Make the most out of sticky notes in Windows 7

Are you addicted to Post-It Notes? Do you use them to remind you of that doctor’s appointment next week or what to pick up at the grocery store for dinner tonight? Windows 7 has its own built-in version of the Post-It Note called Sticky Notes. Sticky Notes act, and even look like, Post-It Notes.
If you are looking for a way to make notes on your computer without restoring to going through a stack of Post-It Notes every week, Sticky Notes can quickly become your new addiction. Sticky Notes is available on the following Windows 7 versions: Enterprise, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. They also support touch and pen input if you have a tablet or touch screen PC.
Let’s walkthrough how to use Sticky Notes in Windows 7 and you will see how much easier it is to rely on virtual notes than have your home or office cluttered in colorful reminders everywhere you look.

Click on “Sticky Notes” to open your first one in its original familiar yellow form.

You can now type any note you want into the text window. You can resize the Sticky Note by clicking the bottom right-hand corner and dragging it to the size you need.
If you want to change the color of your Sticky Note, you want to right-click in the text box area. You can now choose from a handful of colors. Simply click a color to change it.

If you want to open a new Sticky Note, you want to click the “+” in the upper left-hand corner. This will open a new note next to the original one.

These are all the basics you need to know to begin using and taking advantage of Sticky Notes in Windows 7.
Now, you may be wondering if you can format Sticky Notes beyond how they originally load up. The answer is yes, but you will need to utilize keyboard shortcuts to do so. There are no other built-in options in Sticky Notes themselves. It might be a good idea to right these keyboard shortcuts down on a Post-It Note until you memorize them.

Bold Text

CTRL + B

Italic Text

CTRL + I

Underlined Text

CTRL + U

Strikethrough

CTRL + T

Bullet List

CTRL + SHIFT + L

If you want to switch back and forth between list types, you can then click CTRL + SHIFT + L again to make the change. Just keep doing that to your text until you find the type of list you want.

You can choose from: Bullets, numbers, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, uppercase Roman numerals and lowercase Roman numerals. If you want to get rid of your list, you can either delete it one bullet at a time or cycle through the type of lists until it is removed for you.

Font Size Increase

CTRL + SHIFT + >

You can continue to use this command to increase the size even larger or returning to its original size.

Font Size Decrease

CTRL + SHIFT + <

You can continue to use this command to decrease the size even smaller or returning to its original size.

Most of these features are UN-necessary but still can  keep you glued on for a while...

Sky drive offers unlimited space for your photos

Since Microsoft has decided to jump on the Cloud bandwagon, it has focused a lot of its efforts on revamping Windows Live SkyDrive. Anyone using the Internet now is looking for ways to upload, edit and share on the go and SkyDrive seeks to bring everything a Windows Live users wants and need in its service.
Just recently SkyDrive increased its storage space from 5 GB to 25 GB. With Microsoft’s recent announcements about SkyDrive 5, the service will now offer unlimited storage for any type of Microsoft Office document as well as photos. Everything else will fall under the 25 GB storage space guidelines.

Ninite lets you install all your bulk software at once

You’ve got a new computer, you’re eager to get it out of the box and take it for a test drive.Or, maybe you just messed up with your PC and it is working really slow. Possibly you are a nerd and getting bored running a perfect system.The result of any of these likely scenarios is that you’ll have a fresh copy of Microsoft’s desktop OS in front of you.


Before you can really get your teeth into testing out your machine’s capabilities, though, you need to install some software. It’s a necessity, and it was one I personally met with dread, disdain and despair. It’s easy to sit there for literally hours locating all your favorite apps on the web, downloading and installing them. But, you’ll happy to know, there’s now a workaround that saves you a lot of time:http://www.ninite.com

What is ninite and how does it work?

Put simply, Ninite.com is a web-based tool for aggregating many of the most popular freeware on the web for you to install on your PC, running any compatible version of Windows. It’s a tool bred out of sheer genius.

The website itself consists of one main page, populated with a list of the popular apps, categorised much like an App Store – a layout that’s increasingly familiar to most of us -  and each app is accompanied by a regular check box. All you need to do is simply go through the list of 92 applications and select the ones you want on your PC.
There’s a huge green button at the bottom of the list that’s labelled ‘Get Installer’. Hit that, and you’ll download a single executable file that will subsequently launch a batch installer and run through each of your selected programs one-by-one, migrating from the interwebs, onto your hard drive.




