Command Prompt on Right-Click

Many computer users, specially the programmers, need to launch a command prompt window every once in a while to execute some dos/shell commands. The problem is, when a command prompt window launched, the default path is normally the system path or the user profile's path. The users will then have to do all the "cd" commands to change the directories to the path he/she wants.

This trick shows you how to add an option called "Command Prompt" when you right-click on a folder in Windows. With this option, a Command Prompt Window will launch and its current directory will be the path to the folder you've selected

There are 2 solutions:
1. Edit the registry editor
2. Download the registry file and apply it on your computer

Solution 1: Manually edit the registry

1. Start > Run

2. Enter "regedit" and hit Enter

3. Expand to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell"

4. Right-click on "shell" and select New > Key

5. Make sure a new key is created under "shell". Change the name of this key to "Command Prompt"

6. Right-click on this new key "Command Prompt" and select New > Key

7. Change the name of this key to "command"

8. Double-click on the "(Default)" text on the right window to bring up the edit box

9. Enter this text into the Value Data field:cmd.exe "%1"

10.Click OK and close the registry.


Solution 2: Download the registry file and apply it on your computer.

1. Download this registry file Here

2. Unzip it to a temp folder, then double-click on the .reg file to add the registry data

Hide all drives from My Computer

How to Hide all the drives(C:, D:, E:,...etc) in "My Computer"

This is a great trick you can play on your friends. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer.

1. Go to Start -> Run.

2. Type regedit

3. Now go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

4. In the right pane, create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives (it is case sensitive).

5. Modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) .

6. Restart your computer.

7. So, now when you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown.

To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete the DWORD item that you have created. Restart your computer. The drives will be visible again.

Do it at your own risk

Output Text from Dos Prompt to File

This is a small trick that many Dos users might already know. The trick just shows you how to run a Dos command and instead of displaying the outputs on the screen, it saves the outputs into a file.

This trick is very helpful when you want to save the result of a dos command to a file to email it or read/print it later. For example, you can print out your network configuration data and email it to a technical support.

Here's how

simply put a ">" and the destination file at the end of the dos command. Examples:

This command outputs the IP configurations to the file "ipdata.txt" in "C" drive:
ipconfig /all > C:\ipdata.txt

This command outputs the "Path" configurations to the file "pathdata.txt" in the floppy drive "A":
path > A:\pathdata.txt

This command outputs help text of the command "copy" to the file "copyhelp.txt" in "C" drive:
copy /? > C:\copyhelp.txt

Show/Hide Hidden Files and Folders using Registry

The instructions below would help you to:

• Show (or hide) hidden files and folders using the Registry Editor.
  

Showing all files and folders is good in certain ways. Windows, by default, disables this option to keep the users from accidently deleting files. It is a good practice to hide those files and folders if you don't want to mess with them. They have been created that way for some good reasons. However, to many of us, specially the software programmers, it might be more convenient to work with files/folders when we have them all displayed.

IMPORTANT This article contains information about registry modification. Modifying the registry incorrectly might cause critical problems to your computer. Make sure you understand the registry and back it up before modifying it.

Use this tricks at your own risk

Here's how to enable/disable hidden files/folders using the "Registry Editor"

1. Open the "Registry Editor" ("Start" >> "Run", then type "regedit" and Enter).

2. Expand to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

3. If the value "Hidden" exists, double-click on it to edit its value to (1 = show hidden, 2 = do not show)

4. If the value "Hidden" does not exist, create it as followsName: HiddenType: DWORDValue: 1(1: show hidden, 2: do not show)

Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys

Most of keyboards now have a Windows Key (key with a Windows icon). This key provides additional shortcuts on Microsoft Windows. Below is a listing of the shortcut keys by combining the Windows key and another key.

Use this trick at your own risk

*WINKEY----Pressing the Windows key alone will open Start.

*WINKEY + F1----Opens the Microsoft Windows help and support center.

*WINKEY + F3----Opens the Advanced find window in Microsoft Outlook.

*WINKEY + D ----Brings the desktop to the top of all other windows.

*WINKEY + M----Minimizes all windows.

*WINKEY + SHIFT + M----Undo the minimize done by WINKEY + M and WINKEY + D.

*WINKEY + E----Open Microsoft Explorer.

*WINKEY + Tab----Cycle through open programs through the taskbar.

*WINKEY + F----Display the Windows Search / Find feature.

*WINKEY + CTRL + F ----Display the search for computers window.

*WINKEY + F1----Display the Microsoft Windows help.

