Thanks to paf, I got to know about Crystal Rich Ltd, the company that develops USB Safely Remove has started another round giveaway which will be ending in just 24 more hours. They seem to organize giveaways quite frequently and the free license that they’re giving away to everyone that requests for it only works on the current version 4.7. The registration code will not work on any future versions nor older previous versions. I’ve tried entering the 4.7 registration code on USB Safely Remove 4.1 but was rejected with the error license information is not valid. I guess that is not a big issue since they do giveaways every year.

The last time I reviewed USB Safely Remove was 2 years ago and back then it was version 4.1 with the famous “Return Device Back!” feature. If you go to the Releases category at their blog, you would notice that so many improvements has been made to the program which makes it so solid today. If you don’t know what is the USB Safely Remove software all about, it is basically a replacement for the “Safely Remove Hardware” in Windows with a lot of useful features.


You can read more about what USB Safely Remove can do from the official Feature webpage but I suggest you to request for the free license first, then only read because the feature page contains more than a thousand words!

To get your free USB Safely Remove 4.7.1 lifetime license:

1. Visit http://safelyremove.com/giveawaygaotd11.htm

2. Enter your full name (requires first and last name), email address and click the “I want the license” button.

3. Check your email and note down the registration name and registration code.

4. Download USB Safely Remove 4.7 and install.

5. To register the program, go to Help > Enter License Key… and enter your registration name and registration code.

This is a free lifetime license for USB Safely Remove 4.7. You can continue using it but won’t be entitled for update, downgrade and technical support.

Other than the very useful Return Device Back feature that I like very much, another feature which I personally think that is useful is the ability to power off drives on stopping in Vista & Win 7. In Window Vista and Windows 7, the drive would continue spinning and the flash drive continue lighting even though it has been stopped. This does not happen in Windows XP. USB Safely Remove is able to change this behavior and make the system power down USB ports. Running USB Safely Remove for the first time would prompt you this option, or you can manually enable/disable this from Options > General > Power off the device after device stopping.

One of my friend called me the other day and told me that she has a problem with her laptop. When I asked her to try to explain the problem, she said she couldn’t run any programs from her desktop. Then I ask her to try running any shortcuts from start menu, and still the same problem. She said maybe virus deleted all her programs but I doubt that because if a virus is able to delete all her programs, it should delete Windows as well and made it unbootable. I find this problem interesting and I went to check on her laptop.

First thing I see after Windows being booted up is a lot of popup windows with the error message “Windows cannot open this file: Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher.lnk. To open this file, Windows needs to know what program created it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select from a list of programs on your computer.”

This error means that Windows couldn’t find the program where the shortcut is pointing to. Either the program has been deleted or there is something wrong with the association. I check Program Files and all programs are still there.

Immediately I know that the LNK file association is broken and the place to confirm this problem is the Registry. I go to Start, Run and type regedit, again I got the error popup window saying Windows cannot open this file: regedit.exe. I even tried to run regedit.exe directly from C:\Windows and also got the same error message. Looks like .EXE association is broken too! Finally I found out that almost all file association can’t work. I can’t run anything from her laptop. So how do you fix a computer with broken association when you can’t run anything?


In short, all EXE files including CMD, Regedit, MSCONFIG are inoperative. LNK shortcuts also doesn’t work, which means desktop icons, quick launch icons, start menus all don’t work. Those nice icon images are no longer being displayed as you only get the standard unrecognized file type icon that look like the image below.

There are registry files that is able to fix .COM .LNK .EXE and other extension associations but the problem is if .REG association is also broken, you won’t be able to import the reg file to Windows registry.

The most important extension to fix is of course the .EXE extension. Once you have the .EXE extension fixed, you are able to run registry editor and other tools to start fixing other broken extensions. Here’s how to fix .EXE extension.

1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC simultaneously and it will bring up Windows Task Manager

2. Click File menu and move the mouse cursor over to New Task (Run…)

3. Press and hold the CTRL button and click at the New Task (Run…)

4. Command prompt will appear.

5. Type assoc.exe=exefile and hit enter.

That would fix the EXE extension. You can now run any executable file.

