Five safety tips for using a public computer

Public computers in libraries, Internet cafes, airports, and copy shops can be safe if you follow a few simple rules when you use them.

Read these tips to help keep your work, personal, or financial information private.

• Don't save your logon information

  Always log out of websites by clicking "log out" on the site. It's not enough to simply close the browser window or type in another address.
  Many programs (especially social networking websites, web mail, and instant messenger programs) include automatic login features that will save your user name and password. Disable this option so no one can log in as you.

• Don't leave the computer unattended with sensitive information on the screen

  If you have to leave the public computer, log out of all programs and close all windows that might display sensitive information.
• Erase your tracks

  Internet Explorer offers InPrivate browsing that leaves no trace of specific web activity. For more information, see Internet Explorer 9 Features: InPrivate Browsing.
  Internet Explorer also keeps a record of your passwords and every page you visit, even after you've closed them and logged out.
  Disable the feature that stores passwords
  Before you go to the web, turn off the Internet Explorer feature that "remembers" your passwords.
  1. In Internet Explorer, click Tools  , and then click Internet Options.
  2. Click the Content tab, and then click Settings, next to AutoComplete.
  3. Click to clear the check box for User names on passwords and forms.
  Delete your temporary Internet files and your history
  When you finish your use of a public computer, you can help protect your private information by deleting your temporary Internet files. For information on how to delete temporary Internet files see Delete webpage history.

• Watch for over-the-shoulder snoops

  When you use a public computer, be on the look out for thieves who look over your shoulder or watch as you enter sensitive passwords to collect your information.

• Don't enter sensitive information into a public computer

  These measures provide some protection against casual hackers who use a public computer after you have.
  But keep in mind that an industrious thief might have installed sophisticated software on the public computer that records every keystroke and then emails that information back to the thief.
  Then it doesn't matter if you haven't saved your information or if you've erased your tracks. They still have access to this information.
  If you really want to be safe, avoid typing your credit card number or any other financial or otherwise sensitive information into any public computer.
  source: Microsoft.com

PC not recognizing your USB drive? Here's what to do

If your PC is not recoignizing your USB drive, then here are some tips to save your day.

External drives — either USB flash drives or external hard drives — should be easy to use. In some cases, you may connect your drive to a Windows PC or another device with a USB port and find that it's not recognized. This problem can be caused by partition issues on your external drive, using the wrong file system, dead USB ports, driver issues in Windows, or other problems. In a worst case scenario, the drive itself may simply be dead. 

The steps below will be the same for both USB flash drives and larger external hard drives, which work similarly. 

Does the drive show up in disk management?

First, let's check whether Windows detects the drive when you plug it in. Plug your removable drive into your computer. If it's an external hard drive, you may have to flip a power switch on the hard drive to activate it. Some heavy-duty removable hard drives may even have to be plugged in with a separate power cable before they'll work. 

Next, open the Disk Management tool. To do so, press Windows Key + R, type diskmgmt.msc into the Run dialog, and press Enter. 

You should see your external drive listed in the Disk Management window. Even if it doesn't appear in your Computer window because it doesn't contain any partitions, it should show up here. 

If you do see the drive here, you can continue to the last section where we'll format it properly so Windows or your other devices can access and recognize it.If you don't see the drive here, continue to the next section where we'll try to determine why your drive isn't recognized. 

Making Windows recognize the drive 

If Windows doesn't see your drive at all, it's possible there's a hardware issue with your computer's USB port, a driver problem with your Windows computer, or you may just have a dead drive. 

First, unplug the drive from your USB port and try plugging it into another USB port on your computer. If it works in one USB port but not another, you may have a dead USB port. If you've plugged the drive into a USB hub, try connecting it to the computer instead. Some USB hubs won't provide enough power for your external drive to function. 

If the drive doesn't show up in Disk Management even after you skip the USB hub and connect it to another USB port on your computer, it's tough to know for certain whether the drive itself is bad or the computer is having a problem. If you have another computer nearby, try plugging the drive in there to check whether it's detected. If the drive doesn't work on any computer you plug it into — be sure to check whether it appears in the computer's Disk Management window — the drive itself is likely dead and will need to be replaced. 

If the drive does work on other computers — or you don't have another computer around to test this with — Windows may be having a driver problem with the drive. You can check for this using the Device Manager. 

To open it, press Windows Key + R, type "devmgmt.msc" into the Run dialog, and press Enter. 

Look under Disk drives and check for any devices with a yellow exclamation mark next to them. If you see a yellow exclamation mark, you have a driver problem. Right-click the device with a yellow exclamation mark, select Properties, and look at the error message. This error message can help you fix the problem — you may want to perform a Google search for the error message you find. 

