How to Know which Programs are using your ports?

If ShieldsUP detects that one (or more) of your ports is open, you can identify which program or service is responsible through the Windows Command Prompt.

Go to Start, type cmd then right-click that entry and choose ‘Run as administrator’ (in Windows 8, type command prompt into the Start screen, and in XP go to Start, Run and type runas /user:administrator cmd.exe then enter the administrator password).

In the Command Prompt window, type netstat -bno and look for entries in the Foreign Address column with the open port’s number at the end of their address.



 

For example, the address 212.98.89.186:80 is using port 80. The name of the program or service using the port should be given underneath; if you are not sure what it is, go to search Process Library and find the meaning.

Now, Remove or block the security threat, and run ShieldsUP again.

How to Put Google Adsense Below Post Title in Wordpress?

In this article, we have to learn how to put google adsense ads below post title in wordpress without using any plugin.

For this purpose, we have to add widget placeholder to below post title. So first we have to register widget placeholder. To register widget placeholder add below code to functions.php (Wordpress Deshboard =>Appearance => Editor => Find functions.php file) file.

[code]

/********* Function to Register Widget Placeholder **********/
if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') ) {

/********* Adsense Widget Placeholder Registration **********/

register_sidebar(array('name'=>'Adsense Below Title',
'before_widget' => '',
'after_widget' => '',
'before_title' => '',
'after_title' => ''
));
}

[/code]

After adding above code you can able to see this Widget Placeholder (name as "Adsense Below Title") appear in Widget area. For go to Widget area go to Wordpress Deshboard then Appearance -> click Widget.

So you can add Wordpress built in widget "Text" to add adsense code then add Text widget to "Adsense Below Title" Widget placeholder.



Now we have to place this widget placeholder to below post title. To do this, go to Wordpress Deshboard then go to Appearance and click Editor. Now find single.php file and find below code.

[code]

<?php the_title(); ?>

[/code]

After above code place below code.

<?php if ( ! dynamic_sidebar( 'Adsense Below Title' )) : ?>
<?php endif; ?>

So combine above two code look like this.

[code]

<h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
<?php if ( ! dynamic_sidebar( 'Adsense Below Title' )) : ?>
<?php endif; ?>

[/code]

 Done!

Best Free Android keyboard Apps

The built-in keyboards on Android devices are fine, but there are third- party keyboard apps that are much better and significantly reduce the time it takes to write emails and text messages.



SwiftKey is excellent and intelligently predicts what you are going to say based on how you write.  Alternatively, you could try Google’s free Keyboard app, which is designed to help you type faster by using gestures.



Instead of tapping letters individually, you glide across letters and simply lift your finger to finish a word, rather than pressing the Space bar. The app is free but requires Android 4.0 and up.

Add Copy To Folder and Move To Folder Options in Context Menu on Windows

The two most common actions performed in Explorer are copying and moving files. To make this easier, you can add the commands to the right-click menu.

Press Windows+R and type regedit to open the Registry Editor.



 

In the left-hand pane find:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\All FilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Right-click it and select New, Key. Name the key CopyTo and select it. Double-click (Default) on the right and type:

{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Right-click ContextMenuHandlers on the left again, and select New, Key. Name it MoveTo. Select it,

double-click (Default) on the right and type:

{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Quit the Registry editor and right-click a file in Explorer.



You now have options to ‘Copy To folder’ and ‘Move To folder’. When you select one, a window pops up that lets you choose the destination drive or folder.

How to Make iOS faster on iPhone and iPad

If you have upgraded to iOS and your older iPhone or iPad feels like it’s running slower than before, try disabling the new parallax effect and animations by turning on the Reduce Motion option. The result may not look as aesthetically pleasing, but it should make your device faster (or at least feel faster). You should also turn off the Background App Refresh feature.

Turn off Motion effects on iOS

The motion effects in iOS look great, but reportedly make some people feel a little sick. They can also affect system performance.

• To turn the feature off, go to Settings, General and tap Accessibility.


• Select Reduce Motion and then tap the toggle to disable the motion effects.

Increase Contrast

Go to the main Accessibility menu and select Increase Contrast (it is just above the Reduce Motion setting). Tap the toggle to turn the feature on. This improves contrast on some backgrounds to make text more legible and improves performance by removing some of the graphical effects.

Turn off Background App Refresh features

Go back to the General page and select Background App Refresh. You will be shown a list of apps that regularly fetch new content or make use of location services, even when you are not actively using them. To stop this happening, and to free up resources and prolong battery life, disable the feature.

Turn off Spotlight search feature

Additionally, if you don’t use the Spotlight search feature, turn it off.

Go to Settings, General, Spotlight Search and disable some (or better yet, all) of the options.

Uninstall Apps that you don't use

You can also make iOS faster by uninstalling as many apps as you can, because the fewer you have, the faster the device will run. If you don’t need something anymore, remove it by pressing down on the app until your screen wobbles, then tap the 'X’ in the top-left corner (apps that don’t have an ‘X’ can’t be removed). Press Delete when prompted to get rid of the app and all its cached data. You can easily re-install it at a later date, without being charged again.

To prevent removed apps from re-installing when you sync your iPad with your computer, go into your iTunes Library, select Apps and delete them from there.

For a more drastic clean-up, you could clear everything you have installed from your iPad by going to Settings, General, Reset, ‘Erase All Content and Settings.

7 Best Online File Converter

If you don’t have time to download a conversion program, there are lots of online tools that will do the job for you. Here are some of best websites.

#1. CloudConvert

With support for 148 different formats, this tool claims to be able to convert ‘anything to anything”.



 

Just select some files, choose a format to convert them to, and CloudConvert will go to work.

It can email you when it’s finished, or save the file to your Dropbox or Google Drive account. It will even work on any mobile phone or tablet.

#2. Filelnfo.com

Although it doesn’t actually convert any files itself, the excellent file-extensions database Filelnfo.com offers a useful way to identify files you have downloaded or received, so you can find out which program will open or convert them.

Just go to the site and search for the file extension. FileInfo.com will then tell you the file type and the developer, and list all the software that supports that file format.

There’s also a program you can download called File Viewer for Windows, which displays the contents of files in more than 140 formats without you needing to open them first.

#3. DocsPal

Despite its name, DocsPal does not just convert documents. It can also handle video, audio, images, ebooks and archives (it supports all the common formats).



 

Just upload up to five files, or enter a URL, and choose the conversion to perform. DocsPal can email you a link to the finished file if you wish. The service also provides an online viewer that lets you preview documents and images directly in your browser.

#4. Online Convert

This website offers separate converters for audio, video, images, documents, ebooks and archives. It also has a list of the last 10 conversions performed on the site, so if the task you want is listed, you can simply select it and upload your file or add the URL.

The OnlineConvert.com also displays a QR code which you can scan to download converted documents straight to your phone or tablet.

#5. ZamZar

ZamZar can convert between a wide variety of file types and file presets, including document, image, music and video formats. It can even convert compressed file types, such as RARs into ZIPs.



 

The free version of the site lets you convert files of up to 100MB in size. If you want to convert larger files, you can sign up to the Basic plan or the Pro plan.

#6. Convert icon

Converticon lets you customise the appearance of folders on your computer by changing their icons to something more interesting.

Just use an image editor such as IrfanView to prepare the picture you want to use, then upload it to the website in ICC, PNG, GIF or JPEG format. After selecting from a range of predefined sizes, the icon will be created in a matter of seconds so you can download it to your Desktop. Only one icon can be created at a time.

#7. Fileminx

Fileminx is a versatile file-conversion tool that can handle all the popular document, image, music and video file formats.



