Transfer files directly between computers for free

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          FilesOverMiles.com provides free online service for transferring files between computers.

Features of FilesOverMiles service:
  1. No registration is required to avail the service.
  2. No installation of any software or plug-in.
  3. Faster file transfer than any IM client (like GTalk) as it uses no intermediate server for transferring files. Files are sent the shortest way - directly between the sender and recipient.
  4. Password authentication for identifying intended recipient of file.
  5. Shows recipient's IP address to detect fraud.
Requirements:
How to use service:
  1. Open http://www.filesovermiles.com

  2.           Click on 'Browse' to locate the file on the hard disk.

  3.           FilesOverMiles.com generates a Unique URL for referencing the file. You can enter password for authentication purpose.
  4. Pass on this URL and password to intended recipient of the file.

  5.           If the file is password protected, it asks for password. Enter the password and click download.

  6.           In this process, sender computer acts as a file server. Multiple recipients can download file at a time. FilesOverMiles.com shows recipients' IP addresses for detecting unauthenticated access to your file. You can ask your friend about his computer's external IP address and confirm it with one shown on your screen. Currently, your computer's external IP address is
  7. Downloaded file on client side is saved in RAM. After downloading entire file, it asks for saving file.
Limitations of service:
  1. File size restriction: A sender may upload only those files that are smaller than the memory available on his/her computer. In turn, a recipient may download only those files that are smaller than half of the memory available on his/her computer.
  2. No resume supported: Once sender closes browser window for FilesOverMiles.com, receiver has to download entire file if it is not downloaded completely. File transfer resume is not yet supported.
Future perspectives of FilesOverMiles.com:
  1. No file size restriction: File restriction in FilesOverMiles.com service is due to it's dependency on Adobe Flash player. Future releases of Adobe flash player may remove this restriction so we can transfer file of any size.
  2. Resuming file transfer process: FilesOverMiles.com currently does not support resumption of file transfer. Once browser is closed by sender, receiver has to download entire file again if file transfer is not complete.
  3. Peer to Peer algorithm implementaion like BitTorrent: As told earlier, FilesOverMiles.com allows multiple recipient to download file. But these receivers download file from original sender like conventional file server. FilesOverMiles.com is is working on implementing Peer to Peer algorithm like BitTorrent so that each client will download as well as upload data which he/she has downloaded.
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Bookmarklets, useful javascript programs

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          Each bookmarklet is a tiny program (a JavaScript application) contained in a bookmark (the URL is a "javascript:" URL) which can be saved and used the same way you use normal bookmarks. They add one-click functionality to a browser or web page. They are different from extensions installed in a web browser. The idea was suggested in the Netscape JavaScript Guide.

Bookmarklets are free:
          There is a limited amount of room in a bookmark URL field. Most of the famous browsers allow URL size less than 2000 characters. They may produce error after that. Read more about URL size limit here. This means that each bookmarklet is much simpler than a traditional program. They are usually two or three lines of code.

Are bookmarklets safe?
          Bookmarklets are safer than traditional software for the following reasons:
  1. They are less error prone to syntax and logical mistakes as they are very small.
  2. No separate software installation is required to run them.
  3. Your hard drive is protected by JavaScript security restrictions imposed on bookmarklets.
  4. If something goes wrong (e.g. Using a Netscape-only bookmarklet on Internet Explorer) the worst thing that is likely to happen is to get a JavaScript error message.
Browser requirement for running bookmarklet:
          Bookmarklets require Netscape 3, Explorer 4, Mozilla Firefox 2 (or later versions of these browsers) with JavaScript enabled. Any other browser supporting java script will also do.

Usage of bookmarklet:

