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Do Ads annoy you ? Does the sight of Google Ads make you red?
If you’d like to remove them, you can use Opera to go about it.

What you need to do:

• Open up the folder where you have installed Opera (usually C:\Program Files\Opera\ ).
• Navigate to the Profile folder ( C:\Program Files\Opera\profile )
• Make sure you have closed Opera before continuing
• Open the urlfilter.ini file and paste the entire contents beginning from [exclude] to the end.
• Save and Close the file.

NOTE:

• Always keep a backup of the file before editing it.
• The list given above only helps to blockout public ads (that is those provided by a network such as Google). To block ads hosted on a site, use the Block Content option (right click any empty area in the site and block out images/flash etc.)

Please note that this is a tutorial for Opera. There are other tutorials for Firefox and/or plugins which we are not concerned about here in this post. Please don’t start a Firefox vs. Opera war here.

Source : Technobeta

These are a few basic steps to take to prevent malware installing on your computer.

Keep Windows Updated

A large proportion of Windows updates are to close holes exploited by malicious programs. Simply staying updated will keep a lot of infections off your system.
Windows Updates

Change your browser

Firefox is far more secure than Internet Explorer, with the added bonus of a built-in popup blocker.
Firefox Browser

Use a firewall

Surfing the internet without a firewall is like inviting malware onto your system. Only use one.
Free Firewalls ZoneAlarm Kerio Sygate

Use an Anti-Virus

These programs are free for home use, and perfectly adequate for the average user. Again, use only one.
Free Anti-Virus AVG Avast Antivir

Install Anti-Spyware protection

These four programs will help to keep malware off your system, and will happily co-exist side by side.
Free Anti-Spyware MS Antispyware AdAwareSE SpybotSD SpywareBlaster

Source - TechArena

1.) To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks.

Source : Techbuilder

This page provides links to vendors of over fifty personal firewall products:

• Top Picks — Norton & ZoneAlarm

• More Choices — BlackIce, Comodo, eTrust, Fireball, F-Secure, Kaspersky, Look’n'Stop, McAfee, Net, NetOpt, Outpost, Panda, PC-cillin, PrivateFirewall, Sunbelt/Kerio, Terminet, Tiny, & Windows XP

• Not Reviewed — Armor2net, Bullguard, 8Signs, Firewall X-treme, Freedom/Hacker Stopper, Hackersmacker/The Shield, InJoy, Jetico, Lavasoft, Norman, Omniguad, pcInternet Patrol, Primedius, Preventon, R-Firewall, Safety.Net, SecurePoint, SecureUP, SoftPerfect, SphinxWall, Surf Secret, TheGreenBow, VisNetic & Webroot

• Gone or Fading Away — Checkit, ConSeal, eSafe, Firekeys, HackTracer, PC Viper, NeoWatch, Sphinx, & Sygate

• Not Recommended — Internet Firewall 2000, Mindsoft & VirusMD
  Read more…
  

So I tripped over a rather huge bug in Vista Beta 1 today. It involves that god forsaken language bar. If you try to change it to hidden in the control panel your computer will BSOD with an error in the video card driver file, which completely throws you off as to the cause of the crash. It also occurs at random when in MS Word doing something (My brother discovered that part of this evil bug). So the easy workaround is to disable the Language Bar, here is how to do just that (Method works on Office XP and Office 2003 Installations):Step 1: Uninstall Alternative User Input
To uninstall the alternative user input feature, set the installation state to Not Available in Office XP Setup.

Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP: 1. Quit all Office programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. NOTE: In Windows XP, click Start and then click Control Panel.

3. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.NOTE: In Windows XP, click Add or Remove Programs.

4. In the Currently installed programs list, click to select Microsoft Office XP/2003 product, where Office XP/2003 product is the name of the specific Office product being used. If you are using a standalone version of one of the Office programs, click to select the appropriate product in the list. Click Change.
5. In the Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next. This displays the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box.
6. Click the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features to expand it.
7. Click the icon next to Alternative User Input, and then select Not Available.
8. Click Update.
NOTE: If you have multiple Office XP/2003 products installed, for example, Office XP/2003 Professional and Frontpage 2002/2003, you must repeat the preceding steps for each installed product.
Step 2: Remove Alternative User Input Services from Text Services
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, double-click Text Services.NOTE: In Windows XP, click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then click Regional and Language Options. On the Languages tab, click Details.

3. Under Installed Services, select each input item that is listed, and then click Remove to remove the item. All items must be removed, one by one, except the following input service:

English (United States)- default Keyboard United States 101
Step 3: Run Regsvr32 /U on the Msimtf.dll and Msctf.dll Files
1. Click Start and then click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type the following command:
Regsvr32.exe /u msimtf.dll
3. Click OK.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the Msctf.dll file.

There is an issue with the Sound Blaster Audigy series of cards (Audigy, Audigy 2, Audigy 2 ZS etc…) that consists of distorted and studdering sound when using the CREATIVE drivers.To solve the problem download the KX project drivers HERE.

Other Possibilities Include using a modded set of Audigy 2 ZS Drivers that work with Audigy 1’s and Live’s. I have installed these drivers and the seem to work perfectly.

You can download those drivers from ngohq.com, but at the time of this writing the site is down. If someone is willing to host the driver file (22.8 MB) please contact me.

This will get you down to only 1 boot screen.

It is really easy: On my system my main drive has two partitions. One for XP
and the other for Vista.

