Want to take a trip down memory lane with old school DOS games?? D-Fend Reloaded makes it easy for you to play your favorite DOS games directly on XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

D-Fend Reloaded is a great frontend for DOSBox, the popular DOS emulator.? It lets you install and run many DOS games and applications directly from its interface without ever touching a DOS prompt.? It works great on XP, Vista, and Windows 7 32 & 64-bit versions.??

Getting Started

Download D-Fend Reloaded (link below), and install with the default settings.? You don’t need to install DOSBox, as D-Fend Reloaded will automatically install all the components you need to run DOS games on Windows.

D-Fend Reloaded can also be installed as a portable application, so you can run it from a flash drive on any Windows computer by selecting User defined installation.

Then select Portable mode installation.

Once D-Fend Reloaded is installed, you can go ahead and open the program. Then simply click “Accept all settings” to apply the default settings.

?

D-Fend is now ready to run all of your favorite DOS games.

Installing DOS Games and Applications:

To install a DOS game or application, simply drag-and-drop a zip file of the app into D-Fend Reloaded’s window.? D-Fend Reloaded will automatically extract the program…

Then will ask you to name the application and choose where to store it — by default it uses the name of the DOS app.

Now you’ll see a new entry for the app you just installed.? Simply double-click to run it.

?

D-Fend will remind you that you can switch out of fullscreen mode by pressing Alt+Enter, and can also close the DOS application by pressing Ctrl+F9.? Press Ok to run the program.

Here we’re running Ms. PacPC, a remake of the classic game Ms. Pac-Man, in full-screen mode.? All features work automatically, including sound, and you never have to setup anything from DOS command line — it just works.

Here it’s in windowed mode running on Windows 7.

Please note that your color scheme may change to Windows Basic while running DOS applications.

You can run DOS application just as easily.? Here’s Word 5.5 running in in DOSBox through D-Fend Reloaded…

Game Packs:

Want to quickly install many old DOS freeware and trial games?? D-Fend Reloaded offers several game packs that let you install dozens of DOS games with only four clicks…just download and run the game pack installer of your choice (link below).

Now you’ve got a selection of DOS games to choose from.

Here’s a group of poor lemmings walking around … in Windows 7.

Conclusion

D-Fend Reloaded gives you a great way to run your favorite DOS games and applications directly from XP, Vista, and Windows 7.? Give it a try, and relive your DOS days from the comfort of your Windows desktop.

What were some of your favorite DOS games and applications? Leave a comment and let us know.

Links

Download D-Fend Reloaded

Download DOS game packs for D-Fend Reloaded

Download Ms. Pac-PC

• 0 Comments

Do you have a webpage that needs to be reloaded every so often or perhaps you have multiple webpages that each need their own individual reload time? Now you can have the best of both with the AutoReloader extension for Google Chrome.

Using AutoReloader

When you first look at the drop-down window everything will be in a neutral “waiting” state. You can start using the extension immediately by simply entering the desired “time frame” for reloading a webpage. Notice for the “Repeat Option” that “0 = Continuous”…

You may want to have a quick look through the “Options” to see if there are any “operational changes” that you would like to make.

Once you enter a time click on the “Set Link” to start the timer.

Notice that you can view the time remaining on the “Toolbar Button” unless you disabled the feature in the “Options”.

Clicking on the “Toolbar Button” will show a larger version of the timer in the drop-down window along with a “Cancel Current Timer Link”.

Here is the best part of all with AutoReloader…you can set up your own customized list of “Reload Times” and then access them through the drop-down window. Using the two times shown here we were able to set the “Productive Geek Webpage” up for 30 second reloads and the “TinyHacker Webpage” up for 1 minute reloads at the same time. There was no conflict whatsoever in running both “reload times” simultaneously. This is a really terrific feature!

Conclusion

Whether you have only one webpage or multiple pages that need periodic reloading (such as tracking a Woot-Off or an Ebay auction) the AutoReloader extension is the perfect tool for the job. Running custom reload times simultaneously have never been easier.

Links

Download the AutoReloader extension (Google Chrome Extensions)

• 0 Comments

The default balloon tooltip in Firefox does well at times but then there are instances when a person finds that more information would be much better. The Tooltip Plus extension for Firefox will give your browser that nice extra information boost.

Before & After

For our example we have placed the “before & after shots” together for better comparison. First off we started with the How-To Geek logo.

Note: Does not display the original URL behind shortened URLs.

Next we moved on to a permanently linked article title.