*WINKEY + R----Open the run window.

*WINKEY + Pause / Break key ----Open the system properties window.

*WINKEY + U----Open Utility Manager.

*WINKEY + L----Lock the computer (Windows XP and above only).

Disable Windows XP login prompt for password

This trick will show you how to bypass the login prompt in Windows XP with your "local account". Yes, it's only applied for local user accounts.

Most home users would love this trick. It allows you to bypass the login prompt on Windows startup and go straight to your desktop without a login. This Windows XP feature is pretty cool in case the machine is mostly used by a single user. It's kind of annoying when you're the only one using the pc and you have to login everytime, isn't it?

Use this trick at your own risks

Here's how:

1. From Desktop, Click on "Start" >> "Run".

2. Then type in "control userpasswords2" and press Enter.

3. Uncheck the box for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer."

4. Click "Apply" and "Ok".

Windows secrets

Notepad secrets
Create a log

1. Open Notepad

2. On the very first line, type in ".LOG" (without quotes) then press Enter for a new line

3. Now you can type in some text if you want, then save the file.

4. Next time when you open the file, notice its contents. Notepad automatically adds a time/date log everytime you open the file.
(remember to save or the log will be lost)



Text becomes unreadable

1. Open Notepad

2. On the very first line, type in "dont eat the donut" (without quotes) then save and close the file. Note: the file should have only one line of the text above.


3. Now, open the same file. You'll notice the text becomes unreadable squares. (try this with different text with the same format and length).



Paint secrets
Create a trail image


1. Open Paint, then open an image.

2. Right-click on the image and select "Select All"

3. Now hold the "Shift" key and move the image around. The image will be drawn with trail.


10x Zoom

1. Open Paint, then open a small image.

2. Select the zoom "Magnifier" tool.

3. Windows Paint lists out the zoom options from 1x to 8x, but there is a 10x...

4. After selecting the Magnifier tool, point the mouse right at the border line right under "8x" and left-click. There you go.. the hidden 10x.



Where is the relaxing music that you've heard during Windows XP Installation?

The file is in:
C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma

Game secrets

Solitaire: Instant Win
Press Alt + Shift + 2 to instantly win

Solitaire: Draw only 1 card (instead of 3)
Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift then click on unopen cards to draw.

FreeCell: Instant Win
1. Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 while playing, then click Abort.
2. Now move one card.

FreeCell: Hidden Game Modes
1. Go to "Game" menu choose "Select Game"
2. Here you can choose from game mode 1 to 1,000,000. But -1 and -2 will also work (hidden modes)

Hearts: Show All Card
Warning! this requires a modification on your registry. Be sure you follow the steps carefully. Damage your registry might damage your Windows.
1. Open the "Registry Editor" by: "Start" >> "Run" then type "regedit" and press Enter

2. Expand to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Hearts

3. Right-click on the right panel and create a new String value with the name "ZB"

4. Double-click to open this key "ZB" to edit its value. Then enter "42" and close the Registry Editor.

5. Start Hearts and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F12 to show all the cards

Minesweeper: Stop The Timer
1. When you start to play a new game, the timer is ticking...
2. Press Windows Key + D to show desktop.
3. Now come back to the game by selecting it from the taskbar. The timer is stopped.

Pinball
1. Unlimited Balls: Type bmax at a new game to get unlimited balls (no notification).

2. Extra Balls: Type 1max at a new game to get extra balls.

3. Gravity Well: Type gmax at a new game to activate Gravity Well.

4. Promotion: Type rmax at a new game or while playing to get instant promotion and raising rank.

5. Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,...

6. Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,...

7. Test Mode: Type hidden test with a new ball or new game. Now you can use your mouse to drag and move the ball where you want.

Richest 20

Here is a list of the world’s 20 richest people, their wealth, businesses or interests, and countries, according to Forbes magazine’s 2009 list:

