The Smiling Pirate

1. Never do something you can’t undo.

2. Always check the backups, Never assume they are working. Make sure you can restore from them too.

3. Write down what you did. Even if you know you will never forget it, you will.

4. If you do it more than once, write a script.

5. Get to know your users before there is a problem. Then when there is, they will know who you are and maybe have a little understanding.

6. Remember you are performing a service for your users, you don’t own the system, you just get to play with it.

7. Check your backups.

8. Never stop learning. There is always something you should know to make your job easier and your system more stable and secure.

9. Check your backups, again.

Insert your USB flash drive and enter the following commands at a command prompt:
(Note: The instructions below assume that your USB flash drive will be seen as disk 1. Confirm the disk number of the USB drive first by using the “list disk” command before the “select disk” command below. If you select the wrong disk you will wipe the wrong drive…possibly your hard disk drive.)




diskpart
select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=fat32
assign
exit

The final step is to copy the files from the bootable ISO to the USB key. Mount the ISO using a program such as Virtual CloneDrive. Use Xcopy to copy the files from the ISO to the USB key. The command line below assumes that D: is the drive letter where the bootable ISO is mounted and E: is the drive letter for the USB key.

xcopy d:\*.* /e/f e:\

1 – Open Your Home Directory

Your home directory is located at C:\Documents and Settings\Username in Windows XP and C:\Users\Username in Windows Vista and Windows 7. The quickest way to open this directory is to open the Run box (Win+R) and type “.” (a single dot), then hit enter.

2 – Open the Users Directory

The users directory is the directory one folder above the home directory, i.e. C:\Documents and Settings in Windows XP and C:\Users in Windows Vista and Windows 7. To open this directory, type “..” (2 dots) in the Run box and hit enter.

3- Open My Computer

My Computer is where you can find all of the hard disk drives as well as various other drives and devices depending on what you have connected. To open My Computer, type “…” (3 dots) in the Run box and hit enter.

4- Open the System Drive

Usually the C drive, this is the drive where Windows is installed. To open this drive through the Run box type “\” (the backslash).

Do you have some more? Leave a comment to let us know.

**For Windows XP Pro only. Not for use with XP Home Edition.

If you’re a Windows user, and you’ve had a software application lock up on you one or two thousand times,  I’m sure you’ve become familiar with the term “Not Responding”. This is the lovely message that is displayed along with no other useful information when your computer locks up because your computer decided it had more important things to do (other than its sole role of handling processes). If you’re a savvy Windows user, (or you’ve been through a few tech calls) you know that this worthless phrase also appears in the Task Manager. It is there that you can usually kill the process of the program that is causing you grief. It’s easily identifiable because it has the words “Not Responding” next to it.

Like I mentioned earlier, if this has happened one or two thousand times to you (and I’m guessing the latter), I have a tip that will save you some time. How about the next time this happens, instead of pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del or right clicking the Taskbar and selecting Task Manager, you can just click a shortcut on your desktop. Sounds good right. Follow along below and you’ll be killing tasks like a pro. (I’m not sure if there are actually any professional Task killers but if you use Windows, your close enough).

1. Right click on the desktop. From the menu hover over New and click on Text Document.
2. Name it “taskkill.bat” make sure there is no .txt at the end of the file.
3. Hit “Yes” in the dialog box that asks you do you want to change the extension.
4. Right click and select edit. This will open a blank notepad.
5. Type the following lines:
   

   @echo off
   taskkill.exe /f /fi “status eq not responding”
   exit

6. Save it. File -> Save and close notepad.
7. Now any time a program freezes just double click taskkill.bat. In fact this will kill all programs that are not responding.

Click Here to Find Out What They Are

Shortened URL’s date back to 2001  but have become extremely popular since the inception of Twitter. A URL that is 60 characters long can be shortened to about 15 characters by simply using a URL shortening service. Once of the most popular services to date is TinyURL which was used by Twitter up until 2009. Now Twitter uses bit.ly to shorten URL’s.

Now, we can all agree that URL shortening is essential for applications such as Twitter and can be very helpful when you have to share a URL with someone since they are easier to remember. But how safe are the short URL’s that these services are providing? Do you really know where the short URL is going to take you? We’re putting our confidence in these shortening services and hoping that they aren’t directing these short URL’s to a malicious page with malware or a virus or a page with pornographic content.

Knowing that your next short URL could possibly be compromised, why not take the extra step to ensure that it isn’t before sending it out to the world? Longurl.org is a site that provides a standard API for multiple URL shortening services that will show you a preview of your short URL. You can see exactly where the link will take you if you were to click on it. You can now browse the Web comfortably knowing where that short URL is going to take you.

Grab a short URL and visit Longurl.org to try it for yourself.

The reason for the * after iTunes in the title of this post is because there are a few tricks to get this going. But don’t let that scare you away. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be making ringtones for all the (non-DRM) songs in your library.

Follow these steps to start creating ringtones:

1. Open iTunes

2. Find the song that you’d like to make into a ringtone.

3. Listen to the song and find the part of it you want to use. (The chorus may be a good place to start).

4. Write down the start and stop times of the clip.

5. Right-click the song in iTunes and select “Get Info.”

6. Click the “Options” tab.

7. Type in the start time of your ringtone in the text box next to “Start Time” in the minutes:seconds (i.e. 1:30) format.

8. Type in the end time of your ringtone in the text box next to “Stop Time.” Make sure the ringtone is no more than 40 seconds long.

