Social Icons

> Display your name in Task Bar

This trick will add your name near the digital clock inside your PC's taskbar. The concept is to replace the "AM" or "PM" of your clock in taskbar with your name. Just follow these steps and your PC will be customized in no time.

Step 1: Go to your control panel (Start > Run > Control)

Step 2: Once you reach the Control Panel go to "Regional and Language Options"

Step 3: On Regional and Language Options click on "Customize"

Step 4: Now go to "TIME" Tab

Step 5: Here you can change the variables "AM" and "PM"

Step 6: Change these variables to your First name or anything for instance.

Step 7: Click Apply -> Ok ... for instant effects on your taskbar.

As soon as you click OK, you should immediately see the changes in your taskbar clock located at Bottom Right corner of your system. Incase there is no change keep reading.

Step 8: Double click on the digital clock in taskbar to open "Date and time dialogue box" ...Look for the digital time format eg. 03:50:50 AM

Step 9: Click on the "AM" or "PM" to edit. You could change them using your arrow keys.

Step 10: Once you see your name, click Apply.

> Secret codes for Nokia mobiles phones

Here is a list of some general codes you can use in your Nokia Handset. These let you access certain features of your phone which are normally inaccessible.

*#06# for checking the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity).
*#7780# reset to factory settings.
*#67705646# This will clear the LCD display (operator logo).
*#0000# To view software version.
*#2820# Bluetooth device address.
*#746025625# Sim clock allowed status.
*#62209526# - Display the MAC address of the WLAN adapter. This is available only in the newer devices that support WLAN
#pw+1234567890+1# Shows if sim have restrictions.

*#92702689# - takes you to a secret menu where you may find some of the information below:
1. Displays Serial Number.
2. Displays the Month and Year of Manufacture
3. Displays (if there) the date where the phone was purchased (MMYY)
4. Displays the date of the last repair - if found (0000)
5. Shows life timer of phone (time passes since last start)

*#3370# - Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) activation. Increase signal strength, better signal reception. It also help if u want to use GPRS and the service is not responding or too slow. Phone battery will drain faster though.
*#3370* - (EFR) deactivation. Phone will automatically restart. Increase battery life by 30% because phone receives less signal from network.
*#4720# - Half Rate Codec activation.
*#4720* - Half Rate Codec deactivation. The phone will automatically restart

If you forgot wallet code for Nokia S60 phone, use this code reset: *#7370925538#
Note, your data in the wallet will be erased. Phone will ask you the lock code. Default lock code is: 12345

Press *#3925538# to delete the contents and code of wallet.

Unlock service provider: Insert sim, turn phone on and press vol up-arrow keys) for 3 seconds, should say pin code. Press C, then press * message should flash, press * again and 04*pin*pin*pin#

*#7328748263373738# resets security code.
Default security code is 12345

*#1471#  Last call (Only Vodafone)

*#21# Allows you to check the number that "All Calls" are diverted to

*#30# Lets you see the private number

*#43# Allows you to check the Call Waiting status of your phone

*#62# Allows you to check the number that "Divert If Unreachable (no service)" calls are diverted to

*#67# Allows you to check the number that "On Busy Calls" are diverted to

*#67705646# Removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330

*#73# Reset phone timers and game scores

*#746025625# Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone supports this power saving feature "SIM Clock Stop Allowed", it means you will get the best standby time possible
*#7780# Restore factory settings

*#8110# Software version for the nokia 8110

*#92702689#
1.Serial Number, 2.Date Made,
3.Purchase Date, 4.Date of last repair (0000 for no repairs), 5.Transfer User Data

12345 This is the default code

press and hold #
Lets you switch between lines

> Useful websites sorted by Category

Just before connecting to internet, I have a long to-do list. I have to check a lot of sites, reply to some messages, check mails, play games and much much more. Not being a person who lists down such points, once connected to internet I am left thinking what next.

Only if I had a consolidated list of sites divided systematically into categories, it would make my life easier.

I knew there were nice people out there who already had such ideas, and had created a list somewhere, but where do I start searching for? Coz where ever I begin from, there are "n" number of pages popping up.

My search continued till yesterday when I happened to check an archived folder in an old mailbox.

Wow...There it was. That's the mail I was searching for.
A well formatted list of websites that are systematically divided into sub-categories.

It basically covers all major categories from Legal to Jobs...from Cricket to Contests...from Entertainment to Shopping and these are just a few.

I really would not like to misplace this file again, hence noting it down ;)
You can access the file HERE

If you feel, the list (excel sheet) should have some amended site names, do let me know viz comments...Have Fun :)

> Creating Image with Text

You may have seen such images in various forums, facebook walls or orkut scraps. They really look a piece of art arranging each text/alphabet to its appropriate location to give it a great look. I'm sure you've thought of creating it one for your own image. Ever wondered how its created?

Its really very easy.

> Just pickup any image you wish to convert
> Upload it on any file sharing system (refer my earlier post HERE)
> You will receive a link location for your image
> Enter it in the system and click to convert
> Get your result image in seconds

You can get cool edited images. Something like the one shown below.









You can try this at Degraeve

> One of the Best Wap Sites

This site i'm talking about may not be the best web site, but its surely one of the best wap sites i've come across. It can keep you sticking around for a long long time. Best of the free stuff all available here.

