There is free software called ping, its like norton ghost but its not... it makes an image of your partition, it basically compresses your hard drive into a gzip files with is like 3 times smaller

so if u have 90 gigs of old work and stuff u can make a backup witch is 30 gig and when a major virus kills your system or infects infrastructure files can pop the CD in and restore your computer, every byte will be the way it was when you made the back up, the only thing different is the time on your computer witch is in the bios, and u Can actually backup your bios settings too. i even used ping to replace my hard drive. it was hard and ha bugs but i found a way.

(note: I'm posting this to help people protect their computers, not to promote ping)

Requirements:
--> A second storage device that will keep the image, make sure its large enough.
--> ISO burner
--> blank CD.

if you don't have a ISO burner you heres a download link for the free ISO burner i used: http://freeisoburner.com/FreeISOBurner.exe

you can buy a blank CD in you local computer store.

How to:

--> Download ping(i got the direct link so you don't have to register your email):http://ping.windowsdream.com/ping/Releases/3.00.02/PING-3.00.iso

--> Use ping ISO file with your CD burning software to make a bootable disk.

--> Your done, ping should be ready for use.

To make a image:

--> Insert the disk into your computer

--> Boot from the disk

--> Follow on screen instructions to make an image

when ever you get a serious virus you can restore the computer to its previous state, the only negative thing is, if you did some work since you made the image, it will be lost.

To restore computer:

--> Insert the disk into your computer

--> Boot from the disk

--> Follow on screen instructions to restore your computer.

Note:

you can not save a partition on itself so you must connect a second storage device.

the time to make an image varies on your hardware.

hackers are going to hate me

This code when executed makes your Caps, Num, Scroll lock keys led on the Keyboard flash. Whats more it works on both laptops and desktops and is totally harmless an
very attractive...i have tried it..trust me..

Instructions:

• Paste the code in notepad

• Save as disco.vbs

• Run the file

This piece of code makes your keyboard a live disco...

Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
wshshell.sendkeys "{NUMLOCK}"
wshshell.sendkeys "{SCROLLLOCK}"
loop

To Remove the effect from your keyboard, follow the below mentioned step:

• Open "Task Manager" Then in "Processes" delete "WSCRIPT.EXE" File

If you want to save your files to your hard drive, so after a format you dont have to download them all again, here's How:

- Logon to Windows Update

- Choose Windows Update Catalogue (left hand pane)

- Choose Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems (right hand pane)

- Choose your version and language then Search

- Choose one the following:

- Critical Updates and Service Packs
- Service Packs and Recommended Downloads
- Multi-Language Features (0)





- Once chosen simply click on what you want to download and then back at the top click Review Download Basket

- You are taken to the next page where at the top you can specify where the downloads are to be saved.

- Click Download now. Each patch will make a directory under the root of the folder you saved them to.

Once finished you need to go to where you saved the file (s) to and then simply install all your patches.

Over the past few days we've made a lot of small changes to Gmail's contact manager which, combined, should make it easier to organize the contacts you want and get rid of some of the cruft. Here's a quick summary:

1. Contact merge (and an important caveat about auto-complete)
Many of you may have seen Monday's blog post about Google Sync which mentioned contact merge. Nothing had been annoying me more than seeing several copies of "Jeff Jones" on my iPhone — only one of which actually contained his phone number. I now have one "Jeff Jones" which contains all of his contact information. To do this, select the contacts you want to merge and then click "Merge these..." as shown below:


Now that you can sync your contacts to a variety of devices, being able to merge contacts is more important than ever. Please note that as we mentioned on Monday, there's a known issue with merging contacts that affects address auto-complete, making merged addresses sometimes come up in a suboptimal order (e.g. auto-complete may bring up your friend's work address first even though you usually email their Gmail address). We're working on fixing this so the email address you use the most for any given contact will always come up first.