My XP installation is on C: and my Vista installation is on F:

I copied the F:\Windows\System32\winload.exe (Vista Installation) file to
C:\Windows\System32 (XP Installation)

Then I edited the boot.ini file as follows:

Original boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition” /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows Longhorn”
/NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /FASTDETECT /USENEWLOADER

New Boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition” /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /USENEWLOADER
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows Longhorn”
/NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /FASTDETECT /USENEWLOADER

As you can see I just added the /USENEWLOADER switch to the XP Installation.NOTE: Doing this may cause a code 10 error with Asus SCSI cards using LSI53C875 drivers. - Thanks Scott for the info.

As I stated earlier in this guide, Windows Vista™ is pretty stable out of the box. The following list of services do not *need* to be disabled but I reccomend it since they only serve to annoy you anyway (Security Center, anyone?)Disable the following:

• Automatic Updates
• Idwlog Service
• Peer Name Resolution Protocol
• Peer Networking Identity Manager
• Pnrp Auto Registration
• Pen Service
• Security Center

NOTE: The Peer services are disabled because of a possible security issue with them and weird connections that have been reported when doing netstat -a.

Click Start, Run. Type “control folders”. Press OK.
Click the View tab. Modify the settings as shown below.Check:

• Always show icons, never thumbnails
• Display the contents of system folders
• Show hidden files and folders

Uncheck:

• Automatically search for network folders and printers
• Hide extensions for known file types
• Use Domain Folder Sharing Wizard

Click Start, right click on “Computer”, and click Properties.
Click on the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click Settings.
Uncheck these options:
Note: None of these options affect DWM functionality.

• Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
• Fade or slide menus into view
• Fade or slide tooltips into view
• Fade out menu items after clicking
• Show shadows under menus
• Slide open combo boxes
• Slide taskbar buttons
• Use a background images for each folder type

Close the Performance Options & System Properties dialogs.

1) Imageshack

I don’t think any intro is needed. THis is the seemingly best and most popular one out there right now.
Jpeg,jpg, png,gif bmp tif swf file supported.
maximum file size is 1024KB
ImageShack allows each image 100 megabytes of transfer per hour. If an image exceeds this amount, it will be rendered inaccessible.
Images are never deleted or atleast thats what is claimed.

LINK

2) PhotoBucket

An oldie. Pretty good service. Currently free accounts get 25 megs of space and 1,500 megs of bandwidth per month. Can create online photo albums easily. Hassle free login.
Direct linking is allowed. can upload up to 20 pictures at once.
Images larger than 250K will be automatically resized to 250K or smaller
Extensions allowed: .jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp

LINK

3) PicShack

This may be a new one to you guys. Similar in looks to imageshack.
gif,jpg,jpeg,png,bmp,swf images supported
1024 KB maximum file size
No explicit image deletion policy. No registration required. But if you register, you images are guaranteed not to be removed

LINK

4) ImageVenue HOT

Now it starts to hot up for imageshack. THis gives you some real power and that too without registering.
Capability to set resize ratio while you upload while still mantaining aspect ratio
You can upload up to 5 files at one time.
Image Types Allowed: jpeg, jpg
maximum file size: 1.5Meg
unlimited storage period
unlimited bandwidth
no registration required
Hosted images not accessed for one year will be deleted from their dedicated server.

LINK

5) Image Barrel

another imageshack clone but with lesser ads and more cooler interface. same feature set
Maximum file size: 1024Kb (1MB)
Supported file types: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Images are not modified or resized, and there is no compression added, automatic thumbnail creation.
Unlimite BW/ no limit specified

LINK

6) TheFileBucket

It promises a lot!!.. 100MB(right now 500MB) storage. Looks good but i haven’t used it.
images, documents, music, video, zip, rar, flash files supported
no bandwidth limit set. There is a 2mb file size limit. All filetypes are accepted. Registration (free) is required.

LINK

7) UploadNext

OH no!!… yep!! its imageshack clone allright with some more control for guest users.
Hotlinking / direct linking images from their server is allowed
Max file size is 1.5 Mbyte. File formats supported are JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIF, TIFF, PNG, MPEG and SWF (Flash).
Unlimited BW
optional abilities to resize your image
and/or give private access to only those you give your URL to.

LINK

8 ) ImageWeb.info

More features, better layout,, less ads. Nice!!
pictures, graphics, Adobe Acrobat and Macromedia Flash files supported. No registration required
Hot linking (direct linking) is allowed from any website.
thumbnail image creation automatic
30 days no access to images will lead to deletion
Allowed File Types: GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, SWF, PDF, ZIP.
Maximum File Size: 2048 Kb
(plz see the alternate page at bottom of the index for the types)

LINK

9) SaveFile

This website offers free hosting of images, docs, zips, music, video!!!
Max file size 1024KB… YUCK!!!
But interface is cool atleast
Hotlink allowed
File types allowed: txt, jpg, gif, bmp, png, swf (Flash), arj, zip, ace, exe, txt, nfo, txt, doc, mp3, wav, xls, pdf (Adobe Acrobat files).
30 day no access deletion policy
Unlimited transfer

LINK

10) BigHosting.net HOT

WOW!!.. thats what you say when you see the file support list. And you see the extra security hassles and the not to attractive photo upload size of 1MB
and it starts to get not so good after all
No too cluttered.
Hotlinking is allowed on BMP, GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF image file
Allowed file extensions: ARJ, AVI, BAK, BCC, BIN, BMP, BPP, CFG, CLASS, CONF, CUE, DCU, DOC, EPS, EXE, GIF, GZ, GZIP, HLP, INI, ISO, JAR, JPG, JPEG, JSP, LISP, LOG, MID, MIDI, MOV, MP3, MPG, OGG, PAS, PDF, PIC, PNG, PPT, PS, PSD, RAR, SWF, TAR, TIF, TXT, WAV, XLS, ZIP.
Best of all you can specify the time for which you want the file to be online on the server from 1 day to 1 year

LINK

Source : TechEnclave