How to configure Windows Vista’s Hidden Boot Screen - Aurora Boot Screen easily

Well, its been sometime since I have posted tips on Windows Vista. So, I have a small but effective tweak today to configure / simply enable the Windows Vista's Hidden Boot Screen - also called as Aurora Boot Screen.

Here are the simple few steps:

1. Click on the start button in your Windows Vista and type in “msconfig” in the searchbox and press Enter.
2. Once the System Configuration tool loads on - click on the Boot tab.
3. Under Boot Options check “No GUI boot” .
4. Click apply and then OK and restart your computer to see the new boot screen.

How do you like the new Boot Screen!! Wonderful isn't it?

Additional Tip from one of our Blog Reader (Hans) : Set the Time Out to 15 sec or lower it even boots much faster.

Some Useful Toolbars in Windows Taskbar

We see and use the Windows task bar almost every day to start and switch between programs - and to check the time! Did you know that there are even more features that hide here? A few examples of some powerful toolbars that lurk here include:

• Links*: shortcuts to items stored in your Links folder of your Internet Explorer favorites
• Address: a gateway to the internet at your fingertips, just type the address and hit Enter
• Language: a feature to switch between input language (if you use more than one)
• Desktop*: access to all the items on your desktop without having to minimize windows one by one
• New Toolbar: create a new toolbar that points to any location on your computer
• Quick Launch: groups programs that you use often, just a single click on these icons to run

All the toolbars mentioned above can be accessed or removed by right-clicking the taskbar and select Toolbars. Toolbars marked with an asterisk (*) can be added to by simply clicking and dragging items into it.

These are also customizable by right-clicking on them and selecting Options at the top of the context menu. Depending on the type, you can toggle text or icon tiles and adjust icon sizes etc. Select Lock the Taskbar to resize any toolbar.

How to Disable Reading Layout in Word?

When you open Word documents from other sources, such as email attachments, they are automatically displayed in a "Reading Layout".

While this is supposed to make documents easier to scan through by repaginating to better fit your screen, many users find this a nuisance because it can mess up tables of contents, long paragraphs and lists.

If you'd like to disable this feature and open the documents in the default print layout instead, follow the instructions below:

1. Go to Tools > Options
2. Click the General tab and uncheck "Allow starting in Reading Layout"
3. Click OK to close the dialog box

How to setup and use the OpenID support build into Blogger

Sometime back Blogger took a decision to allow the comments made on the blogger platform from users with OpenID accounts - just not limited to those with Google accounts.

Well, at the same time Google opened up Blogger to be used as an OpenID system as well. Well, here is a step by step approach on how your Blogger account may serve as an OpenID account in other websites.

Well, you may ask what this OpenID fuss is all about. The answer to this question is limited to enumerating the advantages of OpenID, the principal one being , from the address of your blog you may enter all sites to use this form of identifiable service. Many blogs and services (primarily on web 2.0) use this service as you save time and need not have to re-login.

Below are the steps to set up a blogging account to be used for OpenID purposes:

1. Access the configuration on your profile from Blogger Page (Important: You need to be logged into any google service/blogger to access the link).
2. Fill the data form and ensure that you select to activate the option "Enable OpenID for blogs"
3. Save changes.

Now on any webpage that accepts OpenID you can just place the URL of your blog to display your data or nickname and also your avatar image.

Hope this info helped you. You can read more about OpenID here.

Beautiful Free Themes to Spice Up your Windows XP

Here are a few Free / Beautiful themes to spice up your boring / dull Windows XP interface. Well, first of all the feature to add your own visual styles to Windows XP is locked by microsoft and you need to replace the original uxtheme.dll with a patched / unlocked one to be able to add visual styles to Windows XP. (P.S. Doing this may affect your warranty clauses with Microsoft - You have been advised of the risk).

• Download the patched uxtheme.dll from here.
• Next rename the original file which can be found in the C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder of your Windows XP installation to uxtheme.dll.old and copy the downloaded version into system32.
  
• Lastly, you will have to restart your computer so that the new changes are recognized.
  

Visual Styles can be changed in the Appearance tab in the display properties menu or by double-clicking the *.msstyles file. Using the patched uxtheme.dll gives you an advantage over softwares like theme xp or wincustomize because you do not need to run the software in the background.

Below are some wonderful themes I came across:

Klarheit.visualstyle v1.0




Royal Inspirat


Click here to download the Klarheit.visualstyle v1.0 theme.
Click here to download the Royal Inspirat theme.

Born as a Software Engineer

I came across this wonderful joke today and thought of sharing with you all.

The question we need to ask here is What do u think -- Was this kid born to be a Software Engineer?

The Teacher gave a punishment to the student and asked him to write "I Will Not Throw Paper Airplanes in the Class" 500 times on the black board.

