Internet Explorer: Reset Settings

Internet Explorer can be difficult to troubleshoot, partly because of the many settings and modifications that can be made to it. There's a way to undo most of these changes and roll I.E. back to its original "factory" configuration.

Microsoft includes a feature called "Reset Internet Explorer Settings", to utilize it follow the instructions below:

Warning: This feature can't be undone, use it at your own risk.
Note: This operation can also be performed from the Internet Options control panel.

• Close all instances of  Internet Explorer except one.
• Open the Tools menu, and select Internet Options.
• Click the Advanced tab, and press the Reset... button.
• Only check the Delete personal settings checkbox if you want it to reset personal features.
• Press the OK button, and it might take a few minutes to completed.

The next time you launch I.E. it should be restored back to the factory defaults.  For more information on this feature on what is and what is not effected check out this video from Microsoft.

Article: Grab Free Desktop Syncing Plus 25GB Storage Space on Box

Here is an excerpt from a LifeHacker article entitled "Grab Free Desktop Syncing Plus 25GB Storage Space on Box": "Box is one of the more generous of the online storage services—especially if you got in on one of the free 50GB deals previously offered. However, syncing wasn't offered for personal users—until, it seems, now. Here's how to get Box syncing without a business account." (Read the rest of the article)

Internet Explorer: Keyboard Shortcuts

With every version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft seems to beef up its selection of keyboard shortcuts. 

Some of the shortcuts are new for this version of I.E., others have been around for a while (but aren’t widely used), and some are classics that every user should be aware of.

See the full list of shortcuts for Internet Explorer 9.

Internet Explorer: Run IE without Add-Ons

To check if Internet Explorer is having a problem that is being caused by an add-on. From the search field under Start menu type: "iexplore.exe -extoff".


If the problem disappears, from the Tools menu (the gear icon in the upper right) select Manage Add-ons, under Add-ons Types, you can enable or disable toolbars and extensions until your find the one that is causing the problem.

Article: Windows Defender Offline vs Microsoft Safety Scanner (Which One should you use?)

Have you ever wonder what the difference is between Windows Defender Offline and the Microsoft Safety Scanner?  There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on this subject so I decided the write the following article.  Here is a excerpt from it: "Both Windows Defender Offline and Microsoft Safety Scanner are not a replacement for using a real-time anti-malware (e.g. viruses, spyware, or other malicious software) program that provides full-time protection for your computer. If you need a real-time malware protection check out Microsoft Security Essentials, or any other anti-malware software suite that is available." (read the rest of the article)

Internet Explorer: Delete Any AutoComplete Items

Internet Explorer's AutoComplete feature allows you to quickly re-enter common information that was previously entered into fields on a Web form. Sometime you may want to remove information from this feature because it incorrect (e.g. old or wrong information) or you may not want others to see it. Put the cursor into the field where you want to delete the form data, use the keyboard down arrow to highlight the item you want to remove and then press the DEL key to remove it.

Internet Explorer: Setting Multiple Home Pages

Since Internet Explorer 7 you have been able to open multiple pages in different tabs when the program launches. For example, if you want Bing and Google to open when you launch I.E., open Bing in one tab and Google in another. 

• Open a up a different web page in a new tab that you want to open automatically Internet Explorer is launched.
• From the Settings menu select Internet Options, and press the Use Current button in the Home page section of the dialog.
• Press the OK button.

Internet Explorer: Alphabetize your Favorites

Want to find your Internet Shortcuts more easily in the Favorites menu? A little known feature of Internet Explorer allows you alphabetize them:

• Open the Favorites menu (the star in the upper right corner) in I.E. 
• Right-click any Internet shortcut, and choose Sort by name from the pop-up menu that appears.

Internet Explorer: Backing up/Exporting your Favorites, Feeds and Cookies

Have you ever needed to backup or export your Favorites, Feeds or Cookies from Internet Explorer? This is kind of a hidden built-in feature in the application that is not too obvious unless you know where to find it, follow the instructions below:

• Press the ALT key to access the File menu, and choose Import and export...
• Select Export to a file" press the Next button.
• Choose what you want to backup (e.g. Favorites, Feeds, and Cookies) press the Next button.
• Follow the prompts to export the data to a file(s).

You can import this file back into I.E. or Firefox, or browse it like a web page and click on the links.

Windows 7: Creating a password reset disk

If you forget your password to log onto Windows 7, you can change it (without knowing the old one) by using a password reset disk. This is handy tool for accounts that aren't used often.

Note: This recovery disk has be created before you have a problem, it can't be created after you forgot your password.

Follow the instructions below: 

• Log into the account that you want to make a password reset disk.
• Insert the media you're going to use, such as a removable flash drive.
• From the Start menu open the Control Panel, and select User Accounts.
• In the left pane of the User Accounts window, click Create a Password Reset Disk.
• In the Forgotten Password Wizard box, follow the instructions to make the disk.

Remember to keep the disk in a safe place, because anyone who has access to this media drive can change the account password on the system or access any of the data within it.


Note: that if your computer belongs to a domain, you cannot create a password reset disk. The domain administrator can reset your password for you.

Hardware: Extending a USB Connection

Do you have a USB device such as a printer that is further away from the computer then the cable will reach? The maximum supported length of a USB  cable is 5 meters according to the specification for this technolog.

Below are some products that may be able help you overcome this limitation.

• Active USB extender (a USB extension cable with a built-in repeater), check out the: 32 ft / 10 meter Premium Active USB 2.0 Extender / Repeater / Extension Cable with Built-in signal booster chips 
• If the USB device has its own power source (e.g. a USB printer), try using a pair of USB-to-CAT5 adapters and CAT5 cabling: USB over Cat5/5e/6 Extension Cable RJ45 Adapter Set

Note: A USB-to-Cat5 cable conversion can go up to about 150 feet (about 50 meters). Longer runs (greater then 150 feet) can cause USB 2.0 (480 Mbps data transfer rate) to throttle down to USB 1.1 (11 Mbps). 

• For longer cable run over CAT5/6 cable try the following product: USB 2.0 Ranger Single port Cat5 Extender 100 Meters

Carbonite - Internet Backup Solutions

Backing up data on your computer has always been critical. A long time ago floppies were used to backup your data, later it was CDs and then DVDs. Today there is no affordable external removable media capable of keeping up with modern multi-terabyte drives.

Note: For those that can afford it, tape backup is still an option but it's expensive and slow when compared to an external hard drive.

Even if you have an external drive or NAS (network attached storage), it can be damaged, lost, stolen or suffer data corruption. If you don't have an off-site backup, and your local backups are in-tact they can be damaged by fire, earthquake, or other natural disasters.

