Microsoft seems to be under the impression that change is good and will not confuse users of a previous versions of their Windows operating system. It is interesting that they decided to change on elementary function in Windows Vista if you compare it to Windows XP: the Add/Remove Windows Components.

If you go into the Control Panel in Windows Vista you will not find Add / Remove Programs like in Windows XP and there is also no SYSOC.INF file where you can remove the HIDE parameter to add more windows components to the Add / Remove Programs menu.

The function in Windows Vista is called Turn Windows Features on or off and is available in the Programs and Features menu. There is however a huge difference. You might have noticed the on or off phrase and that is exactly what is happening. The component is not uninstalled and still on the hard drive if you select to turn a feature off.

(more…)

Tags: remove programs, vlite, windows tips, windows-vista
Categories: Knowledge, Operating Systems, Windows, software

This sounds a little strange at first, don’t you think ? I really had to investigate the matter further, let us check out what this is all about. The Australian PC World revealed the new Blue-Ray drive about three weeks ago on their website.

“Sony cautions that additional software and hardware is required for playback of commercial movies on Blu-ray Disc (BD-ROM) but the company didn’t specify exactly what is required.”

No one was sure what that ment at that time – until today. Cdfreaks report that Sony’s BWU-100A Blu-ray drive will not play Blu-ray movies which is exactly what Sony ment when they gave this statement to PC World.

(more…)

Tags: blu-ray, Hardware, sony
Categories: Hardware

Rapidshare hacks, downloaders for rapidshare, no timelimit, unlimited downloads, free premium accounts. Those are some of the keywords that users are looking for. I thought it would be nice to write a definite guide about rapidshare. Which rapidshare hacks, tools and tricks are working, which are not. Rapidshare imposes a download and timelimit on non premium users of their service. Downloading from Rapidshare is only possible with one connection at a time and rapidshare limits the size of the files that you download to 30 megabytes every hour.

Rapidshare Hacks:

Speaking of Rapidshare Hacks: There is one little rapidshare hack available which sets the timelimit you have to wait to 0. Clear your address bar and add the following line to it “javascript:alert(c=0)”. This sets the rapidshare timelimit to 0 but does not change the download limit. The only way to reset the rapidshare download limit is to make rapidshare.de believe you are a new user. This can be done by either reconnecting to your ISP or by using proxys.
(more…)

Tags: rapidshare, rapidshare hack, rapidshare hacks
Categories: Knowledge

Are you experiencing long shut down times ? Is it taken some minutes after you click on shut down before windows finally shuts down your computer ? This problem could be caused by unloading the current user profile.

This can happen when third party, or even Microsoft applications have not properly cleaned up when exiting. Windows will keep trying to unload the profile until Windows finally decides that it can’t and should shutdown. Even if you find the application causing the problem – it may be impossible to do anything about it.

Microsoft released the tool profile hive cleanup because of this. When you install the tool you will find a new service which is called profile hive cleanup service. This service automatically cleans up user profiles when it is running and this should have the result that the shutdown of the system does not take minutes but seconds.

(more…)

Tags: profile hive, shutdown, Windows, windows tips
Categories: Operating Systems, Windows

I don´t like the normal way to copy text. Mark a text area, hit CTRL + C or right click and select copy to copy that text area to the clipboard. I´am lazy I know but I was always looking for a faster way to copy a text area. The firefox extension Auto Copy is the answer to my prayers. It auto copies, hence the name, every marked text automatically to the clipboard.

Works with latest firefox, mozilla and thunderbird.

(more…)

Tags: auto-copy, firefox-extensions, mozilla
Categories: Browsing, firefox

Quicklauncher is a freeware application for Windows that gives you fast access to selected programs either by clicking on them or defining keyboard shortcuts for them. The tool itself is entirely in German, I´am not sure if there is an english version available as well. Right click on the upper drop down menu to add categories to quicklauncher. You can use the same way to add additional categories to quicklauncher.

Once you´ve finished adding categories you can add programs to them. Right click somewhere in the list below the category name and select “Dateipfad/Befehl hinzufügen” to add a program or “Ordnerpfad hinzufügen”  to add a folder for faster access. If you have troubles finding out what to do let me know and I will try my best to help you figure out what to do.

(more…)

Tags: keyboard shortcuts, quicklaunch, software, Windows
Categories: Tools

Bust a Move or Puzzle Bobble is a nice little game that has made it´s way to almost every console system that has been released in the last ten years. You task is to clear a stage that consists of colored bubbles on the top of every screen and two little dragons at the bottom who shot colored bubbles at the ceiling. If three or more bubbles of the same color come into contact they disappear. The screen gets smaller from time to time means you will have to hurry to get rid of all the bubbles before the screen reaches your little dragons at the bottom.

You can play the game either in 640*480 or 320*240 resolution. Looks and plays much like the original. Great for a little break.

(more…)

Tags: bust a move, flash games, Games
Categories: Games