HOW TO CHANGE ENVIRONMENT OF VISUAL STUDIO LIKE C# TO C++

 

To change the environment from C# to C++,

please go to

Tools menu >> Import and Export Settings >>

Reset all settings.

Follow the instructions of the wizard and choose

C++ as default development environment.

pen drive flash drive tricks

The autorun.inf file is the key to getting your USB drive (or CD-ROM drive, for that matter) to perform certain actions automatically and customize it’s look in My Computer. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on how this can be done.

Autorun.inf Structure

The autorun.inf file is a simple text file that can be opened up in any text editor (e.g. notepad). It always starts with a section header of:

[autorun]

Below this header is a list of different options. Each of these options is in the following format:

option=value

where

option is the option that you want to set and value is the value that you are setting for that option. So, if you had an option foo and you wanted to be set to bar, then you would enter:

foo=bar

(Do not use foo=bar in your autorun.inf file as it is only an example, not a real option setting.)

That is all there really is to understand about the structure of an autorun.inf file. On to doing some actual cool stuff with it!

Setting a Custom Icon

To create a custom icon for your USB drive, use the icon option. Set it to the name of the icon file.

Note: Since drive letters can change for USB drives, the file path is relative to the root of the drive. This means that if your USB drive is presently mounted on U: and your icon is located at U:\Icons\MyIcon.ico, then you would enter \Icons\MyIcon.ico for the value of this option.

For example, if you had an icon on the root of the USB drive called coffeecup.ico and you wanted this to be the icon that showed up for the USB drive, you would enter:

icon=coffeecup.ico

You are not limited to .ico files. If, for example, you have an executable with a nice icon, you can specify it as the icon file. For example:

icon=DCoTopen.exe

This is valid as long as DCoTopen.exe is available on the root of the USB drive.

Some files have more than one icon embedded in them. If this is the case, you can select which icon to use by specifing the index number after the file name. For example:

icon=iconlib.dll,2

This will use the second icon in the iconlib.dll file.

Naming Your USB Drive

If you would like your USB drive to display a specific name othr than the drive label created when it is formatted, use the label option. For example, if I wanted to call my drive DCoT Drive, I would add this to my autorun.inf file:

label=DCoT Drive

Now, when you look at your USB drive in My Computer, it will say DCoT Drive by the drive letter.

Setting AutoPlay Options

AutoPlay is a relatively new function of Windows XP. It allows you to set up what file is run when the USB drive is plugged into the computer and the message that you are prompted with. There are two options that work in conjunction with AutoPlay. The first is open. It specifies the program that you can run automatically with AutoPlay. So, if we wanted to run a program called DCoTopen.exe, you would add the this to your autorun.inf file:

open=DCoTopen.exe

The second option that we add is the message the user is prompted with. To set this, we use the action option. If we want the message to say DCoT Open Program, add the following to autorun.inf:

action=DCoT Open Program

Once you have added this information, AutoPlay should look something like this:

 

Adding Context Menu Items

There are certain basic options such as Open and Explore that are available when you right click on a USB drive. But, wouldn’t it be cool to add your own? You can using a couple of lines in the autorun.inf file.

The first thing that we need to do is create an action, give it a name, and a message. We do all of this using the shell\verb option. For example, let’s say that we would like to create an action called lost. It does not matter what the actin is called. It can be anything you want. We would also like to show the message Help! I’m Lost! in the context menu. We would simply add this line to autorun.inf:

shell\lost=Help! I'm Lost!

This will display Help! I’m Lost! in the context menu so that you can click on it. But, it doesn’t know what to do when you click on it. Tell the system by using shell\verb\command option. In our example, we want to run the Lost.exe application. Adding this line will do the trick:

shell\lost\command=Lost.exe

You can add as many of these line pairs as you want to make the context menu as custom as you want.

Changing Default Action

When you double click on your USB drive, by default it will open up the drive so that you can browse through the files. Often, it is advantageous to perform some other action when the user double clicks the USB drive icon. You do this with the shell option. If we wanted to run the Lost.exe program from the previous section automatically when we double clicked on the USB drive, we would add this line:

shell=lost

because lost is the name of the action that was specified in the earlier lines.

Viewing a File

If you wanted to view a file on your USB drive in the default application instead of running a program on the drive, you can substitute the open option for the shellexecute option. For example, if you wanted to open up a website called, oh, I don’t know, say http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com in the default web browser, you could user the following:

shellexecute=http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com

This will work for any file. This is the equivalent of using Start - Run… and then typing in a file name and clicking OK.

