Below is a collection of video tutorial's created by PCWizKid. They range from Windows XP and Vista to Ubuntu tutorials. Select the tip you want by clicking on the "menu" button below in the video window. Enjoy!
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Written by PCWizKid on May 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Useful, quick shortcuts to common actions are not always available in a OS, specially Windows. luckily we can hack are way into the registry or tweak easily the default behavior and its functionality to suite our needs.
Below are three tutorials I put together recently for Windows XP (and Vista) users.
Windows Hack - Add Options to Right Click Menu
Add the option Copy To and Move To on the Windows Explorer Right Click Menu.
This hack can be applied to Windows XP and Vista.
Notes from video:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
Copy To {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
Move To {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
Windows Hack -Add a Command Prompt Shortcut to the Right Click Menu
This Windows XP tip allows you to access hidden functionality by adding a right click option to select "Command Prompt Here" from the menu in windows explorer on a directory.
Windows Trick - Create a Special Shortcut to Lock Your PC
Create a Shortcut for Locking Your Computer Screen in Windows XP or Vista.
Notes from video:
Shortcut information to enter is:
rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation
The icon can be changed to a system icon if you point to the file in c:\windows\system32\shell32.dll when browsing for a new icon to change it to.
Other Tips Users have watched
Written by PCWizKid on April 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1340 and 1354 and 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and 544 and Contributors and Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows XP and pcwizkid and registry and tweaks and windows tips.
Although on
Microsoft TechNet you will find a few toys and tweaks, the alternative to increasing performance still remains upto you. Meaning hack your way into config settings and manually set things up the way you want in the registry.
Here are is a sought after hack for Windows Vista many dont know about. Be sure to make a System Restore Checkpoint to backup your settings before doing any of these tweaks.
Unlock the Administrator account
Turning on the Administrator account is straightforward. First, open an elevated command prompt by typing cmd into the Search box on the Start menu, right-clicking the command prompt icon that appears at the top of the Start menu, then selecting Run as administrator.
Then enter this command and press Enter:
Net user administrator /active:yes
From now on, the Administrator account will appear as an option on the Welcome screen, along with any user accounts you may have set up. Use it like any other account. Be aware that it won't have a password yet, so it's a good idea to set a password for it.
If you want to disable the account and hide it, enter this command at an elevated command prompt and press Enter:
Net user administrator /active:no
Other Tips Users have watched
Written by PCWizKid on February 26th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Microsoft Windows Vista and hacks and powertoys and tweaks.
Are you using Windows Media player 11?
Whether you have or not yet, there are some positive upgrades such as the sleek new look, revamped playback controls, sync with your mp3 player and more intuitive media management for your large collections of video, audio and even album art.
However, like with anything, take the good with bad, and for Windows Media 11 there is no exception. After trying it myself, the first thing I went to test was video codec support. I found it to be lacking. This has been a big issue in previous versions of Windows Media players. Audio files are no problem, images, not an issue, its the video type support that falls short. Again, unless you are playing a standard AVI or WMV file for example ,there are issues with other codecs such as Xvid, DivX, Mov and so on.
So whats the solution if you want to keep using windows Media player 11 you ask? A
Vista Codec Pack v4.6.x has just been released containing all the codecs you would possibly need to play your new and old video files. Its a free download. With this package installed, you shouldn't need to install any other codec or filter. It does not contain a media player and it doesn't associates filetypes. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player, limited only by the players' capabilities, to play DVD's, movies and video clips of almost any filetype.
Streaming video is supported in all popular web browsers. By default you won't need to make any adjustments to enjoy a variety of media content immediately.
Get it at
Softpedia.com , there are instructions there to assist you in the installation.
Support from the developer of the Vista Codec Package can be obtained on the
MSFN Forums. Another suggestion is to get a real
DivX Player
, I bought a nice Phillips that plays it all on my TV.
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Written by PCWizKid on February 20th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Codec and Contributors and DivX player and How To's and Software and Tech Tips and Technology and Windows Vista and media player 11 and microsoft and pcwizkid and tweaks and windows.
Thinking about installing a new operating system? Something different, stable and reliable? Maybe the Linux OS Ubuntu 7.10 or OSX
Leopard10.5 ?
