Right processor to power your PC !!

Entry-level
Suggested CPUs
Intel Celeron D 326, Intel Pentium D 915, AMD Sempron 64 3200+, AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Budget
Rs 2,800 – Rs 4,500
Apart from price and clock speeds, the choice of a processor depends on several other factors such as the number of cores, L2 cache, front side bus, and most critically, your application area. It doesn’t make sense in arming your PC with a high-end dual core processor if you’re only going to surf the web or use office applications—an entry-level processor will do just fine. Processors belonging to this category are ideal for home and office users who want a Plain Jane PC for basic computing needs. You have two options here. If you’re on a really tight budget you can opt for a single-core processor belonging to the Intel Celeron D or AMD Sempron 64 family. The processors from these families come with clock speeds ranging from 1.6 to 3.6 GHz. Alternatively, you can opt for an entry-level dual-core processor if you want more power for multi-tasking and applications like image editing or audio and video encoding. Priced below Rs 4,500, the Intel Pentium D 915 (2.80 GHz, 2x 2 MB L2 cache) and AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2 GHz, 2x 512 KB L2 cache) offer great performance at a sweet price.

Mid-range
Suggested CPUs
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320, Intel Core 2 Duo E6420, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+, AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Budget
Rs 5,000 – Rs 11,000

Pick a processor in this category if you want power while staying within a five-figure budget. These processors are designed to handle moderate to heavy loads involving multi-tasking, audio and video editing, gaming, 3D modeling and so on. Dual-core is obviously a must. However, pay attention to the clock speed and the size of L2 cache, which determine the performance of a processor. If your choice is Intel, look out for a minimum clock speed of 1.86 GHz with 4 MB of L2 cache (Intel Core 2 Duo E6320). AMD users shouldn’t settle for anything below 2.4 GHz with 1 MB of L2 cache (AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+). The more expensive processors in this category feature higher clock speeds coupled with larger L2 caches. Processors from the Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Athlon 64 X2 families come in varying combinations of clock speeds and L2 cache amounts. Make sure you look at all the available options offered by Intel and AMD. This informaton will be available on their websites. If you come across a processor with a higher clock speed or L2 cache that still fits your budget, grab the deal.

High-end
Suggested CPUs
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700, AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+, AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
Budget
Above Rs 11,000

This segment caters to power users, enthusiasts and hardcore gamers who crave extreme performance. The processors here are supercharged with high clock speeds and large L2 caches handle heavy multitasking and demanding applications. Processors like the Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 and AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ are the best in their respective families. If you enjoy pushing your PC to extreme limits, an unlocked multiplier would make overclocking much more flexible. All processors from the Intel Core 2 Extreme family and the AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 come with unlocked multipliers. Quad core processors like the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 and the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 are ideal for workstations that will need to handle demanding applications simultaneously. You will also need a high-end motherboard and memory modules to support them. Motherboards with Nvidia nForce 680i SLI (Intel) or Nvidia nForce 590 SLI (AMD) chipsets are the best for these processors. But be prepared to pay through your nose for this performance.

Boost your Windows XP Service Pack 3

It is a sad time for Microsoft. Vista hasn't been the success it was supposed to be, and with the lifecycle of XP coming to an end, there is an urgency at Redmond to produce something bigger and better, to keep Open Source operating systems like Ubuntu at bay.
Ever since Service Pack 3 for the XP operating system came out, there have been plenty of reported problems associated with it. Moreover, important features like the DirectX 10 graphics interface are exclusive to Vista. Despite these signs pushing you towards the newer OS, don’t think that it is absolutely necessary to discard XP with SP3 and switch over to Vista. If you do not wish to, use our tools and tweaks to extend Vista functions in XP and rectify the existing errors.

Updating with ease

Service Pack 3 comes with a proverbial flashing red button which, if touched, invites danger. Every Windows Update will now sneak in some software on PCs and ensure that users will suffer from headaches. Approximately 38 percent of the participants of an online survey have reported massive problems. They range from ‘XP no longer starts’ (16.86 percent) to ‘Error messages for license problems’ (6.13 percent).
If sporadic errors occur on your computer, visit the following blog for information: http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/. Ironically, it is a blog by an ex-Microsoft employee who defected to Amazon a few years ago. Jesper Johannson offers solutions for the most important problems in SP3.

