Linux Mint After Installation

Introduction

Linux Mint is one of the top free operating systems widely used in the world and currently receives the highest hits at DistroWatch.
Even though it's an Ubuntu-based system, Linux Mint features only one panel at the bottom which looks closer to the taskbar in the Windows system, and a well-organized start menu complete with a useful Search box. It also pre-installs some proprietary software, including the Adobe Flash plugin and necessary media codecs, by default so that you can view streaming media, such as YouTube videos in a browser, and play mp3, mp4 or most other media files with a player right away out of the box.
The MATE Edition of Linux Mint 13 Maya uses MATE, a traditional desktop environment which continues to develop as a fork of GNOME 2. If you have this Edition installed in your PC, you might find these tips and tricks useful for working with the system.

   Pin Programs to the Panel

Frequently used programs can be easily pinned to the panel.

1. Browse to a program from Menu > Applications.
2. Drag and drop the program to an empty space in the panel, or right-click the program and select "Add to panel".
3. Right click the program icon, select "Move" and drop it to a new place in the panel.
4. Right click the program icon and select "Lock to Panel".

   Set Fully Transparent Panel

When you set the panel to be transparent in the default Mint-X theme, you will find that some panel items' backgrounds are not transparent, but you can opt for one of the other themes which come with the transparent background for the panel items. If you prefer the default theme with the items' backgrounds transparent, some tweaks are needed with the steps below:

1. Click Menu and select Terminal.
2. Enter cp -R /usr/share/themes/Mint-X ~/.themes/
3. Enter pluma ~/.themes/Mint-X/gtk-2.0/Apps/panel.rc to open the file with the default text editor.
4. Search for two instances of "Panel/panelbg.png"
5. Comment out the two lines by placing a # at the beginning of the lines, for example: #   bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = ...
6. Save the file.
7. Go to Menu > Applications > Preferences > Appearance, switch to the other theme and then back to the Mint-X theme.

   Set Preferences for the Mint Menu

Like the Windows' Start button, Linux Mint has an advanced Gnome menu called "mintMenu" where you can start doing things like running a program, looking for files, log out or quit the system and so on.
This menu allows you to set your personal preferences with the steps below, for example:

1. Right click "Menu", select "Preferences".
2. In the "Main button" tab, remove the word "Menu" from the "Button text" box if you like to hide the text.
3. Change the keyboard shortcut from <Control>Super_L to others, such as Super_R, if you'd like to just press the right Windows key to get to the menu.
   
4. Change the Button icon from /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintMenu/visualisation-logo.png to /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintMenu/mintMenu.png, as shown in the screenshot
   

Other preferences can also be set in the Options, Theme, Applications and Favorites tabs.

   Add a Program Shortcut from the Mint Menu

Quite often a shortcut is automatically added to the Menu when you install an application. But you might also download a program which requires you to manually add a shortcut for it to run from the Menu. This can be done without breaking a sweat.

1. Right-click the Mint Menu and select "Edit menu".
2. Click a software category for example Sound & Video under Applications.
3. At the right panel, click "+New Item".
4. Type in a name for the application, for example, ClipGrab.
5. To the right of "Command", browse to the application where you've downloaded, for example, /home/username/Downloads/clipgrab-3.2.0.9
6. Click OK and Close buttons.

Note: If an executable file is not accessible, try to add permission to execute the file in the Terminal, for this example assuming the file is extracted to the "Downloads" folder:

cd ~/Downloads
chmod +x clipgrab-3.2.0.9

   Enable Superbar

In Windows 7, frequently used programs can be pinned to the taskbar (hence called Superbar). Likewise, DockBarX, a new applet can now be added to the MATE panel of Linux Mint to achieve almost the same effect to pin and unpin or launch the applications from the panel.

1. Go to this page to download the Debian package for DockBarX.
2. Double-click the downloaded file to install.
3. Log out and log back into the system, then right click the panel and click “Add to Panel”.
4. Select the DockBarX Applet and click "Add".

When you run an application in the next log-in session, an icon will appear in the DockBarX on the panel. You can then right-click the icon to pin the application to the DockBarX or vice versa.

   Change Font Type and Color of Panel Clock

The font type and color of the panel clock follow the windows text in a theme by default. In particular, if the font color is black and shown on a dark background through a transparent panel, you can't read the clock clearly, but you can tweak it by changing the font color. And you can define the font type for your panel clock as well.
The code in Step 1 below sets the font color to white and applies Digital Face font (Note 1), bold and size 16.

1. Open up the text editor Pluma and paste the following code:
   style "my-panel-clock"
   {
   fg[NORMAL] = "#FFFFFF"
   font_name = "digital-7 bold 16"
   }
   widget "*.clock-applet-button.*" style "my-panel-clock"
2. Save the file as .gtkrc-2.0
3. Log out and log back in (OR enter killall mate-panel into the Terminal) to see the change.

Note 1: The Digital Face font can be downloaded here. After downloading, unzip the file, enter sudo mv digital-7.ttf /usr/share/fonts/truetype into Terminal to move the font file to the restricted folder. See also Install Extra Fonts.
Note 2: The filename leading by a dot represents it's a hidden file and visible by toggling the key Ctrl-H in the file browser.

   Roll Up and Down a Window

When you double-click the title bar of a window, the default setting is to maximize a window. Since there's already a maximize button you can use for this, I always like to change the default setting to rolling up a window when I double-click on its title bar.

1. Go to Menu > Control Center > Personal
2. Click "Windows" to open up "Window Preferences".
3. In "Titlebar Action", select "Roll up" (or "Shade") from the drop-down list.

Now you can roll up a window when you double-click its title bar, and roll it down by double-clicking the title bar again. Simple as that.

   Customize a Theme

Linux Mint is using the Mint-X as the default theme, but you can either select another theme or customize it to suit your preferences easily.

1. Go to Menu > Applications > Perferences > Appearance
2. Select the other theme, for instance Mint-Z, and your window will reflect the changes to the new theme.
3. Click the "Customize" button.
4. Select one of the tabs, such as Icons.
5. Choose one of the icon packages, for example, MATE, and click the "Close" button.
6. Now it becomes your Custom theme and you can save it as a new theme, such as "Mint-Z with MATE Icons".

   Hide Drive Icons on the Desktop

In addition to the Computer and Home icons, Linux Mint adds an icon to the desktop for every removable drive that you attach to your system. The icons can be hidden by these steps:

1. Go to Menu > Preferences > Desktop Settings
2. Untick Computer, Home and Mounted Volumes, then close the window.

The drive icons as well as Computer and Home icons will then disappear from the desktop. Remember that you can always access the drives from Menu > Places.

   Set a Default View in File Browser

Windows Explorer allows for users to set a default view to all folders. In almost the same way, Linux Mint's Caja File Browser allows for these settings:

1. Go to Menu > System Tools > File Browser.
2. At the top of the File Browser, click "Edit" and "Preference".
3. Under Default View, change "Icon View" to "List View", which lists more details in columns.
4. Tick "Show hidden and backup files" if that's your choice.

Other various settings, such as single or double click to open items, icon captions, list columns, preview files and media handling can be done in the same window as well.

   Change a Folder Icon

When running a Caja file browser, you will see that the folder icons are predetermined by the theme you set. If you wish to change a folder icon to another for it to stand out from the system-wide icons, follow these steps:

1. Go to Menu > System Tools > File Browser, right click a folder icon, select Properties.
2. Under the Basic tab, click the icon image to open up the "Select Custom Icon" window.
3. In the Location field, type /usr/share/icons, press Enter. (You can hide or unhide the Location field by clicking the Edit button on the top-left of the window.)
4. Browse and select an icon you want.
5. Click the Open button on the bottom-right of the window to confirm.

Note: You can change your custom folder icon back to the default by clicking the "Revert" button in the "Select Custom Icon" window at Step 2 above.

   Create an Advanced File Browser

In the Mint file system, you can use Caja file browser to browse most files but can only write files in your home folder /home/your_name and its sub-folders such as Desktop and Documents. If you have to rename a folder or write files outside of your home folder using the file browser, you won't be able to but you can create an advanced file browser for this purpose.

