Category: Tutorial

Run any live CD on Windows without install

Posted by Dickey on Oct 14th, 08 | Filed under Application, Operating system, Tutorial | View Comments

I would like to discuss about how user can runs any live CD as a standalone application on Windows system. There are some application for user to do so. But i would like to introduce MobaLiveCD, an application which use “QEMU” emulator.

So, how are you going to run Live CD using MobaLiveCD?

  1. Go to http://mobalivecd.mobatek.net/en/ and download the application. It is a standalone application, which need no installation. Hence, you can bring along it with your USB drive.
  2. After you downloaded the application, double-click it and you will see the screen as above screenshot. Click the “Run the LiveCD” button, and then you can select your ISO image file.

  3. After that, MobaLiveCD will ask you whether want to create a hard disk image for your virtual machine. If you want to save your works and retrieve them on next launch, select “Yes” and specify the location, else select “No“.
  4. Your Live CD will now start booting and you can click the window to interact with your emulated OS, or press “Ctrl + Alt” to return to your current environment.

Tips: You can select the “Right-Click Menu” at the Main menu page so that you can run MobaLiveCD through your right-click context menu. To remove this feature, press the “Uninstall” button.

MobaLiveCD

How to enable calculation feature in Office 2007

Posted by Dickey on Aug 24th, 08 | Filed under Application, Tips, Tutorial | View Comments

We use Microsoft Office everyday. There are a lot of features that are hidden by default, and we need to manually enable them so that they appear at the toolbox button. One of the example is the calculation feature.

Step 1

First of all, click the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” button and choose “More Commands…”

Step 2

After that, select the Calculate from the list and press the “Add>>” button.

Step 3

Then, you may start to provide some formula, highlight it and press the “Formula” button at the Quick Access Toolbar. Microsoft Word will calculate the result and save at clipboard. Then, press the “Paste” button and the result will appear.

How to block a USB devices from connect to your computer

Posted by Dickey on Jul 29th, 08 | Filed under Application, Tips, Tutorial | View Comments

USB devices such as flash drives may harm your computer. Some of the USB drives which infected by virus will automatic copy files to your computer when connected. So, i would like to teach users how to block certain USB devices to connect to your computer.

I had cover USBDeview before, which is a utility to view and manage all devices connected to your computer, no matter previously or currently. Now, i am going to use this utility to block known devices from connect to my computer.

Note: If you don’t know what is USBDevice, you may refer to my previous article.

Steps

  1. Open USBDeview, and you will get a list like below:

  2. Now, choose which device that you want to block from connect to your computer. For example, i want to block my Kingston USB flash drive.
  3. Right-click the device and choose “Disable selected devices”, or you can press F6 to start block the device from connect to your computer.
  4. After that, try to connect the USB flash drive to your computer, you will found that you will not get any menu popup, or any new removable device at “My Computer”. But, you still will heard device connected/disconnected sound when you plug/unplug it.
  5. You can always right-click the device and choose “Enable selected devices” or F7 to unblock the device.

download USBDeview | download from MediaFire

How to modify 7zip file extension’s icon

Posted by Dickey on Jun 25th, 08 | Filed under Cool Stuff, How To, Tutorial | View Comments

7-zip is a popular free zip tool for us. Unfortunately, the icons are pretty dull for me. So, i decide to patch them with more interesting icons.

Before you start, you need to know the path to 7zip. Normally, it is “C:\Program Files\7-Zip”. After that, you need an application called “Resource Hacker”, which is free. You can download Reosurce Hacker from here. After you prepare everything, lets start to modify the icons.

Steps 1

Open Resource Hacker. Click File -> Open. Browse to your 7zip folder. Mine is “C:\Program Files\7-Zip”. After that, choose “7z.dll” and click Open.

Step 2

Expand the Icon Group. You will get around 16 nodes.

Step 3

Expand the first node (0). Click “1033″. You will see the 7zip icon appear. Right click “1033″ and choose “Replace Resource“.

Step 4

Click “Open file with new icon” to select your icon file.

Step 5

After that, You can select icon to replace from the right listbox. Press “Replace” when done. Repeat this step to change the other icons.

How to fix stuck/dead pixels on LCD monitor

Posted by Dickey on Jun 24th, 08 | Filed under Application, Cool Stuff, How To, Tutorial | View Comments

Previously i cover a handy tool to test your LCD monitor. But unfortunately that application can’t fix the dead pixels. Now, i would like to introduce some methods which can fix/remove them.

Before i start, lets talk about what is stuck pixel and what is dead pixel. Stuck pixel is a dot of colour in your LCD while the background is black. When the stuck pixel become black dot in white background, it become dead pixel. Normally, stuck pixel is easily to fix compare to dead pixel.

Now, lets share some tips on how to fix these pixels:

JScreenFix

It is a Java application and you can run JScreenFix through web browser. JScreenFix can be used to fix stuck pixels. You need to install Java Runtime in order to use JScreenFix. It take around 20 minutes to repairs stuck pixels on your LCD.

