IT Konsultan

Use your keyboard's Function keys to open bookmarks on Firefox

2008-11-01T15:21:00.004+07:00

The computer keyboard has 12 Function keys at the top numbered from 1 through 12. The purpose of function keys is to provide users with shortcuts to perform specific actions in the operating system or an application. The programmer of an application is free to assign any actions to the function keys as he sees it fit, although some function keys have universal actions. For instance, the F3 key will launch the "Find" or "Search" tool in almost any application while the F5 key reloads a page in any browser. In games you will often find the F5 (or F4) key being used as quick save. It's obvious that the function keys are very useful for creating shortcuts even though most of them are usually left unused, including in Firefox.

quickmarksA Firefox extension named Quickmarks, can assign these function keys to specific web addresses turning it into a "quick dial" for opening your bookmarked pages. After you install this addon, click on Tool>Quickmarks settings to open the setting window. Type the URLs of the sites you want to open with the function keys.

Now you can open your favorite sites by just a single keystroke. One problem with this addon is that the function keys will cease to perform any other actions other than opening bookmarks. Which means that F5 will stop reloading pages, F11 will no longer make Firefox full screen and F3 will not launch the Find bar, even if you have not assigned any bookmarks to those keys. Most users won't like that, I guess. But Quickmarks is still an experimental addon and there is plenty of room for improvements.

3 Free open source alternatives to MATLAB

2008-11-01T15:14:00.001+07:00

Computer Science and Communication Engineering students must be familiar with a mathematical software called MATLAB. MATLAB is a numerical computing software and programming language that is often used in various mathematical analysis and problem solving like matrix manipulation, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces etc. MATLAB is a proprietary product of The MathWorks and a single student license will set you back by $99. Even though there are many free numerical analysis software available, your university is most likely to use MATLAB and a student who uses MATLAB all day at the university would want the same programs to run on his home computer. Hence compatibility of these free solutions with MATLAB is important.

Let us look at three free alternatives to MATLAB that is compatible with it, to a large extent.

Octave is an open source program for numerical computation which is mostly compatible with MATLAB. Its syntax is very similar to MATLAB, and a carefully programmed script will run on both Octave and MATLAB. Though most MATLAB programs will run on Octave, the reverse is not always true. This is because Octave's parser goes above and beyond MATLAB's and supports syntaxes and commands not supported by MATLAB. For example, Octave supports both single and double quote while MATLAB supports only single quote. Octave supports the printf command while MATLAB doesn't. All compatibility issues are described in there wiki.

Scilab, another numerical computational package, is similar in functionality to MATLAB, but is open source and hence available at no cost. The program enables users to compute a wide range of mathematical operations from relatively simple operations such as multiplication to high level operations such as correlation and complex arithmetic. Like MATLAB, Scilab has many industrial and academic uses and is often used for signal processing, statistical analysis, image enhancement, fluid dynamics simulations etc.

Scilab is not entirely compatible with MATLAB but has a converter for source code conversion from MATLAB to Scilab. Scilab also includes a package called Scicos for modeling and simulation of dynamical systems.

The third open source free numerical computing environment similar to MATLAB is FreeMat. FreeMat supports many MATLAB functions and some IDL functionality and additional features like codeless interface to external C, C++, and Fortran code, further parallel distributed algorithm development and some extended volume and 3D visualization capabilities. FreeMat developers put the software's compatibility with MATLAB at 95% which is as good as MATLAB itself, provide you don't use all MATLAB functions, which isn't likely to happen in most cases.

So there you are, you've got three replacement for MATLAB. See if you can convince your institute to embrace any of these.

How to open Microsoft Office 2007 files using Office 2000, XP or 2003

2008-11-01T15:13:00.001+07:00

Office 2007 Compatibility Pack from Microsoft is a free extension for MS Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003 that enables users of those versions of Office to open, edit, and save files using the new file formats used by Office 2007. The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in these new formats.

A compatibility pack ensures that you can open and save Office Open XML Formats in earlier versions of Microsoft Office, thus enabling you to share documents with others who are using a previous version of Microsoft Office. You can install the compatibility pack on a computer that is running Microsoft Office 2003 programs, Microsoft Office XP programs, or Microsoft Office 2000 programs. When you install the compatibility pack, you can open, edit, save, and create files in the robust Office Open XML Formats.

