Computer Realm » Luke

How to Change the Drive Letter of a Drive

Luke — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:30:28 +0000

By default, drive letters are assigned to permanent and removable storage depending on availability. Driver letters such as ‘A’ are reserved for certain drives such as floppy disks but most of them are available and can be assigned to any drive. Sometimes, you might want to change the drive letter maybe because you use several removable or permanent partitions and would like to categorize them in a certain way or you simply want to assign a letter that usually isn’t used (the latter letters aren’t usually needed and so are not used) simply because you want to be different. In any case changing the drive letter is quite simple. Below I’ve described how this can be done on Windows 7.

Click the start button and type in ‘Disk Management’.

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Your first option would be ‘create and format hard disk partitions’. Click on it.

Right click a drive and select ‘change drive letters and paths’. It is not recommended to change the drive letter of system drives such as the C drive.

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In the new window, click ‘change’.

In the following box you can assign any drive letter from the combo box (unless they’ve been reserved by a permanent storage device).

Save all your settings and restart your system.

If you are on Windows Vista or XP, you will need to go to:

Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management

Continue from step 3 above.

If you follow the steps correctly you will now have the drive letter of your choice for your drives. If you have any comments or ran into any issues leave a comment below.

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3 Excellent Ways to Export Firefox Bookmarks

Luke — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:09:04 +0000

Firefox is undoubtedly one of the best and most popular browsers available today as we saw in the ‘best web browser’ poll conducted on Computer Realm. For most of us, web browsing is an activity we conduct everyday religiously to stay updated, connect with people and for entertainment as well. All of this is primarily done via your web browser and with the overwhelming amount of content and websites available on the internet, the best way to keep track of them is via bookmarks. Bookmarks is also a matter of convenience especially when we can easily access sites we visit regularly via the bookmarks toolbar or by assigning keywords to your bookmarks. Thus, losing your bookmarks can put a lot of us in a tough situation.

You can save yourself the trouble by backing up or exporting your Firefox bookmarks. You might export them just to keep them safe as explained before, or if you’re migrating your data to another computer or if you’re reinstalling Firefox as well. If you heavily rely on your bookmarks, you might want to have access with them at all time so that if you’re surfing the net elsewhere from your personal computer you will be able to use your bookmarks. Below are some ways you can use to export your bookmarks.

Using Xmarks

Xmarks is by far the best method for any of the purposes mentioned above. It is a Firefox addon that lets you synchronize your bookmarks, passwords and history with the Xmarks server. They can then be accessed online or synchronized into another instance of Firefox and other popular browsers (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari) as well. The company was scheduled to shutdown but was thankfully acquired and active as before.

Using Firefox Sync

This is a relatively new (in comparison to Xmarks) addon that synchronizes all your data across your Firefox browsers. It falls short of Xmarks in that it does not allow you to access the bookmarks on a web based interface like Xmarks does so if you are using a public or shared computer the only option would be to synchronize the data to that computer’s browser and delete it afterwards (unless you don’t mind it remaining there), however it does offer synchronization of more data on your browser such as your preferences. Firefox has been made a native feature in the latest version. To get the best of both worlds you may use both services.

Using Firefox

The above two methods are automated, all you need is to set it up the first time and forget about it, however if you need to make a one time backup for some reason you can use this method. Firefox has long offered the option to simple export Firefox bookmarks from your bookmark manager. All you need to do is go to Bookmarks > Show all bookmarks (organize bookmarks in older versions) > Import backup. Here you can choose ‘Backup’ which creates a Firefox compatible backup file, or you may choose ‘export HTML’ which creates a basic HTML file which can be used universally.

Well there you have it, you may use any one of the methods above to backup your data. There are numerous other addons to choose from for synchronization of one time backup. A quick search in the Mozilla addons database should reveal alternative options. IMO, if you are looking to export Firefox bookmarks the above methods are sufficient.

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Poll: Do You Pirate Software?

Luke — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:18:55 +0000

Software piracy has been an issue software vendors have been combating ever since the advent of computers. Numerous publishers enforce different techniques to ensure that software used has been bought and paid for by users, but that still does not stop the vast amount of piracy taking place all over the globe today. There are numerous surveys and statistical analyses conducted to estimate the level of piracy (one such analysis by country can be found here), however it is difficult to accurately analyze what the actual amount of piracy is. Well, in our latest poll on Computer Realm, we are looking to give everyone a better picture of what percentage of people actually pirate software.

