SIMPLE data back up to an External or Flash drive

Chris — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:23:35 +0000

Trust me data loss is real!! There are times when people lose data due to hardware failure and honestly it makes me what to cry because there’s no reason to lose all your data. Computer components break down all the time. They’re not designed to last forever. Unfortunately, many people don’t take the time to back up data stored on their computers. Seriously, can you imagine losing all your photos, music, email contacts, emails, videos of your family, tax and business documents all in a days time? Here’s a 1 minute tutorial on how to back up your data to a external hard drive or flash drive. I recommend buying an external hard drive in a 500 GB to 1TB in size. This is a good size for the average home user and you’ll have plenty of room to add more data over the years. They run anywhere from $60-$120 depending on the size, brand, sales. They can be purchased at Target, Radio Shack, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Office Max, Office Depot, etc. The piece of mind is worth the cost a 1000 x’s over!

Create a ‘new’ folder in Windows and organizing files

Chris — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:53:56 +0000

Here’s a very brief tutorial on how to create a folder in Windows and then copy or move files into it. This is a great tip to keep your files, music, photos, data, etc. organized in any Windows OS.

Completely Remove All Data from a Hard Drive Using KillDisk

Chris — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:15:07 +0000

I strongly recommend using KillDisk if you are selling, giving away an old computer, or have had a massive virus infestation. Unfortunately, many people are under the false impression that when you re install Windows all of your data is gone permanently. While you may not see it, there are traces of your data left behind that can be read by special software. It is EXTREMELY important to use KillDisk on company computers or computers that have housed sensitive data before giving them away or selling them. In the last 2 weeks I’ve encountered issues where I couldn’t re-install Windows operating systems on the desired computers. The first computer was running Windows XP and the client simply wanted a ‘clean’ re install of XP. The 2nd was a laptop computer running Windows Vista and the client wanted a ‘clean’ install of Windows 7. Both system would not allow the new operating system to install. Error messages would appear at random points of the installation process. My solution was to use a FREE program called Kill Disk. It truly re formats the hard drive, removing any and all traces of Windows, data, etc.

Download the FREE version of KillDisk

Download Bootable ISO Image of Active@ KillDisk to desktop to burn a CD.
This downloads an ISO IMAGE (not a regular file) that needs to be burned to the CD AS AN IMAGE (not as an added file).
Extract Zipped contents into a folder on your desktop
Install the ISO-Burner.exe file on your computer
Drag the BOOT-DSK.ISO file to your desktop
Open ISO Burner and select the BOOT-DSK.ISO file from your desktop
Put a blank CD in your CD write drive >select Burn ISO.

After you have burned your copy of KillDisk put the CD in and re boot the machine you are wanting to ‘wipe clean’ with the KillDisk CD. Follow the prompts for the Free version and sit back and wait, it will take about 2-3 hours for the process to complete but is very much worth the wait.

TextPlus Help and FAQ

Chris — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:39:11 +0000

I’ve been getting tons of questions about the free texting app textPlus. For those of you who don’t know what textPlus is it’s a FREE app you can put on your iPod Touch, iPhone, Android and it allows you to text just about anyone for free. For more basic information about textPlus and the download link please visit here! If your using this app on an iPod Touch to send and receive SMS you need to have a WiFi connection. Also make sure that Premium Messaging Services is not blocked or disabled through your carrier. Here’s some answers to the most often asked questions about textPlus. If you can’t find the answers to your questions below, here’s a direct link to Gogii, the developer of textPlus: http://support.gogii.com/gogii/topics

1. What is a textPlus address and why would I want one?

A textPlus address is your unique name, word, or phrase that you can give out to your friends and family, so that they can reach you directly on the textPlus network, even if they don’t have the app.

For example:

1. Someone without the app wants to reach Drew. His textPlus address is DREW. They can text the word DREW to 60611 and get a hold of him!
2. Someone has textPlus and so do you. They can start a new conversation and send a message right to your textPlus address, no cell # needed! App to App magic! How do I get my own textPlus address?

2. How do I get a textPlus address?

Tap the MORE tab, then tap settings.

Tap ACCOUNT, then tap “sign up for free” and put in a little bit of information (which is not shared)…along with the textPlus address that you want. It’s as simple as that. Make sure you pick a unique name that people will remember! IT MUST BE A NAME NOT A NUMBER (Ex. Chris29, or TechSavyChic or Tina139)Once you have a textPlus address, other textPlus users can send a message directly to your app…without either of you needing a phone number (or even a cell phone). Friends don’t have textPlus? No problem, they can text your textPlus address to

60611 and you’ll get the message!

