Primal Wireless Headset for Xbox 360

Rude Gameware wants to be strong with Xbox 360 gamers with the release of their new gaming wireless headset. The Primal Wireless Headset has a range of over 25′ feet with a wireless mic.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Confirmed by Ubisoft

Ubisoft has confirmed to IGN the title of the next Assassin's Creed game.

A purported GameStop reservation placeholder card for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has been leaked early by an employee. Ubisoft said the image below is authentic and that they'll have more information next week.

The game will be released this fall for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The details listed on the back of the card align with what Ubisoft has already confirmed, such as the inclusion of Ezio and the location, Rome.

"Live and breathe as Ezio, now a legendary master assassin, in his struggle against the Templar order. Lead your own brotherhood of Assassins and strike at the heart of the enemy. Rome," the card says, according to Kotaku.

"And for the first time, take part in an innovative multiplayer layer allowing you to embody an assassin of your choosing and define their killing style. A never-before-seen online multiplayer experience. Lead your own brotherhood of assassins, as Ezio, and conquer Rome."

Pre-ordering the game at GameStop will give you an exclusive multiplayer character. No details on who that might be. It's expected Ubisoft will announce its fiscal quarterly results later this month.


Via IGN

Windows Vista Exec’s Solo Album Almost As Good As Vista

Former Microsoft Windows executive Jim Allchin, who left the company in early 2007, has had enough time on his hands to release a solo guitar-and-vocals album, “Enigma.” It hit iTunes on Tuesday, and some comedian at Apple had the foresight to put it into the “What we’re listening to” featured section in Apple’s music store. The music speaks for itself, but the reviews are incredible. Guess which reviewers work for Microsoft and which don’t.

Allchin’s guitar work is a Claptonesque tour de force. A refreshing and inspired first effort from a brilliant engineer now channeling his passion in a new creative direction. Overtones of the Allman brothers in their prime set Allchin apart as a bluesman to be reckoned with. Eager for more.

I’ve never heard of this guy (or whoman?) before or heard more than 11 seconds of one of his songs but this stuff is crazy good! Endigma Machine is rad! Buy this album RIGHT NOW like I”m going tto. :^)

This is literally one of the, if not THE, worst albums I’ve heard. I’d say it’s the “Ishtar” of music, but that would be doing a grave disservice to “Ishtar”. I cringe when I hear this, and I’m at a loss for words to describe why it’s so bad.

Is iTunes offering just anyone the opportunity to sell their crap on their sight…this is not Craig’s list!

Come on guys. The good reviews here are obviously from within the Washington state area, if you catch my drift. Jim, go back to management.

Source: businessinsider

Microsoft sued over Windows Update

An Israeli firm has accused Microsoft Corp. of using its technologies in key components of Windows Update, court documents show. BackWeb Technologies Ltd. filed its lawsuit in San Francisco federal court on Friday, charging that Microsoft’s Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) infringes on several of its patents. BITS, which debuted in 2001 in Windows XP and is baked into Windows Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008, is a file-transfer service that can throttle back download speeds so they don’t affect other network chores. Because of its duties — it also resumes interrupted downloads — BITS is a core part of Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, and other Microsoft update and patching products.

In 2007, as part of Vista, Microsoft updated BITS to Version 3.0, adding peer-to-peer characteristics that let PCs on the same subnet transfer files to and from peers.

BackWeb’s lawsuit alleges that Microsoft’s BITS infringes on four of its patents, the oldest granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1999, the newest in 2003.

“[The patents cover] unique and novel methods and processes for transmitting digital information in background mode over a communications link between a computer network and a local computer and throttling the transfer speed to create minimal interference with other processes communicating over a communications link,” BackWeb’s filing read.

“Microsoft manufactures, uses and sells products that infringe the three Transparent Update Patents,” BackWeb charged. “With the introduction of BITS Ver. 3.0, Microsoft has also infringed BackWeb’s ‘289 Patent.’”

That fourth patent, issued to BackWeb in 2002, deals with what the company said is a technology “for distributing data packages across a hybrid peer-to-peer network.”

BackWeb asked the court to force Microsoft to stop infringing its patents and to triple any damages because Microsoft allegedly knew that it was abusing BackWeb’s patents when it created BITS.

Microsoft declined to comment on Tuesday. “We have not yet been served,” said company spokesman David Bowermaster, “so it would be premature to comment.”

BackWeb was not immediately able to provide answers to several questions, including whether the company had been in licensing talks with Microsoft prior to filing the lawsuit, and if so, why they might have broken off.

Coincidentally, Microsoft recently settled another patent-infringement case with PalTalk Holdings Inc., a New York-based company that had demanded $90 million in royalties over Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming service. Financial details of the settlement were not disclosed, but the deal two weeks ago brought a trial to a quick close.

