Computer Hibernation: Should we use it or not?

Lot of people have doubts in their mind about computer Hibernation and are unwilling to use this feature, lets see this in detail and come to conclusion whether we should use it or not.

What is Computer Hibernation?

The Hibernate function in Windows allows us to quickly turn off the computer thereby saving battery in case of Laptops and Power in case of Desktops.

While in normal Shut down Windows first closes all the applications and programs that are running and then turn off the system but in Hibernation mode, Windows just saves the state of the programs that are running on to the Hard Disks which makes the system to go off quickly.

When you restart the computer, all the settings and memory contents are restored to their original state and this process is again very quick.

Things to look out for:

• You have allotted enough disk space so that the system is able to save your data. Microsoft recommends the size of Virtual memory to be 1.5-2 times of the size of RAM.

• You have good RAM to resume Windows from the saved state.

Should you use it?

Yes you should use Hibernation to save your state on to the Disk and to save power but personally I feel that Hibernation is good if done for short period and not for some 6-7 hours. There is nothing like Shutdown when it comes to turning off the computer for long hours.

Boot Windows Directly in Safe Mode without F8 Key

If you happen to boot into Safe Mode or if your F8 key is not working then this is how you can make Windows to boot directly into the Safe Mode without the need to press the F8 key.

Safe Mode is a great feature in Windows using which we can solve most of the problems but in case you wish to boot into it many times then here are the steps for it.

Steps:

1. Type msconfig in the Run box to open the System Configuration Utility box.
2. Move to BOOT.INI tab

3. Now under the section of Boot Options, check the option of /SAFEBOOT

4. You will be asked to restart the computer following which you will land directly into the Safe Mode.

Note: This thing can also be achieved by manually editing the Boot.ini file but this way is much easier.

To disable this feature

Boot into the Safe Mode and just turn the option off using the same procedure used above.

Free Tools to Read Data from Damaged CD

This is a usual case with all of us, and almost all of us have damaged CDs but with important data that we don’t want to miss.

If this is the case with you then you can try the following free software that can read or recover the data from the damaged and corrupted CDs.

Tools:

This is one of the free tools that can recover the important files for you. The tool is seriously capable of doing this thing and in my view it is worth the try.
The tool can recover the corrupted data from the damaged CDs.
You may share your views after you have tried the above tools.

Scale and Increase Size of Image without Blurring

If you wish to scale and increase the size of any image but do not wish to compromise on the quality then there is a solution for sure.

Usually what happens is that when you scale your image you tend to lose pixels and quality but the solution to this thing is provided by the another type of images called Vector Images. There are two type of images, one that are formed from pixels and second formd from vectors.

While pixel images loses quality when scaled, vector images are effectless. So what you need is either an offline client that can convert your bitmap images to vector images or this website called Vector Magic that can convert your images for you.

Try it for yourself and i am sure you will like it too. Forget about losing quality while scaling images.

Steps to Safely Remove USB Drive when Icon is missing

I came across many computers in which after connecting the pen drive I found that there was no safely remove icon and thus I came across no option to safely remove my drive.

Although the USB drive does not require safely removal but it is always better to use this option. So if it is also the case with your system then here are the steps to remove the drive even if the safely remove icon is missing.
Steps:

1. Even if there is no icon then you can still access the Safely Remove Hardware dialog box by typing the following command in the Run box.

rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

Now you can easily stop the device and pull it out.

2. The other way to eject the drive is to use a tool called USB Disk Ejector.

The tool is able to eject any USB device easily and in a click.

Computational Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering

Computational Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering

Clean your Keyboard

So when was the last time you cleaned up your Keyboard? Due to constant use of the computer over the time your keyboard tends to get dirty with lots of smoke and dust around there.

Astonishingly, the keyboard can get so much dirty that it is believed your toilet seat is cleaner than it. So in this Tip of the Week, let us learn how to clean your keyboard in a fast and easy way.

Steps:

1. Switch off your computer.
2. Turn your keyboard upside down and shake it a little to remove all the small particles stuck in between.

3. Use your Vacuum Cleaner to take out all the dust from the keyboard.

4. Next, either use a cotton bud or a moist soft cloth to wipe the spacing between the keys (Do not use any liquid cleaning material and ensure that the cloth is not too wet).

5. Now you can use a dry cloth or a paper to wipe off all the traces of water.

You would have a nice and clean keyboard with you.

Lower Process Priority Automatically during CPU High Usage

There are occasions when the CPU uses many resources and consumes 100 percent memory like when converting a movie from one format to another.

