Have you ever encounter anything like this when playing video or movie files?

1. Picture freezes, but sound keeps going when playing movies.
2. Only audio is playing, but there is nothing on screen, just black screen.
3. Audio and video is not synchronise
4. Sound is playing faster than images

It is because you need codec. What is codec?

Codec is also known as compression or decompression. It also means code or decode. Codec can compress large videos or movies and make them more smaller without losing much quality. Codec is needed in order to play videos or movies that you download off from the internet.


What is the best video codec nowadays?

I recommend you K-Lite Codec Pack since its fully packed with all type of codec and you can choose any codec you want to install or you don't. I did not have any trouble anymore to play any videos or movies after installed the K-Lite Codec Pack.


Download K-Lite Codec Pack Here :





Download



Other good codec pack for downloads :


CCCP Combined Community Codec Pack


XP Codec Pack XP Codec Pack

Today Avira released their latest new version of Avira Antivir that is version 10.It is available for download and what is the best thing is it is free !
This latest version is more upgraded and the GUI is look more cool.

Antivir 10 Free also known as Antivir 10 Personal provide the antivirus, anti-malware, anti-spyware and anti-rootkit modules for free.

My personal opinion, since the earlier Avira, they are perfect free antivirus for me because its fast and the detection is good.


Avira Free Edition Version 10 Screenshot


Avira Antivir 10 displays a configuration wizard on first start. We also can configure the detection level of the AHeaD heuristics module, the types of threats that Avira Antivir Personal should detect (adware, dialers, games, fraudulent software, backdoor and many more).

Words from Avira Technical Editor

Many users waited for Avira AntiVir ProActiv, our behavioral blocking component. It monitors the program activity on the computer and as soon as suspicious behavior gets detected, blocks the program from running. Also, in case the malware is yet unknown, the user can take part in the Avira Community and send the sample to the Avira Malware Researchers for an in-depth analysis. This way, every user of Avira AntiVir Premium and Avira Premium Security Suite can help making the Internet a safer place as detection for this malware gets added to all Avira products.
The new “generic repair” can better clean computers from infections. Instead of just deleting the malware file when there exists no special repair routine, Avira AntiVir now cleans the registry and the filesystem from further garbage which a virus may have left on the system. This ensures for example that a PC is still bootable when a malware has been removed.

Get your Avira Antivirus 10 Free Download Here

Boring with the default Windows Defrag software??It's damn slow...
Why not trying this little neat software...It's fast!!Light!!! and the most important thing it's FREEEEE!!!!!!
The best defrag software - JKDefrag .


Quote from the JKDefrag site :

JkDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008/X64. Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows. Included are a Windows version, a commandline version (for scheduling by the task scheduler or for use from administrator scripts), a screensaver version, a DLL library (for use from programming languages), versions for Windows X64, and the complete sources.

JkDefrag Screenshot


Get the best defrag software here

Here Some Awesome Mozilla Firefox Tweaks....

First,open a new tab, type about:config into the address bar and press enter...
The field entitled "filter" is where you type the stuff you see below...


Appearance:

* browser.display.focus_ring_width
This option will remove that annoying ring of dots (aka an ant trail) from selected/active links/elements.

Default value = "1".
"0" = Hide the Focus Ring.


* browser.chrome.toolbar_tips
If you've ever tried dragging and dropping bookmarks around your Bookmarks Toolbar and the Tool Tips got in your way, you'll find this helpful.
(Be careful, though. Some Add-Ons are dependent on Tool Tips).

Default value = "True".
"False" = Disable Tool Tips.


* dom.disable_window_open_feature.* (I just love this one! When you type the entry on the left, you'll narrow the about:config list to 11. Explanation below).
Webpage authors can disable many features of a popup window that they open.
Setting these preferences to "True" will override the author's settings and ensure that that feature is enabled and present in any popup window.

close = Prevent the close button from being disabled.
directories = Prevent the bookmarks toolbar from being hidden.
location = Prevent the address bar from being hidden
menubar = Prevent the menubar from being hidden.
minimizable = Prevent popup window minimization from being disabled.
personalbar = Prevent the bookmarks toolbar from being hidden.
resizable = Prevent popup window resizing from being disabled.
scrollbars = Prevent the scrollbars on a popup from being disabled.
status = Prevent the status bar from being hidden.
titlebar = Prevent the title bar from being hidden.
toolbar = Prevent the navigation toolbar from being hidden.


* browser.tabs.closebuttons
Controls how Close Buttons will be displayed on tabs.

Default value = "1"
"0" = Display a close button on the active tab only.
"1" = Display close buttons on all tabs.
"2" = Don’t display any close buttons.
"3" = Display a single close button at the end of the tab bar (Firefox 1.x behavior).



Functionality:

* browser.helperApps.deleteTempFileOnExit (Does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Boolean).
Wondering why files downloaded via Open With... in Fx3 are always set to "Read Only"?
Here's what the developers had to say: "This is intentional so people do not modify the files and then save them. We had lots of bugs filed about people losing their work because they did open with and then worked on a file."

For example:
If you're using uTorrent and you try to Remove And > Delete .torrent + data, you'll find that the .torrent file remains because it was set to "Read Only" by Fx3.

Default value = "False"
"True" = Downloaded files will be set to "Read Only".
"False" = Downloaded files will be left alone as they were in Fx2.


* layout.spellcheckdefault
The spell check function, when active, is accessible via the context menu of the text area/form field.
For spell checking to work, the user must have the appropriate dictionary files installed.

Default = "1".
"0" = Disable spellchecker.
"1" = Enable spellchecker for multi-line controls (e.g., text areas).
"2" = Enable spellchecker for multi-line controls and single-line controls (e.g., text areas and form/input fields).


* browser.urlbar.matchonlytyped
Determines behavior of autocomplete in Location Bar.

Default value = "False".
"True" = Only matches typing against URLs specifically typed into Location Bar.
"False" = Match against browser history.


* accessibility.tabfocus
Pressing the Tab button on your keyboard when a web page is in focus will move the focus from element to element. This is helpful when moving to a link you’d like to visit or moving between form fields without using the mouse. This preference determines which elements can be focused by pressing Tab.
Note: In OS X (as of 2005), if this preference is not explicitly set, the “Full Keyboard Access” setting in System Preferences will be honored. All builds before that date (e.g., Firefox 1.0.x) will ignore that setting.

