In my last article (An Explanation of the Pros and Cons of Using RAID on Your Computer), we discussed the problem of heat build-up during the very hot Auckland summer months and how a RAID 5 configuration with 4 disks can sustain the failure of a single disk. RAID protections provide one part of what should be an overall strategy to protect your data and your computer from heat.

In this piece we divert a bit from our standard hardware/software fare and look at the computing environment as a whole. We will postulate that a tidy workspace is, in fact, a happy workspace and suggest a few tricks to make your work-space more productive and more comfortable.

The three biggest factors driving the design of my workspace are heat, noise and clutter. If I can minimise these three and maximize my computing power and productivity (all within family budget constraints, of course), I will have archived the objective.

The three primary physical components available for modification are the room, the cabinet and the PC (also referred to as the Box or Tower).

The Room:

The ideal design would be a copy of a corporate computer room with climate control, raised floor and glass interior walls. Your computers would be rack-mounted and networked throughout your house with a patch panel to distribute computer services to every room.

If you’ve got the resources, and your wife will let you do it – please do.

The rest of us are probably stuck with a home office which is usually a converted bedroom, and we don’t have a lot of latitude for change.

My office has several problems that affect my productivity.

• It gets messy
• It gets hot
• and It gets noisy

As I get older I find it more and more important to keep my resources organised. So much stuff had accumulated in my office that I was spending more time looking for a resource than I was actually using it. Problem area #1 was first on my hit list. It is also made up of several components:

• Tools and parts and papers lying about
• Wires connecting the various bits of equipment
• Three out of five times the part or tool I needed was elsewhere

Number 1 has been the easiest to tackle with a quick fix. I’ve instituted a “no shop work” policy and banned all of my “project” tools back to the workshop in the garage. Additionally, I’ve developed an exit strategy that requires me to tidy up the office each night so I can hit the ground running in the morning.

To reduce the clutter and improve the look of the room a good part of the project was dedicated to removing or hiding all the visible wires.

Capping:

Ok, I confess, this picture is a bit staged and I wish I’d taken more pictures of the mess before blasting through with a clean-up, but you get the idea and probably have a scene like this of your own very much like it.

Capping is a square pipe tacked against the floorboard with a snap-on cover. Just tack the 3-sided part against the wall where you need it, run the wire inside, and then snap on the cover. Not quite as tidy as running the wire through the wall, but you need special tools and know-how to accomplish that. Capping is sold in a variety of sizes.

A big advantage to capping is that the cover can be removed and the wiring reconfigured to meet changing conditions.

Under the Carpet:

Depending on the size of your wire and size of the gap between the carpet and the molding, a thin wire can often be hidden in that space. Speaker wire is a good candidate for this, coaxial wire less so.

The wire can be pushed into the gap with almost anything that isn’t sharp (don’t use a fork for example). A chopstick is my tool of choice, there are more dangerous options …

Whenever you need to go under the carpet, always stay as close to the wall as possible – even the thinnest speaker wire will produce a lump.

Over the Roof:

In some circumstances a wire on the roof might be the best plan. The wire obviously needs to be of a grade that can withstand outdoor conditions, and any joins require extra weather- and water-proofing. Just be sure to tack it down securly. The tacks (below) are a good option as is hot glue or silicon. Don’t want the wire making any noise on a windy night.

Exterior wiring will eventually need to extend back into a room, a terminating plate (like the one shown above) is easy to install and gives the work a professional look.

Power Leads:

Mounting a power board on the back of a unit or on a nearby wall can give the appearance of order and the excess cable can be gathered and secured above the floor with cable ties, rubber bands, whatever, but a word of caution here, don’t wind up a big length of mains extension wire and leave it on the floor – it becomes a magnetic coil, heats up and bursts into flames.

Power leads emit radiation that can interfere with voice, data and video communication. As a general rule it’s best to keep the two types of cable separate. If you must run the two together and you get interference on the com lines, investigate shielded com lines as an alternative.

