Chapman IT | Blog

Bandcamp Downloader

2012-01-22T02:15:00.000-05:00

Summary

I made a downloader for bandcamp. Check it out: http://bcdlr.yaheard.us / http://bandcampdownloader.yaheard.us

Detail

I like bandcamp. It is a clean site that straight-links offsite to a band's page of choice, enables streaming and purchase, makes use of HTML5, and has an impressive variety of music.

While I have a smartphone, I only have 100MB/month for my data. I pay $30/month...give me a break. So, I use a 16GB SD card to keep (some) music with me. I'm also very much "try before you buy". If I've bought the last 2 CDs by a band, I can do a blind buy...but otherwise, I want to know I'll listen regularly before I shell out my money. I'm still hesitant of digital only purchases (i know, right?); even though the first thing I do when I get a CD is rip it (to .ogg).

So, I made a bandcamp downloader. Because Bandcamp makes use of HTML5 (maybe flash fallback, for older browser support?) to play their audio, their source links are pretty much out and the open. At first, I parsed through some source code to download the songs I wanted to listen to on my commute. I rarely get the chance to listen at my house...sitting in front of my computer. However, I was dissapointed that there was not an easier way.

I found a few pages that had bookmarlets, extensions, and js scripts to do the task...but they seemed a little more difficult then I prefer my user experiences to be, and some were browser-dependent.

After making my experiment, I ran across the following two solutions:

Bandcamp Download (http://bandcampdownload.com/) is kinda similar to what I wanted to do...but excels more at entire album downloads because it compresses (to .tar.gz -- a linux format to scare off users after the server's done the downloading work, i guess) for a single download. It seems to be down alot, though.
Offliberty (http://offliberty.com/) seems to grab A file from the referenced page. Due to this, it works best on individual song pages. It works on artist or album pages, but only grabs the first track, and the forced download doesn't name the download with artist/album/track information.

I wanted something a little more obvious...and am glad my work wasn't totally pointless.

Here's the result...the Bandcamp Downloader (http://bandcampdownloader.yaheard.us / http://bcdlr.yaheard.us)

Fix: The dependency service or group failed to start // found new hardware

2012-01-19T00:11:00.000-05:00

Short post.

I had a problem with a client's machine that suddenly failed to connect to his wireless network. Tried phone support/advice: I knew his machine...probably, his network adapter went down. Recommended he get USB adapter.

No help.

I went to visit. Installed USB wireless adapter. Still can't connect. On login, new hardware found (not related to new wireless device). Disabled old, presumed non-working, adapter. Still finding new hardware and failing to get drivers. Strange.

On mouseover of system tray network icon, "The dependency service or group failed to start" is displayed.

Google it.

A few forums had some fixes...none seemed to work. Even tried (from elevated command prompt) "netsh winsock reset" a couple of times. No help.

Finally found a forum comment that helped (http://forums.techarena.in/networking-security/1038559.htm#post5050766):

[from elevated command prompt -- type 'cmd' in start menu search, right-click and 'run as administrator']

1) netsh winsock reset
2) netsh int ip reset
3) net localgroup administrators localservice /add
4) net localgroup administrators networkservice /add
5) exit
Then reboot.

I'm sure you could have found this otherwise...but I hope more links to it/posts about it with the fix that worked for me can only help, right?

Watching Multiple Folders with Songbird

2011-11-12T11:55:00.013-05:00

The Problem

I finally made the switch from WinAMP to Songbird. I had tried it on a laptop, so wasn't too surprised...and liked most of what I saw. That is, until I realized I couldn't watch multiple folders. Oh no!!!

This would have been fine if I could watch the 'My Music' folder...but Songbird seems to disapprove of watching libraries. Something about file duplication issues...whatev.

The Fix

Shortcut (failed)

I first tried to make standard shortcuts (right-click > new shortcut) to the other folders I wanted to watch within the watched folder. No go.

Symlink (worked)

I had recently run into a problem on my Linux box that I had to utilize Symlinks to address. Why not try something like that for Windows?

I came across this link:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-symlinks-in-windows-vista/

It showed how to, using an (elevated) command prompt, make a Symlink in Windows. This is only available for Vista or later. I successfully used it for Windows 7.

Using the following code for the 4 additional folders I wanted to include in my library, new Symlinks were created in my watched folder which allows Songbird to successfully see songs added to those places.

mklink /d c:\media\music\extra_folder d:\music
          [watched fol] [Symlink name][folder to watch]

This has to be run in an elevated command prompt:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/783-elevated-command-prompt.html

A Visual

...they look like shortcuts, but they are Symlinks!

Conclusion

Symlinks seem to be the solution to only one available watch folder in Songbird. This was verified on Windows 7 and Songbird 1.10.1 (Build 2160). Presumably, the same idea would probably work in Linux.

Project Elite v6.5 - Choppy Video Recording and Playback

2011-10-22T23:26:00.000-04:00

The Problem

I got an OG Droid (Motorola Droid 1) and have been using it as music player / nerd toy until I activate it when my Verizon contract is up in a few months. At some point after flashing it with the Project Elite v6.5 rom, my video started recording choppy (choppily?). Hence, playing back choppy (due to recording state)...not horribly, but enough to degrade the viewing experience, certainly.

The Fix

A few forums I found said to 'clock cpu to 600MHz'...from what I can tell, they meant to change the following:

Settings > Elite Settings > Performance > CPU settings > Max CPU frequency -- change this to 600MHz

Using the default Kernel, I wasn't able to do this. I first had to modify the kernel by doing the following:

Settings > Elite Settings > Performance > Change Kernels -- from P.E LV 1.05ghz(default) to Elite Series v3 LV 900mhz

Once that is done, I had to restart. Once the kernel was updated, I had to go back and set the Max CPU frequency to 800MHz or 600MHz...either seemed to do the trick for me.

I also made sure I checked the box at the bottom of the 'CPU settings' screen...it seems to 'remember' the clock you set on restart. Which is important.

In Conclusion

This information was available in forums, but wasn't very specific..so I hope to save someone a little time by reading it here.

Cloud Computing -- A Quick Look

2011-09-30T01:07:00.002-04:00

I created this presentation for Granville Academy as a stand-in for my presence at the Grand Opening, 2011 event which will be held on October 1st. My wife helped me stay some of the excessive content and translate the native geek speak.

Although it is very concise, I'm very happy with the result!

Photos and Graphics by Nick Chapman
Editing by Melissa Chapman

Importing csv contacts into Gmail (with mapping)

2011-09-18T14:43:00.001-04:00

Overview

This post attempts to provide help importing csv contacts into Gmail. The intention is that people who import data which is improperly mapped -- ends up in the 'Notes' section instead of in the appropriate field -- will be helped by this post.

Skip to Synopsis if you want the quick fix.

Background

I finally got my wife a smartphone and was trying to get it set up in time to give it to her for her birthday. Everything went smoothly. I was able to flash the LG Ally with the Velocity 1.1 custom rom (recommended if you have an LG Ally -- it is super fast. Google it). Next I used BitPim to backup her pictures, videos, and ringtones (see previous post here). I hadn't exported her contacts before..even though BitPim makes it relatively easy to export. Additionally, LG (or Verizon) seems to offer a backup tool...but I kinda like to do stuff like this manually to ensure it works properly, even if it is a little more work. I got the contacts exported in a relatively straightforward csv file. Easy. Importing into Gmail proved not so easy...

The Problem

When I first imported the csv (from Gmail's contacts section -- click more > import), it went smoothly enough. It seemed. I had expected to see some type of 'mapping' option, enabling me to specify that name becomes name, phone becomes phone...etc. There was no such option, so I thought Google's code may have just been smart enough to figure it out on its own (this turned out to be grossly incorrect). Upon review of the imported contacts, nothing went to the correct field...except maybe email. I searched a few forums and websites which gave me little hope that it was possible. After trying again with logically named headers (instead of the somewhat strange ones from the original export), and having no success, I thought I could export from Gmail contacts...then mimic the resulting headers for a (surely) successful import. Despite having to reorganize my csv substantially, this only produced another failure. The 'name' finally went to the correct place, but that is all. There were no errors, most of the imported information just ended up in a generic 'notes' textbox where any non resolved information went. This is certainly better than discarding the unsuccessfully mapped information, but not ideal, either.

The Solution

Finally, I came across this page, which had some column header suggestions and indicated experiencing a successful import. I decided to reorganize my csv information again and give it a shot. I used the third set of headers as my guide...and hypothesized that I needed to use typical Gmail contact keywords plus the 'phone' monikers to get my numbers to map correctly. This turned out to be correct -- at least for Name, Mobile Phone, Home Phone, and email. I'm not sure about successfully mapping Work Phone and Mobile 2 Phone (maybe another 'Mobile Phone' column would work?), as those column headers didn't work for me. The successful headers I used follow:

Successful Column Headers:

Name

Mobile Phone

Home Phone

Let me know if anyone else finds other successful headers, or a google resource which explains the situation / resolution more eloquently.

Synopsis

If you have trouble importing csv contacts into Gmail contacts (your information is being imported into the Notes box, but not being mapped correctly), try using column headers from the Successful Column Headers above. I can't be of help beyond those mappings, though.

how do i...remove malware

2011-04-23T14:31:00.003-04:00

This was my attempt at a simplistic malware removal guide for someone who isn't technical, but is willing to roll up their sleves and give removal a shot before having to take more drastic measures (pay someone) -- it worked. My guess is that it will work for 50% of malware infections and can take 20 minutes to an hour.

Removing Malware

*You may want to print this before beginning. You may not. Who am I to say.

Run this first:

(1) http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.com
(save to desktop, then run)

…then, download, install (allow updates) and run a ‘quick scan’ with this:

(2) http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
(download and install free version)

…if it finds infections, show results >> remove selected (make sure they are selected – right-click > select all if they aren’t). Reboot if prompted.

…if it doesn’t work, you might be able to boot into safe mode…(reboot computer, tap ‘f8’ every two seconds…when prompted, select ‘safe mode with networking)…run (1), then download and run the following:

(3) http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/combofix
(save to desktop, then run, accept all defaults. Ignore if prompted to disable av software, unless you want to right-click on your av software and attempt to disable temporarily. Allow recovery console to be installed)

If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to get professional help, probably. See my site to run the remote help request, where I can remotely verify the infection...and, if necessary, attempt removal.
(http://chapmanit.com/computerwork/remotehelp/)

If you are rid of popups, but no longer have internet access, you can go to control panel >> internet options >> connections (tab) >> lan settings >> remove check from “use a proxy server…” (assuming you have Windows XP. the location will be similar, but maybe slightly different for Vista or Windows 7 -- search for 'internet options' from the start menu search bar)

Almost done...but

When you think you are done, you should probably re-download (the original download may be corrupted or comprimised since you were infected) (1), reinstall and update, then run a 'quick scan' again. Hopefully, you are clear or it is just cleaning up traces.