3. What is 60611?

60611 is the number your friends without the app will get your texts from. They’ll also see your real name and your textPlus address (so that they know who they’re getting the texts from and hopefully won’t ignore you!)60611 is a short code, which is kind of like a phone number—but shorterEasy to remember, too. So if your friends want to start a conversation with you and your textPlus address is Drew, you’d say “Text the word Drew to 60611″ — weeeee!

4. Why should I put my cell # into textPlus?

textPlus does not require a phone number. You will be able to start and get replies from as many conversations as you want without one.
However, by verifying your number, messages from your friends who use textPlus get sent straight to the app for free rather than being sent as Regular Texts.

NOTE:
Entering in your cell # does NOT mean that people who text you to your # will go right to your textPlus app. They don’t do any forwarding or re-routing.

5. How do I get alerts and sounds when I get messages?

textPlus can alert you (with sound) the instant you get a message using one of two methods even if the app is closed.Push Notifications — Recommended because it’s FREE! Manage this in your iPod touch or iPhone settings menu. NOTE: Push Notification is an iPhone and Touch OS 3.1 feature. (it’s only a $4.95 upgrade for Touch users)Regular Text — This is good for users without OS 3.1 who want alerts, iPod touch users who want to have Regular Texts alerts on their cell phone, or anyone who prefers using Regular Text messaging. Standard text messaging rates apply though.
The app still works even if you don’t have alerts on, you’ll just have to open the app and refresh your messages.

6. How do I put pictures of myself and my friends into textPlus?

textPlus pulls user pictures from your device’s “Contacts.” Just assign pictures to your friends in the Contacts app on your device and they’ll show up in textPlus! Remember: To make your own photo show up, you must verify your app with your cell # first and add yourself as a contact.

7. What does this cost my friends to use?

Since textPlus sends your messages as Regular Texts, your friends won’t be billed any differently than they normally do for the texts that they get.For example:
- If your friends have unlimited texting, then they’re set!
- If they get 200 texts a month, your texts to them count against that total

8. How do I group chat and what’s a community?

A community is a place where you can invite all of your friends to come and chat. Give it a unique name to give out to your friends with OR without the app — kind of like a textPlus address.

A fun one is called BORED.

There’s two ways to join:
- Tap the Communities tab in the textPlus app and type in the name of the community
- If your friends don’t have the app they can text the word BORED to 60611 and join the community!

Download textPlus

What does my Facebook Profile look like to non friends?

Chris — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:11:58 +0000

Since Facebook changed it’s Privacy settings in Oct 2009 you’d be surprised how much of your private stuff is viewable to EVERYONE! If you want to know what your Facebook profile page looks like to the public follow these simple steps in Facebook.

1. Logon to your Facebook account

2. Go to Account (upper right cornor)

3. Click on Privacy Settings

Click on Profile Information and change settings to desired level

5. Click on Preview Profile to see what your profile looks like to non friends

6. Don’t forget to click on Edit Settings for your Photo Albums to check the privacy settings on them

How to speed up a slow and bogged down computer

Chris — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:38:24 +0000

: Click for a larger view!

If you computer is running slower than normal, is freezing or crashing often it could most definitely be caused by 1000’s of junk files, excess cookies and unnecessary programs automatically starting when Windows starts up. So if I were to optimize your system this is what I would do as your tech, but since I’m feeling rather nice today I will give you my secret tech tips complete with instruction! Fist you will download 2 FREE programs and install them on your computer. Both programs are very light on your system, uninstall easily if ever needed and do NOT include any “crapware”. Both pieces of software will run on XP, Vista or Windows 7. I have had all 3 OS and it runs great on them all.

1. Download Advanced System Care Free~ I’ve been using this program for the last several years and it’s a great and powerful program that can scan and clean your system in minutes not hours. It has a one-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 35 MILLION downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning free registry cleaner and system optimizer is a “must-have” tool to speed up your slow computer. 100% safe with no adware, spyware, or viruses; a PC maintenance program that’s incredibly easy to use.

2. Download ATF Cleaner FREE~ This program will clean all users temp folders, clean out the Java cache, which seems to be harbouring more and more malware. It will clean Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera browsers, including the cache, cookies, history, download history, saved passwords and visited links. It takes about 2 minutes to run and clean.

