used freely in your brochures, sites, and other design work. A downside to this is, stock photos can be pretty expensive. Luckily, there are still sites out there that offer some great ones for free.
And here they are:

1. Stock.XCHNG

Thanks to [friedbeef] for the list

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5 Reasons to Get the iPhone 4

thecomputerboss — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:55:12 +0000

After yesterday’s pre-order meltdown, I came out of the chaos with a reservation at the Apple Store for a 32GB Black model on June 24th. Some people may still be trying to decide if they should upgrade or stick with their current model, since 3G and 3GS will be getting iOS 4 (3G build will be somewhat limited, and will lack multitasking due to hardware constraints). To help, I’ve compiled a list of reasons why you should consider upgrading to the iPhone 4.

See for yourself:

Speed: The iPhone 4 comes with the Apple A4 chip built-in. This chip clocks in at 1Ghz, and has proven itself to be very snappy from its introduction in the iPad. This thing screams- given the structure and implementation of the iOS- this is a welcomed upgrade.

Design: I was in love with the new design ever since I saw it in the Gizmodo leak. People were claiming that it was a knock-off, and not an Apple design, but I was really hoping it was the real thing. Luckily, Jobs confirmed that this was the real thing at WWDC ’10. It has a more boxy and square look, rather than the 3G/3G S’ curvy design. The stainless steel strip around the side looks sleek, and is a clever design for an antenna. Combine that with the beautiful glass back, and you get a great looking phone that’s built for optimal reception. Let’s just hope this makes calls on AT&T more tolerable

The Screen: The iPhone 4 will debut Apple’s new “Retina Display”. It boasts 326 pixels per inch, and Jobs claims that the average human retina can see only 300 per inch. This allows for perfect, anti aliased curves- making text look like it’s printed on paper. The previous iPhones had a resolution of 480×320- the iPhone 4 will have 960×640! Apps will look amazing, and so will photos, and everything else. Can’t wait to see it for myself.

720P Video Camera: The iPhone 4 will have a new 5 mega pixel camera lens, with LED flash and better lighting sensors. On top of that, it will shoot 720P video, and allow for pretty advanced video-editing using the iMovie app ($4.99 in the AppStore). Imagine shooting HD video, editing it, and sharing it with friends, YouTube, or Facebook- all from your phone.

Front-facing Camera: It’s FaceTime! That’s Apple’s new video conferencing feature. I am very excited about this one- and it will be interesting to try it. You make a call to another iPhone 4 > hit the FaceTime button > and begin video-conferencing- simple, and effective. The only drawback right now is that it’s Wi-Fi only. Seems like the carriers aren’t quite ready for this kind of strain on their network- so hopefully we can use it over 3G next year.

A video guide for FaceTime.

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5 Ways to Use the iPad for Business

thecomputerboss — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:59:11 +0000

Since the iPad’s release in early April, we’ve drooled over its modern, minimal, and sleek design. It just looked so fun to play with. However, people since then wondered how they could apply this device into their day-to-day life for getting things done. Not many were willing to drop at least $500 on a new toy.

I have compiled a list of top 5 ways to use the iPad for business:

Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations: Apple offers its iWork suite for sale in the iPad AppStore. Priced at $9.99 per app, you can get Pages (Word alt.), Numbers (Excel alt.), and Keynote (Powerpoint alt.). These apps are fully capable of composing rich, beautiful looking documents while on the go. For those not willing to bang out large documents on the virtual keyboard, you can get the iPad Keyboard Dock for traditional typing.
Notetaking: The iPad is great for note-taking in meetings. It doesn’t take up much space like a laptop does, plus you look really cool using it (that is until the “newness” of the glass slab run its course). There are many great note-taking apps available now. My favorite is the free classic, Evernote.
Nearly Full Web-Access: One of the iPad’s strongest features is the fast, and elegant web browsing experience through Mobile Safari. This is my favorite iPad app, and it’s ready out-of-the-box. The Apple A4 processor makes for a very snappy browsing experience. Add 3G connectivity to it, and you have a winner for the traveling businessman.
Presentations: Imagine how slick it would be to use this device as your portfolio. Picture going over to meet a prospective client, and whipping out the iPad to show your previous work, or a digital brochoure of your company. This makes great use of the Keynote app- just build a Powerpoint style presentation on it, and present it using the iPad instead of that overkill projector.
Remote Computing: You can use the iPad to control remote computers thousands of miles away. There are several apps that allow you to sign into your multiple remote desktops, and get to work from the iPad. I recently purchased ConnectPC for $4.99, which does a beautiful job of allowing me to administer multiple remote machines all from 1 app. I was using my server at home right from my hotel room. If you think about it, this is like running multiple OS’ on the iPad.
Feel free to tell us how you use your iPad for work!

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Top 20 Free Android Apps

thecomputerboss — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:47:54 +0000

Want to make that new Google Android phone of yours a power-house without spending a cent? Then head over to the PCmag link below for their top 20 picks of the best-of-the-best free Android apps. Each listing includes a brief description and review of the application.

Top 20 Free Android Apps [Click Here]

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77 Helpful Windows 7 Tips

thecomputerboss — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:49:31 +0000

Windows 7 could be the step that saved Microsoft in the eyes of its users. Vista was ridden with compaibility issues, and was a real resource hog. With 7, MS built on Vista’s positives, and removed all the clutter that made a stink in our Vista experience.

Whether you’re upgrading from Vista, or skipped it all together and are moving up from XP- this list is a gem. As MS has added tons of handy features to the OS which may not be so visible to the eye.

list courtesy of [TechNet]

1. Pick Your Edition. Most business users do not need the more expensive Ultimate Edition; stick with Professional unless you specifically need BitLocker.

2. Upgrading? Go 64-bit. As the second major Windows release to fully support 64-bit, the x64 architecture has definitely arrived on the desktop. Don’t buy new 32-bit hardware unless it’s a netbook.

3. Use Windows XP Mode. Yes, it’s only an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of WinXP—but it’s an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of Windows XP! This is the first profoundly intelligent use of desktop virtualization we’ve seen—and a great way to move to Windows 7 without giving up full Windows XP compatibility.