Additional Preparation Steps

To speed up the scan process, and as general recommended practice, run disk cleanup, ccleaner, or glary utilities prior to scanning for noticeably faster scan times.

Am I infected?

If you are reading this, probably so. The symptoms are too varied to be sure, but if you are getting popups from (what looks like) an antivirus program that wasn't on your computer a month ago...that wants you to pay for help, you are probably infected. Additional symptoms can be browser redirects (you click on a google search result and end up on a non-related page that wants money), or program malfunctions (fake system messages saying your program can't run...your disk is corrupt...your momma eats twizlers, etc.). Good luck at playing MD and making the diagnosis. General cleaning programs can be found above (additional prep steps)...and are recommended to clean a slow, but non infected, computer.

You are not backing your data up!

2011-04-08T08:56:00.005-04:00

2011-10-14: Updated the What do I use to backup my data? section with free cloud backup alternatives.

Data backup: Examining common perception

Hopefully I'm wrong, and you are backing up your data. However, I was recently trying to recover some data from a failed hard drive (hdd) for a client. Browsing some forums, I was surprised at how many people had misconceptions about what backing up data actually meant. I thought I'd go over the basics in hopes that I can inform people to the end of saving important data from the dark recesses of oblivion.

I think it important to dispel the misconception that storing your data on an external hard drive is the same thing as backing up your data. While it may be true, it is not implicitly correct: an external hard drive is only being used as a backup repository if the information held there is ALSO stored elsewhere, such as a laptop or desktop computer. To state it another way, if the information is located only on an external drive, it is not backed up. It is simply stored on an external hard drive. This is important because external hard drives are just as likely to fail (arguably, more likely) as internal drives.

Have a look a this professional infographic which demonstrates my point:

As I'm sure you gathered, information must exist simultaneously on some two devices, at least, to be qualified as a data backup. Ideally, three devices will contain the information or the information will be synchronized on update or some other fancy device. But that is beyond the scope of this article.

Recap

Storing your data only on an external hard drive is not backing it up. It must exist in two locations to be backed up.

What do I use to backup my data?

To state the obvious, backing up your data is a pain. There are some ways to make it more of an automatic process...but they cost money or take some reasonable initial effort. Unless you don't value your data, either option is worth it.

(1) You can buy an external usb powered and attached hdd. It will probably hold as much as your internal or more and if you are backing up the essentials (not the pirated movies), you can probably even get fancy and have 'incremental' backups. Just make a folder for each month...and copy over your Desktop, Documents, and Favorites. That covers 95% of average user stuff. Your emails are probably stored with yahoo or google or someone...and unless you use old or fancy programs, they store your data in those places. The primary drawbacks to backing up this way are: [1] It must be performed manually, or some software must be set to perform periodically. Don't forget to do this every couple of weeks (or, more frequently if warranted); [2] In the event of a local disaster or something, you could lose both copies of your data. For instance, a fire may consume both data copies...hopefully you were more lucky. Backing up to CDs or DVDs have the same drawbacks.

(2) You can purchase a backup software subscription such as carbonite or mozy. These programs are roughly $50/yr and include software which runs on your computer. They will attempt to backup common data (Desktop, Favorites, and Documents) by default...but also allow configuration so that other folders can be backed up as well. The good thing about these programs is that they perform their task constantly...you update a file on your desktop, and it relatively quickly gets backed up by the software on your computer. Sweet. The downside of this software is that it must be properly configured...it only backs up what you tell it to, and sometimes backing up information like family videos takes special precaution (see note about carbonite and videos below).

2011-10-14 Update: I just learned about two backup solutions (Backify and BeeCloud) which offer 512 GB (not a typo) of data backup for free. To be fair, each of these companies seems to be new...and their business model isn't obvious to me. I would not be surprised if they (1)didn't last very long or (2)promptly changed their business model, requiring payment for continued use. There is also the chance they do the latter, but allow 'current' backup customers to continue the free use. Regardless, the solution is attractive and could be used to backup a sizable amount of music, pictures, and video that other free services which are limited to 2GB, cannot accomodate. The use seems to be roughly as easy paid solutions in that you download/install software, 'point' the software at the folders you want backed up (my docs, my pics, my videos, my music for most people), and then 'forget it'...although I would recommend verifying data accessibility every month or two as a precaution.

_quick carbonite vs mozy comparison_
carbonite's advantage seems to be 'unlimited' data. mozy's is that it allows video. depending on what you are backing up, and how much data you have, either could be a better choice. i can say that carbonite's 'restore' process is pretty easy.

---

Some common backup comments (and my preemptive responses)

oh no...when i put my information on the cloud, the government will have access to it!!!
if you are worried about this...take the extra step which is good practice anyway: store your files in an encrypted truecrypt file. back that up.

carbonite doesn't backup video
this annoys me. not as much that they don't do it, but that they don't make it explicitly known prior to sign-up. to circumvent this, however, append a non-standard file extension to your video files. for instance...rename homevideo_20110407.mkv to homevideo_20110407.mkv.myvid. obviously this will require a little time and the extra renaming step...but if you remember to do it just after importing from your camera, it will become habit and won't be that bad. additionally, you can tell your computer to 'always open' with your default video viewer and the non-standard extension shouldn't inconvenience you too much.

just backup to an external hdd
i certainly understand the logic here...and think that external hdd backup is very important, but as a supplemental backup...not a sole backup. the reason is that, in case of localized catastrophe, such as home fire or home robbery, your data could all be unavailable at once -- including your backup.

Embedding JPlayer in Blogger using an iFrame

2011-01-28T08:09:00.004-05:00

This is mostly a demo to show that a JPlayer implementation can be used in blogger using iFrames. It can probably be done a more eloquent way by editing the template, including the proper js (jquery) and linking to the proper stylesheets, then putting the HTML in the post...but this way only took a few minutes and should serve its purpose:

...the following code is used

jPlayer in an iFrame Demo

XP | Safe Mode Hangs at MUP.sys / Normal Mode Goes to Black Scren with Mouse Arrow and no Task Manager

2011-01-27T11:47:00.003-05:00

...excuse the long title.

There is a summary at the bottom if you just want the short of the solution instead of the big why and how and for what reason.

Story Mode:

I recently had a IBM ThinkPad R51 notebook/laptop computer running Windows XP that would not work in normal mode. Well, it would do the windows loading screen, but then instead of offering users to click into individual desktops, it would present a black screen with a working mouse pointer, but would not allow ctrl+alt+del for task manager or anything else. Keyboard was actually non responsive.

I was, however, able to boot into safe mode without issue. I did the typical stuff: malware scan, startup maintenance, chkdsk...all to no avail, except that I somehow managed to break safe mode. That's right, after my fix attempts, I now have a computer that boots to a unhelpful black screen in normal mode, and hangs at MUP.sys when I boot into safe mode. Boo.

I read tons of forums and wasn't especially inspired by the strange registry hive restoration options or file replacements that seemed to be hit or miss. I decided to start trying something b/c i didn't want to reinstall. A few people recommended ensuring ACPI (ACHC?) mode be turned off in BIOS, or something...I thought I'd start there since it was easy.

Able to boot into the system config (using Enter > F1 to get to BIOS), I didn't see any power saving mode options (ACPI). However, I noticed all the IRQ channels were set to 1 (or was it 11?). I changed all to 'Auto', and found another setting to change POST startup mode to 'diagnostic' instead of 'quick,' which it had been on.

Expecting the same thing, I exited, saving changes. I selected normal boot...and chkdsk tried to start (it apparently didn't remember that it had successfully scanned twice prior to this...perhaps because it never fully booted into windows afterwards?)..I 'hit any key' to skip. Next thing I know, I saw four user icons instead of the now-familiar black screen with mouse arrow. To my further astonishment, clicking on one of them took me right into a working desktop.

Problem solved.

I don't know if my troubleshooting steps actually fixed the problem or if they were coincidental, but probably worth a shot if you don't feel like reinstalling and nothing else is working. Good luck!

Summary:

If you can't boot into safe mode b/c mup.sys hang, or normal mode because you get a black screen with working mouse but non-responsive keyboard, try entering bios setup and setting IRQ settings to 'auto' and boot configuration to 'diagnostic'.

JPlayer Audio Playlist Generator (JPlayer Playlister)

2010-09-08T23:43:00.007-04:00

The CD that launched 1000...lines of code

Update

[2011.12.28]
JP Playlister v0.5 adds the long overdue option to easily enable/disable autoplay or override default via a URL argument. Additionally, the sorting options have been improved and a bug where the one-click filter loses sorting preference has been addressed. An option/argument was also added to allow non-essential information to be easily hidden. Lastly, JPlayer 2.1 was used for this release. It also works as a drop-in solution for Playlister 0.4. Hope you love it.

[2011.10.12]
0.4? I've never had a pre pre pre pre alpha project before! This update was done back in May or something...but I lazily never posted the source or updated this page. My bad. The notable changes are JPlayer 2.0 integration, advances in the 'filtering' system, and other cosmetics and bug fixes. Have a look at the demo.

[2011.03.07]
Another update. We are now at v0.3. Official, right? Added is the ability to scan an undetermined amount of subfolders...using the power of recursion. Also, the option to sort by mtime (file modified time) or name (by folder). I touched up the interface a bit and made some links a little more friendly. Have a look.

[2010.11.02]
I've revised the name (now, JPlayer Playlister) and the code to display all songs in the specified folder and songs in immediate subfolders (i may eventually make it truly recursive, playing songs in any subfolders, no matter how 'deep' the code must dig); see the JPlayer Playlister version 0.2 demo.

Also, I used the original (and, updated to use the modified) code to make a website that allows friends to upload music for my enjoyment. It was my birthday, and I was thinking along the lines of mixed CDs (remember those)...but in this digital distribution age, I modernized the concept a little for fun. Have a look and, if you want, send me some music.

/update...resume original post

My brother sent me a CD full of MP3s when I was in Kuwait -- cut off from the internet -- and going into withdrawals from not being able to download music. It was a good mix and has turned me on to a few artists that I knew nothing about.

A week ago, my wife has to take my car for something and, realizing that my radio sucks (shhh...i didn't hook up the antennae so my radio-listening experience would be less than inviting), flipped down my sunvisor CD holder and picked the fabled blue cd from the small selection. She made it 20 tracks or so into the CD (love MP3 CDs..if only it had any type of anti-skip) before arriving home and not using my car again for as long as she lives if it was up to her.