Killdeadpixel

Similar with JScreenFix, Killdeadpixel is a web solution to dead pixels. It is an animated gif image which will try to massage the dead pixel back alive again by getting it to change rapidly. Simply drag the image to dead pixel and stay there for 1 hour. Although this method doesn’t work for all dead pixels, but you may try it.

DPT

Dead pixel tester (DPT) is a free application for users to locate and identify any stuck/dead pixels. It is because most of the LCD manufacturers will replace the LCD free of charge if there are more than certain amount of stuck/dead pixels (within the warranty period). DPT include a pixel exerciser which may fix stuck pixels.

JSCreenFix | Killdeadpixel | DPT

Read more information on WikeHow

How to enable thumbnail preview for each task in Windows XP taskbar

Posted by Dickey on Jun 13th, 08 | Filed under Cool Stuff, Operating system, Tutorial | View Comments

Thumbnail preview image is a new feature in Windows Vista. But, Windows XP users also can enjoy this feature by installing Visual Task Tips.

Since i switch to Windows Vista, i really like the thumbnail preview feature. Today, i found an interesting application which can enable this feature in Windows XP. It is a freeware (non-commercial usage).

Visual Task Tips is a lightweight shell enhancement utility. Upon install the application, you can start enjoying the thumbnail preview when your mouse hover to any applications in Windows taskbar. The screenshot above shows preview for “My Computer“.

There are some settings that you can done. For example, you can change the thumbnail size and popup delay. You can also change the refresh rate, but higher refresh rate will cause performance issue.

Can i start this application automatically when i launch Windows? Yes, you can start it automatically. Just check “start application automatically when windows start”. Furthermore, you can also start the application without tray icon. For more information, you may visit the FAQ page.

download Visual Task Tips | download from MediaFire

How to show folder size in Windows explorer

Posted by Dickey on Jun 12th, 08 | Filed under Operating system, Tutorial | View Comments

Windows explorer is the most common application that we use daily. We can customize the display so that it can show the file details and also it size. Unfortunately, it is unable to show us folder size. Foldersize is a plugin for Windows explorer so that it can show us the size of files and folders in the same column.

After install foldersize, you can right-click on the header and choose “folder size“. You will then get a new column to display the size of files and folders on that particular path. the red box shown new added column which display the size of files and folders. You can then uncheck the original “size” header, as foldersize will show you the size of files also.

Foldersize is a freeware and it support both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. Unfortunately, Vista users are unable to install this application.

download foldersize | download from MediaFire

Handy tool to test your LCD pixels

Posted by Dickey on Jun 10th, 08 | Filed under Portable Apps, Tutorial | View Comments

IsMyLcdOK is a small program but effective solution to easily check for dead/paralyzed/stuck pixels on LCD monitors.

Basically, this application test 8 different colors, horizontal and vertical lines on your LCD. During the test, you can search for any dead/paralyzed/stuck pixels.

This is a portble and free tool and you can bring along this application when you want to buy a new LCD. This can make sure the LCD doesn’t has any dead pixels.

download IsMyLcdOK | download from MediaFire

How to solve Windows blue screen after upgrade tp XP SP3

Posted by Dickey on Jun 9th, 08 | Filed under Operating system, Tutorial | View Comments

Windows XP service pack 3 has been released for some times. But if you want to install it on your AMD based HP/Compaq computer, you probably will always faced the blue screen problem (BSoD, Blue Screen of Death).

HP had comes out with a solution. There are 5 steps to fix this problem:

  1. Restart computer and press F8 key repeatedly until Windows Advanced Options Menu appears.
  2. Choose Safe Mode.
  3. Browse to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers.
  4. Find a file named “intelppm.sys” and rename it to “XXXintelppm.syx“.
  5. Restart.

The problem should be fixed and you will no longer get the same error message.

Create self-extracting package using built-in Windows tool

Posted by Dickey on Jun 3rd, 08 | Filed under Application, Cool Stuff, Tips, Tutorial | View Comments

Microsoft Windows comes with a handy tool for us to create self-extracting/self-installing package.

There are a lot of applications for us to zip/unzip files/folders, some of them even let users to create self-extracting package. Winzip, WinRar, and 7-zip are among the famous applications which provide these features. But, do you know that Windows actually comes with built-in tool to do this?

Steps

  1. Go to Start -> Run -> type “iexpress“.
  2. An IExpress Wizard will popup. Choose “Create new Self Extraction Directive file” and press Next.

  3. Choose “Extract files only” and press Next. Then give your package a name.
  4. After you name your package, press Next for the following dialog boxes, until you asked to add files into your package.
  5. Here, i had added 2 files. After you add your files, press Next to continue.

  6. Press Next for the following dialog boxes. After that, provide target path and filename for your package, and you can choose to either create a Self Extraction Directive file or not. This is to let you modify the package in future.
  7. Done. Now you created a “xxx.exe” package which will extract to targeted location when launch.
Page 1 of 612345»...Last »