If you feel confident with taking control of security, you probably don’t need the User Account Control (UAC) that comes with Microsoft Windows Vista. This guide will show you how to turn off the UAC so that it doesn’t bother you any more.

1. Open the Start Menu and select Control Panel.

2. Now select User Accounts

3. Select Turn User Account Control on or off

4. Uncheck the box next to “Use User Account Control (UAC)…” and press OK

You will now be asked to restart your computer to activate your changes. After your computer is restarted you won’t be bothered anymore by the UAC.

If you want to enable the User Account Control again, you simply repeat the above process and at step 4 recheck the box next to “Use User Account Control (UAC)…” and press OK.

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Mac OS X runs on a different file system (HFS, as opposed to Window’s NTFS) that automatically defragments and optimizes itself. So if you’re a Mac user, chances are you would never need to defragment your hard disk, thanks to Apple. However fragmentation is only one of the many problems we face regarding system optimization.Mac OS X is quite different from Windows. Installing programs for instance, only requires a simple drag-and-drop of the application from the DMG (image file) to the ‘Applications’ folder. Uninstalling is just as simple with a swift pull to Trash. Optimizers

MainMenu The simplest of the 4 here. MainMenu allows you to perform basic optimizing actions i.e. clearing system and application caches, repairing permissions and rebuilding Spotlight index.

Maintenance With Maintenance, you’ll be able to clear system, application and font caches as well as old log files; repair permissions; and rebuild Spotlight and Mail indexes.

IceClean Similar to MainMenu, IceClean offers a simple-to-use GUI but it is more capable than it looks. IceClean can update prebindings, repair permissions, do a system cleanup (clear cache, remove log files and temporary items), verify the system disk, and completely remove all .DS_store files (those are the files which OS X looks to to retrieve folder preferences e.g. icon view, size, window size and arrangement).

OnyX OnyX is a bit more powerful. I’d say that it’s the most multi-functional of the lot. It is able to repair permissions; clear system, application and font caches, old log files and temporary items; it can also check the S.M.A.R.T status of your hard disk; and has a few personalization options as well.

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Personalization

These applications basically will reveal hidden functions of Finder, Exposé, Dock, Safari, Spotlight and other global preferences. They increase OS X’s functionality and allow you to modify your system to suit your needs; and eliminate settings that you don’t particularly enjoy.

Deeper and TinkerTool Both of these applications are pretty much alike. They perform the tasks mentioned above and a few more. TinkerTool, for example can disable the creation of .DS_store files on network drives, fix the Dock so that no changes can be made to its content and add a stack for Recent Items, even change the Dock to give it a 2D look in Leopard. There are also more advanced options like how an application crash is handled and enabling developer modes for Safari and Dashboard.

Secrets Secrets is different because it is actually a preference pane which allows you to tweak a lot of settings through System Preferences. The full list of what you can do with Secrets is found here, it is so long it’s exhausting to read! But you get the gist, almost any setting can be tweaked.

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Here is a quick tutorial on how to download files from Rapidshare simultaneously using Firefox. It is a simple operation; one must use a different proxy per download. Although it seems impossible to do on Internet Explorer, it is extremely simple with Firefox. Although this tip works, the downloads do slow down significantly when one downloads more than two files. Here are the quick steps:

1. Using the FireFox browser, download and install the SwitchProxy plug-in for FireFox.
2. Proceed to finding a free proxy server, I recommend the Steganos Proxies list.
3. Proceed to Rapidshare's download link and start the download. Do not use a download manager (No FlashGet), simply use FireFox's download manager by itself. (This is because Flashget uses your real IP, not the one loaded by the SwitchProxy plug-in)
4. Load the SwitchProxy plug-in and use one of the proxies. This does not interfere with your current download.
5. Proceed to a second Rapidshare download link. In most cases, it should begin a second download. However, if it reads an error (already downloading), then the selected proxy is still submitting your real IP to RapidShare. This may not be your fault, as some free proxies use your real IP.
6. If you get this error, simply try the next available proxy in the list.
7. To begin another download, repeats the steps using a new proxy in the list. This can be done an unlimited amount of times (or until you run out of working proxies).