I hop in the car the next morning and A Tribe Called Quest welcomes me to the drive to work. A nice way to start the day. I re-affirm my love for my wife due solely to this incident and decide to facebook about it later that day. I did (may have been the following day) and that was that, but someone mentioned that hearing the mix would be fun. All to eager to oblige, I start devising ways to make it happen. So what if I spend 30 hours on a project and only 2 people give a crap (me and me). I had made web pages that incorporated flash based audio players before...but that was before the up and coming HTML5, and the somewhat supported audio tag.

Let's get a web player

A quick internet search later and I see JPlayer, which looks familiar. I glance at the demos and one has a playlist -- perfect. It supports OGG Audio and MP3's via HTML5 and will fallback to Flash for unsupportive browsers, bras, or family members. Perfect.

Initial implementation (derived from the JPlayer with playlist demo) wasn't that bad. I took the demo code and just added the ability to automatically generate a playlist from all the files in a given location. I think it took me a couple of hours...taking snack breaks and probably food breaks and almost certainly bathroom, crying baby, and phlebotomy breaks.

I went to bed last night with a working player. In addition to deriving the playlist from the files at the location specified, I was also able to add the option of displaying filenames or ID3 information (via getID3 -- a PHP class)

I put a link on fb and probably got thousands of views.

Revisions / Additions

Tonight, I pushed back the list of things I need to do and worked more on this little project. At some point during the day, I had decided that the first song on the playlist was wearing on me. I usually paused within 5 seconds of loading the page, but it doesn't take much to wear a song out, for me. That's another reason I don't do the radio...20 songs on a loop with advertisements and lame DJs. No thanks. So I added the option to 'randomize' list via a clickable link on the page. It caused me to rewrite a fair amount of code. But, I am pretty happy with the turnout.

Current Situation

Let me know if the source code of this modified JPlayer demo (showcasing automatic playlist creation and playlist randomization) could be helpful and I'll make at least a slightly more fitting home than the one currently being used.

Extract Ogg (ogv) from Matroska (mkv)

2010-05-18T22:39:00.005-04:00

The Story

I don't do much with video. I finally wrote a script which compresses all the files in a given folder using the handbrake cli...just for archiving my home videos that had been digitized; on import they were some slight compression avi. The cli lets me automate converting my videos to a patent free (afaik) format -- Ogg. I use both Theora and Vorbis in a Matroska container...I was going Ogg (Ogv) container, but handbrake didn't support that, and I hear Matroska is better...or far more capable. Even though Ogv would have been fine for my purposes. Oh well.

Anyway, I decide that I want to make a webpage on my development server (read: home computer) that allows my home videos to be seen by my family without the hassle of uploading them to youtube...and carefully optimizing them first or watchmaking Youtube butcher the already mediocre quality. I decided to embrace the future and use the upcoming html5's 'video' tag.

Ah, man...I JUST encoded/archived all my videos to Matroska...even though they were encoded with Theora/Vorbis, the Matroska container doesn't work. I need to extract (I don't want to transcode them and lose all that quality. are you kidding?) the streams from the Matroska format and put them in an Ogg (ogv) container...somehow. Can't be hard, right?

I tried loads of things. MKVToolnix, AVIMux GUI, VirtualDubMod...and I read loads of forums, mostly about people wanting to convert MKV (h.264) to AVI (xvid). I finally read something about ffmpeg...so I thought I could at least (since I encode to the original size AND to a half-size) transcode from the large .mkv to .ogv with that.

20 minutes into it, my Ogg (.ogv) files were looking horrible and coming out at half the size of the (same resolution) input, I did a few searches for optimal settings .ogv or something and came across a post that mentioned something I hadn't seen in the documentation (although I'd imagine it's there)...the ability to 'copy' the audio and video stream. Someone was just using ffmpeg to extract a 1 minute segment from a video file without re-encoding. That's what I want to do!!!

Long story short, this code did it for me:

The Code

ffmpeg -i mysourcevideo.mkv -vcodec copy -acodec copy myoutvideo.ogv

A straight 'Direct Stream Copy' (i used to use VirtualDub -- pardon me), essentially...with no loss in quality and a container change. Now I can make a quick script...I'm not sure if I'll do it for all my videos or just the half-sizes...as I don't really wanna stream the large ones, which I make available for download.

Be End.

Software

ffmpeg

Epilogue

Now I'm just wondering if Handbrake CLI has any advantage (for my use, anyway) over ffmpeg?

Photo Feed (RSS/Atom) Display Widget

2010-04-17T01:04:00.016-04:00

Flickr / Picasa / ZenPhoto / Plogger / Gallery2/3 Photo Feed (RSS/Atom) Widget

Check it Out!

I want to display my most recent Flickr photos on another page of mine. Easy enough, right? There are plenty of widgets and code snippets displaying Flickr Photos in all sorts of creative ways.

Well, what if I want them formatted/styled a certain way?

Not as easy.

What if I want to display a Picasa Web Album Feed as well? And perhaps a ZenPhoto RSS Feed. Am I the only lame PHP coder who uses all of these Photo storage / display / socialization mediums?

I decided to create a widget. While the implementation is limited in how it can format your images (for html coders; PHP coders should have more advanced options soon), it does work with a large number of RSS Feeds -- provided the feed has items with images.

Demo

This is a simple widget call referencing my Flickr PhotoStream RSS Feed. The widget creates thumbnails of each of the most recent items and displays them in a row, linking back to each item's source page.

Options

While the straight HTML call is pretty limited, there are some options which can be requested such as the ability to specify thumbnail size, disable square thumbs (prevent standard cropping), and specify the number of photos to be displayed.

PHP users will soon be able to request an array of information so the photos can be formatted in any way they see fit. [Visit the project page and post a comment if this would be useful -- so I know there is an interest] Alternately, they can download the source code and host it on their own server -- changing it as they see fit.

Limitations

The HTML Widget call can only return a row of images which link to their source. There is currently no fancy customization (aside the options mentioned) for this type of call. Likewise, currently iframes are the suggested way to call/embed the widget. This may not be allowed by all CMSs.

Compatibility

The widget has been tested on Flickr, Picasa Web Album, ZenPhoto, Gallery2, Gallery3, Plogger, and various other (RSS/Atom) Feeds. It employs the use of SimplePie for the basic Feed parsing, then does some further work to create thumbnails of the pictures and link back to them.

Last FM Widget Found

2010-01-10T22:53:00.004-05:00

Dotaloc's Last.FM Recently Played Songs - Widget

Maybe it's just me, but I had the hardest time finding this thing. What thing? Oh, let me start from the beginning...

Skip straight to the code

Backstory

I signed up with last.fm, a music streaming/information aggregation and listening habit analyzation site a couple of years ago. I have a scrobbler running on my computer, and it sends information about what I play in winamp to last.fm. They take that information and compare it to what other people who listen to some of the same bands listen to...recommend other artists to you, stuff like that.

You don't have to scrobble to enjoy. I sometimes just go to the website, type in an artist I like, and listen to a 'station' last.fm creates based on the artist, and others they have determined are similar or listened to by people who like the artist. I've been turned on to a few bands this way...as information about the current band/song is displayed on the website or in the standalone player (great for bypassing streaming radio site blocks, which are sometimes implemented by employers/etc. in order to cut down on excessive bandwidth usage).

This services, or similar ones such as Pandora are not new to lots of people...but this is my blog and I will ramble if I want.

That said, what good is it to scrobble all day if you can't integrate with all these awesome social networking sites and show your fans what songs listen to via an interactive widget? Not much. I found one that I was able to put on my dog's myspace page a while back and was pretty happy with it. I don't have a myspace...or facebook...account. My wife handles that stuff.

I wanted that widget on my personal website, though...seems appropriate. I have personal information...links to pictures...information about important happenings in my life like my son being born on October 9th...and the likes. Why not tell the world what songs I'm listening to so people will have a chance to learn some amazing new bands thanks to my chronic listening and hard work. Exactly.

Situation

So I want that same type of thing...on my personal site. Shouldn't be hard...the 'widget' wasn't myspace specific. I googled something like 'last.fm widget'...which actually searched 'last.fm' for the word 'widget'. This didn't end up doing what I needed. Let me re-arrange my search terms...'widget last.fm'. This was what I wanted to do...but didn't show me what I wanted. Last.fm has some type of page that seems like it is supposed to offer the type of list i was looking for with themes and all of that, but it has been broken for at least two days...probably more. I don't like waiting. Even though they have an API (Application Program Interface)...accessing the information I want surely has been done loads of times...there is no reason for me to write brand new code to do this, even if I am able, when I can just use someone else's. No luck...there are some scripts that use the API and pull up some fancy information...but I just want the list of the most frequent songs I've scrobbled. Nothing. You try. See.

*facepalm*

I guess I can reference my, still working, myspace code. At this point, I didn't remember if I had access to the code or if it was a clickable option myspace had enabled or something. Nope...the code was listed plain as day when I went to edit my profile. The 'widget' links to the broken last.fm page...but actually works.

I took the code and put it on my page. It didn't fit my color scheme, so I dug through the code a little and changed some of the 'red' graphics to 'black'...hoping it'd work. It did.

Moral

I tried this the hard way and wasted a few hours of my life. Boo to that. Don't be like me. Attempt easiest solution first, especially if you can determine if it'll work or not within a few minutes.

Want the Widget for Yourself

Hopefully this'll help someone else. I'll provide the straight JavaScript first, then the php that I use.

