Cyohash is a simple application to assist the end-user in calculating the file hash. You can conveniently check the file hash via the program window or context menu. Another plus is that Cyohash is Open-Source and it also has a very small memory footprint at 587Kb.

Link: http://hotfile.com/dl/45922003/bd83d0c/CyoHash.exe.html (0.058Mb)
File Version: 1.0.6.0
MD5checksum: F4AC2CE272EA6CCD5312FD4AED969A7A CyoHash.exe
SHA1checksum: 4DCFC71FD21D0F30FEAEEE29F462F524810695D5 CyoHash.exe

For daemon tools you need the installation file, there is a free and a paid version. The free will do and is called Daemon Tools Lite. You can get this from multiple sources, we have selected two for you.

• Daemon Tools lite download link: Daemon tools lite v4.35.6.exe
• MD5checksum: be858da480154a3ed05b68a7b8173563
  DaemonToolsLitev4.35.6.exe
• Daemon Tools lite official website: daemon-tools.cc

Installation & Usage

This is how to install and use DTL. (Download link above).

1. Access the Daemon Tools folder. It’s usually in C>Program Files>DAEMON Tools Lite
2. Double click on DTLite4335-0068.exe
3. Let it install and if it asks you. Make a shortcut Icon to the Desktop
4. When it finishes installing, restart computer.
5. Run DTL and there should be a little blue thunderbolt icon on the bottom right corner of the screen. Double click that and the main console should appear.
6. You’ll see 8 buttons in the middle of the window. Ignore all of them, except for one. Click on the Disc with the little plus next to it.
7. Locate the folder that contains your image (iso file).
8. When you find it, click on files of type > All Files (*.*)
9. Select the image file and click open.
10. You’ll notice that in the image catalog text will appear.
11. Click on that text and then click on the little disk with the right green arrow pointing right.
12. It should now be mounted on your computer.
13. Now access My Computer > F: Drive. It should also have the Logo of the mounted image on it.

Final Words

If you guys have any problems or don’t understand feel free to leave a comment or a question or even a thanks.

Nero 9 is the latest version of the world’s most trusted integrated digital media and home entertainment software suite. It features new cutting-edge functionality that makes enjoying digital media content simple. This easy-to-use yet powerful multimedia suite, gives you the freedom to create, rip, copy, burn, edit, share, and upload online. Whatever you want – music, video, photo, and data – enjoy and share with family and friends anytime, anywhere.

All that functionality however comes at a price and a painfull stab in the back of your wallet… Well for some but since you came here i can ensure you that you wont pay a dime for it! However, this installation guide is a quite a bit more complex than most installation guides we have here. This guide has to be followed EXACTLY. Dont try to skip steps because you will fail miserably and we seriously wont help you if you dont follow all the steps.

Downloading

First of all you are going to have to get yourself a copy of Nero 9. We choose to downloading the torrent which we lick to below because it packs evertything you need, has been tested, and is fully functional.

• Link to Torrent
• Nero Version: 9.4.26.0
• Release Date: 2009-10-09
• File Size: 204 MB (214.167.816 bytes)

This torrent contains all of the following Nero 9 applications and plugins:

Start downloading that it shouldnt take to long, and get on to the installation!