If you're looking for a backup solution, there are a few choices:

• Use an external drive and keep your backup locally and hope that nothing happens to them.
• Prices: External Hard Drive
• Use multiple external drives and keep one of the backup drives offsite, and rotate it out on a regular basis.
• Prices: External Hard Drive
• Use a cloud based backup service provider.

Local Hard Drive Backup vs Cloud Backup

Below is a list of some advantages to using a cloud based backup service provider vs. using an external hard drive:

• All your backups are stored off-site automatically.
• Some backup solutions offer services that run in the background on your computer that automatically compresses your unbacked up files, encrypts them, then forward them on to the service provider you selected.
• You almost never have to worry about running out of capacity as long as you have a budget for the storage that you're using.

There are several service providers available that offer some type of cloud based backup services.  Some are free, while others cost money.  The hard part will be finding one that you like, and that has the features that you want.  

There are also some disadvantages to using these services, such as: 

• Depending on how much data you have, these services can initially use a lot of bandwidth to upload all your data.  Depending on your ISP there may be a cap on the amount of data that you can utilize each month.
• If you have to recover your whole hard drive from your service provider it can be challenging and expensive depending on the solutions that they offer.

Below is a list of features and other considerations when looking for a company to host your backups:

• Has a good reputation for providing a reliable backup solution.
• Offers easy to use software that automatically backs up your files and uses strong encryption.
• Offers affordable pricing for storage and recovery services.
• Offers storage capacity options that meets your needs and budget

Check out a site called Carbonite, they provide affordable Internet backup solutions for privately owned personal computers and small businesses.  Check out the site to see a current list of features and prices. 

Article: Upgrading vs. Buying a New Computer

Excerpt from the article: "As computers get older, it becomes more and more difficult to get them to run the latest and greatest hardware and software. The newest games are notoriously bad about not running on older hardware. They generally require the fastest CPU, video card, and a ton of RAM in order just to run properly. 

Sometimes older computers just don't appear to be running as fast as they use to, or they just stop meeting your needs. When this happens you're faced with the choice of upgrading it, or just replacing it all together.

Before replacing your computer with a new one, there might be a few things that you can do to extend the life of the existing hardware. You might be able to optimize your computer to run more efficiently, or replace/add some new components to meet your needs and get a few more years out of it." (read the rest of the article)

Hardware: Diagnosing Noises from your Hard Drive

A few months back I gave my son my previous computer.  It's not that much slower then the newer machine I built to replace it.  Recently all of a sudden it became unusable as far as performance, it was slow to start, basically bogged down when you try to use it.

When I checked into the problem, I noticed that the hard drive was making a clicking noise.  I hate to say it, generally when hard drives start making any noise, other then the typical quiet whine when it spins its bad news.


To see if I can figure out what was going wrong, I checked the SMART (hard drive diagnostic counters, and it was not showing anything wrong).  I also tried booting from a live Linux CD to see what was happening and I was still having problems accessing the data on the drive.


So if your hard drive starts making any noises, the first thing you should do is backup any important data if the device will allow you.  If you can't back it up and there is important data on it that you need, then you will have a send the drive to a data recovery service like DriveSavers.  

Its important to note that any hard drive data recovery services are very expensive, so backing up your important data is basically cheap insurance against data lost.  Any of these recovery services has a take a multi-step approach to pull data off the drive.  


First they may try to use software that is specially designed to extract data from damaged drives. If the software doesn't work, they will try to repair the drive if possible or sometimes they will pull the platters out of the drive and put into another working drive.  


Its also important to understand that this is a great deal more complex and time consuming then I am explain it.

More Information on S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology)

• CrystalDiskInfo - Can read the  S.M.A.R.T. counters on your hard drive
• Wikipedia Article - Tells just about everything you need to know to understand the S.M.A.R.T. counters
• Failing Hard Drive Founds - If you want to possibly try to identify the type of sounds (e.g. heads, spindle, bearings, etc.) your hard drive is making.  Find the drive manufacturer in the list, then press the play button to listen to the sound for that type of problem.  You can also click the link to learn more about the different type of common problems these hard drives can experience.

Software: DNSCrypt for Windows is now Available

OpenDNS created a service called DNSCrypt to address a widely known problem with Internet security and enhanced your privacy. When you use public Wi-Fi that is available in coffee shops, airports, hotels and other places you can be vulnerable to a weaknesses in DNS.

DNS traffic is sent unencrypted, so it can be intercepted by criminals, ISPs, and other organizations. They can potentially see where you're going online, spoof or conduct man-in-the-middle attacks.

Note: The software is currently in Preview Release, which means it still can have bugs in it.

Microsoft Flight (Free Flight Simulator)

Microsoft has a long history of creating flight simulators.  I remember playing the first version of Microsoft Flight Simulator on an Apple II+.  It was crude by today's standards, but it was state of the art back in the 80's.  Flight simulators now seem second only to the real thing.

If you love flight simulators, check out Microsoft Flight.  I need to note that there are two versions.  The  free version includes basic content you need to get started.  There's also a premium version that has expanded content.

All Hail IPv6 as King, IPv4 is dead...

For decades IPv4 was king because it was the dominate networking protocol for Internet and corporate Intranet communications.  Although its rein has come to an end as the pool of publicly available IPv4 addresses (the numeric addresses assigned to every device on the Internet) was officially depleted as of February, 2011.

Its been known for a long time that the publicly available IPv4 address space would be completely depleted so in 1998 they started drafting a next-generation networking technology known as IPv6 to replace it.

For years several ISPs and Internet companies have been testing and deploying their networks to be able to carry both IPv6 and IPv4 traffic. They have also offer "tunneling services" that allow IPv6 customers to access IPv4 sites. 

June 6, 2012 was designated as "World Launch Day" for IPv6.  Several major ISPs and Internet companies permanently enabled IPv6 on their public Internet sites.

The IPv4 and IPv6 are majorly different network protocol, but have been designed to interoperate with each other so that they can co-exist on the same network.  


One of the first fundamental differences between the two protocols is the size of the address space (e.g. the amount of device that are supported).  The IPv4 protocol supports a maximum number of over 4 billion (4,294,967,296) public IP addresses.   The  IPv6 protocol supports a maximum number of over 340 undecillion (340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456) unique addresses. 

The following Microsoft operating systems include full support for IPv6: Windows Vista, 7, 8 and Windows Server 2008 and above.

Note: Windows XP does have support for IPv6 but its not native to the OS.

Brief Note: IPv6 to IPv4 Tunneling
For older IPv4 networks that don't currently support IPv6, there are a few different protocol transition technologies.  For example, there is "6to4 Tunneling" which is able to encapsulate IPv6 packets within IPv4.  Basically what this technology does is take one type of network data (e.g. IPv6) and translates it into another type (e.g. IPv4) then broadcasts it over the network.


IPv6 Checklist
Below is a checklist of items that you have to have in order to use IPv6 on your computer and network.

