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In This Issue...
Newbies Nook - Information, Tips, and Instruction for Computer Users
Forum Favorites - Popular Questions and Threads from the Forum
Security Corner - How to Recognize and Avoid Email Scams - Part 3
Carol's Corner Office - Microsoft Office and OpenOffice How-To's and Tips
Dave's Recommended Software - Our Picks of the Best Software Available
Digital Photography - Learn How to Take Better Pictures
Freeware Focus - A Spotlight on Freeware programs
Useful Websites - Useful Websites Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers
The Lighter Side - Funny, Interesting, and Thought Provoking Items Found on the Net
As I discussed in the Everything You Want to Know About Upgrading to Windows 7 article in the last issue all versions of the OS are on the retail DVD, unfortunately they are locked. If you have done an upgrade, or a clean install of Windows 7 you might have noticed a few slight differences between a Vista installation and a Win7 installation. Microsoft made a change in the installation routine for Windows 7 that limits the installation to the edition purchased, even though the DVD actually contains all editions. In Vista you were presented with a list of available editions, which allowed you to choose which to install. This is not the case during a Windows 7 install. The method in Windows 7 is a nice change for the average user, but for us Geeks (hey, you're reading a computer newsletter aren't you?), those with tech support duties, or anyone with multiple computers containing different versions are now stuck keeping an installation DVD for each version! Or are they?
How to Unlock all Editions of a Windows 7 DVD or ISO
How is Windows 7 "locked"?
The "super secret key" to unlocking a Windows 7 DVD is a little file called ie.cfg located in the sources directory on the Windows 7 DVD. If you were to load a Win7 DVD and navigate to the sources directory this is what you would see.
Look at it. Sitting there like a mystical gate keeper with a sly smirk preventing you from using the DVD to install the version of your choosing!
If we were to open the file and have a look under the hood to see exactly what is contained in this mystical file we would find it is a simple text file containing telling the installation routine which edition to install, whether the DVD contains a retail or OEM installation, and if it is a retail or volume licence. Not exactly mystical!
Above you can see that the DVD I am using for this tutorial will install Windows 7 Professional, is a retail copy, and is not a volume license.
How to Remove ie.cfg from a Windows 7 DVD
Create an ISO image of the Windows 7 installation DVD
If you downloaded Windows 7 originally as an ISO file you can skip this section!
The not-so-simple method involves ripping the contents of the DVD to your computer, removing the file from the sources directory and reburning the DVD while ensuring the DVD volume name remains the same.
A more productive method is to use ImgBurn to create an ISO image of the DVD. An ISO image is a file that contains the information to recreate a CD or DVD exactly. Windows 7, ImgBurn, and programs such as Nero have to ability to burn an ISO image and create an exact copy of the original CD or DVD.<
Open ImgBurn and you will be presented with the following screen:
Choose Create image file from disc which will will open a window where you can choose which CD/DVD drive (if you have more than one) to use and allow you to choose a location (using the Desktop will make finding the file easier) and a file name for the image.
Sit back and relax while ImgBurn does the work. When ImgBurn is done you'll hear a cheerful jingle and you can close the program. Look in the location you specified earlier and you should find the file created by ImgBurn.
Removing ie.cfg from the ISO image
Next, download the ie.cfg Removal Utility to your desktop. Double click the iecfg_removal_utility.zip file, which will open an explorer window displaying the contents of the zip file.
Pressing the ctrl+a keys together will select "all" of the items in the explorer window. Pressing the ctrl+c keys together will "copy" the selected (in this case all items) items to the computer clipboard.
Create a new folder on your desktop by right clicking an empty area of your desktop and selecting New>Folder. You will now find a folder on your desktop named "New Folder". Place your mouse directly over the New Folder and right click again. Click on Paste in the menu that appears. This will extract the files from the ie.cfg removal utility into the folder! If you have problems getting the above to work you can drag and drop each file from the explorer window (show above) to the New Folder.
Open the New Folder and double click iecfg_remover.exe. This will open a dialog box where you choose the location of the iso image we created earlier. Navigate to the desktop, or other location you chose above, and select the ISO file created by ImgBurn. Click Open.
