Ubuntu-After Installation

I wont go into how to dual boot since that has being covered extensively by this blog

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm

http://http//ubuntunigeria.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/dual-booting-ubuntu-and-winows-xp/

http://ubuntunigeria.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/dual-booting-ubuntu-and-winows-xp/

.. the above links explains the process in a very simple way with detailed screen shots …. the only advice I would give is u should make sure to de-fragment your system about 3-4 times before u set about dual booting which would involve partitioning your system to make way for Ubuntu..

Now after u might have installed Ubuntu and booted into the desktop for the first time .. the first thing to do is to feel your Ubuntu desktop .. get familiar with it .. and try check for things that where not installed *if any – like sound,wireless,brightness control, if u have a multimedia key in ur lappy u can check that too,your web cam if u have one ..your  blue tooth ..now once u have done that .. u will notice that there are two panels for Ubuntu I.e the top and the bottom panel .. in the top panel on the extreme right is your system tray where u will find your battery,network connection tool,and some other stuffs u would need… on your extreme left is the gnome menu which is divided into applications/places/system / …i want to resist going into a detailed description of the Ubuntu desktop.. frankly speaking I don’t have the time or energy for that.. buts its simple enough to understand and get accustomed to.. just right click on your desktop and see the options it gives u .. see not much different from what u have on windows .. u can spend some times just going through your desktop .. it wont hurt

First thing First

The First thing to do when u have finished familiarizing yourself with your new Ubuntu it is time to get to know a tool called synaptic

.. which I would call Windows add and remove with studs .its a cool tool which

manages,updates,installations and removal of applications *mostly called packages on Linux*, u can find it in system/administration/synaptic .. now your synaptic uses what is called a source lists .. this are a list of website links (or repositories on Linux) from which synaptic downloads packages from. There are many packages (applications) which are not in the Ubuntu repositories but I can add them manually so that your synaptic can download from them… ok to see the sources list

u can find it here …go to places .. in your menu, under places ,computer/file system/etc/apt/sources.list

when u see the file right click on it and choose open with test editor .. now u can see the list of website that Ubuntu downloads packages from. OK its get a bit geeky don’t worry it wont hurts just copy and paste this command in terminal (terminal is like the command prompt for Linux and to be honest with u ..u will be using it more than u ever did on windows .. not that u have to but as u will see it get things done faster ..terminal can be found in applications/accessories/Terminal in ur gnome panel )open terminal and paste the following command

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

did u see that .. it opened the same file u opened by going to computer/file system/etc/apt/sources.list so u see what I mean command get things done faster and u don’t have to cram them ,,even me I have been using Linux now for almost a year and I can count how many command I know by heart..also once u use a command .. it is stored and to use it again just pass the arrow key on ur key board and the most recent commands would be displayed in succession.

now back to synaptic .. what we are going to do is click the refresh button in synaptic so that it can sort of like sync with the repositories *repo for short* and get their latest package list so that it can be displayed for easy download.. (if u are using gutsy and u didn’t install ur system online .. then chances are that ur sources list have been disabled by default.. this is a security feature that came with Gutsy gibbon unless u where online with ur live cd during Ubuntu’s installation and the sources were authenticated.. if not then u have to enable them urself .. and u can either do the not so difficult way or do it the lazy man’s way …

The Not so difficult way

Open Terminal

Type the following command

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Now you would see your source list now if u look closely u will see that the “#” in front of every line in the list .. the # tells the computer that the particular line is not a source or that the source has not being verified. to correct this look for all the lines that have the word “deb” and then a web ink in front of them like this

#deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy universe this is a source list telling ur computer to download files from the particular site(repository)..*

My Source.list

now remove the # sign by highlighting it and backspace/delete and do the same thing for all other lines that look similar to the above .. make sure that u don’t remove the sign for any other line without deb in front cus that would give u an error when u try to refresh in synaptic

below u can see a copy of my own source list and u can see that all the # sign in front of my source list have being removed.do the same.. then save and close the text editor.

Once u have done that .. u can now open synaptic and click on refresh .. it would now load in a lists of applications and updates available in the repositories.

The Lazy man,s way .. u can just copy and paste my own source.list.. ie replace my source.list with urs

here is my source list .here

just copy it ( ctrl +A ) and paste the contain in ur own source.list..

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy main restricted
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates main restricted
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security
## team.
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy universe
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy universe
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates universe
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy multiverse
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy multiverse
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates multiverse
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://ng.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the ‘backports’
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical’s
## ‘partner’ repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
## users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu gutsy partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu gutsy partner

# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security main restricted
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security main restricted
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security universe
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security universe
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security multiverse
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security multiverse

just copy it ( ctrl +A ) and paste the contain in ur own source.list save and close the file..

then refresh.

open terminal and

sudo apt-get update

or open synaptic and click on reload so that ur system can be updated to the latest softwares available in the Ubuntu repositories.