BITS has been in the news before. In 2007, for example, hackers used the technology to sneak malware past firewalls.

Source: computerworld

Windows 7 “should do a lot better” than Vista

With the positive reaction to the Windows 7 beta coming from various places in the media, many have started to wonder how well Windows 7 will fare once it ships. While it’s still too early to know for sure, certain well-known groups have already made a point to voice their opinion about what will happen next. For example, a while back, I asked Michael Silver, Research VP of Gartner, how he expected to Windows 7 to perform compared to Windows Vista in both the consumer and business markets.

“It should do a lot better,” he told Ars. “Vista has such a bad reputation that it would be hard for Windows 7 not to do better, though Vista’s reputation is a lot worse than the product. Vista adoption is especially low in business—ISVs will eventually look to reduce or drop support for new applications on Windows XP and that will help push organizations to Windows 7 more quickly. Still it will take organizations 12-18 months from the time Windows 7 ships until they are ready to deploy it in large numbers, meaning broad adoption for enterprise begins in 1H11.”

Two weeks ago, Silver released a report titled Windows 7 Won’t Need SP1, but Will Still Need 12 to 18 Months Before Deployment Begins in which he dived deeper into what business users should expect. The most interesting conclusion he came to was “Don’t use SP1 as a milestone to deploy a new version of Windows, but plan to deploy SP1 as part of the initial deployment,” an obvious attempt to destroy the rule of thumb of “wait till SP1 for any new release of Windows.” That would have made Microsoft happy, but Silver still recommends waiting at least a year. Expect Redmond to be giving a completely different recommendation to businesses in the coming months.

---

Source: arstechnica

Apple Iphone new Concept design

While the world is waiting for the announcement of the next generation Apple iPhone, I decided to showcase iPhone concept designs.

Fix 8100030d Messenger Error

When you are trying to sign in Windows Live Messenger you are getting an Error Code 8100030d.

Symptons:
Signing in to Windows Live Messenger failed because the service is temporary unavailable. Error Code 8100030d,
Causes:
The system clock or date may be set incorrectly.
The Dynamic Link Library (DLL) softpub.dll, may not be registered on the system.
Internet Explorer may be using an invalid proxy server.
Zone Alarm is running.
Solution:
- Double click on the clock in the taskbar and make sure the system clock is set correctly.
- Disable Zone Alarm
- Register softpub.dll using the regsvr32.exe tool.Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Open box, type regsvr32 softpub.dll and then click OK.
- Do the same for the following regsvr32 wintrust.dll, regsvr32 initpki.dll, regsvr32 MSXML3.dll.
- Restart Windows Live Messenger.

HQ Dual Screen Wallpaper Sunset

HD Dual Screen Wallpaper

For More HQ wallpaper click here

Windows Live Messenger Error 80048821

SYMPTOMS
Windows Live Messenger could not sign you in because the sign-in name you entered does not exist or your password is incorrect. Error code: 80048823
SOLUTION
Before you start. Did you enter correct Username and Password?
1. The date on your computer needs to be set properly. Double click the clock verify that the time and date are set.
2. If your password information is not saved, verify that you are typing it in with the correct case (uppercase or lowercase).
3. Change your password at http://passport.com to something smaller (under 10-12 characters), then try signing in again.
4. If you use a firewall (like ZoneAlarm, Norton Internet Security etc.), it's possible that Messenger doesn't have the correct rights to access the Internet, especially since you upgraded. You may need to re/add Messenger to the allowed list of programs in your firewall if this is the case.
5. If you disabled your firewall in the past, it still may be blocking Messenger. Try restarting it and see if that helps the situation. You also might try uninstalling an installed firewall, to verify that it isn't causing a problem (even if it is disabled).
6. Clear your IE cache and cookies. Open Internet Explorer, click the Tools menu, then Internet Options, then click the Delete Files button, and when that's complete click the Delete Cookies button.
7. Check your IE Security settings. Open Internet Explorer, click the Tools menu, then Internet Options, then Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section, and verify that "Check for server certificate revocation" is unchecked. Also verify that 'Use SSL 2.0' and Use SSL 3.0' is checked, then click OK.
8. Click Start, then Run, and enter the following:
regsvr32 softpub.dll
then click OK
and do the same for the following:
regsvr32 wintrust.dll
regsvr32 initpki.dll
9. If using MSN Messenger 7, click the Tools menu, then Options, then Connection category, click the Advanced Settings button, uncheck all the options, click OK twice and then try again.

Philips PET 723 Portable DVD Player

Last month we reviewed a couple of portable DVD players, something that can pique the interest of those traveling busy bees who simply need to watch a good film on the commute. Today we have an option from our reliable neighborhood brand Philips, PET 723, itching for a review.