After choosing the correct location and file click Open. In a few moments you will have an ISO image of the Windows 7 DVD that has all editions unlocked! You can now delete the New Folder.
The ie.cfg Remover sets a 'bit' that causes ie.cfg to be hidden. This literally takes seconds, where extracting the ISO, removing the file, and rebuilding the ISO would take several minutes!
You can burn 'edition unlocked' Windows 7 DVD's using Windows 7 built in functionality, ImgBurn, or Nero with the new ISO image. More importantly it can be stored as a backup of the more fragile (and likely to get lost or damaged) original DVD. The ISO file can be stored on an internal or external hard drive and you can burn a new unlocked DVD at any time in the future!
I hope you can see the benefits of having the Windows 7 installation DVD unlocked and in an ISO image format, but you may be wondering, "Is that all? Surely there must be more!"
OK, Now what?
In the next newsletter I'll show you how to create a bootable Windows 7 flash drive. Keep that ISO image handy because we'll use that in the process to create the flash drive. In the mean time be on the lookout for a 4GB flash drive. They can be had for as little as $11(US).
The Daves Computer Tips Forum needs your help (OK I need your help)! The forum has over 375 members and over 3300 total posts. We desperately need your participation for the forum to thrive! The forum is not only a great place to get and give computer advice, but a wonderful place to meet like minded individuals from around the world!
Windows 7 Upgrade Experience - Soldat tells us a little about his Windows 7 upgrade experience.
USB external modem - WiseTioga needs some suggestions concerning a modem for his laptop. Can you help?
Word 2002 doesn't remember settings - Have you experienced this? Do you have any advice for WiseTioga?
Come join us in the forum. Join. Jump in. Ask. Help. Learn. Chat.
How to Recognize and Avoid Email Scams - Part 3
In Part 2, I gave you some real examples of common email scams and some analysis to help you recognize them. In this, the final installment, we'll explore Trojan horse emails, phishing scams, and the Nigerian 419 scam. I'll also leave you once again with the US-CERT tips on how to avoid the common scams.
The Trojan Horse
Just like that historical gift the Greeks gave to the citizens of Troy, the Trojan horse email is a masquerade. Regardless of whether it appears desirable or something requiring attention, it actually contains a dangerous payload. Here's a copy of a real email reported to snopes.com that contains Trojan-laden attachments, the usual means of spreading the malware:
From: Internal Revenue Service (fraud.dep@irs.gov)
Subject: Complaint Case Number 98473953 against Edward Walsh
Dear Edward Walsh,
You have received a complaint in regards to your business services .The complaint was filled By Mr. Kevin Ferguson on 05/29/2007/
Complaint Case Number: 875487596
Complaint made By Consumer Mr. Kevin Ferguson
Complaint registered against : - TildenPacific Property Trust
Date: 05/30/2007/
Instructions on how to resolve this complaint as well as a copy of the
original complaint are attached to this email.
Disputes involving consumer products and/or services may be arbitrated.
Unless they directly relate to the contract that is the basis of this
dispute, the following claims will be considered for arbitration only if
all parties agree in writing that the arbitrator may consider them:
Claims based on product liability;
Claims for personal injuries;
Claims that have been resolved by a previous court action, arbitration, or
written agreement between the parties.
The decision as to whether your dispute or any part of it can be
arbitrated rests solely with the IRS.
The IRS offers a binding arbitration service for disputes involving
marketplace transactions. Arbitration is a convenient, civilized way to
settle disputes quickly and fairly, without the costs associated with
other legal options.
© 2007 Council of IRS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Just so you know, the IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through email and I'm sure other countries' revenue authorities don't either.
The Phishing Scam
Phishing scams are emails designed to obtain someone's private personal and financial information such as credit card accounts, bank account logins and passwords and other sensitive information. They are often disguised as being from the financial institution or credit card company itself, like this actual PayPal phishing scam:
Security Measures - Are You Traveling?