Default = "7" ("1" in OSX)
"1" = Give focus to text fields only. (The default in OS X.)
"2" = Give focus to all form elements except text fields.
"4" = Give focus to links (and linked images) only.

You can add any of the above values together to combine their functionality.
That is, setting this preference to "3" (i.e., 1 + 2) will let you focus both text fields and other form elements.


* browser.preferences.instantApply
"True" (default in all platforms but Windows) = Changes to browser preferences are active immediately. The preferences window is not modal. Instead of "OK" and "Cancel" buttons, there is only a "Close" button.
"False" = Changes to preferences occur only after clicking the "OK" button. The preference window is modal.


* editor.singleline.pastenewlines
Single-line text fields do not allow users to input newlines. Pasting content, however, poses a problem: what happens if pasted content contains newlines?
This is often handled differently on different platforms. This preference determines what happens to multi-line content when it is pasted into a single-line text field.

"0" (default in Linux) = Paste content intact (include newlines).
"1" (default everywhere else) = Paste the content only up to (but not including) the first newline.
"2" = Replace each newline with a space.
"3" = Remove all newlines from content.
"4" = Substitute commas for newlines in text box.
"5" = Remove all newlines and surrounding whitespace.


* layout.word_select.eat_space_to_next_word
This preference controls the selection behaviour when double-clicking text as it relates to the space following the text.

"True" = Select the space up to the following word. (Default on Windows and Mac).
"False" = Do not select any extra spaces. (Default on all platforms except Windows and Mac).


* browser.fixup.alternate.suffix
Firefox tries to automatically add a suffix to the domain name entered if none has.
So, entering www.mozilla would add .com to it because .com is the default suffix that will be added.
You might prefer to add a country code like .fr or .de if you live in those countries. Simply change the setting to your country domain.

Default = ".com"
Please have a look here for various country codes.




Performance:

* content.interrupt.parsing (Does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Boolean).
This preference controls whether the application will interrupt parsing a page to respond to UI events. .

Default value = "True"
"True" = Parsing can be interrupted to process UI events.
"False" = Parsing cannot be interrupted. The application will be unresponsive until parsing is complete.


* network.prefetch-next
Link prefetching is when a webpage hints to the browser that certain pages are likely to be visited, so the browser downloads them immediately so they can be displayed immediately when the user requests it.
This preference controls whether link prefetching is enabled.

Default = "True".
"False" = Disable Prefetching.


* config.trim_on_minimize (Windows ONLY and does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Boolean).
Determines how Windows handles RAM usage for the browser while minimized. Setting to False will often prevent delays when restoring the window (see bug 76831).

Default value = "False"
"True" = Allow Windows to trim the working set when the browser is minimized.
"False" = Prevent Windows from trimming the working set.





All of the following are to be used in conjunction with each other to noticeably speed FireFox up...
I'm not going to go into much, (if any), detail on these.
Just trust me that they DO work and you WILL see results...


* network.http.pipelining
* network.http.proxy.pipelining

Default = "False".
"True" = Pipelining enabled.


* network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Default = "4".
"1" = Disable pipelining.
"2-7" = Maximum number of requests.
"8" = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).


* network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server (It is considered poor etiquette to make too many connections to a server and may lead to you being banned from that server).

Default = "6". (2 in Fx2).
"1" = Lowest possible setting.
"255" = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).


* network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy (It is considered poor etiquette to make too many connections to a server and may lead to you being banned from that server).

Default = "8". (4 in Fx2).
"1" = Lowest possible setting.
"255" = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).


* network.http.max-connections-per-server (It is considered poor etiquette to make too many connections to a server and may lead to you being banned from that server).

Default = "15". (8 in Fx2).
"1" = Lowest possible setting.
"255" = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).


* network.http.max-connections

Default = "30". (24 in Fx2).
"1" = Lowest possible setting.
"65535" = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).


* nglayout.initialpaint.delay (Does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Integer).
The number of milliseconds to wait before first displaying the page.

Default = "250"
"0" = Lowest possible setting.



* If you're on a broadband connection (Cable/DSL, etc) you can use the following settings as a starting point.
These are the settings I'm currently using in Fx3 on my cable connection...

network.http.pipelining = "True"
network.http.proxy.pipelining = "True"
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = "8"
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server = "16"
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy = "16"
network.http.max-connections-per-server = "16"
network.http.max-connections = "40"
nglayout.initialpaint.delay = "0"


The last one...
Try using this really great software. It will optimize your Mozilla Firefox ram usage..from 100MB-200MB ram usage reduced to 2-9MB only..
I don't know how it works..but it damn great !!




Get Mozilla Firefox Ultimate Optimizer Here

Microsoft has confirmed that there will be 5 version of Windows 7 just like Windows Vista. Seems their really want to make money huh? duhhh.....

Windows 7 Version Lineup



Windows 7 Starter: up to 3 concurrent applications, ability to join a Home Group, improved taskbar and JumpLists;

Windows 7 Home Basic: unlimited applications, live thumbnail previews & enhanced visual experience, advanced networking support (ad-hoc wireless networks and internet connection sharing), and Mobility Center;

Windows 7 Home Premium: Aero Glass & advanced windows navigation, improved media format support, enhancements to Windows Media Center and media streaming, including Play To, and multi-touch and improved handwriting recognition;

Windows 7 Professional: ability to join a managed network with Domain Join, data protection with advanced network backup and Encrypting File System, and print to the right printer at home or work with Location Aware Printing;
Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate: bitLocker data protection on internal and external drives, DirectAccess for seamless connectivity to corporate networks based on Windows Server 2008 R2, BranchCache support when on networks based on Windows Server 2008 R2, and lock unauthorized software from running with AppLocker.

For most people, Microsoft recommend Windows 7 Home premium and Windows 7 Professional for cutomers who want more extra features for small business activities.

For Businesses, the company recommends Windows 7 Professional for most customers and Windows 7 Enterprise for medium-to-large business and enterprise customers that choose to license Windows through Software Assurance.

This tutorials will show you how to completely remove AVG antivirus. Actually. when you remove AVG antivirus in Control Panel > Add remove programs it actually did not removed completely. Still got dll files and other registry that messed up in your PC.


First try the registry method :

Go to Start>Run>Regedit then OK.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AVG
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG8Uninstall
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG7Uninstall

Other version :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG7Uninstall
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG6INSTALL
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG8Uninstall
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AVG\Avg8

Windows 64bit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG7Uninstall
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG6INSTALL
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AVG8Uninstall
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AVG\Avg8

Or you can try this tutorial taken from Kaspersky site :

Sometimes installation of Kaspersky Anti-Virus version 2009 can be hindered by the “remains” of AVG8 in the system, although AVG8 was successfully removed and the system was restarted.

