Speed Up Your Slow PC

You must be felling that your computer is SLOOOOOOOW. Don't worry that's how almost every techy in the world feels like. But if you really want to speed up your machine with some small tweaks, it'll help you a lot in some situations.

Let's get stared:

1. Clean Up Your Disks

Doesn't matter whether it's your phone, PC, Laptop, or MP3 player , this step applies to all your electronics. Cleaning up your disks is very necessary, even though you fell that all the data on your computer is important, you'll have to let some of it go. To do this you can uninstall unwanted software that slow down your Windows StartUp, or defragment your disk using great utilites like Smart Defrag to get a little help. Read this article to know more how you can keep your data and still have lot of space on your system. One of the ways to do it is by creating a free DropBox, SkyDrive or Google Drive account to save your data online. Use this link to give me and yourself additional 500 MB space on your 2GB free account.

2. Install A Lighter OS

Install a lighter OS on your computer to get faster boot up speeds and lesser frustration. You can use some of the lightest linux distros to install onto your computer. You can even just make a live USB for your light distro if you dont want to go through the tough work of installing a whole new OS and it may still give comparatively faster application start ups and system boot ups. You can even install something like Chrome OS called Chromium OS if it is supported onto your system. Chromium OS is basically OS with just Chrome in it. You can use it if you just browse internet most of the time and as now a days you can do almost any thing online that you can do on your PC, Chromium Os can be used as an alternative.

3. Increase Internet Speeds

Just like every one else even you must be felling that your internet speeds can be improved and the answer is both yes and no. You can get a little more speed by the tricks I showed you earlier and you can even change your DNS settings using  to get an extra kick on you speed but at the end of the day your applications and your ISP (Internet Service Provider) decides how mush speed you get. You can try some tricks to crank up your DropBox upload and download speeds which really give you amazing syncing speed, but even this works only because DropBox was limiting your speed so don't search for trick to boost up Chrome or something like that, it WONT WORK!

4. Overclock Your System

This is something that I wont recommend to you if you are a newbie because overclocking your Processor, RAM, or GPU will void its warranty. The other problem with overclocking is that if you don't know the limits you can endup overheating your processor , blah, blah to such an extend that it will never work again. So be careful with that. Overclockers.com has some great tutorials but the best thing to do is gather information about your computer like Motherboard name, Processor name/generation, etc and then find if anyone with same spces have put on a tutorial by googling it.

5. Use Windows ReadyBoost

ReadyBoost is a great functionality already in your added in Windows OS' watch the video and read the explanation on Windows Site. There are some other Softwares like eBoost which can help you do the same but I don't see a need to install an extra software for ReadyBoost. But watch this video of eBoost it explains how  eBoost (ReadyBoost) works.

6. Get Yourself A SSD

Using an SSD will give you the best performance boost than any other tweaks mentioned above, but again all the above ones were for free. SSD replace come in various sizes and the size of SSD you'll need depends on your usage. If you are a PRO designer or something and you use very huge and memory consuming applications like PhotoShop and 3D's Max you'll need a SSD with slightly more space, but again it depends on how much you are able to giveup. If you don't want to spend too much on SSD and ready to wait a little more for an application to open up, you can save a whole lot of money. Have a look at this guide on How To Buy SSD on PCMag.com to understand your needs better.

Bitcasa: Get Unlimited Cloud Storage With Sync For FREE!

I came across this amazing service Bitcasa that provides you with unlimited cloud storage and that too for free. It is a start-up by 3 really smart guys. The technology stuffed into this system is also pretty amazing. 
If you are interested already, sign up through this link so that I get a referral (Don't why I need this as all the space is for FREE!)

The files or folders you upload are basically form one of the following type:

1. Infinite: 

The most awesome feature, if you upload a folder with Infinite category, then all the data from your computer will be uploaded onto your Bitcasa's unlimited storage and the Bitcasa system virtualizes that whole folder onto your system right from the cloud in real time. So whenever your try to see the folder properties you see something like:

And this is not because this is the cap on your account, its because this is the largest number the OS can show!
So what happens when you try to access those files in this INFINITE Folder?
Well even thought the files you see on your infinite folder are virtualized, you can still open them on your system without any problems. The data is brought onto your computer in real time. The founder was playing 2 HD movies simultaneously right from the cloud during his presentation. That's because the system can predict can automatically download the data in advance so that you can have an hassle free experience.

