Download - Windows Vista Screensavers for Windows XP

Microsoft Windows Vista has got some really nice and lovely in-built screensavers like Aurora, Bubbles, Mystify and Ribbons.

Joejoe has ported all those lovely vista screensavers for Windows XP. It is a freeware and doesn’t contain any kind of malware. So, you can install it without any concern of spyware, adware or viruses.

Download: Vista Screensaver Build 5308 Ported to XP

You need to unzip it using rar software. It contains 4 folders – Aurora, Bubbles, Mystify and Ribbons. All the four types of screensavers are in different folders. So, select the one you like and install it in your computer. Detailed installation instruction is included in text file in the same folder.

Quick Installation Tips:
Right click on the screensaver and click on Install OR Copy the extracted file to c:\windows folder.

Enjoy!

Screenshot of Aurora:

Screenshot of Bubble:

Screenshot of Mystify:

Screenshot of Ribbons:

Blogger photos are now part of Picasa Web Albums

As posted in blogger buzz, all the uploaded photos in blogger posts since December have been migrated to Picasa web album. Each of your blogs will have its own album in Picasa Web Albums.


Pros:

• Now, you will have a photo management interface for your blog’s photos.

• You can order Prints, send photos using email and can easily embed the album anywhere on the web.

• The storage space for free accounts has been increased from 250MB to 1GB.
  

Cons:

• You have to be very careful with deleting photos on picasa web album. It will affect your blog.
• This merger will also limit the ability to upload unlimited photos onto blogger.
  

Download – Windows Vista Wallpapers

With the release of Windows Vista, you might have seen the Windows Vista Wallpapers. They are really lovely. In search of Wallpapers for myself, I have come across some of the beautiful collection of Vista Wallpapers. These wallpapers can also be installed on Windows XP as not all of us have got Windows Vista yet for couple of reasons. Some of us may want to wait till the Service Pack 1 release of Windows Vista. But you can still give Windows Vista look to your Windows XP machine.

1. Brajeshwar B. Oinam , first Indian Adobe Community Expert, has posted nice collection of some beautiful Wallpapers for Windows Vista. Either you can download one at a time or can download all of them in .zip file. Visit Brajeshwar's collection of Vista Wallpapers to download and know more about it.


2. There is another huge collection of Wallpapers at NeoSmart– Official Windows Vista Wallpapers and Longhorn Wallpapers. Visit the site

3. You can also download Windows Vista Ultimate Wallpapers at windowultimate.com.

How to transfer data from one computer to another with crossover cable

This method is little bit complicated. But if you follow the steps, you will find it happening. This process involves two steps - first step is to connect two computers and second is to share the folder.

Step 1: Preparation to Network two computers with crossover cable:

• Make sure both of the computers have NIC card (i.e. Network Interface Card) and Network interface is enabled (to enable Network Interface, go to Start-> Control Panel and click on Network Connections then Right Click on Local Area Connection and click on Enable).
• Make sure you have Cross Over Cable with you (It is different from Straight through Cable and can be available at the same computer store where you get Straight Cable).
• Connect both computers with cross over cable (i.e. connect crossover cable to Ethernet Port of each computers).
  

Configuration:

You have to assign permanent (Static) IP address. Here are step-by-step instructions showing you how to set permanent IP address and other network information:

• Go to Start and click on Control Panel.
• Control Panel window will appear. Double click on Network Connections.
• Network Connections window will appear. Right click correct Local Area Connection by identifying correct network card and click Properties.
• Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click on Properties.
• Click on the Network Protocol (TCP/IP) -> Properties and then Click Use the following IP address. After that, enter the values shown below for each of the computer described as computer A and Computer B and then press OK.
  

Computer A:
IP Address: 192.168.100.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.100.2
DNS Servers: Leave it blank

Computer B:
IP Address: 192.168.100.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.100.1
DNS Servers: Leave it blank


Test the connection:

Since your configuration is over so lets test the connectivity between two computers. Click on Start->Cmd and then Type ping 192.168.100.2 from Computer A and check to see if you are getting reply or not. It should be like “Reply from 192.168.100.2: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="64”.