Here is a list of other file extensions that you might want to restore. I recommend you to restore whatever you need and not all at once.

assoc.323=h323file
assoc.386=vxdfile
assoc.aca=Agent.Character.2
assoc.acf=Agent.Character.2
assoc.acs=Agent.Character2.2
assoc.acw=acwfile
assoc.ai=
assoc.aif=AIFFFile
assoc.aifc=AIFFFile
assoc.aiff=AIFFFile
assoc.ani=anifile
assoc.aps=
assoc.asa=aspfile
assoc.ascx=
assoc.asf=ASFFile
assoc.asm=
assoc.asmx=
assoc.asp=aspfile
assoc.aspx=
assoc.asx=ASXFile
assoc.au=AUFile
assoc.AudioCD=AudioCD
assoc.avi=avifile
assoc.bat=batfile
assoc.bfc=Briefcase
assoc.bin=
assoc.bkf=msbackupfile
assoc.blg=PerfFile
assoc.bmp=Paint.Picture
assoc.bsc=
assoc.c=
assoc.cab=CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262}
assoc.cat=CATFile
assoc.cda=CDAFile
assoc.cdf=ChannelFile
assoc.cdx=aspfile
assoc.cer=CERFile
assoc.cgm=
assoc.chk=chkfile
assoc.chm=chm.file
assoc.clp=clpfile
assoc.cmd=cmdfile
assoc.cnf=ConferenceLink
assoc.com=comfile
assoc.cpl=cplfile
assoc.cpp=
assoc.crl=CRLFile
assoc.crt=CERFile
assoc.css=CSSfile
assoc.csv=
assoc.CTT=MessengerContactList
assoc.cur=curfile
assoc.cxx=
assoc.dat=
assoc.db=dbfile
assoc.dbg=
assoc.dct=
assoc.def=
assoc.der=CERFile
assoc.DeskLink=CLSID\{9E56BE61-C50F-11CF-9A2C-00A0C90A90CE}
assoc.dib=Paint.Picture
assoc.dic=
assoc.diz=
assoc.dll=dllfile
assoc.dl_=
assoc.doc=WordPad.Document.1
assoc.dos=
assoc.dot=
assoc.drv=drvfile
assoc.dsn=MSDASQL
assoc.dun=dunfile
assoc.DVD=DVD
assoc.emf=emffile
assoc.eml=Microsoft Internet Mail Message
assoc.eps=
assoc.exe=exefile
assoc.exp=
assoc.ex_=
assoc.eyb=
assoc.fif=
assoc.fnd=fndfile
assoc.fnt=
assoc.Folder=Folder
assoc.fon=fonfile
assoc.ghi=
assoc.gif=giffile
assoc.grp=MSProgramGroup
assoc.gz=
assoc.h=
assoc.hhc=
assoc.hlp=hlpfile
assoc.hpp=
assoc.hqx=
assoc.ht=htfile
assoc.hta=htafile
assoc.htc=
assoc.htm=htmlfile
assoc.html=htmlfile
assoc.htt=HTTfile
assoc.htw=
assoc.htx=
assoc.hxx=
assoc.icc=icmfile
assoc.icm=icmfile
assoc.ico=icofile
assoc.idb=
assoc.idl=
assoc.idq=
assoc.iii=iiifile
assoc.ilk=
assoc.imc=
assoc.inc=
assoc.inf=inffile
assoc.ini=inifile
assoc.ins=x-internet-signup
assoc.inv=
assoc.inx=
assoc.in_=
assoc.isp=x-internet-signup
assoc.its=ITS File
assoc.IVF=IVFFile
assoc.java=
assoc.jbf=
assoc.jfif=pjpegfile
assoc.job=JobObject
assoc.jod=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0
assoc.jpe=jpegfile
assoc.jpeg=jpegfile
assoc.jpg=jpegfile
assoc.JS=JSFile
assoc.JSE=JSEFile
assoc.latex=
assoc.lib=
assoc.lnk=lnkfile
assoc.local=
assoc.log=txtfile
assoc.lwv=LWVFile
assoc.m14=
assoc.m1v=mpegfile
assoc.m3u=m3ufile
assoc.man=
assoc.manifest=
assoc.MAPIMail=CLSID\{9E56BE60-C50F-11CF-9A2C-00A0C90A90CE}
assoc.mdb=
assoc.mht=mhtmlfile
assoc.mhtml=mhtmlfile
assoc.mid=midfile
assoc.midi=midfile
assoc.mmf=
assoc.mmm=MPlayer
assoc.mov=
assoc.movie=
assoc.mp2=mpegfile
assoc.mp2v=mpegfile