OEMs and AMD Compatibility:

Many PC manufacturers, amongst them HP, install their Windows OEM based OS on the perception that this has been manufactured using the Microsoft System Preparation Tool. At the same time, drivers for AMD and Intel systems are copied on the target computer. The IntelPPM driver is automatically activated and crashes AMD PCs. First try to boot the PC in the safe mode. After that start the script ‘removeIntelPPMonAMD.vbs’ from the CHIP DVD with next month’s issue. It's also available on Jesper's blog. It checks whether an AMD CPU exists and then disables the Intel driver. If you cannot boot your computer in the safe mode, boot it using the Windows Setup DVD and call the restore console with [R].

Enter the following command:

disable intelppm

However, if you do not have access to the restore console, which is the case with some OEM versions, then there is only one way to proceed and that is reinstallation.

Log file shows errors

If XP has been damaged to a large extent, take a look at the Update log
file. Use Notepad to open the following file in the Windows folder ‘WindowsUpdate.log’.

You can identify these entries by date and time. Open the new text in Notepad or Word and sift through it using the ‘Edit | Find’ command to find the words ‘Fatal’ and ‘Warning’. Enter the error description like ‘Failed to synchronize, error = 0x8024000b’ in the search line on www.microsoft.com. You will get some support or a patch. For more info and helpful tips for reading the Windows Update.log file, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902093.

Old BIOS

Owners of Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboards were flabbergasted after installing SP3. Their computers restarted without any reason or displayed errors with messages like ‘STOP: 0x000000A5’. This error is caused due to an obsolete BIOS version. Their Advanced Configuration and Power interface (ACPI) is not compatible with SP3 and causes problems with drive management. Connecting another drive will solve this problem. Simply insert a USB stick and use it as a replaceable drive. If XP runs stable once again, update your BIOS from the motherboard manufacturer's website.

Is SP3 a malware?

Many worms delete Registry entries or write absurd information there. And SP3 does the same. The result is that the device manager no longer shows any devices, network connections fail, and thousands of new keys starting with ‘$%&‘()*+,-‘ are dumped in the Registry. It's no wonder that security programs classify SP3 as hazardous malware. In fact Norton Internet Security 2008 immediately tries to remove SP3. In the CHIP forum, we have also found instructions regarding products by Kaspersky and Trend Micro. A remedy is provided by the patch that you can find on the Microsoft website using the search string ‘KB953979’. Symantec also offers a patch to its customers. Ask the manufacturer for the file ‘SymRegFix.exe’ if you face similar problems.

WGA tests

According to Alex Kochis, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, erroneous test codes were copied on to the Windows activation server that checks the authenticity of XP Professional online. The server could then no longer differentiate between legal and pirated copies of Windows. Even genuine customers can see only a black desktop and the prompt to buy a licensed Windows copy at the earliest.

In the meantime, the defective codes were removed. Users with a black Windows desktop should visit the website www.microsoft.com/genuine and click on ‘Validate Windows’. The authenticity check will then be re-conducted and Windows will be unlocked. If this does not help even if you have procured a licensed Windows copy, visit www.microsoft.com/genuine/selfhelp/support.aspx. Here you can see tips for troubleshooting and get technical support for the Windows Genuine Advantage program. We recommend not using dubious WGA deletion tools available on the Internet, since, without the authenticity check, you cannot download many updates like Windows Media Player 11 for XP from the Microsoft site.

The Vista bluff

Lack of support, crashes and false positives in the authenticity check are making the lives of XP users difficult. But still, few users see Vista as an upgrade to XP. After mulling over this for some time, Microsoft came up with a plan that will certainly go down in history: the Mojave bluff.The strategy started with a survey. Microsoft searched for customers who use Windows XP and have never worked with or have strong reservations against Vista. Eligible customers, approximately 70 in number, were then invited to San Francisco, where they were supposed to evaluate a strictly confidential and new Windows version. This operating system, codenamed ‘Mojave’, supposedly considered all wishes of XP users and, at the same time, had none of the disadvantages that are observed in Vista. Test customers thought that the new Mojave was amazing, until Microsoft told them the truth: the super Windows was a boringly normal Vista from which all revealing logos were removed.

Freeware XP

Windows XP's retail sales officially stopped least year, and even support will not be provided through updates after 2014. Of course, Microsoft still needs to sell Vista now, and not after a few years. Plus, under the Microsoft Piracy agreement, at www.microsoft.com/norge/piracy/activation_faq.mspx, the company has made it public that they might issue an update that will remove the need to contact an activation server at the same time. Users can then use XP without activation. So does this mean that XP will be freeware? Yes! From April 8, 2014, you might actually be able to use XP without activation. But the sad part about this is that users will not necessarily benefit from this, since the best features will be available exclusively in Vista and not in XP. A prime example of this is DirectX 10.

