How to Transfer Cassette Tape to Computer

Audio cassettes opened up a world of portability unimaginable in the days when LPs ruled the roost. Now, however, cassette tapes have fallen by the wayside (or, in many cases, have been thrown to the wayside from moving vehicles), and, unlike LPs, they don’t look like making a comeback anytime soon. This poses a problem for those of us who would like to preserve important conversations or good songs that are currently stored on cassettes, not only because audio cassettes eventually deteriorate or get “eaten” by your tape player, but also because cassette players are becoming increasingly rare. Fortunately, you can easily transfer audio from cassettes to your computer, where it can be stored in formats such as WAV and MP3 or can be burned to CDs. In fact, $6 could get you everything you need.

1. Get your supplies together. You have several options. See the “Supplies You'll Need” section below for a list of these.
2. Rewind or fast-forward your cassette to the desired spot.
3. Connect the red and white RCA plugs to the appropriate, color-coded output jacks (line-out) on your cassette player or stereo receiver. Or connect one end of a double-ended 3.5mm stereo cable into the headphone output of your tape player.
4. 

   

   Cable Converter
   Connect the other end of your chosen cable to the “line-in" of your computer sound card. The 3.5mm Stereo plug is just like the plug of an earphone that you use in your Walkman or iPod. Adaptors are also available which allow you to use your computer’s USB port. For more details on the options see the “Things You’ll Need” section.
5. Turn on your computer and cassette player.
6. 

   

   MS Sound Recorder
   Open the sound-recording software you want to use. You can use just about any sound recording software. Microsoft Sound Recorder, which is standard in Microsoft Windows, will work for brief snippets, but it can be quite tedious to adjust the amount of time it will record (the default is only 60 seconds; you have to prepare your file beforehand by hitting the Record button each time it reaches the end, until you get a file large enough to hold the audio you'll be recording; then hit Rewind before recording), and it may not serve you well if you need to do extensive editing. If you do want to use Sound Recorder follow these instructions: click “Start” - “Programs” - scroll to and click on “Accessories” – scroll to and click on “Entertainment” – select “Sound Recorder”. You could also use a free sound recording like Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net). If you use this sound recording software, you can touch up the audio (raise volume, clear some static areas) and even export to mp3.
7. Click the record button in your sound recording software. (In Sound Recorder and many other programs, this is the button with the red dot.) Start recording before you hit “play” on your cassette player so you make sure you don’t miss anything at the beginning.
8. Press “play” on your cassette deck. The computer will record the audio coming from your cassette player.
9. Click the “stop” button (typically a black square) when you are finished. If you want to record for a long time (a whole cassette, for example), you don’t have to sit around and wait for the recording to finish. Your recorder will continue recording after the tape stops, and you can just cut the silent portion when you edit the recording. You do, however, want to make sure your recorder will record for long enough to capture all the audio you want. If it doesn’t, simply record each track one at a time.
10. Save the audio file by clicking “File” – “Save”. A new window will open and you can give the file a name and choose a location on your hard drive to save to.
11. Edit your recording. You may not need to do any editing, but if you want to cut out silences, erase some tracks, or change the volume, for example, most sound-recording programs will allow you to do so. When editing, it is a good idea to keep the original file as a backup and change the names of edited files when you save them in case you find you made a mistake. When you’re sure you like the edited file, you can delete the original to save memory space on your computer.
12. Burn audio to CD if desired.

Showing Long Dates In The Taskbar [Windows 7]

(Note before starting: This should also for work Windows Vista the exact same way.)

The way in which Windows 7 shows the date and time in the taskbar is like this:

However you can make it look like this:

Or this:

Or any number of other ways by modifying the short date format in Calendar settings.

To access this setting, you can get to it in several different ways.

Method 1 (the very long way):

1. Control Panel
2. System and Security
3. Clock, Language and Region
4. Date and Time
5. Change Date and Time (link)
6. Change Date and Time (button)
7. Change calendar settings

Method 2 (the much shorter way):

1. Right-click the clock in the taskbar.
2. Adjust date/time
3. Change date and time (button)
4. Change calendar settings

The Windows 7 date display in the taskbar does follow the short date format when adjusting the calendar settings.

Once you customize the short date, click Apply, then look to the taskbar date display to see if it’s to your liking. If not, change it around until you find something that suits you and click Apply again. When you find what you like, click OK.

I can’t tell you how happy I am that the date displays in whatever way I wish in Windows 7 without having to "raise" the taskbar just to see it.

Final notes:

If you choose to specifically use small icons in the bar, the taskbar will only show the time like XP did when "one tier" high.

If you mess up the way the time/date is displayed for whatever reason, note the Reset button in the screen shot above. This will restore the default appearance if you need to start over again.

Showing Long Dates In The Taskbar [Windows 7]

(Note before starting: This should also for work Windows Vista the exact same way.)

The way in which Windows 7 shows the date and time in the taskbar is like this:

However you can make it look like this:

Or this:

Or any number of other ways by modifying the short date format in Calendar settings.

To access this setting, you can get to it in several different ways.