JavaScript

replace 'dotaloc' with your last.fm username

<span style="font-style:italic;">replace 'dotaloc' with your last.fm username</span>
<style>table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a td {margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;border:0 !important;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmHead a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/header/chart/recenttracks_regular_red.png) no-repeat 0 0 !important;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmEmbed object {float:left;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmFoot td.lfmConfig a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat 0px 0 !important;;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmFoot td.lfmView a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat -85px 0 !important;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmFoot td.lfmPopup a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat -159px 0 !important;}</style>
<table class="lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width:184px;"><tbody><tr class="lfmHead"><td><a title="dotaloc: Recently Listened Tracks" href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vdXNlci9kb3RhbG9jLw==" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;height:20px;width:184px;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/header/chart/recenttracks_regular_red.png) no-repeat 0 -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td></tr><tr class="lfmEmbed"><td><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" height="199" width="184" data="http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/chart/friends_4.swf">
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never">
<param name="allowNetworking" value="internal">
<param name="movie" value="http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/chart/friends_4.swf">
<param name="flashvars" value="type=recenttracks&user=dotaloc&theme=red&lang=en&widget_id=346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#d01f3c">
<param name="quality" value="high">
</object></td></tr><tr class="lfmFoot"><td style="background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/footer_bg/red.png) repeat-x 0 0;text-align:right;"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width:184px;"><tbody><tr><td class="lfmConfig"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vd2lkZ2V0cy8/Y29sb3VyPXJlZCZhbXA7Y2hhcnRUeXBlPXJlY2VudHRyYWNrcyZhbXA7dXNlcj1kb3RhbG9jJmFtcDtjaGFydEZyaWVuZHM9MSZhbXA7ZnJvbT1jb2RlJmFtcDt3aWRnZXQ9Y2hhcnQ=" title="Get your own widget" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;width:85px;height:20px;float:right;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat 0px -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td><td class="lfmView" style="width:74px;"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vdXNlci9kb3RhbG9jLw==" title="View dotaloc's profile" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;width:74px;height:20px;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat -85px -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td><td class="lfmPopup" style="width:25px;"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vd2lkZ2V0cy9wb3B1cC8/Y29sb3VyPXJlZCZhbXA7Y2hhcnRUeXBlPXJlY2VudHRyYWNrcyZhbXA7dXNlcj1kb3RhbG9jJmFtcDtjaGFydEZyaWVuZHM9MSZhbXA7ZnJvbT1jb2RlJmFtcDt3aWRnZXQ9Y2hhcnQmYW1wO3Jlc2l6ZT0x" title="Load this chart in a pop up" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;width:25px;height:20px;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/red.png) no-repeat -159px -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

PHP

edit the variables accordingly. the colors should probably be plain html written out word colors (blue, green, red) for the best chance of them working. check the PHP out and you can probably fine-tune it to your liking.

//set lastfm widget color and widget hover color -- these should be very basic for the highest probability they will work as some reference graphics
$lfmwc='black';
$lfmwhc='black';

//right-float last.fm widget
$lastfmwidget='<div class="floatright" style="margin-top: 15px; border: 1px solid #222; ">'

//taken from old myspace widget -- can't find anymore
.'<style>table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a td {margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;border:0 !important;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmHead a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/header/chart/recenttracks_regular_'.$lfmwhc.'.png) no-repeat 0 0 !important;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmEmbed object {float:left;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmFoot td.lfmConfig a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/'.$lfmwhc.'.png) no-repeat 0px 0 !important;;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmFoot td.lfmView a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/'.$lfmwhc.'.png) no-repeat -85px 0 !important;}table.lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a tr.lfmFoot td.lfmPopup a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/'.$lfmwhc.'.png) no-repeat -159px 0 !important;}</style>
<table class="lfmWidget346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width:184px;"><tr class="lfmHead"><td><a title="dotaloc: Recently Listened Tracks" href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vdXNlci9kb3RhbG9jLw==" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;height:20px;width:184px;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/header/chart/recenttracks_regular_'.$lfmwc.'.png) no-repeat 0 -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td></tr><tr class="lfmEmbed"><td><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="never" allowNetworking="internal" height="199" width="184" data="http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/chart/friends_4.swf">
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" />
<param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" />
<param name="movie" value="http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/chart/friends_4.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value="type=recenttracks&user=dotaloc&theme='.$lfmwc.'&lang=en&widget_id=346494d0b5f3a8b580d15b4053d6d02a" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FF6600'.x/*#d01f3c*/.'" />
<param name="quality" value="high" />
</object></td></tr><tr class="lfmFoot"><td style="background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/footer_bg/'.$lfmwc.'.png) repeat-x 0 0;text-align:right;"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="width:184px;"><tr><td class="lfmConfig"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vd2lkZ2V0cy8/Y29sb3VyPXJlZCZhbXA7Y2hhcnRUeXBlPXJlY2VudHRyYWNrcyZhbXA7dXNlcj1kb3RhbG9jJmFtcDtjaGFydEZyaWVuZHM9MSZhbXA7ZnJvbT1jb2RlJmFtcDt3aWRnZXQ9Y2hhcnQ=" title="Get your own widget" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;width:85px;height:20px;float:right;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/'.$lfmwc.'.png) no-repeat 0px -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td><td class="lfmView" style="width:74px;"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vdXNlci9kb3RhbG9jLw==" title="View dotaloc\'s profile" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;width:74px;height:20px;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/'.$lfmwc.'.png) no-repeat -85px -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td><td class="lfmPopup" style="width:25px;"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmxhc3QuZm0vd2lkZ2V0cy9wb3B1cC8/Y29sb3VyPXJlZCZhbXA7Y2hhcnRUeXBlPXJlY2VudHRyYWNrcyZhbXA7dXNlcj1kb3RhbG9jJmFtcDtjaGFydEZyaWVuZHM9MSZhbXA7ZnJvbT1jb2RlJmFtcDt3aWRnZXQ9Y2hhcnQmYW1wO3Jlc2l6ZT0x" title="Load this chart in a pop up" target="_blank" style="display:block;overflow:hidden;width:25px;height:20px;background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/'.$lfmwc.'.png) no-repeat -159px -20px;text-decoration:none;"></a></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>'
//end div
.'</div>';

Conclusion

Contact me if you need any help. Contact info at http://nick.chapmanit.com or chapmanit.com.

References

To post code to blogger, I followed instruction here: http://thoughtsomething.blogspot.com/2008/11/display-html-javascript-code-in-blogger.html

Adding Custom Ringtones to a LG Env3

2009-12-20T00:53:00.005-05:00

Synopsis

This is a quick tutorial describing how to add custom ringtones to a LG Env3 on the Verizon network. This assumes you have already created a ringtone from a .mp3 on your computer (here's a tutorial that came up when i googled), but will mention a way to use the software in this tutorial to make a ringtone as well (see bottom of tutorial to see how to create a ringtone with BitPim -- it's pretty easy!).

Reference Links

There are a few links which I referenced to get part of this information. I'll be a little more explicit in my instructions, hopefully helping anyone who may be having trouble. Here are the links:

http://forums.mobiledia.com/topic69838.html

http://cellphoneforums.net/lg-env/t298399-ringtones-env3.html

Download Necessary Software

To access your phone, you will need the charger/usb cable that came with your phone (should have), an LG Env3 (on the Verizon Network?), and the following software:

a driver to allow communication with your computer through the usb cable
(i used the software updater application, but other direct drivers may work as well)
BitPim 1.06 (or newer?)

Now install mentioned software. If it tells you to restart, restart.

Step-by-Step

Open you Env3 and go to Menu >> Settings and Tools >> USB Mode and set to Ask on Plug -- exit to main menu

Attach your Env3 to a USB Port on your computer. When prompted, select 'data'

Open BitPim (Start >> Program Files >> BitPim)

Go to Edit >> Settings

Set Phone Type to LG-VX9100 (enV 2) and make sure Com Port is set to auto. Click OK to exit Settings

In the left pane, click File system and in the next (middle) pane, click + beside the Folder icon and '/'. Wait a second while the file system is retrieved. Now browse to brew >> mod >> 18067. This folder lists your 'My Sounds'

Drag files from the windows explorer into the 18067 folder. It will take a few seconds. When the transfer is complete, right-click a folder from the middle pane (any one) and select Reboot Phone*

Verify that the files were copied by opening your enV 3 >> going to Menu >> Music & Tones >> My Sounds -- they should be here identified by filename.
(FYI, 10888 holds your pictures, 10890 your vidoes, and 10889>ringtones>default holds your ringtones [i couldn't get copying files there to work *** EDIT a commentor said you could copy ringtones to '10889>ringtones' (sans '>default' mentioned above) to have them properly designated as 'ringtones' as opposed to 'sounds'. thanks, Wahlverine! /END EDIT***])

Highlight a song and you can SetAs whatever you'd like!

Conclusion

Hope this helped someone. Most of this information was found elsewhere, but scattered throughout various forum posts and threads...I just consolidated it for my use and thought it may be beneficial for others. If screenshots would be helpful, feel free to contact me. thenickchapman[usuallyfoundat]gmail[dot]com. Take care!

Addendum

*If you haven't already created ringtones, BitPim lets you do that. Here's how:

Open BitPim

In the left pane, go to Phone >> Media >> Sounds [not Sounds(sd)]

Drag a file (mp3) from windows explorer into the large, right pane of BitPim

Set bitrate a little higher, at least 64 or 96, and click Convert (and wait a few seconds for a dos prompt call to ffmpeg to convert the file)

(pretty intuitive....but) Drag the Pink and Red bookends to where you want the ringtone to stop and start. Target duration should be ~22 seconds. I usually make mine 30...but probably lose the last little bit. 'Play Position' plays where the indicator triangle is set and 'Play Clip' plays everything between the bookends (and is really slow -- use 'Play Position'). You'll have to decide if volume adjustment is necessary for you. I kinda doubt it.

Repeat for other ringtones

Click the 'Arrow TO Phone' icon, which displays 'Send Phone Data' when moused over

On the menu that pops up, verify that 'Ringtones' is checked and the 'Add' radial option is selected, then click 'OK'

That should be it! If you have any trouble with this method, you can always right-click on a 'sound' you've made with BitPim and 'save' it to your computer, then use the transfer method mentioned in the tutorial to copy the files over. I KNOW it works...and this is more like speculation.

Access your Motorola VU204 (Verizon) to add Custom Ringtones

2009-08-28T22:05:00.004-04:00

First of all, the following links provide an abundance of information and should be visited should any problems arise or at least held in revelry due to their amazing content:

http://www.modmymoto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412671
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1538268

...there were a few others which had similar information, but these two were the ones I referenced.

That said, I hope this instruction is a little more direct and helps people so that they don't spend 2 and a half hours on something that now only takes me 10 minutes.

How do I access my Motorola VU204?

Download Necessary Software

Install the Software

Install the driver.

Install the MSU and run it. Let it update your phone. If you have any trouble after an update with the phone not being recognized by your computer (when it is recognized, it reinstalls all the drivers), remove and re-connect the usb cable from your phone. If that doesn't work, unplug it from the back of your computer and plug it into another empty usb port. After updates, you can close it for now, *sighs*, i guess.

Extract P2K Commander and remember where you extract it.

Access My Phone

Run MSU.

Run P2K commander by browsing to the folder you extracted the contents to and running p2kcommander.exe

In a drop down (either side), click the down arrow and select /a P2K phone system then click re-read.

Voila. You should see your phone data.

What do I do Now?

You can create custom ringtones (i use audacity to select 20-30 seconds of a jam that i like, and have on my computer, and then export it as a lower quality (96/128kb) .mp3 files). Just copy the files by navigating to the mp3 location on your computer on one side of the dual display, and then the P2k:/a/brew/mod/my_ringers/ directory on the phone and dragging the files over. The transfer will go one file at a time and ask you to wait, but allows multi-tasking, during each file transfer. I only say this because earlier versions of P2K Commander were notorious for crashing if the window lost focus.