Step 2: Now Share the file in Computer A:

• Right click on the folder you want to share and click on Sharing and Security.
• Select Share this folder and click OK. You will see hand underneath the folder if it is shared correctly.
  

(Note: If you don’t see the Share this folder after you click on Sharing and Security, then you have to run Network Setup Wizard. Go to Start->Control Panel and click on Network Setup Wizard. Run the Wizard and enable the Print and File Sharing.)


Search the Shared Folder on Computer A from Computer B:

• Go to Start -> Search -> Click on Computer or People -> Click on Computer on the Network -> Type 192.168.100.1 in Computer Name search Box.
• It will search the computer and display that in the right pane. Click on that and you will see your shared folder in that.
• Now copy your files and folder from that shared folder to Computer B.
  

Image Source - Crossover cable: Cisco

Links: Do it yourself Ethernet Crossover Cable | Ethernet crossover cable | How To Make a Crossover Cable

How to hide and unhide folder in Windows XP

This is the very simple approach for how to hide a folder and unhide it again. Basically, there are two ways to do that.

By Changing Folder Properties:

• Right click on Folder you want to hide and check the Hidden box under Attributes and click Apply.
• Another window will pop up – asking if you want to “Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files”. Don’t change anything there and click OK.
• It takes some time to change the attributes of the folder depending upon the size of the folder and then press OK. Now that folder is Hidden.
  

How to view hidden folders:

• Click on Start –> Control Panel –> Folder Options.
• Click on the View Tab and check the radio button “show hidden files and folders” and press OK.
• This will enable you to see the hidden file.
  

Note: You can differentiate between normal and hidden folders. You can right click on the hidden folder and uncheck the hidden box and apply the changes to unhide it.


By using DOS Command – attrib:

You can do the same with DOS command also at Command Prompt. Here, We will use the DOS Command “attrib” to accomplish the same task.

• Click on Start –> Run –> cmd
• For example, I have a directory called “Perl” in root directory and I want to hide that directory with the help of attribute command.
• Change the directory one level back to the directory you want to hide.
• Type attrib +h Perl and hit Enter. That’s all, Perl folder is hidden now. You can type dir on the command prompt and you will not see Perl there in root directory.
• Type attrib –h Perl to unhide the folder.
  

Little more about attrib: attrib is a DOS command to change the attribute of folder and files at command prompt. + and – are used to set and clear the attrib respectively.
Avaialable attributes are:

• R – Set the file Read-Only
• A – Set Archive attribute to files.
• S – System file attributes
• H – Hidden file attributes.
  

Note: attrib will show attributes of all the files in the current directory if typed without any switches.

Related Reading: Most useful DOS commands for Windows XP

Indian Brains behind Intel Tera Chip

This is a great achievement for Intel and Indian technology veterans. Vasantha Erraguntla and his 20 member’s team at Intel India Development Center (IIDC) in Bangalore have developed “Tera Research Chip”. This is capable to deliver supercomputer like performance and will consume less electricity.

These engineers have played key roles in the development of this small chip that includes logic, circuit and physical design. The manufacturing and other half of the job has been taken care at Oregon.

Source: Full Story at Techtree.com

Clean your computer with CCleaner

Over time, your computer gets filled with Windows temporary files, internet temporary files, logs, recent documents, old Prefetch data, chkdsk file fragments and so on. That results into slow computer performance. You won’t believe that your computer may have 1GB or more temporary files accumulated in the hard drive if you have not cleaned you computer for some time.

CCleaner is free PC optimization tool that can remove all unwanted temporary files from your computer and make your computer run faster.

Apart from removing temporary files, it also does registry cleanup, add/remove programs. You can also set startup programs which run when computer starts.

Download CCleaner | CCleaner Features

Windows Vista vs. Windows XP – Comparison

Windows Vista is now around and people have started buying computers with pre-loaded Windows Vista. At the same time, there are many users who are still using Windows XP and don’t know how Windows Vista differs from Windows XP.

Derek Torres is a technical communicator and author who has written great comparison – Windows Vista vs. Windows XP. This comparison has lots of comparative information and that can help you decide whether you should go for Windows Vista or not.