Preparing ur Ubuntu for everyday use

Now that ur Ubuntu has been updated.. u would see that a notification would come up on the left of ur top panel .. it is notifying u to the latest updates for your system. u can click on it to see the updates .. and choose which one u want to install or better still install every one of them.

lets get down to business – in case u don’t know Ubuntu does not come installed with any of the popular multimedia codecs that u are use to .. like mp3,avi,dvd,vcd and the likes . this is because ubuntu adhere to the principle of open source and as such is shipped only with open source codecs.like ogg,fly, etc. but this does not mean that u cant install this codecs your self.. so lets go straight to doing that ..

To install the codecs we are going to install some packages from synaptics .. or through the command line * I would prefer the command line since all u have to do is copy and paste the command in terminal press enter all the packages would be installed..

Through synaptics
open synatics, search for and mark the following packages for installation

ubuntu-restricted-extras
w32codecs
gstreamer0.10-plugins-base
gstreamer0.10-plugins-good
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
gstreamer0.10-pitfdll
libxine1-ffmpeg
libdvdread3
totem-xine

I guess that would be all the codecs that would be needed to play just about every codec there is on your Ubuntu ..

Through Terminal
Although most people have are scared of the commnad line .. it is infact the best tool for installations especialy if all u have to do is copy and paste command to it and watch it do the rest

open your terminal an paste the following

sudo apt-get install libxine-extracodecs gstreamer0.10-plugins-base gstreamer0.10-plugins-good gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-pitfdll

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

sudo apt-get install w32codecs

in other to install the w32codecs u have to add a 3rd party repository called medibuntu to ur source list .. to do this open synaptic go to settings and choose repositories,then from the dialog box that opens go to the third party software tab, click add button and paste this

deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ gutsy free non-free

Once this is done close that dialog box and click reload in synaptic

U can also do this through terminal

echo “deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ gutsy free non-free” | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - &&
sudo apt-get update
*dont forget to press enter after entering any command into terminal ..

Now lets install some Media players

just open synaptics and search mark and install the followings

Amarok

I always tell people that it is the best music playing software that I have ever come across .. it cant do pretty much everything u would expect from a music player .. It not only plays any audio format there is .. it can download the lyrics while the song is playing the song .. if u think this is cool that wait for this .. it can also sync with your ipod,creative, even your china mp3 player. u can set it to download album art for ur songs, use it to listen to ur podcasts, and it can also give u a statistical analysis of the songs u have in ur computer .. to install it just open terminal and type

sudo apt-get install amarok

Or open synaptics search for and install amarok

*remember that u have rhythmbox as ur default music player in Ubuntu and it is pretty much cool .. not just as feature loaded as amarok .. u can also install banshee , exaile , and listen through synaptics .. there are all good music players .. just that I prefer amarok ..

Video Player

VLC

You might have used it on windows ..for me its one of the best video players out there .. it just about plays anything I throw at it.

sudo apt-get install vlc

or search and install it through synaptic

* Toteem player is the default player for Ubuntu and its also quite cool and easy to use .. u can also search and install the following xine ,mplayer and kaffeine

Oh did I forget Miro

.. mehn that shit is da bomb .. I love it because u can use it to watch online TV it can also play and manage ur video .. with ability to bookmark them for u.

sudo apt-get install miro

or search and install with synaptic

Burning Software

Ubuntu by default uses Serpentine as its default cd/dvd burner

but you can install a more advance burner software

and one of the best is called K3B

I dont have much to say about it I would like the software do the talking for its self ..

sudo apt-get install k3b

and to install mp3 support for k3b just do

sudo apt-get install libk3b2-mp3

or search for and install libk3b2-mp3 in synaptic

NTFS Support

Maybe u are wondering how u can access those files u have stored in ur windows partition.. well u need to know that windows uses the NTFS and the fat32 File systems ,while Linux Uses ext3 Files system ,in most cases especially with Ubuntu u can see and have read write access to ur windows partition .Just go to places in the gnome-panel and select Computer.. u will see all the drives connected to ur computer .including ur CD drive, usb flash drive,external hard drive and even all the drives installed in ur computer.
Although most of the drives u see have not been mounted.. double clicking on them would mount the drives and make them ready to be read or written on .How ever to make things easy 4 u .u would need a tool that manages the way ur NTFS partition is handled in Linux. ensuring that the are automatically mounted once u login ur system. ths program is called ntfs -onfig.its a tool and its very easy to use and configure .. to install

sudo apt-get install ntfs-config

or search for and install it through synaptic. Once installed u would find it under Applications-System Tools-NTFS Configuration Tool. once u start it ,gave a name to ur windows partition and tell it to enable support for external and internal device.