Such problems can be tricky to fix. If the problem started recently, you may want to run System Restore. You may want to use the Update Driver button to install an updated driver, use the Roll Back Driver button to revert any changes, or use the Uninstall button to uninstall the device from your system and hope that Windows will reinstall the driver and configure it correctly when you reconnect the drive. 

Partitioning and formatting the drive 

We can use the Windows Disk Management tool to fix partition and file system issues with the drive. If you see that the drive is unpartitioned and is full of "unallocated space," you'll want to create a new partition on it. This will allow Windows and other operating systems to use it. 

To do so, right-click inside the unallocated space, select New Simple Volume, and go through the wizard to create a new partition. 

If your drive is partitioned and you still can't see it, ensure you've set a drive letter so you can access it in Windows. This should happen automatically, but if you've manually unset the drive letter, the drive may not show up and be accessible in Windows. 

To do this, right-click the removable drive's partition, select Change Drive Letter and Paths, and add a drive letter. For example, add the letter G: and the removable drive will be accessible at drive G. 

If the drive does appear to be partitioned, it may be partitioned with the wrong file system. For example, you may have formatted the drive with the ext4 file system from Linux or the HFS Plus file system from a Mac. Windows can't read these file systems. Reformat the drive with the newer NTFS file system or older FAT32 file system so Windows will be able to recognize it. 

To reformat a partition, right-click it, select Format, and select your desired file system. 

Note that this will erase all the files on your drive, so you'll want to copy any important files off of it first — for example, if you formatted the drive on a Linux or Mac computer, take it back to a computer running Linux or Mac and copy your important files off of it before continuing. 

If you can't access the drive from another device, such as a DVD player, smart TV, game console, or media center device, it may be formatted as NTFS. Many devices, even Microsoft's own Xbox 360, can't read the Windows NTFS file system. They can only access drives formatted with the older FAT32 file system. To fix this problem, simply reformat the NTFS partition as FAT32. The drive should then be recognized by other devices when you connect it to them. 

Note that this process will erase the files on your external drive. Copy the files off the drive to back them up first, if necessary.format-removable-drive-as-fat32Following this process should solve most of the disk recognition issues you'll encounter. If a drive isn't recognized by any computer you connect it to and never shows up in the Disk Management window, it's probably dead.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/how-to/PC-not-recognizing-your-USB-drive-Heres-what-to-do/articleshow/24697214.cms

INCREASE DRIVE SIZE IN WINDOWS 2003 SERVER

Partition Hard Disk Drive For Windows Server 2003 By Free Partition Manager

It is well known that when the programs and files get more and more on the computer, the space of some particular partitions will get smaller and smaller, and consequently, the Windows Server 2003 will have some trouble doing its normal operation, such as updates and installations. And for most system administrators, it will be a hard job to improve this situation and manage partitions well.

Process Of Resizing/ Moving Partition By Free Partition Manager Server 2003

Maybe you are an IT professional, maybe not. But it doesn't matter; you still can resize or move partitions in Windows Server 2003 with the help of this freeware. AOMEI Partition Assistant Lite Edition is very easy to operate. What you have to do is launching it, and then following the wizards step by step.

Note: We can Operate this tool ie. Resize/Move Partition without loss our data.

But Database Backup  is must

Download

Source : http://www.disk-partition.com/download-server.html

TUTORIAL FOR TAKING SCREEN SHOT IN WINDOWS

Press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard. This will capture an image of your entire screen and copy it to the clipboard. The dimensions of the image will be the same as your desktop resolution.

Paste the screenshot. Once you’ve made the screenshot, you will need to paste it to a program in order to see it. The most common way to paste it is into a Paint file. This will allow you to save it as an image file that can be transferred to others.

Open Paint from the Accessories section in your Start menu. With a new blank canvas open, press Ctrl + V to paste the image onto the canvas. You can also open the Edit menu and select Paste, or right-click on the canvas and select Paste.

Click File, then Save to set the name and file type of the image. The most common file types are JPG and PNG. The recommended format for screenshots is PNG, due to the high quality and small file size.

Note: Hold down the "Alt" key and press "Print Screen" to take single active window Screenshot.

Courtesy : http://potools.blogspot.in

VLC Media Player 2.1.0 Rincewind: New features & revie

VLC Media Player, the best media player for Windows, has become even better with its 2.1 release named “Rincewind”. Bugs have been fixed, quality has been improved, and for sure new features have been added. Bugs have been fixed in large amounts and now VLC supports many new inputs and devices. VLC 2.1.0 is the first release to be officially get ported to iOS and Android, and partially to Windows Store App and Windows RT.

