Easily Transfer Emails from Hotmail to Gmail Via Outlook Connector

Your geek friends have convinced you to make that switch from Windows Live Hotmail to Gmail but the problem is how to move old Hotmail email messages and folders to the new Gmail address ? Hotmail doesn’t support IMAP or POP3 and it will take years to manually forward individual emails from Hotmail to Gmail.

No worries, there’s a wonderful solution that costs $0 and comes from Microsoft itself - its the Office Outlook connector and works with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

Here’s a step by step guide on moving emails from Hotmail to Gmail via Outlook:

1. Install the Outlook connector and then configure your MSN Hotmail / Windows Live Hotmail accounts with Outlook.

2. Once you have all your Hotmail email message available locally inside Outlook, configure Gmail IMAP access inside Outlook.

3. Now copy or just drag-n-drop the Hotmail folders (downloaded in Step 1) over your Gmail Inbox folder in Outlook. Its the same migration procedure as described in a previous tutorial - Backup Outlook Email to Gmail.

As your Outlook synchronizes with Gmail, all your Hotmail messages will become available inside Gmail as well. And if you have multiple Hotmail accounts, this trick will help you consolidate email messages from all those account at one place.

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Windows XP SP3 RC Now on Microsoft Download Center

Microsoft has just added the Windows XP Service Pack 3 (release candidate) installer to their download website.

This Windows XP SP3 installer weighs around 336 MB and includes all patches, bug fixes and security updates ever released by Microsoft since the launch of Windows XP OS.

Nothing major introduced in XP SP3 but there’s a new activation scheme which will not require a product key during XP installation on a new machine.

And unlike XP SP1 or SP2, you can easily uninstall XP SP3 from your PC using the Add Remove programs module.

Release notes for XP SP3 | Download Link [windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu.exe]

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Bill Gates CES Keynote 2008

One of my favorite events of the year is the Bill Gates Keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). That’s typically where he shows off gadgets that many of us know are like 20+ years away, but it’s cool to watch nonetheless. One such example is the technologically advanced bedroom that Gates demonstrated at CES 2007, which is pictured above.

Bill Gates’ CES 2008 Keynote will take place on Sunday, January 6th at 6:30PM Pacific Time. Like always Microsoft streams the event over the Internet so that those of us unable to attend are still able to watch it live. You need to have Windows Media Player to watch it, and here are the streams sorted with the best quality (a.k.a. most bandwidth intensive) first:

• 750K Stream


• 300K Stream


• 100K Stream

What do you think we’ll see at the keynote this year? I’m guessing there will definitely be some mention of Vista SP1, Xbox 360, new Zunes, and Windows Home Server. We’ll recap what happened first thing Monday morning.

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Opera Software files complaint over Microsoft browser

Opera Software has filed a legal complaint to the European Commission against Microsoft over the companies web browser and how it is packaged with the operating system. As you may or may not have noticed, the Internet Explorer browser that comes with the Windows operating system has become part of the OS, and can’t really be removed or uninstalled. Because of this Opera Software is complaining that the tie Microsoft has between the OS and its IE browser is illegal since it does not give competing browsers a chance on the highly dominate Windows OS. Opera is also saying that Microsoft is hindering interoperability by not following the commonly accepted web standards.

Opera is asking that Microsoft be forced to “unbundle” their web browser and operating system allowing other browsers, such as Opera’s, to be able to compete more fairly. They are also asking that Microsoft adhere to common Web standards so that developers creating hosted applications and web sites do not allow or need specific code written for viewing on Internet Explorer compared to other browsers.




This complaint is the first against Microsoft since the EU upheld the ruling in September that Microsoft had breached EU monopoly laws and should give competing products an fair chance on the Windows operating system.

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Export and Backup All Emails from Outlook to Your Gmail Account

Sachin writes - “I have few thousand email messages inside Microsoft Outlook (a pst file) organized in various folders. I know it is possible to download emails from Gmail to Outlook using POP3 or IMAP but is the reverse path possible.