This makes the system slow and takes lot of time to complete a task. We can, however, set the priority of the task to normal or even below that but the problem is when the system is slow it will take longer to open the Task Manager also.

Thus the solution is a tool called ProcessTamer that being a free utility monitor our CPU usage and decreases the priority of a process that is consuming most of the memory and that too automatically.

It even alerts the user about which process it is lowering the priority and for what reason. However, you can also make certain process to not to change its priority through this tool.

Password Protect your Computer Games

If you are a gaming freak having loads of computer games installed in your system then you would surely love this tip.

Sharing your games with someone else may not interest you, as you may like games that somebody else may not. But if you wish to protect your games installed on your machine with a password then you could do that with Game Protector.

Game Protector protects any games with a password and when any user tries to open game it prompts for a password, so that only you can launch it. It also prevents unauthorized access to the executable game files.
This is for all those who wish to protect the personal games from anyone.

Break or Reset Administrator password in XP

So if you have forgotten the password of your admin account in Windows XP or just want to break in the Admin account of your college or office, do not worry, you can easily do that. However, I recommend this trick only for your personal use. There are numerous ways available to do so but the best possible way is to use EBCD (Emergency Boot CD), download from here.

Procedure:

1. After you have downloaded the EBCD, extract and run “makeebcd.exe” to create an iso image for burning on the disk.

2. Set Bios to boot from the CD Drive and insert the CD created in above step. You will see the following image, type 5 to select NT password for editor (Linux-based).

3. Then press Enter in the next step to proceed.

4. Press Enter again if you don’t keep Windows on SCSI drive.

5. Select which drive contains your installation files or just press Enter to accept the default value given in the bracket. If your installation is in C: drive just press Enter.

6. Press Enter in the next step to accept default values.

7. Press Enter again.

8. To enter password, press Enter to select the default option.

9. Select the username. To enter password for Administrator just press Enter.

10. To change the password just leave it blank and change it later after login (modifying password at this step will not work).

11. Press Enter to confirm.

12. Type ‘!’ and press Enter in the next step.

13. Type ‘q’ to quit.

14. Type ‘Y’ to write the SAM files.

Congratulations the password has been reset. So just login with no password and enter yours.

Enable the Registry Editor, Task Manager and Folder Options Disabled by Virus

Virus attack is common these days and we often come across the problems like Disabled Folder Options or like Task Manager and Regedit disabled by Administrator. These problems are nothing but virus activities. The virus has infected our system and stopping us from accessing these options.

Pressing keys Ctrl+Alt+Del opens up a dialog saying that “Task Manager has been disabled by your Administrator” whereas you are the Administrator yourself. It becomes very annoying when you think that you can fix this problem by going into the Registry Editor but it doesn’t show up. Even the Folder Options gets disabled.

This problem is generally caused by a virus named “Brontok” but don’t worry just use RRT (Remove Restrictions Tool) that can easily solve this problem. RRT is free and can successfully enable:

1. Folder Options

2. Regedit (Registry Editor)

3. Task Manager

4. Show Hidden Files option

The tool will come more useful if you use it in Safe Mode.

Download RRT

Update:

If you still can’t restore then use this script developed by me that may solve your issue. It can restore Task Manager, Folder Options, Registry Editor and the changing value of Show hidden files and folders option all at once.

Just download this script which i call “restore_all” and extract. Double click on it to add to your registry. Reboot may be required.

Double Click on Drive does not open

We all have experienced someday or the other, this problem of Windows XP in which when we double click on the drive it does not open or some dialog box opens up but not the drive. Yes, you know it right; the problem is caused by some virus activity and if you don’t know

how to open this, here is the fix (just make sure that the virus has been removed, else the problem will persist):

When the problem happens, it means that there is a file named “Autorun.inf” in the root drive, but you will not be able to view it as it is a system file. This file is rarely caught by the anti virus. This file makes sure to run the virus and infect your system. This is the file which is responsible to run the dialog box that appears on autoplay. So this is a useless file for sure.

Common sense says to delete this file but even that is not easy as it possesses system, hidden and read only attributes. So,

1. First go to cmd, type “attrib X:\Autorun.inf –s –r –h” without quotes where X is your drive name which is having the problem.

2. Now the file is visible and ready to delete.

3. After deleting the file, close the explorer and open it again or just give a reboot to the computer, your problem is fixed.

2 Free Windows Run Replacement Tools

It is a common sight now a days when one of the viruses have disabled our various Windows services like Task Manager and Run but here is a list of 2 free Replacement tools of Run (Windows key + R) which can be executed in place of the Run dialog.