HOW TO ACESS YOUR BIOS IN HP, DELL, COMPAQ, ACER AND MANY MORE

Depending on your computer model, the way you will access your BIOS set up menu will differ. Here is a list of the most common models used and the access key used for this process.
ACER

• You can make use of the DEL or F2 keys after switching on your system.
• When using Acer Altos 600 server, the BIOS set up can be accessed by pressing the CTRL+ALT+ESC keys.

COMPAQ

• Ensure that the cursor in the upper right corner of your screen is blinking before pressing the F10 key.
• Previous versions of Compaq will make use of the F1, F2, F10 or DEL keys to grant access to your BIOS set up menu.

DELL

• After switching on your computer, let the DELL logo appear before pressing the F2 key until Entering Setup is displayed on the screen.
• Previous versions of DELL might require to press CTRL+ALT+ENTER to access the BIOS set up menu.
• The DELL laptops will use the Fn+ESC or Fn+F1 keys to access the BIOS set up.

GATEWAY

• When switching on your computer, press the F1 key until the BIOS screen shows up.
• Previous versions of Gateway will make use of the F2 key to display the BIOS set up screen.

HEWLETT-PACKARD

• When switching on your computer system, press the F1 key to access the BIOS set up screen
• For those using an HP Tablet PC, you can press the F10 or F12 keys.
• You can also access the BIOS set up menu by pressing the F2 or ESC keys.

IBM

• When your system restarting, press the F1 key to access the BIOS set up.
• Previous IBM models will require the use of the F2 key to access the BIOS set up utility.

NEC

• NEC will only use the F2 key to access the BIOS set up menu

PACKARD BELL

• Packard Bell users, you can access the BIOS set up by pressing the F1, F2 or DEL keys

SHARP

• For the Sharp model, when your computer is loading, press the F2 key
• For previous Sharp models, you will need to use a Setup Diagnostics Disk.

SONY

• Sony users will have to press the F1, F2 or F3 key after switching on their computer.

TOSHIBA

• The Toshiba model will require its users to press the F1 or ESC key after switching on their computer to be able to access BIOS set up menu.

GTALK TRICKS

Some people say Google Talk is nice because of its minimalistic design, but they coudn't use an Instant Messenger that doesn't have smileys and font customization. Here are some tips that will make your work with Google Talk better.
Keyboard shortcuts
* CTRL + Mousewheel up/down: Change the font size in a conversation window.
* CTRL + E: Center text
* CTRL + R: Right justify text
* CTRL + L or CTRL+J: Left justify text
* F9: Open Gmail to send an email to the person you talk to
* F11: Start a call
* F12: Stop the current call
* ESC: Close the current window
Conversation
* Some smileys are converted by Google Talk: :-| :-O :-x :-P :-D ;-) :-( :-) B-) :'( :| :O :x :P :D :) :( :)
* To write bold text, type *your gtalk message*
* To write italic text, type _your gtalk message_
Startup parameters (go to Start/Run and type "c:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /one_parameter_from_the_list_below)
* /nomutex: allows you to open more than one instance of Google Talk.
* /register: write Google Talk settings in the registry.
* /checkupdate: check for new version.
* /factoryreset: revert to default settings.
* /mailto email@gmail.com: send an email with Gmail.
* /diag: start Google Talk in diagnostic mode.

HOW TO BYPASS YOUR BIOS

The BIOS (stands for Basic Input/Output System) is system software inside your computer that helps the computer start up, even before Windows does. It also contains key settings about what the computer has on board.

In newer computers, it exists on a special chip called CMOS (stands for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor).

You can go into the BIOS to edit or change the technical information about key components of the computer like disk drives, keyboards, and display settings. It also keeps track of the date and time.

The BIOS can normally be accessed when you start your computer. You may see a reference to "Setup" when you turn your computer on. That’s your opportunity to get into the BIOS. It usually requires the push of a function key, such as F10, to get access to it. That "F" key varies between computers. Sometimes it’s not even one of the Function keys, but the ESC key or DEL key.

If a logo screen—like HP or Dell—is displayed during the start up process instead, then you may want to check with your computer maker for a command to turn off that screen and display the start up information, which is listed when a computer is powered on.

A partial list of BIOS access commands by brand is listed at the end of this article.