Method 1 (the very long way):

1. Control Panel
2. System and Security
3. Clock, Language and Region
4. Date and Time
5. Change Date and Time (link)
6. Change Date and Time (button)
7. Change calendar settings

Method 2 (the much shorter way):

1. Right-click the clock in the taskbar.
2. Adjust date/time
3. Change date and time (button)
4. Change calendar settings

The Windows 7 date display in the taskbar does follow the short date format when adjusting the calendar settings.

Once you customize the short date, click Apply, then look to the taskbar date display to see if it’s to your liking. If not, change it around until you find something that suits you and click Apply again. When you find what you like, click OK.

I can’t tell you how happy I am that the date displays in whatever way I wish in Windows 7 without having to "raise" the taskbar just to see it.

Final notes:

If you choose to specifically use small icons in the bar, the taskbar will only show the time like XP did when "one tier" high.

If you mess up the way the time/date is displayed for whatever reason, note the Reset button in the screen shot above. This will restore the default appearance if you need to start over again.

Hoaxes

Symantec Security Response uncovers hoaxes on a regular basis. These hoaxes usually arrive in the form of an email. Please disregard the hoax emails - they contain bogus warnings usually intent only on frightening or misleading users. The best course of action is to merely delete these hoax emails. Please refer to this page whenever you receive what appears to be a bogus message regarding a new virus, or promotion that sounds too good to be true.

Name	Discovered

"Hello Dear" Hoax	09/04/2000
$800 from Microsoft Hoax
AIDS Virus Hoax
Antichrist Hoax	07/17/2001
AOL and Intel Hoax
AOL RIOT 2 Virus Hoax
AOL Year 2000 Update Hoax	12/18/1999
AOL.EXE Hoax
AOL4Free Virus Hoax
Awareness Virus Hoax
Baby New Year Virus Hoax
Badtimes Hoax
Be Spooked Hoax
BestBuy Order Fraud Alert Hoax	06/19/2003
Bicho7 Hoax	10/23/2001
Big Brother Hoax	10/12/2000
Blue Mountain Virus Hoax	12/19/2000
Blueballs Are Underrated Virus Hoax	07/30/1999
BUGGLST Hoax
California IBM Hoax
CellSaver Virus Hoax	08/26/1999
Coke.exe hoax
Dana virus hoax	12/03/2001
Dear Friends Hoax
Desi1love Hoax
Despite Virus Hoax	10/15/1999
Discount Virus Hoax	08/25/2000
DR.SIMON.WAJNTRAUBWS Hoax	10/26/2001
Economic Slow Down Hoax
Ericsson Free Phone Hoax	08/10/2001
EVIL THE CAT Virus Hoax
FatCat Virus Hoax
February 1 Hoax	01/25/2002
Flower for You Hoax	08/01/2000
Forward Hoax
FREE M & M's Hoax	11/02/1999
Free Pizza Virus Hoax	10/15/1999
FROGAPULT, ELFBOWL, Y2KGAME Virus Hoax	12/08/1999
Gamma2.exe Hoax	06/06/2001
GAP Email Tracking Hoax	06/21/1999
Gift from Microsoft Hoax	12/28/1999
Goldbear Virus Hoax	11/08/2002
Google Trojan Hoax	07/31/2003
Got You Hoax	05/27/2003
Guts to Say Jesus Hoax	05/15/1999
Hacky Birthday Virus Hoax
Hairy Palms Virus Hoax
Halloween Virus Hoax
Happy New Year Virus Hoax
Help Poor Dog Virus Hoax
Hitler Virus Hoax
How to Give a Cat a Colonic Hoax
INFILTER Virus Hoax
Iraq War Hoax	04/04/2003
Irish Virus hoax	09/08/2000
Jan1st20.exe Virus Hoax
Jdbgmgr.exe file hoax	04/12/2002
John Kennedy Jr Trojan Hoax	12/20/1999
Kleneu66 Hoax	09/19/2003
Launch Nuclear Strike Now Hoax	01/10/2002
Life is Beautiful Hoax	01/15/2002
Londhouse Virus Hoax
Lotus Notes Worm Hoax	09/01/2000
Lump of Coal Virus Hoax	09/07/1999
Matrix Virus Hoax
Mobile Phone Virus Hoax	05/18/1999
MSN Messenger add a contact Hoax	01/19/2003
NASTYFRIEND99 Virus Hoax	05/10/1999
NEWYORK BIG DIRT Hoax
Norman Virus Hoax
Olympic Torch Hoax	02/21/2006
Osama vs Bush Hoax
Pandemic Computer Virus Hoax
Perrin.exe Virus Hoax
Phantom Menace Hoax
Pluperfect Virus Hoax
Postal Service Email Charge Hoax	01/09/2002
Sandman hoax
SARC Virus Test Hoax
Scoutshacker Hoax
South Park News Letter Hoax
Symantec ASDL Virus Hoax	06/19/2001
T-Virus Hoax	08/19/2004
The New Ice Age Hoax	02/13/2001
Tuxissa Virus Hoax	04/22/2000
Upgrade Internet 2 Hoax	10/03/2000
Very Cool Virus Hoax
Virtual Card Virus Hoax
W2sync virus hoax
W32-PrPlCrcl-G Virus Hoax	04/01/2002
W32.MFG.Tassos@mm Hoax	06/04/2003
W32.XPExp.Worm Hoax	01/31/2003
Wait 48 hours hoax	11/01/2001
Watching hoax	09/12/2000
WAZ UP Hoax	01/11/2001
Windows will Fail on Jan 1 Hoax
Wobbler Hoax
Wooden Horse Hoax
WordScribe Virus Hoax	01/16/2001
Work Virus Hoax
World Domination Hoax
WTC Survivor Hoax	10/29/2001
Y2K7 Virus Hoax
YIM Hard drive killer Hoax	10/27/2005
Your Screen Name Hoax
ZZ331 Virus Hoax 08/31/1999

How Likely Are You For Wi-Fi Theft?

