How to Lock a Drive to a Specific Letter

Information

This tutorial will show you how to lock a drive into a specific letter

Most external hard drives will switch to the earliest available letter. This can be a problem if you want to create a shortcut to a file on that drive and use it after disconnecting and reconnecting the drive.

METHOD

• Plug in your drive
• Open Disk Management
• Start > search "Computer Management" > Open Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management
• Right Click on the drive in question > Change drive letter and paths > Choose Drive Letter You Wish To Use > OK
• Unplug your drive
• Plug you drive back in, it should still be assigned to that letter.

Tip

It's best to use the first available drive letter, or first consecutive set of drive letters in the case of multiple partitions

This tutorial is for Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

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How to Customize your Power Button on the CPU

Information

This tutorial will explain how to change the start button in your computer to another button of your choice.

This article will work on Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

Warning

This project involves soldering and bare wire leads. Always take the appropriate cautions when working with electrical parts.

While this may seem like a difficult mod, with a basic understanding of electronics you can easily do it!

The start button on your computer is what is called a momentary switch. This means that it will default to the off position, and pressing it only gives a burst of power. If you replace your button with a button or switch, it needs to be a momentary button or switch. Ask your local electronics retailer if you need help with that.

Items Needed:

New case power button (Momentary)

22 Gauge Wire

Wire clippers

Heat Shrink (optional, but highly recommended)

Solder and Soldering Iron (or pliers and cable connectors if you don't mind it)

*This tutorial will assume that you know how to solder, and that is the method you will use. If you have any questions about soldering or using connectors, feel free to ask*

Set up:

Set up your Soldering station to your preference, and make sure you have wire (and connectors) and solder. I used 22 Gauge wire because it is about the same size as the wire used in the fan already. You will need your wire clippers to cut the button wires. I also recommend you use a Test PSU to test this mod until you are sure it works.

Step 1:

You will need to open your case, and local the lead that connects from the start button to the motherboard. It should be white and blue twisted wires leading somewhere to the front of the case.

Step 2:

Find the actual start button in your case, and unscrew it and pull out the whole button and wire.

This step depends on your case, so I will not cover exactly how to get it.

Step 3:

Clip the 2 wires AT THE BUTTON, and strip the ends about 1/2" (13mm)

Step 4:

The old button is unneeded. Take the new button and solder the leads to each prong. This will depend on your switch, but there should only be 2 prongs on the switch. It should not matter which lead goes where, as long as they are insulated (I need to test that)

Step 5:

Now that your new start button is connected, plug the lead into your motherboard, and try to start the computer.

Step 6:

If successful, install the switch where you would like it, and enjoy. Impress and amaze your friends with your start button failing, only to start your computer with a key switch, or an aircraft cover switch!

Here is my semi-completed project. I have utilized all 5 sections of this series. To the right is my keyed start switch (the key switch at bottom right and aircraft safety toggle switch). On the top is my cathode switch and my soon-to-be fan light switches. The bottom has 3 of my 4 potentiometer speed controllers.

This article will work on Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

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How to Change the Displayed Name of the Processor in Windows 7, XP, and Vista

INFORMATION

This short tutorial will teach you how to change your computer's processor's name. For example, before my computer's processor's name was displayed as Core 2 Duo T9600 @ 2.80 Ghz. After the simple hack, I changed the name to i7 @ 2.80GHZ. The processors new hacked name doesn't have to be a name of a real processor, you can name it something silly!

This tutorial will work on Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

WARNING

In this tutorial we will be changing some registry values. Incorrectly following this tutorial could result in a damaged OS. I have done this tutorial myself and haven't experienced any problems.

Step One:

Open up the Registry editor (RegEdit).

First, click Start, and search RegEdit (Windows 7/Vista). Open up regedit when the search has found it.

Step Two:

On the left hand column in Registry Editor, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, under it,

open up: Hardware->DESCRIPTION->System->CentralProcessor->1

Step Three:

Now you can see a few lines of text on your right side in Registry Editor. Double-Click the one that is named "ProcessorNameString". A small box will pop-up, and you can change the processor's name to anything you like. After your done, press enter and close Registry Editor.

Step Four:

Now we will see what we have changed under Windows.

Open Start, and Right-Click Computer, then click Properties in the Context Menu

Step Five:

You can see your processor name changed to what ever you changed it to

NOTE:

If the processor name did not change, Do step one, but on Step Two, instead of going into the number 1, go into number 0, and follow the rest of the Tutorial

This tutorial will work on Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP. 

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Acer ICONIA

Not so long ago mobile computing devices with touch screens were only found in science fiction. Now Acer presents ICONIA, a new concept device set to add a brand new tablet experience, combining the versatility of a conventional 14” form factor with a unique dual-screen layout and highly intuitive all-point multi-touch functionality, which means you, can use all the fingers of your hands to navigate ICONIA.

If you are looking for a different and innovative approach to personal computing, look no further. With its two all-point multi-touch displays Acer ICONIA offers an enhanced content consumption experience and brings the interaction with the tablet to a new level.

