A Virtual Exit » Windows Tweaks http://www.avirtualexit.com Social Networks,Tech Tips Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:07:42 +0000 en hourly 1 How to add a background to the My Pictures section on MySpace? http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/28/how-to-add-a-background-to-the-my-pictures-section-on-myspace/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/28/how-to-add-a-background-to-the-my-pictures-section-on-myspace/#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2007 09:51:08 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/28/how-to-add-a-background-to-the-my-pictures-section-on-myspace/ Adding a background to your Pictures Album.

========== A few readers have contacted me and mentioned that they can no longer change the background of your My Photos page on MySpace 1.0. That’s correct. MySpace doesn’t allow you to change your pictures page background any more. For more CSS code for your MySpace page, please visit our MySpace codes page ==========

Question:

How can I add a background to “View my Pictures?”

Answer:

Changing the background of your MySpace profile is very common and is done to nearly everyone’s profile. However, this code below will change ONLY the background of the View my Pictures page. Follow the simple instructions to do this:

  1. Login to Myspace.com.
  2. Click Edit Profile.
  3. Copy and Paste the following codes into the picture’s caption.

Add background color

<body style=”background-color:COLOR HERE;”>

Add a background image

<body background=”URL TO IMAGE “>

It is advisable to use tinypic.com to get a shortened link for the image.

Notes: COLOR HERE – is the html color code that you can grab from our HTML colors code chart.. URL TO IMAGE is your image url that you can grab from your preferred image hosting service (Photobucket, FlickR, ImageShack to name a few) in which you are hosting your background picture.

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/28/how-to-add-a-background-to-the-my-pictures-section-on-myspace/feed/ 10 Special Project: 5 file recovery tools- a stress test http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/23/special-project-5-file-recovery-tools-a-stress-test/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/23/special-project-5-file-recovery-tools-a-stress-test/#comments Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:40:14 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/23/special-project-5-file-recovery-tools-a-stress-test/ Most of us know how embarrassing and awkward is to accidentally delete a file that we need from our Windows PC. The good news are that most of those files that we unintentionally wipe off can be easily recovered by using the right utility. The even better news are that some of those deleted file restore utilities are free for personal use and can be easily downloaded from the web and installed in your PC.

You might asked yourself a valid question. If the files were deleted, how come they can be easily recovered? Well, i don’t want to get too technical, but i will try to explain the gist of it: after you delete a file, the disk area that was previously occupied by that file is flagged as free and ready to accept new data (new files). Therefore, if new data wasn’t saved to that disk area, you will be able to recover the deleted file.

Today, i decided to point you to 5 tools that you can use in order to recover files you delete by mistake. Most of those tools allow you to recover files that were deleted either from the Recycle Bin, from a network drive or were permanently “deleted” by holding the Shift key pressed while deleting the file. In order to test the file recovery tools, I decided to purposely delete two files :

  • a 800 MB avi file 
  •  a 75 KB Word document.

 After that, i used CCleaner in order to drain my Recycle bin (I could have done it also manually of course).

Here are the results of the test i executed:

JFile Recovery: A Java based tool, JFile Recovery failed in recovering the 800 MB AVI file. The fact it requires a Java component in order to run, introduces some complexity into the installation process, but overall, Jfile is fast and reliable.

Recuva: I was a bit disappointed from Recuva, as it didn’t manage to recover the 800 MB avi file. That’s a bit strange, as you would expect Recuva to be able to easily recovery files delete with it’s twin utility – CCleaner.That said, I fully recommend to use Recuva for recovering smaller files because it’s fast and intuitive to use. A great tool for beginners.

PC Inspector: Failed to recovered the 800 MB file. Scan of my 80 GB disk took around 1.5 hours to finish. Disappointing results for a freeware with an overall good reputation. 

Free Undelete: Failed to recover the 800MB file. Free Undelete is a pretty basic utility that doesn’t run on Vista.

Undelete Plus: As expected, Undelete Plus recovered both files quite easily. Not surprised at all as this is in my opinion the free file recovery utility in the market. Undelete Plus features an intuitive interface and support for Windows Vista , XP and older operating systems.

Wrapping up

Based on the stress test i did to the five aforementioned applications, it looks like Undelete Plus and Recuva seem the most effective and straightforward free file recovery applications. Can you recommend on other file recovery applications? Your comments are welcome.

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/09/23/special-project-5-file-recovery-tools-a-stress-test/feed/ 1 How to mount an ISO file in Windows Vista ? http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/22/how-to-mount-an-iso-file-in-windows-vista/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/22/how-to-mount-an-iso-file-in-windows-vista/#comments Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:12:53 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/22/how-to-mount-an-iso-file-in-windows-vista/ .ISO files are a popular format used to store data on CD/DVD ROMs. Many user vendors including Microsoft rely on this format in order to deliver many of their applications.

 In order to access an ISO file you need to “mount” it as a physical drive on your operating system. This is done using a CD/DVD ROM emulator utility.