1. Go to Menu > Applications > Preferences > Main Menu
2. Select "Accessories" in the left panel and click "New Item" in the right panel.
3. Enter a name such as Advanced File Browser in the "Name" box.
4. Enter gksu caja in the "Command" field.
5. Click the "OK" button and the "Close" button.

Now you can go to Menu > Applications > Accessories and see that the Advanced File Browser is ready for use. But be careful since you can use it to delete or change any files on your system.

   Add or Change Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are preset in the system, but you can add new ones or change them easily. For instance, the keyboard shortcut to the Terminal is disabled by default and you can change it to Ctrl+Alt+T which is common in Linux system.

1. Go To System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts
2. Browse to Desktop > "Run a terminal"
3. Click on the Shortcut, and it shows "New shortcut..."
4. Press Ctrl+Alt+T, and it shows Ctrl+Alt+T
5. Click the Close button and try the new shortcut.

Note 1: To disable a shortcut, press Backspace when it shows "New shortcut..." after the step 3 above.
Note 2: Shortcuts begin with XF86 refer to special keys available to some multimedia keyboards.
Note 3: Keyboard shortcuts can also be set by changing keybinding values with Configuration Editor. Press Alt+F2 and enter metaconf-editor, then navigate to apps > meta_settings_daemon > keybindings, or apps > marco > global_keybindings and window_keybindings.

   Terminate Unresponsive Programs

Xkill is part of the X11 utilities pre-installed in Linux Mint and a tool for terminating misbehaving X clients or unresponsive programs. You can easily add a shortcut key to launch xkill with the steps below.

1. Go to Menu > Applications > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Click the Add button to create a custom shortcut.
3. Enter xkill to both the Name and Command boxes and click the Apply button.
4. Click on Disabled at the xkill row in the Keyboard Shortcuts window
   
5. Press a new key combination, e.g. Ctrl+Alt+X (New shortcut... is then changed to Ctrl+Alt+X).
6. Click the Close button.

Xkill is ready for use. Press the above key combination to turn the cursor to an X-sign, move the X-sign and drop it into a program interface to terminate the unresponsive program, or cancel the X-sign with a right-click.
Note: As an alternative, you can right-click the panel, select "Add to panel", then choose "Force Quit" to add to the panel. This works similarly to the above but it's activated from a button on the panel instead of the keyboard shortcut.

   Re-start System without Rebooting

If you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Linux Mint brings you a menu to shut down, restart, or suspend your system. But for some reason you might encounter that the system freezes, the mouse cursor can't move, neither pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete can work.
Remember that there's a shortcut key Alt+PrintScreen+K that can bring you back to the log-in screen immediately without the need to reboot the system. That's a time saver.
As an alternative, you can also use Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to do the same. If this shortcut key is disabled, you can easily enable it by the following steps:

1. Go to Menu > Preferences > Keyboard.
2. Select the “Layouts” tab and click the “Options” button.
3. Select “Key sequence to kill the X server” and enable “Control + Alt + Backspace”.

   Set Sound Preferences

If you use a PC with an integrated audio device and it has no sound when playing a media file on a player, try these simple steps to set Sound Preferences for your PC. It works for me for the audio device I have.

1. Go to Menu > Applications > Preferences > Sound to bring up the Sound Preferences window.
2. Under the Hardware tab, change Profile to Analog Stereo Duplex from the drop-down menu.
3. Click "Test Speakers" to check if it works.

As the items available from the drop-down menus might differ depending on the hardware devices detected by the system, you might want to try other items in the menus to see if they work for your devices.

   Change or Disable Login Sound

Each time when you login to Linux Mint, it plays a login sound. If you don't like to listen to it each time you login, you can easily disable it, or change it to your favorite sound.

1. Go to Menu > Administration > Login Window.
2. Under the "Accessibility" tab, change to a sound you like from the drop-down menu for "Login successful", click "Play" to try the sound if needed.
3. If you want to disable the log-in sound, untick "Login successful"

Log out and log back in to check the new setting for login sound. Similarly you can try out sounds for "Login screen ready" and "Login failed".

   Install Extra Fonts

Do you prefer Windows TrueType fonts to the default fonts installed by Linux Mint? The mscorefonts package containing most Microsoft fonts can be installed and configured easily in a few steps below:

1. Go to Menu > Terminal.
2. Paste sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer into the Terminal (by pressing Ctrl-Shift-V in the Terminal after copying the highlighted code).
3. When prompted, use the arrow left/right keys to navigate and agree to the EULA license terms for the install.
4. Go to Menu > Applications > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts.
5. Click each of them, pick a font and size to configure for window title and so on.

How about installing more TrueType fonts? With your font files, you can manually add them into the system following the steps below:

1. Press Alt+F2 to bring up "Run Application" window.
2. Paste gksu caja /usr/share/fonts/truetype into the box, click "Run" to open Caja File Browser in the right folder.
3. Create a new sub-folder and copy your files ending with .ttf into the sub-folder.
4. Enter sudo fc-cache -f -v in the Terminal to rebuild the font information.

Besides this, you can run an application such as Font-Manager to view, install, remove fonts and so on.
Note: If you like the Tahoma font which is not included in the mscorefonts package, you might want to copy the two files tahoma.ttf and tahomabd.ttf from /Windows/Fonts and install them.

   Install Screenlets

Screenlets are small applications to represent things such as sticky notes, clocks, calendars around on your desktop. You can launch a pre-installed screenlet from Screenlet Manager, or install a new one into the Manager for launching it. Here are the steps for installing and launching a screenlet, for example, WaterMark System Information.

1. Install Screenlets Manager if it has not been added.
   1. Go to Menu > Software Manager.
   2. Enter screenlets into the Search Box.
   3. Double-click Screenlets, then click the "Install" button.
2. Download the screenlet "WaterMark System Information" to a folder.
3. Go to Menu > Applications > Accessories > Screenlets.
4. Click Install, select Install Screenlet and click OK.
5. Browse to the folder, select the file downloaded and click "Open" to install the screenlet into the Screenlets Manager.
6. Select the screenlet "WaterMark" and click "Launch/Add".
   

More screenlets are available for installation from screenlets.org.

   Install Oracle Java Packages

Linux Mint uses OpenJDK by default, but some web services might need the Oracle Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to be installed for running the services properly. If you would like to get the proprietary Oracle Java package for your system, you can download and install it with the steps below:

1. Go to Menu > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java to add the partner repository.
3. Enter sudo apt-get update to update the source list.
4. Enter sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

At any time, you can check the Java version you're using and configure it when necessary:

• Enter sudo java -version to check the version of the Java used in the system.
• Enter sudo update-alternatives --config java to choose the default Java for use in the system.

   Install Apps from Ubuntu Apps Directory

The Ubuntu Apps Directory is one of the good sources to look for applications to run in Linux Mint system. On a web page listing a product such as K3b, you can click a download button, in which the APT protocol is applied to invoke the default package manager to download and install software for you, right from a web browser and pretty straightforward.
This works well when you're using Firefox which allows you to choose "AptUrl" to handle the protocol. But when you're using Chrome, clicking the download button triggers "xdg-open" which is unable to detect the MATE desktop environment.
With some tweaks below, you can then use Chrome to download software from the Ubuntu Apps Directory.

1. Go to Menu > Terminal
2. Enter gksu pluma /usr/bin/xdg-open
3. Search for detectDE(), then above this line else DE="", insert a new line:
   elif [ x"$MATE_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID" != x"" ]; then DE=mate;
4. Search for open_gnome(), then after the section of open_gnome() {...}, insert a new section:
   open_mate()
   {
   if gvfs-open --help 2>/dev/null 1>&2; then
   gvfs-open "$1"
   else
   mate-open "$1"
   fi
   if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
   exit_success
   else
   exit_failure_operation_failed
   fi
   }
5. Search for this line case "$DE" in, and after this line, add a new section:
   mate)
   open_mate "$url"
   ;;
6. Save the file and retry the download links.