* everthing u mount on Ubuntu is mounted in a Directory called Media including ur cdrom,usb drives, external hard drivers etc .. and can be found under ur filesystem or root directory

Desktop Effect. For most people the reason for installing Ubuntu on their system is because there want to have the Cube Desktop and some of the other cool Effects associated with Linux .The Linux Desktop effect started as a way to have a composite extension in the Linux Desktop.*A composite extension would enable the desktop to have transparency effects.. example is the Aero Effect in Window Vista . which give the windows a transparency look* .These lead to the Emergence of project the Compiz Project and the Beryl Project .. the Two later joined forces to become to form what is called Compiz Fusion. Compiz Fusion gives ur system the power to do a lot of amazing effects with ur desktop. while at the same time using very little hardware resources . U can have a Cube Desktop,Print fire on ur screen,Give ur screen a water splashy effect the list is endless.. while dome of the effects are on the show off side. some are quite productive and would lead to better efficiency of ur Desktop.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ImW0-MgR8I

How to Install
Compiz Fusion is already installed by Default in Gutsy Gibbon,Although for it to be activated u most have a Graphic card with available memory of at least 24 mb . Ur ram should be like 256mb and ur processor should be above a p2 for u to have an enjoyable experience with at least the a basic compiz effect.

Intel Graphic Cards

Most Intel cards work out of the box with compiz .. Once u have installed ur Gutsy Gibbon login and u have compiz running by default . This is because Intel cards are Open source and come pre-installed with Ubuntu. However the compiz running when u start ur system has been set to minimum settings.. so that it wont be a drag on resources. hence some of the fancy Plugin like cube desktop,wobbly screen,print wire, etc has been disbled by defualt.. u can correct this by installing the compiz setting manager call Compiz Config Settings Manager or CCSM . to install just search compizconfig-settings-manager in synaptic or alternatively do

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Once installed u can find it under System-Preference-Advance Desktop Effect settings
U can have a look at each Plugin and some have been checked while other have been left unchecked.. the checked Plugin are running while the unchecked once have been disabled.to have a cube Desktop u have to do the followings

Hints

In other to make ur cube rotate u must check rotate cube

1- Under CCSM go to General option-Desktop size and set Horizontal Desktop size to 4
2 - check Desktop Cube, (u would see a prompt asking u if u want to disable Plugin called Wall Desktop it should be disabled since it and cube desktop can not run concurrently)
3-check rotate cube
4- if u want ur cube to reflect u can check reflect cube
5- u can also check cube cap so that u would see a compiz fusion logo on top of the cube

Compiz fusion is loaded with effects and I can not exhaust them in this guide. u can go to animation plugin and set different animation u want to be displayed when e.g minimize your windows,close ur windows,open windows etc .. like I said the list is endless on what u can do with ur compiz settings so I would advise u to play with the settings and see what discoveries u come across..

*Any where u are told to press the super key.. u are been referred to the windows key on ur keyboard.

*so effect need u to press a combination of keys on ur key board for them to work.
*to know how a particular Plugin works click on it and go to action -under general u would see the key combination that would activate the effect.

Further on Intel cards
Intel has a new set of Graphic cards I.e the x300/x3100 Cards or GMA 965 This cards has been blacklisted by compiz hence there wont run compiz by default. to correct this

Just open Terminal and run the following Command

mkdir -p ~/.config/compiz/ && echo SKIP_CHECKS=yes >> ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager

Log out and login back and compiz would be running by default.

How to install Nvidia Cards on Ubuntu

Nvidia Drivers are not Open source and are hence not installed by default on Ubuntu. However this does not mean that ur Display wont work. no it would because ur system would be forced to ur the vesa or VGA Driver which is the on board driver for ur system. the disadvantage of this is that u wont be able to run any graphic intensive program or even compiz for that matter
Thankfully installation of Nvidia driver on Ubuntu is a breeze .. all u need to do is go to System-Administration/Restricted Driver Manager. the restricted driver manager is ment for installing those closed extra closed source driver that ur system needs to run well .. it cold be a graphic card driver ,a wireless driver or a modem driver .. whichever driver u see .. just enable them by checking them and Ubuntu would download and install them for u.