          Bookmarklets are simple one click tools which add functionality to the browser. For example, they can:
  1. Modify font size, background color of web page
  2. Extract data from a web page (e.g., hyperlinks, images, text, etc.)
  3. Query a search engine.
  4. Submit the current page to a link validation service, or translation service.
  5. Set commonly chosen configuration options when the page itself provides no way to do this.
Sample bookmarklets:
  1. SideWiki bookmarklet: SideWiki is released by Google on . You can install Google toolbar with SideWiki from http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/index.html. Browsers get updated regularly so you can not guarantee that SideWiki functionality in Google toolbar will work on updated beta version of your browser. Click here to see and write SideWikis for this page. You need to sign in your gmail account for writing a SideWiki. I have already written first SideWiki to demonstrate functionality.
  2. Rapidshare.com hack bookmarklet: Open your rapidshare.com .Then click on free user. As soon as timer start type javascript:alert(c=0) in adress bar and press enter. A pop up message will come. Click ok and start downloading file without waiting.
  3. See 0th link in a web page: javascript:alert(document.links[0].href). 0th link is the 1st link which a search engine bot finds while parsing that page. You can find 5th link on page by substituting 4 in place of 0 in booklet code.
  4. Simple Firefox Notepad: Notepad (default size: 450x350) and Notepad (default size: 550x700)
  5. Edit this web page: Edit this web page. Click at any point on web page and start editing (insert characters, delete characters etc.). After running above bookmarklet, text links become unclickable. Only flashes and hyper linked images can be clicked. You can always save edited page with 'Save As' option. This is very similar to writing a post for your website in Compose mode. Hit reload to get rid of the effect.
  6. Crazy images: Crazy images. This bookmarklet will scoop up all the images on the web page and have them start spiraling around. Again Hit refresh to stop images spiraling.
Get more bookmarklet:
          Following sites contain number of useful bookmarklets.
  1. http://www.marklets.com/bookmarklets
  2. https://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets
  3. http://mozilla.gunnars.net/bookmarklets/trans-how-to.html
  4. http://www.7is7.com/software/bookmarklets/notepad.html
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EPUB creation tool, EPUB reader, EPUB converter, EPUB checker, kindle

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          EPUB is an XML-based file format designed to reflow text according to screen size. on mobile devices.PDF is still the format of choice over EPUB for most people. But many publishers have already started to create ebooks with EPUB format so as to reduce creation and conversion cost of ebooks and they can bring more books to market within less time. Google book website also has started to offer ebooks in EPUB format at http://books.google.com. See list of publishers who are member of IDPF(International Digital Publishing Forum) and supporting reflowable text format standardization here. EPUB file format and its compression guarantee a fixed time to display any given page of the book.

Reflowable format:
          Publication file formats are separated into two categories.

  1. Fixed layout formats
  2. Reflowable formats
          Fixed layout formats are typically designed for printing, they include PostScript and Adobe PDF. The content of fixed layout files is displayed the same way things will appear once printed. Images, words, paragraphs, columns are positioned at fixed coordinates within a page. The size of the page is imposed.
          Reflowable formats are typically designed to be displayed on a screens for which the size is not known or imposed. HTML and plain text are reflowable formats. Read more about formats at here and here

Free .epub creation tool:
eCub - a simple .epub creation tool:
          eCub is a cross-platform tool for creating EPUB and MobiPocket books. eCub supports Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris x86. Download eCub 1.07 here.

Free EPUB readers:
  1. Adobe Digital Editions: It provides support for Sony® Reader. It support both PDF and EPUB format. Download Digital Editions 1.7.1 here
  2. calibre (Windows, Mac, Linux): calibre is a one stop solution to all your e-book needs. It is open source and cross-platform in design. calibre is meant to be a complete e-library solution and thus includes library management, format conversion, news feeds to ebook conversion, as well as e-book reader sync features and an integrated e-book viewer. Download calibre-0.6.21 here
  3. Stanza: With Stanza, we can read eBooks on Mac or PC and share with iPhone, iPod Touch, & Kindle. We can organize library, browse online catalog, save place, find favorites and more. Download Stanza for Apple Macintosh, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch and Microsoft Windows here

Free EPUB to PDF converters:
  1. Calibre: Calibre can convert an ebook from EPUB to PDF. In addition, it can convert .lit format to .PDF & .EPUB and .PDF to .lit & .EPUB format. Download calibre-0.6.21 here
  2. doPDF: doPDF is a free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use and works on Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2008/2003/2000 Server (32 and 64-bit). It can convert Office documents, text, EPUB and many more formats to PDF. Download doPDF 6.3.309 (1.73 MB)(Release Date:14-September-2009)here

Free EPUB checker:
          EpubCheck is a tool to validate IDPF Epub files. It can detect many types of errors in Epub. OCF container structure, OPF and OPS mark-up, and internal reference consistency are checked. EpubCheck can be run as a standalone command-line tool, installed as a web application or used as a library. Download and read more about EPUB checker here

Kindle:
          Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com. It is a wireless device costs $259.00 (Global wireless) and $489.00 (U.S. Wireless). Some of the kindle features of kindle are listed here.
  1. Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines.
  2. Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback
  3. Books in Under 60 Seconds
  4. 3G Wireless.
  5. Global Coverage.
  6. Paper-Like Display.
  7. Carry 1,500 books.
  8. Long Battery Life
  9. Text-to-Speech feature
  10. Free Book Samples.
          Read more about kindle here.

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Excellent Webpage snapshot tool- Webkut

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          WebKut is an 'Air' application that allows you to capture web pages or parts of them in a very simple way.