4. Use Windows PowerShell v2. More than just a shell, this is the administration tool you’ve always wanted: Parallel, distributed processing for administrative tasks! Manage 100 machines literally as easily as you manage one with the new Remoting feature. Windows PowerShell v2 ships for the first time in Windows 7, and within six months will be available for older versions of Windows.

5. Use AppLocker. We’ve been fans of Software Restriction Policies since Windows XP, and AppLocker finally makes application whitelisting possible. Use it to enhance or even replace your anti-virus software, ensuring that only the software you want to run will run.

6. Shift to and from Explorer and CommandPrompt. The classic Windows power toy Open Command Prompt Here is now an integral part of Windows 7 Explorer. Hold down the shift key then right-click a folder to add this option to the property menu. While you’re in a command prompt, if you want to open an Explorer window with the focus of the window on the current directory, enter start.

7. Record Problems. The Problem Steps Recorder (PSR) is a great new feature that helps in troubleshooting a system (see Figure 1). At times, Remote Assistance may not be possible. However, if a person types psr in their Instant Search, it will launch the recorder. Now they can perform the actions needed to recreate the problem and each click will record the screen and the step. They can even add comments. Once complete, the PSR compiles the whole thing into an MHTML file and zips it up so that it can be e-mailed for analysis to the network admin (or family problem solver, depending on how it’s being used).

Figure 1 The Problem Steps Recorder dramatically speeds up troubleshooting. (Click the image for a larger view)

8. Make Training Videos. Use a tool like Camtasia to record short, two to three minute video tutorials to help your users find relocated features, operate the new Taskbar and so forth. Get them excited about Windows 7—and prepared for it.

9. Start Thinking About Windows Server 2008 R2. Some of Windows 7′s more compelling features, like BranchCache, work in conjunction with the new server OS. The R2 upgrade path is pretty straightforward, so there’s little reason not to take advantage of the synergies if you can afford upgrade licenses.

10. Prepare Those XP Machines. There’s no in-place upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, so start planning to migrate user data now, in advance of a Windows 7 upgrade deployment.

11. Consider Clean Installs. Even when upgrading Windows Vista machines, consider a clean install rather than an in-place upgrade. Yes, it’s more hassle, but it’ll produce a more trouble-free computer in the long run.

12. Consider Upgrade Assurance. Even if you’ve never bought it before, consider it for your new Windows 7 licenses. Access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), which includes App-V, MED-V and other cool technologies, is worth the premium.

13. Find New Tools. Within Control Panel is a single Troubleshooting link that leads you to all of your diagnostic tools on the system. There are additional tools, however, not installed by default. Selecting the “View all” link in the top left-hand corner will help you to see which troubleshooting packs are local and which ones are online. If you find a tool that you don’t have, you can grab it from here.

14. Understand Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Windows 7 plays an important role in Microsoft’s VDI strategy, where virtualized Windows 7 machines are hosted on a central virtualization server using a special blanket “Enterprise Centralized Desktop” license. Read up and figure out if you can take advantage of this new strategy.

15. Prepare for DirectAccess. DirectAccess makes it easier for users to remotely access their office-based resources, without a VPN. DirectAccess also opens up remote computers more fully to Group Policy—but it requires Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2.

16. Employ Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM). If you quickly want to list or manage Windows packages, features or drivers, use the command-line utility DISM. The “image” in the name may fool you into thinking that this is solely a deployment tool. An online command-line switch lets you manage the features in the currently loaded OS. To get a list of the loaded Windows features, enter dism /online /get-features /format:table. To enable a feature, enter dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:.

17. Embrace Troubleshooting Packs. Designed to help users troubleshoot and solve problems on their own, you need to update your support procedures to acknowledge these Packs. For example, don’t force users to repeat steps the Pack already walked them through, and consider developing your own Packs (in Windows PowerShell) to support in-house systems.

18. Check Reliability. The Reliability Monitor was introduced in Windows Vista as ‘The Reliability and Performance Monitor.” In Windows 7 it has been separated from Performance Monitor and moved to a new location under the Action Center. You open the Action Center in Control Panel and then look under the Maintenance options for the “View reliability history” link. You can also just type in Reliability Monitor from the Instant Search (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 The Reliability Monitor has been broken out separately from Performance Monitor. (Click the image for a larger view)

19. Accept Diversity. Not every organization will be ready to move entirely to Windows 7 right away. That’s fine—but that shouldn’t mean the entire organization stays on Windows XP, either. The myths of the cost savings of having only one OS have been largely disproven or downplayed, so use Windows 7 where it makes sense to do so.

20. Get Snippy. The snipping tool has also been around in various incarnations but it’s even easier to use in Windows 7. Launch the tool, then drag and drop any part of your screen. The tool will snip the selection. You can save it as a graphic file or annotate with basic drawing tools. Teach your end users how to use this tool so they can grab the snapshots of their problems and send them to the help desk. Or create your own library of visual notes.

21. Presentation Nirvana. Press Windows+P to access the new Presentation mode, and easily turn on your projector and laptop screen at the same time. No more messing with vendor-specific utilities and arcane keystrokes. (Windows+X accesses the Mobility Center, with additional presentation options.)

22. Cut the Clutter. Press Windows+Home to minimize all but the current window, removing background clutter and letting you focus on that report your boss has been bugging you about.

23. Be a Mouse-Click Administrator. Windows 7 makes it easy to gain admin rights with a keyboard shortcut. Click on Ctrl+Shift on a taskbar-locked icon, and voila! You’ve launched it with appropriate admin rights.

24. Faster Installations. If your computer is capable of booting from USB, try this: XCopy the Windows 7 installation DVD to a sufficiently large USB drive, boot from that drive, and install Windows from there. It’s faster than a spinning platter.

25. Burn Discs with a Click. Or two; double-click an ISO file to burn it to your CD or DVD writer.

26. Restore Point Previews Many of us used to shut off System Restore because we were terrified to actually use it; under Windows 7, we can be much calmer. After selecting a Restore Point, Windows will now offer to show you which files and folders will be affected by restoring to that point.

27. Sync Time Zones. If you work with offices in different time zones and frequently find yourself missing meeting times because you are not in sync with their time zone, try the “Additional Clocks” feature that was first introduced in Vista. Within your Date and Time settings is a tab called Additional Clocks, where you can add two or more clocks to your taskbar time, and set them to provide different time zones from your current time zone.

