Thought and Freedom

I installed VMWare player last week on my PC. Using their player software, I was able to create a partition for my Ubuntu Linux system that can be run from within Windows.

The installation went great, but I realized that some problems do not show up immediately.

Today I put my SD card in my memory card reader, expecting the Autorun menu to appear. Instead, I had nothing. I also did not have an “Autoplay” on the menu when right-clicking on the memory card in “My Computer.” Finally, the title of my card was no longer being displayed in My Computer.

Fortunately, the solution to these problems is simple. But first, the problem needs to be explained. When VMWare is installed, it modifies the Windows Registry to prevent Autorun.

This is probably a good idea. If you had your favorite Ubuntu distribution running from within Windows, and decided to put in a CD, you don’t want both Operating Systems to try to load the disc simultaneously. The easiest way to solve the problem is by disabling the Autorun feature.

Personally, I like Autorun. I take pictures all the time, and I like the convenience of popping my memory card into the computer and clicking the program I use to download my pictures and movies. Maybe it is not the coolest way to download pictures, but it certainly makes my life easier.

To re-enable the autorun feature in Windows XP (I heard that Vista is similar, but having never used the OS, except at the store, I have no guarantee that this works in Vista):

1. Go to Start -> Run
2. Type in “regedit” (No Quotes). This will bring up the Windows Registry Editor.
   • As a side note, registry edits can hose your computer. Be very careful. Your edits are at your own risk.
3. In the registry, delete the following keys:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDriveTypeAutoRun
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDriveTypeAutoRun
4. Finally, ensure that HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom\AutoRun has a value of “1.” Otherwise your DVDs and CDs will not Autoplay.

Vista Registry Tweaks – Tips to Play With Windows Registry
Author: Arvind

The most important tool available for Vista registry tweaking is the Registry Editor (regedit.exe), which allows you to view and manually edit the contents of Windows Registry. The window of the Registry Editor is divided into two pans of which the left side contains a tree with keys that are represented as folders. The right side shows the values contained in currently selected specific key. There are several tweaks that you can perform using the Registry Editor. Among them, some of the important Vista registry tweaks are:

Appearance tweaks

1. To remove the annoying ToolTips that appears whenever you mouse over something:
   • Open the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Run option of the Start Menu.
   • Select HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.
   • Set ShowInfoTip = dword:00000000
   • Exit from regedit and reboot your system
2. To get rid of arrows present in shortcuts:
   • Open regedit and select HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > lnkfile
   • Rename isShortcut available in the right pan to AriochlsShortcut
   • Exit regedit and reboot your system
3. To change the delay on menus:
   • Open regedit and select HKEY_ CURRENT_USER > Control Panel > Desktop
   • Set the value of MenuShowDelay to specify the time you need the menus to be popped up
   • Exit regedit and reboot your system

Security tweaks

To tweak the User Account Control (UAC):

• Open regedit and select HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies
• Set the value of PromptOnSecureDesktop to 0, which disables the desktop security to provide easy UAC
• Exit regedit and reboot your system

User Tweaks

To change the registered owner:

• Open regedit and select HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion
• Right click RegisteredOwner and select Modify
• Enter the correct owner
• Exit regedit and reboot your system.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/vista-registry-tweaks-tips-to-play-with-windows-registry-206801.html

About the Author:

Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter. Visit: Home Page. Read More at Vista Registry Cleaner and Registry Cleaner.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day that is obsessed with Starwars. It caused me to remember about a site I had once seen.

The site entitled “Star Wars ASCIIMATION” is perhaps one of the coolest Star Wars fan sites to date. The creators of the site have built ASCII Art and animated it to show the story of Star Wars.

This may be one of the ultimate nerd hangouts, but I thought it was awesome!

After looking into it a little bit, it appears that you can get the same ascii show through telnet (without opening a web browser). Nathan at nathanr.ca explains how to do this on his blog:

“You can try this yourself by going to Start / Run and type: telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl”

He also explained that some people were claiming that this was a hidden feature of windows, but actually it is not. It is simply using the telnet program built into windows to  connect to the server that provides the movie.

Be sure to check it out, it is pretty cool!

It is now official that everyone’s favorite (ok maybe not) office assistant will no longer be a part of Microsoft Office.

If you remember, “Clippy” appeared in Office 97 as the new interactive help feature. As you loaded office for the first time, Clippy greeted you with the phrase “I will be your office assistant…”

It was a unique idea. It helped people who were new to computers feel more comfortable with their new product.