Many power boards have mounting holes on the back side of the board. In my experience these holes are very hard to line up correctly. Instead I’ll drill through those holes as they seem to be located in positions that avoid any internal wires and mount the board with screws drilled in from the front. Be sure to counter-sink the holes so that the top of the screw is flush with the board face and doesn’t interfere with any plugs.

Vanity Panel:

Basically it’s a large sheet of material that acts to cover the ugly stuff behind it

If you’ve run wiring through your desk some wires may hang down and look at bit messy, you can tidy these wires behind a panel to hide them from view. If you put this panel on hinges or make it easily removable you will still have plenty of flexibility should an equipment change be required.

You can do the same thing with walls

an inexpensive noticeboard did the trick here. I re-wired the power lead on my “Cent-o-Meter” to feed directly into the box eliminating the plug, and pinned the USB lead on my Weather Centre behind the board so it doesn’t show up quite so much.

Capping on Steroids:

In my particular situation a large number of cables must be run from the desk where my keyboard mouse and monitors are to the computer cabinet where my 2 PCs live crossing a space of clear carpet about a metre wide.

The solution shown below is a section of white square box down pipe attached to the wall with 2 screws. The shot above gives some indication of the wiring that would otherwise be exposed. A curtain rod is used to thread the cables from one end to the other.

In this picture you can also see another important tool in cable management – the white tags indicating what is at the far end. They are a bit pricey – $4.00 (US) for a pack of 24 but they can save you time and frustration when you are tracking down a fault in your system.

Cable Tidies:

There is a variety of gizmos available to help you in this effort. Number one is a pieces of 2 – 4 meters plastic tube split down the middle, into which a special installation tool can placed that will enable you to cover and contain a collection of wires. One big wire is easier work with (and looks better) than a bunch of smaller wires.

Number 2 is simple and free, although perhaps best suited to storing unused cables.

Number 3 – This “handcuff” looking device works like one too to clamp a number of loose cables in a single large thread.

Number 4 – These holders are fixed to the desk or the wall and hold a group of wires in place.

Number 5 – Velcro. Fairly expensive, but very re-usable

And lastly, Number 6 comes from the garden store. It’s a simple spool of light wire with a built-in cutter at the base. Intended for flowers, the wire does a good job on quick, temporary jobs.

Having a clean and tidy workspace may not be for everyone – it requires a little more work and a bit of discipline and may not, in the end, enhance your productivity. I’ve worked under my new regime for about a month now and I think I’m a bit more productive, but I know it keeps my wife happy and I find thinking about going in to my office to work a more pleasant experience.

But I won’t claim a final victory now. As with the currently accepted scientific theory: it’s only true until it’s not. In our next episode we’ll look at heat and noise.

In our next chapter we’ll take a look the storage cabinet and modifications to the PCs – both designed to improve system cooling.

For those of you tuned in from around the world – welcome. I’m a Kiwi (a person from New Zealand) and this article was written primarily to address NZ Windows Media Center users lack of access to the Electronic Program Guide from Sky Broadcasting.

Having said that, there are topics covered herein that could well be of use to others beyond the borders of New Zealand. Our primary tool in this article is “Big Screen EPG” that’s now being used by many people around the world to push the contents of an XMLTV file (the EPG information) into the Windows Media Center database. If this sort of thing is of interest to you, please read on.

Did you miss the previous posts in this series?

• Big Screen EPG Puts the “E” in Electronic Program Guide [Part 1 of 3]
• Big Screen EPG Puts the “E” in Electronic Program Guide [Part 2 of 3]

Our story continues:

I hope we’ve laid the groundwork for this next piece. You might want to review the most recent items on TV Setup and Big Screen EPG. In this offering we will take you through the process of getting the Sky EPG into your WMC Guide.

Requirements:

Windows Media Center – we’re using the Windows 7 version.

Big Screen EPG - the current release (v1.0A) is the one we are working with here

A TV Tuner card with a DVB-T input – we are using the Hauppauge WinTV 88x

an IRC Blaster kit and the remote control that comes with it

A video feed – can be your set-top box, or could be a handy-cam – doesn’t matter,so long as your TV Tuner card recognises it.