Ok so you have downloaded the 2 pieces of software to your desktop. First close ALL running programs as you should anytime you install software. Click on the Advanced System Care set up icon and follow instructions to install. If you don’t want to install the tool bar for your browser just UNCHECK the box and it won’t be installed. Once it’s installed a page in your web browser will appear as a Welcome and User Guide. You can read the instructions or just close the browser. You will also see that before ASC runs for the 1st time it will ask to create a Restore Point allow it to do so. Although I will say in the years of using this program I have never once on any of the computers I’ve installed it on had to restore from a restore point.

Running Advanced System Care FREE

: Click for a larger view!

ASC will start to run on its own under the “Maintain Windows”. After it’s finished click “Repair”. Allow it to finish repairing then click on “Diagnose System” then click “scan”. Allow the software to run through this segment and again click “Repair”. You will notice under the “Security Analyzer” it will more than likely say “suggestions”and take you automatically online to view this segment. Do not attempt to change or alter any of these files unless your a tech and know what your doing. You will see several entries that have yellow question marks next to them but unless your a tech this will read like Greek to you. Basically I use these types of analysis to see all the different services, processes, etc running on a computer. Again don’t alter them unless you know what processes you need or not, many are Windows system processes and are needed. Just simply close out of the browser and click on “OK” in the other box. Finally you can move onto a click “Utilities” button. Under the “Tune Up” tab select Internet Booster, click on Go!It will then prompt you for your Internet speed if you don’t know your bandwidth transfer rate you can quickly check it online at Bandwidth Place I then take an average of the two speeds and set the meter in that area. (Mine is set to 512 kbps, yea my Internet provider SUCKS!) That will complete then move on to the “Shortcut Fixer” let it finish and then select “Repair”.What you see here are just broken links and shortcuts from your system. It not the actual system files. It’s good to remove what’s in this box. Now go to the “Admin Tools” tab and select “Start Up Manager”Now this is the best part of all! Simply UNCHECK the items that you no longer wish to automatically start and stay running when Windows starts up then click “APPLY” then “OK”. UNCHECKING these DOES NOT delete the program it just stops it from auto starting.You can always click on the icon to start the particular program or if you want it back in the start menu just go back into Advanced System Care and click the box next to what you want to auto start hit “Apply” then “OK”. Obviously you will see there are many other features that you can use to help optimize your system however many of the other options are advanced so unless your comfortable and know what your doing it’s best to leave well enough along or have a tech look at your system to make more advanced changes. Final thing to do is click on the “Options” link on the upper bar to the right and uncheck “Execute at Windows Start Up” then “Apply” and “OK” This will make it so Advanced System Care doesn’t start every time Windows does. You don’t need it to run all the time. I would recommend doing the above ”Cleaning” steps once a week or so.

Running ATF Cleaner

This one is really simple. Click on the ATF Cleaner icon check “Select All” it will take a minute or so to clean a box will pop up and tell you how much was cleaned, click “OK”. If you use Firefox or Opera click on those tabs and do the same for those browsers. If neither of those is installed on your system the boxes will be greyed out. I recommend running ATF Cleaner once a week or more if your on the Internet a lot.

That’s it now re start your computer and you’ll notice a difference in the way your system starts up and runs.

Automatically reduce the size of photos for email, IM, Facebook

Chris — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:58:03 +0000

Automatically reduce the size of photos for email, IM, blogging and web galleries!

Today’s high resolution digital cameras produce multi Megabyte photos. These are great for printing but cause a heavy burden when sending over the Internet.
Shrink Pic allows you to send dozens of photos as email attachments – quickly and with no effort at all!

All you need to do is install Shrink Pic. It automatically detects when you’re sending large photo files and compresses them in the background. There’s no setup, no operating instructions, nothing, nada. Just send your photos normally and Shrink Pic takes care of shrinking them.

How it works

Shrink Pic runs in the background. It has a taskbar icon which tells you it’s waiting for photos to be sent.

Then, when it detects that you’re sending a large photo, it automatically creates a temporary copy, resizes it and sends it instead. It gives you a notice message, so you’ll know the photo you sent was resized. Of course, the original photo doesn’t change, only the temporary copy.

You can control how Shrink Pic resizes your photos. Select between three automatic resize levels or enter your own custom sizes. Shrink Pic also recognizes rotated photos (portrait layout) and resizes them intelligently, so you don’t need to worry about that too.

Who needs Shrink Pic?

Emailing photos

If you like sending photos to your friends and family, Shrink Pic is for you.
Whether you’re a computer geek, or an absolute technophobic, Shrink Pic will make it easier for you to email your photos. And, your friends, receiving your emails will appreciate it when they get nice and compact emails from you that don’t block their inbox.
Shrink Pic works with ‘regular’ email like Outlook Express and also with webmail, such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo! mail and others.

