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Once you have successfully slipstreamed a service pack under Windows XP installation source, the next question which comes to your mind is how do you burn / write those installation files under a boot-able CD ROM so that you may boot with it and install your copy of Windows XP. This bellow article would try to provide a step by step guide on How to burn / write a bootable Windows XP installation CD ROM.

Prerequisite

• A PC with CD-RW drive
• One 700 MB CD-R (blank) media
• Windows OS
• Nero burning ROM
• Complete Windows XP installation Files
• Windows XP Boot image

How do your create a boot-able CD Media ?

Please start the Nero burning rom application and select CD-ROM (Boot) as what you wish to burn and please provide the path of Windows XP Boot image (you may download it from here, or use Bart’s Boot Image Extractor)

In the advance option, please make sure you select Kind of Emulation as No Emulation, and Boot Message should be as Microsoft Corporation where as the value of Number of load sectors is suppose to be 4. Rest all should stay default.

Firmware is a part of any hardware, which you use. Its the basic software part of the hardware. Your digital camera, micro woven, electronic calculator, watches all contains a software part which is called the firmware.

One of the device which you may use extensively would be your mobile phone. Just like any other interactive electronic device, your mobile phone too has its own firmware.

In short, firmware is like an OS to your phone. Therefore just like in your PC, Windows as an OS would need occasional update for addressing both security and performance issues, your phone manufacturers too issues update for your phone’s software or firmware !!

What exactly are you upgrading ??

Its the Phone’s inbuilt Software (OS / firmware) which is the software that is embedded in the memory of your device, and includes applications such as the calendar and phone book. This is similar to the operating system software on your PC. The update consists of new features, applications, and performance improvements to the software.

Why would you need an upgrade ??

Complex handsets require intelligent software to make them work. These software would require updates both to address their performance with new and upcoming software and hardware as well as to offer your security and new features.

Prerequisite before update !!

• Internet connection to download the updates
• PC with USB 2.0 support / Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista / 256 MB RAM
• Supported handset and connectivity cable
• Back up before starting the update process.
• Read the FAQs (Nokia / Sony / Motorola)

Where to find the PC software to update the firmware ?

• Nokia Global / Nokia India
• Sony Ericsson Update Service
• Motorola India

An example with Nokia 6233

Nokia 6233, released in year 2005 is a very successful model from the company. Though its almost 3 year old model but its still in production and well preferred world wide.

There are few must install software for any Desktop - notebook Windows installation and one of which is this free software called CCleaner.

What is CCleaner ?

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware !

This is what the official web site says, how ever to make it simple, when you run Windows and other application, such as photo shop / word / video editing software / Internet browser and any other, every time they run, they create large amount of temporary files in your system.

As you access each software and use them those also creates large number of registry entry and system short cuts (such as recently used documents). When you stop using those application you are not in need of those entries any more but they are left in your system for future references.

This is where CCleaner comes in. It scans and cleans all these junk to free up HDD space and registry entry to fasten up the system performance.

How do you use CCleaner ?

There is a common theory among many of us, about any system configuration applications that they are hard to use as well as they screw up the system.

However this is what I like about this software. The best part is, its really easy to use, as simple as few steps.

Step 1 - Obtain & install the application

Visit CCleaner.com to download this 3 MB file and start the installation, when prompt remove all entries accept Start Menu short cuts and Automatically check for CCleaner updates.

Step 2 - Start and Clean your system

Yes, it is that simple. No other configuration is needed, simply start the application and hit Analyze button.

Notice how much junk is detected and how much can be removed, and hit the Run CCleaner button to execute the cleaning process.

Few Facts which I Like

• Free Software with no ads or any such.
• Simple 3 MB Download.
• Preconfigured - as an user you just need to run it.
• Compatible with Windows XP (x86 / x64) Windows Vista (x86 / x64).
• Maintenance free.

Nokia software updater is a software with allows you to update your phone’s (compatible) firmware by downloading the latest from Nokia web service !!

Nokia software updater is a free software available to all supported Nokia phone owners via their web site.

What is the BUG ?

Nokia software update crashes every time when you want to start it under Windows Vista.

Process to replicate the action ?

• You must be using Windows Vista RTM (Home / Home premium / Business / Ultimate).
• Download and install Nokia software updater (NSU) from their web site (version 1.4.36 en).
• Start the Application

Expected result ?

