the How-To Geek

Week in Geek: The Stupid Geek Tricks to Hide Extra Windows Edition

The Geek — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:56:51 +0000

One of my favorite little features in Windows 7 is the shortcut key combination that hides all the open windows except for the one you are working on. It’s a great way to clear out the extra window clutter. Also, Wave invites.

Hiding Extra Windows

So, you’re using Windows 7 and you’ve got loads of stuff open on your screen. No matter, just press the Win+Home keyboard shortcut…

And all the windows hide except for the one you were using. Useful! But you probably already knew that…

What you didn’t think about is that there’s probably an easier way to use that shortcut key combination. Instead of using Win+Home, I prefer to use the Win+H shortcut combination since it’s easier to use without moving my fingers off the main row.

What we’ll do is create a really simple AutoHotkey script to do just that. You’ll need to make sure AutoHotkey is installed, then create a new .ahk script (you can use the New –> AutoHotkey script item on the context menu).

Next you’ll paste in some boilerplate code:

#InstallKeybdHook
#Persistent
#HotkeyInterval,100
SetKeyDelay, –1

And then here’s the line that actually does the work. When you press Win+H, which in AutoHotkey language is #h, it will use the Send function to push down the Windows key, press the Home key, and then release the Windows key. (of course, your keyboard keys won’t actually move. This isn’t an auto-play piano).

#h::Send,{LWin down}{Home}{LWin up}

Once you’ve created the script you can double-click it, and the shortcut key should start working immediately.

Oh, so you aren’t using Windows 7 yet? Well you can still get Mac’s Hide Others (cmd+opt+H) Keyboard Shortcut for Windows.

Wave Invites? Who Said Wave Invites?

We were given 20 invites to the Google Wave preview, and we offered them up to the readers. Out of a whopping 454 total comments requesting a login, we’ve picked 22 people that we’ll send an invitation to Google Wave.

Fuzzy math! And yes, we are aware that 22 > 20, but reader Xander volunteered to give up 2 of his invites as well, bringing the total to 22. He’s also on Twitter, in case you are wondering what generous soul would do such a thing. Thanks Xander!

Note: Google Wave invitations are being manually approved on Google’s end of things, so be patient.

The Weekly Random Links, Courtesy of Tiny Hacker

This is just a sampling of the random geekery over at Tiny Hacker this week. Want them in your feed reader or inbox each day? Head over to TinyHacker and subscribe.

	Got Carpal Tunnel? Instead of Getting Off the PC, Install an App to Help!
	Tweak the Windows 7 Taskbar Behavior the Easy Way
	BetterPrivacy Clears Out those Hidden Flash Tracking Cookies
	Power Up Your Firefox Tabs the Lightweight Way
	Fun Logic Game: Stuck in a Room With 2 People
	Find and Recover Those Files You Didn’t Mean to Delete
	Share One Mouse and Keyboard with Multiple PCs
	Save Firefox Bookmark Searches to Make Dynamic Folders
	99 freeware programs to trick out your PC
	Turn Task Manager Into a CPU Usage Widget
	Complete Guide to Windows 7 Libraries
	Add CPU and Memory Meters to Your Windows 7 Taskbar

Super User has Super Questions with Super Answers… Super!

More great stuff from Super User, as usual.

Did I use the same joke last week? I vaguely think I did. Oh well.

Last Year in Geek

One year ago, we were being lazy and not posting nearly enough. Here’s a couple of the interesting things that we did post during our non-lazy time.

The Weekly Geek Note

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Backup Your Ubuntu Machine Easily with SBackup

Vivek — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:18 +0000

Your computer’s data is very critical and losing it can can occur due to variety of reasons. A complete (or even partial) backup of your system is always a good idea. SBackup is a tool that’ll help you backup and restore data on your Ubuntu machine with utmost ease.