assoc.mp3=mp3file
assoc.mpa=mpegfile
assoc.mpe=mpegfile
assoc.mpeg=mpegfile
assoc.mpg=mpegfile
assoc.mpv2=mpegfile
assoc.msc=MSCFile
assoc.msg=
assoc.msi=Msi.Package
assoc.msp=Msi.Patch
assoc.MsRcIncident=MsRcIncident
assoc.msstyles=msstylesfile
assoc.MSWMM=Windows.Movie.Maker
assoc.mv=
assoc.mydocs=CLSID\{ECF03A32-103D-11d2-854D-006008059367}
assoc.ncb=
assoc.nfo=MSInfo.Document
assoc.nls=
assoc.NMW=T126_Whiteboard
assoc.nsc=
assoc.nvr=
assoc.nws=Microsoft Internet News Message
assoc.obj=
assoc.ocx=ocxfile
assoc.oc_=
assoc.odc=
assoc.otf=otffile
assoc.p10=P10File
assoc.p12=PFXFile
assoc.p7b=SPCFile
assoc.p7c=certificate_wab_auto_file
assoc.p7m=P7MFile
assoc.p7r=SPCFile
assoc.p7s=P7SFile
assoc.pbk=pbkfile
assoc.pch=
assoc.pdb=
assoc.pds=
assoc.pfm=pfmfile
assoc.pfx=PFXFile
assoc.php3=
assoc.pic=
assoc.pif=piffile
assoc.pko=PKOFile
assoc.pl=
assoc.plg=
assoc.pma=PerfFile
assoc.pmc=PerfFile
assoc.pml=PerfFile
assoc.pmr=PerfFile
assoc.pmw=PerfFile
assoc.pnf=pnffile
assoc.png=pngfile
assoc.pot=
assoc.pps=
assoc.ppt=
assoc.prf=prffile
assoc.ps=
assoc.psd=
assoc.psw=PSWFile
assoc.qds=SavedDsQuery
assoc.rat=ratfile
assoc.rc=
assoc.RDP=RDP.File
assoc.reg=regfile
assoc.res=
assoc.rle=
assoc.rmi=midfile
assoc.rnk=rnkfile
assoc.rpc=
assoc.rsp=
assoc.rtf=rtffile
assoc.sam=
assoc.sbr=
assoc.sc2=
assoc.scf=SHCmdFile
assoc.scp=txtfile
assoc.scr=scrfile
assoc.sct=scriptletfile
assoc.sdb=appfixfile
assoc.sed=
assoc.shb=DocShortcut
assoc.shs=ShellScrap
assoc.shtml=
assoc.shw=
assoc.sit=
assoc.snd=AUFile
assoc.spc=SPCFile
assoc.spl=ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash
assoc.sql=
assoc.sr_=
assoc.sst=CertificateStoreFile
assoc.stl=STLFile
assoc.stm=
assoc.swf=ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash
assoc.sym=
assoc.sys=sysfile
assoc.sy_=
assoc.tar=
assoc.text=
assoc.tgz=
assoc.theme=themefile
assoc.tif=TIFImage.Document
assoc.tiff=TIFImage.Document
assoc.tlb=
assoc.tsp=
assoc.tsv=
assoc.ttc=ttcfile
assoc.ttf=ttffile
assoc.txt=txtfile
assoc.UDL=MSDASC
assoc.uls=ulsfile
assoc.URL=InternetShortcut
assoc.VBE=VBEFile
assoc.vbs=VBSFile
assoc.vbx=
assoc.vcf=vcard_wab_auto_file
assoc.vxd=vxdfile
assoc.wab=wab_auto_file
assoc.wav=soundrec
assoc.wax=WAXFile
assoc.wb2=
assoc.webpnp=webpnpFile
assoc.WHT=Whiteboard
assoc.wk4=
assoc.wll=
assoc.wlt=
assoc.wm=ASFFile
assoc.wma=WMAFile
assoc.wmd=WMDFile
assoc.wmf=wmffile
assoc.wmp=WMPFile
assoc.wms=WMSFile
assoc.wmv=WMVFile
assoc.wmx=ASXFile
assoc.wmz=WMZFile
assoc.wpd=
assoc.wpg=
assoc.wri=wrifile
assoc.wsc=scriptletfile
assoc.WSF=WSFFile
assoc.WSH=WSHFile
assoc.wsz=
assoc.wtx=txtfile
assoc.wvx=WVXFile
assoc.x=
assoc.xbm=
assoc.xix=
assoc.xlb=
assoc.xlc=
assoc.xls=
assoc.xlt=
assoc.xml=xmlfile
assoc.xsl=xslfile
assoc.z=
assoc.z96=
assoc.zap=zapfile
assoc.ZFSendToTarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}
assoc.zip=CompressedFolder