   Add More Useful Software

Linux Mint's Software Manager lets you search and get free software, or straight from the Menu, you can type an application name into the Search box to see if the software has been installed and ready for use. If the software has not been installed, you can click "Install" when a software package is shown in the search result. What's more, you can also go to Menu > Package Manager, type in an application name to search and install a software package from the repositories.
Besides this, you can browse the Ubuntu Apps Directory to find software products you need as mentioned in the tip above.
Alternatively, you can get the latest freeware applications by clicking the Install this now button from the GetDeb Repository after the getdeb package is installed with the instructions given.
See also our Best Free Software for Linux.

   Auto Mount Drives at System Startup

Linux Mint is capable of reading and writing files stored on Windows formatted partitions, but partitions must be 'mounted' before they can be accessed each time you start up the system. With these steps, you can auto mount the drives or partitions without the need to manually mount them for access.

1. Go to Menu > Software Manager, type pysdm into the Search box and press "Enter".
2. Select "pysdm" and click "Install" if it has not been installed.
3. Go to Menu > Applications > Administration > Storage Device Manager.
4. Extend the list of sda and select the sda you want to auto mount, click 'OK' to configure.
5. Click the "Assistant" button.
6. Uncheck "Mount file system in read only mode" and keep "The file system is mounted at boot time" checked.
7. Click the "Mount", "Apply" then "Close" button, and restart the system.

In case you wish to remove the auto-mount of a certain drive or partition, you can similarly use Storage Device Manager to do the setting.
Note: If you need to identify disk partitions by label, paste ls /dev/disk/by-label -g in Terminal, or to view partition sizes and file systems, enter sudo fdisk -l. Disk Utility mentioned in "Name or Label a Partition" also gives you a glance of device numbers, partition types, sizes and labels.

   Manually Mount a USB Drive

A USB storage device plugged into the system usually mounts automatically, but if for some reasons it doesn't automount, it's possible to manually mount it with these steps.

1. Go to Menu > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo mkdir /media/usb to create a mount point called usb.
3. Enter sudo fdisk -l to look for the USB drive already plugged in, let's say the drive you want to mount is /dev/sdb1.
4. Enter sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /media/usb -o uid=1000,gid=100,utf8,dmask=027,fmask=137 to mount a USB drive formatted with FAT16 or FAT32 system. OR:
   Enter sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /media/usb to mount a USB drive formatted with NTFS system.

To unmount it, just enter sudo umount /media/usb in the Terminal.

   Name or Label a Partition

The File Browser shows the root directory as File System for your Mint system partition. If you have other partitions (or volumes), it shows them as xx GB Filesystem if they’re not named or labelled.
Using Disk Utility is one of the effective ways to name a partition easily:

1. Install Disk Utility if it has not been added.
   1. Go to Menu > Software Manager.
   2. Enter gnome-disk-utility into the Search Box.
   3. Select gnome-disk-utility, click the "Install" button.
2. Go to Menu > Applications > Preferences > Disk Utility
3. Select the item Hard Disk.
4. In the Volumes section, click a partition you want to label.
5. Click "Edit Filesystem Label" (Note 1)
6. In the Label box, enter a name, e.g. Data-Disk, and click Apply.

The File Browser should now show the partition label, such as Data-Disk, instead of xx GB Filesystem.
Note 1: If the option for "Edit Filesystem Label" is not shown, click "Unmount Volume" before hand. In case you can't unmount a volume, try Storage Device Manager to unmount it. See Auto Mount Drives at System Startup.
Note 2: This tip is for naming a partition using Disk Utility, use other advanced features such as format, edit or delete partition with caution as they can delete data on your disk.

   Auto Start Up an Application

In Windows, you can place a program shortcut in a startup folder for running a program automatically when the system starts. In Linux Mint, you can do the same in this way:

1. Go To Menu > Applications > Preferences > Startup Applications
2. Click the "Add" button.
3. Name a program.
4. Click the "Browse" button and navigate to File System > usr > bin, where programs are usually installed.
5. Select a program, click the "Open" button followed by the "Add" button.

The above program will then be listed in additional startup programs. Check if the program runs automatically by logging out and back to the system.

   Change a Login Screen and Theme

Linux Mint offers you a Mint Display Manager (MDM) to configure a login session. You can use it to change a login screen or a theme you like in a few steps:

1. Go to Menu > Administration > "Login Window" to open this window "Login Window Preferences".
2. Under the "Local" tab, select a built-in theme such as "Circles", then log out and back in to try a new log-in screen.

Get a Theme showing User Names
Under the same tab, you can choose a style "Themed with face browser", which lists user names on a login screen and saves you the trouble of typing out a username each time you log in:

1. Download an MDM theme for example Super Brothers mdm, which supports this style, from gnome-look.org.
2. Add the theme file (.tar.gz) by drag-and-drop to the MDM, under the "Local" tab with the style "Themed with face browser" chosen.
3. Click "Install", select this new theme and enjoy a new login session with a user list.

Tweak a GDM Theme for MDM Display Manager
Some themes are made for Gnome Display Manager (GDM), but you can also add it to MDM with just a minor tweak:

1. Right click a downloaded theme file (.tar.gz) and select "Open With Archive Manager" from the context menu.
2. Double click the folder inside the archive manager, then double click this file "GdmGreeterTheme.desktop" in the expanded folder.
3. In the opened text editor Gedit, change this line [GdmGreeterTheme] to [MdmGreeterTheme], click "Save", "Update" and close Gedit.
4. Right click the file "GdmGreeterTheme.desktop" and rename to "MdmGreeterTheme.desktop", then close the archive manager.

The archived theme file is then tweaked and can be added to the MGM for use.

   Change Default Boot Options

After full installation, Linux Mint is set to be the default operating system to boot up if no key is pressed within a few seconds on a multi-boot system. You might want to set your preferred operating system to boot up by default. This can be done easily with StartUp-Manager.

1. Go to Menu > Applications > Administration > StartUp-Manager
2. Enter password to perform pre-configuration tasks, which include searching bootloaders to operating systems.
3. Select the default operating system from the pull-down menu, click "Close" to perform post-configuration tasks.

With StartUp-Manager, you can also do others such as manage Usplash themes, adjust bootloader menu resolution or set timeout in seconds. Avoid changing timeout to 0 seconds if you need to select a system to boot up from a multi-boot menu.
Note: If your startup splash logo is changed to text after applying a graphics driver, the StartUp-Manager can be used to change the text back to the logo by adjusting to higher resolution and color depth supported by the driver.

   Remove Old Linux Kernel, Clean Up Boot Menu

Each time when Linux Mint updates to a new Linux kernel, the old one is left behind and the boot menu gets longer. If your new Linux kernel works well, it's safe to remove the old one and clean up the boot menu. Do take these steps carefully as incorrect removal of the items can make your system unbootable.

1. Go to Menu > Terminal.
2. Enter uname -r to print the Linux kernel version you're running (e.g. 3.2.0-23-generic).
3. Go to Menu > Package Manager.
4. Click Status from the left panel and select Installed.
5. Enter the main version number (e.g. 3.2.0) in the Search box.
6. Right-click the items with smaller sub version number (e.g. 3.2.0-22) for older Linux kernel and select Mark for Complete Removal. The files for the older version to remove may include linux-headers-3.2.0-22, linux-headers-3.2.0-22-generic and linux-image-3.2.0-22-generic.
7. Click Apply from the top panel.
8. Click Apply again from the pop-up window to confirm removal of the marked packages. The boot menu will be cleaned up automatically after the removal is confirmed.

Note: Try also Grub Customizer which can be used to hide items from the boot menu. Just install the program by entering the following in the Terminal, then run the program, untick the items you want to hide and click 'Save'.

1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer
2. sudo apt-get update
3. sudo apt-get install grub-customizer

   Auto Shutdown the System

A simple command can be entered in the Terminal to schedule a time for the system to shut down.

1. Go Menu > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo shutdown -h +m (replace m with the number of minutes, e.g. +60).
   OR: enter sudo shutdown -h hh:mm (replace hh:mm with the time on the 24hr clock, e.g. 23:15).
3. Enter password and minimize the Terminal window.

