Tech Articles, News & Tips

Find out Nokia Mobile model

2011-10-01T11:44:00.002+05:30

Dial *#0000# to know Nokia handset model number.

Back up Gmail Account

2011-03-04T00:27:00.001+05:30

Take a Screenshot on Nokia E71

2011-03-02T10:00:00.016+05:30

Best Screen Snap allows you to take screenshot on phone.

Click here to download the application for free from ovi store.

You can assign shortcut key to take the screenshot. The application needs to be running in background for shortcut key to work.

You can specify the image type and the location (phone memory / memory card) where the image will be saved.

You can also send the screenshot.
Select 'Action' and choose 'Send'

Now when you take screenshot, you will get the following options to send the image. Choose the appropriate option.

let me google that for you

2011-02-24T13:16:00.002+05:30

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=lazy

Repeat single song in Windows Media Player

2011-01-24T08:37:00.003+05:30

In Windows Media Player
Click 'Play' menu and click 'Repeat' option.

Online Map Resources

2011-01-16T04:02:00.002+05:30

Ovi Maps
Google Maps
MapmyIndia Maps
Yahoo Maps
Bing Maps
NAVTEQ Maps

Task Manager in Nokia E71

2010-08-12T07:54:00.006+05:30

Hold down the Menu key for few seconds and list of all running applications will be displayed on left hand side.

To close an application
Select the application in the list, press the delete button and application will close.

Google Public DNS

2009-12-30T05:56:00.000+05:30

The Google Public DNS IP addresses are as follows:
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

Read More...

HFS HTTP File Server

2009-06-07T07:28:00.005+05:30

HFS allows you to share files over internet. It runs "right out-of-the box".

HFS Site

Verify Email Address

2008-12-05T04:20:00.000+05:30

http://verify-email.org/ offers free email address verification service.

Reduce MP3 File Size

2008-10-22T10:56:00.006+05:30

Here are few softwares by which you can reduce mp3 file size.

Audacity
MP3Fitness
dBpoweramp
Total Recorder

Google Chrome

2008-09-04T01:43:00.000+05:30

http://www.google.com/chrome

Create an Ethernet Cable

2008-07-13T23:25:00.000+05:30

Know Your IP

2008-07-12T21:24:00.013+05:30

Gadget by LabPixies.com

Change User Password in Windows XP

2008-06-25T20:46:00.003+05:30

Click Start - Control Panel - User Accounts
Select the Account
Click 'Change my password'
Enter the details
Click Change Password

You can also change password from disk management.

Right click 'My Computer' icon on desktop, select Manage
or
Click Start - Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management
Expand 'Local Users and Groups'
Click Users
Select the user on right hand side, right click & Select 'Set Password'
Click Proceed
Enter the password & confirm it.
Click OK

Backup Outlook Express Address Book

2008-06-21T18:12:00.003+05:30

Click File - Export - Address Book
Click Text File (Comma Separated Values)
Click Export

Locate the folder where you want to save & enter the filename
Click Next

Select the fields which you want to be saved
Click Finish

ChromaTabs Firefox Add-on

2008-06-20T20:28:00.006+05:30

ChromaTabs colors the browser tabs.
It can pick a color based on the site name or can use color from the site icon.

Click on the image to see the full picture

Buzz in Pidgin

2008-06-19T11:22:00.001+05:30

Type "/buzz" without quotes to buzz in pidgin

Backup Outlook Express Email Account Settings

2008-06-12T01:02:00.004+05:30

Launch Outlook Express

Click Tools -> Accounts
Click Mail
Select the account & Click Export
Enter the filename & Click Save

To Import Account Settings from backup
Click Tools -> Accounts
Click Import
Locate the backup file & Click Open

Manage Startup Programs in Windows XP

2008-06-12T00:54:00.002+05:30

Msconfig utility in Windows XP allows to manage startup programs.

Click Start - Run
Type msconfig
Click OK

Click Startup

Uncheck the program entries which you don't want to run on system startup.