What is an Air application?
          AIR applications behave just like any other normal installed application. So it is not mandatory to read this section in order to get your application running.
          Adobe AIR(Adobe Integrated Runtime) is a cross-operating system runtime that lets developers combine HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash, and Adobe Flex technologies to deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop. AIR allows developers to use familiar tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, Flex Builder 3, Flash CS3 Professional, or any text editor to build their applications and easily deliver a single application installer that works across operating systems. As desktop applications, RIAs can take advantage of additional features such as access to the file system, control over application windows, and support for drag and drop as well as everything they could when played in the browser. RIAs built for the runtime will not have to bear all of the basic, redundant application weight that they would otherwise have to include in order run by themselves. Instead, all of the common application data (which, in this case, is mostly the Flash Player and the Webkit web browser) is installed with the runtime once and not necessary for individual applications keeping them small and lightweight. AIR files are basically ZIP files which can be opened using any uncompressor. Further, AIR files are not encrypted so are less protected. Read more about AIR files at http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/air/

Requirements of Webkut:

  1. Adobe AIR 1.5.2.8870(15.11MB) [Latest version: Adobe Air 2.0.0.10760 Beta(7.63MB) See change Log]
  2. Webkut 1.2.2(521 KB)
          First install Adobe AIR. Then install Webkut 1.2.2. Now you can proceed to take snapshots of web pages.

Features:
  1. Option for capturing entire web page, visible portion and selection.
  2. Supported output format: JPG, GIF, PNG and PDF.
  3. Change image ratio(Less ratio, smaller dimension output) and quality of output(Less quality, smaller size output).
  4. Choose output directory.

How to capture webpage?
          Open Webkut. Enter the desired web page URL in provided field and press enter. Choose a Webkut option. It will take a snapshot. It will take sometime depending upon page size and may freeze during process. After completion of snapshot (Snapshot of Compupodia blog's Header is shown below), it asks for File name for saving it. From here, you can discard the snapshot, see preview and upload it to flickr.

Snapshot of Compupodia blog's Header

Limitations:
  1. PDF document and some Flash animations in web pages will be replaced by blank spaces.
  2. The maximum dimension for an image is 2880 pixels.

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Get Orkut friends' birthday notification by SMS

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          I know it really hurts when someone special around you, doesn't remember your birthday. So here is a little procedure which would keep you notified when someone special around you has his/her birthday so they would not feel what you have felt.
          Today, orkut is the biggest social networking site. It not strange that nearly all you know have an orkut account. They also share their birthday on orkut. So why not to use orkut's this feature to get notified about your friends' birthday before 2 days so that you can plan something exciting for the occasion.

You can accomplish this with 4 steps.

  1. Add orkut friends' birthdays calender in Google Calender
  2. Mobile setup in Google Calender to add your mobile number
  3. Set SMS Event Reminder in Google Calender
  4. Copy Contacts from Orkut Calender to Default Calender
Add orkut friends' birthdays calender in Google Calender:
          Sign in to your orkut account. It has 'Upcomping Birthdays' section as shown below.


          Click on 'view your friends' birthdays in Google Calendar'. It opens your Google Calender and Prompts with message 'Would you like to add calendar: orkut friends' birthdays?' as below. Click 'Yes, add this calender'.

Confirmation

          Now orkut friends' birthdays calender is added to your Google Calender. You can see it in 'Other Calenders' section as shown below.

Other Calenders section

Mobile setup in Google Calender to add your mobile number:
          Click on Settings under 'My calendars' section. It will take you to 'Calenders' tab of 'Calender Settings'. Click 'Mobile Setup' tab. Select your country from drop down menu, enter mobile number and click 'Send Verification Code'. Once you receive verification code, enter it in 'Verification code' field and click 'Finish setup'. Now you can proceed to set SMS Event Reminder.

Set SMS Event Reminder in Google Calender:
          Go to 'Calendars' tab again. Click 'Notifications' link in front of your account name. It will take you to 'Notifications' tab of 'yourid@gmail.com Details' section. In 'Event reminders', select 'SMS' from drop down list, in next box type 2 and select days. Now you will get a SMS reminder before 2 days of event.

Copy Contacts from Orkut Calender to Default Calender:
          SMS notification facility is only available for default calender. So we need to copy entries from orkut birthday calender to drfault calender. Left click upcoming birthday from orkut calender. Click Copy and copy it to default Calender. You can copy 20-30 birthdays from orkut birthday calender to default calender periodically. Now you will get a birthday SMS reminder before 2 days of event.

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Answering software for Gtalk users

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          Gtalk Autoreply is a freeware windows utility by CodePlex- Open Source Project Hosting to set an auto reply for Google Talk network. Gtalk Autoreply software gets activated after 3 minutes of inactivity, even if you are using PC and not replying or disturbing Google Talk in any way. Consider a situation, Gtalk Autoreply is activated and you are not inactive for more than 3 minutes. If someone who was not chatting with you sends a message to you then Gtalk Autoreply starts sending automatic reply to him/her.
          Google Talk service uses open standards for instant messaging. That means anyone can build an applications for connecting to Google Talk network.