The system will then shut down within the minutes or at the time specified. To cancel a scheduled time, enter sudo shutdown -c in the Terminal.
Alternatively, you might want to download and install GShutdown, which is a GUI program for scheduling a time to shutdown the system.saeed khan

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Maya Tricks helpfull

Three Helpful Maya Trips and Tricks

 Ever since I started using Maya I’ve come across a few trouble spots while working. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned to fix these trouble spots

(1.)  Namespace issue while importing:

Ever notice when you import a scene into Maya how the file name is applied as a prefix to all nodes?  That always annoyed the heck out of me. Here’s a helpful blog post found an a ridiculously helpful website called

Here’s the blog post that explains how to fix the namespace issue in Maya 2012:

(2.)  Error: setParent: object ‘renderView’ not found

When trying to open the render view window you get this error that says it’s missing and won’t open. You can fix it by using this Mel script I found on a really helpful blog post at http://3dg.me/3d-graphics/maya/fix-for-maya-2012-error-setparent-object-renderview-not-found

 $exists=0;
 for ($item in `getPanel -scriptType “renderWindowPanel”`) {
      if ( $item == “renderView” ) {
          print “renderView exists.\n”;
          $exists=1;
    }
 }
 if ( $exists == 0 ) {
  for ($item in `getPanel -scriptType “renderWindowPanel”`) {
          //print ( $item + “\n”);
          if ( $item == “renderWindowPanel1″ ) {
          deleteUI renderWindowPanel1;
          $renderPanel = `scriptedPanel -type “renderWindowPanel” -unParent renderView`;
scriptedPanel -e -label `interToUI $renderPanel` $renderPanel;
}
}
}

 (3.)  Viewport/Main Menu disappears:

Have you ever had the view port menu disappear on you so you couldn’t access the panels or shading options? Here’s how to fix it.
Just press Shift+M or Ctrl+M to toggle menus on and off. Shift toggles the viewport menu, and Ctrl+M toggles the main menu. by saeed khan

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Windows Server 2008 R2 ~ Free Software Hack PC & Mobile

Windows Server 2008 R2 ~ Free Software Hack PC & Mobile

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The Three Highest-Rated Free Spyware Elimination Programs

The Three Highest-Rated Free Spyware Elimination Programs

If you are a recurrent internet user, then you must have unsuspectingly at least once allowed your PC to be clemency of spyware programs.  It is not that intricate to eradicate the spyware programs from your PC and this wouldn’t even charge you a little sum. Exploit an active spyware removal application which would assist you a lot and there subsist three highest-rated spyware removal software elucidated as below:

Spybot is the first highest-ranked Spyware Elimination Program which would help in eradicating the terrible malware, adware, bots and spyware from the PC for free and it is referred as an imperative freebie anti-spyware remedy available in online now. It is always suggested to exploit optimal antivirus software. In case, if you want an extreme good medicine for virus then you can use Spybot along with the Ad-Aware. Virus removal tools and products are available now both offline and online so that the needed internet users can exploit them as per their requirements.

Ad-Aware is the second highest-ranked Spyware Elimination Program selected from the collection of spyware eradication programs and applications. This program will scan the system and will determine its recital levels. Scanning is performed in two ways, the first scan can be performed once in every week and the second scan can be performed only once in every two weeks. These two scans are performed for free and they are available in online similar to freebie anti spyware applications and you can download them and can install them at your convenience. Ad-Aware SE Personal is a private version which would not only guide the PC to stay away from spyware, but will also identify the kind of risk that it undergoes. This program is been exploited by 68 million users every year and it has gained huge reputation in a short period of time.

Last but not the least i.e., IE-SPYAD free anti-spyware application which is considered as a significant registry file named as "IE-ADS.REG." This program will also embrace acknowledged spyware makers, advertisers, marketing agents and pushers to the constrained sites permitting the users to elude dreadful viruses on the PC. Virus removal service would help you out in mitigating this issue to your anticipated level.

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Is antivirus software causing sound issues in Windows 7 ?

Is antivirus software causing sound issues in Windows 7 ?

While browsing the sites, the internet user would accidentally fix antivirus software on the PC from an unidentified source or some time installs the antivirus which would be available to them freely. But the users do not know that this kind of software is a malware and will utilize it for updating the programs which would finally result in malicious programs. This will also cause numerous PC problems and software bugs embracing concerns in Windows7.

You should adopt proper precautions and should be cautious while fixing software online as there would be numerous fake software, fake antivirus and detrimental applications. But it is very difficult to find out the genuine antivirus software in online. If the user when once clicks the download button, they wouldn’t know how many viruses they are welcoming on to their PC. In this manner, you would be the culprit for the damage of your own system. For any assistance on this, feel free to consult online tech support service in any time instance.

Deterrent signs of antivirus debasing Windows 7
Quandaries that you find in the Windows7 OS (Operating System) would be due to networking issue, sound troubles, BSOD, system crash, and many others reasons. The initial error that you rectify would be very intricate to perform and this is where you need to focus more on.

How to identify the issue in your antivirus software?
If ever you find that your antivirus is causing issues to your software, then the first and foremost thing that you need to do is uninstalling of antivirus. To uninstall the antivirus program from Windows 7, emulate the following procedure:

1. Select the start button 
2. Then go to control panel
3. Opt the option Uninstall programs
4. Select the anitivirus which you have installed earlier and press remove button. 
5. Now check whether the sound is been restored to mormalcy
6. Also, monitor whether the mute button is disabled or not.
7. Monitor the status of volume control buttons.
8. Ensure the connections of the speakers are properly fixed
9. Now plug in the earphones and watch whether the sound is passing from the headphones or not. Online tech support service would help more on this.
   @CP freetipspc.blogspot.com

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Windows 8 Preview 2012 Tricks & Tutorial 

Here's an easy beginners tutorial on Windows 8 Preview 2012 March. Learn some easy how-to's and some tricks and tips too. In this tutorial you will see how to move around in Windows 8 and see how to adjust and change Windows 8 PC settings and more.

Windows 8 is the next generation Windows operating system from Microsoft. It was released on Feb 29 2012 for consumer preview. The OS has a new icon start menu called Metro Interface. The metro interface is geared towards touch screen computers and mobile devices like tablets, cell phones, ipads and all in one computers with touch screen monitors and displays.
@CP freetipspc.blogspot.com
The system is not expected to be released commercially until late this year near the fourth quarter of 2012. It is up against the fast-growing tablet market dominated by Apple's iPad and devices that run Google's Android software. Will it succeed ? Watch my video and you decide. "Windows 8 Preview - 2012 March, Tricks, Tips & Tutorial"

My favorite downloads for Windows 8 stuff so far. You might like to check them out yourself: 

 

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Windows 8 Preview 2012 Tricks & How To's 

 Here's a hands on tutorial on Windows 8 Preview 2012 . Windows 8 start up, boot up, preview, tips, tricks and how to's. Windows 8 beta was just released for consumers preview. I give you a demo and my first impressions. Windows 8 Consumer Preview is only a beta but runs well. Also check out Windows 8 download link, see below.

Some stuff about my test computer setup:
I installed Windows 8 consumer preview on an old Pentium 4 CPU running at 2.4ghz with 1.5GB of memory. To my surprise, this old desktop computer ran Windows 8 with no problems. Mouse, keyboard and video display had decent response and speed. Windows 8 ran pretty good overall on this old test computer. Not bad for a low powered computer running a new Windows OS.

A side note: I was even able to run a Logitech Webcam on Windows 8 too using the builtin Webcam software in the OS. I will demo that in my next video.

Windows 8 is the next generation Windows operating system from Microsoft. It was released on Feb 29 2012 for consumer preview. The OS has a new icon start menu called Metro Interface. The metro interface is geared towards touch screen computers and mobile devices like tablets, cell phones, ipads and all in one computers with touch screen monitors and displays.

The system is not expected to be released commercially until late this year near the fourth quarter of 2012. It is up against the fast-growing tablet market dominated by Apple's iPad and devices that run Google's Android software. Will it succeed ? Watch my video and you decide. "Windows 8 Preview - 2012 March, Tricks, Tips & Tutorial"

 

 

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How To Access The BIOS On A Windows 8 Computer

Among the many changes coming with Windows 8 and new computers designed for it is a change in the way we access our computers’ BIOS. No longer do we press a certain key during the boot process to reveal the BIOS – instead, an option to access the BIOS is located in Windows 8’s boot options menu.

