StappsPlace.com

Bought a netgear entertainer live eva2000 the other day for about $90. It’s a HD stand alone media player that will play all types of media on your tv via usb, network, etc.. I connected mine to my hd tv via a hdmi cable. Played a few videos via usb external hdd with great quality. Then I played a few videos via the network and was very unhappy, quality is terrible, the streaming is just sad. Also did not like the little remote and that there had to be a direct line of sight between it and the receiver in order for it to work. Taking it back today, will look for a better quality player! It’s decent if your not wanting to stream video.

Normal Format -
When you choose to run a regular format on a volume, files are removed from the volume that you are formatting and the hard disk is scanned and cleared of bad sectors. The scan for bad sectors is responsible for the majority of the time that it takes to format a volume.

Quick Format -
If you choose the Quick format option, format removes files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is not damaged.

Note: I use the windows xp install format as an example but it is the same concept when formatting a flash drive, external, etc..

Ran into a situation recently where I needed to run a few applications as a service in the background. You can always put the application in the “Startup” folder but then they don’t execute until you login and then the apps start in the foreground and not in the background. Came across a great program called Fire Daemon:

Runs any (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows 7 / 2008 / Vista / 2003 / XP executable, batch file, or shortcut as a Windows Service .
Starts your applications before you log in, without any user intervention.
Keeps them running in the background interactively or non-interactively.
Automatically restarts if they crash, hang or shutdown.
Advanced scheduling, eventing and alerting.

http://www.firedaemon.com/

RAID stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks and is a technology that allows computer users to achieve high levels of storage reliability from low-cost and less reliable PC-class disk-drive components, via the technique of arranging the devices into arrays for redundancy. Below is a list of common RAID configurations.

• RAID0: also known as data striping, is used when you want to improve your disk performance. It works by dividing the files to be written on disk into several chunks (called stripes) and saving each chunk on a different drive. For example, if you have a 200 KB file and two hard disk drives, it will be cut into two 100 KB chunks and each chunk will be saved on a different hard disk drive.
• RAID1: also known as mirroring, is used to improve the data reliability of your PC. It works by copying everything that is sent to the first hard disk drive to the second. Consider RAID1 as a hardware-based backup system. If the first hard disk drive fails, the second one takes its place immediately.
• RAID0+1: is a system using RAID0 and RAID1 at the same time. It needs four identical hard disk drives. If one of the hard disk drive fails, the system becomes a RAID0 system (data striping).
• RAID10: is a system using RAID0 and RAID1 at the same time. It needs four identical hard disk drives. If one of the hard disk drive fails, the system becomes a RAID1 system (mirroring).
• RAID5: is a RAID0 system storing parity information for better reliability. It needs at least three identical hard disk drives. On a three-drive system the total capacity will be the size of each hard disk drive times two (and not three) – for example, if three 80 GB drives are used, the total disk capacity will be of 160 GB, as the rest of disk space is used to store parity information.
• JBOD: stands for “Just a Bunch of Disks” and isn’t a RAID system, as it doesn’t improve disk performance or disk reliability. It is used to join two drives with different capacities as if they were a single drive. For example, you can use JBOD to add a 40 GB hard disk drive to an 80 GB hard disk drive to appear as a single 120 GB to the system.

RAID0

RAID1

Using the Print Screen key is a great way to capture a screen shot of your entire desktop but say you just need a screenshot of a single window that is open, this is where the Alt key is very handy. Using the Alt + Print Screen keys, you can capture a screen shot of a single window, which ever window is selected.

System Repair Disc
The Vista Service Pack 1 betas included a new feature that let you easily create a system repair disc with a friendly graphical interface, but it was removed in the final release of SP1. Windows 7 restores this functionality. Just click Start and type System Repair in the Search box. Click on Create A System Repair Disc.

PowerShell v2
Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell interface and scripting tool that makes it easier for Windows administrators to automate tasks using cmdlets, which are commands that perform single tasks, and scripts, which are made up of multiple cmdlets to perform more complex, multi-step tasks.