Tools:

1. The name of the tool is none other than Run itself and needs no installation. Just download it and execute it to run the commands in it.

Download 1

2. RunMimic

This is a great tool to run the commands just like the Windows default run dialog.

Download 2

Note: Using these tools at places like schools or colleges, where these are blocked intentionally, can be risky.

2 Simple Ways to Repeat or Loop Youtube Videos

Youtube is a great site to watch videos either for entertainment or for learning, whatever be the case we like watching good videos again and again, don’t we?

But forget using the mouse for watching the videos again and again that is in a loop, you can make the Youtube video to run in a looping fashion that is repeat again and that too very easily.

Method 1:

The first method is quite simple and just requires little bit of URL tweak. For example, you are watching the video with the URL as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceSxEjwXHcM then what you need to do is just append the URL with parameters loop=1 and autoplay=1 at the end and also remove watch? and replacing v= with v/

The final URL would look like http://www.youtube.com/v/ceSxEjwXHcM&loop=1&autoplay=1
The video would play in a looping manner.

Method 2:

This one is bit simpler and requires just typing of a word repeat before the .com that means the URL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceSxEjwXHcM would look like http://www.youtuberepeat.com/watch?v=ceSxEjwXHcMM

Free Regedit Replacement Tool – RegAlyzer

The first thing that a virus does in an infected system is disabling the registry editor that is regedit.exe. However the same may be done by the system administrator for preventing some action by the users.

So if it is the same case with you then you can try a replacement tool for regedit that is use another tool that can provide you with the same functionality as with regedit.

The tool is called RegAlyzer and can be used in any scenario whether the regedit is disabled or not.
The tool does not require any installation and can be executed like an application. Isn’t the tool cool?

Backup or Restore iPhone SMS, Notes, Calendar and Mail Manually

It is always a better idea to manually restore the data in the iPhone during major firmware upgrade (like moving from 2.2 to 3.0) and not restoring it from the backup made in the iTunes. So if you cannot restore the backup from iTunes then will you lose all your data? No as you can manually restore all your data in the iPhone.

Using the same method I was able to restore all my old and saved SMS, Notes, Calendars and Mail Accounts in the new upgraded firmware. What we need is the location where iPhone stores these SMS, Notes etc and an iPhone file explorer.
To backup all your data just follow the following steps

Steps:

1. Either download the latest iPhone Browser or SSh into the iPhone via WiFi.

2. Now we need to copy the .db (Database) or plist files of the SMS, Notes etc and save with ourselves.

3. These are the locations where the iPhone saves these databases

SMS: /Var/Mobile/Library/SMS

Mail: /Var/Mobile/Library/Mail

Calendar: /Var/Mobile/Library/Calendar

Call History: /Var/Mobile/Library/CallHistory

Notes: /Var/Mobile/Library/Notes

Safari: /Var/Mobile/Library/Safari

4. So after you have saved the DB and plist files, just copy them back to the same location after the upgrade.

Your data will be restored back to the iPhone.

MMS Option Missing in iPhone 3G 3.0

One of the major improvements in the iPhone 3.0 Firmware is the launch of the MMS Service. Though iPhone 2G users would not be able to use this but iPhone 3G and 3GS users can use this facility on their phones.

I recently upgraded my iPhone 3G firmware to the latest 3.0 version but I was disappointed to see that the MMS feature was missing from my handset. I did see the Messages settings but the above screen was missing.
I recalled that this feature is available to my phone and also my country (India) so there must be something that I forgot to do.

The MMS feature would be available on the SMS and Photo wizard as shown in the following screenshots.

Steps to fix the problem:

1. So this was how I solved my problem

First make sure that your carrier supports the MMS feature, visit this link

2. Now reconnect the phone to the iTunes. A notification will pop up which want you to update your Carrier Settings. This is important since your carrier has updated its settings with the launch of MMS.

3. Reboot the iPhone.

Moving Icons Between Pages Easier in iPhone 3.0

Moving the application icons from one page to another in iPhone/iPod was bit tedious earlier as we used to drag and drop the icon on every page before moving on to the next page.

This was very time consuming but with the launch of the new firmware update 3.0 Apple seemed to have made this thing easier and more interesting.

In earlier versions moving any icon consumed the space of the page through which we used to pass but in the latest software update 3.0, we can just hold the icon and drop it to the page directly where we want to place it without consuming any space on the intermediate pages.

There is no need to drop the icon before going to the next page as the next page will automatically appear when we will keep on holding the icon to the edge of the screen.

Give it a try, it will surely impress you.