Design and Features
The unit comes wrapped neatly in a rectangular box with regular accessories, namely, DC-IN 9V charger, cigarette outlet adaptor (12vDC), AY5510 slim remote control, one AV Cable, and the User manual. The player itself is very good looking, due to its slimness and rounded edges. The shape is more or less a rectangle, with a glossy black finish for the top panel.

The rest of the body is a gloss milky white, with shiny metallic silver for the inner drive portion. So here is the point, there is no boring looking tray that comes out to accept discs, rather, you have to slide the whole top panel out  upwards, to expose the silver drive. This is a good design element, and is sure to impress people who like innovative design tweaks. The back panel has a 3 sided thin stand that sits flush in a slot carved out. This can be folded outwards to mount the player vertically on a desk. The stand is quite thin though it’s sturdily fixed, and designed well.

The 7-inch screen has a matte finish, with a speaker grille below. Right at the center we have a round 4 way button for menu navigation.

To our pleasant surprise here too the player honestly tried its best, especially in vivid scenes of Kung Fu Panda that we were watching.
  Side panels contain connectivity options - input for AC power, 3.5mm Stereo Headphone, Composite video out and SD/MMC card slot. There is no USB slot, which is downright dumb, as I’m assuming people use USB flash drives more than memory cards. It does play DivX and MPEG4 files, besides regular DVDs, rewritables, Dual Layer DVDs, CDs, and MP3 CDs.

It has a resolution of 480 x234, brightness of 200 cd/m², contrast ratio (typical) 250:1 and response time (typical) of 30 ms. All regular playback modes of DVD players are present here namely A-B Repeat, Angle, Disc Menu, Fast Backward, Fast Forward, OSD, Repeat, Shuffle Play, Slow Backward, Slow Forward and Zoom.

Via Tech2

Tweak Windows Vista for Ultimate gaming

Windows Vista was heralded by its creators as being a speedy operating system. However, it didn’t take long for users to realise that Vista’s performance was generally no better than Windows XP, and in many cases was actually worse. Working with a PC that isn’t performing to its maximum potential can be a frustrating experience, but this is particularly true if the machine is used for gaming. But there are a huge number of tweaks that can be applied to help make working with Vista less exasperating.

Even if you’re working with a high spec rig, the chances are there’s s a great deal that can be done to help improve performance and reduce boot times.

Thankfully, increasing performance need not mean rushing out to the shops to spend hard earned cash on potentially expensive hardware upgrades – or even going so far as buying a whole new setup.

There are a huge number of settings built into Windows which can be adjusted to help speed things up. Some of these are fairly easy to locate – such as in the Control Panel – while others are secreted in hidden dialogs or require editing the registry. Although not every one of the individual tweaks covered here will provide a huge speed boost, used in combination with each other, the overall effect can be very impressive.

There’s no denying that working with Vista can sometimes be frustrating, but with a little time and effort it’s possible to regain control, banish some of the more wasteful features and earn yourself a faster computer into the bargain. Lets get tweaking!

Adjust file indexing

Vista’s file indexing sounds like a good idea in theory: maintaining an index of files contained on the hard drive along with details of their properties to help speed up searching. But in reality searching for files is something that most people do on a very infrequent basis, so it’s wasteful for Windows to spend any time monitoring files when that processor time could be put to much better use.

It’s worth tweaking the settings so that only relevant file types are indexed. Open the Indexing Options Control Panel and click the ‘Modify’ button to choose which folders should be included in the index. Click ‘OK’ followed by ‘Advanced’ and use the ‘File Types’ tab to select which file extensions should be included.

If the feature is not needed, head to the Programs and Features Control Panel and click the ‘Turn Windows features on. Untick the box labelled ‘Indexing Service’ and click ‘OK’ before restarting Windows. File indexing can also be disabled - more on that later.

Configure page file

Vista generally does a good job of maintaining the page file so it’s the optimum size, and it is a good idea to leave its size with automatic settings. However, if you have more than one hard drive, it’s advisable to move the page file so that it’s located on the fastest drive, and even if only one drive is available, moving it to a separate partition to Windows can help to improve system performance.

Go to Start, right-click ‘Computer’ and select ‘Properties’ before clicking the ‘Advanced system settings’ link to the left of the dialog. On the ‘Advanced’ tab, click the first of the three settings buttons and move to the ‘Advanced’ tab. Click the ‘Change’ button and untick the box labelled ‘Automatically manage paging file size for all drives’ before clicking ‘Set’. Select the entry for the C: drive and then select the ‘No paging file’ option. Now select another drive or partition from the list at the top of the dialog, select the ‘System managed size’ option and click ‘Set’ then ‘Okay’ it.

Most users understand the important of defragmenting hard drives to keep them performing optimally, but the standard defragmentation process does not touch the page file. One way to get around this is to temporarily disable the page file, run the standard defragmentation tool and then recreate the page file.