 

It’s very easy to use - just browse for a file, or select the From The Internet tab and add a URL, then click Continue. You will be presented with a list of thumbnails for all the available conversions. Popular choices are shown at the top, with other available tasks underneath. Select one to perform the conversion and make the file available for download.

How to Bypass Login Screen in Windows 8

Microsoft has added security features to its new operating system, some of which slow you down. For example, to start using your PC, you now need to go through the lock screen and log in with your password.

If you are happy to do away with the added security, you can bypass these stages.

From the Start screen type run, then click Run, type netplwiz into the box and hit Enter.



 

In the User Accounts box, highlight your account and untick ‘Users must enter a username and password to use this computer’. Click Apply, then enter your password twice and click OK.

This also works on older versions of Windows that require you to log in - just go to the Start menu (Start, Run in Windows XP), type control userpasswords2 or netplwiz and press Enter to open the User Accounts box.

You can also reduce your start-up time in Windows 8.1 by automatically skipping the Start screen and going straight to the Desktop.



 

From the start screen, type taskbar, press Enter and, in the ‘Start screen’ section, select the option ‘Go to the desktop instead of Start when I sign in’.

What is HTML5?

HTML5 is a mark-up language used for creating and presenting content on the web. It is already being used by lots of sites, but is not expected to receive official ‘recommended’ status from the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) until 2014 year.

Unlike other mark-up languages, HTML5 has dedicated <video>, <audio> and <canvas> tags, which let web designers embed videos, music and animations in web pages without needing additional software such as Adobe Flash. The technology is cross-platform, which means you can use it on any PC, tablet, smartphone or other device with an HTML5-enabled browser.

HTML5 can also be used to create apps that don’t require you to be connected to the net, such as Gmail Offline, which can can pinpoint where you are using geo-location.



All the big browsers support HTML5, and there are several online tests you can try to see how well the technology works.

One is Futuremark’s Peacekeeper test which runs a series of HTML5 graphics, videos, games and more in your browser, so you can see for yourself how quickly and smoothly content is displayed. The test can be performed in any browser, and across all platforms, including tablets and phones.

Best Software to Download YouTube Videos Securely

Lots of sites and tools let you download and convert YouTube videos to watch offline in a media player or on your TV. However, many of them contain adware or malware, and come loaded with unwanted toolbars, pop-ups and other annoyances, so it pays to be vigilant.

One of the simplest programs you can use that is 4K Video Downloader.

Run the 4K Video Downloader software, copy the video URL from YouTube and paste it into the program. You can choose the quality and format in which to save the clip (MP4, FLV, MKV or 3GP), download subtitles and extract the audio.

Another program worth trying is Freemake Video Downloader, which lets you set your preferences so you can download videos from YouTube (and other supported video services) with a single click.

Make sure you deselect any unwanted extras during installation.

What are the White Hat and Black Hat SEO?

A White Hat SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a legitimate way to push your site up the results pages. Black Hat SEO involves techniques that are deemed unethical.

In the past, people would use hidden text to trick search engines into thinking that words or phrases appeared on a site. Link farms, spam blog posts and keyword stuffing are other Black Hat techniques.

You can legitimately improve your site’s ranking by increasing the quality of its content, so it’s more useful and better written. Analyse your keywords with Google’s Keyword Planner, which helps you select keywords for your site and audience. Google Webmaster Tools can monitor your website and check that it’s healthy.

Make your own Dropbox like Cloud Storage service

The free, open-source program OwnCloud lets you create a cloud storage system on your own server or website. Just like Dropbox and other similar services, it allows you to remotely access your files from anywhere, sync data and share content with others. In addition, there’s a music player, photo gallery, calendar, bookmarks service and contacts app.

If you are not sure whether it’s right for you, there’s a live demo account that you can play around with at demo.owncloud.org. Everything you need for installing the software can be found at owncloud.org/install, with software available for Windows, Android and iOS.

As an alternative, you might want to consider Tonido, which turns your PC into a web server and lets you securely access your files anywhere, share content with friends, and stream music over the internet. You can expand the software’s functionality by installing plug-ins, and there are also free apps available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone.

 

Best Tips to Solve your WiFi Network Problem

Here are the best ways to Solve your WiFi or Wireless network Problem.

Recover a lost wireless network key

When creating a password and network key to protect your wireless network from outsiders, it’s important to make it as long and hard to guess as you can, using a combination of letters and numbers.



The problem with creating a complex password is that it will be very hard to remember if you lose it. You can use WirelessKeyView to display all the security keys stored in Windows, so you can get back on your network.

Boost weak signals by changing the channel

If your wireless signal is unusually weak, its performance may be affected by competition from other nearby routers (in a neighbour's house, for example). Older devices let you change the channel on which the router broadcasts, and this might solve the problem. Use inSSIDer to see which channels the other devices use.

Prevent cable problems using Digital Home Support

Virgin Media customers can download the free program Digital Home Support to prevent and fix connection problems. The PC Healthcheck tool will scan your system and make sure all your security software is functioning correctly, and that everything is running as speedily as possible. You can also pay £6 a month to get live expert help from the company.

Improve your router’s range

Some routers have directional antennas. Pointing them towards the centre of the room (away from walls) will help to improve the wireless range. You should also consider upgrading to a new 802.11n compatible router, or adding some range extenders (also known as wireless repeaters) to your network. These take the existing signal and boost or repeat it.

Make sure your laptop’s Wi-Fi is turned on

Assuming that your Wi-Fi connection problem only affects your laptop, and that it has connected without problems in the past, check the front or side of the device for a sliding switch with a Wi-Fi logo on it. If it’s turned to ‘off’, move it back to ‘on’. This might sound obvious, but it’s amazing how many of us forget to check before we start panicking.

Reset your router to the factory defaults

If you’re having problems with your router, or you can’t log into it because you’ve forgotten your password, the best approach is to reset it. Look for a Reset button on the back of the device and hold it down for at least 10 seconds. If it has a reset hole, you’ll need to stick a pin or straightened paperclip into it.

Diagnose network problems

If you can’t connect to a network, it may be down to a problem with your network adapter. Click Start, and go to Control Panel, ‘Network and Internet’, ‘Network and Sharing Center’. Click ‘Troubleshoot problems’ at the bottom of the page and then choose the type of network problem you’re having.

Switch to a faster DNS server

DNS (Domain Name System) maps URLs to numerical IP addresses. By switching to a different server, such as OpenDNS or Google Public DNS, web pages may load faster. Both these services are free to use and are especially useful as backups if your ISP is having trouble coping with heavy traffic.

See who else is using your Wi-Fi network

If you suspect someone might be using your wireless connection without permission, slowing you down and compromising your security, you can investigate using Nirsoft’s free tool, Wireless Network Watcher.

This program displays a list of all connected devices (including any from outside sources) on your network and lets you sort them by various criteria, including name, IP address, MAC address, network adapter and user text.

If you have caught other people using your wireless network, it’s vital that you encrypt it and change your password to prevent them accessing it again.

Turning on MAC (Media Access Control) filtering will add a second layer of defence that will let you specify exactly which devices are allowed to connect to your router and network. You should be able to do this through your router’s configuration page.

3 Best OCR Software for Windows

In this page you can get three of the best text recognition software which are used to fetch text from images.

#1. Capture2Text

This install-free app lets you grab text from an image file. It supports over 30 different languages including English, French, German, Spanish and Chinese, and also offers a text-to-speech tool.

File size: 33.6MB
Home-Page: http://capture2text.sourceforge.net

#2. SimpleOCR

SimpleOCR can recognise printed text and make it editable. The software can also digitise handwritten notes, but you only get a 14-day licence for this.

