Add Your Favorite Application Shortcut in Desktop Context Menu in Vista

Today I was doing some R&D in Vista registry as usual and I found that MS ppl hv also included "Open Command Windows here" option in desktop context menu, which is displayed while pressing the key (bcoz of the extended key). They put this option in following registry key:

Code:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\cmd

Which was not present in XP or other versions of windows. So a wicked idea came in my little naughty mind.

I created another key under "shell" key and set its "command" value to WMP path and VOILLA, it worked. I got it in desktop context menu and it was working fine.



So here is the full tutorial to add any application shortcut in desktop context menu:

1. Open regedit and goto:

Code:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell

now under this key create another key with any name and in right-side pane set its value to the label, which you want to show in desktop context menu, like Media Player, Winamp, Firefox, anything else.

2. Now create another key under this newly created key with name command. and in right-side pane set its value to the exact path of application, like:

C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe
C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe
etc...

3. Thats it. Now you can check your favorite application shortcut in desktop context menu.

4. You can create as many shortcut as you want. Simply create a separate key for all the applications.

5. Following is a ready-made code:

Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\WMP]
@="Windows Media Player"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\WMP\command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Windows Media Player\\wmplayer.exe"
Just change the label and path to ur desired application and save with the name "vishal.reg" (including the quotes) and run it.

U can also set the application shortcut to show only when u press key by adding "Extended" String value in right-side pane of the newly created key:

Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\WMP]
@="Windows Media Player"
"Extended"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\WMP\command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Windows Media Player\\wmplayer.exe"

Now thats another benefit to use Vista.
I hv checked this in XP but it wasnt working...

source : here

Vista Blinking cursor tweak

The blinking cursor in vista is really thin, and sometimes it can be very hard to find. In case you want it to be made a little more thicker, you can do it as follows Go to Control Panel>Ease of Access>Optimize visual display.towards the bottom of this page, you will see a "Make things on the screen easier to see". from here,you can make your cursor thicker. the default is 1. even making it '2' is good enough.

Source:http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56711

Creating Windows XP Live CD

See I Have Not Tried This
But I Got A Link To Create Windows Xp Bootable CDSource http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
Requirements to build:
1. The files from your Windows Installation CD-Rom.
Supported Windows versions are:
* Windows XP Home Edition (must be slip streamed with Service Pack 1 or higher)
* Windows XP Professional (must be slip streamed with Service Pack 1 or higher)
* Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
* Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
* Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition

2. PE Builder runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/BartPE systems.

3. CD/DVD writer if you want to creat a bootable CD/DVD.
Getting started
This page will help you create your very first BartPE CD. It assumes that you are using Windows XP.
1. Make sure that your system has about 500MB of free disk space!

2. Download the latest PE Builder version (self-installing package) and install it.

3. Start PE Builder (pebuilder.exe). When you start PE Builder for the first time it will ask if you agree with the license agreement.

4. Now PE Builder will ask to search for windows installation files. If you don't have your windows XP setup/installation files on your system you must insert the original Microsoft Windows XP installation/setup CD at this point. The files you have at c:\windows are not installation files. They are your already installed files! Click "yes" to start searching. PE Builder will now search all fixed- and CD-Rom drives for Windows installation files. This will take some time. When more than one valid location is found, a dialog will appear where you can select which location you want to use.

5. At the main PE Builder dialog, select the "Burn to CD/DVD" option. When you are using an erasable medium, make sure that the "AutoErase RW" option is enabled. The "burn using" option should be set to "StarBurn". Select your CD writer device from the Device list.

6. Hit the "build" button. PE Builder will now ask you to create a BartPE directory, answer with "yes".

7. The license for your Microsoft Windows XP product is shown. Read it and agree to it to continue.

8. PE Builder will now start building BartPE. This will take a few minutes. You will see a lot of files getting copied and/or decompressed, the ISO image build and the data recorded to your CD/DVD writer. If the data verify was correct and there where no errors reported you can boot the CD/DVD!