The remote control for your set-top box (unless you can describe the model of that set-top box)

3-stage process:

stage 1

We have to perform 3 distinct operations to make all this work. Part 1 is to prepare WMC to receive the new data. This may or may not be required, but taking this first step clears the existing data and generates a sufficient number of “slots” to hold the new channel information we are going to load in. This makes the process a bit easier to understand, although it might be a bit more work later on to reinstall the existing channel data (probably the Freeview channels depending on how your WMC was set up).

The good news is that you should only have to do it once, and reinstalling the FreeView channels can be done using Big Screen EPG along with EPG Collector, but that’s a story for another day.

stage 2

Part 2 is the collection of the program information with the help of Big Screen EPG. The result of this will be an XMLTV file that is imported into WMC.

stage 3

The last Part 3 takes us back to WMC to make the connection between the data we’ve just imported in Part 2, and the blank slots we created in Part 1. This step is labor intensive, but doesn’t need to be accomplished all in one sitting – just pick a few of the channels you want to include in the guide and leave the others to later.

CAUTION: Don’t delete any channels from the WMC line-up just now as I don’t think you can get them back without going through the whole “reset” carry-on.

Blank Slate

We’ll assume no prior work has been done, and that you can download and install the new and improved Big Screen EPG.

Having done that you can then use its ability to reset the Windows Media Center database.

This will take you to the WMC setup screen whereupon you will get a message saying someone has reset the database and would you please go back and set the whole TV thing up again. This is needed to allow us to add the channels to WMC and show the results without a lot of other clutter.

So we start the WMC setup at this point:

And jump ahead to the point where it asks us about the signal type:

I told it “cable” although I’ve heard it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the next one — say yes

and a couple of screens later you get the question about a working signal:

And because I didn’t have the set-top box in the room with me at the time, I plugged the video output from my video camera into the video-in receiver on the card. WMC was quite happy to take it.

Next, we get the part that determines what kind of set-top box we’ve got:

and that part should be straightforward and we get to the confirmation:

and eventually we reach the guide page where you will see this: (remember that we wiped everything to start with) If you didn’t wipe the database first you will see your existing channel information mixed in with the new blank channel slots.

If you want to verify that you’ve got more than the 37 channels provided by the Freeview feed just scroll down to number 38.

It’s my guess that the addition of the set-top box option is what provides us with the “slots” to capture and present the channel information above channel 38. At any rate, I haven’t come across another option that works in this regard.

Now we need to populate these slots with some data. For this we use Big Screen EPG which passes through the data gathered elsewhere on the Internet. Big Screen re-formats the files to suit WMC then pumps it into the db.

Open the Big screen EPG program and select the “Add Provider” line:

and activate the “Preset XMLTV Provider” radio button:

Make the next screen look like this:

and accept the defaults until you arrive at this screen wherein you select the channels you wish to populate with data. Please note that it’s possible this source could vanish without warning. In that case I hope we can come back with another solution.

Select the channels you want then continue accepting the defaults until you get back to the main screen where you then have the opportunity to generate data and feed it into WMC:

Accept the rest of the defaults to the end. You can then head over to WMC to see the results.

Link the program data to WMC:

In WMC, call up the guide which will have channel slots but no program data (remember the reset?). From your keyboard type in a channel number you like – 70 has Discovery, for example:

(typing in the number is a lot faster than scrolling). Now right-click on the channel number box and select “Edit Channel”

then “Edit Listings”

You’ll get a screen that looks like this (although it may be populated with old data if you didn’t do the reset). You’ll note in particular that there are 1097 lines of possible listings to choose from (most are blank).

The data you want is at the bottom of this list, so you can either push the down button a thousand and ninety seven times for every channel you want to set, or you can hit “END” on your keyboard to get to the end of the list:

Now it’s easy enough to page up to the channel you want:

Hit “Enter” to get back to the edit page (don’t forget to save) and you will be returned to the guide where your channel name will appear along with details of the current show, and if you scroll out to the right you can see all the data for the next 2 weeks if its there .