Click OK

Remove Grouping of Similar Taskbar Buttons in Windows XP

2008-05-30T22:30:00.007+05:30

Right Click on Taskbar & select Properties
Uncheck the check box "Group Similar taskbr buttons"
Click OK

Keyboard LED Visualization Winamp Plug-in

2008-05-23T01:49:00.007+05:30

Keyboard LED Visualization plug-in takes control of LED'S on the keyboard.

Download

Windows Vista Aero / Linux Ubuntu Beryl

2008-05-14T14:51:00.000+05:30

Document to PDF

2008-05-13T15:05:00.001+05:30

Biguana Online Piano

2008-05-13T14:57:00.002+05:30

USB over Network

2008-05-13T14:29:00.007+05:30

USB over Network software allows to share & access USB devices over LAN or internet.

Installation:

USB over Network Server is to be installed on the system where USB devices are attached.

USB over Network Client must be installed in the remote computer where you want to access the USB device.

Download Trial Version

Shutdown from Command Prompt

2008-04-12T10:20:00.004+05:30

Shutdown command in Windows XP allows you to shutdown/log off/restart from command prompt.

Shutdown System
shutdown -s

Shutdown after specified time
shutdown -s -t xx xx = time in seconds

Restart
shutdown -r

Log Off
shutdown -l

Abort Shutdown
shutdown -a

For more switches run the command
shutdown /?

Find System Uptime of Windows XP

2008-03-26T09:06:00.004+05:30

Run this command in command prompt
@systeminfo
The command will display the system information in several lines
Scroll above to find "System Up Time:"

Open Folder In Expandable View From Shortcut

2008-03-09T16:52:00.001+05:30

Create a new folder shortcut and point to
%windir%\explorer.exe /e,C:\temp

Replace C:\temp with your folder path

RoboForm

2008-02-23T15:05:00.003+05:30

RoboForm is a very popular password manager & form filler program.

Wubi: Windows Ubuntu Installer

2008-02-01T06:25:00.001+05:30

Wubi is an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows. It gets installed as an application and can be uninstalled from Control Panel - Add or Remove Programs. A linux newbie can safely try linux other than Live CD without worrying about partition woes.

Screenshots

The program will download the Ubuntu alternate distro. But if you already have the Ubuntu alternate iso or cd which can be used to create an iso then you can use it and save the time of downloading. Simply put the iso in the C:\Wubi\Install Folder. You can check the version needed from Install Folder.

The program will skip the downloading part & check the checksum. Enjoy!

You can create iso from cd with PowerISO or any other software of your choice.

P.S. Try at your risk! Backup is always handy.

Configure ADSL in Slackware

2008-01-26T22:40:00.000+05:30

Run the command pppoe-setup in terminal

Enter the details as prompted.

Run the following command to start the connection
pppoe-start

Stop the connection with the command
pppoe-stop

Check the status of the connection with the command pppoe-status

DriverMax - Backup / Restore Windows Drivers

2008-01-16T07:24:00.000+05:30

DriverMax allows you to backup and reinstall all your Windows drivers. It can also search for latest drivers available.

Global Shortcut Key to your Program

2008-01-11T11:02:00.000+05:30

Create a shortcut to your program
Right click shortcut - Properties
Click Shortcut Tab
Click Text Box "Shortcut Key"
Press key of your choice
Click OK

Now you can run the program with the shortcut key combination

Task Manager Keyboard Shortcut

2007-12-29T17:01:00.000+05:30

ALT + CTRL + DEL will open task manager directly if your system is configured to display Login Welcome Screen

Other shortcut :
ALT + CTRL + ESC

Pidgin

2007-12-19T16:55:00.000+05:30

Pidgin is an Instant Messaging client which supports many IM networks such as AIM, IRC, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk and others.

Download Link

Trillian & Miranda are also good multi platform instant messenger clients.

Remote Control Winamp

2007-11-27T17:58:00.000+05:30

BrowseAmp plugin allows Winamp to be controlled over LAN or other network. It provides web interface with lots of features.