ATI Cards
same thing applies for the installation of ATI cards although in some case an extra program need to be installed to make the ATI cards capable of Direct rendering. So if after enabling ati driver in restricted driver manager and restarting ur system and compiz still doesnt run.. them u make have to install a program called XGL which is what some ATI cards use for indirect rendering since the card itself is not capable of direct rendering.. to install search for xserver-xgl in synaptic and install it.. or open terminal and
sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl

once installed restart and compiz should run..

Ubuntu and ur System Drivers

When I installed Ubuntu for the first time I found out that most of my system drivers where automatically installed .. in fact all of them where. I was so surprised cus if I install Vista or XP I would have to spend days online looking for what and what drivers would be compatible with my system,I I found out that the Linux Kernel comes with most of the drivers that would be needed to run your system and in most cases there wont be any need to install drivers manually this drivers are open source and in some cases reverse engineering are to create open source drivers for hardwares which has no native Linux driver . Ubuntu ships with only Open source drivers,but some hardware can only work with closed source drivers hence there is a Tool called Restricted driver manager Under System-Administration- Restricted driver manager. what it does is allow u to install those closed source drivers that where not shipped with Ubuntu but with ur system needs to Operate. Open the tool ,give ur password and enable the drivers u see there .

Other Device like Blue tooth,Keyboard,printers,scanners,mouse,ipods etc are automatically configured and installed on Ubuntu without need for u installing extra drivers. just plug in a blue tooth device and u would see a blue tooth icon on ur desktop, Plug in an ipod and Rythmbox would open ready to sync, plug in ur printer and it would be automatically configured and installed with stress,Plug in ur digital camera and digikam would open asking if u want to import ur images.etc.

Some Ubuntu Equivalent of some windows applications

Windows Media Player,Itunes — Rythmbox, Amarok
Nero — K3B,Brasero,Gnome Baker
Ms Office — Open Office,Abiword
Corel Draw — Inkscape
Photoshop — Gimp,Cinepaint
Widgets — Screenlets
Internet explorer — Firefox,Epiphany,Konqouror
Internet download manager — D4X
fruity loops — lmms,hydrogen
imtoo mp3 converter — sound converter
imtoo video converter — winff
Picasa — Picasa,Digikam,
Yahoo messenger — Pidgin,kopete (webcam support) gyache * webcam and voice
MSN — amsn ,emesene
Window Media Center — Mythtv
Autocadr — QcaD
Lime wire — Frostwire
Object Duck — Avant-Window Navigator (not in synaptic) but the installation
guide is here
Tools u might want need
Video Editing ————– Kdenlive,kino , Pitivi Video Editor , Avidemux,

WebDesign ————- Bluefish Editor,Scream

Audio editing ————- Audacity Sound Editor
3d modeller ————- Blender 3D modeller,K-3D
youtube Downloader ————- qtTube
Bible ————– GnomeSword2 Bible Guide,
Quran ————– Zekr
webacm program ————– Cheese, Camorama Webcam Viewer
P2P ————– Azureus, aMule

* all the available programs are available in synaptic ..

The list is endless and to make things easy for u there is a tool called add and remove in Ubuntu .. its not as strong as synaptics but it makes looking for programs very easy .. just type the the description of what u want like say web design and it would show u all the tool available for web design .*make sure u set it to show all available applications.

Lets fixs some minor bugs and tweaks
Gutsy is awesome but its perfect. and u can fix some of this bugs by doing some tweak to ur system

Blue tooth
The Blue tooth that came pre installed in gutsy has some bugs to fix it install the following program

gnome-vfs-obexftp Open synaptic and search for it or better still

sudo apt-get install gnome-vfs-obexftp

How to get Mouse over preview of MP3 files working
This allows u to preview an Mp3 sound when u put ur mouse on it .. I.e it plays the mp3 sound without u needing to open it in a music player..to get this working open synaptic search for and install the followings
mpg321
mpg123-esd
vorbis-tools
esound
ubuntu-restricted-extras
or
sudo apt-get install mpg321 mpg123-esd vorbis-tools esound ubuntu-restricted-extras
Improve ur fonts rendering
Add this fonts.conf file under your home directory. Rename file to .fonts.conf.It improves font rendering after X has been restarted

Well I guess that it!

Pimp ur Ubuntu
Now lets add some bling to our ubuntu .. the site where u can download all the bling u need on ubuntu is www.gnome-look.org and if u use KDE its www.kde-look.org
everything there is free and the site is divided into themes,icon themes, etc.
Now it me show how flexible ubuntu can be .. we are going to make our Ubuntu look like Vista

comming out soon !

