Lowyat.NET: Latest topics in Essential Reviews and Guides

156 Run Commands, Start>run

hotfilemalaysia — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:54 +0800

156 Run Commands

Accessibility Controls
access.cpl

Accessibility Wizard
accwiz

Add Hardware Wizard
hdwwiz.cpl

Add/Remove Programs
appwiz.cpl

Administrative Tools
control admintools

Adobe Acrobat (if installed)
acrobat

Adobe Designer (if installed)
acrodist

Adobe Distiller (if installed)
acrodist

Adobe ImageReady (if installed)
imageready

Adobe Photoshop (if installed)
photoshop

Automatic Updates
wuaucpl.cpl

Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
fsquirt

Calculator
calc

Certificate Manager
certmgr.msc

Character Map
charmap

Check Disk Utility
chkdsk

Clipboard Viewer
clipbrd

Command Prompt
cmd

Component Services
dcomcnfg

Computer Management
compmgmt.msc

Control Panel
control

Date and Time Properties
timedate.cpl

DDE Shares
ddeshare

Device Manager
devmgmt.msc

Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)*
directx.cpl

Direct X Troubleshooter
dxdiag

Disk Cleanup Utility
cleanmgr

Disk Defragment
dfrg.msc

Disk Management
diskmgmt.msc

Disk Partition Manager
diskpart

Display Properties
control desktop

Display Properties
desk.cpl

Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)
control color

Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility
drwtsn32

Driver Verifier Utility
verifier

Event Viewer
eventvwr.msc

Files and Settings Transfer Tool
migwiz

File Signature Verification Tool
sigverif

Findfast
findfast.cpl

Firefox (if installed)
firefox

Folders Properties
control folders

Fonts
control fonts

Fonts Folder
fonts

Free Cell Card Game
freecell

Game Controllers
joy.cpl

Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)
gpedit.msc

Hearts Card Game
mshearts

Help and Support
helpctr

HyperTerminal
hypertrm

Iexpress Wizard
iexpress

Indexing Service
ciadv.msc

Internet Connection Wizard
icwconn1

Internet Explorer
iexplore

Internet Properties
inetcpl.cpl

Internet Setup Wizard
inetwiz

IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) ipconfig /all

IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /displaydns

IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /flushdns

IP Configuration (Release All Connections) ipconfig /release

IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) ipconfig /renew

IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) ipconfig /registerdns

IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /showclassid

IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /setclassid

Java Control Panel (If Installed)
jpicpl32.cpl

Java Control Panel (If Installed)
javaws

Keyboard Properties
control keyboard

Local Security Settings
secpol.msc

Local Users and Groups
lusrmgr.msc

Logs You Out Of Windows
logoff

Malicious Software Removal Tool
mrt

Microsoft Access (if installed)
access.cpl

Microsoft Chat
winchat

Microsoft Excel (if installed)
excel

Microsoft Frontpage (if installed)
frontpg

Microsoft Movie Maker
moviemk

Microsoft Paint
mspaint

Microsoft Powerpoint (if installed)
powerpnt

Microsoft Word (if installed)
winword

Microsoft Syncronization Tool
mobsync

Minesweeper Game
winmine

Mouse Properties
control mouse

Mouse Properties
main.cpl

Nero (if installed)
nero

Netmeeting
conf

Network Connections
control netconnections

Network Connections
ncpa.cpl

Network Setup Wizard
netsetup.cpl

Notepad
notepad

Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed)
nvtuicpl.cpl

Object Packager
packager

ODBC Data Source Administrator
odbccp32.cpl

On Screen Keyboard
osk

Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed)
ac3filter.cpl

Outlook Express
msimn

Paint
pbrush

Password Properties
password.cpl

Performance Monitor
perfmon.msc

Performance Monitor
perfmon

Phone and Modem Options
telephon.cpl

Phone Dialer
dialer

Pinball Game
pinball

Power Configuration
powercfg.cpl

Printers and Faxes
control printers

Printers Folder
printers

Private Character Editor
eudcedit

Quicktime (If Installed)
QuickTime.cpl

Quicktime Player (if installed)
quicktimeplayer

Real Player (if installed)
realplay

Regional Settings
intl.cpl

Registry Editor
regedit

Registry Editor
regedit32

Remote Access Phonebook
rasphone

Remote Desktop
mstsc

Removable Storage
ntmsmgr.msc

Removable Storage Operator Requests
ntmsoprq.msc

Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)
rsop.msc

Scanners and Cameras
sticpl.cpl

Scheduled Tasks
control schedtasks

Security Center
wscui.cpl

Services
services.msc

Shared Folders
fsmgmt.msc

Shuts Down Windows
shutdown

Sounds and Audio
mmsys.cpl

Spider Solitare Card Game
spider

SQL Client Configuration
cliconfg

System Configuration Editor
sysedit

System Configuration Utility
msconfig

System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) sfc /scannow

System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) sfc /scanonce

System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) sfc /scanboot

System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) sfc /revert

System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) sfc /purgecache

System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x)
sfc /cachesize=x

System Information
msinfo32

System Properties
sysdm.cpl

Task Manager
taskmgr

TCP Tester
tcptest

Telnet Client
telnet

Tweak UI (if installed)
tweakui

User Account Management
nusrmgr.cpl

Utility Manager
utilman

Windows Address Book
wab

Windows Address Book Import Utility
wabmig

Windows Backup Utility (if installed)
ntbackup

Windows Explorer
explorer

Windows Firewall
firewall.cpl

Windows Magnifier
magnify

Windows Management Infrastructure
wmimgmt.msc

Windows Media Player
wmplayer

Windows Messenger
msmsgs

Windows Picture Import Wizard (need camera connected)
wiaacmgr

Windows System Security Tool
syskey

Windows Update Launches
wupdmgr

Windows Version (to show which version of windows)
winver

Windows XP Tour Wizard
tourstart

Wordpad
write

Useful key shortcuts, jus press n done!

gorkiyang — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:35:28 +0800

[B]Windows key + D - shows the desktop.
Windows key + M - minimizes all open windows.
Windows key + Shift + M - maximizes all open windows.
Windows key + E - Runs Windows Explorer.
Windows key + R - shows the RUN dialog.
Windows key + F - shows Search window.
Windows key + Break - shows System Properties box.
Windows key + TAB - Go through taskbar applications.
Windows key + PAUSE Display the System Properties dialog box.
Windows key + U Open Utility Manager.
ALT + TAB - Cycle through opened applications.
Hold down CTRL while dragging an item to Copy it.
CTRL + ESC Display the Start menu.
ALT + ENTER View the properties for the selected item.
F4 key Display the Address bar list in My Computer or
NUM LOCK + Asterisk (*) Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder.[/

How to upgrade your Hard drive and retain Vista, The most effective way.

