Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Computer Files Safe

As more and more things we value get stored on our computers, such as digital photos and Quicken financial data, the consequences of losing files have dramatically increased. Here are some simple ways you can make sure you never lose your important files.

1. Make sure your files are backed up using online data backup

This is the number one way to make sure your files are always safe. Online backup of your computer is the easiest way to make sure you never lose your files. Systems that offer online data backup are A) automatic, so you never have to remember to do it, B) inexpensive, and C) keep everything off site. That way, in case your computer ever gets damaged or stolen, everything is safe.

2. Don't save over your previous file

This isn't one that many people think about, but opening a new word document, making changes, and then saving the modified file using the same file name means you just overwrote you previous copy. It's better to save important photos or documents using version numbers such as "My Word File v1.0". Change the version number after every significant change to something like v1.1 or v2.0

3. Replace hard drives before there is trouble

The typical life span for a hard drive is 3 to 5 years. And they are inexpensive enough to be replaced before they fail. For less than $50, you can get a drive that will hold all your pictures, documents and everything else. Replacing them on a routine basis before there is a problem means you won't have to go through the stress of trying to get your files back when your drive fails.

4. Make sure your computer is electrically protected

Computers are very susceptible to power problems. Unintentional power shutoffs, voltage spikes and many other things can cause unexpected loss of files and damage your computer equipment. Your computers should be plugged into an Uninterruptible Power Supply or UPS. When you plug your computer into a UPS, your equipment will continue to be powered on even if the electricity goes out or there is a power surge, so that you can shut your computer down properly. That way, your computer equipment, and most importantly your files, will be safe.

5. Don't get your computer stolen

This may seem like an obvious one, but thousands of laptops are stolen all the time. The most common way people have their laptops stolen is from their car. If you are going to leave your laptop in your car, lock it in the trunk where it isn't visible from the outside, or take it with you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Pitman

How to protect MS Excel file using password?

In Microsoft Excel, you can protect a single cell, group of cells on a worksheet or an entire workbook by applying password so that unauthorized person can not display as well as modify your document. You can apply two types of password.

Password to open the document:

If it is applied then you have to give the correct password to open the workbook. Otherwise you cannot open the workbook.

Password to modify the document:
If it is applied then you have to give the correct password to modify the workbook. Otherwise your workbook is opened but you cannot modify the workbook. It means that your workbook becomes read-only.

To apply a password to MS Excel document, follow the given steps:

First click on "Tools" menu and select the "Option" from drop down menu.
A windows dialog box will appear, here select the "Security" tab.

Enter first password in "Password to open" text box under "File encryption settings for this workbook" section and second password in "Password to modify" text box (if required) under" File sharing settings for the workbook" section then click "Ok" button of dialog box.

Microsoft Excel will open "Confirm Password" dialog box for the confirmation of passwords. The maximum length of password is 15 characters.

Re-enter the password to open and password to modify and click "Ok" button of Confirm Password dialog boxes one by one.
Now close the file and then reopen to test the password.

Internet Error Codes and Meaning

Sometime you are browsing the internet and trying to open any website, your e-mail and any FTP sites , but you see different error codes there. You should be familiar with these error codes. You can solve these problems if you are well-known with the meaning of error codes.

Error Codes Meaning

400 This is bad request error, First check you may be typing wrong URL name and server could not understand your request.

401 You are trying to open any unauthorized access site or page. Check your username and password if you are trying to open any webpage.

402 Payment Required Error

403 You are trying to open any forbidden page and you are blocked by that domain.

404 Here you are trying to open the webpage that was removed or re-named, also check the URL spelling.

408 This is time out error. you should send the request with in time that the server set for you.

48. Automatically Turn On Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and Caps Lock

When you start your PC, Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and Caps Lock don't automaticallytoggle on. You can automatically turn each of them on or off whenever your PCstarts, for all accounts on the PC. As a practical matter, most people probably want tohave only Num Lock automatically turned on, but this Registry hack allows you toforce any combination of keys on or off.

Run the Registry Editor [Hack #83] and goto HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Keyboard. Find the String valueInitialKeyboardIndicators. By default, it is set to 0, which means that Num Lock,Scroll Lock, and Caps Lock are all turned off. Set it to any of the following values,depending on the combination of keys you want turned on or off:
0-Turns off Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock1-Turns on Caps Lock2-Turns on Num Lock3-Turns on Caps Lock and Num Lock4-Turns on Scroll Lock5-Turns on Caps Lock and Scroll Lock6-Turns on Num Lock and Scroll Lock7-Turns on Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll LockExit the Registry. When you restart, the new setting will take effect.