Cleanup startup

Programs which are configured to run automatically with Windows are something of a double-edged sword. While a program which starts with Windows is immediately available, or may help other apps to start more quickly when they are required, it can also increase boot times and reduce the amount of memory which is available to other programs.

The first place to look for possible candidates for deletion is the Startup group of the Start menu. Expand this submenu and simply right-click a shortcut before deleting it to prevent the associated program from starting the next time Windows boots. This method makes it possible to tame a number of startup programs, but it’s likely that there are many more hiding in the registry.

Launch the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows and R keys simultaneously, type ‘regedit’ and press Enter. Use the Explorer-style tree structure in the left hand pane to navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run’ and take a look through the list of programs displayed to the right. Take care not to jump in and delete everything that appears here as it is likely that at least a few of the entries are required – such as antivirus software.

Many programs can be easily identified from either their name or the entries path, but if anything is unclear search for the file name online to help determine what its purpose is and whether you can live without it. Now pay a visit to ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run’ to see if there’s anything else that can be deleted.

Disable time stamps

Hard drives that have been formatted as NTFS partition perform better than their FAT 32 counterparts, but there are a couple of features of the format that can hinder performance slightly. Unless a much older operating system needs to access files on the Vista machine, there’s no need for Windows to create 8.3 file names for files.

In a similar vein, the time stamps which are added to files on an NTFA drive, whether they are accessed or not, are little more than a waste of resources for most people. Thankfully, both of these features can be disabled by editing the registry.

Launch the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ FileSystem. In the right-hand pane, double-click the key named ‘NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation’ and assign it a value of ‘1?. Do the same for ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’.

Uninstall remote differential compression

Remote Differential Compression is a feature used in network file synchronisation to help minimise the amount of data that needs to be transferred. It’s not generally a concern on a standard home network.

To uninstall this Vista feature, open the ‘Programs and Features’ Control Panel and click the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ link. Untick the box next to the entry for Remote Differential Compression and then click ‘OK.’

Disable Aero and transparency effects

Right-click an empty section of the desktop and select ‘Personalize’ before clicking the ‘Theme’ link. By opting to use the old style Classic look of Windows, Aero is disabled helping to speed up general operations.

If you’d prefer to keep the Vista look, but disable Aero effects, click ‘Window Color and Appearance’ and untick the box labelled ‘Enable transparency’.

Boost SATA drive performance

To ensure that SATA hard drives are delivering the best possible performance, open the Device Manager by pressing the Windows and R keys simultaneously, then type ‘devmgmt. msc’ and press Enter.

In the list of hardware devices that’s displayed, double-click the ‘Disk drives’ entry to expand it and then double-click the listing for your hard drive. Move to the ‘Policies’ tab and you should see that ‘Enable write caching on the disk’ is selected by default. By ticking the box labelled ‘Enable advanced performance’, drive performance can be increased, but there’s an increased risk of data loss in the event of power failure.

If an external drive – such as a USB drive – is plugged in and is not removed, its performance can be improved by indicating that it will be permanently connected. After selecting the relevant drive from Device Manager, move to the Policies tab and ensure that the ‘Optimize for performance’ option is selected before clicking ‘OK’.

Disable system sounds

It may well seem insignificant, but if Windows plays a sound at startup or to accompany various events, valuable system resources are being wasted. Open the Sound Control Panel and move to the Sounds tab. From the drop down menu select ‘No Sounds’ and indicate whether the current sound scheme should be saved. Also untick the box labelled ‘Play Windows Startup sound’.

Other installed software, such as instant messaging tools, can feature sound effects, so it’s worth looking through the preferences of these programs to disable anything that’s not really needed.

Disable System Restore

System Restore is a useful feature of Windows. It is, however, also a hogger of resources and, providing an alternative manual backup method has been put in place, it can be safely disabled.

Open the System Control Panel and click the ‘System protection’ link to the left of the dialog. On the System Protection tab of System Properties, clear the tick boxes next to each of the listed drives, clicking ‘Turn Off System Restore’ having deselected the drive which contains Windows.

Use ReadyBoost

One of the most effective ways to help boost the performance of Windows is to add extra memory, and while this need not be expensive, there’s an even cheaper option available.

Vista’s ReadyBoost feature makes it possible to use a USB drive – either a thumb drive or a fully fledged external hard drive – to supplement any RAM which is already installed. Although this will not improve performance to the same extent as physical memory, most USB drives used for storage are rarely used to their full capacity and this free space may as well be put to good use.

Plug in a USB drive and an autoplay window should appear - select the option labelled ‘Speed up my computer’. If this dialog is not displayed simply open up Computer, right-click the relevant drive and select Properties before moving to the ‘ReadyBoost’ tab. Ensure that the ‘Use this device’ option is selected and use the slider to indicate how much of the disk storage space should be given offer to ReadyBoost.