Zakov — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:44:41 +0800

I was searching for a guide about this due to the fact that I was in a similar situation where I had just bought a new faster hard drive to replace my original drive.

The problem was I wanted to retain windows Vista and keep all the settings and programs stored in the old drive.
And another problem was I didn't want to do a Vista repair Installation as I had bad experiences with that previously(lost files from original user account).

So through searching I compiled a few simple steps to just jump from your current Vista on an existing drive to a brand new faster drive.

Things you'll need and what you need to do before you begin.

1.Plug in the new drive, make sure its detected and Vista will automatically install the drivers needed. Check if your drive is detected in the Device Manager(Disk drives)

2.First go to Device Manager->go to your Storage Controllers(example - IDE ATA/ATAPI controller)
Locate the controller for your drives.

If you are in IDE mode(set in BIOS) you need to make sure your controller is the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.(If its already like that, leave as it is).

If you are in AHCI/RAID mode(set in BIOS) you need to make sure your controller is the Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller.(If its already like that, leave as it is).

This is to avoid the blue screen of death after booting into Vista with your new drive.

3. Partition the new drive to as many partitions you want. As long as there's a partition that has enough space to backup your current C:/ Windows Drive.

You can use any Disk Partition Software. I personally recommend Paragon Partition Magic.

4. Use a disk imaging program to copy the existing C:\ and the current Hard drive to the new hard drive(if you have multiple partitions just select any, just make sure the partition has enough space to copy from the original drive).

Basically what you're doing is duplicating/copying drive C: AND YOUR CURRENT VISTA SETUP to a new drive.

I recommend using Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image, if I'm not mistaken Partition Magic also has an option to copy/duplicate hard drive.

I'll provide the step-by-step for Norton Ghost.(I'm sure the process is similar in Acronis True Image.

Choose copy drive->next->choose your windows drive as source(usually drive C:)->next->choose drive/partition you want for destination.->next->check the following options.(check source for errors/check destination for errors/set drive active for booting OS/Copy MBR)
Wait for the copying process to finish.

Once its finished, shut down your computer. Disconnect your current hard drive and let the new drive take its place.

Go to your bios and choose the new drive as first booting Hard drive.

Now, if you try loading it now, you could end up with two things.
Number 1 - BSOD(because you didn't follow the steps above for storage controllers).
Number 2 - Vista will prompt you to login. And display a "Preparing your desktop" message and will stay stuck that way for eternity.

Here are the final steps.

Boot into Vista safemode(press f8 while booting).
Login and wait, in safe mode the "preparing your desktop" message is still there but will disappear after a while.
After the message disappears you'll be left a blank desktop.(no taskbar/ nadda zip).
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring the task manager. Go to File->New Task->Run->type regedit.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\MountedDevices. And you'll see entries like this - \DosDevices\C. - at the lower end of the page.
What you should do now is replace the values from \DosDevices\x. to \DosDevices\C. - x being the new drive/partition that you copied your original C:\ onto.
(Example, I copied the Vista setup from my old hard drive C:\ to the G:\ partition on my new drive.)
(So in this case I have to copy the values from \DosDevices\G. to \DosDevices\C.)

To copy the values, double-click on the DosDevices\x. or e.g - DosDevices\G. and copy the values in the Value Data box.(you can't select all of the numbers in the box, this is normal)

Paste the values you copied to the DosDevices\C. Value Data Box.

Then, delete the entry for DosDevices\G.

To make things clear, we're making windows think the new drive is actually still Windows C:\ by replacing the address values from the new drive entry to the old drive entry.

Reboot and it'll work like it should.

The best thing about this is that,
You don't have to re-install windows.
You don't have to re-run Windows Update.
You only need two drives for this to work.( As long as the destination drive has enough capacity).
You don't need to re-install drivers.
You don't lose any programs or User files. (Files in My documents, My Music, and so on).

After doing this, my Windows Experience Index increased from 5.6 to 5.9 and read/write speed increased to due moving the O.S to the newer, faster, larger drive. So imagine moving from an old IDE to an SSD.

Cheers

Best regards,
Zakov

Gadget Shieldz for iphone 3G/3GS,

wassap — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:20:08 +0800

After waiting for quite sometimes, Gadget Shieldz finally completed their redesigned shield for iphone 3G/3GS. Shipment was fast as usual. This time however they have 2 designs for me to choose from. Gadget Shieldz is kind enough to send me both units for me review.

[attachmentid=1186940]
Arrival of Gadget Shieldz via TNT

Design
[attachmentid=1186942]
The first design is for easy installation but medium protection. It is suited for those who don't want to spend lots of time installing the shield but don't mind the little less protection. Do note that this design does not protect your chrome bezel as it only provide protection for the back of your phone.

[attachmentid=1186949]
The other design will be for full protection but you will take some time installing the shield. It covers almost everything including the chrome bezel.

[attachmentid=1186946]
As for the main screen, it is similar with other products out there but guess what? Gadget Shieldz has a little piece for your home button as well. Cool? Well, you decide on that.

This time however I throw in one more test for my review, I decided to judge for myself how durable Gadget Shieldz is. Check out the video. Do note I applied quite a lot of force in that video.
Hacing trouble embedding youtube video but here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPXhlBBsz4Y

Installation

To my surprise installation is much easier than what I've anticipated. Corners stick well and I manage to get everything done in less than an hour. (I install the full protection back design for my review.)

[attachmentid=1186946]

The other design for medium protection does not offer as much coverage as the full protection shield. It cover the back part of the phone and stops short right before the chrome bezel. It does not protect the chrome bezel from scratch but it is much easier to apply. Align the camera hole right and the shield will come out just fine.

The screen looks a little fuzzy but bubbles will disappear after 24 hours. So I will have to wait and see.

[attachmentid=1186943]

Design for the corners are good. It sticks on easily without much trouble.

Final Words

Gadget Shieldz is definitely a choice for those who are budget conscious. It doesn't compromise on protection is is as good as other shield out there for a fraction of the price.