Download Link : http://www.thasler.org/winamp2/BrowseAmp2.exe

You can start/stop server from Winamp - Preferences - Plug-ins - General Purpose - BrowseAmp - Configure

Take Screenshot of Active Window

2007-11-24T13:53:00.000+05:30

Press Alt + Print Screen Key

Click Start - Accessories - Paint
Paint Window will open. Click Edit - Paste
Image will be pasted, Now Click File - Save As
Enter the File Name & File Type, Click Save

To take screenshot of the entire screen, press Print Screen key and follow the steps as above.

Yahoo Block Checker

2007-10-01T18:35:00.000+05:30

Yahoo Block Checker allows you to check if someone has blocked you. You can check the status whether your contact is online or offline.
MSN/ICQ/AIM/Trillian status checker is also available.

Disable User Account Control

2007-08-23T00:39:00.000+05:30

You can disable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista with msconfig.

Click Start - Run, Type msconfig
Click OK
Click "Tools" tab
Scroll down & you will see "Disable UAC"
Click on that line & Press the Launch button
A CMD(Command) window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
Close MSCONFIG.

You need to restart the computer for changes to take effect.

Remove Linux Boot Loader from MBR

2007-08-19T16:05:00.000+05:30

Boot the system with Windows 9x disk.
run the command
fdisk /mbr

You can also remove it with xp cd.
Boot the system with Windows XP cd & go to recovery console
run the command
fixmbr

You can get boot disks from bootdisk.com.

3 Column Blogger Template

2007-08-15T03:47:00.000+05:30

3 Column Blogger Template Links:

http://www.blogcrowds.com/resources/blogger_template.php/3_column
http://www.finalsense.com/services/blog_templates/3columns_blogger_templates.htm

Make ISO Image

2007-08-13T22:04:00.000+05:30

dd if=/dev/hdx of=filename.iso
The iso file will be created in current directory.

Replace hdx with the device you want to make iso image whether its hard disk, cd/dvd rom or any other disk.
use hdxx for making iso image of a partition.
run fdisk -l if you want to know the partition number.

Make ISO image of a directory
mkisofs -o /tmp/filename.iso /tmp/directory/
The iso file will be created in /tmp directory.

You can also create an ISO image of mulfiple files.
Simply put the files in a directory & run the above command.

Read/Write ext2 Partition

2007-08-13T15:59:00.000+05:30

Ext2 Installable File System software gives you read write access to ext2 partition from windows (NT/2K/XP/2K3). It is available for free of cost.
Please refer FAQ for accessing ext3 partitions.

Configuration is very simple. Simply run the setup file and select the settings as prompted. At the end of setup, you have to specify the drive letter for ext2 partition(s). Once the setup is finished, you will find ext2 partition like any other drive in windows explorer.

Please see the following screenshots.

Disclaimer: Please use at your risk!

Slackware Package Management

2007-08-11T00:32:00.000+05:30

Following commands are available in slackware to work with packages.

Install
installpkg packagename.tgz

Remove
removepkg packagename.tgz

Upgrade
upgradepkg packagename.tgz

makepkg (Creates a new Slackware compatible package.)

explodepkg packagename.tgz
(Extracts the contents of a Slackware compatible package to the current directory.)

rpm2targz packaganame.rpm
(Converts an RPM package to standard GNU tar + zip format [tar.gz])

rpm2tgz packaganame.rpm
(Converts an RPM (RedHat Package Manager) to a Slackware-compatible package [tgz])

pkgtool
package maintenance tool

Batch Image Resize

2007-08-10T04:22:00.001+05:30

You can resize images in batch with
IrfanView.
Click File - Batch Conversion\Rename
Locate the image(s) folder & Add the images

Click "Set advanced options" button
Specify the size & Click OK
Sepcify other option such as Output directory, Output format

Once you have configured the settings, click Start

Enjoy!!!

Xara 3D Heading Maker

2007-08-08T05:29:00.001+05:30

Read / Write NTFS partition from Linux

2007-08-01T01:40:00.000+05:30

NTFS-3G driver will allow to read / write to NTFS partitions.
Download source code from http://www.ntfs-3g.org/.

unpack the source package and 'cd' to the directory.
now run these commands.