Prior to copying the installation files onto the hard drive, the Configuration Wizard checks the computer for third-party software incompatible with Kaspersky Anti-Virus version 2009. The records of AVG8 in the system registry are identified by the Wizard as a fully installed and functioning anti-virus AVG8 although the product has already been uninstalled. As a result the Configuration Wizard asks to manually uninstall the incompatible software and interrupts the installation.

To resolve the situation you should do the following:

* Interrupt the current installation of Kaspersky Anti-Virus version 2009
* download the archive avg8.zip
* unpack all files from the archive avg8.zip into one folder
* run the file KLeaner.exe
* wait until the utility finishes its work
* restart your PC

Avira GmbH is a German antivirus software company. Its antivirus applications are based on the AntiVir scan engine also known as "Luke Filewalker", first launched in 1988. It was called "H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH" when it was founded. Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus is free for personal use. Avira's engine has been licensed to Ashampoo antivirus and Webroot WebWasher.

Download the Virus Definition File to always keep Avira AntiVir up-to-date


Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable virus protection to home-users only.

Avira PersonalEdition Classic constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs (such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc.), monitoring every action executed by the user or by the operating system and being able to react promptly when a malicious program is detected. Actions include repair, delete, block, rename and quarantine programs or files.

Avira PersonalEdition Classic also features enhanced protection against unknown boot-sector viruses, issuing alerts for boot sectors suspicious formats. Through the permanent update of the detection engine, the protection is ensured constantly: the user can set the product to download any updates when available, thus keeping you clean and safe.

Download the Virus Definition File to always keep Avira AntiVir up-to-date.

Manual Update of AntiVir

Step on how to update AntiVir Avira :




· Copy the downloaded file to a portable media storage such as an USB Stick or a CD-ROM for transferring it to the PC without internet access.
Note: Extracting of the ZIP file is not necessary.

· Insert the media storage into the PC without internet access.

· Start AntiVir Personal Edition Classic / Premium and go the menu Update" and select Manual Update".

· Select the downloaded IVDF file from your media storage and click open".Your AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic / Premium is now up to date.
Important note: Please keep in mind that an effective protection against new threats is only possible with an up to date virus definition file. Update your AntiVir Personal Edition Classic / Premium at least every second day.

· Download the latest virus definition file (IVDF) on a PC with internet access.

Download Avira Manual Update Here .

These are some tricks that make use of programs listed in this guide and nothing will happen even if you go.

DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next

OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons

DISABLE PERFORMANCE COUNTERS

Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC’s performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.

To disable:

1. download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List(http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/remove404.mspx)
2.Then select each counter in turn in the ‘Extensible performance counters’ window and clear the ‘performance counters enabled’ checkbox at the bottom.button below.

SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer

IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE

Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.

Once Installed:

1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows

OPTIMISE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION

There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.

1. Download(http://www.speedguide.net/files/tcpoptimizer.exe) and install
2. Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
3. Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
4. Check Optimal Settings then Apply
5. Reboot

OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.

RUN BOOTVIS - IMPROVE BOOT TIMES download from(http://www.majorgeeks.com)
BootVis will significantly improve boot times

1. Download and Run
2. Select Trace
3. Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
4. A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
5. Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system’s boot process. When it’s done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
6. Reboot.
7. When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete

REMOVE THE DESKTOP PICTURE

Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.

1. Right click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Click Ok

REMOVE FONTS FOR SPEED

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.

1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.

DISABLE UNNECESSARY SERVICES

Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:

Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n’ Pray will disable this)
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
Workstation
To disable these services:

Go to Start and then Run and type “services.msc”
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to ‘Disable”

TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE

System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:

Open Control Panel
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick ‘Turn off System Restore on All Drives’
Click ‘Ok’

DEFRAGMENT YOUR PAGEFILE

Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn’t get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:

Download(http://www.sysinternals.com) and Run PageDefrag
Tick “Defrag at next Reboot”,
Click “Ok”
Reboot

SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Cur rentControlSet\Control\FileSys tem”
Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
Change the Value Data to ‘1′
Click ‘OK’

DISABLE SYSTEM SOUNDS

Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:

Open Control Panel
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose “No Sounds” for the Sound Scheme
Click “No”
Click “Apply”
Click “OK”

IMPROVE BOOT TIMES

A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

Go to Start Menu and Click Run
Type in “Regedit” then click ok
Find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M icrosoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction”
Select “Enable” from the list on the right
Right on it and select “Modify”
Change the value to “Y to enable”
Reboot

IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

Go to Start then Run
Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
Click on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage =1″
Click OK
Restart PC

MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

Go to Start then Run
Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\”
Select “MenuShowDelay”
Right click and select “Modify’
Reduce the number to around “100″
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood

MAKE PROGRAMS LOAD FASTER

This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn’t load properly just undo the change. For any program:

Right-click on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
Select properties
In the ‘target’ box, add ‘ /prefetch:1′ at the end of the line.
Click “Ok”
Voila - your programs will now load faster.

IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

Go to Start then select Run
Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\’
Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
Right click and select ‘Modify’
Change the value to ‘1000′
Click ‘OK’
Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
Right click and select ‘Modify’
Change the value to ‘1000′
Click ‘OK’
Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
Right click and select ‘Modify’
Change the value to ‘1000′
Click ‘OK’
Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Cur rentControlSet\Control\’
Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
Right click and select ‘Modify’
Change the value to ‘1000′
Click ‘OK’

SPEED UP BOOT TIMES I

This tweak works by creating a batch file to clear the temp and history folders everytime you shutdown so that your PC doesn’t waste time checking these folders the next time it boots. It’s quite simple to implement:

1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:

RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings\”UserName without quotes”\Local Settings\History”
RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History”

2. Save the new as anything you like but it has to be a ‘.bat’ file e.g. fastboot.bat or deltemp.bat

3. Click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’

4. Type in ‘gpedit.msc’ and hit ‘ok’

5. Click on ‘Computer Configuration’ then ‘Windows Settings’

6. Double-click on ‘Scripts’ and then on ‘Shutdown’

7. Click ‘Add’ and find the batch file that you created and then press ‘Ok’

SPEED UP BOOT TIMES II

When your PC starts it usually looks for any bootable media in any floppy or cd-rom drives you have installed before it gets around to loading the Operating System from the HDD. This can waste valuable time. To fix this we need to make some changes to the Bios.

