Sunday, June 10, 2007

what to buy..

Cordless phones=
Uniden DSS 3415 or
Panasonic KX-TG1811

small air conditioner =

always used daikin or fujitsu...
and here are 2 beauties


FUJITSU ASTA12LCC / AOTR12LCC

DAIKIN TFXS35EVMA / RXS35EVMA*******************

fridges=
376–450 L
WESTINGHOUSE Virtuoso RJ423V (T) $1589
FISHER & PAYKEL Tasman E381T (T) $1179
FISHER & PAYKEL Elegance E440T (T) $1641
WESTINGHOUSE Virtuoso RJ393V (T) $1429
FISHER & PAYKEL Tasman E442B (B) $1705




451–525 L
WESTINGHOUSE Virtuoso RJ525V (T) $1689
FISHER & PAYKEL Elegance E521T (T) $1907
ELECTROLUX EBM5100WB (B) $1749


More than 525 L
SAMSUNG Cool Tech Plus SRL550DW (B) $1999
GE GBU20KBRWW (B) $3899

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

delete an undeletable file

Delete an Undeletable File

Ever got yourself in a situation where you wanted to delete a file, but Windows simply wouldn’t allow you to do it?
The main reason for this is that the explorer.exe process locks files that are in use, thereby preventing you from deleting them. Usually, these files should not be touched, but sometimes, situations arise when you really need to get rid of some troublesome ones.

One easy way is to use the freeware prog Unlocker. It will allow you to unlock any files that are currently in use by Windows. You’ll know if this is happening if you are getting any of these messages when trying to delete a file:

  • Cannot delete file: Access is denied
  • There has been a sharing violation
  • The source or destination file may be in use
  • The file is in use by another program or user
  • Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use

When right clicking any files or folders in Windows Explorer a new option pops up...so to unlock a locked file, just right click it, select unlocker, and the unlocker software will start. Then, click “unlock all” and close the software. Now that your file is unlocked, just delete it in Windows Explorer, as you always do.



booz

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

more windows tips

Well, this one is all about Envelope printing using OpenOffice
Although not as intuitive as Word, OpenOffice Writer is certainly up to it. For one-off envelope printing, or printing lots of envelopes with the same address simply open a new document then go to Format > Page, select the Page tab and choose your envelope size or type on the Format drop-down menu. Select the orientation, type in the address (and return address if required) and print.

If you want to print envelopes on an industrial scale, from an address database then go to Insert > Envelope and you will see a Word like interface for importing addresses, creating a standard layout with sender and recipient's addresses and setting up the printer.


Use System Restore to Undo Changes if Problems Occur

You can use System Restore to remove any system changes that were made since the last time you remember your computer working correctly. System Restore does not affect your personal data files (such as Microsoft Word documents, browsing history, drawings, favorites, or e–mail) so you won’t lose changes made to these files. Windows XP creates “restore points” every day, as well as at the time of significant system events (such as when an application or driver is installed). You can also create and name your own restore points at any time. Creating a restore point can be useful any time you anticipate making changes to your computer that are risky or might make your computer unstable. If something goes wrong, you select a restore point and Windows XP undoes any system changes made since that time.

To create a Restore Point

1. Click Start, and then click Help and Support. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Using System Restore to undo changes, and then click Run the System Restore Wizard.
2. Click Create a restore point, and then click Next.
3. In the Restore point description box, type a name to identify this restore point. System Restore automatically adds to this name the date and time that this Restore Point is created.
To finish creating this restore point, click Create.


Convert a FAT Partition to the NTFS File System


To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.

In Windows XP, click Start> Run.

At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.


Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.


NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted

booz

Sunday, June 3, 2007

top windows xp tips #1

take a picture of what's on my screen

You want to capture what is on your screen and upload it in a post.
Use the ALT + PrtScn combination. Press both at the same time at the current window you want to "capture".
Go to open a Windows program called Paint.
Start>All Programs>Accessories>paint.
Once Paint is open, go to the Edit on Paint's toolbar up near the top left of its window. Click on Edit, then Paste and the image will appear in Paint!
Now click File>Save and choose where to save the image and give it a name. By default, Paint will want to save the file with a .BMP name , but this will result in a file too large to upload to the forum. Instead, choose .JPG from the drop-down list under the name box.

Recover the lost administrators password in Windows XP

First reboot Windows XP in safe mode by re-starting the computer and pressing F8 repeated as the computer starts up.
  1. Then (in safe mode) click Start and then click Run. In the open box type "control userpasswords2" without the quotes -
  2. You will now have access to all the user accounts, including the administrators account and will be able to reset the lost password.
  3. Just click the administrators user account, and then click Reset Password.
  4. You will need to add a new password in the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and confirm by clicking OK.

All done, you have recovered the lost adminitrators password!


Add "Copy To" and "Move To" in Windows Explorer

More often, you will only have "send to" as the option.

1. Click Start choose Run and type regedit,
2. In new open window go to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers,

3. Right click on ContextMenuHandlers choose New and than choose Key,
4. Give him a name Copy To. Repeat that action again and give him a name Move To.
5. Change (Default) string value for Copy To in {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13},
6. Change (Default) string value for Move To in {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13},
7. Restart your computer. After Restart open Windows Explorer click on any file and you will have to new options.


Turn off Windows Automatic Updates?

