PC Free Tools n Tricks!

End Virus horror! A reason to switch

2008-12-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

sunday, december 14, 2008

A reason to switch
You may be asking what Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com) is, right? It is an operating system based on Linux (http://www.linux.org), not on Microsoft Windows. Simply put, it is not Windows XP or Vista. And the good thing about it, no MS Windows viruses to flood around your files and destroy your system!

If I would be ask to give one good and VERY PRACTICAL reason to SWITCH from MS Windows to UBUNTU, Windows viruses do not work in Ubuntu, (Linux in general). You would see "Recycler", "FOUND.000", "desktop.ini", "AntiVir.com" and others, but you would not be alarmed since they literally do not work as intended being a Windows virus, it is just a file in Linux. You have a choice: stay with Windows or be practical and do the switch.

....

Read on to jdetras ' blog: http://practicalswitchtoubuntu.blogspot.com/

This blog is reposted with permission from jdetras ' blog

Need Help? PC help?

2008-12-06T03:29:00.000-08:00

If you are reading this blog, either you are just curious or you actually need help with your PC. Well, that's why we're here. We are here to help. To serve. Even if its not about PC's

So?

If you have any questions...reactions...or you just want to rant on how bad and stupid your computer is...just holler... We'll try to help...If we can.

So if you need anything... Just ask. We might be able to help. PC or not PC related

^_______________________^

Keyboard shortcuts!!

2008-12-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered if you could do things faster? Well you can. And the keyboard(the output device you usually use to type in) is a really great help.

Read on...

To	Press
Set focus on a notification.	Windows Key+B
View properties for the selected item.	ALT+ENTER
Displays the properties of the selected object.	ALT+Enter
Cycle through items in the order they were opened.	ALT+ESC
"Close the active item, or quit the active program.	ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window.	ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the System menu for the active window.	ALT+SPACEBAR
Switch between open items.	ALT+TAB
Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option in a dialog box.	ALT+Underlined letter
Display the corresponding menu.	ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons in a dialog box.	Arrow keys
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.	BACKSPACE
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box in a dialog box.	BACKSPACE
Copy selected item.	CTRL while dragging an item
Select all.	CTRL+A
Copy.	CTRL+C
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph.	CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Display the Start menu.	CTRL+ESC
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously.	CTRL+F4
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.	CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word.	CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Create shortcut to selected item.	CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Highlight a block of text.	CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Move backward through tabs in a dialog box.	CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move forward through tabs in a dialog box.	CTRL+TAB
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph.	CTRL+UP ARROW
Paste.	CTRL+V
Search for computers.	CTRL+Windows Key+F
Cut.	CTRL+X
Undo.	CTRL+Z
Delete.	DELETE
Display the bottom of the active window.	END
Carry out the command for the active option or button in a dialog box.	ENTER
Cancel the current task.	ESC
Display Help in a dialog box.	F1
Activate the menu bar in the active program.	F10
Rename selected item.	F2
Search for a file or folder.	F3
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer.	F4
Display the items in the active list in a dialog box.	F4
Refresh the active window.	F5
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.	F6
Display the top of the active window.	HOME
Switch MouseKeys on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch High Contrast on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.	LEFT ARROW
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.	LEFT ARROW
Display the items in the active list in a dialog box.	F4
Refresh the active window.	F5
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.	F6
Display the top of the active window.	HOME
Switch MouseKeys on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch High Contrast on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.	LEFT ARROW
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.	LEFT ARROW
Display the items in the active list in a dialog box.	F4
Refresh the active window.	F5
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.	F6
Display the top of the active window.	HOME
Switch MouseKeys on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch High Contrast on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.	LEFT ARROW
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.	LEFT ARROW
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.	Menu key
Switch ToggleKeys on and off.	NUM LOCK for five seconds
Display all subfolders under the selected folder.	*NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad ()**
Collapse the selected folder.	NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Display the contents of the selected folder.	NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu.	RIGHT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.	RIGHT ARROW
Switch FilterKeys on and off.	Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Display the items in the active list in a dialog box.	F4
Refresh the active window.	F5
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.	F6
Display the top of the active window.	HOME
Switch MouseKeys on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch High Contrast on and off.	Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.	LEFT ARROW
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.	LEFT ARROW
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.	Menu key
Switch ToggleKeys on and off.	NUM LOCK for five seconds
Display all subfolders under the selected folder.	*NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad ()**
Collapse the selected folder.	NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Display the contents of the selected folder.	NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu.	RIGHT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.	RIGHT ARROW
Switch FilterKeys on and off.	Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch StickyKeys on and off.	SHIFT five times
Prevent the CD from automatically playing.	SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document.	SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin.	SHIFT+DELETE
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.	SHIFT+F10
Move backward through options in a dialog box.	SHIFT+TAB
Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box in a dialog box.	SPACEBAR
Move forward through options in a dialog box.	TAB
Carry out the corresponding command.	Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Display or hide the Start menu.	Windows Key
Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain.	Windows Key+ L
Display the System Properties dialog box.	Windows Key+BREAK
Show the desktop.	Windows Key+D
Open My Computer.	Windows Key+E
Search for a file or folder.	Windows Key+F
Display Windows Help.	Windows Key+F1
Minimize all windows.	Windows Key+M
Open the Run dialog box.	Windows Key+R
Restores minimized windows.	Windows Key+Shift+M
Opens Utility Manager.	Windows Key+U