Gtalk Autoreply working:
           The Google Talk client connects to Google Talk network, reports available status to Google Talk network so that all of your contacts can see that you are online, displays a message sent by anyone on your PC screen and sends a message to intended recipient when you do so. Now imagine Gtalk Autoreply in place of Google Talk client. It connects to Google Talk network, reports available status to Google Talk network so that all of your contacts can see that you are online. But here the difference begins. It is not intended for chatting purpose. It does not display a message sent by anyone on your PC screen but sends a saved message to one who pings you.

Requirements:

  1. Windows installer 3.1 (2.5 MB)
  2. .NET framework 3.5 (offline installer 231.50 MB or bootstrap (internet setup) 2.82 MB)
  3. Gtalk Autoreply (961 KB) by CodePlex- Open Source Project Hosting
          First install Windows installer 3.1. Windows installer service stops as installation updates the installer so you need to restart computer. After restarting install the .NET Framework 3.5. After that install Gtalk Autoreply.

How to start?
          When you install Gtalk Autoreply and open it, it will look as in below image.

Gtalk Autoreply window

          Provide the user name, password and enter the message which you want to send when someone pings you. It will look as in below image.

Gtalk Autoreply window

          Click 'Save and Enable Autoreply'. It will now look as in below image.

Logged in and Active window

          It now shows that you are logged in and Autoreply is active. Within a second it gets minimized in system tray. Now whenever someone pings you, it will message what you have provided to it.
          Just close the application to stop auto replying.

Drawbacks:
          If you have any other client like Gmail chat or Original Gtalk client open then you will come to know that someone messaged you but if there is no other client then there is no facility for telling that someone pinged you when you were not present. You need to go in Gmail and check the chat history for who pinged you in between. So never keep Gtalk Autoreply logged in and active alone. You need to use it with another chat client to get out of it.

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Understand Google Talk client functionality

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          The Google Talk service offers many features for communicating with friends and family. Google Talk service uses open standards for instant messaging and voice calling. That means anyone can build applications for the Google Talk network.We can connect to the Google Talk service using Google's own client, as well as many other IM clients developed by third parties.

          Basically there are five ways to connect to Google Talk network.

  1. Original Google Talk client (Download here): Original Google Talk client offers various services. They are
    1. Instant messaging: Chat with all of your Google Talk and Gmail contacts in real time.
    2. Free PC-to-PC voice chat: You can talk to anyone for free who is online and has the Google Talk client.
    3. Send and receive voicemails: If the person you're calling isn't available, you can leave a voicemail.
    4. Unlimited file transfers: Send files to your contacts. There are no file size or bandwidth restrictions.
    5. Gmail notifications on your desktop: When you're signed into Google Talk, you'll be notified of new messages in your Gmail inbox.
    6. Chat history: If you use Google Talk with a Gmail account then all of your chats are saved to a searchable archive in Gmail.
    7. Voice chat: Free PC-to-PC voice calls to any of your Gmail contacts.
  2. Google Talk Labs Edition (Download here): Google Talk Lab Edition supports invisible mode, group chatting and tabbed chatting. Google Talk Labs Edition does not support voice calling and file transfer. It is only available in english and works on Windows. If you want to voice call and file transfer service then go for original Google Talk client. Issues of late loading and several times connection loss are reported with this version as it is still in development stage.
  3. Gmail built-in chat using the Google Talk network: Besides above mentioned services provided by original Google Talk client, Gmail built in chat supports
    1. Video chat: Chat live. Video chat requires plugin to work. Click here to download video plugin
    2. Invisible mode: Appear to be offline when you don't want to be interrupted.
    3. Group chat: Invite multiple people to chat with you in a group.
    4. No file transfer service: It does not support file transfer service. Ofcourse you can send file of upto 25 MB using email, provided file is a nonexecutable file.
  4. Google Talk gadget to iGoogle: The Google Talk Gadget requires Adobe Flash Player version 8 or above for Windows (Flash Player 10.0.32.18 (IE) and Flash Player 10.0.32.18 (Non-IE)) and version 9 for Linux.
    1. Talk on your homepage: iGoogle lets you gather fun and useful gadgets, including Google Talk, all into one place.
    2. Media previews inline: Preview video and slideshow URLs from YouTube and Picasa Web Albums in your chats.
    3. Group chat: Invite multiple people to chat with you in a group
  5. Third party Google Talk IM clients: Click here to view third party IM clients. Third party Google Talk service clients do not support Voice calls
    to other Google Talk users. All Google Talk clients provides services freely.
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Add your website to McAfee SiteAdvisor

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          McAfee SiteAdvisor software is an award-winning, free browser plug-in (download here (5.67 MB)) that gives advice about websites before user click on a risky site.It adds small site rating icons to search results as well as a browser button and optional search box to alert users to potentially risky sites.The SiteAdvisor technology is free, easy to install and even easier to use. And it doesn't collect any personally identifiable information. It is fully compatible with IE as well as firefox.