1. To enter the bios you usually press ‘F2′ or ‘delete’ when your PC starts

2. Navigate to the ‘Boot’ menu

3. Select ‘Boot Sequence’

4. Then either move your Hard drive to the top position or set it as the ‘First Device’

5. Press the ‘Escape’ key to leave the bios. Don’t forget to save your settings before exiting

Note: Once this change has been made, you won’t be able to boot from a floppy disc or a CD-rom. If for some strange reason you need to do this in the future, just go back into your bios, repeat the steps above and put your floppy or CD-rom back as the ‘First Device’

SPEED UP BOOT TIMES III

When your computer boots up it usually has to check with the network to see what IP addresses are free and then it grabs one of these. By configuring a manually assigned IP address your boot time will improve. To do this do the following:

1. Click on ‘Start’ and then ”Connect To/Show All Connections’

2. Right-click your network adapter card and click ‘Properties’.

3. On the ‘General’ tab, select ‘TCP/IP’ in the list of services and click ‘Properties’

4.I n the TCP/IP properties, click ‘Use the following address’ and enter an IP address for your PC. If you are using a router this is usually 192.168.0.xx or 192.168.1.xx. If you are not sure what address you could check with your ISP or go to ‘Start/run’ and type ‘cmd’ and then ‘ipconfig/all’. This will show your current IP settings which you will need to copy.

5. Enter the correct details for ‘Subnet mask’, ‘Default gateway’ and ‘DNS Server’. Again if you are not sure what figures to enter use ‘ipconfig/all’ as in stage 4.

FREE UP MEMORY

I found this useful app via FixMyXP. ClearMem Is an Excellent Tool for speeding up your XP Computer (especially if your system has been on for awhile and you have a lot of applications open). What it does, is it Forces pages out of physical memory and reduces the size of running processes if working sets to a minimum. When you run this tool, the system pauses because of excessive high-priority activity associated with trimming the working sets. To run this tool, your paging file must be at least as large as physical memory. To Check your Paging File:

1. Go to your control panel, then click on ‘System’, then go to the ‘Advanced’ Tab, and Under ‘Performance’ click ‘Settings’ then the ‘Advanced’ Tab

2. On the Bottom you should see ‘Virtual Memory’ and a value. This is the value that must be at least as large as how much memory is in your system.

3. If the Virtual Memory Value is smaller than your system memory, click Change and change the Min Virtual Memory to a number that is greater than your total system memory, then click ‘Set’ and Reboot.

4. Once you have rebooted install ClearMem

ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE

XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:

1. Open ‘Device Manager’

2. Double-click ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers’

3. Right-click ‘Primary Channel’ and select ‘Properties’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’

4. In the ‘Current Transfer Mode’ drop-down box, select ‘DMA if Available’ if the current setting is ‘PIO Only’

ADD CORRECT NETWORK CARD SETTINGS

Some machines suffer from jerky graphics or high CPU usage even when a machine is idle. A possible solution for this, which, can also can help network performance is to:

1. RightClick ‘My Computer’

2. Select ‘Manage’

3. Click on ‘Device Manager’

4. DoubleClick your network adaptor under ‘Network Adapters’

5. In the new window, select the ‘Advanced’ tab

6. Select ‘Connection Type’ and select the correct type for your card and then Reboot

REMOVE ANNOYING DELETE CONFIRMATION MESSAGES

Although not strictly a performance tweak I love this fix as it makes my machine ‘feel’ faster. I hate the annoying ‘are you sure?’ messages that XP displays, especially if I have to use a laptop touchpad to close them. To remove these messages:

1. Right-click on the ‘Recycle Bin’ on the desktop and then click ‘Properties’

2. Clear the ‘Display Delete Confirmation Dialog’ check box and click ‘Ok’

If you do accidently delete a file don’t worry as all is not lost. Just go to your Recycle Bin and ‘Restore’ the file.

DISABLE PREFETCH ON LOW MEMORY SYSTEMS

Prefetch is designed to speed up program launching by preloading programs into memory - not a good idea is memory is in short supply, as it can make programs hang. To disable prefetch:

1. Click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’

2. Type in ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’

3. Navigate to ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Cur rentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\ ‘

4. Right-click on “EnablePrefetcher” and set the value to ‘0′

5. Reboot.

Credit : http://9tutorials.com

HAL.DLL Missing or Corrupt

If you get an error regarding a missing or corrupt hal.dll file, it might simply be the BOOT.INI file on the root of the C: drive that is misconfigured
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Type bootcfg /list to show the current entries in the BOOT.INI file
Type bootcfg /rebuild to repair it
Take out the CD ROM and type exit


NTOSKRNL Missing or Corrupt

If you get an error that NTOSKRNL not found:
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Change to the drive that has the CD ROM.
CD i386
expand ntkrnlmp.ex_ C:WindowsSystem32ntoskrnl.exe
If WindowsXP is installed in a different location, just make the necessary change to C:Windows
Take out the CD ROM and type exit


NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM Not Found

If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup,
If you have FAT32 partitions, it is much simpler than with NTFS.
Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files
from the i386 directory to the root of the C: drive.
For NTFS:
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Enter in the administrator password when requested
Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.
COPY X:i386NTLDR C:
COPY X:i386NTDETECT.COM C:
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

What is Antivirus 2008?


Antivirus 2008 (also known as VistaAntivirus2008, SystemAntivirus 2008, Antivirus 2009) is a fake anti-virus tool that really annoying users and askuser to buy their software and earn a $50. Antivirus 2008 (also known as Antivirus2008) is spread through malicious and fake websites that sell other fake anti spyware tool.

Once Antivirus 2008 activated, it will full of crap onour desktop with popups and fake system notifications, supposedly informing an infection, which is most likely non-existent (Fake message). Then it will ask user to buy their crappy software..

Do not, ever, download or buy Antivirus 2008.

First what u need is :

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

download it here


First setup the software. Then update the latest version of definition.
Restart computer. Start Windows in safe mode. Press F8 before the boot logo appear and choose Safe Mode.

Start Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware software. Press Quick Scan and wait for a while until it finshed. Restart your computer.

Now your computer is clean and clear.