You can also copy over pictures, I'd imagine...and backup all your data from your phone to your computer. Maybe even find some apps and copy them over. Go crazy!

Laptop Ressurection with Windows 7

2009-08-10T00:35:00.000-04:00

The Plan

Install Windows 7 (RC-1) on a IBM Thinkpad A22p

The Reason

It is fun

Specs

pIII 900mhz
384mb Ram (may try to run with 128 for kicks)
30GB HDD

Thoughts

I recently put 7 on a new HP and was surprised when I installed and ran updates that all the hardware, including a fingerprint scanner, had been successfully recognized and drivers had been located. Honestly, this is a first for that type of success aside with a Ubuntu install (for a laptop, anyway)...and I'm not sure if even it found the fingerprint reader. I read an article about a guy installing 7 on a computer with 96 MB Ram and I thought I'd try to put it on one of these old laptops I had that could likely handle XP (or certainly a modern gnu/linux flavor).

To be fair, though, this computer has 256 mb more memory than it 'should have'. I also know that many people won't have a DVD drive laying around, but may be able to find one for $10 on ebay or something...assuming the rest of this install goes well and the OS isn't ridiculously non responsive. I'm not holding my breath.

Steps

After verifying available disk space (at lest 10GB, I think...with 20+ highly recommended), I went to put the Windows 7 disk in the drive when I realized that the a22p had a cd-rw, but that wouldn't help since I needed a DVD drive. I searched my office and found a newer DVD-RW, but the connection was different (presumably SATA or something like that). I almost gave up, but found a DVD-ROM in an old box with the same type of connection. Problem solved.

[10:20]
I put the DVD in and restarted the computer, pressing F12 to 'select boot device'

Next I performed the standard steps, yes to EULA, begin installation...custom install...advanced drive options, delete both partitions (Fat32, nice) and create a new one, click 'Next'

Installation began copying files and the likes. It has been less than 5 mins since the installation started.

[10:33]
Expanding Windows files sat on 0% for a few, but is finally moving.

[10:50]
96% done expanding windows files

[10:57]
'Completing Installation'

[11:02]
Finished Install -- waiting on user input

Results

System is surprisingly responsive -- though certainly not snappy. After installation, 4 or 5 devices are missing valid drivers including the audio device and network device. I don't want to install any drivers manually, so I use a cardbus (pcmcia?) network card and it is detected immediately and the correct drivers are installed. I plug a network cable in and have network/internet access. Now I will run windows updates and see if it can solve the problem for me.

9 updates and a restart later, we have audio and all other drivers but the original ethernet controller. Hmm. My video resolution also got lower.

After raising the resolution back to the native one (1280x1024), I checked for more updates (hoping to fix the ethernet issue). No recommended updates, but there were two more hardware related optional updates...so I gave them a go.

Still no luck with the ethernet driver.

After googling 'a22p drivers', I found the xp approved intel network driver and downloaded it. There didn't seem to be an apparent installer, but when I went to device manager >> update driver >> and pointed to the extracted files (+ subdirectories), it found the driver and installed it no problem.

The initial opening of IE8 was a little slow...15 seconds. My windows exerience rating is 1.0 (for graphics and gaming graphics with a slight increase at 1.3 for processor and 1.6 for memory). General web browsing was acceptable, but new tabs strained the system a little. Once the tabs were open, they were fine.

The AV install went well~~, but the Office 2k7 install really took forever and I had a screen blank during install~~[this was at least partly due to a faulty Office 2K7 disk and shouldn't be taken into consideration.

I installed a cardbus wireless g network adapter (d-link wna-2330). It was recognized and drivers installed automatically. Connecting to a wireless network was painless.

Running MS Word for the first time (with IE running with two loaded tabs) took about 25 seconds. Subsequent runs were faster (~12 seconds until the blinking cursor).

For standard use, this computer runs Windows 7 fairly well. It doesn't run with the responsiveness of a new, dual core system with adequate (2GB) RAM, but is faster than any computer laden with malware and correctly identified most hardware automatically.

*using balanced power plan defaults*

Load times

battery power

system boot 3:45
wake from hibernate 1:20
ms word 15
ms word [reloads] 7.5
ie 27
ie [reloads] 7
google chrome 13
google chrome [reloads] 5

ac power

system boot 2:20
wake from hibernate 1:10
ms word 12
ms word [reloads] 6
ie 14
ie [reloads] 8
google chrome 13
google chrome [reloads] 4

Test Information

system load time complete when all default programs (defaults + antivirus [etrust 8.1] + daemon tools drive emulator) are loaded into memory and the system is available for use. auto-login was used to bypass the wait for user interaction. time did not include any additional wait to connect to the wireless network.
word load times are calculated when the cursor blinks steadily, waiting for user input
ie homepage set to google and calculated when the entire page loads
chrome homepage set to 'last visited sites' option
resume from hibernate times calculated when 'locked' screen with no 'blue ring' is reached (prior to selecting user account)

Other things of note

The default page file was system manged, 256-512 MB recommended...but the actual size was 1024. I set it to a static 1024.
Sleep mode was not available. Closing the lid caused the computer to hibernate.

Conclusion

Given access to spare parts (or a native dvd drive) and adequate RAM, I recommend installing Windows 7 on an older laptop of similar specs. The user experience is acceptable and, if RC1 is used...it is free for roughly a year.

How to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR v1.0.1) in VirtualBox

2009-03-07T11:54:00.000-05:00

Read This First

Read through this entire post before attempting to use it as reference for your trial as I went through many steps that can be avoided as they do not work. Some things included in this guide:

Download the Ubuntu Netbook Remix .iso
Create a VirtualBox Guest Install for UNR deployment
Boot said VirtualBox machine from the mounted UNR v1.0.1 image and complete the automated installation process (which fails on reboot)
Install Ubuntu Hardy Herring 8.10 on modified Virtual machine
Add UNR packages to Hardy Herring Install and troubleshoot process

This is as much a tale of my attempt to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my Windows XP Hosted VirtualBox installation as much as a guide one how to do it. Note that, once installed, UNR doesn't run well in VirtualBox as suggested in some of the documentation. The cause, as far as I can tell, is caused by how VirtualBox handles OpenGL. This should only be used to test the software at this point, and not implemented as a usable interface.

About Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is an Ubuntu variant/adaptation designed to work effectively and efficiently with netbook computers. Detailed information and standard installation instructions are available here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UNR

Assumptions/Prerequisites:

VirtualBox is installed <-- tested with 2.1.4 on a Windows XP host
updates
Ubuntu 8.10 is installed in as a guest machine in VirtualBox

Step by Step recount of my attempts, failures, and results

Download image (to mount or burn) from here:
http://oem-images.canonical.com/unr/unr-1.0.1.iso
Create a new Virtual Machine in Virtual Box (Linux OS, Ubuntu Type). The usual settings should be fine...I used the following settings:
- 512 mb ram
- 128mb video memory with hardware acceleration
- Dynamic sized hard disk
Mount the .iso (or boot from CD if you burned it) and start the Virtual Machine.

The installation seems to be pretty much automated. There were no options to repartition the drive or preserve any existing data
This step took a little longer than i expected...it was the same splash screen as is usually displayed when ubuntu is loaded, so i may have just expected it to go faster.
After the first restart of the installation process, I encountered an error message:
```
FATAL:  No bootable medium found!  System halted
```
The following are steps I took to troubleshoot the installation:
1. restart
2. check VirtualBox settings, decrease video memory to 32mb with no hardware access
3. read some information about UNR and VirtualBox from the following:
  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MeetingLogs/openweekintrepid/NetbookRemix
None of my troubleshooting procedures corrected the problem, but based on the reading, I decided to try installing 8.10 or 8.04 and using the instructions from
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UNR
to try to install ubuntu 8.xx and perform the necessary alterations to that install so that the final result is basically the UNR release

Second Attempt -- by altering a Ubuntu 8.10 (Hardy Herring) Installation

I began by attempting to install a copy of 8.10 (beta) i had laying around but it was 64 bit edition...and that doesn't work for my VirtualBox/XP host. I then began downloading the x86, non beta, version. For the record, a torrent search lists quite a few heavily seeded torrents which should get you the image faster than you can get it elsewhere. I think it took me 10 mins.
I then mounted it and began installation on the previous machine.
note: I left the standard 2GB hd size...I was warned that this may not be large enough, but though I'd give Ubuntu a chance to impress me with it's error handling capabilities. After all...it was just a warning, right?
I then encountered an error -- failure to install due to insufficient hard drive space -- they warned me. Ubuntu did fail gracefully into the live session screen, only wasting about 5 minutes of my time.

I shut down and modified the hard disk to start with 4 GB of space and expand if necessary -- had to delete the existing HD and create a new one. I still made it dynamic, bu started it with 8GB to be safe.
Next, I installed Ubuntu easily using default options -- once installed, I agreed to recommended updates (250 mb worth). Some screenshots of the install follow for you screenshot lovers.
After the installation had completed, I did the system updates (System >> Administration >> Update Manager) and installed guest additions...explained in a previous tutorial, here:
http://chapmanit.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-access-shared-files-from-ubuntu.html

Modifying the Ubuntu Hardy Herring (8.10) Installation by adding the Ubuntu Netbook Remix Packages

note: For the next few lines, instructions came directly from the following web page:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UNR#line-108

As the instructions indicated, I did the following:
go to system >> administration >> software sources
- ensure under the Ubuntu tab that Community Maintained... box is checked
- go to the third party tab and click add and enter the following:
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/netbook-remix-team/ubuntu intrepid main
- click 'add source' and then 'close'
ERROR: I got an error stating no public key was available to validate a signature here.

After a google search for the error statement, a forum provided the following command line fix with some explanation that was a little beyond me, but here's how to avoid it:
in a terminal, type the following >>
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 3F2A5EE4B796B6FE
To resume, open a terminal and type the following:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install go-home-applet human-netbook-theme maximus netbook-launcher window-picker-applet and hit enter
(This section wasn't necessary for me, as maximus and netbook-launcher were already check to run when I went to the Gnome Session Manager) The remaining instructions say to chck the gnome-session-manager and to add maximus and the netbook-launcher, which aren't supposed to auto-start. Install them / set them to auto-start. Restart!
It started up correctly...and operated as it was supposed to (forgiving the ridiculously slow performance). There are further instrctions (brief) saying to...
setup the gnome-panel to mimic the standard UNR set-up. The applet order is as follows:
go-home-applet | window-picker-applet | notifcation-area-applet | mixer-applet | clock

...but i'm not sure how necessary this is.

Here's Ubuntu 8.10 -- Hardy Herring -- with the UNR packages added, running successfully.