Disable UAC

User Account Control has proved to be one of Vista’s least popular features by a long chalk. The handholding security warnings that get displayed when performing a range of common tasks serve only to irritate most computer users but the good news is that they can be banished in a variety of ways.

UAC can be disabled via the Control Panel, by editing the registry or by adjusting Group Policy settings, but the quickest and easiest option is to use MSConfig. Press the Windows + R keys , type ‘msconfig’ and press Enter. Move to the ‘Tools’ tab and select the entry labelled ‘Disable UAC’. Click the ‘Launch’ button and a Command Prompt window will appear – simply close this down when the operation is complete and then restart Windows to save the new setting.

If you need to, UAC can be quickly re-enabled by repeating these steps, but this time select the ‘Enable UAC’ option within MSConfig.

Disable special effects

Even with the more simplistic look in place, Vista still uses a range of special effects in an attempt to make the Desktop look better. Click ‘Window Color and Appearance’ followed by the ‘Effects’ button and then untick all three boxes that are displayed.

To disable some or all of these effects, press the Windows and Pause/Break keys simultaneously and click ‘Advanced system settings’ to the left. On the ‘Advanced’ tab, click the first of the three Settings buttons and disable any of the effects that you don’t want to use before clicking ‘OK’.

Tweak SuperFetch

There’s certainly some controversy surrounding the idea that disabling Vista’s SuperFetch feature actually helps to improve performance – to a large extent it will really depend a great deal on how you use your computer.

Launch the Registry Editor and pay a visit to ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ PrefetchParameters’. In the right-hand of the pane, locate the key named ‘EnablePrefetcher’ and double-click it. You’ll find that its default value will be ‘3?. What this does is automatically cache both application data and boot files. If you change this value to ‘2? this will ensure that only boot files are cached. However, changing its setting to ‘1? will cache only application data, and setting it to ‘0? will disable caching altogether.

SuperFetch can also be disabled using the Services console - take a look at the ‘Disabling services’ box out for more details. It is also worth clearing out the contents of ‘C:\ Windows\Prefetch’ from time to time, to force Windows to rebuild the cache from scratch.

Disable disk space checking

Two reasonably pointless features that are found in Vista involve the annoying display of balloon tips and checks to ensure that you’re not running out of hard drive space.

Disabling both of these features may not make a massive difference to performance, but in conjunction with other minor tweaks, every little boost will help leach back resources. Launch the Registry Editor and navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer’ before clicking ‘Edit’ > ‘New’ > ‘DWORD (32-Bit) Value’. Name the new item ‘NoLowDiskSpaceChecks’ and then double-click it before assigning it a value of ‘1?.

Now you’ll need to navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced’ and look for three DWORD values called ‘EnableBalloonTips’, ‘FolderContentsInfoTip’ and ‘StartButtonBalloonTip’, creating them if they do not already exist. Doubleclick each value in turn and assign each of them a value of ‘0?.

Disabling hardware

In the days of Windows XP, it was possible to create hardware profiles which could be used for different purposes.

For general computing a profile where available hardware devices were enabled was ideal, while when it came to gaming, a profile which only loaded the drivers for hardware which was essential was better suited.

Unfortunately, hardware profiles were dropped from Vista and there isn’t any proper alternative. That said, it’s still worth checking that all of the hardware you have installed is essential, and if there’s anything which isn’t used very often, or indeed at all, it can be unplugged and uninstalled via the Device Manager.

Non-essential hardware can also be disabled on a temporary basis to free up as many system resources as possible, again using Device Manager. Press Windows + Pause /Break, click the ‘Device Manager’ link and expand the tree structure to display all the currently installed hardware. Right-click an item to be disabled and select ‘Disable’, reversing this process when the device is needed again.

Maintain your HDD

It’s an obvious point, but if you want to ensure maximum performance at all times, it’s important to take care of your hard drive. Unnecessary files and programs are a waste of space and can lead to a drive that runs inefficiently when the process of tidying up your hard drive can be automated to some degree.

Click the ‘Start’ orb and then click ‘All Programs’ > ‘Accessories’ > ‘System Tools’ > ‘Disk Cleanup’. Choose a drive from the drop down menu and click ‘OK’ to perform a scan. From the list that’s displayed, select any of the types of file, which should be deleted and click ‘OK’ to start a clear out.

Additional space can be freed up by moving to the ‘More Options’ tab and using the two buttons to remove unwanted software and unnecessary System Restore points. Having deleted a large amount of unwanted data, defragmentation is important to help better organise the files on your drive. Launch Disk Defragmenter from the System Tools section of the Start menu and click ‘Defragment’ now to start the optimisation process.