How to apply Notebook Skin, Sharing my practises

claynlew — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:23:47 +0800

After watching several videos about how to apply laptop skin on YouTube, I can't wait to start my own notebook make-over.

Hopes to share with you guys!

Tools prepared before we get started:

Sharp cutter & scissor, Cutting Pad (or a thick magazine will do), Pen, Ruler, Adhesive tape, Cleaning Cloth, My Card (or any card like credit card or ATM card)......Sorry that I'v forgot to include all tools in this image.

Step 1: Clean your notebook surface with cleaning cloth. This is important to prevent bubbles when applying the skin.

Step 2: Measure & Trim-to-fit your notebook size.

Since I'm doing it with the 12" Acer laptop, I have to cut out the extra border. Ensure the measurement is right-fit-to your laptop, and draw the lines behind the notebook skin for fine cut edges.

Advise for trimming: Don't cut Exactly-fit-size at the begining. Try to leave some extra space (about 1-2mm) to avoid over crop.

Step 3: Fix the laptop skin on top of the laptop with adhesive tape.

Step 4: Peel off the white background of notebook skin's sticker and cut it into half.

Step 5: Wipe over the skin slowly (to avoid bubbles) with my ISETAN member card.

Repeat step 4 & 5 to finish the other half side.

Note:
If bubbles appeared or you want to reposition
the skin, simply pull up the desired section and reapply.

Step 6: Pressures the border with finger tips.

Heat the borders of your notebook skin with hair dryer(low volume) for better result.

Step 7: Continue to finish the keypad surrounding surface.

I'v hide the Intel & Microsoft original stickers underneath.

2 added stickers is a brilliant idea for easier touching while your eyes
staring at the screen!

Is my cutting skill ok?

Tala! The customization of my notebook has done!

Just a few steps to finish it, very easy but the whole process takes about 3-4 hours. (A good way to spend my weekend huh?)

Retaining OS boot menu, for ppl who mess up their boot menu

fr0sti3 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:18:28 +0800

The issue happen when you install XP after install Vista or Windows7 first

System will automatically boot up Windows XP, even after you run Vista, XP or Win7 repair.
you won't able to select OS to boot up, cause XP has written over the bootloader.

the solution i found was,

EasyBCD (freeware)
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

please be sure to have .NET framework 2.0 installed 1st before running EasyBCD,
it'll enable you to recover, backup, edit or add boot entries.

this is what i done to my bootloader (just for fun, i revert it back to normal later)

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

for further details, refer to the documentation
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/

What is hosting, domain & What can i do with it, The Newbie FAQ

cyberfly — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:59:57 +0800

I notice there is already guide about domain and hosting, but it is a copy paste from other site and not newbie friendly.So i decided to write one myself with short explanation and hopely more understable.

Newbie FAQ

1.What is hosting?

If you have build a website and want to put it online, you need web hosting to store your website.In other words, its like hard disk where you store your data.

2.What is domain?
Domain is the address to access your website.Example of domain is http://malaysiahostingreview.net

3.Which one do I need?Domain or hosting?
You need both.Without hosting you cant store your website, without domain you cant access your hosted website.

4.What i can do with web hosting?I dont know how to make website liao!

Nowdays you dont need to know any web programming to have a website.
You can just use Installatron or Fantastico to install any type of website that you want.What more it is very easy to use even for newbie, much like software installation in Windows!

Here are some video to show you how simple to install Wordpress (Blogging software) using Fantastico:

[YOUTUBE]yV4MfxCqn1U[/YOUTUBE]

Dont know Wordpress?Read here Wordpress Website
Example of website using Wordpress are http://malaysiahostingreview.net

5.I dont like blogging!Any other options?

Sure!When you have webhosting, you also can install other type of website using Fantastico such as:

1.Forum

Example is http://forum.lowyat.net

2.Image hosting website

Example is http://imageshack.us

3.Wiki website

Example is http://wikipedia.com

4.Poll Website

5.Online Shop (E-Commerce website)

6.File Hosting Website

7.Social Networking website

View more here

6.How to choose good web hosting provider?

My advice is read the review of the hosting provider before sign up or asking opinion in the forum.This way you can know whether the hosting provider really up to their standard or not.

For example if you are interested in Exabytes hosting, search at Google "Exabytes review".

There also some website which provide customer review of hosting in Malaysia.You can visit it here Malaysia Hosting Review

You also can ask other opinion in Lowyat.net Webmasters Subforum

7.Which package should i choose?

If you are just starting, i suggest you to choose package with minimum 1gb space and 20gb bandwith.You will have many space to try different application, and also plenty of bandwith for regular bloggers and website.
Futhermore, the price is affordable which is under rm100.

8.Malaysia Hosting or Oversea Hosting?

If you are targetting user from Malaysia, you should choose Malaysia hosting because it is more fast for local visitor and vice versa.

That's it.I hope this guide will help you to become a new webmaster or clear your confusion about web hosting

GadgetShieldz for HTC Touch Diamond 2 review, Cheap Protector for your gadget

wassap — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:08:24 +0800

Recently I just got myself a HTC Touch Diamond 2. I have been searching high and low for a shield for it. There are tonnes of shields for iphone and iphone 3GS but for other devices shields are pretty hard to come by. Especially new gadgets. Going through google and I came across this site:-

http://www.gadgetshieldz.com/

My first look at the price was "Does this thing really help?" I was pretty sceptical but since it's rather cheap and I couldn't bear watching my new device being scratched I emailed GadgetShieldz. The customer service is one of the best there is. They replied me fast and they are kind enough to send me 2 shield for HTC Touch Diamond 2 as my review unit. (At first I am interested in iphone 3G shields but according to them, it is still in the redesign phase and is not review ready).

I received my shield just 4 days after they sent the item out. They send their items via TNT.
[attachmentid=1122021]

Contents:-

2 units of shield front and back.
[attachmentid=1122029]
[attachmentid=1122032]

Design

The shield design is pretty much similar to what SGP has for iphone. It comes with the front shield, back as well as little thin strips to cover the sides, top and bottom. It doesn't come with a squegee or the soap solution which will really come in handy but there are instructions on their site on how to prepare the solution.
[attachmentid=1122035]
Before installation

[attachmentid=1122036][attachmentid=1122040]
After installation. I can even see my own reflection

Installation

I won't go into details as there are tonnes of review guiding how to install a shield. So i prepare the solution, clean my hands and start to work. I take my time applying the shield. The front shield is easy to apply. ( Same goes with other brands). The tricky ones are the sides, top and bottom. The shield for the sides are pretty thin, so get as much solution on the shield to make the job easier. The back shield is the most tricky part. Aligning the shield is easy but making it stick isn't. The edges and the part where the hole is cut out for the camera is especially hard to stick. Took me quite sometime to get it done.
[attachmentid=1122038]
Note the shield near the camera refuse to stick at first.

