Free Windows Tips & Guides

The Best Android Apps & Tests

2010-09-17T12:19:00.003Z

For all you Android Phone owners I have started a new Blog here if you would care to take a look and let me know what you think.

many Thanks

Speed Up Your Windows System With Soluto

2010-06-17T15:09:00.002Z

Soluto Beta allows you to understand your boot, discover which applications are slowing it down (and keep running later in the background, affecting your ongoing experience), and allows you to significantly improve it.

While Soluto Beta focuses on the boot, it already researches for frustrations and helps map the PC Genome, and allows you to share your wisdom with others.

Get It Here

Free Top TV Shows Online @ TV Gorge

2010-02-07T16:18:00.000Z

TVGorge.com's mission is to bring high quality streaming television shows to the masses. We accomplish this by searching and indexing TV streaming websites around the globe. Once our proprietary script has found the best source for a given TV show, it automatically compiles the information for our database.

http://tvgorge.com/

One Of The Best Spyware Removal Tools Is Now Portable

2010-01-26T10:58:00.002Z

If you’ve got a PC infected with malware, spyware, or rogue/fake antivirus applications, the best tool for removing them is the free SUPERAntiSpyware Portable edition.

You might wonder why a portable version is so important… the problem is that the worst malware infections block you from installing malware removal software, and even if you manage to get it installed, most of the time when you try and launch it the infection will not let it.

So this edition does not require installation and will run from a memory stick if nneds be.

Get It Here

Free Tech Magazines Online Like T3 and PC Magazine

2009-11-08T14:51:00.004Z

The online destination for all your magazine related needs
With over 10,000 magazine titles attracting 200 million American readers, Maggwire makes discovering magazine content a personalized experience. Utilizing social intelligence, our system recommends magazine articles you will enjoy reading from over 600 magazine titles.

See Them Here

Camstudio - Free Screen Recording Software

2009-10-13T10:33:00.003Z

CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)

Here are just a few ways you can use this software:

You can use it to create demonstration videos for any software program
Or how about creating a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions?
You can create video tutorials for school or college class
You can use it to record a recurring problem with your computer so you can show technical support people
You can use it to create video-based information products you can sell
You can even use it to record new tricks and techniques you discover on your favourite software program, before you forget them

Get It Here

MedalFolders - Free Easy access to your favorite folders and applications

2009-09-22T09:37:00.002Z

MedalFolders is a freeware application that sits in your system tray (next to the clock) and acts as a "Favorites" link for Windows. Very addictive!

Click the red MedalFolders icon in your system tray and presto! Shortcuts to your favorite applications and folders are a click away.

Add new MedalFolders shortcuts by dragging them to the MedalFolders window.

No spyware, no adware, no nag screens, no time limited trial, no trying to connect to the Net to do who knows what. Just a very nifty way to surf your PC.

Get It Here

Best Free Defragger For Windows - Defraggler

2009-09-02T15:14:00.002Z

Most defragmentation tools only let you defrag the whole drive. Defraggler gives you the power to select individual files and folders to defrag. So you can get the job done in seconds, rather than waiting for the whole drive to complete. Of course if you want to defrag the whole drive Defraggler will let you do that too.

Defraggler was written in the same compact architecture as other Piriform products (CCleaner and Recuva). This results in a compact single EXE application, which can be copied to a thumbdrive and then used whenever you need it, without a complex installation process. The EXE itself is less than 1MB!

Defraggler supports all OSs released since Windows 2000, this includes Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. 64-bit support has also just been added! Additionally Defraggler supports both NTFS and FAT32 file systems.

Get It Here

Free Nokia Mobile Phone Unlocking Generator

2009-08-25T14:03:00.002Z

No Software Download Needed.

Using this tool you will be able to Generate sim unlock codes for your Nokia mobile phone instantly, automatically and free of charge!

And It Works For Multiple Countries (Including the U.K.)

Use The Free Online Tool here

LockHunter is a foolproof file unlocker for free

2009-08-11T08:18:00.003Z

It is a free tool to delete files blocked by something you do not know. LockHunter is useful for fighting against malware, and other programs that are blocking files without a reason. Unlike other similar tools it deletes files into the recycle bin so you may restore them if deleted by mistake.

Shows processes locking a file or folder
Allows to unlock, delete, copy or rename a locked file
Allows to kill locking process
Allows to remove locking processes from hard drive
Integrates in to Explorer menu
It deletes files into the recycle bin, so you may restore them if deleted by mistake
Supports both 32 and 64bit Windows

get It Free Here

Top Websites Of 2009 (So Far)

2009-08-03T21:11:00.002Z

Some Old, Some Gold, Some Undiscovered.

EnoughOf The Waffle Here Is The List.

Why not pick one at random and check it out

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

BBC

BrokenPictureTelephone.com

Entertainment Weekly's EW.com

HotPads - Map Search for Real Estate, Apartments & Houses for Rent, Foreclosures and Homes for Sale

Hulu

Instructables

interfacelift Wallpaper

io9

Item Not As Described

Petrucci Music Library

texts from last night

That Guy With The Glasses

The Awesomer

The Consumerist

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

World Digital Library

WorldWide Telescope

http://www.someecards.com/

http://www.ustream.tv/

Yelp

youshouldhaveseenthis.com

YouTube

Enjoy

Free "Unused Windows Driver" Removal Tool - Driver Sweeper

2009-08-03T11:13:00.006Z

What is Driver Sweeper?

Driver Sweeper is a fast tool to remove drivers from your system. It's important to remove your drivers in a proper way, because driver leftovers can cause stability, startup and other problems.You can also use it if you want to update/remove drivers from your system.

The latest version is 2.0.5 get it here

SpyME Tools Keeps Track Of Registry and Disk Changes

2009-07-28T18:33:00.003Z

SpyMe Tools is very useful in detecting Registry and Disk changes. If any application installs spyware, adware, dlls, programs, files, or any other type of file, picture, or program, etc. or changes the Registry's content, you will be able to see exactly where the modification occurred so you can take measures.

It seems like more and more programs are attempting to install spyware, advertisements, or other garbage without your knowledge, but with this software you will know everything that is added or removed.

To detect Registry/Disk changes the program will create Dumps of the actual states of Registry/Disk. This means that at any time you can open the Dump file and view the contents of the Registry/Disk just as they were when you've scanned the Registry/Disk. The program can compare two different dump files so you'll see exactly what changed in the Registry/Disk between the two scans.

Get it Here

Totally Free CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Burning Software

2009-07-28T09:33:00.002Z

ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI.

It can burn Audio CD's from any file type supported via DirectShow / ACM - including AAC, APE, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, OGG, PCM, WAV, WMA and WV.

You can use it to build DVD Video discs (from a VIDEO_TS folder), HD DVD Video discs (from a HVDVD_TS folder) and Blu-ray Video discs (from a BDAV / BDMV folder) with ease.

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, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 and 7 (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).

There is an image queue system for when you're burning several images (which you can automatically share between multiple drives if you have more than one) and an easy-to-use layer break selection screen for double layer DVD Video jobs. The Automatic Write Speed feature allows you store your favourite burn speed settings on a per 'Media ID' basis, right down to a drive by drive level. Data captured during the burn (write speed, buffer levels etc) can be displayed / analysed using DVDInfoPro.

Whilst ImgBurn is designed to work perfectly straight out of the box, advanced users will appreciate just how configurable it is.

Oh and let's not forget the best thing about it.... it's 100% FREE ;-) Get It Here

How To Build A PC Instruction Video - Every Step Explained

2009-07-24T19:51:00.001Z

How to Build a PC - Every Step Explained from Maximum PC on Vimeo.

Fantastic PC Parts Poster (A Must See)

2009-07-21T15:08:00.003Z

Whether you have been building PC's from the year dot or just started this chart covers all the major parts in pictures that you will ever come across.

It is superb.

Worth bookmarking as you never know when you may need to ID an old part.

See it full size here

Free Parental Controls For Home Using Open DNS

2009-07-15T08:25:00.002Z

Keeping your family safe online can be a daunting task. Luckily there's OpenDNS, the easiest way to filter unsafe Web sites on your home network.

OpenDNS Parental Controls divide the Internet's content into more than 50 categories. Simply choose your desired filtering level, from "High" to "Minimal," and check a box. Your filtering preferences take effect in just minutes. Further customize your preferences by adding additional categories or individual Web sites that are problematic or unsafe for your household.

OpenDNS Parental Controls, recommended by industry experts, require no appliance and setting up is a breeze.

Get It Here

The Ultimate Bootable PC fixing set of tools (and Its free)

2009-07-10T10:02:00.004Z

Hiren's BootCD is a wonderful live CD containing various programs such as Hard drive recovery,

Hard Drive Partition, Hard Drive Backup, Hard Drive Testing, RAM (Memory) Testing, System Information, MBR (Master BootRecord), BIOS, MultiMedia, Password, NTFS (FileSystems), Antivirus, AntiSpy, Process, Windows Startup, Registry tools, Windows Cleaners, Optimizers, Tweakers, and many others...

As it is a bootable CD, it can be useful even if the primary operating system cannot be booted. We may call it as an emergency cd which every computer technician or home user must have

Its a must have for IT technicians get it here

KidZui is a free Web browser, search engine and online playground for kids 3-12.