Cydia Crashing on iPhone 3G 3.0 Firmware Solved

It has been quite some time since the release of the jailbreak for the latest firmware version 3.0 for the iPhone. I upgraded my iPhone 3G after some time after the release and had it Jailbreak with the Windows version of the latest Redsn0w released by the official iPhone dev team.

The update and jailbreak process was quite easy but I soon came across the problem of Cydia that kept crashing whenever I tried to run it. It just showed “Unable to Load” at the Cydia home screen and crashes after that.
This was like a big problem to me as I was unable to install any app and also couldn’t install Installous (that means the Jailbreak was of no use). But after some research I found that Cydia worked perfectly for my friends who jailbreak it with the earlier version of Redsn0w.

This is how I fixed my Cydia crashing problem.

Steps:

1. Since the Cydia was crashing after I Jailbreak it with Redsn0w 0.72 version, I had to re-update my iPhone to the 3.0 original firmware using iTunes.

2. So after you have re-upgraded your iPhone to 3.0, try this older version of Redsn0w 0.7 or Redsn0w 0.71

3. I had a re-jailbreak using that old version and the Cydia was perfectly working for me again.

Note: Cydia still crashed for me without any Internet Connection but it worked absolutely fine with it.

Although I need Internet for Cydia but I am glad that it has started working again. If you know other solutions for this problem then do share it below.

Download Redsn0w 0.7.1 for Windows

Links: Download-1 Download-2

Setup iTunes Music Library when Formatting Computer

If you are thinking to format your computer but are worried about the songs stored in the iTunes library, then do look at this post first.

The process below will guide you when you wish to format your computer but if you want to move your library to a new computer then read this post.

Steps:

1. Since we are formatting only the root drive usually C: restoring the library is quite easy.

2. Assuming that your songs are stored in other drive than C: and are unmoved during the process, the library can be restored easily.

3. Open iTunes, click on Music tab on left and then go to File-> Library-> Export Playlist.

4. It will save all your songs and the details associated with them in a text file.

5. After formatting the computer, just click on Import Playlist to import this file back and this will restore all the songs back in your iTunes library.

NOTE: For restoration to be possible it is important that you do not move any song from its location else it will not be restored back. That means if your songs are saved in a folder then they should be present in the same folder after the format.

iTunes Registry Settings Warning Solved

Recently, I did a complete computer format and installed iTunes after that but now I see this error message whenever I run iTunes

I did a clean install of this software but didn’t know why this message comes up every time. The error message related to some missing registry settings related to some iTunes drivers though clicking on OK, run the iTunes absolutely fine afterwards.
This is how I fixed my problem.

Steps:

1. iTunes had been using GEAR software drivers for the added functionality of burning CD/DVD.

2. These drivers enable us to burn CD/DVD right from iTunes interface.

3. So we just need to install these again, use the link below.

4. Reboot may be required

Change iPhone Carrier Logo Easily

Want to change your default boring carrier name to a good looking carrier logo on your iPhone? The article will describe how you can do this easily.

After you have finished reading this article you will know how you can change your carrier logo (this one is specifically for the Vodafone users) or write anything like your name in place of the carrier name.

Requirements:

• Carrier logo downloaded from the link given at the bottom.

• USB wire.
• iPhoneBrowser or Disk Aid

• Jailbroken iPhone (for writing name in place of carrier name)

Steps:

1. Connect your iPhone to the computer via the USB cable

2. Run iPhoneBrowser or DiskAid and navigate to the folder user/library/carrier bundle.bundle

3. Delete or back up the older logos and transfer the new one.

4. Restart/Respring the iPhone.

To write anything in place of the Carrier name:

1. You need to jailbreak as we require Cydia for this purpose.

2. Run Cydia and search for the app “MakeItMine” by Erica Sadun.

3. Using this app you can write anything like your name in place of the Carrier name.

Steps to Protect Your Computer against Hackers

This is a world full of malicious programmers and hackers who tend to break into our system and steal our data and accounts.

Well protection against them is not that difficult and you could stay safe by following some of the following tips.

Steps:

1. Updates

Make sure that you always install your security updates to make Windows safer and also the Software Updates so as to remove all the vulnerabilities from the old versions of the software.

2. Firewall

Ensure that your Firewall is ON by default as this will stop most of the intruders. You may also wish to have a look at the Zone Alarm which provides us with good firewall software.

3. Anti Virus

To remove all the malicious entries from the system.

4. Password sharing

Never share your personal information and passwords with anyone.

5. Cookies

Always make sure that you clean up your Internet Cookies and other temporary files when finished with browsing.

