Posts tagged Windows XP
‘Xmarks’ the spot.
0IMPORTANT NOTICE: XMARKS WILL BE CLOSING DOWN IN JANUARY 2011. IT NOT RECOMMENDED THAT YOU USE THIS GUIDE ANYMORE. FOR FIREFOX USER, USE ‘FIREFOX SYNC’ ADDON.
I WILL BE MAKING A NEW GUIDE SOON.
If like me, you use more than one computer, it can be quite annoying when your surfing the internet and you find that you need one of your bookmarks on another machine.
Plus, when was the last time you did a backup of your favorites?
Xmarks is a bookmark sync tool that keeps a copy of your bookmarks in the cloud so you can access them from anywhere and any browser.
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XBMC Walkthrough – Part One
1Seeing as the earlier articles on XBMC have created so much interest, we decided to make a couple of video’s showing some of the features of XBMC under Windows and demonstrating how to install it on your Windows PC.
This video is part one and details how to download, install and configure XBMC. Part two will focus on how to customise the interface and how to install new themes and plugins.
As always guys, any questions or suggestions; leave a comment on the bottom of the page, we always respond to comments or Emails that we receive.
Part two of this walkthrough can be found here.
Converting DVD’s To Video Files In Windows
2Following on from my walkthrough on creating a home media PC using XBMC, I thought I’d focus on how exactly to build up your home media library in order to use the system. A similar walkthrough is already available on the site for Mac users.
Before we begin, I must point out the following:- Technically, it is still against the law to make a copy of a DVD that you own, be it by creating a digital backup, a copy of the disk, or even a transfer to a video cassette. This is the same piece of out of date legislation that decrees that it is illegal to copy a CD onto a blank tape, or even convert a CD for MP3′s. To my knowledge, no one has ever been prosecuted for any of these offences, and my personal opinion is that no one ever well (providing the copies you make are strictly for personal use!). However, I must point out that I take no responsibility for any legal action that occurs as a result of using the methods detailed in this walkthrough.
What Do I Need?
For this walkthrough you will need a PC running Windows (XP, Vista or 7). The PC must have a DVD drive and enough hard disk space to transfer the DVD to your computer and then encode it (10GB should be sufficient). It’s worth noting that PC’s with faster processors will be able to complete this task much quicker than older PC’s with slower processors.
You will also need the following software:
- DivX Plus – Which allows your computer to read+play DivX (video) files
- Dr. DivX 2.0 OSS - Which converts DVD files to DivX files
- AC3Filter – Which allows your computer to recognise the audio on DVD’s
- DVDdecrypter- Which decodes the video files from the DVD and copies them to your hard disk
Once you have the above software installed on your computer (and have restarted), you are ready to begin! Unlike the process for converting DVD’s on a Mac, this walkthrough is a two step process. The first step will focus on copying the video files from your DVD to your PC and the second step will focus on converting the copied files into a smaller and easier to manage DivX file.
Step One – Decrypting the DVD files.
You may or may not be aware that the video files on DVDs are encrypted to prevent the DVD from being copied too easily, DVDdecrypter removes the encryption key from the video files and then copies the un-encrypted files to your PC. The first thing to do is start your computer, insert your DVD and then open DVDdecrypter. The screen you’re presented with should look like this:
To make things easier, the first thing we’re going to do is change the view of DVDdecrypter to make it a bit easier to see what’s on the DVD, click on “Mode” and then click on “IFO” the window should now look like this:
The next thing to do is to establish which file (or “stream”) in the right hand pane is the main feature film on the DVD, DVDdecrypter will automatically select the longest stream on the disk, which will normally be the feature film. However, in some cases there may be “special features” on the DVD that have a longer run time than the actual movie, so it’s best to check the runtime against the runtime displayed in the small print on the back of the DVD case.