File size: 9.3MB
Home-Page: http://www.simpleocr.com

#3. FreeOCR

FreeOCR extracts text from digital photos, screenshots and scans. It supports a range of image formats and lets you edit text and copy it to your clipboard or open it in Word.



File size: 156KB (installer only)
Home-Page: http://www.paperfile.net

Stop Auto Rotate Screen on Android

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with a particular feature of newer smart- phones and tablets: the ability of the phone or tablet to automatically change screen onentation when we rotate the device. The problem is that most devices are just a little too sensitive, and change orientation in responseto the slightest tilt or movement.

You can lock the display orientation with a few steps.

• Select Device Settings, and then scroll to select Display.


• Remove the check mark from the orientation item that says, “Switch orientation automatically when rotating phone.”

For most Android phones, this process will lock the display in portrait mode. If you would prefer to lock the phone in landscape orientation, you will have to install a third-party app to add this capability.

Advanced Tips for Windows Explorer

There are some useful advanced settings for Windows Explorer that can only be accessed from the Registry. To see them, click Start and type regedit into the Start menu box, Windows XP users will need to type it into the Run box.

Now navigate to:
[code scroll="false"]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced[/code]

On the right, you’ll see some settings. In many of these values, there is a zero (false) or a 1 (true).
For example, ShowlnfoTip is set to 1, which means true, but if you double-click it and set it to 0, it turns off the pop-up tips you get when you move your mouse over something in Explorer windows.



TaskbarSizeMove changes whether you’re allowed to move or resize the Taskbar. Taskbar SmallIcons should be set to 0 if you want large Taskbar icons or 1 if you want small ones.

To add EnableBalloonTips, select Edit, New, DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it EnableBalloonTips. Double-click this new entry and set it to 1 if you want pop-up balloon messages at the right-side of the Taskbar, or 0 if you don’t want to see these pop-up messages at all.

How to Make Gmail your Default Email Client

If you use Chrome, you’ve probably seen a message asking you to allow Gmail to open all email links you click on the web.

If you clicked No and have changed your mind, open the browser, go to Settings, ‘Show advanced settings’ and click Content settings’. In the Handlers section, click Manage Handlers, and delete Gmail from the Ignored list. When Chrome asks you the question again, click Use Gmail.



To make Gmail your default email client in other browsers, install Gmail Notifier (bit.ly/default297) and right- click its icon in your System Tray. Choose Options, select ‘Use Gmail for internet mailto: links’ and click OK.



To set Gmail as default email program in Firefox is pretty simple, go to Firefox > Options > Applications tab, search for mailto or use the scroll bar, and select Gmail from the drop down menu below the action bar.

3 Best Security Apps for Android

Secure your smartphone or tablet with amazing new Android apps. We pick three of the most useful free security apps.

#1. AirCover

Min requirements: Android 2.1+
File size: 5.9MB



AirCover provides great all-round security, protecting your phone from viruses and malicious apps, helping you maintain your privacy settings, backing up your information to the cloud and even tracking the location of your famHy members. It can also be used to perform system tweaks to make your phone run faster and improve battery life.

#2. Bitdetender Power Tune-Up

Min requirements: Android 2.2+
File size: 1.7MB



This app [Bitdetender Power Tune-Up] is designed to optimise your phone’s settings to make it faster and more efficient. You data usage, increase can manage your your battery life by stopping processes that use a lot of memory, and boost storage by clearing your phone’s cache and temporary files using its Device Clean-Up tool. You can also set up data thresholds and alerts for when you get close to your limit.

#3. Apptro

Min requirements: Android 2.2+
File size: 1.2 MB



Apptro helps you discover new apps, and monitor the data usage and potential costs of any you already have installed. You can track how much battery and data each individual app uses and see, at a glance, any additional charges incurred. This is especially useful in identifying malicious apps. Apptro also provides app recommendations based on your existing downloads.

Top 30 Best free Software

There is so much excellent free software available to download these days that it is easy to take it for granted at times. In fact, you might not realise just how much money you have saved simply by choosing free programs over commercial ones.

BEST OFFICE SUITE – LibreOffice

If you can’t afford the latest version of Microsoft Office (and wonder if you’ll ever use most of its tools), LibreOffice should more than suffice for the majority of your home and work tasks. Based on the same code as OpenOffice.org. this new office suite comprises a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and slideshow creator, vector drawing program, database and mathematical equations editor.

Particularly interesting is the Experimental mode (in Options, General), which lets you play around with new, potentially unstable features, and there are numerous add-ons available that introduce additional functions to the software.

BEST COMPRESSION TOOL - 7-Zip

WinZip may still be the best-known compression tool, but it’s also one of the most expensive. 7-Zip is a far better program for archiving your files, and won’t cost you a thing. This open-source utility can unpack most compression formats and write to several popular choices, including ZIP, TAR and its own proprietary 7z format. The latest version offers 256-bit AES encryption, which you can use to protect sensitive files, create self-extracting archives and even benchmark the performance of your computer.

BEST EMAIL PROGRAM - Zimbra Desktop

This open-source email program is primarily aimed at users of webmail services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Outlook, but you can also set up any email account through POP or MAP. Zimbra Desktop aggregates updates from all your social networks, and includes a contact database, calendar, task-list manager, documents store and briefcase. Although the program lacks the sophisticated mail-management tools of Outlook, you can use extensions to add further functionality.

BEST SCREEN-CAPTURE SOFTWARE - LlghtShot

LightShot offers a free and easy means of capturing content from your screen. Once installed, the program lets you grab any part of your screen by hitting the Print Screen button and selecting the area you want to capture. You can save the image to disk (in PNG, BMP or JPG format), copy it to the clipboard. upload it to LightShot’s image-hosting website , or edit the file online. You can also share captures via email, Facebook and Twitter.

BEST OCR SOFTWARE – FreeOCR

Instead of manually typing text from digital photos, screenshots or scans, you can use this Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool to do aW the hard work for you. Either scan a new document or open an existing file in any of the supported image formats (TIF, JPG, BMP or PDF). Click the OCR button and the program will read the text and generate an editable version that you can tidy up and either copy to the clipboard or open in a word processor It’s much smaller and faster than paid-for alternatives.

BEST PDF-CREAT1ON TOOL - PDFCreator

Creating your own PDF files is easier and cheaper than you might think. All you have to do is put together a document using any word processor, publishing package or image editor, and then output it through PDFCreators virtual printer. You can include various details such as author name and creation date. The new software can also output the file in several other formats, including PNG, JPEG, BMP, PS and Text. True, Adobe Acrobat has many more advanced features, but PDFCreator will cover most PDF-related tasks.

BEST FTP SOFTWARE – FlieZilla

Easy to use, with a stylish tabbed interface, FileZilla can handle all your FTP transfer needs for free. The latest version of the program offers drag-and- drop support. synchronised directory browsing, remote file search. configurable transfer speed limits, filename filters and more. There’s also a handy network wizard that will help you properly configure your router and firewall.

BEST MUSIC EDITOR – Audacity

This popular multi-track audio tool lets you record, edit and merge sound files and enhance them with a range of effects You can use it to amplify a track, strip out vocals or background noise, change the speed and/or tempo and apply cross-fades to make a mix. To export an audio file in MP3 format you’ll need to download a free copy of Lame, but the program guides you through the process.

There are stable and beta versions of Audacity available, with the latter introducing a host of new audio- tweaking tools. These include a Sensitivity slider to adjust the noise- reduction threshold, and additional import preferences.