Upload photos to blogs and web galleries

Adding photos to a blog is fun.
Shrink Pic will automatically resize your photos so that they fit and take very little storage space. You can upload photos using Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera. Shrink Pic will detect these uploads and automatically shrink and compresses those photos for you.

Share photos with Skype and MSN Messenger

Even if you send photo files via your IM application, Shrink Pic will step in and compress those photos for you. A photo that took minutes to send will go in a few seconds.

Supported platforms

Shrink Pic runs on Windows 2000 and Windows XP and works with these programs:

Web browsers*

Internet Explorer

Firefox

Opera

Email clients

Vista Mail

Outlook

Outlook express

Thunderbird

Eudora

Poco Mail

Incredimail

Instant messaging

Skype

MSN Messenger

* Shrink Pic will also compress photos that you send via Web based email services such as Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.

Download from cnet

Simple Digital Photo Back Up

Chris — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:23:33 +0000

I recommend every 6 months backing up your photos to removable media/hard drive. It’s a very simple process in any Windows OS.

1. Buy a good quality external hard drive or the largest flash drive available(make sure it will have enough space to accommodate your photos).

2. Navigate on your computer where your photos are stored. Open that folder, typically called Pictures (Vista) or My Photos (XP) and single left click (highlight) just one of the photos or photo folders then press Ctrl and A simultaneously, this action will highlight ALL items in the Photos folder. Right click on any of the highlighted boxes and choose COPY.

3. Navigate to the letter drive where your external HD or flash drive is (go to Start>My Computer). Double click on the letter drive of the flash or external drive right click your mouse and select New>Folder. Give your new folder an appropriate name for your photos (e.x Jan-June 2009 Photos). Double click on that folder it will be empty, right click inside that folder and choose PASTE. Your photos will now transfer over to the removable flash or external drive and be in both locations. After the progress meter shows all copying is done remember to EJECT your flash drive or external (go to icons by the clock and choose “Safely Remove Hardware” icon , double click it and choose to stop which letter drive your flash or external.

Easily Change Windows XP Logon Screen

Chris — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:54:29 +0000

LogonStudio is a free program that allows users to change their Windows XP logon screens. It comes with several logon screens to choose from, along with thousands that are available online from Web sites, such as WinCustomize.com. It also includes an editor for creating your own logon screen. It’s FREE, easy to use App that is crapware free.

Download Logon Studio from CNET

Easily Change Windows 7 Logon Screen

Chris — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:31:07 +0000

Yes you sure can change your Windows 7 logon screen in less than 2 minutes. The Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7 provides an easy way to customize the logon screen background with just a few clicks. Simply download the free application, run it and click Change Logon Screen. There is no crapware bundled with it either. It’s a very small app. Enjoy your new Windows 7 logon screen.

Download Windows 7 Logon Changer

Print from any PC, iPhone or Android to a printer anywhere in the world for FREE!

Chris — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:39:20 +0000

With PrinterShare^® you can print documents and photos on other people’s printers as easily as on the local one connected to your machine. No special technical knowledge is required from both – printer owner and user. It just works!

With the free software you can print directly from your application such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, Photo Editor or any other program you work with to a printer connected to another computer next door or ten thousand miles away (anywhere!).

With PrinterShare^® you can share your printer in less than a minute and let other people connected to the Internet (your friends, relative and colleagues) print paper documents on it. You don’t need to know or deal with specifics of network sharing, complex settings and figuring out Windows access rights.

The software automatically detects printers connected to your computer including local network printers. As long as you can print in it yourself, you can share the printer and let other people use it.

So all you do is download and install the software on the computer’s printer you want to share. There is now Spyware or Crapware either. Then you create an account with Print Share a user number and password will be mailed to you. Plug those numbers in the software and choose which of your printers you want to share. Finally, install PrinterShare^®on the computer, iPhone or Android that you want to print documents from. If it’s you just plug your same user name and password in the software on the remote device if it’s a friend, co-worker or family member have them create an account. Then on the software installed on the remote device simply go to Printer>Find and type in the user number of the shared printer the shared printer will then appear in the box click OK. That’s it your ready to print from anywhere! Support’s all OS of Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.

Get PrinterShare^®

Print from An iPhone or iPod Touch

Chris — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:46:52 +0000

Recently I tried out a few of the apps so I could print from my iPhone and the winner is Print n Share. It’s a quick set up app. Simply download the app to your iPhone, then a link will be provided for you to download a small piece of software to any computer you are using on the network you would like to print from.