Text Tuning and Color Calibration
Your computer does the work, but your monitor is what you look at all day. If it doesn’t look good, you don’t get the most out of your computing experience, and you can even strain your eyes. Windows 7 includes two great tools for adjusting your display to fit your preferences.

Biometric Device Management
In earlier versions of Windows, biometric authentication and management of biometric devices (fingerprint sensors) required third-party software that might or might not integrate well with the OS. Now it’s built in. Windows 7 includes the Windows Biometric Framework, which gives developers an API they can use to build biometrics into applications. Makers of fingerprint sensor hardware, such as UPEK and AuthenTec, worked with Microsoft on the development of the Framework.

ISO Burner
An ISO image is a type of archive file that is often used to distribute software. In Windows 7, Microsoft addressed something that’s been on the wish list of many users for a long time: Now you don’t have to download and install a third-party program to burn an ISO file to disc. You can also click Start and type isoburn in the Search box.

Problem Steps Recorder
One of the coolest new tools in Windows 7 is the Problem Steps Recorder (PSR). No matter how hard they try, users often have problems accurately describing the problem they’re experiencing or the steps they took before or after experiencing it. Sure, Remote Assistance can be a godsend in those situations but you can’t always connect to the user’s computer in real time. That’s when the PSR comes in handy. It creates a nice zipped file containing images and steps to recreate the users problem in mht format, easily viewable in a web browser.

Action Center
Centralized management is the name of the game today, and Windows 7 gives you a one-stop shopping location where you can go to deal with security issues, troubleshooting, and recovery, instead of searching out separate applets for each. It’s all combined in an easy-to-use Control Panel applet, where you get maintenance and security messages and can view performance information, change UAC settings, and more.

Homegroup
HomeGroup makes it easy to share your libraries and printers on a home network. You can share pictures, music, videos, documents, and printers with other people in your homegroup. The homegroup is protected with a password, and you’ll always be able to choose what you share with the group.

Aero Shake:
Take any window, grab the task bar, shake it using the mouse and any other open windows minimize. Shake it again to bring the windows back up.

Areo Snap:
Move a window to the left – window occupies the left half of the screen.
Move a window to the right – window occupies the right half of the screen.
Move a window to the top – window maximizes.

Taskbar Grouped Icons
Opening a program twice groups the programs under a single icon on the taskbar.

Taskbar Peek
Hover over grouped taskbar icons to view all grouped windows

Desktop Peek
Hover over the Desktop Peek button to show the desktop, click to minimize all windows.

Start Orb Glows When You Hover Over It
Not a big deal but now the orb reacts.

Gadgets Without The Sidebar
Still the same cool gadgest as in vista, just no unnecessary sidebar.

Windows Media Player Peek Controls
Hover over the WMP taskbar icon to reveal the controls.

Ribbon added to Paint and Wordpad
The Ribbon style toolbar like in Microsoft Office 2007 has been added to Paint and Wordpad.

I recently discovered that firefox does not understand a relative path using back slashes to embed content such as pictures and files.

For example,
\images\picture.jpg
picture.jpg will not display in firefox.

You must use the forward slash:
/images/picture.jpg

Within firefox, a backslash is a valid character that can be used in URLs but it is not meant to delineate the barrier between directories.

Wasn’t to happy with Windows 7 RC but the actual release is great, goodbye vista!

UDL stands for Universal Data Link and is a file format associated with Microsoft Data Access Components or MDAC, which is a standard database interface for Windows.  MDAC is free and packaged with Windows 98 and later operating systems.

To create a .udl file:
Open Windows Explorer.
Select the folder in which you want to store the .udl file.
If you are running Windows 2000 or later, select New on the File menu, and choose Text Document. A new file named New Text Document.txt appears in the directory. Rename this file, removing all spaces and changing its file extension to .udl.
Note: A warning that changing file extensions can cause files to become unusable might appear. Disregard it.