Got Omgjbox.exe stupid error?? So annoying!!!
Ok..Cool down..After couple of hours of searching on the net,
I have found solution that can solve problems for people who is having Omgjbox.exe Errors and the program crashes

First get Sonic Stage 4.3 DIRECT DOWNLOAD
http://sonicstage.connect.com/SS-US.zip
Download and extract using Winrar.


1.Locate the SetupSS.ini file in SonicStage4.3 installer.

2.Modify the SetupSS.ini.
Open with the SetupSS.ini with Notepad. You will found something like this:


"Dx,Wmf,Wmf9,Mdac,Msc,SetupReg,OmgSetup**,OmgLP,Ss Setup,SsAddon**,DrvPA,PDIn
fo**,VideoDL,WmLaunch**",
Delete the text "OmgLP," . Do not forget the last comma(,).


Make sure you have uninstall the previous version of the SonincStage if it has been installed.


3.Restart your computer.

4.Delete the remain files belonging to the previous version of SonicStage and OpenMG Secure Module.
Delete all the remain files manually. Do not forget the files under the directory "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared" especially.

5.Reinstall the SonicStage4.3.
After it has been finished restart your computer.



VoiLA...Working!!!

Here are a few Great open source apps i am using and most which i would definitely recommend to anybody, even if your not particularly skillful with software, these applications have such an easy user interface utilizing should be a breeze. I put them in a list so it is easily browsable .

Web Browsing

Mozilla Firefox

The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world’s best browser.

Download Page

Video Player / Video Podcasting

Miro

Beautiful interface. Plays any video type (much more than windows media player). Subscribe to video RSS, download, and watch all in one. Torrent support. Search and download from YouTube and others.
Download Page

IM - Instant Messaging

Pidgin

Connect to multiple IM accounts simultaneously in a single app, including: AOL IM, MSN, and Jabber.

Download Page

Email

Mozilla Thunderbird

Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.

Download Page

RSS

FeedReader

Simple, lightweight aggregator.

Download Page

RSSOwl

Solid cross-platform RSS client.

Download Page

Peer-to-Peer Filesharing

Cabos

A simple, easy to use filesharing program. Gnutella network.

Download Page

Gnucleus

A very good Gnutella search and download filesharing program.
Download Page

Azureus

A powerful, but complicated BitTorrent client. So many features you’ll lose your mind.

Download Page

Video Playback

VLC

Plays more video files than most players: Quicktime, AVI, DIVX, OGG, and more. Pretty good interface.

Download Page

MPlayer

Similar to VLC– plays loads of video formats.

Download Page

Media Player Classic

Compact, but powerful media player. Plays anything under the sun. No install necessary.

Download Page

DVD Ripping / Video Conversion

Media Coder

Great tool for ripping CDs, DVDs, etc and converting between tons of video formats.
Download Page

Word Processing / Office Suites

OpenOffice.org

Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with and a free replacement for Microsoft Word documents. Also supports OpenDocument Format.
Download Page

AbiWord

A word processor. Leaner and quicker than OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft Word documents and OpenDocument Format.

Download Page

Podcasting

Juice

Solid podcasting client.

Download Page

DVD Ripping

Handbrake

DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter.

Download Page

Sound Recording

Audacity

Simple sound recording tool.

Download Page

Graphics / Photo Editing

GIMPShop

Photo editing application that rivals Photoshop in features.

Download Page

Paint.net

Graphics editor with a very nice interface.
Download Page

Inkscape

Vector graphics application.

Download Page

FTP / SFTP

Filezilla

Excellent FTP program.

Download Page

IRC

X-Chat 2

IRC client.

Download Page

-

Freemind

An innovative application for note taking and outlining. Takes time to get used to, but some people swear by it.

Download Page

Jarnal

Open Source note taking application written in Java

Download Page

Keynote

Open Source note taking application, very good. I use this myself extensively

Download Page

Personal Finance

TurboCASH

Simple, easy to use application for managing personal finances.
Download Page

Quasar

Easy to use Accounting package

Download Page

Chat Clients

AMSN

MSN Messenger client written in TCL/TK
AMSN Messenger

X-Chat

IRC Client
X-Chat

More Web Browsing

KMeleon

Fast, nice web browser.

Download Page

Amaya Browser for Windows

W3C developed web browser and editor for multiple platforms

Download Page

Screensaver

Electric Sheep

Immersive, trippy screensaver.

Download Page

More Filesharing

Frostwire

GNUTella client based on the Limewire codebase.
Download Page

Also see: Poisoned - Azureus

3D Graphics and Modeling

Blender

Powerful 3D Modeling software.

Download Page

Also see: Kerkythea (illumination engine) - Persistence of Vision Raytracer - Quesa

Stars and Outer Space

Celestia

Open-source 3D planetarium software. Akin to traveling through space (outer space).

Download Page

Stellarium

“Renders realistic skys in realtime.” See what you would see if your city wasn’t so light-polluted. Used in real planetariums.

Download Page

Also see: macORSA - Orbit Reconstruction, Simulation, and Analysis

Games

Marathon: Aleph One

Engine for Bungie’s free FPS series Marathon. Play online, solo play with rich original story, many total conversions and thousands of maps.

Download Page

Zombies

3D zombie strategy game.
Download Page

Armagetron Advanced

3D Tron game.

Download Page

BZFlag

First-person tank game.

Download Page

Battle for Wesnoth

Fantasy / Strategy Game
Download Page

Also see: Snes9X (SNES emulator), Frozen Bubble

Free File Hosting

CC Publisher

Host Creative Commons video or audio files for free on archive.org with this easy uploader.

Download Page

Security Tools

NMap

Easy to use port scanner for Windows

Download Page

Wireshark

Network Protocol Analyzer, formerly called Ethereal

Download Page

TrueCrypt

Creates encrypted virtual hard drives for extra security

Download Page

ClamWin

Open Source Anti-Virus. Very good at detecting viruses. Can be plugged into hMailServer for e-mail protection
LIMITATION: Real Time scanning not implemented yet
Download Page

Eraser

Delete files securely off your hard drive utilizing DoD standards

Download Page

MP3 and Audio Tools

MP3 Gain

Easy to use MP3 manipulation tool for Windows. adjusts sound levels on MP3’s so they are all the same

Download Page

MP3 Book Helper

This program provides rapid Mp3 (ID3v1, ID3v2) and Ogg/Speex/Flac Vorbis tags editing and file renaming functions. Mass Tag editing is done using special variables and Regular Expressions.
Download Page

musikCube

Open Source MP3 Player, ripper and organizer written using the .NET Framework

Download Page

Utilities

–>

7zip

File archiver.

