In May 2000, both the houses of the Indian Parliament passed the Information Technology Bill. The Bill received the assent of the President in August 2000 and came to be known as the Information Technology Act, 2000. Cyber laws are contained in the IT Act, 2000.

This Act aims to provide the legal infrastructure for e-commerce in India. And the cyber laws have a major impact for e-businesses and the new economy in India. So, it is important to understand what are the various perspectives of the IT Act, 2000 and what it offers.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 also aims to provide for the legal framework so that legal sanctity is accorded to all electronic records and other activities carried out by electronic means. The Act states that unless otherwise agreed, an acceptance of contract may be expressed by electronic means of communication and the same shall have legal validity and enforceability. Some highlights of the Act are listed below:

Chapter-II of the Act specifically stipulates that any subscriber may authenticate an electronic record by affixing his digital signature. It further states that any person can verify an electronic record by use of a public key of the subscriber.

Chapter-III of the Act details about Electronic Governance and provides inter alia amongst others that where any law provides that information or any other matter shall be in writing or in the typewritten or printed form, then, notwithstanding anything contained in such law, such requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such information or matter is -

rendered or made available in an electronic form; and
accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference

The said chapter also details the legal recognition of Digital Signatures.

Chapter-IV of the said Act gives a scheme for Regulation of Certifying Authorities. The Act envisages a Controller of Certifying Authorities who shall perform the function of exercising supervision over the activities of the Certifying Authorities as also laying down standards and conditions governing the Certifying Authorities as also specifying the various forms and content of Digital Signature Certificates. The Act recognizes the need for recognizing foreign Certifying Authorities and it further details the various provisions for the issue of license to issue Digital Signature Certificates.

Chapter-VII of the Act details about the scheme of things relating to Digital Signature Certificates. The duties of subscribers are also enshrined in the said Act.

Chapter-IX of the said Act talks about penalties and adjudication for various offences. The penalties for damage to computer, computer systems etc. has been fixed as damages by way of compensation not exceeding Rs. 1,00,00,000 to affected persons. The Act talks of appointment of any officers not below the rank of a Director to the Government of India or an equivalent officer of state government as an Adjudicating Officer who shall adjudicate whether any person has made a contravention of any of the provisions of the said Act or rules framed there under. The said Adjudicating Officer has been given the powers of a Civil Court.

Chapter-X of the Act talks of the establishment of the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal, which shall be an appellate body where appeals against the orders passed by the Adjudicating Officers, shall be preferred.

Chapter-XI of the Act talks about various offences and the said offences shall be investigated only by a Police Officer not below the rank of the Deputy Superintendent of Police. These offences include tampering with computer source documents, publishing of information, which is obscene in electronic form, and hacking.

The Act also provides for the constitution of the Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee, which shall advice the government as regards any rules, or for any other purpose connected with the said act. The said Act also proposes to amend the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891, The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 to make them in tune with the provisions of the IT Act.

Advantages of Cyber Laws
The IT Act 2000 attempts to change outdated laws and provides ways to deal with cyber crimes. We need such laws so that people can perform purchase transactions over the Net through credit cards without fear of misuse. The Act offers the much-needed legal framework so that information is not denied legal effect, validity or enforceability, solely on the ground that it is in the form of electronic records.

In view of the growth in transactions and communications carried out through electronic records, the Act seeks to empower government departments to accept filing, creating and retention of official documents in the digital format. The Act has also proposed a legal framework for the authentication and origin of electronic records / communications through digital signature.

From the perspective of e-commerce in India, the IT Act 2000 and its provisions contain many positive aspects. Firstly, the implications of these provisions for the e-businesses would be that email would now be a valid and legal form of communication in our country that can be duly produced and approved in a court of law.

Companies shall now be able to carry out electronic commerce using the legal infrastructure provided by the Act.

Digital signatures have been given legal validity and sanction in the Act.

The Act throws open the doors for the entry of corporate companies in the business of being Certifying Authorities for issuing Digital Signatures Certificates.

The Act now allows Government to issue notification on the web thus heralding e-governance.

The Act enables the companies to file any form, application or any other document with any office, authority, body or agency owned or controlled by the appropriate Government in electronic form by means of such electronic form as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

The IT Act also addresses the important issues of security, which are so critical to the success of electronic transactions. The Act has given a legal definition to the concept of secure digital signatures that would be required to have been passed through a system of a security procedure, as stipulated by the Government at a later date.

