Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Windows Command Line Tricks

1. Join multiple mp3 files
Usually you require some software to join the mp3 files.
Here’s a nice trick that otherwise would require some software to perform. You can join multiple mp3 files to form a single mp3 file. Simply move to the folder in command line where mp3 files are stored that you want to combine and run the command

copy /b *.mp3 newfile.mp3

The wildcard *.mp3 will combine all mp3 files to form a newfile.mp3 file. You can control which files are combined using wildcard parameters.

2. Use previously entered Command
Just typed a long command moments ago and need to run that again but the effort involved to type again is making you sick! But don’t worry as command line keeps track of your previously entered commands which are accessible by pressing F7 key.

Command History

Alternatively you can use Up Arrow key to use earlier commands you used.

F1 & F2 also offer similar kind of functionality but in a different way, try them out.

3. Over Hide your files
Apart from normal hiding properties of Windows Graphical Interface, You can over hide your files using attrib command. Then after files will not be visible even if you use tools-> folder option-> View-> Show hidden files and folders.
Use the command

attrib +s +h pathtofile
for example, attrib +s +h E:\songs\abc.3gp

to over hide a file. Replace + symbol with - to remove over hidden attribute from file.

4. Map a Drive Letter to a Folder
Most of the time, our hard drives get filled with huge amount of data folder, files etc that moving to a folder you occasionally use becomes a heck. However, there’s a dos command that lets you map a drive letter to a folder. e.g. to map the folder C:\windows to M drive use the command:

subst M: C:\Windows

However the mapped drive gets lost once you restart your pc, you can then create a batch file including the above command and schedule it to run at system startup.

5. Change colors of command Window
Perhaps you need to take a print out of dos window and don’t want to waste ink on black background of dos window. Windows command line provides a command to change background and text color of dos window in a snap.

Simply use color bf to change colors. b is the code for background color and f is code for text color. To know color codes type color /? at command line.

6. Run Multiple commands at once
Multiple commands can be concatenated using && and run at once with single press of Enter. Simply type in your commands and concatenate them with && at once.

e.g. color f8 && dir && time

would run all the three commands one after another with a single press of Enter.

7. Filter output of commands
Some commands like systeminfo provide a whole bunch of information about your pc but what if you need info only about updates installed or Processor or Virtual Memory. You can filter the output using find. Here’s how to get only updates list from systeminfo.

systeminfo | find "Update"

This will only show updates installed on your system.

8. Drag Drop Folder paths
No need to type in long folder paths at command line, simply drag n drop that file or folder from explorer onto command line window to copy its path.
Explore This Trick >>

Tricky run Commands you would not know

Generally we use run commands to open some specific application.
But here are some tricky run commands that you will surely like.

To Open Home Directory:- (Just type single dot in run window & press OK.)



In XP,You can simply open ur own directory specified at "C:\Documents and Settings\Username" using this command.
In windows Vista & windows 7 you will open C:\Users\Username directory.

To Open Users Directory:- (Just type double dot in run window & Press OK.)



This command will show you all users directory specified at "C:\Documents and Settings\"

To Open My Computer:- (Just type triple dot in run window & Press OK.)



This command will open "My Computer". This one is very usefull when you have opened so many tasks at one time. Just open run box and type command. My Computer window will immediately show to you.

To Open System Drive:- (Just type \ in run window & Press OK.)



This commands opens system drive in which you are logon.

Explore This Trick >>

Create Your Own Run Commands

1. Firstly go to Start-> Run, type-> regedit and hit enter.



2. Now navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths

3. Right-Click on App Paths and select> New> Key




4. Title the new key the name of the application, in this case; firefox.exe

5. Right-Click the default string value and click Modify.

6. Change the value to the path of the executable you want to run. E.g. "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"



7. Now, in the white space below right click anywhere and select New> String Value.

8. Name it Path and enter the value as C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe



That’s it, the two keys should look like above, now close the registry editor. Go to start> Run> type your run command and hit enter. In the above case its firefox.exe. firefox will launch within seconds.

You can do this for any application. All you need to do is enter the path of the application you want to open and also make sure that you remember the name of the key that you give as you have to enter it to launch it.

Explore This Trick >>

Resolve Computer Blue Screen Problem

Blue screen of  death (BSOD)

One of  the worst  problems faced by a computer user,  is when a computer with Windows operating system installed on it has a system error and display an error message "Illegal operation" on a blue screen, and the computer has to be restarted to prevent damage to the computer. The computer then has to be restarted, and all the work that was being done is lost.

