For all you Linux fans out there… heres an easy and fun tweak to use! All you need for this tweak is to be running Linux and Compiz-Fusion (not sure about Beryl or Compiz). For the record, I am running Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) with Compiz-Fusion (0.7.4).

Ever get bored of the same desktop wallpaper? Maybe you don’t want to look at the same wallpaper on every desktop you run. With this awesome and simple tweak, go from one wallpaper to many (a different one on each desktop)!

The How:

1. Open up CCSM (CompizConfig Settings Manager)
   Alt+F2 and type ‘ccsm’ without quotes. Then click ‘Run.’
2. On the left side, click the ‘Desktop’ button. Then on the right, choose ‘Desktop Cube’.
   (I am assuming your using the Desktop Cube.)
3. Go to the ‘Appearance’ tab.
4. In the second field down ‘Background Images’, click the ‘New’ button and then browse to the location of an image you would like to use for a desktop background.
5. Add at least 4 different images (if you have 4 desktop sides enabled).
6. Once added, exit CCSM.
7. Finally, open up gconf-editor.
   To open gconf-editor, type ‘gconf-editor’ (without ’s) or Alt+F2 and type ‘gconf-editor’ without quotes. Then click ‘Run.’
8. In the configuration editor, navigate to: / > apps > nautilus > preferences.
9. Once you select preferences, scroll down on the right side and uncheck ’show_desktop’.

Your done! Your desktop should show the four (or more) images that you selected! If you have any troubles, post in the comments, or if you have success, post in the comments! Note: This tutorial will only work for gnome (though a google search or future tutorial might provide information on doing this with KDE).

If you’re like me, one of the most annoying things that can happen when you’re on the go is having your laptop battery die. Most of the time, a notebook battery will only last about an hour and a half. With these 5 easy steps you can improve your battery life by nearly half an hour and get the most out of your laptop.

1. Watch You’re WiFi:

The wireless card in you’re laptop is a huge energy hog. If you’re not using the Internet you may want to switch the WiFi off. Most laptops have a small On/Off switch on the outside so that you can turn it off when you’re not using it, and quickly switch it back on if you need it.

2. Stay Away from CD’s and DVD’s:

Running the optical drive also uses a lot of power. It needs energy to spin the disc and power the optical laser. A normal optical drive will reduce the battery life by over half.

3. Watch for Background Programs and Processes:

Few people know that some programs will also suck up battery energy. Things like Virus scans, Games, Photoshop/Final Cut Pro, and iTunes should be closed unless you are using them.

4. Utilize you’re laptop’s Energy Management Program:

Many OS’s on laptops will come with Power Management options to help with energy consumption. You can customize these programs to lower you’re Screen Brightness, CPU Activity (So that the computer wont need to cool itself as much), and will turn your screen off after a certain period of inactivity.

5. Remove USB Devices:

They key thing to remember about USB devices is that they draw their power directly from the battery. Things like Flash Drives, Mice, and Keyboards will shorten your battery time. If you can, save things to your hard drive and detach all Flash Drives. Also, Use you’re laptop’s Keyboard and Mousepad, instead of external devices.

If there’s one thing that most desktop computers and laptop computers can do with, it’s more memory (often called RAM). No matter how much you have, it’s never quite enough. Newer computers come loaded with 512 MB or 1 GB of memory. That’s OK for basic work, but if you’re doing anything with graphics, gaming, or running Windows Vista, then you’ll definitely need more memory. And if you have a slightly older computer, then a little extra RAM goes a long way.

Luckily, the price of RAM has dropped noticeably over the last couple of years. In fact, it can be more cost effective to buy extra RAM than it is to buy a new computer. The problem is, though, how to get the correct memory for your PC. This TechTip offers a few suggestions.

Note: This TechTip only looks at memory for PCs that run Windows. Throughout the TechTip, the terms memory and RAM are used interchangeably. For some memory rudiments, see our
TT 37 - “Memory Basics”.

Types of RAM

This TechTip assumes that you have a PC that was made within the last three to five years. Most desktop and laptop computers of that vintage use DDR memory. DDR stands for double data rate. DDR memory offers twice the data transfer rate of the previous generation of memory.