VLC Media Player

Rincewind has a rewritten audio core which allows better volume outputs and better device management. In order to support the new core, some of the modules have also been rewritten. Rincewind also correctly support multi-channel layouts in all formats: 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1. All new audio outputs have been added to give its user a good and smooth audio experience.

If we see video improvements, most of them are done for Mobile Versions, as color conversion shaders are now supported on Android and iOS, and a new filter for side-by-side 3D has been successfully introduced. Moreover Open GL output has been ported to OpenGL ES and as a result of which VLC has introduced new video outputs for iOS using OpenGL ES2.

Hardware encoding for various platforms has been added and VLC now supports Microsoft Smooth Streaming. Now VLC shows support for fragmented MP4, Wave/RF64 files and for FLAC, Atrac, ADPCM, DV Type 1, 12bits DV audio in AVI files.

Some of the extended features are

• Better support for AVI and MKV files
• Audio fingerprinting using AcoustID
• Developments on Blu-Ray, Dash and HTTP inputs
• Better windowless integration for HTML
• Many more features…

There are many other features included, out of which some are very useful for developers and rest for all the VLC lovers. This release has added something essential to the software and it has been made better. Rincewind update is considered to be as one of the important VLC updates since it includes a lot major and minor improvements.

We’ve seen many bugs fixed and many new features added. The best ever media player has become even better. You will find the updates very useful, as all the codec upgrades can play maximum file formats smoothly.

Click here to download VLC Media Player.

Courtesy : http://sapost.blogspot.in/

Top 10 unknown Google Tricks

Below is a list of our top ten Google tricks many people who use Google don't know about.

Definitions

Pull up the definition of the word by typing define followed by the word you want the definition for. For example, typing: define bravura would display the definition of that word.

Local search

Visit Google Local enter the area you want to search and the keyword of the place you want to find. For example, typing: restaurant at the above link would display local restaurants.

Phone number lookup

Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number.

Find weather and movies

Type "weather" or "movies" followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions or movie theaters in your area. For example, typing weather 84101 gives you the current weather conditions for Salt Lake City, UT and the next four days. Typing movies 84101 would give you a link for show times for movies in that area.

Track airline flight and packages

Enter the airline and flight number to display the status of an airline flight and it's arrival time. For example, type:delta 123 to display this flight information if available.

Google can also give a direct link to package tracking information if you enter a UPS, FedEx or USPS tracking number.

Translate

Translate text, a full web page, or search by using the Google Language Tools.

Pages linked to you

See what other web pages are linking to your website or blog by typing link: followed by your URL. For example, typing link: http://www.sapost.blogspot.in displays all pages linking to SA POST 

Find PDF results only

Add fileType: to your search to display results that only match a certain file type. For example, if you wanted to display PDF results only type: "dell xps" fileType:pdf -- this is a great way to find online manuals.

Calculator

Use the Google Search engine as a calculator by typing a math problem in the search. For example, typing: 100 + 200 would display results as 300.

Stocks

Quickly get to a stock quote price, chart, and related links by typing the stock symbol in Google. For example, typing: msft will display the stock information for Microsoft.

Courtesy : http://bnjho.blogspot.in

How to protect your eyes when using a Computer

When using a computer for prolonged periods of time, whether for work or pleasure, it's important to protect your eyes from long-term damage. There are a number of things you can do to help protect your eyes. Some of those ways are:

• Clean your computer screen periodically to remove any dust, dirt or fingerprints. This can make it easier on your eyes, so they are not having to focus harder to see what is on the screen, especially if there is text to read.
• Keep the monitor about 20 to 30 inches away from your face. This range has been found to be the best distance for proper viewing and for reducing eye strain.
• Use fonts and icon sizes that are easy for you to view and read. Avoid using small fonts and icon sizes as it can cause eye strain.
• Adjust the height of the monitor so that the top of the monitor is just below your eye level so that you are looking down slightly when viewing the screen.
• Make sure there is proper lighting in the room. Overly dim lighting or overly bright lighting can cause strain to your eyes.
• Use an anti-glare filter on your monitor, to help prevent glare and reflection from lights in the room.
• Use a document holder for placing documents that you look at regularly, and place it at the same distance as the monitor.

One of the most important things you can do to protect your eyes is to take regular breaks. Taking several minutes to get up and not look at the monitor can greatly help in protecting your eyes and reducing any strain.

Another recommendation is to use an LCD Monitor aka flat penal display. The older CRT monitors are harder on the eyes, due to the lower refresh rates and general design of the monitor. LCD monitors feature higher refresh rates, high enough that most people are unable to see the refreshing of the screen. LCD monitors in general are easier to view for longer periods of time and cause less strain on the eyes.