If you are a Windows lover and willing to pay for Windows Vista, there are many compelling reasons why you should go for Windows Vista. There are three major areas in which Windows Vista has got improvement over Windows XP.

1. New Features: Many great new features have been added to Windows Vista that includes Windows Aero, Windows Sidebar, Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 and Windows Search.

2. Improved Security: Security is the prime concern these days. So, some improved security features have been added with Windows Vista that includes Parental controls, Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC), two different firewalls: Standard firewall that was available in Windows XP and another Windows firewall with advanced features.

3. Better overall user experience: Overall user experience has been made enjoyable by improving Start menu, folders and Icons.

Download – Blue Screen of Death Screensaver

This is one of the very scary kinds of screensaver. If you have been using Windows operating system, chances are there you must have heard of or seen blue screen of death (BSOD).

This screensaver not only authentically mimics a BSOD of NT system, but also simulates startup screens seen during a system boot very nicely. It simulates the Blue Screen of Death and System startup boot cycles at every 15 seconds and so on.

All the information shown on BSOD and system start screen are obtained from the system itself and that’s why it can fool your friend, advanced users and even NT developers.

Download: Blue screen Screensaver

More Reading: Introduction to Screensaver

Download – 3D Windows XP Screensaver

This is an interesting 3D screensaver for Windows XP. It makes use of the power of DirectX. You should have at least 16MB 3D graphics card installed in your computer to run this screensaver. This should not be a problem because almost all the new computers have that.

Download: Windows XP Screensaver

More Reading: Introduction to Screensaver


Screenshot: 3D Windows XP screensaver

Download - Windows XP Winter Fun Screensavers

This is a very cool screensaver with vivid 3-D effects. This will transform your computer monitor into three dimensional snowflakes falling from the sky.

It has two flavors:

1. Holiday Snowflakes: This will transform your computer monitor into a winter wonderland.

2. Amazing Windows XP Screensaver: This is a kind of advertisement from Microsoft for Windows XP. It shows floating spheres and soothing blue waves showing things you can do with Windows XP.

This download is available to customers running genuine Microsoft Windows only.

Download: Winter Fun Screensavers

See some screenshots before you decide to download and install in your computer.

Screenshot: Holiday Snowflakes

Screenshot: Amazing Windows XP


Further information on how to install screensaver: all-about-screensaver

Download - Valentine Screensaver from Microsoft

There is a Valentine screensaver from Microsoft which you can download and install for free. It is optimized for Windows XP. But you can install it on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 and Service Pack 4 too.

This download is available to customers running genuine Microsoft Windows. You can also enter the message you would like to be displayed by editing the screensaver settings. Apart from changing message, you can also change animation mode and background color. Available animation modes are triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon and random. You can also set the background color to white, black, gray, pastels, pink, salmon, violet, blue, green, orange and red. There are few more tweaks you can do like changing the rotation, heart spin etc.

Download: Valentine Screensaver

Further reading: all about screensaver

All about screen saver

Screensaver is a small program which displays moving pictures or certain kind of pattern on the computer screen when your computer is idle. It was originated to conserve the image quality of the CRT (i.e. old) monitors. Overtime, technical issue was solved. But it is still in use because of its security and entertainment cause.

Security cause: You can password protect your screensaver so that no body can get into your computer while you are away. You can set the Wait time in minute and check the box – On Resume, Password Protect to lock the screen.

Entertainment cause: There are many screensaver available now a day which is more like entertaining. You can even set your screensaver to display your favorite video with the help of Video Screensaver Program.


There are two primary sections of the Screensaver tab.

1. Screen Saver: You can choose your favorite screen saver from the drop down list and also can enable password protection & set up the Wait time in minutes.
2. Monitor Power: This section deals with monitor power settings.
   

How to set up screensaver:

Setting up screensaver is a very easy task. Follow the steps below in sequence and you should be good:

• Right Click on an open area of the Desktop and select Properties
• Click on the Screensaver Tab
• Select the screensaver from the drop down list under Screen Saver.
• Change the Wait time (Optional)
• You can also check the box to enable password protection (Optional)
• Click Apply and then OK to exit.
  

