Feb 14

How To Download Videos From YouTube To Your PC

How-to Articles No Comments »

How To Download Videos From YouTube To Your PC

YouTube is a video sharing website used for uploading and sharing videos. There are lots of  member uploaded videos present on YouTube. You can watch movie trailers, tutorials, guides, personal videos and much more on YouTube.

YouTube does not officially  provides download link for videos however you can download YouTube videos with the help of some tools available online.

Method 1: For Firefox Browser users

If you are a Firefox user then you can download YouTube videos with the help of a Firefox plugin  called 1 Click Youtube Video Download.

Go to Tools > Add-ons> Get Add-ons. Search for 1 Click Youtube Video Download Firefox Add-on. Click on Add to Firefox button.

youtube-addon

Install the addon and restart Firefox browser. Now go to YouTube and open any video page you want to download. You will see a download link on the bottom right side of the video. Click on any one  of the three available formats FLV, MP4 and 3GP. Your download will start after clicking the icon.

youtube-download

save-download

Features

1. Download YouTube videos in a single click.

2. Download in MP4, 3GP and FLV format.

3. Download HD videos.

4. You can Download YouTube videos directly from the search results of Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Method 2: For Non-Firefox users

There is a tool known as YouTube Downloader HD from which you can download YouTube videos without any plugin.

1) Go to YouTube Video Downloader HD official website.

2) Download Youtube Video Downloader HD software (2 MB) on your PC.

3) Install the software on your computer.

4) Run the software.

youtube-videodownloaderhd

5) Copy any video URL from your web browser and paste to Youtube Downloader HD.

youtube-video-url

6) Paste the code in Video URL box given as shown in image below.

youtube-downloading

7) Browse the correct location to save the video and click on Start button. Video will start downloading.

Features of YouTube Downloader HD

1) Download video without any browser addon.

2) Download High Definition (HD) videos.

3) Unicode support: Youtube Downloader HD can save movies whose names have non-standard characters (like Chinese, Japanese, Cyrillic, etc.

4) Convert downloaded video to various formats.

Bookmark and Share
Feb 11

An Overview of System Recovery Options for Windows 7

How-to Articles No Comments »

Sooner or later, everyone has problems with their operating system, no matter the version. When the going gets tough, some system recovery tools come in handy. Windows 7 has a few tools available which can help you when the system no longer behaves as it is supposed to. These tools can be used in the following scenarios: boot errors, upgrade failures or reboot loops.

In this article I will share with you the list of available tools, explain what they do and the scenarios when they are helpful.

System Recovery Options – What they Are & When to Use them

The ‘System Recovery Options’ are a set of 5 tools, listed below, which can be used to repair or recover a damaged operating system:

  • Startup Repair – can be used to scan your computer and fix missing or damaged system files that prevent Windows from starting correctly. You can use this tool if you have modified Windows system files or if you installed applications which have modified Windows system files in such a way that the operating system doesn’t start anymore.
  • System Restore – can be used to restore Windows system files to the state of an earlier point in time, while leaving all your user files untouched. You can use System Restore when you want to revert to an earlier configuration which you know it worked properly. For example, if you installed multiple applications and you are suddenly experiencing random restarts, boot failures and Startup Repair failed to fix anything, the quickest way to solve the problem is to use System Restore.NOTE: In order to use System Restore you must have at least one system restore point previously created. More info about this feature will be published in upcoming articles.
  • System Image Recovery – can be used to restore a system image. When everything else fails, this can be the solution to your problems. When Startup Repair and System Restore are not helping, try to use the System Image Recovery tool. The only drawback is that you will revert only to the files, folders and applications that were present at the time you created the system image.NOTE: In order to use this tool you must have a previously created system image file. More info about this feature will be published in upcoming articles.
  • Windows Memory Diagnostic – scans your computer’s memory for errors. If your computer randomly freezes after you upgraded or changed the RAM modules, it is a good idea to use the Windows Memory Diagnostic to check them for errors.
  • Command Prompt – can be used by advanced users to perform recovery-related operations. These operations should only be used by advanced users. If you are not sure on what you are doing, you can end-up with your Windows 7 in a state which is a lot worse than before.