DirectX 10

The DX10 graphics framework is indeed available only in Vista. Microsoft has persistently refused to offer this feature in XP. If you want to play modern 3D games such as ‘Crysis’ with all the graphical effects enabled, you must buy Vista—or procure a pirated Russian version.

If you Google ‘dx10_xp.exe’, you can access an unofficial version of DirectX that you can download from Win Future (www.winfuture.de). It is a RAR archive that can be unzipped on your PC. It contains an installation file that executes all the steps automatically. DLL files that are normally included in a Vista installation are copied into the Windows directory. The DxDiag diagnosis tool has actually authenticated an existing DirectX 10 installation.We procured the demo version of the Crysis first-person shooter for testing. Only DirectX 10 can be used to select the setting ‘Options | System Settings | Advanced | Change all Settings to | Very High’. However, this was possible only with a new graphics card that supports DirectX 10, such as ATI’s Radeon HD2000 onwards or Nvidia's GeForce 8000 series onwards.Keep in mind that the manipulated version of DirectX that originally stems from Russia is however not yet fully developed. In Windows XP, games therefore run considerably slower than on an equivalent Vista computer.

Warning: Try these at your own risk!

Turn XP into Vista

You can easily and quickly emulate other Vista features in XP. Transformation packs and feature updates can be downloaded from the Internet. The advantage is that you can add some of Vista's neat effects without affecting your underlying XP installation.

For conversion, you will need the following tools from the web: ViOrb for Vista Start button, TrueTransparency for the Aero Glass window effect (www.crystalxp.net), ViStart for the Vista Start menu, Visual Tooltip for a small preview window in the taskbar, WinFlip for the 3D window effect, Aurora XP for the desktop background (http://falsecut740.deviantart.com/art/Aurora-XP-63775559), and Desktop Sidebar for the sidebar and widgets. You can adjust the Aero effect through ‘Sidebar| Options | Display | Download more skins’. Enter ‘Aero’ on the manufacturer’s site, download, double-click it and that’s it.

Other applications to convert XP into Vista include XPScene, which adds the Vista Ultimate Extra Dreamscene. You can then use high-resolution animated films that are available on www.dreamscene.org as your desktop background.

TrueCrypt allows another Ultimate Extra Edition to operate in XP: the hard disk encryption BitLocker. AveDesk allocates pictograms to specific functions. This is actually an Apple OS X feature, but impressively shows that not only can XP simulate Vista, but also surpass it by miles.

If you want to transform XP completely into Vista, first ensure that SP2, IE 7 and Media Player 11 are installed. You can download these from the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com). If possible, also download Windows Defender, Windows Mail and Windows Live photo gallery.

If everything is ready, install all the Vista transformation programs mentioned in this article. Once the installation processes are completed and you restart your PC, you will need to do some fine-tuning. In ‘Welcome Center’, click on ‘Configure User Account | Apply Current Configuration’. Now you can select the ‘Windows Aero’ style in the ‘Display Properties’ window. After restarting the PC, close ‘Welcome Center’ and install AuroraXP. Use ‘Start | Run’ to open the ‘msconfig’ utility and enable the ‘NOGUIBOOT’ option in the ‘Boot.ini’ tab. Now install Visual Tooltip and, if required, change the size of the preview window. You can replace the ‘Windows Sidebar’ with the ‘Desktop Sidebar’ if you like.

If you want and still have enough computing power, then, install other enhancements like WinFlip for the 3D effect or Windows

Search for XP that provides the considerably quicker and more efficient search function of Vista in Windows XP.

Digital threats in Internet

From banking and shopping online, keying in our user IDs and passwords and confidently sharing our personal information at secure sites, these are everyday occurrences. Although it makes our life easier, our increasing online usage also makes us vulnerable to digital threats. When we enjoy the convenience of online banking, we invariably expose ourselves to phishing attacks. We download applications from the Internet and invite malware to take control of our computers. Email attachments may unknowingly bring in Trojans that might play havoc with our computers. However, if we exercised a little more caution, we could prevent the threat of malware from capturing our online identity. To do that we need to be aware of the different types of risks that exist, how they work and what can be done to safeguard our data against them.