2009-07-10T09:59:00.001Z

Fun for Kids

KidZui is a free Web browser, search engine and online playground for kids 3-12.
Kids have the freedom to learn, play, search and discover over 2 million games, websites, videos and photos on their own. KidZui has the largest number of games, websites, videos and photos reviewed by parents and teachers anywhere. Kids can find what they need to help with schoolwork, by themselves.
Kids safely express themselves, with their Zui, backgrounds, tags and online status.

Smart for Parents

KidZui eliminates the need for parents to constantly watch over their kids' shoulder, when they are online.
Parents know what their kids are doing online and they can connect by sharing content. KidZui sends a weekly email that tells you what your kids are doing online. The KidZui parent account lets you share content and set limits.

Download it here

Create Thousands Of Folders Quickly And Without Effort

2009-07-08T14:43:00.004Z

If you've ever had to manually create large numbers of new folders in Windows you know how time consuming and frustrating it can be. New Folder Wizard can help you create thousands of folders quickly and easily. Options include numbering the folders, prefix and suffix text, zero padding, and using a text file as the source for folder names.

Use this program to help you organize images or other files of your choice by easily creating the folders for you. Using the text file option makes new folder creation as easy as typing. Or, if you use an external program like Microsoft Excel you can create your own naming and incrementing scheme. Simply export your list as a text file and let New Folder Wizard create the folders for you!

Get It Here

Down For Everyone Or Just Me ?

2009-07-07T07:51:00.003Z

Every gone to one of your fav websites to find that it is down.

The next question you ask your self is.

"Is it down for everyone or just me ?"

Well this website will tell you the answer.

Click Here to find out.

Remote Control Your Windows PC Via SMS

2009-07-06T13:56:00.003Z

User your Twitter account and this free app to control your Windows PC via Text & Email

Get It Here

Pack More Music On To Your MP3 Player With This Tiny App

2009-07-06T08:04:00.003Z

The main purpose is to change the bitrate of your mp3 music collection in a really simple but intuitive way so that the filesize can be dramatically reduced while the audio quality stays the same. With this advantage it's possible to put more music on your mp3-player or just to save some disk space.Even advanced tasks are possible: Downsampling, changing the used channels and so on. With the included presets it's simpler than ever before to manage all the provided settings.Helpful for the concluding quality comparison is the generated summary that comes after a process because it truly points out the made change by illustrating the filesize modification.

Features

. change mp3 quality with just a few clicks
. really easy and intuitive interface
. retain common id3 tags (like title, artist etc.), original file date
. advanced options: detailed variable bitrate mode, sample frequency and so on
. concluding quality comparison: compare created files with original
. portable: extremely small, just one executable, no installation

Get It Here

Capture Multimedia From the Web For Free With Tubemaster++

2009-06-30T14:39:00.002Z

TubeMaster++ is a free software by GgSofts. It is a powerful tool which can capture multimedia files you are watching or listening from your internet browser (FLV,MP3,MP4).

Captured files can be saved directly on your computer or converted to other popular video or audio formats (AVI, MPEG, MP3, MP4, IPod, PSP ...).

Websites examples : YouTube, DailyMotion, MySpace, Google Videos, LastFM, Deezer, Jiwa, Songza, and many others ... Powerful search engines are also integrated to find videos or audio (mp3) files directly from the software.

Get It Here

The fastest disk imaging software is now available as a free edition

2009-06-26T08:48:00.002Z

Absolutely free! No strings! The only free XP and Vista compatible disk imaging software with BartPE and Linux based recovery options.
Create a disk image whilst running Windows using Microsoft Volume Shadow copy Service (VSS).

Image to Network, USB, FireWire drives and DVD.

Built in scheduler.

32 bit and native 64 bit versions.

Industry leading compression levels and speed.

Linux based Rescue CD with Network access and full GUI. Only 6.5MB in size!

Built in CD/DVD packet writing engine. Supports packet writing to DVD DL media with Windows Vista.

HTML log files.

Get It Here

Get The Office 2003 Menu In Office 2007

2009-06-25T13:27:00.002Z

UBitMenu has become a global success with over 100'000 downloads in just two months. After downloading and installing your languages classic menu, you will see the menu as the second tab of the ribbon in Word 2007, Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007.

Get it Here

This Happend To Me On A Daily Basis Until Getting This App

2009-06-23T11:08:00.003Z

Im there composing an email and what to capitalise a letter lets say for a name, then when looking back at the screen 2 mins later relise I have turned on Caps Lock rather that just Left Shifting.

Well not any more.

NumLocker allows you lock state of Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock keys. You can force these keys to "Always On" and "Always Off". With NumLocker, you can prevent accidental pressing and changing state of there keys.

Thank the lord and get it here

200+ Free Portable Apps In One Package

2009-06-19T08:03:00.003Z

Why install more than 200 software if they are available in one step via LiberKey ?Best Open Source or Freeware have been selected in order to match most practical needs (OpenOffice, FireFox, Filezilla, Gimp, Videolan,...). They have been grouped under categories in order to facilitate the search and the execution of the desired software.

Portable use (installed on USB key, external hard drive, music player such as iPod, ...)It is possible because these software have been made portable. For example, LiberKey installed on your portable device can be plugged in any computer.Immediately you have under hand all your familiar tools.

How ? By a simple download here

Fbackup, Free Windows Application & Data Backup Software

2009-06-18T07:52:00.003Z

FBackup is a free backup software for both personal and commercial use. It protects your important data by backing it up automatically to any USB/Firewire device, local or network location. The backed up data can be either compressed (using standard zip compression) or an exact copy of the original files.

You can load plugins for backing up or restoring specific programs' settings or other custom data (like game saves, email data, etc.). Once loaded in FBackup, these plugins will add in the Predefined Backups list the sources needed to be backed up for that particular program

If a file is in use by another program at the time of the backup, FBackup will still be able to back up that file, because it uses the Volume Shadow Service that Windows provides. So, as long as you're on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2003 Server or Windows 2008 Server, FBackup will back up those open files. As an example, you will be able to back up your Outlook emails and settings without closing it first.

Download Fbackup here

Handy App For Changing File Creation Dates

2009-06-16T11:26:00.002Z

Ever had the situation where you needed to tell a little white lie as to when your started that project for your boss and need to change the creation date.

Then this is the App for you.

The StExBar provides many useful commands for your everyday use of Windows explorer. And you can add as many custom commands on your own as you like.

The SKTimeStamp extension adds a page to the file/folder properties dialog. It allows you to change the file/folder dates and times as you like.

get it here

Free Powerresizer For Windows

2009-06-15T08:39:00.003Z

If you have not moved to Windows 7 yet but want to have its fantastic windows resizing features then this app should serve you well.

PowerResizer is a utility that provides many facilities in moving or resizing windows in a Microsoft Windows desktop environment.One of the key-features of PowerResizer is window-docking: with PowerResizer you can organize your window in an intelligent way.

Try the following: run PowerResizer, then dock a window in the left-half of your screen (simply dragging-it with your mouse to the left of your screen) and another window in the right-half; now you can resize them using either the left border of the right window or the right border of the left window... the magic happens!

So, if you want either compare some documents or rapidly resize and move your windows, PowerResizer allows you to do some actions (such as resizing a window mantaining its center point fixed) by using some keyboard shortcuts during moving or resizing that window (see Readme file included in setup package or sources).

Download here

Window Hider Quickly Hides or Kills WIndows

2009-06-10T20:33:00.004Z

The basic idea behind Window Hider is that you have some programs you like to run, but that maybe your boss doesn’t like you to run. Be it games or just Internet Explorer tuned to your favorite website or video streaming site. Now you probably wish you had a way to prevent your boss from seeing them beyond the quick and dirty close them all as he walked into the office method

As a recent feature you can now set up a combination of keys that will kill all the hidden windows, sorta a last chance safe guard if you will. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the fruits of my computer programming.

Download window hider here

Watch Live Television Online For FREE (UK Only)

2009-04-10T08:19:00.003Z

TVCatchup is a new service which lets you watch live UK television online.

There are currently 18 channels to choose from, it's totally legal and absolutely free!

So whether you are at uni, on holiday, travelling with work, away from home or are just too darn lazy to move away from your PC, join the revolution and start watching television with TVCatchup today!

http://www.tvcatchup.com/

Free Streaming Music

2009-01-22T20:38:00.001Z

Financed by advertising, the free version of Spotify is the place where most people start. Simple to download and install, in no time at all you’ll enjoy having all the music in the world at your fingertips, instant access to whatever song you want with no restrictions, and the ability to create and share playlists with friends.
Search
Find and browse by artist, title, album, genre, year.
Radio
Specify your own radio channel based on genre, year and artist.
Share
Create, share and collaborate on play lists and share links to music.

Its fantastic

Sign up for free here

https://www.spotify.com/en/get-started/

Xmas Party At No. 10

2008-12-05T10:08:00.000Z

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Is My Username Taken ?

2008-11-11T14:48:00.000Z

This is a great site that checks many of the most popular sites on the web to see if your username is registered.

It may just remind you of an old site you used to love but have long forgotten about.

Cant say much more than that.

http://usernamecheck.com/

Free Advice On How To Speed Up Vista From Microsoft

2008-08-04T14:22:00.000Z

Improve Performance Quickly and Easily

This guide focuses on performance improvements on a single computer, but also takes a look at some of the tools used in enterprise environments to help make performance tuning manageable on a much larger scale.

The guide looks at the following areas of performance improvement:

• Making configuration changes that help a computer feel more responsive when you use it.
• Using hardware to boost the actual physical speed of a computer.
• Making configuration changes that help a computer to start faster.
• Making the computer more reliable may help increase performance.
• Monitoring performance occasionally so that you can stop problems before they get too big.