PayPal is committed to maintaining a safe environment for its community of buyers and sellers. To protect the security of your account, PayPal employs some of the most advanced security systems in the world and our anti-fraud teams regularly screen the PayPal system for unusual activity.
We recently noted one or more attempts to log in to your account from a foreign country. If you accessed your account while traveling, the attempt(s) may have been initiated by you.
Because the behavior was unusual for your account, we would like to take an extra step to ensure your security and you will now be taken through a series of identity verification pages.
IP Address Time Country
80.69.115.16 Oct 27, 2005 12:47:01 PDT Germany
80.69.115.16 Oct 29, 2005 18:37:55 PDT Germany
217.160.77.45 Nov 14, 2005 16:42:16 PDT United Kingdom
217.160.77.45 Nov 15, 2005 16:58:03 PDT United Kingdom
Click here to download PayPal security tool
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure meant to help protect you and your account.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choise but to temporaly suspend your account.
Thank you for using PayPal! The PayPal Team
Looks official, doesn't it? Well, if the person clicks the link, an executable, named 'PayPal-2.5.200-MSWin32-x86-2005.exe' is downloaded. That program is a Trojan Horse which modifies the DNS server of the local workstation and then deletes itself. All future requests for 'paypal.com' will be transparently redirected to a phishing website. Were the person will be asked to enter credit card information. Gotcha!
The Nigerian 419 Scam
The perpetrators of Advance Fee Fraud (AFF), known internationally as "4-1-9" fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes, are often very creative and innovative. They are also often quite gullible, if not downright stupid. If you want a good laugh, visit www.419eater.com and see what the scambaiters are up to. The email exchanges posted there are absolutely hilarious at times. A WARNING, though: 419 scammers are not nice people, they are thieves, liars, and generally very nasty, therefore you can expect some small use of adult language and themes on that website.
The dead giveaway that you have received one of these scam emails is an offer by the sender to transfer millions of dollars to you for whatever reason they invent in their particular version of the scam. Here's an actual letter:
Subject: HELP ME TO SPREAD GOODNESS
My beloved,
It is my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I intend to establish in your country.Though I have not met with you before but I believe, one has to risk confiding in someone to succeed sometimes in life.
There is this amount of FIFTEEN Million US Dollars which my Father deposited with a security company which he wanted to used for his political ambition in our Country before he was kidnapped and killed by unknown gun men. Hence my father and mother is dead, I do not have any other hope rather than this funds which is why I contacted you.
Now I have decided to invest these money in your country or any where safe enough outside Africa for security and political reasons. I only give all praises to God who made every thing to be like this, my father is gone, I can count you as my father if you wish to be a Daddy to me. [Pass the sickbag]
Hence this investment shall be made in your company upon your withdrawal of the consignment, I do not have money to work on this and will commit suicide and die [And die? Suicide just isn't good enough these days] if I cannot secure my late father's treasure which he got for his family.
I want you to help us claim and receive the consignment which will be sent to you through diplomatic means to your address to avoid any traces of the funds and to enable you plan for the investment in your Country.
I will like to invest part of the money into these three investment in your Country but, if there is any other business that is better than my suggestion, I will be very glad to follow your advice.
1). Real estate
2). The transport industry
3). Five star hotel
If you can be of an assistance to me, I will be pleased to offer to you 20% Of the total fund while the balance will be invested by you. I need your understanding and honesty to this project, I assure you to always be your brother.
I await your soonest response.
Respectfully yours,
Miss Jani Adams
I hope you are now better equipped to spot email scams on your own and know how to handle them (DELETE). Nevertheless let me refresh your memory on those tips from US-CERT:
- Filter spam
- Don't trust unsolicited email
- Treat email attachments with caution
- Don't click links in email messages
- Install antivirus software and keep it up to date
- Install a personal firewall and keep it up to date
- Configure your email client for security
My next series of articles will focus on "14 Golden Rules of Computer Security" from my ebook of the same title. I will be releasing the book in January, 2010. If you'd like to receive a free copy of it, please visit http://askthegeek.us and sign up for my mailing list.
See you next time!