Free downloads, Live Chat, Open World Chat, Blogs, Forums, Dating, Some cool web services, Social Networking, Fun zone and the best of all a WapXchanger. All this under one roof.




The site is well managed and has a flow of fresh content on a regular basis. Once you are on this site, its so addictive that it can easily take up few hours of your time. You just tend to keep coming back for more.

The thing that makes this site stand out from the rest is the user uploaded content. There is a vast user database that keep uploading their stuff. It may contain all sorts of file types, be it video, pictures, softwares and applications, games and much more. Most of which is sorted in accordance with your phone type/model.
Free to download and share.

The web version of the site enables you to upload your content and the wap version allows you to download it to you mobile. Endless possibilities.

You can access the web version of the site HERE or just visit http://2wap.org from any of your mobile devices.

Happy Surfing :)

> Best Web Hosting

4.95 USD or 232.993 Indian Rupees is all that it takes to own an online space of your own. Your own online world where you can create your personal/business pages, store unlimited files, a professional website...possibilities can go on. All this and much more for a price of 1 time combo meal, isn't that great?

To be frank, I myself never believed in paying for some service that I can get free online. I was forced to change this thought when I uploaded a well structured site on a free host and it just doomed one morning. The browser did not respond to my site URL and there was this a big "Page cannot be displayed" error on screen.

The portion that I had manually backup up stayed with me, rest was all gone.

This is when I started reviewing all available paid hosts. Services were almost similar but did not turn to be cost effective. I wanted maximum in my economical budget. After a lot of research, I finalized one.

110mb.com - Web Hosting

Its one of the best in market. An all unlimited featured service that stands out in its competition.

Some of its key features being
* UNLIMITED Disk Space
* UNLIMITED Bandwidth
* UNLIMITED MySQL Databases
* No Ads
* E-Mail/Ticket Support
* PHP Sendmail
* Unlimited File Types
* 35 + One Click Installs, Including Wordpress.
* Much, Much, More!

All this at a price of a days meal ;) Isn't that affordable. Now thats a great deal.

110mb.com - Web Hosting

> Ping your Blog to Weblog Services

You may be fond of maintaining blogs, but that wont help unless you have some visitors to it. Every blogger wants his blogs read by someone. That's where it values for his work. To get quality traffic to you blog, just follow a simple practice of updating your blog regularly and approaching online services that keep track of web logs.

There are several popular services like technorati.com, icerocket.com, weblogs.com, my.yahoo.com and many more, that actually crawl, index and publish your content on their records. Getting noticed by these sites increases chances for your blog to be popular among people refering these services. This can increase traffic to your blog and can get you some genuine subscribers to your content.

Approaching these services can either be manual or automated. You can handpick few popular web log engines and update your blog there or you can just reach most available services under one roof.

Yeah that's possible. Its convenient and saves a lot of your time and efforts. Just enter your blog related details and the site will ping or notify a number of services that keep track of weblogs and publish them. Its that easy.

Check out the site HERE

> Make Firefox Browser load faster

While opening a Mozilla Firefox browser window, we often notice that it takes much longer to load than most other browser brands, for instance Google Chrome or Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is because of some background logic which increases the loading time.

Here is a quick method to reduce this excess time. Once you've performed this, your browser will respond much faster than usual and you'll be able to surf better.

To start with, open your Firefox browser and continue the steps below.

Type about:config in the address bar, Then look for the following entries, and make the corresponding changes.
network.http.max-connections-per-server =32
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy =16
network.http.max-connections = 64
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server = 10
network.http.pipelining = true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = 200
network.http.request.max-start-delay = 0
network.http.proxy.pipelining = true
network.http.proxy.version = 1.0

Once this is done, right click anywhere on the screen and select New > Integer. Name it as nglayout.initialpaint.delay and set its value to 0. This value is for the amount of time the browser will wait before it acts on any information it receives.

This is it. Close all browser windows and load again, they should be much faster now.

Pls note: This method is tested and works wonders, however pls do not proceed unless you are confident of your action.

> Mini Browsers For Mobiles Devices

As we move towards Future, wireless technology slowly takes over the wired age. People like to go mobile with hand held devices that are capable of accessing internet through GPRS, Wi-Fi etc. Without the need to carry bulky laptops around, you can connect to the world on the go. Just an internet connection and a web browser is all you need.

With all the advancements, people ask for more, hence companies constantly work on their web browsers to come up with an advanced version.

If you are currently not satisfied with your mobile browser or wish to experiment with new browsers, here is a list of mini browsers that you should try.

Opera Mini: This is my first choice. Its popular and one of the best. There are several versions to suit you mobile device. Most recent cell phones already have this preinstalled. It has a superb compression, smooth scrolling, its extremely fast and able to play online video. These are few cool features that make the latest version of Opera Mini even better than before. It’s available for free on the Opera Mini Download Page or directly from a cellphones.