Wi-fi theft, as in the act of stealing someone’s internet connectivity by breaking into a wireless network, has been around ever since we first started using wireless routers.

Before covering the topic of how likely you are for wi-fi theft, I’ll first say that wi-fi security has never been that good. If one is desperate enough to steal your signal, there’s always a way. After all, anything that is transmitted can be intercepted. And as far as cracking the password is concerned, it truly is not that difficult given the right tools.

The best way to protect yourself from wi-fi theft is to:

1. Know your wireless router’s admin program thoroughly.
2. Take steps to be less of a target.

Know your wireless router’s admin program thoroughly

Login to your admin program via the web browser for your router and go thru every setting so you get familiarized with what you can do in there. Then follow the steps below.

Remember that for every wireless router manufactured there is a downloadable PDF manual for it (as far as I know) if you lost your printed copy. Perform a Google search for your make/model of router with the word "manual" in the search term and you should be able to locate the PDF version easily.

Taking steps to be less of a target

Use WPA2 if available with a long password

The WPA2 access password can be up to 63 characters long. If you use a long password with mixed case letters, numbers, spaces and symbols, it will be very difficult to "brute force" the password out of it.

Limit connectivity to specific MAC address(es)

This is usually labeled as MAC Address Filtering within the admin program. Every modern network card has a MAC (Media Access Control) address. If you limit allowed clients to specific MAC addresses, this greatly decreases the chance of wi-fi theft.

Most wireless router admin programs allow you to directly copy the MAC address from the connected PC into the allowed client list, so there’s usually no copy/paste involved.

Note: If you use virtual PCs, they have virtual MAC addresses that the router considers real. If setting up MAC address filtering, include your virtual machines as well.

Additional note: MAC addresses can be spoofed. But someone would have to specifically know one of the allowed MAC addresses in your wi-fi network and apply it to their computer in order to break in.

Limit number of connections

If you have three computers in your house and only allow for three assigned IP addresses via the router, the only way another system can get in there is to kick one off the network first.

Once again, be mindful of virtual PCs if you use them, because they use literal IPs (if network enabled); each counts as a separate unique network connection as far as the router is concerned. If you have three real PCs and two virtual ones that are network enabled, you will need to have your router be able to assign 5 IP addresses.

Do not allow remote administration

All wireless routers to the best of my knowledge come with this feature disabled by default, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it.

Other questions answered

Does IP Lease Time affect security at all?

No. My only suggestion would have the Lease Time not set to "forever", especially if you have people in and out of your house using the wi-fi routinely. This is done strictly for convenience’s sake. Some of you out there may prefer to have IPs cleared from the DHCP list, especially for temporary assignments (such as a friend visiting and using his or her wi-fi enabled laptop).

Does disabling the broadcasting of the SSID help?

It does offer a little bit of extra security, but MAC address filtering is much more effective.

Will periodically changing my SSID deter break-ins to my wireless network?

Not really, because all that has to be done is a re-scan of the available networks.

I do, however, suggest a non-generic name to make you less attractive as a target. For example, many people have Linksys routers simply labeled as "linksys". This literally announces, "I never changed this setting in my router", and that’s not good.

At least with a custom name, whoever is trying to break into a wi-fi network will target the "easy looking" ones first, and that includes SSID names like "linksys", "belkin" and the like.

Final notes

Taking action to be less of a target is your best defense against a wi-fi break-in.

Of course, the best defense is simply shutting the router off when not in use. This may be inconvenient, but nobody can break into your network via wireless if the router is off.

100 Portable Apps for your USB Stick (for Mac and Win)

This stuff can be installed on any portable drive, i.e. USB thumbdrive, PDA or an iPod. You can use them at work, school, or any other place where you can plugin your device. Check them out, you can either scroll-down for relevant category, i.e office software, email tools, messengers, games, etc. or get a ‘all-in-one’ package (all essential tools) . While there are more apps for windows users, I tried to include a mac version for each essential tool. All free. Enjoy!

What is a portable program ? : A portable program is a piece of software that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any other computer. It can be your email program, your browser, system recovery tools or even an operating system. The coolest part about it, is that all of your data and settings are always stored on a thumbdrive so when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind.