Ken
Ken Harthun is the Security Editor for Daves Computer Tips. He also writes about security issues for IT Knowledge Exchange and blogs on general Geek things at Ask the Geek. You can read more about Ken here.
Add Password Security to your .pdf Files
One of the hallmarks of .pdf (portable document format) is the security feature. I am always appalled at the many .pdf documents that I receive that have no security in place at all. I am grateful that folks trust me, but they really should be securing their documents. It is a very easy process to secure your documents using Adobe Acrobat.
Follow the steps below to learn how:
- Click on File | Properties.
- Click on the Security tab.
- Under Permissions, click Restrict editing and printing of the document.
- Enter Change Permissions Password of your choosing but make sure that it is something that you will remember or save it in a very secure area of your hard drive.
- Under Changes Allowed, leave it at None. If None is not visible, use the drop-down arrow to select it.
- Click on OK.
- Key in your password one more time and click OK again.
- Now click on the Save icon on your .pdf toolbar to enforce the security.
When you now click on File | Properties, you should see that a password is required to change your document.
That was fairly painless now wasn’t it and your document and graphics are now secure.
Next time I will tell you how to create security policies in Adobe Acrobat. Until then, Happy New Year to everyone!
Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.
Anti-spyware and Anti-malware
Webroot SpySweeper - Daves Computer Tips Seal of Approval Winner! See the test results HERE. Spysweeper provides the best protection of the seven anti-spyware programs tested! Great detection and removal rates with a small real-time protection memory footprint. This is the one you want! SpySweeper includes the ASK toolbar. Be sure to uncheck this option during installation. Free 14 day trial.
CounterSpy - Runner-up in my Anti-Spyware test. Not only does CounterSpy scan and remove spyware, it also uses real time protection. Real-time protection prevents spyware infection. Free 15 day trial. Winner of Computer Shopper Magazine's Best Buy Award!
Antivirus and Firewall
ESET Smart Security - New from the maker's of NOD32. Antivirus, Antispyware, Antispam, and Firewall all wrapped into one effective, swift, and low resource package. It is what I use to protect each of my computers!
Kaspersky Antivirus - Kaspersky is my second choice for antivirus software. A good program that is very close in performance to NOD32. Free trial.
Online Armor Firewall - You shouldn't be on the internet without a software firewall that offers inbound and outbound protection. Online Armor is the Best of the Best for those needing a firewall. Online Armor's easy to navigate interface and the protection level can't be beat!
Audio and Video
Acoustica Audio Converter Pro - This program converts audio formats and bitrates. Perfect for those with portable audio players or large music collections. 30 day trial.
Adobe Premier Elements 8 - Elements is the home version of Adobe Premiere, the best professional video editing suite today. Premier Elements costs 1/6th the price of the professional version, but is very capable of making videos that will impress everyone.
DVDFab is my favorite DVD software. I tried over 30 different programs before settling on DVDFab. It offers every function of the other programs and more! Copy, burn, shrink, convert for mobile devices, or convert for streaming. Almost all of the other programs I've tried did not function as advertised, were extremely slow, or did not have features that worked as advertised. DVDFab works, and works as advertised! It's easy to use, has a pleasant user interface, and it updated often.
Computer Hardware
Crucial Memory - Memory (RAM) is the upgrade that gives any computer the best bang for the buck. If you want to speed things up with more memory, why not purchase it from the leading source of quality RAM memory. Great selection, good prices, excellent support, and a lifetime warranty! A real winner!
CyberGuys - The place to get those hard to find cables and accessories for your computer!
HP Computers
- My current pick for new laptops and desktops. In the current market I don't think you can beat HP's combination of price and performance. Their laptop line is very cost effective and the design is absolutely beautiful!
Newegg - Newegg.com is known for great service and awesome pricing on computers, upgrades, and electronics. If you're looking for computers, computer parts, or electronics you owe it to yourself to start here! Great Products. Great Prices. Great Customer Service!
