Windows Process Library - Other Processes

Handy guide to have!!
Windows Process Library - Common Applications

Windows Process Library - Security Risks

Handy guide to have!!
Windows Process Library - Security Risks

Windows Process Library - Common Applications

Handy guide to have!!
Windows Process Library - Common Applications

Windows Process Library - System Processes

Handy guide to have!!
Windows Process Library - System Processes

Windows XP Professional Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install

Download details: Windows XP Professional Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install

Windows XP Home Edition Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install

Download details: Windows XP Home Edition Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install

TweakHound - The Right Way To Install Windows XP

TweakHound - The Right Way To Install Windows XP

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

Windows XP right-click tips

The right-click button on your mouse can provide you with quick access to some great productivity functions within Microsoft Windows XP. We've collected some right-click tips for you here from the New Riders Publishing book, Windows XP Killer Tips.

Customize folder views for photos, videos, or music
Did you know that you can customize folders to suit their contents? You can. Right-click the folder and click Properties. Next, click the Customize tab. From the Use this folder type as a template drop-down menu, select the type of folder: Pictures, Photo Album, Videos, and more.

Organize your icons
If your icons just won't stay in line, try putting them on a grid. To do this, right-click an empty space on your desktop, point to Arrange Icons By, and then click Align to Grid. Now your icons will automatically snap to an invisible grid, so no matter where you move them, they'll stay evenly spaced from one another.

Open a file with a different application
You've just downloaded photos from your digital camera. By default, JPEGs are associated with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, so if you click a photo, it will open in Picture and Fax Viewer. But what if you don't just want to view the photos, you want to make changes to them? Well, you can quickly choose a different program to open the photo without changing the file's association.

Here's how: Right-click the file's icon, click Open With, and then click the application with which you want to open the file. If you don't see your program listed, click Choose Program to locate it.

Automatically hide the taskbar
You don't always have to look at the taskbar; you can hide it when you're not using it.

• Right-click the Start menu and then click Properties.

• Next, click the Taskbar tab in the dialog box, select the Auto-hide the taskbar checkbox, and then click OK. When you want the taskbar to reappear, just move your cursor to the bottom of the desktop and it pops back up.


These tips are from the book Windows XP Killer Tips by Kleber Stephenson, ISBN 073571357X. Published here with the permission of Pearson Education, Inc.
Windows XP right-click tips

Microsoft to test automated PC tuneups

Associated Press
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a test version of an all-in-one subscription service that aims to protect computer users from viruses and spyware and give them tools to make machines speedier.

The Redmond-based software company is distributing Windows OneCare to its 60,000 employees this week. It plans to run a larger invitation-only test this summer, then launch a full-scale test by year's end.

The company has not said when it would release the subscription service to consumers.

"We're going to take our time. We want to make sure we get this right the first time," said Ryan Hamlin, general manager for Microsoft's technology, care and safety team.

Microsoft hasn't set a price for an annual subscription, but Hamlin said it would include unlimited phone, e-mail and chat support.

Microsoft has spent three years developing the service, which would run only on the operating system's newest version: Windows XP with Service Pack 2, a major security upgrade released last summer.

The company has been devoting more attention to security in recent years as its flagship Windows operating system and market-leading Internet Explorer browser become chief targets for hackers and writers of viruses and spyware.

Microsoft had been expected to enter the antivirus business following its recent acquisition of two antivirus companies. The company already makes a free antispyware tool available for download, and Windows ships with firewall protection.

But the company says most users don't take full advantage of those products.

Among its features, Windows OneCare would offer two-way firewall protection. A green icon would be displayed if the service didn't detect any problems. A yellow icon would indicate a relatively low-priority problem, like some files that needed to be backed up. A red icon would signal a virus or some other critical problem that needed fixing.

PC users could set up OneCare to periodically perform maintenance work like cleaning up disks, repairing files and defragmenting hard drives so that bits of data aren't inefficiently spread out. The service would keep track of how long it takes a computer to boot up and pin down problems that might be making the machine run more slowly. And consumers could opt to have their files automatically backed up on CD or DVD.

Microsoft risks alienating security vendors in releasing its own, competing products, but if it doesn't do more to stem Internet attacks, it also risks further alienating customers unhappy with the multitude of threats already facing its ubiquitous software. Microsoft has downplayed the competitive angle, saying it is simply responding to requests from customers for more protection options.