UCWEB Mobile Browser: This browser is very popular in China. Its freely available for Java and Symbian phones. The most noticable features of this browser is the Password manager and the Tabbed browsing.
Some other common features being
1)Advanced search function with a support for various search engines and the ability to sort results.
2)Email service that supports many online mailboxes and different types of attachment formats.
3)A cool Download interface for better download control.
4)Personal data synchronization between phone, web and PC.
You can downoad the browser HERE

Fennec browser: Fennec is a Mozilla product so using this is like using firefox browser on Mobile. It's still in Alpha and is only available in some selected mobile devices, however anybody can test this browser free on your computer (Windows/Mac/Linux). Just visit the download site.
Some obvious traits for Fennec are:
>Bookmarking with tags.
>Using smart URL Bar with integrated built-in search.
>Tabbed browsing with image thumbnails and page zoom in feature.
>Password manager and the ability to clear private data.
>Built in Pop-up blocker.

> Increase Broadband Internet Speed

There is no magic or hacking here. Its a simple tweak on your available resource.
Windows XP by default reserves 20% of the overall available bandwidth. Thus reducing a portion of you available broadband limit.

Here are some quick steps that will remove this restriction by overriding the default reserve and get optimum value for your money. It will hardly take minutes if you are well versed with Windows.

To start with, make sure you have all rights to change your system settings. For this, you will need to log in as a Primary Owner or Administrator.

Once this is done, just follow these steps:

1) Go to Start > Run > type gpedit.msc
2) Here you will see [Local Computer Policy]
3) Expand the [Administrative Templates] option
4) Expand the [Network] option
5) Click on [QoS Packet Scheduler]
6) On Right pane Double-click [Limit Reservable Bandwidth]
7) Check [Enabled]
8) Change [Bandwidth limit %] to 0 %
9) Click [Apply] [OK]
10) Restart your system

Effects are immediate.

> List of RUN commands in Windows

The "RUN" command in your system becomes a very useful utility. It can be accessed by going to START > RUN or by pressing a combination of Windows Key + R.You may use a lot of commands with this utility. If you could master some of the commands, it could save a lot of your time.

Here is a list of all commands that work with "RUN" command.

Accessibility Controls - access.cpl
Accessibility Wizard - accwiz
Add Hardware - Wizardhdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools control - admintools
Adobe Acrobat (if installed) - acrobat
Adobe Designer (if installed)- acrodist
Adobe Distiller (if installed)- acrodist
Adobe ImageReady (if installed)- imageready
Adobe Photoshop (if installed)- photoshop
Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt
Calculator - calc
Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc
Character Map - charmap
Check Disk Utility - chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer - clipbrd
Command Prompt - cmd
Component Services - dcomcnfg
Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Control Panel - control
Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl
DDE Shares - ddeshare
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)- directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter- dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility- cleanmgr
Disk Defragment- dfrg.msc
Disk Management- diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager- diskpart
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)- control color
Display Properties- control desktop
Display Properties- desk.cpl
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility- drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility- verifier
Event Viewer- eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool- sigverif
Files and Settings Transfer Tool- migwiz
Findfast- findfast.cpl
Firefox (if installed)- firefox
Folders Properties- control folders
Fonts- control fonts
Fonts Folder- fonts
Free Cell Card Game- freecell
Game Controllers- joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)- gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game- mshearts
Help and Support- helpctr
HyperTerminal- hypertrm
Iexpress Wizard- iexpress
Indexing Service- ciadv.msc
Internet Connection Wizard- icwconn1
Internet Explorer- iexplore
Internet Properties- inetcpl.cpl
Internet Setup Wizard- inetwiz
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents)- ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) - ipconfi/all
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID)- ipconfig/showclassid
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents)- ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID)- ipconfig /setclassid
IP Configuration (Release All Connections)- ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections)- ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration(RefreshesDHCP&Re-ipconfig/registerdns
Java Control Panel (If Installed)- javaws
Java Control Panel (If Installed)- jpicpl32.cpl
Keyboard Properties - control keyboard
Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows - logoff.....
Malicious Software Removal Tool - mrt
Microsoft Access (if installed) - access.cpl
Microsoft Chat - winchat
Microsoft Excel (if installed) - excel
Microsoft Frontpage (if installed)- frontpg
Microsoft Movie Maker - moviemk
Microsoft Paint - mspaint
Microsoft Powerpoint (if installed)- powerpnt
Microsoft Syncronization Tool - mobsync
Microsoft Word (if installed)- winword
Minesweeper Game - winmine
Mouse Properties - control mouse
Mouse Properties - main.cpl
Nero (if installed)- nero
Netmeeting - conf
Network Connections - control netconnections
Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard - netsetup.cpl
Notepad - notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed)- nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager - packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator- odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard - osk
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) - ac3filter.cpl
Outlook Express - msimn
Paint - pbrush/mspaint
Password Properties - password.cpl
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
Phone Dialer - dialer
Pinball Game - pinball
Power Configuration - powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes - control printers
Printers Folder - printers
Private Character Editor - eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed)- QuickTime.cpl
Real Player (if installed)- realplay
Regional Settings - intl.cpl
Registry Editor - regedit
Registry Editor - regedit32
Remote Access Phonebook - rasphone
Remote Desktop - mstsc
Removable Storage - ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests - ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) - rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks - control schedtasks
Security Center - wscui.cpl
Services - services.msc
Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows - shutdown
Sounds and Audio - mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game - spider
SQL Client Configuration - cliconfg
System Configuration Editor - sysedit
System Configuration Utility - msconfig
System Information - msinfo32.
System Properties - sysdm.cpl
Task Manager - taskmgr
Task Manager - taskmgr
TCP Tester - tcptest
Telnet Client - telnet
Tweak UI (if installed) - tweakui
User Account Management- nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager - utilman
Windows Address Book - wab
Windows Address Book Import Utility - wabmig
Windows Backup Utility (if installed)- ntbackup
Windows Explorer - explorer
Windows Firewall- firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier- magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure - wmimgmt.msc
Windows Media Player - wmplayer
Windows Messenger - msmsgs
Windows Picture Import Wizard (need camera connected)- wiaacmgr
Windows System Security Tool - syskey
Windows Update Launches - wupdmgr
Windows Version (to show which version of windows)- winver
Windows XP Tour Wizard - tourstart
Wordpad - write