2. Sync:

You know all about this so I wont be wasting your time on this. This basically means that you have a copy of the file, both on your computer and the cloud. But the good thing about this is that with Bitcasa you can sync unlimited data without any limits unlike some other services that only let you sync a limited amount of data even though you have paid for larger amount of space.

3. Backup:

This is the category for all your permanent files. If you don't want to ever loose a file then keep them in here. It will keep a copy with you so that you can change and the other copy on the cloud that stays the same no matter what.  


Features of Bitcasa:

• Apart from the cool Infinite folder and the infinite sync Bitcasa also allow you to access almost all of your daily usage files like videos, pdf's, text files, music etc. right in you browser. No need to download the fie, just steam your whole Movie from the cloud just like your own Netflix or iTunes.

• You can even share the files and folders form both your Bitcasa account and even from your computer, all you need to do is just drag and drop any file or folder on the  Send Tab and it will create a link that the other person can open up in browser. 
• I know that most of you will not consider this a Feature but, it really is. Bitcasa is truly a cross platform service available on Windows, Mac and even Linux. They are even going to come up with app for iOS and Android. 

You Might Not Be Able To Access Internet Because Of A Virus

In January the FBI found out a scheme through which a group of criminals who wanted to get RICH. The crooks were basically buying a lot of DNS servers that randomly redirect you to their fake site after some time,but that's not it they even created a Trojan that secretly hacks into your system and changes your DNS settings so that every time you ask for a site it sends the request to the DNS made by them. So the FBI got legal permission form the court to replace those fake DNS with the real one's. But the problem is that Tomorrow on 12:00 AM July 9 2012  their court order expires and so the FBI no longer has the authority to run it anymore. So if the FBI cant have it and if the Crooks are already in the jail, who is going to run those servers?? The answer is no one. Thats the reason if your computer was affected by the Trojan than from tomorrow onwards you'll be with a DNS address that's shut down and you wont be able to access internet.
If you are thinking that you saw your anti virus remove that trojan than that doesnt matter, if your Anti-Virus removed the Trojan , the DNS settings are still the same your Anti-Virus cannot change that.

If you are worried that you might be affected than go to this link and see if the Box is green, you're safe. If its RED then go to this link where they explain how to change your DNS settings so that you dont end up without Internet tomorrow morning.

[Check If You Are Safe Or Not-'DNS-OK.us']
[NakedSecurity]

Rename And Find Metadata For Your Movie Collection

If you have a huge movie collection I bet you'll love this software. I'll download meta data like the correct movie name, year of release, plot, actors and their role in the movie, thumbnails, and posters (fan pictures) from the movie.

The download is a .jar file so you'll need a Java Runtime Environment installed on your system. Once you've got Movie Renamer and Java Runtime Environment you are all set to install the software. Go to Run from the start menu or just press 'Win + R' and then type 'cmd' and press Enter. A Command Prompt will pop-up. Note down the path (Mine was C:\Users\Me). Then copy the .jar download to that folder (C:\Users\Me) and then restart the Command Prompt (Not necessary for all but Recommended). The type:

java -jar <fileName.jar>

and then press ENTER. This should start the installation dialog box.
If the installation fails, try any of the other versions from here. For me the first installation failed and the Alpha version 1.3.0 worked fine. 


Once you have the software up and running scan for movies from your computer from the top left button of the Movie Renamer. The as soon as the movies load up you'll see file of only particular formats that means all those subtitles and thumbnail pics are already skipped from the list. But if you have a Movie of some other format that is not already mentioned in the Filters just go to Settings and then go to Filters and add that File Format. 


After this you are all set to get the thumbnails, metadata, and lot more stuff of the movies you like. 