a repost from the WINDOWS Accesibility site

Better Than WinZIP!!!

2008-11-27T03:13:00.000-08:00

7-Zip is an open source file archiver predominantly for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It operates either as a command line program or with a graphical user interface. It also features integration with the Windows shell environment. 7-Zip is free software, distributed under the GNU LGPL license.

Features:

High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL
Supported formats: 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB
For ZIP and GZIP formats 7-Zip provides compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
Self-extracting capability for 7z format
Integration with Windows Shell
Powerful File Manager
Powerful command line version
Plugin for FAR Manager
Localizations for 55 languages

Click to Download: 7Zip

Title:	7-Zip 4.61 Beta
Filename:	7z461.exe
File size:	912KB (933,861 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows (All Versions)
License:	Open Source
Date added:	November 24, 2008
Author:	7-Zip.org www.7-zip.org
MD5 Checksum:	3E6E364B78208747090D2958EEC16334

Hide Files in Images!

2008-11-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

Hide File in Picture

In order to accomplish this task, you will need to have either WinZip or WinRAR installed on your computer. You can download either of these two off the Internet and use them without having to pay anything. Here are the steps for creating your hidden stash:

Create a folder on your hard drive, i.e. C:\Test and put in all of the files that you want to hide into that folder. Also, place the image that you will be using to hide the files in.

Now select all of the files that you want to hide, right-click on them, and choose the option to add them to a compressed ZIP or RAR file. Only select the files you want to hide, not the picture. Name it whatever you want, i,e. “Hidden.rar”.

Now you should have a folder that looks something like this with files, a JPG image, and a compressed archive:

Now here’s the fun part! Click on Start, and then click on Run. Type in “CMD” without the quotes and press Enter. You should now see the command prompt window open. Type in “CD \” to get to the root directory. Then type CD and the directory name that you created, i.e. “CD Test“.

Now type in the following line: “copy /b DSC06578.JPG + Hidden.rar DSC06578.jpg” and press Enter. Do not use the quotes. You should get a response like below:

Just make sure that you check the file extension on the compressed file, whether it is .ZIP or .RAR as you have to type out the entire file name with extension in the command. I have heard that some people say that they have had problems doing this with a .ZIP extension, so if that doesn’t work, make sure to compress to a .RAR file.

And that’s it! The picture file will have been updated with the compressed archive inside! You can actually check the file size of the picture and see that it has increased by the same amount as the size of the archive.

You can access your hidden file in two ways. Firstly, simply change the extension to .RAR and open the file using WinRAR. Secondly, you can just right-click on the JPG image and choose Open With and then scroll down to WinRAR. Either way, you’ll see your hidden files show up that you can then extract out.

That’s it! That is all it takes to hide files inside JPG picture files! It’s a great way simply because not many people know it’s possible and no one even thinks about a picture as having to the ability to “hide” files. Enjoy!

Want to Know Your PC Specs?

2008-11-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

Thinking whether to buy a new PC or simply upgrade the computer you have? This file will tell all the details of your computer, and when I mean all - I meant all the necessary data for a computer to run. The Good Thing: No need to Install. The Better Thing: Only 588KB to download. The Best Thing: You can download it Here!

CPU-Z is a freeware utility that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system. CPU-Z does not need to be installed, just unzip the files in a directory and run the .exe. In order to remove the program, just delete the files and that's it. The program does not copy any file in any Windows directory, nor write in the registry.

CPU

Name and number.
Core stepping and process.
Package.
Core voltage.
Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
Supported instructions sets.
All cache levels (location, size, speed, technology).

Mainboard

Vendor, model and revision.
BIOS model and date.
Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
Graphic interface.