1. Click on Start,
2. Click on Control Panel,
3. In New open window find Automatic Updates icon and double click on her,
4. When Automatic Updates window is open mark "Turn off Automatic Updates",
5. Click on OK,


If you did delete or damage any system file

1. First insert Windows XP installation CD in CD Drive.
2. Open Command Promt.
Note: You can open Command Promt on two way:
a) Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Command Promt,
b) Start --> Run --> In Run window write (cmd),

3. In new open window of command prompt write SFC and press Enter, but we need
command SCANNOW,

4. Now if you did insert Windows XP Installation CD in CD Drive, all you have to do is that in Command Prompt write: SFC/SSANNOW and press Enter.


How Do I Backup The Registry In Windows XP

For safety reasons it is always advisable to backup the registry before you start editing it. While there are numerous third party application that will do this for you, i.e., ERUNT, you can just as easily backup the registry using Windows XP.

1/ Click Start
2/ From the menu click Run
3/ In the Run dialog box type: regedit
4/ The Windows registry Editor will now open
5/ Click the File option on the main toolbar and, from the drop down menu, select Export
6/ In the Export Registry File dialog box select All
7/ Now name the file
8/ Finally click the Save button
9/ To return the registry back to its original state should something go wrong simply click on the File option on the main registry editor toolbar and then select Import

How Do I Put my own Picture On The Start Menu And Welcome Screen

Although the default Start Menu and Welcome Screen pictures are ok, you may want something completely different. Well here is how you do it.

1/ Click the Start button
2/ Next Click on the Picture on the Start Menu
3/ The User Accounts window will now open
4/ You now have a choice of either selecting one of the default pictures or selecting one of your own
5/ If you want to display one of the default pictures simply select it from those displayed and the click the Change Picture button
6/ If you want to display a picture of your own Click on the Browse for More Pictures Option
7/ Select the folder where your picture is stored and open that folder
8/ Now Click on the picture you want to use
9/ The Start Menu and Welcome Screen will now display your new chosen picture

How Do I Perform A System Restore From Safe Mode With Command Prompt Option

If a problem occurs and your pc crashes one way of getting things back to normal is to use System Restore. This is fine so long as you can boot your machine to the desktop, but what happens if you are unable to boot to the Windows XP desktop. Well you now have two options.

The first is to reboot your machine, hit the F8 button and then select the Safe Mode option from the onscreen menu. Once in safe mode you can then access system restore just as you would normally from the Windows XP desktop (Start>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore). But what happens if you can't get into Safe Mode? Well you opt for the Safe Mode with command prompt option.

1/ Re-boot your PC
2/ As the PC is booting up keep tapping the F8 button
3/ When the Option Menu appears on screen select the Safe Mode with Command prompt option
4/ At the safe mode command prompt type: %systemroot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe
5/ System Restore will now open and you can choose the relevant restore point

Saturday, June 2, 2007

online image editors

Here's a rundown of the most popular image editors out there...just before adobe comes out with what i suspect will blow all these away...

my favourite is picnik.
A site for a little clarity on picnik

booz

selling photos online

Selling photos online needs you in some cases to register with strong evidence your actual identity (so they can verify you are the actual photographer, and to make payments to you).

See the following sites...
http://www.dphotojournal.com/sell-photos-online/
involves...SHUTTERSTOCK , FOTOLIA , DREAMSTIME , BIGSTOCKPHOTO , 123RF, ISTOCKPHOTO ,
and lots of Q & A.

http://www.freeimages.co.uk/editorial/sellimages.htm
basically same sites and bit more information.

more info here..
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/23/how_to_sell_your_photographs.htm


cheers
booz




Free open source software

For Web Browsing
1. Firefox - Been using FF in all its incarnations and it is miles ahead if the OTHER one. It is much faster, lightweight (wont suck 100% of your CPU), simpler, stops annoying popups and has tons of great plug-ins that can make surfing the web a real pleasure.

Email
1. Thunderbird (instead of Microsoft Outlook)
Thunderbird is an email client that has the main features desired in any email client or software for that matter - rich (full) feature set, lightweight, fast, a very good spam filter, and last but not the least protects you from those ridiculous phishing attacks by clearly indicating which emails send you to a bogus website.

Antivirus
1. ClamWin Why pay for Norton or McAfee anymore?
ClamWin is a smart anti-virus software that is fast, easy to manage and unobtrusive (wont eat up your CPU and make it slow) while keep your system free of viruses.

PDFCreator (use instead of Adobe Acrobat)
PDFCreator creates a virtual printer on your computer and if you print a document to this virtual printer from any program, it creates a PDF of that document that can be read on any computer with Acrobat Reader on it. You don't need to fork out money for Adobe Pro or any other utility when this baby does the same ... free !

GnuCash (Replaces Microsoft Money or Quicken)
GnuCash is a slimmed-down version of Microsoft Money and Quicken packages, but it contains all of the features a user wants for managing money. The interface is incredibly simple, but the software has a lot of punch.

Word Processing / Office Suites
1. OpenOffice
Instead of paying for Microsoft Office, give this a try . It includes very nice alternatives for Excel and PowerPoint (and decent replacements for Access, Word and other Office elements)

Photo Editing / Graphics
1. GIMP (instead of Adobe Photoshop)
GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. This prog is great at such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It is feature rich, and free ! So now why pay excessive amounts for Photoshop

Video Player
1. Mplayer (instead of Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc.)
One player to rule them all! Plays anything under the sun. Use its keyboard shortcuts and you will never use any other player ever ! The most interesting is use of arrow keys to move within the video. The plain MPlayer has no GUI (graphical user interface) and can be a little tricky because of the command line hassle. My recommendation is to go with MPUI.

2. VLC Media Player (Replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc.)
Similar to MPlayer, plays all media formats and has a clean, simple interface.