• An operating system and applications can that supports IPv6 (Note: applications have to be specifically updated to support the IPv6 protocol)
• The most current versions of Windows (Vista and above), Linux or Mac OS X.
• A router appliance (commercial or consumer) that supports IPv6.
• Most modern routers  support IPv6, older models may require firmware update if available (check hardware manufacture's web site for more information).
• An ISP with IPv6 protocol and DNS support.
• IPv6 readiness will vary between companies.  Contact your ISP to find out the type of IPv6 support they offer.
• If you're ISP doesn't support IPv6 you can use an IPv6 Tunnel Broker like Hurricane Electric to allow your computer to access the IPv6 Internet.

Testing Your IPv6 Readiness
Want to check out your networks IPv6 readiness?  Run the following test (http://test-ipv6.com/) from your browser and it will tell you whether its IPv6 network is ready or not. If you  already have an IPv6 network running, this site offers a good way to test if you have any problems or other issues.

Other was to test if IPv6 is working properly on your network, run the following two search queries on Google and they will show you your publicly available IPv4 and IPv6 address.

• IPv6 Test (requires an IPv6 network)
• IPv4 Test (requires an IPv4 network)

Learning More
Want to learn more about IPv6, read the following article, "Introduction to IPv6".  Also check out a site called Hurricane Electric (H.E.).  H.E. also offers an unofficial IPv6 certification.

Windows Defender Offline (Offline Virus Scanner)

Everyone should have an up-to-date real-time anti-malware application running on their system at all times.  These programs won't guarantee that you will never get infected by a rouge application (e.g. virus, Trojan-horse, worm, root-kit, etc.), but it provides better protection then not having this software running at all.

If your computer starts acting strangely, you might want a second opinion to see if your system is actually infected.  This is why there are offline virus scanners for checking your system for malicious software.

There are several vendors that offer this type of software, but one of the newest is from Microsoft and called the Windows Defender Offline.  Below is excerpt from the site: "Sometimes, malicious and other potentially unwanted software, including rootkits, try to install themselves on your PC. This can happen when you connect to the Internet or install some programs from a CD, DVD, or other media. Once on your PC, this software might run immediately, or it might run at unexpected times. Windows Defender Offline can help remove such hard to find malicious and potentially unwanted programs using definitions that recognize threats. Definitions are files that provide an encyclopedia of potential software threats. Because new threats appear daily, it's important to always have the most up-to-date definitions installed in Windows Defender Offline. Armed with definition files, Windows Defender Offline can detect malicious and potentially unwanted software, and then notify you of the risks."

Fun With Text

Emojicons 
Tired of the boring old simily face emoticon ;-)?  Check out a site called Emojicons, it gives you access to a new batch of emoticons to express your emotions with text.

Text-Image.com 
Back in the early days of computer before graphics there was ASCII art.  People and programs would convert images into text based images.  A site called Text-Image.com will convert your photos or graphics into ASCII.

Software: 0 A.D. - A free, real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare

Description from the website: "0 A.D. (pronounced "zero ey-dee") is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare. In short, it is a historically-based war/economy game that allows players to relive or rewrite the history of Western civilizations, focusing on the years between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. The project is highly ambitious, involving state-of-the-art 3D graphics, detailed artwork, sound, and a flexible and powerful custom-built game engine." (download the game)

Video: Updates for Firefox 13

Video Description: "The latest Firefox has some great updates to make getting to your next task faster and easier than ever!


The New Tab page now opens whenever you click on the '+' sign, allowing you to see thumbnails of your most recently and frequently visited sites. You can customize the New Tab page by adding or removing thumbnails based on where you go most.


The Home Page now includes icons at the bottom of the page to give you easy access to bookmarks, history, settings, add-ons, downloads and sync preferences with one-click shortcuts"

Download the latest version of Firefox or get more information.

ASUS Taichi - dual screen Windows 8 notebook - Computex 2012

This is one of the more interesting Ultrabook/tablet hybrid designs that I have seen so far.



Video Description: "At first glance, the Taichi passes for just another ultrabook, but upon closer review, the lid yields a reflective surface, that is in fact, a touchscreen. The touchscreen is a beautiful Full HD IPS display with a 1920x1080 resolution that offers crisp visuals, even from extreme angles, so it's great for sharing with friends."

Not to be outdone, there are also other ultrabook/tablet hybrid designs, which include:

The Asus Tablet 810, demonstrated at Computex in Taipei.



The Acer Iconia W510, demonstrated at Computex in Taipei.



Back at CES 2012 in Las Vegas in January, Lenovo introduced the IdeaPad Yoga.

Privacy: Visually See How You're Tracked When Browsing (Firefox Add-on)

A new Firefox add-on called "Collusion" visually depicts the sites that are tracking your web surfing.  Online behavior profiling is big business, the revenues from the top online tracking companies is over $39 billion.

Collusion displays a dot matrix diagram composed of grey dots (sites you've visited) connected to red dots (sites that your browser passed tracking data that is used to monitor your online browsing).

For more inforemation or to download the add-on, check out the Collusion web site.

TED Video: Gary Kovacs: Tracking the trackers

Video Description: "As you surf the Web, information is being collected about you. Web tracking is not 100% evil -- personal data can make your browsing more efficient; cookies can help your favorite websites stay in business. But, says Gary Kovacs, it's your right to know what data is being collected about you and how it affects your online life. He unveils a Firefox add-on to do just that."

Article: Internet Backup Solutions (An Introduction to Cloud Backup Services)

Here is an excerpt from an article that provides a brief introduction cloud backup services: "Backing up data on your computer has always been critical. A long time ago floppies were used to backup your data, later it was CDs and then DVDs. Today there is no affordable external removable media capable of keeping up with modern multi-terabyte drives.

Even if you have an external drive or NAS (network attached storage), it can be damaged, lost, stolen or suffer data corruption. If you don't have an off-site backup, and your local backups are in-tact they can be damaged by fire, earthquake, or other natural disasters." (read the rest of the article)

Leap - Motion Control Gestures

Leap appears to be a very cool technology that supports accurate motion control that allows you to interact with your computer in three dimensions with natural hand and finger movements.  Its currently only in pre-order availability (US$69), but its supposed to be available in a few month for the Window 7/8, and Mac OS/X.

Setup is supposed to be easy. Just plugin the device to a USB port, load the Leap Motion software, and do a quick wave to calibrate it.

Personally I want to try it with Windows 8, it might be a great alternative to having touchscreens for a mouse for the new OS, for me the technology seems worth trying out.  I will post an update if I like it.

Photo tours in Google Maps

Google Maps offers a new feature called "Photo Tours" that allows you to experience landmarks from all around the world in 3D.  This site requires that the MapsGL feature be enabled in your browser.

The latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer browsers are supposed to support the MapsGL feature.  I was only able to get it to work properly in Google Chrome after I downloaded the MapsGL extension.

(More information about MapGL)

Article: Living in the Clouds (an Introduction Cloud Services and Storage)

Here is an excerpt from an article that provides a brief introduction cloud services and storage: "The term "cloud" has been over-hyped by many different businesses trying to distinguish their products or services in the market or from their competition. The word Cloud refers to products or services that requires an Internet connection to utilize it, often requiring a web browser." (read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Creating a Recurring Alarm

You don't need a special program like Microsoft Outlook to have a recurring alarm that reminds you of regular events (such as: exercise, lessons, etc.).  You can create one with the Windows Task Scheduler.

• Click the Start button in the Search field, type "task scheduler" and press Enter
• In the right Actions panel, click Create Task...
• In the General tab, type a name for the task, such as "Reminder: Attend Lecture"
• Click the Triggers tab, and press the New button
• In the “Begin the task” dropdown menu select "On a schedule" 
• Under Settings select the appropriate interval that (e.g. daily, weekly, etc.) that is applicable.  Also select the appropriate Advanced Settings, such as "Repeat task every X hours".  Check the Enabled checkbox, then press the OK button.
• Click the Actions tab to select what actions you want to happen to alert you (such as: running a program, sending an email or displaying a message on the screen).
• Press the OK button when done.

Microsoft SkyDrive (Free Cloud Storage, with Local File Access/Syncing)

Microsoft offers a cloud storage service called SkyDrive.  If you already have a SkyDrive account you had 25GB of free storage space, but you better "opt-in" to keep it, otherwise you will lose it.  For new users who didn't already have an account will get 7GB free storage, and can opt to buy more space if needed.

Microsoft recently added a new feature to this service allows you to use Windows Explorer to access the file in your SkyDrive account on your local computer. You need to install the SkyDrive client on your machine and it will create a folder (located in the Users\<your user name>\SkyDrive path) on your PC that is automatically synced with the SkyDrive service in the cloud.

Free Photo Morphing Tool

Looking for a tool that transforms your photos into another one? Check out a tool called Fotomorph.  Make sure view the sample projects to see how it works, just use the play button at the bottom to see the morph in action.  

Here is an except from a CNet review: Digital imaging and graphic design software is often the victim of one of two problems: either it's too advanced for everyone but expert users, or it's too basic to do anything very useful. FotoMorph is one of the rare programs that manage to deliver impressive results with very little know-how. This fun application lets users create animations that morph one photo into another, no experience required."

Software: Skype Auto Recorder

Skype is a great tool for making calls over the Internet, using either computer-to-computer or from PC to mobile phones and landlines. Sometimes you want to have an audio recording of a conversation things for archival reference reasons. Podcasters also sometimes us programs like this to make audio podcasts with remote guests.

Skype Auto Recorder is a free open-source application that allows you to automatic record Skype conversations into MP3 files. It also provides the ability to filter who is recorded and the destination file location based on the contact name, and improve the output sound quality.

NOTE: Make sure to check the laws in your jurisdiction regarding the recording of telephone calls and electronic communications.

Optting Out of Behavioral Advertising

Are you concerned about your privacy in relationship to Internet advertising? The Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) offers a tool that allows you "opt out of behavioral advertising" that is utilized by its members.

This is not all an encompassing tool, there are a lot of caveats, but it does offer some control over your online privacy. It doesn't allow you to opt out of web advertising, it only allows you to "opt out" of the behavioral advertising delivered by its member companies.

Behavioral advertising is used to precisely target Internet advertising at you based on your surfing habits. These companies track you by placing their ads on web sites and using their cookies to track where you're surfing.

To opt out of an NAI member's behavioral advertising program, go to the tool,  check the box that corresponds to the company (or press the button labeled "Select All"), then press the the "Submit" button. The Tool will replace the specified advertising cookie(s) and show your opt-out status.

More information:

• Network Advertising Initiative

Article: Five Best Tax Preparation Tools

LifeHacker reports: "It's tax time, and here in the United States you're guaranteed a faster refund if you're due one by filing your taxes electronically. The trouble is that there are dozens of tools that can help you e-file. Some of them help you maximize your deductions and make sure nothing's overlooks, and others just make the filing process quick and easy. Here are five of the best tax preparation tools, based on your nominations." (read the rest of the article)

Software: Free BarCode Generator

The Bytescout BarCode Generator is a free program that is able to create and export barcodes into several different image formats (e.g. EMF, PNG, JPG, TIFF, GIF).  The application supports several different 1D and 2D barcode types (e.g. Codabar, Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 93, Code 128, EAN-13, EAN-8, JAN-13, Bookland, UPC-A, UPC-E, Postnet, PDF417, Truncated PDF417, DataMatrix, QR Code and others)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MS Windows 95/NT/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/7/x64, Microsoft NET 2.00 or higher installed

Windows 7: Backing up EFS certificates

Do you use the Encrypted File System (EFS) that's built into Windows 7 (which is included in Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate versions of the OS) to protect your data on your local hard drive?  If so you should make sure that you back up the EFS certificate so you can recover your encrypted data if the stored keys on your hard drive get accidentally corrupted or deleted.


To backup the EFS key, use the following procedure:

• From the Start menu in the Search field, type CERTMGR.MSC, then press the ENTER key to open the Certificate Manager.
• Expand the Personal node, and click Certificates.
• Scroll down to find the certificate that shows "Encrypting File System" in the Intended Purposes column, and click it.
• Click Actions > All Tasks > Export...
• On the first page of the Export Wizard, press the Next button.
• Click Yes, export the private key and press the Next button.
• Click Personal Information Exchange and press the Next button.
• Create a password to encrypt the private key file, then press the Next button.
• Enter a file name and location (or press the Browse button to navigate the local drives) to store the certificate.
• Press the Finish button.

Notes: In the Certificate Manager if there is more than one EFS certificate make sure to back them all up on some type of removable media (such as a USB key or external hard drive). Then store that device in a safe physical location.

Article: AWS offers free Windows on EC2 (kind of)

GIGAOM reports: "Amazon will let customers run free micro-instances of Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 on its EC2 service starting now, according to a new post to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) blog.

Such try-before-you-buy tactics have helped Amazon win converts to its cloud platform by letting them test new or existing applications in its cloud for free. While Amazon offers a choice of operating systems, Microsoft licensing constraints have made running Windows workloads on AWS more expensive than running them on Linux." (read the rest of the article)

If you want to learn more about AWS and EC2, this might be a great opportunity to get started without costing you any money.

Article: Microsoft revives flight sim by giving it away free

The Register reports: "Microsoft has said that it will be reviving its Flight Simulator franchise this spring with a free version of the game entitled simply Flight.

