Wednesday, June 20, 2007

How to recover MOST of scratched CD data discs

Just a method to show you how you could save files from scratched CD's, don't use this if
those files are some TOP SECRET.

First some tools will be needed:

1. Alcohol 120%
2. UltraISO
3. Windows XP/2000 (not tested on 95/98/me)
3. Small piece of cotton
4. Dry cleaner paper
5. Finally, oil for cooking.

First step - preparing the CD

Get the cotton and drop some water, start cleaning vertically the surface of CD.
Do it 3 times and dry the water with a piece of dry cleaner paper. With a new piece
of cotton, drop some oil for cooking and start to wet the surface like you are
washing the CD with the oil. Dry carefully now. Some particles of oil will stay on the
microsurface of the scrath. It's okay. Seems the oil helps the laser of the CD/DVD driver
to read the surface again. Sure this will work with small unreadable scratchs - some hard
scratchs loose parts of the surface of the CD where we have data and it's lost forever.
But if it is loosed try anyway. Whith this tip 80% of the small scratched CD's coud be
recovered.

Second Step - testing the CD

With Alcohol 120% make an ISO - image making wizard - and lets see if the app can
read the loosed surface. In my case Alcohol 120% had recovered 60% of the data.
This is not enough. Have tryed other appz, they do not recover all the data. But the
CD/DVD driver laser CAN recover all data in this case. the data is still there, what we do?

third step - making the new CD

With the main copy system of windows explorer you can do it. Just create one folder
with the same name of the CD label for future burn reference, and copy the CD content
to the folder. When the CD copy process find the scratch, in majority of the cases, it's
slow down the reading and will recover ALL loosed data.If not, it just tell you there's
an unreadable sector. In this case your CD is lost. But it's not my case, finally
windows explorer got all the data from the scratch and made a copy in the folder.
with the ultraISO, wrote the original CD label, drop the content of the folder and
save as Iso. You can Test the new CD just mounting the iso in the Alcohol 120%. In my
case i did ISO of the two discs from MAX PAYNE 2 and tested installing from the mounted
ISO. Works like a charm. I got the 4 mb lost again. So, I have burned the CD and now i
have a working copy from the scratched one.

Sounds too bizzarre, but works. Course you can jump the cleaning process and try to copy
the content with Windows explorer. But in my case did not work without oil...

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Spread the link love

Spread the love and prosperity, enjoy this Viralink, and hope it will help you drive traffic to your site.

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions below this line———


Below is a matrix of 120 stars, I have already added a link to my blog onto one of the stars, all you need to do is copy and paste the grid into your blog and add your own link to one of the other spare stars, and tell others to do the same!


Viralink



———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions above this line———



Spread the link love, let's populate the blogosphere.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Using Ms Calculator As A Browser, When all else fails

How to access the internet via your standard MS Calculator
When your browser(s) is/are messed up for some unexplainable reason

1. Open your MS Calculator. This is normally found in Start => All Programs => Accessories => Calculator.
2. Open the help-window by pressing the F1 key.
3. Click the top-left corner icon of the help window once (Standard is a Document with a Question mark).
4. Select Go to URL-address.
5. Type your address into the available field, but remember to type http://, and not just www. (or equivalent).
6. Have fun!

Hope you remember this in case all else should fail!

How to integrate Google Talk in Opera / Firefox

Here is a really neat find. You can use Google Talk without closing your browser. Good if you
don't want to minimize and maximize every two seconds.

You don't need to have the GTalk client installed at all.

Steps :

1.---> Goto Bookmark Manager.

2.----> Click to create new bookmark.

3. ------>Paste the following URL in the address (URL location) field.

http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/client

4.----> Enter any name for the bookmark like GO Talk

5.-----> Select the option for adding in sidebar or panel.

6. ---------->Click OK and you are done.

Hope you like it.