Unlike startup errors which are indicated by a beeping sound , the blue screen of  death (BSOD) can occur at any time when you are working on your computer, without any warning. For example, it can occur when you are moving data between 2 folders and the data will have just disappeared from your hard disk!

The common causes for the blue screen of  death and the solutions to fix it are as follows:

1. Device driver problems - when new hardware is added to the computer, the device drivers may not be compatible. Try to get the latest updated version of the device driver from the manufacturer website. If it still does not work, remove or uninstall the new hardware and check if the problem continues.

2. New software installed may also cause a problem, so uninstall any new software. Viruses and spy ware can also cause problems, so ensure that you have the latest version of  antivirus software installed and scan your computer regularly. How to  remove all spyware, adware  and  run a free antivirus program.

3. Hardware problems - Computer components like the CPU, fan, RAM start malfunctioning after some time, especially if you use your computer for more than 10 hours a day.  Computers with AMD Athlon CPU's generate more heat compared to Intel CPU's and so this problem seems to be more common with these computers.

4. A simple configuration change which I made, after which I never faced the problem of  Blue Screen of  Death.

   a) In most computers the RAM memory is shared between the system and graphics  - for example ,  for 128MB  , 96 MB is for the system and 32 MB is for graphics (default setting).  Reduce the memory for graphics to the minimum - 8 MB.

   b) Change the virtual memory settings.

My Computer ---->   Properties ----->Advanced ------> Performance -------> Advanced ---------> Virtual  Memory.

For paging file size, select custom file size , with initial size 500 MB and final size 1000 MB. Save the settings. You can increase the paging file size further according to the software programs you use.

5. If nothing works, you can always reformat your computer hard disk and reinstall the operating system and software.

Explore This Trick >>

Bypass Windows Genuine Advantage for Windows Media Player 11

  • Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP offers great new ways to store and enjoy all your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV with cool new look.
  • Play it, view it, and sync it to a portable device for enjoying on the go or even share with devices around your home—all from one place.
  • You must have Windows XP Service Pack-2 (SP2) in order to install Windows Media Player 11.0. But still you will face a problem while installing this new Windows Media Player if your copy of Windows XP is pirated, bcoz WMP 11.0 installation requires genuine windows validation...
  • But here is a trick to follow up the installation of WMP 11.0 bypassing the Windows XP genuine validation.



Few Steps To ByPass WGA with the WMP installer:

Step 1.
    Download the wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe (this is the English Version) installer from the web. Download WMP 11.0

Step 2.
    Download the Pached "legitLibM.dll" from here.
   (You can use this patch on all languages. for e.g. the dutch version = wmp11-windowsxp-x86-nl-nl)

Step 3.
    Right-click the wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe file and click on 'Extract to wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu\'
   (This will create a map in the same folder called 'wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu')

Step 4.
    In this folder you will find 'LegitLibM.dll', overwrite this file with the downloaded 'LegitLibM.dll' you get from this torrent.

Step 5.
    Run 'setup_wm.exe', follow the instructions and press Validate and it will work without really Validating.

NOTE:
    You must require Windows XP service pack 2 in order to install WMP 11

Explore This Trick >>

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Disable autorun on all Media with Freeware

"Disable autorun on all media"

Simply and light-weight application that disable the AutoRun features that popups a windows
after inserting a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, a Pendrive stick, or after creating a network connection, and so on.

start the application and click on the Ok button; if you want to return to the normal behaviour click on 'Restore default' and Ok. you can free download Autorun Blocker 1.0.0.0 now.




Most of the virus infections are caused due to virus spreading through pen drives, memory cards and other USB drives. Many of these viruses use autorun.inf viruses which cause the infection because of a small autorun.inf files which triggers the virus files on your pen drive.

When you double click on your USB pen drive icon to open the drive in windows explorer these autorun.inf files run the viruses files and copy them to your computer to cause virus infection.

Download Autorun blocker


Explore This Trick >>

Reveal Password Hidden Behind ********

Always wanted to know what's behind those ******'s?
for example, want 2 know Gtalk or yahoo messenger password someone had typed in ur PC?

Well here's the free software application that tells you exactly that.



Simply drag the hand over the ****** in a text box to reveal the password! Simple, small, quick and free.

Spine PassView is a very serviceable tool with which you just simply drag the hand over the asterisks in a text box to reveal the password. Simple, small, and quick.

Explore This Trick >>

About This Blog

Lorem Ipsum