Redmond is making the game available in a private beta at present, but plans to release it as a free download eventually. The game needs a minimum of 10GB of hard drive space, a dual-core 2Ghz processor, Windows XP SP3 and 2GB of RAM, according to the video trailer. Initially Flight will only have one plane – the ICON A5 flying boat - but Windows Live users will get access to extra missions and plane types if they sign in." (read the rest of the article)

ShapeCatcher.com (Unicode Character Finder)

ShapeCatcher.com helps you to find the right Unicode characters.  All you have to do is draw the Unicode character you're looking for, and the site will show you the closest matches in their database. Currently, there are 10877 Unicode character glyphs in their database.

Note: The site currently doesn't support Japanese, Korean and Chinese characters.

If you don't know what Unicode is, per Wikipedia it's "a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. " (read the rest of the article)

Play Cut the Rope for the your Browser

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team partnered with ZeptoLab to port their popular game Cut the Rope in to  HTML5 to demonstrate its robustness as a development platform. The game was  primarily designed to demonstrate Internet Explorer 9 capabilities, but it works in other browsers (like Chrome).

Emperor 1510 Workstation from MWE Lab at CES 2011

At CES 2012 MWE Lab introduced the Emperor 1510, which is the ultimate computer workstation chair for around $6000 USD.

Check out the site for more information.

Speed Up Your SSD By Correctly Aligning Your Partitions

If you have a newer SSD drive you have to make sure that the partition alignment is setup correctly. Otherwise, you might be sacrificing some of your performance.

LifeHacker did a great article called "Speed Up Your SSD By Correctly Aligning Your Partitions", here is an excerpt: "To see if your partitions are aligned correctly, hit the Start menu and type in msinfo32. Enter Msinfo32 and go to Components > Storage > Disks. Look for your SSD on the list and find the "Partition Starting Offset" item. If this number is divisible by 4096 (that is, if dividing it by 4096 equals a whole number and not a decimal), your partition is correctly aligned. If not, you need to realign it. " (read the rest of the article here)

Privacy: Introduction to Publicly Available Information

As the Internet grew over the last few decades, people and companies would make information publicly available without realizing how it can be exploited if used improperly.

Criminals have learned how to take advantage of this information by having computers crawl the public web looking for it.  For example, they first started looking for email addressees for sending SPAM, and later evolved into searching for other types of data.

Have you ever wondered how much can someone find out about you on the Internet?  There is an amazing amount of public information available about most people that they might not realize is there.

Below is a brief description of some of the more popular examples:

• Do a web search on your whole name or email address and see what you pull up. 
• There are companies that compile public databases into a central location, and sell that data.  This information is public (e.g. from tax records, DMV, etc.), so in most cases you can't request that you're information be removed.
• There is also information that we publicly post through social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.), that you might be making publicly available without realizing it.  
• Go to a site called IPFINGERPRINTS, it will show the geographical location of where it knows IP address is located.  Companies regular use the IP address information to track the location of where visitors are located.  This information is generally used to more accurately target advertising for products and services.
• Note: Depending on the service provider you're using, the location information may vary.

If you're wondering what you can do to protect yourself:

• Without the right privacy settings on your personal and friend's accounts on any of the social networking sites, any information that is posted will be indexed and made publicly available.  Most of these sites use "public" as their default privacy settings, which means anyone can view it including the search engines.  If you don't want your data to be publicly available, learn to lock-down your privacy settings.
• If you find information on a web site that is posted about you, you can contact the web site and ask them to remove it.  You do need to understand that in most cases there is nothing to force any company to remove information (this can vary depending on local or country laws).
• Use common sense, it doesn't matter how good your privacy settings are, don't post information on any site, including social networking sites that you don't want other people being able to find out about yourself.
• In general it's a good idea to lock down all your online accounts with strong and unique passwords.  Criminals have recently been targeting people's email and social networking accounts to target their friends, family and business associates with different types of scams.  For example, they pretend to be you and tell everyone you know that you're stuck in a foreign country and you need their help by sending money.

Software: Open Freely (Open Almost Anything)

Do you have a file that you can't open because its in a format that you don't have a program for? Check out a free program called Open Freely that allows you to view over 100 different file formats (e.g. Microsoft Office, media [graphics and movies], compressed files, and more). Open Freely's installation includes the free K-Lite Codec Pack, which contains dozens of CODECs for opening media files and other formats.

Web Sites: Top 10 Under-Hyped Web Apps, 2011 Edition

Excerpt from lifehacker.com: "We all discover new web apps each year but not every one of them gets the recognition it deserves. With 2011 drawing to a close, we wanted to highlight the 10 we felt deserved a bit more hype." (read the rest of the article)

IMHO: Some of these web applications are really cool and worth checking out.

Software: Windows Defender Offline (beta)

Microsoft has publicly released a beta of its Windows Defender offline tool (32-bit and 64-bit versions are available).  This tool allows for the creation of  bootable CDs, DVDs or USB drives that allows you to run Windows Defender. The application is designed to detect and remove bootkit and rootkit malware that can infect the Windows boot process. (Get more information and download the tool)

Software: Macrium Reflect FREE Edition

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition is a Windows XP/Vista/7 disk imaging/cloning backup solution that is free for personal use.  Some of the features of the software include:

• Access images in Windows Explorer
• Schedule backups
• Linux Rescue CD
• Windows PE 3 Rescue Media (RAID support)

Obviously, the paid version of the software offers more features, see the following chart for a comparison.

Web Site: Free Online File Conversion

Do you need to convert a file (e.g. picture, video, music, eBook, archive, document etc.) into a different format?  There is a site called Online-Convert that provides a fast easy way to convert several different file formats, without installing extra software.

Software: Picasa 3.9 now available

Its been awhile since Google has updated Picasa, their free photo-editing application. They added sharing directly to Google+, new photo editing effects, and more.

Below is a list of some of the updated features:

• Added ability to upload to Google+: share with circles.
• Social Tagging with Google+.
• New photo editing effects.
• Side by side editing.
• Updated RAW support for newer cameras.
• Improvements to Face Movie maker.
• Improved restoring of virtual albums.

Download Picasa 3.9

Software: Password Management Applications

Do you have several passwords, and you're having a hard time remembering all of them.  Writing them down on a piece of paper is not secure. You could created encrypted document of some type (e.g. text, Word, Excel, etc.) to store them.  There are also several password management applications available for you to download, some are free and others cost money.

Although before you pay for anything or try other programs.  Check out a program called KeePass.  This is a multiple platform, open-source password management application.  There are also 3rd party ports of the application that work on the popular mobile platforms (e.g. iPhone, Android, etc.).

KeyPass will store your passwords in an encrypted file, so even if someone steals it they can't read it unless they know your password.  Check out the web site for more information.

