Boot Snooze: Reboot and go into Standby automatically

I introduce Boot Snooze tool of Skwire Empire.

This little tool allows you to reboot your PC and then put into into Standby or Hibernate mode.

Description:  This simple app will:

1. Give you a choice to reboot and go into standby or hibernation.
2. It will then reboot your computer.
3. After the reboot, a small dialog with a countdown timer will begin.
4. After the timer is up, your computer will be put into the mode you chose.

Note: For hibernation to work, your computer must have "Enable hibernation" already checked under your Control Panel, Power Options, Hibernate tab.

Command line operation -- REQUIRED parameters are:
mode=[reboot|suspend]     ('reboot' will reboot and then go to the hibernate/standby delay timer.  'suspend' will skip the reboot and go straight to the hibernate/standby delay timer)
method=[hibernate|standby]
bdelay=#     (where # is the number of minutes to delay BEFORE rebooting)
adelay=#     (where # is the number of minutes to delay AFTER rebooting)

e.g.:   c:\path\to\BootSnooze.exe mode=reboot method=hibernate bdelay=0 adelay=5           

 

Download Boot Snooze

Outlook Add-on: Forgotten Attachment Detector

Microsoft Office Labs have launched a very cool add-in for Outlook, called Forgotten Attachment Detector, which reminds you when you have forgotten to attach a file to your e-mail.

What To Download & Install

For such a little tool, Forgotten Attachment Detector has plenty of dependencies. Prior to installing it, you need to download and install the following:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 - if you are on Windows 7 and Windows Vista, chances are you don't need to install this. However, if you are on Windows XP and in a corporate network, chances are very high that this is not already installed on your computer and you need to download and install it.
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime) - this is a must for all version of Windows.
• Download Forgotten Attachment Detector Add-on

When you install this tool, make sure your Microsoft Outlook 2007 is closed.

How To Use Forgotten Attachment Detector

After you install it, you will see a small button similar to the one below in the Microsoft Outlook 2007 toolbar. If this doesn't show up, it means the add-in was not installed or loaded properly. In case of issues, ask for help on the Forgotten Attachment Detector Discussions forum.

If you click on the button, you will see the configuration window. On the upper side you have the list of primary words which the tool will be looking for when checking if you forgot to attach a file or not. You can edit this list by using the Add, Edit and Delete button. The process is very easy.

Below it, you will have the list of secondary keywords and contexts.

By default, this plugin is configured to work for e-mails in English. To make it work for your own language, you can add the translation of the default keywords to the lists of primary and secondary keywords. By adding just a few words, I've made it work even for Korean.

When done configuring the plugin, click on OK.

Now you start typing e-mails as usual. When you forget to add an attachment, after you press the Send button, you will receive a warning like the one below.

Now you can go back to your e-mail and attach the forgotten file and send it again.

Integrate Nitro PDF Reader with Windows 7

Would you like a lightweight PDF reader that integrates nicely with Office and Windows 7?  Here we look at the new Nitro PDF Reader, a nice PDF viewer that also lets you create and markup PDF files.  Adobe Reader is the de-facto PDF viewer, but it only lets you view PDFs and not much else.  Additionally, it doesn't fully integrate with 64-bit editions of Vista and Windows 7.  There are many alternate PDF readers, but Nitro PDF Reader is a new entry into this field that offers more features than most PDF readers.   From the creators of the popular free PrimoPDF printer, the new Reader lets you create PDFs from a variety of file formats and markup existing PDFs with notes, highlights, stamps, and more in addition to viewing PDFs.  It also integrates great with Windows 7 using the Office 2010 ribbon interface. Conclusion Nitro PDF Reader is a nice alternative to Adobe Reader, and offers some features that are only available in the more expensive Adobe Acrobat.  With great Windows 7 integration, including full support for 64-bit editions, Nitro fits in with the Windows and Office experience very nicely.  If you have tried out Nitro PDF Reader leave a comment and let us know what you think. Link Download Nitro PDF Reader

Microsoft Office Labs – Chart Advisor

Ever struggled to find just the right chart for your data? Chart Advisor was created as a concept test to explore new ways Excel users can create graphs quickly and effectively. Based on the data in your spreadsheet, it identifies, ranks, and displays an array of charts most relevant to you so you can make the most out of your presentation.

