installing windows xp using a flash drive

this tutorial is useful for netbooks...

To complete this tutorial you need a 32bit version of Windows XP or Windows Vista installed on your home PC.

What you'll need:
USB_PREP8 (alternative download)
PeToUSB (alternative download)
Bootsect.exe (alternative download)
Special Note: If you use the program Nlite be sure to keep the manual installation files as the USB_prep8 script relies on these files.

Extract the files in Bootsect.zip
The next step is to extract USB_prep8 and PeToUSB.
Next copy the PeToUSB executable into the USB_prep8 folder.
Inside of the USB_prep8 folder double click the executable named usb_prep8.cmd.

The window that opens will look like this:



Press any key to continue

You next window will look like this:
These settings are preconfigured for you all you need to do now is click start.
Once the format is complete DO NOT close the window just leave everything as it is and open a command prompt from your start menu (type cmd in the search bar or run box depending on your version of windows.).

Inside of the command windows go to the directory you have bootsect.exe saved.
(use the cd directoryname command to switch folders)

Now type "bootsect.exe /nt52 R:" NOTE R: is the drive letter for my USB stick if yours is different you need to change it accordingly. What this part does is write the correct boot sector to your USB stick, this allows your PC to boot from the USB stick without it nothing works.
Please note: When running the bootsect.exe command you cannot have any windows open displaying the content of your USB stick, if you have a window open bootsect.exe will be unable to lock the drive and write the bootsector correctly.

If all went well you should see "Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes."

Now you can close this command prompt (don't close the usbprep8 one by mistake) and the petousb window.

You window you see now should look like this:

If it doesn't try pressing enter.

Now you need to enter the correct information for numbers 1-3.
Press 1 and then enter. A folder browse window will open for you to browse to the location of you XP setup files (aka your cdrom drive with xp cd in)
Press 2 and enter a letter not currently assigned to a drive on your PC
Press 3 and enter the drive letter of your USB stick
Press 4 to start the process.

The script will ask you if its ok to format drive T:. This is just a temp drive the program creates to cache the windows installation files. Press Y then enter.

Once it's done formating press enter to continue again, you can now see the program copying files to the temp drive it created. Once this is done press enter to continue again.

Next you will see a box pop up asking you to copy the files to USB drive yes/no you want to click yes.

Once the script has completed copy files a popup window asking if you would like to USB drive to be preferred boot drive U: select YES on this window.

Now select yes to unmount the virtual drive.

Ok we are done the hard part, close the usbprep8 window.

Now make sure your EEE pc is configured with USB as the primary boot device.
Insert your USB drive and boot up the EEE.

On the startup menu you have two options, select option number 2 for text mode setup.

From this point on it is just like any other windows XP installation delete/recreate the primary partition on your EEE pc and format it using NTFS. Make sure you delete ALL partitions and recreate a single partition or you will get the hal.dll error message.

Once the text mode portion of setup is complete it will boot into the GUI mode (you can press enter after the reboot if your too excited to wait the 30 seconds)

Once the GUI portion of setup is complete you will again have to boot into GUI mode this will complete the XP installation and you will end up at you XP desktop. It is very important that you DO NOT REMOVE THE USB STICK before this point. Once you can see your start menu it is safe to remove the usb stick and reboot your pc to make sure everything worked.

This method has advantages over all current no cdrom methods of installing XP to the EEE. You do not have to copy setup files in DOS to the SSD and install from there. It gives you access to the recovery console by booting into text mode setup, and it gives you the ability to run repair installations of XP if you have problems later on.

Canon Printer Ink Cartridges

8 quick tips for getting the most from IE8

8 quick IE8 tips

1. Use Accelerators to speed up your work

2. Bookmark only the info you need

3. Cover your tracks

4. Navigate pages without a mouse

5. Protect your privacy and even block ads

6. View incompatible pages

7. Decode the Status Bar

8. Customize the interface

Sidebar: IE8 keyboard shortcuts

Computerworld - Internet Explorer 8, the latest update to Microsoft's venerable Web browser, introduces several features intended to provide greater security and ease of use. New security settings in IE8 allow for more privacy, new add-ons allow quick access to Web-based information and services, and a new browsing mode changes the way you interact with your browser.