Traditionally, computers displayed a message like “Press F2 to enter setup” at the beginning of the boot process. Pressing this key entered the computer’s BIOS. However, Windows 8 hardware uses the UEFI replacement for the traditional BIOS, like Macs do. Some solid-state drive-equipped Windows 8 PCs boot so fast that you’d only have a 200 millisecond (that’s 0.2 seconds) window of opportunity to press the key combination.

Windows 8 Hardware vs. Old Computers With Windows 8

Note that this new method only applies if you purchased a new computer with Windows 8 preinstalled – these will use UEFI. However, if you’ve installed Windows 8 on an existing computer that uses the legacy BIOS system, you’ll access the BIOS in the same way as always by pressing the key that appears during your boot process.
This key is often F2 or Delete, but it can also be other keys. The exact key depends on your computer – if you don’t see the appropriate key displayed on your screen during the boot-up process, consult your computer’s manual.

bios upgrade

  Accessing Boot Options

There are several ways to access Windows 8’s boot options menu. The easiest one to find is in the PC Settings application – press WinKey+C to reveal the Charms bar, click Settings, and select Change PC settings to access it.

bios upgrade

In the PC Settings application, select the General category and click the Restart now button under Advanced startup. Your computer will restart and you’ll enter the Windows 8s boot options menu, where you can access the UEFI BIOS and change other settings.

bios upgrade

You can also hold Shift while clicking Restart in the Shut Down menu to restart your computer into the boot options menu. This is a quick way to restart into the boot options menu, as you can access the Shut Down button from the Charms anywhere on your system.

bios upgrade

Command-line geeks will be happy to know they can run a special shutdown.exe command in a Command Prompt window to restart their computer directly into the boot options menu:

Shutdown.exe /r /o

Accessing UEFI BIOS

The boot options menu has been designed to integrate some commonly used options that people went into the BIOS for. For example, if you want to boot your computer off a USB drive, DVD or CD, or another device, you can click the Use a device tile in the boot options menu and select the device you want to boot from.
If you’re just here to access your computer’s UEFI BIOS, click the Troubleshoot tile.

bios upgrade

This will reveal an Advanced Options screen with a variety of tools – the UEFI Firmware Settings tile will take you to your computer’s BIOS. (On UEFI, which stands for “Unified Extensible Firmware Interface”, the firmware settings menu is equivalent to a traditional PC’s BIOS.)

bios upgrade

If you don’t see the UEFI Firmware Settings tile here, your computer doesn’t use UEFI. You’ll need to access the BIOS in the traditional way, by pressing a specific key during the boot-up process. See the first section above for more information.
If there’s an error booting Windows, you won’t be locked out of the BIOS — the boot options screen will appear when you start your computer. From here, you can repair Windows or enter your BIOS.@saeedkhan

Why the Change?

While this may be slightly inconvenient, as there’s no way to access the BIOS in normal use without booting into Windows first, it’s surely necessary. Microsoft’s blog post about this on the Building Windows 8 blog describes how this new system came to be. With the increased boot speed, some systems had a less than 200 millisecond window of opportunity to press a key. Even the best key-tappers at Microsoft could only press a key once every 250ms — to access the BIOS, frantic tapping, luck, and several compuer reboots were all necessary.
This also brings some much-needed consistency to Windows 8 computers — they’ll all have a consistent way of accessing the BIOS. Currently, different computers use different keys at start-up.
While Windows 8 may have some questionable design decisions that some people will dislike, this shouldn’t be one of them. The new method of accessing the BIOS is necessary and well-implemented.

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10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

The Big Guide: 10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8
What do you do with a new operating system? If you’re a typical Maximum PC reader, you roll up your shirt sleeves and jump elbow-deep into every part of the OS you can get your hands on. You make manual registry tweaks to open up hidden elements of your new OS; you navigate through all of the different configuration options to see what’s changed, what’s new, and what you can personalize to your liking; you devote hours to playing around with all the different features.
Or, if you want a quick fix, you can read a guide like this.
We’ve gotten our arms full of data and dust in our attempts to unearth some of the more noteworthy features of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. And the following list of twenty awesome items represents the must-do tweaks and must-check-out, new features of Microsoft’s latest operating system.
This is but the start of our Windows 8 week festivities: Come back tomorrow and we’ll tell you about the 8 things we absolutely love in Windows 8!

1. Metro: Just Type It!

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

We’ll start with an easy trick. When you’re in Windows 8’s Metro UI and you want to load an app, don’t bother moving your mouse around the screen or trying to scroll your way over to wherever it is you’ve placed the app’s tile icon. Just start typing. Literally – start typing. You don’t have to go find the search button or any of that: Windows 8 will try to find anything you type, be it “Solitaire” or “Control Panel,” or what-have-you.

2. Screenshots Are Fun and Useful

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

Tech journalists covering Windows 8, take note: Microsoft has finally made it super-easy to dump the contents of your screen down to an image file. In times prior, you could hit the Print Screen key to copy the contents of the entire display, but you’d still have to paste that image into a third-party application (or Paint. Or you could also use Microsoft’s Snip tool, but we digress). Now, hitting the Windows Key and Print Screen at the same time dumps the entirety of your screen to a .PNG file in your Pictures folder. Easy!

3. Don’t Upgrade!

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

You’ve (hopefully) caught our guide for installing Windows 8. If you haven’t, go read that. And no matter what you do, don’t install Windows 8 as an upgrade to your existing operating system. There’s a giant list of reasons why you shouldn’t let a Consumer-Preview-cough-beta serve as your primary operating system, the least of which being that it can be a bit confusing for newcomers to try. You’ll shoot your productivity in the foot, not to mention all the potential incompatibilities / bugs / quirks you’ll find in your favorite software, games, and the current “test version” apps found in Windows 8.

4. Hot Corners Are Your Friends

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

If you’re a bit befuddled the first time you fire up Microsoft’s newest operating system, we understand. Microsoft’s left a number of navigational elements invisible to your eye unless you move your mouse over one of the four extreme corners of your screen. Hover your mouse over the top-right or bottom-right to access the Charms Bar: Windows 8’s built-in Search and Sharing capabilities, as well as a list of devices you can send the contents of the current app to and Windows 8’s ever-important Settings menu. Hover your mouse over the top-left or bottom-left corners of your screen to jump between open apps on Windows 8’s “Switch List,” just like you would otherwise do by hitting the combination of alt and tab on your keyboard.

5. Hotkeys Are Your Friends, Too

Unless you’re rocking a touchscreen PC, navigating your way around the Metro UI interface (and its horizontal-friendly apps) can be a bit of a drag. So don’t use your mouse; Use your keyboard. Check out some of these helpful hotkeys for flying through the OS and controlling its many elements:
· Windows Key + Tab – Opens up the left-hand “Switch List”
· Windows Key + C – Opens up the right-hand Charms Bar
· Windows Key + I – Opens up your ever-important Settings Menu
· Windows Key + T – Dumps you back to Desktop Mode and cycles through your open windows on the taskbar.
· Windows Key + Shift + . – Docks the app to the left, middle, or right side of the screen with each press.
· Windows Key + M – Jumps to the Desktop and minimizes all applications
· Windows Key + Q – Opens up Windows 8’s global search utility within Metro.

6. The PC Settings Panel is Your Best Friend

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

In its infinite wisdom, Microsoft has decided to split the options you can configure on Windows 8 between the contents of its typical Control Panel and a new Metro-based Settings menu, which can be accessed by going to the Charms Bar’s Settings option and clicking on the slightly buried “More PC Settings” link. Here’s where you’ll be able to adjust your lock screen’s background, Metro’s colors, how notifications and Windows 8’s built-in search work, the names of the attached devices Windows 8 has found, and your specific synchronization settings, among other important options.