28. Configure User Account Control (UAC). Even if you’re a UAC hater, give it another try. Go to the Control Panel to configure its behavior to something slightly less obnoxious than what Windows Vista had, and see if you can’t live with the extra protection it offers (see Figure 3).

Figure 3 User Account Control, the bane of administrators, has been revamped and improved. (Click the image for a larger view)

29. RoboCopyCopyCopy. The always-useful Robocopy.exe can now run multi-threaded; run Robocopy /? to review its new parameters (like /MT for multithreading) and make your copies go faster.

30. Remote Desktop Console. Windows 7 Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) does not include a console-based remote desktop utility. And even if it did, the standard remote desktop console has some nagging limitations: It can’t move connections around in the list; it can’t sort by folders and so forth. If you manage lots of servers from your Windows 7 workstation, try downloading a copy of mRemote from mremote.org. This donation-requested utility allows you to mix together a variety of remote control applications, including Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA), Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Secure Shell (SSH) and rlogin. All host names are displayed in a standard tree control that can be divided into folders, sorted alphabetically, and allow you to assign different logon accounts and secure passwords to each connection.

31. Multiple Monitors. Windows 7 makes working with multiple monitors intuitive and flexible. There are a variety of shortcuts and mouse motions that flick windows from monitor to monitor. To make the most of this, you need lots and lots of screen real estate. Try one of the new QWXGA monitors from Samsung (tinyurl.com/qwxgasamsung) or Dell (tinyurl.com/qwxgadell). These 23-inch monitors have a 2048×1152 resolution, making it possible to put two full-sized pages on the same monitor. Pair them together and you’ll get enough space to have all your admin tools open along with Office, Visio, your intranet sites and a little note to your mom in Live Mail. Move your taskbar to the left or right side of the window instead of along the bottom to free up even more real estate.

32. Windows PowerShell Scripting. If you want to make the most of Windows PowerShell on Windows 7, you’ll need a quick way to build and debug scripts. Windows 7 comes with an interactive editor that allows you to try out cmdlets and test functions on the fly.

33. Drag-and-Drop Notification Icons. The redesigned notification area displays only a minimum number of icons; all other notification icons are moved to a side window. Rather than using the Customize option to select icons for the main display, you can drag-and-drop icons from the side window to the notification area.

34. Add Unindexed Shared Folders to Library. You can add UNC paths such as \\servername\sharename to a Library, but the server must index the folder. If you want to add a UNC path to an unindexed server, you can create a symbolic link to the UNC path, then add the link or links to the library. Use the mklink command. For example, mklink HomeFolder \\ServerName\Homefolder.

35. Simplify Cloned Machine Setups. You can’t run Sysinternals’ newsid utility to change the identity of a cloned Windows 7 machine (either a virtual machine or imaged PC). Instead, create a template installation then run sysprep /oobe /generalize /reboot /shutdown /unattend:scriptfile. Clone or copy this virtual machine file. When it launches, it will get a new SID and you can fill in the name. The reference for building unattended script files is at tinyurl.com/winunattend.

36. Snap That Aero. The Windows key is great for all your shortcuts. Now you can use it to work with the new AeroSnap feature in Windows 7. Select a window, hit the Windows key and a left or right arrow to snap the window to that half of the screen, or use the up arrow to snap it to the top of the screen.

37. Shortcut the Taskbar. The Windows key is great for shortcuts. You can select the Windows key and a number to correspond to items on your taskbar. So, if IE (for example) is the third icon on your taskbar (not counting the Start button), you can hit the Windows key and the number three to launch or open IE.

38. Manage Passwords. Control Panel includes a new application called Credential Manager. This may appear to be a completely new tool that allows you to save your credentials (usernames and passwords) for Web sites you log into and other resources you connect to (such as other systems). Those credentials are saved in the Windows Vault, which can be backed up and restored. However, you might see this as similar to a tool we have in XP and Vista. From the Instant Search, type in control /userpasswords2 and you will be brought to the Advanced User Accounts Control Panel, where you can also manage passwords for your account (see Figure 4).

Figure 4 The Credential Manager provides a handy, secure place to store passwords. (Click the image for a larger view)

39. Trigger Actions. Event Viewer is closely tied into Task Scheduler. You have the ability to take an event (select it in Event Viewer) and then from the Actions pane, select the option “Attach a Task” to have that event, when it appears, trigger an action. That action can be: launch a program; send an e-mail; or display a message. This feature may be very helpful in troubleshooting a problem.

40. Browse InPrivate. A new feature in IE8 is the ability to open the browser in an InPrivate Browsing session that allows you to perform banking and so forth from a public location without fear of leaving behind any residue. IE will not retain anything you do in an In Private Browsing session. You can perform this action if you are already within IE by selecting the Safety button and then InPrivate Browsing. This will open another IE window altogether. However, you can save a few steps by using the shortcut. Right-click the desktop IE icon, click InPrivate and the windows will open in an InPrivate session already.

41. Go Live. Many applications installed on past versions of Windows have been removed. Starting with Windows 7, these applications (and a few others not typically installed with Windows) have been moved into the Live Essentials downloadable applications, at download.live.com. These applications include Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Family Safety and a few others.

42. Remove Apps. Although some applications have been moved off of Windows to become an optional download, other apps, such as IE8, Media Player, Media Center and DVD Maker are still included. In times past, especially when it came to IE, the applications were tied into the OS. However, in Windows 7 you can easily remove them if desired. Head to the Program and Features applet in Control Panel and select the “Turn Windows features on or off” link in the top left-hand corner. Then you can select the checkbox of the features you want to lose or add for your system (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 Windows 7 unbinds many applications from the OS, making it easy to add and remove them. (Click the image for a larger view)

43. Are You Windows 7 Experienced? System properties has a rating called the Windows Experience Index (WEI). This rating is a collection of five different ratings that are determined by the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT). The highest rating score is 7.9 (compared to 5.9 in Vista), using the categories of Processor, RAM, Graphics, Gaming Graphics and Primary Hard Disk. The final rating is not an average of all the ratings, but the lowest of the subcomponent scores.