Continue this process until you’ve got all channels you want then at some point in the future you can start to “disable” the channels you don’t use to make your list easier to read.

In Conclusion:

There must be better ways to do this — drop me a note and let hear about them.

In the following weeks we’ll look at more ways to enhance your WMC guide with Big Screen EPG including the addition of channel logos and modifying the categories so stay tuned.

Post Script:

I suspect that the reason I didn’t have a set of Sky channels loaded into WMC (image 14) is that I hadn’t done a proper WMC setup – the normal with a Sky connection, but instead wiped all the existing data in the WMC database – fooled the setup program into thinking I had a Sky connection – but didn’t provide any channel data from the Sky feed.

It doesn’t make too much difference as the process of setting up your channels is the same either way – you still need to go into each channel and edit the source.

I mention this only as your setup screens may look different than those presented here.

Windows Guides’ Rating	User Rating	Compatible with
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NAME: Actual Multiple Monitors PROS: A Complete Taskbar on every monitor, which gives you total control. CONS: It’s not free VERDICT: This is by far the best Multi Monitor System I’ve ever encountered. I love the endless possibilities, and control it gives me. PRICE: $29,95 VERSION REVIEWED: 2.3 DOWNLOAD LINK BELOW

Features

This is one review I have really been looking forward to write. We have written about multi monitor setup on several occasions here at mintywhite.com, and this time we really got a treat for you. There are many programs that allow you to take full control over your multi monitor setup. Like the “move between monitors”-buttons, stretching the same wallpaper over several monitors, having different wallpapers on each monitor etc. Actual Multiple Monitors, takes it not just one step further, but a giant leap…

Multi Monitor Taskbar

Many freeware programs bring a taskbar (of sorts) to your multi monitors. But they don’t always, look, feel or function like the original. Actual Multiple Monitors (AMM) have done what I would expect from Microsoft. Their taskbar doesn’t just look like a taskbar, it IS a taskbar, with its own Start Orb Button, and functioning Start Menu. They have even replicated the Tray in the right corner.

Every function you are custom to have on the Windows Taskbar is there: Aero peek, Thumbnail Preview, Pin to taskbar, Window Grouping, Right Click Functions etc.  Just Looking at my dual setup you cannot see which is my main monitor and which is not.

Control the Monitors

From its Taskbar Tray Icon you can directly control which monitor is your primary, enable or disable the different monitors,  save different profiles for different setups. You don’t have to do this from the Windows Control panel any longer. You can also ask Actual Multiple Monitors to save or restore desktop icon placements.

Another cool feature worth mentioning is the Alt+Tab function, that works independently for each monitor.

Set which monitor each application should launch in

A Truly great feature is the ability to choose which monitor you would like to launch your applications in. For instance, if you want a certain program to always use a certain monitor, you can create a rule that does that.

You can choose the correct screen by drag-and-drop, or by name, or assign to the screen having mouse pointer focus.

Much more…

This and a whole lot more, is what you get. To read more about AMM, you can go here.

Wish list

If I were to wish for something, it would be to have all Window Settings from the Control Panel directly available in the Right-Click menu. Other than that I’m truly amazed and satisfied with the program, just as it is.

Don’t just take my word for it, Download and try….

Download Trial version

With RecycleBinEx you can now take total control over the bin. With this tool you can control which files get deleted (delete old ones, keep the newest added) and if you run dual-boot systems (on the same disk) you can delete bins from other Windows installments as well.

Right-Click Control

RecycleBinEx gets installed into your context menu, allowing you to choose which files will get deleted by Right Clicking your Recycle Bin. If you like to delete files added, lets say 20 days ago – Right-Click the bin and choose that option from the context Menu. So if you are afraid to empty out the bin, you can now at least empty out the ‘old’ stuff that you know for sure – you won’t need.