View Slide Show

Watch Video

Watch this video to see the step-by-step process by which Chart Advisor can help you find just the right chart to display your Excel 2007 data.

Download Chart Advisor to quickly find the most powerful way to display your data.

Communicating Data In A Visual Way

Knowing how to communicate data in a visual way is very important to being successful.

Please check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Communicating Data In A Visual Way

View more presentations from Ciprian Rusen.

Videos - Windows 7 Professional built-in Features

In order to view or download videos, click below links.

• Compatibility features

 

• Encrypting features

 

• Mobility features

 

• Networking features

 

• Power Management features

 

• Presentation features

 

• Productivity features

 

• Security features

 

• Troubleshooting features

Fill a Flash Drive with Portable Software using Lupo PenSuite - How-To Geek

Fill a Flash Drive with Portable Software using Lupo PenSuite - How-To Geek

Microsoft Download Manager: Download files more reliable and faster than using IE

The Microsoft Download Manager enables you to download files from the Internet in a more reliable and faster way than using a browser alone. Using the Download Manager makes it easier to download large files such as an application or multimedia files. Also, it has resume support so that you can continue downloading files from where it left off the last time.

This program has very good download speeds using Microsoft Download Manager, than using IE.

Tip: Increasing the maximum number of connections improves the download speed.

By default it’s set to "Use browser settings", which caused the following error when downloading a file. You have to enable the No proxy option to make the download work.

Overall it’s a nice little download manager, and it would be great if future builds include browser integration (with IE, at least) support.

 

Use [Drive Mirroring] for Instant Backup in Windows 7

Even with the best backup solution, a hard drive crash means you’ll lose a few hours of work. By enabling drive mirroring in Windows 7, you’ll always have an up-to-date copy of your data.

Windows 7’s mirroring – which is only available in Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions – is a software implementation of RAID 1, which means that two or more disks are holding the exact same data. The files are constantly kept in sync, so that if one of the disks fails, you won’t lose any data.

Note that mirroring is not technically a backup solution, because if you accidentally delete a file, it’s gone from both hard disks (though you may be able to recover the file). As an additional caveat, having mirrored disks requires changing them to “dynamic disks,” which can only be read within modern versions of Windows (you may have problems working with a dynamic disk in other operating systems or in older versions of Windows). See this Wikipedia page for more information.

You will need at least one empty disk to set up disk mirroring. We’ll show you how to mirror an existing disk (of equal or lesser size) without losing any data on the mirrored drive, and how to set up two empty disks as mirrored copies from the get-go.

 

Mirroring an Existing Drive

Press Win+R to open the Run window and type in:

diskmgmt.msc

The Disk Management window will appear. We’ve got a small disk, labeled OldData, that we want to mirror in a second disk of the same size.

Note: The disk that you will use to mirror the existing disk must be unallocated. If it is not, then right-click on it and select Delete Volume… to mark it as unallocated. This will destroy any data on that drive.

Right-click on the existing disk that you want to mirror. Select Add Mirror….

Select the disk that you want to use to mirror the existing disk’s data and press Add Mirror.

You will be warned that this process will change the existing disk from basic to dynamic. Note that this process will not delete any data on the disk!

The new disk will be marked as a mirror, and it will starting copying data from the existing drive to the new one.

Eventually the drives will be synced up (it can take a while), and any data added to the E: drive will exist on both physical hard drives.

 

Setting Up Two New Drives as Mirrored

If you have two new equal-sized drives, you can format them to be mirrored copies of each other from the get-go.

Open the Disk Management window as described above. Make sure that the drives are unallocated. If they’re not, and you don’t need the data on either of them, right-click and select Delete volume….

Right-click on one of the unallocated drives and select New Mirrored Volume….

A wizard will pop up. Click Next.

Click on the drives you want to hold the mirrored data and click Add. Note that you can add any number of drives. Click Next.

Assign it a drive letter that makes sense, and then click Next.