After fixing the broken file association, the next thing I did was installed the FREE version of AVG anti-virus to scan and remove any existing virus. One thing you should know is Anti-Virus programs only good at removing virus from computer but it can’t restore the damage done by Virus.

Doug Knox’s Windows XP File Association Fixes page helped me a lot when I was trying to fix the broken association.

If you’ve just purchased a second hand laptop or computer from eBay or from a friend, you’d get VERY frustrated when you’re prompted to enter password before you can enter the BIOS when you don’t even know the password!
Even if you’re a computer technician, sometimes you need to access the BIOS to do some configuration. When you ask the customer for the BIOS password, and he’s like.. err… uh… he’s not sure what’s that.

BIOS is basic input output system. The set of routines stored in read-only memory that enable a computer to start the operating system and to communicate with the various devices in the system, such as disk drives, keyboard, monitor, printer, and communications ports.
Basically, if you plug in an IDE or SATA hard drive, sometimes you’ll need to access the BIOS to detect the hard drive. Well, nowadays it’s all auto detect. There’s also a whole lot of things you can configure in BIOS.

There are ways to reset the whole BIOS configurations by opening and short out pin your the motherboard, or can pull out the battery for a few minutes, and also there are some third party software that claims to reset or crack the BIOS password.
For Dell computers, there’s a Dell specific BIOS Boot Erase Disc to remove Dell’s computer BIOS ADMIN password.


This boot disc resets Dell BIOS to default erasing all admin and protection passwords saved by the BIOS.

I believe this disc is what DELL people uses to fix their own systems.

This file is in .iso format. ISO files are actually images of complete CDs compiles as one whole image, just like Ghost does for hard disks and partitions. ISO images can be loaded into several different CD recording software packages to create CDs.
To write ISO files to CD, if you have Nero, just launch Nero, select Open and locate the dellbiosboot.iso file. Enter a CD-R or CD-RW disc and click Burn.

[ Download Dell PC’s BIOS Boot Erase Disc (ISO) ]

Just a thought… I don’t think it’s possible to use this disc if the computer BIOS is password protected and the CD booting order sequence is disabled. In this case, you’ll have to use the old-school method that is opening and short out pin on your motherboard, or can pull out the battery for a few minutes.

I have an old 512MB PenDrive USB flash drive. When I bought it few years back, it was considered quite large in size and it’s pretty expensive. It was my first USB flash drive and I really loved it because it’s so convenient. I no longer need to waste time in burning data to CD to bring it out and afraid of scratching the disc. Years went by and today I found that the 512MB PenDrive USB flash drive is quite small and I couldn’t put in more things. That’s the con in technology. You must constantly keep up with it. I did a little research on which brand to buy, performance and etc…

Nowadays there are so many USB flash drive brands. Kingston, Apacer, Corsair, PenDrive, SanDisk, Toshiba, Imation, TwinMOS and so on… I always look for a reliable brand and also the fastest read/write speed and this is what I found.


Corsair, currently has the fastest read and write speed for USB flash drive and it is a reliable memory brand. Corsair itself has a few types of USB flash drive. The fastest one is called Flash Voyager GT which was released on February 28, 2007.

The Corsair Flash Voyager GT USB drive is rugged, stylish, compact, and reliable, making it ideal for transporting MP3s, digital images, presentations and more. Flash Voyager drives are fully Plug and Play with most operating systems and are backward compatible with USB 1.1. It also has a rubber casing for easy to gripping and water resistant. The Flash Voyager has been shown laundered, baked, frozen, boiled, dropped, and even run over by a SUV in many third party reviews. After all the punishment it receives, the drive continues to work! AMAZING!

Flash Voyager GT Features:
– Blazing-fast performance: Read speed up to 34MB/s, write speed up to 28MB/s

– Maximum durability: Proprietary all-rubber housing
– Drive integrity: Water resistant and shock resistant
– Data security: TrueCrypt encryption software offering AES 256-bit encryption
– Windows Vista ReadyBoost compatible
– User warranty: 10 years, with on-demand customer support

I bought the Corsair Flash Voyager GT 4GB for USD54 and I think it’s worth the price. It might be a little expensive compared to other brands but with the durability, fastest speed and also backed up 10 years warranty, it’s worth the money. Corsair includes freeware TrueCrypt which can be downloaded free from the Internet. If you’ve never used TrueCrypt before, it’s one of the most powerful encryption software that’s free but it’s not easy to use. Make sure you read the manual before using TrueCrypt.