Once you are happy that the correct stream is selected in the right hand pane, click on the folder icon within the “destination” part of the left hand pane in order to select where you would like to copy the decrypted video files to:
If you are planning on copying alot of DVD’s, it might be an idea to create a folder on your hard drive specifically for this purpose, as above with the “DVD Temp” folder. Once you select your destination, click OK and you will be back to the DVDdecrypter screen. Once you’re back to the main screen, click on the large icon of a DVD and a hard disk in order to begin the decryption process:
This process can take sometime depending on your computer, if the DVD is damaged or has encryption that the software is unable to break then the process may appear to hang. If this is a result of damage then there is little that can be done. If the DVD is not damaged, however, then it may be possible to use another product called DVDfab to remove the encryption from your DVD.
Once the copying process is finished you will get a prompt indicating so (as well as a nice little jingle played over your speakers). At this point we have a copy of the main DVD feature on your hard disk, which we will then compress into a DivX video file in step 2.
Step 2 – Encoding the DVD files into a DivX AVI File
In step one we copied the DVD feature film to our hard disk and removed the encryption key using DVDdecrypter. The video files will actually play on your computer as they are, but a feature film will usually be spread across several files as Windows files can’t be larger than 2GB in size and most movies will be larger than this in DVD format. In order to get a video file we can live with we need to encode the DVD files into a single DivX file which will be smaller in size and easier to transfer or stream between devices.
In the “What Will I Need” section it was suggested to install a program called Dr.Divx, it is this that we will be using to encode our video, so open up Dr.Divx and you’ll be presented with the following screen:
Click on the “Open” button to select the video files copied to your hard disk from your DVD:
Navigate to the directory you copied the DVD files to and then highlight all the files shown and click ok, Dr.DivX will then process the files and add them to the list in the left side of the screen:
You’ll notice a progres bar towards the top of the window that shows “Analysis”, this is the program checking the video files for consistency and working out the correct screen size etc. Once this process is complete you can view stills from the movie in the right hand pane in order to ensure the software has done this correctly:
At this point we’re nearly ready to encode the file, before we do, check the left hand pane to ensure that the correct audio track and subtitle track are selected, usually these will be labelled so it’s easy to tell which is the correct track. Once you are happy, click on the “Encode” button in the bottom right side of the window to go to the encoding screen:
This screen will show the encoding jobs currently in the queue, if you have more than one video to encode then you can click the “File” button at the top of the window to return to the main screen and add more jobs. When you are ready to encode, click on the “Resume” button around the middle of the window and encoding will being:
Once this is completed the video has been successfully encoded and will be located (by default) in your “My Documents\My Videos\” Directory. Rinse and repeat for any other DVD’s you need to copy!
Top 10 FREE Windows Programs You MUST Download
6Nowadays there is more and more software available for free from the internet, covering a range of products from virus checkers and web browsers to graphic design tools and office suites. This list is my top 10 free Windows applications that no one should be without. Some of these products even out perform some of their “paid for” counterparts. Even if they don’t, they’re free!
1) Microsoft Security Essentials.
There are quite a few free security suites available for download, but none seem to have as many bases covered as Microsoft Security Essentials, available for download here. Security Essentials offers Virus, Spyware and Malware protection for free. Whats more, it doesn’t feature any of the annoying messages inviting you to upgrade to a premium service like alot of the free security software packages.
2) Mozilla Firefox
I have nothing against Internet Explorer, up until version 6 it performed admirably as my only browser. I even installed Internet Explorer on my iMac back in the day when Microsoft produced a browser for Macs. However, since version 7 I feel Microsoft have gotten a bit ahead of themselves. Alot of website display strange behaviour with IE 7 or 8, the only solution I have found is to download Mozilla Firefox. Although not perfect, it does display 99.9% of web pages correctly, and in my experience does it faster than Internet Explorer does. There are other browsers available, Googles Chrome browser is an up and coming contender, but for now Firefox has my vote.
3) OpenOffice 3.2
Most retail PC’s from the likes of Hewlett Packard or Dell will come complete with Microsoft Office (usually just a trial) or Microsoft Works. This is all well and good, but what to do when your free trial runs out? Works in itself is not that useful, and a home license for Microsoft Office can prove expensive. OpenOffice is a free office suite which is fully compatible with Microsoft Office documents. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the latest Microsoft Office release, but it also doesn’t have that god awful interface. Over one hundred million people have downloaded OpenOffice, why not joint them here.