SB Backup

SBackup is a simple backup solution for the Ubuntu desktop. It allows you to backup selected files and directories, define the file size limit, use regular expressions to exclude files and folders, and much more. These backups can then be saved locally, on removal media or even on remote directory. Let’s see how to install and configure SBackup for creating a backup and restore solution for an Ubuntu machine.

Install SBackup

Type the following command to install SBackup on your Ubuntu machine:

sudo apt-get install sbackup

Backing up using SBackup

Once installed SBackup will be available under System \ Administration \ Simple Backup Config.

SBackup window will look like the one below:

As you can see on the first tab “General”, there are 3 options for making backup. Depending on your need you can choose the one that you want to use. It can be used in 3 modes.

1. Use recommended backup settings

Has all the default settings. All you have to do is click “Backup now” button to backup the default files and folders.

2. Use custom backup settings

This one is for custom backups where the user can define what she/he wants to backup on a regular basis. This setting can be configured for automatic backups

3. Manual backups only

This option should be used if you do not want to have regular automatic backups. You can backup manually whenever you think you need backups.

However, for the sake of this demo let’s use “Use custom backup settings”.

The next tab is “include” which let’s you define the folders and files you want to include while creating a backup. You can click add a file or folder by clicking the respective buttons.

The third tab is “exclude”. Here you can define, path, filetypes, regex and maximum size for exclusion criteria. For example you have added a directory included for backup, but you don’t want to backup files larger than 50 MB, you can use the exclude tab to define it.

The fourth tab is “Destination”. This one is used to define the destination location where you want to save the backup file.

As you can see there are 3 options for setting up destination backup location. The first one is the default location /var/backup/. The second option can be used to define the custom backup destination. The third option is used when you want the backup destination on a remote location.

The fifth tab is to set up schedule of backup. This one is pretty self explanatory.

The last tab “purging” is about how the old backup files will be handled. You can choose from one of the 2 options. In my case I am leaving it as the default selection which is Logarithmic (Recommended).

We are done with configuring all the settings. All that is left is to click the “Save” button for the backup settings to be effective. However, you can also click “Backup Now !” button to make an instant backup.

Restoring from a backup

In order to restore from an existing backup go to System \ Administration \ System Backup Restore.

Select from the available backups, the one that you want to restore.

If you are looking for a quality backup app for your Linux desktop, SBackup is a great choice.

Links

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sbackup/

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Friday Fun: Server Quest II

Mysticgeek — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Finally another Friday has arrived and you’re sick of dealing with your IT department because they never fix anything. Today take a look at Server Quest II which is a fun game from Microsoft’s TechNet that puts you in the roll of an IT professional.

Server Quest II

The game is aimed at Administrators and IT Professionals but if you think you can do it better try it out.

Choose between two characters, Matt or Alicia where each has their own geeky characteristics.

Decide what kind of geek you are…

The controls are very basic…just the arrow keys and spacebar.

You start out in your IT dungeon office and people come to bug you about things not working. Challenges vary from querying a database to a user’s monitor not working because it isn’t plugged in.

You can walk around to the cubes and talk to the other employees.

Mini games with different challenges come up. In this example, Matt is biking around to grab a bunch of emails that were accidently sent out to an entire contact list.

After you complete a mission, go back to your computer and check your email for another task.

If you work in IT you’ll find a lot of humor and fun in Server Quest II. If you are a worker who thinks they can get things done better than those lazy game playing IT geeks, you’ll have fun with this game as well.

Play Server Quest II

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Move the Progress Bar to the Tabs in Firefox

Asian Angel — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Do you like having the Progress Bar to monitor webpage loading but prefer to keep the Status Bar hidden? Now you can easily move the Progress Bar to your tabs with the Tab Progress Bar extension.

Before

Here is the “Progress Bar” showing in the “Status Bar” while a webpage is loading…nice if you like having the “Status Bar” displayed. But what if you prefer to have the “Status Bar” hidden?

After

Once you have installed the extension, the “Progress Bar” will display on any tabs that are currently loading leaving you free to completely hide the “Status Bar” if you desire.