The “Reviews Tab” in the How-To Geek website toolbar.

The article tags listing just beneath the HTG website toolbar.

And the link for subscribing to our RSS Feed. In each instance you could actually see the address behind the links.

The Tooltip Plus extension will also help out with images in webpages (including “Alt Text” if present). Notice that the link for the image is now available for you to view.

Options

The options are extremely simple to work with. Decide if you want a document icon to display, the size of the icon, and if you would like “Alt Text” for images to be displayed or not.

Conclusion

The Tooltip Plus extension does one thing and does it very well…it gives you that extra bit of information when you need it.

Links

Download the Tooltip Plus extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

• 0 Comments

Are you looking for a way to take the music videos you watch on YouTube and convert them to MP3? Today we take a look at an easy way to convert those YouTube videos to MP3 for free with YouTube Downloader.

The YouTube Downloader functions in two steps. First, it downloads the video from YouTube in MP4 format, and then allows you to convert that MP4 file to MP3.

Note: It also supports conversion conversion to some other formats such as AVI video, MOV, iPhone, PSP, 3GP, and WMV. ?

Installation and usage

Download and Install YouTube Downloader. (See download link below)

Open the YouTube Downloader by clicking on the desktop icon.

Find a YouTube video you’d like to convert to MP3 and copy the URL.

Paste the URL into the “Enter video URL” text box in YouTube Downloader. When you hover your mouse over the text box, the text box will auto-fill with the URL from your clipboard.

Select the “Download video from YouTube” radio button and click “Ok.”

Choose a folder to location to download your YouTube video and click “Save.” The video is downloaded in MP4 format.

Now wait while the video is downloaded to your hard drive.

?

Select the “Convert video (previously downloaded) from file” radio button.

Click the (…) button to the right of the “Select video file” text box to browse for and select the MP4 file you just downloaded.

Then select “MPEG Audio Layer (MP3) from the “Convert to” drop down list.

Select “OK” to begin the conversion.

Choose the conversion quality by moving the slider to the right or left. The options are: Low (96kbps bite rate), Medium (128kbps bit rate), Optimal (192kbps bit rate), and High 256kbps bit rate). Here you can select the output volume as well. Click “OK” when finished.

If there is a portion of the beginning or end of the video that you wish to cut out of the MP3, select the “Cut video” check box and choose a Start and End time. Click “OK” when finished. Note: The start and end time represent the audio portion of the MP3 you wish to keep. All portions before and after these times will be cut.

?

The conversion process will begin and should only take a few moments. Times will vary depending on the size of the video you’re converting.

Conversion was successful!

The MP3 you converted will be in the same directory you downloaded the video to.

Now you’re ready to listen to your MP3 or import it to your Zune, iTunes, or music library. You may also want to delete the MP4 files after the conversion if you will no longer need them.

Conclusion

YouTube Downloader features a very simple interface that’s user friendly and easy to use. It comes in handy when you watch videos that look horrible, but the sound quality is good. Or if you just need to hear the audio of something posted and don’t need the video. It also allows you to download from Google Video, MySpace, and others.

Download YouTube Downloader

• 0 Comments

A cool feature in Windows 7 Media Center is the ability to listen to local FM radio. But what if you don’t have a tuner card that supports a connected radio antenna? The RadioTime plugin solves the problem by allowing access to thousands of online radio stations.

With the RadioTime plugin for Windows Media Center, you’ll have access to over 100,000 online radio stations from around the world. Their guide is broken down into different categories such as Talk Radio, Music Radio, Sports Radio and more. It’s completely free, but does require registration to save preset stations.

RadioTime

It works with Media Center in XP, Vista, and Windows 7 (which we’re demonstrating here). When installing it for Windows 7, make sure to click the Installer link below the “Get It Now – Free” button as the installer works best for the new OS.

Installation is extremely quick and easy…

Now when you open Windows 7 Media Center you’ll find it located in the Extras category from the main menu.

After you launch it, you’re presented with the RadioTime guide where you can browse through the different categories of stations. Your shown various station suggestions each time you start it up.

The main categories are broken down further so you can find the right genre of the music your looking for.

?

World Radio offers you stations from all over the world categorized into different regions.

RadioTime does support local stations via an FM tuner, but if you don’t have one, you can still access local stations provided they broadcast online. One thing about listening to your local stations online is the audio quality may not be as good as if you had a tuner connected.

It provides information on most of the online stations. For example here we look at Minnesota Public Radio info and you get a schedule of when certain programs are on.