BEST MUSIC OGAN1SER – MediaMonkey

MediaMonkey is a leaner, faster alternative to iTunes. It also saves you forking out for commercial music- management software and is one of the few non-Apple music programs to synchronise with iPods, iPhones and iPads. It supports most audio formats and offers an array of great features. We especially like the ability to adjust the music in your collection to the same volume, and the option that scans for missing tags and duplicate tracks.

BEST MUSIC MAKER - Aviary Roc

Aviary is an excellent collection of bird-named web apps. Among its best tools is this music creator, which is very easy to use and ideal for creating short, downloadable loops. You can choose an instrument to start (it has an impressive selection), or load a sample project. You can place the beats where you like, or randomize their location and adjust the BPM and tempo. Creations can be saved online or exported in MP3 or WAV formats.

BEST MUSIC NOTATION TOOL - MuseScore

Anyone who knows how to write music will appreciate the benefits of this new music notation program. MuseScore lets you score your composition on a virtual note sheet using your mouse, keyboard or via MlDl. and provides an unlimited number of staves with up to four voices per staff. It also offers a built-in synthesizer and integrated sequencer.

BEST MEDIA PLAYER - VLC media player

You’re probably already familiar with VLC media player, which can handle almost any type of audio or video file (without the need for additional codecs), as well as CDs and DVDs.

BEST VIDEO EDITOR – Lightworks

There are plenty of free video-editing programs to choose from, but the just- released Lightworks is a true alternative to most commercial packages, having been used to cut numerous Hollywood films, including The King’s Speech. The software lets you record new clips directly or import existing ones. You can apply all manner of trims, effects, transitions and sound effects to your movies, manage multiple timelines simultaneously, apply color corrections, resync an entire timeline with a single click and much more.

BEST CD/DVD WRITER - BurnAware Free

This recently updated tool is powerful and easy to use and has all the burning options you’re likely to need. BurnAware Free can write to CD, DVD or Blu-ray, produce DVD video discs, create and burn image files, erase rewritable media, and make bootable ISOs and back-up discs. Usefully, the program can also display detailed disc arid drive information to help you identify burning problems. All the main options are accessible through a single menu.

BEST LANGUAGE TUTOR – Livemocha

Whether you’re learning another language for a specific purpose, or just for fun, Livemocha can help. The site offers both free and paid courses covering 38 different languages Tell the service the lingo you would like to learn and create your account. Once registered, you can find language partners to teach and learn from. Although the lessons aren’t as comprehensive as Rosetta Stone’s, Livemocha’s one-to-one approach is a great way to master a language as it’s spoken in everyday life.

BEST FAMILY-TREE SOFTWARE - Family Tree Builder

My Heritage’s free genealogy software simplifies the process of building a family tree and can automatically identify arid fix over 40 common errors, such as incorrect ages, missing dates and misspelled names. If you merge one tree with another, it can also eliminate possible duplicates A To-Do Tasks feature helps you prioritise outstanding work, and the new chart wizard lets you format your tree in various ways. It lacks Family Tree Maker’s integration with Ancestry (www.ancestry.co uk), but the program is still an effective way to get started with genealogy.

BEST TYPING TUTOR - TIPP10

Learning to touch-type isn’t difficult. but it takes a lot of practice. This new training application offers 20 lessons of varying difficultly, and keeps track of your progress so you can see how well you’re doing. You can repeat any lessons you’re struggling with and, cleverly, characters that you frequently mistype will appear more often to help you master them.

BEST WEBSITE BUILDER – BlueGriffon

Built around Firefox’s rendering engine, BlueGriffon supports all the latest web technologies including HTML5 and CSS3 You can switch between WYSIWYG and Source views and use a wide range of editing tools to create a professional- looking site. We particularly like the New Wizard feature, which asks you some questions and then creates a basic template site based on your answers.

BEST 3D-MODELLING TOOL - Google SketchUp

While it can’t really compete with the higher-end modelling programs, Sketch Up does let you create some impressively complex objects and structures, You can build a 3D model from scratch or simply download and adapt an existing project from Google’s 3D Warehouse. The software integrates with Googie Earth, Maps and - in its newest version - Street View, which makes it well suited to create 3D-scale versions of real-world buildings.

BEST IMAGE EDITOR - Paint.NET

We’ve recommended Paint.NET in Web User before, for its unbeatable range of editing tools, adjustments and effects. Since we last mentioned the program, a new version - v3.5.10 - has been released, which has a useful ‘fault- tolerance’ feature. This means that if the software or your PC should crash or suffer an error while you’re editing an image, the original file will be left intact.

The updated program also fixes some bugs with Paint.NET’s third-party plug-ins, which makes it the closest free image editor to Adobe Photoshop, and introduces some new effects. Although Paint.NET can’t compare with Adobe’s software in terms of professional tools, it can do everything from removing red-eye and blemishes to transforming your pictures into oil paintings.

BEST PAINTING PROGRAM – MyPaint

If you want to be a desktop artist without splashing out on a professional design program, try MyPaint. It lets you create art on an infinite canvas, which expands as required. The program’s interface consists of just two palettes, one for brush selection and the other for colour. You can work in pen, pencil, watercolour, oils, pastels, charcoal and more, and the different mediums all behave in a realistic manner. MyPaint supports layers to add depth to your masterpiece, and you can switch between different colours simply by right-clicking.

BEST PHOTO ORGANISER – Picasa

The latest release of Google’s powerful photo software, version 3.9, introduced a raft of features that make managing your pictures quick, easy and fun. Most notably, the software now offers name tags’, which identify similar faces in photos and group them together automatically. You can then use these tags to create a face collage or even a Face Movie (a video in which photos of a person blend into one another).
As well as using Picasa’s ever- improving set of tools for fixing, enhancing and sharing pictures, you can geo-tag your photos and add them to Google Earth and Google Maps to show where they were taken.

BEST DRAWING PACKAGE – Inkscape

Adobe Illustrator sets the industry standard for vector-artwork packages, but this free Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) program has a good selection of drawing, shape and text tools, which you car’ use to create logos. clip art, web graphics, technical diagrams and more. lnkscape is reasonably intuitive, and it’s a good choice for beginners. but if you do find yourself stuck or unsure about how to do certain things, there’s a detailed manual available.

BEST DESKTOP-PUBLISHING PROGRAM – Scribus

Page-layout programs are notoriously expensive and usually aimed at businesses, but Scribus is a great free alternative for home use. This powerful desktop-publishing program offers everything you need to produce professional-looking newsletters, flyers, and pamphlets. You can create a new publication from scratch, or simply adapt one of the ready-made designs. Finished results can be saved, exported in a range of formats, or printed. The program will automatically check through your document and point out any errors you might have missed.

BEST ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM - Avast Free Antivirus

As well as offering real-time and on-demand protection, the just-released version of this free anti-virus program offers an AutoSandbox feature, which automatically isolates suspicious programs and prevents malware from gaining access to your system files. There’s also a useful new WebRep module, which displays Web-of-Trust- like reputation ratings for search results and websites, and lets you block specific URLs.

BEST BACK-UP TOOL - Easeus Todo Backup

Packed with features, the latest version of Easeus’s free tool lets you back up your entire system, selected partitions, files or folders, or specific file types. Data can be stored on another local or networked drive, written to CD or DVD or uploaded to a remote location via FTP. You can now schedule regular back-ups (rather than performing them manually) and choose between full or incremental saves (only files that have changed since the last time will be backed up).

BEST DATA-RECOVERY TOOL – Recuva

We’ve recommended Recuva before, but the new version has more great tools, chief of which is an improved support for iPods, so you can restore files you’ve accidentally deleted The updated software also features support for the portable operating system BartPE. And with the built-in Recuva Wizard, the program remains easy to use.