Symantec Corp., a vendor of antivirus, firewall and, soon, antispyware products, said it was prepared to compete with Microsoft.

"Symantec has been the leading provider of effective protection against viruses for more than 15 years," the company said in a statement.
HoustonChronicle.com - Microsoft to test automated PC tuneups

At Home: U-boat game detailed, accurate

History lesson gives real depth to U-boat game
World War II submarine warfare detailed, accurate
By DWIGHT N. ODELIUS
For The Chronicle

The best part about any really great PC simulation game is that it's as much a learning experience as it is fun to play.

The latest entry in the excellent Silent Hunter PC game series, Silent Hunter III, is not only a thrilling game but also provides extraordinary insight into the history and legacy of the German Kriegsmarine Unterseeboot, or U-boat.

While flatly primitive next to the modern submarine, the U-boat was a technological marvel of its time. The first
U-boat launched in 1906 and saw combat in World War I, but it truly came into its own as a deadly menace in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.

Silent Hunter III simulates naval warfare during World War II with a dozen-odd playable U-boat models and scores of realistic ships and planes of all nationalities. The U-boat's 3-D interiors are authentic right down to the scruffy-looking crewmen who man each station.

The sub has a full complement of personnel, from the lowly seaman to the executive officers who manage everything from navigation to radio communications. Each can be assigned to ship locations and duties at will, and can suffer fatigue, damage and morale loss if not relieved occasionally.

The game centers on a career mode, in which players start out as a rookie U-boat commander and earn renown for their achievements. Such renown can be used to upgrade to better ships, equipment and crew. The game also includes single-player historical scenarios, and a multiplayer mode for cooperative missions.

Most of the U-boat models sport naval guns and antiaircraft flak cannons, but these are primarily defensive measures. The U-boat's true strength is the stealthy torpedo attack, made from under water or under the cover of night. A couple of well-placed torpedo shots can take out even the largest vessel.

Torpedos are a tricky business, requiring a firing solution that depends on accurate data gathered about the target. Sim die-hards can choose to take matters into their own hands for this, but most players will prefer to let their crew handle the particulars. Either way, the result is a spectacular display of movie-quality destruction.

RESOURCES

SPECS
• What: Silent Hunter III
• Price: $39.99
• Rating: Teen

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: • OS: Windows 2000/XP
• CPU: 1.4 GHz
• RAM: 512 MB
• Video: 64MB DirectX 9
• Sound: DirectX 9
• Disk: 1.5 GB
• DVD-ROM: 4x
Requires broadband Internet connection for multiplayer
HoustonChronicle.com - At Home: U-boat game detailed, accurate

Help Line: Blogosphere: Air may be thinner there

Q: Would you please define what is referred to by the expression "blog" and explain what a blogger is? I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't have a good definition of these terms and why or how they are used.

A: A blog is an online application that allows the owner to post time-stamped articles about subjects of his choosing in the form of a Web page. This Web page is, in most cases, accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

Many blogs are simply online diaries kept by individuals and can be mundane and even downright trivial. Some blogs can be political and serve the interest of a political candidate or his party and supporters.

Those who maintain blogs are known as "bloggers." Bloggers form a loosely knit community known as the blogosphere, and this community has the capability to share information rapidly.

Blogs are recognized as a strong force on the Internet and can determine the success or failure of any number of products or initiatives.

If you want to learn more about the blogging phenomenon, you can start by reading the weblogs.about.com site, which offers articles containing information about the various aspects of blogging and those who blog.

For the record, my colleague Dwight Silverman maintains a blog at the Houston Chronicle where he writes about his experiences with technology. You can find it at www.chron.com/techblog.

Q: When I rip songs from CDs to the Windows Media Player library, the songs all display "unknown artist" and no song titles. Clicking on "Find Album Information" brings up this message: "You must change your privacy settings in Tools, Options to update information about the audio media you have selected." What do I need to adjust?

A: It would appear the XP SP2 changes this security setting. It's a pretty easy fix.

On the Tools menu, click "Options," and then on the "Privacy" tab, select the "Update music files by retrieving media info from the Internet" check box.