./configure
make
make install

Use the following statement to mount ntfs partition.

mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/hdxx /mount-point

To know the partition (/dev/hdxx), run the command
fdisk -l

CPU Information

2007-07-18T15:24:00.000+05:30

CPU-Z is a free utlitiy which gives information of CPU and other system devices.

WCPUID/XCPUID is another program which displays information of cpu, memory etc.

MSN Block Checker

2007-07-14T16:06:00.000+05:30

MSN Block Checker allows you to check if someone has blocked you. You can also check the status whether your contact is online or offline.

Yahoo/ICQ/AIM/Trillian status checker is also available.

Change file extensions of multiple files with one DOS command

2007-07-08T14:58:00.000+05:30

Say you have .txt files in a folder and you want to rename them to .doc

Run this command ren *.txt *.doc

Enjoy!!!

Remove Vista Boot Loader

2007-07-08T14:54:00.000+05:30

Please do it at your risk.

Take backup and verify it.

Boot the system with XP CD and go to Recovery Console.
Login to the windows installation
Run fixboot
Run fixmbr to reset the master boot record
Exit the Recovery Console
Edit the boot.ini file to remove the vista entry.
You can format the Vista Partition if not needed.

I would say again to take backup and do at your risk.

Auto login to Windows XP / Vista

2007-07-08T14:48:00.000+05:30

Please take backup & do at your risk.

Please follow these steps to automaticaly login to XP / Vista system on boot.

Click -> Start -> Run
Type control userpasswords2

Deselect checkbox "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer."
Click OK

Enter the username by which you want to login automatically.
Enter the password & confirm it.

Click OK.

You need to restart the system for changes to take effect.

Access Linux partition from windows

2007-05-30T01:56:00.000+05:30

explore2fs is a free utility which reads ext2 & ext3 filesystem. It is supported by all versions of windows.

Read BSD Partition

2007-04-29T19:46:00.001+05:30

FFS File System Driver for Windows gives you read access to BSD(FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD) FFS partitions on windows. Only Windows 2000/XP/2003 are supported.

Google Pagerank Button

2007-03-27T13:03:00.000+05:30

MyPagerank.net provides free service to create Google PageRank button. You need to provide the web site url and it will create html code. They have 7 types of display format.

LinNeighborhood

2007-03-26T23:22:00.000+05:30

LinNeighborhood is a free software to browse shared folders on microsoft networks and mount them using SMB protocol. It requires the Samba software client to be installed on the host system.

Download

Screenshot

Repair Winsock

2007-03-23T21:19:00.000+05:30

Sometimes corrupt Winsock settings create internet connectivity problems. WinSock XP Fix is a quick little utility which will repair the winsock configuration.

Winsock can be repaired from command line as well.
netsh winsock reset catalog

To learn more about winsock please read this page
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811259

Disclaimer: Any support you choose to take here is completely at your own risk.

Webmin

2007-03-16T16:30:00.000+05:30

Webmin is a web-based system configuration tool for *nix systems. It is available for free of charge.

The perl5 should be installed before installing the webmin. By default, webmin runs on TCP port 10000.

Supported Operating Systems

DOS Network Commands

2007-03-16T16:22:00.000+05:30

netstat
ping
tracert
nbtstat
route
arp
ipconfig
finger
net
nslookup
pathping

Type command /? to know description & usage of the commands.

Add Real Time Chat to Website or Blog

2007-03-08T13:42:00.001+05:30

The following services let you add live chat feature in your web pages or blog.

Gabbly
See Demo

Meebo Me
See Demo

Remove Spyware

2007-03-08T12:57:00.000+05:30

Please run these softwares to remove spyware/adware/malware/virus from the system. Please update them prior to running and run in safe mode.

1. HijackThis (Get scan log analysis done automatically from hijackthis.de)
2. Spybot - Search & Destroy
3. Ad-Aware SE Personal
4. WinPatrol (Look under 'File Types' & 'Hidden Files' for suspicious items)
5. Anti Virus (I prefer AVG Free Edition)

Virtual Appliance

2007-03-06T18:03:00.000+05:30

Virtual appliance is a minimal configured virtual machine image designed to run under virtual machines.