[attachmentid=1122047][attachmentid=1122049]
The edges of the shield

Final Words

The screen has a lot more reflection having the shield on than without but it's not as finger print prone as to without the shield. Not something I can't live with. The shield gives the device a good grip. It doesn't feel as 'slippery' as it was before I install the shield. It gives you more grip and does feel a bit tacky and rubbery but hey for a price of $6.99 + free shipping for the shield it's a real bargain. Check out more pictures:-

[attachmentid=1122053][attachmentid=1122055]

24 Hours later

The bubbles disappear. The shield does not affect screen clarity at all nor does it affect touch screen interface. It does affect sunlight visibility a bit but since HTC Touch Diamond 2 does not come package with a good sunlight visibility it doesn't bother me much. Overall I will say this shield is a real bargain. Unless other shield makers out there decide to lower their prices dramatically, this shield is one for the future.

Backing up Firefox Profile,

fubu233 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:44:00 +0800

How to backup ur Firefox profile

I always do this when i wanna format my pc. And it backs up everything (etc. addons, history, bookmarks…)

1. Open start > Type ‘%appdata%’ in the Run box
2. Copy the folder name ‘Mozilla’

And when you want to restore back your profile.

Just paste back the ‘Mozilla’ folder you copied earlier in the same location in %appdata%.

Keep Firefox Open When Closing the Last Tab,

hellomoto — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:06:09 +0800

The new Firefox 3.5 release brought a lot of great features, but one annoyance sent reader Mark looking for a solution: When you close the last tab, the browser closes instead of opening a blank tab.

Changing the behavior back to the way it used to work is very simple: just type about:config into the address bar and find the browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab entry in the list—using the filter makes it easy. Once you've found that key, double-click on it to change the value from true to false, and Firefox should no longer close when you close the last tab.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5306497/keep-firefox...ng-the-last-tab

--
Moderation: edited for not including the source.

Using Boot Camp to install Windows 7 on your Mac, The Complete Walkthrough

hellomoto — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:24:07 +0800

This tutorial will take you every step of the way through installing Microsoft Windows 7 on your Intel Mac (running 10.5 or later), using Boot Camp.

To install Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp you will need the following:
1.All firmware updates installed on your Mac (use Apple Button -> Software Update… to check)
2.A Windows 7 installation DVD
3.Your OS X Leopard installation DVD
4.At least 10GB of empty hard drive space on your Mac (you can probably get away with less but you’ll have almost no room to install anything other than the OS)
5.An hour if all goes well, up to 5 hours if not
6.Though not absolutely required, it’s a VERY good idea to have a complete and up to date Time Machine backup of OS X - it really came in handy for me. Because part of the process involves partitioning your drive, there’s always the distinct chance something will go wrong and everything will be wiped out.
7.Patience, possibly a great deal of it. Having a book handy will also help kill time during the partitioning, installing etc).

Installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp
1.Here goes. First thing - close absolutely every open program you can. That includes those things running in the Apple Menu that you always forget about. Don’t worry about killing the Dock or Dashboard - having those running is fine.
2.Now open a Finder and navigate to Applications -> Utilities and double-click Boot Camp Assistant.

3.Click Continue on the initial Introduction screen. Ignore the fact that it doesn’t mention Windows 7 as a possible OS to install.

4.Now you have to decide how much space you want to allocate to Windows 7. You might be able to get away with going as low as 6GB, but I would highly advise against it. You’ll have almost no space left over to install software, and your page file in Windows might cause frequent crashes. I opted for 20GB, which left me with just a bit over 16GB to use after installing Windows 7.

To change the amount of space to dedicate to Windows 7, click the small divider between Mac OS X and Windows, and drag it to the left.

5.Once you’ve determined how much space you want to allocate to Windows 7, click the Partition button.

6.The partitioning itself doesn’t take particularly long. If you receive an error, proceed to step 10 of the “How to install Vista with Boot Camp” tutorial. It provides all the troubleshooting info you need to resolve partitioning issues. Once you’ve cleared up any problems, or if everything just goes smoothly, proceed with the next step in this tutorial.

7.Once completed you’ll notice a new BOOTCAMP drive on your desktop

8.Now insert your Windows 7 DVD and click the Start Installation button.

9.Your Mac will restart, and Windows 7 will boot. You’ll be prompted with a window asking you which partition you want to install Windows on. Select the one with BOOTCAMP in the Name column. Selecting anything else may wipe out OS X or cause serious problems. Then select the Drive options (advanced) link.

10.With the BOOTCAMP volume still selected, click the Format link.

11.Click OK.

12.And Windows 7 will begin to install. It’s a fairly boring process, so you may want to grab yourself a cup of coffee or your beverage of choice.
But don’t go too far away, because when your system reboots, you’ll need to remove the Windows 7 DVD

13.With the Windows 7 DVD removed, your Mac will automatically boot back into Windows 7, and the installation will complete. You’ll be prompted to select your language, keyboard layout etc. The rest of the Windows 7 installation process is very straight forward.

How to Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista,

hellomoto — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:07:59 +0800

If you're dying to try out Windows 7 but aren't ready to give up your installation of XP or Vista, let's take a look at how to dual boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista.

Step 0: Download the Windows 7 Beta and Burn It to a DVD
Assuming you've already downloaded a fresh copy of Windows 7, you'll need to burn it to a DVD in order to do a fresh installation. To handle this task, grab a copy of the most popular CD and DVD burning tool ImgBurn, burn the ISO to a DVD, and move right along to step 1.

Step 1: Partition Your Hard Drive
Before you go installing Windows 7, the first thing you need to do is create a new partition on your hard drive to hold the new installation of Windows. Partitioning your hard drive will vary depending on whether you're running XP or Vista—namely because Vista has a partition tool baked in, XP does not.