Download Office 2007 Compatibility Pack

15 Free CD/DVD burning alternatives to Nero

2008-11-01T15:12:00.000+07:00

When it comes to CD or DVD burning, the software most people tend to use is Nero. But Nero isn't the be all and end all of CD burning solutions. There are other softwares as well that perform much better than Nero in terms of resource usage and speed. Here is a list of 15 free burning softwares that you can use in place of Nero.

1. ImgBurn: ImgBurn is probably the best free CD/DVD burning tool available. ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI. It supports Unicode folder/file names, so you shouldn't run in to any problems if you're using an international character set. ImgBurn supports all the Windows OS's - Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista (including all the 64-bit versions). If you use Wine, it should also run on Linux and other x86-based Unixes.

It's a very flexible application with several advanced features that are often lacking in other tools, especially when it comes to burning DVD Video discs. It supports all the latest drives without the need for updates (including booktype / bitsetting / advanced settings on many of the major ones - i.e. BenQ, LiteOn, LG, NEC, Plextor, Samsung, Sony).

Download size = 1.5MB

2. InfraRecorder: InfraRecorder is a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration.

Features
* Create custom data, audio and mixed-mode projects and record them to physical discs as well as disc images.
* Supports recording to dual-layer DVDs.
* Blank (erase) rewritable discs using four different methods.
* Record disc images (ISO and BIN/CUE).
* Fixate discs (write lead-out information to prevent further data from being added to the disc).
* Scan the SCSI/IDE bus for devices and collect information about their capabilities.
* Create disc copies, on the fly and using a temporary disc image.
* Import session data from multi-session discs and add more sessions to them.
* Display disc information.
* Save audio and data tracks to files (.wav, .wma, .ogg, .mp3 and .iso).

Download size = 2.56MB

3. CDBurnerXP: CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

Key Features:
* burn all kinds of discs
* audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks
* burn and create ISO files
* data verification after burning process
* create bootable discs
* multi-language interface
* bin/nrg → ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more.
* Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

Download size = 1.9MB

4. Ultimate CD/DVD Burner: Ultimate CD/DVD Burner is a simple and easy to use CD and DVD burning software package. It supports a very wide range of internal and external (USB 2.0 and FireWire) CD and DVD writers. Burn any data, copy any disc, make backups, create astonishing photo CD albums, make ISO CDs with this very easy to handle software!

The interface is intuitive and easy to use. Advanced options are available for those who want to take advantage of them, though they are completely optional, making Ultimate CD/DVD Burner the perfect CD/DVD burner software for users of any experience level.

Download size = 500KB

5. QuickBurn: QuickBurn is a free, easy and very useful burning software. Start this prorgram, Use drag and DROP for files and folders and click BURN CD. That´s all, very easy to use.

Features:
*Multisession support with import from an other session.
*CDRW erase normal or quickly.
*ISO create and Burn ISO. Bootable CD.
*Integrated Explorer.
*Support every CD/DVD Burner.
*Support ASPI or SPTI-Driver.
*No aspi required under W2K/XP.
*Session manager to manage your session.
*Verify files after burn.

Download size = 680KB

6. DeepBurner Free Portable: DeepBurner Free Portable is free, advanced, and extremely powerful CD and DVD burning package. It removes the hassle of making CDs, DVDs, and autoruns. DeepBurner Free Portable works straight from your removable media, whether it´s a USB flash drive, compact flash card, or even a good old floppy. Burn any data, copy any disc, make backups, make ISO CDs with this very easy to handle software!

Download size = 2.83MB

7. FinalBurner: FinalBurner is a freeware alternative to expensive CD and DVD recorders. It allows users to produce professional data, audio, video disks and ISO images. Many types of media are supported, including CD R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD DL.

Features:
* Burn Data CD/DVD
* Burn Audio CD
* Burn Video DVD
* Burn ISO images

Download size = 8MB

8. Burnatonce: Burnatonce can master data and audio discs, read/write image files, and copy on-the-fly. It's drag-and-drop interface has multi-language support and is fully compatible with XP themes. Multisession and bootable disc mastering is supported as well as long filename support using Joliet, Long Joliet, and Rockridge. Extra long filename support is provided with the ISO9660:1999 and UDF filesystems. Audio discs can be compiled from WAV, MP3, MP2, OGG, and FLAC files as standard while support for other audio formats can be added optionally. CD-Text can be written from the built-in editor, imported from freedb, read from media tags, or extracted from filenames. Pauses between tracks can also be set as silence, pregap, or postgap of varying lengths.