47. Control User Logins by Hacking the Registry

To control logon options, run the Registry Editor [Hack #83] and go to theHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersionWinlogon subkey, which contains a variety of logon settings (as well as some settingsnot having to do directly with logons).

Following are the most important values youcan edit to customize logons
DontDisplayLastUserName
This setting lets you control how the system logon dialog box is used. If this Stringvalue is present and set to 1, all users will have to enter both their username andpassword to log on.

If the value is 0, the name of the last user to log on will bedisplayed in the system logon dialog box.
DefaultUserNameThis String value contains the name of the last user who logged on. It will bedisplayed only if the DontDisplayLastUserName value is not present or is set to 0.LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText// Already discussed
PasswordExpiryWarningThis DWORD value lets you display a warning message to users a certain number ofdays before their passwords are set to expire. It lets you determine how many daysahead of time the warning should be issued. To edit the value, click the decimalbutton and enter the number of days.
ShutdownWithoutLogonThis String value enables or disables a button on the XP logon dialog box that lets thesystem shut down. A value of 1 enables the button (so that it is shown); a value of 0disables the button (so that it is not shown).

ShellIt determines the shellthe user interfacethat will be used by XP. The default isExplorer.exe, but it can be another shell as wellfor example, the Program Managerfrom older Windows versions. Type in the name of the program; for example,Progman.exe for the Program Manager, or Taskman.exe for the Task Manager.
AutoRestartShellThis DWORD value doesn't have to do with logons either, but it's another good one toknow. It sets whether to automatically restart the Windows shell if the shell crashes. A value of 1 automatically restarts the shell.

A value of 0 tells XP not to restart the shell,forcing you to log off and then back on again to restart it.

46. Play around registry- More Options

Launch Regedit and go to the following Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies Under this key, there will definitely be a key named explorer.
Now under this explorer key we can create new DWORD valuesand modify it's value to 1 in order to impose the restriction. If you want to remove the Restriction, then you can simply delete the respective DWORD values or insteadchange their values to 0.
The following is a list of DWORD values that can be createdunder the Explorer Key:
NoDeletePrinter: Disables Deletion of already installed PrintersNoAddPrinter: Disables Addition of new PrintersNoRun : Disables or hides the Run CommandNoSetFolders: Removes Folders from the Settings option on Start Menu (ControlPanel, Printers, Taskbar)NoSetTaskbar: Removes Taskbar system folder from the Settings option on StartMenuNoFind: Removes the Find Tool (Start >Find)NoDrives: Hides and does not display any Drives in My ComputerNoNetHood: Hides or removes the Network Neighborhood icon from the desktopNoDesktop: Hides all items including, file, folders and system folders from theDesktopNoClose: Disables Shutdown and prevents the user from normally shutting downWindows.NoSaveSettings: Means to say, 'Don't save settings on exit'DisableRegistryTools: Disable Registry Editing Tools (If you disable this option, theWindows Registry Editor(regedit.exe) too will not work.)NoRecentDocsHistory: Removes Recent Document system folder from the StartMenu (IE 4 and above)ClearRecentDocsOnExit: Clears the Recent Documents system folder on Exit.Nolnternetlcon: Removes the Internet (system folder) icon from the DesktopNow create a new key and name it System. Under this new key, system we can createthe following new DWORD valuesNODispCPL: Hides Control PanelNoDispBackgroundPage: Hides Background page.NoDispScrsavPage: Hides Screen Saver PageNoDispAppearancePage: Hides Appearance PageNoDispSettingsPage: Hides Settings PageNoSecCPL: Disables Password Control PanelNoPwdPage: Hides Password Change PageNoAdminPaqe: Hides Remote Administration PageNoProfilePage: Hides User Profiles PageNoDevMgrPage: Hides Device Manager PageNoConfigPage: Hides Hardware Profiles PageNoFileSysPage: Hides File System ButtonNoVirtMemPage: Hides Virtual Memory ButtonSimilarly, if we create a new subkey named Network, we can add the followingDWORD values under it:NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides Network Security PageNoNelSetup: Hides or disables the Network option in the Control PanelNoNetSetupIDPage: Hides the Identification PageNoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides the Access Control PageNoFileSharingControl: Disables File Sharing ControlsNoPrintSharing: Disables Print Sharing Controls.

45. Change Internet Explorer's Caption

Open the registry editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft \Internet Explorer\Main. In the right pane create a new String Value namesWindow Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newlycreated String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to bedisplayed. Restart for the settings to take place.

