I am an AMD admirer and had a ASUS motherboard KM400a. I also had a Sempron processor. Due to very low graphics capability and increasing DDR1 RAM cost, I had to upgrade the components. I was always craving to play high-end games which would use the graphics card to maximum. But graphic cards still seem to be costly. So, I began my search for a motherboard which had onboard graphic processing unit. I finally found this motherboard ASUS M2N68-AM SE2 to be my best fit, both in terms of functionality and price. It is really cheap and has 2 Serial ATA ports in addition to one IDE port. It has nVidia 7025 onboard graphics processor with a whooping size of 512 MB. It supports DDR2 RAM, which is becoming less expensive compared to DDR1. I got the Sempron 2200+ processor. Let’s come to the performance part of it. It works amazingly well. I was able to run NFS underground 2 with excellent speed. I had the framing problem with NFS undercover, even with a minimum graphics. Racing games are one way to find the performance of the graphics processor because the environment and the frames keep on changing every second. I was able to run counter strike without any problem. I happened to run Call of Duty and I was really awestruck by the performance. When I installed Call of Duty 4, I had some framing problem with medium graphics. With low graphics, I was satisfied with the game performance. Half-Life 2 worked really well. Except for a few framing problem during heavy gun fight or attack, and that’s more important. At the end I find this motherboard very comfortable and could watch movies without any streaming problem. It is able to run Windows 7 with just 1GB of 800 MHz DDR2 RAM. I would certainly recommend you to buy, if you looked for a cheaper and amazing upgrade of your motherboard.
Graphic processors
We have heard lot about games with great graphics. Extensive graphics cannot be handled by a normal computer processor, in addition to the gameplay processing. So, there is an obvious need for more processing, where the graphics card jumps into the picture like a hero. Graphics card, as we call it contain separate graphics processors and are cooled by fans, similar to the normal CPU processor. Most GPUs are better than the basic CPUs now-a-days and are more expensive than the normal ones. One question that always comes into a mind of a novice is that can’t the GPU work along with the CPU, while not playing games, thus delivering more output and eventually throughput also. Well, this seems to be a fair question. But the GPUs architecture does not allow it to do so. Graphics processors are optimized for point-to-point operations, and they have very low memory caches, because games and 3D rendering does not need more of this. But games that are created these days do require more cache and that’s why the graphics cards are expensive. Certainly, graphics processors have a pipelined architecture, capable of running multiple threads. Still, we can’t link a CPU and a graphics processor together, which if done may create a conflict between the two giants! May be in the coming days a technology may come in which both functions are integrated. The most useful APIs are the OpenGL and the DirectX. Windows 7 RC is bundled with DirectX 11. OpenGL being open-source can’t get the full potential, compared to Microsoft’s DirectX (where lot of money and time is being spent). Both are developing their APIs tremendously and all the info about the APIs can be had from their respective websites.
Posted in hardware.
– July 27, 2010
Deleting virus form pendrive
Pen drives have become more of a menace than of use because of its capability to transfer viruses from one computer to another. My friend and I had loads of problems due to this and were looking out for a solution. Ubuntu seemed to be a great choice. All we have to do are the following steps:
- Insert the pen drive in Windows. Once it is detected, Go to “My Computer” and open the “Removable disk” that you inserted. It must show “Access Denied”.
- This is the indication that virus is present in the pen drive.
- Use the antivirus program there. But it may be of no use. So remove the pen drive and reboot into Ubuntu.
- Now insert the pen drive. After its ready to use, open the drive.
- Usually viruses are with extension “exe” and are usually accompanied by “autorun.inf” file.
- If you are able to locate these two files, then the next step is damn easy.
- Just select those two files and delete them. That’s it. Its free from virus now.
- There is another type of virus which is usually present in a folder named “System”. In ubuntu, there would be a lock symbol at the top-right corner of the icon and in that case you have to logout and login back as an administrator.