6. To gain access to private sites ensure proper isolation.

7. Also ensure to change your password frequently.

May be you can think of more points, if yes then do share it here.

How to Check Memory Used by Web Pages

There are lots of web browsers in the world like Firefox, Chrome and IE and each of them consumes different memory for opening the same web page.

Firefox is a heavy web browser that takes lot of memory to open a page but the add-ons it support really make it worthwhile. But if you wish to know how much memory is consumed in opening a web page then what you need is Google Chrome.

Chrome has a built in Task Manager that can show you how much memory is being consumed in opening a web page. All you need to do is access the Task Manager either by

right clicking on the chrome on taskbar or by pressing Shift + Esc when Chrome is maximized.

A window like the one above will open that will show you the memory requirements by the browser however if you want to see more details then click the link “Stats for nerds”.

If you know any other method then share it here.

Compress and Reduce Image Size without Losing Quality

We love taking photographs, don’t we and the size of the pics comes up to be huge. Also there are occasions when we wish to send the images to our relatives or friends but can not because of the size limitation of the images.

Saving the images as jpg is not a solution either as this, no doubt decreases the size but decreases the image quality as well.

The solution to this problem is provided by a tool called FILEminimizer which is a great tool to reduce the size of the image by compressing and that too without compromising on the quality of the image.

Amazingly, the tool was found to compress the image by more than 50% in most of the cases which is extremely useful in many cases.

The only limitation being that the tool is a shareware that is not free and can be used for limited time.

Download

Process Information: What is winlogon.exe?

Winlogon.exe is the common process running in almost every machine running Windows. So here are the details on this process.

What is winlogon.exe and why is it running?

As suggested by the name of the process, this is a process that is related to the Windows Login Manager. Winlogon.exe handles all the login and logout procedures on the system. Being the part of the Windows Login subsystem, it is executed in the background and is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32.

The process is running because it is necessary for user authorization and checks the Windows XP activation code. The process is required for the proper running of the system and therefore should not be terminated.

However, there is also a virus registered as the same name as this winlogon.exe.

Process Information: What is csrss.exe?

If you have been wondering what process csrss.exe is and why it is running, then here are the details.

Csrss.exe is a process used by the Microsoft Client Server Runtime Server Subsystem and hence is the process name csrss.exe. The process is used for managing the majority of the graphical instruction.

Why is it necessary?

Csrss.exe is necessary for the proper functioning of the Windows and its termination can result in Blue Screen of Death. On the other hand in notebooks and laptops, the process csrss.exe handles the power management schemes.

Additional Info

Csrss.exe is also registered as a Trojan and if your system has more than one occurrence of the process, then this process should be treated as suspicious.

If Csrss.exe uses 100% of the CPU When you Right-Click an item in Windows Explorer or on the desktop then it is sure that your user profile is corrupt.

Process Information: What is ctfmon.exe?

If you run windows then you must have seen this process running in the background. This is a very common process and appears each time you try to remove from the startup list.

Ctfmon.exe is a common and useful process related to the Microsoft Office Suite. It does the important work of controlling the Alternative User Input and the Microsoft Office XP Language Bar. It comes handy when we try to control the computer through speech or when using the onscreen keyboard.
The process is important to the people using these features but others can consider disabling ctfmon.exe.

Steps to disable ctfmon.exe

In Windows

• Go to Control Panel and choose Regional and Language Options.

• Click on Details under text service and input language section.

• Go to Advanced tab and Click the box that reads “Turn off advanced text services”.

You may also need to remove some additional features like this one shown below.

Remove from Startup

• Type msconfig in the Run box and just uncheck the ctfmon option from the startup tab.

• Reboot the computer.

The process would have been disabled now.

What is Jqs.exe and How to disable it?

For all you people wondering what this process Jqs.exe is and what it is doing in our system, here are the required details.

What is Jqs.exe?

When you open the Task Manager you may note that a process named Jqs.exe is running in the background. It consumes a small part of the memory but surely a useful one. It consumes around 1.5 Megabytes of computer memory and 2 Megabytes of virtual memory.

Jqs is short for Java Quick Starter and belongs to Java. The process is required to improve the startup time of Java applets and applications by pre-fetching Java Runtime Environment files frequently into memory.

Steps to disable it

Surely the process is useless for someone who does not deal that frequently with Java applets and thus should disable it.

• To disable just visit the Control Panel and open the Java entry.

• Now go to Advanced tab and look for the Miscellaneous entry below.

• Make sure to uncheck the activated Java Quick Starter entry.

That’s it the process has been disabled and removed.