Download size = 3.82MB

9. Free Easy CD DVD Burner: Free Easy CD DVD Burner is a complete free and easy CD & DVD burning solution. Burn data and audio (WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG, FLAC, AAC, M4A) to your CDs & DVDs is now very easy with Free Easy CD DVD Burner. Burn and save ISO files, copy your CDs DVDs. Save your favorite audio CDs to mp3 with the internal grabber (CDDB request to get information about the album).

Standard ISO9660 Joliet, buffer UnderRun protection, Support multisession.
Support for dual-layer DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW.

Download size = 5.6MB

10. FairStars CD Ripper: FairStars CD Ripper is a free powerful software for ripping audio CD tracks to WMA, MP3, OGG, VQF, FLAC, APE and WAV formats files on-the-fly. Free CDDB is supported(Querying & Submiting). It supports normalization when ripping, and also support ID3 tag. FairStars CD Ripper also supports playback with its built-in player.

Main features
# Rips CD to WMA, MP3, OGG, VQF, FLAC, APE and WAV on-the-fly.
# Supports automatic volume adjustment(normalization) during ripping.
# Supports multiple CD/DVD drivers.
# ID3 tag support.
# Support automatic saving ID3 Tags when converting, and also support ID3 tags display and edit.
# Query and submit CD disc information from/to the freedb(the Internet Compact Disc Database).
# Audio Playback control function Support.

Download size: 2.8 MB

11. Express Burn: Express Burn is a program for Windows that lets you create and record audio or data CDs with any Windows PC with an installed CD recorder.

With Express Burn you can record a data or audio CD quickly and easily by dragging the files you want onto the Express Burn icon and clicking record. The software then does all the rest converting the files if required. It is also the fastest CD writing program in the world using proprietary optimizing systems.

Download size = 300KB

12. SilentNight Micro Burner: SilentNight Micro Burner is a standalone CD/DVD/ISO/AUDIO burner, and ISO creator that is quite easy to use, is small, no installation is needed, just one single file, and it has its own ASPI layer build in. It also has a powerful search tool. This burner is under constant developement and all users are invited to join in with suggestions, corrections and translations to new languages.

Download size = 1.1MB

13. Burn4Free: This is another free DVD and CD burner.

Features:
*Burn4Free burn data (CD and DVD) and audio from different files types (WAV, FLAC, WavPack, WMA, M3U (mp3 winamp compilation) , MP3, MP2, MP1 OGG and CDA (normal cd audio tracks))
*CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW/DVD+RW/DVD-RAM drives (SCSI - IDE/EIDE - USB) are supported
*Print Compilation, select layout, colors and items to print
4 way to burn your CD/DVD: you can choose the way you prefer to burn a CD/DVD (fly window, right click from explorer, internal add window, derag & drop
*1900 + COMPATIBLE RECORDERS

Download size = 4.2MB

14. EASY Burning: EASY Burning is the easiest way to backup your files in a cdr(w). Integrated to the shell (send to) or used as a normal application, EASY Burning works with any CD writer. Write a folder and files, pictures and what ever you want. Easy to use. Create Data CD from a folder. Backup your MP3 collection. Integrated into Shell. send to Integrated into Desktop.

Download size = 1.1MB

15. Disc Master: Disc Master is a solution for data burning and backup for CD and DVD recordable and rewritable discs, from Corel. Fast copy CD to CD or DVD to DVD, backup files, create mixed mode, or enhanced multi-session CDs. Supports CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM.

Download size = 12.3MB

16. StarBurn: StarBurn is a powerful tool for grabbing, burning and mastering CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media. StarBurn supports all types of optical storage media (including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE, HD-DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM) as well as a wide variety of burning hardware.

With StarBurn you can perform grabbing, copying and burning operations as well as advanced DVD authoring and mastering. These advanced features enable you to create DVD-Video content from custom video files, or compilations from other DVDs. Additionally with the DVD Splitting Wizard you can split DVD-Video discs into smaller parts and burn them to DVD writable discs or share them with the StarPort DVD-ROM emulator and watch DVD video directly on your PC. This enables you to create copies of 8.5 GB dual layer DVDs with just a few mouse clicks.