BEST MAINTENANCE PROGRAM - Glary Utilities

This collection of tools can find and fix problems with your computer, optimise Windows and safeguard your privacy. Our favourite feature is the 1-Click Maintenance mode. which can scan for and resolve problems including Registry errors, invalid shortcuts and spyware. Alternatively, you can access the tools individually through the Modules section.

BEST DISK-CLONING TOOL - EASEUS Disk Copy

The easiest way to upgrade to a larger hard drive is to clone the existing one and copy it over, There’s plenty of paid-for software you can use to perform this task, but we prefer the free EASEUS Disk Copy. To use the program, you’ll need to make a bootable version (either on CD/DVD or a USB flash drive) and then boot from it. Select the drive or partition to copy, and select the destination. The cloned version it creates will be identical in every way, including partition size.

BEST PARTITIONING TOOL - MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition

As well as copying, formatting, moving, resizing. merging arid deleting partitions, this program can also recover lost or deleted partitions. Amazingly for a free tool, it can also change drive letters, fix boot problems, perform surface scans and wipe old disks. You can queue up multiple changes and apply, undo or discard them.

Best Ways to Download Music & Videos Faster

In this feature article, we reveal the best free and easy ways to get video or audio files faster, as well as suggesting slimmer - and therefore speedier - alternatives to bloated downloads.

Play songs and videos while they download

There are few things more annoying than waiting for a large video file to download and then realising you have got the wrong one. The latest free version of Download Accelerator Plus helps you avoid this problem by using its Video Preview feature.

This new tool in the download manager, which is compatible with all the main browsers, lets you play video and audio files while they’re still downloading to avoid wasting valuable minutes.



It also saves time by letting you download in one click from file-hosting sites including MediaFire and RapidShare.

It also has a Link Checker tool that makes sure download links are valid. Just make sure you untick the options for any unwanted changes and extras during installation.

Convert videos to the smallest format

The brilliant Firefox add-on DownloadHelper makes grabbing videos from YouTube much faster than other similar tools, because it lets you choose different file formats and resolutions. Obviously, the smaller the file, the faster it will download, which means you can sacrifice picture quality for speed.

Share videos with friends in seconds

Video files are often too large to send by email, but uploading them to a file-sharing service for the recipient to download can be a hassle, To make things faster, you can send and receive videos using the marvellous free service Share. Powered by BitTorrent, this tool lets you easily share HD videos, high-resolution photos and other big files. Just sign up for an account, select the files to share and invite people to download them via email or Facebook. The more people who access your videos, the faster the files download.

Upload and download videos instantly

Ge.tt is a fantastic free alternative to Dropbox that lets you upload and download large files such as videos at lightning-fast speeds. For example, a 150MB video file takes just one second either way.

Simply visit the website, click ‘Upload files’ and select the file, or drag and drop it onto the button. You can then share the link by email or on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, and other people can start downloading it even before it’s finished uploading.

You don’t need to register to use the service, but you’ll get 2GB of free online storage if you do.

If you use Gmail or Outlook you can send massive files by email using the new Chrome add-ons Ge.tt on Gmail and Ge.tt on Outlook.com.

Download every song from a web page

Rather than clicking the individual download links on an MP3-packed web page, you can save time by grabbing all the tracks at once. The amazing Firefox add-on DownThemAll lets you download multiple files in a jiffy simply by right- clicking the page and choosing ‘DownThemAll!’.

To make sure you only get music, click Filters and select the ‘Audio (mp3, wav,-)’ option, before you click Start. Alternatively, if you want to grab photos or videos, select those filtering options. Once you have set up your default download folder and other preferences, you can speed things up in future by choosing ‘dTA OneClick’ from the right-click menu.



If you use Chrome, you can download everything from a web page at once using Download Master. Although this add-on isn’t as sophisticated as DownThemAll, the latest version lets you filter links to grab only MP3s (as well as JPEGs, GlFs and PNG files).

Best Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks

It is often said that we use only a fraction of the functions available in applications such as Microsoft Word. With that in mind, we have been rummaging under the hoods of Word 2003, 2007 and 2010 looking for secrets.

We have come up with best tips and tricks, and organised our ideas by application and version number, making it easy for everyone to dip in to find something useful. Within moments, you could be using these popular programs in brand-new ways.

#1. Create custom toolbars [Word 2003]

It’s possible to make toolbars that include all your favourite menus and icons. To do this, choose Customize from the Tools menu. Now select the Toolbars tab and click New. Type a name for your new toolbar, select the relevant template (if you want) and click OK. Drag and drop whatever controls or commands you want onto the toolbar.

#2. Move rows up and down a table [Word 2003]

Word makes it easy to move rows up and down a table. Click anywhere in the row and then, holding down the Shift and Alt keys, use the up or down cursor keys to move the entire row around the table.

#3. Save or Close all open documents [Word 2003]

If you have got lots of open documents that you’d like to save or close at the same time, hold down the Shift key before opening the File menu. These new options will appear.

#4. Remove personal information [Word 2007]

Sharing a document. with someone but don’t want them to have access to your personal information? Click the Office button and choose Prepare, then Inspect Document. Click the Inspect button and then choose the information to remove.

#5. On-the-fly translation [Word 2007]



To translate a word or phrase into another language, highlight it. click the Review tab, find the Proofing part of the ribbon and click Translate. Choose the ‘from’ and ‘to’ languages in the Research panel and click the Insert button to effect the translation.

#6. Repeat last formatting command [Word 2007]

To make the same formatting adjustment when working through a document section headings - use the F4 key to repeat the last formatting change.

#7. Convert text to a table [Word 2010]

Use tabs between the text, then highlight it and click the Insert tab. Open the Table dropdown menu and choose Convert text to table. Set the number of columns using the spin box control.

#8. Create random practice text [Word 2010]

To explore some of Word’s features, it’s useful to have text to work with. Rather than type out loads yourself, try this. Type=rand (4,5) and press Enter. Word will generate four paragraphs of five sentences each. This works in earlier versions of Word, too.

#9. Change the default format for pasting text [Word 2010]

If you copy and paste text from other programs into Word you are probably forever having to reformat it to fit in with the Word document. Fix this by opening the File menu and choosing Options. Click the Advanced option in the left- hand pane, then scroll down to the Cut, copy and paste section. Choose a default setting from here.

#10. Add a photo to a shape [Word 2010]

Open the Insert menu, choose Shapes and pick Oval. Draw out the shape and release the mouse button. With the shape still selected, make sure the Format tab is active, open the Shape Fill control and choose Picture. Find a photo and click Open.

How to Connect Your SmartPhone and Tablets To Wi-Fi Network

Most tablets and smartphones can only connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi, so it’s essential that you know how to access and change the Wi-Fi settings on your tablet.

In this article, we will take you step-by-step through the Wi-Fi connection process.

Note that instructions for some models may vary slightly from our guidelines because of small differences among interfaces and operating systems. If in doubt, access Settings, locate a Wi-Fi or wireless networks area, and select your wireless network.

Connect Your Android SmartPhones/Tablets To Wi-Fi Network

To access the Wi-Fi settings on a tablet/smartphone that runs Android, you can either touch the Settings icon on the Home screen or open up the App screen and select Settings. Next, touch Wireless & Networks and select Wi-Fi.

If your tablet runs Android 4.0, you’ll also need to slide the Wi-Fi switch to the On position. Click WiFi Settings and your tablet will then scan the area for available wireless networks.

If you see a lock icon next to the name, you’ll need to know the security credentials to connect to it.

To connect to a specific network, touch the network name, and if prompted, enter the password for the network.