Related Links:

FireFox

SwitchProxy Plug In

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Backup

Backup is not a topic which I like to discuss very often. It’s quite a touchy subject because it goes very well for some people but for others, it may end in disaster. With Leopard, we have Time Machine, a built-in backup system into OS X which is easy to use. Personally, I don’t use any form of backup because I don’t trust any application to move my precious files around (I do it manually, backing up each individual folder with care). But I know of lots of other people who rely on backup systems to help them save their documents onto another location on a regular basis.

I’m going to touch on two free backup applications which may or may not work for you. Like I said, “backup” is a touchy subject and most applications will receive mixed reviews.

iBackup 2008 This application is simple and allows multiple backup profiles which is used to backup files, folders, application and system preferences; and data from system applications (Address Book, iCal, Stickies, Mail, iChat, Safari, iTunes etc.). It is also capable of scheduling backups to a local or networked drive or to WebDAV servers daily or weekly. It can also create archives (.zip) of your backups. One thing that I think is missing from iBackup is the ability to perform incremental backups — backing up only items which have changed after the last backup. Correct me if I’m wrong?

Carbon Copy Cleaner CCC is fairly popular in the Mac community. CCC is slightly superior over iBackup because it is able to completely clone your hard disk, allowing you to boot directly from your backup and run OS X! CCC is also able to perform incremental backups, scheduled backups up to the hour; and backup to local and networked hard disks. One fret I have with CCC is the many reported incidences that it breaks with Leopard. The latest version supposedly works on Leopard but it is still not Universal Binary, I think.

Keep in mind that iBackup and CCC are good backup utilities, but frequent manual backup is still the most reliable. Applications tend to screw up and backup is not something you’d want to mess around with. But hey, I’m not a party-pooper. Go ahead and try these applications, it may work for you!

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Reformat your hard disk and reinstall Windows XP on a system without messing around with Microsoft's Product Activation after the reinstall.

Have you ever wanted to reformat the hard disk and reinstall Windows XP on a system but you didn't want to mess around with Microsoft's Product Activation after the reinstall? Fortunately, you don't have to.

As long as you aren't making any hardware alterations, you can back up the activation status files before you reformat the hard drive and then restore them after you reinstall the operating system.

To perform the backup, follow these steps:

1. Use Windows Explorer to open the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
2. Copy the Wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak files to a floppy disk or CD.

To perform the restore, follow these steps:

1. Decline the activation request at the end of the installation procedure, and restart Windows XP.
2. During bootup, press [F8] to access the Windows Advanced Options menu.
3. Choose the Safe Mode (SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal) option.
4. Use Windows Explorer to open the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
5. If they exist, rename the new Wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak files to Wpadbl.new and Wpabak.new.
6. Copy the original Wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak files from the floppy disk or CD to the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
7. Restart the system.

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On your computer, tens of invisible (hidden) processes run silently in the background. Some consumes system resources, radically slowing your PC. Other useless processes contains spyware and Trojans - at least violating your privacy. This process and DLL library is a free grat resource for anyone who wants to know the exact purpose of every process

Click Here

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Rapidshare is world’s biggest file storage/sharing network and one of the most trafficked websites on the web. With it’s enormous file database (ebooks, software, audio,video, etc…) it became highly popular download destination. 1. Free Download Managers & Accelerators

• OrbitDownloader
• Rapget
• SpeedBit
• West Byte Software

2. Rapidshare Search Engines

• Rapidfox
• Shareminer
• Peer2link
• Rapidsharefiles(has a desktop version as well)
• Rapidsearch
• Funfail
• Filesbot
• Probble

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1. Screengrab

Screengrab is a nice firefox extension to capture screens. You can save an entire webpage, a particular selection or a frame in the JPEG or PNG format. You could drag and select a particular portion of the page or save the entire scrolling window. You can even save flash screens with this extension. When you install this extension, you get a small screengrab icon on the right side of your firefox status bar. When you click on it, it gives you the various options to save or copy the screen. Yes, you can even copy the screen to clipboard. Quick and simple.