The Guide can be downloaded from Microsft in PDF format Here

Free Service To Email Large Files (Up To 100MB)

2008-06-26T10:22:00.000Z

MailBigFile is a free service that allows you to email single files i.e. zip,rar,wmv,avi etc up to 100MB.

So if yours or your intended recipients email provider imposes file size limits then this is a great way to get around this.

To start using the service click below

http://www.mailbigfile.com/

Dont Pay For Support Until You Read This

2008-05-01T11:33:00.000Z

Guide To Finding Free Help To Common Problems On The Internet

Most problems in Microsoft Windows more than likely have already happened to somebody else at some point and hopefully have been fixed.

So why pay your local computer shop/company when the answer to your question or problem may already be out there for free it just knowing where to look and this is the first place an IT professional will look as well.

Microsoft Knowledge Base

One of the first places to look for Microsoft related product problems i.e. Windows XP/98/2000, Office 200/XP/2003 is the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

This is like Microsoft’s database of known Microsoft related problems (use the link below to try it out)

http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=0

This lets you pick you product and then type your error message/problem and will then show results they feel match you problem.

Changing you search entry will display different results, learning how to phrase searches to get what you want is a great skill in finding your desired answers.

Lets say for instance you error message is Word 2003 and is saying that the document you are trying to open is corrupt.

Firstly select Word 2003 from the Search Product drop down list.

Then type the word “corrupt” without the hyphens in the for box and then hit the search button.

One of the results given is this one

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889409/en-us

And more than likely would have fixed your issue.

The Microsoft Knowledge Base has fixed many a problem for myself and friends without the help of an IT Professional.

Google Groups

One of the next best places to find answers to problems and is always worth a try is Google Groups (use the link below to try it out)

http://groups.google.co.uk/grphp?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&tab=wg

using similar search techniques as used on the Microsoft Knowledge base you can enter an error message.

Using the same problem as above as an example type the following “
word 2003 open document corrupt” without the hyphens in the empty box next to the Search Groups button and then click the Search Groups button.

You will see many results returned, click on the ones that seem the most relevant.

You will see that they are laid out in the style of the person who has asked the question at the top and then scrolling down you will see people that have made suggestions to his/her problem.

Again practice changing your search text as learning how to phrase searches to get what you want is a great skill in finding your desired answers.

Try not to be too specific with your search i.e.

Using the example again do NOT type:

When I open a document in Microsoft word 2003 on my computer I get the error message my file is corrupt

Try to shorten searches and try the following search instead:

word 2003 open document corrupt

Google Groups is immense in the information it holds so don’t just limit it to Microsoft related problems as you will find information for all manor of computer related problems i.e. printers, scanners, WI-FI, networking issues, and also non computer problems i.e. cars, health, home appliances etc.

IT IS A GOLD MINE OF INFORMATION READY TO BE USED FOR FREE!

Free Forums

Another great place is to post your own questions on a local forum, there are many free forums on the internet I have placed a link below to a particular favourite of mine.

For general computer and networking questions try here:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=40

For general internet/broadband questions try here:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=40

For a list of all forums try here:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/

You have to join this site but it is free

Again let someone answer your questions for you for free, but a top tip is to include as much info as possible about your question, be polite and always reply back with a thanks if a person has taken time to answer you question and don’t post too many questions all in one go.

Manufacturers Site

A lot of manufacturers of computer equipment have there own support sites where drivers and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about your product may reside a few are listed below.

Hewlett Packard:

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html?pageDisplay=support

Epson:

http://esupport.epson-europe.com/SupportHome.aspx?lng=en-GB

Dell:

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/index.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen

Netgear:

http://www.netgear.co.uk/product_support.php

Belkin:

http://www.belkin.com/uk/support/tech/index.asp

Most big manufacturers will have a site for support to find them try searching on http://www.google.com/ i.e. “epson downloads support” without the hyphens.

Drivers

It is important to keep your items of computer hardware running with the most up to date drivers, Drivers are a piece of software that tells your computer how to talk to the specific piece of hardware i.e. printer, scanner etc.

Most drivers for products can be downloaded from the manufacturers site see above.

But if you are desperate and canot find a driver lets say for an old piece of hardware by a company no longer in business you could try the following sites (please note these sites usually charge)

http://www.windrivers.com/

http://www.driverguide.com/

USING THE GUIDES ABOVE MOST IT PROFESSIONALS WOULD HAVE RESOLVED THE MAJORITY OF COMPUTER RELATED ISSUES SO WHY NOT TRY FIX YOUR PROBLEM AND WHATS MORE ITS USUALLY COST FREE.

Quick Jargon/ Acronyms Buster

ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscribers Line

AGP - Accelerated Graphics Port

ATAPI - Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface

AVI - Audio Video Interleaved

BLOG - weB LOG

CODEC - COmpressor / DECompressor

CPU - Central Processing Unit

DNS – Domain Name Services

EIDE - Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics

FTP - File Transfer Protocol

GHZ – Gigahertz

GB – Gigabyte (1,073,741,824 Bytes)

HTTP – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

HTML – Hyper Text Mark-up Language

ISP - Internet Service Provider

JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group

LAN - Local Area Network

PVR - Personal Video Recorder

MPEG - Motion Picture Experts Group

MP3 - MPeg-1 audio layer 3

NTFS - New Technology File System

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer

PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect

PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association

PDF - Portable Document Format

POP - Post Office Protocol

RAM - Random Access Memory

ROM - Read Only Memory

SATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol

URL - Uniform Resource Locator

USB - Universal Serial Bus

VPN - Virtual Private Network

WAN - Wide Area Network

WI-FI - Wireless Fidelity

WWW - World Wide Web

30 Links To Free Software Section

Free Virus Protection:

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html
http://www.free-av.com/

Free Spyware Removal:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html
http://www.ewido.net/en/download/

Free Firewall Protection:

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
Windows XP has its own Firewall if you wish to use it.
http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/jpfirewall.htm

Free Trojan Remover:

http://www.ewido.net/en/download/

Free Spam Filters:

http://www.mailwasher.net/
http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator.htm

Free File Manager:

http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm

Free Email Clients:

Outlook Express Comes With Windows or Download Latest Internet Explorer From http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1e1550cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6&DisplayLang=en
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Free POP Up Stopper:

http://proxomitron.info/
http://toolbar.google.com/T4/

Free Digital Picture Viewers:

http://www.irfanview.com/
http://perso.orange.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html

Free Digital Picture Editor:

http://www.gimp.org/windows/
http://getpaint.net/
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp

Free FTP Clients:

http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Free Bookmark/Favourites Cleaner:

http://aignes.com/press/deadlink140.htm

Free Download Managers:

http://www.stardownloader.com/downloads.php

Free Cleanup Utility

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Free Online Services and Utilities

The links below provide great utilities/services on the web and what is more they are free.

Online Word processor and Spreadsheet creator

http://www.writely.com/

Create PDF files Online

http://www.pdfonline.com/

Create and Manage an Online Calendar

http://www.google.com/calendar

Webmail Address’s

http://www.hotmail.com/

Online Note Taking (Great For School/Students)

http://mynoteit.com/

Connect to you Home PC from the Office and Visa Versa

https://secure.logmein.com/go.asp?page=products_free

Online Favourites/Book marking Service

http://www.spurl.net/

Check You Internet Firewall Online

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Check you POP3 Emails Online

http://www.mail2web.com/

Now For Some Entertainment, Information & Fun

Find Your Way Around and Plan Trips

http://www.theaa.com/travel/index.jsp

http://maps.google.co.uk/

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/

http://www.multimap.com/

http://earth.google.com/ (Amazing but needs a decent specification PC)

Great Shopping/Price Comparison Sites (save plenty)

http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/

http://www.froogle.co.uk/

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/

http://www.shopping.com/

News, Some Serious Some Fun Some Technology

http://www.ananova.com/

http://news.sky.com/skynews/home

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/

A Myriad of Videos for all Tastes (within reason)

http://www.mytube.com/

http://video.google.co.uk/

Prepare to Spend Hours On These

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.digg.com/

Win Prizes

http://www.loquax.co.uk/

http://www.myoffers.co.uk/

Fancy A Try At Your Own Website

http://www.moonfruit.com/ (SiteMakerFree)

http://www.blogger.com/start

http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/index.php

http://www.templatesbox.com/

Now Some Play Time

http://www.free-games.com.au/Ratings

http://www.addictinggames.com/

http://www.coffeebreakarcade.com/

10 Easy Windows XP Tips Aimed At Saving You Time

1.

Firstly lets list Windows shortcut keys using the “WindowsKey” (Usually found to the left of the space bar)

Windows Key + D = Brings the desktop to the front of what you are working on
Windows Key + R = Opens the Run window
Windows Key + M = Minimizes All Windows
Windows Key + Shift + M = Undo actions caused by Windows Key + M
Windows Key + TAB = Tabs through current open windows
Windows Key + F1 = Opens Windows Help
Windows Key + L = Locks Computer
Windows Key + E = Opens Windows Explorer

Give them a try and get used to using them (Saves Time)

2.

Hold down the shift key when deleting a file to avoid it going into the recycle bin (remember you cant undelete it then)

3.

Want to open a file in another programme when double clicking, then right click it first and select the “open with” option

4.

Want to select a batch of files for deleting at once then hold down shift and click on the first one and then click on the last one while still holding down shift

Don’t want to select them all between the first and last file then hold down CTRL while selecting the files

5.