And guess what the student did?

The student wrote as follows:

Archive your Calendar easily in Microsoft Outlook

As the new year has rolled in, I felt that this is a great time to archive my old 2007 calendar and start afresh, clearing out unnecessary data for some much needed space.

Note: Archiving your calendar puts these entries into a pst file on your local computer, so you cannot access these archived entries from another machine.

1. Go to File > Archive
2. Select the second option Archive this folder and all subfolders select Calendar from the list
3. Choose a date from Archive Items older than, then click on Browse under Archive to select where to archive the entries to.
4. Click OK when you are done

In Calendar view, you can now see Calendar in Archive folders under "My Calendars" so you can now view these archived entries by selecting the check box.

How to Set a Reminder to reply to any message that you get in Outlook

• [Outlook 2003 users]
  Right-click the message you want to set the reminder for, point to Follow Up, and then click Add Reminder. In the Due By list, click the date when you have to complete the reply. In the second list, click a time. In the Flag color list, click the flag color you want, and then click OK.

• [Outlook 2007 users]

Drag the message directly to the To-Do bar. Right-click on the flag for email, and select Add Reminder. In the Reminder section, select the date and time you want the reminder to appear and click OK.
(In Outlook 2007, messages that you flag for follow-up not only show-up not only show up in the To-Do bar, but also in your task list and your calendar.)

How to easily File Mail with Message Rules in Microsoft Outlook?

Using rules to handle mail can save you filing and mailbox cleanup time, as well as automate replies and forwards.

1. Go to Tools > Rules and Alerts
2. Click the New Rules button, and be sure that Start creating a rule from a template is selected in the Rules Wizard dialog.
3. Work through the steps of the Rules Wizard to create your own custom rule
4. After completing the wizard, you will see your rule listed in the Rules and Alerts dialog box, along with a check box to indicate whether the rule is currently on or off. Click OK to save your rule.

You can return to the Rules and Alerts dialog at any time to turn a rule on or off from
Tools > Rules and Alerts

TATA Nano is here finally - The 1lakh car

Finally this is what the Tata Rs 1-lakh car looks like!

The Tata's Rs 1-lakh (Less than $2500) car is here! And it is named as Nano! (nothing to do with Nano technology I suppose).

Ratan Tata, the Tata Group chairman on Thursday unveiled the Tata Nano at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Here are more details about Nano straight from the horse's mouth.

Ratan Tata, while unveiling the Nano, said: "The car will meet all current safety norms and all emission criteria. The pollution it will cause will be lower than 2-wheelers."

The car, he said, is smaller than a Maruti 800, but has 21 per cent more volume or space inside than the 800. He said that the dealer price of the car will be Rs 1 lakh, plus value-added tax (VAT) plus transport charges.

The car will have a 624-cc petrol engine generating 33 bhp of power. It will sport a 30-litre fuel tank and 4-speed manual gearshift. One of Nano's three versions will come with air conditioning, but will have no power steering. It will have front disk and rear drum brakes. The company claims mileage of 23 km per litre.

The car's dashboard features just a speedometer, fuel gauge, and oil light. The car does not have reclining seats or radio. The shock absorbers are basic.

Nano, the world's cheapest car, costs almost half of the cheapest car currently available anywhere in the world.

''Since, a promise is a promise the standard dealer version will cost Rs 1 lakh,'' said Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata.

He informed that the car is 8 per cent smaller bumper to bumper, than the Maruti800 but at the same time 21 per cent larger in its interiors and can sit up to four people.

Let wait for it to be available for a test ride and also await Hamara Bajaj's competitor.

Jason is Back to Tech Blogging

Well, how do I start......

I am back to Tech Blogging and will start with the regular postings from tomorrow. As we go along I will explain what kept me busy these two months and the drastic changes - steps I have taken in life.

Thanks for all the folks who supported me with messages in the last 2 months.

Cheers!!
Jason

Looking For Best Metal Investment Leader ?

Both gold and silver are good investments right now. Gold is better for short according to the experts predict. Silver is a great investment right now around $12/oz. Would recommend silver bullion bars in 100oz, 10oz, or 1oz bars and rounds for long term. Also, if you are a knowledgeable coin collector, Morgan dollars, Peace dollars and Franklin halves are good to have.


Diversification in investments is a GOOD thing. While precious metals have intrinsic value, unlike money. It is always good to hold precious metals. Some people are down on silver because it doesn't do as well as gold.


Gold is the best investment you could make and keeps going up. The diversification comes through having shares of many different companies in the fund.

Silver because it used by electronics and not just jewelry. A commodity that is consumed by industry will continue to be needed and based on industrial demand could rise in price more than gold.

If you are intent on buying gold, do your research. If you find a company that is poised to do well off of gold, find out more about it.

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