Print n Share is the first and only app that enables you to view, store and print email, documents, files, attachments, photos, contacts and web pages on your iPhone or iPod touch. Print either locally, or using 3G/EDGE, to any printer via your Mac or PC (e.g. USB, WiFi, bluetooth, shared, networked etc)

FULLY FUNCTIONAL PRINTING
- Print via your Mac/PC locally, or remotely via 3G/EDGE
- Print all the same document formats as your Mac/PC
- The same print quality as your Mac/PC

WIFI HARD DRIVE
- Mount your iPhone/iPod as a network disk on your Mac/PC
- Drag and drop documents & files to/from your iPhone/iPod
- Open, view & send documents and files while away from your Mac/PC

DOCUMENTS ON YOUR IPHONE/IPOD
- Store documents, attachments, emails and images
- View/Print Office 2007, XP, 2003 & 2008 files
- Zip/Unzip files directly on your iPhone/iPod
- View files (doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, txt, html, pdf, pages, numbers & more)
in portrait, landscape and full screen mode
- Playback iPhone supported audio and video files
- Edit and print text documents within “Print and Share”
- File sharing with several Macs and PCs, even remotely
- Password protect file folders on your iPhone/iPod

IDISK & WEBDAV
- Move/Print documents on your iPhone/iPod from your iDisk (MobileMe) or WebDAV account (e.g. box.net)
- Move files to/from your iPhone/iPod by connecting to iDisk/WebDAV
- Save email attachments to iDisk/WebDAV
- Zip/compress files directly in iDisk/WebDAV

FULLY FEATURED EMAIL APP BUILT IN
- Email files, photos, web pages and formatted messages
- Print email and attachments
- Send and Receive emails from your own email accounts
- View multiple email accounts in single inbox or on their own
- Multiple email signatures with images and formatted text
- Save emails and attachments as files
- Attach multiple files and images to new emails, not just links
- Format text and insert images/contact info into emails
- Built in multi language spell checker and word suggestions
- View queued, sent and received emails
- Supports almost all email account types, including Exchange 2007 OWA, and some Exchange 2003 servers

WEB BROWSER WITH PRINTING
- Print/Save/Email web pages as you are browsing
- Full screen browsing view
- Add bookmarks or import bookmarks from your PC or Mac browser

PRINT/VIEW PHOTOS
- Select and print multiple photos from your album
- Use the camera to take photos and print straight away
- Save photos as files for viewing or emailing
- Move photos to a folder on your computer/iDisk & WevDav
- Email photos as attachments or embedded in messages
- Select print layout before printing

PRINT CONTACTS
- Select single or multiple contacts for printing
- Print as list, card or custom layout
- Print address & shipping labels
- Insert contact details into emails

COMPATIBILITY
- iPhone/iPod Touch – OS 2.1 or later
- Mac OS X 10.4/10.5/10.6, Windows 7/XP/Vista

24hr help
http://mobile.eurosmartz.com/contact.html

Note: In order to print, the free WePrint helper application needs to be installed on your Mac/PC.
Network connection also required.

Get the App directly from iTunes

$6.99

Text From An iPod Touch or iPhone FREE

Chris — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:25:11 +0000

You can text FREE from an iPod Touch or iPhone. It’s a very simple app you’ll need and it’s easy to use. Simply go to the iTunes App Store and download textPlus to your iPod Touch or iPhone.

Features

Free, unlimited texts

textPlus texts are entirely free and there’s no limit to how many messages you can send or receive. (Use wifi, 3G or Edge)

textPlus Address

It’s not required that you have a textPlus address but they’re are many advantages to having one. Your textPlus Address makes having a cell # unnecessary, even if your friends don’t have textPlus! As long as your friends have a text plan they can text your textPlus address as a message. All they need to do is put your textplus address(ex. tina32) in under their contacts with the phone number of 60611. For your friends, texting to 60611 costs the same as their regular text plan.

Group text chats

Add up to 20 people to send a group text

Communities

A community is a group of your friends, co-workers, or anyone you want to keep in the loop on a topic or subject.
Save time, money and make sure that everyone gets the message with this cool new feature!

Be the first to invite friends to your community

Set up your communities and save them by name

Message the entire group with just one text. Everyone sees all the replies

Coordinate events or meetups with friends not using the app – they don’t need to download a thing!

International

With a textPlus Address, you can send messages textPlus to textPlus anywhere in the world for free.

Want a bigger keyboard?

textPlus lets you write your texts in landscape mode.

