Raymond.CC Blog

There are so many strategy that we can use to make sure we are able to get back our files when we accidentally deleted it. If you don’t use any backup methods, the only way to get back deleted files is by using data recovery software to try to put the file system back together so that the data files can be accessed only if they are untouched or not overwritten by new data. If we prefer to play safe, we can use backup software that automatically transfer new files to a backup medium. Some may opt for drive imaging such as Acronis True Image to create an incremental offline snapshot and while others may use snapshot programs such as FarStone RestoreIT or Rollback RX.

Here is another unique method used by a software named Undeluxe where it automatically backup the file before it is deleted. This could be really useful because I have a bad habit of ALWAYS using the SHIFT+DELETE key to delete files without putting it to Recycle Bin. In fact there were a couple of times I accidentally shift deleted important files and I had to use data recovery software to get it back.

THE KEYS AT KEYBOARD MAY GET STUCK DUE TO DUST, HARSH USAGE OR LOW BUILD QUALITY. YOU MAY ENCOUNTER THE KEYS BEING REPEATED BY ITSELF OR IT DOESN’T WORK AT ALL AND YOU HAVE TO HIT IT REALLY HARD FOR THE KEY TO APPEAR. HOWEVER, IF THE CAPS LOCK KEY IS BROKEN, YOU CAN STILL USE THE KEYBOARD TO TYPE EXCEPT PISSING OFF THE READERS BECAUSE ALL THE LETTERS ARE IN CAPITAL CASE WHICH IS QUITE ANNOYING AS IT SEEMS TO BE SHOUTING.

I bet the above paragraph is hard to read so it is advisable that the user either change the keyboard or disable the key if they are tight on budget. You can use third party software such as KeyTweak and SharpKeys to disable the CAPS LOCK key but here is an easier method which doesn’t involve installing any software.

I normally disable any not frequently used hardware in Device Manager such as the webcam, fingerprint reader, DVD-RAM, Modem, Firewire, PCMCIA adapter, and most importantly the wireless adapter. So far I only noticed that the computer boots up faster since it doesn’t need to load up the devices and most probably it could even prolong the battery life on my laptop. Many times I’ve seen people using their laptop connected to both wifi and LAN that is on the same router. Although this shouldn’t cause any problems because Windows routing table is smart enough to automatically detect and use the better connection, but it is still good to disable the unnecessary connection to avoid any possible dual interface routing issues. Previously I’ve tested the Windows routing table by connecting 3 different types of connection (3G, ethernet and wifi) on my computer and it puts 3G at first priority, followed by ethernet and then wifi.

If you normally have to switch between wifi and ethernet connection but find it a hassle to manually disable or enable the devices, here is how you can do it automatically.

You may have heard of Kaspersky Rescue Disk which can be used to boot up a computer and scans the hard drive for viruses without even loading Windows. This is very useful when the computer is badly infected by malware and causing Windows unable to boot or is really too slow to do anything. Recently I discovered another free tool offered by Kaspersky called WindowsUnlocker which is useful in neutralizing complicated malware such as a ransomware that makes your computer unusable until you follow the on-screen instruction to transfer money in order to get the unlock code. The smarter ransomware starts automatically when Windows is booted up and even in Safe Mode, automatically prevent explorer.exe from starting and also blocking vital hotkeys such as CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to launch Task Manager which can be used to kill the ransomware process or manually run explorer.exe.

When all hope is lost, Kaspersky WindowsUnlocker can be used to fix the registry to stop the ransomware from automatically being loaded when Windows is booted up. It does not touch any of the files on your computer other than the registry. Once Windows can be started up normally, you can use a good antivirus to perform a full scan and remove any found malwares.

Font that is used on any websites can be identified using Firebug or Web Inspector. However that can be too complicated for some users. I have posted two Firefox plugins that is able to help you identify the font on a webpage but that restricts you to use Firefox and installing plugins. Here is WhatFont bookmarklet tool, created by Chengyin Liu, an undergraduate Computer Science student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign which will probably offer the easiest and cleanest way to help you easily identify fonts on webpages. All you need to do is reveal or show the bookmarks toolbar on your Firefox web browser as it is hidden by default and drag the bookmarklet to the bookmark toolbar to install.

Most of the popular video players such as VLC Media Player and KM Player already support playing subtitles together with the video. However there is a restriction that the subtitle will only be displayed when the video is played. You cannot use it to play just the subtitle itself. The ability to play only subtitle can be pretty important for deaf or hearing impaired people. An example is Netflix still doesn’t offer closed captioning or subtitles for streaming movies and TV episodes even after announcing on mid 2009 which may take them a year to implement it. Last year The National Association of the Deaf has sued Netflix for failing to provide closed-captioning on most of its streaming content.

Other than just crossing your fingers and waiting for Netflix to provide closed-captioning and subtitles, you can actually use a subtitle player to just play the subtitles which can be easily downloaded for free. There are a few free subtitle players which you can find and download from Softpedia and to make things easier for you, I have tested all of them and found that Greenfish Subtitle Player is the best.

Back when I was using Windows 98 and XP, codec pack is the first thing that I will install after completing the driver installation. These codecs are required to play downloaded videos and sometimes even audio files or else you might end up hearing the sound but no video and vice versa. The only codec pack that I used before is K-Lite Codec Pack and I never had any playback problems with it. As for now, I have not installed any codec packs ever since I started using media players such as VLC media player and KM Player that has built-in codecs. Moreover most of time I watch downloaded videos in my WD TV Live player and not on my computer so there is no reason that I need to install any codec packs on my computer.

What I’ve learned last time was codec packs are very sensitive. After installing it and if it works perfectly, just leave it as it is and there is no need to update the codec pack. Reinstalling codec packs because of some playback problems may not even be advisable. You should probably try to use a tool called Codec Tweak Tool to scan the registry to detect and remove broken references to codecs and filters first.