There are two ways of accessing the ‘System Recovery Options’: from the Windows 7 installation DVD or directly from your hard-disk. I will start with the first scenario. As you will see, finding the ‘System Recovery Options’ is easy in both cases.

Access System Recovery Options From The Installation DVD

The first step is to insert the Windows 7 installation DVD into your drive and boot from it. Select the language you prefer and click on Next.

System Recovery Options

NOTE: In order to boot from a DVD, the DVD drive has to be the first device in the ‘Boot Device Order’ section of your BIOS. Depending on your motherboard manufacturer and BIOS model this option can have different names.

In the next window click on the ‘Repair your computer’ link.

System Recovery Options

Then select the operating system that you want to repair. This step is important when you have multiple operating systems installed and only one is damaged. Click on Next to continue.

System Recovery Options

In the new window you will see all the ‘System Recovery Options’.

System Recovery Options

Access System Recovery Options From Your Hard Disk

If you don’t have a Windows 7 installation DVD, don’t worry. You can still access the ‘System Recovery Options’ from a hidden 100MB recovery partition that Windows 7 automatically creates when you first installed the operating system.

At the next computer restart, right after the BIOS info screen, press and hold the F8 key from your keyboard. Shortly you will see a list of ‘Advanced Boot Options. From it, select the first option named ‘Repair Your Computer’ and press the Enter key.

System Recovery Options

After a few seconds a ‘System Security Options’ window will show up. Select the keyboard input method that you prefer and click on Next.

System Recovery Options

In the next window, select a user name to log on to Windows 7. Also, if you have a password for that user name type it in the Password text field. When done, click on OK.

System Recovery Options

In the new window you will see all the available ‘System Recovery Options that you can use to repair Windows 7.

System Recovery Options

Conclusion

In this article I covered the basic information about the available ‘System Recovery Options’ in Windows 7, as well as when to use each of them. In future articles I will talk about each of these tools, one by one. So, stay tuned for future articles.

Until then, don’t hesitate to share with us your questions & scenarios when these tools proved to be useful to you.

Bookmark and Share
Dec 20

Optimize your computer for peak performance

How-to Articles No Comments »

atHomeWorkToolbar

Optimize your computer for peak performance

Optimize your computer for peak performance
The following tips can help improve your computer’s performance. These examples use Microsoft Windows XP. Some of the screens may differ from version to version, but overall you’ll find these tips work for all versions of Windows, including Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

By the way, in no way can you blow up your computer or files with any of these procedures. These tasks use utilities provided within the Windows operating systems to aid you in achieving the best system performance. This article does not address tinkering with the registry files.

Clean up disk errors

Run once a week

Whenever a program crashes, or you experience some power outage, your computer may create errors on your computer’s hard disk. Over time, the errors can slow your computer. Luckily, the Windows operating system includes a Disk Check program to check and clean any errors on your computer and keep it running smoothly.

To run Disk Check:

  1. In your Start menu, click My Computer.
  2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click on the drive you wish to check for errors (for most of us this will be the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your computer), and click Properties.
  3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab. In the Error-Checking section, press the Check Now… button. A Check Disk dialog box displays, as shown below.

    Image of the Check Local Disk (C:) dialog box
    Access Check Disk to check for errors on your computer.
  4. In the Check Disk dialog box, check all the check boxes. Click Start.
  5. You will see a message box that says you can schedule the disk check to start the next time you restart your computer. Click Yes. The next time you restart your computer, it will automatically run through a disk check before displaying your login screen. After the disk check finishes, Windows will automatically bring you to your login screen.

    Note: Check Disk can take more than an hour to check and clean errors on your computer.

Remove temporary files

Run once a week

Your computer can pick up and store temporary files when you’re looking at Web pages and even when you’re working on files in programs, such as Microsoft Word. Over time, these files will slow your computer’s performance. You can use the Windows Disk Cleanup screen to rid your computer of these deadbeat files.

To run Disk Cleanup:

  1. In your Start menu, click My Computer.
  2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click on the drive you wish to check for errors (for most of us this will be the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your computer), and click Properties.
  3. In the Properties dialog box, click Disk Cleanup.