1. Portable Office Software
2. Portable Email/Calendar/ToDo Programs
3. Portable Text and Voice Messengers
4. Portable Media Tools (Audio / Video)
5. Portable Graphics Viewers and Image Editors
6. Portable Browsers and Web Tools (FTP, Feedreaders, Torrent clients…)
7. Portable Security Software
8. Portable Games
9. Other Portable Utilities
10. Portable Developer Tools (Techies Only)
11. All-In-One Packages
12. Portable Operating Systems (’HowTo’ Articles)
13. USB ThumDrive Tips

Portable Office Software

• Abiword [Win (6.3 mb) / Mac (9.5 mb)] - word processor (compatible with Microsoft word)
• OpenOffice [Win (65 mb) / Mac (127 mb)] - free alternative to Microsoft Office (fully compatible with Microsoft Office docs)
• PDF Viewers: Sumatra [Win (1.1 mb) ], Foxit PDF Reader [Win, (1.8 mb) ]
• Notepad ++ - feature-rich Notepad replacement.

Portable Email/Calendar/ToDo Programs

• Mozilla ThunderBird - [Win (6 mb), Mac (20.5 mb), Cross-Platform (Win, Mac)] - very good email client (built-in address book, import/export, tons of addons)
• Calendars: Mozilla Sunbird [Win, 5.6mb], Sunbird [Mac, 9.7mb], Lightning [Win, 1.3mb) - ThunderBird addon
• Mail [Mac] - requires locally installed Mail.app
• iCal [Mac] - requires locally installed iCal.app
• Address Book [Mac] - requires locally installed Address Book
• Quick Mailer [Win, 20kb] - tiny program for sending quick e-mail messages
• gDisk [Mac, 1020kb] - handy program that turns your gmail account into a portable hard drive. (More stuff for gmail)

Portable Text and Voice Messengers

• All-in-One (Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, etc.): Gaim [Win, 6.9 mb], Miranda IM [Win, 1.2 mb], Adium [Mac, 15.5mb], Trillian [Win]
• iChat [Mac] - requires locally installed iChat
• Newspeak [Mac, 1mb] - Newspeak Cocoa IRC client
• Skype - exlpains how to make skype portable

Portable Media Tools (Audio / Video)

• Audacity [Win (2.4 mb), Mac (5mb)] - simple audio editor and recorder
• VLC [Win (9.3 mb), Mac (24 mb)] - powerful media player that plays almost all popular audio and video formats
• K-Lite Mega Codec Pack with Media Player (resource unaccessible) - another powerful media player for playing all conceivable formats
• iShout [Mac, 7mb] - record and listen to your favorite internet radios.
• CocoaJT [Mac, 8.7mb] - stream live TV programs from major broadcast channels.

Portable Graphics Viewers and Image Editors

• GIMP [Win (8.6 mb), Mac (87.5 mb)] - free alternative to Photoshop
• IrfanView [Win, 1013kb] - fast graphic viewer with basic image editing features
• XNView [Win, Mac, Linux] - image viewer and converter (supports more then 400 image formats)
• Inkscape [Mac, 24.6mb] - scalable vector graphics editor

Portable Browsers and Internet Tools (FTP, Feedreaders, Torrent Clients…)

• Firefox [Win (5.8 mb), Mac (21.9mb), Cross-platform (Win, Mac) ]
• Other browsers: Camino [Mac, 16.2mb], Opera [Win], Safari [Mac] - requires installed safari
• Feedreaders (RSS, Atom …): RSSOwl [Mac, 5mb], Feed [Mac, 564kb], GreatNews [Win], Sage [Win, 0.2 mb]
• FTP Clients: Filezilla [Win, 2.3 mb], FireFTP [Win, 0.1mb], CyberDuck [Mac, 9.9mb]
• TrayURL [Win] - bookmark manager
• uTorrent [Win] - popular torrent downloader

Portable Security Software

• Antivirus: ClamWin [Win, 5.9mb], Dr.Web CureIt [Win, 5.5 mb]
• Keepass Password [Win, 1mb] - securely store and manage your passwords
• Omziff [Win, 0.5mb] - lets you encrypt/decrypt a file, using secure encryption algorithms. Also includes a password generator, file shredder, file splitter and some more tools.
• LockNote [Win] - simple text file that lets you store sensitive info with 256bit password encryption.
• RoboFor2Go [Win] - secure password manager and form filler
• Smart Sniff [Win, 57kb] - lets you inspect network traffic that passes via your network adapter.

Portable Games

• Sudoku - popular puzzle game
• Bricks2000 - popular tetris clone
• Logix - something similar to minesweeper
• Gem Drop - fast-paced puzzle game
• GeneRally - 2D racing game
• Nagaskaki - chess game
• NarkoMania - cool minesweeper clone
• NeverBall - part puzzle, part action game