I have both OS X 10.x and Ubuntu 7.x running on separate laptops, and have used them for over 2 years now. The similarities are outstanding in more than a few ways. Below is PART 2 of my reviews and summary of main features of the latest Ubuntu 7.10 (codename Gutsy Gibbon) which have made it so appealing over Apple's OS X.
First and foremost, lets not forget that you get what you pay for, and since
Ubuntu is free compared to the OS X
Leopard, there are going to be some obvious added applications and tools in OS X which Ubuntu does not have (similar applications can be added in Ubuntu in most cases, again at no cost since there are no license fees and its open source).
My intent here is to educate the average user on their options. For the average user, installing a new operating system may seem challenging, not to mention learning its new interface and features. This is the main reason why Apple's OS X is so popular, its simplicity and features are key strengths. A PC running Ubuntu can be as easy as a Mac to use , the key is configuring it properly, there is no need to be intimidated with Ubuntu. Let me show you.
The Installation
Getting Ubuntu is easy, installing it was also a breeze ever since version 7.04. As outlined in my
PART 1 review of the
process briefly
here in my video tutorial. I recommend you download the CD Installer and create a bootable installation CD. The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 7.10 is 384MB of memory and 4Gigs of space (for OS X
Leopard its 512MB of memory and 9 gigs of space). What I was initially surprised of is the built in support for dual boot (OS X
Leopard has
Boot Camp) I had Windows XP already installed and Ubuntu allowed me during installation to setup partions and allocate space for the new OS to be installed keeping my Windows (XP or Vista) installation intact, and at the same time created the boot manager (aka Grub Boot Manager) which allows you to select the operating system on bootup.
One thing to note here is that you should have a network connection for Ubuntu auto update to later get
updates online. Detection of hardware was smooth on my
Lenovo T60 laptop (Dual Core PC), I did not have to get any additional drivers for my
ATI X1400 to get anything to work. The fact that Ubuntu can run on different processor platforms (x86 architecture, Pentium
TM, Celeron
TM, Athlon
TM, Sempron
TM and 64bit AMD and Intel chips) and is not setup to be proprietary to specific hardware making Ubuntu attractive to anyone with a basic Pentium chip to the most high end Quad Core PC.
The Desktop
Once you finish installation you would have also created the primary account ID and password during the setup wizard. this user ID has the permissions of a super user (Administrator access) for further configuring Ubuntu later.
The default desktop is not blue and does not look like OS X
Leopard. However it is clean, intuitive and easy to navigate. The screen shot I have here is after I configured the appearance and added a Dock to mimic
Leopard [
Click to enlarge] which shows you how flexible this operating system can be.
Details on installing the AWN Manager and
the Dock will be described in detail in
PART 3 of my review summary.
Your first instinct may be to check out the menus and
programs that come by default.
I found that there was a generous amount of standard applications and accessories. The main applications menu has the necessities such as the Open Office Suite (similar to Microsoft Office) , Evolution Mail (very similar to OS X Mail app) and Firefox (under the Internet menu option) and a generous set of multimedia utilities to play video, audio and manage your photos.
The menus are well organized and as you would expect shortcuts to be bundled under specific groups. Intuitive and straight to the point. These menus can be further configured to display more or less items as desired under the system preferences option for the main menu. Details of configuring appearance are in my
Part 3 review and desktop effects is in
PART 4 of my review.
The "Places" menu option allows you to browse your PC and / or network drives , just as the "
Finder" option in OS X does. In my case I have this PC Dual Boot with a NTFS file system for Windows and have mounted my windows drives (using the NTFS Configuration Tool) so I can access them normally (I will post a how to video on this later).
The System Preferences gives you all the access you need to tweak and configure your computer, set your preferences for not just appearance but also screen resolution, power management , get hardware information and much more. [
Click to watch the video]
Watch my video walkthrough of the workspace areaThis is where most customization can be done regarding the theme and desktop effects.
The most popular Desktop effect for Ubuntu is the 3D Cube, Expo and Desktop Plane, which allows you to have virtual desktops (Workspaces) . In OS X
Leopard this 3D Cube view does not exist, however there is the what Apple calls "
Spaces" which performs similar functions. However I did find that Ubuntu 7.10 had
many more desktop effects and eyecandy effects than Leopard
did after I enabled the Compiz "
Advanced Desktop Effects"
Ubuntu can be more than just eyecandy, use it as a secure method to connect online, worry less about viruses that plague the Windows OS, it has support for wireless and bluetooth connectivity and is not a resource hog. I find Ubuntu smooth with all the
Desktop Effects I have enabled.