Downloads:
Movie-Renamer
Code.Google- Movie Renamer (If their site is down)
Java Runtime Environment

Download Torrents Directly In To Dropbox

You must be familiar with how to download torrents without having to install a torrent client, but this is a whole new thing. Boxopus will download your torrents directly to your Dropbox account so that you have a copy of that torrent file in the cloud.


Just follow this steps:

1. Create a Free Boxopus account ( You can Sign in with your Facebook, Twitter or Dropbox account )
2. Allow Boxopus when Dropbox show you the notification.
3. Upload the .torrent file to Boxopus.
4. Done!

Boxopus first downloads the whole torrent to its hard drives and then upload it to your Dropbox account. Thar means you'll never have a broken file!

[Boxopus via TorrentFreak]

Keep Track Of Your Friends Relationship Status [Chrome]

Have a crush on some guy or girl but he/she is already in a relation? If yes, you must be keeping an eye on his/her Facebook page like a real stalker to see if the relationship status changes and you want to be the first one to ask her out in that window. Then this is the extension that will make your life easy.

Relations For Facebook is a Facebook application that allows you to easily view and track your friends' relationship status. Usually people don't publish their relationship status when they go from 'In a
relationship' to 'single'.

You can easily sort friends based on relationship status (Single, In a relationship, Engaged, Married, It's complicated, In an open relationship, Widowed, Separated, Divorced, In a civil union, In a domestic partnership) You can see who is online (even if they are invisible on Facebook).


Download:
Relations For Facebook

Unroll.Me: Helps You Easily Unsubscribe From Unwanted Emails

Do you get tons of e-mails everyday and almost all of them are spams from sites which  you don't even use anymore or don't want a mail from them? You can unsubscribe from each of those sites, but again those sites are numbered in hundreds if not thousands. Unroll.Me is at your rescue.

This web app helps you easily unsubscribe from every unwanted source. It only supports GMail, Yahoo! Mail and AOL Mail. , but that's  all most of us use. Isn't it? If not, God help you with unsubscribing from all those sites. For those who use above mentioned Mail Services just signup to Unroll.Me and you'll understand the rest. If not VikiTech has an brief tutorial on how to use Unroll.Me

[VikiTech]

Stop Facebook From Tracking What Webpages You Go To

Don't you just hate the fact that someone is spying on you even if that someone has nothing to do with you or harm you? Well add Facebook to your hate list because it is on of them who spy on you online.

Facebook is notified whenever you visit one of the more than one million sites on the web that use Facebook Connect and has a history of leaking personally-identifiable information to third parties. Turn off the flow of your data to them! Facebook Disconnect blocks all traffic from third-party sites to Facebook servers but still lets you access Facebook itself.


Download:
Facebook Disconnect

Direct YouTube Downloader : Download All Videos By A User, In A Playlist Or Channel With Up To Ultra HD Quality

Hey YouTube downloaders! This great software by Major Share is going to make your work a lot easy. This particular software is the first one I saw that can download all videos on the basis of Channel, User or Playlist. And that's not all! It supports Ultra HD downloads, so you can watch that 4K videos on your huge projectors.

With Direct YouTube Download you can change the quality of the video you are about to download, choose to just download the audio of the video, save your download history, just download favorite videos of a user, you can even download the video in different video formats like MP4, WebM and 3GP, and lot more!

Download:
Direct YouTube Downloader

Remove "Seen" From Your Facebook Chat

The new feature of Facebook that came a while ago lets you know that the recipient has seen the message. This is both bad and good depending on whether you are on the recipient's side or the sender's side. 

Due to this new feature of Facebook, at times the recipient gets in awkward situations. This new extension called Facebook Unseen which will get you rid of those situations. Well not all of you, only the Chrome users. Once you have installed this extension you'll be able to choose whether you want the sender to see that you've seen the message of not. It is a great utility for those who are too cool to respond to their ex-gf's in front of their friends but still want to whine about how much they miss her once they are alone.