Under the IT Act, 2000, it shall now be possible for corporates to have a statutory remedy in case if anyone breaks into their computer systems or network and causes damages or copies data. The remedy provided by the Act is in the form of monetary damages, not exceeding Rs. 1 crore

A lot of friends ask me about speeding up windows. Since defragmenting the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.

1.) To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with a good hard drive with high value RAM.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, Ill post something in a few days.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if you really want the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel. You can also use some uninstalling software such as YourUnInstaller! or Revo Uninstaller to delete waste files and unwanted registry entries also.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.

14.) If you are an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks Ill post aftre some time and some of which I have already posted.

15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure you have fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that you most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable, visit blackviper . com for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks.

Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

General Keyboard Shortcuts:
CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
CTRL+A (Select all)
ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
ESC (Cancel the current task)
SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)

Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts:
CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
TAB (Move forward through the options)
SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)
ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button)
SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)
Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts:
Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)

Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts:
Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)

Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts:
END (Display the bottom of the active window)
HOME (Display the top of the active window)
NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)
LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)
RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)

Shortcut Keys for Character Map:
After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:
RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)
LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
UP ARROW (Move up one row)
DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
END (Move to the end of the line)
CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)

Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Main Window Keyboard Shortcuts:
CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
CTRL+N (Open a new console)
CTRL+S (Save the open console)
CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
CTRL+W (Open a new window)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
ALT+F4 (Close the console)
ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
ALT+V (Display the View menu)
ALT+F (Display the File menu)
ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)

MMC Console Window Keyboard Shortcuts:
CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)

Remote Desktop Connection Navigation:
CTRL+ALT+END (Open the Microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box)
ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)
ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)
ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)
ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)

Microsoft Internet Explorer Navigation:
CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)
CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)
CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)
CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
CTRL+W (Close the current window)

Function Keys:
F1 key (Display Help)
F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
F5 key (Update the active window)
F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)

1) Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device. For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself. If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.
Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.
Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as ‘IRQ holder for PCI steering’. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.
Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).
When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.
To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2) Bad RAM

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.
But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.
One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.
Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.
EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3) BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.
Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.
A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer’s display.
Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to ‘yes’ to allow Windows to do this.).

4) Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter
This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.
The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.
Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk
Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5) Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings
Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager
Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.
If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.
The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics
Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).
Look up your video card’s manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6) Viruses, Trojans and Worms

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs
Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.
A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

7) Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.
Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer’s performance.
If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer’s default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 ) Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.
The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Registry Cleaners to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. Refer my older posts. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.
Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don’t do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system.
Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message “Starting Windows” press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.
Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.
Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn’t work.
Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9) Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.
One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www . computernerd . com or www . coolit . com
CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10) Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.
If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.
It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

What is PTC?

Paid To Click Or PTC is an online business where a site pays a certain amount of money to its users for clicking advertisements shown by them. Paid to Click (PTC) is one of the most popular money earning programs on the Internet and is completely free. It has made a lot of online users since it had started its business.The basic work of PTC is just sign-up and start clicking ads which the hosting site provides you.
Once the PTC got popular, lots of PTC sites emerged, but maximum of them turned out to be a scam, generally wasting valuable time and energy of people like you and me who want to earn money online. There has been a lot of PTC sites emerging around the world everyday and maximum of them are scam.

What is Scam?

Its a very simple thing that is faking, cheating a person. But many of them are trustworthy and they really pay. Due to huge number of scammers the belief about PTC sites has changed and each and every PTC sites is recognized as a SCAM. But its not the truth. Since every PTC site is considered as scam that’s why it has become very hard for the PTC site owner to bring back the trust in everybody. Ara-Bux is one the trusted PTC site on which everybody can rely on. But don’t just go around and start singing up for every PTC site because there will be a huge chance for you to be cheated by a fraud PTC site.
One cant grab a big Pile of money in 1 day. There are some websites that will give you some money, others that will give you a lot of money (if used properly in a long term), and of course there are loads of websites that won’t give you any money at all, and require you to invest money, time, and efforts. And of couse a lot of them are SCAMS.
When I started , I signed up for more than 50 sites. Gradually, I found many of them to be non-paying or fraud and currently left with 2 non-scam, honest sites, as one of them have paid me (around US $12) and the other is on the verge of payment.