As with all previous versions of Windows, the Vista OS is ripe for a right good tweaking, and spending a little time customising operating system settings can pay noticeable dividends, helping to dramatically improve system performance.

The time spent adjusting settings is, frankly, a small price to pay for squeezing a bit more power from your rig, and it’s certainly a cheaper option than heading out and buying a new system or hardware upgrades.

Using tweaking tools

In the days of Windows 9x, Me and XP, Microsoft programmers produced a fantastically useful tweaking tool in the form of TweakUI. Unfortunately, there’s no Vista version of this tool available, but plenty of alternatives have been developed by third parties.

One such program is TweakVI. The program is available in three versions – Ultimate, Premium and Free. For basic, essential tweaking, the Free version is sufficient, so download the setup file and start the installation.

Installing TweakVI is a fairly standard affair, but there are few caveats to watch out for. When asked to register the software, enter your name as ‘SKIP’ to avoid having to disclose your email address.

After taking up the opportunity to create a Restore Point, indicate that a copy of EasyBCD is not required and the installation will continue. When complete, launch the program and click the ‘Start the freeware version’ button and work through the various options. By default, TweakVI displays option which cannot actually be used in the free version of the program, but these options can be hidden.

Another free tweaking tool worthy of mention is the Ultimate Windows Tweaker. After extraction, the program doesn’t require installation and can be copied to a USB drive so it can be used on other computers.

One of the most basic tweaks available is to speed up the display of menus – achieved by moving the slider in the first section of the program – but this can make a dramatic improvement to the usability of Windows. Many of the tweaks mentioned in this feature can be enabled through the Ultimate Windows Tweaker, and this is a good option if you don’t feel happy editing the registry.

Disable services

You can speed up Vista by disabling unnecessary Services. These are components of Windows, which can run automatically in the background without the need for user intervention. Some Services control essential components such as networking, but there are a huge number which are entirely unnecessary.

To start taking control, press Windows + R simultaneously, type ’services.msc’ and press [Enter] to access the Services console. A large number of services will be displayed by default, and the list may be larger on some systems depending on the software that’s installed.

Just which services can be safely disabled will vary greatly from one machine to another, and is largely dependent on what it’s used for. For a comprehensive list of all of Vista’s services including advice about whether they should be disabled and details of their role to help with decision making, take a look at the Black Viper Service Guide.

For starters, here is a list of services that can be safely disabled on the vast majority of computers; DFS Replication, Diagnostic Policy Service, Distributed Link Tracking Client, IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules, IPsec Policy Agent, KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator, Offl ine Files, Remote Registry, Secondary Logon, Security Center, SSDP Discovery, Tablet PC Input Service, Terminal Services, Windows Defender, Windows Error Reporting Service and Windows Search.

To disable an individual service, locate it in the list and then double-click it. On the dialog that’s displayed, click the ‘Stop’ button to terminate the service, and then select ‘Disabled’ from the ‘Startup type’ drop down menu. Click ‘OK’ and start to work through any other services you have determined you don’t need.

Just as with registry editing, changing service settings is potentially dangerous, so it’s a good idea to create a restore point before applying any tweaks.

Edit and back up the reg

Make sure you safeguard your settings in case the worst happens, but remember providing care is taken to work with the correct keys and no spelling mistakes are made, editing the registry should be fairly safe. This huge database is so central to Vista that if anything goes wrong it can have some very devastating consequences. Beware!

In the main text of this feature we have recommended that System Restore be disabled to free up system resources, but this tool can be used to create a backup of the registry which can then be easily restored if necessary. Before undertaking any registry editing, temporarily re-enable System Restore by reversing the steps above and then click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. Click the ‘Open system protection’ link at the bottom of the dialog and then click the ‘Create’ button. Enter a suitable name for the restore point and click ‘Create’ before waiting for the process to complete.

When editing the registry, it’s advisable to apply one tweak at a time, as this means that if something goes wrong, identifying the culprit is much easier. Should a registry backup ever be needed, launch System Restore using the method outlined previously, but this time select the option labelled ‘Choose a different restore point’ before clicking ‘Next’. From the list that’s displayed, select the required restore point and click ‘Next’ and then finish off.

If a session of registry editing results in an unbootable system, it is still possible to make use of System Restore in Safe Mode. Restart your computer and tap the F8 key during the boot process. From the menu that is displayed, use the cursor keys to highlight the ‘Safe Mode with Networking’ option and press Enter. Choose a restore point to use, as described before, and then restart Windows in the usual fashion.Source: techradar

Check Out Ads for more tweaks

Sony Reader Taps Google's Public Domain Books

Sony Corp is making available public domain books from Google to users of its electronic book reader, Sony said on Wednesday, vastly increasing the amount of available content on the device.