Danger defined:

By and large, we tend to categorize all online threats as viruses. But what really is a virus? Historically speaking, a virus is a type of a computer program that not only infects your computer, but makes multiple copies of itself and proliferates within documents or applications on your computer. It also has malicious reprecussions like corrupting file content, denying access to databases, stealing personal information and the like. Back in the days of the floppy disk, an infected disk could infect a host computer if the user executed or copied files from it. This digital plague could further infect other floppy disks or other media if inserted into the host computer, thus replicating them. To prevent these viruses from spreading and damaging files, computer security firms developed applications that could detect and even remove viruses within files. In cases where this disinfection was not possible, the program would delete the file from the computer or move it to a secure location (much like a quarantine). However, today’s virus engineers are smarter. Drawing on the power of the Internet, there are very few viruses out there that still spread by physical media—most viruses proliferate through the Internet across various programs. This has given rise to worms that travel through local and web networks, Trojans that are capable of
camouflaging their presence and spy ware that can steal your data without your knowledge. Welcome to the new world of malware.

Computer worm:

In computer terminology, a Worm is a self-replicating threat that travels through a network and settles in a computer via a variety of online applications like e-mails, chat clients, P2P clients, etc. A worm does not attach itself to any program that explicitly needs to be executed for its spread. Instead, it travels through networked applications and primarily replicates itself up to a point where the network is clogged with its clones, preventing it from being used by legitimate applications. The different types of worms you could encounter are:

E-mail worm:

This type of worm uses e-mail as its vehicle. When an infected e-mail reaches your inbox, it does nothing unless the e-mail is opened to be read. When you open the mail, you may see an attachment or a link to a real or fictitious web site. The moment you click on the link and visit the web site, the worm gets triggered. Once activated, it starts searching your address book and sends e-mails to your contacts. It can even fake the sender’s address, so that the recipient assumes that the mail is not from someone he knows. Clearly, across an office network consisting of tens or hundreds of users, the numbers of fictitious e-mails traversing the mail servers grow exponentially over a short time. E-mail worms often bring down mail servers and clog their functioning.

File sharing network worm:

This worm generally proliferates through a shared folder of a machine. It creates a copy of itself and masks its intent by using a seemingly harmless and unassuming name. The moment you connect to a networking site like ‘kazaa.com’ and your sharing folder gets accessed, the copy of the worm moves from your computer to other computers in the file sharing network. With millions of computers actively being used to access files from peer-to-peer networks, these worms can proliferate very quickly. Another popular type of worm is the instant messaging worm (similar to the email worm, but uses an instant messenger service as its vehicle).

Trojan:

Trojans are malicious programs that pose as legitimate applications. When users execute such programs, blissfully unaware of their real intent, the host computer gets infected. Once on your computer, it may strike in a variety of ways, ranging from capturing what you see on your screen to logging what you type. The captured information is then sent to the author of that malware through the Internet. You could therefore stand to lose precious data, bank passwords and the like. The different types of Trojans include remote access Trojans, where others can gain access to and even take over your machine, data sending Trojans that scan your computer and send data to the author, and destructive Trojans that simply delete files on the host computer. Trojans can also infect your computer and you may face denial of service (unavailability of data). Trojans even have the potential to counter anti-virus software by changing their coding DNA (a process known as polymorphism), making it harder to detect. Some Trojans are developed such that they will only be activated on particular dates, or when certain pre-defined conditions are met by the computer. These Trojans are known as ‘Time bombs’ and ‘Logic bombs’ respectively. Spyware Like Trojans, Spyware is also a type of computer application, developed with the intention of stealing information from your computer. These applications can steal data including the history of web sites you have visited, passwords that you have used to access online secure services, etc . However, unlike Trojans and worms, spyware cannot replicate but it does exploit the host computer for commercial gain. These include everything from throwing unsolicited pop-up advertisements, capturing your web browser’s home page and directing it elsewhere. This type of application cannot spread by itself, therefore its efficacy depends solely on whether you choose to install the software. Since users wouldn’t intentionally install applications that are detrimental to their interest, spyware represents itself as a utility application, for example, a web accelerator, a free image utility, etc. Spyware often piggy-backs on to shareware applications found on download web sites or application CDs.

Adware:
Adware is more of an annoyance than a threat. Typically found in applications downloaded from questionable web sites, it infects the host computer by downloading and installing other advertising material and displaying it on your computer via annoying popups that appear while you use Internet applications. This is where adware generally gets confused with advertising-supported software. The latter is not malicious and only displays an advertisement within the window of the application program (such as trial or shareware versions of software). Adware, on the other hand, displays advertisements randomly, often when you least expect it.