StarBurn has a Quick Start Wizard that provides to simplify frequently used operations such as disc copying, grabbing and splitting DVDs.

StarBurn is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003 and Vista

Download size = 10.6 MB

NTLDR is Missing.

2008-11-01T14:50:00.000+07:00

Issue:

NTLDR is Missing.

Related errors:

Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting.

NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart

Boot: Couldn't find NTLDR
Please insert another disk

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart

Cause:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32.
New hard disk drive being added.
Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.

Solutions:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source

Many times this error is caused when the computer is attempting to boot from a non-bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM. First verify that no floppy diskette is in the computer, unless you are attempting to boot from a diskette.

If you are attempting to boot from a floppy diskette and are receiving this error message it is likely that the diskette does not have all the necessary files and/or is corrupt.

If you are attempting to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 and are receiving this error message as the computer is booting verify that your computer BIOS has the proper boot settings. For example, if you are attempting to run the install from the CD-ROM make sure the CD-ROM is the first boot device, and not the hard disk drive.

Second, when the computer is booting you should receive the below prompt.

Press any key to boot from the CD

Important: When you see this message press any key such as the Enter key immediately, otherwise it will try booting from the hard drive and likely get the NTLDR error again.

Note: If you are not receiving the above message and your BIOS boot options are set properly it's also possible that your CD-ROM drive may not be booting from the CD-ROM properly. Verify the jumpers are set properly on the CD-ROM drive. Additional information about checking the CD-ROM drive connections can be found on document CH000213.

Additional information: This error has also been known to occur when a memory stick is in a card reader and the computer is attempting to boot from it. If you have any type of card reader or flash reader make sure that no memory stick is inside the computer.

Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS

Verify that your computer hard disk drive is properly setup in the BIOS / CMOS setup. Improper settings can cause this error. Additional information on how to enter the BIOS / CMOS setup can be found in document CH000192.

Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file

Windows 2000 users
Windows XP users

Windows 2000 users

If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same operating system. Both of these files are located in the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. For example, C:\NTLDR and C:\NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on many computers.

Please keep in mind that these files are hidden system files, if you need additional help with viewing hidden files in Windows please see document CH000516.

Once these files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computer and copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should be performed from the A:\> drive.

copy ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:

After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.

Windows XP users

Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file

Edit the boot.ini on the root directory of the hard disk drive and verify that it is pointing to the correct location of your Windows operating system and that the partitions are properly defined. Additional information about the boot.ini can be found on document CH000492.

Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32

If you are getting this error message while you are attempting to upgrade to Windows 2000 or Windows XP from Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME running FAT32 please try the below recommendations.

Boot the computer with a Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME bootable diskette.
At the A:\> prompt type:

sys c:
After pressing enter you should receive the "System Transferred" message. Once this has been completed remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.

New hard disk drive being added

If you are attempting to add a new hard disk drive to the computer make sure that drive is a blank drive. Adding a new hard disk drive to a computer that already has Windows installed on it may cause the NTLDR error to occur.

If you are unsure if the new drive is blank or not try booting from a bootable diskette and format the new hard disk drive.

Corrupt boot sector / master boot record

It's possible your computer's hard disk drive may have a corrupt boot sector and/or master boot record. These can be repaired through the Microsoft Windows Recovery console by running the fixboot and fixmbr commands.

Additional information and help in getting into the Microsoft Windows Recovery console can be found on document CH000627.

Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP

If you have tried each of the above recommendations that apply to your situation and you continue to experience this issue it is possible you may have a seriously corrupted version of Microsoft Windows. Therefore we would recommend you reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

If you are encountering this issue during your setup you may wish to completely erase your computer hard disk drive and all of its existing data and then install Microsoft Windows 2000 / Windows XP. Additional information about erasing the computer and starting over can be found on document CH000186.

Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable

This issue has been known to be caused by a loose or fault IDE/EIDE cable. If the above recommendation does not resolve your issue and your computer hard disk drive is using an IDE or EIDE interface. Verify the computer hard disk drive cable is firmly connected by disconnected and reconnecting the cable.