    Image of the Local Disk (C:) Properties dialog box
    Use Disk Cleanup to help clear unused files from your computer.
  4. Disk Cleanup will calculate how much space you can free up on your hard drive. After its scan, the Disk Cleanup dialog box reports a list of files you can remove from your computer, as pictured below. This scan can take a while depending on how many files you have lying around on your computer.

    Image of the Disk Cleanup for (C:) dialog box
    View results from the Disk Cleanup dialog box.
  5. After the scan is complete, in the Disk Cleanup dialog box, click View Files to see what Disk Cleanup will throw out once you give it the go ahead. You can check and uncheck boxes to define what you wish to keep or discard. When you’re ready, click OK.
  6. You can also select the More Options tab within the Disk Cleanup screen to look for software programs you don’t use much anymore. You then have the choice to remove these unused programs.

Rearrange your data

Run once a month

Don’t be shocked, but your computer can get sloppy. Your computer often breaks files side by side to increase the speed of access and retrieval. However, as files are updated, your computer saves these updates on the largest space available on the hard drive, often found far away from the other adjacent sectors of the file.

The result: a fragmented file. Fragmented files cause slower performance. This is because your computer must now search for all of the file’s parts. In other words, your computer knows where all the pieces are, but putting them back together, and in the correct order when you need them, can slow your computer down.

Windows includes a Disk Defragmenter program to piece all your files back together again (if only Humpty-Dumpty had been so lucky) and make them quicker to open.

To run the Disk Defragmenter:

  1. In your Start menu, click My Computer.
  2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click on the drive you wish to check for errors (for most of us this will be the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your computer), and click Properties.
  3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab, and then in the Defragmentation section, click Defragment Now….
  4. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, select the Volume (most likely your Local Disk C:) at the top of the screen, and then click Analyze.
  5. After analyzing your computer, the Disk Defragmenter displays a message stating whether you should defragment your computer. Press Defragment to clean up your computer if necessary. The Disk Defragmenter will reorganize files by placing together and organizing them by program and size, as shown in Figure 5.

    Image of the Disk Defragmenter dialog box
    Files being reorganizing with the Disk Defragmenter.

Make Internet Explorer run faster

The Web is a sparkling achievement of modern society. It’s everywhere—from the home to the classroom. We use it to communicate, to work, to play—even to waste time when there’s nothing else to do.

Yet there’s nothing more frustrating than having this technical marvel at our fingertips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, only to watch our computers access the Internet at a crawling pace. Thankfully, Microsoft Internet Explorer provides some useful options for quicker Web surfing. Let’s look at these options now.

Reduce the size of your Web page history

Internet Explorer stores visited Web pages to your computer, organizing them within a page history by day. While it’s useful to keep a couple days of Web history within your computer, there’s no need to store more than a week’s worth. Any more than that and you’re collecting Web pages that will slow down your computer’s performance.

To reduce your Web page history:

  1. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
  2. In the Internet Options dialog box, in the History section, find the Days to keep pages in history: box. Type “1″ in this box, as pictured in the image below. Click OK.

    Image of the Internet Options dialog box
    Reduce the number of days to keep pages in history.

Don’t save encrypted Web pages

Encrypted Web pages ask for usernames and passwords. These pages scramble information to prevent the reading of this sensitive information. You can define Internet Explorer to not save these types of pages. You’ll free up space by saving fewer files to your computer, as well as keeping secure information off your computer.

To not save encrypted Web pages:

  1. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
  2. In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
  3. In the Settings section, scroll down to the Security section. Check the “Do not save encrypted pages to disk” option, as shown in the figure below. Click OK.

    Image of the Advanced tab of the Internet Options dialog box
    Set up Internet Explorer so that you do not save encrypted Web pages.

Automate Microsoft Update

Configure once

Microsoft works constantly to release updates to Windows and other Microsoft products, including Office. At Microsoft Update, you can find and install all these updates—not just the critical ones. Often, these updates will improve your computer’s performance.

You can make life easier by automating Microsoft Update so your computer downloads and installs all the updates without you having to worry about them.