Note: There are no options to have to worry with for this extension…just install and go.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a way to move Status Bar functionality to your tabs, then the Tab Progress Bar extension will make a nice addition to your Firefox Browser. If you want to hide the Status Bar until you need it, check out our article on how to Auto-Hide the Status Bar in Firefox.

Links

Download the Tab Progress Bar extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

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We Have 20 Google Wave Invites. Want One?

The Geek — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:59:08 +0000

Google Wave is all the rage these days, probably in large part because you need to be invited to participate in the preview version. Want an invite? ~~We’ve got 20 of them to give away.~~ Sorry, the giveaway is over!

What’s Google Wave, You Ask?

The all-knowing Google robots decided to come up with a new solution to the problem of collaborating on the web. You can edit and discuss documents in real-time with a group of people. The Google Wave team says Wave is “what email would look like if it were invented today.”

Right now, that’s the extent of what it does, though the underlying framework will eventually allow a lot more interesting uses.

Instead of bothering to take you on a tour of how it works, instead we’ll just point you towards the very best source on the subject, the Complete Guide to Google Wave, written by Adam Pash and Gina Trapani from Lifehacker.

Be Quiet and Give Me My Invite Already!

Fine! We’ll get down to business. Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment with your idea for a topic that you would like to see us write about.
Include the keyword googlewave in your comment (for spam checking purposes).
Make sure to use your real email address (nobody will see it but us).

We’ll pick 20 random people from the comments, and announce the winners in our weekly roundup, so even if you are reading this on Friday you can still participate.

Note that your comment might not be approved immediately, but rest assured that it’s sitting in the queue.

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Getting Started with TrueCrypt (to Secure Your Data)

Mysticgeek — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

BitLocker is a hard drive encryption utility in Windows 7 and Vista, unfortunately it’s only available in Ultimate and Enterprise editions and not in XP at all. Today we take a look at TrueCrypt, which is a free utility that will enable encryption functionality to other versions.

TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is a free Open Source disk encryption utility that works with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It allows you to encrypt an entire drive, partition or flash drive and ensure no one can access the data without the right password. It provides on-the-fly encryption and after the drive is encrypted you can continue to use everything like you normally would.

Installation is straight forward and it’s recommended to create a system restore point before installing.

Click on the Create Volume button to begin setting the disc up for encryption.

The entire process is wizard driven which makes it easy to use even for beginners. You can encrypt a virtual disk, removable drive, or an entire system drive. There are a lot more steps than what we show here, but the wizard makes all of your choices easy.

You can choose different levels of encryption. There are several types to choose from and each has its unique qualities…but for most users you will be fine with AES.

To complete the process you will need to restart the computer.

The amount of time it takes to encrypt a hard drive will vary depending on the size and speed of the system. In our test we encrypted an entire 320GB drive and it took about 4 hours.

To complete the process a restart is required.

Now anytime you start up your PC you will need to log in using the password you created in TrueCrypt.

If you’re worried about private or sensitive data being compromised, TrueCrypt is a simple and effective free option. If you have a version of Windows or other OS that doesn’t include BitLocker or another encryption feature, TrueCrypt has you covered. It’s a versatile utility as it can encrypt partitions, VHDs, Flash Drives, or entire hard drive like we showed.

Download TrueCrypt for Windows, Mac, and Linux

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Rants: We Hate the Scam of Bundled Crapware

Mysticgeek — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

One of the things we hate most is all the free software applications scamming less knowledgeable users by trying to sneak extra toolbars or other software onto their computer. Sadly, the practice is getting even more common, and we’re going to rant about it.

What’s the Problem?

Sure, you say, you can just uncheck the box when you are installing it. You’re a geek, and you know stuff!

…but what about all the doctors, teachers, and moms that don’t know any better? They don’t want to be geeks, they have other things that matter to them more than sitting in front of a computer all day and night. It’s Shocking, I know, but they have a life.

