Change How Often System Restore Creates Restore Points in Windows Vista

System Restore is one essential feature in Vista which have helped recover many of us from critical problems. There are lots of cases where System Restore has miserably failed.

Instead of going into pros and cons of System Restore, here we are talking about how often System Restore creates restore points in windows vista.

No matter how big your Harddisk is, System Restore may create too many restore points hogging the space on your precious Harddisk.

To know about it in depth along with procedure, visit here (Source)

Cannot play video files in Vista - Solution

If you have the codecs installed and are still not to play videos in Vista or get errors like -

Media Player encountered a problem

or VLC plays only audio and not video, here is a solution for your problem (assuming you have VLC installed)-

1) Open VLC player
2) Click Settings > Preferences

3) Expand the “Video menu”
4) Highlight “Output Modules” ( by Clicking on it )
5) Located bottom right of the window, click “Advanced Options”

6) Under “Video OutPut Module” Select either one of the following options ( If one fails, try the other )
DirectX Video OutPut
Windows GDI Video OutPut (I had best luck with this)

Note that Default is usually the best option, so this is only to be changed if you have problems.

7) If these fail, you can try Dummy Video OutPut Function, or even one of the others.

SOURCE

RapidTyping Typing Tutor 1.9.8.9



This free program help you learn quick and blind keyboard printing.

Program benefits:

* Training statistics
* Keyboard emulation
* Uses the simple and colorful interface
* Personal exercises creation
* Free lessons choice
* Multiple Users Support
* Game plot
* Main lessons is in all languages

Download Here
SIZE: 957KB

Synchronize Google Calendar with Outlook

If you have created lots of entries, appointments, events, etc. in your Outlook and want it to be available online as well with least hassles, check out the new tool from google.

Download the tool from Google site and install it. Set the sync. options and done!!! It is an awesome tool and really helpful. I have been using it for sometime now and havent faced any problem as yet.

So go ahead and try it out.

Info about Google Calendar Sync -

Google Calendar Sync allows you to sync events between Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar. You'll be able to determine the direction of information flow, as well as the sync frequency. Staying on top of your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar events has never been easier!

Keep in mind that it's not possible to sync events on secondary calendars at this time. Google Calendar Sync will only sync events from your primary Google Calendar and your default Microsoft Outlook calendar.

Synchronize HTC in Vista

If you are having problems synchronizing your HTC (WM6) phone with Vista using Activesync, here is a simple solution for you.

Activesync does not work with Vista and WMDC does not seem to help you. Well you can check the CD that came with your HTC phone (my reference cell is HTC Touch GSM). Install the WMDC drivers from the WMDC folder on the CD. After that restart your system.

Now plugin your HTC and follow the on screen instructions. It is very easy to setup synchronization this day rather than using 3rd party softwares.

Defragment Vista faster

Power Defragmenter 2.0.125



The never-ending two-step defragmenting process of Vista can soon become a thing of the past. With certain tools, it is possible to cut defragmentation time of 25 GBs of files with Vista Ultimate from 82 minutes to 6 minutes!!! That is defragmenting 10X faster than the built-in Vista defragmenter!

Download Here (Softpedia)
or Here (Softpedia)
SIZE: 473KB

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1

Internet Explorer 8 takes the Web experience beyond the page and introduces a new way to seamlessly experience the power of the Web whether you are a Web developer writing to standards, or an end user discovering a new online service. This beta release is available to everyone, but is primarily for Web developers and designers to test the new tools, layout engine, and programming enhancements. When not developing your web site, you can click the Emulate IE7 button in the command bar to browse the web like you did in IE7.
Visit the Internet Explorer website to learn more about how Internet Explorer 8 puts the Web at Your Service.

This beta release is not supported by Microsoft Support Services. Visit the Internet Explorer Newsgroup to discuss Internet Explorer Beta 1 with other users.

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1 -

Download Here (Vista)
SIZE: ~11MB

Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP Service Pack 2 -

Download Here (XP)
SIZE: ~14.43MB

Will I be switching over to IE 8 Beta 1 - Definitely NO. With Firefox 3 Beta 3 around and not much incentive to switch over to IE 8 Beta 1, I dont see myself using it in near future atleast.