44. Shutdown and Reboot in Style

Turning off or rebooting XP involves a several-step process: click the Start menu,choose Shut Down, and then select Shut Down or Restart. If you want, however, youcan exit or reboot much more quickly, by creating a shortcut that enables one-clickshutdowns. You can also use the shortcut to customize the shutdown or reboot forexample, by displaying a specific message or automatically shutting down anyprograms that are running.
First, create a shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking the desktop, choosing New,and then choosing Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. In the box askingfor the location of the shortcut, type shutdown. After you create the shortcut, doubleclicking it will shut down your PC.
But you can do much more with a shutdown shortcut than merely shut down your PC.

You can add any combination of several switches to do extra duty, like this:
shutdown -r -t 01 -c "Rebooting your PC"
Double-clicking that shortcut will reboot your PC after a one-second delay anddisplay the message "Rebooting your PC." The shutdown command includes a varietyof switches you can use to customize it.
Switches you can use with shutdown
Switch What it does-s Shuts down the PC.-l Logs off the current user.-t nn Indicates the duration of delay, in seconds, before performing the action.
Switches you can use with shutdownSwitch What it does
-c "messagetext"Displays a message in the System Shutdown window. A maximumof 127 characters can be used. The message must be enclosed inquotation marks.
-f Forces any running applications to shut down.
-r Reboots the PC.
Here are the ones I use for shutdowns and restarts:
Shutdown -s -t 03 -c "See you later!"
shutdown -r -t 03 -c "You can't get rid of me that quickly!"
You always have to turn from the CPU after running this command. (Same with ATand ATX powered machines.) If you want to turn down power of ATX machineautomatically, run the following commnd "c:\windows\system32\tsshutdn.exe 00 /POWERDOWN / DELAY:00" This is used to turn off a server.

Even though youdon't have networked computers attached to your computer, this works.

43. Disabling Drives in My Computer

To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives.
Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal). Now press F5 to refresh.When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display ofdrives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item.

42. Increasing Band-Width By 20%

Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes likeWindows Updates and interrogating your PC etc.
Click Start then Run and type"gpedit.msc" without quotes. This opens the group policy editor. Then go to: LocalComputer Policy  Computer Configuration Administrative Templates NetworkQOS Packet Scheduler and then to LimitReservableBandwidth. Double click onLimit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the'Explain' tab i.e."By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default." So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO.
This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.
It works on Win 2000 as well.

41. Internet Explorer As Fast As FireFox:

Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit. Once in registry,navigateto key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion \InternetSettings. Right click on the right windows > New > DWORD. TypeMaxConnectionsPerServer > You can set value (the more higher the no, the moregood speed eg:99).

Create another DWORD >type MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server.Then put a high value as mentioned above.

Restart I.E and you are done.

40. Eg2:Hack XP Password

If you log into a limited account on your target machine and open up a dos promptthen enter this set of commands Exactly. Forget about the explanations as it is for thesake of clarity purposeCommand Expalnationcd\ *drops to rootcd\windows\system32 *directs to the system32 dirmkdir temphack *creates the folder temphackcopy logon.scr temphack\logon.scr *backsup logon.scrcopy cmd.exe temphack\cmd.exe *backsup cmd.exedel logon.scr *deletes original logon.scrrename cmd.exe logon.scr *renames cmd.exe to logon.screxit *quits dos
Now what you have just done is told the computer to backup the command programand the screen saver file, then edits the settings so when the machine boots the screen saver you will get an unprotected dos prompt with out logging into XP.

Once this happens if you enter this command minus the quotes "net user here> password"
If the Administrator Account is called Frank and you want the password blah enterthis "net user Frank blah" and this changes the password on franks machine to blahand you should be in.

39. Eg1: Hack the XP Admin Passwords

When you or anyone installs Windows XP for the first time your asked to put in yourusername and up to five others. Now, unknownst to a lot of other people this is theonly place in Windows XP that you can password the default AdministratorDiagnostic Account. This means that to by pass most administrators accounts onWindows XP all you have to do is boot to safe mode by pressing F8 during boot upand choosing it. Log into the Administrator Account and create your own or changethe password on the current Account. This only works if the user on setup specified apassword for the Administrator Account.

38. What the heck is a hack then..?

Hacking is done to expose a security hole in a system. Hacking is done to expose the
holes in the armor so that system designers can patch it in their next release.

Hacking if done with a malicious mind, then its cracking! Crackers are basically hackers with a malicious mind. They exploit the security holes to gain unauthorized access to a system. They often steal data like the credit card information from the victim’s computer and read their mails. Some crackers go beyond and often engage in
destructive actions like creating viruses and worms. So the next time when you say
hacker/cracker, understand what they are. Hackers don’t like being greeted as
crackers for the same reason that hackers are friendly and nice people.

