Day to Day Technical Help

With time files stored on a CD or a DVD can be corrupted. Scratch marks, finger marks and dust make it hard for CD and DVD ROMs to read and extract the content. Did you ever wonder how to copy uncopyable valuable files from a damaged, scratched, dusty CD or DVD ? This post is about how you can copy these uncopyable files By using free software called CD Recovery tool box. You can restore lost information as a result of some mechanical damage of the disk (scratches, chips, different spots on the surface) or as a result of incorrect recording. Thus, the program can recover data that was considered lost.

Let's get started with the installation. You will have the download links on the bottom of this post. Download the setup files using one of those links. Double click on the CDRecoveryToolboxFreeSetup file to start the installation. Click on the run button to bypass the security warning on Windows XP.



Click next to start with the installation. Follow the simple on screen instructions to complete the installation.





Once the program is launched press next to continue.



Choose a location to save your recovered files.



Select the files you want to recover and click on save button.



Wait until the recovery process has been completed. This might take some time.



You can download this freeware from following websites.

Mirror 1

Mirror 2

Over a month ago AMD has released an 8 core desktop processor called AMD FX. Today’s post is about if it’s any good against the Intel core i5 processor. Note that Intel core i5 processor is not the fastest processor which Intel produced on their core series. If we go back to our AMD FX processor line there are 4-core, 6-core and 8-core to be chosen from. You can only have 2 or 4 core setup on Intel core i5 product line. So the question is, can AMD’s new FX processor can beat Intel Core i5 processor ?

Before we answer to that question, Here is a processor comparison between AMD FX Vs Intel Core i5 on technological wise.

Reference

Also according to the PassMark CPU bench marking AMD FX lays on 24th place from the top while Intel core i5 lays 37th place on the list.

Reference

So will AMD FX beat Intel core i5 ? The answer is yes & No. If you're using AMD FX for video rendering, video encoding or to run Multi-threaded applications yes it will beat the Intel Core i5 processor. But If you're on to games, definitely Intel Core i5 will beat AMD FX because most of the games are designed to use less than 3 cores or so, it will not take the advantage of a 8 core processor.

Also you can buy AMD FX 8-core processor around 210 USD and Intel Core i5 2500k for around 216-224 USD by the time I'm writing this note. Surely prices will go down with latest future processors of both of these companies.

If you are using Microsoft Windows operating systems on your PC definitely you will notice that with time your computer is getting slower and slower. With time technology changes and new fast computers are coming to the market. But if you are on a tight budget and does not want to put away your old PC here are some tricks that could make your PC run much faster for free.

1. Viruses and spywares would be the number 1 cause for slow computers. So, having a good virus and spyware protection is a must. If your virus or spyware protection is not up to date there is no point of having one. So make sure that the program is updating regularly.
   
   You can check free virus protection programs from here
   
   You can check free spyware protection programs from here


2. keep your windows operating system up to date is an other good practice. Keeping it up to date does not mean that you need to purchase the latest version of OS when it's released. You can use Windows updates feature to keep your existing windows version up to date with latest Microsoft updates. You will need a good internet connection and genuine windows operating system software to perform this action.


3. Get rid of the unwanted software you having on your PC. You can remove expired trail versions, unwanted tool bars and even unwanted services and features from your windows operating system.


4. Clean your temporary files and cookies. You could use a free program like CCleaner to perform these functions. Cleaning up temporary files always free some room on your hard drive and will make you computer run much faster.


5. Defrag your hard drive. You can use built in windows feature or free third party software to perform this action. For the latest Windows 7 version defrag is a automated process. For other versions you have to do it manually. You can find this tool under start menu - accessories - System tools. Make sure to restart your computer when it is done.

Different virus causes different type of damage on your computer. Most of the time the virus are programmed to disable Windows Task Manager, Regedit, command prompt, folder options and etc. These restrictions are meant to prevent a normal computer user from using these built-in Windows diagnostic tools to remove the virus from computer.

There’s another type of virus that will hide your document files by setting the hidden and system attributes to the file. You can still see the files if you set to show hidden files and folders plus disabling hide operating system files. If the virus is capable of restricting Folder Options, chances are you think that your files has been wiped out by the virus but in fact it is hidden in your system.



Here’s how to check if the file is still around, and if it is, you can reset the attributes of the file to view it normally in Windows Explorer. Here’s how to show hidden files and folders or system files.

1. Go to Control Panel and open Folder Options.

2. Go to View tab and select “Show hidden files and folders”. Then uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”. Do take note that some virus that are still active in computer will revert the changes that you made. So make sure your computer is clean from virus first by scanning with an antivirus program.

You can follow the following steps to create a batch file and undo the changes that has applied to the hidden attribute on your folders.

1. Make a text file in Notepad and call it Unhide.txt

2. Put the following line of text in the text file and save it
attrib -h -s %1

3. Close Notepad and rename the text file to Unhide.bat so that it will be treated as a batch script file. (Note that you'll need have extensions for known file types showing, so if they're not a trip to Folder Options is in order.)

Click here to download already prepared unhide.bat file

4. Drag and drop the files you need to adjust onto the batch file one at a time.

If you have read my previous post about "How to Activate Windows XP Without a Product Key" I'm pretty sure that you will need to read this also. There is a possibility that you will receive a error message which says "This copy of Windows must be activated before you can log on" after 30 days. Since you have already activated the windows it will not allow you to go to the desktop. So what do you do to log back in ?




Boot into "Safe Mode".

To do this, turn the laptop on and press F8 as it is booting up.

Go into "Safe Mode" by choosing the "Safe Mode" option.

Once you are at the desktop in "Safe Mode", Click "Start" then click "Run".

At the run command prompt type the following EXACTLY

rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk

*NOTE: The "Oo"'s in Oobe are "oh's" - not "zero's" There is one space after rundll32.exe. It is case sensitive as far as I know.

Click OK

Wait a few seconds - the screen may blip a few times or so.

This just reset Windows Activation for 30 days.

Reboot the PC into normal mode

Did you just install, or reinstall Windows XP on your Computer, and when you are trying to activate the software, Microsoft says that your product key is not genuine, the product is no longer available for retail sale, or the number of activations have been exceeded? It may ask you to call Microsoft to get a new product key, or purchase windows 7.

Instead of going to this trouble, or instead of spending hundreds of dollars, to get a new genuine product, here is a way to make your product activated Without a Product Key.

Click on Start

Find and Click "Run"

Type: regedit

Click the plus next to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE"

Click the plus next to "SOFTWARE"

Click the plus next to "Microsoft"

Click the plus next to "Windows NT"

Click the plus next to "CurrentVersion"

Click "WPAEvents"

On the right panel, find "OOBETimer" then double click it.

Now, highlight all values, then delete them

Then type in the following value : FF D5 71 D6 8B 6A 8D 6F D5 33 93 FD

After that, click 'OK'.

Next, on the left panel, right-click WPAEvents, and then click on "permissions"

Click "System" or "SYSTEM", then click the box "Deny Full Control", and then click 'Apply'.

Now you can exit the Registry Editor by clicking on the red X in the upper-right corner of the Title Bar or, while holding down the ALT key, press the F4 key.

To verify that it works, Click on Start, then "Activate windows", or click on Start, then All Programs, then "Activate windows"

If it says that Windows has been activated, then the trick works.