Read my
PART 3 review summary of Ubuntu 7.10 vs
Leopard I will show how to configure various areas of the Ubuntu OS and where to get additional addons to spice up your experience similar to
Leopard. If your interested in learning about a few pros and cons on Ubuntu 7.10
read my previous article.
Written by PCWizKid on February 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 7.10 and Contributors and Linux and Mac and OSX and Tips and Windows Vista and Xp and boot camp and dual boot and fiesty fawn and leopard and open source and part2 and pcwizkid and tweaks and ubuntu gutsy gibbon.
An important aspect of any operating system is its support and available applications. In this portion of my review comparison with OS X Leopard, we continue where I left off in
Part 2, regarding customization.
After installing Ubuntu, the desktop is clean and ready for you to customize. All applications and tools are accessible via
the menus or command line. If your used to a GUI windows interface your most likely inclined to start
adding shortcuts (known as launchers in Ubuntu) to the desktop area and even change the way it looks. This is a important distinction to OS X, because Apple has pretty much set the interface and layout of the workspace to a more permanent look and feel (which many have no problem with). In Ubuntu you can change beyond just icons and wallpaper , almost anything can be altered with a little work, but lets start with the easy stuff first.
First View
You will notice the top and bottom panels in Ubuntu (OS X just has the 1 panel at the top) , These are the two bars that run along the top and bottom of the screen. By default, the top panel shows you the main menu bar, the date and time, and the launcher for the help system, and the bottom panel shows you the list of open windows and the workspace switcher. If you dont have a large monitor or dislike the bottom panel showing for example, these
can be removed or set to autohide, resized or moved to the side of the screen.
In OS X the Dock performs similar functions to the Ubuntu panel. The OS X Dock can also be manipulated as in Ubuntu. The only obvious difference is the Dock has a reflective 3D look with the icons which
can now be stacked and comes with
applications and widgets which you would have to get separately in Ubuntu.
So first off, if you want to make your Ubuntu experience into something more familiar you will need to get add-ons and customize a little.
In my case I decided not to mimic the Windows Vista look and went for the OS X theme and feel.
The options for changing the appearance are straight forward in Ubuntu, the only thing is, there isnt a huge
variety of themes to change into by default installed, so you will need to download the
themes and icons that you want first, then install those and then set them as the defaults for the system.
Installing things
Before you install anything make sure you have all the needed Ubuntu repositories installed. If you dont enable access to these areas you wont be able to properly get addons and updates for these. The areas I am referring to are namely universe and ubuntu-updates. This can be done in System -> Administration ->
Software Sources by enabling 'recommended updates' under the 'Updates' tab, and also enabling 'Community-maintained Open Source software' under the '
Ubuntu Software' tab. In some cases you will need to enable access to 3rd party repositories which isnt always obvious, and example of this is described in the installation for the Ubuntu AWN Dock. However, once you have enabled these you can access beyond what is available for download within the Ubuntu Add/Remove option, giving you even more addons and features.
The Add/Remove Applications option in Ubuntu is a treat. All OS's should have this. Unfortunately OS X or Windows doesnt have this ability to add both community maintained and supported apps aswell as third party apps, not just the system default ones. This saves you time having to search for programs and worrying about compatibility issues and if it will work or not. The main area Ubuntu lacks some more applications is multimedia support, so you will want to start there.
For Music management you can use
Rhythmbox , for movie playing use Totem but its recommended that you use the Add option in Ubuntu to install more mature and better multimedia applications like MPlayer or Xine for playing video files for example. Good thing you dont have to worry about iTunes and Quicktime taking over. I added under the "Other" category of Applications types the FFmpeg plugin for GStreamer so I could play back various video files such as DivX , I added the Ubuntu Restricted Extras for flash support and the
Compiz Advanced Desktop Effects support for enabling a better multimedia (and eyecandy) experience for example.