Partition Your Hard Drive in XP
To partition your hard drive in Windows XP, you'll need to download some sort of third-party partitioning software. There are a lot of options available, but I prefer to stick with GParted live CD, a free, open source boot CD that can handle all kinds of partitioning duties.

To use it, just download the GParted Live CD, burn it to a CD, then reboot your computer (booting from the disc). You'll boot right into the partitioning tool. How to Forge's guide to modifying partitions with GParted (http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted) is a great place to start, but it's a fairly basic procedure:

1.Resize your current OS drive to free up enough space for a Windows 7 partition (the minimum system requirements ask for 16GB).
2.Create a new partition from the newly freed space.
3.Apply your changes.
Partition Your Hard Drive in Vista
The folks at Redmond were kind enough to include a disk partitioning tool in Vista if you know where to look. So go to Control Panel -> System and Maintainence (skip this one if you're in Classic view) -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management. Once you launch the Computer Management tool, click on Disk Management under the Storage heading in the sidebar. It's partitioning time.

Luckily we've already gone down this road before in step-by-step detail, complete with pictures, so check out our Guide to creating a new partition in Vista a nutshell (http://lifehacker.com/photogallery/vistapartition/1661370), you'll need to shrink your current OS partition to free up at least 16GB of disk space (per the Windows 7 minimum system requirements), then create a "New Simple Volume" from the free space.

Step 2: Install Windows 7
Now that you've done all the heavy lifting, it's time for the easy part: Installing Windows 7 on your new partition. So insert your Windows 7 disc and reboot your computer (you'll need to have enabled booting from your DVD drive in your system BIOS, but most PCs will have this enabled by default).

Once the DVD boots up it's a simple matter of following along with the fairly simple installation wizard. When you're choosing installation type, be sure to select Custom (advanced) and choose the partition you set up above. (Be careful here. Choosing the wrong partition could mean wiping your other Windows installation altogether, so make sure you pick the new partition you just created.)

After you select the partition, go grab yourself a drink and let the installer do its work. Windows will run through some installation bits, restart a few times in the process. Eventually you'll be prompted to set up your account, enter your license key, and set up Windows. Keep your eyes open for fun new Windows 7 features, like your new homegroup (and the accompanying password). When it's finished, you're up and rolling with your new Windows 7 installation.

Congratulations! You should now have a new entry for Windows 7 on your boot screen when you first start up your computer. You've now got all the tools necessary to dual-boot Windows 7 and XP or Vista—or even to triple-boot Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

This isn't the only way to set up a multi-boot system by any means, but it's how I pulled it off. If you've got a method of your own that you prefer, let's hear it in the comments.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5126781/how-to-dual-...ith-xp-or-vista

How To Take Videos of Your Computer Games, Screen Capture 101 for Gaming

latias93 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:20:28 +0800

How To Take A Video Of Your Computer Games

1. Brief
I have written this guide in the simplest manner, to get straight to the point. We will be working with a software called Fraps, which is free. In this guide, spoilers are meant to be clicked which will expand more information on a specific section.

If in doubts, please don't hesitate to leave a reply here or directly PM me. I only read PM's with acceptable grammar. I don't want any major txt-speakin tht luks lyke dis.

Extra Notes: There is a full unrestricted version of Fraps, which this guide is based on. But this guide is also applicable on the basic version of Fraps. Please note that the basic version of Fraps have a 'Fraps' watermark on top of each video, and limits you to only 30 seconds of video recording.

2. The Guide

1) Go to Fraps to download the latest version available.

2) Once download finishes, run the setup.exe and install the file.

3) Run Fraps.

4) You will see four tabs on the program menu. They are General, FPS, Movies, and Screenshots.

5) General (click on spoiler to expand)

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

6) FPS (click on spoiler to expand)

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

7) Movies (click on spoiler to expand)

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

8) Screenshots (click on spoiler to expand)

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

9) Start your desired game.. and hit the hotkey whenever you need it! Have fun!

9a) Just in case you noticed your video files size is really big, you can make it smaller using VirtualDub. Also, according to 'goldfries', Youtube has a problem with Fraps .avi files. So it may be best to convert it to another file format such as .wmv.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
1) Fraps Official Support/FAQ - http://www.fraps.com/faq.php
2) Sample Fraps Videos - http://www.fraps.com/
3) Upgrade to Full Version - http://www.fraps.com/buy.php
4) Goldfries (for a couple of useful info)

Credits: This guide is a modified version of the Fraps official guide for those who isn't familiar with 'computer stuff'. This has helped a few of my friends understand and use Fraps better minus the confusing computer jargon. People now just want to shoot their fragging skills

So, you're good to go now. If it works, please don't hesitate to leave a thumbs-up/compliment/comment below! Thank you!

Password Protection Login Page,

Xploit Machine — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:14:16 +0800

You can use a basic cookie script to keep visitors (that don't have the cookie on their system) from viewing certain parts of your site. The cookie is placed when the password provided is correct. Then, when they are forwarded to the password protected page, the cookie allows them to stay. Those without the cookie are sent back.

Password Protection: Cookie (Login Page)

CODE

[bad html removed] TWO STEPS TO INSTALL COOKIE PASSWORD PROTECTION:
1. Put the designated coding into the HEAD of your login document
2. Paste the final coding into the BODY of your login document -->
[bad html removed] STEP ONE: Copy this code into the HEAD of your login document -->