9. Click “OK.”

10. Right-click your song again and select “Convert Selection to AAC” (or “Create AAC Version”).
Wait for iTunes to convert your song. It will create a duplicate version.

11. Right-click the ringtone and select “Delete.”

12. When asked if you want to keep the file select “Keep File”.

13. Now locate the file. It’s usually in your My Music folder under iTunes > iTunes Music and under the band’s name (or Unknown Artist). It will have an extension of “m4a.”

14. Replace the “m4a” extension of your ringtone with “m4r”. You can either double-click slowly to rename your file, or right-click and select “Rename” on a Windows PC.

15. Double-click the ringtone file. iTunes will automatically add it to your ringtones folder in your iTunes music library.

16. Connect your iPhone and sync your ringtones.

That’s it! Enjoy!

The Internet gives you access to information, entertainment, and countless products and services. Sounds harmless. But at the same time, it can leave you open to online scams, identity theft, and more.

Here’s a few tips The Smiling Pirate recommends to help keep you safe while on your computer.

1. Protect your personal information. It’s valuable. Especially to someone whose looking to steal it from you. To help minimize your risk of identity theft, never share your personal information with anyone unless you know how it will be used and protected. Never reply to or click on links in any email’s asking for your personal information.

2. Know who you are dealing with. When shopping online, look for a seller’s physical address and working telephone number. Don’t just settle for the company that has the lowest price. Do your research beforehand. It will help ensure a better buying experience online. Look them up on the Better Business Bureau Web site to see if they have any complaints against them. You can also Google the business to see if anyone has left comments about the business that may help you decide whether or not you should buy from this vendor.

3. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall on your computer to keep your computer free of unwanted attacks. Update them regularly if they are not set to update automatically. Use an anti-virus software that removes or quarantines viruses, and use anti-spyware software that offers real-time protection if available. If real-time protection is not available (on most free versions), be sure to set the software to scan regularly. Ensure that the firewall you are using is configured to block ports that you do not need to keep open. Windows firewall is a good start but there is not much that can configured on it. There are several freeware options available with more configuration options.

4. Be sure not to overlook your Internet browser settings. Browser settings that are configured incorrectly can also leave your computer vulnerable. Select security settings within the browser high enough to reduce your risk of being hacked.

5. Utilize Windows Update. This will ensure that you have the latest software patches and security updates for your system.

6. Protect your passwords. Never share your passwords on the Internet, over email, or on the phone. Try to have different passwords for your various accounts. That way if for some reason one of your passwords is leaked out and an account of yours is compromised, it will not affect your other accounts. There are several freeware applications that are available that can securely manage your passwords. If you don’t feel comfortable using a software application, use an old-fashioned method; pen and paper. Write down your passwords and secure them in a lock box. It’s always a good idea to have a hard copy backup of your passwords.

7. Backup your important files. Don’t put so much faith in a hard drive or USB stick. They do go bad. If you want to keep all of your files on your computer, back them up to another location like an external hard drive. It is good practice to keep a copy of your files off the primary drive in your computer. That way, if your main drive fails (the one with the operating system on it), you won’t lose your files. If you have very important documents that you created on your computer and that is the only place you have them, print out a copy. You can always scan them back in or (God forbid) re-type it. It’s better than losing them all together if your drive crashes.

Most people looking for mp3’s on the Internet encounter misleading pages or links that don’t work. Follow these instructions and you will be able to search for mp3’s right from Google.

There are a few ways to search for mp3’s using a Google search. The first way is a simple search.

Type the following into a Google search box:
?intitle:index.of? mp3 [artist] [title]

Replace [artist] with the artist/singer/band you’re looking for and [title] with the song title or simply enter one or the other. In return you will see link after link to pages of mp3’s with the artist or song that you are looking for. Once you see the song that you are looking for, just right click and choose Save As to download the file to your computer.

An other search method you type into Google search is:
“parent directory ” MP3 -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums [artist] [title]

The same thing applies to this search. You can specify the artist and title.

Another search method is:
?inurl:multiply.com/music? [artist] [title]

And finally, the last search method is:
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(.mp3|.wma) [artist] [title]

Remember, the only thing you need to change in the search string is the [artist] or [title].

Here’s another hint I forgot to mention. If you want to search for other things besides music, simply change the mp3 in the search string to jpg or pdf and you will get the same results. Pages and pages of links. Enjoy!

The Smiling Pirate has compiled a list of FREE software applications that you can use to build a PC using freeware or open-source applications. What you need to get started is a Windows operating system of your choice. These applications will work on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. They may work on Vista as well but as you know here at The Smiling Pirate we like KISS (Keep It Simple Software). Vista is far from that. So grab yourself a Windows 2000 or XP machine and remove all of the bloated applications and configure it your way with no money out-of-pocket using the software we’ve listed below. Enjoy!

OpenOffice (Office Apps)

MoonSecure (Anti Virus)

PDFforge (PDF Creator)

CDBurnerXP (CD Burner)

Comodo Firewall Pro (Firewall)

Foxit PDF Viewer (PDF Viewer)

7Zip Archiver (Zip Archiver)

KeePass (Password Manager)

Firefox (Web Browser)

Media Player Classic (Multi-Format Video Player)

Paint.net (Photo Editor)

Thunderbird (Email Client)

NVu (Web Authoring)

Spybot (Spyware Remover)

Comodo BackUp (Backup Utility)