Q: I can't access Windows Updates. Each time I go to Windows Updates, I receive the follow message: "Your current security settings prohibit running ActiveX controls on this page. As a result, the page may not display correctly."

A: This problem is a result of Internet Explorer security settings that prevent the running of ActiveX controls. The way I would resolve this would be to add the Windows Update sites to the trusted sites zone in your security settings.

To do this, click "Tools,""Internet Options" and then the "Security" tab. Click "Trusted Sites" and then click "Sites." Uncheck the require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box. Then make sure that *.windowsupdate.com and *.windowsupdate.com are listed.
HoustonChronicle.com - Help Line: Blogosphere: Air may be thinner there
HoustonChronicle.com - Help Line: Blogosphere: Air may be thinner there

StrangeBanana: Computer-generated webpage design

StrangeBanana: Computer-generated webpage design

Guild Wars for PC at GameSpot

9.2 rating, nice.
Guild Wars for PC at GameSpot

Howie's Funware Screen Savers

Howie's Funware Screen Savers

Canon Pixma MP760 Photo All-in-One review by PC Magazine

Canon Pixma MP760 Photo All-in-One review by PC Magazine

Help Line

Keyboards and cats not a good mix
By JAY LEE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Q: My cat walked on my laptop keyboard. I think he must have hit just the right combination of keys to make it so that some letters are now numbers (indicated in the smaller, alternate colored font on the keys themselves). I used to know how to toggle this. Can you recall the commands?

A: Many of the better laptops have what is called an integrated 10-key keypad. These can be very useful for those used to inputting numbers using the 10-key input method.

I first encountered one of these a few years ago and it was somewhat confusing until I realized what it was.

It was very common for me to find a user who had inadvertently toggled this and was unable to log into his or her laptop because the password couldn't be typed correctly.

To toggle this on the Dell computer, press the Scroll
Lock key while holding down Fn key. That will clear it right up.


Q: I have heard that you should not apply the paste-on labels on DVDs. Is this true? I had planned to copy all of our old VCR tapes to DVDs and paste on labels for identification.


A: I guess it all depends on how good the labels are and your ability to apply them to the disc evenly. Many people like to label their CDs and DVDs to identify them. It can also be a lot of fun creating them.

My rock star friend Jim recently presented me with a stack of home-burned CDs of his music. For each CD he created a great label. When I put one into my front loading CD player it jammed and I had a devil of a time getting it out. The labels looked fine and seemed to be applied correctly, but they still jammed the player.

For me, I think it would be best to simply mark the disk itself with a Sharpie and label the jewel case.

That way you don't run the risk of gumming up your DVD player, and you still have a way of keeping track of your recordings.


Q: Every time I try to run SpyBot Search and Destroy my computer shuts down. I don't know what to do.


A: Sometime when a computer is infested with spyware, your attempts to remove it will cause the computer to lock up or even reboot.

You can try another spyware removal tool like Adaware SE from www.lavasoftusa.com or even the Microsoft Spyware Tool from www.microsoft.com — both are free — and see if they can run without a problem.

Something else I strongly suggest is scanning your computer while running in safe mode, something I have found to be much more effective in removing spyware.


Q: The Address Bar has mysteriously disappeared from Internet Explorer after I log into my Internet account. How can I restore this?


A: There are many, many different toolbars, status bars and explorer bars within Internet Explorer. Most of us don't need them all to be able to browse the Web.

You can turn them on and off from the View menu.

In this case, you want to enable the Address Bar. To do so, click View then Toolbars and click Address Bar so that a check mark appears next to it.
HoustonChronicle.com - Help Line

At Home: A casual gamer, and proud of it

Two new titles likely to intrigue young and old
By ANNE REEKS
For The Chronicle

Want to rile up computer geeks? Call 'em casual gamers.

The label is probably a greater affront than a Celeron processor and dial-up Internet. But there's no shame in being less than a die-hard gamer.

In fact, it's a great time for spur-of-the-moment sorts. More small companies are coming out with intriguing programs that don't take much time, money, bloodlust or hard-disk space to play.

None compares with the mother of casual games, Solitaire for Windows. However, the following two new titles tease the brain, tickle the fancy of young and older players, download quick as a wink and have decent trial versions.