Sachin is looking for a trick to archive all Outlook email messages (and folders) to his online Gmail account for two reasons - one is secure backup and two, he will be able to access his old emails from any computer.

Solution: It is quite easy to transfer Outlook emails to your Gmail mailbox. Here’s a step by step guide:

Step 1: Enable IMAP in your Gmail account and then configure Outlook (or Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail) to sync with your Gmail address via IMAP. Read this guide.

Step 2: Import your Outlook PST file into a Personal folder that is different from your default Gmail Inbox.

To import, click File -> Import And Export -> Import from another program or file. -> Next -> Personal Folder File (.pst) -> Next.

Select the PST file that contains your email, then pick the email folders that you want to import in Outlook and click Finish.

Step 3: Select the Personal folders that you want to backup online and copy them your Gmail Folder in Outlook (see screenshot).

In the Folder List, right-click the folder you want to copy and click Copy Folder name. Click the Gmail Folder in Outlook to copy that folder in that location. You can repeat the steps as needed for other folders.

That’s it. Your Outlook email will soon become available inside your online Gmail Inbox.

Caution: The migration from Outlook to Gmail can take a long time if you have very large Outlook pst file or if your internet connection speed is slow. Therefore, consider removing all large emails before moving them to your Gmail via IMAP.

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PowerPoint Presentations: Tips To Avoid Last Minute Surprises

The PowerPoint tips featured here are not about creating better or more effective presentations, instead they help you avoid any last minute surprises that may crop up when an eager audience is waiting to see your slide show. *They are all based on my personal experiences at a recent BarCamp. Tip 1: Put the PPT files on a USB Drive Yes, there’s box.net, slideshare.net and tons of other PowerPoint hosting services where you can upload your PPT files but I still recommend carrying files on a USB drive because there are chances that Internet may be very slow (or unavailable) in the presentation room. With files on the USB stick, you are always in control. Tip 2: Use Arial or Times New Roman Font The default fonts in Office 2007 programs are Calibri, Corbel, Cambria, etc but unfortunately these fonts are not available on computers running older version of \icrosoft Office. If you want the presentations to look the same in the conference room as on your laptop, use fonts like Arial or Times New Roman which are universally available. Tip 3: Always Carry the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer You have designed a great presentation using the latest PowerPoint 2007 but it possible that the computer, where you will run the presentation, is running an ancient copy of PowerPoint 2000. In that case, your presentation will fail to run. not run at all. Download the free Powerpoint 2007 Viewer, transfer it your USB drive and be rest assured that your slide show will be play just perfect on any Windows computer. Tip 4: Print a PDF of your PowerPoint Presentation You can use Acrobat or the Save as PDF plugin of Microsoft Office 2007 to convert your PPT into a read only PDF file. Some members in the audience will always ask you for a copy of the Presentation slides and if you are not too happy in giving away the source file, PDF is a great alternative - it also maintains the layout, transitions and even the fonts. Tip 5: Take Care of Margins If the display properties of your computer do not match that of the projector, chances are that the presentation slides will be cut off at the edges - to avoid this, designate a margin safe area when designing presentations and limit your text or graphics to that area.

Tip 6: Some Presentation Rooms Can Be Very Big Do not use small fonts as that will make your slides unreadable especially for back-benchers when the room size is large. The minimum recommended font size in PPT slides is around 24-points (more for headings). Tip 7: Screensavers, IMs, New Email Notifications Turn Off all these distractions before running the slideshow - they can sometimes be very embarrassing. Tip 8: Power Management Some computers (especially laptops) turn off the screen after 5-10 minutes of inactivity. Always turn off this feature using the Power management console. PowerPoint Troubleshooting Tips: (a) If the computer is not recognizing the USB drive, make sure the necessary Windows service is running. (b) If you are doing an FTP transfer of the PPT file from your web server and it is turning out to be junk, chances are that the transfer is in ASCII mode. Type “bi” on the FTP prompt to initiate a Binary transfer. Thanks guys. Related: Reduce Size of PowerPoint Files

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New Standard Format For Microsoft HD Photo - JPEG XR

The international working group of ISO/IEC, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) has announced an approval of the new standardization of Microsoft’s HD Photo format which previously dubbed as Windows Media Photo, named as JPEG XR (means for “Extended Range”).