Other Portable Utilities

• 7Zip [Win, 1.1 mb] - file archiver and compressor, supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR and more
• Registry Tweaker [Win, 1.52mb] - registry tweaking tool
• Restoration [Win, 229kb] - handy program for recovering deleted (or formatted) files
• YamiPod [Win] - powerful iPod manager (copy mp3/AAC files to and from your iPod, import/export playlists, search for songs, remove duplicates,..). More iPod tools
• Drive Manager [Win, 1191 kb] - quick summary for each local and removable drive.
• PStart - lets you organize and create menu-like list for quicker access to your portable programs.
• SyncPAppX - script that syncs preferences between portable and local applications.
• RQ Money - handy utlity to manage your credits and debts
• SIW - a system analysis tool that tells you almost everything you need to know about a computer, i.e. hardware, configuration settings, etc.
• WinAudit - one more analysis tool
• Convert [Win, 155 kb] - fast metric unit conversion tool (distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass…)
• UK Calender [Win, 321kb] - straightforward calendar with ToDo and reminders
• CPU-Z [Win] - provides detailed info about your processor and other components
• Country Codes [Win, 1358 kb] - a small database of country codes and additional information for all countries.
• TreePad Lite [Win, 866kb] - personal database program, lets you store all your notes, emails, bookmarks, etc. into one well-structured file
• StartupList [Win, 158 kb] - displays all items that are in any way related to your computer startup and are executed without any user interactions
• eTextReader [Win, 279kb] - read plain text files provided by Project Gutenberg in a book-like manner.
• Index Your Files [Win, 640kb] - provides an easy way to create index databases (of specified folders and drives) for quick file/term search
• RockXP [win, 768kb] - handy utility for retrieving Win XP’s product key
• WhoisThisDomain [Win, 42kb] - view owner and registration info for any domain name
• Converter - portable unit convertsion utility

Portable Developer Tools (Techies Only)

• Nvu [Win (7.3 mb), Mac (12 mb)] - easy-to-use webpage editor. Simpler alternative to Dreamweaver and Microsft Frontpage
• Server2Go - apache webserver (no configurations needed)
• InstantRails[Win, 60mb] - contains Ruby, Rails, Apache, and MySQL, all preconfigured and ready to run.
• Putty [Win, 0.9 mb] - lightweight telnet and SSH client
• Follow-Me IP - displays your external IP address
• XAMPP [Win, 25/17 mb] - integrated server package of Apache, mySQL, PHP and Perl. Just Unzip and Run
• HTTP File Server [Win] - simple and easy-to-use file server for personal file sharing.
• CurrPorts [Win, 46kb]- lets you view a list of ports that are currently in use, along with applications that use them
• FTP Servers: Quick’n Easy FTP Server [Win, 355kb], PureFTPdManager [Mac, 10.9mb]

All-In-One Packages

• PortableApps Suite [Win, 89.5mb] - includes 7 programs for essential needs (office, email, IM client, etc.) + cool Startup manager and backup utility
• FSuite [Mac, 668.3mb] - over 30 useful tools in one file (Office, Graphic, Audio, Video, Internet, Developer Tools and Games)

Portable Operating Systems (’HowTo’ Articles)

• Mac OS Classic 7
• Portable Linux: Knoppix, Ubuntu
• Win XP

USB ThumDrive Tips

• How to create a bootable USB key
• Never Forget your USB Stick
• QuickLaunch your USB workspace
• How To Make Skype a Portable App

That’s mainly it… In case you’re looking for something that wasn’t mentioned above, there are a couple of resources you may want to check out. These are Portablefreeware.com and Tinyapps.org

Boot Windows XP from a USB flash drive

Almost everyone who has worked with computers for any length of time at all has run into at least one situation in which a problem left a PC unbootable. What if you could return the machine to a bootable state just by inserting a USB flash drive though? Believe it or not, it is actually possible to install a bootable copy of Windows XP onto a flash drive and then boot a PC off of the flash drive. From there, you can use applications that you have installed on the flash drive (anti virus, anti spyware, disk repair, etc.) to fix the PC's problem. In this article, I will show you how.

What's the catch?

As with most cool new techniques, there are a few catches. For starters, not every PC is capable of booting from a USB flash drive. For the most part, computers manufactured within the last two years are generally able to boot from a flash drive. Older systems may require a BIOS update, or might not be able to boot from a flash drive at all.

Another catch is that not every flash drive will get the job done. The primary factors that limit your use of a particular flash drive are capacity and speed. Technically, speed isn't really a limiting factor, but booting Windows will be painfully slow unless you use a flash drive that supports USB 2.0.

The flash drive's capacity is actually a limiting factor though. Surprisingly though, there are size limits on both the upper and lower end. Your flash drive can't be too large or too small. There isn't really a documented minimal size for a flash drive. You just need something large enough to hold Windows XP and a few applications. As you probably know, Windows XP normally consumes over a gigabyte of disk space. Later I will show you how to use a free utility to trim the excess fat off of Windows XP and make it a whole lot smaller. Even so, I still recommend that your flash drive be at least a minimum of 256 MB in size.

As I mentioned, there is a maximum size for the USB flash drive that you can use. Currently, USB flash drives exist in sizes of up to 4 GB, and 8 GB flash drives are expected to be available by the end of the year. As nice as it would be to have 8 GB to play with, the flash drive that you use for this project can be no larger than 2 GB. The reason for this is because you will have to format the flash drive using the FAT-16 file system, which has a 2 GB limit. Presently, you are stuck using FAT-16 because most computers will not recognize a flash drive as being bootable if the drive is formatted with anything other than FAT-16.

Preparing your Windows installation CD

One of the requirements for creating our bootable USB flash drive is a Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installation CD. If your Windows XP installation CD doesn't already include Service Pack 2, then you will have to make a CD that includes Service Pack 2 through a technique called slipstreaming.