Then get even more information about the topics on the shows.

To use the Presets option you’ll need to log into your RadioTime account, or if you don’t have one just click on the link to create a free one.

?

Creating a free account is simple and basic on their site. You aren’t required to have an account to use the RadioTime plugin, it’s only if you want the additional benefits.

Conclusion

For this article we only tried it with Windows 7 Media Center, and sometimes the interface felt clunky when moving quickly through menus. Also, there isn’t a search feature from within Media Center, however, you can search stations from their site and add them to your presets.

Despite a few shortcomings, this is a very cool way to get access to thousands of online radio stations through Windows Media Center. If you’re looking for a way to access thousands of radio stations through WMC, you might want to give RadioTime a try.

Download RadioTime for Windows Media Center

• 0 Comments

Want to try out mobile websites designed for the iPhone and other mobile devices on your PC?? Safari 4 for Windows lets you do this easily with their developer tools.

By default, Safari will show standard desktop websites.? But by making a simple change, you can switch it to work like Safari Mobile on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Getting Started

First make sure you have Safari 4 for Windows installed.? You can download Safari directly (link below) and install it as usual.

?

Or if you already have another Apple program installed, such as QuickTime or iTunes, then you can install it from Apple Software update.? Simply enter apple software update in the Start menu search box.

And then select Safari 4 from the list of new software available.? Click Install to automatically download and install Safari.

Accept the license Agreement, and then Safari will automatically install.

Once this is finished, Safari will be ready to use.

View Mobile Sites in Safari

First, we need to enable the developer tools.? Click the gear icon on the toolbar, and select Preferences.

Click the Advanced tab, and then check the box that says “Show Develop menu in menu bar”.

Once you’ve closed your settings box, click the page icon, select Develop, then User Agent, and then choose one of the Mobile Safari settings.? In our test we chose Mobile Safari 3.1.2 – iPhone.

To make your browser emulate a mobile device better, you can hide the bookmarks and tab bar to have a more streamlined interface.

Click the Gear icon, and select “Hide Bookmarks Bar”, and then repeat and click “Hide Tab Bar”.

You can also shrink your window to be closer to the size of a mobile device screen.? Once you’ve done these things, Safari should look similar to this screenshot.? Here we have loaded Google.com, and you can see it in its iPhone-style interface.

Simply enter any website into the address bar, and it will load in its mobile interface if it has one.? Here is Google’s other mobile offerings, right inside Windows.

Gmail loads messages with the default iPhone interface.

One especially interesting mobile site is Apple’s online iPhone User Guide.? When loaded in Safari with the iPhone setting, it loads with a very nice mobile UI that works just like an iPhone app.? In fact, you can even click and drag to scroll, just like you would with your finger on an iPhone.

Conclusion

Even if you do not have a Smartphone, you can still preview what websites will look like on them with this trick. Not all sites will work of course, but it’s fun to play around with different sites that have mobile versions.

Links:

Safari 4 Download

Apple iPhone online user guide

• 0 Comments

Are you tired of items like the Chat and Invite Boxes cluttering up your Gmail account? Then join us as we look at the Better Gmail extension for Google Chrome.

Before

Here are some examples of items that you may be tired of looking at in your Gmail account such as the “Footer” below your “Inbox”, the “Chat Box”, and the “Invitation Box”.

Perhaps you would also like to have the “New Window, Print all, & Create a document Commands” moved elsewhere. And of course there is everyone’s “favorite” sponsored links… Time to do some cleaning up and reorganizing.

Better Gmail in Action

As soon as you have installed Better Gmail a new tab will automatically open and present you with the available options. Place a “checkmark” in the box for each option that you would like activated and click on “Save” when finished.

Note: The final option entry is a tie-in with two other “linked” extensions (Folders4Gmail & HTML Signature) while the middle listing is a link to an article for disabling Google Buzz.

Once you have saved your changes in the “Options” you will be prompted to refresh your Gmail tab to see the changes.

Going back to our “Inbox Area” everything looks so much more streamlined and clean now. Goodbye clutter!

The “New Window, Print all, & Create a document Commands” definitely look a lot nicer as a small toolbar above our e-mail. And the right side…you can see for yourself just how much better that looks. No more distractions there to bother you as you read your e-mail.

Conclusion

If you have been wanting to get rid of the undesirable elements visible in your Gmail account then hurry over to the Better Gmail page, grab the extension and enjoy the better view.

