Contributed by Faisal Shahzad

How To Speed Up Your Windows XP By Disabling File Indexing:

File indexing is a Windows service like many others is totally useless – unless you search alot on your computer. As most users don’t, it’s a good idea to disable it to speed up actions like opening and closing files and folders on your Windows XP.

In order to disable the Indexing Service:

Go to “My Computer” and right click on your hard drive. At the bottom of the window that opens, you should see a check box titled “Allow Indexing Service to index the disk for fast file searching.”

Protect your Media identity:

Like many other audio players, Windows Media Player rushes out to the Internet to find information for you when you play a CD. Some of this information, such as song titles and album art, is useful, but Media Player also identifies your copy of Media Player to the site where it’s receiving data. Why? According to the help file, “The server uses this unique identifier to monitor your connection. By monitoring your it, the server can make adjustments to increase the playback quality and to alert you about events that occur when receiving streams over the Internet.”
If you’re disturbed by this exchange of information, here’s how to cease it.

In Windows Media Player, click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab. Notice the option that says “Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?” Turn it off.

Enable Clear Type:

When you use the windows, sometimes there are fonts and colors are not sharp and blurry and irritating, so this trick helps.

Easy way- Click on or cut and paste link below:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/cleartypeactivate.htm?fname=%20&fsize=

or

• Right click on a blank area of the Desktop and choose Properties
• Click on the Appearance Tab; Click effects
• Check the box: Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts
• In the drop down box select: Clear Type

Turn of CD Auto Play:

• Open My Computer
• Right click on your CD ROM and choose Properties
• Click on the Auto Play tab
• In the drop down box you can choose the Action for each choice shown in the drop down box

Or

1. Go to Start->Run->gpedit.msc
2. Computer Config -> Administrative Template -> System
3. Double click Turn off Autoplay
4. Enable it.

Increase BROADBAND:

This is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for dial up.

1. Make sure your logged on as actually “Administrator”. Do not log on with any account that just has administrator privileges.
2. Start – run – type gpedit.msc
3. Expand the “local computer policy” branch
4. Expand the “administrative templates” branch
5. Expand the “network branch”
6. Highlight the “QoS Packet Scheduler” in left window
7. In right window double click the “limit reservable bandwidth” setting
8. On setting tab check the “enabled” item
9. Where it says “Bandwidth limit %” change it to read 0

In some system immediate effect is earned while some require to re-boot. This is more of a “counter what XP does” thing. In other words, programs can request up to 20% of the bandwidth be reserved for them, even with QoS disabled, this is no big deal and most programs do not request it. So, although QOS has caused a big stink because people think it reserves 20% of their bandwidth, you can still disable it, just to be sure, hehe.

Do Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs:

Tired of that annoying little window that pops up to tell you that new software is installed? If it gets in the way when you are logging off, turn it off completely.

• To do this Click Start, right-click at the top of the Start menu where your name is displayed, and then click Properties.
• In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, on the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
• Click the Advanced tab, and then clear the Highlight newly installed programs check box.
• Click OK, and then click OK again.

Now that message won’t be popping up when you least want to see it.

Speed up the Start Menu:

You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP release candidate 1. You can customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
3. Expand the menu in the left panel and select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder.
4. Scroll down in the right panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file.
5. In the Value Data box, change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number, such as 1.
6. Click OK.

Caution: Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on your computer.

Show yourself or don’t Show yourself:

Only the Administrator can set up new user accounts (go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Create A New Account). You can select a picture to identify the account. When you’re logged on to the system under your username, this picture, along with your username, peeks out at you from the top of the Start menu. There are a slew of 48×48-pixel bitmap images to choose from within XP. They’re housed in D:\Documents And Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures. But why limit yourself? You can also copy any graphic you want into this folder or browse for another from your hard drive. Usable file types are BMP, GIF, JPEG, or PNG. However, always use a square picture, to limit the white space on the side. Your image can be any size but will be displayed as 48×48-pixel image, so a close-up works best.