To automate Microsoft Update:

  1. In your Start menu, click Control Panel.
  2. In the Automatic Updates dialog box, check the Automatic (Recommended) check box. You can define the time of day when your computer checks for updates. If the computer finds any updates, it will download and install them automatically for you.
  3. Click OK.

    Image of the Automatic Updates dialog box
    Automate Microsoft Update to keep your computer up to date.

Install antivirus and antispyware programs

Computer viruses and spyware (hidden software that gathers information about you without your knowledge or consent when you’re using a computer) both reduce system performance. Computer viruses can not only reduce performance, but they can also destroy data. Any computer that accesses the Internet should have antivirus and antispyware programs installed.

Smooth running

Follow these steps and you’ll have your computer purring like a vintage Porsche (or whatever your dream car of choice is). And the best part? Maintaining your computer is a lot less messy than an automobile. You don’t even have to roll up your sleeves.

troubleshooting 101Top of page

Author Bio: Chris Tull

Chris Tull
Chris Tull is a freelance writer and designer based out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He is the author of Web Designer’s Guide to Adobe Photoshop (Wordware, 2006).




Bookmark and Share
Nov 09

What to Do When Your Computer Breaks Down

How-to Articles, Technology News No Comments »

When your computer breaks down it can be frustrating as well as overwhelming. Once you get past the initial panic it is time to get down to business and find out what needs to be done. First off if you don’t know, even remotely, what the problem is then keep your paws off of it. Trying to fix your computer yourself is often difficult and many times it leads to more damage and more out-of-pocket costs when you finally do call a computer repair person.

It is not always easy to find someone that is willing to do computer repairs. You should decide how much you’re willing to spend from the beginning. If your computer is your lifeline then of course you’re going to be willing to spend a lot more money on it than a used computer you got for free that you only play games on occasionally. Begin by searching on Craigslist or on Google by typing in ‘computer repair’ and your zip code. You can also try posting an ad on Craigslist.

You generally want to find someone who lives within ten miles from your home. This makes it easy for you to drop equipment off at their office. When a computer repairman calls you or you call them be sure to interview the candidate over the phone. Prepare a list of questions ahead of time, including a possible estimate if you know what the problem is. Ask for references who have been customers in the past sixty days.

If the questions have been answered to your liking then you should discuss your decision with your significant other and make sure you are both in agreement to pay this person to repair your computer. Make the appointment and take the computer into the shop to be repaired. You should then confirm the price for labor and parts from the computer repair person and review the work that you are having completed. Upon completing the PC Repair, be sure that the computer is in the same condition you left it (of course, it will be fixed hopefully). If it is be sure to pay the PC Repair person, get their business card and refer them to others in the future.

Bookmark and Share
Oct 11

Copy Windows Media Center TV Recordings to Your iPod

How-to Articles No Comments »

The other day I told you how to add a TV tuner to your PC so you can record shows, TiVo-style. That’s easy enough, but what about copying those recordings to your iPod or iPhone?

After all, they’re free, unlike the ones you buy from iTunes for, on average, $1.99 a pop.

Sadly, Windows Media Center records in Microsoft’s proprietary DVR-MS format, which is incompatible with iPods, iPhones, and, for that matter, iTunes.

Enter iPodifier, a free utility that converts DVR-MS files to iPod-appropriate MPEG-4 or H264.

Just install the program, point it to Media Center’s Recorded TV folder (which is usually in the Public folder), and configure any options you want.

For example, iPodifier can convert all new shows or just those you choose, and it can automatically add transcoded shows to iTunes for on-demand syncing.

It’s an awesome little utility, but there’s one bit of bad news: It doesn’t support the new WTV format used by Windows 7. Thus, it’s only for users of Windows Vista and Windows XP Media Center Edition. Here’s hoping the developer updates it to work with WTV files!