Installation

1. First of all please check if your pc has the minimal system requirements
2. It does? great! now grab a cup of coffee because this install will take you longer than normal
3. Disable your internet connection
• Note:Go to “start > control panel > network and internet > network connections” (disconnect cable and / or wireless connection)
4. Close all applications running besides this guide (highly recommended)
5. Start installing Nero 9.4.26.0
• Note: It should have a serial filled in for you, if it doesnt run the keygen and generate a serial
6. When Nero has finished installing, close it but DONT START IT
7. Now disable your anti-virus program, turn it OFF so it doesnt run anymore
8. Start the Nero keygen
• Recommended: Right click > run as administrator
9. in the keygen select the following (they are probably selected alreaddy)
• Product: Nero 9.0
• License: Retail single
• Check Auto register serial when I press “Add to white list”
• Uncheck “My Nero is HD edition”
• License: Retail single
10. alright now you are going to have to grab a serial for each Nero application your going to use
• Recommended: Grab a serial for every Nero application, i mean… why not?
11. To generate serials for all the products there is an easy way which is simply selecting the application in the drop down list, generate a key and press “Add to white list”
• Select Nero 9.0 > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Nero 9.0) > press “Add to white list”
• Select Grace Note Plug-in > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Grace Note Plug-in) > press “Add to white list”
• Select Nero BackItUp 4.0 > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Nero BackItUp 4.0) > press “Add to white list”
• Select Blu-Ray Video Plug-in > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Blu-Ray Video Plug-in) > press “Add to white list”
• Select Blu-Ray Disc Authoring Plug-in > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Blu-Ray Disc Authoring Plug-in) > press “Add to white list”
• Select Nero In-CD Reader > press “Add to white list”
• Select DTS Plug-in > press “Add to white list”
• Select mp3Pro Plug-in > press “Add to white list”
• Select SecurDisc Viewer > press “Add to white list”
• Select Blu-Ray/HD DVD Plug-in > press “Add to white list”
• Select Nero Media Home 4.0 > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Nero Media Home 4.0) > press “Add to white list”
• Select Nero Move It > press “Add to white list”
• Select Activation (Nero Move It) > press “Add to white list”
12. If you want to see the serials you have just generated you can click “License manager”
13. If your done generating serials just close the keygen, your done with it.
14. Now pay attention, you are going to have to delete some files nero just installed
15. Go to: (C:) Program Files(x86) > Common Files > Nero > AdvrCntr4
• Delete: NeroPatentActivation.exe (obvious)
• Delete: NOSProductRegistration.dll (Component for Product Registrations Services)
• Delete: NOSUsageStatistics.dll (Component for Usage Statistics)
16. Go to: (C:) Program Files(x86) > Nero > Nero ControlCenter4 > OnlineServices
• Delete: NOSMyNeroRegistration.dll (component for Registration Services)
• DO NOT DELETE: AdvrCtr4.dll (If deleted your Nero 9 installation becomes virtually useless)
17. Now thats done each and every Nero 9 application you just installed has to be blocked in your firewall
• Note: If nero connects to the internet it locks up
18. Go to your firewall and block the internet access for the following programs:
19. The following files are in the “(C:) Program Files(x86) > Nero > Nero 9″ folder
• Nero StartSmart > Block SmartStart.exe
• Nero ShowTime > Block ShowTime.exe
• Nero DiscSpeed > Block DiscSpeed.exe
• Nero DiscCopy Gadget > Blocking not required
• Nero WaveEditor > Block WaveEditor.exe
• Nero SoundTrax > Block SoundTrax.exe
• Nero Recode > Block Recode.exe
• Nero PhotoSnap > Block PhotoSnap.exe
• Nero Burning ROM > Block Burning ROM.exe
• Nero Express > Block Express.exe
• Nero CoverDesigner > Block CoverDesigner.exe
• Nero Vision > Block Vision.exe
• Nero DriveSpeed > Block DriveSpeed.exe
• Nero BurnRights > Block BurnRights.exe
• Nero RescueAgent > Block RescueAgent.exe
• Nero InfoTool > block InfoTool.exe
• Nero PhotoSnap Viewer > Block photosnap.exe + Photosnap viewer.exe
• Nero ControlCenter > Block ControlCenter.exe
20. The following files are in the “(C:) Program Files(x86) > Common Files > Nero > Nero ControlCenter4″ folder
• Block ncc.exe
21. The following files are in the “(C:) Program Files(x86) > Common Files > Nero > Nero BackItUp4″ folder
• Block NBCore.exe
• Block NBService.exe
22. Well thats that for the blocking, however if you have add-on(s) such as MoveIt, or BackItUp and Burn, you also need to block theire .exe with your firewall aswell
• Example: for Nero BackItIp block: (C:)Program Files(x86)>Nero>Nero BackItUp & Burn>Nero BackItUp.exe
• Note: Make sure you are only running ONE firewall, if not sure, check: Control Panel>System and Security>Windows Firewall
• Note: there is a few .exe to block so please pay attention.
23. Reboot
24. When rebooting is done, double check all your steps, cause really, do you want to do this all over again do you?
    • Note: Check “Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features” It should say you have installed Nero 9, not Nero 9 trial, but in case it does it aint a problem either.<./li>
25. Re-enable or start up your Antivirus program.
26. Reconnect your internet. (re-enable your network adapters)
27. Start Nero 9 and it should run fine! if it doesnt, look below before posting.

Nero still doesnt work?