The primary advantage of speed, saving you the job of going to the website of each developer in turn and downloading each installer file separately. That sort of goes without saying, but there are a couple of other underlying benefits. Firstly, it allows you to go away and get on with something else whilst it’s happening, although that’s not to say you can’t carry on using your PC during the process, it behaves like any other installer, minus the distractions. Usually, you’d be taped to your seat waiting for one install to complete before you grab the next one.

The only disadvantage I could find is that you cant install the softwares personally to differernt directories and you will need to be content with the Program Files folder.

Why not try out the software rather than listening to the critics. :D

Subscribe button on Facebook

Did you notice the subscribe button facebook recently? Seems similar to 'follow' from twitter and 'add to circles' from google+. Facebook is trying to keep up with the changing trend and allows you to follow strangers and view their public updates.

Facebook is trying to give Twitter a run for its money with a new feature that will allow users to “subscribe” to others’ public updates—essentially the Facebook version of a Twitter “follow.”
On its official blog, Facebook explained that the new feature will give users greater control over their news feeds, allowing them to see updates from specific friends, pick what kinds of updates they see (for instance, just photos from one friend or only important updates from another), and choose the frequency of updates.
But the big change is that users will now be able to subscribe to the public feeds of people they’re not “friends” with as well as send their own public messages, just like on Twitter. This means that you’ll be able to see stories from journalists, artists, or any other stranger without needing to send a friend request.
The feature will be rolling out over the next few days, and according to Facebook, soon you’ll begin seeing “subscribe” buttons on friends’ and strangers’ profiles.

So next you know, you are subscribing to your crushes may be.. ;)

Windows 8 proposed to boot up at a lightening fast speed of 3 secs

A lot of buzz is around the globe for the release of Windows 8 and its new and unique features.
Among the exciting features of Windows 8, it also offers a quick boot time of 3 secs. Several tests have been run which prove the booting time. So if you are obsessed by quick booting time of a MAC, Windows 8 steps into the battlefield. Watch it.

Not only is the few second startup going to dramatically improve the user experience on both tablet and desktop alike, it’s also likely to be a key ingredient in Microsoft’s marketing of Windows 8. Not so much because it’ll slap it all over the commercials.

 

I found a video on the internet. Check it out.

Get rid of unnecessary files with ccleaner

Ever wondered why your PC is slowing down? Or maybe you know about so many temporary files and don't have a clue how to go on on deleting them. Even when your PC crashes after a blue screen, Windows creates a huge dump file (500MB or so) and it remains in the hard disk for debugging.
A lot of cookies may be stored in your browsers. Some folders of uninstalled applications, missing shortcuts.
You know want to delete all of them, but laziness takes over you and you just chuck it...

Luckily, there's a software 'CCleaner' which takes care of all your job. Really easy to user interface and you can even select which information to keep and which to delete. The software performs a quick scan to search you PC for all unwanted files and displays a list before deleting them. Its really that simple.

You can download the stable version of software from here.
OR
Get the latest version here.

Save your files on SharedSafe

After a overwhelming response from Gmail Drive, I bring you another alternative to the concept. Taking the Gmail drive to a next level, a third party software has developed a shareware program 'Shared Safe'.

Why SharedSafe instead of Gmail drive?
Well, the answer is a pretty obvious one. In Gmail drive one only had the option to upload files to a Gmail account. Whereas, in SharedSafe you can link other accounts like Yahoo!, Hotmail, MSN as well.
Mail accounts like yahoo offer you unlimited storage space, so now you know how to make good use of that space.

You can download SharedSafe from the official website here.

The only catch is that its a shareware program, but you can try it free for 30 days.

Install Windows 8 from a pen drive

Microsoft has just released a developer preview of their upcoming operating system Windows 8. Users from all over the world can download the preview and install it on their systems. There is only one restriction with regards to the installation: You cannot update an existing copy of Windows, the Windows 8 installation requires a clean install.
It can be perfect for you if you want to simply install it in a new system or may b you just want to try it. For trying purposes you can install it in VMware player.

So ready when you are,

->Installing by a pen drive is difficult, as it requires more preparation than just burning an ISO image to disk and putting that ISO into the DVD drive of the computer.
->You need an pen drive with at least four GB of free space. The first step is to format the pen drive with the FAT32 file system. This is done by connecting the USB drive to the computer, right-clicking its drive letter and selecting Format from the options. The Format window pops up where you need to make sure that Fat32 is the selected file system. Everything else can be left as is.



Wait until the formatting has finished. You now need access to the Windows 8 ISO or DVD. The developer preview is only provided as an ISO image. Check out Windows 8 Download for instructions.