I am here to help people that want to earn real money from the internet, and provide them with honest reviews on all different kind of websites, which are here to stay, to help people, and inform everyone so everyone can know what path to follow.
How To Spot The Scam Sites:-

1. Avoid Sites with Free Hosts and Free Domains
A lot of new site pop up with a free hosts like webspacemania, 000webhost etc. and free domains like websitename.co.cc, websitename.tk, websitename.co.nr etc. All such sites should be avoided.
Reason: When the owner can’t invest a few bucks in getting a good Hosting and a good Domain Name, how do you expect such a person to pay you for a long time.
Best Example: ExcellentBux which started off with a free host and ultimately turned out a scam.

2. Avoid Sites with the Default Design
Every script has their own default design. For example: YourOwnBux scripts have a white layout and adbux scripts have a greyish layout and so on and on and on.
Reason: If a user doesn’t have his own creativity to get a good design or at least cannot pay someone to make his site unique, what confirmation do you get to say that they will pay you for a long while.
Best Example: 5Buxs.cn, still the same old YOB script and design and yet a scam.

3. No Forum? No Support? Not Trusted!!!
A new PTC doesn’t have a forum or any other means of Support System other than the contact page? Such sites are least trusted.
Reason: This clearly states that the owner doesn’t want to interact with his users and attend to their technical/any kind of problem with their site, you can never expect him/her to be hanging around for a long while. And you will have the least chances of getting paid.
Best Example: 5Buxs.cn, no forum, no news, no payments.

4. Bugs Found? No Improvement? No Payment.
Generally pre-made scripts like the Bux.to clone and YourOwnBux has built in bugs in them. Found any bug in the script, the most found bug Referral Bug. Verify it with someone who has already signed up before you. If the site has a referral bug, you can try your luck.
Reason: When the site owner can’t fix a small bug or can’t hire a coder to fix a minor bug, how can he afford to pay its users or fix a Payment Bug or Referral Purchase Bug. Ultimately you will be the loser.

5. Default TOS/FAQ/Privacy Policy, Default Payments = No Payments.
Read the TOS/FAQ/Privacy Policy before joining a site. Scams generally don’t update them since they are lazy. You should avoid them.
Reason: A lazy owner who doesn’t update a few details will surely be lazy to pay the site’s users or add referrals or premium membership or respond to a Support Ticket. So, what is it now? A scam.

6. The Figures, Do they add up?
Sustainability in a site is a key factor in the success or failure of a PTC site. Without the ability for the site to be sustainable on the sale of advertising alone, the site is classified as a Ponzi Scheme. Ponzi Schemes are programs which function based solely on the sale of upgrades and referrals, once the referrals and upgrade sales stop, the payments stop too. That is why it is key to making sure the site is sustainable.
Reason: For example if a site pays $0.01 per click then the maximum amount of money they would have to pay to people for a 1000 click ad is $20 ($10 from the person clicking plus $10 for referral clicks). If what they are selling 1,000 click ad’s for only say $8 then they are making a $12 loss per 1,000 click ad someone buys. It should be noted that sustainability through pricing applies mainly to bux-style scripts. Also it is important to know the number of the self sponsored ads. Many sites (example: 07bux) are running with 100% self sponsored ads. That means lack of advertisers and the site has to be based only on referral packs and upgrades. Aurora’s are a different and more successful business model.
Best Example: icashout

As stated earlier, in order for the site to be able to pay people, these losses must be made up elsewhere in order to create a profit. PTC sites often do this through the selling referrals and upgrades. When the sale of these run out, the payments will be delayed or in most cases, stopped, leaving the users in the cold.

Well, these are a few tips I can recommend you guys to help you avoid New Scams. More Will be added as I get them in my mind so do check back regularly. But this is doesnt mean all the other sites are legit. Since we have great example around like VelocityClicks which had all these and yet scammed. So, PTC is always a risky business its upto your decision at the end if you want to Join, Invest or Promote a New PTC site.

Scam List

This is a list of known scams that I have managed to compile from various sources and from my experience with a few of these sites. It is definitely not exhaustive. There are other sites, especially new ones, that may not have revealed their ‘true colors’ yet. So, be careful with them. And even paying sites can suddenly become non-paying sites.