Well to be honest, you probably messed or missed a step. In case you skipped any step on purpose… well thats your problem than because I did warn you. Now lets fix the problem, which isnt hard… its just another bit of work.

1. Download Nero CleanTool: Direct download link for Nero CleanTool
• Recommended: Safe to desktop so you can remove it when your done
2. Unzip the ZIP-file with WinZip or WinRAR and save the contents
3. double-click on the EXE-file that popped out to start the CleanTool.
• Note: Nero General CleanTool should open and show the installed Nero products
4. Now check the boxes next to the Nero products you want to remove.
• Recommended: Remove ALL the Nero products you just installed…
5. Click the “Clean” button, a status window should open and the tool should run for several minutes
6. Wait untill the progress bar is done and click exit in the Nero General CleanTool window (that means when the erasing procedure is completed)
7. Reboot your computer. The Nero General CleanTool has removed all selected Nero entries from your computer.
8. And now im sorry to say, but you are going to have the entire install over again… make sure to check your steps!

Known errors

Error: “can’t load advrcntr4.dll”
Solution: Nero needs that file (AdvrCtr4.dll Module) to operate
If you deleted it (permanently), got some bad news for u, re-install Nero again.
DON’T DELETE AdvrCntr4.dll deleting AdvrCntr4.dll renders Nero virtually useless.
If you can find it in the Recycle, restore it. I will upload the file asap so you dont have to reinstall

Final Words

I hope it all worked out for you the first time, otherwise i hope it worked the second. Please dont post comments asking stuff before having tried this atleast twice, because it is just to likely to accidentaly skip a step. If you do have special errors dont be afraid to post and we will certainly try helping you!

Lets get started:

• Getting Connected
• USB Connect Problems
• IR Syncing
• Hot Tip2
• Killing WCESCOM
• Killing Activesync 4.x
• Stopping Five Minute Sync Interval and Constant Wakeups
• Kill all Active Sync sounds

Getting Connected

I am going to assume that you are reading this because you can’t connect your phone with active sync. This article is providing all the required information that you need to figure out what’s happening. Read it carefully and if you are really frustrated go ahead and read one of our relaxing movie review articles. Haste seldom makes for good decisions.

You have heard it before, but when you are trying to pin down elusive problems, always begin with a clean slate by doing a “soft reset” on your mobilephone before you begin any diagnosis.

1. On the PC, open ActiveSync, then click File/Connection Settings. Make sure that your method of connection is checked.
2. Then click the “Get Connected” button. Once it finishes it shows a report that contains enough information on where you need to look for the problem.

In this report snippet, “Not Available” indicates that COM1 is being used by another program. In many cases other programs such as cellphone or pager utilities that use serial connections may have the port open without your knowing… even if you never used them, so the solution is to track down what else is using the com port and shut that program down in order to connect using activesync.

If you were connected to COM2 in the above case and couldn’t connect, one possibility is a bad cable or even a bad serial port in the PC. Here’s a tip… get ready to run “get connected” with your device disconnected and turned off. Just before you start “get connected” connect the device on COM2… it [b][i]should[/i][/b] turn on and display a connection dialog… if not, you have a hardware problem somewhere and it could be the cable, wrong connector, a PC or Device serial hardware problem.

Before giving up, soft reset the Device and give it one more shot.

The “Not Installed” message is applicable to other ports as well… the IR result message shown above indicates that the PC either doesn’t have that port or [b][i]doesn’t believe[/i][/b] that the port exists. If you know that the port exists, you may have to turn it on in your PC’s bios, and you may have to prod the computer into “finding” the port by running “Add New Hardware” in the control panel and get the PC to search itself again.

Note that there is no reference to attempting a Network connection. Network Sync connections must always be initiated manually on the Device and ActiveSync will never try to initiate a network connection from it’s end.

USB Connect Problems

There are constant reports of inconsistent USB connect problems with all of the kinds of mobile devices. From my observations of a number of my own connect problems, I have concluded that information specifying exactly which USB port was used for the initial sync connection is referenced in subsequent sync connections, so, as long as the USB connector stays in or is always plugged into exactly the same USB port, there will be no problems.

However, if the sync cable is plugged into a different USB port on the PC or the hub that was used initially, or if a hub is plugged into the PC port that was used and the connection made through a hub, the problems arise It would be my guess that Activesync “sees” the connect on the new port, but attempts to communicate out through the original port, not only precluding a successful connect, but potentially disrupting any device that is now connected to that original port.