Hide yourself:

Once you’ve created a user account, password-protect it to keep other users from viewing your files, Favorites, and cookies. Why? You may not want your child to see the note that you’re sending to his or her teacher, or you may be planning someone’s surprise party. (Note: Anyone with an Administrator account can still see them.)

Worried about remembering your password? Create a hint to help you when you initially create it by following the prompts during setup. XP stores the password hints in the Registry at Hkey_local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Hints.

What if the hint doesn’t help? Any user or Administrator can create a password reset disk, which you can use to log on and create a new password. Go to Control Panel > User Accounts and select “Prevent a forgotten password” in the Related Tasks box on the left. Follow the wizard’s instructions. After creating the disk, find a safe place for it. Don’t forget the password or where you put the disk. Someone else could use it to change your password without you knowing it.

NOTE: It is somewhat risky to touch the registry entries, but also these tricks make the system fast and more efficient. : )

About The Author:

Faisal Shahzad is currently working as a Software Engineer and maintains a blog at  www.faisalshahzad.com

“We want you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home, staying connected all the way.”- said Mark Shuttleworth.

While we have been oscillating between different versions of Windows from more than a decade, Linux-based operating system Ubuntu is also moving forward with large gigantic steps and is continuously releasing its new free and latest versions. Last year Ubuntu introduced its Muslim version named as Ubuntu ME. Ubuntu Muslim Edition 8.10 is based on Intrepid Ibex, also known as the Ubuntu 8.10 operating system.

Ubuntu Muslim Edition 8.10 is available only as an installable DVD image, and has the following changes since version 8.04:

· In the multimedia section the UbuntuME team added libraries for reading DVDs, Adobe’s Flash player, the beloved VLC player and a lot of audio/video codecs;

· In the education section they added the Kturtle, TuxMath, GCompris, TuxPaint, Stellarium and Celestia applications;

· The language-pack-ar, aspell-ar, acon and bicon packages were added for better Arabic support;

· Other new tools and utilities: Inkscape, VirtualBox, Adobe Reader, Skype, Ubuntu Tweak, EnvyNG, Scribus, compizconfig-settings-manager, nautilus-open-terminal, Glipper applet, galternatives, Startup Manager, Pessulus and many more.

The Quran recitations included in this release are provided by www.versebyversequran.com. They are: Muhammad Siddeeq al-Minshawi (16kbps, 193 MB), Sa’ad al-Ghamadi (40 kbps, 433 MB), Mishary Rashed Alafasy (40 kbps, 508 MB) and Huzify (24 kbps, 322 MB).

What makes Ubuntu Muslim Edition special? Well, it comes customized with Islamic software, like prayer times, or Arabic learning software. This special edition of Ubuntu Linux also features GUI improvements, a customized splash screen, GDM login, a wallpaper, and comes with Firefox bookmarks for the Islamic community. Highlights of Ubuntu Muslim Edition include:

· WebStrict, a parental control utility enabled by default for a safe Internet browsing session;

· Zekr 0.7.0, an application to help you study the Quran. It is installed and set-up to play Quran recitations;

· Mozilla Firefox browser comes packed with the Minbar and Firefox “Pray Times” add-ons;

· Monajat, software that displays Islamic prayers;

· Thwab, an encyclopedia software;

· Custom artwork for the boot splash, login screen, desktop wallpapers and GNOME theme.

So! what exactly are you waiting for, Ubuntu is waiting to be installed on your PC.

Microsoft will be launching Windows Mobile 6.5 in this October on the 6th. Then onwards, Windows Mobile 6.5 will hit the retail stores worldwide. Because this time Microsoft has planned to surprise its users by providing them improved and advanced browsing capabilities with additional access to valuable services, including Windows Marketplace for Mobile and My Phone services. Windows Mobile 6.5 is said to have a redesigned Internet Explorer Mobile browser, built-in Adobe Flash Lite support for better rendering and completion of tasks.

Its “heavily retooled user interface”, emphasizes touch interactions. The start menu will take you directly to honeymoon pattern of icons which will enable the users to easily launch programs and move directly to their desired destination. Thus the users can enter voice mails, e-mails, and missed calls directly from the lock screen. With an updated version of Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Mobile 6.5 enables its users play Flash videos from YouTube or Hulu.