Other requirements

In addition to your Windows XP installation CD, there are a couple of other things that you are going to need. For starters, you will need the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. You can download this tool for free.

Another utility that you are going to need is Bart's Preinstalled Environment Bootable Live Windows CD / DVD, or BartPE for short. You can download this utility for free from the BartPE Web site.

In addition to the software requirements, you must verify that the PC that you will be using to create the Windows deployment has 1.5 GB of free hard disk space (minimum) and supports booting from a USB device. I also strongly recommend that the PC be running Windows XP Service Pack 2. Prior to Service Pack 2, Windows XP sometimes had trouble interacting with USB storage devices.

Formatting the flash drive

Now that you have all of the prerequisites taken care of, it's time to actually start setting up our flash drive. The first step in doing so, as strange as it sounds, is to format the flash drive. Windows will actually let you format a flash drive in the same way that you format a floppy disk. However, formatting a flash drive in this way will not work for this project. Furthermore, using Windows to format a flash drive directly has been known to destroy some types of flash drives.

Instead, you must format the flash drive by using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool that you downloaded earlier. To do so, simply open the utility, select the device followed by the FAT file system option and click Start.

Once the device has been formatted, you must make it bootable. To do so, you must copy the BOOT.INI, NTLDR, and NTDETECT from the root directory of your PC's boot drive to the flash drive. These files are hidden by default, so you will either have to configure Windows Explorer to show hidden files (including protected operating system files) or you will have to open a Command Prompt window and use the COPY command to copy the files.

If you choose to use the Windows Explorer method, then open Internet Explorer and enter C: into the address bar so that you are looking at your local hard drive. Next, select the Folder Options command from the Tools menu. When the Folder Options properties sheet opens, select the View tab. Now, just select the Show Hidden Files and Folders and deselect the Hide Extensions for Known File Types and the Hide Protected Operating System Files check boxes. Click OK to continue.

Booting from the USB flash drive

Now that you have formatted your USB flash drive and installed the boot files onto it, the next thing that you must do is to configure your PC to allow you to boot from the flash drive. This is all done through the computer's BIOS Setup. I can't give you specific instructions for this part, because every computer is different. I can give you a few pointers though.

You can access your computer's BIOS by pressing a specific key immediately after you turn the PC on. The key varies, but it is usually either [F1], [F2], or [Delete]. Once you are in the BIOS Setup, you should verify that all of your computer's USB options are enabled. This might include things like support for legacy USB devices or support for USB 2.0. If there is a time out setting for USB devices, you should set it to the max to insure that the system doesn't time out while waiting on the USB device to boot.

Next, find the section on boot device priority. Normally, a USB flash drive (which is usually listed as USB-HDD, but may be listed as a removable device) will have a very low boot priority. If the USB flash drive's boot priority is lower than the hard disk (listed as HDD) then the only time the computer would ever boot off of the USB flash drive is if the system were to fail to boot from the hard disk. You must therefore rearrange the boot device priority so that the flash drive has a higher priority than the hard drive.

Configuring Windows

Now that we have finally made it through all of the prep work, it's time to start setting up Windows. As you have probably already guessed, the process of installing Windows to a flash drive is quite a bit different from your normal, run of the mill installation. There are a couple of reasons for this.

For starters, a full blown Windows XP deployment takes up over a Gigabyte of hard disk space. When you are installing to a flash drive, disk space is a scarce commodity. Even if you have over a Gigabyte of space on your flash drive, you probably don't want to use it all on Windows. It would be nice to have room to install a few applications. Therefore, you need to trim the excess fat off of Windows.

The other reason why the installation process is so different from the usual Windows installation is because Windows Setup is not designed to install Windows to a flash drive. You therefore have to configure Windows using an alternate method.

The PEBuilder utility that you downloaded earlier can take care of both of these issues. PEBuilder is designed to create a build of Windows XP (or Windows Server 2003) that does not take up as much space as a full blown installation. Once you create this new build, you can copy it to the flash drive. For right now, I will show you how to create a basic Windows build and copy it to the memory stick. Unfortunately, it's rather difficult to install applications once Windows is up and running. Therefore, after I show you how to create a basic Windows build, I will show you how to create a build that includes some applications.

Begin the process by opening PEBuilder. When you open PEBuilder, you will see a screen similar to the one that's shown in Figure A. Simply enter the path to the Windows installation files (the ones from your Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installation CD). Next, verify that the Create ISO Image and the Burn to CD check boxes are not selected and then click the Build button. PEBuilder will now create the new Windows build.

Figure A

You must use PEBuilder to create a Windows build that will work with a flash drive.

Now, it's time to copy Windows to the flash drive. To do so, you will have to use a special batch file that's included with PEBuilder. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to c:\pebuilder313\plugin\peinst. Now, insert an empty flash drive into the computer's USB port and then execute the file PEINST.CMD. You will now see a menu appear as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

PEBuilder uses a batch file to install Windows onto a flash drive.

Type 1 and press [Enter] and you will be prompted to enter the path to the build that you have created. Enter C:\pebuilder313\BartPE. Now, type 2, press [Enter], and you will be prompted for the target path. Enter the drive letter that Windows has assigned to your USB flash drive. After doing so, the menu is updated as shown in Figure C. The menu now displays the source path and the destination drive. Type 5 and press [Enter] to install Windows to the flash drive.