7. Windows 8 Versus Disaster

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

Well, you’ve gone and done it. Either as a result of something (or things) you’ve installed, some setting you’ve mucked up, or just general apathy toward the well-being of your PC, Windows 8 doesn’t work right anymore. In Windows’ past, this would normally force you to take a trip down reinstallation lane. That part hasn’t changed, but Windows 8 now makes it really easy to return a broken operating system to happiness once again. Click on the General tab within the aforementioned “More PC Settings” menu. The “Refresh” option strips your system of the third-party apps you’ve installed and returns it to factory-default settings, but it keeps your User files. The “Reset” option wipes your operating system clean of all your data and returns your system to Windows 8’s factory-default settings.

8. Enable Safe Mode

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

Speaking of computer disasters, if you want to reboot your system into Safe Mode, you can’t just jam on the F8 key prior to Windows 8 loading: You have to first enable Safe Mode itself. Type “cmd” on your Metro UI, right-click on the Command Prompt app (called “cmd”), and select to run it as an administrator. Then type “bcdedit /enum /v” on the command prompt screen and hit Enter. Copy the entire “identifier” string (including the braces) for the entry that has “Windows 8 Consumer Preview” as the description, not “Windows Boot manager.”  Then, type the following into the command prompt: bcdedit /copy youridentifierstring /d “Windows Developer Preview (Safe Mode)” and hit Enter. After that, type in “msconfig” and hit enter.
Click on the “Boot” tab and select the entry called “Windows Developer Preview (Safe Mode).” Click on the “Safe Boot” option, the “Make All Boot Settings Permanent” option, click OK, and click “Yes.” Restart your system, and you’ll be given the option to launch either your normal Windows 8 environment or your new Safe Mode environment.

9. Be a Super-Administrator in One Clck

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

Here’s a great hidden tidbit of Windows 8: Move your mouse cursor the lower-left corner of Windows 8’s Metro or Desktop mode until it pops up the live thumbnail of the to-be-switched-to environment. But don’t left-click; Right-click. You’ll pull up a menu that gives you a shortcut to a bunch of handy power user options, including Command Prompts, your Disk Management window, and your System menu, among other options.

10. Fast-Uninstall Apps

10 Tips and Tricks to Get The Most Out of Windows 8

Looking for a quick way to nuke any Windows Apps or third-party apps that you’ve installed on Windows 8? Just right-click on the app’s icon within Windows’ Metro UI and select “Uninstall.” Third-party apps will jump you to the good ol’ Windows “Programs and Features” window for the same ol’ Windows uninstallation routine you should be used to by now. Apps downloaded from the Windows Store will simply disappear. Poof!By Saeed

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Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Windows Key Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Windows Key Keyboard Shortcuts
Hotkeys unchanged from Windows 7
Key combination Windows 7 functionality
Windows - Display or hide the Start menu.
Windows-Left Arrow Dock the active window to the left half of the screen (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Right Arrow Dock the active window to the right half of screen (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Up Arrow Maximize the active window (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Down Arrow Restore/minimize the active window (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Up Arrow Maximize the active window vertically, maintaining width (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Down Arrow Restore/minimize the active window vertically, maintaining width (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Left Arrow Move the active window to the monitor on the left (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Right Arrow Move the active window to the monitor on the right (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-P Display projection options.
Windows-Home Minimize all nonactive windows; restore on the second keystroke (does not restore Metro-style applications).
Windows-number Launch or switch to the program located at the given position on the taskbar. (Example: Use Windows-1 to launch the first program.)
Windows-Shift-number Launch a new instance of the program located at the given position on the taskbar.
Windows-B Set focus in the notification area.
Windows-Break Display the System Properties dialog box.
Windows-D Show the desktop; restore on the second keystroke (does not restore Metro-style applications).
Windows-E Open Windows Explorer, navigated to Computer. Windows-Ctrl-F Search for computers (if you are on a network).
Windows-Ctrl-F Search for computers (if you are on a network).
Windows-G Cycle through Windows Desktop Gadgets.
Windows-L Lock your computer (if you’re connected to a network domain), or switch users (if you’re not connected to a network domain).
Windows-M Minimize all windows.
Windows-Shift-M Restore minimized windows to the desktop (does not restore Metro-style applications).
Windows-N Create a new note (OneNote).
Windows-R Open the Run dialog box.
Windows-S Open screen clipper (OneNote).
Windows-T Set focus on the taskbar and cycle through programs.
Windows-Alt-Enter Open Windows Media Center. Note that Windows Media Center must be installed for this key combo to function; in many Windows 8 builds, it is not present.
Windows-U Open Ease of Access Center.
Windows-X Open Windows Mobility Center.
Windows-F1 Launch Windows Help and Support.
Windows-N Create a new note (OneNote).
Windows-S Open screen clipper (OneNote).
Windows-Q Open Lync. Note that in Windows 8 the Search function overrides this key combo.
Windows-A Accept an incoming call (Lync).
Windows-X Reject an incoming call (Lync). Note that this key combo does not function if Windows Mobility Center is present on the machine.
Windows-Minus Zoom out (Magnifier).
Windows-Plus Zoom in (Magnifer).
Windows-Esc Close Magnifier.
New hotkeys for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Key combination Windows 8 functionality
Ctrl-Shift-Esc Starts Task Manager
Windows-Space Switch input language and keyboard layout.
Windows-O Lock device orientation.
Windows-, Temporarily peek at the desktop.
Windows-V Cycle through toasts.
Windows-Shift-V Cycle through toasts in reverse order.
Windows-Enter Launch Narrator.
Windows-PgUp Move the Start Screen or a Metro-style application to the monitor on the left.
Windows-PgDown Move the Start Screen or a Metro-style application to the monitor on the right. Windows-Shift-. Move the gutter to the left (snap an application).
Windows-. Move the gutter to the right (snap an application).
Windows-C Open the Charms bar.
Windows-I Open the Settings charm.
Windows-K Open the Connect charm.
Windows-H Open the Share charm.
Windows-Q Open the Search pane.
Windows-W Open the Settings Search app.
Windows-F Open the File Search app.
Windows-Tab Cycle through apps.
Windows-Shift-Tab Cycle through apps in reverse order.
Windows-Ctrl-Tab Cycle through apps and snap them as they cycle.
Windows-Z Open the App Bar.
Windows-/ Initiate input method editor (IME) reconversion.
Windows-J Swap foreground between the snapped and filled apps.
Start screen/Metro
The following Windows key shortcuts work in the new Windows shell/Start screen.
WINKEY (tap) Toggles between the Start screen and the foremost running app (Metro-style) or the Windows Desktop.
WINKEY + 1, WINKEY + 2, etc. - Switch to the (classic) Windows desktop and launch the nth shortcut in the Windows taskbar. So WINKEY + 1 would launch whichever application is first in the list, from left to right.
WINKEY + B Switch to the (classic) Windows desktop and select the tray notification area.
WINKEY + C Display Charms and time/date/notification overlay.
WINKEY + D Switch to the (classic) Windows desktop and toggle Show Desktop (hides/shows any applications and other windows).
WINKEY + E Switch to the (classic) Windows desktop and launch Windows Explorer with Computer view displayed.
WINKEY + F Display File Search pane
WINKEY + H Display Share charm.
WINKEY + I Display Settings charm.
WINKEY + J Swaps foreground between the snapped and filled apps.
WINKEY + K Display Connect charm.
WINKEY + L Lock PC and return to Lock screen.
WINKEY + M Minimize the selected Explorer window.
WINKEY + O Toggle orientation switching on slate and tablet PCs.
WINKEY + P Display the new Project (for "projection") pane for choosing between available displays.
WINKEY + Q Search (within) Apps using the new Search pane.
WINKEY + R Switch to the (classic) Windows desktop and display the Run box.
WINKEY + U Switch to the (classic) Windows desktop and launch the Ease of Access Center.
WINKEY + V Cycles through Notification toasts.
WINKEY + W Display Settings Search pane
WINKEY + SHIFT + V Cycles through Notification toasts in reverse order.
WINKEY + X Access the advanced context menu on the Start preview tip.
WINKEY + Z Access the App Bar.
WINKEY + ENTER Launches Narrator.
WINKEY + SPACEBAR Switch input language and keyboard layout
WINKEY + TAB Cycle through apps in Switcher.
WINKEY + SHIFT + TAB Cycle through apps in Switcher in reverse order.
WINKEY + CTRL + TAB Cycle through apps, snapping them as you go.
WINKEY + , Peeks at the Windows desktop.
WINKEY + . Snaps application to the left.
WINKEY + SHIFT + . Snaps application to the right.
WINKEY + PGUP Moves the Start screen to the display on the left.
WINKEY + PGDN Moves the Start screen to the display on the right.
Windows desktop/Explorer
The following Windows key shortcuts work in the classic Windows desktop. Note that while many of these shortcuts also work in Windows 7, some are new to Windows 8.
WINKEY (tap) Toggles between the Windows desktop environment and the new Start screen.
WINKEY + 1, WINKEY + 2, etc. Launch the nth shortcut in the Windows taskbar. So WINKEY + 1 would launch whichever application is first in the list, from left to right.
WINKEY + B Select the tray notification area.
WINKEY + C Display Charms and time/date/notification overlay.
WINKEY + D Toggle Show Desktop (hides/shows any applications and other windows).
WINKEY + E Launch Windows Explorer with Computer view displayed.
WINKEY + F Search Files using the new Windows Search pane.
WINKEY + I Display Settings pane for Windows Desktop (also provides access to Networks, Volume, Screen Brightness, Notifications, Power, and Language).
WINKEY + L Lock PC and return to Lock screen.
WINKEY + M Minimize the selected Explorer window.
WINKEY + O Toggle orientation switching on slate and tablet PCs.
WINKEY + P Display the new Project (for "projection") pane for choosing between available displays.
WINKEY + Q Search (within) Apps using the new Windows Search pane.
WINKEY + R Display Run box.
WINKEY + U Launch Ease of Access Center.
WINKEY + W Search Settings using the new Windows Search pane.
WINKEY + X Display Windows Mobility Center application.
WINKEY + ARROW KEYS Aero Snap.by saeed khan