If the issue continues it is also a possibility that the computer has a faulty cable, try replacing the hard disk drive cable with another cable and/or a new cable.

Additional information:

See our NTLDR dictionary definition for a complete definition on this term.

7 cool softwares from Microsoft you probably never heard of

2008-11-01T14:08:00.000+07:00

Microsoft is known for its big products - Windows, Office, Visual Studio and the like, while it's smaller products receive little attention. There are hundreds of tools on Microsoft's website, but that is probably the last place on earth you would go looking for softwares. But I did a few days ago and discovered several useful utilities. Some of these softwares are well known so I won't be mentioning those. It's only the lesser known ones that I bring here today.

1. Virtual Earth 3D (Beta) adds realistic 3D capabilities to your online Live Search Maps. It's like a combination of Google Earth and Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allowing you to fly over a 3D generated map of the cities below. Not all cities are available in 3D though, in which case you will have to switch to the usual 2D view.

2. Microsoft Location Finder is a client-side application that turns a regular WiFi enabled laptop, Tablet or PC into a location determining device without the addition of any separate hardware. When launched by a user, Microsoft Location Finder uses WiFi access points - or reverse IP lookup when WiFi is not available - to center and display the person's location on an MSN Virtual Earth map, enabling the user to quickly and easily search in their present location.

3. Microsoft XML NotePad 2007 assists developers in creating XML applications. It allows authors to rapidly build and edit small sets of XML data as a test bed during the development of XML-based applications. With XML Notepad, you can create XML document prototypes quickly, easily, and in an iterative fashion, using familiar metaphors. XML Notepad offers an intuitive and simple user interface that graphically represents the tree structure of XML data. Working with the standard building blocks of XML (Elements, Attributes and Text), authors are able to create reproducible data structures that can be easily filled. It also includes XMLDiff to visually compare the differences between 2 two XML files.

4. Microsoft SharedView is a remote desktop and internet collaboration application for screen sharing, group chats and sharing documents with multiple people in real time. Microsoft SharedView allows connecting with up to 15 people in different locations. Users can be invited to join a session by email or IM. They are able to communicate with each other by being able to view each other's screens and control them. Also, handouts, or files, can be broadcasted by one to all users. Creation of a session is done with Windows Live ID. SharedView also provides integration into Microsoft Office applications and Windows Live Messenger.

5. Microsoft Photo Story 3 is a tool that is designed to take existing photos or images and then enable you to add a title, background music, narration and then export them to a format that you can easily email to another user, show from your desktop or allow playback from a portable device. Create slideshows using your digital photos. With a single click, you can touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures. Add stunning special effects, soundtracks, and your own voice narration to your photo stories. Then, personalize them with titles and captions. Watch them on your TV, a computer, or a Windows Mobileâ€“based portable device.

6. Microsoft TimeZone runs in the system tray and allows you to easily view the date and time in various locations around the world. You can also quickly and easily add your own personal locations to customize Microsoft Time Zone the way you want.

7. Microsoft Network Monitor is a network protocol analyzer that allows capturing and protocol analysis of network traffic.

Use your camera phone as a webcam

2008-11-01T13:13:00.002+07:00

The images produced by webcams are of very poor quality because of the cheap lenses they use and the low resolution. If you want a better quality webcam then well, just use your camera phone over Bluetooth. Now that's cool. No tangling wires and a webcam that you can carry it along with you, and of course that's your phone too.

WWIGO, pronounced as "we go", which is an abbreviation of "Webcam Wherever I Go" converts your camera equipped cell phone into a wireless webcam. The transmission takes place via Bluetooth. You can use your phone to do video chat through Skype, Yahoo and other Video IM. You can also live upload into video sharing sites such as Youtube, Grouper through your phone.

WWIGO consists of two software components - a mobile component that resides on the phone and streams video to the PC, and a PC component that receives video from the phone. The lack of wires gives you so much flexibility, not to mention the superior video quality. WWIGO is a free application and supports all Nokia S60 v2.0 and v3.0 devices. It supports Bluetooth enabled with any one of these bluetooth Stack, IVT BlueSoleil Bluetooth Stack, Microsoft Bluetooth Stack, Widcomm Bluetooth Stack, Toshiba Bluetooth Stack.

You will need to register before you can download the software. Instructions to setup the software are given in this help file.