If you want something that offers more features then KeyPass, checkout some commercial password management applications like:

• 1Password
• LastPass

 

Easy Application Installation and Removal

If you just build a new PC, it can be a pain going around the web to re-install all your favorite applications.  If you have an existing PC, and are looking for an easier way to find, download, updated, or uninstall applications.

Below are some tools that can help you with these tasks:

• Allmyapps - An application store for Windows.
• Download the client to your computer, and find new applications and keep them up-to-date.
• Revo Uninstaller - Helps completely uninstall applications.
• A freeware and professional version are available.
• PC Decrapifier - Removes pre-installed software on many new PCs from hardware manufactures.

Windows 7: Manage User Stored Credentials (User Names and Passwords)

When your computer tries to connect to other devices on your local network that requires a username and password.  Windows will attempt to use the currently logged on user credentials to authenticate that connection. If that username and password doesn't work, it will attempt to find one in the stored credentials. If these credentials are not available on the local system, you will be prompted with a username and password dialog box with a check box titled Remember My Password.

If you checked the Remember My Password check box, the information will be saved to the stored credentials area of your user profile. Then, when you connect to the same resource at a future date, Windows will be able to use these credentials to automatically authenticate your connection.

If you wish to view or change any of the user information in the stored credentials, you can do so by accessing the Stored User Names and Passwords tool.

• Open the Run dialog, press the WinKey+R.
• Type "rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr" and press the Enter button.  

Once the dialog is displayed you can change or delete any of the stored credential information.

Optimizing Your Network Connection Speed

The Jason Chronicles reports: "The speed of your network is determined by three key factors, the speed of your equipment, Internet connection, and network configuration. Your network equipment is made up the NIC (e.g. the network port) on the computer, the router/switch, and the cabling you use to hook it together. If you're using wireless, there are different factors for this technology. The Internet connection is only as good as the provider you're using. While your system's network configuration is entirely up to you." (read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Program Access and Computer Defaults

In Windows 7 you can set the program defaults (e.g. browser, email, media player, instant messaging, and Java VM) for the computer (which means this applies to all users), in the Program Access and Computer Defaults control panel.

If you choose the Microsoft Windows option, it will make Microsoft applications the default program that is open for specific file types (e.g. a browser shortcut will cause Internet Explorer to be utilized).  If you choose the Non-Microsoft options, it will hide certain Microsoft applications (e.g. Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, etc).  By selecting the Custom option, you can choose your own default programs.

• From the Start menu, open the Control Panel.
• Under Programs, select Program Defaults
• Open the Program Access and Computer Defaults control panel

Taking Control of your Data on Google

Are you worried that Google knows too much about you?  With the tools below you can take control of your account and data stored in Google's cloud.  For example, you can download your data using Google Takeout, or you can control certain aspects of the data that the company stores about you.

• Google Takeout: Allows you to download a copy of your data stored within different services. 
• Google Dashboard: Shows you what information is stored in your account.
• Privacy Center: In the tools section, there links to different privacy tools available on the site.  There are a variety of links on this page from Google Dashboard to Controlling Your Location in Google Latitude.

10 cool technologies to look for in your next PC

TechRepublic reports: "It’s an exciting time for PC enthusiasts. I can’t remember a period when so many existing technologies were being upgraded to the next generation and new technologies were being introduced. Even non-enthusiasts need to know about the changes that are happening to the desktop PC." (Read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Shrinking a Partition

It use to be if you had a formatted hard drive with existing partitions, and you wanted to add or shrink one of them you needed a special utility called a disk partitioning tools such as Partition Magic.  The Windows 7 Disk Management console has disk partitioning functionality built into it.

Warning: Make a good backup of your drive before proceeding with the instructions below.

• To open the Disk Management console from the Start menu, in the Search field type DISKMGMT.MSC, and press Enter. Press the YES button if prompted by the UAC (User Account Control).
• Right-click a drive that you want to shrink and choose Shrink Volume... from the menu.
• A dialog will display showing you how much space is available you can shrink the drive by. Specify an amount, then press the Shrink button.  
• Right-click the newly available partition and choose New Simple Volume. Follow the steps in the wizard to specify the size and assign a letter to the new drive, and format the new drive.

Firefox ABOUT Pages (Hidden Features)

Notes:

• This article covers a semi-advanced topic, and is not recommended for those that don't understand technical information about applications, network and system information. 

• Use these features at your own risk, some of them are for debug web page or the browser and can intentionally cause the tab or browser to crash.

Want to enable experimental features in Mozilla's Firefox browser, get diagnostic data, or see hidden information and features. Then you want to check out the Firefox's ABOUT pages, to access them in the address bar type "about:about" to see a list of available pages.

• about: - Displays basic information about Firefox
• about:about -  Lists the available “about” pages
• about:addons - Displays information about installed add-ons, extensions, plugins, and themes
• about:buildconfig - List the Firefox source and build information.
• about:cache - Displays information about memory, disk and offline caches
• about:config - Allows the enable or modification of application features.
• about:crashes - Lists crash reports on your local system.
• about:credits - Displays a list of contributors who helped create the Firefox browser.
• about:home - Displays a built-in home page
• about:license - List information about different licenses used by Firefox for different parts of its source code.
• about:logo - Shows the Firefox logo.
• about:memory - Shows the memory allocation for different firefox processes.
• about:mozilla - Displays a passage from The Book of Mozilla
• about:permissions - View or change web site permission (e.g. store password, set cookies, etc.) for different sites
• about:plugins - List technical information about each plug-in installed in browser.
• about:privatebrowsing - If you create a link to this page when clicked it the browser enter into its private browsing mode
• about:rights - Displays a page titled: "About Your Rights" (includes links to licence, privacy policy and service terms)
• about:robots - Displays a page titled: "Welcome Humans!" (displays bulleted items about robots)
• about:sessionrestore - Displays a session restore tab
• about:support - This page contains technical information that might be useful when you're trying to solve a problem
• about:sync-log - Displays the synchronization logs.
• about:sync-tabs - Displays the synchronization tabs from other computers.

Software: BlueStacks Android OS Emulator for Windows

BlueStacks allows you to run Android OS applications on a Windows PC. Video below offers a visual tour of the software.  To get more information or to download the application, check out the following web site.  This application is currently in Alpha as of this writing, so it might not be ready for prime time.

Windows 7: Installing IIS

Internet Information Services (IIS) is Microsoft's web server software can be installed on a Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate edition.

It is not installed by default, so you will have to follow the steps below to enable it.

• Log on to the computer with an account that has Administrators privileges. 
• From the Start menu select the Control Panel, click Programs. 
• Click the link Turn Windows features on or off. 
• Check Internet Information Services. 
• Press the OK button when finished. 

By default it will install a minimal set of features, if you need additional functionality, you'll need to check the appropriate boxes within the Windows Features dialog box (e.g. Web Management tools).

