Make mp3 files smaller without losing clarity.

Make mp3 files smaller without losing clarity.

If you don't already have a copy of MusicMatch Jukebox, download one from musicmatch.com. The "Plus" version has more features and burns CDs faster, but the free version works just fine for converting files

1. Install music match box and then restart your computer if it asks

2. open music matchbox and click file convert files

3. in the bottom right hand corner called 'destination type' change it to mp3 pro.

4.you can edit the bitrate but the higher the bitrate the bigger the size

5. choose the songs you want to convert and click start

If you want to try something different repeat step one and 2 and instead of making the destintion type mp3 pro make it 'mp3pro vbr'

again the lower the setting the smaller the size.

How to remove Virus from USB Drives

How to remove Virus from USB Drives

One of the ways by which a virus can infect your PC is through USB/Pen drives. Commonviruses such as ’Ravmon’ , ‘New Folder.exe’, ‘Orkut is banned’ etc are spreading throughUSB drives. Most anti virus programs are unable to detect them and even if they do, in most cases they are unable to delete the file, only quarantine it. Here are the things which you can do if you want to remove such viruses from your USB Drive

Whenever you plug a USB drive in your system, a window will appear similar to the one shown below

Don’t click on Ok , just choose ‘Cancel’. Open the Command Prompt by typing ‘cmd‘ in the run box. In the command prompt type the drive letter: and press enter . Now type dir /w/a and press enter.

This will display a list of the files in the pen drive. Check whether the following files are there or not

·         Autorun.inf

·         Ravmon.exe

·         New Folder.exe

·         svchost.exe

·         Heap41a

·         or any other exe file which may be suspicious.

If any of the above files are there, then probably the USB drive is infected. In command prompt type attrib -r -a -s -h *.* and press enter. This will remove the Read Only, Archive, System and hidden file attribute from all the files. Now just delete the files using the command del filename. example del Ravmon.exe. Delete all the files that are suspicious. To be on a safer side, just scan the USB drive with an anti virus program to check whether it is free of virus or not. Now remove the drive and plug it again. In most of the cases, the real culprit turns out to be the “Autorun.inf” file which mostly gets executed when someone clicks Ok in the dialog window which appears above. Thus the infections can spread

Security Tip

Disable the Autoplay feature of USB drives. If you disable the Autoplay feature of USB drives, then there are lesser chances of the virus spreading. A tool which can perform such a function is Tweak UI. Download it from here install it.

Run the program. Now you can disable the Autoplay feature of the removable drives as shown above. By following the above steps, you can keep your USB drives clean.

Update: Tweak UI is a freeware software you can download it here:http://www.filehippo.com/download_tweakui/

How to open office 2007 files into Office 2003

How to open office 2007 files into Office 2003

Today tip will help you to resolve the compatibility issues between the Office 2003 and Office 2007. Because all programs in office 2003 used the old file extensions for its different programs.  For example Word 2003 saved files with extension .doc, Excel 2003 with .xls and PowerPoint with .ppt. but on the other office 2007 used the new file extensions for its different programs.  For example Word 2007 saved files with extension .docx, Excel 2007 with .xlsx and PowerPoint with .pptx. Now the problem is that when you will try to open office 2007 files into office 2003 and you will not open the file due to compatibility issues between both office versions.  Microsoft provides a free compatibility pack to convert office 2007 documents to the office 2003 format. There are many third party free converter are available but here we are using Microsoft office compatibility pack.

Follow the given steps to download free Microsoft compatibility pack and install it.

To use this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.

Visit the following link to download the Microsoft compatibility pack:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

How to safeguard your files when computer crashes

How to safeguard your files when computer crashes

First thing to keep in mind: If your computer hasn't crashed yet, it will in the future! So instead of waiting for fate to strike, take some precautions now:

1) BACK-UP! Buy some decent DVD-R discs and put everything useful in them. When you have more useful stuff, backup again. Do this often.

2) Keep your computer healthy. Use an antivirus, an anti-spy, and a firewall. Keep them updated. Check regularly for Windows critical fixes.

3) Don't install software that would do dangerous things to your hard drive. A boot manager would fall in this category.

4) Use a registry cleaner before and after you install or uninstall any software. Many of the problems that will keep Windows from booting are caused by sloppy software that mess up your registry. A good registry cleaner is Tune-up Utilities.Code:http://www.tune-up.com/

5) Run chkdsk now and then. Go to Start> Run. Type chkdsk /F. Press enter.




In case your PC has already crashed, read the following:
Most important: Don't panic! Panic is like a little demon that whispers in your ear to format your hard drive and reinstall everything.
Don't do it!You will lose all your data and the little demon will laugh at you.To be exact you can still recover your data if you format your drive (by using special software), but only if you don't write anything on the disc afterwards. In other words format + windows install = bad idea. If you reinstall windows without formating your drive, you will only lose the files on your desktop and "My Documents" folder.In all occasions you should make sure to safeguard your files before attempting any kind of repair!

So let's go about how to do that:
The fast way: Go to this site: Code:http://www.knoppix.org/. Knoppix is a Linux distribution than runs from a CD. Download the Knoppix ISO and burn it. Put it in your CD drive. On startup access BIOS and changethe boot sequence so that your computer boots from the CD drive. Save settings and exit. Upon reboot, Knoppix will load.Knoppix is much like windows and it comes with its own CD burner. Locate it, launch it and backup everything you want on CD.Now you don't have to worry anymore!
The less fast way: This requires that you have access to a second PC. Open the case of your computer and remove the hard disk.Install it as a slave on the second PC.Depending on respective configurations, you may have to change some jumper settings on the drive. Read the manual for help with installing hard drivesand setting jumpers.After this is done, boot the second PC. If everything went out ok, you should be able to access your drive without problems. (Edit: Note that Win98cannot recognize a local NTFS (Win2K/XP) disk.)Copy everything you need from your own hard drive to the other one. Now you don't have to worry anymore!Replace your computer's hard disk, fix all problems and reverse the process to copy the data back to your computer, or take CD backups on the other PC.

A Faster Start Menu

A Faster Start Menu

I see no reason for there to be any delay when I click on the Start Menu. Effects are pretty, but I wouldn’t click on it if I didn’t have business inside, so lets get it open and get moving. The default speed can be adjusted with a quick registry entry.

The default value is 400. Set it to 0 and the delay is gone, but it will be nearly impossible to move the mouse fast enough not to activate [All Programs] if you mouse over it in route to your final selection. It's easy to train yourself to move the pointer to the right after clicking Start to avoid activating All Programs. Pick a number that suits your style and make the change, then test it until you find a good compromise between speed and usability.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Data Type: String Value // Value Name: MenuShowDelay
Setting for Value Data: [Default = 400 / Adjust to Preference]
Exit Registry and Reboot

How to recover MOST of scratched CD data discs.

How to recover MOST of scratched CD data discs.

I learn an old thecnique to how to recover damaged or scratched disks
with some lost of data. In this case i have one borrowed game - MAX PAYNE 2
with a chunck of 4 mb lost with a scratch in CD1 Install. Here we cover some
special thecniques of how to create a full working CD from the scratched one.

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...

http://download.cnet.com/Alcohol-120/3000-2646_4-10158124.html