In the latest round of a budding digital book battle with Amazon.com Inc, Sony said that more than a half a million classic titles will be free to users of the Reader, which allows consumers to read books and newspapers on a hand-held device. That will boost the available titles in Sony's eBook Store to more than 600,000, Sony said.
Sony sells two versions of its Reader, which competes directly with Amazon's Kindle. Kindle users can access over 245,000 titles plus newspapers, magazines and blogs. Whereas Amazon touts its relationship with publishers and access to a wide range of best-selling titles - which generally cost $9.99 - as a selling-point for the Kindle, Google has sought to make its collection of public domain books widely available. Public domain books, whether Jane Austin's "Persuasion" or Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", are no longer protected by copyright. Last month, Google announced it was making the collection easily accessible to mobile devices such as the iPhone, and Amazon has said a similar move was afoot at the company. Sony Reader users will be able to read the Google books on their devices, or download a PDF file to read on a computer. The books are already accessible over the Internet at http://www.books.google.com.

HQ Dual Screen Wallpaper Nature

HD Dual Screen Wallpaper

For More HQ wallpaper click here

Mass Effect 2 Announced

We all knew this was coming ever since we got to know that BioWare decided to give Mass Effect the trilogy treatment but now it’s official and here’s what you can expect from this upcoming sci-fi action RPG:

In this dark second chapter, Saren’s evil army of Geth soldiers has just been defeated, and humans, still struggling to make their mark on the galactic stage, are now faced with an even greater peril...
Information seems a bit scarce right now but you can head on over to the official site for a teaser trailer.
Mass Effect 2 will release for the Xbox360 and PC in 2010

Cisco to Buy Maker of Flip Video for $590M

Cisco Systems Inc. said Thursday it plans to buy Pure Digital, the company behind the popular Flip Video camcorder, for about $590 million in stock.

The deal is part of Cisco's aggressive expansion beyond its core business of making computer networking gear. On Monday, the San Jose, California-based company announced that it would start selling servers for the first time, to compete for a broader share of the money that big organizations spend on the "data centers" that run their computing operations.
Like several other technology companies, Cisco has a large cash hoard - $29.5 billion in its last quarterly update - and is well set to expand during the recession. Chief Executive John Chambers has said a weak economy is an opportunity to invest.
"The acquisition of Pure Digital is key to Cisco's strategy to expand our momentum in the media-enabled home and to capture the consumer market transition to visual networking," said Ned Hooper, senior vice president of Cisco's Corporate Development and Consumer Groups, in a statement.
For San Francisco-based Pure Digital Technologies Inc., the acquisition is a big payday. The privately held company sold its first camera less than two years ago, quickly drawing accolades for its ease of use. A signature feature of the Flip Video is that a USB connector flips out of the case, letting the user connect the camera directly to a computer. Editing software contained on the camera then starts up on the computer.
Pure Digital said it has sold more than 2 million cameras. They cost between $130 and $230.
The deal is expected to close in Cisco's fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in July. Pure Digital's chairman and CEO, Jonathan Kaplan, will become the head of Cisco's Consumer Business Group, which mainly sells under the Linksys brand. Home routers are its main products, but it also launched a wireless home audio system this year.
Investors in Pure Digital have included Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, Focus Ventures, Crescendo Ventures, Steamboat Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Samsung Ventures, AllianceBernstein L.P., Morgan Stanley Principal Investments and Heights Capital Management Inc.
As part of the deal, Cisco says it will also provide up to $15 million in stock incentives for Pure Digital employees who stay with the company

Microsoft: Lots to turn off in Windows 7

Microsoft noted that, with Windows 7, customers will have the option of disabling a number of features of the operating system, should they so choose.Testers had noticed that users of recent Windows 7 builds could turn off the Web browser, in addition to many other things that were already part of a “Windows Features” dialog box. However, in its blog, Microsoft noted that there are a number of things that users could not turn off in Windows Vista, but will be able to in the final version of Windows 7. Among the new options, users will now be able to turn off things such as Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, the XPS Viewer and several others.

“If a feature is deselected, it is not available for use,” Microsoft said in the blog. “This means the files (binaries and data) are not loaded by the operating system (for security-conscious customers) and not available to users on the computer. These same files are staged so that the features can easily be added back to the running OS without additional media. This staging is important feedback we have received from customers who definitely do not like to dig up the installation DVD.”

Microsoft declined to comment on what role, if any, antitrust and regulatory issues played in the decision to expand the number of Windows components that can be disabled. However, a number of the programs on the list are things that have drawn regulatory ire, such as the browser and media player, as well as the XPS technology which has been seen as a rival to Adobe’s PDF.