Some old features return in new form, too, such as toolbar customization, the ability to view pages the way earlier versions of Internet Explorer saw them, and a set of mysterious boxes that have colonized the bottom of the browser window.

These tips will help you take advantage of the new and enhanced features. And if you're among those who still haven't upgraded from IE6 or 7, take a peek to see what you're missing.

1. Use Accelerators to speed up your work

Accelerators are add-ons for IE8 that let you quickly do a variety of tasks based on text you select on a Web page: get a stock quote, look up the definition of a word or phrase, map a location, convert currencies, share selected text on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, create a shortened URL, search for a product at an online shopping site and much more.

Select any piece of text on a Web page, and the Accelerator button, shown at right, will pop up; click that button to see the Accelerator menu. (You can also access Accelerators on the right-click contextual menu.)

Some Accelerators show their results in a pop-up window, as shown in the image below, while others appear in a new tab.

Using the Google Dictionary AcceleratorIE8 comes with several built-in Accelerators, but third-party developers are already starting to produce a wide range of new ones that you can install yourself. Go to Microsoft's Accelerator Gallery to see the available options.

2. Bookmark only the info you need with Web Slices

Another add-on that's new in IE8 is the Web Slice. Web Slices allow you to subscribe to a frequently updated part of a Web page, such as sports scores, headlines or current weather -- if the site's developers have designated that part of the page as a Web Slice. (Most Web sites are not Web Slice-enabled at this time.)

When a page you're viewing contains a Web Slice, a green icon appears on the toolbar next to the Home icon, as shown to the right. The same icon appears next to the Slice-ready content on a Web page when you mouse over it. Click the icon in either location to see a dialog box asking if you want to add the content to your Favorites bar.

Internet pioneer Cerf urges IPv6 migrations

InfoWorld - Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf repeated a call for migrations to IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) to stave off an anticipated lack of available addresses on IPv4.


Speaking at an industry event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. on Wednesday, Cerf, co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols, warned that IPv4 will run out of addresses next year or in early-2011. While there will be a period of attempts to sell off IPv4 spaces, Cerf stressed that the "smart thing to do is implement v6 now." He has made similar calls for migration to IPv6 previously.

[ Many businesses say they see no economic advantage to deploying IPv6 over their networks, but IPv6 is coming, ready or not. ]

IPv6, from the Internet Engineering Task Force, dates back several years and represents the next generation of the Internet protocol. Internet service providers need to move to IPv6, said Cerf, who currently is vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google Inc. Without more IP addresses, the Internet will not be able to grow very well, he said.

Cerf and other dignitaries in computing were featured at a dual celebration of the 40th anniversary of ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was a forerunner of the Internet, and the 125th anniversary of IEEE, which sponsored the event. The first transmission of the ARPAnet was on Oct. 29, 1969, from the University of California, Los Angeles, to SRI.

Cerf hailed the growth of the Internet and predicted its expansion into numerous devices, including household temperature systems and even into outer space. Sensor networks on the Internet will tell people which devices are consuming how much electricity, Cerf added.

"There are over 600 million servers on the Net that we can see," and the actual number is probably double that, Cerf said. The Internet has 1.6 billion users as of 2009, he said.

"We are still in a state of evolution," Cerf said. "There are so many opportunities to add new functionally and new capabilities," to the system, he said.

"We are going to see billions and billions of devices on the Net," he said. The Internet, for its part, has invited many people to contribute content, Cerf said.

He explained he has been developing protocols for Internet-like space exploration systems. A three-node interplanetary network already is in use in a test mode involving the international space station, the EPOXI space craft and an Earth-bound surface system, he said.

Also speaking at the event, Howard Charney, senior vice president in the Office of the President at Cisco Systems Inc., said development of the Internet has come a long way, although three-fourths of the world remains unconnected. This leaves an amazing opportunity, he said.

"Basically, the advent of this technology has transformed every single sector of our lives," including government, retail, health care, manufacturing, and education, Charney said. "Nothing -- nothing -- is the same anymore."

"What comes next is pervasive computing, where everything is connected, 24/7, to everything else," Charney said.