The solution is to:

1. Connect MObile Device and confirm that it is on.
2. Open the PC’s “device manager”
3. Find the device
4. Remove the device.
5. Disconnect the device
6. Turn the device OFF
7. Reconnect the device
8. Assure that the device is always connected to the same port in the future.

IR Syncing

IR syncing works, but it can be frustrating. There are a whole series of possibilities on the PC’s IR side alone to cause problems.
On the PC…
In some cases, the IR port may have to be turned on in the bios.

Check the Device Manager, find the IR port and confirm that it is “working properly.”

IRDA has to be up and running on the Laptop (Icon’s in the systray and there is no “X” showing) Go to START/CONTROL_PANEL/INFRARED and activate it with the defaults.

On the PocketPC…
Make all attempts with the PocketPC and PC’s IR ports pointed directly at each other and less than 6 centimeters inches apart.

Activate some type of IR action such as sending a file with IR from Explorer and put the ports together and confirm
that the laptop “see’s” the CE device by checking the IR con in the systray. If not, this must be resolved before going any further!

Next, start the PocketPC and select the Start/Connections/”IR ActiveSync” icon (2000) or “Tools/Connect Via IR” (2002)

[b][i]Immediately power down the CE device[/i][/b] and place it on the desk with the PPC’s IR port aimed directly at the
laptop’s IR port, no more than a couple of inches apart. (we are not ready to begin until the following steps are taken on the PC)

On the PC…
Start ActiveSync on the Laptop and go to file/connection settings, confirm that the “Com” box is checked.

Click on “Get connected” When the process finishes, check the result dialogue and confirm that the IR port was
available. If the IR port reports “Not Installed” or “Not Available” the problem is on the PC and needs to be resolved before continuing. Again, there are a whole series of reasons why IR might not work on the PC side, from not existing to the port being used by another app that you don’t even know is running, so, until this screen shows IR as “Available” concentrate your efforts on the Laptop/PC.

Once the “Get Connected” result shows IR as “Available,” it’s time to power up the CE device, confirm that it is attempting a connect and at the same time click the “Retry” button on the “Get Connected” results screen. If the connect fails, immediately click the “Retry” button once more in case the attempts were “out of sync.”

The reason for the “power up” on the PPC, on startup, the OS checks to see if an ActiveSync “connection” is occuring, and
since you previously selected IR, the AS process on the PPC will attempt an IR connection.

Once the first IR sync is achieved, you should be able to simply select “IR Sync” on the CE device and put it near the
IR port on the laptop for future connects.

Hot Tip 2

Syncing files outside of the sync folder Frustrated because you can’t sync a file that needs to be at a specific
location on your PC other than in your devices “Sync Folder” Well… while you can’t, there is a way to accomplish what you need.

1. Move the file to the sync folder
2. Right click on the file
3. Create a Shortcut
4. Move the shortcut to the folder where you needed the file to be
5. Name it the same as the file
6. It will show up as a file in apps such as Word and Excel and can be opened and edited as if it were a file.

Killing WCESCOM

First, know that you can use to bring up the current tasks at any time and “End Task” the Activesync module in memory named WCESCOMM at any time that the pocket pc is not connected without doing any damage. Depending on your system, this action may make a significant improvement on your available system resources, in particular on any other comm port app that you may need to run. To reload the module, simply click on the “Activesync” icon that was installed on your desktop… or,
reboot your computer. This information has an extra added benefit if you use a USB connection in that it will “clear” a current session
and allow you to reconnect your device without rebooting.

If you are familiar with MSCONFIG, you may have already discovered that even if you “uncheck” the Activesync entry in the startup options, it will re-appear the next time you reboot. Actually, it will appear before you reboot. Every time any sync action, including the installation of third party PocketPC software, is run activesync generates a registry entry that absolutely assures that it will load and run every time the computer is started.

With the advent of ASync 4.x, Microsoft has brought Windows Media Player into this fray. Installing Activesync 4.x “Patches” WMP10 to automatically launch Activesync if it is not already running when WMP starts. With WMP10, you can download and reinstall media player to get rid of the patch, but WMP11 has it built in, so there are no options to prevent this behavior.

