Create A Live USB For Almost Any Linux Distro On Windows, Linux Or Mac

If you are new to Linux that you must be not knowing about the term "Distro On A Live USB". It is one of the great functionalities you get on Linux. Live USB is basically booting up an whole OS right from a USB or a CD/DVD. With the help of this feature you don't have to install an OS to know whether you'll like it or not, all you need to do is just try it yourself from the USB and decide what Linux suites you the best from all those hundreds of distros. You can even create a Live USB for those times when you need to just boot up as fast you can and check your mail. You can read my post on the lightest Linux distros to get a Linux that is  very light and the one that suites you the best.

To create a Live USB you'll need a very little information and a couple of downloads.

Information:

You only need to know 2 things:

1. What Linux OS You Want

As I said earlier you can choose from this light distros if you want an OS that boots up really fast, or the you can read about hundreds of distro available out there on DistroWatch.com. My personal favorite is Ubuntu as it has bunch of functionalities and easier software installation from its app center. 

2. Persistent Or A Non- Persistent 

If you choose to create a Non- Persistent USB, you can install packages, softwares and what not but all that will only last till you don't shut down your computer, as soon as you shut it down all that data is packages and softwares are deleted by itself (actually they are lost Deleted is not the correct term) and you'll have to install it all over again even if you boot up from the same Live USB. 

If you create a Persistent USB you can install all the stuff within the limit that you have allocated for creating a persistent USB on your USB. So if you have a 4GB pendrive and the OS take up 1 GB from that 4 GB you can allocate the rest 3GB for making it persistent. Once you make a USB persistent you can use all those software over and ever again without having to worry about the data being lost once you shut the system down.

Downloads:

As you already know what OS you want just download the OS' .iso file from its website. If you've still not figured out what OS you'll like, get any one from this if you have a 1GB or even smaller pendrive and the best choice is get Ubuntu.

Only other thing you'll need to download is a portable software called UNetbootin. Its a freeware and supports almost all Linux Distros out there. Just head over to its site and you'll even get links to some other famous distros. Using UNetbootin is preety easy all you need to do is open the .exe file, select the path of the .iso file, choose the USB, allocate the persistent space if want and click OK. It'll take some time to create the persistent USB but the non-persistent ones are comparatively faster.

Downloads:

UNetbootin

Stardock Fence: Manage Your Desktop Icons With Cool Effect

Do you want to keep your desktop organized by end up with something like this:

To organize your desktop all you need is Fence. It is a software by Stardock Corporation. It is preety easy to use and the first time the program runs after installation it even gives you a quick tutorial on How To Use Fence. 

To create a Fence all you need to do is Right Click and Drag your mouse, a context (Right Click) menu will open saying "Create New Fence" once you click it it will open a small  dialog box asking you for the Fence name. You can name it anything and then you'll get a Fence that looks something like the Blocks in the First Image. Now you can just drag and drop icons into this fence and if there is no more space for the icons the Fence will automatically become scrollable. So technically you can create and desktop with endless number of Icons. 

Watch this Tutorial for more on Fence: 

Download:

Fence 1.0

[Stardock]

Downgrade Your iPhones, iPads, And iTouch So That You Can JailBreak Or Unlock It

If you are a tech enthusiast or a developer and got your hands on the latest beta version of the iOS 6, then you must be both excited and kind of sorry. One of the few reasons to be sorry is that must have lost the jailbreak. Actually iOS 6 is already jailbroken in its beta stage, but still a lot of things don't work the way they should. Back to the point, if you want to roll back to iOS 5.1.1 all you need to do is just connect your iOS Device to iTunes and then just restore your device. This will roll it back to the latest stable iOS 5.1.1 so you are all set to jailbreak it again.

If you are some guy who wants to downgrade from iOS 5 to 4 or any other version, you'll have to do some more work. This page on iJailbreak is always updated so that you can downgrade you iOS devices. Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine. But be aware this can go wrong and can result into and expensive paperweight at the end. And neither of us iJailbreak or AddictionForTech is responsible for that. 


[iJailbreak]

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 Take a Snapshot of Your Screen?

You must be seeing those screen  captures on the internet and may be wanting to take some of your own so that you can put them on the internet or submit it to your teacher as a part of your assignment, so I’ll show you how to do that in this post.

First you need to think over and find out your needs. If you want the screenshots just to send it with your assignment and you have Windows 7 on you machine, than I don’t think you need to download a special software so that you can use it for just one time(But again, it’s your choice if you want a taste of Pro software). But if you really need for your blog or want to take a screen shot your whole Facebook timeline, than you’ll probably need a software that can handle that heavy lifting.

So if you belong to the first category, developers of Windows 7 have taken care of your needs.You can either just press Ctrl+PrtSc and the press Ctrl+V in a paint window and then save it, or you can use the Windows 7 utility called "Snipping Tool". To learn how to use it have a look at this video:

For "Pros":

If you want to take a screenshot for either a whole page by scrolling it or anything else, you'll have to first download a freeware called Duck Capture. Using this software is pretty easy as the thumbnails are easy to understand. This software sits in your quick launch bar so it's even convenient to reach it.

For the pros this software includes a snapshot type called scrolling which can literally take a long snapshot of you scrolling windows. Works like a charm and trust me if you wanted to take a snap shot of those 100 comments on you facbook profile picture, then this is the software you needed.