New message notiﬁcations (Push and Regular Text)

Never miss a message. textPlus alerts you as soon as a new message comes in, even when the app is closed! (Apple software 3.0 or higher required)

About 60611

If your using an iPod Touch you will need to get a textPlus address if you want friends/family to initiate conversations. If you choose not to get a textPlus address you will need to initiate conversations. 60611 is the short code that lets your friends who don’t have the app reach you in textPlus. Ask friends and family to put your textPlus Address into their contacts under the name with the phone number 60611. This way, your incoming texts will go to textPlus (and remain free to you). For your friends, texting to 60611 costs the same as their regular text plan.

Download textPlus from iTunes

How to Send an Email to Undisclosed Recipients

Chris — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:55:14 +0000

I don’t like sending email’s where all the recipients can see all the email addresses of everyone who received the email. I feel it’s almost like sending letters in the mail and attaching everyone’s address with it. Protecting the privacy of people that make up a diverse group to which you send an email to is important, especially in business.

In IncrediMail or any other mail hiding recipients is easy using the Bcc: field

First, set up a special address book entry:

Select Contacts | Add a contact

Type “Undisclosed” under First:.

Enter “recipients” under Last:.

Type your email address under Email Address:.

Click OK.Close the Address Book.

Second, send the email to a group of people with individual addresses hidden and “Undisclosed recipients” in the To: field:

Start with a new email message in IncrediMail.

If you do not see a Bcc: field, select View | Show ‘Bcc’ Field from the menu or click the Bcc arrow at the end of the To: field

Click on the To: button.

Add Undisclosed recipients from your contacts.

Click Bcc:.

Now add all people in your address book you want to receive the message.

Click OK.

Add any additional recipients’ email addresses to the Bcc: field.

Make sure you separate addresses with semicolons.

Compose and send your message.

Since your email address is in the To: field, you will get a copy of your message to “undisclosed recipients” It will list the people in the Bcc: only on your email because you were the sender. On the recipients email it will only say To: Undisclosed Recipients”.

Sweet Google Chrome Tips

Chris — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:15:21 +0000

Here a just of few great Google Chrome tips to make your browsing experience even better with Chrome.

1. Show the list of recently visited pages from the current tab: right-click on the “Back” button. This also works for the “Forward” button.

2. Undo closing a tab: press Ctrl+Shift+T or open a new tab and check the “Recently closed tabs” section.

3. Type ? before entering a query in the address bar and it will search in your default search engine. To change your default search engine go to > OPTIONS>BASIC

4. Detach a tab and open it in a new window just drag the tab outside the active window. You can also add it back to the original window using drag and drop.

5. While you’re inside Google Chrome, press Shift+Esc and a ‘task manager’ will appear with a list of all websites currently open inside Chrome. Task Manager for websites will tell you how much physical memory is consumed by different websites and if any particular page is causing your system to slow. ou can do an “end process” to close that tab directly from Task Manager.

6. Launch websites from the start menu, quick launch bar or desktop. Simply click > Create application shortcut.

Google Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts

Chris — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:44:07 +0000

Here are some of the Google Chrome shortcuts.

Window and tab shortcuts

Ctrl+N	Opens a new window.
Ctrl+T	Opens a new tab.
Ctrl+Shift+N	Opens a new window in incognito mode.
Press Ctrl+O, then select file.	Opens a file from your computer in Google Chrome.
Press Ctrl and click a link. Or click a link with your middle mouse button (or mousewheel).	Opens the link in a new tab in the background .
Press Ctrl+Shift and click a link. Or press Shift and click a link with your middle mouse button (or mousewheel).	Opens the link in a new tab and switches to the newly opened tab.
Press Shift and click a link.	Opens the link in a new window.
Ctrl+Shift+T	Reopens the last tab you’ve closed. Google Chrome remembers the last 10 tabs you’ve closed.
Drag a link to a tab.	Opens the link in the tab.
Drag a link to a blank area on the tab strip.	Opens the link in a new tab.
Drag a tab out of the tab strip.	Opens the tab in a new window.
Drag a tab out of the tab strip and into an existing window.	Opens the tab in the existing window.
Press Esc while dragging a tab.	Returns the tab to its orginal position.
Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+8	Switches to the tab at the specified position number on the tab strip.
Ctrl+9	Switches to the last tab.
Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+PgDown	Switches to the next tab.
Ctrl+Shift+Tab or Ctrl+PgUp	Switches to the previous tab.
Alt+F4	Closes the current window.
Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4	Closes the current tab or pop-up.
Click a tab with your middle mouse button (or mousewheel).	Closes the tab you clicked.
Right-click, or click and hold either the Back or Forward arrow in the browser toolbar.	Displays your browsing history in the tab.
Press Backspace, or Alt and the left arrow together.	Goes to the previous page in your browsing history for the tab.
Press Shift+Backspace, or Alt and the right arrow together.	Goes to the next page in your browsing history for the tab.
Press Ctrl and click either the Back arrow, Forward arrow, or Go button in the toolbar. Or click either button with your middle mouse button (or mousewheel).	Opens the button destination in a new tab in the background.
Double-click the blank area on the tab strip.	Maximizes the window.
Alt+Home	Opens your homepage in your current window.