Bookmark and Share
Tagged with:
Oct 05

Send Free Text Messages With Your iPhone

How-to Articles No Comments »

Steve Jobs touted the iPhone 2.0’s $200 price tag until he was blue in the face. But anyone paying any attention at all quickly noticed that AT&T is making up the difference by upping the price of SMS messages. Under the iPhone’s new data plans, you pay $5 per month for 200 messages (which is what was included with the original plan), $15 per month for 1500 messages, or $20 per month for unlimited messages. Given that data is much easier on the network than voice, SMS has to be one of the bigger scams the telcos are currently running — and not just for the iPhone.

It may not be rocket science, but Jeff Carlson over at Tidbits has a tip to help you avoid exorbitant fees: use AOL’s free instant message client for iPhone and iPod Touch. For those not using an iPhone or an iPod Touch, IMing instead of texting is old news. But now iPhone users can get in on the money-saving fun.

In fact, you can use just about any AIM client — iChat, Adium, Fire or whatever you’d like — to send a text message to any mobile device capable of sending and receiving text messages.

For those new to setting up AIM-to-phone connections, follow these instructions.

This article is a wiki. Got extra advice? Log in and add it.

Contents

[hide]

  • 1 Step 1: Get a chat client for your iPhone
  • 2 Step 2: Add your friend’s phone to your buddy list
  • 3 Step 3: Log in and send a message
  • 4 Step 4: Handling the replies
  • 5 Tips & Tricks
  • 6 Conclusion

Step 1: Get a chat client for your iPhone

(Note: You can obviously skip this step if you just want to send text messages from your desktop.)

If you’re using an iPhone, go to the Apple App Store and download the free AIM client for the iPhone. Either enter the App Store using your iPhone, or, if you’re on your desktop, use this direct link to the AIM client in the iTunes App Store.

Step 2: Add your friend’s phone to your buddy list

From your desktop AIM client (iChat, Adium, Pidgin or whatever you’re using) add a new contact. Instead of entering your friend’s AOL chat handle, enter their phone number using this format:

+14152765000
or
+1[area code][7-digit phone number]

with no breaks or hyphens. Put in the contact’s name as something that identifies it as “Jeff’s Phone” or “Scott’s SMS” — anything that helps you differentiate it from your friend’s regular IM account.

Image:Sms iphone addcontact.jpg

Step 3: Log in and send a message

Your friend’s mobile contact info should now appear in your buddy list. It will show up in all of your clients, too — your iPhone, your work computer, your home computer. Your AIM buddy list is stored on AOL’s servers, so you have access to the same list of buddies no matter what device you’re using or where you’re logging in from.

Tap on the buddy’s name, type a message, and click send.

Step 4: Handling the replies

When you send a message this way, the AIM servers will translate it into an SMS and send it to the recipient’s phone number. If your buddy is using an iPhone, they will receive your message as an SMS (and they’ll pay for it). They’ll have to sign up for an AIM account and download AOL’s free chat app if they want to receive messages from you for free.

When you send your first message, you may get an instant auto-reply saying “Your IM has been sent to my mobile device…” or something along those lines. The text of this notice may vary slightly depending on the mobile carrier your friend uses.

Likewise, your friend may receive an SMS alerting them to the fact that an AIM user has sent them a text message, followed by instructions on how to disable AIM-to-phone text messages.

If your friend has already disabled AIM-to-phone text messages (or has disabled text messages altogether) your SMS won’t go through.

Tips & Tricks

  • Remember to keep it short, as SMS is limited to 140 characters.
  • Also, AOL adds some additional information to your text message, like your AOL username and the note “You can reply to this message.” This further limits the length of your messages, putting your new limit at about 120 characters.
  • If your note exceeds the character limit, it will arrive as two separate text messages. This means your friend will get dinged for an additional SMS.
  • A six-digit “short code” will show up at the top of the first message you send. Your buddy should be able to keep the conversation going by sending additional messages to that short code.

Conclusion

Maybe a bit more work than you’d like, and there are some drawbacks. But if you’re a heavy text messager, it could save you quite a bit of money. In fact, it could save you as much as $480 over two years — which is probably more than enough to cover the cost of an iPhone 3.0.

Bookmark and Share
Tagged with:
Oct 05

Rip a DVD to Your iPhone or iPod Touch

How-to Articles No Comments »

One of the best, but overlooked, features of the iPhone or iPod Touch is its widescreen video capability.