The BIOS also contains the boot-up sequence. Normally, computers are configured to boot from a hard drive.

However, sometimes you will need to boot from a CD or DVD to (to install Windows, for example, see video tutorial). If so, you will have to change the boot order. This can be done by entering the BIOS settings and making the change to Boot Sequence. Not all BIOSes are the same not use the same lingo but you can always find this kind of setting. It might be called Boot Order, instead of Boot Sequence.

 

Before you do anything to your BIOS, it’s always a good idea to record the original settings on a sheet of paper that can be kept in a safe place so you can reference it later if you need to reset it.

Here is a list of key sequences for various brand-name computers. If yours is not there, check with your manufacturer or watch for info flashed on-screen when your computer first starts, before Windows begins. It may say "For setup hit..." That will be how to get into the BIOS on your machine.

Acer: - Ctrl+Alt+Esc

ALR PC: (F2) or Ctrl+Alt+Esc

AMI BIOS: (Del), (F1) or (F2)

AST, Advantage, Award, Tandon: - Ctrl+Alt+Esc

Award BIOS: (Del) or Ctrl+Alt+Esc

Compaq: (F10) (do this when the cursor is in the upper right corner of the screen blinking)

Dell: - F1 or Del.

Dell: - Some require pressing reset twice

Dell: - Ctrl + Alt + Enter

DTK BIOS: (Esc)

Gateway 2000: - F1

Hewlett Packard: - F1

IBM:

• Older Models - In order to get into the configuration of the IBM setup screen (CMOS) screen you need to hold down both mouse buttons during boot up.
• Aptiva - Press F1
• IBM PS/2: Ctrl+Alt+Ins after Ctrl+Alt+Del
• IBM PS/2 with reference partition: - Press Ins during boot
• Some PS/2s, such as 75 and 90: - Ctrl Alt ?
• Some PS/2s when pointer at top right of screen: - Ctrl + Ins

NEC: - F2

Packard Bell: - F1 or F2

Phoenix BIOS: (F1), (F2), or Ctrl+Alt+Esc

Phoenix BIOS: - Ctrl+Alt+S

Phoenix BIOS: - Ctrl+S

Phoenix BIOS: - Ctrl+Alt+Ins

Sharp Laptop 9020: - F2

Sony: (F3) while you are starting the PC, then (F2) or (F1)

Tandon computers: - Hold down the key after turning on power

Tandon: - Ctrl+Shift+Esc

Toshiba Laptops: - Toshiba Utility

Toshiba: - Press Esc during boot

Toshiba, Phoenix, late model PS/1 Value Point and 330s: - Press F1 during boot

Olivetti PC Pro: - Shift+Ctrl+Alt + Num Pad Del

Miscellaneous PC’s: - Ctrl + Esc or Ctrl and Alt and +

Zenith: - Ctrl+Alt+Ins

how to convert FAT to NTFS

1. Just go to the Command Prompt and execute the command:

   C:\> CONVERT  C:  /fs:ntfs
   

   
   

   Where C: is a name of the drive you want to convert.
   

   After machine re-boot conversion process will start and you'll have your FAT32 converted to NTFS without of data loss.

virus removal tool from microsoft

Microsoft has just released ‘Microsoft Safety Scanner’ a replacement for Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner, which lets you scan Windows PC for any infections. It is a free and standalone tool just like Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, that doesn’t offers any real-time protection because its purpose is on-demand scanning, where users need to perform a scan manually. The program offers 3 scanning modes: Quick Scan, Full Scan and Customized scan.

Do you think your PC has a virus?

The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It works with your existing antivirus software.

Note: The Microsoft Safety Scanner expires 10 days after being downloaded. To rerun a scan with the latest anti-malware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again.

The Microsoft Safety Scanner is not a replacement for using an antivirus software program that provides ongoing protection.

For real-time protection that helps to guard your home or small business PCs against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, download Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Safety Scanner is available Free both for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows OS. But it has one big disadvantage that, it expires 10 days after downloading. So to re-run a scan with the latest antimalware definitions, you have to download and run it again.

Note – This tool is just a scanner and is not meant to be used as an antivirus solution.

Download Microsoft Safety Scanner

HOW TO CONVERT DVD IN 300 MB

Handbrake is a free software that allows you to rip your DVD movies to your Hard Drive, iPod, iPhone, PSP, XBOX360 and generally any other video device you may have. It is a cross platform program since it has versions both for Windows and MAC. It can rip encrypted and unencrypted DVDs but protection methods other than CSS aren't supoorted. The supported output video formats are mpeg-4, xvid and h.264. So, download it from here and let's get started!