Multimedia, entertainment, communication, web browsing and office productivity seamlessly flow across the dual screen, allowing users to set the best scenario for what they are doing. To improve readability of web sites or documents, the window can be spread across both screens. But the dual screen also means you can do one thing in one screen and something else entirely on the other: you can browse a website on the top screen and view the contents of your favorite folder on the bottom one or you can watch a video on the top screen and check out your multimedia library in the other.

“We took this insight and created a range of easy to use devices with touch technology including Smart phones, Notebooks, AIO PCs, Tablet and our latest addition, the ICONIA Touch book: this level of commitment to touch technology is something no other PC vendor can compete with.” states Jim Wong Acer Inc. Vice President and ITGO President. “The Intel® Core™ i5 processor together with our experience with touch technology has allowed us to completely remap the user experience to create a far more natural interaction with our devices.

"Intel is proud that our close collaboration with Acer has helped to deliver the world’s first 10 finger multi-touch dual-screen notebook with an exciting and innovative end-user experience, powered by the Intel® Core™ i5 processor,” said Mooly Eden, vice-president of PC Client Group, Intel Corporation. “Combining the adaptable and energy efficient performance of the Intel® Core™ i5 processor with Acer's Iconia provides new and immersive ways to seamlessly view and interact with your favorite videos, photos, websites and movies”.

Both 14-inch displays have HD 1366x768 resolution, high-brightness Acer Cine Crystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCDs and take advantage of cutting-edge technologies supporting all-point multi-touch for precise on-screen input. Protected by the ultra-thin yet durable Gorilla® Glass, the displays are scratch and fingerprint resistant, easier to clean and offer the same touch functionality.

ICONIA is designed to provide the optimal all-point multi-touch experience on a dual-display tablet. This is why Acer equipped it with a full range of intuitive and easy to use features and applications that fully exploit the countless possibilities of multi-touch technology. The starting point to launch ICONIA’s touch features and controls as well as applications is the Acer Ring.

The Acer Ring appears simply by placing five fingers on the screen and making a grab gesture. The Acer Ring allows you to start touch applications by scrolling through the App cards and tapping on the one you choose. The Ring also provides fast access to: Virtual Keyboard, Gesture Editor, Window Manager, and Device Control Console.

The Virtual Keyboard can be launched from the Acer Ring or by placing both palms on the bottom display. The intelligent design senses the position of the user’s palms and launches the keyboard. It comes with a full-size QWERTY layout with international language support to give users the same experience of a traditional physical keyboard and features predictive text input for natural-speed typing while avoiding mistakes. The Virtual Keyboard also includes a touchpad and a numeric keypad and can be easily switched to handwriting mode. With all these functionalities you won’t miss the traditional physical keyboard!

With the Gesture Editor you can set customized gestures to launch specific applications, open websites, view your desktop or lock your computer. The Gesture Editor offers you a simple and intuitive way to personalize ICONIA to best suit your needs.

Window Manager allows users to organize the various application windows on the double touch screen. Windows and applications can be moved across displays, so you can always have what you need where you need it. Plus, you can browse through a list of running application, and resize, dock or close windows.

A wealth of built-in touch applications designed to easily manage content provides a seamless experience. Besides those already implemented on Acer’s touch devices, such as Touch Browser, Touch Photo, Touch Music and Touch Video, allowing an enhanced browsing experience with on-screen gestures to zoom, rotate, flip and scroll and to access and enjoy your multimedia from an integrated touch-optimized interface, ICONIA includes three new ones: Social Jogger, My Journal and Scrapbook.

Social Jogger lets you gather and check updates from Facebook, YouTube and Flickr in all in the same place, taking advantage of the dual screens to check posts and updates on the bottom display and use the second display for exploring and viewing more content.

You can use My Journal to collect web clippings on your preferred topics. Web clippings are dynamically updated to display all the latest information and can be categorized and displayed according to your needs. Simply tab on a collected Web Clip to display the full webpage on the top screen for a complete access.

Scrapbook lets you easily store clippings, posts and just about anything else from different sources in the same place. You can capture screen shots from the web or an application, edit them and add notes. You can create photo collections with notes and comments. You can also add your scraps to presentations, and documents. Scrapbook helps you keep track of anything you find interesting, funny or valuable and share it!

Acer ICONIA is based on the Intel® Core™ i5 family of processors, delivering smart performance for multimedia, social networking and other demanding mainstream applications.

A fusion of the latest and best technology, ICONIA can also be equipped with 3G connectivity, for total freedom, while an HDMI™ port guarantees high-definition viewing and the Dolby Home Theater v3 provides vibrant audio for an immersive sound experience.

The result? An outstanding entertainment experience!

ICONIA offers an entirely new computing and touch experience. Are you ready?

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How to Clean all Disk's with the Diskpart Command

Information

This will show you how to use the clean command on a selected disk to delete all of it's MBR or GPT partitions, volumes, and any hidden sector information on MBR disks is overwritten. The data on the HDD is not written over using the clean command. It is only marked as being deleted and can be written over when new data is written/saved to the HDD next.