Again, as a general warning:
1. PTC/PTR sites that pay high amounts per click or high payouts would not be sustainable and most likely be scams. Which advertiser would be willing to pay $1 or more per click or email?
2. Be careful with sites on free hosting. If the owner can’t afford a site, how can he pay you.
3. Dont trust scripts that are free or are easily hacked.

A couple of paying sites are Neobux and Upbux. But beware… there are hundreds of sites which are scam and wont pay you a single penny.

Windows XP was designed to be user friendly and this convenience directly attributes to it’s success. The drawback is that the more convenient something is, the more potential there might be for conflict. I like to think of it as a balancing act much like that of Newtons third law that states every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. Or the non scientific approach “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”.
Here are some general rules and guidelines a Windows XP user can use to keep the Operating System in balance without creating conflict.

1. Never Use the Internet Without Antivirus Software installed:-
This is probably the single most important rule. Never use the internet or check your e-Mail without Antivirus Software installed. Not only is it important to have a good Antivirus Software solution installed, but also make sure it’s kept up to date. Thousands of computers are infected with viruses daily. Repair shops can charge hundreds to thousands of rupees to fix an infected system. An Antivirus solution will typically run less than Rs. 750.

2. Keep Windows up to date:-
So many computer users forget to keep their Windows XP Operating System up to date. Be diligent in checking for updates to your Windows XP operating system.

3. Keep your Windows registry clean with a Registry Cleaner (As Posted Earlier):-
When you attempt to open a program-for example, your word processor-your computer queries the registry to find where the program is stored. The registry contains references to settings and values for the operating system, the programs, user profiles, document types, property sheet settings, system hardware and ports. Basically, much of what goes into or comes out of your computer is noted in the Windows registry.

4. Always use “Add or Remove Programs” to remove installed Software:-
Never just delete software or applications that are installed on your computer. The Add or Remove Programs option located in the control panel is a great feature built into Windows to detect and use Uninstaller scripts. It’s important to use the Add or Remove Programs option otherwise you can corrupt other parts of the system if they happen to be sharing any of the same files.

5. Make sure your System can handle the Upgrade:
Most software and hardware manufacturers list the system requirements to use their product. Whenever planning to do a hardware or software upgrade, always make sure your system has the necessary resources and can handle the upgrade.

Here are a few simple steps for your PC that will help improve your overall computing and internet browsing experience.

STEP 1:
Change the IE Concurrent Download Limit
Internet Explorer’s default settings only enable you to download up to two downloads at the same time. Optimizing the download settings enables you to download up to 16 files concurrently from the same server.

Method – Open registry editor (As Shown In Previous Post) and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Check the window for DWORD Value named “MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server” and give it a value of 16. Check for another DWORD called “MaxConnectionsPerServer” and give it the same value – 16.

STEP 2:
Disable Windows Indexing Service
The indexing feature consumes system resources, and may adversely affect your system’s performance. By disabling the indexing feature, you free up disk space on your computer and may improve its performance.

Method – Goto Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services. Find the Indexing Service, right click and select “Stop”.

STEP 3:
Resize your Internet Explorer Cache
The default cache settings of IE are configured to hold a large number of cached temporary Internet files. However, storing many small files on your hard disk consumes valuable disk space and can cause disk fragmentation. Reduce the maximum size of IE cache to 128MB for optimal performance.

Method – Start Internet Explorer, Select Tools -> Internet Options ->General. Under Temporary Internet Files click the Settings button and type the amount of disk space to use.

STEP 4:
Windows Menu Display Speed
Menus are displayed on your computer according to Windows’ default settings. By optimizing these settings, you speed up your computer’s ability to display (and hide) these menus.

Method – Goto Start -> Control Panel -> System. Click the Advanced tab, and under Performance, click the Settings button. Clear the “Fade or slide menus into view” check box, and then click OK.

STEP 5:
Increase Internet Speed By 20%
By default Windows XP holds back 20% of your Internet speed for various services like windows update and spyware checks.

Method – If you want to tap into this locked speed then make the following changes:
1. Go to Start-> Run-> and type gpedit.msc
2. Expand the Administrative Templates branch
3. Expand the Network tab
4. Highlight QoS Packet Scheduler
5. Click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth and check the enabled box
6. Then Change the Bandwidth limit % to 0 %

If I find anything new and useful, then I will definitely post it.