Windows 7: Scheduling Your Computer to Shut Down Automatically

Do you leave your computer on for extended periods of time, and would like it if your computer would automatically shut down at a specific time of day.  Follow the instructions below.

• Click the Start button, in the search box, type "scheduled tasks" then click the item in the search results.
• In the Task Scheduler console, in the Actions pane on the right, click "Create Basic Task ...".
• In the Basic Task Wizard dialog, enter a name for task, such as "Shutdown Computer" and include a optional description such as "Shuts down computer at 12:00 a.m. everyday", press the Next button.
• On the Task Trigger page, select "Daily" and press the Next button.
• On the Daily page, enter a start date and time that you want the task to first begin (e.g. 12/1/11 and 12:00 a.m.) and press the Next button.
• On the Action page, select the "Start a Program" and press the Next button.
• On the Start a Program page, in the Program/script field, type:  %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\SHUTDOWN.EXE
• Press the Next button, review the Summary page and press the Finish button.

Based on the task that was defined above Windows will now automatically shut down at 12:00 a.m. each day. Although before it does the system will display a pop-up notification, "Windows will shut down in less than a minute."

Troubleshooting Sound Problems

Are you having problems with the audio or speakers on your computer? Here are some troubleshooting techniques to help you diagnose most problems. (Read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Disabling System Protection

Sometimes there's a need to turn off the System Restore feature (e.g. such as recovering free space on a drive).  By disabling the System Restore functionality, note it will be permanently deleting all existing restore points from the drive.

Below are the instructions on how to perform this action:

• From the Start menu, select Control Panel
• Select System and Security, and open the System control panel
• In the left pane, click System Protection
• If the UAC is enabled, the administrator credentials will be required.
• Select the drive to disable the System Protection feature.
• Generally feature is enabled on Windows system drive, which in most cases is the C: drive.
• Press the Configure... button, when the System Protection dialog displays, select the Turn off system protection radio button, then press the OK button.
• Press the OK button again to close the last dialog.

Mikko Hypponen: Fighting viruses, defending the net

This video is a great introduction to modern day malware (e.g. viruses, worms, Trojan horses, etc.).



It's been 25 years since the first PC virus (Brain A) hit the net, and what was once an annoyance has become a sophisticated tool for crime and espionage. Computer security expert Mikko Hyppönen tells us how we can stop these new viruses from threatening the internet as we know it.

If you want to know more about how to protect yourself and your family on the Internet from fraud, scams, and malware, check out my book "Avoiding Information Insecurity: Fighting Modern Day Cyber-Threats (2011 Edition)" (ISBN 978-1-4580-2920-1) [For my blog readers I am offering a limited time [October 14, 2011] special deal of 75% off the cover price of the book, use the coupon code TL78X at checkout].

Google Flight Search

Flight search is a feature that helps you explore air travel options for a number of cities, and plan your trip with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The Rasterbator - Make a Poster from any Image

The Rasterbator allows you to creates large posters (up to 20 meters [or 65 feet] in size) from just about any image. All you have to do is upload a picture (from your computer or from a URL), print the resulting multi-page PDF file and assemble the pages into a poster.

The Rasterbate service is available in two versions, online (which requires that you have Adobe Flash Player 7 and PDF viewer) and an off-line downloadable executable. Its pretty easy to use, after you have cropped the image and selected a size, the "rasterbated" image will be sent to you as a PDF file.

HTTPS Everywhere Firefox extension

I am a big believer in all types of encryption, to protect yourself and your data while utilizing the Internet you need to encrypt everything.

Many sites on the web offer encryption over HTTPS, but default to unencrypted HTTP communication when you visit their site. HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox extension from the Electronic Frontier Foundation that forces encrypted  communications with a number of major websites (if this option is available). The HTTPS Everywhere extension works by trying to rewrite all requests on a site to utilize HTTPS.

Note: if the site your visiting is not enable in the extension or site doesn't support HTTPS this browser extension will not work.

Online Monitor Test

Need to test your monitor's image quality, check out the online monitor test at http://tft.vanity.dk.

The monitor tests can be run directly in 3 different modes:

• Ordinary HTML window (press F11 to maximize the image)
• Full screen HTML (opens in 1280x1024 but can be re-sized to fit any resolution)
• Executable full-screen program for any resolution (no installation required)

Hidden Feature: Chrome ABOUT Pages

Notes:

• This article covers a semi-advanced topic, and is not recommended for those that don't understand technical information about applications, network and system information.
• Use these features at your own risk, some of them are for debug web page or the browser and can intentionally cause the tab or browser to crash.

Want to enable experimental features in Google's Chrome browser, get diagnostic data, or see hidden information and features. Then you want to check out the Chrome's ABOUT pages, to access them in the address bar type "about:about" to see a list of available pages.

• about:about: Lists available Chrome About pages.
• about:appcache-internals:  Displays information about the  HTML 5 AppCache manifests.
• about:blank: Displays a blank page.
• about:cache: Displays a list of cached URLs.
• about:crash: Displays a crash page in the active tab.
• about:view-http-cache: Displays a blank page.
• about:credits: Displays credit information about different browser features.
• about:conflicts: Lists all modules loaded into the main process.
• about:dns: Displays browser DNS preresolution information.
• about:flags: Allows the enabling and disabling of experimental features.
• about:flash: Lists information about Flash.
• about:gpu: Displays informaton about the GPU charactoristics.
• about:histograms: Lists histogram about different browser features.
• about:inducebrowsercrashforrealz - Crashes the Google Chrome browser.
• about:kill: Displays a generic error message when a webpage crashes unexpectedly
• about:memory: Displays processor and memory data.
• about:net-internals:  Lists internal network and cache information.
• about:plugins: Displays informaton about the installed plug-ins.
• about:stats: Displays a blank page.
• about:sync-internals: Displays the browser sync information.
• about:tcmalloc: Lists memory and processor information for the browser.
• about:terms: Displays information about Google Chrome Terms of Service.
• about:version: Lists version information for the Chrome browser.

Security: Avoid Cybercriminal Tech Support Scam

Microsoft.com reports: "Cybercriminals don't just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

• Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software. 
• Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

(Finish reading the rest of the article)

Network: Diagnostics and Performance Web Sites

Here are some useful web sites that  may come in handy from time to time to perform some network diagnostics:

• Need a second opinion if a web site is really down?
• http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
• Do you need an easy way to find out your IP address on the Internet?  
• http://www.whatismyip.com/
• Are you having problems watching YouTube videos, you can check the download speed here?
• http://www.youtube.com/my_speed
• Find out how fast your Internet connection really is, or if your ISP is providing the speed you pay for.
• http://speedtest.net/

New Firefox Beta with Enhanced Performance

Below is a excerpt from the Mozilla blog: "The latest Mozilla Firefox Beta is now available for testing on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. This beta includes performance enhancements that improve the browsing experience for users and enable developers to create faster Web apps and websites." (see the article to view the rest of the features or download the application)

Security Tip: HTTPS Everywhere

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has crated a Firefox extension called HTTPS Everywhere. The extension forces major web sites to use HTTPS to encrypt all your traffic if that option is available.