<HEAD>

<script LANGUAGE="JavaScript">

<! >
<! >

[bad html removed] Begin
function getCookieVal (offset) {
var endstr = document.cookie.indexOf (";", offset);
if (endstr == -1)
endstr = document.cookie.length;
return unescape(document.cookie.substring(offset, endstr));
}
function GetCookie (name) {
var arg = name + "=";
var alen = arg.length;
var clen = document.cookie.length;
var i = 0;
while (i < clen) {
var j = i + alen;
if (document.cookie.substring(i, j) == arg)
return getCookieVal (j);i = document.cookie.indexOf(" ", i) + 1;
if (i == 0) break;
}
return null;
}
function SetCookie (name, value) {
var argv = SetCookie.arguments;
var argc = SetCookie.arguments.length;
var expires = (argc > 2) ? argv[2] : null;
var path = (argc > 3) ? argv[3] : null;
var domain = (argc > 4) ? argv[4] : null;
var secure = (argc > 5) ? argv[5] : false;
document.cookie = name + "=" + escape (value) +
((expires == null) ? "" : ("; expires=" + expires.toGMTString())) +
((path == null) ? "" : ("; path=" + path)) +
((domain == null) ? "" : ("; domain=" + domain)) +
((secure == true) ? "; secure" : "");
}
function DeleteCookie () {
var exp = new Date();
exp.setTime (exp.getTime() - 1000000000); // This cookie is history
var cval = GetCookie ('FreeStuffL');
document.cookie ='FreeStuffL' + "=" + cval + "; expires=" + exp.toGMTString();
}
function cookieCreater () {
if(GetCookie('FreeStuffL') == null) {
var FreeStuffL_Name = prompt ("What name do you want to go by?", "" );
if (FreeStuffL_Name != null && FreeStuffL_Name != "") {
var expdate = new Date ();
expdate.setTime(expdate.getTime() + (24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 * 365));
SetCookie('FreeStuffL', FreeStuffL_Name, expdate);
alert ("You now are logged in! From now on, when you come to this page, you will be forwarded to the Password Protected Members-Only Area. Please do not tell anyone your entry code. At this new page, you will be shown a list of functions. Have fun!");
location.href = "cookie-in.html"
}
}
else {
DeleteCookie ();
cookieCreater ()
}
}
if(GetCookie('FreeStuffL') != null) {
location.href="cookie-in.html"
}
function check() {
var tester = document.login.numOne.value + document.login.numTwo.value;
if (tester == "") {
alert ("I'm sorry, that code is not correct.");
}
else
{
if (tester == document.login.numThree.value) {
alert ("That is correct!");
cookieCreater ();
}
else {
alert ("Nope!");
}
}
}
// End -->
</SCRIPT>

[bad html removed] STEP TWO: Copy this code into the BODY of your login document -->

<BODY>

<center>
<form name='login'>
Enter your login code (FORMAT: login # one, login # two, login # three):
<p><input TYPE='text' NAME='numOne' SIZE=15><br>
<input TYPE='text' NAME='numTwo' SIZE=15 ><br>
<input TYPE='text' NAME='numThree' SIZE=15 ><br>
<input TYPE='button' VALUE='Login' ONCLICK='check()'>
</form>
</center>
<font size=1 color=white>
This page requires Javascript to run! Please get Netscape 2.0 or greater!
</font>
<form name="login2">
<input type=hidden name="go" value="cookie-in.html">
</form>

[bad html removed] Script Size: 3.44 KB -->

Password Protection: Cookie (Protected)

CODE

[bad html removed] ONE STEP TO INSTALL COOKIE PASSWORD PROTECTION (PROTECTED):
1. Put the designated coding into the BODY of your HTML document -->
[bad html removed] STEP ONE: Copy this code into the BODY of your HTML document -->

<BODY>

<script>
[bad html removed] Begin
if(GetCookie('FreeStuffL') == null) {
alert ("I'm sorry. You can not view this area! You will be bounced to the login page...")
location.href="pass.html"
}
else
{
document.write("<center><font size=5 color=red>Welcome "+GetCookie('FreeStuffL')+"! </font><font size=4 color=red>Thank you for entering the Javascript Source Password Protected Area. You have access to all files and scripts in this area.</font>");
document.write("<hr><br>The following options will help you keep track of the Members-Only Section..<br>");
document.write("<p><a href=index.html>Go back to The Javascript Source Home Page</a>");
document.write("<form><input type=button onClick='nameWhat()' value='What is my login name?'></form>");
document.write("<form><input type=button value='Erase your account or change your login name!' onClick='DeleteCookie ()'></form>");
document.write("<a href=mailto:antispammer@earthling.net>Mail antispammer@earthling.net</a>");
document.write("<hr><font size=5>T</font>he following items can not be accessed by users that do not have security clearence.<br>");
document.write("<form><input type=button value='Info about how this login page works.' onClick='pageInfo ()'></form><br>");
document.write("<p><font size=5 color=green>This page will, of course, be updated very often! And once again, thanks for registering!</center>");
}
document.write ("<font size=1 color=white>");
// End -->
</SCRIPT>

[bad html removed] Script Size: 1.69 KB -->

Script & guidance: http://javascript.internet.com

20 Things About Windows XP That You Don't Know,

Xploit Machine — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:33:27 +0800

20 Things About Windows XP That You Don't Know

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... And type ' gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exeuser32.dll, LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just Double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? Will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the Command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /U zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat.
To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/ControlPanel/Desk top/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to WWW.whatismyip.Com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... And enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have
Administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Softwar e/Microsoft/Windows/Curre ntVersion/Explorer/A dvanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when Browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDel ay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you
Can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2006 and won't be much to write home about. The next big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2007.

Thanks to: www.techarena.in

WACOM INTUOS 4 REVIEW, SPECIALLY FOR DIGITAL ARTIST

haoxinderen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:41:20 +0800

[FONT=Arial]
Wacom Intuos4 review
Wacom proves once again why it’s in a class of its own

• Pros: Stylish, novel ambidextrous redesign, ultra-responsive ergonomic pen with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, Touch Ring, detachable lead

• Cons: For light users, those on a budget or anyone who doesn’t want to delve into customisable settings the smaller, cheaper Wacom Bamboo range is for you

• Min specs: Active area (W x D): 223.5x139.7mm; Physical size (W x D x H): 370 x 254 x 12 mm; 1000g; Touch Ring: 1; ExpressKeys: 8; ExpressKey Displays: 8; LED status: 4; Aspect ratio: 16:10; Co-ordinate resolution: 5.080 lpi (200 lpmm); Pen accuracy: +/- 0.25 mm; Mouse accuracy: +/- 0.5 mm; Tilt range (all pens): +/- 60 degrees; Maximum reading height with pen: 10 mm (0.39 in); Maximum report rate 200 points per second; ExpressKeys stroke: 1 mm (0.04 in), approximately; Communication interface: USB; Connector USB Type: A to USB mini-B; Cable length: 2.5m; Power requirements (USB) DC5V, less than 300 mA, primarily from USB port or USB powered hub

• Price: Small (Intuos4 S: £199), medium (Intuos4 M: £329), large (Intuos4 L: £429) and extra large (Intuos4 XL: £699), all prices inc VAT

• Star rating:
With each new upgrade Wacom faces the problem of convincing users to replace something that does its job exceptionally well and is built to last. The Intuos4 is a tempting prospect, however, as the innovative company has effectively reinvented the wheel with this version. Built on user feedback, the new Wacom premium tablet is an appealing mix of hardware and software refinements.