But RecycleBinEx does more. If you choose to use the RecycleBinEx Control Panel you can also choose files deleted in other Windows Versions as well. Given that you dual-boot from multiple Windows Versions on the same Disk.

RecycleBinEx Key Features

• Group deleted items by deleted time, logical disk etc.
• Manage all Windows recycle bins together
• Merge to the context menu of system recycle bin
• Jump list support in Windows 7
• Filter deleted data quickly
• Command line mode support

Download Site

I have compiled a list of some of the software reviews that I’ve done and which I think deserves a new moment in the spotlight. Where possible I have checked to see if there have been updates and improvements since last.

PhotoMagician (Read it)

PhotoMagician is a desktop tool for resizing and converting images using drag and drop functionality.

Since our review, Andy the developer of Photo Magician hasn’t exactly been lazy. I received a long list of improvements and new features. And this is some of them:

• Photo Magician will watch your selected INPUT folder for changes to it (rename, create, delete, add, files and folders) and dynamically update number of photos to convert.
• Added more input formats: DDS, PSD, PCX, WBMP with the inclusion of FreeImage.NET
• By far the biggest change is the interface to allow languages translations and fixing all the bugs to make it almost perfect!!
• impending new version to be release in June which will include the following:
  Facebook & Flickr Photo Uploading, More Language translations, Command line usage, Restore previously used settings

SDExplorer (Read it)

SDExplorer let you use your SkyDrive account as an ordinary folder or hard drive on your computer.

Since last, they have launched the PRO version 2.1 and done some interface changes. There is also now support for @msn.com accounts.

KidKeyLock (Read it)

This great freeware let you lock your keyboard and mouse while leaving your computer on.

No Changes has been reported since last review

DexPot (Read it)

Dexpot let you create no less than 20 virtual desktops, each with its own settings.

Just a few weeks since our review, but they have had some major upgrades, so it’s worth mentioning again.
Dexpot now support switching the good old ALT+TAB with their own. You may also develop your own plug-ins to enhance the software further.

LogMeIn Express (Read it)

LogMeIn Express is the ultimate solution for Remote desktop sessions, without having to create user accounts or software installations.

The software is still in beta and no significant changes have been made since our last review

MouseExtender (Read it)

MouseExtender is an iPhone-like programs menu

No changes

DVDshrink (Read It)

Create backups of your DVD movies easy and for free

Changes since our review:

• Added Quality Settings tab in the backup dialog, with option to enable AEC “adaptive error compensation” algorithms.
• Updated to NeroSDK 1.05, which includes support for burning DVD-9 dual-layer media. Added DVD-9 target size in preferences window.
• Removed “burn with DVD Decrypter” checkbox and replaced with a selectable backup target.
• Added burn with CopyToDVD as a backup target, this appears if CopyToDVD is installed.
• Added automatic support for splitting ISO files if they are saved to a FAT32 partition. In this case a .MDS file is also output which can be burned with DVD Decrypter and mounted by Daemon Tools. MDS files can additionally be opened with DVD Shrink from the “Open Disc Image…” menu.

Acer GridVista (Read it)

Add AeroSnap functionality to Windows XP

No changes as far as I’ve found

Freeburn MP3 to MusicCD (Read it)

Fast and reliable program for converting and burning your MP3 files to a music CD

No apparent changes has been made

ImgBurn (Read it)

The ultimate freeware burner for your computer.

Too many changes to mention them all. But here is the entire list (loooong read)

phew, that’s all for this time.

As you know we also host competitions on our site. Competitions that let you talk directly to software developers. Giving them your ideas and suggestions. But do they follow through ? Are they actually listening and are they implementing your ideas in their work ?

I decided to contact some of the developers we’ve reviewed in the last 6 months, asking them. When I receive word from all of them I’ll let you know what they told me.

Many features we find in modern software are very useful, but sometimes, is complicated to know what they actually do.

InPrivate Browsing is of this kind. The name itself drives to confusion. If you haven’t read about it, you might think is a sort of protection over your privacy on Internet.