While on Windows XP, i used Daemon Tools (DT) as my preferred CD/DVD ROM  emulator utility.DT is easy to use, and more flexible than the (too simpl,e)  Microsoft Virtual CD-ROM panel (an emulator delivered by Microsoft)

Nowadays my PC runs Vista, and guess what? After a few unsuccessful installation attempts i figured out that Daemon Tools 4.08 and 4.09 doesn’t run on Vista…

The solution I found for mounting ISO files (as well as DVD, IMG and  BIN) files is Virtual Clone Drive. Although its makers doesn’t list Vista among its supported operating systems, I managed to make Virtual Clone Drive work on my Vista Ultimate system. Installation was straightforward. Be aware to the fact that you need to login as an administrator in order to make installation success, and don’t forget to restart your PC when installation ends.

Enjoy!

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/22/how-to-mount-an-iso-file-in-windows-vista/feed/ 3 Drivers for Vista http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/09/drivers-for-vista/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/09/drivers-for-vista/#comments Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:41:37 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/09/drivers-for-vista/ If your PC or laptop runs Windows Vista, you might be aware to the fact that Vista doesn’t provide out-of-the-box support for several popular network controllers ,wireless adapters, printers etc’. Moreover, the quest for Vista compatible drivers often turns into a challenging task. That’s why i would like to point you out to the Vista drivers master list that was compiled by Edd Bott.
Although it’s still a work in process, this helpful list saves you time by pointing you to the main hardware manufacturers’ driver download pages from which you can easily retrieve your required driver.

Link: The Windows Vista Master Driver List

Enjoy!

[tags] Vista drivers, Windows drivers [/tags]

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/09/drivers-for-vista/feed/ 4 The XP Codec pack – a straightforward solution for all your Codec needs. http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/08/the-xp-codec-pack-a-straightforward-solution-for-all-your-codec-needs/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/08/the-xp-codec-pack-a-straightforward-solution-for-all-your-codec-needs/#comments Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:58:52 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/08/the-xp-codec-pack-a-straightforward-solution-for-all-your-codec-needs/ Two days ago, i introduced you to CodecInstaller, a nifty utility that helps you to identify missing Codec packages and easily install them.
If you run an XP system, and are looking for a more straightforward solution for installing Codec packages on your Windows PC, you might want to look into the XP Codec Pack. This simple utility automatically installs the most popular Codec packages (AVI, MPEG-4 etc’) that will allow to watch you favorite movies and listen to your music .
If after installing the XP Code Pack, you still encounter missing Codec issues, you might want to use the more advanced (yet still relatively easy to use) CodecInstaller for troubleshooting.

[tags] Codec, AVI, MPEG, MP4 [/tags]

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/08/the-xp-codec-pack-a-straightforward-solution-for-all-your-codec-needs/feed/ 1 Manage your PC installed Codecs with CodecInstaller http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/06/manage-your-pc-installed-codecs-with-codecinstaller/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/06/manage-your-pc-installed-codecs-with-codecinstaller/#comments Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:52:20 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/06/manage-your-pc-installed-codecs-with-codecinstaller/ Did you encounter a situation in which you tried run a movie in your PC and seem not be able to hear the sound or display the video? If so, you probably didn’t have the required codec package installed on your PC. If you find yourself nodding while reading this, there is a nifty utility i would like to introduce you to.

Codec Installer is a simple freeware utility that helps you to manage your PC installed codecs (AVI, MPEG, XVID, DIVX, K Lite, MP4 and so forth) and helps to identify what are the codecs required to play an audio or video file, making easy for you to locate and download them. Instructions on how to operate CodecInstaller and an overview to The its feature set can be found here.

AVI codec, MPEG Codec, K Lite Codec, XVID codec


CodeC Installer is easy to install, and runs on Windows Vista, XP and 2000.Note that it requires the .NET 2.0 framework to run (Installed by default with the Vista Operating systems). If you are running other operating systems, you might use the Add/Remove Programs menu to verify that the .NET framework 2.0 is installed.

Enjoy!

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/06/manage-your-pc-installed-codecs-with-codecinstaller/feed/ 5 How to uninstall Windows Messenger ? http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/04/how-to-uninstall-windows-messenger/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/04/how-to-uninstall-windows-messenger/#comments Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:43:24 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/04/how-to-uninstall-windows-messenger/ If you run a Windows XP operating system, you might be aware to the fact that Windows Messenger 5.0 is installed by default with the operating system. This utility was quite useful 4-5 years ago, but since the launch of MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger it became outdated.

Interestingly, Microsoft doesn’t allow you to upgrade your messenger, but only to install the new version additionally to the existing one. Therefore, once upgrading to MSN Messenger or Live Messenger you might want to get rid of Windows Messenger. Here, Microsoft strikes again: You can’t remove Windows Messenger from the Add/Remove Programs ( you cannot remove it via CCleaner or other known tweaking utility).