If you’re looking for a USB flash drive, I hope you’ll try out Corsair Flash Voyager GT. I guarantee you will not regret it!

[ Corsair Flash Voyager Website ]

As an advanced computer user, I need to convert my files to different formats very frequently. A lot of file conversion softwares are sharewares. If you search “WAV to MP3” in Google, at least half of them are sharewares and it can only be used to convert music formats. If I need to convert from Word Document to PDF, I need document conversion software. Generally, there are 4 main category formats. Document, Image, Music and Video. Each main category has more than 10 file formats.

Don’t you think that it is troublesome to have 4 types of conversion programs installed on your computer? I tried looking for a free universal file conversion program but couldn’t find any.

Here’s a solution on how to convert any types of files without the need to install any conversion software. Sort of like a universal converter that supports hundreds of file formats.


I manage to find 2 free online file conversion website. Both websites is able to convert the file that you upload or from a link easily and instantly. The online file conversion services offered by both websites is 100% free and anonymous. No software installation is required, thus preventing users from spyware and virus infections. It can also save your money from buying unnecessary file conversion sharewares! Why pay when you can get it for free?

1. Zamzar

Maximum File Size: 100MB
Converted Files Storage Time: 24 hours
Immediate Download Converted Files: NO (Download link sent to email)
Bulk Conversion: YES (If same format)
Resize Converted Image: NO
Output Format: 53

1. Media Convert

Maximum File Size: 150MB
Converted Files Storage Time: 24 hours
Immediate Download Converted Files: YES
Bulk Conversion: NO
Resize Converted Image: YES
Output Format: 179

I don’t think I need to show the steps on how to convert the files because it’s way too easy. Just provide the link or browse the file that you want to convert from your computer, choose the format to convert and click the Convert button. For Zamzar, you need to provide your e-mail address because after conversion, Zamzar will send the link of the converted file to the email that you specified. If you provide a bogus email address, sorry to let you know that you won’t be able to download the converted file. If you’re concern about simply giving out your email address, consider using a temporary email address or use MediaConvert.

If you ask me which is better, I’d say both. Both has its own pros and cons but it’s no big deal because the main function, that is file conversion works well.

Clean Messenger is a small program which makes it possible to remove/hide practically all the elements of the interfaces of MSN Messenger. There are 34 features in total for you to clean your Messenger. You can remove advertisements, remove any buttons and etc… It’s very easy to use compared to Mess Patch or A-Patch because Messenger Cleaner has a “preview” window. If you’re unsure what’s the feature in Messenger Cleaner is for, just click on it and the preview window will show what will you be modifying or removing.

The latest Clean Messenger version 2.7.0178 is compatible with the following Windows Live/MSN Messenger:


– 8.1.0178
– 8.1.0168 beta
– 8.1.0106 beta
– 8.0.0812
– 8.0.0792
– 8.0.0787
– 8.0.0689 beta
– 8.0.0683 beta
– 8.0.0566 beta
– 7.5.0324
– 7.5.0322
– 7.5.0311
– 7.5.0306
– 7.5.0299
– 7.0.0816

To check the version of your MSN Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, go to Help -> About Messenger.

No installation is needed. Just download and run the executable file. To modify, just check on the checkbox, click Apply change button and it will automatically close your Messenger, make the changes and rerun your Messenger. Too bad there’s no “NUDGE” protection in Clean Messenger 😛

[ Download Clean Messenger ]

I use both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 7. Mainly Firefox and if that particular site couldn’t support Firefox, then Internet Explorer 7 will come in handy. What I really liked about Firefox is it is able to save cookies so that I don’t need to login the next time, username and passwords and even double protect it with Master Password, list of visited websites and also the bookmarks. I know Internet Explorer 7 can do the same but somehow I prefer how Firefox does everything.

Loosing all bookmarks, histories/visited websites, cookies, saved username and passwords from my Firefox browser CAN be disastrous! It happened before, that’s why I always backup my Firefox profile.
I found this tool long ago and have been using it to backup my Mozilla Firefox profiles. It’s very useful and I thought I should share this out to some of you that don’t know about this.


MozBackup is freeware and works on Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003. MozBackup is a simple utility for creating backups of Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Mozilla Suite and Netscape profiles. It allows you to backup and restore bookmarks, mail, contacts, history, extensions, cache etc. It’s probably the easiest way to do Firefox backup!

The zip file is less than 1MB. Simple interface and very easy to use. When you want to backup your Firefox profile, you need to make sure that Firefox is closed and not running. I’ll show you how easy it is to use MozBackup to backup your Firefox profile.