I’m giving you two examples below to understand how hacking differs from
tweaking:

37. Is it a hack by any means…??

Defenitely Not!
What we have discussed so far are not hacks by any means.
They are just ‘tweaks’. Tweaking is done to customize the system according to user
preferences by over riding the default settings. Tweaking will improve the system
performance by many folds, provided that it is done in the right way. Most of the
tweaks and tricks are performed in the following 3 areas.

1. Start> Run > Regedit
2. Start > Run> Msconfig
3. Start > Run> gpedit.msc

It is difficult for a newbie to understand the various keys and sub-keys in the registry and a wrong move can have catastrophic effects. The second one is way too simple and the options are limited. So I recommend the third area ☺. Group Policy Editor or gpedit.msc is a nice place for the newbies to learn and try their own tricks. The main advantage is its simplicity. Just click on the + signs to dive deep into it. Explanations are given along with each entry. Read the explanation and decide on the settings that needs to be set.
Nothing much, you just need to enable or disable a setting. Isn’t it a simple thing to do?? And trust me, it can even create wonders!! So go ahead and try it now itself. Good luck.

36.Banning Programs from “Most Frequently Used” list

Take a look at this for it is very interesting. If any of the following words or phrases is included in the program's shortcut name, the program will be excluded from the list: Documentation, Help, Install, More Info, Readme, Read me, Read First, Setup, Support, and What's New. Additionally, the following executables are excluded from the list: Setup.exe,Install.exe, Isuninst.exe, Unwise.exe, Unwise32.exe, St5unst.exe, Rundll32.exe,Explorer.exe, Icwconn1.exe, Inoculan.exe, Mobsync.exe, Navwnt.exe, Realmon.exe, and Sndvol32.exe.

Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications. Underneath this
key, you'll find a series of subkeys, each representing an application. The primary purpose of these su-keys is to determine whether the program appears on the Open With dialog box that appears whenever you try to open an unknown file type. But you can also add a value to any of the subkeys which will ban programs from appearing on the Most Frequently Used Programs List.

Look for a subkey that is the executable name of the application you want to ban from the list; for example, visio.exe for the Visio business illustration program. Once you find the application's subkey, create a new String value for that subkey, named NoStartPage. Leave the value blank. Exit the Registry. You might have to reboot for the setting to take effect and the program to be banned from the list.

35. DMA Mode for CD-ROMs

Like Windows 2000, Windows XP still fails to set the DMA mode correctly for the
IDE device designated as the slaves on the primary IDE and secondary IDE channels.
Most CD- ROMS are capable of supporting DMA mode, but the default in XP is still
PIO. Setting it to DMA won't make your CD-ROM faster, but it will consume less
CPU cycles.
Here's how: Open the Device Manager. One way to do that is to right
click on "My Computer", select the Hardware tab, and Select Device Manager.

Expand "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" and double-click on "Primary IDE Channel".Under the "Advanced Settings" tab, check the "Device 1" setting. More than likely,
your current transfer mode is set to PIO.
Set it to "DMA if available". Repeat the step for the "Secondary IDE Channel" if you have devices attached to it. Reboot.

34. Delete INDEX.DAT (Faster Browsing)

First of all open up the command prompt. For that go Start -> Run -> cmd. Now press CTRL + ALT + DELETE to bring up the task manager. In the task manager, go toprocesses and click on explorer.exe. End the “explorer.exe” task. All the windowswill be closed down. Don’t panic. You can still see the command prompt. In thecommand prompt type the following command exactly as it is:
Del "C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\TemporaryInternet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat"
Note is the name that you use to log in to your windows. Somelog in as “administrator” while some with another name eg: Sandeep. Whatever it is,type that name. This will also help in fixing all the issues related to browserperformance, especially the ones that cause browser to hang frequently.

33. Speed up IE Start Up

This tweak tells Internet Explorer to simply 'run', without loading any webpages. Ifyou use a 'blank' page, that is still a page, and slows access. Notice the 'about:blank' inthe address bar. The blank html page must still be loaded. To load IE with 'nothing' [nothing is different than blank]
1. Right-click on any shortcut you have to IE[You should create a shortcut out of your desktop IE icon, and delete the original icon]
2. Click Properties
3. Add -nohome [with a space before the dash] after the endquotes in the Target field.
4. Click OK

32. Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN

The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go tothe following Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD valueby the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save thechanges. You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in thekey:HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ RunMRU. You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete Historyof Find listings go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRUand delete.