> Disposable Email Address

Internet is one great place to seek attention of a large audience. Spammers just love it. If you notice, as soon as you create a new email ID and happen to register with some online program, you start getting tons of mails. Most of which don't really make any sense to you and some bombard you with silly advertisements(spam). The problem here is that, most sites use an email confirmation method before you can log in to their site so you can't escape the process of giving out your email ID.

Now how do you avoid your email ID getting exposed to the world? Its very easy, just deceive the email confirmation system. Here is a list of sites where you can get auto disposable or fake emails that would be ideal for your purpose.

1. Mailinator - Disposable Email Address:
Mailinator lets you use any random name as you temporary email id. Just use any name @mailinator.com and check the mail at their site. Since it's no way connected to you personal id, you are sure to avoid spam. Pls note, all mails received at Mailinator are public and anyone can see it if the same id is used. You can just create this id and forget, it will be disposed after some time.

2) Emailias - Disposable Email Address:
This service lets you create a disposable email addresses for online use. Emailias is a flexible and feature packed service, and it helps reduce the amount of spam you get.

3. Spamex - Disposable Email Address:
Spamex is meant to stop spam mails. It provides a robust, useful, and almost a complete interface for disposable email addresses.

4. Spamgourmet - Disposable Email Address:
In this service, you first have to register a temporary email address with Spamgourmet. You will also need to provide your personal email address. Once this is done Spamgourmet will redirect all mails to your personal ID. This way you won't have to disclose your personal ID to all sites. The temp ID can be disposed off later.



5. E4ward.com - Disposable Email Address:
E4ward.com is a very useful fake email service that makes it easy to prevent spam to your personal email address. You can use your own domain with E4ward.com, but masking address in your replies becomes bit cumbersome. Auto expiring alias is not offered.

6. GishPuppy - Disposable Email Address:
GishPuppy is a disposable email address service which is simple on functionality. Unfortunately the functionality does not include replacing your real email address with the appropriate alias in replies.

> How to find Unprotected Website directories

How to find unprotected website is a question every tech savvy geek has in mind and most are searching for it at this moment including you.
How to find Unprotected Website directories or How to find unprotected files from a website is a popular search query in Google. I had been searching this for some time now. Finally that I have found it, thought of making a note. If you do like this post, please share it and do leave me a comment :)

As you know every site on the net is a well written and organized structure of files and folders that you see in a graphical format with hyperlinks linking each of them. Most of these folders are hidden or password protected so as to avoid direct public access to them. Those that are not can be classified as intended Public files or just Unprotected. Its silly, but true that there are several websites on the net that some of their contents unprotected and can be accessed by others to get best out of it.

You can get a variety of files that can be opened or downloaded without logging in.
How do you do this? You can't go to every website searching for the unprotected content :)

Don't worry, you don't have to.

Here is a command that queries a search engine, be it Google, Yahoo or any other to provide a list of sites that have unprotected files and displays the results based on your query.

Enter the following string in the search field:

-inurl(html|htm|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size

This will bring up a list of sites and you can hunt for whatever you can find. Something like the screenshot below.
















Now once you get familiar with this, I'm sure you would want to search list of specific file types like 3gp or wmv or avi...etc

Just modify the string as below:

-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(3gp|avi)


This query will look for 3gp or avi video files. You can easily change the file formats from 3gp|avi to extensions of your choice.

eg:
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(mp3|mov)
or
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(pdf)

There is so much to experiment in this, you will be hooked onto your file hunting :)



Further to this, if you want to search for some specific file names with desired extensions, you can modify the query accordingly

The string will read as:
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(jpg|gif) "pamela"

Pls note: You may not get the exact results all the time, but sometime you may hit the bulls eye and have a gold mine (a long list of files you've always wanted ;)

Its fun to go searching around these unprotected files and yeah, for all those saints out there, pls don't consider this unethical. The files are on the World Wide Web and in an unprotected condition. Consider it to be meant that way, for being accessed by anyone, else why would someone put such crucial content on the web without password protecting it :)

I hope you go my point.

> Trick to Lock Desktop Icons in place

If you are a person who is fond of changing your Desktop wallpaper quite often, you would love this trick. This trick will help you arrange and lock your Desktop icons to suit your wallpaper.

Lets say, you've arranged your desktop icons to look well with your new wallpaper. Someone happens to mess up with this arrangement. Now you have to redo the entire customization. To avoid this mess, you can lock the icons so you dont have to repeat the arrangement.

Locking your icons:
To lock your desktop icons, first arrange them carefully the way you want them to be, then open up the registry editor (Start > Run > regedit)

In the Left pane go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.




Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD Value name NoSaveSettings and press the Enter key. Right-click on the new NoSaveSettings item and select Modify. Enter 1 in the Value data box.

Once you've done this, whenever you restart Windows, your icons will return to their current state.

> Secret codes for China Mobiles

Here is a consolidated list of secret codes that can come handy, if you are an owner of a China Phone

The following codes work with most China Phones like GFive, Alkatel, Sigmatel, Carboonn and many more.





–Default user code : 1122, 3344, 1234, 5678
–Engineer mode : *#110*01#
–Factory mode : *#987#
–Enable COM port : *#110*01# -> Device -> Set UART -> PS Config -> UART1/115200
–Restore factory settings : *#987*99#
–LCD contrast : *#369#
–Software version : *#800#
–Software version : *#900#
–Set default language : *#0000# Send
–Set English language : *#0044# Send
–Set English language (new firmware) : *#001# Send

> Rename Start button in Windows

As soon as you are allotted a desktop/laptop or if you've bought a system for yourself, the first thing you wish to do is to customize it. This may include, putting up a personal wallpaper or screensaver, creating Personal drives, folders with your name etc., and why shouldn't you?...it makes you feel an owner of the system and gives you a comfort level..

Here i'm going to discuss a trick that can change the text on the Start Button to any name you like.



To start with, Download a software called Resource Hacker. Its a 541kb zip archive that can be easily downloaded and installed. You will get the links below.


Download Link1
Download Link2

Resource Hacker is a free software where you can to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows resource and executable files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and de-compiler that works for Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000 and WinXP operating systems.

Procedure:
Step 1: Before making any changes, pls consider creating backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer and place it in a safe location. This is a good practice. Now start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.
The category we are going to edit is String Table In Resource Hacker. Expand it by clicking the plus (+) sign then navigate down and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you a non WinXP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the string table. We’re will modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

















Here you would need to rename the word "start" with whatever text you wish to display. Pls note the, quotation makes should accompany the new word that you type

Step 2: Now that you are through with Step 1, you need to modify your registry so that the new file you created is recognized by your system. There is nothing hard in here, just keep following.

Since you are on this page and are taking such efforts, I assume that you are familiar with editing registry. Just to brush up, go to Start > Run and type regedit and hit enter.
Now Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon












On the Right pane, double click the Shell entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file and Click "OK"

Close Registry Editor and Reboot your system for effects to take place. If you've done everything mentioned above, you should see a new name for your Start button.

> Auto Directory Submission

Directory submission is a very helpful SEO practice that builds up quality backlinks, ensures indexing in popular search engines and finally gets a long lasting traffic.

Its very easy submiting your site to a single directory and hardly takes time, but the same thing feels a task when submitting to thousands of available directories , where filling up forms and selecting categories for your site is time consuming. This is where people start searching for automated systems that take care of their submissions.

There are several softwares and Desktop applications that involve auto submission, but most of them are pretty complicated to figure out, some don’t work as expected or some just crash half the time.

Recently came across an online resource thats robust and quite accurate in whats it meant for....Auto Directory Submission

The system is very simple to understand and the best part is, its Online.

>Once you've created your account, login to the system
>Fill in all your site related details
>Save your settings
>Now you can visit the Directory list
>Your details would be auto filled for you. You just need to hit "Submit"


Check out the system overview below:


Its that simple :)

You can visit the site HERE

> Lock Windows Folder

Do you store Personal files on a general resource, like your Office or your friends PC? Do you always worry about your privacy?
Then I'm sure you'd always be thinking about protecting the Personal content from unwated eyes.

There are many softwares that people use to lock or hide their Personal files. But here is a trick that can safely lock all your files or folders without any external softwares. Heres how you can do it.

Lets say, you wish to lock a folder named "Personal" in C:\ drive such that the folder path is C:\Personal

In the C:\ drive create a text file and type


ren Personal Personal.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Now save this text file as Lock.bat.

Now create one more text file and type

ren Personal.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} Personal

Save this text file as Key.bat

Now you will see 2 batch files Lock.bat and Key.bat.

Opening Lock.bat will change your Personal folder to a Control Panel icon and will redirect you there. You will not be able to view the folder content.

Opening Key.bat will revert the changes and you'll see the original folder again.

Try it yourself :)

Note:
1) Once you create the 2 batch files, keep the Key.bat in a separate folder so no one can use it.
2) Even if you lose the file, you can recreate the same, if you know the name of your Hidden Folder.
3) If you wish to hide multiple folders, you can use the same batch file. Just insert a new line and repeat the code. Each line represents a new Folder name.

> Crazy Browser Pranks

These crazy browser pranks will just blow your mind and if played on unsuspecting friends can give some best reactions...
Just came across these funny codes that make your Web Browsers go crazy
Check them out

Copy the javascript code mentioned below and paste it in your Browser Address bar.



OR





Press enter and watch an unusual behavior in your Browser window. You can change the value of "i" if you wish to. Don't worry, this is no Virus that you need to be scared of.
Have Fun :)

> Setting up Gtalk Autoreply

If you've reached here searching for a free Gtalk Bot that auto replies for you, then you're at the right place.