2. All Contacts
Instead of Suggested Contacts, you'll now see a group called All Contacts which, as the name would suggest, is where all of your contacts live and thus a good view for merging duplicate contacts. You can still see suggested contacts by clicking the "View Suggestions" button from My Contacts. From there, you can select frequently emailed contacts to add to My Contacts.


3. Remove people from My Contacts
You can finally move contacts out of the My Contacts group — especially useful if you're planning to sync your contact list to your phone. Prune the contacts you don't want synced to your phone from My Contacts (click "Groups" and then "Remove from My Contacts"), and they won't get synced.

4. Search across all contact fields
We've heard you loud and clear, and contact search now works much better: instead of just searching contact names and email addresses, it now includes phone numbers, notes fields, and mailing addresses as well. So, if you're visiting the Bay Area and looking for friends to catch up with, you could try typing "650" or "415" in the contact manager search box.



Official Gmail Blog: Four changes to Gmail contacts

Ever wanted a quicker way to shutdown XP without navigating through the start menu, or using a third party shutdown utility Here is a script that will do just that.

• Right click the desktop and choose New Shortcut. Copy and paste this script or type it in.

%windir%System32shutdown.exe -s -t 0

• Choose Next and name it whatever you like. I name mine OFF. Click Finished. Right click and choose properties and pick a Icon for it if you'd like.
  

• I use a wall light switch Icon. I drag mine into my QuickLaunch toolbar for one click shutdown.

Enjoy!

Note: The last character in script mentioned above is a "0" (Number Zero) and not a "o" (Alphabet)

One of the features that makes Gmail different is its use of labels instead of folders. Sure, labels can serve pretty much the same purpose -- they can help organize mail or flag messages for follow up. And unlike with folders, messages can have several labels, so if I get an email from a friend about a trip we're taking together, I can add both a "Friends" and a "Travel" label to it.

But it's not always obvious how to use labels, especially for people who are new to Gmail and used to using folders, and it hasn't helped that some common tasks have been more complicated than they should be. For instance, to move an email out of your inbox and into a label you first had to apply the label using the "More actions" menu and then click "Archive."

Starting today, the buttons and menus at the top of your inbox will look a bit different:



Instead of having to first apply the label and then archive, you can just use the "Move to" button to label and archive in a single step -- just like you would with a folder. If you just want to add or remove a label, use the new "Labels" button. Auto-complete works, so for those of you with a lot of labels, you can select the one you want just by typing the first couple characters.

We're also adding keyboard shortcuts: v for "Move to" and l (lowercase L) for "Labels." Make sure you have keyboard shortcuts turned on to use these.




We're making these changes for everyone over the course of today, so you may not see them right away. But between the shortcuts and auto-complete, you'll soon be able to add and remove labels without touching your mouse.

Source: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-ways-to-label-with-move-to-and-auto.html

This is a registry tweak which actually reduces the startup delay of your WINDOWs from a default 48 Seconds to a limited 4 Seconds.
Thus  reducing the overall startup time to approximately 10 Seconds.

SO here is how the trick goes:

• Click on the start button then press "R" (without quotes) it will take u to Run.
  

•  type "Regedit" (without quotes), and press enter. This will open Registery Editor

• Now look for the key
  

HKEY_LOACAL_MECHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ContentIndex

• Now there find the Key Called "Startup Delay" (without quotes) on the right hand side column.
  

 

• Double Click On It
  

• Now where it says "Base" Change it to "Decimal"
  

• Now its Default Value Is 4800000
  

• Change The Value To 40000
  

Almost done with the tune-up. !!
 

• Now close the Registery Editor and Restart Your Computer
  

You'll See The Result

Comments Apriciated

• Kindly Note:
  

Its better if you take a backup of your registry before trying some registry tricks.
To know about registry backup and restore CLICK below !!

- Manual steps to BACKUP the registry in Vista & XP.

- Manual steps to RESTORE the registry in Vista & XP.

There may be many shortcuts for getting you more evenly placed with your systems, but this one is just about it for da lazy bones out there...