VirtualBox, Free Virtual Machine

2008-11-01T13:00:00.005+07:00

Sun xVM VirtualBox is a collection of powerful virtual machine tools, targeting desktop computers, enterprise servers and embedded systems. With VirtualBox, you can virtualize 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems on machines with Intel and AMD processors, either in software or with hardware virtualization.

With VirtualBox, you can run unmodified operating systems -- including all of the software that is installed on them -- directly on top of your existing operating system, in a special environment that is called a "virtual machine". Your physical computer is then usually called the "host", while the virtual machine is often called a "guest".

VirtualBox allows the guest code to run unmodified, directly on the host computer, and the guest operating system "thinks" it's running on real machine. In the background, however, VirtualBox intercepts certain operations that the guest performs to make sure that the guest does not interfere with other programs on the host.

Sun xVM VirtualBox is completely free and open-source. It will run on 32- and 64-bit platforms and supports Windows, Linux, and MAC OS X hosts. Additionally, it has great guest OS support of Windows and Linux operating systems.

According to Sun, VirtualBox is getting attention. They have had over five million downloads, and this number seems to be rising.

I downloaded VirtualBox very quickly and did not have to fill out any lengthy forms, which is a relief. Within five minutes of loading the software, I was installing a virtual machine (VM) of Windows XP with SP3. It is a simple interface, and it looks like you can get it running very quickly.

Figure A

Sun XVM VirtualBox command center

In Figure A, you can create a new virtual machine, look at your details, create a description of your VM, and take snapshots. Snapshots let you take a picture of the OS at a specific point in time, and then you can go back to that point again whenever you choose. It is a great feature to have for development and testing.

When you click New, a virtual machine wizard will appear and walk you through the creation of your VM; it is very easy. In this example, I mounted an ISO image of Windows XP and began loading, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

Loading a Windows XP virtual machine in VirtualBox

On the window below, you can enter Fullscreen Mode, Adjust Window Size, Take a Snapshot, and a host of other functions, as shown in Figure C. The menu is simple and intuitive, and did I tell you, itâ€™s free!

Figure C

Individual virtual machine commands

On the Devices menu, shown in Figure D, you can mount CD/DVD images and install Guest Additions. This is similar to the VMware Tools in VMware Workstation.

Figure D

Installing the VirtualBox Guest Additions

It looks like you have to have your VM powered off to take a snapshot, but in any event, the snapshot feature worked well (Figure E).

Figure E

Taking a snapshot

Overall, if you do not want to spend money for desktop virtualization or are just looking to get your feet wet, VirtualBox is a good bet, and its features are very comparable to VMware Workstation. Click the Download button to download a free copy of VirtualBox.

Download VirtualBox from here

(Source: Tech Republic)

How To Change the Windows XP Product Key Code

2008-11-01T12:54:00.003+07:00

I bought a second hand laptop from my boss (he gave me cheap priceJ). I use Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder, to find the Windows XP key and see whether same with the sticker that pasted at the bottom of my laptop. I so surprise when found that it’s different. How come? My laptop comes with original Windows XP and I have the recovery CD. I think the key must be same with the sticker.

Although Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder has the ability to change the XP key, but I have tried and always come out with an error message. I think its impossible Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder to change the key when the Windows is running.

So, changing the Windows XP product key may be necessary if you discover your current key is pirated or illegal but you don't want to reinstall Windows XP to activate your new legal key.

Note: Changes to the registry are made in these steps. Take great care in making only the changes described below. I recommend that you backup the registry keys you're modifying in these steps as an extra precaution.

Also please take note that you have to activate your Windows after change the key. If your computer not connected to internet, your computer will locked in login Windows. U will not able to login into Windows because after you type your password, Windows will ask you to activate your Windows through a wizard. If you choose to activate later, Windows will logoff and return to login Windows. Hence, do below step only if your computer connected to internet.

Click on Start and then Run.
In the text box in the Run window, type regedit and click OK. This will open the Registry Editor program.
Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder under My Computer and click on the (+) sign next the folder name to expand the folder.
Continue to expand folders until you reach the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents registry key.
Click on the WPAEvents folder.
In the results that appear in the window on the right, locate OOBETimer.
Right-click on the OOBETimer entry and choose Modify from the resulting menu.
Change at least one digit in the Value data text box and click OK. This will deactivate Windows XP.
Click on Start and then Run.
In the text box in the Run window, type the following command and click OK.