What Is a SiteAdvisor Site Rating?
          McAfee SiteAdvisor tests sites for downloads, browser exploits, e-mail, phishing, e-commerce, pop-ups and cookies and affiliations with other sites.Site ratings are presented to users in the form of colored icons. These are

  1. SAFE: Very low or no risk issues.
  2. CAUTION: Minor risk issues.
  3. WARNING: Serious risk issues.
  4. UNKNOWN: Not yet rated. Use caution.
What is rated? How is it rated?
  1. Downloads: McAfee SiteAdvisor tests downloadable software that is hosted by and directly linked to from a site. McAfee anti-virus engine is used to determine if the file includes any malware.
  2. E-mail practices: It tests sites for e-mail practices by entering a valid, unique personal e-mail address into a site's e-mail form. Then it measures any mail that is received at this unique address. Mail received is tested for commercial content, as well as the presence of tricks used by spammers to try to escape detection by spam filters.
  3. Browser exploits: McAfee SiteAdvisor tests site to detect the presence of exploits.
  4. Annoyances: McAfee SiteAdvisor records how many pop-ups occur, how many cookies are received, prompts to change a browser's home page and search page settings.The presence or cookies is noted only. Cookies do not affect a site's score.
  5. E-Commerce: Site is tested for phishing and scams.
  6. Links (online affiliations): Information about the URL links posted on a site to determine whether the site is affiliated or effectively directing traffic to another site.
Why to add my website?
          When you display the McAfee Secure certification mark, you not only increase sales by increasing shopper confidence, you build your brand with the security seal seen on more top sites than any other.
          Site Advisor is a free service. It will take about 6-8 weeks before your site is rated green, yellow, or red. This is a very basic scan that looks for spyware, adware, malware, etc. There is no obligation to use McAfee antivirus product. It also does not certify that your site is a secure site. You do not get a listing in our merchant directory.

McAfee Secure Certification:This is a daily scan service so we need to pay for this. This scan is very detailed and will scan website all the way into the web application layer. We can then post McAfee Trustmark on website after passing out certification requirements. With every domain you have certified McAfee Secure, you get a listing in our Merchant Directory. If you purchase McAfee Secure, we can expedite the Site Advisor rating to about 2 weeks.

How to add website?
  1. Open McAfee SiteAdvisor homepage.
  2. Enter your site URL in 'View a Site Report' box and press enter.
  3. Next page will tell 'No results found for yoursite.com'. Enter the site URL again in field and click 'Submit domain for review'.
  4. Click on the back link on next page.
  5. Next page shows- 'We've tested millions of websites, but we haven't tested this one yet. Be the first one to submit feedback on it! Are you the owner of this site? Leave a comment'. Click on Leave a comment.
  6. It will prompt for registration. Register with email id. A mail providing confirmation link will appear. Click on confirmation link.
  7. Log in your account and add your website URL by issuing new owner request. Request varification file and create an empty file in root directory of your website.
  8. Click on verify to verify the site.
  9. Your site will be checked and added to secure directory if passed the test.
How to add blogger.com blog?
    As blogger does not allow to open an ftp connection till you buy your own domain name, it is not possible to open an ftp connection create a html file.
  1. Suppose file to be created has a name
    'compupodia.blogspot.com71f6c6e04d5c2a4da76e7c0c26aa207e202d6909.html'
    then create a new post with title
    'compupodia.blogspot.com71f6c6e04d5c2a4da76e7c0c26aa207e202d6909'
    and empty body. Save it as draft.
  2. Verify the ownership.

Awards won by McAfee SiteAdvisor:
  1. Time magazine named SiteAdvisor.com among the 50 coolest websites of 2006
  2. Popular Science awarded SiteAdvisor the "Best of What's New" award in the Computing category for 2006
  3. PC World ranked SiteAdvisor 15 th in "The 100 Best Products of 2007".
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Use 'virtual floppy drive' to mount floppy images

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          'Virtual floppy drive' is a very small(140K) and handy utility that allows us to mount floppy disk images and access data available in them without writing on actual floppy diskettes. We can read, write and modify files on the images in 'RAW mode'.