2. FireShot

FireShot goes one step ahead of Screengrab and apart from allowing you to capture screens partially or completely, it also allows you to modify the captured images. It lets you edit and annotate the screenshot and add graphics and text messages. Screenshots can be saved in 4 formats - PNG, JPEG, GIF and BMP. Like Screengrab, FireShot also allows you to save or copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You could also directly email the captured screen. When you install FireShot, a small icon is added to the toolbar and options to capture the entire page or just the visible portion are added to the context menu.

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If you are a blogger or a web content writer then I’m sure a screen capture tool is in the list of your must have tools for daily usage. With the help of a good screen capture tool you can generate screenshots relevant to your article and then put them in the post and publish it. And if you are a tech blogger like me then it becomes an almost indispensable tool. why to read the whole text ...just capture it and read later ....saves your efforts of copy and paste or downloading file

just click and enjoy......

1. Kwout

The Kwout Firefox add on is another cool app to easily capture and save webpages or online images. It also gives you the code for the screenshot which can be immediately embedded in your website.

2. Page Saver

Page Saver is a simple browser extension for capturing screenshots and has limited features in it’s free version. It lets you capture the entire page or just the visible portion of it and save it in JPEG or PNG format. You can also configure keyboard shortcuts for doing the same by going to Add on options after installing it in Firefox.

i will add two more tools in next post

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A very simple trick to fool your friends. Create any folder on the desktop.Go to 'rename' option by right clicking the folder.Press the 'alter' key and while pressing the 'alter' key, press 255 from 'Numpad'.Remember,255 must be pressed from 'numpad'. NOTE: This trick may not work on LAPTOPS, since laptops don't have numpad.

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Mobile market is booming in India and this for sure is ripe time to launch mobile based extended services.

Orkut has launched ‘Orkut SMS’ to the pleasure of their thousands of mobile hooked users. Orkut SMS allows you to receive new scrap notifications, get friend info and more from your mobile device.

Head to your Orkut account, check for ‘mobile’ tab under ’settings’ or click here First you need to register your mobile number. Select your mobile carrier and enter your telephone number.

This service is supported mobile carriers: Aircel, BPL, MTNL, Reliance, Spice and Tata. Sadly, no Airtel and BSNL. Orkut SMS is a premium service and you will be charged by your mobile provider.

You can check for pricing details before registering your phone number. One cool feature for Orkut addicts to stay updated on the GO.

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If you are always getting Access Denied errors when trying to connect to a XP computer,

and you know you have the correct user names and passwords on the computer, the solution may be a simple registry edit.

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Control / Lsa
3. Change the value of a key called "restrictanonymous" to 0 instead of 1
4. Don't change "restrictanonymoussam" value.
5. Reboot

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1. Create a folder in a drive for easy access, e.g. C:. (Name it something related to the Control Panel, e.g. Users.)

2. Create a new file in Notepad and copy and paste the following into it:

ren Users Users.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

3. Replace “Users” with the name of the folder you created and save the file as loc.bat.

(You should now be able to see your folder and the loc.bat file, with the loc.bat in the same directory as the folder Not in it.)

4. Now, right-click and create another text file. Copy and Paste the following into it:

ren Users.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} Users (Make sure to replace the word “Users” with the name of your folder.)

5. Save it as key.bat.

6. Now you should see the loc.bat and the key.bat files in the same directory as the folder you created.

7. Now, all you need to do is double-click on the loc.bat file and the folder should have an icon that looks like the control panel. If you click on the folder it should redirect you to the Control Panel and thus you have locked the folder.

8. Of course, to unlock it, simply double-click on the key.bat file and the folder should turn back into the folder you first created.

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1. Click “Start”, “Run,” and then type cmd. When the command prompt opens type “CD C:\Test” (replace “Test” with the name of the folder you want to hide.)

2. Now type “attrib file +s +h” and replace “file” with the name of the actual file name you would like to hide.

3. Now, go back to C:\Test and look for your file or folder, it’s not there! You cannot find it through simply browsing around, through the command prompt, or even if you click “Show Hidden Files and Folders”.

4. To find the folder and it’s contents again simply go back to the command prompt, type “CD C:\Test” (of course, again replacing “Test” with the name of the folder,) and then type “attrib filename -s -h”. You should now be able to find your file again!

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