Microsoft stated: “With the new version, users can change the look and feel of their phones with designer themes or a personal background and customize their home screen with widgets so the information they need is always easy to find.”

Todd Peters, corporate vice president of the mobile communications marketing group at Microsoft, said: “A Windows phone gives people a single phone that works for their whole life, keeping them connected to the people and information they care most about by harnessing the power of the PC, phone and Web.”

With the launch of its store Microsoft will stand face to face in competition with its competitors Apple, Nokia, RIM, Google, and Palm, who have already launched their centralized mobile application stores .

The store will enable its users to back up and sync their contacts, photos, videos, calendars, and text messages over the air. The service is somewhat similar to Apple’s MobileMe, and Microsoft has also  announced that is easier for users to switch devices, or replace a lost smartphone.

Microsoft has now decided to change the way we make use of Internet. Today, we are waiting for the time when everyone will be using their mobile instead of their PCs to perform tasks. Now we are waiting for its launch and reaction of users worldwide.

]]> http://www.codeweek.pk/2009/09/microsoft-windows-mobile-6-5-launches-this-october/feed/ 1 http://www.codeweek.pk/2009/09/chromeplus-advanced-chrome-users/ http://www.codeweek.pk/2009/09/chromeplus-advanced-chrome-users/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:56:34 +0000 Admin http://www.codeweek.pk/?p=785

Contributed by Rafaeel Akbar Chaudhry

Google Chrome has become one of the robust browsers out there in a short span of time. Google Chrome has been applauded for its clean user interface, speed, and features. Though it is claimed to be one of the fastest web browser available, but it is still in beta and lots of features are missing. Users who are not satisfied with the Google Chrome browser features have an advanced version of Google Chrome named ChromePlus to play with.

ChromePlus is a browser build on Chromium with all the features of Google Chrome and aims to provide the most easy-to-use browser based on Chrome. ChromePlus is produced by Maple Studio. Along with all the features that Google Chrome browser sports, ChromePlus comes with some added features such as mouse gesture, super drag, IE tab, context menu download support, etc.

Key features of Google ChromePlus:

ü  Double click tab to close page

You don’t need to locate and click the small “X” button on the tab to close it. In ChromePlus, you just double click the tab area and the page will be closed for you easily.

ü  Super drag

Drag a link in the page with your left button and drop it somewhere else in the page. This can create a new page (tab) to open the link; Dragging and dropping a block of text in the page will create a page and search the text with your default search engine.

ü  Mouse gesture

Mouse gesture is the arrow trace on the page while you hold on the right button of your mouse. In ChromePlus, you can make efficient commands with easy mouse gestures. Practiced mouse gestures can save you quite a lot of time and make you feel more fun.

ü  IE tab

Some web pages uses IE controls and thus can only run in IE currently. IE tab is designed to visit these pages. Just pay attention to the icon in the right of location bar.

ü  Download Tools Support

Download Tools Support – if you have installed NetAnts, Orbit, IS, FlashGet3, FlashGetMini, NetX, WebThunder, or Xunlei, you can simply choose any of them to download a particular file. Right-click on the download link to see the supported tools.

Most of the ChromePlus features are available in some form or another within other browsers. The IE Tab functionality is also available in Firefox which renders an Internet Explorer window inside your browser to give you access to those IE optimized sites without leaving your preferred browser. It’s not all that much considering all the potential you get from full-on add-ons (which are already beginning to find their way to Chrome, but it’s a decent feature boost if you’ve been wanting any of those particular tools added to Chrome.

ChromePlus is freeware and currently works on Windows only. It can be downloaded from http://www.chromeplus.org . However, users of 64 bit machines have reported problems on installing it on their Windows 7.

About the Author:

Rafaeel Akbar Chaudhry is a telecom engineer by degree. He’s a serial entrepreneur, a social media analyst, a pastime blogger and an IT consultant. He’s also currently chairing the Lahore chapter of IEEE Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) and has won IEEE Region 10 Leadership Award during his student life.