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Top torrent site

TOP torrent site

1. Torrentcafe.com This site needs to grow its user base some more. But Torrentcafe comes highly recommended by several About.com readers, so please give it a try and let us know how you like it.
   
 
2. Flixflux: a UK torrent site that is very popular with European downloaders. The advertising is not suitable for young people, and the sponsored links get mixed in with the torrent results. But many UK readers highly recommend this site for movies and music.
    
 
3. Toorgle.com Toorgle is a torrent metasearch engine based on Google technology. Like any metasearch service, your searches result from multiple other search engines on the Web. Toorgle retrieves the location of these files for you as a kind of matchmaking service. It's quick to use and can help you find rare or obscure torrents. Just make sure you are careful in which torrent you choose at Toorgle; because Toorgle will show results from dodgy torrent sites, take the time to check that a torrent has positive comments and is verified by users before you download. Careful and experienced users comment that Toorgle can be very helpful, if you know how to pick the good torrents from the bad,
    
4. Kick Ass Torrents.com This site is a favorite with a growing community.  The interface is a distinctive earth color, and the search results display in a useful format of columns, including torrent health.  The best part of Kick Ass Torrents is their comment and feedback system... the user community watches the quality of torrents, and offers their recommendations and warnings.
    
 
5. Torlock Torlock is special. These folks actually pay their users commission for uncovering fake torrents and reporting it to their community.  In a world of phony files, this is a tremendous service. If you are a regular downloader, and are tired of wasted downloads and fraudulent files, give Torlock a try.
    
6. Torrents.to  This site has a Tonga country domain name, but certainly offers plentiful metasearching of movies and music in English and Spanish. There are some popup advertisements that are annoying, but perhaps you might like the framed interface for searching other torrent sites.
    
7. Torrent Funk: Torrent Funk is a very popular torrent search site that now supports commenting. While Torrent Funk also supports 'verified status' tagging, which some people prefer to comments.  The interface can be difficult to discern between sponsored ads and the actual torrent links.  But the Torrent Funk site layout is pleasing, the cross-movie recommendations are very helpful, and several About.com readers highly recommended Torrent Funk.  Give this site a try, and watch if it will grow over time.
    
 
8. Demonoid.me Demonoid is a longtime semi-private community that has now been taken down by Ukrainian auhorities.  Since July 25, when the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs raided the Demonoid data center, Demonoid has been offline. There is no word about a possible comeback in a different country. The torrent community is deeply saddened by this loss, as Demonoid was a favorite amongst P2P users.
    
 
9. Fenopy has some compelling features. Fenopy is fully integrated with IMDB and Last.fm radio, so it offers engaging information for discovering movies and music. A graphics gallery of large and motivating thumbnails adorns the home page, and the fake finder feature is also very useful for avoiding bad files. Definitely give Fenopy a try.
   
10. TorrentZap: TorrentZap is not as large of a catalog as other torrent search engines. And, as with all sites, you need to endure advertising to keep it a no-cost service. But the interface is clean, bright, and easy to navigate. Try this site out, skip past the 'external search results' to find the real torrents at TorrentZap, and let us know what you think.
    
 
11. LinuxTracker.org (For legal linux torrents and virtual machines.)
    
12. Torrent Root: as another metasearch engine, Torrent Root will scan through other search engines on your behalf, and display the results in a slick tabbed interface.
    
13. Torrent Tree
    This search site is written in Ajax code language. Like any metasearch engine, Torrent Tree pulls its results from many other search engines. But Torrent Tree pulls *more* search results than any other current metasearcher. Definitely give this site a try.
    
14. CinemaTorrents: this site offers something really unique: IMDB ratings and vote information right on the search page. You can see public opinions on the movie itself before you download.
    
 
15. BitSnoop.com This site was recommended by reader Melody, who speaks very highly about its navigability, reliability, and clean design.  Using a growing community of users to help police the content, BitSnoop offers minimal advertising and reassuring tagging of good torrents.  Look for the green 'verified' tags, and you're bound to find good downloads here.  Definitely try BitSnoop.com, and let us know what you think of this newer site.
     
16. Torrentbit.nl This Netherlands site offers a simple interface and large index of torrents. It also offers a broad selection of European language movies and music.
    
   
17. Plentyoftorrents: this is a kind of launchpad search engine that offers choices where you want to search.  Multiple users have recommended Plentyoftorrents this summer; let us know what you think of this site.
     
18. Nowtorrents.com Now Torrents (allegedly) offers a special service: it filters out fake/dead torrents. It also offers date-range searching, so you can search for specific years of content (e.g. Flight of the Conchords, 2008).
    
 
19. Blues Brothers: Blues Brothers is a private site with a strong community and file-sharing ethic. As a private site, you can expect the leeching (selfish) users to be reduced. The BB community also strives to police itself by carefully watching each member's upload ratio... if you abuse your ratio, you are blocked from downloading until you donate. This policy may seem a bit harsh, but members seem to really appreciate it.
20. Isohunt.com Isohunt is a longtime site that has earned both the respect of P2P users everywhere...and the negative attention of the recording industry. While being sued by the CRIA, the Isohunt team fights to continue its solid service. The Isohunt community helps by monitoring itself for fake files. When choosing your torrents, definitely read the user comments, and only trust those files that have earned multiple green positive replies at Isohunt. Avoid any torrents that have red font numbers and negative comments, and you should be have good experiences at Isohunt.  NOTE:  adult advertising has become very prevalent at Isohunt, but if you can put up with the skimpily-clad girls, this site continues to be one of the true standout torrent services.
21. |ExtraTorrent
    1,468 - eBizMBA Rank | 3,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 1,826 - Compete Rank | *1,980* - Quantcast Rank | 599 - Alexa Rank.
    
22. TorrentReactor
    1,558 - eBizMBA Rank | 2,700,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 1,688 - Compete Rank | 2,230 - Quantcast Rank | 755 - Alexa Rank. 
23.  1337x.org
    6,419 - eBizMBA Rank | 750,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 10,856 - Compete Rank | *NA* - Quantcast Rank | 1,982 - Alexa Rank
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My Computer Doesn’t Recognize My USB Device – What Can I Do?

