Shutdown automation, shutdown after given time

In a Windows machine there is a command to shutdown a computer after certain time interval.

For example, if you want to shut down your computer after an hour you can give a command in the command windows:

"shutdown -s -t 3600"

-s for shutdown
-r for restart
-t for time

In Windows XP the procedure is:

1. Start –> Run

2. Type the command with the time in seconds

3. Let the computer shut down

There is another option to schedule shutdown by Task Scheduler in the Control Panel.

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Screen Capture (Print Screen) in Mac Computer – Mac OS and Windows OS

For those who have switched from PC to Mac, one of the most obvious difference is the keyboard and its keys. There are some extra ones and some important ones missing.

I was used to taking screenshots by ‘Print Screen’ key in PC but the key is missing in the Macbook I recently acquired. It can take screenshot for sure but in Mac OS the keys are: ⌘-Shift-2

Apart from taking the screenshot the command saves the image in the desktop too. If you don’t want to save it automatically you need to press one more key. The command ⌘-Shift-Control-2 copies the screen to clipboard.

The key 3 in place of 2 gives more flexibility in selecting what you want to include in the image.

In summary, for Mac OS:

⌘-Shift-2 – Captures screen and saves in a PNG file
⌘-Shift-Control-2 – Captures screen to clipboard
⌘-Shift-3 - Captures the selected screen area to a PNG file
⌘-Shift-Control-3 – Captures the selected screen area to clipboard

That was for Mac OS. But if you have installed Windows OS using Bootlogger then you would need different keys to do screen capturing. Screen capture keys are fn + F11 for built-in keyboards. For external keyboards, F14 does the job.

Summary for Windows OS:

F14 – Capture screen (External Mac Keyboard)
F14 + Option - Capture the selected area of screen (External Mac Keyboard)

fn + F11 – Capture screen (Built-in Keyboard)
fn + Option + F11 – Capture the selected area of screen (Built-in Keyboard)

In the Mac OS there is ‘Grab’ application, found in the Applications folder to take trimmed screenshot. Grab allows you to take a timed screenshot by selecting “Timed Screen” from the Capture menu. Snow Leopard takes this concept a bit further by allowing you to record video of your actions on screen in QuickTime Player.

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Windows 7 – Is it the Lucky 7 for Microsoft?

In the history of Microsoft Windows releases XP is the only successful OS without numbers attached to it. All other named versions failed to gain the consumer confidence in them. Did that made Microsoft superstitions enough to choose the next version with number attached to it — number 7, lucky 7?

Most of the successful Microsoft Windows releases were numbered and few named versions received disappointing responses except for Windows XP. For example, Windows Me released in 2000 was called "Mistake Edition" by PC World; Windows Vista could never gain confidence of the XP users. (Network versions – Windows NTs were released with numbers attached to them).

Windows 7, the new operating system from Microsoft, is going on sale today. It has received some favorable reviews and some new features to help Windows rebuilt its image. Some notable features of the new OS are faster booting, Device Stage, Windows PowerShell, less obtrusive User Account Control, multi-touch, improved window management, homegroup networking, multiple thumbnails for combined taskbar buttons, and better power management for notebooks.

Reviews of final release will tell how the new Windows are perceived by the users. Till then, let’s wish Microsoft luck.

Windows 7 shortcuts

Here are some of the useful keyboard shortcuts for the next big thing from Microsoft:

• Win+Home: Clear all but the active window
• Win+Space: All windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop
• Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window
• Win+Down arrow: Minimize the window/Restore the window if it’s maximized
• Win+Left/Right arrows: Dock the window to each side of the monitor (If you’ve got dual monitors, adding Shift to the mix (e.g., Win+Shift+Right arrow) will move the window to the adjacent monitor.)
• Win+T: Focus and scroll through items on the taskbar.
• Win+P: Adjust presentation settings for your display Win+(+/-): Zoom in/out Shift+Click a taskbar item: Open a new instance of that application (lifehacker)

You might also want to look at Brandon’s page for more Windows 7 specific shortcuts.

If you are looking for more than shortcuts the Bumper list of Windows 7 Secrets from the MSDN blog might be more helpful.

How do you access administrator account in WinXP?

There was a case in which the owner of a computer didn’t know his administrator account in Windows XP. It was tricky to find out the account password. If you have such problem this procedure might be useful. You however need to have WinXP install CD to perform the task.

First – Place your Windows XP CD in your cd-rom and start your computer (it’s assumed here that your XP CD is bootable – as it should be – and that you have your bios set to boot from CD)

2. Keep your eye on the screen messages for booting to your cd Typically, it will be “Press any key to boot from cd”

3. Once you get in, the first screen will indicate that Setup is inspecting your system and loading files.

4. When you get to the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to Setup Windows now

5. The Licensing Agreement comes next – Press F8 to accept it.

6. The next screen is the Setup screen which gives you the option to do a Repair.

It should read something like “If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it”

Use the up and down arrow keys to select your XP installation (if you only have one, it should already be selected) and press R to begin the Repair process.