They shouldn’t be punished by companies earning their living by scamming them into installing some worthless piece of crap software that they don’t need or want. They shouldn’t have a PC loaded down with crapware just because you like free stuff so much that you’ll keep supporting these products by installing them. When is enough finally going to be enough?

If you really love free software so much, why don’t you switch to truly free (open source) software, and maybe start using Linux? After all, everybody knows as soon as you install Linux you’ll be all-knowing and gain special comment-leaving powers.

Nobody Wants Toolbars!

Having extra software riders is common place in apps like RealPlayer or iTunes and other “Lameware” apps, but now it’s getting worse. When getting the latest version of Flash Player on a Windows 7 install, we see they’re trying to add extra software like the Google Toolbar, or worse, a Mcafee scan.

Sun’s Java tries to install extra things as well like in this example they want to put the Bing Toolbar in Internet Explorer for you…

And sometimes it offers to install the awful Yahoo toolbar as well.

A bunch of quality freeware apps seem to be using this practice nowadays as well…like CCleaner… which makes us sad. We love CCleaner.

Or Foxit Reader who want to install their own toolbar and make Ask.com your default search. On a side note, have you noticed how bloated Foxit seems to be getting in recent versions?

Avoid The Extra Junk

The extra apps they try to sneak on your system aren’t malware like Digsby was trying to do when they joined the dark side, but it’s irritating and annoying that a user is automatically opted in. One service that makes it easy to install your favorite apps without the extra baggage is Ninite which we have previously covered.

Not only do they make it a huge time saver to install multiple apps at once, they say NO to all the extra crapware they might try to include.

We spoke with Patrick Swieskowski, one of the founders of Ninite, and he told us about how they ensure their service installs apps free of crapware.

These tricky toolbars and addons were a big reason we started Ninite. You always have to be on your toes when running installers these days.

When we set up the automation for each installer we pay careful attention to these offers and decline them. We also check our test systems for new toolbars or other bundled apps after the automation, and if anything got through we throw out that configuration and try again.

We’re really serious about making Ninite a place to get software where people don’t have to worry about these sort of addons or spyware. For example, if I found that our Digsby install had the research mode enabled by default, we would have immediately removed it from the site until we could resolve the problem. Any feedback we receive about malicious or shady app behavior becomes our top priority.

How-To Geek Policy

When you read about free apps and utilities that we write about here, we will always let you know if the app tries to sneak something else in. It’s our official policy.

Note: if we’ve written about something in the past and the developer has since added a crappy toolbar, be sure to let us know so we can update the article and point it out.

Conclusion

Yes, it’s only a matter of un-checking a box, but it seems that allowing a user to opt-into installing the extra junk would be more acceptable.

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Remove Garbage Software from Your New (or Old) Computer

Asian Angel — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Is your brand new computer full of garbage and trial software? Have an older computer that could use a good cleaning? PC Decrapifier can help make the process as quick and painless as possible.

PC Decrapifier

PC Decrapifier requires no installation…just double-click the exe file to get things started.

The first screen introduces you to the program and gives you the opportunity to check for a new release. Click “Next” when ready…

The second screen has the EULA.

The third screen provides a warning to be careful regarding software that you may have purchased and installed yourself. You definitely do not want to accidentally remove the good stuff.

This screen asks which type of computer you are running. Choose the appropriate response…for our example we went ahead and checked “Yes”.

You will have the opportunity to create a “Restore Point” before going any further with the removal process. It is recommended that you do so before going to the next step.

You will be notified as soon as the “Restore Point” has been created…it may take a few moments depending on your individual setup. Now you are ready to check for “garbage software”. Click “Next”…

Our Windows 7 install came up clean but that is not the end of things yet. At this point you will have the opportunity to remove other software that is not in PC Decrapifier’s list yet or was added after you got your computer. Click “Next” to see what is found.

As you can see PC Decrapifier shows a list of the other software on your computer. Here you can see non-OEM installs of Google Toolbar and Musicmatch Jukebox have been selected. It is a good opportunity to remove unwanted software that is cluttering up your hard-drive. Select the particular items that you would like to have removed and click “Next”.