The application would freeze (Hang / halts) at start up window, displaying,

Nokia Software Updater
v1.4.36en

Starting application…

After a minute or so, an error appears informing you,

Missing Software components

Critical software components are missing.
Please reinstall.

Nokia Official Word in it ?

Run the application under Windows XP compatibility mode without any visual theme or desktop composition and with administrator access. Stop any running firewall or Internet security / Anti Virus application.

How ever still the issue is not solved, the result is the same stop error. Further more as a customer you are suppose to contact nearest service center, and in India, service center has no idea about this application, they would only service the hardware (handset only).

Nokia has not accepted the bug. Therefore no official solution for this possible bug yet.

As the CD Writer came to the market, apart from Windows, there is another software which became a must install software for any PC.

The Ahead Nero.

Nero 5 was the version which had made the way for its successors. Nero 5.5 or rather the 1st Nero Express version was one of the favorite burner by most of the Windows users.

Ahead as a company, almost took a monopoly over burning software segment by bundling Nero with any burner sold.

What is the problem with Nero ??

Undoubtedly, Nero express 5.5 was the most preferred and liked software from Nero family, however as the company released updates and made new versions the popularity started coming down.

Though as said before, although, Nero almost had a monopoly over burning market, as strong as, most people didn’t even knew about Windows own burning utility, but still the newer versions started making people thing for alternative.

One of the primary reason is the resource hungriness of the newer versions. Nero 7 and now the latest version 8 is quite heavy of system memory.

Alternate ?

Today I would be having a quick look at one of the possible alternate to Nero. I am using word possible because, though, nero is resource hungry but still its one of the versatile burning software supporting almost all type of recording formats, media and burners.

One software which can replace the Nero for you would be Ashampoo Burning Studio. The software is priced at USD 40 compare to Nero 8 which is USD 80.

Let us take a quick look at Ashampoo Burning Studio, from a point a view of a Nero user, as how is this software performing for most of our day to day burning needs.

After the Zune Firmware 2.3, Microsoft has just released update for Zune Desktop software….

The standalone installer from their web link Zune.net provides version 2.1

Where as auto updater installs the version latest 2.3….

Do you need version 2.3 update ??

If you have updated your Zune firmware to 2.3, then certainly you must upgrade the software to 2.3… If you are still running the Zune 2.1 firmware then it is not a must but still its recommended to obtain the latest software and firmware for your device to enjoy all feature and maximum performance…

I have a video or audio file which I am unable to play… What to Do ??

I cant play the .AVI file, how do I play it ??

Few very common questions, I am receiving via Email now days… So many people out there are facing codec nightmare with audio and video files…

What is a Codec ??

In a layman language, its a format or technique in which an audio or video file is provided to you… There are video codecs and audio codecs…

Why do we have different codecs ??

Mainly because to compress the file size by not trying to lose its quality… There after few codecs tries to compress the video or audio file to smaller size for ease of transport via online of portable offline method… Where as some tries to compress the file but with possible mean of holding back the quality lose…

For example an audio codec would be MP3 or WMA… Where as example for video codec would be xvid or aac x264

You may read more on Codecs here at Wiki

Why dont my PC comes with Codec ??

Under your Windows OS, microsoft provides support for few default and populer codecs like MP3 or such… But all these codecs are 3rd party developed softwares…

Microsoft has released new firmware version 2.3 for Zune v1 and v2…. Which is available via Zune update service…

Few Quick Questions…

How do I obtain Zune update ??

You must have an active Internet connection and Zune Software installed in your PC / Notebook…

Where can I find Zune software ??

Zune software is available free of cost… You may obtain it from Microsoft via this link… Note, if you have a x64 based system then please download the x64 version of Zune software…..

I have the latest Zune software installed and I have an active connection, so now how can I update my Zune ??

How do you burn movies or video which you have encoded under compressed codec formats as divx / xvid / mp4 / x264 / AAC ??

But before I start, I would remind you that if you only want to view the movies / videos at your PC / Notebook, then let them be under those Compressed format, as it saves a lot of disk space… If you have a problem on viewing them because of codec issue then either use VLC Media Player or download and install any codec pack, such as K-Lite or CCCP…

Do note, many modern DVD player supports MP4 / xvid / divx so even if you want to view the movie / video via your DVD player then check if it has the support for this codecs or not… If it has, then simply burn a DVD using Nero or any such software as DATA DVD and your DVD player (if it supports any or those codec) would be able to play the video !!!