Echoing Cerf, Charney said everything would be connected ranging from pacemakers to maybe even cartons of milk. The Internet, meanwhile, can offer the opportunity for someone in Botswana to sell crafts to a much larger market, Charney said. In Cambodia, one spot lacking electricity nonetheless is improving itself through use of wireless Internet access, he said.



The Internet boosts productivity and, in turn, standards of living, Charney said.

Intel sees PCs spreading, becoming more desirable in future

August 28, 2009 (IDG News Service) The PC market is likely to see steep growth in the years ahead, similar to the growth witnessed in the phone market after the introduction of mobile phones, an Intel executive said on Thursday.

In the same way telephones moved from one per house to one per room to one for each person, PCs are also becoming personalized devices, said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager, of Intel's Mobile Platforms Group, at a meeting in Bangalore.

"It could be a notebook or a netbook or a mobile Internet device (MID)," Eden said.

Selling PCs has become a "consumer game", focused as much on the elegance and sleekness of the device, as its performance and other specifications, Eden said.

In most markets, affordability is not an issue for marketers of PCs, but the "desirability" of the computers, Eden said. To become desirable to a large segment of potential users who can afford PCs, the devices have to have content, user interface, and applications that they can relate to, he added.

This optimistic view of the market may hold true for mature markets, but not in emerging markets like India where 10,000 rupees (US$200) is seen as the magic price level for a reasonably configured PC to take off in large volumes.

Netbook prices are likely to come down because of economies of scale, said Eden, but he was not willing to forecast when the price would be below US$200.

Eden expects that demand in emerging markets could get a push through subsidies, for example if telecommunications service providers offer netbooks at a discount or free as part of a service plan.

Intel originally thought demand for netbooks powered by its Atom processor would first ramp up in emerging markets, because of the low-cost of these devices, Eden said. Currently about 85 percent of the sales of netbooks are in mature markets, Eden said.

A lot of netbook customers in these markets want to go beyond basic browsing and communications to applications like storing movies, which led vendors to include large hard-disk drives, and in some cases Microsoft's Windows operating system, Eden said.

To cut netbook prices, vendors in emerging markets can, for example, use the Moblin Linux operating system, backed by Intel, which is good enough for basic applications like browsing and communications, he added.

China Unicom to sell iPhone next quarter

 

August 28, 2009 (IDG News Service) China Unicom has reached a 3-year deal with Apple to offer the iPhone in China, it said Friday, confirming rumors that have swirled for months.

The company expects to launch the phone in the fourth quarter this year, it said in a statement. The deal brings the iPhone to a huge market in a country with nearly 700 million mobile subscribers.

The company listed both the 8GB iPhone 3G and 16GB and 32GB versions of the iPhone 3GS as models it will launch in a document posted on its Web site. The document advertised a "competitive purchase cost" for the phones, without giving details.

The iPhone is already popular among fashion-conscious Chinese users who buy smuggled versions or get the phones abroad.

The iPhone supports WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G standard being promoted by China Unicom that is also used in Europe and by some operators in the U.S. But the iPhone offered by China Unicom is unlikely to support Wi-Fi, which was not listed in the record for an unnamed Apple device that received one of the government licenses needed to be sold in China.

China has not allowed Wi-Fi on mobile phones until this year, when it began allowing handsets that support a domestically developed security protocol for wireless LANs.