Insert a DVD disk into your DVD rom and run Handbrake. This is the program's main window from which you can access all available settings.



Click the Source Browse button and select the VIDEO_TS folder from your DVD.

Next you can select which title of the DVD you want to rip. Usually every DVD movie apart from the main movie has other titles as well such as extra scenes, trailers, interviews etc. The main movie title is the longest one (1). Usually the credits are the last chapter of the movie. Therefore you can reduce the size of the final video file if you omit the credits. To do so first open the movie with an external dvd player software and check if the credits are indeed the last chapter. If so reduce the second chapter field by one (2). You can also use this function to select only certain chapters of the movie to rip.

After that select the destination directory by clicking on the Destination browse button (1). Be sure there is enough free space in that location. You can also rename your encoded file from here (2).

Now it's time to configure the output video settings. This can be done either manually or by choosing one of the already saved Presets. There is a variety of Presets such as for AppleTV, iPhone, iPod, PS3, PSP, XBOX 360 and others. Of course you can configure each one of them to suit your needs.

If you want to configure manually the settings first you have to choose the output Video Encoder (1) between mpeg-4, xvid and h.264, as well as the ouput Audio Encoder (2) between aac, mp3, vorbis, ac3 and a combination of aac and ac3. Moreover if you are using iTunes with an iPod 5G/5.5G and only if the horizonal resolution of the video exceeds 320 pixels you should check the iPod Atom box (3).

In the Picture Settings tab you can crop the picture so that it doesn't have black bars on top and at the bottom (1). This can be done automatically or you can select on your own how much the crop you want to be. Unfortunatelly there is no preview window to make it easier for you so you can just leave this option to Automatic or None if you want to preserve the balck bars. Another usefull setting is the Width and Height change (2). If you want to rip your movie to watch on your computer there is no need for that, but in case you want to watch it in a mobile device such as iPod or a mobile phone you can save very much space. If your video has noise you can remove it using the Denoise filter (3). Weak is good for general use. Too much denoising destroys the picture quality.

In the Video tab you can choose a 2-Pass Encoding with Turbo first pass (1). The encoding process will last longer but the final video will be of better quality. You can also select the Bitrate you want (2). The biggest the bitrate is the biggest the size of the final video will be. In case you want to store the video file to a cd you can select the Target Size (3). 700MB is ok for cds. With the Average Bitrate or Target Size methods, you control the size of the output file but give up control over the video's quality. Constant quality (4) mode does the opposite; you specify a quality level and HandBrake adjusts the bitrate (that is, the size) to meet it. Finally a few things about Video Framerate (5). You can leave it to Automatic. If the DVD is PAL, the output is set to 25fps. If the DVD is NTSC, the output is set to 30fps. If the DVD is NTSC and insists it is progressive, the output is set to 24fps.

In the Audio & Subtitles tab you can choose only your languages Audio Tracks (1), select Stereo, Mono, Dolby Surround Audio (2) depending on what you use. You can also adjust Audio Bitrate and Sample Rate (3). Dynamic Range compression (4) boosts the volume of soft sound samples while leaving loud samples as they are. This squeezes down the range between the softest and loudest parts, but should make the softer ones easier to hear in noisy listening environments. Good values to use are 1.5-2.5. Dynamic range compression only works when the source audio is AC3 and you are encoding to another format, like AAC. It has no affect on AC3 pass-through or on DTS or MPEG-2 audio. Finally select the Subtitles you want to be burned onto the picture (5).

HandBrake can include chapter markers when you use the MP4 or MKV file formats. These will be placed at the same point where the chapter breaks are on the DVD. Check the Create Chapter Markers box (1) to enable the feature. By default, the chapters are named "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", etc. You can change their names by double clicking in the original names (2).

From the advanced tab you can manually select the H.264 options but you'd better know what you are doing here. If you don't just leave it alone since incorrect options will cause the encoder to fail.

When you are ready click the start button and wait till your final video is ready!

If you liked Handbreak and you want to give it a try for ripping your DVDs you can download it from here !

Please do not use the comment function to ask for help! If you need help, please use our guides forum .