For.Dummies.Creating.Webpages

Very nice guide on how to build a cool website.it covers

-Web page Basics

-HTML

-Frongpage 2003

-DReamweaver

-Javascript

-E-Commerce

-XML

Download

S60 Programming A Tutorial Guide

Based on the authors’ experiences in developing and teaching Symbian OS, this practical guide is perfect for programmers and provides a series of example-based scenarios that show how to develop Symbian applications. - Exercises walk the reader through the initial development of a console-based card game engine to a graphical user interface(GUI)-based, two player blackjack game operating over a Bluetooth connection between two mobile phones

- Addresses how Symbian offers a number of different variants to allow for different user interfaces and screen savers - the most prevalent of these is S60
- Discusses how the move toward 3G technology has resulted in an increasing need for mobile application development for S60 devices.

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AdobePhotoshop Every tool explained

Description
Every Tool Explained. There are 130 pages which are full of knowhow, projects and tips on how to use Photoshop easily and how to get the best out of one of the best photo imaging programs out there.
Subjects covered in the book include:

Selection Tools in Photoshop:
Navigating and Editing Your Images
Using the Brushes and Pencil Tools
Using the Cloning and Healing Tools
The Gradient, Eraser and Fill Tools
Getting to Know the Effects Tools
Working with the Type Tool
Working with Paths, Vectors and Masks
Annotations, Notes and the Measure Tool

Creating Top Quality Artwork

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Upgrading and Repairing Laptops

Upgrading and Repairing Laptops

Scott Mueller has gone where no computer book author has gone before - right past all the warranty stickers, the hidden screws, and the fear factor to produce a real owner’s manual that every laptop owner should have on his desk. Upgrading and Repairing Laptops, Second Edition shows the upgrades users can perform, the ones that are better left to the manufacturer, and how to use add-on peripherals to make the most of a - The latest processors and motherboards - Complete assembly and disassembly information - Updated memory standards
- Upgrading your hard drive to increase performance - Changes in networking and firewalls The included DVD contains one-of-a-kind video showing just what’s inside a portable PC. If you have ever wondered what goes on inside
your portable PC, how to upgrade/repair it, or how to live on the road with it, this is the one must-have book of the year!

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Install OSX Without Installing OSX

Install OSX Without Installing OSX…How..?Just install Flyakite. FlyakiteOSX is a transformation pack. It will transform the look of an ordinary Windows XP+ system to resemble the look of Mac OS X. The installer simply automates the process of replacing critical system files, setting registry tweaks, and installing extras such as cursors, sounds, visual styles, etc…and believe me when the job is finished you wont be able to tell the difference.everything from your sound schemes to your default icons to your logon screens would be changed.futher more FlyakiteOSX DOES NOT contain any spyware or ad-ware of any kind. All files needed for FlyakiteOSX are stored in the Windows directory in a folder named ‘FlyakiteOSX’ that is hidden by default. All registry values for FlyakiteOSX are written to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\FlyakiteOSX.Here are some of the screenshots so you can look before you leap

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Control panel

Desktop

Log-On Screen

Shut Down Screen

Folder Option

Power DVD

Boot Screen

Pimp Your XP

Normal

Pimped

You most have seen how cool Vista, Ubuntu, and OSX all look with their Aero, Beryl, and Tiger looks. Windows XP users have to content with their rather dull looking interface.But you too can spice up your Good old XP by showing it some pimping love, fortunately most of the programs we need to do this are freewares and can be downloaded here in my blog. Would also include very cool stuffs like applications and codec’s that would further increase your user experience on windows XP .

Note-these article is not about making your Xp look like vista or any other OS for that matter no! .rather it is about adding style to your PC while still retaining the unique Xp look.

What you need

Google desktop Enterprise

Yahoo Widgets

Desktop X

Zune XP theme

Window Defender

Object Dock

Calledos wallpaper changer

Wallpapers

K-lite codec

Orbit download manager

Zune Player

Paint.NET

Lets Get Started

Theme

- To start the pimping we need to change the look of your PC that boring blue XP theme would be changed and to do this we would download the Zune theme which was released by Microsoft. The Zune Theme is a special Windows XP Theme. Designed to look like its new Zune portable media player. This is an official skin for Windows XP that has a dark grey style and orange Start menu.It is really cool and i promise you that once you have installed it you will never get enough of it. Download

Get a Dock

One of the best application i ever used on an XP system was Object dock.(i still use it on vista) Object dock is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. By allowing users to have more control over how they organize their desktop, users can take control of their desktop icons and shortcuts to have them be available when where and how they need them. All this with the unique style and top-rate performance. Once you have Downloaded and installed Object Dock you can drag any application or its shortcut to the dock and it would save it as a shortcut to the application. And any time you need just click on the icon on the dock and wala! there you have it. you can even customize the looks,animation and background of your dock to what you want you can change the icons of any of the programs in the dock to any one of the icons available on this page for download.