Sure, it won’t beat your 50-inch widescreen HDTV with 5.1 surround sound. Still, the screen is bright and big enough to enjoy a movie pretty much anywhere — even outside. With some good headphones, even the sound is clear and crisp, as you would expect from Apple’s iPod line.

All things considered, your iPod or iPhone is more or less a shrunken HDTV you can take on the road with you. It might even be enough to keep the tykes busy on a long road trip or plane flight. That pretty much justifies the cost, right?

Well, there’s a catch. Currently, Apple only provides you with one way to put movies on the device: The iTunes Store.

Using only iTunes means you’re stuck paying for movies you may already own. Luckily, Apple doesn’t prevent you from putting properly formatted movies on the device, and we know a way to format them. Grab some popcorn and let’s get started.

What You’ll Need

  • A DVD Drive
  • A DVD that you own or DVD file folder on your computer
  • DVD to iPhone or iPod Converter software like Handbrake (free).
  • Alternatively, the web page DVD Ripper Reviews offers several suggestions for ripping DVDs to your iPhone or iPod.

We’re going to show you how to rip your DVD’s using Handbrake. It’s free, it’s open source, it’s really easy.

Jack Your Ripper

The first obvious step is to insert your DVD into the drive and start up Handbrake. The first thing HandBrake asks for is the DVD file. Click on the DVD and press Open.

Next screen you’re going to see is the Handbrake interface and a slowly moving blue status bar at the top. You’re going to have to wait a few minutes for the software to scan the titles and gather inventory of what is playable on the DVD.

Choose Your Destination

Next step is to choose where you want to save the reformatted iPhone file after it is done compressing the DVD. You can save the movie anywhere, but for iTunes to recognize it as an iPhone or iPod video, you’ll want to save it in its movie directory.

Click Browse and find your iTunes media folder. In most instances, it is in your iTunes folder (Windows) or in your Home > Music directory (Mac). Once you’ve found the iTunes folder, navigate to iTunes Music > Movies and click Save.

Choose Your Format

Check out the sidebar. See all the different available formatting templates?

You’ll notice there are a lot of ripping options in Handbrake other than just iPhone or iPod touch. Yep, Handbrake allows you to rip your DVD to pretty much any available format.

We want it on our iPod and iPhone, though, so select iPhone / iPod Touch from the menu.

Choosing the format does a number of things. It inserts iPod Atom-formatted information which tells iTunes and your iPhone and iPod player what its playing. It formats the file using the AVC/H.264 Video Codec and AAC for audio. No need to bother with the specifics here — these are the standards for iPod/iPhone. It also sets the Average bitrate to 960kbps. It should be fine for the small screen.

Notably, it sets the movie size to 480 x 272, the iPhone screen size, keeps its aspect ratio on, and turns Anamorphic. These settings are fine, and we get a chance to improve quality in a little bit.

Read Your Movie with Subtitles

It depends on where you’re watching, but the loud noises around you while watching on the go can drown the sound of your puny speakers. For example, ever try watching your documentary in crowded rooms, around screaming babies, on screeching buses or trains, or watch the final scene of a movie just as an obnoxious Harley Davidson drives past?

Closed captioning, or subtitles, will help you follow along with the dialog even in the most rumpus of rumpus rooms. If you want them to appear, you’re going to have to tell Handbrake to insert them, and they will always appear during playback on your handheld. Here’s how:

  1. Click on the Audio & Subtitles tab
  2. Head down to the Subtitles menu and select English

There you have it. Read with impunity and don’t miss a plot point.

Customizing Quality

Depending on the movie length and the amount of space on your iPhone or iPod, you can adjust the quality any number of ways. There are all sorts of codecs, anamorphic picture settings, and other encoding options.

Feel free to explore the infinite details of video encoding. But the easiest way to get good results is to just let Handbrake will set the quality details for you.

Under the Video tab, look over at the radio buttons beside Quality. You can optimize your encoding by size, bitrate or just quality.

If you’re more concerned about fitting as many movies in your iPod or iPhone as possible, select Target Size. You can encode as low as 1 megabyte, but the trade-off is sacrificing your bitrate, making the movie jumpy and more or less unwatchable. 700 megabytes is a good conservative movie size for a feature around 100 or 120 minutes.