Luckily, you read A Virtual Exit :) , so you’ll be happy there’s a quick Windows tip for getting rid of Messenger 5.0 :

1. Close Messenger, Outlook and Outlook Express.
2. Click Start then Run.
3. Copy the following command and paste it into your Run line:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\inf\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

4. Hit Enter.
5. That’s it, Windows Messenger 5.0 is gone!

I have seen some websites that indicated a degradation in Outlook Express startup performance following the deletion of Windows Messenger, but i tested this trick on 3 different machines and see no degradation.

Enjoy!

[tags] Messenger, Microsoft, Windows Tips [/tags]

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/04/how-to-uninstall-windows-messenger/feed/ 6 How to convert a PDF file to Microsoft Word ? http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/03/how-to-convert-a-pdf-file-to-microsoft-word/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/03/how-to-convert-a-pdf-file-to-microsoft-word/#comments Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:39:56 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/03/how-to-convert-a-pdf-file-to-microsoft-word/ A few days ago, a colleague over at work asked me if i can convert a PDF file to Microsoft Word for free. As i am all for helping out colleagues and enjoy technical challenges, i gladly accepted.
After a short research i came up with an easy to use utility named pdf2word (made by VeryPDF).
The utility is not free, but they offer a nice trial edition you can use 100 times to convert up to 5 pages to MS Word. The paid version offers a trillion of features ( that you can spot over their website).

This is a good time to remind you, my readers, that if you have a techie question or PC related issue you need some guidance with, you are more than welcome to post it in my Expert corner page. I would gladly help (or at least try to :) ).

Enjoy!

]]> http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/08/03/how-to-convert-a-pdf-file-to-microsoft-word/feed/ 7 Secure your PC by clearing your Page file on shutdown http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/07/12/secure-your-pc-by-clearing-your-page-file-on-shutdown/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/07/12/secure-your-pc-by-clearing-your-page-file-on-shutdown/#comments Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:28:28 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/07/12/secure-your-pc-by-clearing-your-page-file-on-shutdown/ Here’s a nifty tweak that can help you to secure your PC and protect your privacy by clearing your Windows Page file on shutdown.

The risk we face as PC users, is that non-Microsoft applications will write data (and even passwords) into the Page file in a non-encrypted format. In case that our PC is stolen, lost, or accessed by hackers, spyware or other intruders, that information stored in the page file is easily available for them to exploit.

The solution is relatively straightforward and consists of a simple modification that needs to be done to your PC registry.

Remember! If you use the registry editor incorrectly, you might cause serious problems that might require you to reinstall your operating system. Use the registry editor at your own risk.

Here’s how you implement the tweak (tested in Vista and Windows XP ):

  • Backup the registry file. Use instructions provided in section 2 here.
  • Click Start , In the Start Search type Regedit to open your Registry Editor.
  • Browse to My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management.
  • Right Click the ClearPageFileAtShutdown subkey and click Modify.
  • Set the value to 1

  • Exit the Registry editor
  • Restart your PC

    •   [tags] Windows Vista, Vista, Windows tips, Windows Tricks, Windows XP, Registry [/tags]

    ]]>     http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/07/12/secure-your-pc-by-clearing-your-page-file-on-shutdown/feed/ 8     Optimize your Windows Vista with Stardock’s TweakVista http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/06/23/optimize-your-windows-vista-with-stardocks-tweakvista/ http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/06/23/optimize-your-windows-vista-with-stardocks-tweakvista/#comments Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:32:47 +0000 Gili http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/06/23/optimize-your-windows-vista-with-stardocks-tweakvista/ If you use Vista, you are probably aware of the fact that tweaking it is not always a breeze. Although many features can be configured from the Control Panel or via the toolbar, there is still a bunch of Vista optimization tweaks that can be implemented only through the registry.

    Here’s exactly where the new TweakVista utility can help.

    Among its features you can find the following:

    Security Handling:
        •  Adjust User Account Control and logon settings easily and safely
    Memory Optimization:
        •  Manage start-up services with preset and customized profiles
        •  Switch between profiles to reduce memory usage and maximize performance
    Start-Up Management:
        •  Display and control programs loading on start-up
        •  Identify in plain English what programs do and how to disable them
    Performance Assessments:
        •  Use Windows Vista to benchmark your PC
        •  Submit your results online and compare them with other people

    The utility is currently still in its Beta phase, but after giving it a thorough check i was impressed by its functionality. The feature i like the most is the Windows services profiles, that allows you to automatically bulk enable and disable services according to your computer role (gaming station, media center, server etc’). I strongly recommend to give this feature a try as from experience, it will speed up your Vista operating system performance.

    The utility will run for free until the end of October, so if you looking for an easy to use Vista tweaking utility, give TweakVista a shot.

    Via: Download Squad

    ]]>     http://www.avirtualexit.com/2007/06/23/optimize-your-windows-vista-with-stardocks-tweakvista/feed/ 5