Every Microsoft OS contains a registry. The system registry holds a lot of information about the computer, which is why people say that after using their PC for a short length of time, it gets slow and no longer works the way it used to. This is due in part to invalid entries that exist in your system registry, that might exist because of software you are no longer using or software that was not properly removed. By removing these invalid entries, the performance of the PC can be significantly increased.
The most common troubles are spread throughout the PC. The softwares given below scan these places in the PC and removes all the inactive links, after you agree to it, of course. These softwares will inform you of where the errors exist, and what potential errors they might cause. These registry fixers will scan for errors related to ActiveX controls, DLL issues, Windows explorer errors, Windows installer issues, Internet Explorer errors and System32 errors, Runtime errors, Outlook and Outlook Express Errors, EXE errors, Svchost errors and a wide variety of other system issues.

Registry cleaners, or registry cleanup software, can improve the performance and reliability of computers by ridding the registry of unnecessary and fragmented files, which can reduce the need for more manual maintenance. A good registry cleaner will make a safe backup of the registry before making any changes to it. This is an important safeguard in the unlikely case that anything goes wrong during the registry cleaning operation. The software which I find useful are Tune-Up Utilities and RegistryFix.

Now, the detailed view:
Windows Registry:-
It stores settings and options for the MS Windows operating system. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, operating system software, other softwares, users, preferences of the PC, etc. Whenever a user makes changes to Control Panel settings, file associations, system policies, or installed software, information about the changes is stored in the registry.

Necessity of the Registry:-
The Windows registry was introduced to clean the excess of INI files which were used to store configuration settings for programs. These files were scattered all over the system, which made them difficult to track.

Cleaning the Registry:-
The registry needs cleaning of redundant information that is left behind after frequently installing and uninstalling programs. Just because one has uninstalled a program doesn’t mean it has been completely removed from the PC. The references to that program still clutter up the registry. These references need to be removed or the registry starts to fill up with useless information that can cause problems with the smooth running of computer. These can be removed by editing the registry manually with a built-in Windows utility called regedit or by softwares mentioned above (and many others). To access the registry, the steps are -> Start > Run… > (type) regedit.

Editing the Registry Manually is Not Safe:-
The registry needs to be edited after some time to help the PC run more efficiently. Be warned though that making manual edits to the registry can have drastic consequences if a mistake is made, which is easy to do. Some people do hack the registry successfully but it is a dangerous thing to do for the average (or lesser) computer user.

Dangers of Manually Editing of the Registry:-
The regidtry can be manually edited by running regedit.exe or regedt32.exe from the command line or Run… However, careless registry editing can create more problems than it solves, often leaving the user with no option but to reformat and reinstall Windows. Thus, performing back-ups of the registry is highly recommended.

Manual Editing… Still???? :-
If you still want to manually edit the registry, follow the steps (and please dont hold me responsible for any mistake you make):

1. Completely uninstall the program.
2. Now to get rid of the registry items pointing to that program-
3. Go to Start/Run/Regedit.exe (as stated before)
4. Go to File
5. Click Export (in Win98 and WinME this will be Export registry file)
6. Save the file anywhere you want.
7. Then name the file ‘Registry Backup’ and Click save.
8. Go to Edit
9. Go to Find
10. Type the program name.
11. Press F3 to search.
12. Once an item is found, read to make sure it is a link to that program and not to any other program.
13. Press delete to remove it.
14. Continue pressing F3 and deleting items pertaining to the program, until all the links are gone.

Tips- If you need to refresh, press F5. And repeat all steps for more than one name for the item, ie Business name, Program name, Alias etc.

Warning:-
Do not delete anything other than what is needed. Backup the registry beforehand.
The registry is the heart of Windows, if you mess it up, Windows will no longer work – backup/export it before starting
any changes. If in doubt, don’t do it!
Editing the registry is very dangerous and should only be done in extreme cases.
Some associations in the registry, if removed, will break other functioning programs or windows itself.
Make sure you do steps 4-7 first before changing the registry.

I just found a game on the movie Ghajini. Its a flash game and is certainly not the one which is being publicised but it sure acts as an appetizer.

By playing this game, at least no one will forget the original game in 15 minutes.