As most people may know, HTTPS is the standard protocol used by all web browsers and servers for sending encrypted data between the client and server.

Many sites offer an HTTPS option but don't enable it by default. If traffic is unencrypted, then anyone, organization, or government can monitor your traffic.

Windows Live Family Safety 2011

With Windows Live Family Safety 2011 you can monitor and control your children's computer and Internet activities. Some of the features of this service include: reports showing what your children are doing, or control access to websites, games, and programs they can access or set times when they can use the computer.

Other features of the program are:

• SafeSearch allows you to locked down search engines, such as Bing, Google, Yahoo! and others.
• Manage your child’s permissions remotely online.
• When installed on multiple PCs in the household, Family Safety enforces the same settings. 
• Block inappropriate content or even limit kids to age-appropriate web sites.
• Limit your children's email and instant messaging access to approved contacts on Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger.

Microsoft Camera Codec Pack

The Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (download) enables the viewing of a variety of device-specific RAW formatted camera files in Window Live Photo Gallery as well as other software that is based on Windows Imaging Codecs (such as the Windows Explorer).

Win7′s no-reformat, nondestructive reinstall

Windows Secrets reports: "Microsoft won’t tell you this, but you can do a fast, nondestructive, in-place, total reinstall of Windows 7 without damaging your user accounts, data, installed programs, or system drivers.

That means you may never have to do a full, from-scratch reinstall again, even when your system is misbehaving so badly that a full reformat-and-reinstall seems the only answer!

As I’m sure you know all too well, from-scratch reinstalls are ordeals. They take hours. And when a reinstall is done, you still have to recreate all your settings, reinstall all your software, and so on. It can take days to fully recover from a total reformat/reinstall."

(read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Location-Aware Printing

Note: this feature is only available for mobile devices, and not on desktop computers.

One of  Windows 7's new feature is it can automatically switch your default printer when you move between networks (for example, when you move your laptop from your home network to your business network).

To configure this feature, follow the instructions below:

• Click the Start menu and in the search field type Devices.
• Click the link for Devices and Printers.
• Select a printer and right-click Manage Default Printers 
• Select Change my default printer when I change networks
• Select a network, select the default printer you want to use when on that network and press the Add button.
• Do the same for each network that you joined your laptop to it.

When you connect to a network, Windows will automatically select the default printer that was specified for it.

Free Online OCR Site

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of converting scanned images of documents into text. In the past OCR programs had to be installed on your computer.

The site www.onlineocr.net allows you to upload scanned documents (including multi-page PDF files), photographs from digital cameras and scanned images (JPG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF) to be converted into text.  This site supports 32 different languages.

The converted documents can be exported in Word, Text, Excel, PDF, and HTML formats.

Video: Creating a Strong Password

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, then how many words is a video worth? Creating a strong password is your best defense for protecting your data on the Internet. As we move more and more data into the so called "Cloud", the keys to your digital kingdom may only be as strong as the password you select to protect it. This video provides one of the best visual explanations of how to create a strong password and why you should do it.

Google Project Emerges as Facebook With More Refined Manners

eWeek.com reports: "After more than a year of denials that any major social network initiative was in the works, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) June 28 unveiled Google , the company's take on social networking. Not to be confused with the existing Google 1 search result and ad-sharing services, Google is intended to alleviate certain pain points that plagued Facebook as its network grew to 700 million-plus users. For example, while Facebook users added friends, family and colleagues to one big connection pool, Google is designed to let users create smaller buckets of contacts that share common interests. Users may create these Circles by dragging and dropping Google Profile pictures of users into separate Circles and sharing information only within those Circles."

(see the slide show)

Its been a few years since I have seen something interesting happen in the Social Networking space. I think Google might have gotten it right this time. If they generate enough buzz and interest with this product it will have a chance to survive.

Hopefully it will have privacy by default, and not require you to jump through several hoops just to lock down your profile.

Resources:

• Google Plus (Web Site)
• Google Blog: Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web

Windows 7: Changing Remote Desktop Listening Port

Note: This is an advanced tip and only applicable to certain situations.

The Remote Desktop by default uses TCP/IP port 3389, some people think that they can increase the security of the RDP protocol by changing it too different location. This is almost as effective as moving a lock on a door and hoping a thief won't be able to find it. This technique would only be effective against someone who knows absolutely nothing about TCP/IP.

If you still want to move the Remote Desktop default TCP/IP port, here is how you do it:

Warning: This tip requires modifying the registry proceed at your own risk.

• Open the Windows Registry Editor, from the Start menu in the search field type REGEDIT.EXE
• In the Windows Registry Editor navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber
• Click the Edit menu and select Modify... or right-click the registry value and select Modify...
• In the properties dialog box, click Decimal, and type in the new port number that you want to use (make sure its not used by another protocol)
• Press the OK button to close the dialog.
• Close the registry editor and reboot the computer.

To access the computer via Remote Desktop over your local network or the Internet, when you enter the machines DNS name or IP address in the Remote Desktop Connection client (under All Programs > Accessories), add a colon and the port number that you used (e.g.: example.com:57619 or 192.168.1.2:57619).

Windows 7: Start Menu Web Searching

Note: This tip only works on Windows 7 Professional and higher.

With the Windows 7 Search box under the Start menu you can search for programs and files, but did you know you can enhance it to also search the web?

Using the Group Policy editor you can enable the Start menu Internet search feature, follow the instructions below:

• In the search field under the Start menu, type GPEDIT.MSC.  This will open the Group Policy Editor.
• In the left pane, under User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates.
• Click Start Menu and Taskbar.
• In the right pane, double click Add Search Internet link to Start Menu.
• Click Enabled and then press OK button.
• Close the Group Policy Editor.

In the Search box under the Start menu when a search term is typed a  link will be displayed that says Search the Internet.

Firefox 5 Browser Launches, Boasting Tweaks, Security, Privacy

eWeek.com reports: "Mozilla's new Firefox 5.0 for PCs and Firefox for Android aim to offer users a best-of-class combination of security, privacy and speed. Coming a mere three months after the release of Firefox 4, this latest browser supposedly includes more than 1,000 improvements and performance enhancements. However, features like 'Do Not Track' may do more to draw users increasingly leery of the Web's rampant data mining. For most consumers, downloading and installing Firefox 5 will only take a few minutes, although larger companies still deploying Firefox 4 could become annoyed at having to switch so soon. Despite those hundreds of improvements, Firefox 5 doesn't seem to offer a radically different experience from its predecessor."

Read the rest of the article and view the slide show.