Download Microsoft Power Toys (TweakUI) this gives you the ability to tweak usually hidden settings in Windows XP. Here is the link.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

6.

Access Web Pages from the Taskbar
When you're working with a document and suddenly decide that you need to look something up on the internet, you first have to load up Internet Explorer and type the relevant URL into the address bar. A considerably easier method is to add an address bar to the taskbar, and to do this you need to right-click an empty area and select Toolbars > Address. It's now possible to type addresses straight into this box, and when you press [Enter], Internet Explorer will automatically load that page for you.

7.

Launch Applications with a Shortcut
When you're working and need to quickly launch another program, it can be annoying to have to navigate through the Start menu for the relevant shortcut, even if you have opted to pin a program to the top of the list. By creating keyboard shortcuts for applications, you are able to launch them in an instant. Navigate through the Start menu and right-click on the program shortcut you're interested in, and then select Properties. Click in the Shortcut Key box and press the key combination you'd like to use – such as [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [W] – before clicking OK.

8.

Control what programs startup automatically with MSConfig.

Click Start Button, Select Run, and type msconfig in the run box and select O.K.
Then use the Startup Tab and untick anything you do not wish to start automatically, if you wish to reverse any changes simply put the tick back in.

9.

Insert special characters into you work the easy way.

Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Then Click “Character Map”

10.

Quick Shortcuts on desktop.

If you are tired of having to click start, Programs etc. to run your programs.

Why not create a desktop shortcut the easy way.

Click the start button and find the program you require a desktop shortcut to and then click it and hold the click and drag to your desktop.

A shortcut to it is created.

Free Online Video Tutorials

2008-03-11T14:37:00.000Z

Came across these online free video tutorials today, they are aimed at the new user but are very easy to follow

They Cover These Topics

Dreamweaver 8 - Basic & Intermediate

Flash 8 - Basic, Intermediate, Projects & Effects 1

Windows XP - Getting Started & Working With Files and Folders

Skype - Getting Started, Connecting to The World & Special Features

Google - Getting Started & Extra Features

GMail - Getting Started

The Full List Is Here

Free Online Video Tutorials

Retro Games Arcade II

2008-01-24T12:03:00.000Z

Thought It Might Be Time To Go Old School Again With A Collection Of 5 Classic Games

Click The Pics Bellow To Play

Frogger

Sonic The Hedgehog

Breakout

Duck Hunt

Burger Time

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T14:46:00.000Z

We would just like to take this opportuninty to wish all the readers of this blog a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We will be taking a break from posting over the Christmas period but will be back to normal in the new year.

For those of you that may find yourself feeling bored over the hols may we suggest a few sites that may ease the boredom.

Joox (no comment just check it out you will not be dissapointed)

http://joox.net

Digg (news covering all genres, funny, shocking, informative, eye opening)

http://digg.com

Hotukdeals (be the first to find those post Christmas deals)

http://hotukdeals.com

Quiz Central (get the old brain ticking over again, nothing too serious, pop, movies etc)

http://quiz.iplac.co.uk/

Please feel free to share your boredom beating sites (keep em clean)

Link Exchange With A Google Pagerank 4

2007-11-24T14:21:00.000Z

This blog has recently been given a Google pagerank 4 rating

We are looking to exchange links with a minimum pagerank 3 site or blog this can benefit both parties

If you have such a site or blog and are willing to exchange please post a reply

with your anchor text and link

Please put our link as "Free Windows Tips & Guides"

We will then check your site and when it appears we will ad yours

Only non adult or warez sites will be considered

Cheers

The Top 5 Utils I Am Never Without

2007-11-10T16:00:00.000Z

Most clients I support have broadband so I can download tools as I need them but for the very few sites that either have dial up or no internet at all these are the top tools I always make sure I keep on my memory stick.

1. CCleaner

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

http://www.ccleaner.com

2. Hijack This

A general homepage hijackers detector and remover. Initially based on the article Hijacked!, but expanded with a lot of other checks against hijacker tricks. It is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It does not target specific programs/URLs, just the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites.As a result, false positives are imminent, and unless you are sure what you're doing, you should always consult with knowledgeable folks before deleting anything.

http://www.merijn.org/programs.php#hijackthis

3. Superscan 3

SuperScan is a powerful connect-based TCP port scanner, pinger and hostname resolver. Multithreaded and asynchronous techniques make this program extremely fast and versatile.
Great for sites that have no DHCP server and you need to find a spare IP address, Also fantastic for scanning for open ports on your LAN

http://download.siebernet.de/archiv-11-2007/netz/superscan3.exe

4. Treesize Free V2.1

Every hard disk is too small if you just wait long enough. TreeSize Free tells you where precious space has gone to. TreeSize Free can be started from the context menu of a folder or drive and shows you the size of this folder, including its subfolders. You can expand this folder in Explorer-like style and you will see the size of every subfolder. Scanning is done in a thread, so you can already see results while TreeSize Free is working. The space, which is wasted by the file system, can be displayed and the results can be printed in a report. TreeSize Free is freeware for Windows 9x/2000/XP/Vista.

http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

5. Bootvis

BootVis is a performance trace visualization utility that you can use with Windows XP systems. Customer research shows a frequently requested feature that users want from their PCs is fast system startup, whether from cold boot or when resuming from standby or hibernation.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664

Warning: Out Of Hard Disk Space, Use This Free Util And Guide

2007-09-18T15:22:00.000Z

TreeSize Free V2.1

Every hard disk is too small if you just wait long enough. TreeSize Free tells you where precious space has gone to. TreeSize Free can be started from the context menu of a folder or drive and shows you the size of this folder, including its subfolders. You can expand this folder in Explorer-like style and you will see the size of every subfolder. Scanning is done in a thread, so you can already see results while TreeSize Free is working. The space, which is wasted by the file system, can be displayed and the results can be printed in a report. TreeSize Free is freeware for Windows 9x/2000/XP/Vista.

1. Download TreeSize free from here
http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/TreeSizeFree.zip

2. Unzip to folder and double click treesizefree.exe to install

3. To check folder sizes on a certain drive double click “My Computer”

4. Right click on the drive you need to check and select Treesize from the menu displayed

5. After it has run you will see a result similar to the example below

6. The bars indicated in red show folders that have a large amount of data in them

7. You can then drill down through these folders using the + sign and find out what may be taking up the space

10 - 100% Free 100% Legal Music Sites

2007-08-25T20:15:00.000Z

Sites claiming to offer free music usually means you breaking the law.

Sites claiming to offer legal music usually means you paying for it.

But the list of 10 sites below combines the best of both worlds.

FREE & LEGAL

Trust me in saying that there will be something of interest in the following list no matter what your taste in music is.

Artistserver

Artistserver provides a destination for people to share, connect and experience new music

http://www.artistserver.com/

Epitonic

Has a vast selection of free tunes and radio stations ranging many genres

http://www.epitonic.com/

Download.com

Boasting over 75 Thousand tracks for free download

http://music.download.com/

Globalbeatz

DJ Mixes galore

http://www.globalbeatz.net/

Amazon.com

A small selection of music for download, but usually by known artists and changed regularly

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Music-Downloads/b/ref=sv_j_7/105-6563252-0471642?ie=UTF8&node=468646

Garage Band

Free music from unsigned bands but these bands could be the next big thing.

http://garageband.com/

Jamendo

On jamendo, artists allow everyone to download and share their music. It's free, legal and unlimited.

http://www.jamendo.com/en/

Concert Vault

Concert Vault is the home for live music. The Vault features live concert recordings and live music downloads from the archives of Bill Graham, King Biscuit, and others. This is Internet radio that brings the concert hall into your home

http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/

Indiradio

indiradio is an online independent music community and radio station for artists and listeners.

http://www.myindiradio.com/

Betarecords

Free music from over 70,000 unsigned artists

http://www.betarecords.com/

Any More Please Comment

5 Free To Download "Hot News" Flashy Pictures

2007-08-17T17:28:00.000Z

Please feel free to download these to place in your own blog or site.

Please do not link directly to them from your site or blog.

To download right-click the blue link and select save target as.

Keep watching for the Fireflies.

"If you find them usefull please consider
adding me to your blogroll or link list" cheers

Download Hot News 1

Download Hot News 2

Download Hot News 3

Download Hot News 4

Download Hot News 5

The Glass Background Buttons Are From Vecteezy

10 Superb Free Games You May Not Have Played Yet

2007-08-10T11:28:00.000Z

Cave Story

Cave Story is a freeware sidescrolling action/adventure/platformer title with leanings towards Wonderboy and recent sidescrolling Castlevania titles. You control a little amnesiac who runs around helping out these rabbit-ish creatures called Mimigas while trying to find your way out of the giant cave inside the floating island which makes up the game´s setting.

Play Cave Story Here

Knytt

The Knytt was abducted by an alien! Traveling through space, the UFO flies into a meteor and crashes on a nearby planet. Luckily, the Knytt and the alien survive, but the UFO is a wreck. How can the Knytt possibly find its way back home again?
Knytt is a free platform game for Windows featuring exploration, atmosphere, and infinite cuteness.

Play Knytt Here

Flow

No matter who you are, what kind of games do you play or not play, Flow is a game designed for you to dive in the zone and lose track of time.