Figure C

Use menu option 5 to install Windows to the flash drive.

Installing applications

Now that I have shown you how to create and install a basic Windows build, I want to talk for a moment about how you can add an application to the build (prior to creating it). The PEBuilder program comes pre-configured to support a number of common Windows applications, but does not come with the applications themselves.

The reason why installing applications can be a little bit tricky is because most Windows applications modify the Windows registry. The build that you are creating is basically a collection of installation files, and the build itself does not contain a registry (the registry gets created when Windows is installed onto the flash drive). As such, PEBuilder uses a sort of registry emulator.

If you go to the C:\PEBUILDER313\PLUGIN folder, you will see sub folders for a number of different applications. If you open one of these application folders, you will see that the folder contains an INF file and a FILES folder. The INF file contains all of the information that would normally go into the registry, and the FILES folder stores all of the program's files.

To see how this works, let's install an application that I'm sure most of you are familiar with; Nero. Begin by installing Nero onto the machine that's running PEBuilder, as if you planned to run Nero locally on that machine. When the installation completes, copy all of the files from C:\Program Files\ahead\Nero to C:\pebuilder313\plugin\nero burning rom\files. In this particular case, the nero burning rom folder is the folder that has been set aside for the Nero application. The Files sub folder is intended to store Nero's system files.

Now, you must take care of Nero's registry entries. To do so, go to the C:\pebuilder313\plugin\nero burning rom folder and open the PENERO.INF file using Notepad. As I explained earlier, the INF file in an application's folder is used to store the application's registry entries. For Nero and all of the other applications that PEBuilder predefines, the INF file is pre-configured. You just have to make a few changes that are specific to your system.

In this particular case, the PENERO.INF file is designed to support both Nero versions 5.x and 6.x. Initially, the lines for both versions are commented out. You must therefore determine which version you have and then remove the semi colon from the beginning of the lines that apply to that version. If you look at Figure D, you can see how the two versions are separated.

Figure D

An application's registry entries are stored in an INF file.

Once you uncomment the appropriate lines, just replace "Your Name", "Your Company Name" and "Your Serial Number" with your name, your company's name, and your Nero product key. Save the file, and your set to go. The next time that you click the Build button, Nero will be included in the build.

Putting XP in your pocket

Running Windows from a flash drive isn't an exact science. Sometimes the process just doesn't work and there is no good reason why. As more PCs start to support booting from USB devices though, USB boots should become more standardized, and the technique should become more reliable.

StickDuino, USB stick Arduino clone

The Arduino hardware clones keep rolling in. This weeks entry into the modern dev board's roster is the StickDuino. The board is designed to be fully hardware compatible and plugs directly into your USB port. The StickDuino uses all SMD components. The creators know that this can make assembly more difficult so they've space the components out, opted for larger pads, and collected some links to SMD tutorials. The board feature two more analog inputs than the Diecimila and it has a jumper so you can switch it to 3.3V. All around it looks like a great product; frankly we love anything with full board layouts.
pecifications:

• Exposes all Arduino Diecimila pins
• Fits directly into most USB ports
• Pin 13 LED
• Onboard USB using the same FT232RL used on the Arduino Diecimila and others
• ATmega168 SMD microcontroller. (Pre-programmed with the Diecimila boot loader, if purchased as a kit.)
  • Two additional Analog In pins compared to through-hole ATmega168 based boards (including the NG and Diecimila)
• Auto-reset, just like the Diecimila
• Completely open-source design

Differences from the Arduino:

• Shields will not 'plug in' because the physical shape is so different. You can, of course, use wires to connect the shield to the StickDuino pins.

How to Format a Hard Drive With Windows XP

If you want to format a hard drive while using or installing Windows XP, you've come to the right place. This can be very useful for clearing everything off a secondary drive or when installing a fresh copy of Windows. Formatting a computer hard drive is simple and can help eliminate viruses, storage issues and other hard-to-resolve problems.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Preparation

Step1

When you format a computer hard drive you will lose everything that is on the drive. Therefore, it is very important to back up anything you might want later. Additionally, if you are going to be formatting and installing XP you need to make sure you have the discs for any applications or third party hardware you use since you will need to re-install your programs and drivers after re-installing Windows.

Step2

Take a moment to think of anything that you have on the computer that you wouldn't want to lose. Generally, you probably want everything in your My Documents folder, and you also want to save things like your favorites or bookmarks from your Web browser. Remember that each user on the computer has his or her own My Documents folder, Desktop items and Favorites/Bookmarks.

Step3

Save everything to a CD, DVD or a hard drive that you won't be formatting.

Formatting a Secondary Hard Drive

Step1

Right-Click on the “My Computer” icon either on your desktop or in the Start Menu and select “Manage.”

Step2

A new window titled “Computer Management” comes up. Select “Storage” from the left hand side by clicking it once, then select “Disk Management(local)” from the right side by double-clicking it.