Download

Caledos wallpaper changer

I have so many wallpapers that most times am always confused as to which on to use at a particular time.But that is over now i now have a program the would do that for me.it called caledos wallpaper changers …well i guess the name is self explanatory.all you have to do when you install the program is to direct it to where your wallpaper folder is and set how frequent you want it to change the wallpapers-say every 5min,10min etc.you can even set to always display the wallpaper to fill the screen or any display format you prefer.*caledos wall paper changer works in the background and you can set it to always start up with your PC.

Download

Go Google

Tell you what some of the most beautiful thing about vista is the sidebar and the search option embedded into every folder in windows so that you can easily search for anything you want.With Google Desktop Enterprise you have have both the sidebar and a powerful search program on your XP.The Google sidebar looks so cool (and blends very well with the XP background.It even has a glassy transparent background,and comes with so many gadgets which are customizable mini-programs that display continuously updated information and allow you to perform common tasks without opening a window. For example, you can display regularly updated weather forecasts, news headlines, and a picture slide show.)

that i sometimes want to replace it with the one that can with vista.And the google desktop search is so powerful (what else do you expect from a search program called Google.)and easy to use.once installed it does a background indexing of all the files on your computer.this is done only when your computer is idle.once completed you can search for any file on your computer just by typing it on the search field of the program,and as you type you get to see the result of your search display instantly in an elinimation order.

Once installed you can customize it to your taste.

Alternatively you can use Yahoo widget or Desktop x both are programs that provide widgets for your XP.However i would advise that you use one widget program at a time because of the drain of using a combination two can have of your system memory.and i would recommend Google desktop because of the search function and the sidebar.However Yahoo Desktop is also every Stylish and has a lot of cool gadgets.

* Widgets are small, specific applications that you can run on your Windows .Because they are so small, Widgets need another application to run. A Widget can do almost anything from displaying a weather forecast to playing a game. Widgets generally sit on your desktop and don’t look like applications as we’re used to seeing them in a standard window. Instead, Widgets tend to look like small pictures or animations.

Download

Google Desktop

Desktop x

Yahoo widgets

K-Lite Codec

No PC pimping would be complete without installing a one stop codec to play all the movie file you have on your Computer.To be honest some of the most frustrating computer experience is that annoying pop-up that comes up when ever when ever you attempt to play a video file telling you that the necessary codec needed is not installed.the truth is they are many video codecs out there and it is almost impossible to know how many of them are there and you don’t know which one you don’t have until when you get the pop-up.this is where k-lite codec comes in .it is a mega Codec Pack that includes everything needed to play online and offline computer media. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack includes the Full K-lite codec pack as well as Quicktime and Realplayer codecs and BS Player. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack includes codecs for the most popular compressions like Divx and Xvid as well as some of the less popular but still necesary codecs. This is our one stop codec resource. Download

Window Defender

Unfortunately Windows XP does not come with any anti spyware pre-installed fortunately MS has developed one and its called window defender and it is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it’s detected and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive. so if you always paranoid about spyware and you cant really afford to pay for one.Window defender might just be the right option for you. Download

Orbit download manager

Every computer needs a download manager to handle and organise our numerous downloads and one of the best Download manager out they is Orbit. It is a great speed download manager Orbit downloader is an indispensable tool for download acceleration which can download up to 500% faster than a normal PC download. Download

Paint.NET

For those graphic designers out they there is a program that can compete with any graphic suit in the market,very cool,easy to use and gets the job done.it is called Piant.NET and it is an image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing. The programming language used to create Paint.NET is C#, with a small amount of C++ for installation and shell-integration related functionality. *You need to have Dotnet framework 2.0 installed on your computer to get paint to work. Download

Zune Player

This is a very cool media player that can be used to compliment the the windows media player that comes with your system.It has a very cool design and can easily sync with the zune portable music player . Download

Finally you can download some of the coolest wallpapers for your system in my download sidebar.

 

Download Your Favourite eBooks

I hope to make this a place where u can download your favorite books and install it on your PC or Smart phone/PDAs.I am starting with one of my favorite authors of all time..John Grisham . below are a seletcion of some of is best sellers which includes-Painted House,Time to kill,The Firm,King of tort,Last Juror,Pelican Brief, and The summons.

Downloads

John Grisham

Mobireader for PC

Mobireader for phone

*To read the ebooks on your PC you need to download and installed the PC version of Mobireader. when u do install it.then u can just click on the the ebook and read them.if u want the ebooks to appear on the Mobireader’s library then you need to move then to the ebooks folder under My Documents.