Play Flow Here

Orisinal

A collection of superb games you have got to try these

Play Orisinal Here

La-Mulana

La-Mulana is a freeware free-roaming platformer game designed to look, sound, and play like a classic MSX game. It´s heavily influenced by the classic Konami MSX game "The Maze of Galious" and anyone who has played that title will probably recognize the similarities very quickly. You play the whip-wielding Indiana Jones-esque archaeologist Lemeza Kosugi as he investigates the ancient ruins of La-Mulana in an attempt to find its treasure and one-up his father, who is trying to get the same treasure as well.

Play La-Mulana Here

A Tale In The Dessert

A Tale in the Desert is a Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game set in ancient Egypt. You can get a taste of life in our tale by clicking around the site or downloading the game client for free.

Play Tale In The Dessert Here

Battle For Wesnoth

Build up a great army, gradually turning raw recruits into hardened veterans. In later games, recall your toughest warriors and form a deadly host against whom none can stand! Choose units from a large pool of specialists, and hand-pick a force with the right strengths to fight well on different terrains against all manner of opposition.

Play Wesnoth Here

Death Worm

Based on the Mongolian legend of Allghoi Khorkhoi, Death worm proves that a game doesn't have to be overly complicated and contain an involved storyline to be good. It is, at its basic level, a mini-game involving a worm that lives in a desert and, well, eats people. At its more advanced level there is a great deal of strategy involved in the game. Just mindlessly dive at every piece of meat that comes your way and you'll soon find yourself blasted into worm pâté.

Play Death Worm Here

Punishment

If you ever start considering playing video games a hobby, play this. A "punishingly" difficult platform game that is painful and nauseating to play. But you can't stop.

Play Punishment Here

Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress is a single-player fantasy game. You can control a dwarven outpost or an adventurer in a randomly generated, persistent world.

Play Dwarf Fortress Here

SEO Easy Guide For Newbie Bloggers

2007-07-29T20:30:00.000Z

One thing I felt personally weak on was the fine art of search engine optimization (SEO) so I set about finding out more.

I used one of my friend’s websites which I had designed as a testing ground to see how high I could get it in Google for a start off.

We chose a phrase he wanting results for and in 2 weeks of using the guide below he is top in Google UK.

This is what I found out. (PS He is not a painter or Decorator)

Keywording.

Think of your main search phrase you would like results for i.e. "painter and decorator in Yorkshire" and try this phrase in Google to find out what competition you are up against if the competition is massive try "painter & decorator in Leeds" this narrows down your area (For non UK readers Leeds is a city in Yorkshire UK)

Once you are happy with a good phrase with little competition we need to look at how to get that keyword into your website/blog.
You can also check with sites like this
http://7search.com/scripts/searchterms/top_paying.asp?n=100
And you will see that certain keywords command lots of money i.e. soma online, carisoprodol etc (whatever these are ??) best to avoid these unless this is your sites purpose.
Using keywords like these when your site has nothing to do with them can have an adverse effect.
Anyway.

Lets base this guide on generating search hits for "painter & decorator in Leeds” and that our company is called Mr. Painter

Place keywords in 5 areas of your site.

1. Meta Tag Keywords
2. Meta Tag Description
3. Meta Tag Page Title
4. The Alt Tag in Images
5. The Body Of The Page

For this example the main keywords would be painter, decorator, leeds and you must try to keep these together in the 4 areas mentioned above so.

Meta Tag Keywords

Place meta-tags between the tags

Example:

You can add more keywords but make sure your main 3 keywords are first I wouldn’t do more than 15

Meta Tag Description

Place meta-tags between the tags

Example:

Again not too long and keep your 3 main keywords as close together as possible

Meta Tag Page Title

Place meta-tags between the tags

Example:

Again not too long and keep your 3 main keywords as close together as possible

Summary Of Meta Tag Section

We should have your 3 main keywords mentioned 3 time each by now and have kept them as close together as possible

Other meta tags can be used but these are the 3 main standard ones

A handy Meta Tag Generator can be found here

http://www.htmlbasix.com/meta.shtml

And once you have you meta tags in place you can check them here

http://www.widexl.com/remote/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html

The Alt Tag In Images

Most web design packages like Frontpage etc will let you place an Alternative Tag (Alt Tag) when you insert pictures

So again place you keywords on any pictures you insert especially on your index page

So if you choose to insert a picture of yourself then use the Alt Tag “Mr. Painter – Leeds West Yorkshire”

This will get 2 of your 3 main keywords mentioned again with the addition of the word Yorkshire which would not hurt.

In Blogger pages you have to manually add the alt tag in your post by doing the following.

Insert picture into your post
Type your post but before posting flip to the HTML view and look for the following line.

src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zmGjTzzO4h4/Rlwf5qKpVKI/AAAAAAAAAGE/fiAxK2v7yMM/s320/mrpainter.jpg

It will not be exact but will be very similar
then add the following after it

alt="Painter and Decorator Services - Leeds" title=" Painter and Decorator Services - Leeds "

It should then look like this

src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zmGjTzzO4h4/Rlwf5qKpVKI/AAAAAAAAAGE/fiAxK2v7yMM/s320/mrpainter.jpg alt="Painter and Decorator Services - Leeds" title=" Painter and Decorator Services - Leeds "

6. Post it and try to hover over the picture to see if it works

Try to vary your tags for every picture, mentioning the keywords to many times can have an adverse effect as some search engines see this as keyword spamming and will not index your site.

The Body Of The Page or Post

Goes without saying really when you type your content for your web page that will no doubt go on about how long you have been a painter who your top clients are any awards certificates etc.

Try to include your top keywords again close together in sentences in variouse locations it would also pay to try and include you other keywords you mentioned in you keywords meta tag

Again try not to mention your top keywords to many times thorough out I found mentioning your top keywords 7 or 8 time in total did the job for me with my friends site

If you would like to see your results as to how many keywords you have and how many times they are mentioned try these 2 sites

http://www.widexl.com/remote/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html

http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-density-checker.php

Once your site is set and you are happy the get it submitted to some search engines i.e.

http://www.google.com/addurl/

http://www.submitexpress.com/submit.html

Give it a few weeks for your hard earned work to show itself after you have submitted your site

Backlinks

It would also be wise at this stage to mention another great way to increase traffic and that is by using Back Links.

Back links are basically links to your site from somebody else’s but it pays to get them right.

Don’t just tell you friend to put a link i.e.

http://www.nositeinparticular.cam

But to use an anchor in the link i.e.

Make the link say Painter & Decorator Leeds and have this phrase link to your site.

There are many sites on the web that offer back link services and usually require you to put a link to them on yours and visa versa. (try searching on Google)

I do hope you get the results you need and remember this guide is just the start of making sure your site gets some attention.

15 Places To Watch TV Online For Free

2007-07-17T11:53:00.000Z

Within the IT support sector a lot of time is spent watching a progress bar, this can be either backing up/restoring data, running defrags, scandisks, disk doctors, virus scans, malware scans you get the idea.

Well thanks to all the websites listed below for easing that boredom.

Here Goes.

1. Freetube.

Welcome to FreeTube - a site that lets you watch TV online for free without the need for any special software, hardware or subscription service. We are a completely free alternative to cable television that lets you watch tv channels and tv shows online using just your browser. Simply select a genre from the menu, and a channel to begin watching.

http://freetube.110mb.com/

2. PeekVid

Watch videos online

http://peekvid.com/

3. TV-Video

TV-video.net is an online cost-free video service site for all fans around the world who are interested in TV shows.

http://tv-video.net/

4. Choose & Watch

Do you like videos? ChooseAndWatch is a free multimedia portal where you can watch hundreds of online TV channels, check out the newest videos on the internet... No special software, hardware or subscription service is needed. To watch a TV channel simply click on desired genre in a menu and select a desired channel.

http://www.chooseandwatch.com/

5. Channel King

Welcome to Channel King! We offer over 230 free Internet TV channels.

http://www.channelking.com/

6. Your TV Links

Links to your fav shows

http://www.yourtvlinks.com/

7. All U C

Links to you fav shows

http://www11.alluc.org/alluc/

8. Channel Chooser

Channelchooser is a free TV-portal. Watch here only the best online news, entertainment, sports and music TV-channels and videos.

http://www.channelchooser.com/

9. Smashing Telly

Smashing Telly is a hand edited collection of the best free, instantly available TV on the web. Not 30 second clips of a dog on a skateboard.

http://smashingtelly.com/

10. View My TV

Channels from all around the world

http://www.viewmy.tv/view-online-tv.aspx

11. My Easy TV

MyEasyTV.com is the easiest way to watch TV online for free. There are more than 320 television channels you can watch with a simple click of your mouse.

http://www.myeasytv.com/

12. Channel Surfing.net

Online sports, news & entertainment

http://www.channelsurfing.net/

13. Wojiu

Watch TV from around the world

http://www.wojiu.com/

14. Quicksilverscreen

TV Shows

http://quicksilverscreen.com/

15. VEOH

From home videos to premium shows

http://www.veoh.com/

Anymore please leave in comments

My Top Guides

2007-07-12T09:42:00.000Z

According to Google Analytics the top posts being referenced on this blog are the Support and Performance guides I wrote, so I thought I would bring them all together and bump them to the top incase you have not seen them

Easy To Follow Guide To Fixing Your Own Windows Related Problems

Windows Fixing Guide

Speed Up Your Windows Machine

Speedup XP Guide I

Speedup XP Guide II

Newbies Guide To Creating Enhancing & Promoting Your New Blog

Newbies Blogging Guide

Download Hundreds Of Free Java Games For Your Mobile

2007-07-04T22:40:00.000Z

Click the link Here and enjoy

Add Post Relavant Pictures To Your Blog Using Sign Generators

2007-06-22T15:34:00.000Z

Easy to use just type your text over the hundreds of preset pictures.