What is place of floppy disk drive in 2009:
          Before 2000, you may have seen lots of PCs with floppy drives but today situation is different. Many hardware companies are withdrawing floppy drive support from their product to reduce the size and cost of their product. It is also crystal clear on software front. Ubuntu 8.10 kernel module for floppies is deactivated by default. Means OSs have also started to shed support to floppy drives.
          You may be thinking, where did those bulky computers with floppy drives and big CPU go. India is still developing and there is still big market in selling and buying PCs produced before 2000. I have seen many village students still use P3 or P4 for fulfilling their technical needs. They still need to use those floppy disks, full of drivers to install an OS in their PC.
          There are still many vendors who sell floppy drives with improved interface. You can get a USB floppy disk drive for Rs. 1500/-. Visit http://www.geek.com/laptop-floppy-drives to buy an USB floppy disk drive.

Benefits of using virtual floppies and virtual floppy imaging tools:

  1. Ability to boot certain applications - like a Linux virtual router/firewall on a floppy.
  2. Ability to transfer files between systems
  3. No Floppy media to storage, search or get damaged
Download and start virtual floppy drive:
  1. Download the Virtual floppy drive from this link
  2. Latest version is 'Virtual Floppy Drive 2.1' which is released on Feb. 6, 2008. No changes have been made since that release.
  3. Extract the zip 'vfd21-080206.zip'. It has vfd.exe which is a command line utility for installing, starting, stopping and uninstalling 'vfd.dll driver' and assigning drive letter for virtual drive. It also contains 'vfdwin.exe' which provides GUI to VFD control panel.
Uses of VFD:
  1. Create floppy image from data: To proceed, assign drive letter to Drive0. Click on 'open/create' button and click create on the next screen. Now go into the drive from windows explorer and copy files to it. Close the window and click save to save data as floppy image. You can burn this image file to actual floppy with winImage or RawImage.
  2. Modify a floppy image and save changes:Open a floppy image, modify it and again save it with another name.
More about VFD
  1. Windows 2000/XP Explorer's check disk does not work with VFD drives.
    Use command line CHKDSK.EXE instead.
  2. Some program does not recognize VFD drive as floppy drive if assigned a drive letter other than A or B.
  3. VFD is not compiled for 64 bit windows version. Although a binary provided on the official website may work in some cases. You can try it at your own risk.
  4. VFD can not create image from or save to actual floppy disk. To create image from a floppy, use WinImage (shareware).

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Carry 'portable apps' on pen drive with 'PortableApps.com Platform'

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          PortableApps.com Platform is very convenient tool which allows us to carry favorite portable computer programs along with bookmarks, settings, email and use on any computer without leaving any personal data behind. It works with any hardware like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc.)and is 100% free. It provides a perceivable menu interface which resembles start menu on Windows OS.

Downloads: There are 3 different packages offered by Portableapps.com. Visit 'Download PortableApps.com Suite and Platform' page.

  1. Platform(1 MB): Contains 'PortableApps.com Menu', Backup and custom Folders, Icons & Autorun
  2. Suite Light(46 MB): Abiword is included to read and edit Microsoft Word files.
  3. Suite Standard(124MB): Openoffice included to read and edit Microsoft word files, spreadsheets, presentations. Abiword is not present.
How To Start 'PortableApps.com Platform':

          Download one of the package listed above. Install it in root directory of the pen drive. When you insert pen drive, you can start the menu by clicking 'StartPortableApps.exe' present in the pen drive. A system tray icon will appear which facilitates showing, hiding, closing the menu and also provides interface for safely removing pen drive.