On the other hand, if you’re just interested in getting the highest quality movie on the device, select Constant quality and pump it up to 100%.

It’ll look great on your small screen, but you may not be able to notice. The default of 60% should be enough. Of course, your results may vary.

Let Handbrake Do Its Thing

You’re all set at this point to start converting your movie. Make sure your computer is all set in terms of batteries (if it’s a laptop) and hard drive sleep settings. Encoding can take over an hour in some instances, depending on the size of the resulting file and the length of the movie.

You can see the progress while you surf the net by checking on the red bar over the Handbrake icon in the OS X dock.

Once the file is converted and in your iTunes Movie library, sync up your iPhone. Or, if your iTunes is set up to manually manage music and movies on your devices, drag the movie directly over the iPhone or iPod icon in the iTunes sidebar. Wait a few minutes for the copy to transfer.

Voila, your movie is ready! Grab some earphones and press play.

Bookmark and Share
Tagged with:
Oct 04

Why the Slow Boots?

How-to Articles No Comments »

You probably have too many autoloading programs. If a brand-new PC boots slowly, you can bet that the vendor weighted it down with too many bundled programs that load automatically with every boot. If a once-fast PC has developed that problem over time, you’ve probably added too many of these programs, yourself–perhaps without realizing it.

Which doesn’t mean you have to remove the programs; you just have to turn off their autoloaders. I use Photoshop nearly every week, but I see no need for a Photoshop icon in the system tray, or a little piece of Photoshop always in memory.

Before you do anything else, create a system restore point: In XP, select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then System Restore. Select Create a restore point, click Next and follow the wizard. In Vista, click Start, type sysdm.cpl and press ENTER. Click the System Protection tab, then the Create button.

To see all of your autoloaders, select Start, then Run, type msconfig, and press ENTER (you don’t have to click Run in Vista). Click the Startup tab. You can uncheck any of the listed programs to keep them from autoloading.

Which ones should you uncheck? Not your antivirus, firewall, or security suite; you need those running at all times. Other than that, you have to use your own judgment and experiments to determine what you want running at all times and what you want to launch when you need it.

Sometimes an autoloader you’ve unchecked–perhaps days or weeks ago–will reappear on the list later. Why? Because the program that put it there in the first place senses that it’s no longer autoloading and corrects your “mistake.” In these cases, examine that program’s Options or Preferences menu and look for something like “Launch when Windows loads” or “Put in System Tray.” Uncheck that option.

What else can slow down a once-fast boot? An overloaded or corrupted Registry. But Registry cleaning is inherently dangerous, and I don’t recommend it unless things have become unbearable

Bookmark and Share
Tagged with: • •
Oct 04

Fixes for Windows Annoyances: Auto Reboots, Mysterious Errors

How-to Articles No Comments »

Show of hands if this has happened to you: You step away from the computer for a little while, and when you come back, all your windows and work are gone. Why? Because Windows downloaded some updates and took it upon itself to reboot without your permission. This week I’m going beyond my usual Windows advice to tell you how to deal with that Windows quirk and more.

Stop Vista from Rebooting After Automatic Updates

This particular annoyance happened to me not long ago, and I lost some in-progress work as a result. (Note to Microsoft: beyond inexcusable, guys. Beyond inexcusable.)

Actually, I’d instructed the Windows Update pop-up to postpone rebooting for four hours–and just happened to be away from the PC when that timer ran out. Unlucky me.

There’s a ridiculously easy fix for this, and I’m kicking myself for not applying it sooner. If you’ve been plagued by the same problem, here’s what you need to do:

  1. In Vista, click Start, type Windows Update, and then hit Enter.
  2. Click the Change Settings option.
  3. Change the setting to “Download updates but let me choose whether to install them.”
  4. Click OK.

That’s all there is to it. Windows may still nag you about installing updates, but at least it won’t reboot without your permission.

Why Your Laptop Flakes Out at the Coffee Shop

Has this ever happened to you? You fire up your laptop at the local coffee shop (or library, airport, or any other Wi-Fi hotspot), only to get a barrage of error messages from various programs.