Do you pirate software?customer surveys

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Poll Results: Best Web Browser?

Luke — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:51:48 +0000

This is the first poll we’ve conducted here on Computer Realm. Based on the results, they don’t appear represent the global view of what people’s best web browser is but would be reasonably accurate for a tech savvy audience. After 2463 votes these are the results:

(click to enlarge)

Thanks to everyone who voted.

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Is Facebook Down?

Luke — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:27:30 +0000

Facebook is without a doubt one of the most visited sites on the internet. Amassing over 500 million users and continuing to grow rapidly, Facebook is now an integral part of the world wide web with the development of their FBML (Facebook Markup Language) which integrates Facebook which virtually all popular websites so that users can share content they fancy instantly by clicking the ‘Like’ button on any website that employs the FBML. A typical routine for most of us comprises of checking Facebook at least once a day and powering up your browser only to find that the site isn’t loading can instantly shift your mind into a state of emergency as you hit the refresh button frantically over and over at an alarming rate. If your ‘refresh frenzy’ proves unsuccessful, you can try these tips to fix the issue.

What to do if Facebook is down

Check if your internet is up. You can do this by simply loading another website.

Find out if Facebook has been blocked on your network. This is more likely if you are a guest on a shared network connection than your own personal connection. Facebook is commonly blocked in school and office connections.

If that isn’t the issue, the next step would be to find out if Facebook is down. This is of course highly unlikely however there have been brief downtime issues with Facebook in the past. To find out if Facebook is down the easiest way would be to use this website to check the status of the website. Another method would be to search twitter (irony?), even a short period of time would result in hordes of tweets acknowledging or querying if the site is down.

Try restarting the computer. Isolated issues such as these usually go away when you restart the computer.

Read this thread. There are some useful tips provided there.

The last method that usually wouldn’t be required would be to find out if Facebook has been blocked in your country for some reason. While this is unlikely, it has happened in the past to a few countries such as China.

The answer to your issue would most probably lie in one of the 6 points above, however if you are still unable to find a solution you can call your ISP or leave a comment below with relevant details and I’ll try my best to assist you. Happy Facebooking!

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How to Convert Video to GIF Format

Luke — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:33:20 +0000

GIF files are an integral part of the internet as it is the only image format that allows lightweight motion pictures. One of its main uses is as avatars in social communities and forums. GIFs allow displaying dynamic avatars that can spice up profiles and interactions online however while it is a motion picture format they are usually not used to display video thus it does has its limitations. If you are looking to display a motion picture from a scene of an action movie you really like on a message board for example, you’re pretty much out of luck since videos usually aren’t available in GIF format.

Thankfully there’s a solution. I reviewed the freeware Format Factory and I had many good things to say about this converter. There’s yet another use for this converter which is to convert any video file to GIF. You simply need to follow these steps:

Install and run the software. Select ‘All to GIF’ under ‘video’

Select the file you want to convert to GIF by clicking ‘Add FIle’

If you want to select a range click ‘Option’

Once you are done adjusting your preferences click OK and Start to convert the video to a GIF file.

The conversion should be ultra fast since GIF images support only a few frames per second. If you are a Mac user you can refer to this guide. If you have alternative suggestions on how to convert videos to GIF please post it below in the comments.

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How to Convert PDF Files to Word Format

Luke — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:44:58 +0000

A few months ago I shared some methods on how to convert files to PDF format (typically word documents). While some of the methods described can be pretty much reversed to convert PDF files to word format I thought I’ll cover a specific post on how to do this. There are numerous reasons why someone would want to convert a PDF file to word format. Typically, it maybe for compatibility (word documents are generally more compatible than PDF files) or for extensive editing (PDF files can be directly edited extensively as well but requires separate dedicated tools) among other reasons.

Whatever the reason maybe, there are several ways to do this. You can use a third party application or a web based tool:

Using PDF Online

This is a simple, nifty web based tool that lets you convert PDF files to word documents ‘on-the-fly’. All you need to do is upload the word document and click ‘upload and convert’. Depending on the size of the file and the speed of your internet connection the conversion process can vary. Once it’s complete, the file can be downloaded as a zip file and extracted and opened.