Now you can Setup an auto responder for your gtalk messenger with a free application called Gtalk Autoreply. This software lets you set up a custom message and send automated reply to your friends in Gtalk.

Gtalk Autoreply can come very handy while you are busy in office or away from your system or just want some of your friends to know your status message when they ping you. You can pre-configure this application with auto replies so that when someone pings you on gtalk, this app will automatically respond to your friend with the automated reply from your gtalk messenger.

















Gtalk Autoreply uses Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) inorder to send automated replies.

Setting up Gtalk Autoreply

All you need to do is Download the application and login to it using your google User ID and Password.
Once you've logged in, type a custom message that you wish to display (as replay) when someone messages you on gtalk.
Save and Enable Autoreply.




You can Download Gtalk Autoreply HERE.
Run setup.exe

Alternate Link HERE

> Map Gmail as Network Drive

Of all the email clients, Gmail is quite famous for its clean banner free interface, its reliability as a Google product and its sufficient storage space which keeps increasing with time. How about using this available storage space as an extrenal network drive. Something similar to your computer hard drives.

Using a small application Gmail Drive, you can convert your gmail account to a network drive which can be accessible through your windows explorer. Basic tasks like COPY/PASTE can be performed as you would do from any other computer drive. The amount of space available on your gmail account is the available space for your network drive. You can use this space to upload content directly from your computer and save it online in your Gmail account.













GMail Drive is a Shell Extension that creates a virtual drive for your system, using any of your Gmail accounts, allowing you to use Gmail as a storage medium. It literally adds a new drive to your system under My Computer, where you can create new folders, copy, paste, drag’n'drop files to.









With GMail Drive you have ready space to store and retrieve files, whenever you want. There is no file format restriction, just that the indivisual file size can be as much as your gmail attachment limit.
When you copy a new file using GMail Drive, it generates an e-mail and posts it to your account. The e-mail appears in your Inbox folder as a normal mail, and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment.

Incase if you feel that these mails clutter up your Inbox folder, you may wish to create a filter in Gmail to automatically move the files (prefixed with the GMAILFS letters in the subject) to your archived mail folder.

Please Note: Even though Gmail Drive may look and feel as your regular computer drive, it is not and may have some limitations.

It may have some barriers (such as total filename size must be less than 65 characters and file size limit), but being a free service that can be overlooked. Since the tool completely depends on your free Gmail Service provided by Google, changes in the Gmail system may break the tool’s ability to function. There can be no guarantee given for lifetime functionality of this tool. Hence use it till it lasts :)





You can Download the application HERE

> Trace Mobile number

There may be instances where we need to know details for a Mobile number. It may be tracing a location for a blank call or knowing details for an advertiser who continuously spams us with calls or messages or it may just be our curiosity.

I recently came across a site that enables us to trace any Mobile number in India.
Once we enter a 10 digit mobile number, the site returns data for the Mobile network operator, the type of service and it's location in India. The system is working hard to trace Mobile Operators on District and Town level as well. We may expect this feature soon.

Apart from number tracking, the site also tracks Bulk SMS sender.

We usually get promotional/informational sms from organizations link Banks, Mobile Services, Trading services etc. These organizations do not disclose their numbers. What we see is some typical codes like TA-ICICIBNK,AD-Orange...etc. Thanks to this wonderful service, we can now decode this and get details on the sender and the location of the sender.

There are few more services that add to the bouquet.

You can trace:

> Vehicle Numbers
> Pincodes
> IP addresses
> WHOIS record



Check the site HERE

> Edit Send To context menu in Windows

What do you do when you want to copy a file from a location to another folder?
You select the file. Copy it (CTRL+C). Open the destination folder and paste it (CTRL+V)

Wouldn't it be great if you could just right click the file and send it to the destination folder? You could save some valuable time doing this.
Here is a method, where you could customize the "SEND TO" function in your context menu (right click) to get desired results.

This is very simple and can be done in a minute.
Lets say you have a folder named "NF1" located somewhere in your computer. This is your personal folder and you wish to add it in "SEND TO" menu such that you could right click any file and hit SEND TO "NF1"















To begin with open windows explorer. From the main Menu select Tools > Folder Options > View > Show Hidden Files and Folders.
Once you've activated this goto C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo path

This is where you will add a shortcut to "NF1"

To create a shortcut, right click on "NF1" and click "Create Shortcut"



















As mentioned earlier, Move this newly created shortcut to C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo folder.

You can now rename this shortcut as per your convenience. This is all you need to do and your edited context menu is ready.

Now you can right click any file, click on "Send To" and select the shortcut to "NF1" that you just created. The file will be copied to the destination folder without much efforts.

> Free banner promotion

How would you like if someone promotes your site for you and expects nothing much in return?

I recently came across a site that does the same. You get free banner promotion for your site and its absolutely free. You get a backlink to your site and also free traffic. In return, you are humbly requested to put a backlink for them, but don't worry; your banner will not be removed if you don't.

The implementation process is very simple and quick. You need to fill up a small form as you see in the screen-shot below. If everything goes well your advertisment will be up and running within 24 - 48hrs.
















If you are all set to go for this free promotion, make sure you are ready with an attractive GIF or JPEG banner of 172x86 pixel. This is the exact dimension required.



Your promotional link should be pointing to a webpage which should begin with http://
Take your time to finalize an appropriate banner, cause once the banner goes live, you will not be able to change it. You are allowed to delete it though.