You can find more information from the following pages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_appliance
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/

Set IP Address from Command Prompt

2007-02-25T08:36:00.000+05:30

Netsh ulility is available in Windows Server 2000, Windows XP Professional & Windows 2003 Server to configure IP properties of a Network Interface Card (NIC).

Set Static IP
netsh interface ip set address local static IP_address subnet_mask gateway metric_of_gateway

You will find the interface name from Start - Control Panel - Network Connections.

Set NIC DNS setings
netsh interface ip set dns local static IP_address primary

Configure NIC to get IP settings from DHCP Server
netsh interface ip set address local source=dhcp
netsh interface ip set dns local source=dhcp

mailto / email link

2007-02-25T01:12:00.000+05:30

The Mailto Command is used to write email link in the web page.

A typical email link will be like any anchor link but mailto is used instead of href.
href="mailto:abc@xyz.com"

If you want to send to more than one person then separate the email addresses with a comma.
mailto:abc@xyz.com,info@abc.com,xyz@mymail.net

To send a carbon copy (cc), mailto link will be
mailto:abc@xyz.com?cc=info@abc.com

To send a blind carbon copy (bcc), mailto link will be
mailto:abc@xyz.com?cc=info@abc.com&bcc=xyz.mymail.net

We can also specify subject & body information.
Subject - mailto:abc@xyz.com?subject=hello
Email text - mailto:abc@xyz.com?subject=hello&body=email text

If you want to add multiple elements (cc, bcc, subject, body), separate the second and subsequent elements with an ampersand (&).

Track Email

2007-02-24T04:48:00.000+05:30

We always wished to have some kind of acknowldegement that our email has been read. There are many sites which provide this service along with more features.

ReadNotify.com
E-mailSecure
pointofmail.com
DidTheyReadIt
MSGTAG

Microsoft Outlook Express also have a feature to get a receipt of mail being opened.
Click Tools- Request Read Receipt

Missing NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM not found

2007-02-18T21:31:00.000+05:30

This error occurs when there is bad shutdown or the NTLDR and NTDETECT.com files get corrupted.

Boot with windows xp cd and go to recovery console. (Press 'R' to access recovery console.)

Login to the windows installation and copy the files NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the i386 folder to c drive.

C:\> copy x:\i386\NTLDR c:\
C:\> copy x:\i386\NTDETECT.COM c:\

Replace x with the cd drive letter.

Type 'restart' to reboot the system.

Disclaimer: Any support you choose to take here is completely at your own risk.

Cannot Delete File

2007-02-18T16:07:00.000+05:30

We often get a message "Cannot delete/rename file ...." and its been used by another person or program.

Unlocker is a useful tool which will solve the problem.

Simply right click the file or folder you want to unlock and select Unlocker. A window will appear with a list of processes locking the file or folder. Select the locks and click Unlock.

Virtual Machines

2007-02-12T13:25:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines

IMEI Number

2007-02-10T13:01:00.000+05:30

The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number is used to identify the device. It is unique to every GSM and UMTS mobile phone.

Dial *#06# to display the number.

Use Old Blogger Templates in New Blogger

2007-02-09T11:36:00.002+05:30

1. Login to Blogger with your Google account.
2. Click Dashboard.
3. Choose blog to be edited & click Layout.
4. Choose the template tab and click Edit HTML.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose Revert to Classic Template.
6. Paste the template code.
7. Click Save Template.

Improve Sound Quality

2007-02-08T11:39:00.000+05:30

DFX plug-in improves the sound quality of MP3, Windows Media, Internet radio, and other music files. It is available as plug-in for Windows Media Player, Musicmatch, Real Player, J.River Media Center, Winamp & Yahoo ! Music Jukebox.

You can read more on this page.
http://www.fxsound.com/dfx/index.php

Download

Test configuration without restarting X (Ubuntu)

2007-02-08T11:30:00.001+05:30

sudo xinit -- :2

Press ctrl+alt+F9 (Virtual Console) to see the result.