“JPEG is proving its vitality by integrating new technologies like the proposed new work item JPEG XR into the range of existing JPEG family of standards (JPEG 2000 included) and continuing to provide further options and solutions for modern networked imaging through the proposed new work item, JPEG Systems”, said Dr. Daniel Lee the convener of JPEG, and General Manager of the eBay China Development Center.

The JPEG XR is able to show an expanded range of tonal gradations, richer color palette, better compression and even more flexible in-camera editing options. Besides, it can also be immense 262 million pixels on an edge, or 68.6 terapixels total, as long as the compressed image doesn’t exceed 32GB in size.

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make windows xp genuine using notepad- much easier trick

1. Copy and paste the following code (in colour) in Notepad:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents]

"OOBETimer"=hex:ff,d5,71,d6,8b,6a,8d,6f,d5,33,93,fd

"LastWPAEventLogged"=hex:d5,07,05,00,06,00,07,00,0f,00,38,00,24,00,fd,02

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

"CurrentBuild"="1.511.1 () (Obsolete data - do not use)"

"InstallDate"=dword:427cdd95

"ProductId"="69831-640-1780577-45389"

"DigitalProductId"=hex:a4,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,36,39,38,33,31,2d,36,34,30,2d,\

31,37,38,30,35,37,37,2d,34,35,33,38,39,00,5a,00,00,00,41,32,32,2d,30,30,30,\

30,31,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0d,04,89,b2,15,1b,c4,ee,62,4f,e6,64,6f,01,00,\

00,00,00,00,27,ed,85,43,a2,20,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\

00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,31,34,35,30,34,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,ce,0e,\

00,00,12,42,15,a0,00,08,00,00,87,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\

00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,94,a2,b3,ac

"LicenseInfo"=hex:9e,bf,09,d0,3a,76,a5,27,bb,f2,da,88,58,ce,58,e9,05,6b,0b,82,\

c3,74,ab,42,0d,fb,ee,c3,ea,57,d0,9d,67,a5,3d,6e,42,0d,60,c0,1a,70,24,46,16,\

0a,0a,ce,0d,b8,27,4a,46,53,f3,17

2. Save the file with .reg extension.
3. It will ask you if you want to add it in the registry. Press "Yes"
4. Reboot your system
5. Start downloading from Microsoft

If this trick does not work , due some registry errors..... click here to use another trick

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Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1288 Beta

With MSN Messenger you can chat online instantly in real time with friends, family and colleagues. It's faster than e-mail, more discreet than a phone call.

Chat using a webcam, send text messages to mobile phones, and express yourself instantly online in real time with new, cool emoticons.

MSN Messenger looks like you! Sign in with your own picture, create your own emoticons, and represent yourself with new, cool backgrounds!

Title : Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1288 Beta
Filename : WLinstaller.exe
File size : 1.73MB (1,813,872 bytes)
Requirements : Windows XP/2003/Vista/XP64/Vista64
License : Freeware



DOWNLOAD

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How to change the Internet Explorer tiltle?

How to change the Internet Explorer tiltle?
1. start ->run-> gpedit.msc

2. choose User Configuration, Windows Settings, Internet Explorer Maintainance, Browser User Interface, and doubleclick Browser Title.

3. Activate Customize Title Bars, and type something in there. Doesn't matter what. Let's type: QWERTY. Click Okay.

4. Fire up Reg editor. (start, run, regedit)

5. goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.

6. Look for the key: Window Title. There you'll find the value: Microsoft Internet Explorer provided bt QWERTY.

7. Change this key to anythig you like and exit regedit.

8. Fire up IE and look at the titlebar!

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Performance tips for Windows XP

Everybody and their dog will tell you they know some great performance tips for Windows XP. The internet is overcrowded with them. How to tell which ones work and which are to be avoided ?