You’re limited to using the NTFS file system for mirrored drives, so enter a volume label, enable compression if you want, and then click Next.

Click Finish to start formatting the drives.

You will be warned that the new drives will be converted to dynamic disks.

And that’s it! You now have two mirrored drives. Any files added to E: will reside on both physical disks, in case something happens to one of them.

 

Conclusion

While the switch from basic to dynamic disks can be a problem for people who dual-boot into another operating system, setting up drive mirroring is an easy way to make sure that your data can be recovered in case of a hard drive crash. Of course, even with drive mirroring, we advocate regular backups to external drives or online backup services.

Add Background Images and Themes to Windows 7 Media Center

Changing the Background Image with Media Center Studio

Themes and custom backgrounds need to be added with the third-party software, Media Center Studio. You can find the download link at the end of this article.

You can use your own high resolution photo, or download one from the Internet. For best results, you’ll want to find an image that meets or exceeds the resolution of your monitor. Also, using a darker colored background image is ideal as it should contrast better with the lighter colored text of the start menu.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed Media Center Studio (link below), open the application select the Home tab on the ribbon and make sure you are on the Themes tab below. Click New.

Select Biography from the left pane and type in a name for your new theme.

Next, click on the triangle next to Images to expand the list below. You’ll want to browse to Images > Common > Background. You should see a list of PNG image files located below Background. We will want to swap out the COMMON.ANIMATED.BACKGROUND.PNG and the COMMON.BACKGROUND.PNG images. Select COMMON.ANIMATED.BACKGROUND.PNG and click on the Browse button on the right.

Browse for your photo and click Open.

Your selected image will appear on the left pane. Now, do the same for the COMMON.BACKGROUND.PNG. When finished, select the Home tab on the ribbon at the top and click Save.

Now switch to the Themes tab on the ribbon and the Themes tab below. (There are two Themes tabs which can be a bit confusing). Select your theme on the right pane and click Apply.

Note: You won’t see the image backgrounds displayed.

Your theme will be applied to Media Center.

Close out of Media Center Studio and open Windows Media Center to check out your new background.

Conclusion

Media Center Studio runs on Windows 7 or Vista and gives users a solution for personalizing their Media Center backgrounds. It is a Beta application, however, so it still has a few bugs.

Currently, there are only a handful of themes available at Themes7MC, but what they have is pretty slick.

If you’d like to further customize the look of Media Center, check out our previous article on how to customize the Media Center start menu with Media Center Studio.

Downloads

Media Center Studio

Theme7MC

Customize Your WordPress Blog & Build an Audience

Want to quickly give your blog a fresh coat of paint and make it stand out from the pack?  Here’s how you can customize your WordPress blog and make it uniquely yours.

WordPress offers many features that help you make your blog the best it can be.  Although it doesn’t offer as many customization features as full WordPress running on your own server, it still makes it easy to make your free blog as professional or cute as you like.  Here we’ll look at how you can customize features in your blog and build an audience.

Personalize Your Blog

WordPress make it easy to personalize your blog.  Most of the personalization options are available under the Appearance menu on the left.  Here we’ll look at how you can use most of these.

Add New Theme

WordPress is popular for the wide range of themes available for it.  While you cannot upload your own theme to your blog, you can choose from over 90 free themes currently available with more added all the time.  To change your theme, select the Themes page under Appearance.

The Themes page will show random themes, but you can choose to view them in alphabetical order, by popularity, or how recently they were added.  Or, you can search for a theme by name or features.

One neat way to find a theme that suites your needs is the Feature Filter.  Click the link on the right of the search button, and then select the options you want to make sure your theme has.  Click Apply Filters and WordPress will streamline your choices to themes that contain these features.

Once you find a theme you like, click Preview under its name to see how your blog will look.

This will open a popup that shows your blog with the new theme.  Click the Activate link in the top right corner of the popup if you want to keep this theme; otherwise, click the x in the top left corner to close the preview and continue your search for one you want.

Edit Current Theme

Many of the themes on WordPress have customization options so you can make your blog stand out from others using the same theme.  The default theme Twenty Ten lets you customize both the header and background image, and many themes have similar options.