Useful Tools

2007-02-05T04:07:00.000+05:30

http://www.snapfiles.com/features/ed_usb_software.html

Display web site logo on the address bar

2007-02-05T03:55:00.000+05:30

You need a logo of size 16x16 pixels in the windows icon file format (.ico).

Include the following link between between the head and /head tags.
<link rel="SHORTCUT ICON" href="logo.ico">

If you have placed the icon file in other than root directory then use this
statement.
<link rel="SHORTCUT ICON" href="/directory_path/logo.ico">

Alexa Rank in Firefox

2007-02-05T03:42:00.000+05:30

SearchStatus is a firefox extension to view alexa rankings in firefox. Besides Alexa ranking, it also displays Google PageRank, Alexa related links and backward links from popular search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN).

It has the option to customize its position in the browser.

Installation Steps:

Open Firefox
Tools Add-ons
Get Extensions

Search for "SearchStatus"
Click Install.

You need to restart the firefox to complete the installation.

Missing or Corrupt HAL.DLL Error

2006-08-28T14:04:00.000+05:30

Corrupt boot.ini file results in this error. Please follow these steps to solve it.

Boot with windows xp cd.
Press 'R' to enter recovery console.
Select the windows installation to be repaired.

At the command prompt type
bootcfg /rebuild
exit

Restart the computer.

Disclaimer: Any support you choose to take here is completely at your own risk.

Free Linux CD

2006-08-27T17:37:00.000+05:30

You can order free linux cd from ubuntu web site. Please don't exploit this great service and only order if you can't download. You need to register first and then place the order.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

There is another great service which gives other linux distributions.
http://free.thelinuxstore.ca/

Computer related links

2006-08-22T14:45:00.001+05:30

Technical Support Forums:
http://forums.techarena.in/
http://forums.techguy.org/
http://www.linuxforum.com/
http://www.linuxquestions.org/

Magazines:
http://pcquest.com/
http://thinkdigit.com/
http://www.linuxforu.com/
http://www.windowsitpro.com/
http://www.pcmag.com/
http://www.mcpmag.com/
http://www.mozillaquest.com/
http://www.itarchitect.com/

Boot Disk:
http://bootdisk.com/
http://www.allbootdisks.com/

Downloads:
http://tech.msn.com/downloads/
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/
http://www.download.com/
http://snapfiles.com/

Tutorial:
http://functionx.com/
http://www.techtutorials.net/

ADSL in Fedora Linux

2006-08-22T14:28:00.000+05:30

These are the steps which I used to setup airtel adsl in linux.

Hook adsl modem to NIC through ethernet port.
Boot to linux
Make sure NIC is installed in Linux. If you don't know how to do it then check linux distro forum / support.
Login to system with 'root' user.
At terminal type the command 'adsl-setup'

Enter the details as prompted.
At the end you will see the commands to dial to internet with your ppp (broadband) account.

If your modem is configured to auto dial then you don't need to run the command adsl-setup.

Disclaimer: Any support you choose to take here is completely at your own risk.

Vista Beta 1 - Can't Login

2006-08-22T14:20:00.000+05:30

Recently I installed Vista beta 1 installation and was very anxious to see vista desktop . I got stuck on login screen and was getting error something like cannot connect to domain.

To resolve the problem, I unhooked the adsl modem from LAN card and remove the pci Lan card as well but it wasn't required I think.
I did fresh installation again and it worked for me.

Now I can login without any error.

Hope it helps!

BSNL Netone

2006-08-22T12:03:00.000+05:30

Netone is dialup internet service from BSNL. The basic requirement is a pc and 56 kbps modem. The hourly price turns out to be Rs.6.

Create a dialup networking account with username/password as 'netone'/'netone'.
and phone number will be 172222.

Dial the connection and open http://netonenda.bsnl.co.in/
Click 'registration' and follow the steps to complete the registration.

For dialup networking help, please visit http://help.expedient.com/dialup/.