35 Things Every PC User Should Know

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Calibrate Your Monitor's Color





Obtaining true-to-life color on your display can be an expensive task that requires special software and hardware. Here's how to get more-accurate color out of your monitor without spending an arm and a leg.
First, download the free Monitor Calibration Wizard. When you run the wizard, it will walk you through several simple tests.
Afterward, save the profile under a name of your choosing. Select this profile under the Load Profile box, and check the box next to Load at Windows startup. Your color will be corrected to your new profile each time you boot. You may not notice much of a difference, though, unless your monitor was seriously out of whack to begin with.
Additional free color-correction tools exist for specific video card brands. RivaTuner is primarily designed for systems with nVidia cards (through the GeForce 7 card series), while ATITool is the counterpart for ATI cards (to get color-correction support for cards released in the last 12 months or so, download the beta version of this free tool).

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Decipher Digital Camera Mode Icons

The little icons that appear on the control wheel of your digital camera may look pretty, but unless you've spent time with your camera's manual, you're likely to be baffled by what they all mean. Each represents a distinct camera mode, and selecting the right one can make the difference between a great shot and a dud.
Here's a cheat sheet of some of the most common icons and how the modes work. (Caveat: Every model of camera is designed differently, so you may notice some variations on the items below.) Note that shooting modes may not all appear on the control dial--some modes may be on a menu.



Automatic: Sets the camera's flash and focus to automatic and uses average exposure settings. Generally the default on digital cameras. Sometimes the icon reads 'AUTO'.


Close-up: Use this mode for taking photos from about 2 feet away or closer. Note that the flash may not fire unless set manually in this mode.



Landscape: For distant subjects. The flash should not fire. Sometimes indicated by the ? symbol.



Sport Mode: For photographing moving subjects. Sets the shutter speed to the fastest mark and generally uses the flash as needed.



Night Mode: For low-light conditions. Uses a slow shutter speed and may fire the flash. The icon may also indicate a backlight mode that fires a fill flash so that you can properly compensate for the shadowed subject.

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Portrait Mode: For faces. Tries to blur out the background and may use red-eye reduction mode.



Video Mode: For shooting short video clips.



Image Stabilization: Turns on the image stabilizer in order to counter shaky hands.



Aperture-Priority Mode: You manually determine the aperture setting (the diameter of the lens), and the camera controls the shutter speed.



Shutter-Priority Mode: You manually determine the shutter speed, and the camera controls the lens aperture.



Manual Mode: This setting gives you complete control over your camera's aperture and shutter speed

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Partition Your Hard Drive





If you're out of space on your system, it's time to add a new hard drive to your PC--or just reconfigure an old one. There's no real need to set up even the largest drives into multiple partitions (each with its own drive letter) anymore, as the system BIOS can address all the storage in one partition. However, partitions can still make for good housekeeping, and you might consider creating a separate partition for any network shares you'd like to make--say, for storing drivers and software installation files that you plan to reuse and want easy access to. Or you may wish to use one partition to install the operating system and critical apps and another for your data files, which will simplify backup tasks. Here's how to go about it.
Partitioning as you install Windows: Use Windows Setup's partitioning system to set partitions appropriately as you go through the process. Format the partition(s) with NTFS. After you have installed Windows, copy any data you need from the original drive to the new one. You can then retire the old drive or clean it off for use as additional storage.
Partitioning under Windows: To set up a new or existing drive in Windows, go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Storage, Disk Management. Your drive should appear; new drives will show as unformatted space. Partition the space by right-clicking in the unformatted area and selecting New Partition; then, to format each partition, right-click in the partition and choose New Logical Drive.
Copious third-party tools offer options to ease partition management and disk maintenance. Norton PartitionMagic ($70) and Diskeeper Home ($30) can streamline the operations if you're uncomfortable working with Windows' tools. Users with lots of PC upgrade experience can save some dough when they add a new drive by buying it bare--no kits, utilities, or OS. Such a drive works well if you're not planning to use it as a boot disk or if you intend to install Windows fresh video.



Windows Tips: Optimize PC Settings

1. Tweak the start menu display: Right-click the Start button, then click Properties and Customize. Under the Advanced tab, you'll see a list of the items you can modify.
2. View all files: Click Tools, Folder Options, View In Windows Explorer. Check Show hidden files and folders; uncheck Hide extensions for known file types and Hide protected operating system files.
3. Make sure system restore is on: Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, System, and then click the System Restore tab; enable it if needed.
4. Turn off auto-restart on error: With this feature on, you can't find out why your PC crashed. Right-click My Computer, choose Properties, Click the Advanced tab, select Settings under 'Startup and Recovery', and uncheck Automatically Restart under 'System failure'.
5. Turn off error reporting: Go to Settings, Control Panel, System. On the Advanced tab, click Error Reporting, and then select Disable error reporting. No more nag note about sending Microsoft a report

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Add-Ons: Get 5 Useful Freebies

1. Puretext: Copies text and strips all formatting, such as italics and HTML tags.
2. AOL Active Virus Shield: AOL merely puts its logo on this heavy-duty antivirus system; the actual security engine is from Kaspersky. Works with Windows 98 and up.
3. AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5: A great spyware removal tool when others fail.
4. SpamBayes: This Outlook antispam plug-in doesn't rely on blacklists but instead learns what to block according to how you train it.
5. HTTrack: Highly configurable offline browser mirrors Web pages or entire sites onto your PC for later perusal.