At times, the converter may be buggy and convert text in an apparently encoded format. If this is the case you can try again or use another converter:

-Zamzar
-NitroPDF
-Koolwire

Using OpenOffice

OpenOffice is virtually the best open source alternative to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice accommodates extensions to extend its functionality. It also contains an extension to convert PDF files to a Word format. The Sun PDF Import Extension can be used to import PDF files and they can then be saves as a Word format.

Using Free PDF to Word Converter by Smartsoft

Smartsoft’s PDF to Word converter is a free tool that lets you easily convert PDF files to different word formats. You simply browse for the PDF file, select which word format you’d like to convert to and convert the file. There are quite a few other desktop alternatives, most of them being trials, however there are a few totally free solutions as well.

Well there you have it. Those are some of the easiest and quickest ways to convert PDF files to Word documents. If you have any solution you think deserves a mention or if you need any assistance in using the tools mentioned above feel free to leave a comment.

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5 Reasons Your Video Card Overheats

Luke — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:38:08 +0000

one of the biggest hardware woes, specifically if you use your computer for gaming or other high graphic purposes is your video card overheating. Overheating can cause various pitfalls in terms of your computer’s performance the main consequence being permanent physical damage to your card. While in some situations the reason may seem obvious, sometimes it can be harder to isolate the reason, however in most scenarios you are likely dealing with one of these 5 issues:

Clogged fan

The main device responsible for maintaining a constant temperature of your video card is the fan present in the processor. If this isn’t functioning efficiently it’s quite obvious that it would result in your video card overheating. If you don’t regularly clean your computer, it could be highly likely that your fan is clogged with dust.

This is one of the simplest causes of your video card overheating which can be fixed by simply cleaning your fan, preferably using a blower.

Broken fan

A follow up of the previous point, in some cases your fan maybe malfunctioning or stopped working altogether. This could simply be diagnosed by switching on your computer with its cover open and checking if the fan is functioning. If it doesn’t happen to be working, you have your answer.

Overclocking

Pushing your CPU to its limits by overclocking can cause your video card to overheat. This can seem fairly obvious too as if you find your video card overheating and if you’ve recently overclocked your CPU, it would explain it.

Faulty Drivers

This is a rare cause, but depending on your video card’s brand a badly developed driver could also cause your video card to overheat. If you use an unusual video card with questionable reputation this could be the issue.

Inefficient Airflow

While your fan maybe perfectly in tact and working, the location of your fan also matters. If there isn’t sufficient air flow to your video card it can also cause it to overheat.

Those are typically the 5 main reasons to your video card overheating. If you have any other points in your mind, feel free to share them below.

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Frustrated With Your PC?

Luke — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:04:31 +0000

Your PC can frustrate you for numerous reasons. Sluggish performance, numerous errors and so on. In most cases malware or some kind of registry issue might be causing the problem but it can be difficult to isolate and get rid of the cause in most situations.

There are numerous diagnostic tools available to diagnose your computer for different issues however most of these tools don’t specifically pinpoint the cause of the problems.

Soluto is a different kind of diagnostic tool. Uniquely promoted as an ‘anti-frustration’ software, Soluto is a free tool that monitors your system’s performance and activity and specifically finds the reason behind your computer’s lack of performance. It then provides details on how to fix these issues based on community feedback. For more information watch this video:

Soluto is totally free and can be downloaded from their home page.

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How to Edit Animated GIFs

Luke — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:43:15 +0000

GIF formats are heavily used to display images specifically online for its impressive compression levels as well as for its ability to display animation. While there are several comprehensive image tools that allow various kinds of customization, most image tools don’t provide adequate customization for animated GIF files.

You might want to edit an animated GIF for various reasons. Most forums online allow animated GIFs as avatars so you might want to personalize an animated GIF. That’s just a single example. A while back I should you how to split animated GIFs however the tool doesn’t really support extensive customization of the GIF.

If you are looking for more features, you can check out Ulead Gif Animator. It provides a multitude of features to edit your GIF files. The site contains a free trial which you can download here. For a completely free version you can download the older version of the application when it was freeware here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Once you open the application you can create a file from scratch and add your frames or you may import an existing GIFs and add, modify or delete the frames depending on your requirements. If you run in to any trouble with the application, leave a comment below.

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