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, and USB devices are those devices that use USB ports to send and receive data. This line of devices achieved huge popularity in the IT industry after getting their roots in the early part of 1990s. Before that, we had no other option than to settle with troublesome serial and parallel port configurations, in establishing communications with auxiliary devices like keyboard, mouse, external storage drive or a digital camera for example. Stable connection, simple integration and no need for a separate power supply are some of the key factors contributing to this massive acceptability and demands – USB devices are enjoying today.
As nothing is perfect in this world, USB ports and devices can also pose major concerns occasionally when they hide themselves and don’t get detected by the PC. Because of their wide range of applications and frequent use, the degree of frustration is often greater when they don’t show up. But, if you keep your cool, and try to sort out the problem, you can make them work quite easily – most of the time.

Why My Computer Doesn’t Recognize My USB Device?

There could be multiple reasons why your computer cannot detect your USB device. First of all we need to know that there are several USB ports in your PC or laptop and you can generally configure your device connecting to any one of these ports. However, some ports offer high speed data transfer and if you are connecting a device that requires speedy communication – better to tie it up with a high speed port.
From a user’s standpoint, no difference is visible from outside. But, internally that is not the case! USB ports are connected to multiple hubs inside, and some are connected to the root hub and some are connected to the generic hub. Generic hubs are used for high speed USB devices where as root hubs are used for devices like keyboards, mouse etc.
USB functionality of the entire PC is actually controlled by USB host controllers. Host controllers route signals to the root hub, with the root hub being in the 1^st level of the hierarchy, and then the root hub distributes signals to the generic hubs underneath them. Therefore, if the root hub is down in signaling terms – all the USB ports will be down. In contrast, if a generic hub is down, that doesn’t necessarily mean all USB ports are down. It could be that the USB ports connected to one particular generic hub is not working because of a broken communication link with the root hub. Therefore you need to figure out how and to which port you should connect your USB device to.saeed

How to Make Your PC Detect USB Device?

Let’s try the following action items to work towards a solution, keeping in mind that if you are lucky enough, you don’t have to complete all the steps;
1.  First and the foremost thing to try and check the device in another PC, if you have access to it. Sometimes, a USB device itself could just go out of order, and in that case better not to look for faults at the wrong place.
2.  If you feel, there is nothing wrong with your USB device, then the 2^nd thing you check is putting it in another USB port – you know there are several USB ports out there in your PC.
3.  If the same thing repeats after trying all the USB ports, go to Windows explorer and right click on the computer icon as shown in image 1. And then select “properties”. You will reach the control panel home.

4.  Click on “Device Manager” and “Yes” to get to the device manager screen as shown in image 2.

5.  At the bottom, you will see Universal Serial Bus controllers. Here if you don’t see this option by chance, then definitely you have USB feature disabled in your BIOS. Normally this occurs when you bought a brand new PC or laptop and your laptop was not configured right. Here you should reboot your PC and hit the F2 key when prompted just after booting process starts. Find out the option in your BIOS setup that deals with enabling and disabling USB controller as shown in image 3. Make sure it is enabled in your BIOS and then save changes and exit. It is not necessary that everything will match with image 3 because the BIOS you have in your PC could be totally different than mine.  Reboot the PC – you should get your USB controllers detected this time in your control panel’s devices list.

6.  Once you see USB devices are listed in your control panel and still the PC cannot detect the device, expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers tab in the device manager as shown in image 2. You will see several USB controller supported devices here; root hub, generic hub, mass storage devices etc. If you see any one of them showing any exclamation sign followed by a yellow mark on it, there is something wrong there. Right click on that device tab and hit properties. In the properties screen, hit the “drivers” button and “update driver” as shown in image 4. Get ready to provide the windows installation disk when asked to update the driver. After updating the driver, most likely the problem will go away and you will see “this device is working properly” in its properties window. If doing this doesn’t bring any good news for you either – let’s try the next trick.

7.  Bring mouse over on the “USB root hub” in the same device manager screen as in image 2, right click on it and then select uninstall. Proceed with “yes” to confirm. Do the same for each and every device showing under Universal Serial Bus controller. After all of them are removed, reboot the PC. Windows Plug and Play should reinstall the entire USB functionality of your PC while rebooting. It may ask for the Windows installation CD to keep going, be ready to provide the installation CD in case the request comes in.
8.  This should make your USB device detected as you have tried all the options. Sometimes, it is also possible that you have too many USB devices connected to your PC and when you add the next one, there is a conflict with the assignment of drive letters. This problem is quite different than what we were discussing above and it should be fixed by going into disk manager and assigning a new drive letter to your USB device.
9. In Windows 7, you can also use the automated utility to try and to fix all hardware problems including USB. To do this you can go to “Control Panel” – “Find and Fix Problems under System and Security” – “Hardware and Sounds” – “Hardware and Devices” – “Yes” to proceed.

 

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What is Search Engine Optimization

If you are asking the question ”what is search engine optimization” you must have a website. Well either that or you are wanting to change your profession and become a professional SEO expert. Reading this tutorial will not make you an expert as I am not one myself, however I do have a few years experience in doing my own SEO for my websites.
I am going to explain what search engine optimization in technical terms that hopefully any new website builder could understand. Yes I am going to skip technical details because this will just confuse most people. If you are a bit more experienced in SEO then I suggest you visit my other website or (Lets Build Websites) that has tutorials about blogging and more advanced articles about SEO.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization is something you do to your website so the search engines can find you. As I stated earlier, I am not search engine optimization expert, but I can definitely prove that I can get to the top of Google. It has taken me years to finally get it and then decide how to explain these years of learning in a few articles. So here we go.
Search engine optimization can fall into two categories.

1.  Onpage search engine optimization

On page SEO is all about optimizing the content or the article on your website. For example you need to have the right keyword targeted in the first place, then you need to have the right keyword density scattered in the article, and then you need to have related keywords mentioned in the article. It is also recommended that you use the keyword in your title, your URL, your tags and descriptions. I might have missed a few steps here so please forgive me. I actually use SEOpressor to help keep me on track as it rates my articles and tells me whats missing. I still need this even after all these years.
Onpage search engine optimization and  can seem easy but it takes practise as you have to balance SEO with great content for your readers. I also believe that finding the best WordPress theme or website design is very important for SEO. Website navigation and design are part of onpage SEO because your website visitors need to get around your website and find your content.

2.  Off page search engine optimization

This is all about everything that leads back to your website. Of course it is all centered around the keywords that you chose in the first place. Basically search engine optimization is all about keywords and this is how we choose the anchor text that will link back to our website. This anchor text tells the search engines what our page is about. If you are putting the wrong anchor text out onto the Internet you are telling the search engines the wrong message.
Off page search engine optimization which is SEO backlinking

The key “Ingredient” for Search Engine Optimization

The key ingredient for search engine optimization is researching keywords. You cannot perform search engine optimization without knowing what keywords you are actually targeting.
Ok so now you are asking “what are keywords”? Well lets think of keywords as people searching in Google or any other search engine. The reason I say this is that if people do not search for a keyword, then it is useless in the SEO game. If one person is searching for a keyword then this will not be good for your business if you target that keyword. This is why we have to find keywords that people are searching for.
When we know our keywords then we can build a website targeting this and perform search engine optimization. Choosing the wrong niche or topic is pretty mush the same as choosing the wrong keywords.

Why should you learn search engine optimization?

1. Search engine optimization specialists cost big dollars! Sometime they share their SEO Advice for hundreds of dollars an hour.
2.  It is not that hard you know the details of how to perform search engine optimization.

Why do Websites need Search Engine Optimization?

I had a fantastic article and I was getting approximately 5 visits per day to this article. After investing a small amount of time performing search engine optimization for this Post directly, I have turned five visits into nearly 2000 visits per day. This is just for one article on a website. Of course this website has many more articles and I have done promotion for approximately 10 posts only. Can you imagine when I get around to the other 700 posts?
Not all posts are worth performing a total search engine optimization makeover. This depends on how much traffic that particular keyword is limited to. Therefore if you have done your keyword research, in theory you would only write posts that were going to attract a high search volume. This is probably the first step in your SEO campaign.
Download my FREE REPORT called SEO My Way. Opens in another tab or window and takes a few seconds to load, depending on your internet connection.

 

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