- Once this is done, open the drive again and you shall see the lock symbol in the icon missing. This means that u have full access to the folder and can delete it.
- Take time to explore its contents, coz you can’t do it in Windows. By the time you think, everything would have got over.
- Enjoy using Ubuntu and send me any kind of feedback or suggestions as to how I can improve my blog.
Editing this can be done in two ways. For an Ubuntu geek, “fstab” can be used.
But in general, it’s very easy to do it using a start up manager. Just go to System-> Administration-> Synaptic Package Manager.
Now search for startup in the search textbox available just below the title bar.
From the results, choose startup manager and mark the item. Now click “Apply Changes” button at the top. The necessary files will be downloaded and after the dl is complete just restart the system once. Now, goto System->Applications and it contains the startup manager. Inside this you can set the default operating system and increase the timing of the automatic timer, so that you can select the operating system of your choice, to boot.
The other way to do it is slightly cumbersome. Go to this following site http://web.telia.com/~u88005282/sum/downloads.html and download the debian file.
To install startup manager, first you must install imagemagick.
You can install it by using the following command on Terminal window:
sudo apt-get install imagemagick
Then double-click the debian file in Ubuntu to get the installation window. Once it is installed, restart the computer. You can find it in System->Administration->Start-Up Manager. Yhis will open the window that can be used to select various boot options such as default boot entry, time-out, resolution, and more. Here you can select the required Operating system on boot.
Posted in trouble shooting.
– July 22, 2010
Securing the linux system
Securing linux is more exciting than Windows. There are a variety of freeware tools developed by experts and hackers and are powerful and essential. Chkrootkit is one such program used for removing rootkits. Rookits are nothing but special tools used by hackers to gain access to the machine. A rootkit could be something like an old program which will never show a Trojan or a backdoor. It could be any software that could easily penetrate into your computer. It is actually a malicious program and should be deleted as soon as it is detected. Scan for well known rootkits or backdoors use chkrootkit. Once installed, the program can be run from the terminal window. Run the program and check whether it detects any rootkit or backdoors. Even if its not detected there is no guarantee that no other rootkits exist. It’s similar to an antivirus, where the newer updated version of the software detects some virus, whereas the same software which has outdated virus database does not detect it. All you have to do is keep the latest updated program. Nmap is another tool that maps your computer’s ports as seen by others. It can be made to show a lot of detail about your PC. The best thing is you can use Nmap aggressively from a remote computer to check for the presence of offending Trojans and backdoors. Most experts use Nmap to detect Trojans in their computers. The newer version contains a graphical representation.
Posted in ubuntu OS.
– July 21, 2010
Use Google the Expert way
We all know that Google is fastest and most used search engine in today’s world. Why do we use Google? simply because its the fastest way to search what u need.
But at times it can also be a trying job to do…. getting frustrated trying to find the right thing that u are searching for. I use to search a lot, page by page to find what i want. i thought google is simple and fastest search engine but later only i discovered that its not so simple as we think it is.
If you are a techno geek then u must have probability knew it already.. using the google the Expert way. Actually there are many tricks in using Google effectively. It made my search much easily when i came to know about it. and i like to share few trick that i have in my hand. i can assure that this will definitely make you to google the google with ease.
Google tips and tricks:
1. Definitions.
If u want to quickly refer the definition of a word then u can use Define command followed by a colon to get an optimum search result. Try this.
Define: gorgeous
2. calculator.
If you want to do quick calculation dont waste ur time trying to bring out your calculator app just type the number u want to manipulate in google.
Eg.455565*78852554
3.Area code lookup.
If u wanna find a area code of a phone number. just do want i say, it cant get as easy as this. just go to google and type the 3-digit area code in search box waala u will get the area.
Eg. 785
4.Explicit Phrase.
let say u are trying to search about Nokia express music. Instead of just typing Nokia Express Music u can search for this phrase explicitly by typing the phrase enclosed by double quotes.