NBC Dallas Showing Some eHow Love

NBC Dallas Showing Some eHow Love

Shared via AddThis

Apple Hot News http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ Hot News provided by Apple. en-us Copyright 2009, Apple Inc. Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:08:31 PDT Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:08:31 PDT Apple In house http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss/ Learn how to draw Garfield on iTunes U http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/vdoe.brpbs.org.2029969714.02029969716?sr=hotnews Thanks to the Virginia Department of Education and the Professor Garfield Foundation, you — and your kids, of course — can get an Introduction to Comics on iTunes U. The 15 video episodes encourage children to draw, sculpt, and carve. In fact, Jim Davis — who created Garfield — gets the course off to a great start, showing us all how he draws his famous lasagna-loving feline. Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 PDT Coming Attractions: Julie & Julia http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/julieandjulia/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss Meryl Streep is already receiving rave reviews for her performance as Julia Child in Julie & Julia. The film, which co-stars Amy Adams as Julie Powell, is based on Powell’s memoir, Julie & Julia, and Child’s My Life in France. Written and directed by Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle), Julie & Julia opens in theaters on Friday, August 7. Bon appétit. Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:15:00 PDT Apple releases MobileMe iDisk app http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=320654497&mt=8?sr=hotnews If you subscribe to MobileMe, you can now use your iPhone or iPod touch to view and share Pages documents, Keynote presentations, Microsoft Office documents, PDFs and more. To view documents, simply select them. To share them with others, just tap the share icon and choose your recipients. iDisk will send them an email with a download link. Get the free MobileMe iDisk app from the App Store. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:28:28 PDT Taking care of business on the App Store http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124881952727688085.html?sr=hotnews Salesforce Mobile, RoamBi Visualizer, the eBay Profit Calculator, Invoice Makers, Day Tracker, Bid Estimates — they’re but a few of the growing number of apps now available for small business owners on the iPhone App Store, according to Riva Richmond (online.wsj.com). Says iphonebootcampnyc.com dveloper Jonathan Sarno, “For the road warrior, the iPhone is perfect. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:16:29 PDT App of the Week: Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=321084051&mt=8?sr=hotnews Ready for a sequel that outplays the original? Rolando 2 breaks new ground, taking you underwater and up in the sky, offering new vehicles and weapons, and featuring a new 3D look and 45 levels of play. Like the original, it encourages you to touch, tilt, and slide your Rolandos to new levels of achievement. You can let friends know about your high scores, or challenge them via Facebook or email. Will you be able to discover the Golden Orchid? Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:05:55 PDT iPhone: Essential Equipment http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/profiles/sunbelt-rentals/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss For Sunbelt Rentals, the iPhone is as indispensable as hard hats. Sunbelt rents scissor lifts, cranes, backhoes and other heavy machinery to construction companies in 34 states. And its 1200-strong sales team depends on iPhone for real-time customer, business, and inventory information. The company even created its own iPhone app — Mobile SalesPro — to deliver that information to every member of its sales force. Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:46:11 PDT Richard Massey: Demystifying Dark Matter http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/massey/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss Astronomer RIchard Massey maps “dark matter,” little understood material that holds our universe together but is otherwise invisible. The presence of dark matter can be inferred, however, by its effect on galaxies we can see. So Massey takes high-resolution photos of distant galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope. And to analyze the huge, multi-terabyte images he captures, Massey depends on his Mac. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:12:11 PDT Creativity through collaboration http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/profiles/aedas/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss “Once you get a new employee an iPhone, they are in,” says Aedas Sport’s Michael Sedlacek. “They’re connected.” And that connection has spiked productivity — by as much as 400%, the architectural firm estimates. “We couldn’t imagine letting people work without one,” adds managing director Dan Meis. “Because that would mean they weren’t connected to us. And ultimately, that would cost the business money, far more than the cost of a phone.” Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:13:23 PDT (500) Days of Summer: (15) Questions http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/in-action/fivehundreddays/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss “I prefer Final Cut,” explains Alan Bell, who edited the new film, (500) Days of Summer, “because it offers me an open and easy way to move media and elements in and out of the system, while handling multiple file types and sizes in the same timeline. So it just works better and faster than any other editing solution out there.” Read the full interview with Bell and the film’s director, Marc Webb, on the new Final Cut Studio site. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:55:24 PDT Bet you can’t watch just one http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/new.duke.edu.2256724776?sr=hotnews Believe it or not, we’ve been watching television commercials for nearly 70 years. Some have made us laugh. Some have made us cry. A few have even encouraged us to go out and buy something. And many TV ads have entered popular culture, influencing us in ways unexpected by advertisers. Though you won’t see many of these ads on TV anytime soon, you can see them on iTunes U thanks to Duke University and its AdViews. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:06:58 PDT Coming Attractions: Funny People http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/funnypeople/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss Written, directed, and co-produced by Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up), Funny People stars Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a comedian who learns he has less than a year to live, and Seth Rogen as Ira Wright, a struggling stand-up comic that Simmons befriends. The film, which opens in theaters on July 31, also stars Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, and Jonah Hill. Enjoy. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:43:23 PDT App Store Pick of the Week: Shakespeare http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=285035416&mt=8?sr=hotnews If you’re headed back to school soon, don’t forget to pack a copy of Shakespeare. On your iPhone. The free app brings you the full text of all forty plays, as well as the Bard’s poems and sonnets. Customize your reading experience by picking the font color and font size. Opt to scroll or tap your way down the page. You can even rotate iPhone or iPod touch and read Shakespeare in landscape mode. Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:29:21 PDT Apple updates Final Cut Studio with more than 100 new features http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/?sr=hotnews.rss Apple today announced a significant update to Final Cut Studio, offering more than 100 new features and new versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color, and Compressor. Final Cut Pro 7 expands Apple’s ProRes codec family to support virtually any workflow and includes Easy Export for one step output to a variety of formats. At $999, the new Final Cut Studio is $300 less than the previous release and is also available as an upgrade for just $299. Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:30:15 PDT Apple unveils new Logic Studio http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/?sr=hotnews.rss The new version of Logic Studio introduced today offers major upgrades to Logic Pro and Mainstage and more than 200 new features that simplify tasks. “The new Logic Studio is ideal for professional musicians, live performers and GarageBand enthusiasts who want to take their music to the next level,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. Available today, Logic Studio sells for $499. Current Logic Studio and Logic Pro users can upgrade for $199. Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:30:10 PDT Apple reports best non-holiday quarter revenue in company’s history http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/07/21results.html?sr=hotnews.rss “We’re extremely pleased to report record non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings and quarterly cash flow from operations of $2.3 billion,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer. For its third fiscal quarter, Apple posted revenue of $8.34 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, or $1.35 per diluted share. Apple sold 2.6 million Macintosh computers, 10.2 million iPods, and 5.2 million iPhones during the quarter. Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:30:05 PDT Mac OS X Tip: Keep applications in the Dock http://www.apple.com/business/theater/?sr=hotnews/#appsindock?sr=hotnews.rss If you use an application all the time, there’s no need to navigate to the Applications folder whenever you want to use it. Mac OS X Leopard lets you keep frequently used applications in the Dock, where you can launch them with a mouse click. And in today’s Quick Tip, you’ll find out how easy it is to add aliases of your favorite applications to the Dock. Take a look. Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:53:03 PDT Open Yale Courses now available on iTunes U http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/yale.edu?sr=hotnews Though you can already enjoy a significant number of Yale University lectures and interviews on iTunes U, now you can sign up for entire courses in Game Theory, Frontiers of Biomedical Engineering, Milton, and others by subscribing to the newly available Open Yale Courses. Yale offers free access to a variety of introductory courses in a variety of disciplines “to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn.” Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:15:27 PDT Coming Attractions: G-Force http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/gforce/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss Ready for some fun? Catch G-Force, a new Disney comedy — in Disney Digital 3-D — produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In the film, Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Penélope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, Jon Favreau, and Steve Buscemi play a team of secret agents out to protect the world against billionaire Leonard Saber (Bill Nighy). Of course, these secret agents just happen to be guinea pigs, moles, and hamsters. Enjoy. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:06:34 PDT Franz Ferdinand: Better at Night with Logic Pro http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/in-action/fferdinand/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss “When it comes to recording, I don’t want to be a technical person,” says Alex Kapranos, lead singer/guitarist for Franz Ferdinand. “The studio should be a creative place. So I like a system that is really straightforward, visually appealing, and simple.” He found that system, writing most of the songs for Tonight: Franz Ferdinand on his MacBook Pro using GarageBand and Logic Pro. The result? A sound “different from everything we’ve ever done before.” Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:29:31 PDT This Just In http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/action/cronkite/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss To train the next generation of professional journalists, Arizona State University built a state-of-the-art facility for its prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. There, student journalists write, shoot, edit, and broadcast their own stories on Mac computers using Final Cut Pro. “Among the most critical decisions we made,” says News Director Mark Lodato, “was choosing Final Cut Pro as our editing tool, and I don’t think we could be more pleased.” Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:11:14 PDT

OS and File System

OS & File System