Computer Maintenance
Diskeeper 2010 - My current favorite defrag program. As files are written and erased from the hard drive they begin to leave "spaces" behind. When the drive is written to again files are broken up to fill in these spaces. This causes the drive to go to several different locations to read an entire file, which slows performance greatly. Diskeeper has several advanced features such as; automatic defrag, scheduled defrag, and the ability to defrag the MFT (Master File Table) and paging file. 30 day trial.
Registry Mechanic - A very thorough and efficient registry cleaner and defragmenter. A definite must to maintain peak performance and stabile operation. 30 day trial.
Computer Utility
Acronis True Image 2010 - Do you value the data on your computer? Do you value your time? How much time will you spend recovering data and returning your computer to its original state after a hardware failure or software glitch? True Image is my #1 choice in backup tools. Whether you choose file or image based backups (you should use both!) True Image will perform better than any other application I've used. Disk images created with True Image are generally 10-20% smaller than those from comparable programs. If your time and files are as important to you as mine are to me this is a must have.
Acronis Disk Director - My favorite tool to partition, format, and resize hard drives.
Roboform - This program is the next best thing since sliced bread in my book! This program integrates into Internet Explorer and firefox. It generates very secure passwords at the click of a button. How do I remember these complex passwords? Roboform allows you to save passwords and personal data in an encrypted format. A master password (yes only one password to remember!) allows access. Roboform in IE and FireFox works like a super powered bookmark. You click the site you want to go to and Roboform opens the site, enters your username and password for the site (if required) and as if by magic clicks the submit button. If you shop online Roboform can enter your personal information and credit card information, which is also stored in a secure encrypted file, in one click. A real time saver with great security thrown in to boot! 30 day trial.
WinRar - What is commonly called a zip utility, similar to the more widely known WinZip. WinRar is faster and works with more formats for about 1/2 the price of WinZip. 30 day trial.
Desktop Utility
LogonStudio - Change the screen that appears when you log into Windows (where you enter your password). Hundreds of skins available online. It's free.
CursorFX Plus - Change the cursors on your computer, add interesting effects. Hundreds of cursor packs are available online for free.
IconPackager 5 - Icon Packager puts you in control to change every icon with the click of a button. Tired of the plain icons built into Windows? There are hundreds of Icon Packs available online for free, which will add a truly personal feel to your computer.
WindowBlinds 7 - WindowBlinds changes the look and feel of Windows. By changing the appearance of the task bar, start menu, and any other window or program you open. It adds transparency, shadows, alpha blending, and animations. Hundreds of themes are available online for free.
Internet and Email
1&1 hosting - If you want to start your own website, blog, photo gallery, or have a personalized email address then 1&1 is for you. 1&1 can not be beat for reliability, features, support, and price. 90 day guarantee.
Google Gmail - The best internet based email (webmail) available. Each mailbox has a 6.5GB limit. The interface is superb, and the spam filter is top notch. You will never need to delete an email again! It has a great search function and a feature called thread view, which makes finding emails easy. A webmail account offers several advantages including not being required to change your email address if you change service providers. Gmail requires an invitation from a current member. If you are interested shoot me an email and I'll send you an invite.
Microsoft Outlook 2007 - Outlook is the current email client of choice for corporate America. I get well over 200 emails a day. Outlook has a few features I really need such as a plug in for automatic backups, office sounds which offers me some audible feedback, and the ability to change headers. I've used Mozilla Thunderbird and liked it a lot. With the amount of mail I go through I really need the features of Outlook. If you aren't a heavy user, or don't need the features I do then Thunderbird is a great alternative.
Firefox 3 - An amazing, free, web browser. If you aren't using it you should be! Highly customizable through addins called extensions. There are thousands of extensions which can allow FireFox to do just about anything you can imagine. More importantly, Firefox is not subject to ActiveX, which is a large part of Internet Explorer, AOL, and MSN. No ActiveX means much less chance of getting spyware! Firefox also conforms to web standards more closely than Internet Explorer, which means you will see what the authors intended, not Microsoft.
Mozilla Thunderbird - A great free email client, from the same folks that brought us FireFox. Easy to use and highly customizable through extensions.