1. You choose whether to backup or restore your profile.

2. After choosing the profile to backup, it’ll prompt you whether you want to password protect your backup file. This is a simple security feature so that no one can steal your backup file and then restore it on their computer.

3. Finally, you select the details that you want to backup. This backup tool is smart enough to detect which details is available for you to backup. Those that is not available, the checkbox would be blurred out.

4. Upon clicking next button, it’ll start backing up all the details you selected. By default, the backup file will be saved on your desktop unless you specify a different location. The backup file extension is .PCV

MozBackup supports backing up these Firefox (Thunderbird) extensions:
* Adblock Plus
* Bookmarks Synchronizer
* Clippings
* Colorzilla
* Crash Recovery
* Download Manager Tweak
* File Title
* ForecastFox
* Google Toolbar
* Greasemonkey
* HTML Validator
* Chatzilla
* Lightning
* Menu Editor
* Mouse Gestures
* Prefbar
* Sage
* ScrapBook
* Signature
* Slim Extension List
* Stylish
* Tab Mix Plus
* Tabbrowser Extensions
* Tabbrowser Preferences
* View Source With
* Web Developer

MozBackup backups and restores others extensions too but if these extensions create new files in your user profile with setting, MozBackup doesn’t backups these files. I never backup my extensions. I only have 3 extensions installed that is FlashGot, Google Toolbar and IE Tab. I think that it’s more stable to reinstall the extensions every time I install a new Firefox.

[ Download MozBackup v1.4.5 ]

When you want to eject a connected USB drive from a computer, you’ll have to close all the programs that are ran from USB flash drive, or else you’ll get the error message saying “The device ‘Generic volume’ cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later.” Sometimes even after closing every possible application that is ran from the USB flash drive, you still can’t successfully stop the device. If this happens on my own computer, I have no problems with this issue because I could use Unlocker to unlock processes in use to successfully remove the drive.

This would be a problem when this happens to my flash drive that are connected to other computer which doesn’t have Unlocker installed. If I simply unplug my USB flash drive without safely removing it first, there is a risk of data corruption on my flash drive. I recently found a small tool from Jkwebtalks called EjectUSB which seems to be pretty interesting. From the name of that tool, it seemed like a normal utility to eject a plugged in USB drive but it actually does more than that.


EjectUSB is designed to be a simple utility to close all programs running from a specified drive or folder and then attempt ejection if a drive was specified. Extended functionality includes flushing the file cache, closing Explorer windows and removing registry entries and Recent Document shortcuts referencing the specified drive or folder.

There is no interface for EjectUSB. All you need to do is extract the zip file to your USB flash drive, and then run EjectUSB.exe whenever you want to eject your USB flash drive.

You might be thinking what is the difference between ejecting the USB drive using this tool and the built-in Safely Remove Hardware in Windows? The good thing about EjectUSB is it automatically closes all running programs running from the USB drive. This way it’s very unlikely you’ll get the error that your device cannot be stopped now.

There’s also a settings.bat file where you can access the configuration of EjectUSB. As you can see, it is also able to perform cleanup functions, remove related Subst entries and many more which the Safely Remove Hardware is NOT capable of doing.

Other than using this tool to eject a plugged in device, you can also use it to close running programs that are ran from the partition where EjectUSB is. Let’s say you run a game that is installed in D: drive. If you have EjectUSB in D: drive as well, double clicking it will close the game. However this won’t affect the programs that are ran from other partitions such as your C: drive. EjectUSB can definitely work like a boss-key function to quickly shut off programs that can get you fired 😉

Your antivirus might warn you that EjectUSB is a trojan but it’s not. That is the side-effect of EjectUSB being an AutoIt3 script. You do not need to worry if you’ve downloaded it from the official EjectUSB website.

[ Download EjectUSB ]

It’s a good practice not to use the same password on everything. This is because if your ONLY password falls in the wrong hands, the next thing you know is you won’t be able to access anything at all. Imagine you loose access to your Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Internet Bank account and etc within a day! You’ll go crazy loosing all your contacts and you know someone is having a great time reading all your personal emails.

For me, I use different password for softwares/websites and most of it is saved on my laptop for easy access. Problem is, if you use too many different passwords, sometimes we tend to forget the password that we set for the software or website. If the password is saved, you can easily use a tool to show the password hidden under the asterisk *******

I am sure many of you remember “SnadBoy’s Revelation” but unfortunately it doesn’t support showing passwords hidden under asterisks in web pages. So I won’t be recommending this tool because I know a better one.