The fastest and the quickest way to shutdown your system...Check this out...

1. Press the Start button on keyboard (Windows Symbol button --> Between Control and Alt on right hand side)

2. Press the letter 'u' twice from your keyboard.

That's it !!

Your system is fast going to sleep.

(Note: This trick does not speed up the shutting down process, but just a shortcut to shutdown a system)

On behalf of my crew/panel of Know Ur System I would like to place a sincere apology to all our readers for not able to provide high quality posts in the past one month(January 2009).

Whatever may be the reason, it would not make any sense on repenting on it. So taking in the whole responsibility for this inactiveness, I would make sure that no such phase would occur in the future.

This tutorial trains you to create your very own system cleaner, free from advertisements and possible threat of adwares & malwares. And its totally free of cost...

So why not give it a try....

Use this 'tutorial' to clean your:

*.tmp
*._mp
*.log
*.gid
*.chk
*.old
*.bak and ?

Temporary Internet Files? ,etc...

Step 1:
Start with making a new txt file. (Notepad)

Step 2:
Paste this code in the txt file:

@echo off
echo =============================================================
echo know U'r System Cleaner
echo ===========================================================
echo waiting
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.tmp
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*._mp
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.log
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.gid
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.chk
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.old
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\recycled\*.*
del /f /s /q %windir%\*.bak
del /f /s /q %windir%\prefetch\*.*
rd /s /q %windir%\temp & md %windir%\temp
del /f /q %userprofile%\cookies\*.*
del /f /q %userprofile%\recent\*.*
del /f /s /q ?%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.*?
del /f /s /q ?%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temp\*.*?
del /f /s /q ?%userprofile%\recent\*.*?
echo complete!
echo ===========================================================
echo Visit knowursystem,blogspot,com for more Tips, Tricks and Hacks,
echo ===========================================================
echo. & pause

Step 3:
Now save the file as "Cleaner.bat"

Step 4:
Double Click on it to run ur Cleaner.

If your a firefox lover like me then you should try this.

1. Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining
network.http.proxy.pipelining
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"
Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"
Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. (This
means it will make 30 requests at once.)

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer.
Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0"(ZERO).
This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it recieves.



Note: If you're using a broadband connection you'll load pages 2-30 times faster now.

 In the latest UFO riddle to grip Australia, a reader has spotted what appears to be a flying saucer hovering directly above Millers Point while checking out Google Maps.

The bizarre discovery, near the Sydney Harbour Bridge, comes at the end of a year that was full of claims of such close encounters.

Careful study of the Google picture isn't quite as helpful, reports the Courier Mail.

Photograph experts have cautioned that it could be a distortion - but Google didn't deny it was an alien craft.

A spokesman joked: "The interplanetary internet project is clearly gaining momentum quicker than we thought!"

"Of course, as with human-owned vehicles in Google street view, the licence plates on this UFO are not identifiable," he added. (ANI)

 
Windows uses 20% of your bandwidth! Get it back

A nice little tweak for XP. Microsoft reserve 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes (suspect for updates and interrogating your machine etc..)

Here's how to get it back:

1.) Click Start-->Run-->type "gpedit.msc" (without the quotes).

This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:

2.) Local Computer Policy-->Computer Configuration-->Administrative Templates-->Network-->QOS Packet Scheduler-->Limit Reservable Bandwidth

3.) Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab :

4.) "By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."

5.) So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.

That's It !!

works on XP Pro, and 2000

other OS not tested.

Windows Vista

1.) Click Start

2.) Type "systempropertiesprotection" (Without Quotes) in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

3.) If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

4.) In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click System Restore,
In the System Restore dialog box select Choose a different restore point, and then click Next

5.) Select the restore point that you want to use, and then click Next.

6.) Confirm your restore point, and then click Finish System restore restores the selected Windows Vista configuration and then restarts the computer.

7.) Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..