Trick DC++ with Huge file

Did you ever wanted to download files from DC++ hubs, but you didn't had amount of GB's needed for specific Hub. Well here's the solution.

We'll be making file 1 million bytes big, you only need Windows and calculator.

You can create a file of any size using nothing more than what's supplied with Windows. Start by converting the desired file size into hexadecimal notation. You can use the Windows Calculator in Scientific mode do to this. Suppose you want a file of 1 million bytes. Enter 1000000 in the calculator and click on the Hex option to convert it (1 million in hex is F4240.) Pad the result with zeros at the left until the file size reaches eight digits—000F4240.

Now open a command prompt window. In Windows 95, 98, or Me, you can do this by entering COMMAND in the Start menu's Run dialog; in Windows NT 4.0, 2000, or XP enter CMD instead. Enter the command DEBUG BIGFILE.DAT and ignore the "File not found" message. Type RCX and press Enter. Debug will display a colon prompt. Enter the last four digits of the hexadecimal number you calculated (4240, in our example). Type RBX and press Enter, then enter the first four digits of the hexadecimal size (000F, in our example). Enter W for Write and Q for Quit. You've just created a 1-million-byte file using Debug. Of course you can create a file of any desired size using the same technique.

Friday, June 1, 2007

Rename you Recycle Bin

1-From Start menu choose Run
2-Type "regedit" and then press OK
3-Then select the following:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
4-In the right side double click the key "Default" and change its value from "Recycle Bin" to any word you want.

How to disable Error Reporting in Windows XP

This is just about how to disable Error Reporting dialog that you get whenever a program crashes or we end task through task manager.

Right Click on My Computer and click Properties. In the advanced tab, click on the Error Reporting button.



Select disable Error Reporting.




Another way :

You can also disable this service using services.msc

To do that.. Start -> Run -> Services.msc
find the service named "Error Reporting Service". Rightclick on properties and then disable it.

You can also customize the programs that allow error reporting...

Windows XP Hidden Applications

Microsoft has hidden many small and big utilities deep down in XP. Most people even don’t know that there is a small SFX creating utility in XP. Let’s discover all these utilities.

To run any of these utilities go to Start > Run and type the executable name, for example: charmap

1. Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)
2. Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe
3. Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)
4. Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool)
5. DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)
6. Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters)
7. IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package)
8. Mcft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented).
9. Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic).
10. ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases)
11. Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files).
12. System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance)
13. Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell).
14. Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant).
15. Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the Windows Registry).
16. Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network).
17. File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe
18. Volume Control = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area).
19. System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ).
20. Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications).
21. Mcft Telnet Client = telnet.exe
22. Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented).
23. Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available).
24. System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs)
25. Group Policy Editor = gpedit.msc used to manage group policies, and permissions.
26. Local Users and Groups = lusrmgr.msc Useful in renaming Administrator.
27. Certificate Manager = certmgr.msc used for encryption and certificate management.
28. Device Manager = devmgmt.msc

"Copy To.." and "Move To.." context menu

Here is a Windows registry edit that will add a "Copy To Folder" and "Move To Folder" option to the right click menu of all your files and folders, without the need for any third party utilities. Once implemented, you will be able to right click any file or folder and use the Browse for Folder dialog to choose the location you want to move or copy your file or folder to, without having to go to the destination path. This will give you an alternative to Windows default Copy/Cut and Paste method which requires you to navigate to the actual location you want to paste your file or folder too. This edit should work on all Windows versions 95 and up, though I only tested it on Windows 98 and XP.



Ok, let's get to it.

First we will add the copy and move options to the right click menu of all FILES.

Click Start>Run, type REGEDIT and click OK to open up the registry editor and make your way to this key:


HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Right click the ContextMenuHandlers key and choose New>Key.
Name the new key "Copy To" (without the quotes).
Repeat the above and create another new key named Move To.