How To Turn Your Windows OS Into Mountain Lion?

You must be having a great urge of owning a Mac Book or any Mac machine so that you can finally use it's great operating system Mountain Lion. But the problem you are facing is that you don't have that kind of money to spend on a Apple device and you even don't want to leave the usability of you Windows machine. If that is the case  than you ca use a Skin Pack that will make your Windows OS look just like a Mountain Lion with all that great sounds and the dock and even the "Finder Bar"!
So you can do two things to change your OS' look into a Mountain Lion:
1. Either find each and every things separately from your trusted sites like DevianArt.or by just googeling it.
2. Just download this easy to install software and save you self some time to roam around you new "Mac OS"


First of all you'll have to know your system type. If you don't know how to see that click here.

Downloads for Windows 8 Consumer Preview:
x64 DOWNLOAD
x86 DOWNLOAD

Downloads for Windows 7:

x64 DOWNLOAD
x86 DOWNLOAD

NOTE: If the above installers don't work for you than I recommend you this online Installers, but I don't have the online installer for Windows 8 :



Online Installers for Windows 7:

x64 DOWNLOAD
x86 DOWNLOAD

How To Change Your Windows Log-in Screen?

If you are like me than you must have always wanted to be different in some things. My Windows Log-in screen is one of the things that I wanted to be customized. You must be thinking that this seems to be a quite difficult thing, but trust me it as simple as downloading a software. You’ll have to download a software called Windows 7 Logon Background Changer. Once you have downloaded this software just install it and then the UI will tell you the rest. You can choose from the backgrounds already given in the software or you can add you own picture as a background.

Before  

After

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. 

How to Auto Shutdown Your Comuter?

Ever wanted to go to sleep while listening your playlist, but didn't because of the fear of letting the computer sucking power the whole night or day (if you are like me!) or any other reasons. Actually there are many ways to do this but i'm going to show you the easiest one.

Use a software called Auto Shutdown from Cnet Download. The link to download is here.

I don't think you need to know any thing else, you can just install the software just the way you Install any other software (Keep Clicking on Next Button till the Finish Button Comes) and then you'll understand that it's GUI is pretty easy to understand. Just set the time and the action you want to apply.

How To Check Your OS Type For Windows?

You must be wondering what is this 32- Bit and 64-Bit OS' when you come across those words while downloading some software. Well this are you system type, that means if your system type 32- Bit then your computer is processing 32-Bits or a data at a time and if your OS type is 64-Bit then your computer is processing 64-Bits of chunks of data at a time.

NOTE: Processing 64/32 Bit doesn't mean that your computer is processing 64/32 Bit of data per second. Trust me even your old grandma computers process more than that per second.

Another NOTE: Sometimes you'll find "x86 Bit ", it's just another way to say 32-Bit, I really don't know Windows want to say it to be a x86 System, but well its Windows we will just have to live with it.
So how to find your System type, here it is:

Step 1: Go to "My Computer".

 

 

 

 

 

  

Step 2: Right click on any blank space inside "My Computer" and then click on "Properties".

 

   

 

 

  

Step 3: Inside System you'll find System Type, The thing written right next to it is your System Type(Who would have Guessed??).

Best and Easiest way to customize your Windows OS

Are the kind of guy who wants to customize each and every thing right from your start button to the way your computer shuts down? Then you are at the right place. I like my computer to be designed my way and not the way some design manager wanted it to be. So I've written this post for all of you who are stuck with that old unpleasant Aero theme on your Windows 7. Don't worry this tricks even work on your old machine that might be still running Windows XP.

The Steps for beginning to create your own Windows Theme are:

1. Download and install Rainmeters latest version.

Download the Rainmeters software from here. But don't forget to see your Windows OS' System type (i.e. 32- bit or 64-bit). For all of you who don't know what this is and how to find it, have a look at this. The reason I'm telling you to find out your system type is that Rainmeter has different versions for different system types. So if you have a 64- bit system and you try to install a 32- bit software chances are that an error will occur.

2. Select the things you want to customize.

You need to choose weather you want to change your whole Windows Explorer or just want to add some stuff to your desktop. As I just wanted a cool clock and a media player controller, I just searched for those on the internet.

3. Finding your stuff on the Internet. 

To find the stuff you need, you can go to deviantART and then just type Rainmeter in your search box to get a list of customizations available for the Rainmeter. Even if you just want (for example) clock, and you found something that has the clock of your choice but you don't want other stuff like the media player, performance meter etc. you can just click the search result and the read the description. In the description area you might find the exact name of the Rainmeter skin for just the stuff you want. You can even find really cool desktops here, even for this you can read the description for the things you want.

4. Installing and Managing your skins. 

I can write lots of line to explain one thing on this topic but this following video by IWEBProductions that will help you much better.

5. Getting Advanced.

If you know a little bit of C++ or C# you can create one of you own Rainmeter skin here or if you are not too much of a pro than you can just edit the source of the skins that you have already downloaded so that you can personalize it in the perfect manner. To do this open your skin manager and click on the skin plugin you want to edit, the source will open in a notepad so you can easily change the source and then save it with the same name and same place. Remember do not change the name of the source file it is very important for the plugin to work.

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.