Windows XP



1.) Click Start, click Run.

2.) Type "%SystemRoot%\System32\Restore\Rstrui.exe"(Without Quotes), and then click OK.

3.) On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next .

4.) On the Select a Restore Point page, click the system checkpoint. In the On this list select the restore point area, click an entry that is named "Guided Help (Registry Backup)," and then click Next. If a System Restore message appears that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make, click OK.

5.) On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration and then restarts the computer.

6.) Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..

Windows Vista

1.) Click Start

2.) type "systempropertiesprotection" (without quotes) in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

3.) If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

4.) Wait for Windows to search for available disks and most recent restore points. In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Protection tab, click Create,

5.) Type a name for the restore point and then click Create.
After the restore point has been created successfully, click OK two times.

Note: If System Restore is turned off, click to select the local disk, click Apply and then click Create.




Windows XP

1.) Click Start, click Run.

2.) Type "%SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe" (without quotes), and then click OK.

3.) On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next .

4.) On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create

5.) After the restore point has been created, click Close.

Note: If System Restore is turned off, you receive a message that asks whether you want to turn on System Restore now. Click Yes. Then, in the System Properties dialog box, click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box, click OK, and then repeat this step.


Source: Microsoft.com

This can save time and the effort of switching from the keyboard to the mouse to execute simple commands. Print this list of Word keyboard shortcuts and keep it by your computer for a quick reference.


Microsoft WORD Shortcuts

Note: A plus sign indicates that the keys need to be pressed at the same time.



Action Keystroke

Document actions

Open a file <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+O
New file <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+N
Close a file <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+W
Save As <<=-=-=-=->> F12
Save <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+S or SHIFT+F12
Print Preview <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+F2
Print <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+P
Show/Hide paragraph symbols <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+*
Spelling and grammar <<=-=-=-=->> F7
Help <<=-=-=-=->> F1
Find <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+F
Replace <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+H
Go To <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+G

Cursor movement

Select all - entire document <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+A
Select from cursor to beginning of line <<=-=-=-=->> SHIFT+Home
Select from cursor to end of line <<=-=-=-=->> SHIFT+END
Go to beginning of line <<=-=-=-=->> HOME
Go to end of line <<=-=-=-=->> END
Go to beginning of document <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+Home
Go to end of document <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+End

Formatting

Cut <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+X
Copy <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+C
Paste <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+V
Undo <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+Z
Redo <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+Y
Format painter <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+C
Left alignment <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+L
Center alignment <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+E
Right alignment <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+R
Justified <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+J
Delete previous word <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+Backspace
Apply bulleted list <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+L
Indent <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+M
Page break <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+Enter

Text Style

Font face <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+F
Font size <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+P
Bold <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+B
Italics <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+I
Underline <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+U
Double underline <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+D
Word underline <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+W
All caps <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+A
Change case <<=-=-=-=->> SHIFT+F3
Subscript <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+=
Superscript <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+=
Make web hyperlink <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+K

Tables

Go to next cell <<=-=-=-=->> Tab
Go to previous cell <<=-=-=-=->> SHIFT+Tab
Go to beginning of column <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+PageUp
Highlight to beginning of column <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+SHIFT+PageUp
Go to end of column <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+PageDown
Highlight to end of column <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+SHIFT+PageDown
Go to beginning of row <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+Home
Highlight to beginning of row <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+SHIFT+Home
Go to end of row <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+End
Highlight to end of row <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+SHIFT+End
Column break <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+Enter

Miscellaneous

Copyright symbol <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+CTRL+C
Date field <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+SHIFT+D
Go to footnotes <<=-=-=-=->> ALT+CTRL+F
Show/Hide <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+SHIFT+8
Thesaurus <<=-=-=-=->> SHIFT+F7
Page break <<=-=-=-=->> CTRL+Enter

Have you ever encountered a bad situation whereby your computer system fails to detect mouse in the middle of work that requires lots of mouse movement? Unless you keep a spare computer mouse anytime ready for replacement, else this software utility could offer a great help to quickly get you continue on your current task. Named as Mouse Emulator v2.0, it emulates mouse movement with a combination of number key press on your hardware keyboard.