Application supported by portableApps.com: There are various sections on Application page at portableApps.com. Some of the popular portable apps in each sections are listed below.
  • Accessibility:
    1. On-Screen Keyboard: On-screen keyboard.
    2. Virtual Magnifying Glass: Screen magnifier.
  • Development:
    1. Notepad++: Text editor.
    2. Nvu & KompoZer: Web editors.
  • Education:
    1. Stellarium: Planetarium like google earth.
  • Games:
    1. DOSBox: Play classic DOS games on Windows Vista.
    2. Sudoku: Puzzle game.
  • Graphics & Pictures:
    1. GIMP: Photo and Image Editor.
  • Internet:
    1. Mozilla Firefox: Web browser.
    2. Mozilla Thunderbird: Email client.
    3. Pidgin: IM client for gmail, yahoo, MSN etc.
    4. WinWGet: Manage downloads on the go.
    5. FileZilla: FTP client.
  • Music & Video:
    1. VLC Media Player: Media player
  • Office:
    1. OpenOffice: word processor, spreadsheet, presentations with Microsoft compatibility.
    2. AbiWord: Word processor compatible with Microsoft Word files.
    3. Sumatra PDF: PDF viewer.
  • Utilities:
    1. 7-Zip: File archiver and compressor.
    2. ClamWin: Antivirus.
    3. Eraser: Securely delete files and data.
These things can be done with portableapps.com platform: Visit 'PortableApps.com Platform and Suite Support' page
  1. Add .paf.exe app to the menu:
              Download the '.paf.exe' file for the app to add from portableapps.com. The downloaded '.paf.exe' file is a html file and when you click on it, it will prompt for downloading .paf.exe installer (executable).After downloading the installer go to menu and click options - Add a New App - Install and then select the '.paf.exe'(installer) file.
  2. Add standalone app to the menu:
              To add standalone portable app, create a directory in 'PortableApps' directory and place it's files in it.
  3. Removing an app from the menu:
              To uninstall an app, delete the app directory from 'PortableApps' directory
  4. Rename an app in menu:
              To rename an app, right-click on it, enter new name and click OK. To reset name to the original name, clear the text from the rename box.
  5. Hide an app in menu:
              To hide an app from menu, rename it to minus sign (-). To get the app back in list, edit the PortableAppsMenu.ini file within 'PortableApps\PortableApps.com\Data' directory and remove the entry appname\appnameportable.exe=true within the [AppsHidden] section.
  6. Run an app as administrator:
              To run a portable app as another user, hold down the control button while clicking it.
  7. Add a personal image on the menu:
  8. Use built-in wallpaper swapper:
              You can set to change the wallpaper on the PC to your own while it is running the platform and change it back when you exit. To set wallpaper, save a .bmp file in 'Documents\Pictures' directory and name it as 'portableapps_wallpaper.bmp'. You can also add a 'portableapps_wallpaper_wide.bmp' file which will be used on widescreen displays.
  9. Change menu startup location:
              Move the menu wherever you want. Menu remembers it's relative position on the screen and start up at that same location even if you move to another PC.
  10. Rename PortableApps.com-Enabled drive:
              To rename PortableApps.com-enabled drive, click on the drive name in the lower left corner of the menu, type in the new name and click the ">" button or press enter. Reinsert the drive for the new name to show up in Windows Explorer.
  11. Change language of the platform
  12. Backup settings (Bookmarks, Email, Preferences, etc.)
  13. Start Minimized, Disable Fading, Remain Visible, Hide Desktop, Transparency etc.:
Safe Portable App-ing: Visit 'safe App-ing' page
  1. Use an antivirus program on your portable device, like ClamWin Portable, and keep its virus definitions up to date.
  2. Scan your PC and portable drive for viruses on a regular basis.
  3. Always wait until the drive access light has stopped blinking and then click the icon in your system tray to 'Safely Remove' your device. Don't just remove it. Just because the application's window is closed doesn't mean the app has fully closed and finished writing to the disk.
  4. Back up on a regular basis, both your applications and your files.

Download more portable apps:
          Here are links to website containing huge collection of Portable apps which you can install along with PortableApps.com platform.
  1. http://www.pendriveapps.com
  2. http://www.portablefreeware.com
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Installing Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 from USB (GUI Tool)

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          Many desktop computers' and laptops' CD/DVD drive becomes nonfunctional after few years of use. It is easy to replace CD/DVD drive in desktop computers and those are cheap too but in case of laptop CD/DVD drives starts from 3000 Rs/- onwards and they get available at few vendors. In such case we can use a bootable pen drive to install new OS on such system. This post tells how to install Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 from bootable pen drive.

Requirements:

  1. Novicorp WinToFlash 0.4.0013 (2.10MB)[Latest version: 0.5.0000 beta]
  2. A pen drive of sufficient size.
Make Bootable Pen Drive:
  • Extract 'Novicorp WinToFlash 0.4.0013 beta.zip' after downloading.
  • Click on 'WinToFlash.exe' to start the process.
  • This software provides two modes of transfer
    1. Wizard mode:
      1. Press Next on Wizard welcome screen.
      2. Select the Windows source path and Usb drive with browse button and press Next.
      3. A license agreement screen will pop up, just click continue if you accept it.
      4. A warning telling data on USB will be formated will appear. Click ok after backing up all data from USB to start process.
      5. After completing transfer wizard, press finish. Pen drive is now ready to boot.
    2. Advanced mode:
      1. Click File->new or click Task tab from main window to select task type.
      2. From drop down menu select type of OS or task and click create.
      3. In 'basic parameters' tab, select Windows source path, USB drive and file system for formatting pen drive. Use default if you are unaware.
      4. In 'setup parameters' tab, you can choose option for unattended installation.
      5. In 'process steps' tab, set option option according to need. e.g. Uncheck 'Format drive' option if you do not want to format pen drive.
      6. Click run to start process.Follow steps 3 to 5 from wizard mode as they are same.
Things to note:
  1. Backup required data from partition where want to install the new OS.
  2. This method does not allow to repair corrupted Windows XP installation if you use pirated CD for preparation of USB device. So make sure to use original CD to prepare USB device.