Download:
Facebook Unseen

Get Time-Based Search Results For You Chrome History

Ever had a problem in finding that website you came across earlier and then want to go there again but could not find the website in you browser as there was a long list of results and you are too lazy to go through all those results? This extension wont tell you that website but it can make you life easier by organizing your results by date and month. eHistory short for Enhanced History is by Amjad Masad is a free extension on chrome webstore and is rated 4.5/5. You can even try some other extensions like Better History, Recent History, which gives you different functionalities but I found e-History suites me best.


Download:
e-History

TheFolderSpy: Notifys you by e-mail for any folder changes

Ever had  suspicion that someone is using your files?

Want to spy on your friends computer?

Want to know about each and every changes in you computer?

Then TheFolderSpy is the perfect software. I'll help you monitor multiple files and folder and notify you by an e-mail. This amazing software is a lot helpful if you have some private files and want to be sure that no one is using those files. Watch the following video and you'll understand the basics of how to use this software.

VIDEO:

Download:
TheFolderSpy v2.1

Use Freegate To Browse Sites Blocked In Your Country

Freegate is a portable software which is a VPN for free and give you unlimited usage. VPN are very useful as they add to you security measures and make it really hard to get your real information (Your IP and some other stuff). - But who needs all that? Well thats not all it can do. By using this kind of VPNs you can watch those YouTube videos that say "Video Not Available In Your Region!" you can also do some other stuff but thats already been explained.

Freegate  provides you with bunch of options like it'll let you choose some other server if you feel that the surfing speed has dropped and create a blacklist (or whitelist). It'll even warn you if it's software detects some adult content on the site you're trying to access. So just try this freeware as it gives you some new features like unlimited usage and option to choose server which were not available in the VPNs I mentioned earlier.

Downloads:
Freegate







[Addictive Tips]

Get Smooth Scrolling for your Browser

Do you like the smooth scrolling in your iPhones or Macs and want that same experience for you Windows browsers than try some of this trick:

Chrome:
Chrome users can download this extension called Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller. It is an extension that will add some really great scrolling features to your chrome browser. You can choose the acceleration, speed, and some other stuff to get the perfect scrolling settings. With this extension you can even choose to have rubberband effect (Elastic effect when you reach at the top of the window) of you Mac Lions and iPhones.

Mozilla Firefox:
This extension Yet Another Smooth Scrolling is same as the one described above but for Firefox! Even this has advance speed settings and rubberband effect option.

You can even try Firefox's own autoscrolling option but it's crap. Just check the box next to "Use Smooth Scrolling" from Tools > Options > Advanced > General.


Opera:
I have nothing for Opera users except this small tweek, but don't get you hopes high it wont work like the above extensions. Just type "opera:config#UserPrefs|SmoothScrolling" in the address bar and hit Enter, then check the box next to Smooth Scrolling.


Downloads:
Chrome Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller
Mozilla Firefox Yet Another Smooth Scrolling

How Get Magnetic Links Of Almost All Torrents?

Many of the torrent sites this days support Magnetic Links that can open up you default torrent client and start the download by just clicking a small button on their sites. But still the best torrent search engine Torrentz.eu and many other torrent sites don't support Magnetic links (What a Shame..!). But no worries any more. There is a script available that can generate magnetic link right into your Torrentz.eu searches. All you need to do is install a script manager for your browser and then install the Magnet Catcher from the UserScript.Org and you are set for hassle free torrent downloads. The best thing is you can even do more stuff like blocking ad's from every site and customizing each and every sites using this script manager.

Downloads:


Script Manager for:

1.       Chrome : Tamper Monkey

2.       Firefox : Greasy Monkey

3.       Safari : Link

4.       Opera : Link 


       Magnet Catcher

Magnet Catcher Script at work

                             

How to use Spotify, Hulu, BBC from any country of the world for free?

If you stay anywhere other than America and UK, good luck with finding free non-pirated entertainment. But if you still want to watch that episode of How I Met Your Mother on Hulu,or listen to that Maroon 5 song on spotify, all for free, then there are something you can do.