Conclusion

If I would have listened to the recommendations my sources gave and installed onto an existing Intrepid (8.10) install, the whole process would have been easier and much faster. Still, it wasn't hard. That said, even with hardware acceleration enabled (or disabled), it runs unacceptably slow on my system. I saw warnings about Intrepid and about VirtualBox, but my guess is this has more to do with VirtualBox and its ability to render OpenGL graphics. It is running and looks nice...I look forward to trying this on a real laptop!

Free Software Guide

2009-03-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

A comprehensive guide to successfully making use of free software

Synopsis

This guide is designed to be a general guide to inform readers about the benefits and drawbacks of free software, to inform them of different types of free software and teach them to differentiate between the two, and set their expectations appropriately.

Free Software Types

The word free is a little more ambiguous than it may seem. When used to describe software, it can usually mean one of two things: (1) free as in free beer [crude, but this description has practically been standardized when describing free software -- think of it as free potato chips or gummy bears if you want] or (2) free as in free speech.

...as in beer

Software of this type is usually available at no direct* monetary cost. This software is still not owned by the end user. That is, you can't view the source code and modify it to better suit your needs. This software is more appropriately described as being rented from the creator/owner.

...as in speech

Free (speech) software is entirely different, but seems very similar and has strong similarities with other free software. As stated before, however, the most fundamental difference is that this type of software provides its source code for the end user to take and modify to better suit his needs. While much free (speech) software has no direct* monetary cost, that is not always the case. Review the list below to see how free (beer) and free (speech) software makers can make a living with their code.

*The following list annotates how software makers can and often do make a living by distributing their software without charging end (personal use) users -- many of these overlap:

[beer] alternate versions (such as a pro version -- with enhanced or more robust features) are available for paying customers [AVG, WinAMP]
[beer] the software is free for for personal use, but not commercial use [Ad-Aware,
[beer | speech] the software is free in both respects, but you can purchase an 'enterprise' upgrade to pay for technical support from professionals who can do anything from help with the inner workings of the code to do customized modifications for your use[ubuntu SE]
[beer | speech] the creators may accept donations as a 'thank you' for the hard work they've done and time they've saved the users who have enjoyed the benefits of the software [FileZilla, SpyBot S&D]
some benefit from the user statistics they aggregate from your daily use. others do it, but google does it best. their products are free (beer) to you but they are paid by your computer habits and subtle browsing nuances[chrome, picasa]

Installing Software

Sometimes free (beer) software is one of the biggest distributors of what I consider mal-ware. You want to play on-line poker but you don't want to pay anything...this website says its free...just install the software and enter your email address and you are playing in an instant. But...now you have three toolbars, an adult friend finder program running when windows starts, and you are getting 100 spam emails a day...be smart and don't let this be you!

I'd apply this to all software installations, not just free ones. Don't be afraid of performing an 'advanced' install. You usually designate all your install 'preferences' before the install begins, so if you get scared and want to back out, you can safely do so by using the 'back' button or 'exit setup/installation'. That said, usually the recommended install options are set as the defaults during the advanced installation, it just gives you the option of changing them when that option doesn't exist in a standard installation. Most things won't need to be changed, but if you read the fine print (not the EULA, those are ridiculous!) you can opt out of all those annoying 'toolbar' installations and in some cases some other 'opt in' programs that will either give out your email address or install additional software that you likely have no need of.

You don't have to be a geek to save yourself some time and hassle by paying attention during installation.

Finding Free Software

Finding free software is a little tricky. I won't go over the basics of internet searching...as I already covered that in my How to perform an effective Internet search [external link] tutorial. Some key words to attempt are open-source, or open source along with free and games.

The problem with searching for free games is that lots of people search for that...and people who do marketing know that lots of people search for that. A standard google search for free games turns up a list of questionable sources. There are probably some free games available...but from a basic look, they seem to be very concerned with advertising. People who make free games often can't pay for advertising because they are broke. They make free games! With few exceptions, free software will not be advertised as heavily as non free software. With that said, a standard google search for free games open source returns much more believable results. The top results include a wikipedia article (while not a definitive source, they are peer moderated which is helpful in many scenarios) a sourceforge hosted page (good), and some other pages that seem much more legitimate than the first return.

This does hinge on the games being (or people thinking they are) open source, though. We should be able to find games that aren't open source and are still free and safe to download. It often comes down to intentions. Many bloggers like to compile lists to build traffic so they can make a few bucks from google ads (or other ads) they display on their pages. There's no harm in that...they want to provide quality content (maybe using a ridiculously overstated title) in order to get traffic to their site. Seems fair. Thus, some of the content from blog type compilations can be very useful. I just did a basic google search for best free games and the results weren't all that disappointing. Some things can't be taught and are hard to explain, but the results come across as relatively objective and not overly 'in your face' -- no one likes to have software pushed on them.

Good Luck

Be smart...and hesitant. If it looks too good to be true, it may be. It may not...but if you are careful during installations and watch out for obnoxious looking sites, you may find some quality free software to make use of.

Concise -- How to Access Shared Folders from a Windows 7 Beta Guest Install in VirtualBox

2009-02-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

Synopsis

This brief tutorial just overtly explains some simple steps that I overlooked when trying to access shared folders using my Windows 7 VirtualBox Guest Install.

Prerequisites

Virtual Box (the newest version) should be installed <-- tested on 2.1.4

The 'Guest Additions' have been installed (using Vista or XP compatibility mode)

Steps

Share a folder from your host system by clicking Devices >> Shared Folders... and picking a folder to share. Name it something you will remember. I shared c:\Media and named it Media.

Right-click on your desktop (or location of your choice) and make a 'New Shortcut'
(alternately, open 'My Computer' and click 'Map Network Drive' to have the share listed as a drive)

Type \\vboxsvr\Media (where 'Media' is the memorable name you choose two steps ago)

Name the shortcut something descriptive. (or assign the share a drive if you are mapping)

Enjoy the shared folder/mapped network drive.

References

http://blogs.sun.com/fatbloke/entry/windows_7_on_virtualbox
(helps with the installation of VirtualBox, the creation of a new Virtual Machine, and the installation of Windows 7)
http://maketecheasier.com/share-files-in-virtualbox-between-vista-guest-ubuntu-host/2008/11/12
(this guide is better than mine + with screenshots...it's for a ubuntu host, but the good thing about VirtualBox is that it practically makes the host irrelevant! -- so it's still useful)

How to Access Shared Files from a Ubuntu Linux Guest Install in VirtualBox

2009-02-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

Synopsis

This walkthrough describes how to access host-machine shared files from a guest installation of Ubuntu

This should work with other Linux distributions, but was designed for use with Ubuntu, specifically v6.10

Assumptions/Prerequesits

Virtualbox (newest version) is installed <--tested on 2.1.0

guest OS is a linux distribution, already installed <-- tested on ubuntu 6.10

Steps

The ubuntu guest OS should not be running

In the VirtualBox interface, click on the Ubuntu installation and click Settings

Under the Shared Folders option, ensure that the folders you want to share from the host computer are selected and named appropriately (the names will be referenced later)

Start the virtual Ubuntu installation and log in

While running the Ubuntu guest OS, click Devices >> Install Guest Additions
note: if you haven't already downloaded and mounted the guest additions .iso, you should be directed to the download location in your browser and when the download completes, you should be prompted to 'mount' the iso in the ubuntu guest installation

Open a terminal window by clicking applications >> accessories >> terminal

Type the following commands (emphasized in bold), pressing enter between each line
cd /media/cdrom

sudo bash ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run
note: for a 64 bit virtual OS, replace 86 with 64
enter password when prompted -- this may take a few minutes...wait until you see a 'success' message
exit hopefully, you saw the message 'Successfully Installed the VirtualBox Guest Additions' // Restart your guest system in order to complete the installation

Now restart Ubuntu

Verify that you are sharing folders on the host system by going to Devices >> Shared Folders and make note of the 'name' you are sharing the folder as -- you will need to reference this in the next step. Mine is located at C:\Media and I named it 'Media'...that will be used for this example and should be modified to fit your situation.

Open a terminal again and type each of the following lines:
mkdir windows-share
note: this can be called anything you like as you are creating a folder which will point to your shared folders
sudo mount -t vboxsf Media /home/nick/windows-share
note: If your shared folder isn't called 'Media', then modify this name to reference the 'name' you called your share. Also change 'home/nick/windows-share' to 'home/[your user name]/[the directory you made]'
Hopefully you didn't get an error message. next close the terminal window (type exit[enter])

note: reference the tutorial text over the screenshot text, as I've tried to simplify it further after taking the screenshot

Now enjoy the fruits...I simply went to places >> home then double-clicked my 'windows-share' folder to access the files

Repeat process to share any further folders...it'll be faster this time!

You are finished, but...

It seems that these steps work to give you access to your files, but when you restart Ubuntu, the mounted folder is gone. To make it persistant (last through system restarts), do the following:

Open the trusty terminal and type the following:
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local [enter]

Add the following line between the last line with a # before it and the exit 0 line:
mount -t vboxsf Media /home/nick/windows-share
where 'Media' is the name of your shared folder and '/home/nick/windows-share' is the directory you created to house the shared folders

Be sure to save the changes, then exit the text editor and restart your computer to ensure it works. Add as many mount -t vboxsf ... lines to that file as necessary if you have multiple shared folders.

References

The following pages greatly helped when writing this:
http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2007/10/13/installing-guest-additions-for-ubuntu-guests-in-virtualbox/
http://www.giannistsakiris.com/index.php/2008/04/09/virtualbox-access-windows-host-shared-folders-from-ubuntu-guest/

How to perform an effective Internet search

2009-02-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

Skill-Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Overview: (if you don't have much time, read this)

Search Tips:
Be informed: Research (briefly) your search topic before you start to develop key words and a basic understanding.

Use quotation marks:
"cheese and grits" will return different results than cheese and grits. Most search engines throw out common words like the, and, if, in, us, etc.

Add key-words for ambiguous searches:
Search for "best buy" store instead of best buy. Store helps a search engine know what type of results you are looking for.

Detail: (more explanation and reasoning here)

I can't really profess to be an expert on how to locate things on the internet, but I've been doing it for a while and feel I am generally successful. While at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), I was given a seminar on effective search techniques. The following are mostly things I've learned on my own added to some other things I've been taught in the past.

The most important thing is to know what you are looking for, and it helps to be somewhat informed before you start. Some things are easy to search for. For instance, molecular biology...is pretty straight forward. Go to Google and type in molecular biology and the results should pretty relevant. Searching gets a little more complex when you want to find something that has multiple associations. For instance...I like the band Discover America. One thing that helps with searches is using quotation marks around a set of terms to specify that you want to find those terms located by one another. "Discover America" will return more relevant results than Discover America. With bands, often having names consisting of generally used words in various combinations (Any the band [the killers], common word named band [Narcissus], etc.), adding the term band to the search will often help a search engine specify that you are looking for a band. Seems obvious, but more obscure bands will benefit from such practical searching.