Choose right size pen drive:
          Use 1 or 2 GB pen drive for XP installation, use 4 GB for Windows Vista and if you create custom installation disk using nLite or vLite then use 8 GB if it exceeds 4 GB size. Note that smaller the pen drive, faster is the copying speed and you nneed to wait for small amount of period before getting into the OS.

Installing OS:
  1. Restart the system. Open BIOS and set 'USB Hard disk' as first boot device.
  2. Boot from pen drive. Select option "1,Text Mode" for starting setup.
  3. After rebooting, boot from pen drive and select option "2, GUI Mode".
  4. After rebooting, boot from pen drive and select option "2, GUI Mode" again. You will be in OS. Remove redundant boot entries from boot.ini file.

Advantages:
  1. GUI interface for making bootable USB.
  2. MuliOS support: Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7.
  3. Supports nLite custom Windows XP.
  4. Supports vLite custom Windows Vista.

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Use 'whereis' command in Windows xp

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          'Whereis' command in Windows Vista searches a file in directory included in 'path' environment variable. We can write a batch file that will emulate 'whereis' command as in Windows Vista. Below is a batch script which searches specified file on system drive. This script is slower as it searches entire system drive for file unlike whereis command in Vista and lists every instance of file with it's attributes.

Write 'whereis' emulator:

          Open a notepad, copy and paste the presented whereis.bat code in it. save it as 'whereis.bat'.

whereis.bat Code

@echo off
setlocal
if not "%~0"=="%~0%~1" goto firsttime
:help
echo.
echo help: type 'whereis filename' to run command
echo Don't run whereis on more than one cmd at a time.
echo.
exit /b
:firsttime
if "%~1"=="/?" goto help
set filename=%*
echo %filename%>%temp%\file.txt
cd>%temp%\temp1.txt
cd /d %temp%
for /f "tokens=* " %%i in (file.txt) do set filename=%%~i
cd\
echo.
echo Searching "%filename%" on %systemdrive% drive(System drive).
dir /a:-d /b /s|find /I "%filename%">%temp%\temp2.txt
echo.
cd %temp%
echo.
for /f "tokens=* " %%i in (temp2.txt) do if /I "%filename%"=="%%~nxi" attrib "%%~i"
for /f "tokens=* " %%i in (temp1.txt) do cd /d "%%~i"
del %temp%\temp1.txt
del %temp%\temp2.txt
endlocal

Possible attributes for a file:

A-Archive
H-Hidden
S-System
R-Read only

How To Use:

          Open the folder where you saved the 'whereis.bat', right click on the file and Send To-> Command Prompt Here (We have seen how to add 'Command Prompt Here' option to 'Send To' in previous post. See 'Command Prompt Here'). It will open the command prompt at parent folder.Type

whereis.bat file.ext

Output:

    H c:\file.ext
A   H c:\dir\file.ext

Output Explaination:

          Above output tells that file.exe is present in

  1. C: drive and is hidden.
  2. C:\dir and is archived and hidden.

Useful Modifications:

          You can modify this script to search a file on other drive. Just place the drive letter before cd\ command in bat file. The file also provides help regarding uses if you type whereis /?.

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Command Prompt Here

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          Adding 'Command Prompt Here' link in the right click context menu in Windows XP facilitates opening 'command prompt' at desired folder.

How To Add 'Command Prompt Here' option:
          Open a notepad. Copy and paste the presented cmdph.bat code and save file as cmdph.bat. Now click Start->Run... to open Run dialog box. Type 'sendto' and press ENTER to open 'SendTo' folder. Now create a new shortcut. When it asks for location of file, click browse, locate cmdph.bat, select it and click 'OK'. Click next and type the name for the shortcut. Type this name as 'Command Prompt Here' and click finish. The icon of the shortcut is batfile icon. Note that the shortcut name and icon will appear in right click context menu when you right click on a file or folder and see 'send To' option. You can use any icon of your choice to decorate it.

cmdph.bat code

@echo off
dir /a:d /b %1 1>nul 2>nul
if %errorlevel%==0 goto pass
set parent="%~dp1"
echo %~nx1 is not a directory, redirecting to parent directory...
cd /d %parent%
echo.
goto allowed
:pass
cd /d %1
:allowed
%ComSpec%

With this you can:

  1. Open command prompt at the specified folder with a right click.
  2. Open parent folder by right clicking a file in folder.
Advantages over other tools including Microsoft Powertoy:
  1. It handles folders with '&' in their name where Microsoft Powertoy gives error.
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