You can also add a Wi-Fi network to your device’s list so that it will remember the credentials and automatically connect to it when the network is in range.

To do so, navigate to the Wi-Fi Settings and select Add Network.

Enter the network name, sometimes referred to as the SSID (Service Set Identifier), and select Save.

If you want your tablet to no longer automatically connect to a network, open the Wi-Fi Settings screen, touch the network name, and select Forget from the dialog box.

Connect Your iPad/iPhone To Wi-Fi Network

With the iPad/iPhone, you can click the Settings app and select Wi-Fi.

If the Wi-Fi is turned off, touch the On/Off icon to switch it to the On position.

Your iPad will then scan for available networks and display them under Choose A Network Touch the name of your preferred connection, and if it’s password-protected, enter the password.



You’ll know if a Wi-Fi network is password-protected if a padlock icon appears next to the network’s name.

When the iPad is connected, the Wi-Fi icon next to the network name will turn blue.

In the Wi-Fi menu, you’ll be able to see the signal strength of the various networks.

How to Change Login Screen in Windows

I have discovered a way of putting your own image on your Windows 7 log-in screen. It’s a hidden feature that involves making just a small change to the Registry, so make sure you create a System Restore point before proceeding, just in case you make a mistake.

Type regedit into the Start menu and press Enter or get to the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows Key + R. Go to:

[code scroll="false"]HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background[/code]



Double-click OEMBackground and change its value to 1. This enables the OEM Background functionality. Open Windows Explorer and go to your C drive. Now go to:

[code scroll="false"]C:\Windows\System 32\oobe\info\backgrounds[/code]
or
[code scroll="false"]C:\Windows\System32\oobe\background.bmp[/code]

Choose a JPEG image that’s smaller than 256KB and copy it to this folder. This picture will be stretched to fit the full width of your monitor, so make sure you also choose an image that matches the resolution of your screen, so it doesn’t look stretched or low-quality.

To return it to normal, disable the OEM Background function by replacing the 1 with a 0 (zero).

If you had rather not fiddle with the Registry, there is a program called Logon Changer for Windows 7 that lets you choose a file and set it as your login background. Logon Changer will automatically make any necessary changes to the picture’s size and quality.

How to Clean your Laptop from Dust and Dirt

Dust, heat, and bumps are all dangers that can reduce the useful lifespan of your laptop. Here, we will cover some common laptop maintenance tips that you can perform.

Fan Cleaning

Laptops typically have fan vents on the sides and back of the case, which is where the laptop pushes out the heat generated by the processor and other components. Over time, dust can build up in the vents and trap some of the heat inside the case. That heat can increase the temperature of all of components inside the case and may cause some parts to overheat and either fail or behave erratically. At the very least, the excess heat will keep the hardware from working at its peak. You can use a can of compressed air to blow the dust out of the vents.

Keyboard Touch-Up

Another entry point for dust and debris is the keyboard. Similar to the vents, you’ll want to use a can of compressed air to blow any dirt out from under the keyboard. When using the can of compressed air, it’s best to turn the keyboard upside down, so that the debris has someplace to fall. Try to do this over a surface you can easily clean after the dust and dirt has fallen out. If you managed to spill something sticky onto the surface of the keys, dip a cotton swap in isopropyl alcohol and use the cotton swap to clean the sticky substance off the side and tops of the keys.

Heat Avoidance

While we have noted that internal heat is a threat to your laptop, you’ll also want to watch out for placing your laptop in locations where the entire laptop will be exposed to prolonged external heat. Avoid leaving your laptop in a hot car, placing it in direct sunlight for several hours, or placing it next to a heater or radiator.

Clean The Screen

The LCD screens found on laptops and monitors require a specific cleaning solution to create a streak- free look. Modern cleaning agents contain ammonia that can damage the display panel. Invest in a monitor cleaning spray and a micro fiber cloth to wipe down the screen. Spray the monitor cleaner onto the micro fiber cloth and wipe down the screen. Don’t spray the monitor cleaning solution directly onto the screen, because it can streak down and leave a mark.

Connector Damage

Many wireless mice come with a tiny USB receiver that you can leave plugged into the unit. If you leave any USB devices in the ports, be sure to avoid knocking them out when you place the laptop in your travel bag, because

the rough removal may damage the ports or the laptop’s motherboard. Similarly, you’ll want to avoid damage to the laptop’s power socket by ensuring that the power cord isn’t positioned in a location where someone may trip on it and forcefully pull the power cord out.

Final Touches

Once you have addressed the internal parts, you can clean the exterior of the case. Use a damp cloth to wipe down the exterior and remove any dirt that has accumulated. If there are slight scratches along the exterior, you can try to buff out the scratch with the damp cloth. You may also want to open the lid and wipe down the areas around the keyboard to remove dust.

Clean the laptop every other month and you should avoid the accumulation of debris that could ultimately injure the system.

Download Free e-Books for Your E-readers.

Kindle and other e-readers are cheaper and more popular than ever, but ebooks remain relatively expensive. Here are the easy and legal ways to download free content for your e-reading device whether you use a Kindle, PC or phone.

Explore the free titles at ebook stores

Before you start shopping around for free ebooks, it’s worth checking out the current selection at the store linked to your e- read ing device. For example, at the Kindle Store you can click the Top 100 Free tab on the right-hand side of the main Books homepage and that of individual categories to view and download the most popular free titles. Click the ‘See all bestsellers’ link for the full list, which usually comprises classic, out-of-copyright works; stories by new and unknown authors; and cut-down, promotional versions of commercial books. Amazon also offers Free eBook Collections of Popular Classics and Time-Limited Offers.

The iTunes Store has an impressively stocked Free Books section containing more than 25,000 titles, which you can access from the main Books category in the Desktop software and via the iBooks mobile app.

Get classic titles from Project Gutenberg

With more free ebooks in a wide variety of formats, the long- running Project Gutenberg provides a quick and easy way to fill your e-reader with top-quality literature. The site specialises in out-of-copyright titles, which makes it ideal for catching up with the classics, and adds an average of 50 books a week to its database.

You can search Gutenberg by title, author or subject, and browse the list of the most popular books, which invariably includes works by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

To download a book, just click its title and choose your desired format. The simplest is Plain Text, which is fully compatible with all e-readers, but for the best experience you should choose ‘Kindle (no images)’ for Amazon’s device or EPUB for other hardware readers. Alternatively, you can choose to read the ebook online or scan its QR code to open the text on your smartphone.

Download free ebooks from Open Library

Open Library boasts more than one million free ebooks, dating back to the 11th Century. Many of these, especially newer titles, need to be ‘borrowed’ via the site’s Lending Library service, which requires an account with ebook distributor OverDrive, but there are also thousands of out-of- copyright works you can download for free. Open Library offers a choice of formats for each book, including PDF, EPUB and MOBI, as well as the useful ability to send ebooks directly to your Kindle.

The site’s Wikipedia-like structure, which encompasses reader reviews, recommendations and keyword tags, makes it far less dry to browse than Project Gutenberg, and its aim to provide a page for every book ever published is commendably ambitious.

Find free ebooks faster at ManyBooks.net

ManyBooks.net offers instant access to free ebooks from various copyright-free and Creative Commons sources. It covers a huge choice of file formats - more than 20 for many titles, including EPUB, AZW and MOBI for Kindle, and three PDF sizes (such as large print) - and lets you download books with a single click, without needing to register. Equally impressive is the amount of information provided for each ebook, which includes a short excerpt, reader reviews, word and page counts, and a QR code for downloading the book to your phone. You can browse ManyBooks.net by author, title or genre.