To complicate the things a bit, the browser even comes with two new modes with similar names, InPrivate Browsing and InPrivate Filtering.

This is what Microsoft tell us about InPrivate Browsing:

“InPrivate Browsing in Internet Explorer 8 helps prevent your browsing history, temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, and usernames and passwords from being retained by the browser, leaving no evidence of your browsing or search history.”

The key point is no leaving traces so there is no possibility someone discover what you are browsing. It seems like the ideal mode to use in a shared PC.

As we can see  it doesn’t enhance your personal security but at least prevents others to obtain your browsing history from the computer.

I am going to test if it really does what it claims.

First we are going to erase any evidence, on Internet Explorer go to Tools tab:

Select Delete…, a list of check boxes will appear:

These way the browser history disappears. Just pressing Ctrl + H to see it:

Okay, now I am going to use two programs to try to look for traces.

Systance Index.dat Analyzer

Piriform Recuva

As you may notice these programs are free. We are now to navigate using InPrivate mode for a web to see if we can find traces. I have chosen BBC site, but it really doesn’t matter.

Here we see how the history browsing looks:

Google appears because is the Home Page but there is no traces of bbc.co.uk at least here.

Using Recuva to find deleted files

Recuva is an awesome tool to find erased files. So, if Internet Explorer has tried to erase his traces just deleting the files we are going to find it.

Before using this software we need to prepare the operating system to show us every file that is in the computer. For this we go to the Control Panel, Appearance and Personalization and select Folder Options. Once you are there select the view tab, check Show hidden files, folder, and drives and uncheck Hide protecting operating system files.

Temporary internet files are stored in a system folder so we need to show these sort of files.

Recuva starts a Wizard when you first open it. We select to look for other files so it will look for all kind of files. You have to select where to find for the files. Temporary files are stored for Windows XP:

%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

For Windows Vista, 7:

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

If you find this complex you can select the “I’m not sure” option and the software will look everywhere.

The next windows ask if you want to select Deep Scan, you have to check it. This way there are more chances that you find what we are looking for.

Once it’s completed, you have to order the files by date:

Indeed, as you can see is easy to know that someone has been at bbc.co.uk, and you can recover every file that was deleted from the temporary folder.

Maybe, you think that this is not important but it is not complicated to delete those files without leaving traces but Internet Explorer have chosen the generic and more easy way.

Using Index.dat analyzer

Index.dat are files used by Internet Explorer to store information about your browsing objects.

What exactly does this mean?

Index.dat is the method that Internet Explorer uses to control temporary internet files. This way knows if a file is from one web page or another. This file works as a database that informs the program when a web was accessed and every file that was part of that site.

The history also is saved in a index.dat file.

First time you run the program it will look for every index.dat in your system.

If you delete the Browsing History, as we did at the beginning of this article, the information of these files are erased.

But what happens after our test?, remember that Internet Explorer only shows that someone has visited Google.com.

If we select the following file:

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Low\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat

This appears because I typed bbc.co.uk and not www.bbc.co.uk, this is important because if the web page use this sort of links more traces appears. Looks what happens with cnn.com:

I have even found more traces on other file:

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat

I get this last trace because Internet Explorer delete this in a very slow way. It finally gets deleted, but in one case it takes more than a minute to do it.

So InPrivate is not so private after all and you can easy know what have browsed.

If you have Windows 7 and would like to enhance the way Aero Snap works , then This is the freeware for you: Acer Gridvista.

Read on for download link.

More functions than Aero Snap

With Acer Gridvista you don’t only get the Aero Snap function as in Windows 7, you get a better version of it. The program allows you to divide each monitor in up to 4 individual sections, each with its own setting. You can preset zones in which the program snaps a window into place, or you can snap it in place using a custom button which is added to your explorer windows. For Windows 7 users; Gridvista integrates seamlessly into Aero Snap giving it even better functionality.

In Addition is also provides transparent windows and the option to stick a window on-top of others.