4) Mozilla Thunderbird.
One thing Microsoft Office has over OpenOffice is a decent Email client. Enter Mozilla Thunderbird. From the same people who produce the Firefox web browser, this free Email client is about as good as you’re going to get for free. It couldn’t be easier to set up your Email account with Thunderbird, no need to enter any server settings or port numbers, you just need your name (which most people can usually figure out), your Email address and your password. Thunderbird does the rest.
5) iTunes
This one is likely to divide some people. A lot of people refuse to use iTunes on the basis that it’s made by Apple (and therefore somehow evil). The truth is that although iTunes will try and get you to install other Apple software at the same time as you install it, it’s easy enough to stop it ever bothering you again for such things. Once set up correctly it has an excellent library feature (especially for larger libraries like mine). It’s also the only approved method of connecting many Apple devices (iPod, iPhone, iPad) to your computer, as well as being the most popular online media store on the planet. Whatever your thoughts on Apple as a company, there’s no denying that iTunes has earned its place in the market place.
6) The GIMP
No, this article hasn’t taken a dark turn; GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, “GNU” being a UNIX based operating system that has now developed into a LINUX distribution. Basically this is a free piece of software along the lines of Adobe Photoshop, but without the price tag. It’s fairly simple to use, but at the same time powerful enough for any amateur photographer. Originally it was only available for Linux, but it can now be downloaded for Windows as well. To save you the embarrassment of typing “GIMP” into Google, you can find the software here.
7) Pidgin
Those of you that use multiple Instant Messenger (IM) programs know how annoying it can be to keep track of your friends over multiple networks. Pidgin answers this problem by having all your networks in one program. There’s currently support for just about every well know IM network out there, and any future networks will probably be supported as well. Whilst Pidgin might lack some of the special features of each networks own client, it does an excellent job of basic IM conversations as well as some other features such as file sharing. Pidgin can be downloaded here.
8) VLC Media Player
While VLC Media Player might not win any awards for being the prettiest media player out there (the interface is pretty basic), what it will do is play just about any media file out there. It can also act as a server to stream your media around the house (or even further afield if you’re feeling brave). If you’ve got a media file that Windows Media Player won’t play, it’s almost guaranteed that VLC will play it, or at least try to.
9) XBMC
Where VLC is lacking in graphical appeal, XBMC has oodles of it. Those that know me know that I’ve had a soft spot for the XBMC project ever since I installed it on my original XBOX. These days it’s also available for Windows and does an excellent job of managing your media files, much better in fact than Microsofts Media Centre software. It’s fully skinnable, has masses of plugins available and can retrieve meta information about your media from a variety of online sources. It also plays internet radio and shows RSS feeds and the weather for three different locations. It’s nothing short of a masterpiece, download it now!
10) Audacity
If you haven’t heard of Audacity you’ve likely been living under a rock, or possibly in North Korea. In short, Audacity is a multi-platform, free, audio editor and recorder. It allows you to record audio from almost any source and then save it in a variety of sources. This is absolutely essential if you have old records or tapes to convert into a digital music collection. Also useful if you have to dictate and then send the recordings to colleagues or friends. Version 1.3 is currently in beta testing, but version 1.2 can be downloaded here.
I hope you’ve found this list useful, there’s something for everyone there. All of the above are worth at least trying, they are freely downloadable and shouldn’t cause you any problems should you decide they’re not for you and uninstall them. There are literally thousands of freely downloadable Windows applications these days, and the ten above are simply my personal favourites. Some of the above are a good alternative to “paid for” applications, whereas others are almost in a league of their own, with no commercial product available in the same category. In any case, for the grand price of your time and effort, these are some top quality products that any Windows user should consider downloading.
Changing the Location of “My Documents” in Windows XP
0Why?
The main reason for doing this is to move your My Documents folder to a seperate hard disk so that if you experience any problems with Windows your documents are still safe and sound on their own disk.
There are some issues with 3rd party applications that save things in your “My Documents” folder; poorly written software will not take into account that users may move their My Documents folder, so assumes you are always using the default. This can result in data loss if you ever do have to wipe Windows. (more…)