And why on earth is this yet another Windows XP tips and tricks page about performance tips for Windows XP ?

It's because there are some simple techniques that really work without compromising your system stability. And they are simple to implement, so let's get started.
1. Optimize your paging file

Windows XP uses a paging file on your hard disk to store information when the amount of available RAM memory isn't sufficient to hold all the data that is being processed. For instance, when you are working on a very large Word document that is too big to fit in your computer's RAM, Windows XP starts swapping part of it's data in and out the paging file on your hard disk.

Hard disk access is typically a lot slower than RAM access, that's why you should optimize your paging file.

* Click the Start button, right click "My Computer" and select "Properties"
* Select the "advanced" tab
* Under "Performance" click on the "Settings" button
* Again, select the "advanced" tab
* Under "Virtual Memory" click on the "Change" button

Windows will then show the available hard drives in your computer and the paging file settings for each drive. If you have more than one hard disk, you should place your paging file on another disk than the system disk (where Windows is installed).

That is to avoid contention on the disk controller when Windows is working with system files and the paging file simultaneously.

Usually the system disk is C:, so select any other disk if you have one and then check the "Custom size" radio button. Type in the same value for "Initial size" and "Maximum size", so that Windows doesn't need time to resize the paging file while you are working with your computer. Microsoft recommends about 1.5 times the amount of RAM in your computer. Click the "Set" button to commit the changes you have made.

It is possible to have multiple paging files on multiple disks, but try to avoid having a paging file on your system disk. Just select that disk and select the "No paging file" radio button.
2. Optimize display settings

A lot of performance tips for Windows XP talk about the overall sexy-ness of Windows XP and the performance price you have to pay for it. If you are working on an older computer and you care more about speed than graphical coolness of the Windows XP interface, you might want to consider toning down the graphics a bit.

* Click the Start button, right click "My Computer" and select "Properties"
* Select the "advanced" tab
* Under "Performance" click on the "Settings" button
* Click the "Visual Effects" tab
* Select the "Adjust for best performance" radio button and click ok

If this change is too radical for you, you can try experimenting with the different individual settings as well.
3. Indexing service

The indexing service is a program that indexes files on your computer to speed up search results when you perform a search. It usually wakes up and starts doing it's job when your computer is idle. That's the reason why some pc's hard disks often start making a lot of noise when nobody's working on them.

The indexing service is also mentioned in a lot of performance tips for Windows XP, because it can interfere with your work. If you don't perform a lot of file searches on your pc, you might want to disable the indexing service.

* Click on the Start button, right click "My Computer" and select "Manage"
* In the navigation tree at the left, go to the bottom and click the little "+" sign next to "services and applications"
* Select "Services"
* In the right Windows pane, scroll to "Indexing service", right click it and select "Properties"
* Make sure that "Manual" is selected from the drop-down list under "Startup type"

4. Use the NTFS file system

Performance tips for Windows XP often mention the use of the NTFS file system because it works slightly faster than the FAT32 file system. Besides the performance benefit, you will also enjoy improved stability and security in comparison with the FAT32 file system.

You can convert an existing FAT32 file system to NTFS without data loss, but always remember that older operating systems like Windows 98 cannot work with NTFS.

Proceed with care if you have more than one operating system on your pc.

* Click on the Start button, right-click "My Computer" and select "Manage"
* In the navigation pane on the left, expand "storage" and choose "Disk Management"
* The details on the right will reveal the file system details for each of your drives. Also make a note of the drive's volume name.

To convert a drive's file system :

* Click the Start button and select "Run"
* Type "convert d: /fs:ntfs" (without the quotes - replace d: with the drive letter that you want to convert) and click ok
* A dos box will open and ask for the drive's volume name
* Enter the volume name and hit the ENTER key

Windows will start the conversion to NTFS and notifies you when it is finished.

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