PC Protection: Tighten PC Security

1. Create a password for the Administrator account. You can find the option under Start, Settings, Control Panel, User Accounts.
2. Password-protect your screen saver. Go to Settings, Control Panel, Display. Click the Screen Saver tab. Change 'Wait time' to 5 minutes, and check On resume, password protect. The password will be your user password.
3. Turn off file sharing in Windows Explorer. Open Explorer, click Tools, Folder Options, View. Scroll to the bottom, uncheck Use simple file sharing, and click Apply.
4. Turn off the Windows Firewall. Go to Settings, Control Panel, Windows Firewall and click off under the General tab. Then, install a software firewall such as ZoneAlarm.
5. Turn on Automatic Updates. Go to Settings, Control Panel, Automatic Updates. Select the first option to have each update download and install automatically. If you want more control over the process, use either option two or three.
6. Install an antivirus program, turn on automatic updates, and set up a regular scanning schedule.
7. Install an antispyware app and run it on a regular schedule.
8. Turn on your browser's pop-up blocker. In IE 7, go to Tools, Pop-up Blocker Settings, and choose the Medium option (this is the default, but it's easy to turn it off accidentally); to kill all pop-ups, select High.
9. Optional: Set a BIOS password in your PC Setup application.
10. Optional: Increase your browser's security settings. In IE 6 or 7, click Tools, Internet Options, Privacy and move the slider to High.

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Systray Tips: Turn Off Pesky Apps





More and more applications continually nag you with pop-ups or plop an icon into your already crowded system tray. Here's how to deal with some of the worst offenders.
Apple Quicktime: To remove the icon from the system tray, right-click it and select QuickTime Preferences. Click Advanced and uncheck Install QuickTime icon in system tray.
Real Player: To remove pop-ups, right-click the Real Player system tray icon. Click Set Real Message Center preferences.... Uncheck all boxes. Click Yes on the 'Warning!' screen. To remove the shovelware, go to the 'Add or Remove Programs' control panel. First, remove The Weather Channel Desktop (click No thanks... at the warning prompt and quit the browser survey launched after); then remove Weather Services. You must remove them in order.
Windows Messenger: To prevent Messenger spam, disable it. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools. Double-click Services. Scroll to and then double-click Messenger. Click Stop. Change the 'Startup type:' field to Disabled.

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Make Sure Burned DVDs Play

Illustration: Peter and Maria Hoey


With a full seven types of standard-def writable DVDs out, ensuring that the home movies you just burned to disc will actually play on your set-top player can be difficult. Get a list of the media your player is compatible with by searching for your player's brand and model number on VideoHelp.com.
Format Your iPod for PCs

Out of the box, your new iPod may be configured to work not with a PC but with a Mac. Before you try to use it, you must format it to work with Windows' file system (a Mac will recognize a Windows-formatted iPod, but the reverse is not true). Download iTunes, install it, and then plug in your iPod. On the left side of the iTunes window you should see 'Devices' and your iPod below it. Click the iPod's name, then click Restore to the right and follow the prompts. This will reformat your device for use with Windows. If Windows can't see your iPod at all, try Apple's iPod troubleshooting steps.
Reorganize the Taskbar

Download the free Taskbar Shuffle. With this plug-in you can drag taskbar items from one place on the bar to another. Note that some antivirus software may incorrectly warn you that Taskbar Shuffle is malware.
Sort Your Start Menu

Click Start, All Programs, right-click one of the selections, and click Sort by Name. You'll have to do this again each time you install a new app.
Remove DRM From Your Tunes

Illustration: Peter and Maria Hoey


Apple's iTunes, MTV's Urge, and similar online stores take the pain out of buying music, but the embedded digital rights management technology in the songs adds a new headache, limiting where you can play them and how often. Some apps strip out DRM by cracking the encryption, but that tends to be illegal. Achieve the same ends with the following.

1. Create a new playlist with all the songs you'd like to rip.
2. Use your software's Burn Disc option to copy the music to audio-CD format.
3. After you've burned the music to disc, rename the originally downloaded song to something like "My Sharona-iTunes DRM."
4. Insert your newly burned CD-R and click Import CD to copy the songs back into iTunes or whichever player app you originally used. They will now be stripped of all DRM.

Save Money on Tech Purchases

In many cases, when you buy a desktop PC, you're best off getting the minimum amount of RAM you can, since upgrading it yourself later is cheaper and a simple process. Also, never buy the fastest CPU on the market, which will always carry a significant price premium. You'll save hundreds by purchasing a processor one or two rungs down, and you're unlikely to notice much performance difference.
Disable the Insert Key

Nothing good has ever come from the <Insert> key. Although you have many ways to disable it, here's a simple one: In Word, click Tools, Customize, Options, Keyboard. In the Categories box (look in the left pane), select All Commands. In the Commands box (right pane), select Overtype. In the 'Current keys' box, highlight Insert and click Remove.

[Gori]

very nice sharing

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thank you gori...

[ViSIoN]

thanks you...4 shearing...