A black beauty, the tablet itself gains a major makeover. Suitably streamlined, the Intuos4 certainly looks the part. The ExpressKeys, designed to speed workflow and boost productivity, are joined by a dinky, user-defined Touch Ring, capable of controlling up to four different functions in any application. You simply ‘toggle’ between functions, such as zoom, scroll, and brush size, each highlighted by an unobtrusive blue OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) display that extends to the ExpressKeys.

The Intuos4 resolves the issue of left and right-handed users with a clever reversible design, aided by a useful detachable USB cable – the only potential weak link now easily replaced should the lead break from wear and tear. As usual, build is exceptional and a worthy investment for anyone who values quality and longevity.

The Intuos4 Grip Pen also enjoys a remarkable redesign. Ergonomic and comfortable, it makes use of Wacom’s new proprietary tip sensor technology that offers an unprecedented level of control over the marks you make digitally. With 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, double Wacom’s previous efforts, you may need to zoom in to fully appreciate the minute precision over your image editing and creation. An included thick-bodied replacement grip is a bonus, along with the ability to colour code and replace nibs with ease.

The revamped driver software is the icing on the creative cake, with the capability – given some time and effort – to further customise settings for an endless range of applications. Dig deep and you can discover ways to save time and reduce donkey work by unleashing the potential and power of the ExpressKeys and Touch Ring.

Macworld Buying Advice

Put that old Wacom tablet on eBay or pass it on, the Intuos4 really is a giant step in pen tablet technology. The simply stunning make-over is only half the story, though, equally impressive is a wonderfully responsive new pen and comprehensive software drivers.

Just can't wait to own one ; already shopped for best price ; i thing i will get a medium one ; preatical and mobility.......

MSN Spam ?, Read on.

ericmaxman — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:42:02 +0800

-Have Three (3) Secret (L) ADMIRERS (L). Find out who: -http://www.nondeliveredmail.com/open.php
-http://www.greatfotozz.com (A)(Y)

-Girls just wanna have fun..Do you wanna have a female in your life?! HELLYES(Y): -http://www.singlez-place.com/click.php

-http://www.is-this-u.com/?user=ericmaxman
YOU'RE HERE !!!! :o:o

-http://Gallery-Support.com/?user=ericmaxman&image=DSC00111.JPG

-kenyap83 check out these awesome pics from the awesome party LOL -http://ericmaxman.my-xmas-party-pics.com

-WOW kenyap83 I found this great webpage that is giving away a free Ipod Nano for the Holiday Season, this is amazing go sign up for yours before they are all gone -http://ericmaxman.cpacell.com

-http://awesome.quickgiftz.com

-OMG u gotta see this! Go here: -http://ericmaxman.offerz-4u.com

-hey kenyap83 hey look -http://ericmaxman.fddofd.com

-http://tubehq.net ...coool!

-hey hey... is this something for you? (6) -http://www.soulmateseekerz.com/xxx.php

-http://www.singlezcomehere.com/18.php date them (L)

-http://www.singlezcomehere.com/chat.php You need to find a new lover...right now (L)

These are just of the many spam that I received lately. I can get very annoyed with those spambots attacking me. But I have a very simple solution for you guys. Read on to find out more.

One reason why someone got infected is because they clicked on the link without knowing where does it lead them to. The owner might not even know if his computer is a bot for spamming other users.

The solution? Tell them to change their password to something stronger, not just simple words. Mix it with alphabets and numbers.

p/s : DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS !

Thank you for reading.

Cube H100 HD Review, Probably the first english review

huangyong — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:22:01 +0800

Cube H100 HD Review

On my hand now lies the Cube HD (High Definition) MP4 Player, H100 HD, the most raved Portable Media Player (PMP) for the past few weeks. This is probably the first PMP that supports true HD at a very affordable price. Not only amazing video playbacks, the 5 inch crisp and clear screen makes it a good photo viewer and eBook reader.

Video Playback

As a PMP boasting the HD capability, this is the probably the one and only selling point of the player. Cube must not disappoint the consumers. After I watched a few test HD trailers, I conclude that Cube has delivered what it promise, a true HD player. It plays HD movie files without a single lag throughout the test run. The LCD screen is fast enough to deliver that kind of quality movies would need. No motion blur.

The video format supported is very limited nevertheless, I tried playing .mkv movies, the widely available HD format, but it fails to play. I think this is the biggest con of the player itself. perhaps future firmware upgrade will solve the problem.

The Packaging

The packaging itself is nothing fantastic, black color paper box, a very typical product packaging. Opening up the box, you will the find the player, a 5V charger (Chinese power plug), a very nice silky smooth grey color pouch, USB cable, infra red remote control, cube earphones, user manual and a RGB/Audio Cable.

The Physical build

The casing is made of metal, I am not sure it is aluminum or steel, but it feels solid in your hand. The edge is rather smooth, and no sharp metal edge exposed. Measuring at 12.9 cm x 8.6 cm x 1.3 cm, weight at about 300g, slightly heavier than PSP, in my opinion, it is more suitable to keep in your bag than pocket.

The screen is huge, 5inch big, covering about 90% of the player. The good thing is of course the screen size, the bad side of it is it lacks of space for grabbing tightly at the side, unlike PSP where the you can hold on to the control at both end. Next thing I notice is the screen surface, it is not as smooth and flat as it should be, definitely not the iPhone kind of screen surface your are expecting. The worse part of it is it attracts dust and finger prints rather efficiently, I think a proper screen protector would really help here.

The player comes with good intuitive control, with volume up and down buttons at the left side, navigation jog-dial kind of button, together with “Play”, “Left” & “Right” buttons at the right side of it. The tactile feel of the buttons is good and responsive. There is also a small tiny reset button hiding beside the USB connector. Oh, I just noticed there is a small microphone hole beside the Mini SD slot. Near the navigation buttons, there is TV-out, Audio-Out (headphone jack) and a 5V DC inlet

The left side: Vol Up & Down buttons and Mini SD expansion

The right side: The navigation buttons

One thing to note is the alignment of connectors is not perfect, but I did not find any problem during the test run.