The last call:
This new breed of Internet threats may or may not be harmful to users, but they do hamper the performance of computers. To protect computers from today’s digital threats, an anti-virus program is a good place to start. Look for application suites that specifically offer protection against all of these threats and not just ones that offer plain vanilla virus protection. In today’s world, data security requires blanket protection systems that do it all. You can also install anti-spyware and adware application like NoAdware, ErrorDoctor, Spynukke, AdAware, etc. Secondly, it is important to exercise caution on what applications and fi les are downloaded. This includes your mail attachments. Chain mails with attachments (such as .exe, .com, .scr, .bat, or .pif), download sites that contain links of questionable web sites, applications that aren’t from trusted sources should all raise a user’s alarm bells. Most of the time, the battle against malware can be won before it even begins—all it takes is a bit of vigilance.

To Book Cinema Ticket,Bus Ticket and Train Ticket Online

To Book Cinema Tickets Online in Chennai:
Please try out the following links..
BookMyShow.com
Limata.com
SangamCinemas
Mayajaal.com
InoxMovies.com
Eticketz.co.in
Cinemakaran.co.in
Ticketnew.com

To Book Bus Tickets from and to Chennai:
Please try out the following links..
Abhibus.com
Rathimeena Travels
Parveen Travels
KPN Travels
Ravibala Roadways
Redbus.in
Ticketkaran.in
Realindia.in
kumarionline.com

To Book Train Tickets from and to Chennai:
Please try out the following links..
IRCTC

IDM-Download at Ease

I am using this download manager for the past 3 years..i have tried different download managers and came back to IDM finally..Its the best download software available in the market..
Internet Download Manager is an intelligent download manager which loads files at five times the normal rate.

The software has a user-friendly interface, simply copy the download URL to the clipboard of the tool and it starts work. The tool is also capable of picking up interrupted processes where it left off. It also supports the segmenting function, all current browsers and server types and will not be confused by firewalls.

In this new version the developers integrated an FLV grabber. Sou you can for example download video files from YouTube.

To download this stuff,please click here
(iamansar.blogspot.com is not responsible for the content of this description. We encourage you to determine whether this product or your intended use is legal. We do not encourage or condone the use of any software in violation of applicable laws)

Nokia PC Suite Cleaner 3.6

If you are using Nokia cellphones and Nokia PcSuite software then this stuff will really help you out for various reasons..
Nokia PC Suite Cleaner will remove any data that is left on your computer after having uninstalled the Nokia PC Suite.
This freeware program will help you with any possible problems that may come with uninstalling the Nokia PC Suite. You can choose your type of problem from a drop-down menu during the installation and then the Cleaner will take care of it.

License:

Freeware

Operating systems:

Win XP/Win 2000

File size:

1.2MB

To download this free utility,please click here

(iamansar.blogspot.com is not responsible for the content of this description. We encourage you to determine whether this product or your intended use is legal. We do not encourage or condone the use of any software in violation of applicable laws)

Amazing Video Software For You..

VirtualDub is a free Video Capture and Video Editing software. With this free download it is possible to work with large files, including those over 4GB.

VirtualDub also provides the user with the possibility of splitting the Audio and Video of a movie and much more, like video- and audiofilters. You can also
capture videos from several video devices onto your system. For example your TV-card or webcam.
Virtual dub is one of the best known video-editing-programms and it's free.
There´s a 64-Bit version at the author's homepage, too.
Features of VirtualDub:
- Fractional frame rates. Don't settle for 29 or 30 when you want 29.97
- Optimized disk access for more consistent hard disk usage
- Create AVI2 (OpenDML) files to break the AVI 2GB barrier and multiple
files to break the FAT32 4GB limit
- Integrated volume meter and histogram for input level monitoring
- Real-time downsizing, noise reduction, and field swapping
- Verbose monitoring, including compression levels, CPU usage, and free disk
space
- Access hidden video formats your capture card may support but not have a
setting for, such as 352x480
- Keyboard and mouse shortcuts for faster operation. To capture, just hit F6.
- Clean interface layout: caption, menu bar, info panel, status bar.
- Reads and writes AVI2 (OpenDML) and multi-segment AVI clips.

click here for download
(iamansar.blogspot.com is not responsible for the content of this description. We encourage you to determine whether this product or your intended use is legal. We do not encourage or condone the use of any software in violation of applicable laws)