Hot Operating Systems How-Tos
How To: Restore your computer with command prompt
Computers aren't perfect. Just like people, they have their set of flaws and issues that can be resolved quickly and easily. You just have to take the right approach. So in this tutorial find out how to use command prompt on your computer to help restore it. Enjoy!
How To: Use the System Restore tool on a Windows Vista PC
Every time you download a game, movie, etc to your computer, you make changes to the computer. Sometimes, these downloads can make your computer unstable. By default, Windows Vista creates restore points in the background. What this means is every time you make these changes to your computer, Vista takes a snapshot of your computer before the changes are made. This enables you to go back in time and restore your computer to an earlier time. Documents, photo's and emails will still be saved. O...
How To: Increase screen contrast in Mac OS X
Mac OSX offers an easy solution to increasing the contrast of your display, and switching the screen from black on white to white on black. In the Universal Access section of System Preferences, under the large "Display" label, you will find a set of controls. Switching from black on white to white on black will invert the colors on the screen, making it easier to read for some people. There is a toggle to the right of that control which switches your display from color to grayscale. Below th...
How To: Change Windows XP start menu text
Certain aspects of Windows User Interface are not customizable like the text of the start button in Windows XP. However you can use certain tools and follow a procedure to change the default text of the start button. To do this you have to use a tool called Resource Hacker. Note that this is a very simple method, but be careful or you may end up causing damage to the Operating System as you are modifying system files. To do this run the program. Now browse to the Windows folder and locate win...
How To: Quickly force quit in Mac OS X
If something happens to a program you are working with on your Mac computer, and you have no choice, you will need to access 'force quit'. This is very easy to do, and luckily on a Mac you probably won't use it very often. There are several ways to do this and this video takes you through all of them. If you can, try and save your information before doing a force quit, because you may not be able to recover changes once the app closes.
How To: Force quit apps in Mac OS X
If an application on your computer is not responding properly or is frozen, you will need to force quit. On a Windows PC, everyone knows this is done with the Task Manager or using Ctrl+Alt+Delete, but how do you do this on a Mac?
How To: Replace a color in Photoshop CS3
One of the things you can do to manipulate your images in Photoshop CS3 is to change and replace colors. You can use this tool to edit your photos to your liking and enhance their appearance.
How To: Boot Windows 7 from a USB pen drive with UNetbootin
In this how to video, you will learn how to make a boot-able USB pen drive using Unetbootin. First, download Unetbootin and install it. From here, insert your USB pen drive into your computer. Next, open the program. Go to my computer and right click your USB pen drive. Next, format and make sure to choose FAT32. Click start to finish this. Once that is done, go to Unetbootin and click disk image. Change it to ISO and click the button to search for the ISO. Open this and then go to my compute...
How To: Create custom screensavers from movies in Windows
This video is a tutorial on how to create your own custom screen savers from your favorite movies on a Windows computer. The first step is to download the Movie Screen Saver Software from www.vijusoft.com. When the program is finished downloading from the website then you will have to open the installer package and follow the instructions. The download should only take a few minutes and then you might have to restart your computer when it is finished. The second step, once the program is down...
How To: Use the System Restore tool in Microsoft Windows Vista
System Restore helps can help fixing the problems that might be making your Computer run slowly or stop responding. Please follow the steps below to restore the Computer running the Windows Vista Operating System.
How To: Create screensavers & custom wallpaper in Mac OS X
In this how to video, you will learn how to make custom screen savers and wallpaper for your Mac for free. First, download the SaveHollywood and Wallsaver programs to your computer. Install both of these programs. Next, go to system preferences and click on desktop and screen saver. Click the screen saver tab and select SaveHolywood. From here, click options and press the arrow button. Find a video that you want to use as a screen saver and click okay. Click test to see if it works out. Next,...
How To: Get System Restore to use less disk space in Windows 7
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make the System Restore feature use less space in Windows 7. Begin by clicking on the Start menu. Right-click on Computer and select Properties. Under Tasks, click on System protection. In the System Properties window, select the hard drive and click Configure. Under Disk Space Usage, drag the slider to the left for a lower amount. Then click on Apply and OK to confirm. This video will benefit those viewers who have a Windows 7 computer and would l...
How To: Install Snow Leopard
This video tutorial from SoldierKnowsBest presents how to install Snow Leopard operating system on your Mac computer.
How To: Create a bootable Windows 7 repair disc on a USB drive
In this how to video, you will learn how to create a system repair disc on a bootable USB flash drive without having to burn a CD for your Windows 7 system. First, plug in your USB drive and create new folders in it. Name the first folder boot and the second sources. Next, open a command prompt and type in the cd c:\recovery, dir /a:sh, and so forth as shown. Once you have typed in the proper commands in the prompt, eject the flash drive. Restart the computer with the drive plugged in. Boot f...