Download Page

Developer tools

SharpDevelop

Open Source IDE for the .NET Framework. Utilizes the multiple programming languages and Windows forms

Download Page

Download Page

Notepad ++

Open Source programmers notepad for Windows

ScITE

Source code Editor for Windows and X

Download Page

Web Developer Server Suite

Very good WAMP Stack (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) Very thouroughly tested on Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Server (preliminary testing on Longhorn Server underway). Highly Recommended.

Download Page

Mapping Tools

Nasa World Wind

Mapping tool similar to Google Earth for Windows. Must have the .NET Framework installed.

Download Page

Address Book

• Corvalis - is a free, open source address management system .Export to/import from other popular e-mail programs such as Outlook and free e-mail service. Improved search features and group management .
• Rubrica - is an address book manager for the GNOME Environment. It allows you to add personal data (name, surname, address, etc.), web links, irc and email addresses, telephone numbers, job information (company where contact works, company infos, contact’s assigment, etc.) and notes.

Audio Tools

• MediaCoder - is a free universal batch media transcoder, which nicely integrates most popular audio/video codecs and tools into an all-in-one solution. It converts file formats, giving you a great deal of control over the output. It can also save you plenty of hard disk space by shrinking media files. There are also lots of extensions you can download that expand the programs’ capabilities, such as make it easy to transcode files for specific media players.
• Audacity - is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. It allows users to record live audio, convert tapes and records to digital formats, or mix pre-existing digital audio tracks. Supported formats include Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X, Classic Mac.
• HandBrake - is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. It grabs video from a variety of sources, including a DVD and a DVD image, and grabs audio from sources as well, including MPEG audio tracks. You’ll then be able to output a digital file in a variety of formats, including MPEG-4, AVI, OGM for video, or AAC, MP3, and Ogg Vorbis for audio.
• LAME -is one of the best MP3 encoders in the world, producing excellent quality MP3s. It is used by many CD rippers, combopacks and so on and its popularity is increasing almost daily. Also, in great quality DivX encoding, people tend to use LAME over other MP3 encoders.
• AC3Filter - is an open source AC3 decoding filter that allows you to watch videos with AC3-encoded surround audio. After you install the filter, all video players, including Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, that use DirectShow, should be able to play AC3 audio correctly. Filter also supports ProLogicII audio as well.
• MP3Gain -analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume. It does not just do peak normalization, as many normalizers do. Instead, it does some statistical analysis to determine how loud the file actually sounds to the human ear. With MP3Gain you can adjust your songs per file, which makes them all play at the same loudness (radio gain), or per album, which keeps the volume differences within an album but makes the albums play at similar loudness.
• Moosic - is a music player for Unix systems. It focuses on convenient and powerful playlist management. The key feature of this music player is its playlist management/queuing abilities. By default, Moosic supports MP3, Ogg, MIDI, MOD, and WAV files, but it can be configured to support other file formats as well. Operating system: Unix.
• StreamRipper - allows you to record and save Shoutcast streams and other Internet audio. Its key feature is the ability to find silences and mark them as possible points of track separation. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix.
• EasyTAG - is a utility for viewing and editing tags for MP3, MP2, MP4/AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, MusePack, Monkey’s Audio and WavPack files. Its simple and nice GTK+ interface makes tagging easier under GNU/Linux or Windows.

Bulletin Board

• phpBB -is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customizable open-source bulletin board package. phpBB has a user-friendly interface, simple and straightforward administration panel, and helpful FAQ. Based on the powerful PHP server language and your choice of MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC database servers, phpBB is the ideal free community solution for all web sites. Features include: Unlimited forums and posts; Multiple language interface; Private or public forums; Powerful search utility; Private messaging system; Templates.

Databases

• Firebird -is a relational database offering many ANSI SQL standard features that runs on Linux, Windows, and a variety of Unix platforms.
• PostgreSQL -is an advanced PostgreSQL-based search engine that provides online indexing of data and relevance ranking for database searching. Close integration with database allows use of metadata to restrict search results. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X, Solaris.

Content Managers

• Joomla! - is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable.
• Drupal - an open source content management platform. Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal supports a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites.
• Wordpress - is a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.
• Plone - Content Management System built on top of the open source application server Zope and the accompanying Content Management Framework
• XOOPS -is an extensible, OO (Object Oriented), easy to use dynamic web content management system written in PHP. XOOPS is the ideal tool for developing small to large dynamic community websites, intra company portals, corporate portals, weblogs and much more. Read the All about XOOPS page for more details.
• Opencms - is a professional, easy to use website content management system. It is based on Java and XML technology. It can be deployed in an open source environment (e.g. Linux, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL) as well as on commercial components (e.g. Windows NT, IIS, BEA Weblogic, Oracle).
• WebGUI - is a web application framework and web content management system that puts the publishing power in the hands of the people who create the content, rather than the IT staff. Join the thousands of businesses, universities, and schools that have found out just how easy web can be.
• PHP-Nuke -is a powerful Open Source portal application. It can be used as a weblog or as a CMS. PhpNuke allows webmasters and editors to easily post new content and comment existing articles. PHPNuke is much for game clan and guild sites. It is free software, released under the GNU License.