Get new and classic titles from Feed books

Feedbooks combines public domain (out-of-copyright) books first published before 1923 with paid-for titles and ‘original’ free ebooks written by amateur authors. This makes the content feel fresher than at similar sites and, although the quality varies greatly (especially the erotic fiction), reviews from other readers can help steer you away from downloading too much rubbish. Book categories include History, Travel and Cooking, and each title is available in Kindle, EPUB and PDF format.

Download free ebooks from Google

Although the Google eBookstore, mostly has paid-for books, it does contain a ‘Best of the Free’ selection of classic titles, with the full range available at the main Google Books site (http://books.google.com). You can download books in EPUB and PDF format. If you want to read them on your Kindle, you’ll need to convert the files to MOBI format using free ebook software such as Calibre. Alternatively, try RetroRead which lets you download thousands of titles from Google Books as MOBI files.

Search for free ebooks using Inkmesh

You can save yourself time and effort when hunting for free content for your e-reader by using the speedy ebook search engine Inkmesh. Type an author, title or keyword into the search box, click the Find Free Ebooks button and lnkmesh will comb through dozens of sites, including ManyBooks.net, Books on Board and the Internet Archive, looking for matches. Each search result is helpfully accompanied by details of the available formats for the book and the devices it can be read on. You can even avoid wading through the usual out-of- copyright titles by applying the ‘exclude Public Domain’ search filter.

Discover the latest free ebooks at Mobileread

The popular online community MobileRead is a great source of news, discussion and advice about ebooks and related hardware and software. Head to the Deals, Freebies and Resources board in the forums for details of the latest free ebooks and where to find them. Many of the offers shared by forum members are time-limited, so it pays to get in there quickly.

For a more permanent choice of reading material, check out MobileRead’s E-book Uploads Library, which provides thousands of free downloads for Kindle, Sony and other e-readers. Simply choose your desired format from the drop-down E-Books menu to view a list of available titles.

Download free short stories from Smashwords

Online writing community Smashwords gives anyone the chance to be an ebook author by providing a free and easy way to distribute your work to a worldwide audience. Although some people use the site to sell their books (keeping 85 per cent of the profit), Smashwords also features tons of free stories uploaded by budding writers, spanning a wide range of fiction and non-fiction categories. It’s particularly strong on short stories, so is worth a look if you fancy reading something new and different. The ebooks are available in all the main formats and can be previewed online before you download them. Just click the ‘Free ebooks’ filter at the top of the page and choose a genre.

Get free science-fiction stories from Baen



The independent publisher Baen, which specialises in science fiction and fantasy books, offers a large number of titles for free in its Free Library section. You can download these ebooks in a variety of formats, including MOBI, EPUB, Sony Digital Reader and RTF; read selected chapters or complete books online; and have files emailed directly to your Kindle. Most titles are electronic versions of Baen books published over the last decade by noted sci-fi and fantasy authors such as David Drake, Eric Flint and David Weber.

Expand your ebook collection at Obooko

Acclaimed by About.com (www.about.com) readers as the best free ebook website of 2011, Obooko features nothing but free, legal titles by independent authors. Once you’ve registered with the site for free, you can take your pick of thousands of ebooks across categories that include Historical Fiction, Computers & the Internet, and Travel Writing & Guidebooks.

All the books are available as PDF files, with an increasing number also in EPUB and Kindle format. Obooko covers an impressively diverse range of topics and, although some titles are rather niche, it’s a useful way to expand your ebook collection without paying a thing. You can even upload books you’ve written yourself.

Get alerts when free ebooks are added to Amazon

The excellent eReaderIQ.com keeps track of all the free ebooks that are available for the Kindle through Amazon and notifies you as soon as new titles appear in the store. The details are sent in the form of an email digest, either once or twice a day, from which you can click straight through to Amazon to download the books. Recent additions are also listed by date on the eReaderIQ.com website.

Usefully, the service ignores public- domain titles, so you don’t get unnecessarily excited about yet another free edition of Pride and Prejudice, and includes already available books that have just added a Kindle version. The site also lets you set price-drop alerts for ebooks you want to buy but feel are currently too expensive, and create a watch-list of favourite books that you’re waiting to be made available.

16 Best Microsoft Excel Tricks, Tweaks & Tips

Here are the collection of some worthy tips, tricks and tweaks for Microsoft Excel 2007.

#1. Manual Calculations

Excel is rather like that clever kid at school, you know, the one who could sums in his (or her) head and somehow manage to keep the answers there without being distracted by a passing seagull. Nevertheless, there are times when even Excel can get its knickers in a twist, those times usually being when there’s thousands of calculations going on in real time; after a while the grind begins to show, and Excel slows to the mathematical skills of a three year old. The solution to this is to disable automatic calculation, and here’s how:

Click on the ‘Formulas’ tab in the Ribbon. In the ‘Calculation’ section, click on the down arrow under ‘Calculation Options’.

In the drop-down menu, select ‘Manual’.

When you input data, you will now have to press ‘F9’ to update the calculations, and Excel will have a sudden spurt of life.

#2. Copy As Picture

Copying a chart, graph or a set of cells to an application outside of Excel can have some disastrous effects. Formatting goes all wonky (a technical term), the sections of the nicely presented 3D pie chart end up looking like the left-over’s from the Micro Mart lunch trolley and you begin to foam at the mouth. Never fear, though, simply consider copying the item as a picture instead.

Select the chart, graph or cell range.

In the ‘Home’ tab, click the down arrow under ‘Paste’.

Scroll down the drop-down menu until you reach ‘As Picture’, then extend the sub-menu and select ‘Copy As Picture’.

You can now paste into other applications without fear of bringing down the wrath of the formatting god.

#3. A Change Of Order

Normally, when entering data into Excel after pressing the Enter key you move down to the cell below. This is great for when you’re entering data in a column, but what about when you need to enter data in rows?

Click the Office button (the round button in the top left). Click on the ‘Excel Options’ button at the bottom of the new window. Click the ‘Advanced’ link, and using the drop-down menu under the first item, ‘After pressing Enter, move selection Direction’, choose from Up, Down, Left or Right.

#4. Custom Auto-fill

The Auto-fill function is great for completing rows or columns of sequential data; simply enter the first two values into the initial cells, select the cells and drag the fill handle to extend the rest of the cells. But instead of just 1, 2, 3, and so on, you can add your own custom lists by doing the following:

Again, click the Office button, followed by ‘Excel Options’ at the bottom. Select the ‘Popular’ link, and in the first section click on the ‘Edit Custom Lists...’ button. Select ‘New List’ from the left window, and click in the ‘List entries’ box.

Start typing your new sequence, pressing Enter after each entry. When you have finished, click on the ‘Add’ button, followed by ‘OK’.

There you have it, a custom sequential Auto fill list ready for you to use.

#5. Creating A Named Range

You can quickly create a named range for a group of cells by doing the following:

Highlight the cells you want named and click in the left of the Formula bar, and start typing in a name for the range.

The named range for those group of cells is now assigned and can be called via macro, or other function.

#6. Developer Ribbon

If you’re into playing around with macro’s and form authoring tools, then you’re going to need to activate the Developer Ribbon. It’s really easy to do, and offers a wealth of otherwise hidden options. Here’s how:

Click on the Office button, followed by ‘Excel Options’. Select the ‘Popular’ link, and in the first section, tick the ‘Show Developer tab in the Ribbon’ box.

And there you have it the Developer Ribbon, containing Form Controls, - ActiveX Controls, XML Source and a Visual Basic Editor. Not for the faint of heart, but interesting nonetheless.