Google Chrome feature shortcuts

Ctrl+B	Toggles the bookmarks bar on and off.
Ctrl+Shift+B	Opens the Bookmark manager.
Ctrl+H	Opens the History page.
Ctrl+J	Opens the Downloads page.
Shift+Esc	Opens the Task Manager.
Shift+Alt+T	Sets the focus on the browser toolbar. Use right and left arrows on the keyboard to navigate to different buttons on the toolbar.
Ctrl+Shift+J	Opens Developer Tools.
Ctrl+Shift+Delete	Opens the Clear Browsing Data dialog.
F1	Opens the Help Center in a new tab (our favorite).

Address bar shortcuts

Use the following shortcuts in the address bar:

Type a search term, then press Enter.	Performs a search using your default search engine.
Type a search engine keyword, press Space, then Tab when prompted, type a search term, and press Enter.	Performs a search using the search engine associated with the keyword.
Type a search engine URL, press Tab when prompted, type a search term, and press Enter.	Performs a search using the search engine associated with the URL.
Type the part of a URL between ‘www.’ and ‘.com’, then press Ctrl+Enter.	Adds www. and .com to your input and open the resulting URL.
Type a URL, then press Alt+Enter.	Opens the URL in a new tab.
F6 or Ctrl+L or Alt+D	Highlights the URL.
Ctrl+K or Ctrl+E	Places a ‘?’ in the address bar. Type a search term after the question mark to perform a search using your default search engine.
Click the address bar, then press Ctrl and the left arrow together.	Moves your cursor to the preceding key term in the address bar
Click the address bar, then press Ctrl and the right arrow together.	Moves your cursor to the next key term in the address bar
Click the address bar, then press Ctrl+Backspace.	Deletes the key term that precedes your cursor in the address bar
Select an entry in the address bar drop-down menu with your keyboard arrows, then pressShift+Delete.	Deletes the entry from your browsing history, if possible.
Click an entry in the address bar drop-down menu with your middle mouse button (or mousewheel).	Opens the entry in a new tab in the background.
Press Page Up or Page Down when the address bar drop-down menu is visible.	Selects the first or last entry in the drop-down menu.

Webpage shortcuts

Ctrl+P	Prints your current page.
Ctrl+S	Saves your current page.
F5 or Ctrl+R	Reloads your current page.
Esc	Stops the loading of your current page.
Ctrl+F	Opens the find bar.
Ctrl+G or F3	Finds the next match for your input in the find bar.
Ctrl+Shift+G, Shift+F3, or Shift+Enter	Finds the previous match for your input in the find bar.
Click the middle mouse button (or mousewheel).	Activates auto-scrolling. As you move your mouse, the page automatically scrolls according to the direction of the mouse.
Ctrl+F5 or Shift+F5	Reloads your current page, ignoring cached content.
Press Alt and click a link.	Downloads the target of the link.
Ctrl+U	Opens the source of your current page.
Drag a link to bookmarks bar	Bookmarks the link.
Ctrl+D	Bookmarks your current webpage.
F11	Opens your page in full-screen mode. Press F11 again to exit full-screen.
Ctrl and +, or press Ctrl and scroll your mousewheel up.	Enlarges everything on the page.
Ctrl and -, or press Ctrl and scroll your mousewheel down.	Makes everything on the page smaller.
Ctrl+0	Returns everything on the page to normal size.
Space bar	Scrolls down the web page.
Home	Goes to the top of the page.
End	Goes to the bottom of the page.
Press Shift and scroll your mousewheel.	Scrolls horizontally on the page.

Text shortcuts

Highlight content, then press Ctrl+C.	Copies content to the clipboard.
Place your cursor in a text field, then press Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert.	Pastes content from the clipboard.
Place your cursor in a text field, then press Ctrl+Shift+V.	Paste content from the clipboard without formatting.
Highlight content in a text field, then press Ctrl+X or Shift+Delete.	Deletes the content and copies it to the clipboard.

Quick Blackberry Tips

Chris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:31:44 +0000

1. Turn on the backlighting

Press Power button.