Photo and Picture
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 - Photoshop Elements is the home version of Adobe Photoshop. If you are serious about digital photos you will find Photoshop Elements a great program to have at your disposal. Elements provides all the functionality most will need at 1/6th the price of the full Photoshop version.
Picasa - A great (FREE) way to organize, edit, and share your digital photos.
These articles will focus on digital photography and the various ways users have embraced it. The focus is on what you, as a photographer, want from your camera. We’ll also pay attention to how you plan to use or share your images. Whatever your level of expertise, there should something you can use. ~Ron
An Introduction to Point and Shoot Cameras
With the point-and-shoot digital camera, “pocket cameras” have come of age. It’s possible these cameras have made as much difference to amateur photography as the first roll-film cameras a hundred years ago. Today, the range of small cameras is truly amazing; there’s something for everyone. Before you buy your first camera, or replace an older one, let’s talk about two things. What do you want to photograph and how much are you comfortable spending?
If you want to take photos of family gatherings, birthdays, occasions, vacations, then an elaborate camera is really unnecessary. Most anything in the $100-$200 range will do nicely and sometimes not even quite that much. What do you get for that price? Typically, a 10-12 megapixel camera that will shoot good pictures under most all circumstances. 1 Megapixel is a million pixels. Images are usually stored, processed, and/or printed based on raster images based on pixels. More pixels = more information for viewing or printing. This much information in the image allows print sharing, excellent 4X6” prints from your photo printer, and even prints up to 8X10” on photo print paper. Most all cameras come with a software CD which is almost never needed for computers running Windows XP and newer.
After some research, I’ve found excellent reports on the following cameras:
Canon Powershot A1100 IS
12.1 MP 4X Optical zoom, other features
Retail: About $130
Sony Cybershot DSC-W220
12.1 MP 4X Optical zoom, other features
Retail: About $150
Nikon Coolpix L20
10 MP 3.6 Optical zoom, other features
Retail: About $100
Casio Exilim EX-S5
10.1 MP 3X Optical zoom, other features
Retail: About $110
It’s a good idea to check to see if a camera you like uses regular rechargeable batteries, or an expensive proprietary type. Always have extra batteries! Finally, shop around for the best deals; not all brick-and-mortar or online stores are the same. Avoid eBay for new cameras. Their stores seldom have a truly competitive price. As to used cameras on eBay, unless you really, really know what you want, don’t!
Viewing Your Images
Remember that CD that might have come with your camera? Put it somewhere safe and let’s talk about what you can really use. Sometimes the instructions instruct users to attach the camera directly to the computer via USB cable. A better solution is a card reader for the flash card your camera uses. It saves the batteries, and makes it easy to store the original images in a folder you choose. Open these images in your favorite image viewer/editor. Good alternatives to Microsoft’s native Picture and Fax Viewer are:
- Irfanview: free, widely used. http://www.irfanview.com/
- XnView: free, highly respected. http://www.xnview.com/en/index.html
- Picasa 3 (from Google) free, useful for sharing on the web. http://picasa.google.com/
These programs (and others) allow users to manipulate their photos for more pleasing or interesting images. When working with any software, always make copies of your originals to work on. Store your originals on any backup medium you prefer. Nothing is sadder than losing those priceless family photos. Use the different image enhancement settings until you’re comfortable with the results. Often, there are simple auto-adjust controls that render good results. However you choose to approach viewing and editing, remember what you see is not always what you get! Depending on how your monitor is set up, you may be seeing your pictures with slight differences from the original. Try printing on good quality inkjet paper to see if it’s close. Don’t spend too much time on this if you’re planning to upload for friends and family to see. Chances are, their monitors don’t render like yours!
Once you’ve made your shopping decisions and have your new camera, get out and shoot! Carry these little cameras everywhere with you and take pictures of anything that strikes your fancy. You’ll be surprised at your own imagination.
Ron Moore
Next article:
Higher-end cameras for more advanced work.