%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

When the Windows Product Activation window appears, choose Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows and then click Next.
Click Change Product Key.
Type your new, valid Windows XP product key in the New key text boxes and then click Update.
If you're taken back to the previous screen and prompted, choose Remind me later.
Restart your PC and activate your Windows.

Note:

Let me know if you have more easy way to change XP key.
Contact me (purnoma@gmail.com) if you face a problem.

Learn to Install Windows XP

2008-10-31T13:04:00.003+07:00

Even though Windows XP is now nearly seven years old, many people are yet to learn how to install it. Many users, usually the non technical ones, are afraid of installing Windows because they fear that they would mess up something and Windows would fail to work, or worse, lose their data. If you are one of such kind then Windows XP Setup Simulator is the perfect tool for you to start learning.

Windows XP Setup Simulator creates a mock up of the installation procedure so that you can practice on it before going into the real thing. It simulates the procedure right from the booting of the computer (your computer isn't really booted) to the end of installation. Every step of the installation process is convincingly recreated. You can interact with the setup process just like the real one - create partition, select partition, format it, set usernames and passwords, set date and time and so on. All these steps are fake, of course, and causes no change to the system. The whole process completes in about 5 minutes or less.

xp-simulator1

xp-simulator2

xp-simulator3

The mock screens look fairly similar to the real ones, though an experienced user will spot the difference instantly. Some of the changes were done on purpose, in my opinion, lest Microsoft charge them of copyright infringement. For example, the boot screen shows the scrolling bar moving from right to left. On the actual boot screen it moves from left to right. This is certainly deliberate. Then during the period when the setup is in progress the remaining time, in the mock screen, shows 10 minutes and later jumps to 90 minutes. In the actually setup, you will recall that it begins with 39 minutes. However, the following goof up is certainly unintentional.

Microsoft would be damned if they can't spell

TEST LIVE CD WITHOUT BURNING OR REBOOTING

2008-10-29T08:22:00.004+07:00

MobaLiveCD is a freeware distributed Mobatek. You can use MobaLiveCD to test any Live CD without burning the ISO file to a CD and even without rebooting. MobaLiveCD is an emulation engine like VMWare or VirtualBox. What I like most is MobaLiveCD no need installation. You can download it (1.5 MB) and run it by double click.

Simple step to use MobaLiveCD:
1. Run the program and you will see MobaLiveCD interface as below picture.

2. Click “Run the Live CD”, a window to select an ISO image file will appear. Browse to your ISO image file.

3. Then, a window will appear and ask whether you want to create a hard disk image for your virtual machine or not. Click “No” as I found it’s no problem running a Live CD without hard disk image.

4. Sit back to your chair and wait, then enjoy your Live CD.

Download MobaLiveCD from http://mobalivecd.mobatek.net/en/

Windows Live CD

2008-10-29T08:18:00.004+07:00

When your computer hardware appears to power up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won’t boot properly, what will you do? When you computer infected by virus and you have found that quite difficult to clean the virus. Do you know that you can solve the problem by using Windows Live CD?

If you have experience with Linux Live CD, you also can make Windows Live CD. You can use Windows Live CD for:

- If your computer infected by virus, you can boot with a clean environment and then clean the virus. You also can copy your file to USB flash disk and work with other computer while your computer repaired.

- If your computer won’t boot, you can use Windows Live CD to test your hardware. If your computer can boot properly from Windows Live CD, it’s meaning nothing wrong with your hardware. Hence, you can focus to solve the problem from its OS or installed software.

- If your system crash and you need to copy some system file to folder where you install your Windows, you can copy the system file from Windows Setup CD to a USB flash disk (use another computer) and easily boot from Windows Live CD then copy the file. Simple right?

I have tried Bart's PE Builder and I found it very good and useful program to make a Windows Live CD. Hence I make one and keep it. Every time people ask me about computer problem, I know I will need it.
You will have a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. It's useful for testing systems with no OS, data recovery or virus scan.

What's great about Bart's PE Builder is that it has many plugins that extend the operating system and allow you to do many tasks.

Website: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Download PE Builder v3.1.10a - self-installing package (3.15MB)

A video from YouTube about how to install PE Builder and make Windows Live CD, check it here.