Changing Appearances
Like with anything if you want something you have to go get it yourself. I visted
SourceForge to download the
OS X Leopard theme. You will see there a Mac4Lin package to download which will later be used to replace your default Ubuntu Theme. So the goal of this OS X theme is to
look somewhat like this in the end.
However I did some changes so I could not completely look like OS X (I want the best of both worlds) and ended up
with this desktop instead.
Instructions on how to install the theme and icons are listed
here. Once you have download the package and followed the instructions all you need to do is switch the theme and icons set. Access the System Menu, then Preferences to get to the Appearance option. Select it and your almost done.
The Dock
Next you want to hide the bottom panel or move it to the side (by dragging it over), then right click on the bar to access the properties and set it to autohide for example, or just remove it.
With a free bottom portion of the screen to work with, now you need to access the addon packages for installing the Dock known as the
Avant-Window-Navigator.
I found the step by step instructions for installing it on the official Ubuntu Forums, specifically here. If you are a Mac user running Leopard you have the option on further customizing your Dock theme by installing additional ones which I found instructions for here. Other than that for Leopard there isnt any advanced customization for changing the workspace area, mostly because it works well the way it is, so in Leopard what you see is what you get.
Boot, Login and Splash Screens
In Ubuntu you can change the Bootup, Login screens and Splash screens to match your theme. Its easy as just opening up the
Login Window Preferences in System ? Administration ? Login Screen and drag and drop your theme onto the window. Confirm the dialog window that pops up to use your new theme. For the Splash screen you need to install the Splash Screen Tool from the Add/Remove option I mentioned earlier. then you can access it in System ? Preferences ?
Splash Screen. Note, ensure your images that you are replacing are PNG image format.
Once you have done the customization throughout you will be pleased of the results for sure.
Next in Part 4 of my review is enabling all the
Advanced Compiz Desktop Effects like the 3D Cube. I examine what I find stands out and compares with Leopard's features.
Written by PCWizKid on February 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 7.10 and Contributors and Linux and Mac and OSX and Tips and Windows Vista and Xp and boot camp and dual boot and fiesty fawn and leopard and open source and part2 and pcwizkid and tweaks and ubuntu gutsy gibbon.
There are many users who prefer not to enter their username and password at windows login, for the following reasons:
mainly because this would speed up the login process
decrease the hassle for them of entering username and password
But enabling autologon in windows vista is again a security risk, but may not be a problem if you are not worried about your documents and files being visible to someone else, This small tweak is basically for home users.
But don’t worry about registry editing this time as there is a small freeware called AutoLoggon that does this job like a charm for you (as shown in the image below). (more…)
Tags:
autologon,
Downlaod,
freeware,
hassle,
password,
registry,
Security,
tweaks,
Windows,
windows vista
Related posts
Written by Jason on February 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Downlaod and Password and Security and Windows Vista and autologon and freeware and hassle and registry and tweaks and windows.
Speed up the Windows Vista start menu search by customizing the search criteria.
Not everyone needs the default Search criteria which to some is overkill. If you are only interested in searching for programs only for example you can specify the criteria speeding up your search results.
Watch my video tutorial for details
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Written by PCWizKid on February 9th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Customize and Microsoft Windows Vista and Performance and menu and tip and tweaks.
This one is the best tweak for windows XP I ever found, and it works very well. With this tweak we will force windows to load kernel and drivers in memory.
Here is what you have to do :
1) Open the regedit tool (Start -> Run -> regedit.exe )
2) Use the navigation in the left and go to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management (more…)
Written by Jason on February 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Drivers, and Windows XP and how to and kernel and memory and tweaks and windows.
This little annoying tray icon may irritate you, if you are like me, you dont like things popping up for no good reason. Here is how you disable it, but read the description because by doing so you lose some functionality (that you may not care about though).
Download the free tool from the divx site here:
http://support.divx.com/cgi-bin/divx.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1630
Direct link > DivX Toolbar Toggle Tool
Description: This tool turns on and off the DivX Toolbar (DivXSM.exe), which appears by the system tray when you play a DivX file. Notes: If you turn the Toolbar off, you will not be able to control the advanced features of DivX Media files in third-party media players, and the DivX video decoder may run with default settings.
Screenshot:
Written by computerboom on January 18th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Customization and freeware and microsoft office and programs and tweaks.
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