For SmartPhones and PDAs. -install the Mobireader appropriate for your phone then transfer the ebooks to your mobile Preferably to the Memory card.Put them into the folder named eBooks.if one is not created -Create it your self,then lunch the mobireader you will see all the ebooks in the Mobireaders Library.

Harry Potter And the Deadly Hallows

For those harry potter fans out there the wait is finally over and the final book of the most successful fictional story in contemporary times is out.Harry potter and the Deadly Hallows.Since i live in Nigeria and i know that it would be ages before i can actually get a hand on the paper book.i went googling to try to check if i would see an ebook version which i will read on my computer/my mobile phone.I came across many fake Harry potters, most of which were written by Harry Potter fans.However i was able to get a hand on the Original Copy which *if i must add confirm its Originality by Checking some extract of the Original posted on The BBC.right now am about to start reading but before i start here is the link to the download so that you too can get to download and read *Please note that the bok is in a Pdf format.but i intend to make it into other formats like Doc,rgo,and prc so that you will be able to read them on your mobile.

* An eBook is a book which is in digital format; it’s an electronic file.

HOW CAN I READ A MOBIPOCKET EBOOK ?

With the Mobipocket technology you can read books on your PC, PDA or on your smartphone: Simply install the Mobipocket Reader software, download ebooks and start reading.

Depending on the your phone type.after downloading and installing the Mobireader on your phone .You then send the ebook i.e -prc file- through bluetooth,usb cable or any means to your phone (preferably Memory card) and put it the the ebook directory/folder.If an ebook directory/folder is not created,create one using your phone file manager.Remember the directory/folder should be named “eBooks”.when this is done lunch the mobireader and go to library You will see the ebook there .enjoy.

Downloads

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Pdf

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Prc *for mobireader

Download Mobireader for Your mobile

Getting the Most from vista..the donts

Getting the most out of vista

In the Spirit of sharing I have listed some of the most fascinating programs and applications that you can run on vista, to improve your vista Experience, and also share some programs that can make your vista experience a living hell. So which one should I start with..hmmmm..Ok I think I start with the bad program

Programs to avoid on vista: Sometimes we easily forget that vista is a brand new operating system and not and upgrade to window XP, even though it is compatible with most of the applications that run on it previous predecessor .The fact still remain that because of the new improvement in security and visual effect on vista has made some traditional xp programs to fail and crash in their new vista environments.(while others have fitted in quite well indeed).Things like limited administrative privileges available to some programs, User Account Control, Aero Glass effect..Are some of the new innovations which these programs either are incompatible with or fail to take advantage of..These incompatibilities can give you so many headaches that it’s just better to avoid these programs all together. Or wait for their upgraded versions that have been developed to address these issues. Below are some of the programs that based on my experience with them should be avoided.

*Some of these applications have new upgrades that have addressed their vista issues.

1-Nod32 Back in the days when I was still rocking XP there are some applications that I just couldn’t do without due to their vital importance to my everyday computer experience. There were just either so cool, or bear some much importance in term of utility that my windows Experience would have been incomplete without then. Number one on the list of these programs is Nod23.Talk about an antivirus that saved my system from the dreaded Brontok worm and some other notorious worms and Trojan that make your PC experience a living Hell. Nod was just so good that some people are still thanking me today for recommending it to them. Unfortunately something that made my life so much easy on XP did the exact opposite on vista. To start with the version 2.1.0 that I used with my Xp did not install on vista so I did some googling and found out that a new version 2.7 was “compatible”.i downloaded, installed it, and expected to live happily ever after..

Issues: But that was not to be. On its primary functions on protection it did a wonderful job like it as always done. But anytime I try to connect my PC via wlan, I get these some error message and before you know it windows explorer as crashed. Vista problem and solution center then would inform me that the problem was caused by Nod32. Very attempt to try tweak the beloved antivirus to get it accustomed to my new OS (i.e. running it in compatibility mode xp and as an administrator) failed.

Solution In the end I had to remove Nod and replace it with Kaspersky internet security version 6.0.2.621 which have so far done a better job both in security and stability of my system.

*Remember to update your software anytime a new release is available. Check regularly the manufacturer’s site if you’re having problems with Windows Vista, because a new and Vista optimized release might be available

1-Nero 7 Nero is a very cool utility tool for burning videos, audio, and other files into DVDs or CDs .it’s a very cool program and comes very needed in vista since Burning of file to CD/DVD in vista can be a trying experience that I won’t advice anybody to try out without a good 3^rd party application.