How To: Format a USB flash drive to NTFS from FAT32 in XP
In this how to video, you will learn how to format a USB flash drive to NTFS. First, plug in the USB drive to your computer. Right click on My Computer and select properties. From here, go to the hardware tab and select device manager. Next, click and expand disk drives and right click your USB drive. Select properties and then click the policies tab. Choose optimize for performance and click okay. Edit the device manager and open My Computer. Next, right click the USB device on My Computer a...
How To: Generate a System Restore point on a Windows 7 PC
This video describes how to make a system restore point. First we have to go to click the start on the keyboard. Next select the computer and go for the properties. Next go to system protection. Next go the protection settings and highlight the operating system and give option of “on” on the protection and just click the create. Then you will get a box of system protection. Next you can give a name and then click ok to that it will take some time. Next if you go for system properties you ...
How To: Run Windows programs & apps on your Mac
There's a chance that some of those Windows programs that you've been wanting to run on your Mac can actually be made to do so. There are two ways to go about it. Either you go with emulation, using VM ware or Virtual box. VM ware will cost you while Virtual box is free. The other way to go about doing this is to use Crossover for the Mac, this program is somewhat like the emulation softwares mentioned before but not quite. When installed, the crossover button will appear on your Mac's bar am...
How To: Change the accessibility options in Windows 7
This video teaches how to change Windows 7 accessibility options. Choose Start, Control panel. This opens the Control Panel window. Choose Ease of Access in the control panel window. This opens Ease of Access window. Inside the Ease of Access window, there are various links that allows you to set various accessibility options in windows 7. You can use these settings for options like "Optimizing Visual Display", "Replace sounds with visual cues" and you also have settings to choose how the way...
How To: View hidden files and folders in Windows XP & Vista
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to view hidden files and folders in a Microsoft Windows XP or Vista computer. Begin by clicking on the Start menu and select Control Panel. Double-click on Folder Options and click on the View tab of the Folder Options window. Under Hidden files and folders, check the option that reads, Show hidden files and folders. Then click on Apply and OK. This video will benefit those viewers who use a Windows XP or Vista computer, and would like to learn how to...
How To: Map a network drive on your personal computer
In this tutorial, learn how to map a network drive on your personal computer and make your life easier and more organized. If you need to map your system for any reason, check out this video. This video will give you a complete overview and step by step in just a few short minutes so you will be ready to map your network in no time.
How To: Map a network drive for file access in Windows XP
This tutorial will walk you through the steps you need to map a network drive for file access in Windows XP. By mapping your network drive you will be able to store and access files offsite and make computing easier all around.
How To: Announce alerts with OS X's Text to Speech feature
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to announce alerts on a Mac OS X computer. To do this, open the Speech preferences and click on the Text of Speech tab. There, users are able to set up the computer to announce when alerts are displayed and announce when an application required your attention. Users are able to set additional options by clicking on Set Alert Options. Users are able to select a different voice, phrase and delay time. To preview the option, click on Play. This video wil...
How To: Navigate the web with VoiceOver in Mac OS X
The video is about how to use voice over in Safari for Mac OS X. To use Voice over it has to be enabled first. It can be used to read the entire html content on web page using short cut control + option + shift + Down Arrow. To move between different items on the web page use Control + Option + left or right arrows. To click any link use Control + Option + Space bar. To go back in the browser use Command + [. To stop interacting with HTML content use Control + Option + Shift + Up Arrow. After...
How To: Format an external hard drive for Mac OS X
The World Wide Geek demonstrates how to format an external hard drive for Mac OS X. External hard drives are usually formatted for windows. To change the format, you will need to use the disk utility option. Access the disk utility by going to finder and clicking on applications. Next, click on the utilities folder. Then, click on the disk utility option to open it. You can also search for disk utility in spotlight. Select your external hard drive in the options to the left of the disk utilit...
How To: Change the size of text and icons in Windows 7
In this video tutorial. viewers learn how to change the size of text and icons in a Windows 7 computer. Begin by clicking on the Start menu and open Control Panel. In the Control Panel window, click on Appearance and Personalization. Then click on Display. Now users are able to select the size of text and icons to Smaller - 100%(default), Medium - 125% and Larger - 150%. If users select one of the larger sizes, some of the items will not fit on the screen. Once users have select the setting, ...
How To: Take screenshots on a PC with the Print Screen button
This is a video about how to use the printscreen button. You can take screenshots with the printscreen button on the keyboard. First you have to a pick an image whatever you want to save in your PC. In this video he is explaining about how to save the a picture about the animal description. Next press the printscreen button when you get the image. Next go to start button and next Accessories and next paint and open the new page on paint. Then go for paste in the edit. Then you will see the pi...
How To: Cut & paste from one location to another
In this how to video, you will learn how to take text from one location to another. This is known as cutting and pasting. First, open your word processor. Next, go in to your browser and find a website with text that you want to copy. Highlight a line of text. Next, right click it and select copy. Next, go back to your word processor and right click. Select paste. If you want to place it somewhere else, highlight the text in the word processor and go to edit. Select copy and then open notepad...