Double click on the newly created .udl file and you will get the following properties box:

Micro$oft Office:

Open Office:

Installed Disk Usage:
Microsft Office – 657 MB
Open Office – 375 MB

CPU & RAM Usage:
System Idol

Microsoft Office Word

Open Office Writer

Check it out, it’s Free:
http://www.openoffice.org/

FREE antivirus software with spyware protection: avast! Home Edition

Complete antivirus software for free

avast! Home Edition – Free Antivirus represents the best FREE antivirus protection currently available on the market. This edition is FREE OF CHARGE for non-commercial & home use only.

Side by Side virus scans with Avast and AVG – Avast detects more viruses!
Registration is required but free, key is valid for an unlimited time and # of machines.

Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.

Based on a powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment.

http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/

I got a Flip UltraHD for my birthday! Have not had a chance to record anything worth while yet but I am really excited to do so. Just the little recording I have done so far has been really impressive, sound is good and video is great! Heard that recording is not so great in low light but oh well, it’s great with good lighting. It holds 120 minutes of 720p resolution recording on a 8GB built-in flash memory at 30 fps.

Macrium makes a complete imaging and restoration tool called Reflect. The basic version, which is all you need in most cases, is free. Reflect creates a full disk image, recovery boot disk (linux based) and can easily restore your pc to that image either from within the windows gui itself or from the recovery disk if you are not able to boot.

http://www.macrium.com/

A good registry cleaner can make all the difference in the world some times and can save you A LOT of headache! During a recent software disaster, I went in search of a GOOD, FREE registry cleaner. A few I found:

1. TweakNow RegCleaner

TweakNow RegCleaner has a fast and accurate formula to to get rid of obsolete entries. it can perform a quick scan of the registry to track the obsolete entries. Further, it’s complex and effective algorithm makes the engine more accurate.

http://www.tweaknow.com/

2. Eusing Free Registry Cleaner

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner is a free registry repair software that allows you to safely clean and repair registry problems with a few simple mouse clicks. The Windows Registry is a crucial part of your PC’s operation system.

http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm

3. EasyCleaner

It is a compact and efficient tool for cleaning the registry. Easycleaner can also clean up all kinds of files like temps, backups etc. Use it to  search the duplicate files. Easycleaner removes the junk files to free your hard disk space and enhances the boot performance of your system.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/Easy-Cleaner.html

4. CCleaner

One of the most well know Registry Cleaners for compactness and speed. It has dual advantages. In addition to cleaning the invalid keys, CCleaner also removes the unused files allowing you more hard disc space and a faster system. Further, the registry cleaner also clears up the traces of your online activities registered in the Internet history.

http://www.ccleaner.com/download

5. Comodo Registry Cleaner

Comodo, better known for its firewalls also creates excellent Registry Cleaning Software. It scans and removes the invalid registries that are responsible for instability of the system. It has an exclusive feature that allows you to schedule an automatic scan at your preferred time. It also provides a backup before removal of the junk files out of the windows registry, so you can restore the files if they’re needed.

http://system-cleaner.comodo.com/

Input Director is a Windows application that lets you control multiple Windows systems using the keyboard/mouse attached to one computer. It is designed for folks who have two (or more) computers set up at home and find themselves regularly sliding from one system to the other (and wearing out the carpet in the process!). With Input Director, you can share a single keyboard/mouse across a set of systems. You switch which system receives the input either by hotkey or by moving the cursor so that it transitions from one screen to the other (in a very similar fashion to a multi-monitor setup). The idea being that you can position the monitors from two or more systems in a row and use a shared keyboard/mouse to control all of them.

Input Director also supports a “shared” clipboard, in which you can copy data onto the clipboard on one system, transition across to another and paste.

Input Director requires Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP (Service Pack 2), Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 or Windows 7. The systems must be networked.

http://www.inputdirector.com/

What is Joomla?

Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.