44. Analyze Processes. One of the coolest new features in the revamped Resource Monitor (resmon) is the ability to see the “wait chain traversal.” An unresponsive process will be shown in red in the Resource Monitor; right-click the process and choose Analyze Process. This will show the threads in the process and see who holds the resources that are holding up the process itself. You can then kill that part of the process if you like.

45. Create Virtual Worlds. Virtualization capability has been added to the Disk Management tools. If you open Computer Management, go to the Disk Manager tool and then click the Action button at top, you will see the options Create VHD and/or Attach VHD. This allows you to create and mount a virtual hard drive directly from within the GUI. Note: With Windows 7 you even have the ability to boot a Windows 7 VHD (see Figure 6).

Figure 6 Windows 7 adds a great deal of virtualization support, including the ability to create and attach virtual hard drives from the GUI.(Click the image for a larger view)

46. Encrypt USB Sticks. Use BitLocker To Go. Maybe you’ve managed to never misplace or lose a USB key, but for the rest of us mere mortals, it’s a fact of life. Most of the time it’s no big deal, but what if it contains sensitive data? BitLocker To Go enables you to encrypt data on removable storage devices with a password or a digital certificate stored on a smart card.

The 14 Best Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

The Windows key now performs a wide variety of functions. Here are a handful of the most useful ones:

64. Win+h – Move current window to full screen

65. Win+i – Restore current full screen window to normal size or minimize current window if not full screen

66. Win+Shift+arrow – Move current window to alternate screen

67. Win+D – Minimize all windows and show the desktop

68. Win+E – Launch Explorer with Computer as the focus

69. Win+F – Launch a search window

70. Win+G – Cycle through gadgets

71. Win+L – Lock the desktop

72. Win+M – Minimize the current window

73. Win+R – Open the Run window

74. Win+T – Cycle through task bar opening Aero Peek for each running item

75. Win+U – Open the Ease of Use center

76. Win+Space – Aero Peek the desktop

77. Ctrl+Win+Tab – Open persistent task selection window, roll mouse over each icon to preview item and minimize others

47. Lock with Group Policy. Take control through AppLocker application control. AppLocker intercepts kernel calls that try to create new processes or load libraries and ensures the code is allowed to execute. Practically, that means you can eliminate unknown and unwanted software by implementing AppLocker through Group Policy.

48. Be Our Guest. Guest mode proves a convenient method to give a guest or child access to your computer with limits on making system changes, installing software, or writing to the disk outside the user profile. After the user is done and logs off, data saved inside of the user profile is deleted. You cannot use Guest mode in an AD environment.

49. Restore from Backed up Restore Points. You can choose to include restore points in your backups and restore from them when using System Restore. This is convenient if you want to create a baseline of a working configuration and be able to restore to it in the future without overwriting other data on the hard disk.

50. Benefit from BranchCache. BranchCache helps you save on round trips for requested files in remote branch scenarios. If one person requests a file over the WAN, it’s cached locally and either distributed across computers at the remote branch or stored on a central server at the remote branch.

51. Disable Search Suggestion Popups. As you type in the Search Box, Windows 7 makes suggestions based on past queries by pulling past queries from the Registry. You can disable this in the Local Group Policy by enabling User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer | Turn Off Display Of Recent Search Entries In the Windows Explorer.

52. Pin Control Panel to Taskbar. If you use the Control Panel frequently, you may have noticed that you cannot simply right-click the Control Panel and select Pin to Taskbar. Instead, you must first Open Control Panel so its icon appears in the taskbar. From there, you can right-click the icon in the taskbar and select Pin this program to taskbar.

53. Leverage Search Connectors. You can now search the Web using the search functionality. Windows 7 includes Federated Search to increase the search scope beyond the local and network resources. Several search connectors are available, such as for YouTube and Twitter, or you can create custom ones to fit your needs.

54. Use Stickier Notes. Even though this feature has existed in previous versions of Windows in one form or another, it’s much easier to use in Windows 7. You can stick a note on your desktop for quick reminders. It’s a snap to change the font or note color. If you have a note selected, use Ctrl-N to create a new one.

55. Try out Improved WordPad. You probably haven’t given much thought to WordPad lately, but the version shipping with Windows 7 has undergone a major renovation. Think of it as a lite version of Microsoft Word. WordPad sports a spiffy ribbon interface, making it a snap to create well-formatted documents. Plus, you are no longer relegated to saving them as .RTF files. WordPad now supports the Office Open XML document (.DOCX) format. This makes it even easier to open .DOCX files created in Word in WordPad.

56. Calculate. Another basic utility that received a major overhaul is the venerable calculator. In addition to standard and scientific views, there are now programmer and statistic modes. You will also love the conversion and calculation features. Want to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit but can never remember the formula? Use the conversion panel. You’ll also enjoy the data calculation extension. Quickly find the difference between two dates or calculate a new date by adding or subtracting years, months or days.

57. Manage Services from Task Manager. The Windows 7 Task Manager now includes a tab to manage services. You can quickly see at a glance the status of all services on your machine. Click a column heading to sort. You can even start and stop services with a simple right-click. If you need full-blown service management, use the Services button to launch the Services management console. You may often have the Task Manager running in the system tray; now, having service management access means one less window to have open.

58. Get Under the Hood. Windows 7 offers more ways to peek under the hood without adding third-party solutions. A terrific example is the Resource Monitor. The performance tab in Windows Task Manager is a good start, but sometimes you need more information. Click the Resource Monitor button to get more detailed information and performance graphs for key subsystems like CPU and Disk. You can also find the Resource Monitor under Accessories | System Tools.

59. Check Vital Signs. Another new system tool you’ll enjoy is the System Health report. In the Run dialog box, type perfmon /report, which generates a system health report. This report records details about your computer’s performance, resource usage and more. The report also includes diagnostic information about things that aren’t working as they should and suggested steps to resolve. The reports are saved and can be accessed with the Performance Monitor management console. You can also save as an HTML file or send via e-mail.