Asterisk Key shows passwords hidden under asterisks. It is able to instantly uncover hidden passwords on password dialog boxes and web pages. The setup is less than 500KB and it works perfectly.

Reveal hidden password in Google Talk (Software)

Reveal hidden password in Internet Explorer (Web Page)

Both Google Talk and Internet Explorer is active. I then launch Asterisk Key and click the “Recover” button. Within a second, Asterisk Key shows the passwords hidden under asterisks.

Just a word of advice, please use this tool to recover your OWN password. If you get caught in using this tool to steal people’s password, you can get into serious trouble. Treat this tool as a useful recovery too instead of hacking tool.

Note: Asterisk Key doesn’t reveal password hidden under asterisk in Firefox browser. I will be posting a method on how to recover saved passwords in Firefox browser tomorrow. Stay tuned!

[ Download Asterisk Key ]

Yesterday I’ve created a step-by-step tutorial on “How to Dual Boot Vista and XP with Vista Installed First“. Today I am going to show you how to dual boot XP and Vista with XP installed first. It’s a different scenario than yesterday. This time is you already have Windows XP installed which takes up 100% of the hard drive and you want to install Windows Vista on the same hard drive.

Configuring dual boot when you have XP installed first is way much easier than Vista installed first. Just follow the steps below on how to dual boot XP and Vista with XP installed first.


First things first, you need to re-partition or shrink your current XP partition to have free space for Vista installation.

1. Boot up your computer with Vista DVD. At the part where it ask you for product key, press SHIFT+F10 simultaneously. It will bring up command prompt.

2. Type DISKPART

3. Type LIST VOLUME

4. Select the volume where XP is installed by typing SELECT VOLUME 0. If somehow the XP volume is other than 0, then just change the number at the end.

5. Type SHRINK and it will automatically shrink your XP partition. Close command prompt and continue with Vista installation. You should install Vista on “Unallocated Space” when you get to the part where it ask you where do you want to install Windows.

Note: If you get an error message that says “Access is denied” when shrinking your partition with diskpart, boot up with Hiren’s BootCD and use either Partition Magic, Acronis Disk Director Suite, Paragon Partition Manager or any disk partition tools that you like to resize your XP partition. Minimum Vista hard disk requirement is 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space.

Once Vista is installed and the system reboots, you’ll be presented with a boot menu with two options: “Microsoft Windows Vista” and “An Earlier Version of Windows”.

Booting to an earlier version of windows will boot up Windows XP. If you want to change the name “An Earlier Version of Windows” to Windows XP,

I found out that I can’t manually edit boot.ini file in Windows Vista. It gives me the error message “Access is denied“. I also tried going to Startup and Recovery from System Properties but there is no Edit button which allows me to edit boot.ini.

There are 2 free utility I found which is able to edit Vista boot manager.
1. EasyBCD
– Click Change Settings button, select Earlier Version of Windows from Entry-Based Settings drop down menu. You can change the text that says “Earlier Version of Windows” at Name. Click Save Settings.

[ Download EasyBCD ]

2. VistaBootPRO
– Click Manage OS Entries button, select “Earlier Version of Windows”, check Rename OS Entry and type the name that you want it to display and click Apply Updates.

[ Download VistaBootPRO ]

There you have it. Now you can have both XP and Vista in one hard disk.

P/S: If you’re looking for dual booting Windows Vista and XP with Vista installer first, click here.

A cookie is small data files written to a user’s hard drive by a web server. These files contain specific information that identifies users (eg, passwords and lists of pages visited). For example, you sign in to a forum and there’s a checkbox where it says “Remember Me” or something similar to that. Once you enter your log in information and check on that checkbox, a cookie file will be saved on your computer. So the next time you visit that forum again, you won’t need to enter your username and password. You wouldn’t want your username and password saved on a public computer, so it’s best to manually delete all caches and cookies after using a public computer.

Well, fortunately cookies do expire. Once they expired, you need to enter your login information again. The expiration usually depends on the web server. The expired cookies are useless and will take up your disk space. It’s very small, but it’s always a good practice to delete unwanted files on your computer or else one day your computer will be filled with too much junk!
Deleting cookies from Internet Explorer options like the picture below deletes ALL cookies.

So how do you delete only the expired Internet Explorer cookies?


Expired Cookies Cleaner is a freeware program for removing expired cookies from you personal computer (PC).