Memory

Frequency and timings.
Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table.

System

Windows and DirectX version.

Click to Download -> CPU-Z 1.48

Title:	CPU-Z 1.48
Filename:	cpuz_148.zip
File size:	588KB (601,789 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows (All Versions)
License:	Freeware
Date added:	October 16, 2008
Author:	CPUID www.cpuid.com
Homepage:	www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
MD5 Checksum:	9833DF01CCC5C6E0471D8844344F86E0

Personalize Your Mouse!

2008-11-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

Want to change the commands for your mouse? Make the mouse movement faster? Want to instantly print with just very few mouse clicks? Change the mouse controls for your own use.

Answer:

IntelliPoint 6.3 - With IntelliPoint mouse software, you can customize the unique features of your Microsoft mouse to fit your needs. Each mouse button - including the wheel button - can be reassigned to perform a command or keyboard shortcut such as Print, Close, or an application-specific function. You can also modify mouse settings, such as pointer speed and horizontal scrolling.

IntelliPoint also includes the Magnifier, which makes it easier to read a small block of text on a Web page or to enhance a photo. IntelliPoint software even offers biometrics support for advanced identity management. If you have a Bluetooth mouse, you will need to have Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed.

Click to Download -> IntelliPoint 6.3

Title:	IntelliPoint 6.3
Filename:	IP32Eng6.30.191.0.exe
File size:	15.01MB (15,743,560 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
License:	Freeware
Date added:	September 11, 2008
Author:	Microsoft Corporation www.microsoft.com
Homepage:	www.microsoft.com/hardware
MD5 Checksum:	C46671990607CFE1A7791220C897B208

Download 'DirectX 9.0c' for Games!

2008-11-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

You're a gamer but your PC is quite outdated. This file is needed so you can play the latest PC games in Windows!

Answer:
Microsoft DirectX - It is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. DirectX 9.0 includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX 9.0 APIs.

It is required by almost all PC games and 3D applications.

Click to Download -> DirectX 9.0c (Nov 08)

Title:	DirectX 9.0c (Nov 08)
Filename:	directx_nov2008_redist.exe
File size:	86.25MB (90,435,952 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows (All Versions)
License:	Freeware
Date added:	November 8, 2008
Author:	Microsoft Corporation www.microsoft.com
Homepage:	www.microsoft.com/wi...rectx/default.mspx
MD5 Checksum:	94B5D58455313A9A2A2ACB85D7265521

Stop 'Automatic' Downloads!

2008-11-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

Surprised to find your PC suddenly downloading something? Ever thought why the Internet Explorer suddenly starts and goes to an unfamiliar site? Your computer must be infected with SPYWARE! What's worse, spyware can't be found by anti-virus software. So how do we remove these malicious spyware?

Answer:

Spybot Search & Destroy -Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm in trying to see if something snooped into your computer, too :)

Click to Download -> Spybot

Title:	Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6.1.38 Beta
Filename:	spybotsd-1.6.1.38.exe
File size:	15.28MB (16,018,520 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows (All Versions)
License:	Freeware

Author:	PepiMK Software www.safer-networking.org
MD5 Checksum:	AD97479E9A3197843BD66352651ADC9D

Better than Windows TASK MANAGER!

2008-11-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Want to know what programs are running in your computers ? Windows Task Manager won't show? Want to stop unnecessary programs in start-up? Ever wonder why your PC is lagging all the time? Learn to view and stop 'malicious programs' from running. Scan it with -

Answer:

Autoruns - This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.

Click to Download -> Autoruns

Title:	Autoruns 9.35
Filename:	Autoruns.zip
File size:	562KB (575,466 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/XP64/Vista64
License:	Freeware

Author:	Microsoft SysInternals www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals
Homepage:	technet.microsoft.co...nals/bb963902.aspx
MD5 Checksum:	4891FE4BAF2B8DA23DDC63C84DB2C1CD

Recover Lost Files

2008-11-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

Want to recover accidentally deleted files? Did your anti-virus remove an important program with the viruses? Need a program to revive the lost data? Deleted it from the Recycle Bin?

No problem!

Answer:

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

Click to Download -> Recuva 1.20.361

Title:	Recuva 1.20.361
Filename:	rcsetup120.exe
File size:	2.22MB (2,331,336 bytes)
Requirements:	Windows (All Versions)
License:	Freeware
Date added:	October 22, 2008
Author:	Piriform www.piriform.com
Homepage:	www.recuva.com
MD5 Checksum:	D8B1A65A2F0B11DFC39E20EE01122E10