Issues The first issue the previous Nero 7.5.5.6 and lower versions won’t even install, but would crash your installers in a vain attempt at “helping you to upgrade your version of Direct x which is 10 on vista to 9” so I got the higher version which is Version 7.8.00 this version installed quite easily. but I was cut short when I started experiencing COM SURROGATE ERROR every time I opened a folder containing .AVI or DIVX files. The culprit … Nero .the problem was Nero was not just an application for burning files.it could also be used to play a number of video and audio files and comes with it own player called Nero Show time which would install some of its codec on your vista PC. These codec are incompatible with vista and would trigger the COM SURROGATE error which can make Windows Media player and Windows explorer to be very unstable.

Solution The solution would be downloading the latest Nero time which In my case was version 7.9.6.0 is the latest version as at Blog time. The New version even comes with a very cool Sidebar which can be configured to be a one touch button for all your Nero burning and CD burning process. Alternatively you could also download a program called Nero lite. It is a watered down version of Nero which is made up of just the core application of Nero and leaves out the blot. The program like its name suggest is just for burning files and does not include some of the extra s that comes with a traditional Nero application. *Remember to update your software anytime a new release is available. Check regularly the manufacturer’s site if you’re having problems with Windows Vista, because a new and Vista optimized release might be available.

Divx One of the disappointing features of vista is the inability of vista Media Players ( i.e. Media Center & Media Player) to natively player .VOB files for those who don’t know -.VOB is a videos file that is the root of all DVD videos. If you are like me and prefer to first rip your DVD into your Computer before playing them .then you would have a problem using vista this is because for reason- that smells anti piracy measures-decided to disable the ability of Media Center and Widows Media to play VOB files something that was possible with XP. One way I choose to get round the problem was to Install Divx player which among other things would allow you to also play Avi and Divx files.

Issues Divx also causes Com surrogate error. But for me the worst part of using Divx is if you decide to uninstall it from your system it would for some reason I fail to understand take your DVD driver with it. After uninstalling Divx from my Vista machine I discovered that when I go to my computer I don’t see the CD Rom drive anymore. The same thing happened to my friend’s system that uninstalled it on his vista ultimate. In the end I had to reinstall vista since system restore did not solve my problem.

Solutions some have said that installing the latest Divx would solve the Com surrogate error and hence remove the need to uninstall Divx from your system. I preferred to stay clear of Divx altogether. Since most of my codec problems have been solved by Nero.

Google Desktop A very cool software that very body should have its actually comes in a bundle that includes a sidebar with detachable gadgets, a search bar, the primary function of Google desktop is to index all the files on your system for easy search-and my God does it do that well in fact it’s too good at the job-you would not have expected less from a program with Google attached to its name.

Issue : The issue that Google desktop has with vista is a minor one but one that could give you headache if not well managed. The problem is that if you leave Google desktop has one of your startup programs it would sometimes cause windows to disable its own sidebar even if you are not running Google’s sidebar.

Solution: So if you love your vista sidebar then the solution would be to remove Google desktop from your startup menu. It would naturally give you this option whenever you exit the program.

 

In general i can not give you a list of all the programs that will not work with vista-i intentionally left out those programs that wont even install in the first place since the fact that they didn’t install should means no harm done-.the secret to getting the most from vista is always checking for the latest version of any applications that you have on your system to so that whenever a new version for vista is out you will always be on the know.you an start by checking with the developers site.

Application compatibility Troubleshoot

Application compatibility Troubleshoot

Every windows operating system has the ability to use a program designed specifically for its predecessors. This can be done if the program is set in the compatibility mode.vista is no different and in other to ensure that a program designed for a previous os works well on vista. Here are some tweaks that can make this possible.

1-Right clicks on the program’s .exe file before installation and select properties.

Then select the compatibility tab,check the run this “program in compatibility mode for Windows XP” or any other Window version that the program runs well on.the essence of this is that vista would then simulate the OS environment of that particular version of windows hence deceiving the application into thinking that it is actually running on that OS.

Also check “Run as administrator” this would allow vista to elevate the security privilege of the program.

Although the above tweak does not work every time. But you can surely use it to help make an application that worked very well on older windows run smoothly on vista.

Also remember not to always use all your tool bars options some tool bars like itunes and Google desktop and Microsoft Encarta are known to disable the transparency of your task bar.although Windows Media player is safe.

* It would be impossible to list all the programs that are incompatible with vista however the surest way to avoid compatibility issues on vista is to ensure that you always get the latest updates from the developer of the program you intend on using.And ensure to check google for any compatibilty issue an intending program might have  with vista and how it can be corrected