60. Get More Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell v2 promises to be a game-changer for many system administrators. Many will prefer to use the graphical Windows PowerShell console, also known as the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). You’ll find this in the Windows Power Shell folder under Accessories. Add a keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+Alt+I to quickly launch it. Run any Windows PowerShell command in the lower panel and see the results in the middle. Create or edit scripts in the top pane. Open multiple Windows PowerShell sessions connected to remote computers. The ISE makes Windows PowerShell v2 easy to use and fun (see Figure 7).

Figure 7 Windows PowerShell has been much more tightly integrated with Windows 7, and adds the Integrated Scripting Environment.(Click the image for a larger view)

61. Put It on Old Stuff. One perhaps-not-so-obvious Windows 7 tip is that you should attempt to install it everywhere. One user has a 6-year-old laptop that originally shipped with Windows XP. He could never get Windows Vista to install on it. But Windows 7 installed without complaint and runs extremely smooth. Granted, there are some Windows 7 features he can’t take advantage of because the processor lacks certain features, but these are minor issues considering the laptop now has life again.

62. Improve Security. In Vista it was difficult to manage system protection via restore points. The System Protection tab in Windows 7 is a vast improvement. In one spot you can configure how much space to devote to restore points, delete and create restore points or even turn off system protection altogether. This is very useful on older systems where disk space may be at a premium.

63. Actually Use Help and Support. Much of Vista’s clutter has been reduced in Windows 7. For instance, the Help and Support page has three links, a search window and a link back to Microsoft’s Windows site. It’s much less intimidating for end users, so make sure they know about it. Search is much improved as well, making for a better, faster experience

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16 Crazy Facts About Google

thecomputerboss — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:26:56 +0000

Check out this fun list of interesting Google facts…

1. The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.

2. Due to the sparseness of the homepage, in early user tests they noted people just sitting looking at the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the tester intervened and asked ‘Whats up?’ to which they replied “We are waiting for the rest of it”. To solve that particular problem the Google Copyright message was inserted to act as a crude end of page marker.

3. One of the biggest leap in search usage came about when they introduced their much improved spell checker giving birth to the “Did you mean…” feature. This instantly doubled their traffic, but they had some interesting discussions on how best to place that information, as most people simply tuned that out. But they discovered the placement at the bottom of the results was the most effective area.

4. The infamous “I feel lucky” is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button.

5. Orkut is very popular in Brazil. Orkut was the brainchild of a very intelligent Google engineer who was pretty much given free reign to run with it, without having to go through the normal Google UI procedures, hence the reason it doesn’t look or feel like a Google application. They are looking at improving Orkut to cope with the loads it places on the system.

6. Google makes changes small-and-often. They will sometimes trial a particular feature with a set of users from a given network subnet; for example Excite@Home users often get to see new features. They aren’t told of this, just presented with the new UI and observed how they use it.

7. Google has the largest network of translators in the world.

8. They use the 20% / 5% rules. If at least 20% of people use a feature, then it will be included. At least 5% of people need to use a particular search preference before it will make it into the ‘Advanced Preferences’.

9. They have found in user testing, that a small number of people are very typical of the larger user base. They run labs continually and always monitoring how people use a page of results.

10. The name ‘Google’ was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for ‘Googol’

11. Gmail was used internally for nearly 2years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.

12. They listen to feedback actively. Emailing Google isn’t emailing a blackhole.

13. Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working on their own projects. Google News, Orkut are both examples of projects that grew from this working model.

14. This wasn’t a technical talk so no information regarding any infrastructure was presented however they did note that they have a mantra of aiming to give back each page with in 500ms, rendered.

15. Quote: Give Users What They Want When They Want It

16. Quote: Integrate Sensibly

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An Awesome List of Free E-Book Sites

thecomputerboss — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:46:09 +0000

If you’re looking for an E-Book for a particular subject, give these sites a try. It is an amazing list I found on http://www.friedbeef.com that I thought may be useful for a lot of my readers. Hope you like!

ManyBooks – Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook reader – Thanks Tony Bryan & abben
BookCrossing – Where real books are released into the wild to be found by others – Thanks Engtech
LibraryElf – The perfect companion to a public library system – Thanks Engtech
Scribd – Open library to publish and discover documents online – Thanks CincauHangus
Word Public Library – 400,000 PDF ebooks for download – Thanks Ellen
Free Tech Books – Free computer science and engineering books (+ lecture notes) – Thanks Ellen
Bookins – Swap real books with other readers – Thanks Jimbob
WellToldTales – Free short story podcasts (like audiobooks, but shorter) – Thanks Kevin C.
Wowio – Public domain, free legitimate copyrighted materials & one of the only with a selection of Comic Books – Thanks Jane and Art Dardia
BizBooktalk – Free book giveaway contests on Fridays – Thanks Brandon
MoochMuch – Organize your book lending with your friends – Thanks Bobby
CHMPDF – A collection of general interest and technical ebooks – Thanks Manish Garg & Brian Di Croce
Realtime Publishers – free IT eBooks by many of the worldâ€™s best authors – Thanks Kevin
FrugalReader – Trade Books for free – Thanks Brent
TitleTrader – Swap books, movies, and music – Thanks Brent
ZunaFish – Trade your old media and books items for new titles youâ€™d rather have – Thanks Brent
SwapSimple – Swap your used books here – Thanks Brent
SwapThing – Community of users who swap items including books – Thanks Brent
BookCart – Internet paperback exchange – Thanks Brent
SF-Books – Exchange Sci-Fi Books here – Thanks Brent
PaperbackSwap – Swap books for free – Thanks jane dough, IBelieveInFairies, & Lauren
PinkMonkey - 450 Study Guides / Booknotes / Online Chapter Summary Notes and Analysis – Thanks Spellchecker
eBookWorld – Technical resources – Thanks 5n7p3r
Flaxx – IT and computer books – Thanks tejinder
Baen Library – Free science fiction and fantasy novels – Thanks lanthus & Glen Davis
LibraryThing – Social networking and free books – Thanks Michael
Online Books Page – Facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet – Thanks Aman
Podiobooks – free audiobooks that you can subscribe to with iTunes or any other podcatcher – Thanks KJToo
BookRags – Research material in the form of eBooks – Thanks Henry Delany
Technical Books Online – Old tech books from the “vacuum tube age” of electronics- Thanks obiewiz
ebookSearchr – Google powered Thanks Rico & Rokker
Internet Archive – The Intenet indexed – that includes a vast text library – Thanks jojo
BookYards – Books, videos, education materials- Thanks Victor
Memoware – Free books for your PDA – Thanks Doug
DocStoc – online document sharing website. the “YouTube of documents” – Thanks Sean