Check out the site HERE

> Custom domain for blogger

Blogger does not provide Name servers, which are usually needed to set up a custom domain for your site. This makes Blogger different from other hosting providers.

I recently set up a custom domain for my Blogger blog and it was far more easier than I actually thought. It involved a change in DNS settings and then a change in my Blogger settings. The work around took 5-10 mins, the wait time was around 12 hrs and my domain was up and running.

I referred several online resources, but each failed to keep it simple. Here I would list some quick steps that will help a smooth transition to a new domain, without any downtime.

Since you are reading this, I assume, you've already bought a domain name with full DNS control. Now follow the steps below, in the same order as listed.

1) Log in to your Domain registrar's (DReg) site and check for "Manage DNS". This is where you will make the required changes to DNS. If you are not able to find "Manage DNS", your DReg could help you get there.

2) Once you are in the "Manage DNS" option, you will see some default entries. These would be pointing to a default host, defined by your Dreg. Ignore them they will not be required anymore.




3) There are 3 kind of records you can create here A, MX and CNAME. We'll just concentrate on A and CNAME for now.

4) You will now create 4 "A" records for your naked domain "example.com" and 1 "CNAME" record for your subdomain "www.example.com"

5) 4 "A" records will point to 4 different IPs -- 216.239.36.21, 216.239.38.21, 216.239.32.21, 216.239.34.21 and the "CNAME" record will point to "ghs.google.com".

6) In the "Manage DNS" system, you will see something like this:
Domain NameTypeRecord
example.comA216.239.36.21
example.comA216.239.38.21
example.comA216.239.32.21
example.comA216.239.34.21


Sub Domains for example.com
www.example.comCNAMEghs.google.com

7) The additional entries apart from what you see above is not required. However confirm with your DReg before you delete them. These are the only changes required in the Dreg system. You can save your changes and exit.

8) It takes around 12 - 36 hrs for your changes to reflect across all DNS servers. So wait patiently.

9) Once you've waited for a day or so, log in to your Blogger account. Go to "Settings" > "Publishing". Click on "Custom Domain". As you've already purchsed a custom domain, go to Advanced settings. Here enter your custom domain like "www.example.com". Once you click Save, there is an additional option to redirect your naked domain "example.com" to your blog, dont forget to select it.

10) If everything goes well, your new domain should point to your Blogger blog. Incase it does not, you may have tried too soon. Wait for some more time and repeat the Blogger settings. It should be working fine then.

Pls note: There are several domain registrars and each may have a different approach to setting up a domain, but the basic concept remains same through out. If you get familiar with the above concept, you may put your queries to your Dreg in a more better manner. This may inturn reduce an unnecessary interaction time.

> Find duplicate entries in excel

Microsoft Excel is an awesome application with a lot of tools and features to manage Data of any kind. The more you use it, the more you get familiar with it.
Routine tasks are generally taken care of, by a user friendly Menus and Tools, but there are some functions where you really need to explore a lot.

Working with Large Spreadsheets with a lot of data may sometimes cause duplicate entries and this can ruin all your statistic calculations. Rectifying this manually will consume a lot of your time and efforts. So what do you do?

Fortunately as always, excel has a brilliant solution for this problem. It combines 2 properties to get the results.
a) Finding duplicate entries b) Highlighting those entries for quick recognition.

I tried it myself, and was so impressed that I could'nt resist Noting it down for later use.

Here are Step wise instructions for better understanding.

Step1) The process works column wise, so concentrate on 1 column at a time. Lets take column "A" as example. The same can be repeated across worksheet.

Step2) If you have a list of data in column "A" select the first cell. This cell will hold the condition to search duplicates in the file. Once the cell is selected, go to the Menu bar and follow Format > Conditional Formatting. This will open a new dialog window.



Step3) In this new window, select "Formula Is". A text box appears, prompting you to enter a formula. Enter this formula into the text box:
=COUNTIF(A:A, A1) >1 (remove spaces if any)
The function "COUNTIF" will search through the column "A" and find any duplicate entries in the column.

Step4) Now click the "Format" button in the "Conditional Formatting" dialog box. This expands the window and presents you with some formatting options. From the sub-menu "Patterns" select the highlighting color for the duplicate entries. Click "OK."

Step5) Copy the cell that holds the condition (A1). Press "Ctrl + spacebar" to select entire column. From the "Edit" menu, click "Paste Special". From the dialog box select "Formats" and then click "OK" to copy the conditional formatting to the entire column. This should highlight all duplicate entries in the column.

Step6) Once all entries are found, you can decide whether to keep, delete or just cut and paste them to some other worksheet incase you need them later. :)

Step7) Incase you need to perform the same function on some other column, the process remains the same, just replace all "A"s in the formula with the column alphabet.

> Full length movies on Youtube

If you think Youtube is only meant for short video clips, movie trailers or news footages, think again; coz Youtube has come up with some popular full lenght movies for you. You can watch them online or download if required. By full length I mean 1 single movie file, no split files.

You can watch some of the popular Bollywood and Hollywood movies on YouTube for free. These movies are well categorized and listed under respective genres.