Hours Of Fun Guaranteed.

http://www.signgenerator.net

http://www.signgeneratormaker.com

http://www.txt2pic.com/

to name but a few

Sat Picture

2007-06-15T18:59:00.000Z

500 Fantastic Free Fonts

2007-06-07T09:48:00.001Z

The title says it all get them here

500 Free Fonts

Speed Up Your Broadband For Free

2007-05-29T12:40:00.000Z

I have recently been testing the free DNS servers at OpenDNS after they claim to provide a faster & safer browsing experience.

How is it faster and safer ?

It claims to be faster because you use DNS every time you use the Internet. The speed of your DNS service determines how quickly websites load for you. That's why you want your DNS service to be blazing. OpenDNS is so fast because we run some of the largest DNS caches around and do it on our own high-performance network.

And claims to be safer as it protects you from phishing — bad websites trying to steal your personal information. When you try to go to a phishing site, we let you know

So far I am very impressed and have noticed an increase in speed.

So I thought now might be the time to write a guide to using these free servers in Windows.

...........................................................................................................................................................

1. Click on the start button and select Run

2. Clear previous run command and type the following In the run box ncpa.cpl and click O.K. (the following screen should appear)

3. Right click the icon labeled Local Area Connection and select properties (the following screen should appear)

4. Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and select properties

5. MAKE A NOTE OF THE SETTINGS ON THIS PAGE BEFORE CONTINUING

6. If not already done place the dot in the circle labeled use the following DNS server

addresses and fill in the numbers as show below.

The Numbers are:

Preferred DNS server address for Open DNS is:
208.67.222.222
Alternate DNS server address for Open DNS is:
208.67.220.220

7. Once set click o.k. on all screen and reboot your machine.

8. You can test you settings are correct by going to the following website

http://welcome.opendns.com/

And test the Anti Phishing service here

http://www.internetbadguys.com/

9. I hope you find an increase in performance as I have but if you don't simply reverse your settings back to what they where.

Free Retro Games Arcade

2007-05-22T06:25:00.000Z

Brings Back Happy Memories Spending Many Hours At The Arcades In Bridlington & Scarborough

Turn Up The Volume, Click On The Game Icon And Reminisce (Just Needs The Sound Of Seagulls In The Background)

Free Vector Graphics (Superb For Blogs)

2007-05-20T19:01:00.000Z

The graphics on this site are great for buttons and little clips for Blogs & Websites

http://www.vecteezy.com/

Stupid Name But Cool Vectors

Newbies Guide To Creating, Enhancing & Promoting A New Blog

2007-05-09T19:25:00.000Z

Introduction

Firstly I do not claim to be anything more than a novice at blogging but I thought I would share with you the Tips & Tricks I have found out in the last 2 months about Blogging.

This will include links to Free Templates, Royalty Free Pictures, Logo Creators, Keyword Checkers, Traffic Enhancers etc.

Being in the IT Support Sector for the last 15 years I have accumulated a great wealth of knowledge, One major thing I have learnt is that most problems you come across have been fixed by somebody else already and you just need to know how to search for the info, so i created a PDF to email to my friends and family with such tips.

There are a few steps listed below, take time with each one as it pays to get it right

The Idea

I had been thinking of trying to start a Blogg since xmas but had no idea what to base it on and what to put in my first post. Then it hit me, what about Blog aimed at helping beginners to fix there own Windows based problems and publish my PDF guide as my first post.

So this is how I started.

I needed to start at the very easy end of Blogging so I decided to create a Blog at Googles Blogger Pages this was very easy to follow and after pondering what to call my blog for 30 mins it was up and running. I started off with a basic template (one of the ones provided with the Blogger Blog) and within 20 mins had posted my PDF guide.

I first called my Blog "Swift IT Tips" with the idea of posting Computer related tips but later changed it to "Swift IT Tips & Treats" as I had the idea of posting links to Free Computer Related stuff i.e. wallpapers, Software etc.

The Design

The first major alteration was to do with the template, although the templates that come on the blogger control panel where great I fancied making mine a little bit different, so after going a little research into what I needed I found some other great sites with plenty of free blogger templates on such as:-

Finalsense
Gecko and Fly Classic
Gecko and Fly XML
Blogger Templates XML)
Blogger Templates (Classic)
Bloggertemplates.org
Blogspottemplates
Angiemckaig
Blogskins
Blogtemplates
Freetemplates
Isnaini.com

2 of my personal faves are Gecko and Fly & Finalsense.

I tinkered around trying different templates for a few days before finding the one that was going to fit my requirements (I found it at Geko & Fly), one of the first things I noticed was that certain templates disabled the adding of page elements on the Blogger Template Control Panel and found that the best templates to use where the XML ones as all you do is upload the XML file into your blog using the Edit HTML page on the Templates Control Panel (I would save your template first, this is also on the Edit HTML page and is labeled Download Full Template)

Once i had the Template I needed I went about adding bits and pieces using the Page Elements page i.e. link lists, about me etc.

In the process of deciding if I needed a Logo or Pictures I came across these free sites for design ideas:-

Public Image Archive
Royalty Free Photos
Corporate Logos (Not sure of copyright usage here)
3D Icons
Web 2.0 Logo Creator
Free Logo Templates
Color Charts
Cooltext Logo Creator

Traffic & Content

So there I was with a reasonable looking Blog to say I had only started it a week ago and was quite proud of myself.

But I soon realised that the hard work is finding good content to put on it and also how to get people to read it, also at the back of my mind was if I can get some constant traffic could I make a few pennies from advertising ?.

It is best to base your Blog on something you know a great deal about so the content is a plenty.

I soon came up with good ideas for content by searching Google Groups for IT related forums and getting a feel for what people had issues with so I could then write content to suit.

As far as getting traffic to your blog you have to be a little cheeky, search the web for forums on the subject your blog is about i.e. fishing and then join them. After a few posts and general chit chat you can drop in a link to your new Blog and also maybe put it in your signature.

You can also put a link to your Blog in your email signatures.

A few other fantastic ways to generate traffic is to use a site like Digg this is a site where people post links to interested news, tips, topics etc and then rate them. If you have written an interesting piece then join Digg and submit it to be rated, this can generate lots of instant traffic but be sure to follow it up with another good post on your Blogg to keep your new audience interested and stay about.

Other great sites to submit,sign up for to generate traffic are:-

Blogexplosion
MyBloglog
Blogcatalog
Technorati
Bloghub
Blogflux
Eatonweb
lsblogs
Globeofblogs
Blogit

Also using good keywords in your tags is important for when people search for your content a good keyword checker is listed below.

Digitalpoint

And submitting your site to search engines is recommended i.e.:-

Google Add URL
Yahoo Fast Add
submitexpress
add-url

Making your Blog easy to book mark and read is essential too I found these services to be a good at providing this:-

Feedburner
AddThis

But the next thing I needed to know was am I getting any traffic ?

These two sites where fantastic at providing the answer:-

Google Analytics
Clustrmaps

Show Me The Money

So at this point I had everything I needed, A Nice Looking Blog, Ideas For Content, And A Little Bit Of Constant Traffic so it was time to try and make a little bit of cash:-

The most popular ones are:-

Google Adsense (If you need to sign up there is a link button in the top right hand corner of my blog labeled "Generate revenue from your website Google Adsense")

also you could try the buttons below this for "Text Link Ads" & "Bidvertiser"

To Summ Up

Hope fully the above should get you started and progress you nicely.

The key is do not try to do all the above in one go, take it nice and slow so you understand the steps you have just take.

If when your Blogg is done you would like to post a link to it under comments it would be great to have a look and maybe you could link back to my Blog from yours.

Best Of Luck and Happy Blogging.

Nice Collection Of Humorous Signs (sorry for any offence)

2007-05-08T10:25:00.000Z

Free SMS Texting In The UK

2007-05-06T11:16:00.000Z

I use these sites everyday to send free text messages to other colleagues rather that use my monthly allowance up on my mobile

10 Free Texts A Day Here http://www.fonetastic.com/

5 Free Texts A Day Here http://www.sms.ac/

5 Free Texts A Day Here http://www.bubbletext.com/index.asp

60 Free Texts A Month (Limited To 2 A Day) http://www.redalertz.co.uk/uk/index.do

Not Sure Of Any Limit But Very Busy Here http://www.cbfsms.com/

Guide To Changing Your USB Memory Stick Drive Letter

2007-04-30T10:29:00.000Z

One problem that I witness all the time is USB memory sticks taking a mapped network drive letter i.e. F:. I usually email them this guide to changing the drive letter.

........................................................................................................................................

1. Click on the Start button and then select Control Panel.

2. Double click on Administrative Tools then double click on Computer Management.

3. You should now see the following screen, at this screen in the right hand panel double click on Storage then double click on Disk Management (Local)

4. At the following screen in the right hand panel you will see a list of drives names and there drive letters. As you can see below your USB stick will show up as a removable disk or if it has taken your network drive it will show up as a network drive but will show the Mega Bytes as what your USB Memory Stick Is i.e. 128MB

5. Right click over this area and select Change Drive Letter And Paths then at the next screen click on change.

6. At the next screen click on the downward arrow as shown below select the drive letter you want then click OK then click on Yes.