The easiest way to copy Windows 8 to an USB drive and make that drive bootable at the same time is to use Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. While designed specifically for Windows 7, it appears to work just fine to create a bootable Windows 8 USB key as well.

Just select the Windows 8 ISO when asked to pick an ISO image from the computer. Then select to copy the contents to an USB drive. The program will copy all files to the drive and make that drive bootable at the same time. You can download the Microsoft tool from here.

Install Windows 8

You plug in your USB key into the computer you want to install Windows 8 on. You need to tell the computer on first start to boot from USB and not from hard drive or another location. This is done in the Bios. You usually enter the Bios with F1, F1, Delete, Esc or another key that is highlighted on the screen on Post. Press that key and look for an entry that says Boot or Boot order and make sure that USB has the highest priority on the system. You can easily repeat the steps if the computer is not booting from USB.
The computer should pick up the installation files on the USB drive automatically and installation should commence.
Windows 8 has the following system requirements:

• 1 Gigahertz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1 Gigabyte of RAM for 32-bit, 2 Gigabytes of RAM for 64-bit minimum
• 16 Gigabyte hard drive for 32-bit systems, 20 Gigabyte for 64-bit systems
• Direct X 9 graphics card

Try it and do give me a feedback.

Gmail drive

Google offers more features than one can even imagine. Ever wondered what to do of the entire free space on your gmail account. What if you could use that space to back up files on your email account for further use or may be simply you need to keep some private data. One way of doing is saving the files in your drafts folder but then you are limited by the 15MB attachment gmail provides you.

Well, thanks to a third party software who developed a software Gmail Drive.
This drive is a virtual drive which is displayed in your My Computer window and can be only accessed by your gmail username and password. This enables multiple account usage. :D

You need to download the gmail drive software. This can be done here.

Once you install the drive (takes 5-6 secs), a new drive 'Gmail Drive' will be mounted on your My Computer window.

Clicking on it will ask your gmail credentials.

Simply, enter your username and password to login.
You may want to use the drafts folder (its completely optional).











A blank window opens up. Simply copy paste the files you require to upload. Close the folder and you are done.
Your files are uploaded and secured and can be accessed from any part of the world.

Inkball in Windows 7

Most of the Windows Vista users must have played a quite popular game 'Inkball' which came pre-installed with the OS in all the versions. Microsoft dropped this game when they released Windows 7. I myself don't understand the reason behind doing this.

Anyways, if you really liked Inkball but have switched over to Windows 7, no need to be dis-heartened.

You can download the game here.

Have fun..!!

How to run android on your Windows 7

After running MAC OS on a Windows 7 PC, I offer you a way by which you can test the android platform your computer.If you want to run latest version of Android OS on your computer then you can do this with the help of Android SDK. All you need to do is install a SDK on your computer and try the latest version of the OS right inside your Windows computer. SDK is also available for Mac OS X and Linux OS. This guide will show you how to install Android SDK on your computer and run the Gingerbread without any hassle.

Note: Download and install Java on your computer before downloading Android SDK.

First of all, go to this website and download the Windows version of the package. Click on android-sdk_r07-windows.zip to download the file.

OR

You can directly download the file here.

After the file is downloaded. Extract the zip file. Open the folder and you’ll find SDK Manager.exe inside it. Double click on it to run it.

A black screen will appear followed by packages to choose. You need to choose those versions of Android which you want to test on your computer. For example,, I rejected many old versions of Android (Android 1.1 to Android 3.1). If you choose more than one version then it will take too much time to complete the installation process because all the files get downloaded one by one (for each version) from the internet. It is better to select only few versions. After selecting the versions, click “Install” button.

It will start installing all the selected versions of Android one by one, starting from the latest one. You can see the progress in the opened window.

Give the name to the virtual device. In the dropdown next to Target, select the Android platform (I selected Android 2.2). Choose the size of SD card (virtual card, no SD card required to run the virtual device). After selecting the proper options click on the “Create AVD button”.

After successfully creating the AVD, it will notify you.

To start the AVD (Android virtual device) just select the AVD and then click the highlighted “Start” button.





Keep the “Launch Options” as it is. Click on the “Launch” button to start the device.





Device will launch. You can see ANDROID written on the left side and mobile like buttons on the right. A bar next to ANDROID is blinking which means the device is booting.

After a few minutes your device will start and you can use android on your PC.

Have fun...  :)

Here is a preview of my blog on GingerBread On Windows 7