Ron Moore is the Digital Photography Editor at Daves Computer Tips. A retired professional photographer living in California, Ron starting with Windows 3.11 in the early 90's. He's a computer geek who manages his home network and several off-site machines for friends. Currently, using XP and Windows 7, he has extensive knowledge of Photoshop and many other, more consumer friendly, editing and enhancement programs. You can read more about Ron here.
An Introduction to DVD Flick
At the end of my last article I promised to show XP users how to burn their slideshows, produced with Windows Movie Maker, to DVD for viewing through the television. Even though Vista and Windows 7 users have access to the very good Windows DVD maker they should also consider adding DVD flick to their software collection. DVD Flick can be used to burn just about any sort of video file to DVD, not just slideshows, and DVD Flick supports many more formats than Windows DVD Maker; it supports more than 45 file formats, over 60 video codecs and more than 40 audio codecs.
So, if you enjoy collecting video clips from sites such as YouTube and would like a means of successfully burning them to DVD so they can be viewed on television, DVD Flick is for you!!
DVD Flick is free, open source software which, apart from being very easy to use, is an all in one solution. Have you ever installed DVD maker software only to find out later that you also need to download and install a further 2 or 3 programs to make it all work? Well, that is not the case with DVD Flick; it encodes, authors and even includes the terrific ImgBurn for automatic burning to DVD.
Here is how:
(click the image for a larger view)
The DVD Flick Interface
DVD Flick has options to either save the file to hard drive as an ISO or burn directly to DVD. The option to save as an ISO file is set as default so the first thing we need to do is change that.
Click on the ‘Project Settings’ button in the main menu and, from the left pane, click on ‘Burning’. Select the option to ‘Burn Project to disc’ and then hit the ‘Accept’ button.
DVD Flick Project Settings
Now we need to import the video files we wish to burn. The files can be mixed format, i.e. they don’t have to all be the same format. You can include .wmv, .avi, .flv (for example) in the one project.
Just click on the ‘Add title’ option (from the ‘Manipulate Files’ menu) and then navigate to the location of your files. Select the files you wish to include (highlight them) and then hit the ‘Open’ button.
You should now see the files details displayed in the main window and the space usage indicator will have moved accordingly.
(click the image for a larger view)
Add files to DVD Flick
As you can we still have a lot more space left so we could go on adding files until the indicator neared the top (the 100% mark). Use the ‘Manipulate files’ menu to add/remove titles or move change the order in which they will be displayed.
You can also add a menu to your movie by pressing on the ‘Menu settings’ option in the main menu. When you click on each menu option a preview will appear in the window, simply select the one to your liking and then hit the ‘Accept’ button.
DVD Flick Menu Settings
That’s just about all there is to it. Once you are finished just hit the ‘Create DVD’ button from the main menu and watch DVD Flick do its thing.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
- Regardless of which software you are using, working with DVD files is a slow process. There are quite a few steps DVD Flick has to go through and it will take some time.
- When DVD Flick has finalized the file ready for burning ImgBurn will open automatically and begin burning it to DVD.
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.
Cheers,
Jim
New Freeware Programs
MalAware 1.0 – Is a new cloud based malware scanner from Emsisoft (the makers of A-Squared).
This from the site:
The basic idea behind MalAware was to create build the smallest possible (1 mb) and the fastest possible malware scanner (scan < 1 min) that will only provide an indication of whether a PC is infected with malware or not.
However, it should still get the full Emsi Software technology with more than 3 million known nasties. Not an easy task - but our developers have found ways and means to meet these seemingly impossible combinable requirements. By combining a strongly limited version of the signature database of known malware paths with a cloud based scan of all active processes, MalAware achieves a similar accuracy as a-squared Anti-Malware.
Please note: This includes no facilities for malware removal.
iWisoft Free Video Converter – I am a big fan of Format Factory but this software is certainly garnering some excellent reviews and very favorable comments.
Here is a short extract from one respected reviewer:
iWisoft Video Converter converts videos and audio's, supports many input and output formats, can do basic video edits, supports batch processing, can rip audio from video, can merge multiple videos into one, converts very quickly, and has great output quality.
Visit the site for all details, including supported formats.