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) stores cookies in different files on your hard disk drive. More you browse the web, more cookies are stored on your PC. Each cookie has its own lifetime – from several seconds to several years. However, IE does not remove expired cookies from your PC even they are expired and will be never used. Therefore, your hard drive can store several hundreds or even thousands unused and useless files.

You can use Expired Cookies Cleaner software to remove expired cookie files and speed up your PC and free some disk space (especially on FAT and FAT32 file systems).

You can also use Expired Cookies Cleaner from the command line without GUI. Just add parameter “a” character at the end of the command line. For example:

C:\>ExpiredCookiesCleaner.exe a

In this case program saves all output in the file Result.log.

[ Download Expired Cookies Cleaner | Expired Cookies Cleaner Website ]

Today I was browsing the web like any other normal day. I stumbled on a website that has an interesting video title. Actually I seldom watch videos in YouTube unless people forward it to me. I had a little time so I thought what the heck, I’ll just play it and if it’s not interesting, I’ll stop the video and continue surfing the web. When I clicked the play button, I got the message “We’re sorry, this video is no longer available.”

I remembered that I once read an article that it is possible to view deleted YouTube videos. How is this possible? Well when a video has been removed from YouTube, it is not immediately deleted from their servers. Just like our hard drive. When we delete a file and empty the recycle bin, is it not really deleted. It is only marked as deleted and is ready to be overwritten. So if it is not being overwritten, we can still view the videos but of course not from youtube.com.

Viewing removed YouTube videos is easy. Here’s how to do the impossible.


Before you learn how to view deleted youtube videos, please be informed that MOST of the deleted videos are unsafe for children to watch. (You know what I mean)… If you don’t believe me, try loading a few random deleted videos and check them yourself.

First of all, you need to know the Video ID which is at the end of the YouTube link. An example of a YouTube video link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzeV1Ux5YlI

The video ID for the link above is UzeV1Ux5YlI

Just copy and paste it in the ID text box and click view video. Here are a few sites that is able to play deleted YouTube videos. Surprisingly, they are all not the same. I’ve tested a deleted video ID on all 3 sites but one of it reported that it could not find deleted video. So if you desperately need to watch a deleted video, try on all of the sites and you might get to watch it.

1. UndeleTube

– A normal deleted youtube video viewer. Works well.

2. DeletedYoutubeViewer

– This is a bit special compared to the other two because you are able to search for deleted YouTube video through the VideoID or YouTube User. If you know the user that uploaded the deleted video, you can search the user name.

3. Delutube

– This is quite famous because a lot of blogger promoted this site. I did not like this site so much because there are full of advertisements. Before get to watch a video, I need to wait 4 seconds. Not only that, this is the site that couldn’t find the deleted youtube video that I am looking for.

Do you notice that whenever you plug in USB device such as USB flash drive or external hard disk, an icon will appear in your system tray? The purpose of the icon is for you to safely remove your hardware. Even though USB is hot-pluggable but it is advisable to safely remove your hardware using the “Safely Remove Hardware” feature in order to prevent data loss because you might still have a data that’s still in use and you plug it out.

As for my case, I have an Acer laptop with built-in DVD-RW drive. It’s an internal DVD-RW and I never intend to remove it. In fact, I’ve own this laptop for 2 years and never once I took it out. Seems like there’s no purpose for the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon to be in my system tray and I really want to remove the icon from there.

After much searching and trying, there are two ways. You can either “HIDE” or “REMOVE” the “Safely Remove Hardware” tray icon.


Hiding “Safely Remove Hardware” tray icon is pretty simple if you’ve ventured far enough into Windows XP settings.

1. Right click Taskbar and select Properties (The default location for the taskbar is at the bottom of the screen, and from left to right it contains by default the Start menu, Quick Launch bar, Taskbar buttons and Notification area)

2. Click on the “Customize” button. If it is blurred out, you need to check “Hide inactive icons“.

3. You’ll see a Customize Notification options. At the Current Items, select “Always Hide” for the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon.

4. The “Safely Remove Hardware” icon will no longer appear on your system tray as it’s hidden.

Another method is to REMOVE the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon by using a third party program. Icon Remover is able to easily remove the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon by 1 click of a button.

Unfortunately Icon Remover is NOT a free tool. I find it ridiculous to be charging $10 for personal license, $195 for educational license and $395 for commercial organizations to use this tool. I think the author will hardly get any sale for this tool because it’s not like there’s no other way to hide the tray icon other than using this tool… By the way, a person with the nickname “HUNKiLLER®” has already cracked Icon Remover 😛