7. Now close all of the open screens and go into My Computer and you should see the USB stick as a drive letter.

Brilliant Montage-a-google and Guess-the-google

2007-04-29T19:58:00.000Z

Give these a go they are cool

http://grant.robinson.name/projects/montage-a-google/

and

http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/

Find Free Wi-Fi Hotspots In Any Town In The UK & Other Coutries

2007-04-28T15:43:00.000Z

Very handy if you are out and about with your PDA or Laptop.

http://free-hotspot.com/use_home.htm

Over 300 Gorgeous Icons

2007-04-28T07:21:00.000Z

Fatastic for desktop apps or web design.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Clear

Great site for listing mispelt items on Ebay

2007-04-24T08:57:00.000Z

Bargains to be had galore

http://www.callidae.biz/en/index.html

Do a search here before bidding on anything.

Being Very New To The Blog World...............

2007-04-23T09:29:00.000Z

All though I have been in the IT industry for 15 Years I was quite slow in deciding to create my first blog (Round About Mid March 2007).

Prior to this I new very little about blogging, since creating this Blog a couple of my friends have expressed interest in creating there first Blog so I have given my very limited help on doing so.

This has made me decide that my next guide is going to be a very beginners guide to creating a blog on using googles blogger.

It will include the steps to creating and where to find free templates, and add ons, advertising on your new blog and all the sites I used to get this Blog of the ground.

Please note I do not claim to be other than a novice at Blogging myself.

Better start writing now.

................................................

Being a massive 24 fan I thought I would post this link its very humerus.

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/bizz-buzz/jack-bauer-dammit.php

I also came across the set of fantastic wallpapers this weekend.

http://www.socksoff.co.uk/walls01.html

4 Free "The Fabulous Bakin' Boys" Games

2007-04-21T14:27:00.000Z

They are downloads so you dont have to be online all the time to play.

http://www.freeloader.com/fab/

I am lovin Blockrox (Its a Tetris style game)

Fantastic Vista and XP Wallpapers

2007-04-19T09:23:00.000Z

There are some talented photographers out there

http://www.vistaphotocontest.com/browse/

Windows XP Start/Run Shortcut List

2007-04-18T11:51:00.000Z

In many of my guides I often use shortcuts to objects using the start button and the run command so I thought I would list them all here.

Control Panel Objects

i.e. To bring up the control panel object for Network Properties, Click Start, Select Run, and type ncpl.cpl in the run box and click OK

Accessibility Options = access.cpl
Add New Hardware Wizard = hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs = appwiz.cpl
Date and Time Properties = timedate.cpl
Display Properties = desk.cpl
Internet Properties = inetcpl.cpl
Joystick Properties = joy.cpl
Keyboard Properties = main.cpl keyboard
Mouse Properties = main.cpl
Network Properties = ncpa.cpl
Phone and Modem options = telephon.cpl
Power Management = powercfg.cpl
Regional settings = intl.cpl
Scanners and Cameras = sticpl.cpl
Sounds and Audio Device Properties = mmsys.cpl
System Properties = sysdm.cpl
User settings = nusrmgr.cpl
Windows Security Centre = wscui.cpl

Special Folders

i.e. To display the contents of Special Folders like My Documents, Click Start, Select Run, Type My Documents in the run box and click OK.

My Documents = my documents
My Printers = control printers
Windows\System32 Folder = system32
Windows\Temp Folder = temp
Folder Options = control folders
Fonts Folder = control fonts

There are more but these are the main ones, getting used to these commands can save a lot of time.

Free IT Study Guides In PDF Format

2007-04-17T12:05:00.000Z

Links below to 6 Free IT Study Guides in PDF Format

Windows XP Study Guide
http://www.studentfreestuff.com/70-270.pdf

Windows Server 2003 Study Guide
http://www.studentfreestuff.com/70-290.pdf

VB.Net Study Guide
http://www.studentfreestuff.com/70-306.pdf

Network+ Study Guide
http://www.studentfreestuff.com/networkplus.pdf

Security+ Study Guide
http://www.studentfreestuff.com/securityplus.pdf

Inet+ Study Guide
http://www.studentfreestuff.com/inetplus.pdf

Windows XP Is Running Slower Than Usual Checklist Part II (Advanced Level)

2007-04-16T11:43:00.000Z

If you missed Part I of Windows XP is Running Slower Than Usual Here It Is

http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/04/windows-xp-is-running-slower-than-usual.html

But Now For Part II

This part will cover more advanced ways of finding what may be causing your XP machine to be running slower than normal and also a few changes you can make that may help but can be easily reveres if no performance increase is gained.

Hard Disk Drive Being Paged Constantly

I will start with a common problem I come across many times and that the Default Windows XP Task Manager does not help you with, and that is what to do when the CPU usage is not high but the Hard Drive is constantly being paged.
The first thing to try and resolve this behaviour is a util from Microsoft's Web Site called Process Explorer for Windows link is below.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Download, Unzip, and Run, then minimize to task bar ready to go.

Then use your normal programs, when the hard drive starts being aggressively being constantly paged then pull up the minimized Process Explorer (see pic below)

And then press Ctrl-I up will come the following screen.

On the I/O Bytes line of the graph hopefully you will see a peak of activity, if you hover over the peak it should show you the culprit, you will then t least have a clue as to what is causing the activity you can then Google the process if you are not sure what it is.

If that has not helped in anyway another possibility is the Paging File being changed on the fly i will show you how this is done in the next section.

Setting The Paging File In Windows XP to Static

Close all running programs then click on the start button, then select run and type sysdm.cpl in the run box and click OK up will come the following screen.

Click on the Advanced Tab and click the settings button in the performance section, when the performance option page is displayed click the advanced tab on this page the following page will be displayed.

Now click the change button under the virtual memory section to which the following screen will be displayed.

As you can see in the above picture the paging file is set to "System managed size" what we are going to do is set the initial size and the maximum size to the same number and the number we will use is going to be double the size that Windows is recommending.

There is a lot of talk between it professionals as to what this should be set to but I always play safe by doubling the recommended size, hard drive space permitting

Obviously your PC may show a different Recommended size so you should use this for you calculation.

But in this instance Windows Recommended size is 573 MB so doubling this gives us 1146 MB so we put 1146 in the Initial Size and The Maximum Size boxes like below.

We then click the Set button and then OK and select OK to the screens behind until back at the desktop.

I would then recommend rebooting your PC.

If this makes no difference to the problem of the Hard Drive being constantly used then it can be reverted back to use the System Managed Size by reversing the instructions above.

Stop Any Unnecessary Background Scheduled Tasks

If you find you PC slows down at certain times during the day then it may be a scheduled task that is running to view/change these try the following

Click Start button, select run and type tasks in the run box and click OK, up will come the following screen.

Check for any jobs that may be running at certain times i.e. Virus Scan, Scandisk, Defrag etc and remove if you feel they are not needed by right clicking each job and selecting delete, if you are unsure and don't want to delete then right click the job and select properties see below.

And uncheck the box that says "Enabled (scheduled task runs at specified time)" and select OK then close the tasks screen behind

Hopefully by using the above and also Part I of my guide you may have sorted out the culprit of your performance issues but I will also mention a few items that may help with your performance in general, these range from basic reversible changes to more advanced changes.

Tweaking Display Features

Many of the fancy features that windows XP can display can have a heavy toll on performance and really are there as just eye candy, I would suggest tweaking these settings to see if it helps with performance

To do this click the start button, then run and type sysdm.cpl in the run box and click OK up will come the following screen.

Click on the Advanced Tab and click the settings button in the performance section, the performance option page is displayed see below.

Play around with the settings on the visual effects page as above. you can dive straight in and select adjust for best performance and if this makes a big difference go back in and fine tune with the custom option.

Disable Indexing Service

If you do not do a lot of file searches on your machine and generally know where all you files are then this can be an unnecessary memory hungry application, to temporarily remove it do the following.

Go to the Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Add/Remove Window Components. Simply unclick the Indexing services and click next! if you need it back on again simply tick the box again.

I do hope these 2 posts help in resolving and also maybe boosting your performance issues, again it is allways advantageious to run spyware scans, Defrags, temporary file removals and checks to make sure you have plenty of hard drive space available as often as possible to keep your machine in top condition

The information given above is as guidance only and the author cannot be responsible for any problems or data loss this guidance may cause.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

This was a welcome break

2007-04-12T21:14:00.000Z

Just spent best part of an hour puzzling these out.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv adictive

http://mathsnet.net/geometry/solid/houses.html

Currently Working On Part II On "Windows XP is running Slower Than Usual"

2007-04-12T10:03:00.000Z

It will be a more advanced than Part I, Check back next week

If you missed Part I it is here

http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/04/windows-xp-is-running-slower-than-usual.html

New Sci-Fi Play For Fun Site

2007-04-09T16:28:00.000Z

I am hoping to start this up on Friday 13th (I know its a bad day to start)

Anyway

Check it out if its of any interest

http://scifi-quiz.blogspot.com/

Couple O Easter Freebie Gifts

2007-04-07T16:57:00.000Z

Free Cleanup Software Worth £16 (Expires 25th April)

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/cleanup4/index

Free USB Memory Stick

http://www.csiltd.co.uk/csi/wps/wcm/connect/web/home/news+and+events/USB/Free+USB+stick

If you have any IT related Freebies lets here about them.

I was going to enclose the following as part of Part II in resolving performance issues in XP

2007-04-06T19:15:00.000Z

But due to a recent comment to Part I, I will post it now.