How To: Use high contrast display settings in Windows 7
Windows 7 provides the high contrast display feature for the monitors. To use this feature go to the desktop. Right click and select 'Personalize' from the menu. This brings up the Personalization window of the 'Appearance and Personalization' option of the Control Panel. Here you can change the visuals and sounds of your computer. Scroll down in that window till you find high contrast themes. Choose one of those themes. When you select them Windows automatically applies the theme to your com...
How To: Upgrade and install Snow Leopard
Michael of michaelsherlock.com demonstrates the installation of Mac OSX Snow Leopard onto a Mac with an Intel Core2Duo processor. We're reminded from the very beginning of the importance of backing up our entire system before beginning the installation. Once that's taken care of, it's time to insert the Snow Leopard disk. Once the disk is loaded, and we've agreed to the End User License Agreement, we are presented with a number of options to customize our operating system, including options s...
How To: Find and install Windows PC drivers quickly & easily
This video shows us the method to find and install Windows PC drivers. Install the software from www.DirectDriverChecker.com. Click on 'Start Scan' to list the drivers you have and which ones need an update. Choose 'All Drivers' to see all drivers and 'Outdated Drivers' to see the outdated ones. Check the drivers and click 'Next' to update them. Use the 'Back Up' option to back up the drivers in case of a malfunction in the computer. Use the 'Restore' feature to restore the saved drivers whic...
How To: Cut and paste on your computer
In this tutorial, Jonathan shows us how to cut and paste on a computer. To do this on a mouse, you will see the left side clicker is the left click and the right is the right click button. To practice, go to a random website and highlight some text, then right click and a drop down menu will appear. Click on "copy". Now, open up a Word program and right click again until you see the drop down menu. Click on "paste" and you will see the text you just copied appear before your eyes! This is a s...
How To: Change icons in My Computer
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to change an icon in My Computer. Users will need to already have a picture of the icon that they want to change to. Begin by opening the drive. Right-click anywhere, select New and click on Text Document. Name the document "autorun.inf". Right-click the text document and open it with Notepad. In the document, type in:
How To: Pin a program to taskbar in Windows 7
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to pin a program to the task-bar in Windows 7. Click on the Start menu and click on All Programs. Find the program that you want to pin in the task-bar and click on it. Right-click on the program and select Pin to Task-bar. The program will then be pinned as an icon on the left side of the task-bar, beside the Start menu. Users are able to pin as much programs to the task-bar as they want. This video will benefit those viewers who have a Windows 7 com...
How To: Speed up a Windows XP PC with TweakUI
Firstly download the TweakUI into your computer, which is free. Fire up TweakUI and click on menu "Explorer", uncheck menus: "Allow help on start menu"; "Allow log off on start menu" and so on play with the settings however you like. And select "Light arrow", next click on "Thumbnails" menu and drag the slider all the way to the right, increase the size of thumbnails to 120 pixels. Next double click menu "Common Dialogs" and uncheck all three menus. Next double click menu "Taskbar and start m...
How To: Free up disk space by deleting hidden files
First of all you have to click on the ‘my computer’. Now you have to click on the ‘C drive’. Now go to ‘your name’ folder. Then click on ‘tools and settings’ from the top. Now click on the ‘folder options’. Then click on the ‘view’ option. Now check against the ‘show the hidden files and folders’ option. Then click on ‘apply’. At the last click ‘ok’. Now go to ‘your name’ folder. Click on the ‘temp’ folder. Open it and then you shall find some light...
How To: Increase the dock size in Mac OS X
In your Mac computer the size of the dock by default is very small. It makes it difficult to recognize the icons. However you can change a couple of preferences to make it more usable. To do this click on Apple. Form the menu select the dock option and select 'Dock Preferences' from the sub menu. This brings up the Dock preferences window. Here you can change the size of the dock using the size slider bar. You can also set the magnification to the desired level. This changes the magnification...
How To: Make a folder invisible in Windows XP or Vista
In this how to video, you will learn how to create invisible folders in Windows XP or Vista. First, create a new folder. Rename the folder and hold alt while pressing 0160. Now, you will be able to give this folder a blank name. Next, right click it and go to properties. Select customize and then change the icon. Choose a blank image and click okay. Once this is done, your invisible folder is now ready for use. If you want to find it, go to an open file dialog and type in the name of the file...
How To: Turn on the speech recognition tool in Mac OS X
This video explains how to use the Speech Recognition tool on the Mac, which allows you to speak most of the commands that you use on the computer. To enable speech recognition, go the Apple menu, select System Preferences and click on Speech. Then click on “On” next to Speakable Items, and click OK.
How To: Free up hard drive space on Mac OS X
First of all you shall need a program called "Disk Inventory X". You can download this program from the link Once you have downloaded you have to install this program. Now launch "Disk Inventory X". This shall take some time to load because it processes your hard drive and looks at all the files and folders. This program provides you a visual representation of the files that are there in your hard drive. Therefore for every folder that is shown in this application it shows...
How To: Login to a Windows XP computer as the administrator
The video starts with a guy talking while we see a computer screen with instructions on how to log in as an administrator of your Windows XP Personal Computer.