Genre List
> Action & Adventure
> Animation & Cartoons
> Bollywood
> Classics
> Comedy
> Crime
> Documentary & Biography
> Drama
> Family
> Horror
> Mystery & Suspense
> Romance
> Science Fiction
> Shorts
> Spanish Language
> Sports
> The Screening Room

Currently the collection is limited, but the list may be updated in future.



Like most other YouTube videos, you can embed these movies on your site as well.

Check out the movies Here

> Dofollow blogs and social bookmarking list

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> Stop your PC from locking or going to sleep

There are instances where you actually don't want your computer to sleep or throw up a screen-saver. It may be while watching a movie on your PC or while running some applications (like some browser scripts or PC scans) which work fine when your machine is active.

If you are very good with computers, you may find a solution within your system settings. But if you don't want to get into all this, there is a simpler solution.

Just download "Caffeine"

Caffeine will keep your system awake. It works by simulating a keypress once every 59 seconds, so your machine thinks you're still working at the keyboard, and won't lock the screen or activate the screensaver. It's that easy.

Caffeine is a small application that runs in your system tray. It's the leftmost icon, as seen in the image below.






Double clicking the icon will enable or disable the application.



You can download Caffeine Here

> Best free Proxy site

The content below is meant for information exchange. I take no responsibility of any unethical use of it what so ever.

If you feel you are not able to access some online content quite often, the first thing you do is to check if the resource itself is unavailable or you have been blocked from accessing it. Once you've figured it out, you try and use alternate means to access it. No matter how much you deny this unethical behavior, everybody does it for sure ;) That's the reason the Proxy sites exist and survive.

There is a long list of Proxy sites available on net. Most of them offer free services. I may list them in some other post. For now, I would like to share a site that is free and lets you access sites which otherwise you may not have access to.

Introducing "Punky - social network"

It's probably named that way, as it smoothly opens blocked access to 2 major social networks like "Facebook" and "Twitter". Besides primary focus on these 2 networks, Punky also offers access to most other sites.



You can visit the site Here

> Free online file storage

Here are few instances where you may think of storing your files Online.
> You need to backup some data and you don't have any external media (HD, pen/flash drive etc)
> You wish to share a heavy file over net, with multiple users
> You need to email a file which your email client cannot handle.
> Your web host or blog has limited storage or does not accept upload of certain file formats.
> You wish to organize your photos online so others could view it that way.

What ever the reason may be, there is a solution to all.
I have listed a few sites that provide free online storage or file sharing. Pick the one that's most suited for your need and you are good to go. Although all the sites mentioned here, provide free service, most of them have a storage time limitation. If you wish to store your files for longer duration, I would suggest you go through the site Rules/FAQs for same.

Skydrive (recommended): This offers free storage of upto 25 GB and data that you upload is stored for life. Its a Microsoft product hence you can rely on it.

Box: Free storage of upto 1 GB and file size is 25 MB

Mozy: Up to 2GB free storage. It requires download of desktop application which helps you figure out which files to back up.

DropBox: The interface is user friendly and simple - you can upload up to 1 GB of your files here.




divShare: Upload all kinds of files here, including multimedia. Includes integration with Facebook and WordPress.

MediaFire: Apart from uploading files here, you get lot of extra options like (creating folders, galleries, etc).

Omnidrive: Free online storage of upto 1 GB. It also integrates with Zoho and Snipshot.

Omemo: This basically has a desktop application download, which can pick up portion of you free Harddisk space. It clubs the space from multiple users to create a large virtual space.

Senduit: Need to share a large file with someone? Try Senduit - just upload your file, share a secure URL, and you're all set.

Yuntaa: Free storage up to 1 GB; also offers blogging.

YouSendIt: This is a file sharing system, where you can upload a file of about 2 GB and share privately or publicly.

Megashares: Up to 10GB available for upload storage; you get a URL where your files can either be privately or publicly accessed.

Badongo: The free account gives you Unlimited storage space. You get a user friendly File management system and FTP uploads

Dropbox: Its an installer that creates application folders in your system. The files in these Folders get synchronized automatically and are available online. The free account gives you 2 GB space. Drop your files in application folder and access it on any PC.

> Free online TV channels

There have been several queries on Google for free online Television (TV). Ofcourse this requires very good internet connection, but most people have it these days.

You could find several websites that can provide Online TV experience. Most of them are paid and those that are free may not provide you a smooth interface. Paying for the service should not be a problem, unless you are dead sure that the service you are paying for is worth all those bucks.

At this point I would be pleased to introduce you to a site that gives you a convenient user interface, almost umpteen live channels across the globe and all this for no cost to you (except your internet usage charge if you incur any).

Visit the site Here and follow the simple steps below.
1) Create your free account and login to the site.
2) Select your Country and your favorite genre from the list




3) You will require to download and install a browser plugin - SopCast.
4) For now, SopCast only works with Internet Explorer (IE), so make sure you use this browser.
5) Now before you proceed to the channel, the application will require access to your Facebook.
If you are fine with this, it seems a small price to keep the service free.

Once all the above things are in place, you can access the requested channel.

The buffering time depends on the broadcaster and your net speed. It may vary on external factors. The difference in time between online channels and the channels you actually see on Television may vary at a range of few minutes to few hours depending on server time. So just relax and enjoy your online TV experience.

My overall rating to this service would be 4 out of 5. Try it yourself and let me know how it works for you.