The comment was from an XP user that commented on what to do when the CPU usage is not high but the Hard Drive is constantly being paged.

To resolve these issues I use a util from Microsoft's Web Site called Process Explorer for Windows link below.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Download, Unzip, and Run, then minimize to task bar ready to go.

Then use your normal programs, when the hard drive starts being aggressively being constantly paged then pull up the minimized Process Explorer (see pic below)

And then press Ctrl-I up will come the following screen

Covering Help Desk Today (Boring) Playing A Few Online Games

2007-04-06T10:23:00.000Z

Thought I would Post Links For Anyone Else Working Over Easter.

A Few Fun Things

Free Games

http://esgameservers.com/freepcgames.html

Anagram Maker (kills 10 mins)

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html#

Watch A Bit Of Tele For Free

http://www.cucirca.com/2007/02/21/13-places-to-watch-tv-online-for-free/

Sign Up For A Cash For Clicks Site And Earn A Few Quid (The One Below Gives You £5 Just For Joining)

http://www.cashback-rewards.co.uk/r/?l=2901

Enter Some Competitions (you never know)

http://www.loquax.co.uk/

Have a good Easter Hols Folks. Just Going To Get My 8Th Cup Of Coffee, Bored Bored Bored.

Anyone got any ideas feel free to comment below

Proxy Pics

2007-04-05T14:25:00.000Z

My Friend Emailed Me This Great Phone Unlocking Site

2007-04-05T12:17:00.000Z

Just thought I would share

http://www.trycktill.com/eng/unlock_swe.asp

Click on The UK Flag (at the bottom of page) For The English Version

Quite Day Today

2007-04-04T14:21:00.000Z

My firms car is in the garage today being repaired after someone ran into it while I was in a clients, the perpetrators also found it acceptable to not leave there details.....the swines

Came across a good site today via digg offering links to free windows untiles

http://lifehacker.com/software/windows/lh-top-10--free-windows-downloads-248303.php

I am in the midst of putting together a more advanced follow up to my previous post on performance issues (see below)

http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/04/windows-xp-is-running-slower-than-usual.html

Will post a.s.a.p.

Windows XP Is Running Slower Than Usual Checklist Part I (Basic Level)

2007-04-03T12:10:00.000Z

Had a client phone today saying his XP Pro machines seemed to be running slower than when they purchased them, This is a problem I hear all the time and sent him the following. After doing so I thought it may also be of help to other people with this issue.

I will follow it up next week with more advanced tips

Please leave comments as you wish and if this document helps in anyway please feel free to visit My Sponsors. :-)

1. Check that you are not running out of disk space, I always make sure I have ¼ of my Hard Disk Drives Total Capacity free. To check the disk space Double Click “My Computer” on the desktop the right click the Local Disk (C:) and select properties, a pie chart should be show as below.

The information on this chart speaks for its self.

If you are running low on disk space then maybe archiving some data (i.e. MP3, Pics, Films, etc) to CD if you have a burner may be in order.

At this stage you should also try to clear out your temp files for this I use CCleaner you can get this for FREE here http://www.ccleaner.com

2. Make sure your PC is Virus and Spyware free. If you do not have a scanner for each of these you could download one of each using the links below or find one for yourself.

Free Virus Protection:

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp

Free Spyware Removal:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

http://www.ewido.net/en/download/

3. Check if any processes are running typically high on CPU usage. To do this first close all open programs and then press Ctrl-Alt-Del together and select Taskmanager Button the select the processes tab, If you then click the CPU header so that it sorts in Descending order and look for any items than are still using the CPU (ignore the one called system idle process, they higher this is the better) see below

once you have found any CPU hungry processes then you can try searching for the process name on Google to find out what it is and what it does and if it can be terminated to see if the machine speeds up. (to terminate a process right click and select end process.

3. Use MSconfig to temporarily disable items from starting up. To run MSconfig click the start button, select RUN and type msconfig in the run box and then OK up will come MSconfig, see below

If you click the startup tab you will see a similar screen as above. You can then try unticking various items and restarting to see if it is one item in particular that is causing your issues. (Be careful if you disable your Anti Virus software do not open any files or download/open any emails, also if you disable your Firewall do not connect to the internet during this testing phase) if you have unchecked all these and machine is still running slow you can put the ticks back in.

You can also stop services from starting using this tool to further help in diagnosing your speed issues.

By clicking the services tab (See pic above) and checking the box “Hide all Microsoft Services” (this is so you don’t stop a critical MS service) you can uncheck a service one by one and restart your machine (Be careful if you disable your Anti Virus software do not open any files or download/open any emails, also if you disable your Firewall do not connect to the internet during this testing phase)

Although this process can be time consuming it can be very helpful in sorting your speed problem.

Although I would not recommend you play around with the Microsoft services I have known a few services to slow machines down in the past which you could try stopping temporally these are as follows.

Background Intelligent Transfer Service
SSDP Discovery Service
Universal Plug And Play Device Host

To stop/start services in Windows click start, RUN and type services.msc then click OK you can then right click the service you would like to stop and select stop service

If this makes no difference in speed then right click and start it up again.

The above information may fix your problem or at least give you a clue as to what is causing the issue.

I also have a post i wrote earlier that may also be of general help its here.

http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/03/guide-to-finding-free-help-to-common.html

Part II of this post is now online to view it click here.

http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/04/windows-xp-is-running-slower-than-usual_16.html

The information given above is as guidance only and the author cannot be responsible for any problems or data loss this guidance may cause

Another Week Begins

2007-04-02T09:46:00.000Z

The SKY+ Hard Drive Swap Was Successfull I would recomend anyone having problems with SKY+ to try swap the drive before buying a new box or calling SKY out.

Afterwards I found a great site that covers most aspects.

http://www.morlocks.co.uk/sky.htm

Free Broadband From Google

2007-04-01T12:18:00.000Z

http://www.google.com/tisp/index.html

Link To Free PC Games

2007-03-30T08:12:00.000Z

Also later in me emails I got this so I thought I would share.

http://esgameservers.com/freepcgames.html

Haircut Of The Year 2007

2007-03-30T07:56:00.000Z

Had to post this this morning after getting it in my emails

I wonder if my barber is up to it. mmmmmmm

Yesterdays & Todays Jobs

2007-03-29T11:56:00.000Z

Yesterday:

Another easy day had to install DSL Router for a client and setup PPTP VPN back to his office
Wont go into details as it was pretty standard stuff.

Today:

Slightly more challenging job for me this morning, a client had hit his 16GB limit in Exchange 2000 and his mailstore had dismounted.

To rectify I did the following.

1. Temporary increased the mailbox store by 1GB as per http://support.microsoft.com/kb/813051

2. Remounted the store and told all users to do some housekeeping on there mailboxes
3. Once housekeeping had been done I dismounted the mailbox store and ran an offline defrag of the priv1.edb using "eseutil /d" command.
4. The store was reduced by 4GB

Advised they should upgrade to Exchange 2003 and take advantage of the 75GB limit

Just had another job in with one user at one of our clients noy able to save PDF's direct to SBS2003 Server will report on this later when I am clearer on the details

Todays Job

2007-03-27T15:52:00.000Z

Problem:

Easy one today, trip out to Hull to a company that said there USB post where not working on there new Desktop PC because it would not recognize a Pen Drive. Could have sorted this over the phone but they said they would like a chargeable visit.

Sollution:

It was not the fact that the USB ports where not working it was the fact that the Pen Drive was using one of the Network Mapped Drives.

Sollution Method:

Right Click My Computer and select Manage
Select Disk Management
Right click the drive letter that corresponds to the Pen Drives size in MB
Select Change Drive Letter And Paths and change the drive letter to a non used one

Todays Highlights:

Seeing The Humber Bridge

2007-03-27T08:48:00.000Z

Please Feel Free To Add Any Posts Or Comments You Feel Are Usefull And Relevant

Retro Tetris Game

2007-03-22T08:44:00.000Z

Tetris

Keys:

Left = Left Direction Key
Right = Right Direction Key
Rotate Item = Up Direction Key
Move Item Down = Down Direction Key

Feel Free To Post Your High Score In The Comments

Retro Donkey Kong Game

2007-03-22T08:39:00.000Z

Donkey Kong

Keys:

Direction Keys For Up,Down,Left & Right
Jump = Space Bar

Feel Free To Leave Your High Scores In The Comments

Retro Asteroids Game

2007-03-22T08:23:00.000Z

Asteroids

Keys:

Rotate Left = Left Direction Key
Rotate Right = Right Direction Key
Fire = Space
Thrust = Up Direction Key

Feel Free To Leave Your High Scores In The Comments

Retro Pacman Game

2007-03-22T08:19:00.000Z

Pacman

Keys:

Direction Keys For Up,Down,Left & Right

Feel Free To Leave Your High Score In The Comments

Retro Space Invaders Game

2007-03-22T07:53:00.000Z

Space Invaders

Keys:

Left = Left Direction Key
Right = Right Direction Key
Fire = Space Bar

Feel Free To Leave Your Scores In The Comments

2007-03-21T15:24:00.000Z

Burger Time

2007-01-24T11:59:00.000Z

Burger Time

Breakout

2007-01-24T11:58:00.000Z

Breakout

Sonic The Hedgehog

2007-01-24T11:54:00.000Z

Sonic The Hedgehog

Duck Hunt

2007-01-24T11:52:00.000Z

Duck Hunt

Frogger

2007-01-24T11:47:00.000Z

Frogger