Here is the link to the game. Size of the game is 2.75 Mb and 1.47 after compression.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/1/4/2252029/Ghajini_The_Game.rar

A new era has begun. A change in cable tv has occured (ironically with the end of cable tv). Direct To Home or commonly known as DTH is the new face of Cable. Since there are so many players in the DTH game, here are some very important pros and cons of their product.

1) Reliance BIG TV DTH

Pros ->

1) Really good audio-video quality.

2) MPEG-4 technology. It is capable of carrying more channels and more channels can be added easily. All the other DTH are on MPEG-2.

3) Second highest numbers of channels available. Maximum channels in base package.

4) Packages are really consumer-friendly. The best packs available.

5) Best audio-video even in the rain. Channel blackout lasts for maximum of 5-6 seconds.

6) Active service allows watching 12 channels at the same time while others give only 6-8 channels.

Cons->

1) Vulnerable Set-Top Box. Problems like hanging and over-heating are common.

2) After-Sales Services are not good.

3) BIG TV logo is big and opaque while others have small and watermark-type logo.

2) AIRTEL Digital TV

Pros->

1) Big dish antenna. Good signals even in rain.

2) Universal Remote. Same remote can be used for Set-Top Box and Tv.

3) Only provider to give 10 channels from World Service Radio.

4) Crystal clear video and stereophonic sound.

5) Sleek and Stylish look.

Cons->

1) Really high price of add-on packages.

3) TataSky DTH

Pros->

1) True DVD quality picture and CD quality sound.

2) Only provider to give access to international channels like BBC Entertainment and Ceebebies.

3) Really stable Set-Top Box.

4) Good After-sales Service.

Cons->

1) Least number of channels in base pack.

2) A large number of add-on packs making the overall viewing costly.

3) A little low on the the audio-video quality as compared to other providers.

4) DoorDarshan Direct Plus

Pros->

1) Free of cost services. No monthly rental. Only One-Time investment.

2) Airs all Free-To-Air channels. Ocassionaly, from Dish TV, too.

Cons->

1) Sudden hike in fees makes channels quit the platform.

2) Really slow addition of new channels.

3) Black-Outs common.

4) No tv schedule available before-hand.

5) Dish Tv DTH

Pros->

1) Cheap and low number of add-on packs.

2) Channels include Dish Tv + DD Direct Plus.

3) Stable Set-Top Box.

4) Exclusive channels include MGM International (Airtel provides MGM India but not the international version), TCM and Boomerang.

5) Largest number of channels

6) New addition of channels is in existing packs and not like others providers which start new packs.

Cons->

1) Poor After-Sales service.

2) Low audio-video quality.

3) Neo and Utv channels not available.

4) Slow channel addition process.

5) Slow activation of packages even after timely payment.

Sun DTH pros and cons are not known as none of my friends have used it.

For someone who is young and new to (watching) wrestling always has this question on his mind. Well, in my first post, I will try to answer this question reasonsbly as I also had this question in my mind for a long time.

After carefully observing the television shows, one can easily find flaws and mistakes made by the wrestlers and the positions of the wrestlers changing with different opponents. For example, a drop kick by Randy Orton will make his opponent fly off the top rope to the ground. But when the same move is made by Rey Mysterio, the wrestler falls on the second rope and sticks to it. Another example, when Booker T ( or King Booker) kicks someone in the guts, the guy just bends. Kick by another wrestler at the same place will make the wrestler fall to the mat.

WWE or TNA or any other professional wrestling league….. are all scripted but still are painfully real.
The stunts these wrestlers perform and their dripping blood is no deception. It really hurts them bad. But it is their love for the fans and the money that makes them do this. People like John Cena, Jeff Hardy, Undertaker, etc. do it for the fans and people like Brock Lesnar, Bill Goldberg, Bobby Lashley ect. do it for the money.
The companies use scripts written by professional writers and the wrestlers act accordingly on television. But what most people dont think is about the pain involved. Wrestlers like Chris Benoit and Stone Cold Steve Austin have broken their necks doing these stunts. Mick Foley does not have an ear because of his ‘Hardcore’ nature and a wrestling match.
Owen Hart died because of his love for the people. His death was due to his love for his fans. He wanted to WOW his fans with a superb enterance, but fate had something else in store. The details of his death can be found at many places on the net.

If you want any other information regarding wrestling or the wretslers or any incident which occured in wrestling, please leave a comment.