Photo Pos Pro – Is photo editing software which once cost $59.90 but is now available for free.
This from the site:
Photo Pos Pro allows you easily create, edit, enhance, print, and manipulate your digital photos and computer graphics, and easily create eye-catching graphics, beautiful collages, greeting cards, business cards, website designs, buttons and much more. We decided to comply with our tens thousands of satisfied users and turn Photo Pos Pro into a freeware.
Photo Pos Pro really is a comprehensive package which includes many advanced features.
FixWin v1.1 – As the name suggests, this handy little utility has been released by ‘The Windows Club’ specifically to help fix common annoyances in Vista and Windows 7.
This from the site:
While there were several tutorials and how-to’s already available on the Internet to deal with such annoyances, FixWin as a single utility was conceptualized, to fix some of the common annoyances which may be faced by a Windows user.
Sounds good to me!! Visit the site for full details and don’t forget to read through the user guide.
Here’s one especially for the Boss: (I love my BlackBerry ~ Dave
BlackBerry Master Control Program (MCP) - is a power tool for BlackBerry devices designed for basic, moderate and advanced users.
You can use BlackBerry Master Control Program (MCP) to (Basic) take screenshots (including auto-capture and auto-save), set the device time, turn the radio/on off, recover memory, gather information, view/clear event logs, display modules, gather module information, create ALX/JAD files, backup and restore third party applications, (Advanced) handheld wipe (all 3 types), factory reset, load, save and erase modules. The Operating System Management page allows you to completely manage and optimize any OS you want to install on your device. The Javaloader CLI page offers a 1:1 GUI for javaloader.exe.
MCP allows you to keep an unlimited number of OS's installed on your PC but at the time you actually install an OS to your device MCP only lets RIM's Application Loader "see" the OS you had selected inside MCP. Most OS 101 articles tell you to uninstall all other OS's from your PC before you begin the process. This is time consuming to say the least. MCP allows you to keep multiple BlackBerry OS's installed on your computer and keep them in their current (possibly optimized) state for later use at any time.
Any controls that can potentially harm your device are blocked from use until you enter a passphrase... so even new users can't do any harm using it until they know what they are doing.
Network Activity Indicator – is designed specifically for Windows 7 and for those users who miss the old XP network activity monitor.
This from the site:
Network Activity Indicator displays the old 'two monitors' icon in Windows 7 that flashed blue to show network activity on the System Tray.
Unlike the original Windows XP utility (that has individual indicators for each interface), this program indicates outgoing and incoming network packets on all available interfaces.
A tiny 58KB download, this is now working away nicely on my Windows 7... Thank you very much!!
Digital Scrapbook Artist Compact – Is a free offering from Serif. I really like Serif software so, although I have no particular use for this, it should be a quality product.
you’ll soon be able to create scrapbooks, beautiful digital albums, invitations and greetings cards without having to spend a penny on material.
Visit the site for full details.
Jim Hillier is the Freeware Editor at Daves Computer Tips. A computer user with over 25 years of experience, his love of freeware is expressed through his Freeware Focus column in each issue of the Daves Computer Tips Newsletter. You can join Jim at the Daves Computer Tips Forum for other discussions on Freeware. You can read more about Jim here.
AppRemover - Having trouble removing a stuborn security program? Give this a shot!
Windows 7 Compatibility List - The official list of supported programs directly from the horse's mouth. Of course there are many other programs who work just fine, so don't take this and the "end all, be all" list.
ifixit - Looking to repair that broken Mac, iPhone, or iPod? ifixit has the parts - and instructions to do it yourself!
Web 2.0 Suicide Machine - Don't mind the name, but if you're having trouble cancelling MySpace, FaceBook, or Twitter accounts this is the place to go. Easy one stop shopping to rid yourself of the social internet problem!
Dominos - the Microsoft way!
Vodaphone Symphony - What to do when you have 1000 extra cell phone lying aroung!
Microsoft Relationship Support - This is exactly how it would be!
Not the World's smartest motorcycle rider - Caution: may not be suitable for those with weak stomachs, or younger audiences.
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