Of course, all DDR memory isn’t created equal. There’s DDR, DDR-2, and DDR-3 memory. DDR is the oldest of the group. So old, in computer terms anyway, that it is being phased out. DDR-2 is about twice as fast as conventional DDR memory. DDR-3 is, again, about twice as fast as DDR-2. However, to achieve the higher speed for the RAM, the latency of the memory suffered. Latency is the amount of time, in CPU cycles, that your computer takes to get to data that’s in memory. At lower CPU speeds, DDR-3 is somewhat slower than DDR-2. At higher speeds, though, DDR-3 is noticeably faster.

Another difference between the different types of DDR memory is the number of pins each has. Pins are what connect the memory to the motherboard in memory slots. DDR memory has 184 pins, while DDR-2 and DDR-3 memory have 240 pins. While the pins in DDR-2 and DDR-3 memory are the same size, they are incompatible.

When you’re looking at DDR memory, you’ll read information like DDR-266 PC-2100. All that refers to is the amount and rate of data that the RAM can transfer. So, in DDR-266, the 266 refers to the theoretical number of data transfers per second — in this case, 266 million. PC-2100 refers to the type of memory module. The 2100 also refers to the peak rate of data transfer that the memory supports — in this case, 2,100 megabits per second. The higher the number, the higher the number of data transfers per second, and the greater the peak transfer rate.

Like a computer’s CPU, memory also has a clock speed. The clock speed of the memory is measured in megahertz (MHz) and is the actual speed at which data is transferred to and from memory. The clock speed of RAM is usually half the number of data transfers per second that the memory module is capable of. So, with DDR-333 memory, the clock speed is 166 MHz. So, why is the number double with DDR RAM? Because data is transferred to memory twice.

This may seem like superfluous information, but it will come in handy when you go to upgrade your RAM.

Choosing RAM

The first steps that you should take when choosing RAM are to find out:

• How much memory your computer has

• The maximum amount of memory that it supports

• What type of memory your computer uses

How much memory you’re packing

To find out how much memory your computer packs, right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and then click Properties to open the System Properties dialog box. The amount of memory in you computer is listed in the bottom right corner of the dialog box.

The maximum amount your PC can handle

Unfortunately, this doesn’t tell you how many sticks of memory your computer contains. You can only be sure of this in a couple of ways. If, for example, your computer has 512 MB of RAM, then it most likely has one stick of memory installed. Any higher amount and you need to open the computer’s case and take a look. If you have 1 GB of memory and there are two sticks of memory installed, then each will weigh in at 512 MB.

Depending on the vintage of your computer, it probably supports a maximum of anywhere from two to four GB of RAM. You can find out how much memory your computer supports, as well as the types of memory it can handle, at the Web site of memory maker Crucial. You can get information in two ways. The first way is to click the Scan My System button on the main page of their site. You’ll be taken to the Crucial System Scanner page, where you can allow Crucial to collect information about your system.

If you’re uncomfortable with doing that, or if the scan doesn’t work for some reason, or if you’re looking for information about another computer, then use the Crucial Memory Advisor tool on the main page of the site. All you need to do is select your computer’s manufacturer, select the make of computer, and then select the specific model. Once you’ve done that, click the Find It button. You’ll get very detailed information about your system and its memory.

So, what happens if the Crucial Web site turns up nothing? If your computer came with a manual — printed or electronic — for the motherboard, you can probably find information about your PCs memory in there. If you’ve lost the manual, or didn’t get one, check the Web site of your PC’s manufacturer for information. That’s where your favorite search engine comes in handy. When I wanted to upgrade the memory on one of my ThinkPads last year, I did a Google search for ThinkPad 40 specifications. I found the information I was looking for at the Lenovo Web site.

Finally, your last resort is to pop open your PC case and physically check the memory. Most RAM modules have a sticker on them that gives you the important information about the memory: type, speed, and amount.

Mixing and matching RAM

There was a time when you had to have the same memory in your PC — you couldn’t, say, match an 8 MB module with a 4 MB one. It wouldn’t take; instead of 12 MB your computer would only recognize the 8 MB module. Thankfully, those days are over. You can now mix and match. For example, two of my laptops pack a 1 GB stick of RAM and a 512 MB stick of RAM.