Developer Tools

• phpMyAdmin - handles the administration of MySQL over the Web. phpMyAdmin performs many database administration tasks like running SQL statements, adding and dropping databases, and adding, editing or deleting tables or fields. Operating system: OS Independent.
• Dev-C++ gives you a full-featured Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the C/C++ programming language. It uses Mingw port of GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) as it’s compiler. Dev-C++ can also be used in combination with Cygwin or any other GCC based compiler.
• EasyPHP - is a complete software package allowing to use all the power and the flexibility that offers the dynamic language PHP and the efficient use of databases under Windows. Package includes an Apache server, a MySQL database, a fully PHP execution, as well as easy development tools for your web site or your applications.
• XAMPP - is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start. Operating system:Windows, Linux, OS/X, Solaris.
• Notepad++ is a free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the M$ Windows environment. Notepad++ is designed to be a freeware replacement for Notepad. Supported languages : C, C++,Java, C#, XML, HTML, PHP, Javascript, RC resource file, make file, ASCII art file(extension .nfo, doxygen, ini file, batch file, ASP, VB/VBS source files, SQL, Objective-C, CSS, Pascal, Perl, Python and Lua.
• jEdit - is a text editor written in Java. It supports auto indent and syntax highlighting for 130 different coding languages, as well as dozens of independently developed plug-ins and macros that make programming easier. Operating system: OS Independent.
• TortoiseSVN - is a really easy to use Revision control / version control / source control software for Windows. It works directly from Windows Explorer and you can use it with virtually anydevelopment tools. Operating system: Windows.
• DotNetNuke - is a powerful open source framework that creates and deploys robust modules on the ASP.NET platform. Written by its core team of developers, this book will provide youwith the tools and insight you’ll need to install, configure, and develop your own stunning
• AppServ - is an Apache/PHP/MySQL distribution designed to be completely installed and configured in less than one minute. While it works on Windows, the developers recommend Linux for Web ordatabase servers that will be used heavily. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix.
• SharpDevelop -is a free IDE for C#, VB.NET and Boo projects on Microsoft’s. It includes a forms designer, code completer, an integrated debugger, and many other features. Operating system: Windows.
• wxWidgets - lets developers create applications for Win32, Mac OS X, GTK+, X11, Motif, WinCE, and more using one codebase. It can be used from languages such as C++, Python, Perl, and C#/.NET.
• Hibernate - is a powerful, high-performance object/relational persistence and query service. Hibernate allows you to express queries in its own portable SQL extension (HQL), as well as in native SQL, or with an object-oriented Criteria and Example API.
• Ultimate++ is a C++ cross-platform rapid application development suite focused on programmers productivity. It includes a set of libraries (GUI, SQL, etc..), and an integrated development environment.
• DeskWeb - applies the iconography and usability of a common Windows desktop system to Web applications. It is familiar and user-friendly and lets users easily learn how-to exploit all of the software’s features. It can be used in various ways, such as a content management system, a company groupware, a wiki, or more. Operating system: OS Independent.
• Zile - is a small Emacs clone. Zile is a customizable, self-documenting real-time open-source display editor. Zile was written to be as similar as possible to Emacs; every Emacs user should feel at home. Operating system: Linux/Unix.
• WAMP5 - installs automatically Apache, PHP, MySQL, PHPmyadmin and SQLite manager on any Windows system. It was created in order to make it easy to use the latest version of PHP?PHP5Operating system: Windows.
• MiKTeX - is an up-to-date TeX implementation for the Windows operating system. It is a typesetting program with a complete set of fonts, utilities, and macros.
• TEA - is a GTK+-based text editor that supports a number of different coding languages, but it is especially helpful for writing HTML. It?s very small but includes a file manager, spellchecker, search function, and more. Operating system: Linux/Unix, OS X, Solaris.
• SiSU -is an information structuring, transforming, publishing and search framework. Supported formats include plain-text, HTML, XHTML, XML, ODF, LaTeX, and PDF. Operating system: Linux/Unix.
• PDFCreator -is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application. It allows users to create PDF files from any printable Windows document. As an added bonus, it can also create PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, or EPS files. Operating system: Windows.
• Ghostscript -allows users to convert, view, and print PostScript and PDF files. Different versions of the software are available either as open-source or as commercial distributions. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X, Classic Mac.

Emulators

• DOSBox - isa long gone from Windows–the command prompt inside Windows isn’t truly DOS anymore. Many old games simply won’t run from the Windows command prompt. They need true blue DOS. You can get the free DOSBox, which does a great job of emulating it. Install and run the program, then run any DOS game–or DOS application, for that matter–inside it. When you run DOSBox, it automatically sets any sound-system related variables, so that your sound system will work properly with your old games.
• ZNES - is a Super Nintendo emulator programmed by zsKnight and _Demo_. It lets you play your Super Nintendo games on your PC. Some games work better than others, and it?s very much a workin progress. Operating system: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and DOS.
• eMule -is one of the biggest and most reliable peer-to-peer file sharing clients around the world. Many developers contribute to the project, so the network gets more and more efficient withevery new version. Operating system: Windows.
• Ares - is a P2P file-sharing program. It’s easier to figure out how to search for files and download them, and it also will download files using BitTorrent, which is probably the most popular file-sharing protocol today. Also useful is that the program includes a built-in media player, as well as chat capabilities and a built-in Web browser.
• Wine - is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix. It lets you run Windows programs on x86-based Unix systems. Operating system: Linux/Unix, OS X, Solaris.

P2P

• BitTorrent - is the global standard for delivering high-quality files over the Internet. BitTorrent enables you to publish your own content. If you are a filmmaker, musician, or even a comedian, it?s the perfect place to showcase your work to worldwide audience. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix.
• DC++ is an open source client for Windows for the Direct Connect network. Direct Connect allows you to share files over the Internet without restrictions or limits. The client is completely free of advertisements and has a nice, easy to use interface. Firewall and router support is integrated and it is easy and convenient to use functionality like multi-hub connections, auto-connections and resuming of downloads.
• BBurst! - is the BitTorrent client that uses less memory and other resources than the original client. Key features include a torrents manager and super-seeding mode. Operating system: Windows.
• BT++ is an improved client for the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file distribution solution. It is written, like the official BitTorrent client, in Python and wxPython for maximum cross-platform compatibility. It should work on any platform that wxPython is available for.
• Shareaza P2P - is known by its support for numerous P2P networks, including Gnutella2, Gnutella1, eDonkey2000/eMule, and BitTorrent. And its “Collections” feature allows users to preview albumcovers, song lists, and descriptions from a single screen. Operating system: Windows.
• ABC - is an improved client for the Bittorrent peer-to-peer file distribution solution. ABC is based on BitTornado which extended from from Original Bittorrent Core System , coded by Bram Cohen. It offers some unique customization options. With this app, you can customize which information is displayed, prioritize the queuing system, and download multiple files simultaneously in the same window. Operating system: Windows.
• RevConnect - is a file sharing program based on DC++. It is fully compatible with the Direct Connect network. RevConnect is an free open-source, ad and spyware-free client, written in C++ for the Direct Connect protocol that allows you to share files over the internet with other users. Operating system: Windows.

File Transfer

• WinSCP - allows users to transfer files securely via FTP and SFTP. It incorporates Secure Shell (SSH) technology. Operating system: Windows.
• cURL - is a command line tool for transferring files with URL syntax, supporting FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, SCP, SFTP,TFTP, TELNET, DICT, FILE and LDAP. curl supports SSL certificates, HTTP POST,HTTP PUT, FTP uploading, HTTP form based upload, proxies, cookies, user+password authentication (Basic, Digest, NTLM, Negotiate, Kerberos…), file transfer resume, proxy tunneling and a busload of other useful tricks. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X, Solaris.