Eg. “Nokia Express Music”
5.Exclude Words.
Let say you want to exclude some words related to Nokia Express music then u can use the following trick.
Eg, Search: Nokia Express Music- advertising.
6.Site specific search.
If you want to search a particular word in a particular website alone then u can use the following trick. Its very useful when are trying to find a post in site or trying to find a specific product in a shopping site. Try this
Eg. “Nokia 5130 Xpress music” site:www.univercell.com
7. Searching Specific file documents.
In case you are trying to search for a PDF file or a doc file instead of going and searching website by website looking for contents in PDF format u can use the following trick.
Eg.”5800 Xpress music” filetype:PDF
8. searching similar words.
If are searching for a particular word and also you want to get the search result of a word similar to that then u can use following trick.
Eg. “Nokia” ~new launch
9.Phone number lookup.
Say u missed a call from a number and you want know who called you.. If u have his\her phone number then u can lookup in google to find who it is.
Eg,phone number: (type the number here)
10.Year range lookup.
In case you are searching for important events between some year range. better yu use the following trick
Eg.president 1945..1969
this will list out the search about presidents between the year range 1940 to 1950
These are the tricks i use often when i google. I’m sure that it wil be helpful to those who read this article.
Posted in google.
– July 20, 2010
Ubuntu 9.10 in Lenovo Laptop
I happened to use the live CD of Ubuntu 9.10 in my Lenovo Laptop, recently. My configuration is Intel Dual Core, 512 MB RAM, 80GB hard-disk. With such a low end configuration, I was able to feel a lot of changes. The first thing I’m bound to mention is about the Wi-Fi. The Wireless Receiver is Broadcom and the internet works flawlessly. The previous versions of Ubuntu did not support this card and so, the key combination to activate the Wi-Fi, itself did not work. Its working now and Internet is pretty fast with Firefox 3 (As usual). The next thing I noticed was the graphics part. The smooth transitions on minimizing and maximizing are a treat to eyes. Ubuntu has maintained its stand in creating a live CD that can work even with a minimal configuration, unlike Windows, in which the system has to be upgraded to install a higher version of the operating system. Ubuntu has done a tremendous job in packaging new features including the old ones, in a single CD, not even a DVD. With 700MB, the RAM can quickly load the data from the CD and run. The live CD has been a very successful initiative from Canonical Ltd. Windows 7 seems to have excellent graphics, but needs more system resources. Ubuntu 9.10 proves to be a supercomputer for the poor and people who are self sufficient.
Posted in ubuntu OS.
– July 19, 2010
Video encoding and basic editing
It is a well known myth that Video encoding and basic editing can be done only with a commercial software. VirtualDub(VD) breaks the barriers and can perform a variety of operations such as encoding and decoding. Its an open source software and has some variants. One such variant is Nandub. VD is a very popular software for this purpose. Encoding the videos brings down the file sizes of the movies or the gaming videos. One dream of any amateur movie maker is including 3D modeled graphics into the movie. When animations are rendered through 3D modeling software, they can actually be rendered as a sequence of images. They are generally easier to handle in composition software. It is assumed that VD only allows importing and exporting of videos. But actually, VD can open up sequences of images as long as they are named with the standard convention, usually with a common name followed by some number which marks the sequence of events. To open a sequence, select File -> Open Video file. Select the first file of the image sequence and click open. The entire image sequence will be loaded as an animation. Now you can do the same set of tasks with it like any other video file.
Posted in tweets.
– July 15, 2010
Scheduling Connecting And Disconnecting From your ISP
With many ISPs using PPPoE-based connectoions, and many ISPs having awkward schemes such as night-unlimited starting at 2 AM, it’s a good idea to schedule your connection process rather than staying up late at night. Once connected, your downloads can be started by scheduling in the download manager software, which is most prevalent now. You can also schedule to connect to VPNs.