So go ahead: Wear that casual-gamer tag with pride. Your carpal tunnel will thank you, as will family members waiting to use the computer. They won't even need to send an IM to say it.

Memonix 1.4 (Age 4 and up, $14.95, Viewizard, Windows, www.viewizard.com) Visual recall is what this four-game collection takes, tests, twists and spits out sharper than before. You're shown geometric shapes or pictures on a grid for 30 seconds, and then they disappear. The challenge is to replace the various elements by memory, trial and error, process of elimination and raw guessing while a timer counts the seconds.

Mosaic, which involves colored shapes, is my favorite for its fiendish simplicity. Next best is Builder, where players recreate quaint houses from composite parts, including a cat on the roof. Pair and Jig-Saw are little-kid fodder, akin to typical memory-matching and puzzle games.

Lots of options stir the pot, including five difficulty settings (facile to insane), four grid sizes (2x2 to 8x8) and add-on packs of construction materials and pictures. But be sure to turn off the circus music, an affront to ears and concentration.

Fashion Cents 1.6 (age 5 and up, $19.95, My Game Company, Windows, www.mygamecompany.com) Suppose Tetris involved clothes instead of colored blocks, and they had to complete outfits on models, not lines in the pit. The result is a dress-up game of strategic proportions.

When random tops, bottoms and accessories appear in a window, girls have to put them on one of 10 custom-created dolls and keep each color-coordinated to perfection.

Finishing a head-to-toe ensemble scores points, and that doll disappears and is replaced by another. As they ascend game levels, virtual fashionistas get more finery to mix and match and tools to use in a clothing crisis.

The smooth-jazz soundtrack is pleasant but can't soothe the pain of being taken down by green capris that clash with everything.
HoustonChronicle.com - At Home: A casual gamer, and proud of it

Offline NT pw & reg-editor, bootdisk

Lost your admin password?, this utility works great!! - Marc

"I've put together a single floppy or CD which contains things needed to edit the passwords on most systems.

The bootdisk supports standard (dual)IDE controllers (built in), a lot of SATA-controllers, and most SCSI-controllers with the drivers supplied in a seperate archive below. PS/2 keyboard or USB-keyboard supported (mouse not required) It does not need any other special hardware, it will run on 486 or higher, with at least 32MB (I think) ram or more. Unsupported hardware: MCA, EISA, i2o may not work.

Tested on: NT 3.51, NT 4 (all versions and SP), Windows 2000 (all versions), Windows XP (all versions, also SP2), Windows Server 2003 (at least Enterprise)."
Offline NT pw & reg-editor, bootdisk

Cracking User Passwords in Windows 2000

Cracking User Passwords in Windows 2000

SourceForge.net: Project Filelist

SourceForge.net: Project Filelist

Password Recovery Resources

Password Recovery Resources

Forgot the Administrator's Password?

Forgot the Administrator's Password?

You're it: 'Tags' ease sifting of digital data

By ANICK JESDANUN
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Here's how we tend to organize our digital photos: We stick them into a folder on our computer and label it "Hawaii trip," or whatever.

Here's a new way: Forget folders or albums. Just "tag" the photos based on what's actually in each frame.

Now, extrapolate this concept to the ideas, images, videos — and people — you meet or wish to find online. If they're properly tagged, they're far easier to find.

That's "tagging," and it's currently all the rage among the digerati.

Tagging has the potential to change how we keep track of and discover things digital — even whom we meet online. Several startups are banking their futures on it.

It could be our salvation as we attempt to sift through the growing clutter of data we're amassing on our hard drives and on that growing digital repository that is the Internet.

"People are awash in an overwhelming sea of stuff," said Joshua Schachter, founder of del.icio.us, a service for tag-enabled online bookmarks. "Our ability to produce content far outstrips the ability to sort and consume it."

And with the growing production of photos, sound and video clips — material not easily searchable — tags become ever more important.

Take photos. You may have an album for your beach trip, another for a son's birthday party. But how do you find photos of your wife?

Before, you had to scan through albums one at a time. With tags, you simply label photos individually when you first store them — with descriptive words such as "birthday," "vacation," "fall 2004" and with the names of the people in each picture. You can then search for your wife's tag.