2. Switch to another program

Hold the Alt key and press the Escape button. Continue to hold the Alt key and select a program. Release the Alt key to switch to that program.

3. Exit a screen or dialog box

Press the Escape button.

4. Insert a period

Press the Space key twice. The next letter is capitalized.

5. Insert the at sign (@) and periods in an Email field

Press the Space key.

6. Type an accent or special character

Hold the letter key and roll the trackball/trackwheel.

7. Capitalize a letter

Hold the letter key until the capitalized letter appears.

8. Move the cursor in a different direction

The Alt key and roll the trackball/trackwheel.

9. Change an option field

Hold the Alt key. Click a value.

10. Move to an item in a list or menu

Press the first letter of the item.

11. Select a check box

Press the Space key. To clear the check box, press the Space key again.

12. Select a line of text

Press the Shift key and roll the trackball/trackwheel.

13. Move down a screen

Press the Space key.

14. Move up a screen

Press the Shift key + the Space key

Easily Convert m4a iPhone Voice Memos into mp3 Files

Chris — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:05:15 +0000

There’s a very simple way to convert your m4a into mp3 files. This comes in handy when you would like to use the audio content recorded from Voice Notes on the iPhone.

1. Import your m4a file into iTunes just as you would any song. (File>Add File to Library)

2. Highlight the m4a file and right click, choose ‘create mp3 version‘. That’s it your done. If you don’t get the option ‘Create mp3 Version’ see below.

**If ‘Create mp3 Version’ is not listed as an option when you right click go to: Edit>Preferences>General>Import Settings (listed under when you insert a CD)>mp3 encoder>OK>OK.

Cheap & Easy: Make Your PC/Mac Faster

Chris — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:25:56 +0000

You can make your PC faster by simply upgrading it’s RAM (Random Access Memory). There’s a very simple scanner on Crucial.com that can scan your computer in minutes. A page will then appear showing you what RAM your are currently running, what your system can be upgraded to and how much you can purchase the additional RAM for from Crucial.com The RAM will be shipped to you along with simple instructions to add your new RAM. I’ve found by simply upgrading a systems RAM it can make it run like an entirely different system for not much money. To visit Crucial just click on the banner above.

Benefits of RAM upgrade:

Smoother performance when you have multiple programs open

Faster Web surfing & downloading content from the internet

Quicker and better quality printing

More efficient and quicker video editing

Better gaming

Enhanced multimedia presentations

Efficient networking

Don’t waste your money on registry cleaners!

Chris — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:06:15 +0000

Advanced SystemCare is an exceptional program that I’ve had great results with on many computers and the best part it’s ‘free’. It does not include any other ‘crapware’ and uninstalls very cleanly.

Advanced SystemCare Free (formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 35 MILLION downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning free registry cleaner and system optimizer is a “must-have” tool to speed up your slow computer. 100% safe with no adware, spyware, or viruses; a PC maintenance program that’s incredibly easy to use.

Why waste money on expensive “registry cleaners” to fix your PC when Advanced SystemCare Free will repair, tune, and maintain it for you – for free!

Download FREE directly from Iobit here

Some of the benefits:

Enjoy That New PC Feeling Again

Whatever version of Windows you’re running, enjoy that “good as new” speed usually only experienced on a brand new PC.

Powerful Hard Drive Defragmentation

Fast, powerful and incredibly effective Disk Defrag function to defragment hard drives – up to 10 times faster than other defragmentation tools.

Next-generation Free Windows XP/Vista/7 Registry Cleaner and System Optimization New!

Safely clean registry junks, compact registry bloat and defragment the registry for blistering-fast performance.

Defends PC Security with Extra Protection

Secure your PC – quickly and easily. Scans and removes spyware and adware using up-to-date definition files. Prevents spyware, hackers and hijackers from installing malicious items on your computer. Erases and updates your PC’s activity history with this powerful free XP registry cleaner. Security and Privacy assured!

Quick and Extensive Clean-up for Hard Drives

Boosts your system’s performance with Advanced SystemCare Free, the powerful free XP registry cleaner by cleaning missing files, destroying unwanted files, deleting obsolete files, and removing junk files. Supports deep-cleansing of more than 50 types of junk files.

Speeds Up PC Performance and Internet Access

Tunes up Windows by releasing the built-in power of your system. Dramatically improves both system and Internet performance by up to 400%.

Fixes Multiple System Errors

Keeps your PC stable and running at peak efficiency. Eliminates system bottlenecks and prevents crashes.

Extremely Easy to Use

Completes its work with just one click! Scans, repairs and secures your PC in one minute.