To choose a new header image, select the Header page under Appearance.  Select one of the pre-installed images and click Save Changes, or upload your own image.

If you upload an image larger than the size for the header, WordPress will let you crop it directly in the web interface.  Click Crop Header when you’ve selected the portion you want for the header of your blog.

You can also customize your blog’s background from the Background page under Appearance.  You can upload an image for the background, or can enter a hex value of a color for a solid background.  If you’d rather visually choose a color, click Select a Color to open a color wheel that makes it easy to choose a nice color.  Click Save Changes when you’re done.

Note: that all themes may not contain these customization options, but many are flexible.  You cannot edit the actual CSS of your theme on free WordPress blogs, but you you can purchase the Custom CSS Upgrade for $14.97/year to add this ability.

Add Widgets With Extra Content

Widgets are small addons for your blog, similar to Desktop Gadgets in Windows 7 or Dashboard widgets in Mac OS X.  You can add widgets to your blog to show recent Tweets, favorite Flickr pictures, popular articles, and more.  To add widgets to your blog, open the Widgets page under Appearance.

You’ll see a variety of widgets available in the main white box.  Select one you want to add, and drag it to the widget area of your choice.  Different themes may offer different areas to place Widgets, such as the sidebar or footer.

Most of the widgets offer configuration options.  Click the down arrow beside its name to edit it.  Set them up as you wish, and click Save on the bottom of the widget.

Now we’ve got some nice dynamic content on our blog that’s automatically updated from the net.

Choose Blog Extras

By default, WordPress shows previews of websites when visitors hover over links on your blog, uses a special mobile theme when people visit from a mobile device, and shows related links to other blogs on the WordPress network at the end of your posts.  If you don’t like these features, you can disable them on the Extras page under Appearance.

Build Your Audience

Now that your blog is looking nice, we can make sure others will discover it.  WordPress makes it easy for you to make your site discoverable on search engines or social network, and even gives you the option to keep your site private if you’d prefer. 

Open the Privacy page under Tools to change your site’s visibility.  By default, it will be indexed by search engines and be viewable to everyone.  You can also choose to leave your blog public but block search engines, or you can make it fully private.

If you choose to make your blog private, you can enter up to 35 usernames of people you want to be able to see it.  Each private visitor must have a WordPress.com account so they can login.  If you need more than 35 private members, you can upgrade to allow unlimited private members for $29.97/year.

Then, if you do want your site visible from search engines, one of the best ways to make sure your content is discovered by search engines is to register with their webmaster tools.  Once registered, you need to add your key to your site so the search engine will find and index it. 

On the bottom of the Tools page, WordPress lets you enter your key from Google, Bing, and Yahoo! to make sure your site is discovered.  If you haven’t signed up with these tools yet, you can signup via the links on this page as well.

Post Blog Updates to Social Networks

Many people discover the sites they visit from friends and others via social networks.  WordPress makes it easy to automatically share links to your content on popular social networks.  To activate this feature, open the My Blogs page under Dashboard.

Now, select the services you want to activate under the Publicize section.  This will automatically update Yahoo!, Twitter, and/or Facebook every time you publish a new post.

You’ll have to authorize your connection with the social network.  With Twitter and Yahoo!, you can authorize them with only two clicks, but integrating with Facebook will take several steps.

If you’d rather share links yourself on social networks, you can get shortened URLs to your posts.  When you write a new post or edit an existing one, click the Get Shortlink button located underneath the post’s title.

This will give you a small URL, usually 20 characters or less, that you can use to post on social networks such as Twitter.

This should help build your traffic, and if you want to see how many people are checking out your site, check out the stats on your Dashboard.  This shows a graph of how many people are visiting, and popular posts.  Click View All if you’d like more detailed stats including search engine terms that lead people to your blog.

Conclusion

Whether you’re looking to make a private blog for your group or publish a blog that’s read by millions around the world, WordPress is a great way to do it for free.  And with all of the personalization options, you can make your it memorable and exciting for your visitors.

If you don’t have a blog, you can always signup for a free one from WordPress.com.  Also make sure to check out our article on how to Start Your Own Blog with WordPress.