Use Spotify outside US and UK:

Step 1: Just install a VPN and then connect to a US or UK server using it.
Step 2: Register your self on Spotify by filling up the form.
Step 3: Start Enjoying your Music.
Step 4: You can now disconnect the VPN if you want! And from now on you can use Spotify without having to run the VPN

NOTE: Once in a while Spotify will show a notification about you accessing Spotify outside of US or UK, don't worry, just connect to the US server in your VPN and you are all set for one more time. Now you can disconnect the VPN and forget about it for another 8-9 months.

Use Hulu outside US:

Step 1: Install the VPN and connect to US server.
Step 2: Restart your Browser
Step 3: Enjoy your Family Guy episodes!!

NOTE: For Hulu and BBC you'll have to stay connected to the VPN. You CANNOT DISCONNECT from the VPN once the video starts playing, or  your video will stop.

Use BBC outside UK:

Step 1: Install the VPN and connect to UK server
Step 2: Restart your Browser
Step 3: Enjoy your Sherlock Holmes episodes!!

Don't know what a VPN is and how to install it?? Click Here.

What is a VPN and how to get it for free?

A VPN is an acronym for Virtual Private Network. Wikipedia defines it as “A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a secure network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructures, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users an access to a central organizational network”. But for our dumb friends let me (the genius) define it in a simple words. Imagine you are the VPN user in NY and consider that the computer in LA is your VPN service providers computer, whenever your computer tries to open a website, the VPN software actually asks the LA computer for the site you want, and the LA computer asks for the same site to the site server, so when LA computer receives the site, it just forward it to you in the exact same way it received from the site server.

Why even go through all this?
If you are in an Office or a School or a University, than you must be facing some restriction like not being able to use Facebook, or maybe you are not allowed to submit your assignments outside of your University network . This are the kinds of situations when VPN comes in handy. You can just open you VPN software and connect it to some server in Africa and then you’ll be able to see your friends comments on your pictures. This is just one of the benefits of using a VPN. If you are trying to hide you online track, than using a VPN will help you a lot. It secures your online surfing from others so that you can stay fearless. You can even use services like Spotify, Hulu, BBC, etc from any country in the world. COOL, isn’tit??

Where to get a VPN for free?
There are bunch of sites that will pop-up when you search for free VPN , but trust me mostly they are just filled with crap. This is because providing a VPN for free is very expensive. But it you still want something to use for very minimal use, Hotspot Shield and SecurityKISS are 2 great free service that add some restrictions on you surfing but they are the best you can have for free.  Hotspot  gives you a daily limit as well as shows ad’s when you are using internet. Also, it’s only useful if you want VPN for America.  Ofcourse the paid service gives you bunch of other options. SecurityKISS on the other hand just restricts you by 300MB  per day. It is even available for the Mac OS, Linux, iPhone, and even Android (phew!). 

There is even one more option, you can just for a free VPN port and password, but mostly all the seah returns is crap. So save your self from the trouble and use one of the above service. 

How to install and use this VPN’s?
Installation is pretty easy (Next), (Next), (Next) , (Finish) thing but you may get some warnings inbetween. Using this VPN is also as easy as using any other software on windows. Just chose from the State,Country list and then just click connect. And you are all set to surf the web more securely. 

How To Remove Those Annoying Ads?

You must be using Facebook? (Just wanted to confirm that my audience is a human). So if you use Facebook or any other site on the Internet, than you must have seen those Ads that take most of the space and require more time to load you page. The Ads are even more annoying and sometimes embarrassing when you are trying to find something in your Office or School and those Adult site advertisements pop up. Well, I can help you with that all you need to do is install some extensions that will save you from the embarrassment.

First of all you need to know your Browser. Once you know your browser just click on the link nest to your browser name from the following list.