This guide is for those who has an older DVD / VCD player which doesn’t support any of those codecs… This guide would explain step by step process on how to convert the divx / xvid / mp4 / x264 / AAC files and burn them in to DVD / VCD to make sure your player reads and play them !!!

How do I convert and burn AVI (divx / xvid / mp4 / x264 / AAC) video / movie file to a DVD / VCD ??

Microsoft have released the Service Pack 1 (SP1) for the Office 2007… Many users are asking me that, how can one integrate or rather slipstream the service pack on the installation source !!!

With Microsoft Office 2007 slipstreaming or rather integrating the service pack is really an easy task… One can follow few very simple steps to carry out the action…

Create a Network Installation Source 

Insert the Office CD into your CD drive.

Copy all content of the CD to a folder under your hard drive, for example in my case its “F:\O07”

Obtain the SP1

Download the Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 1

Please rename the downloaded file to sp1.exe, in my case I download the file to F:\ and then rename it to SP1.exe so the update is now at location, F:\SP1.exe

Most of the time when we start our computer, we click to launch Internet Explorer or FireFox to surf and visit our favourite web sites and to check emails or to write a blog post, but rarely we wonder what really has started this…

Everything has a begging, so does the browsing and the most important tool, the Web Browser…

What started it ?? What was the 1st web browser ??

The worlds firts web browser was NetScape Navigator…

Late in 1994, a company called Mosaic Communication Corporation developed and launched the world’s first web browser, the Mosaic NetScape 0.9, which in terms was known to all as the Worlds First Web Browser, the NetScapce Navigator…

To many of us, Internet Explorer means the getaway to the Internet, however it is the success of NetScape which has forced Microsoft to develop and ship the very first version of its own browser, the Internet Explorer 1.0 with as a part of Windows 95 Plus Pack…

Hey wait a minute, now days I don’t see NetScape Navigator…

Most people do posses this idea, which in fact is quite right…

Since when Microsoft started bundling Internet Explorer with its all version of Windows, NetScape found itself losing ground over Internet Explorer on the first Browser war…

Some believed, that, because of Microsoft’s monopoly on the OS market and pushing Internet Explorer as with their OS led to the downfall, where as many Microsoft fan would point that because of Internet Explorer’s capability, no one ever felt the need to look for an alternate option…

AOL bought the project on 1999 and went on to convert it to Mozilla as an open source software…

Eventually Mozilla’s success led to the birth of FireFox which is now holds a great market share and threatens microsoft’s browser market share….

December 28th 2007, AOL announced the End of Support and Development for NetScape Navigator… The latest version of which (Netscape 9.0) was nothing more than a skinned down version of FireFox 2.0 with some extensions !!!

Now days we can see larger displays are very common in computer users, and with vista its a really presure to use large displays…

One application I came across to which might help many users those who are on Windows Vista and using large displays…

Ave Thumbnail Sizer a small tool of 100kb supporting both x86 and x64 platform allows you to actually adjust the Start Menu thumbnail size !!!

You have download managers, download accelerators, now you have a local file transfer accelerator, called TeraCopy… Which promises to speed up file transfer speed under you local Hard Drive…

Click here to download TeraCopy

The installation is straight forward… Once you install it, it attaches its link to the shell… So right click on a file for directory which you want to copy or move, and you may find the option TeraCopy, under your right click menu…

When you click on the TeraCopy link, it launches the TeraCopy application !!!

One little but useful application is GigaSmilies, its an application which would help you to add Yahoo Messenger like Emoticons (smiles) under your forum posts…

A Small download of 350KB EXE file…

What it does is when you click a smile on the program window it copies a test in your clipboard… All the smiles you see is hosted at the software developers web site, so as you have clicked a smile, it would copy a bb code, eg “[img]http://www.site.com/smile_no.gif[/img]“ which you can paste at your reply field of any forum which you are using, so when you post the reply message the message now will display the image or rather smile

A nice application, how ever I would wish you can have more animated smile just not the yahoo ones !!

From the makers of CPU-Z a well known utility tool for Windows platform to know more about the system devices like Processor, Motherboard, RAM, comes the latest tool called PC Wizard 2008.

PC Wizard 2008 can be compared to the free version of Everest or Sandra… Its a good tool to keep an eye on your system temparature levels also….