DownloadLatest version:
Download PE Builder v3.1.10a - self-installing package - if you are unsure what you need to download, get this!
Download PE Builder v3.1.10a - zip package (3.23MB)

Post: View PE Builder v3.1.10a release postings on "The CD Forum"
Previous version(s):
Download PE Builder v3.1.10 - self-installing package
Download PE Builder v3.1.10 - zip package (3.23MB)
Post: View PE Builder v3.1.10 release postings on "The CD Forum"

Download PE Builder v3.1.9 - self-installing package
Download PE Builder v3.1.9 - zip package (3.12MB)

Post: View PE Builder v3.1.9 release postings on "The CD Forum"
Download PE Builder v3.1.3 - self-installing package
Download PE Builder v3.1.3 zip package (2.74MB)

Support
If you have any problems or questions about PE Builder here is where you can get more information:

* Make sure you have the latest version, goto http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ and check.

* Read the PE Builder webpage. Take special notice of the FAQ page.

* Browse the CD forum. Read/search the "Windows PE" and "PE Builder" forum and if you problem is not listed, become a "member" so you can post a question in the "PE Builder" forum.

*Please do not contact Microsoft for support on the preinstallation environment that has been created by PE Builder!Microsoft does not provide support for PE Builder or for the preinstallation environment created by PE Builder

source:Kushagra

Creating Windows Xp Live Cd - Digit Forum

Create XML Documents in Vista

You can create XML documents in Vista. Create a document in the word processor. Print it via options menu choosing XPS printer.

XML Documents are secure than regular text files and word processor doc files.

Split files in Linux

Split a file into pieces.

SYNTAX

split [-linecount | -l linecount ] [ -a suffixlength ] [file [name] ]

split -b n [k | m] [ -a suffixlength ] [ file [name]]

-linecount | -l linecount	Number of lines in each piece. Defaults to 1000 lines.
-a suffixlength	Use suffixlength letters to form the suffix portion of the filenames of the split file. If -a is not specified, the default suffix length is 2. If the sum of the name operand and the suffixlength option-argument would create a filename exceeding NAME_MAX bytes, an error will result; split will exit with a diagnostic message and no files will be created.
-b n	Split a file into pieces n bytes in size.
-b n k	Split a file into pieces n*1024 bytes in size.
-b n m	Split a file into pieces n*1048576 bytes in size.
file	The path name of the ordinary file to be split. If no input file is given or file is -, the standard input will be used.
name	The prefix to be used for each of the files resulting from the split operation. If no name argument is given, x will be used as the prefix of the output files. The combined length of the basename of prefix and suffixlength cannot exceed NAME_MAX bytes; see OPTIONS.

EXAMPLES

split -b 22 newfile.txt new - would split the file "newfile.txt" into three separate files called newaa, newab and newac each file the size of 22.

split -l 300 file.txt new - would split the file "newfile.txt" into files beginning with the name "new" each containing 300 lines of text each

source here

Download Vista wallpapers from Microsoft contest

Microsoft recently conducted a vista wallpaper designing contest in Singapore. You can download all those winning wallpapers from here.

Preventing Autorun in Windows

You can temporary disable autorun in Windows by holding down the shift key while inserting CDs or plugging in USB pendrives.

This is useful in prevention of virus spreading through autorun CDs and USB pendrives.

Opening .chm files in Linux

Chm is a compiled html file mainly used for displaying help. It is a Microsoft format. .chm files can be opened in Linux by using gnochm, kchmviewer or even with outdated xchm.

To install gnochm or kchmviewer use

#apt-get insatll gnochm
#apt-get install kchmviewer

To view .chm files using this
$gnochm file

$kchmviewer file

Install Packages using smart

Debian users have their favourite package manager apt-get and its graphical counter part synaptic download manager. RPM based system users have only limited options. Even though yum is good it is not as good as apt-get from my experience. I am using OpenSuse 10.2 and i found out a new package manager called smart. It is included in the suse 10.2 dvd.

Install smart and smart-gui packages

To run smart

$smart

To get its gui started use

$smart --gui

It supports parallel downloads. Resumes downloads. It stores the downloaded files in /var/lib/smart/packages

For more info click here

Create autoyast file automatically in Suse Linux

Autoyast in Suse is a feature similar to kick start in fedora linux. It is used for automatic deployment otherwise called unattended installation.

Install Suse in one system in the final installation screen click on the button named clone this system for autoyast. The autoyast file with settings for that system is generated and placed in the home directory of root.