Operating Systems Features

How To: Fix time sync issue when dual booting Ubuntu & Windows

Ubuntu and Windows may have trouble syncing time because when they are dual booted, they both assume that your hardware clock is set to a different time setting. Ubuntu assumes that your clock is set to UTC and Windows assumes that your clock is set to local time. Answers Launchpad has solutions to fix the syncing issues. To correct the issue, configure Ubuntu to be set to local time. Launch your terminal window and click on the description box. In the code string change the UTC default value...

How To: Use a flash drive as memory in Microsoft Windows XP

Did you know that you can use a USB flash drive to speed up a sluggish Windows XP computer? It's easy! So easy, in fact, that this free home computing how-to can present a complete (and somewhat talky) overview of the process in just over a minute's time. For specifics, and to get started speeding up your own Windows Vista computer, watch this PC user's guide.

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...

News: Are You Noob-Positive or Noob-Negative?

noob - Short for "newbie." Someone with little to no experience or skill. In some gaming communities, there is fierce debate over the distinction between "noob" and "newb"—one being derogatory while the other simply indicates being a novice. While some may argue the semantic differences, "noob" is the most common spelling seen around the internet, for both purposes.

How To: Enable or disable the uac option on your computer

This is a Computers & Programming video tutorial where you will learn how to enable or disable the UAC option on your computer. UAC stands for User Account Control and this tutorial is for Windows Vista. With UAC enabled you are more secure. First, click ‘Start’, type in ‘msconfig’ and click on ‘Tools’. Here you scroll down and select ‘Enable UAC’ or ‘Disable UAC’ and click ‘Launch’. You will need to reboot your PC for the change to take effect. An alternate method is to go to Control Panel, ...

How To: Install Puppy Linux on an innotek VirtualBox

The author shows how to install Puppu Linux 4.3.1 in Innotek VirtualBox 1.5.2. He shows steps to create a new virtual machine in Innotek VirtualBox, by showing the various configuration settings like the RAM size, hard disk space etc. He shows how to boot the virtual machine with the Puppy Linux installation ISO file. Next, during boot up, he shows how to set the language and regional settings, resolution settings etc. In the next screen he shows how to access the local drive and partition it...

How To: Make Windows administrator account appear at login

In this video, we learn how to enable the Windows default administrator account to appear at the log in screen. First, go to your "start" menu and type in "cmd". Right click "cmd" and click "run as administrator". Now click continue and type in "net user administrator /active:yes", (making sure you put the appropriate spaces), and press enter. Now it will say your command was done successfully on the space underneath where you just typed your text. When you restart your computer you will now ...

How To: Change your Windows 7 login screen

In this tutorial, we learn how to change your Windows 7 login screen. First, click on browse, then you can choose the picture you want for the background on your login screen. If you decide you don't want this, you can go back and change the background when you don't want it any longer. After this, you can go onto the Windows website to download different backgrounds. After you do this, you will have access to a lot of different backgrounds for the computer! This is a great way to dress up yo...

How To: Change your keyboard & mouse settings in Windows Vista

Clearinfo.com helps us how to change the keyboard and mouse settings in windows operating system. The video actually shows us the tutorial in windows vista but this can be applied also in windows xp. First go to Start button then click on control panel and on the Control panel Home view, select Hardware and Sound where you will get the mouse and keyboard setting options. Under the Classic view there will be keyboard and mouse option. Under the Keyboard options, it will show various settings a...

How To: Set Windows to boot from a CD-Rom first

The video shows users how to change the boot sequence in a computer with an older AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS to boot from the CD/DVD drive. This is required, for instance, if you need to reinstall an operating system, or fix a corrupted windows installation by running Windows Setup from the installation CD. Users should first enter the BIOS setup by pressing the delete key when prompted shortly after powering the computer on. Once the Bios Setup screen has loaded, users may navigate...

How To: Access and use the documents directory within an iOS app

In this clip, you'll learn how to make recourse to the documents folder from within an iOS application. Whether you're new to the Objective-C operating language and Xcode IDE or are a seasoned developer merely looking to pick up a few new tips and tricks, you're certain to be well served by this tutorial. For more information, including a complete overview and detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video Objective-C programming lesson for iPhone & iPod Touch developers.

How To: Delete a user ID account in Windows 7

This video shows how to delete a user account on Windows 7. Go to the start menu, the control panel, then user accounts. Click add or remove user accounts. Select the account you want to remove. Choose the option to delete the selected account. Windows will ask if you want to delete everything on the account or keep the information on your desktop while still deleting the account. This will be your choice. The narrator chooses to delete the full account.

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: Free up hard drive space on a Mac

http://AskTheTechies.com Brandon Jackson is back with D.Lee Beard to answer "What files are safe to trash on a Mac to free up hard drive space?" What files are the biggest hogs? Have you really trashed all the files you thought you had? Also in this episode: how to sort web browser bookmarks.

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: Install Mac OS X on a Windows Netbook

This video shows you how to install OSX on a Windows Netbook. They create a "Mini Mac" and show you what the steps are. This is a good thing to do for someone who is used to a Mac but wants the portability of a Netbook, which weighs only 2 pounds. They start with a Dell Netbook that has Windows XP on it, which they covert. One thing that you need to do is to increase the memory in order to install the new operating system. There is an informative website called MyDellMini that has helpful inf...

How To: Mount or unmount an ISO file using basic command lines

An elderly woman demonstrates how to create a rose made of icing with which to decorate a cake. Beginning with a bag of icing and a special tip that forms flat wisps of icing, she shows how to create the beginning of the rose with a small dollop of icing for the center and begins to add small, flat wisps of icing for the petals onto the middle, turning the flower as she goes. Most American Beauty cake roses consist of three rows of petals. She finished off the rose by using a separate bag of ...

How To: Fix a frozen browser without shutting your PC down

This tutorial shows you how to fix a frozen browser. One way to fix these pages when it happens to you is to go to the tools tab, and click on clear recent history. When the window opens it will ask how much you want to delete. Select everything. Now sometimes when you are using a browser it will not minimize or maximize and you can not close out of it. When this happens you just have to hit ctrl, alt, delete and open the task manager. Click on the program that says Firefox, then just hit end...

How To: Retrieve hidden windows passwords

Check out this computer hacking video tutorial from Unorthodox Hacking. The subject of today... hidden Windows passwords. This is a short episode with a fast pace is intended to expose a few of the areas where Windows hides stored authentication credentials. Be very cautious the next time you use a public kiosk!

How To: Open/extract Winrar or Winzip & open a new text doc

Learn how to extract .rar or .zip file formats on a Windows computer. These file formats are often used to package larger files into files that take up less memory space. First, a new folder is created to house the extracted file, and the file is dragged inside. Next, the user must right-click on the .rar file to be extracted and select the "Extract Here" option from the dropdown menu. In addition, this video will also show helpful sites from which to download the WinRar or WinZip programs, w...

How To: Defragment or format a Mac hard drive

In this episode of Ask the Techoes, D.Lee and Brandon answer viewer questions on how to defrag a Mac hard drive, erasing an NTFS hard drive on Mac OS 10.4, how to uninstall programs and their related files on a Mac, questions with Parallels, and how to create a wireless USB hub. Send us your questions at askthetechies@gmail.com Hosts: D.Lee Beard & Brandon Jackson http://AskTheTechies.com

How To: Navigate within Ubuntu Linux

New to Ubuntu Linux and having a hard time getting around? This Ubuntu Linux video tutorial offers instructions for finding files and folders on your Ubuntu desktop. You'll find navigating Ubuntu Linux is simple once you figure out where to find all of your applications. Get started with this helpful clip!