Links

Download the Better Gmail extension (Google Chrome Extensions)

• 0 Comments

We’ve shared some of our best tips for dealing with malware over the years, and now it’s your turn! Share your favorite tips for protecting against, or getting rid of viruses and other types of malicious software.

Unfortunately, if you’re a PC user it’s a given that you have to play defense against various forms of Malware. We’ve written several articles showing how to get rid of viruses and other forms of malware over the years using various strategies.

We have some excellent articles explaining how to get rid of Advanced Virus Remover, Antivirus Live, Internet Security 2010, and Security Tool – all of which disguise themselves as legit antivirus apps.

Now we turn it over to you to share your favorite tips and tricks for defending against malicious infections. If your computer has been infected, what steps did you take to get rid of it and clean up your machine?

Leave a comment below and join in the discussion!

• 0 Comments

We’ve shared some of our best tips for dealing with malware over the years, and now it’s your turn! Share your favorite tips for protecting against, or getting rid of viruses and other types of malicious software.

Unfortunately, if you’re a PC user it’s a given that you have to play defense against various forms of Malware. We’ve written several articles showing how to get rid of viruses and other forms of malware over the years using various strategies.

We have some excellent articles explaining how to get rid of Advanced Virus Remover, Antivirus Live, Internet Security 2010, and Security Tool – all of which disguise themselves as legit antivirus apps.

Now we turn it over to you to share your favorite tips and tricks for defending against malicious infections. If your computer has been infected, what steps did you take to get rid of it and clean up your machine?

Leave a comment below and join in the discussion!

• 0 Comments

If your computer crashes or you get a virus infection that makes it unrecoverable, doing a clean install can be a hassle, let alone getting your data back. If you’re backing up your computers to Windows Home Server, you can completely restore them to the last successful backup.

Note: For this process to work you need to verify the PC you want to restore is connected to your network via Ethernet. If you have it connected wirelessly it won’t work.

Restore a PC from Windows Home Server

On the computer you want to restore, pop in the Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore disc and boot from it. If you don’t have one already made, you can easily make one following these instructions. We have also included the link to the restore disc below.

Boot from the CD then select if your machine has 512MB or RAM or more.

The disc will initialize…

Then choose your language and keyboard settings.

Hopefully if everything goes correctly, your network card will be detected and you can continue. However, if it doesn’t like in our example, click on the Show Details button.

In the Detect Hardware screen click on the Install Drivers button.

Now you will need to have a USB flash drive with the correct drivers on it. It has to be a flash drive or a floppy (if you happen to still have one of those) because you can’t take out the Restore CD.

If you want to make sure you have the correct drivers on the USB flash drive, open the Windows Home Server Console on another computer on your network. In the Computers and Backup section right-click on the computer you want to restore and select View Backups.

Select the backup you want to restore from and click the Open button in the Restore or view Files section.

Now drag the entire contents of the folder named Windows Home Server Drivers for Restore to the USB flash drive.

Back to the machine you’re trying to restore, insert the USB flash drive with the correct drivers and click the Scan button.

Wait a few moments while the drivers are found then click Ok then Continue.

?

The Restore Computer Wizard starts up…

Enter in your home server password and click Next.

Select the computer you want to restore. If it isn’t selected by default you can pull it up from the dropdown list under Another Computer. Make certain you’re selecting the correct machine.

Now select the backup you want to restore. In this example we only have one but chances are you’ll have several.

If you have several backups to choose from, you might want to check out the details for them.

Now you can select the disk from backup and and restore it to the destination volume. You might need to initialize a disk, change a drive letter, or other disk management tasks, if so, then click on Run Disk Manger.

For example we want to change the destination drive letter to (C:).

?

After you’ve made all the changes to the destination disk you can continue with the restore process.

If everything looks correct, confirm the restore configuration. If you need to make any changes at this point, you can still go back and make them.

Now Windows Home Server will restore your drive. The amount of time it takes will vary depend on the amount of data you have to restore, network connection speed, and hardware.

You are notified when the restore successfully completes. Click Finish and the PC will reboot and be restored and should be working correctly. All the updates, programs, and files will be back that were saved to the last successful backup. Anything you might have installed after that backup will be gone. If you have your computers set to backup every night, then hopefully it won’t be a big issue.

?

Conclusion

Backing up the computers on your network to Windows Home Server is a valuable tool in your backup strategy. Sometimes you may only need to restore a couple files and we’ve covered how to restore them from backups on WHS and that works really well. If the unthinkable happens and you need to restore the entire computer, WHS makes that easy too.?

Download Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore CD

• 0 Comments