HOW TO MAKE MOVIES IN 300 MB

Handbrake is a free software that allows you to rip your DVD movies to your Hard Drive, iPod, iPhone, PSP, XBOX360 and generally any other video device you may have. It is a cross platform program since it has versions both for Windows and MAC. It can rip encrypted and unencrypted DVDs but protection methods other than CSS aren't supoorted. The supported output video formats are mpeg-4, xvid and h.264. So, download it from here and let's get started!

Insert a DVD disk into your DVD rom and run Handbrake. This is the program's main window from which you can access all available settings.



Click the Source Browse button and select the VIDEO_TS folder from your DVD.

Next you can select which title of the DVD you want to rip. Usually every DVD movie apart from the main movie has other titles as well such as extra scenes, trailers, interviews etc. The main movie title is the longest one (1). Usually the credits are the last chapter of the movie. Therefore you can reduce the size of the final video file if you omit the credits. To do so first open the movie with an external dvd player software and check if the credits are indeed the last chapter. If so reduce the second chapter field by one (2). You can also use this function to select only certain chapters of the movie to rip.

After that select the destination directory by clicking on the Destination browse button (1). Be sure there is enough free space in that location. You can also rename your encoded file from here (2).

Now it's time to configure the output video settings. This can be done either manually or by choosing one of the already saved Presets. There is a variety of Presets such as for AppleTV, iPhone, iPod, PS3, PSP, XBOX 360 and others. Of course you can configure each one of them to suit your needs.

If you want to configure manually the settings first you have to choose the output Video Encoder (1) between mpeg-4, xvid and h.264, as well as the ouput Audio Encoder (2) between aac, mp3, vorbis, ac3 and a combination of aac and ac3. Moreover if you are using iTunes with an iPod 5G/5.5G and only if the horizonal resolution of the video exceeds 320 pixels you should check the iPod Atom box (3).

In the Picture Settings tab you can crop the picture so that it doesn't have black bars on top and at the bottom (1). This can be done automatically or you can select on your own how much the crop you want to be. Unfortunatelly there is no preview window to make it easier for you so you can just leave this option to Automatic or None if you want to preserve the balck bars. Another usefull setting is the Width and Height change (2). If you want to rip your movie to watch on your computer there is no need for that, but in case you want to watch it in a mobile device such as iPod or a mobile phone you can save very much space. If your video has noise you can remove it using the Denoise filter (3). Weak is good for general use. Too much denoising destroys the picture quality.

In the Video tab you can choose a 2-Pass Encoding with Turbo first pass (1). The encoding process will last longer but the final video will be of better quality. You can also select the Bitrate you want (2). The biggest the bitrate is the biggest the size of the final video will be. In case you want to store the video file to a cd you can select the Target Size (3). 700MB is ok for cds. With the Average Bitrate or Target Size methods, you control the size of the output file but give up control over the video's quality. Constant quality (4) mode does the opposite; you specify a quality level and HandBrake adjusts the bitrate (that is, the size) to meet it. Finally a few things about Video Framerate (5). You can leave it to Automatic. If the DVD is PAL, the output is set to 25fps. If the DVD is NTSC, the output is set to 30fps. If the DVD is NTSC and insists it is progressive, the output is set to 24fps.

In the Audio & Subtitles tab you can choose only your languages Audio Tracks (1), select Stereo, Mono, Dolby Surround Audio (2) depending on what you use. You can also adjust Audio Bitrate and Sample Rate (3). Dynamic Range compression (4) boosts the volume of soft sound samples while leaving loud samples as they are. This squeezes down the range between the softest and loudest parts, but should make the softer ones easier to hear in noisy listening environments. Good values to use are 1.5-2.5. Dynamic range compression only works when the source audio is AC3 and you are encoding to another format, like AAC. It has no affect on AC3 pass-through or on DTS or MPEG-2 audio. Finally select the Subtitles you want to be burned onto the picture (5).

HandBrake can include chapter markers when you use the MP4 or MKV file formats. These will be placed at the same point where the chapter breaks are on the DVD. Check the Create Chapter Markers box (1) to enable the feature. By default, the chapters are named "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", etc. You can change their names by double clicking in the original names (2).

From the advanced tab you can manually select the H.264 options but you'd better know what you are doing here. If you don't just leave it alone since incorrect options will cause the encoder to fail.

When you are ready click the start button and wait till your final video is ready!

If you liked Handbreak and you want to give it a try for ripping your DVDs you can download it from here !

Please do not use the comment function to ask for help! If you need help, please use our guides forum .