Powering up the unit

Press and hold the Play button for 3 seconds turns on the unit, the boot up time is fast, almost instantaneously it will go into the start up screen and goes into the main window within 3 seconds. Wow, the first reaction I got, what a crisp and clear display this baby is having, almost as good as iPhone’s. (note: the display is not so suitable for outdoor watching, the screen is not bright enough under bright sunlight, and the screen surface is kinda glossy & reflective. The sun is its greatest enemy)

Connecting to the Computer

The computer recognized the unit quickly as Cube H100, with total storage of 7.56GB. One thing to note is the player comes with FAT32 file system, thus it is unable to take any file bigger than 2GB. To solve this, we format the disk to NTFS system. When done, I dragged and dropped a 700MB movie files to the player. The transfer speed is OK, but not too impressive.

User Interface

This is the cool part, the navigation is pretty simple, just up down left right, it reminds me of PSP, almost the same type of user interface. The selected menu will turn into white color, I am not sure the current firmware allows to change the theme, but for the time being, try to avoid background image with many white spots as the menu will be very difficult to read.

The main window comes with 6 icons, “Setting”, “Video”, “Music”, “Photo”, ”eBook” and “Games”.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hvlNGXYcH6Y&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hvlNGXYcH6Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]
The GUI of HD100 HD

This is not ECG!! this is the very interesting feature to check the voltage and current of the internal battery. Something cool but not very practical.

Conclusion

After testing out different aspect of the player, I think that it fits the purpose of being a HD PMP, but 8GB build in memory could be too little to fit big HD movie files. With metal body, nothing much to complain about, just the screen surface needs some improvement, may be a film protector will solve the problem. For the low price of about USD120, I think this is the best value out there for not so fussy buyers. However the function is limited to primarily movies playback, thus I would recommend this product to movie lovers who are always on the go.

Our Very own commercial... hahaha
[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r_ygTaGLRMY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r_ygTaGLRMY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Review by isnoopyu.com

Acronis Bootable CD/DVDs with Images, How to create

hellomoto — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:55:52 +0800

I was digging around on the Acronis website and couldn't find what I wanted. Acronis has the ability to write the image to a CD/DVD if you have UDF packet writing support (Nero InCD or the like). But that CD/DVD isn't bootable. I wanted a bootable CD/DVD with the image of my hard drive on it. That way, if I had to replace the hard drive in my computer, I could simply pop in the CD/DVD and be back to everything exactly the way I wanted it.

Foreword
If you are going to be creating your backup image on CD-R's, follow the blue text. If you're going to use DVD-R's, follow the green text.

What you'll need
•Acronis True Image
•UltraISO (Or other image editing software)
•CD/DVD Burning software (if your image editing software doesn't support burning)
•Free space on your hard drive equal in size to your hard drive image
•Some blank media (CD-RW, DVD-RW recommended)
•Some time (30mins-1hr)
How-to
•Open Acronis True Image
•Create image of the partition you want to back up (most likely your system partition) and save it to a location on your hard drive. Select Maximum Compression to ensure that the image fits on the disc. Let's call it C:\Backup.tib. Acronis will complain that it's not safe... blah blah blah.
•At the Image Archiving Splitting screen, select Fixed Size. In the box enter 650MB/4GB
•Grab a cup of coffee or a beer or something... come back 10-20 mins later
•Click on Create Bootable Rescue Media. Insert blank CD-R/RW (do not remove after CD is created)
•Exit Acronis True Image
•Open UltraISO
•Go to Tools->Make CD/DVD Image. Let's save this as C:\Acronis.iso
•Browse to C:\Acronis.iso and open it
•Right click on the Recovery Manager folder and select Hide/Unhide
•Rename the CD Label to ACRONIS
•Drag the BackupX.tib file to the upper panel to add it to the image (where X is the highest number)
•Save this as Acronis_backup0.iso
•Create a new image. Repeat the above 3 steps, each time using a different Image archive file and saving to a new .iso file. Name each .iso file with the corresponding number of the .tib file it contains
•Burn all of the ISO files with your favorite CD burning program (or UltraISO). Be sure to label them in the order that they have the image archives. I call the CD/DVD with the bootloader Disc0, and then each disc with the number of the archive file that's on it.
To restore the image
•Insert Disc 0 into your optical drive and set your BIOS to boot from this drive
•Boot into Acronis True Image (full version)
•Click on Restore Image
•When asked to select the Image Archive, browse to the CD/DVD drive and select BackupX.tib (X=some number)
•Continue through the menus, until you get to press the Proceed Button. Take out Disc0 and insert Disc1. Click Proceed.
•When Acronis needs the next volume, it will give you an error about opening the file. Simply enter the CD/DVD with the corresponding image that it's asking for and click "Retry". When it asks for the last Volume, insert Disc0.
•You're done!
Final Notes

I would recommend uninstalling games before creating the image. Most games today are very large and would cause the image to be too large for even a dual-layer DVD. It would probably be best if you install all your core programs, configure them to your needs, and then follow the guide. You do not need to worry about disabling your pagefile or the hibernation file (if you use them), as Acronis will automatically detect them and not include the data within them in the image.

I keep all my documents and files on other partitions, so my system drive contains only Windows and my programs. With all the programs that I use (Acrobat, Photoshop, Office, MathCad... not "small" by any means), my system partition on my laptop is just over 5GB (without pagefile or hibernation file - those are excluded by Acronis in the image). The image (max compression) took about 20 minutes to create and came out at 2.7GB. This will easily fit on a single-layer DVD, and for those of us with more programs or files, there are always dual-layer DVDs.

Obviously, if your image fits onto one CD/DVD, then great. Just drop it into the ISO and you're done.

Some comparison

I created a VM with a vanilla XP install to test all this out. All of my images were run from my 24x CD-RW/DVD drive, so there's no unfair advantage of being run from the hard drive. I used Acronis True Image 8.0.912 and UltraISO 7.6.2 to follow the guide.

The image created by Acronis came out to 458MB.
With the Acronis bootloader, it's 480MB.
The XP CD that I used to install XP was 576MB, created with nLite, all hotfixes integrated and cab files set to high compression.

To restore the image took 5 minutes. To install took about 20 minutes.

Hope this is helpful to everyone! I'm sure that you could emulate this with Norton Ghost if you've got that instead. If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know.

How to make your computer speak, simple batch file

crazy_oc — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:51:27 +0800

I just found it and want to share with you all

open notepad and type

QUOTE

Set Speech = CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice")
Speech.Speak "replace this with text you want your pc speak"

save this as speak.vbs and run it

I hope you'll enjoy