See some screen shoot below:

HOW CAN I GAIN ACCESS TO A WINDOWS NT/2000/XP/2003 COMPUTER IF I FORGOT THE ADMINISTRATOR'S PASSWORD? HOW CAN I RESET THE ADMINISTRATOR'S PASSWORD IF

2008-10-29T08:17:00.002+07:00

You forgot your Windows administrator's password? How can you get out of this situation without formatting and re-installing the operating system? After trying search some solution in Google, I came out with a simple solution and I think it’s a best solution. Although have other ways to reset administrator password, I propose you to try this solution as it use free program i.e.

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor (v080526 - May 2008)

Petter Nordahl-Hagen has written a Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista offline password editor:

· This is a utility to (re)set the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista system, by modifying the encrypted password in the registry's SAM file.

· You do not need to know the old password to set a new one.

· It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppy disk or CD. The boot-disk includes stuff to access NTFS partitions and scripts to glue the whole thing together.

· Works with syskey (no need to turn it off, but you can if you have lost the key)

· Will detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts!

Caution: If used on users that have EFS encrypted files, and the system is XP or later service packs on W2K, all encrypted files for that user will be UNREADABLE! and cannot be recovered unless you remember the old password again!

Download links:

cd080526.zip (~3MB) - Bootable CD image
bd080526.zip (~1.4M) - Bootdisk image
drivers1-080526.zip (~310K) - Disk drivers (mostly PATA/SATA)
drivers2-080526.zip (~1.2M) - Disk drivers (mostly SCSI)

To write these images to a floppy disk you'll need RawWrite2 which is included in the Bootdisk image download. To create the CD you just need to use your favorite CD burning program and burn the .ISO file to CD.

Support and Problems? Read FAQ right HERE

Author claims that this tool was successfully tested on NT 3.51, NT 4, Windows 2000 (except datacenter), Windows XP (all versions) and Window Server 2003. Notice that it is NOT compatible with Active Directory.

Need to change Windows NT/2000 Domain Admin password? This tool, however useful, will only reset the local administrator's password (e.g. the one found in the local computer's SAM).

What I have done is download cd080526.zip, burn it using Nero and set BIOS to first boot from CD-ROM. Below is 2 screen shoots when I boot with the CD.

So, just boot this CD and follow instructions. Usually, just pressing return/enter should work, except some drivers (ISA for instance) may have to be loaded manually with the 'm' menu option after boot.

http://serviskom.blogspot.com/

Pengen program gratis Microsoft Office?

2008-10-28T14:25:00.005+07:00

Microsoft Office tidaklah gratis dan mungkin tidak akan pernah gratis. Namun saya menemukan sebuah program dari Kingsoft yang benar2 mirip dengan Microsoft Office. Kingsoft Office terdiri dari Writer, Presentation dan Spreadsheets.

Tapi ternyata Kingsoft Office pun tidaklah gratis. Anda bisa men-download dan mencobanya selama 100 hari. Namun, harga Kingsoft Office tentu saja lebih murah dibandingkan dengan harga Microsoft Office. Bagi anda yang berminat mencoba Kingsoft Office, silakan download dari link di bawah ini.

Download Kingsoft Office

Saya sendiri lebih suka menggunakan Open Office yang benar2 gratis. Namun, ternyata banyak teman2 saya tidak suka dengan Open Office karena tampilan dan menu Open Office banyak berbeda dengan Microsoft Office. Bagi saya, ini hanya masalah kebiasaan. Jika anda sudah terbiasa menggunakan Open Office, tidak akan ada kesulitan lagi.

Namun, tentu saja meninggalkan Microsoft Office tidaklah bisa dilakukan semudah membalik telapak tangan. Pekerjaan di kantor masih menggunakan Microsoft Office, tapi perusahaan kami punya lisensi asli untuk Microsoft Office yang digunakan di kantor.

Masih ada beberapa program Office lainnya yang perlu anda lihat. Silakan klik link ini atau link di bawah ini:
Softmaker Office
Kingsoft Office 2007 Personal English
NeoOffice
GNOME Office
StarOffice

Nah, terserah anda. Apakah anda ingin tetap menggunakan Microsoft Office bajakan atau mulai belajar dan berpindah ke Open Office?