#7. Add Hidden Features To The Quick Access Toolbar

Excel has a number of extra hidden features that are, by default, invisible to the Quick Access Toolbar - which is that bit along the very top of the Excel window. To include any, or all, of these hidden features, do the following:

Click on the Office button, followed by ‘Excel Options’, then select the ‘Customize’ link (American spelling, I know!).

In the drop-down menu, ‘Choose commands from’, select ‘Commands not in the Ribbon’ and pick the commands you’d like to include in you customization, followed by the ‘Add’ button in the middle of the two screens.

Besides creating new icons on the Quick Access Toolbar, adding these can help improve your productivity somewhat. Or, at the very least, give you access to a more personalized Excel experience.

#8. Clipboard Pane

Another helpful boost for productivity is activating the Office Clipboard Task Pane. Once launched, it sits in the left hand side of the Excel window and gives you access to the entire contents and history of the clipboard, which is handy for multiple copy and pastes.

Select the ‘Home’ tab in the Ribbon then, in the ‘Clipboard’ section, click on the little diagonal arrow, located in the bottom right of the section. This will launch the Clipboard Pane and give you access to the set of options that lie within.
#9. Clever format painting [Excel 2003]

Even if cells don’t all have the same characteristics (some might be bold. others italic, some one colour, others another) you can still highlight them all then open the Format Painter tool (it looks like a brush) and ‘paint’ those multiple characteristics onto another row.

#10. Wrap text in cells [Excel 2007]

Type in the over-long text, click the Home tab and select the cell, then find the Alignment section of the ribbon and choose Wrap Text.

#11. Re-use a chart style

Select the Finished chart and click the Save As Template button. Make sure the Charts folder is selected, name it and click the Save button.

#12. Hide a worksheet

Right-click on its tab at the bottom of the screen and choose Hide from the pop-up menu. To restore it, right-click any of the other tabs, choose Unhide and select the relevant sheet from the list.

#13. Conditional formatting

Create a dummy worksheet, make sure the Home tab is selected and open the Conditional Formatting drop-down menu.

Choose Highlight Cells Rules and select Less Than.

Type 50 in to the first box and leave the other settings as they are. Click OK.

Whenever the contents of a cell fills below 50 it will be highlighted in red.

#14. Recover unsaved workbooks

Open the File menu, choose Info, then open the Manage Versions drop-down menu and select Recover Unsaved Workbooks. You may be able to restore an unsaved workbook from there.

#15. Add mini-charts to worksheets

Highlight the cells containing the data and click the Insert tab.

Find the Spark-lines section on the ribbon and choose a chart type.

When the dialogue box opens, confirm the data range is correct and select the reference for the cell where the spark-line should appear. Click OK.

#16. Check for errors

Setting up a spreadsheet for others to use? Select the cells the users type into, select the Data tab and click Data Validation. When the dialogue box opens, choose the relevant value from the Allow list, click the 'Error Alert' tab and type in your personalized error message. Click OK to close the dialogue box.

8 Best Tips to Speed up Search in Chrome & Firefox

In this section we will list out top and best ways to speed up search in browser without opening search websites.

Search specific sites from the address bar

Chrome lets you use its address bar (omnibox) to search sites without opening them first. Go to Settings, click ‘Manage search engines’ and scroll to the bottom of the ‘Other search engines’ list. In the ‘Add a new search engine’ field, enter the site you want to search, a keyword to activate the search and the web address of the site’s search results page with ‘%s’ in place of the query.

for example http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q%s’. Now, when you type the keyword into the omnibar and press the spacebar, you will be able to search that site directly.

Search more sites directly from Firefox

The Firefox add-on Add to Search Bar lets you add any site to the browser’s list of search engines, so you can search it from wherever you are on the web. Just right-click the site’s search box and choose ‘Add to Search Bar’.

Find words without retyping them

If you often use the Ctrl+F shortcut in Firefox to find words and phrases on web pages, FindList can save you time. It adds a pop-up menu to the Find box that stores up to 50 of your previous search queries for instant access.

Find search terms faster using Quick Scroll

Ever click a Google search result and have trouble finding what you searched for on the subsequent page? Chrome add-on Quick Scroll solves this problem by showing you the relevant matches for your query so you can jump to them with a single click.

Search Gmail from the omnibox

Gmail Search lets you find messages in your Gmail inbox directly from Chrome’s address bar. Just type gs into the omnibox, press the Tab key or spacebar and enter a search term to find matching messages in your Gmail account.

Try a more private alternative to Google

If you’re worried about Google spying on what you’re searching for, why not switch to a less intrusive search engine? You have probably heard of DuckDuckGo, which does not collect any personal information, but also worth a try is Startpage, which provides the same search results as Google but does not record your IP address.

Discover where web images came from

Reverse-image tool TinEye tells you where an image came from, if it’s been modified and whether a higher-quality version is available. Install the plug-in (for Firefox, Chrome, IE, Safari and Opera), right-click a picture and choose ‘Search Image on Tin Eye’.

Discover similar sites to the current one

Google Similar Pages for Chrome finds you sites with the same type of the content as the one you’re currently viewing. Just click the toolbar button to view and explore the suggestions. For Firefox, you can install another add-on called Similar Pages, which recommends sites in a sidebar.

Top 6 Social Media iOS Apps for Local Businesses

Here are several social media platforms that local businesses need to consider using, monitoring, and promoting through.

Foundations for all types of local businesses

It’s all about the search. People need to be able to find you. On any iOS device, using Sin or not, you have to be findable. To make sure that happens, you need to claim your business on these three sites: Google Places, Bing Business Portal, and Yahoo Local Listings. Once you have claimed your business listing on those basic sites, you can be assured that people will find you when they do a search on the computer or on their iOS device.

Social Media Platforms

#1. Facebook

With facebook app, you can comment, reply, upload pictures, create events - just about anything you need to do.



To my mind, Facebook is like a local newspaper. People announce weddings, divorces, births, and deaths on Facebook. They also announce events and try to sell things - all things that a local newspaper does.There are two ways a local business can use Facebook: by having an official business page, and by keeping a personal account with the Subscription button turned on.

On your official business page, make sure your business is categorized as a local business and have your best fans write recommendations right on your page. Always ask your customers if they are on Facebook. If they are, ask for a recommendation right after a sale.

#2. Twitter



Tweet instant updates of 140 characters or less to all your business’s followers with the official Twitter app.
I’m sure your city has active Twitter users. You can develop a Twitter account and connect to local people using Twellowhood. Then develop a hashtag that is specific to your business, and you should always include the hashtag for your city.

#3. Google+

The official G+ app is the best social media app I have found.



Since you already have a Google Place account, you will need to connect your Place account to your Google+ company page. The first step is to make sure you open your own personal G+ account and then a company page for your business; then connect that company page to your Google Place account (check to see if you can access company pages through the G+ app).

#4. Linkedin



Linked In is one of the most important social accounts a local business can have, yet it is the most overlooked. Think of this as your official business listing.You need a personal account and a company page.

#5. Pinterest



I can’t ignore Pinterest - and neither can you. It is the fastest growing social site at the moment and has recently been generating a lot of buzz. If your business has visually appealing items, you absolutely need to have an account here and, most importantly, you need to code your website so people can “pin” the images of your products.

#6. Foursquare

Use the official foursquare 4s app for checking in, discovering what’s nearby, and sharing your experiences with friends.



Search to find your business on foursquare (4s), and then claim it. Once it’s claimed, you can add specials to the check-ins. I always pull up 4s in my own town to see who has a special. I am much more likely to eat at a restaurant that has a special. You need to put the 4s decal in your window and honor the Mayor of your space.