More Reading: Screen Saver set up Guide

How to Schedule a weekly defragmentation in Windows XP

I bought my laptop 6 months back and now it seems to be slow as compare to when I got it 6 months back. This is very common problem with every computer. When you work on your computer, it opens, reads, saves and closes files. But when you save files on the hard drive, the files on the hard drive get divided into small pieces and that is called fragmentation. The more files are fragmented; it takes more time to open.

Disk Defragmenter is a free utility provided by Microsoft to counter the fragmentation problem. Defragmentation is the process of combining all the small scattered pieces of files together.
In order to keep your files defragged and let the system run smoothly, you can consider automating the defragmenter tool to run after every week or 15 days or months.


To start Disk Defragmenter manually:

• Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter
• Select the disk drive you want to defrag
• Click on Analyze (note: it analyses if you should run defragmenter)
• Then Click on the Defragment Tab
  

Note: You can have a cop of coffee by the time your computer is performing defragmentation the selected hard disk.


To Automate the Disk Defragmentation:

This involves the use of Scheduled Tasks utility. You can add the Disk Defragmenter to the Scheduled Task Job and can also select time when to perform it. Get more details - how to Schedule a weekly defragmentation.

Windows Vista System Requirements list

As a matter of fact, most of the newly bought computers should be Vista capable. But it is better to verify it if you computer meets minimum Windows Vista recommended system requirements. Microsoft has also developed a tool called Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor which can scan your computer and determine if your computer meets the recommended system requirements and can run Windows Vista without any problem. At the same time, you may wish to know the minimum and recommended system requirements for Windows Vista installation. The system requirements differ from one edition to another. Here is the list of recommended system requirements for Windows Vista:

1. Minimum System Requirements – for Windows Vista Home Basic/Premium, Business and Ultimate

• CPU - 800 MHz processor
• RAM - 512 MB of system memory
• HDD - 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
• Video Card – Should have support for Super VGA graphics
• CD/DVD drive
  

2. Recommended System Requirements- for Windows Vista Home Basic only

• CPU - 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• RAM - 512 MB of system memory
• HDD - 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
• Video Card – should have support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
• DVD-ROM drive is must
  

3. Recommended System Requirements- for Windows Vista Home Premium, Business and Ultimate

• CPU - 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• RAM - 1 GB of system memory
• HDD - 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
• Video Card – should have support for DirectX 9 graphics with WDDM Driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum), Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware and 32 bits per pixel
• DVD-ROM drive is must
  

Note: For better effect, all of the editions require Audio Output.

How to determine if your Windows-XP based computer can run Windows Vista?

As the release with Windows Vista, you must be thinking of upgrading your Windows-XP based computer to Windows Vista now or sometime after. Before you do so, you must determine if your computer’s hardware can run windows vista.

A downloadable web application called Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor has been developed for that by Microsoft. This small program inspects your computer and creates a detailed report of your computer. It suggests you which edition of Windows Vista will be optimum for your computer. Apart from that the report also shows all known system requirements, device driver issues, program compatibility issues, and recommends ways to resolve them.

This application can run on all 32-bit editions of Windows XP and all 32-bit editions of Windows Vista, except Enterprise edition. It doesn’t work with other editions of Windows.


Requirements to run Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor:

To install and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor on your computer, make sure your computer meet these requirements:

• You should have Administrative Privilege to run the program
• Your computer should have .NET2.0, MSXML6 already installed in your computer.
• You should have 20MB of free hard disk space
• You should also have Internet Connection. As I mentioned above that it is a downloadable web application.
  

Note: In case you don’t have .NET2.0 and MSXML6 already installed, it will provide a link to where they can be downloaded. Download them and install them.

Link: Download and more information about Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor

See few more run-time screen of Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor:

How to find out which edition of Windows Vista do you have?

It is very easy to find out which edition of Windows Vista is running on your personal computer. Just follow the steps below:

• Click on the Start button Picture of the Start button
• Click on the Control Panel
• Click on System and Maintenance
• Click on Welcome Center
  

Look into the right pane of the displayed window of the Welcome Center and you will find the edition of Windows Vista running on your computer near the top of window.

Shortcut: You can also open the Welcome Center by right clicking on the My Computer icon on the Desktop.