In turn, anything with a more distinct name such as brand names with irregular spelling (The Beatles, Google) or non-common words (Lenovo, iPod) is less difficult to locate on the internet and requres less specification. I once designed a website for the domain PostNBeam.com. After a basic submission to Yahoo and Google, it showed up as number 1 in the search results when PostNBeam was searched for...but much lower on the list (under some large Post And Beam companies) when Post and Beam was searched for. To find it using more standard terms, something like Post and Beam Asheville or Post and Beam "Golden Valley" had to be used. Locations help for local businesses.

The last bit of advice is a little more subjective, hence more difficult to describe. Sometimes I search for free software to find more quality programs to the list of free software shown on this website. Free Software, in general, translates to "free for personal, non commercial, use." This is fine for most people and great for this bit of search advice. Another term is often associated, but not exactly synonymous with, free software...this is open source. In short, open source software is software which offers its 'source code,' something which is guarded carefully by many software providers (*cough* microsoft, apple). This is convenient because, given you know the language the software is coded in, you can download the source code and modify the software to better suite your (and potentially other people's) needs. That said, I often search for something like free open source antivirus or something like that. While open source doesn't necessarily mean free, the vast majority of open source software is free.

I know the last paragraph was supposed to be the "last" part, but I decided to include a little something else. This was hinted at in previous paragraphs, but not explicitly stated. I can't get enough information, usually. I'll often do a skimming of an encyclopedia article (or something general like that) before doing any further research. This helps me identify relevant vocabulary and make note of any keywords I may need to use when searching if standard means fail(provide excessive or non relevant results).

Thanks for reading. I hope this was beneficial to anyone who took the time to read it.

Tutorial -- Basic Link, Graphic, and List Insertion (html)

2008-09-04T14:26:00.000-04:00

Inserting Links or Graphics in Articles

If the need arises to insert a graphic or link into an article; or use any type of specific formatting features such as a numbered or bulleted list, they must be implemented in HTML. This is best shown by example. For Links, Images, and Lists; first I will show the code, then demonstrate each.

Link Example:

...text...<a href="http://linkaddress">text which operates as a link</a>...more text...

The above directly inserted would create the following link:

...text...text which operates as a link...more text...

The destination URL needs to be between the " " marks after href=. The link must be closed, as well, or the rest of the document might link to the defined URL

Image Example:

The above directly inserted would show the following graphic:

The image has been scaled from whatever the standard width is to 150px(150 pixels, dots on the screen). If width isn't specified, the default image size is used. This could be larger than the available display area and would cause formatting issues. Height can be specified using the same code. This can be used in conjunction with width to skew a graphic's intended display ratio if necessary. Normally, setting one of either the width or the height is adequate, as the browser will automatically use the image's intended display ratio to calculate the other measurement. The alt tag is not required, but good code practice says to use it an label it appropriately. It is displayed if the graphic can't be located or in some text browsers.

Images can be used as links as well. By 'wrapping' the link tags around an image like this:

The resulting image link looks like this:

Finally, placement amongst text can prove tedious, but result in a far more pleasing layout.

Text can be made to wrap around an image, and an image sometimes looks better on the right hand side of the page. This can be done using CSS. I will not explain much, as it is outside the scope of this demo. The image is assigned a style. The style can specify whether the images is on the right or left hand side of the page

Using the following code, I placed an image on the right hand side of the page towards the top of the last paragraph. Likewise, left would have put it on the left hand side of the text. Subsequent text wraps around the image using this method

...layout. Text should...

Using style="float:left/right;" is just one way to accomplish image positioning, but it is effective and works well with text wrapping. This is a good place to look for further knowledge about CSS Positioning

Lists Example:

There is often need for bulleted or numbered lists. These can serve many helpful purposes which I will not limit here. A list is created in a similar manner to links or images, but has more parts. Like a link, a list starts with an opening tag and a closing tag. Further, each 'bullet' or number will also have it's own opening and closing tag inside of the list's tags.

View this simple example:

<ul><li>Category 1</li><li>Category 2</li><li>Category 3</li></ul>

Which would produce the following list:

Category 1
Category 2
Category 3

Or the following, more complex code which uses a list nested within a list (for sub bullets or numbers):

<ul><li>category 1</li><li>category 2<ul><li>cat2, subcat1</li></ul></li><li>category 3</li></ul>

The above code creates the following, more advanced, list:

category 1
category 2
- cat2, subcat1
category 3

In each of these lists, ul can be replaced with ol for an ordered, or numbered list. Keep in mind that some 'blogs' or content management sites (myspace, facebook, etc) will treat spacing differently, so the above list code may need to be combined to form one long line of code if the spacing looks strange.

Tutorial -- Backing up a Computer

2008-06-01T13:49:00.000-04:00

Target Audience -- Who this tutorial was written for
Novice Windows XP Users who need to begin performing basic data backups.

Overview
If it hasn't happened to you yet, it will soon -- data loss. Most of us keep important information on our computers: pictures of loved ones, personal or business documents, music we can't live without, etc. The most effective way to avoid data loss is through routine data backups.

Keep in mind that backups are only effective if performed frequently. I will write this tutorial with the minimalist user in mind, and side notes for those who may have more advanced hardware or software.

Required Hardware

Working computer with enough hard drive space to make copies of important files

Required Software

Bundled Windows Backup Sofware

Recommended Hardware

Separate hard drive

Video Tutorial

Click to download the Video Tutorial -- the text and pictures are more thorough. Video made with CamStudio, edited with VirtualDub, and compressed with two passes of the xvid codec.
video hosted on mediafire
slight trouble embedding in Firefox

Step-by-step Backup Guide

Begin by deciding what files you need to backup. If you are like most users, you save all your files in one of a few standard locations: The 'My Documents' Folder, or your Desktop. Most software will automatically try to save your files to these locations, so unless you have old software or manually set the save location, you will not have to do any extra work. If you save your data in other locations, you should make a list of the places where you manually save your information before continuing.

Next, open the Backup Utility by holding the 'windows' key on your keyboard and pressing the 'r' key. In the popup box, type 'ntbackup' and click 'ok'. (alternately, use the mouse to open your startmenu / all programs / accessories / system tools / - and click 'backup' )
*if start menu shortcut doesn't exist or run option fails, follow the following link to learn how to install the software on your computer: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q302894

the run box -- open with 'windows'+'r' and type ntbackup

Click 'next' to continue.

the backup or restore wizard

Ensure that 'Back up files and settings' is selected and click 'next' to continue.

click 'next' to continue

Here, you are given four possible appropriately named and described choices. The safest (but most hard drive space consuming) option is to backup all information on this computer, but the novice user is likely safe to use 'my documents and settings' if they are the only user of the computer or 'everyone's docouments and settings' if they want to save the data of everyone who uses the computer. Click 'next' to continue.
*If you had to make a list of other locations where you store files in the earlier section, you should use the last option 'Let me choose what to back up' (if you are not going to back up everything). You should pick the 'my documents' folder and the other folders where you store data.

select the best option and click 'next' to continue

Next you are given the option to pick a place to store your backup. The safest option is on a separate hard drive***. To determine if you have multiple hard drives in your system, see **** at the bottom of this tutorial. If you must store the backup on the same drive where the source information is located, you have to keep in mind that in the event of a hard drive failure, you will lose your data**. Click 'browse' and see what hard disks are available. You want to find drives which have the same icon as your Windows drive (C:). You can not backup to a CD or DVD directly with this software. Double-click the drive you choose, then right-click the mouse and select 'new' then 'folder'. Type 'backup' and click the 'open' button. Change the filename if you want, then click 'save'.

type a name for your backup then click 'browse'

select the drive you want to store your backup on

click to make a new folder and name it 'my backup'

name the file if you haven't and click 'save'

You can change the 'name' for the backup here before clicking 'next' to continue if you would like.

click 'next' to continue

Click 'Finish' to begin the backup. There are 'advanced' options available, but they are a little beyond the scope of this tutorial.

click 'finish' to start the backup

...the backup process

backup complete

---

**Users with no separate hard drive should consider purchasing a new hard drive. If the amount of data you back up is small in size, however, you may be able to use a free on-line backup service. Sites offer 2 and even 5 gigabytes of online storage for free. This should be enough room for your backup if you don't have tons of music or many large video files. This will not be feasible with a slow internet connection, and will take a while even with a fast one. if you are interested, visit one of the following web sites:

Mozy (2GB free)
IDrive (2GB free)
XDrive (5GB free, requires AOL / AIM screen name)

***A 500 gigabyte external hard drive can be purchased for less that $120 at online retailers such as newegg.com or for less than $150 at a store near you.

****To Find out if you have multiple hard drives installed in your computer, follow these steps:

Open the Disk Management utility by holding the 'windows' key on your keyboard and pressing the 'r' key. In the popup box, type 'diskmgmt.msc' and click 'ok'. --Alternately, use the mouse and:
- Right-click on your 'my computer' icon
- Click on 'Manage'.
- In the left hand column of the 'Computer Management' interface, click on 'Disk Management')

The bottom of the right hand column will show the physical hard drives on your system. The Drives will be labeled 'Disk 0' and, if you have any others, 'Disk X' for the others. If you have a 'Disk 1' or higher number, look to the right on that disk and note the drive letter here* (D:, E:, etc.). This is the drive you should store your backup on.
*If the drive icon doesn't look the same as it does for your 'Disk 0' or doesn't have any description to the right, it may be a removable drive such as a multi-card reader. This is not suitable for backing up and should be discarded.

the run box -- open with 'windows'+'r' and type diskmgmt.msc

if you have a 'disk 1' or higher with white space beside it, you may have a separate hard drive. remember the letter to the right (G:, in this example)

---

tutorial featured on TheHiddenWeb.Net
and originally appeared here

Tutorial -- Speeding up Your Computer

2008-06-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

Because this is a large tutorial, use the following if you are looking for a specific section:

Table of Contents
Target Audience
Overview
Why is my computer slow?
Common Problems
Step-By-Step Guide

Too Many Running Programs
Malware
Unused Software
Disk Space Shortage
Registry Problems
Hard-Disk Fragmentation

Advanced Problems

Dynamic Paging File
Disable System Restore

Hardware

Target Audience -- Who this tutorial was written for:
Novice Windows XP (probably applies to other windows flavors) users who want to speed up their computer.