You should now have two new subkeys under the ContextMenuHandlers key:


HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Co py To

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Mo ve To


Select the Copy To key and in the right hand pane, double click "Default"
Enter this clsid value as the value data:


{C2FBB630-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Next, select the Move To key and in the right hand pane set the default value to:


{C2FBB631-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

This now takes care of the Copy and Move options for the right click context menu of all your files.
Now all that is left is to add the same options to the right click menu of all your folders.
The procedure will be the same as for files but at a different key:


HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHan dlers

Right click ContextMenuHandlers and create a new key named Copy To.
Right click it again and create another new key named Move To.

In the right hand pane, add the same default values as you did for Files:

For Copy To:


{C2FBB630-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}


For the Move To:


{C2FBB631-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}


Exit the registry and you are done.

Now when you right click on a file or folder, you should see two new options: Copy to Folder and Move to Folder.

Or to save you from this work ( if you're new with PC's) just download this file and use those
two .reg files which will do the work for you

URL

Move/copy to

How to Hide whole partition of HDD

1. Go to Start > run > type "diskpart".
A DOS window will appear with following discription.
DISKPART>

2. Then type "list volume"

The result will look like : ------


Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
--------------- --- -------- ---- ------ ---- ------ ----

Volume 0 F CD-ROM
Volume 1 C Window_XP NTFS Partition 7000MB Healthy System
Volume 2 D Softwares NTFS Partition 8000MB Healthy
Volume 3 E Songs NTFS Partition 8000MB Healthy


3. Suppose u wanna hide drive E then type "select volume 3"

Then a message will appear in same winwods { Volume 3 is the selected volume}

4. Now type "remove letter E"
Now a message will come { Diskpart Removed the Drive letter }
sometime it requires the reboot the computer .

Diskpart will remove the letter .Windows XP is not having capabilty to identify the unkown volume.

Your Data is safe now from all unauthorised users.
To access the content of hidden Drive repeat the process mentioned above. But in 4th step replace " remove" to "assign"
i mean type "assign letter E"

*Note*

There is also option in Norton Partition Magic to hide partition, but this also works and it's safe as that option in P. Magic. This is for people who doesn't use Partition Magic.


No more copy & paste in forum. Use Linkification

Download and install this Firefox extension plugin restart Firefox and come back to the forum, by default all download links will be now clickable (No More Copy And Paste) let me know if you like it.

To view and set options, you can (1) use the Linkification right-click context menu, (2) right-click the status bar icon and click "Options", or (3) click Tools->Extensions, and double-click the Linkification item.

Works with:

Firefox 1.0 - 3.0a3 or higher
Mozilla 1.7 - 1.8 or higher
SeaMonkey 1.0 - 1.5a or higher

Code

Linkification

*Note*

It is cool since you are not violating any forum rules by having it.The links are only active on the pc the plugin is installed, and still coded on the forum boards for anyone who don't have this firefox plugin or is using internet explorer.

Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts

First, create a shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking on the desktop, choosing New, and then choosing Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. In the box asking for the location of the shortcut, type shutdown. After you create the shortcut, double-clicking on it will shut down or reset your PC.

Other way is:

"Left Click on ShortCut -> Properties->" - In the Target box you add the commands!

But you can do much more with a shutdown shortcut than merely shut down your PC. You can add any combination of several switches to do extra duty, like this:

shutdown -r -t 01 -c "Rebooting your PC"
Double-clicking on that shortcut will reboot your PC after a one-second delay and display the message "Rebooting your PC." The shutdown command includes a variety of switches you can use to customize it. Table 1-3 lists all of them and describes their use.

I use this technique to create two shutdown shortcuts on my desktop—one for turning off my PC, and one for rebooting. Here are the ones I use:

shutdown -s -t 03 -c "Bye Bye m8!"
shutdown -r -t 03 -c "Ill be back m8 !"

Switch
What it does

-s
Shuts down the PC.

-l
Logs off the current user.

-t nn
Indicates the duration of delay, in seconds, before performing the action.