The items below were taken from my original Top 10 list with full reviews (here and here)

Gutenberg Project Top 100 – Popular books from the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet
BookMooch - Community for exchanging used books
ebookSpyder – Specializes in technical books ranging anywhere from C# to AJAX
Google Book Search – Read the classics online
Dwalin – plain text novels
Free Computer Books – Technical resources about computers
Librivox – Audio works and podcasts of books
CliffsNotes – Get the notes to cram for the exam
WIkibooks – Free textbooks
DailyLit – Receive small parts of books via email

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Over 50 Google Alternatives

thecomputerboss — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:58:48 +0000

When we think search engines, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely Google. Google took the top of the chain, by over-lapping engines like Yahoo! and Alta Vista with free and quality search, applications, and services. What many don’t know is, there are other engines that perform better than good ole’ Goog at certain tasks.

Look through the list below, you should find something useful (you can thank me in the comments) :

Photo Search Engines

Photoxpress – Their mission statement is finding you stock photos in high resolution for free. They have almost 400 thousand photos and they are all categorized. Sign up needed.
Twitcaps – Since Twitter was set up, many useful applications for it came to life. One of them is Twitcaps, which shows pictures that were uploaded by Twitter in real time. Of course you can search them by tags and users.
Feelimage – The authors of this website try to help you find photos by your “feel”. It distinguishes between 127 colors and times of a day. So you can easily find a red flower in the morning.
Xcavator – Xcavator helps you find stock photos from numerous providers with an interesting tool of color search. The service itself is free, but the photos it finds may not be. It has more than 6 million photos.
Picsearch – They promise you to find more than 3 billion photos. Basically it works just like Google search, but it gives you additional information about the picture.
Flickr – One of the most popular photo sharing communities, which allows you to find all the images uploaded by its members. The amount of pictures is impressive (more than 5000 images per minute are uploaded), while they can be geotagged.
Imagery – It’s a quick way to finding images, while you can narrow the search with adjusting the parameters of size, color and file type.
Exalead – Exalead gives you an option to directly download the found photos to your hard drive, without clicking your way from thumbnails to the original photo and left-clicking. It is also able to find photos by their orientation and can find only faces.
Visoo – Visoo Image Search helps you find photos by recognizing text (OCR), recognizing the graphics and ability to detect faces.
Webshots – Webshots helps you search photos and wallpapers. You can share your own as well or you can send them as an eCard. Hundreds of millions of photos are arranged in topics.

Video Search Engines

VideoSurf – I’ve already mentioned this website in my last article, but it is only fair to mention it again, since it is extremely powerful and useful. It searches videos through popular video sites and shows them with preview thumbnails.
Clipta – Clipta is a nifty tool that finds videos in popular video sites like Dailymotion or Break. But it’s not the searching that makes this site awesome, it’s the additional stuff they offer. Their video community gives you an opportunity to upload your videos and earn money with them. Their Video News site shows you the breaking news videos from numerous sources. The Video Informer is where users recommend videos and in their Applications, you can find a video converter and their toolbar. Useful indeed!
Clipblast – Clipblast gathers videos from numerous sources and puts them in categories like Popular Videos, Hot Searches and Hot Providers. You can share your clips, make alerts and download their widgets. Only for Mac at the moment. The best thing about them is the unbelievable long list of providers. Really long.
LoomTV – You start with a nice start site where you enter your search. After that you are sent to a special site with your inquiry results, a big player and tons of other options. You can search channels, see the Top 100 channels, add your own video et cetera.
Blinkx – They say they have over 35 million hours of video (almost 4000 years) and they are arranged in 19 categories. There are two useful special buttons: “inform me” which gives you the important news of the day in video and the second one “entertain me” which gives you loads of funny videos.When you search for videos, they show you animated previews and related news.
Truveo – Truveo helps you find your video with recommended phrases and shows you the sources (which you can exclude from the search). The interesting novelty are the “most twittered” videos.
Filestube – It’s basically like YouTube, but perhaps more useful.
Cleepr – Cleepr is quick and cute, it shows you sources and genres, while the most fun is a popup video player.
Metacafe – While Metacafe is probably one of the most popular video portals after YouTube, I must mention it. It is the biggest rival of YT, if you ask me. I’ve found plenty of interesting videos up there, that were not to be found on YouTube.
SearchForVideo – The most useful thing about this website are categories, while the search engine checks numbers of sources to find what you are looking for.

Social Media Search Engines

Topsy – Topsy is a search engine powered by tweets. You can filter them by the time they were submitted.
Knowem – This groovy site checks 120 Social Media websites if your desired username is available. Pretty cool.
Tweepz – Who is twitting? Tweepz is crawling more than 6 million twitter accounts. You can search Twitters and see how popular they are, their description and the time they last refreshed their account.
Spokeo – Spokeo is actually a creepy tool. When you log on with your email account, the site searches the Net for your contacts and shows you what they do online. Photos they upload to myspace, things they do on Facebook, what they upload to Blogger and so on. Of course for free you only get a bit of the “juicy” information you’re craving for. If you want the full spy coverage of your friends, you have to pay. But it’s still good to know we are “spiable”.
Happenr – While a bundle of website are exclusive for the United States, I feel obliged to offer my fellow Europeans a website that is exclusive for Europe. Happenr finds events in most of the European cities. You can search by country, city or tags. When you select the event, it show you the price, location, a map and a description.
123People – Here’s another “spying tool”, which helps you find anyone. Well, those who are online, that is. All you have to do is enter a name and a last name, which gives you images, links to social websites, phone numbers, email addresses, blogs, videos and microblogs. Of course it generates a tag cloud for you, checks news for the name you search, biographies and documents. When I searched for myself, I was pretty relieved. It only found that I’m on Facebook and some web links. So my online presence is not yet alarming.
BuddyFetch – If you want to make new friends, you can find them with BuddyFetch. You can define sex, age, location, language and hobbies. The search engine shows you the results with few details and shows you where your new friend is available. The problem is the site searches everything that has your search terms, which makes it a bit useless from time to time.
SwimWire – If you are fed up with checking hundreds of your social websites separately, these folks can help you. SwimWire enables you to aggregate your online identities and put al your social networks on one page. Pretty useful for those who are all over the place. Sign up required.
Twingly – Twingly searches the blogosphere for whatever you are looking for. They are striving to become the best blog search engine in the world. Search results are listed by their popularity, but you can filter them by sources, date or languages.
Pipl – Pipl is similar to 123People and helps you find people by their names, residence, email, username or phone number.