After you download and install the program, you’ll find a blue monitor icon in your Taskbar. Right-Click it edit the settings and how many zones you want to divide that monitor into.

Features

Once Installed, and monitors divided – just drag a non-maximized window over an active zone to snap it into place.  You will also find three custom buttons at the top of each window you open. These buttons let you choose which zone to use, if that window should always be on top or not and if the grid should be magnetic or not.

Yes, This Freeware is developed by Acer Computers, and originally developed for their notebooks. I have not found any official download link on the Acer Website but it is freely available for download on the net. More information on features here.

Download Acer Gridvista

Download Acer Gridvista

Windows Guides’ Rating	User Rating	Compatible with
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PROS: This program works well and I didn’t find any bugs at all. My screenshots below show what kind of a difference can be made by using this software. CONS: Untested on 64-bit (I didn’t try it as my only 64-bit machine is not for testing–it needs to be up 24/7.) Price is a little high, but still great value if you have a need to organize your context menu. VERDICT: This program does what it says on the box: it organizes your right-click menu and helps you access what you need with ease. The Pro version is reasonably priced, although $20 is always a sweet spot for me with tools like this. I recommend the pro version in support of the developers who’ve worked hard to make this great tool. PRICE: Free (Pro $26.) VERSION REVIEWED: 1.37 DOWNLOAD: Moo0 Right Clicker

Moo0 Right Clicker Features

I like programs that serve one purpose and serve it well. Moo0 right clicker is designed to enhance and customize your right-click context menu and it does a great job. If your tired of seeing too much clutter (like I have) and you don’t want to manually play with Windows Registry settings, this program will go a long way for you.

Before Using Moo0 Right Clicker	After Using Moo0 Right Clicker

Why Go Pro?

I can’t find any differences between the two versions other than:

• The free version is for personal use only.
• The Pro version supports the software developers.

Download Moo0 Right Clicker (Free) (Untested on 64-bit.) Download Moo0 Right Clicker Pro (Untested on 64-bit.)

I’d like to thank RSVR85 for his hard work. This book is fantastic and I can’t wait to update my Media Center PC to Windows 7 so I can put these hacks into effect. His original forum post on the topic helped me customize Windows Vista’s Media Center (and this handbook will work, mostly, for Windows Vista Media Center.)

Download the Windows 7 Media Center Customization Handbook.

What’s in this Book?

• Customization 101
• Required Downloads
• Movie Organization
  • Join Two-Part Movies
  • Get MetaData for Your Movies
• Configure Media Browser
  • Set up Actor Images
  • Add Media Browser to W7MC Start Menu
  • Change Media Browser Icon in Startup Menu
  • Add Custom Genre Icons to Media Browser
  • Speed Up Media Browser Using USB Flash Drive
• Hide the Default Movie Strip
• Change W7MC Background

What Type of Customization?

You can get the following effects:

Movie Genre Sections with Icons

Customized Menus and Backgrounds

Coverflow DVD/Blu Ray Art

Much more!

Do you use Windows 7 Media Center? If so, this book is for you!

Windows 7 Media Center Customization Handbook Customize and enhance Windows 7 Media Center with this free 20-page eBook. Download the Windows 7 Media Center Customization Handbook (PDF 5.53MB)

XdN Tweaker is a free tweaking program for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7.

If you like to take more control of your computer and apply tweaks that enhance your user experience, then this tool is for you. Learn, in this guide, what XdN Tweaker does and how to get it.

XdN Tweaker is much like previous tweaking utilities I’ve covered in the past. The interface is clean and informative. The program is easy to use and I’m sure you’ll find some use in it.

For example, you can remove shortcut overlays without using a registry hack or dedicated program.

Here is my desktop without shortcut overlays — doesn’t it look so much cleaner?

You can clean up the right-click context menu, which I found really useful.

You can also disable alerts that you don’t care for, such as: balloon tips and low-disk-space alerts.

XdN Tweaker comes packed with lots of other features, not covered in this review, to keep you busy and customize your system to your needs.

Download XdN Tweaker