-c "messagetext"
Displays a message in the System Shutdown window. A maximum of 127 characters can be used. The message must be enclosed in quotation marks.

-f
Forces any running applications to shut down.

-r
Reboots the PC.

BIOS beep explained

Did you ever wondered what are those beeps whenever u turn on your PC and didn't knew their description. Well I used my time to help you.

IBM POST Error Codes

1 short beep System is OK
2 short beeps POST Error - error code shown on screen
- No beep -> Power supply or system board problem
- Continuous beep -> Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem
- Repeating short beeps -> Power supply or system board problem
1 long, 1 short beep System board problem
1 long, 2 short beeps Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)
1 long, 3 short beeps Display adapter problem (EGA)
3 long beeps 3270 keyboard card

IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions

100 - 199 System Board
200 - 299 Memory
300 - 399 Keyboard
400 - 499 Monochrome Display
500 - 599 Colour/Graphics Display
600 - 699 Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter
700 - 799 Math Coprocessor
900 - 999 Parallel Printer Port
1000 - 1099 Alternate Printer Adapter
1100 - 1299 Asynchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1300 - 1399 Game Port
1400 - 1499 Colour/Graphics Printer
1500 - 1599 Synchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1700 - 1799 Hard Drive and/or Adapter
1800 - 1899 Expansion Unit (XT)
2000 - 2199 Bisynchronous Communication Adapter
2400 - 2599 EGA system-board Video (MCA)
3000 - 3199 LAN Adapter
4800 - 4999 Internal Modem
7000 - 7099 Phoenix BIOS Chips
7300 - 7399 3.5" Disk Drive
8900 - 8999 MIDI Adapter
11200 - 11299 SCSI Adapter
21000 - 21099 SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller
21500 - 21599 SCSI CD-ROM System

AMI BIOS Beep Codes

1 Short Beep System OK
2 Short Beeps Parity error in the first 64 KB of memory
3 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB
4 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB Operational of memory
or Timer 1 on the motherboard is not functioning
5 Short Beeps The CPU on the motherboard generated an error
6 Short Beeps The keyboard controller may be bad. The BIOS cannot switch to protected mode
7 Short Beeps The CPU generated an exception interrupt
8 Short Beeps The system video adapter is either missing, or its memory is faulty
9 Short Beeps The ROM checksum value does not match the value encoded in the BIOS
10 Short Beeps The shutdown register for CMOS RAM failed
11 Short Beeps The external cache is faulty
1 Long, 3 Short Beeps Memory Problems
1 Long, 8 Short Beeps Video Card Problems

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes

*Note*
Phoenix BIOS emits three sets of beeps, separated by a brief pause.
*Note*

1-1-3 CMOS read/write failure
1-1-4 ROM BIOS checksum error
1-2-1 Programmable interval timer failure
1-2-2 DMA initialisation failure
1-2-3 DMA page register read/write failure
1-3-1 RAM refresh verification failure
1-3-3 First 64k RAM chip or data line failure
1-3-4 First 64k RAM odd/even logic failure
1-4-1 Address line failure first 64k RAM
1-4-2 Parity failure first 64k RAM
2-_-_ Faulty Memory
3-1-_ Faulty Motherboard
3-2-4 Keyboard controller Test failure
3-3-4 Screen initialisation failure
3-4-1 Screen retrace test failure
3-4-2 Search for video ROM in progress
4-2-1 Timer tick interrupt in progress or failure
4-2-2 Shutdown test in progress or failure
4-2-3 Gate A20 failure
4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode
4-3-1 RAM test in progress or failure>ffffh
4-3-2 Faulty Motherboard
4-3-3 Interval timer channel 2 test or failure
4-3-4 Time of Day clock test failure
4-4-1 Serial port test or failure
4-4-2 Parallel port test or failure
4-4-3 Math coprocessor test or failure
Low 1-1-2 System Board select failure
Low 1-1-3 Extended CMOS RAM failure