Flickr, which Yahoo Inc. bought in March, takes that approach — and more. Your friends can tag your photos, too. So while you might have neglected to tag your friend's daughter, your friend can do so.

"Tags enable you to slice through all the photographs that you've got in whatever way you want to find them," said Caterina Fake, Flickr's co-founder.

At del.icio.us, as in "tastes good," people tag and share Web links. Keepers of Web journals tag their entries to make them easier to find through a blog search engine called Technorati. Consumating.com lets you — and others — tag your dating profile.

Though many Web sites have long embedded search keywords, or metadata, tagging has a social component that gives it its power.

"Tagging is something selfishly useful. It helps you understand and categorize something for yourself," Technorati founder David Sifry said. "But I can take advantage of the fact that you and hundreds and thousands of people have also tagged the things" for themselves.

Tagging is fundamentally about tapping the collective human wisdom, rather than relying on a computer algorithm, for search, said Ben Shneiderman, who teaches human-computer interaction at the University of Maryland.

And that human wisdom is bound to help you discover information a computer might not otherwise know to retrieve.

Noah Brier regularly looks for bookmarks tagged "lifehacks" — for everyday productivity tips — and recently ran across an article on better ways to shave.

"I'm sure the author of this never imagined this was a lifehack, but a del.icio.us user decided this falls into that tag," Brier said.

Brian Dear adopted tagging for EVDB, an events listing service he launched a month ago, so people can find things they might never know to seek. View a listing, and you see a list of tags it uses. Click on one to get events just like it.

"You start being able to have other people discover things for you without you knowing you wanted to look for them," said Clay Shirky, professor at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

Tagging saves labor costs, too. Dear would otherwise have to pay a whole staff to categorize and annotate listings.

Entire communities have formed around tagging.

Nearly 2,000 Flickr users are part of a "squared circle" group, all sharing a desire to crop into squares photographs of circular objects.

Other users tag satellite images of their childhood neighborhood "memorymaps" and annotate them with stories about growing up.

At 43 Things, where visitors list their goals, those inspired by the book "Getting Things Done" have tagged their goals "GTD." The tag helps users find what like-minded people want to accomplish and perhaps adopt those goals, too.

Conference-goers are frequent taggers.

Organizers of a blogging conference in Paris last week encouraged participants to tag their entries "lesblogs." Italian blogger Luca Lizzeri did just that and got hundreds of additional visitors.

Sites like Technorati not only let you search its own indexes, but also pull items from other sites. So a search for "tsunami" brings together Flickr photos and del.icio.us links besides blog entries — creating a mini-magazine of sorts on the fly.

Unlike hierarchical classification systems, taggers create categories spontaneously. There are no rules to craft on what categories to include and what falls under each.

Hierarchies "are more accurate, but they move less quickly," said David Galbraith, founder of a tag-based wish list called Wists. "It takes a long time for people to sit down and agree on them."

Matthew Haughey, founder of the community blog MetaFilter, considered a taxonomy to organize archival posts but "it's hard to make perfect categories and sub-subcategories." If you wanted to paint a fence, should you look under "home and garden" or "household"?

So he went for tagging.

The blogging site LiveJournal plans to introduce tags in the next few months as an alternative to categories, and Rojo Networks Inc. launched a service last month for tagging news stories, so no longer are you limited to sorting items by publisher.

Of course, tagging has its drawbacks, and some Webophiles aren't quite convinced it will evolve into the Next Big Thing.

Consider classifications for a common pet.

"If one group decides we're going to call them 'canine,' another 'dog,' another 'puppies,' ... when someone goes to search for what they call the dog, they are not going to pick up everybody's tagged instances," said Geneva Henry, executive director of the Digital Library Initiative at Rice University.

Engineers recognize the shortcomings and are working on better tools.

Search for "automobiles" of Flickr, and you're given "cars," "car" and "porsche" as related options. Enough people tag photos both "automobiles" and "cars" that clustering software can tell they are related.

Another drawback lacks an easy solution, though. Once tagging takes off, marketers are bound to add irrelevant tags to hijack you to the latest Viagra ad.

Warns Danny Sullivan, editor of the online newsletter Search Engine Watch: "The noise and deliberate manipulation will probably just bring the system into a crashing halt."
HoustonChronicle.com - You're it: 'Tags' ease sifting of digital data