1.       Chrome : AdBlock

2.       Firefox : AdBlock Plus

3.       Safari : SafariBlock for Windows, Safari AdBlock for Mac OS

4.       Opera : Opera AdBlock

But if you want to block ads from just a particular site like Grooveshark or Youtube, then you must first install a script manager for your browser. You can download script managers for you browser from the following list but for Safari and Opera you need to go through a process described in the link:

1.       Chrome : Tamper Monkey

2.       Firefox : Greasy Monkey

3.       Safari : Link

4.       Opera : Link

Once you have installed the script manage you can try to find the ad blocking scripts for the particular sites on userscript.org . This is a great place to find scripts that can even change the whole look of your Facebook , Youtube or Pintrest pages. The installation is pretty easy so I’m not going to describe it but I want you to know that the Scripts and the extensions will only work on your computer. So if you have customized you Facebook page using some kind of script from userscript.org that only you can see those changes, your Facebook page will remain the same for your Friends or any other person. 

Increase you internet speed for almost no cost!!

I know you must have always wondered if there was a way to increase you internet speed without having to ask your parents to ramp up your internet plan or having to pay extra by yourselves??
Well to be hones with you there isn't..
Bummer???
Not exactly.. By doing a few performance tweaks in Windows you can increase you internet speed.

There are many ways to increase you internet speed, following are the ones I know. So please let me know if there are any other ways  to boost internet speeds for free or at low cost.

1. Power Manger tweak in Windows

This tweak will give a little bit of performance boost. It is very useful where there is a low wi-fi reception. For those who can't watch or understand the following video, let me help you step by step.

Step 1: Go to Start button

Step 2: Go to Control Panel -> Power Options

Step 3: Chose the power option to which you want to apply this tweak (Example:High Performance)

Step 4: Click "Change plan Setting " right next to the power plan you chose

Step 5: Click "Change advanced and power settings "

Step 6: Find "Wireless Adapter Settings" and click the plus sign next to it.

Step 7: Click on the plus sign nest to the "Power Saving Mode"

Step 8: Select "Maximum Performance" for both the situations of computer power (i.e On battery and Plugged in) 

2. Get youselfs a Good Ethernet cable

I know you will say that I already have a ethernet cable. But the question is what type/category of  ethernet cable you own. The ethernet cables come in category. The most common now a days are Cat5 cables. But most of you still might be using you old grandma ethernet cables to surf you internet because you are too lazy to buy new one or you didn't knew that old ethernet cables can affect you speed. So when you use you Cat3 ethernet cable to surf the web, it is but obvious you are going to swear you internet company for blocking you bandwidth even though you are generous enough to pill their pockets with great amount of money by taking up a premium high speed plan.

You can buy a Cat6 ethernet cable if you are looking for high data transfer speed between your media center and you computer or Cat5 or Cat5e cables will just do fine with the data speeds of upto 1GB/Sec.

You can buy  this Cat5 and Cat6 cables from you nearest superstores, or they are even available online on:

Amazon:  Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6.

eBay:       Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6

Please do you selves a favor and don't buy Cat7, and those gold plated Ethernet cable. they are of no use unless you have a "Supermachine" to work with.

3.Create a Cantenna

People seem to love this DIY and guess wat it is not fake!! It really works so create your Cantenna and surf web a mile away from you home(May be that's a lie , but you get the idea). This device is very easy to make and cheap to make. This video by postadelmaga  youtube shows you how to make a Canteena.

4. Install a custom firmware on you router

Let me clear one thing this method can get a little geeky, it can breach your routers warranty, you router can be of no use if things go wrong but it is worth all of this it you know the feeling you get after accomplishing it.

This method is even hard for me to explain so I am just leaving you with this video and some information so that you can search other techniques to install it by googling it.

\

Some basic Information:

The site where you will find the firm ware is here

Lifehackers post on installing custom firmware is here

Check if you router is supported by DD-WRT here

List of videos on Youtube to install DD-WRT are here but you'll have to add your router name into the search for more personalized installation information,

5. Get youself a better ISP

I know this might hurt but the best thing to get better speed is by having a high internet speed plan in the first place. The above methods are just tweaks and can help you increase speed in some situations, finally it all depends on your ISP, if your ISP is giving you a maximum of 24MBPS then there is almost nothing that can change it to 100MBPS for free. So try to find  a better ISP that can provide higher speeds for almost the same price. Compare different ISP and then chose the best you can find.