Don’t panic! There’s a very simple explanation for this: When you boot your system, some startup programs require immediate Internet access–and when they don’t find it, they produce errors (and often-cryptic ones at that).

This can happen with browser plug-ins as well. Just the other day, I got a weird, previously unseen error from Xmarks (the awesome bookmark-sync tool) when I ran Firefox. It was trying to sync with its servers, but couldn’t find an Internet connection.

Why not? As you’ve probably learned, some free Wi-Fi hotspots (and all paid ones) require you to register and/or agree to their terms of service before they’ll let you online.

In the interim, the aforementioned startup programs and/or browser plug-ins can go a little bonkers. The reason this doesn’t happen at home or the office is that, there, the Internet connection is available instantaneously.

So if you’re on the road and encountering strange errors, relax. Once you get online, everything should go back to normal.

Open Old Microsoft Files in Other Programs

When reader Sarah joined her neighborhood association, she inherited the old neighborhood directory–in Microsoft Publisher format. She wants to update the directory, but doesn’t own a copy of Publisher (and doesn’t particularly want to, either).

My first thought? Zamzar, the Web-based file-conversion service. I’ve used it in the past when I needed to bring old documents into newer programs.

But does it support Publisher, I wondered? I won’t keep you (or Sarah) in suspense: It does!

In fact, Zamzar can convert Publisher’s PUB files to a wide range of formats, including Word (DOC), OpenDocument (ODT), PDF, HTML, Rich Text Format (RTF), and more. (See Zamzar’s Conversion Types page for a complete list.)

The service is ridiculously easy to use: Choose the file you want to convert, choose the desired format for the conversion, and then supply an e-mail address.

After the file is done uploading and Zamzar has completed the conversion, you’ll receive an e-mail with a link for downloading the new file.

That’s all there is to it! Best of all, Zamzar is free. Give it a try the next time you have an old file you’re having trouble opening.

Bookmark and Share
Tagged with: •
Oct 04

Three Essential Freeware Disk Tools

How-to Articles, Software No Comments »

Managing disks and files is one of the most common everyday tasks that IT professionals deal with. Sometimes it seems that Microsoft falls a little bit short when providing tools for managing these tasks. Fortunately there are a number of 3rd party alternatives that come to the rescue. Here are three freeware utilities that I can’t live without.

SequoiaView

Sequoia View. This is one my favorite tools. For those of us who manage file servers, keeping track of where all the disk space goes can certainly be challenging, and Windows provides no easy method. Using SequoiaView, IT admins can quickly track down disk space hogs and identify the types of files clogging up your business’s servers. SequoiaView uses a visualization technique known as “cushion treemaps” to create an image of your hard disks contents. File types are color coded, and a mouse over quickly provides the name and path of the file in question. What used to take lots of time drilling down through various directories can now be accomplished in a single glance.

Unlocker. It can be frustrating when you try to delete or move a file and you are unable to because of a lock on the file. Often the culprit is a system process or anti-virus software. Unlocker is a simple tool which alleviates this issue for you. Right-clicking a file or folder will reveal an icon to launch Unlocker. If the file or folder is locked, you’ll be given the option to unlock it, or kill the offending process. You can then delete or move the file. No need to reboot your computer

Defraggler

DeFraggler is a simple, light-weight defragmentation app which improves upon the functionality of the utility built into Windows is a number of ways. For one, it allows you to defragment individual files. If your performance is flagging, and you want to quickly defragment specific essential files, Defraggler will do that for you. Defraggler also brings graphics back to defragging. I don’t know why Windows no longer offers a visual representation of the fragmentation status of your disk, but its back with Defraggler. Also, if you select a file in the file list, Defraggler will highlight for you where on your drive it is located. This handy little 800k utility also offers niceties such as quick defragmentation, file-type, exclusions, and scheduling. Lastly, if you want to move larger files to the end of your disk, so that smaller files will be accessed more quickly, DeFraggler is there for you.

Bookmark and Share
Tagged with: •
Previous Entries
preload preload preload