7. Let the Repair run. Setup will now check your disks and then start copying files which can take several minutes.

8. Shortly after the Copying Files stage, you will be required to reboot. (this will happen automatically – you will see a progress bar stating “Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds”

9. During the reboot, do not make the mistake of “pressing any key” to boot from the CD again! Setup will resume automatically with the standard billboard screens and you will notice Installing Windows is highlighted.

10. Keep your eye on the lower left hand side of the screen and when you see the Installing Devices progress bar, press SHIFT + F10. This is the security hole! A command console will now open up giving you the potential for wide access to your system.

11. At the prompt, type NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter. Voila! You have just gained graphical access to your User Accounts in the Control Panel.

12. Now simply pick the account you need to change and remove or change your password as you prefer. If you want to log on without having to enter your new password, you can type control userpasswords2 at the prompt and choose to log on without being asked for password. After you’ve made your changes close the windows, exit the command box and continue on with the Repair (have your Product key handy).

13. Once the Repair is done, you will be able to log on with your new password (or without a password if you chose not to use one or if you chose not to be asked for a password). Your programs and personalized settings should remain intact.

Thanks to computerdude for the help.

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Useful Windows XP Shortcut keys – 2

Here are some of day-to-day use shortcuts for MS Windows XP:

If you don’t have Windows key in your keyboard visiting this previous post for other windows shortcut keys might be more useful.

Windows Key – START Menu

Windows Key+ Pause Break – System Properties

Windows Key+R – RUN Window

Windows Key+L – Locks Computer

Windows Key+Ctrl+F – SEARCH FOR COMPUTERS

Windows Key+F – SEARCH

Windows Key+D – Minimize or Restore All Windows

Windows Key+Pause Break+M – Undo Minimize All Windows

Windows Key+ U -Utility Manager 

Windows Key+F1 – Help & Support

Windows Key+E – Windows Explorer

Ctrl+C – Copy Highlighted Text

Ctrl+X – Cut Highlighted Text

Ctrl+V – Paste

Ctrl+x – Select All

Ctrl+z – Undo

Shift+Delete – Permanently Delete (bypasses Recycle Bin*)

Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Task Manager

If you want to see all the XP shortcut keys you can visit the official MS website here.

Accessing NTFS “protected” private folders

My computer just went dead and instead of repairing it I moved the hard disk to another system. Till then I never realized that the document folders was encrypted in the NTFS system.

It was the most annoying thing and I cursed NTFS over FAT system and all the stuffs. Well, it was not that hard after all. MS guys have given a detailed procedure in this support page. I don’t want to repeat it again here as you people can read the original stuff rather than my blah blah…

That was easy; although it took a lot of time!
Enjoy!

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SHORTCUT KEYS

Alt + Tab Switch between open applications

Alt + Shift + Tab Switch backwards between open applications

Alt + Print Screen Create screen shot for current program

Ctrl + Alt + Del Reboot/Windows® task manager

Ctrl + Esc Bring up start menu

Alt + Esc Switch between applications on taskbar

F2 Rename selected icon

F3 Start find from desktop

F4 Open the drive selection when browsing

F5 Refresh contents

Alt + F4 Close current open program

Ctrl + F4 Close window in program

Ctrl + Plus Key Automatically adjust widths of all columns in Windows Explorer

Alt + Enter Open properties window of selected icon or program

Shift + F10 Simulate right-click on selected item

Shift + Del Delete programs/files permanently

Holding Shift During Boot Boot safe mode or bypass system files

Holding Shift During Boot When putting in an audio CD, will prevent CD Player from playing

How to make Windows XP fast?

Failure of Vista to fulfill user’s expectation has made XP still a best bet in operating system. Watch this video for some tips in making it run faster.

How To Uninstall Office 2007 Beta Manually

If you are one of those who installed MS Office 2007 Beta and couldn’t uninstall it at all. Here is a solution for you. (You can curse MS again before you apply it, they deserve it!!)

1. Right-click on My Computer and choose Manage
2. Expand “Services and Applications and then select Services
3. In the right pane, stop the Office Source Engine service if it is running
4. Delete the following registry keys if present: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Delivery\SourceEngine\Downloads\*0FF1CE}-* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*0FF1CE* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ose HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Features\*F01FEC HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\*F01FEC HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Win32Assemblies\*Office12* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\*F01FEC
5. And lastly, find and delete all keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall with a valuename of UninstallString that contains a value with *\Office Setup Controller\setup.exe*