OR

You can use the clean all command (secure erase) to do the above and also have each and every disk sector on the HDD written over and zeroed out completely to sanatize and delete all data on the disk. This option takes longer to do, but is the best option to help ensure that the data on the disk has been removed and not just marked as deleted.

This article is applicable to Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows Xp as well.

Note

You cannot use the clean or clean all diskpart commands on a boot disk (ex: disk Windows 7 is installed on) unless you do it from a command prompt at boot.

Be sure to backup anything that you do not want to lose on the disk that you use clean or clean all on first. It will be to late afterwards. All data will be permanently lost on the disk.

Warning

You do not want to use clean all on a SSD disk often. Having every sector written over to 0 on a SSD can help reduce it's life span.

Here's How:

1. To Verify the Disk Number to Clean or Clean All

Warning

Be sure that you have the correct Disk #. You would not want to wipe clean the wrong disk.

A) Open the Start Menu, then right click on Computer and click on Manage.

B) If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.

C) Click on Disk Management in the left pane, and make note of the disk # in the middle pane of the disk that you want to clean or clean all. (see screenshot below)

NOTE:

For example, I would use Disk 1 if I wanted to use clean or clean all on my USB key drive.

D) Look under the Disk # (ex: Disk 3) in the left part of the middle pane, and check to make sure it says Online. If it doesn't, then right click on Disk # and click on Online to make it so. (see screenshots below)

2. Open a elevated command prompt, or a command prompt at boot.

3. In the elevated command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

4. In the elevated command prompt, type list disk and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

NOTE:

This will give you a list of disk numbers to select from.

5. In the elevated command prompt, type select disk # and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

NOTE:

You would substitute # for the disk number listed that you want to use clean or clean all on. For example, I want to use one of them on Disk 1 (from step 1) for my USB key drive, so I would type select disk 1 and press Enter.

6. To Use the "Clean" Diskpart Command -

A) In the elevated command prompt, type clean and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: This will not take long to finish. Think of it being like a quick format.

B) Go to step 8.

7. To Use the "Clean All" Diskpart Command -

A) In the elevated command prompt, type clean all and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

NOTE:

This could take quite some time to finish depending on how large the disk is since it writing over each and every sector on it to zero. Think of it being like a full or low level format.

8. When finished, in the elevated command prompt, type exit and press Enter. Close the elevated command prompt.

9. The disk will be left as unallocated space. (see screenshot below)

10. You will now need to create a new partition or volume on the disk to be able to use it again.

This article is applicable to Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows Xp as well. 

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How to Check If your Processor is 32-bit or 64-bit in Windows?

So you have an old Windows XP or Vista computer and now how do you find if your processor is 64-bit capable?

There are different ways to find if your computer processor is 64-bit capable:

Method 1: 

Easy Method!

Go to Start -> Right click on Computer -> Click Properties. Click on Windows Experience Index.

Now click on View and Print detailed performance and system information.

Here you will be able to see the current system type, number of processor core and if it is 64-bit capable. Note: If you are already running 64-bit processor, it will show in the current system type and you will not see if it is 64-bit capable or not.

If you feel a bit geeky then you can use the following methods to find if your processor is 64-bit:

Method 2: 

Using Regedit

Go to Start -> Type regedit

Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0

From ProcessorNameString you will be able to see the name of your processor and from Identifier you will see the family of the processor and if it has 64 then it is 64-bit capable.

Method 3: 

Using MSINFO32

Go to Start -> Type msinfo32.exe

From the System Information page under System Type you will find as x64-based PC.

Method 4: 

Using CPUZ

CPUZ is a small utility which gives all information about your CPU (Processor), Cache, Mainboard, Memory, SPD etc.

Under Instructions from CPU tab, if you see EM64T (if its Intel) or AMD64 (if its AMD) then your processor is 64-bit capable.

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Difference Between Pentium Processor & Centrino

Difference Between Pentium Processor & Centrino

The Pentium Series

Intel's line of Pentium processors includes more than just laptops: Pentium "1," Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV, Pentium 4-M and the Pentium M.

Pentium M

The Pentium M processor was designed for laptops (the "M" stands for "mobile") and provided for better energy management.

Centrino

In order for a computer to bear the "Intel Centrino" name, it must be using a Pentium M processor and the Intel 855 Chipset. Including this chipset means that the laptop is also guaranteed to include Wi-Fi, the Intel 855 graphics chipset and memory controller.

Beyond Centrino "1"

Since the debut of Intel's Centrino technology, Intel has introduced the Intel Centrino 2 processor technology, which is similar to Centrino "1" in that it is a set of specifications as opposed to a processor alone, but it has been improved for more modern computing. In January 2010, the name identifying "Intel Centrino 2" will be changed simply to "Intel Centrino."

Misconception: -

Intel Centrino is not a processor in the way the Pentium M and other Pentium processors are. It is a marketing brand that says it includes several specific components, including the processor and chipset in this case. A computer labeled with Intel Centrino actually has a Pentium M processor inside, but also must include several other items.

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