Mouse Emulator v2.0 utilizes numeric keypad (just press Shift + NumLk to activate for laptop)buttons to simplify the mouse movement. For instance, user can just press on keypad number 1 to emulate left mouse click or keypad number 2 to emulate right mouse click. Further clicking on same buttons will further move them in respective direction. Below are the keys recognized by Mouse Emulator as summarized below:

Keypad 1: Left mouse click
Keypad 2: Right mouse click
Keypad 3: Middle mouse click
Keypad 4: Move left
Keypad 5: Move down
Keypad 6: Move right
Keypad 8: Move up
Keypad 9: Scroll up

Mouse Emulator v2.0 is a freeware and you probably won’t notice its existence as it only consumes 10kB of your system hard disk space. To deactivate Mouse Emulator, just right click on the mouse icon as located in the taskbar. While it may not able to totally replace your actual mouse usage but it will definitely able to assist you in case of any emergency when mouse usage is important. If you think it suits you, just go to download at Mouse Emulator v2.0 with no cost.

Hey Friends, if u want to see Star wars movie in ur computer system then, follow the steps:-


1. Ur operating system should be XP.

2.Then connect to the internet.

3.Then finally type " telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl " into the RUN menu.





















Microsoft hid a version of Star Wars done entirely with ASCII in the Windows XP operating system.

Heres how you do it:


1.)Take any headphone you want. Don't matter if its the buds or the ones that go around your ear.

2.)Open up Sound Recorder(If your using Windows)

3.)Plugin your headphones in the Pink Jack on your Laptop or Desktop.

4.)Press the record button on Sound Recorder and put the left part up to your mouth and make noise. Do the same for the right side. Which ever part you get results from(you will know this by the sound recorder showing the movement of sound in the display)



There you go. Thats it. Iv tried this with every pair of headphones I own. Iv bought all mine from the dollar store, very very very cheap pair and they work. The same should work for you. Now the next time someone asks if you have a mic and you say no, Think again. You might have to talk a little louder than normal, but at least you have a Mic.

Works great with Skype, MSN or any chat clients. ENJOY!

Note: Might not work for some HeadPhones.

Step #1:
Open Notepad and copy the below code.

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Locker
if EXIST "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Locker goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to Lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p "cho=>"
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Locker "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
attrib +h +s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo Enter password to Unlock folder
set/p "pass=>"
if NOT %pass%==type your password here goto FAIL
attrib -h -s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
ren "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" Locker
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Locker
echo Locker created successfully
goto End
:End

Step #2:
Save as locker.bat.

Thats it !!....your folder lock is ready for use !!



Now, How to use this customized Folder lock:

Step #1
First things first, right click the locker.bat file you just created and Open With "Notepad" (or with any of the editing tools you have.). Find the line:

if NOT %pass%==type your password here goto FAIL

Approximately 24th Line in the code. Type in your password where it says "type your password here" (without quotes). For Example:

if NOT %pass%==sevenwonders goto FAIL

Here, sevenwonders is the password. Save it.

Customising is Over !!


How to use the Customised Folder Lock:

Step #1
When you run the Locker.bat file for the first time, it will automatically create a folder named "Locker" in present working folder.


Step #2
Copy the important files in the Locker Folder.

Step #3
Double Click on the "locker.bat" file again. It will prompt you :

Are you sure you want to lock the folder ?

Step #4
Press Y for Yes or N for No.

Thats it....your Folder is locked.




To unlock the folder follow the below steps:

Step #1
Double Click on the Locker.bat once again. It will prompt you for the password.

Step #2
Enter the password you entered in the locker.bat file earlier while creating the BATCH file.

Step #3
Press Enter...

Your folder is back again !!