1. Bill Gates, 40 billion dollars, Microsoft, United States of America.

2. Warren Buffett, 37 billion dollars, Berkshire Hathaway, United States of America.

3. Carlos Slim and family, 35 billion dollars, Telecoms, Mexico.

4. Lawrence Ellison, 22.5 billion dollars, Oracle, United States of America.

5. Ingvar Kampard and family, 22 billion dollars, Ikea, Sweden.

6. Karl Albrecht, 21.5 billion dollars, Aldi, Germany.

7. Mukesh Ambani, 19.5 billion dollars, Petrochemicals, India.

8. Lakshmi Mittal, 19.3 billion dollars, Steels, India.

9. Theo Albrecht, 18.8 billion dollars, Aldi Trader Joe’s, Germany.

10. Amancio Ortega, 18.3 billion dollars, Zara, Spain.

11. Jim Walton, 17.8 billion dollars, Wal-Mart, United States of America.

12. Alice Walton, 17.6 billion dollars, Wal-Mart, United States of America.

13. Christy Walton and family, 17.6 billion dollars, Wal-Mart, United States of America.

14. S. Robson Walton, 17.6 billion dollars, Wal-Mart, United States of America.

15. Bernard Arnault, 16.5 billion dollars, LVMH, France.

16. Li Ka-shing, 16.2 billion dollars, Diversified, Hong Kong.

17. Michael Bloomberg, 16 billion dollars, Bloomberg, United States of America.

18. Stefan Persson, 14.5 billion dollars, Hennes and Mauritz, Sweden.

19. Charles Koch, 14 billion dollars, Manufacturing energy, United States of America.

20. David Koch, 14 billion dollars, Manufacturing energy, United States of America.

What is 3G?

3G refers to the third generation of mobile telephony (that is, cellular) technology. The third generation, as the name suggests, follows two earlier generations.

The first generation (1G) began in the early 80's with commercial deployment of Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) cellular networks. Early AMPS networks used Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (FDMA) to carry analog voice over channels in the 800 MHz frequency band.

The second generation (2G) emerged in the 90's when mobile operators deployed two competing digital voice standards. In North America, some operators adopted IS-95, which used Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) to multiplex up to 64 calls per channel in the 800 MHz band. Across the world, many operators adopted the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) standard, which used Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to multiplex up to 8 calls per channel in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) defined the third generation (3G) of mobile telephony standards – IMT-2000 – to facilitate growth, increase bandwidth, and support more diverse applications. For example, GSM could deliver not only voice, but also circuit-switched data at speeds up to 14.4 Kbps. But to support mobile multimedia applications, 3G had to deliver packet-switched data with better spectral efficiency, at far greater speeds.

However, to get from 2G to 3G, mobile operators had make "evolutionary" upgrades to existing networks while simultaneously planning their "revolutionary" new mobile broadband networks. This lead to the establishment of two distinct 3G families: 3GPP and 3GPP2.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in 1998 to foster deployment of 3G networks that descended from GSM. 3GPP technologies evolved as follows.

• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) offered speeds up to 114 Kbps.

• Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) reached up to 384 Kbps.

• UMTS Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) offered downlink speeds up to 1.92 Mbps.

• High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) boosted the downlink to 14Mbps.

• LTE Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) is aiming for 100 Mbps.

GPRS deployments began in 2000, followed by EDGE in 2003. While these technologies are defined by IMT-2000, they are sometimes called "2.5G" because they did not offer multi-megabit data rates. EDGE has now been superceded by HSDPA (and its uplink partner HSUPA). According to the 3GPP, there were 166 HSDPA networks in 75 countries at the end of 2007. The next step for GSM operators: LTE E-UTRA, based on specifications completed in late 2008.

A second organization – the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) -- was formed to help North American and Asian operators using CDMA2000 transition to 3G. 3GPP2 technologies evolved as follows.

• One Times Radio Transmission Technology (1xRTT) offered speeds up to 144 Kbps.

• Evolution – Data Optimized (EV-DO) increased downlink speeds up to 2.4 Mbps.

• EV-DO Rev. A boosted downlink peak speed to 3.1 Mbps and reduced latency.

• EV-DO Rev. B can use 2 to 15 channels, with each downlink peaking at 4.9 Mbps.

• Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) was slated to reach 288 Mbps on the downlink.

1xRTT became available in 2002, followed by commercial EV-DO Rev. 0 in 2004. Here again, 1xRTT is referred to as "2.5G" because it served as a transitional step to EV-DO. EV-DO standards were extended twice – Revision A services emerged in 2006 and are now being succeeded by products that use Revision B to increase data rates by transmitting over multiple channels. The 3GPP2's next-generation technology, UMB, may not catch on, as many CDMA operators are now planning to evolve to LTE instead.

In fact, LTE and UMB are often called 4G (fourth generation) technologies because they increase downlink speeds an order of magnitude. This label is a bit premature because what constitutes "4G" has not yet been standardized. The ITU is currently considering candidate technologies for inclusion in the 4G IMT-Advanced standard, including LTE, UMB, and WiMAX II. Goals for 4G include data rates of least 100 Mbps, use of OFDMA transmission, and packet-switched delivery of IP-based voice, data, and streaming multimedia.