With Windows 7, Microsoft has also stripped several programs out of the operating system entirely. The photo gallery, e-mail, and movie-making programs that had been part of Windows will now be available only as separate Windows Live downloads. With Windows Vista, Microsoft included a version in the operating system, but then offered for download an optional Windows Live service-connected version.

Source: cnet

Check out ads for more latest info

HQ Dual Screen Wallpaper Nature

HD Dual Screen Wallpaper

For More HQ wallpaper click here

Windows 7 is coming. So what?

You may be aware that Microsoft is readying a new operating system. It’s been dubbed Windows 7. When it is released, you can expect brass bands, dancing girls and mighty huzzahs. But why?

Windows runs your machine. It’s the middleman. It tells your programs and your computer how to work together. In geekese, it manages resources. Don’t worry about that. Let us return to the days of yesteryear, when MS-DOS ruled the PC land. You’d get this on your computer screen: C:\. To the right of the backslash blinked the cursor. That wasn’t particularly intuitive. People wanted something better. Thus was born the graphical user interface. Buttons, links, formatting to click on. Today’s Windows is a very advanced GUI; so is Mac’s OS X.

Windows improved all through the 1990s. Then, in 2001, Windows XP appeared. It didn’t crash. It didn’t cause trouble at all. People just loved it.

Jump to January 2007. Windows Vista appeared. Bombastic promotion. Events to draw crowds. But the old flying-out-the-doors spirit wasn’t there. The “experts” said Vista was a memory hog, it had too many problems, people didn’t want it. I say people stuck with XP.

See, people don’t just go out and buy a new operating system. They buy computers with the new Windows. But, this time, they didn’t need to upgrade. Why spend $800 when you like XP?

I need to know new technology. I bought a half-dozen computers in January 2007. All had Vista. The hardware has been a pain. Vista has performed flawlessly.

So, now comes Windows 7. The guys are looking forward to the dancing girls. And we will switch; we have to be out-front. But most people couldn’t care less. They get their operating system with their computer. And they still like XP, which is now eight years old. Or they like Vista.

Why does Microsoft bother with this extravaganza? That’s a good question. And I don’t know for sure. But I have a theory. (It’s possible that 800 people thought of it before me. If you’re one, please be nice.)

Microsoft watchers think nearly all profits come from Windows and Office. (This decade, we have had Office 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003 and 2007). The rest of Microsoft’s software is peanuts.

When the umpteenth Windows version appears, Microsoft isn’t really pushing Windows. It’s selling computers. Nearly everyone gets the new operating system with the computer. No computer sales, no Windows sales. (I’m not counting early adopting geeks. Microsoft can’t live on them.)

Most people probably like their machines. I don’t see a big blastoff for Windows 7. If you like XP or Vista, stick with it.

This is a terrible problem for Microsoft. Coming down the road are Google and the Cloud. Google is believed to have a million servers, more or less.

The logical use for those servers is cloud computing. You get an old computer out of the closet. On it, you install a free, small Linux operating system. But the real operating system is on Google servers. You access them through the Internet. Ergo, the Cloud.

Most people hate buying new computers. They despise learning new software. The Cloud should cure both.

How much will it cost? Maybe nothing. Whatever, it will be less than today’s almost yearly changes.

I can’t be sure this is coming. But I would be willing to bet on it.

And where will it leave Microsoft, arguably the globe’s most powerful firm?

Less than a decade ago, newspapers were rich and powerful. Then, the Internet abruptly reshaped the news world. That could happen to Microsoft. Without Windows and Office, what does it really have for personal computers?

Source: usatoday

Google Updates Chrome to Boost Speeds

Google released a new version of its Chrome Web browser on Tuesday, as the search giant continues its efforts to get a foothold in a market dominated by Microsoft Corp.
The new Chrome represents the first major update of the software aimed at the general public since Google entered the browser business six months ago. It offers Web surfers faster performance and a handful of new features, such as auto-filling of personal information on online forms and a new way for users to drag around tabs of different Web pages within the browser window.
Google was a distant No. 4 in the browser market, with 1.2 percent share of the worldwide market in February, according to market research firm Net Applications. Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominates the market, with a 67. 4 percent market share in February, while the Mozilla foundation's Firefox browser had a roughly 22 percent share. Apple's Safari browser had an 8 percent share. Last month, Google officially joined the European Union's antitrust case against Microsoft, describing the browser market as "largely uncompetitive." The EU has charged Microsoft with abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows personal computer operating system.
According to a post on Google's blog on Tuesday, the new Chrome beta loads certain types of Web pages 25 percent to 35 percent faster than the current version of the browser. The new features were previously available to programmers using the "developer" version of Chrome, but Google has now packaged all the updates together into a more reliable beta test version that is available for download. Google also has a more polished, so-called stable version of Chrome, based on the older beta version.

HD Wallpaper Sunset

High Quality Wallpaper

For More Wallpapers Click Here