Music Search Engines

Meuzer – Meuzer helps you find music by search terms or genres. When you find the song, you can play it, share it or rate it. It plays the YouTube video on the side of the site.
WeAreHunted – This website checks what people are listening to on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Forums and P2P. They gather the information and create charts of the most popular songs online.
TheRadio – All you have to do is enter the artist or genre and the website will launch a radio with songs related to your inquiry. Give it some time when searching.
SSMünch – This is basically an MP3 search engine, which can find you videos and lyrics as well. You can also create your own playlists. I probably have to point out that this website is not intended for illegal downloads.
Mufin – Mufin (no typo here) helps you discover new music. You enter your favorite song or artist and it finds songs that are similar to your inquiry. Then you have an option to preview the track, see a video of a full-length track or buy it.
Hypem – Hypem snoops around the Internet and aggregates what people write about music. It recognizes the song mentioned in a blog post and gives you an option to listen to it. I like the idea.
StumbleAudio – If you like the popular StumbleUpon, you will like StumbleAudio. You tell them what you like and keep hitting the Stumble button. They will provide you all the music you probably like. You can rate the music, share it or buy it.
Qloud – You can find any music you like, listen it online, add it to the library, buy it or twit about it. You can log in with your Google Friend account.
Tunefind – Ever wonder which song they used in a certain movie or a TV show? Tunefind shows you which songs were used in recent shows or movies or you can find it on your own.
Songza – Songza works like Meuzer, but you can twit about songs, add them to your Facebook account or embed them.

Travel Search Engines

NextStop – NextStop is all about recommendations. People share what they love about their place or places they visit and create a “catalog of authentic experiences” as they proclaim on the website. You can search places, see the popular locations and be challenged by users.
Ruba – With Ruba, it’s all about lists. Users like you make lists of top attractions in world cities, best food or interesting facts about their countries. Pretty useful if you’re planning your trip but don’t really know where to go and what to see.
Gekko – As they say on the site, it finds what you love so you love what you find. The site recommends you the best hotels and restaurants. Hotels are divided by their design and restaurants by the type of the food or atmosphere.
GoPlanIt – This website helps you plan your trip. They give you a short description of the destination, list the top activities, top restaurants and top hotels. They show you the weather and help you book the flight, the accommodation or car rental. Everything you need, basically.
PlanetEye – Similar to GoPlanIt, PlanetEye gives you plenty of useful information about your destination. Beside a detailed description they give you a map, flight prices, photos, ratings, local experts, activities, most recommended accommodations, attractions and dining.
ZoomAndGo – They help you find the perfect vacation based on your wishes what to see, where to go and what to do. Users share their experiences, thousands of photos and videos. The site is useful because you can meet other travelers and ask them for advices.
GPSies – This website with a witty name shows you walking trails all over the world. You can download an iPhone application or connect to the website with your mobile phone.
HotelsCombined – This site searches all the travel sites at once and helps you find the cheapest accommodation. Other travelers post their experiences and hotel reviews, while you can book a hotel directly from their site.
Triporama – Their tagline is “Plan Together, Travel Together”. That means you create a group trip homepage and send invites. You discuss with your friends and map your itinerary together. The dandy feature are the site’s guides. You can check for instance the “weekend getaways”, “buddies travel” or “beach vacations”.
Tripology – This is a very useful trip planner. Enter your destination, define if you need a flight and accommodation, tell them where you start, when you leave and how many nights you plan staying. Then you proceed with their questionnaire and they help you with the rest.

Book Search Engines

BookFinder – If you are buying or selling books, this website is a place for you. They search every major catalog and tell you which bookseller is offering the best prices and selection. You can search for new or used, rare and out-of-print books in various languages all over the world.
Biblio – Biblio is similar to BookFinder, but it is good to know it in case you don’t find a book there.
Scribd – On Scribd, people upload e-books and PDFs. You can find whole books, academic writings, brochures, manuals, maps, magazines, recipes, resumes or music sheets. There are million of documents to view, download or share.
Librospot – With Librospot, you can search, explore, save and share your favorite books. You can simply log in with your Google account, log your books, check descriptions or buy it from Amazon.
BookArmy – They promise us that we won’t have to read a bad book again. They will equip you with useful information about books you like, show you what other readers think about them, introduce you to authors and recommend you something new to read, if you sign up.
Shelfari – Shelfari is an interesting website where you store books you’ve read or are about to read on a virtual shelf. Connect with your friends and see what they are reading, show off your books and discover new books.
BigBookSearch – If you judge books by their covers, literally, this site is for you. Search books and see their covers. If you click on them, they’ll redirect you to Amazon.
BookTagger – On the other hand, if you don’t like to judge books by their covers, check this website. List books you’ve read, browse bookshelves of others, find people with similar taste, create lists, review books or order them.
AllReaders – Even though this website looks old school, it is really smart. If other sites classify books only by names and authors, AllReaders does it based on plot, setting, character and writing style. It’s for books what Jinni is for movies. Now, the Precision Booksearch is really precise, since you can define every detail, like how difficult it is to spot the villain, if there is a big focus on autopsies, what kind of an investigator and so on. You have to find a perfect novel for you.
Alibris – Alibris is another online webstore, but I thought you should know it.

Thanks for the list [lostintechnology.com]

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[Windows] 100 Rad Keyboard Shortcuts

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:36:05 +0000

If you want to be extra productive, then learn these keyboard shortcuts– because point-&-click is not cool. Look through this list, find the commands you frequently use, and make it a habit to use the shortcut– you’ll be glad you did.

CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
CTRL+A (Select all)
F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
F5 key (Update the active window)
BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
ESC (Cancel the current task)
SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)
Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
TAB (Move forward through the options)
SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
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)
Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
F1 key (Display Help)
F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)
m*cro$oft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
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)
Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)
Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
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)
Shortcut Keys for Character Map
After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:
RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)
LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
UP ARROW (Move up one row)
DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
END (Move to the end of the line)
CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)
m*cro$oft Management Console (MMC) Main Window Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
CTRL+N (Open a new console)
CTRL+S (Save the open console)
CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
CTRL+W (Open a new window)
F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
ALT+F4 (Close the console)
ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
ALT+V (Display the View menu)
ALT+F (Display the File menu)
ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)
MMC Console Window Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)
Remote Desktop Connection Navigation
CTRL+ALT+END (Open the m*cro$oft Windows NT Security dialog box)
ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)
ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)
ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)
ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
m*cro$oft Internet Explorer Navigation
CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)
CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)
CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)
CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
CTRL+W (Close the current window)

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[Windows] 10 Registry Hacks that make Vista less Sucky

thecomputerboss — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:57:16 +0000

We all know to stay clear of Vista– it is a failure, which constantly breaks itself with its own updates and fixes. There are however, small registry tweaks you can make to improve usability until Windows 7 hits the shelves– here they are:

1: Disable AutoPlay

I always find it a bit annoying to insert a CD and have Windows open Internet Explorer and display a bunch of information I don’t care about. I would rather just be able to navigate through the disc’s file system and go directly to what I need. Fortunately, it’s easy to create a registry setting that disables AutoPlay:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
2. Create a DWORD named NoDriveTypeAutoRun.
3. Set the value to 000000FF.

2: Increase the maximum number of simultaneous downloads

As a technical writer, I’m constantly downloading files. Sometimes I need to download a lot of files, and Windows’ limit on the number of files that can be downloaded simultaneously gets in the way. If you’re in the same boat, you can tweak the registry so that Windows will let you download 10 files at a time:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.
2. Create a new DWORD named MaxConnectionsPerServer and assign it a value of 0000000a.
3. Create a new DWORD named MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and assign it a value of 0000000a.

3: Change the name of the registered user

When you install Windows, you’re prompted to enter a username and a company name. But since it’s fairly common for companies to merge, you may want to change the name of the company Windows is registered to by using this hack:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion.
2. Change the values that are assigned to the RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization keys to reflect the new ownership information.

4: Prevent the Recycle Bin from being deleted

If you’ve ever right-clicked on the Windows Recycle Bin, you know there’s a Delete option, which can be used to get rid of it. If you want to prevent the Recycle Bin from accidental deletion, follow these steps:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKCR\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}.
2. Create a new registry key called Shell.
3. Create a new registry key named Delete and put it beneath the Shell key. The path should look like this: HKCR\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell\Delete.
4. Modify the Default key and assign it a value of Recycle Bin.

5: Eliminate cached logons

Windows is designed to allow users to log on using cached logins if no domain controller is available to authenticate the request. If you want to make sure that a login request is always authenticated by a domain controller, you could change the number of cached logons that are allowed from 10 to 0 (or you could increase the number of cached logins allowed to 50). To do so, follow these steps:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\winlogon.
2. Create a new REG_SZ setting named CachedLogonsCount.
3. Assign this new setting a value that reflects how many concurrent cached logins you want to allow.

6: Encrypt and decrypt from a shortcut menu

Normally, when you want to encrypt or decrypt a file in XP Pro or Vista, you just right-click on the file or folder and choose the Properties command from the shortcut menu. When the properties sheet appears, click the Advanced button on the General tab and then use either the Encrypt or the Decrypt option.

If all that seems like a lot of work, you can add those options to the shortcut menu you see when you right-click on a file:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
2. Create a new DWORD called EncryptionContextMenu and assign it a value of 1.

7: Delay Windows Activation

Typically, when an organization deploys Vista, it will create a master image, run SYSPREP, and deploy the image. The problem is that it might be a while between the time that SYSPREP is run and when Vista is actually deployed.

Microsoft will allow you to extend the activation period by 30 days, but you can do that only three times. You can, however, use a registry hack to get around this limitation:

1. Navigate through the registry to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SL.
2. Change the value associated with the SkipRearm key to 1.
3. Open a Command Prompt window and enter the following command: slmgr -rearm.

8: Relocate your offline files

When you use Vista’s Offline Files feature, the offline file cache is automatically placed on your C: drive. But my laptop has two hard drives in it, and I wanted to configure Vista to place my offline files onto my secondary hard drive. I accomplished the task by following these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel and click on the Network And Internet link, followed by the Offline Files link. Windows will display the Offline Files properties sheet.
2. Disable offline files if they are currently enabled.
3. Click OK and reboot the machine.
4. When the computer reboots, open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC.
5. Create a new string value named Parameters.
6. Assign this value to the Parameters key:

\??\e:\csc

where e: is the drive letter you want to use.

1. Exit the Registry Editor and reboot the computer.
2. When the machine reboots, enable offline files.
3. Reboot the computer one last time. Now, you can start making folders available offline.

9: Disable User Account Control

One of the things about Vista that seems to irritate a lot of people is the User Account Control feature. In essence, an administrator is treated as a standard user. Administrators who attempt to perform an administrative action receive a prompt asking whether they initiated the action. I think that this prompt is a valuable safeguard against malware, but since a lot of people don’t like it, here’s how to use the registry editor to suppress the prompt:

1. Navigate through the registry editor to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
2. Change the value of the ConcentPromptBehaviorAdmin key to 00000000.

10: Don’t display the last user who logged in

Windows Vista is designed so that when you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to log in, it will display the name of the user who logged in most recently. This can be a bit of a problem if multiple users share a common PC. They may forget to check to see who was logged in previously and key in their own password in association with another user’s login name. If they try this enough times, they could lock the other user out. You can get around this problem by using a simple registry tweak to tell Windows not to display the name of the user who was logged in previously:

1. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
2. Set the DontDisplayLastName key to a value of 1.

And that’s all I got for now- please share your tips in the comments section below!

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