A problem may arise, though, if you try to mix and match different speeds of RAM. The different RAM just might not be compatible. On the other hand, some memory is backwards compatible. Remember my ThinkPad? According to the Lenovo Web site, it supports PC-2100 memory. When I went to upgrade it, I couldn’t find the right memory. Actually, my business partner snapped up the last 1 GB stick of PC-2100 RAM for his ThinkPad before I could get my hands on it. At another store, though, a technician told me that I could use PC-2700 memory with my existing PC-2100 memory. It just wouldn’t work at the higher data transfer rate. In the year or so since the upgrade, I’ve had not trouble with the memory.

That said, you can’t mix DDR memory with DDR-2 or DDR-3. Even if your motherboard supports two types of memory, you can generally only use one type or the other.

Buying your RAM

Like any consumer, you want the best quality for the best price. There are a number of memory manufacturers out there, and their wares vary in quality. Of course, it’s usually best to choose a well-known brand. The ones I usually recommend are:

• Kingston

• Crucial

• Corsair

• Mushkin

Patriot and A Data aren’t too bad, as is OCZ. The key advantages to those three manufacturers is that their memory is somewhat cheaper than the others that I mentioned. Check your favorite bricks-and-mortar retailer, or drop by Geeks.com.

Installing the memory

The actual process of installing your new memory is outside of the scope of this TechTip. If you want detailed information, watch this video at HowStuffWorks Videos.

After a little research, you’ll find that upgrading your computer’s memory isn’t as daunting a task as it seems. By doing it yourself, you’ll not only get a sense of geeky satisfaction but you’ll also save yourself some money.

Credit of the article goes to Scott Nesbitt of Geeks.com, a document released under The Creative Commons License.

Did you know that almost all of the data you delete to your Recycling Bin is completely recoverable? Believe it or not, its very easy to do this! On the contrary, having deleted files still in existence can really screw things up on your computers behalf.

For example, if you once had a virus and thought you deleted it, some data from it could still be laying around your hard drive. This is not good! These random data bits are not always from viruses, but from uninstalled applications and deleted files- they have the potential to corrupt the installation of a program or operating system.

So for those of you having a little trouble seeing my big picture: Random un-deleted data on your hard drive can lead to your inability to successfully install some programs or operating systems.

Now today, we look for the solution! Let me tell you more!

Active@ KillDisk is a:

Hard Drive Eraser is powerful and compact software that allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. It’s a hard drive and partition eraser utility.

There we go… the solution! Go to www.killdisk.com to download and install your copy of KillDisk. You can boot it from a floppy, CD, Flash drive, or right in Windows. With KillDisk, it may take a few hours depending on the size of your hard drive, however once you completely ‘Kill’ your hard drive, you can run it like new again… in the meaning that, those applications you were unable to install due to corrupted files, will now install again!

This may seem like a completely far fetched solution or random subject to speak about, but this is happening more than you know! Many people believe their hard drives have broken when they find out they cant install a new game, or after several reformats- still experience the same problems that should have been solved with a simple fix. It is the little bits of data that are potentially their cause for failure, and KillDisks reason for success!

Note: Please reformat responsibly! KillDisk will remove ALL DATA and make it UNRECOVERABLE.

Everybody with Windows Vista knows that the security features can be a huge pain. Every time a program is run or a C:/ folder is opened you get two, three, or even four popup windows asking you if you really want to preform that action. Annoying right? Well, luckily there’s a way to turn them off in a few easy steps. (This tutorial only applies to Windows Vista)

1. Go to the Control Panel and click the User Account icon.
2. Next click “Turn User Account Controls On or Off”
3. Uncheck “Use UAC to Help Protect my Computer” (This step will give you a Windows Security Center alert so you will need to go into the Security Center settings and set your computer to ignore it.)

And your done! Now you can work with your computer without the annoying security popups! If you ever want the popups back all you need to do is check the UAC box. Enjoy!

WARNING: When UAC is not active Windows will not alert you if an unidentified program is trying to access important files. This tutorial should only be used if you have a separate antivirus program such as Mcafee or Norton!

Have you ever had to type something very important, only to have the program shut down before you finish? Well, Gone In 60 Seconds is a program made to prevent just that. It will save any closed programs for 60 seconds so that they can be instantly restored if you still need them.

1. Download GoneIn60Seconds Here
2. Install
3. Whenever a program is accidentally closed, Right Click the Gone In 60 Seconds task bar Icon. A drop down list will show any programs closed in the last 60 seconds. Simply click the program you want restored and there it is!