Speed up Menus in XP

While using the start menu, you will notice a delay between different tiers of the menu hierarchy. For the fastest computer experience possible I recommend changing some values, this will allow the different tiers to appear instantly.

Go to Start --> Run --> Regedt32

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Locate the key called "MenuShowDelay" and it is probably set to 400.

Change that value to 150.

Reboot your computer.

You should notice a slight increase in the speed of your menus.

Download Videos from YouTube

YouTube Downloader

It's software that allows you to download videos from YouTube and many others and convert them to other video formats. The program is easy to use, just specify the URL for the video you want to download and click the Ok button! It also allows you to convert downloaded videos for Ipod, Iphone, PSP, Cell Phone, Windows Media, XVid and MP3.



YouTube Downloader is freeware, you may use it as long as you wish, no registration required.

Download here

Beta version of MSN Search

After promising (or threatening) for years to take on Google and Yahoo! in the search engine wars, Microsoft finally unveiled its own search technology in the beta version of MSN Search (beta.search.msn.com). It looks and feels like Google. MSN Search does let users configure some aspects of the results page appearance and filter in or out foreign language and adult content. MSN will be issuing a Desktop search product to rival Google’s, and various press leaks recently suggest the designers are experimenting with letting searchers tweak the algorithms that determine the rank of their search results. Microsoft is making this ongoing design process very transparent by putting the staff on its own blog at blogs.msdn.com/msnsearch to chronicle their progress. The developers speak frankly about user suggestions, upcoming features, and even the early slipups. The team says it is still working on compatibility issues with, of all things, Mozilla’s Firefox browser, the open-source competitor to Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer. And within a day of its mid-November launch, the MSN Search beta experienced technical difficulties and delivered server errors to some users. No word on whether these errors resembled the legendary Blue Screen of Death.

Google Desktop

Google edges its way into the software business with the beta release of its standalone Google Desktop Search application. Now you can search your PC as easily as you search the Web because the program can find a keyword hidden in your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents, in your Outlook email, and even in your browser history. You can search your PC and the Web simultaneously, and Google serves up both online and offline results on a single page. This application, which is currently free, is so good we would consider paying for it.

Quick Search Box

The Quick Search Box is your fastest way to do web and desktop searches and launch applications. You can call it up by pressing the ⌘ key twice, and hide it by pressing ⌘ twice again. Type a few letters or words into the search box and your top results pop up instantly, including applications. For example, you can launch iTunes simply by typing "itu" into the Quick Search Box and pressing Return when iTunes appears as the first result.

Search Your Gmail and Web History

Not everything you're looking for lives on your Mac. Whether you're searching your computer or the web, Desktop helps you find it by searching your Gmail and web history along with your hard drive. Also because your index is stored locally on your own computer, you can even access your Gmail and web history while you're offline.

Low-cost Computers

Low-cost computers haven’t been cheap enough for billions of people in developing countries. But Hector Ruiz, CEO of AMD, wants to equip 50% of the world’s population with computers by 2015. That’s why AMD launched its PIC (Personal Internet Communicator), a complete, stripped-down computer built around AMD’s recently acquired Geode microprocessor. The Geode runs at about 366MHz and will cost $185 without a monitor. So far, the PIC has been picked up by a telephone company in India and cable TV companies in Mexico and the Caribbean. Those companies are giving away the PIC for free in exchange for monthly service plans. The system includes a cheap version of Microsoft’s Windows CE OS, and it enables Internet browsing via broadband or narrowband modems. Ruiz recently noted that AMD has a successor to its current Geode in the works to further its PIC ambitions.

Hybrid Dual Disc

Although music CD sales have sunk in recent years, DVDs fly off the shelves, and so the music industry hopes to nab some of that movie mojo by offering the hybrid DualDisc. One side of the disc holds standard CD audio material, but the other uses the DVD format to deliver a trove of concert footage, lyrics, photos, interviews, or full 5.1 audio versions of the album. EMI, Warner, and Sony are among the major publishers supporting the format, with scores of DualDiscs coming soon from the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Good Charlotte, and the Grateful Dead. But with DualDiscs apparently priced slightly higher than CDs, we’re guessing most consumers would rather the music industry keep its DVD side and just give us the album cheaper.

Temporarily assign yourself administrative permissions

Many programs require you to have Administrative permissions to be able to install them. Here is an easy way to temporarily assign yourself Administrative permissions while you remain logged in as a normal user.

Hold down the Shift key as you right-click on the program’s setup file.

Click Run as.

Type in a username and password that have Administrative permissions.

This will also work on applications in the Start menu.

How to mount CD/DVD image using MagicDisc

• Right click MagicDisc tray icon
  

• Select "Virtual CD/DVD-ROM"
  
  
  

• Select one of virtual CD/DVD drivers. (for examples: K: No Media)
• Click "Mount"

• Browse and select the CD/DVD image you wish to mount.

Click OK.

Using all CD/DVD image without burning them onto CD/DVD

MagicDisc 2.5.74 is a very helpful utility designed for creating and managing virtual CD drives and CD/DVD discs. It allows you to use almost all CD/DVD image without burning them onto CD or DVD in order to easily access your favorite games, music, or software programs. MagicDisc works like a real CD/DVD-ROM: You can run programs, play games, or listen to music from your virtual CD-ROM. Allowing you to run your game images at over 200x faster than from a conventional CD/DVD-ROM.

MagicDisc is a powerful utility that uses a unique combination of options to ensure a perfect back-up every time. Partner with MagicISO, Your original games/program discs can be safely stored away, MagicISO mean that you always have your expensive media stored safely as CD/DVD image file on your hard drive, and use them with MagicDisc just like using the original discs.

MagicDisc supports following CD/DVD image formats:

- BIN (CDRWin)
- IMA/IMG (Generic disk images)
- CIF (Easy CD Creator)
- NRG (Nero - Burning ROM)
- IMG/CCD (CloneCD)
- MDF/MDS (Fantom CD)
- VCD (Farstone Virtual Drive)
- VaporCD (Noum Vapor CDROM)
- P01/MD1/XA (Gear)
- VC4/000 (Virtual CD)
- VDI (Virtuo CD Manager)
- C2D (WinOnCD)
- BWI/BWT (BlinkWrite)
- CDI (DiscJuggler)
- TAO/DAO (Duplicator)
- PDI (Instant Copy)

Download freeware MagicDisk 2.5.74