You will be provided with a final opportunity to cancel the removal if you are uncertain about any of your selections.

Then all that you have to do is enjoy watching that unwanted software being removed for you… You may be occasionally prompted to confirm removal of non-OEM software in uninstall windows…

All done…

In the final window you will have an opportunity to provide feedback to the software author if desired, otherwise click “Finish” to close PC Decrapifier.

What Does It Look For?

If you are curious about the list of items that PC Decrapifier looks for, there is a list (three pages) provided at the author’s website (link provided below). Here is a sample from the first page…

Conclusion

If you are looking for a good way to clean up your new (or old) computer, then PC Decrapifier can help make it as painless as possible.

Links

Download PC Decrapifier (version 2.1.0)

See the list of what PC Decrapifier removes

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Foobar2000 is a Fully Customizable Music Player

Mysticgeek — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:00:00 +0000

If you are sick of iTunes or Windows Media Player because they’re bulky and won’t play certain formats, then it’s time to look for another player. Today we take a look at Foobar2000 which is light on system resources, extremely configurable, and plays several types of music format.

foobar2000

Foobar2000 is a great music player for the geek who wants a light player that they can tweak the heck out of to their liking. The installer is only a 1.6 MB download but packs a lot of power. Features include gapless playback, ReplayGain support, ripping CDs, customizable interface, open component architecture and a lot more. It supports FLAC, MP3, MP4, OGG, WAV, WMA, AIFF, and other music formats.

Installation is straight-forward following the install wizard and you can go for the standard or portable version.

When you initially set it up or at anytime after you can go through the quick appearance setup feature to change the look and feel how you like it.

The player is easy to navigate and with a component plugin like Columns UI has all of the features you would expect from most players out there today.

You can find a bunch of different plugin components that have been created by different developers over the years as the project has grown. There are plugins for appearance, tagging, CD burning, and even an iPod manager. Virtually any function you might want, someone has created a plugin. To use the plugin components, download the zip file and extract the DLL file into the Foobar2000 components folder.

One of the must have components is Columns UI that lets you customize the interface in several ways.

Depending on the layout you can get tabbed or dropdown playlist features.

It also includes the ability to convert your music files to different formats. Just right click on a song and select Convert.

Now you can go through and choose the format you want to convert it to and add select between several settings and effects options.

An EQ is included for you to tweak the sound how you like it, and you can save your own presets.

If you are a Keyboard Ninja you’ll like the customizable shortcuts.

Going through your library is easy with the search feature.

Foobar2000 is a cool player for a music loving computer geek who wants to tweak every aspect of their player. If you’re a fan of foobar2000 or just started using it, leave us a comment and let us about it.

Download foobar2000 for Windows

foobar2000 Plugin Components

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Turn Your Desktop into a Picture Slideshow in Windows 7

Mysticgeek — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Are you looking for a way to easily change your desktop background periodically throughout the day? Today we look at using the desktop slideshow feature in Windows 7 that will automatically change the wallpaper at different time intervals.

Using Desktop Slideshow

To create your slideshow right-click on the desktop and click Properties.

Click on Desktop Background located at the bottom of the window.

Now hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and select each picture you would like to show on the desktop. Then choose the amount of time to to change the pictures, you can select from 10 seconds all the way up to a full day. Click the box next to Shuffle to vary them up even more.

After you’ve enabled this setting you’ll notice it says Slide Show under Desktop Background.

If you’d rather not muck around in the properties panel to add new wallpaper, you can simply head into the folder with all of your pictures, wallpapers, or photos, select the ones you want and use “Set as desktop background” from the right-click menu.

Once you’ve enabled the desktop slideshow, if you want to skip over to the next wallpaper you can simply right-click on the desktop and then use “Next desktop background” from the menu.

This is a great way to add variety to your desktop, show off some pictures you’ve taken, or just mess around with while you’re bored at work.

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