Games

• ScummVM - allows you to port many classic point-and-click adventure games to nearly any platform you like. Supported games include Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Beneath A Steel Sky, Day of the Tentacle, Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2, Monkey Island, Samand Max, and dozens of others. Operating system: OS Portable.
• StepMania - can be played using the keyboard or a sensor-laden “dance pad”. StepMania has game modes similar to Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution and Andamiro’s Pump It Up, Amuseworld’sEZ2Dancer, and Konami’s Para Para Paradise. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X, Xbox.

Mobility Tools

• BitPim - is a program that allows you to view and manipulate data on many CDMA phones from LG, Samsung, Sanyo and other manufacturers. This includes the Phone Book, Calendar, WallPapers, RingTones(functionality varies by phone) and the File system for most Qualcomm CDMA chipset based phones. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X.
• PortableApps - aims to make all of your applications portable. It makes it easy to transfer software and data from your PC to a USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, or other device. Operating system: Windows.

Photo Tools

• Gallery - is an open source project with the goal to develop and support leading photo sharing web application solutions. It allow some basic photo manipulation, such as resizing, rotating, and altering image quality, but does not include advanced photo editing. Operating system: OS Independent.
• Coppermine Photo Gallery - is a multi-purpose fully-featured and integrated web picture gallery script written in PHP using GD or ImageMagick as image library with a MySQL backend. It offersa huge lineup of features including multiple languages, e-card creation, thumbnails, and many more. In order to use it, you need a Web server running Apache, PHP, MySQL, and either GD or ImageMagick. Operating system: OS Independent.

Instant Messaging

• aMSN - is an open source MSN Messenger clone. It allows you to communicate with users on multiple networks. a MSN also allows you to display pictures and emoticons and add skins to yourchat window. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X.
• Miranda - is a small, fast and easy instant messenger with support for multiple protocols. Miranda IM is designed to be resource efficient and easy to use while still providing many features including support for AIM, Jabber, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo, and more. Operating system: Windows.
• Pidgin - is a multi-platform instant messaging client that allows you to connect with all your buddies from a single messenger, even if they are using different networks. It supports MSN, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, IRC, GroupWise, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Same time and XMPP. You can login to multiple messenger accounts at one, allowing you to chat with your buddies onYahoo, ICQ and MSN (for example) at the same time.

Security

• PeerGuardian - protects your privacy while you?re using P2P file sharing networks. It supports multiple lists, list editing, automatic updates, and IPv4 blocking. Operating system: Windows, Linux, OS X.
• Eraser - is an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Works with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Windows 2003 Server and DOS.
• ClamWin Free Antivirus - is a Free Antivirus for Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP and 2003. With Clam Win you can scan individual files manually or you can use the Microsoft Outlook add-in to find and remove infected attachments automatically.
• IPCop Firewall - provides a good option for home users and small offices. It?s stable, secure, and easy to configure and maintain. Operating system: Linux.

Remote Desktop

• UltraVNC- is a powerful, easy to use and free software that can display the screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your own screen. The program allows you to use your mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. Key features app include File Transfer, Video Driver, optional Encryption Plugins, MS Logon, Text Chat, Viewer Toolbar, and others. Although it?s designed primarily for Windows, the Embedded Java Viewer allows you to transfer files to and from other operating systems as well. Operating system: Windows.
• TightVNC - is a free remote control software package derived from the popular VNC software. With TightVNC, you can see the desktop of a remote machine and control it with your local mouse and keyboard, just like you would do it sitting in the front of that computer. TightVNC offers additional features like file transfers, video mirror drive support, scaling of the remote desktop, support for two passwords, and more.

System Administration Tools

• Webmin - is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage system from the console or remotely.
• Wireshark - is the world’s foremost network protocol analyzer. It supports hundreds of different protocols, multiple platforms, and can analyze VoIP traffic. Operating system: Windows, Linux/Unix, OS X, Solaris, All BSD Platforms.
• Nmap -is a free open source utility for network exploration or security auditing. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, although it works fine against single hosts. Nmap uses raw IPpackets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics.
• TrueCrypt - is an open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP/2000 and Linux. It is a software system for establishing and maintaining anon-the-fly-encrypted volume (data storage device). On-the-fly encryption means that data are automatically encrypted or decrypted right before they are loaded or saved, without any user intervention.
• GLPI - is the Information Resource-Manager with an additional Administration- Interface. You can use it to build up a database with an inventory for your company (computer, software, printers…) Operating system: OS Independent.
• ClameWin - is a Free Antivirus for Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP and 2003. ClamWin Free Antivirus comes with an easy installer and open source code. You may download and use it absolutely freeof charge

Video/Multi-Media Tools

• VirtualDub -is a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP).It?s useful for basic trimming and cleaning up footage, and also has batchprocessing capabilities.
• MediaCoder - is a free universal batch media trans coder, which integrates most popular audio/video codecs and tools into an all-in-one solution.
• FFDShow - is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DivX, XviD, H.264, FLV1, WMV,MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, MPEG-4 movies.
• Xine - is a free multimedia player. It playsback CDs, DVDs, and VCDs. It also decodes multimedia files like AVI, MOV, WMV, and MP3 from local disk drives, and displays multimedia streamed over the Internet.
• MPlayer OS X - is binary distribution of MPlayer (The Movie Player for Linux) and comes with native GUIin MacOSX. After installation you can simply (by Drag&Drop) play almost all3ivx, DivX 3,4,5 and other codecs files in the window or full screen mode. Rendering of very nice antialiased text-based subtitles is also supported.
• WDM - is a Video Capture driver for Bt848, Bt849, Bt878 and Bt879 based video capture boards. It tries to take the most of the hardware, using all the features the chipset has to offer. It is also implemented as a WDM driver, so the same driver works under Win2000,Win98SE, WinXP and WinMe without modifications.
• MediaPortal - is an Open Source application ideal for turning your PC / TV into a very advanced Media Center. Media Portal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch and storeyour videos and DVDs, view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder and much much more.
• LiVES - is a very flexible tool which can be used by both VJ’s and video editors - mix and switch clips from the keyboard, trim and edit your clips, and bring them together using the multi track timeline.
• VLC Media Player - is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2,MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Sos TIram : http://www.ajaxflakes.com/open-source/a-list-of-the-best-free-opensource-software-for-windows-xp-and-vista/