--
Overview:
It happens so slowly that you usually don't notice until it is outright debilitating. Your brand new computer that you paid an arm and a leg for, maybe even made payments on for years – worse yet, are still making payments for; the speed machine you first blazed through the Internet with, used for school/office work, or maybe just played solitaire on while you downloaded your email...is not the beast it first was. The time has come to give it a tune-up. We will discuss mostly (free) software solutions, but will mention basic hardware upgrades, as well.

--
The Reason:
There may be many reasons that your computer is slow. One is hardly avoidable. If you run Windows, and you use the Internet often, you probably keep your software up to date. This helps you defend against viruses, buggy software, intruders, and numerous other things. It ALSO slows down your computer. The big updates (SP1, SP2), while very helpful, add much functionality to your computer which consumes larger quantities of resources. This is unavoidable. Hardware upgrades help with this problem, and will be mentioned later.

Installing programs on your computer, downloading files, even removing programs on your computer, can all cause your computer to slow down. This is a consequence of use, but the problems which they case are easily fixed. Enough chit chat, let's get to cleaning.

Keep in mind that slow Internet activity is not generally caused by your computer, but by your Internet Service Provider. If you are still using dial up. I'm sorry, there is no helping you. General slow computer response (non Internet related), however, may be successfully addressed.

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Common Problems:

Too many running programs

Mal-ware (adware/spyware)

Unused Software

Disk Space Shortage

Registry Problems

Advanced Problems:

Dynamic Paging File

System Restore

Hardware:

Shortage of memory

Insufficient hard disk space

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Step-By-Step Guide

Preface
Each problem will start with a short description of the problem, followed by a means of determining if this problem is applicable to your system, and concluding with instructions on how to correct the problem.

Too many running programs
Many computer programs, with the intent of making your computing experience more enjoyable, run when your computer starts up by default. This is very often not necessary, and each program takes up valuable memory that you could be using more effectively. Some brand new computers even have pre-installed software which can slow your computer down.

The first step to resolving this problem is to open the 'System Configuration Utility'. This can be done by holding the 'windows' key on your keyboard and pressing the 'r' key. (alternately, the 'run' dialog can be found in your start menu or by holding 'ctrl-alt-del' and clicking 'file' then 'New Task (run)' option).

In the run dialog box, type 'msconfig' and click 'ok'. This should bring up the 'System Configuration Utility.'

the run box -- open with 'windows'+'r' and type msconfig

In the 'System Configuration Utility,' under the 'General' tab, ensure that 'Selective Startup' is selected. There is no need to change any of the other options in this tab. Next, click on the 'Startup' tab.

click 'Selective Startup' and then the Startup tab

Every program with a green check mark by it is running at startup. Next, in your favorite web browser, go to http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php and type in any 'Startup Item' you are having second thoughts about. As an idea, everything can be disabled and the system will run just fine. The things I would recommend to leave running are antivirus programs (nav for Norton Antivirus, avg for AVG Antivirus), firewall files (zlclient for ZoneAlarm Personal Firewall), and printer driver files (often contain hp or epson, cannon, etc). Of course, any other program you use very frequently can likely be left 'enabled.' Keep in mind that disabling a program doesn't remove it from your system, only prevents it from running by default on startup. There is likely a shortcut on your desktop or in your start menu to any program you disable. Any file you disable can be re-enabled in the event of a problem. Also, after disabling any start up items, the computer must be restarted before the changes will be made.

remove the check from the items you don't want to startup -- i've only allowed antivirus, firewall, and AMD dual core optimizer to run here

use this site to find out information about files you are uncertain of -- http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

When you hit 'Apply' or 'OK' after making changes, you will be informed that the system must be restarted to make changes.

click 'Exit without Restart' unless you feel like restarting immediately

When you start your computer up next time, a pop up dialog window will appear telling you that changes have been made to the 'system configuration utility.' you know that because you did it. Check the box that says not to bother you again and then click 'ok'.

Enjoy your streamlined startup.

Malware
This is a very general term which literally means 'bad'-ware. Any software which the user does not benefit can be considered malware. While the most common are adware and spyware, other software may be installed which just bogs down your computer and takes up space.

First, you should download and run the following programs: Ad-Aware Free and Spybot Search and Destroy. Click the links to be directed to the download page. Either of these programs alone will get rid of over 90% of spyware and adware, but together they take care of most everything, and are completely free (for personal use). Spybot allows you to donate through Paypal if you use the software regularly, which seems fair.

Both programs are pretty straight-forward. I'd recommend doing basic installs of each program, but not running the 'active protection'/'realtime protection' options, which are offered. The software is effective, but if your computer is already running slow, we don't need more to slow it down when a regular scan every two to four weeks will keep your computer running well.

be sure to update your 'definitions' file often. the software updates are less important, imo

If you aren't patient, be sure to use the software (each program's) scan at night before you go to sleep or before a movie so you don't have to sit there and wait on it to finish. The more files you have, and the larger your hard disk, the longer it will take.

Remember that deleting cookies is smart, but they often store data about you which makes Internet browsing more convenient. Sites such as ebay and amazon likely keep track of your credit card information so you don't have to enter it every time. Of course, allowing Ad-Aware or Spybot to delete these files will keep you a little bit safer, but they increase the amount of work you have to do. Reputable sites such as these don't really pose much of a threat to your identity.

The computer should run much faster, now.

Unused Software
This section is less essential (speeds up your computer less) than the others. Still, if you need hard-drive space or just want to do all you can to speed up your computer, it can help.

Open the 'Add or Remove Programs' application by opening the 'run' dialog by hitting 'windows key + r'. Type 'appwiz.cpl' and hit 'enter'. Alternately, it can be accessed by opening the Control Panel (can be found in the start menu) and clicking on the 'Add or Remove Programs' option.

the run box -- open with 'windows'+'r' and type appwiz.cpl

Now, the subjective (read: fun) part. Look through the programs you have installed. If you don't use the program, remove it. Keep in mind that the size of the program and the last used date is listed to the right.

remove programs you know that you don't use. reference the 'size' and 'last used on' for importance

Hopefully you opened up some disk-space.

Disk Space Shortage
If you have less than 10% of your disk drive free, your computer could be drastically slowed down. Downloaded media files (music and movies) are often the culprit and should be managed accordingly. The next step we will take is to utilize software which finds temporary and cached files that can be removed with no consequences. There are many software programs available, but a free, easy to use one I recommend is called CCleaner. They accept donations for regular users via Paypal.

Download and install the latest version of CCleaner.

Run the Software. You begin in the 'Cleaner' tab and 'Windows' sub-tab. Browse the options if you would like, but the standard ones worked for me.

under the 'Windows', then 'Applications' tabs, click 'Run Cleaner'

Run Cleaner.

When it is done, read the summary to see how much space was made available.

Click on the 'Applications' sub-tab. Run Cleaner.

Registry Problems
This is the end of the Disk Space Shortage section, but since this software offers additional functionality, it is easy to go right into that from here as it just takes a few additional clicks to cleanup your Registry, the source of loads of common computer problems. If you are starting with this section, review the previous section to catch up.

Click the 'Registry' tab.

Scan for Issues. Click 'Fix Selected Issues'. Backup your Registry when asked if you want to do so. The default location should be fine. Click 'Fix all Issues' when the option appears.

click 'Scan for Issues', then 'Fix Selected Issues'. Finally, 'Fix all Issues'

Defragment Your Hard-Drive
Although the exact means of how a information is stored on a hard-drive is beyond the scope of this tutorial, it is stored sequentially. If files are often added, then removed, from the hard-drive, files can become fragmented. Basically, it means that part of a file may be stored at the beginning of the hard-drive while another part is in the middle, and the rest of it is at the end. This makes accessing the file much more difficult. There are many good third party defragmentation tools, but the one that comes with windows isn't horrible and should get the job done.

Run the 'Disk Defragmenter' Application by pressing 'Windows Key + r' to open the run dialog and typing 'dfrg.msc' and pressing enter.

use 'ctrl + windows key' and type 'dfrg.msc' then hit enter

Select each available drive (one at at time) and click 'Analyze'.

click 'analyze' on each drive

If recommended, 'Defragment' the Hard-Drive. This may take a while, and will slow your system down should you choose to work while in progress.

'defragment' if recommended. this may take a while

Advanced Problems:
The following steps are for those willing to go the extra mile to get their computer running fast. I don't recommend these steps for the average user, but for those who want to further enhance the performance of their machine, I wish you the best.

Dynamic Paging File
Windows uses a hard-disk space as a backup in case your system requires more memory than you have. This is mostly a precaution, and the most effective fix is to increase the amount of memory installed in your system. A bad design in the 'Page File' (also called Virtual Memory) causes the page file to be dynamic, or change according to the current demands of the system. While this sounds like a good idea, a file changing its size when you are trying to do something else (or three other things) can slow down your system considerably. To avoid this, you can set your Page File to a static size.

Run the 'System Properties' Application by pressing 'Windows Key + r' to open the run dialog and typing 'sysdm.cpl' and pressing enter.

Click the 'Advanced' Tab.

Click 'Settings' under the 'Performance' area.

Click the 'Advanced' Tab.

In the 'Virtual Memory' area, click 'Change'.

There should be a 'recommended size' listed at the bottom of the window. Click 'Custom Size' and enter that number as the 'Initial size' and 'Maximum size'.

Click 'Set', then 'Ok'. Close any other open windows. You will likely have to restart Windows to use the new Static Page File.

Disable System Restore
Windows, by default, runs System Restore on your computer periodically. This is a precaution which makes a copy of all essential files / processes at a given interval, and offers the option to 'restore' to those settings in the event of an error. This has helped many people many times, I am just not one of those people. The few times I've had problems with windows starting up, I was able to fix the problem in safe mode and didn't have to restore previous settings. That said, when Windows creates a restore point, it slows your computer down noticeably while it is copying the files. System Restore also takes up disk space (where it stores the files). If you would like to disable system restore, follow the following steps.

Run the 'System Properties' Application by pressing 'Windows Key + r' to open the run dialog and typing 'sysdm.cpl' and pressing enter.

Click the 'System Restore' Tab.

Click the box that says 'Turn off System Restore on all drives'.

Alternately, the 'Settings' button here allows you to customize the amount of space dedicated to restore points. This could clear up some disk space without totally disabling System Restore.

Hardware:
There is no substitute for adequate hardware. If you need increased performance, and have to pick one component to upgrade, I would recommend purchasing additional memory for your system. It is relatively cheap and the performance gain is usually noticeable. If Disk Space is your main concern, consider storing files on DVD or CD, or storing files online. There are quite a few sites which allow up to 2GB or even 5GB of space to be used for free. Also, 500GB external hard drives can usually be purchased for around $100 at many online stores such as NewEgg.
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