But after 10 years, the office assistant has finally been retired.

If you have seen the new Vista interface, you were likely impressed. Of course, most people don’t pay $200 to see their windows move around on the screen is special ways.

There are ways to give your own computer (running Windows XP) a similar look and feel for much less.

To find out how to change XP to look like Vista visit this article on gamespot.

Microsoft has been promoting Vista for several weeks as they lead up to the “main” release date of January 30, 2007. Even though Microsoft claims this is the biggest upgrade since XP, many experts are expressing caution.

Where Windows XP offered serious advantages over ME or 98, Vista advertises little in increased functionality. “Rotating” windows are cool, but possibly not worth the bugs that come with them.

For example, the nation of South Korea is warning computer users to exercise extreme caution when choosing to upgrade to Vista because it renders several ActiveX controls useless.

I also received an email from Intuit yesterday explaining that upgrading to Vista may cause QuickBooks to stop functioning.

Adobe even announced that Adobe Acrobat 8 (released a couple weeks ago) causes errors within the Vista environment.  It was also noted on the same posting that not even the Microsoft Zune is compatible with Vista.

Vista may look nice, but I think the jury is still out on whether it will ever be worth the upgrade (or whether it is an upgrade).

It’s amazing how much software is out “there” right now. You could literally spend an entire life just examining new software products that are coming out.

You can often find these new titles from places like download.com or tucows.com. These are top of the line directories of software.

But what if you do not know what you are looking for? Maybe you just wish to try something new. Well, you could browse through the endless categories on one of the large sites mentioned above. Or, you could go to http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/.

The site features one COMMERCIAL software per day that is temporarily free. The catch is that after the day is over, the software returns to normal price.

If you think about it, it is a great way to get people talking about your software. This company is really set up to be a blogosphere magnet.

A lot of blogs already mention the new software, or at least mention the site info, found on Giveaway of the day.

Check them out often, its a great opportunity to get something for nothing just for visiting the right place at the right time.

Eventually it happens to all of us. We can see the early warning signs, but we refuse to acknowledge it. The frequent crashes, BSODs (Blue Screens of Death), and other ominous signs  happen and yet we did not heed the warning.

Then one day we realize that our hard drive has crashed. We dutifully go to Microcenter or Circuit City and buy a new hard disk.

The actual installation of the hard disk is simple, but installing Microsoft Windows can be much more complex.

My brother recently had this problem, and it turned out he kept getting a “NTLDR is missing.” This was happening for the longest time, and he could not figure out what the problem was. It turned out that the solution was much easier than we expected.

After reading a solution on ComputerHope.com, it turned out that we were not pressing a key fast enough to load from CD. We were pressing enter as soon as we saw the “Press any key to load from CD,” but it was not appearing to work. It turns out that there appears to be some delay that causes your computer to sometimes not recognize the Key Press soon enough.

The solution I recommend: Continuously press enter while your computer is booting up until the Windows installer loads.

Some people may be scrambling to get Windows Vista with all the latest features and stuff, but I think I will be sticking with Windows XP for a while.

First of all, I can’t afford the upgrade. Upgrading to Vista, means upgrading my computer as well. I think my computer is just fine, and until I have more incentive, I do not wish to spend the money on an Operating System that gives me no real additional benefit.

Also, Windows Vista is bound to have serious flaws and security holes when released. I know that Microsoft says that no security holes have been found, but security holes will be found once it is released. This is almost a law of nature. Once a Microsoft Product is released, it will prove to have errors. With all the code that goes into the software, and with such a large, diverse user base, it is remarkable we don’t see more errors.

So what am I going to do instead of upgrade? I am going to enjoy my ancient Windows XP computer! And while I am at it, I may just go over to the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP website and add a few additional features to my system.

This may include programs such as the Famous TweakUI, or the CD slide show creator program. I already have the “Open Command Window Here” right click tool, so that is out of the picture as far as upgrades go

Perhaps I will download “SyncToy” for the purpose of synchronizing multiple folders on different computers.

Aibek, from makeUseOf.com has a good review and listing of the Microsoft Powertoys. He also has other pages dedicated to similar items such as the Google Pack. Be sure to check out his website for a good review of both of these free services.

With all this talk of Microsoft add-ons, I hope my Linux computer does not feel too neglected!