For this we have to create a batch file. Start notepad and enter the following:
RASDIAL <Connection Name> <username> <Password> <Connection Name>
Now save this file using a suitable name such as “conne.bat”
Now create a schedule by clicking on Schedule Tasks in the control Panel. Double-click on Add Scheduled task. Click Next, browse and choose the path of BAT file. Choose the type of frequency you want it to Run. Next set the date and time. Now enter the password for the account, which should run the dialer. Similar to scheduling connection, disconnection can be done in the same manner. Some alterations in the batch file creation are needed. Create a new text file and enter
RASDIAL <Connection Name> /disconnect
Save the file as BAT file, for example, “dconn.bat”. Be sure to enter your exact connection name in the place of <Connection name>. Once again, like the connection schedule, create a schedule in the same manner, but by choosing the disconnection BAT file this time. I’m still finding how to do the same in Ubuntu. But I’m not able to find it.
Posted in trouble shooting.
– July 14, 2010
Network drive and syncing of files
Usually homes of these days have two computers with them; a desktop PC and a laptop. So there arises a need to sync certain files or folders between them. With the latest broadband technology, the ISP companies themselves provide very high quality routers or switches for networking purposes. The previous post about the backup and sync software was ok with removable drives. But it’s a tiresome process to sync it with 2 computers. Here, is a simple solution that is available directly under windows and no need of any external software. All you have to do is connect the two computers in LAN either by using a hub or a switch or even a router. Now-a-days games are played on LAN by directly connecting one Ethernet card to another. Once connected, your job is to choose a folder to keep the syncing process in common between both of the systems.
- To use this choose the Network connections in Control panel and assign each IP for each computer in the network. For example, for the first computer assign 192.168.1.2 and for the other as 192.168.1.10
- This should be assigned by going to the properties dialog box of the ehernet connection and choosing the TCP/IP properties.
- After assigning this, its time to make a folder to be in shared mode. The best choice for this is the Shared documents folder in the My computer.
- Now goto the Network Setup Wizard in the control panel and create a new connection. If a folder is asked for sharing, choose the “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents” folder for sharing.
- Once you have done that a hand symbol is shown below the folder indicating that it is in shared mode. Do the same process in the other computer also.
- While you create the connection make sure you give different names for the connections.
- Now all you have to do this is go into the shared folder and select “Tools” menu. From that choose “Map Network Drive”.
- A dialog box appears which can help you connect to a shared network folder and assign a drive letter to the connection so that you can access the folder using My Computer.
- Now specify the drive letter (usually Z: is chosen to prevent confusion in the future) for the connection and choose the shared folder that you made a few minutes back. Click finish.
- Once you have done that a network drive (Z:/ in my case) appears in the My Computer which can be used like any other drive.
- Any changes made are updated on both the computers. When the computers are not connected, go to “Tools” menu and click “Synchronize”. Choose the necessary options and whenever the connection is established, the syncing takes place.
Posted in tweets.
– July 13, 2010
Google Talk Labs
Google labs are doing lot of innovations and also are making their existing applications easy to use. The most popular chat client for google, the Google talk provides voice functionality in addition to the text based chat.
One problem with gtalk is that, it doesnot contain the invisible mode, which is usually available through browser. Most users find it difficult to login through gtalk because of this issue.
Google labs have created another client called the Google Talk Labs, which can be installed as a standalone application. This contains the invisible mode. But, the major setback here is, it doesn’t provide voice functionality. Another problem with this edition is, it cant be used for file transfer. Hope google finds a way to include the invisible mode in the main GTalk software. Given below are few screenshots. It looks very much similar to the GTalk gadget, which you add to your blog. But it has been made standalone here. It’s light-weight and has tabs for chatting with multiple users at the same time, thus eliminating the annoying pop-ups of original gtalk. Features such as blocking the sender and sending email to them have been placed. It also takes up very less resources. So, it nearly gets the green signal!
Posted in google.
– July 12, 2010