Step3

Now in the lower part of the main frame (right side) of the window you should see a nice visual of all your hard drives. Each line is a different drive. Each box on a line (with a colored bar at the top and a size displayed in MB or GB) is a partition on the drive. Partitions are separations of space on a drive. Unless you are doing something specific that requires multiple partitions, you only want one partition per drive.

Step4

First you must delete any existing partitions on the drive you are going to format. Do this by right-clicking on the partition's box and selecting “Delete Partition...” Since you already know that you will be deleting everything on the drive, and have already backed everything up, you can safely say yes to any warning the computer presents you with.

Step5

If there are multiple partitions make sure you have saved everything off them since they might each have different drive letters (i.e. “D:” or “F:”). Then repeat the above step for each of them. If you only want to format one partition that is OK and you can continue to the next step without deleting the other partitions.

Step6

The box for the drive to be formatted should now have a black bar at the top of it and should say “Unallocated” under its size (see picture). Right click on it and select “New Partition...” The New Partition Wizard comes up.

Step7

In the New Partition Wizard click next. On the next page make sure “Primary Partition” is selected and click next. Now make the size equal to the maximum (it should already be set to it), and click next again. On the next page the computer will automatically choose the first available drive letter for the new drive. However, if you like you can choose another drive letter from the drop-down menu, and then click next.

Step8

Finally the New Partition Wizard asks if you would like to format the new partition and if so what format. Choose “NTFS” as it is faster and more secure. Leave the “Allocation unit size” as “Default.” In the “Volume label” field enter whatever name you want the drive to have. Simple is better. Avoid using spaces. Lastly, if the drive is brand new and has never been used before check the “Perform a quick format” box. If the drive has been used before leave this box unchecked. Leave the “Enable file and folder compression” box unchecked and click next. Then on the next page click finish.

Step9

The wizard will now spend a little while formatting the drive. On old or large drives this may take a while. Do not close the “Computer Management” window until it finishes. You will know it is done when the word under the size of the drive changes from “Formatting” to “Healthy” and the name and drive letter you chose for the new drive show up. After it is finished you can proceed to use your newly formatted drive.

Formatting and Installing from the Windows XP CD

Step1

This section explains how to reformat a drive from the Windows XP installation CD. This can be used when installing a fresh copy of Windows onto a computer. Here it is especially important to backup all of your important information because upon formatting you will lose EVERYTHING that used to be on the drive. This includes all applications and device drivers, so you must back up everything you can.

Step2

Insert your Windows XP installation disc into your CD drive (Home or Pro--it does not matter).

Step3

Now as you computer boots a little more it will say “Press any key to boot from CD..” press a key to do so.

Step4

The CD will load up a blue screen and then spend a while loading files it needs. When it is finished it will list a few options, mainly “Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.” Press Enter or Return.

Step5

Now you will be at a screen to select where to install Windows to. This is where you can delete old partitions and format drives. The box in the bottom half of the screen shows all your drives and the partitions that exist on them. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to highlight your “C:” partition and press the 'D' key (if all that shows up is “Unpartitioned space” and you have no C: or D: partitions, skip this step). On the next screen press the 'L' key to finalize deleting the partition.

Step6

Now you are back on the screen to choose where to install Windows. The box on the lower half of the screen should no longer show a partition but simply have an entry “Unpartitioned space xxxxxMB.” Select this with the arrow keys and press the 'C' key to create a partition on the drive. The next screen tells you the minimum and maximum sizes the partition can be and lets you pick the size. The default size is the maximum, but double check that the number entered is the maximum and hit enter.

Step7

Now you will again be back at the choose where to install Windows screen. But this time you will have a partition that looks something like this “C: Partition1 [New (Raw)]xxxxxxMB.” Highlight this entry and press enter.

Step8

The next screen lets you choose which file system to format the drive with. Choose NTFS as it is faster and more secure. If the drive is brand new and has never been used before then use one of the options that ends in “(Quick).” Or, choose one of the lower down options. Use the arrow keys to select the proper one and press Enter or Return.

Step9

From here you are all set and the installation of Windows will proceed starting with a format of your drive. This will take a while (over half an hour) so you can take a little break.

How to revive a dead hard drive

If you are one of a numerous victims of MacBook and MacBook Pro hard drive failures, there is a glimpse of hope that you can still have your data recovered. It involves removing the hard drive from its enclosure, from the computer in this case.

Removing the hard drive from a MacBook is a breeze, it takes good part of a few minutes. However, MacBook Pro owners will need some bravery, surgical precision and, of course, lots of time. Be aware that opening the MacBook Pro will definitely void your warranty.

Sometimes the drive heads get stuck in a parking bay and consequently your hard drive fails to read or boot. There is no clear indication that would help distinguish between this and the genuinely dead hard drive, but since it’s not working anyway, you can still give it a try. Often this fixes the issue.

Remove the hard drive from your computer and hold it on the palm of one hand. Give it one flat-handed brisk slap on the top of the drive. Just one. Then place it back into your computer and see if it worked.

If it’s still dead then it’s bad news. If it works - you have a decision to make; leave it as it is, and continue with your life like nothing ever happened, or get the data off the drive as soon as possible and get a replacement drive. It’s really up to you.

You’ve also learned about the benefits of backing up, so go on and get that external drive, they’re cheap as chips now, and back-up, back-up, back-up