Note… the following involves registry edits and batch files… if you are one of the many who are not comfortable
in such territory, take a look at the prepackaged options available such as
ASToggle. (At the time of this writing, if you are using AS4.x, you will need the “beta” version of ASToggle)

Run REGEDIT then find the key and value:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

“H/PC Connection Agent”=”" and edit the value so that the string is empty as above. Export the above key and name it something like “KILL_ASync.reg” Put it in the DESKTOP directory. When you double click on this.reg file, it will remove the registry entry generated by Activesync… but, remember, the next time Activesync is run, the entry will be re-created.

You can polish the execution of this registry file by creating a shortcut to it that reads something like;
C:\WINDOWS\REGEDIT.EXE /s C:\windows\desktop\Kill_ASync.reg
and it will execute without asking you if it’s ok to revise the registry.
Finally, if you are one of those computer users who has sufficient intelligence to click the Activesync icon when you need it, make a copy of this shortcut and place it in your “StartUp” folder… it won’t get the next session, but it will stop subsequent sessions until you run Activesync again.

onward… XP has a dos utility named TASKKILL that allows you to kill current tasks from the dos command line.

TASKKILL /IM WCESCOMM.EXE

With “TASKKILL” you can also create a batch file that will both kill the current process and fix the registry so that activesync will not reload on the next reboot

======step 1======
Export the “KILL_ASync.reg” registry file as shown above

=======step 2======
create a “batch” file containing:

taskkill /IM WCESCOMM.EXE
taskkill /IM rapimgr.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\regedit.exe /s C:\
\KILL_ASync.reg
exit

======step 3=====
place the batch file on your desktop or create a shortcut to the batch file on your desktop so that it is easy to run.

Still got problems? Hit Google using the words POCKETPC and ACTIVESYNC to find other sites that attempt to deal with Activesync’s failings…

Killing Activesync 4.x

The above batch file has been altered to deal with 4.x and to also kill the RAPI process.

For some reason, I am finding that I have to run the above batch file twice to have it take effect… pretty hardheaded. In addition, even if you don’t connect a device, I have found that there are other events that will reload activesync without your knowledge or consent, so, if your system “slugs out” for no apparent reason, open taskmanager and check for WCESCOMM’s reappearance. Opening Windows Media Player or other programs such as Audible manager which use the AS pipe will reload Activesync as well.

Stopping WM5 Activesync 4.x Five Minute Sync Interval and Constant Wakeups

There are some frustrating behavioral problems with Activesync 4.x and since it’s new, approaches to deal with 4.x’s specific
problems are still evolving… the following two approaches deal with two different needs… first, throttling 4.x’s instance to sync constantly which is not only unnecessary in most cases, it robs the sync computer of valuable resources needed for other apps and tasks… second, connecting a device in need of a charge triggers it to “turn on” even if turned off… not only irritating, but, since juice from a USB connection is limited, it significantly extends the time needed to charge the device.

Restoring the Manual Sync Option Use Regedit and find the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
CE
Services\Partners\**********\Services\Synchronization

Set the following values correspond to 0 in hexadecimal value.

• Continuously Update
• Update on docking

Once this desktop shortcut is on your pc, you can it and select “Disable” which will break the activesync connection _until you re-enable it!_ (remember to check this setting before you post that you can’t sync)
When the RAPI network connection is set to DISABLE, it will stop AS4′s insistent syncing… however, the following facts should be read and understood before you elect to use this approach:

If RAPI connection is “Enabled”

• device syncs every 5 min
• device charges
• device will turn itself on if turned off

If RAPI connection is “Disabled” and PPC is “ON”

• device stops syncing
• device does not charge (a penalty fee?
• suggestion… set “on external power” setting to “power off” at 10min to prevent a dead ppc

If RAPI connection is “Disabled” and PPC is “OFF”

• device stops syncing
• device charges
• PlugNPlay bongs occur at random (turn them off…see below)

Again, the emphasize, it looks to me that in the case of the second senario above, it is possible that a WM5 could completely
discharge the battery while connected to the Sync PC

Hey ActiveSync!!!! Shut the Hell UP!!!

The “Boings” and other Activesync noises can drive you batty as the PC appears to “retry” the RAPI connection when it sees that the usb
connection doesn’t have a parent. You can deal with this by disabling the Activesync “sounds” using start/settings/control_panel/sounds or, in my case, I replaced the default sounds with very low volume alerts by editing the originals using SndRec32.

What is USB Webserver exactly?
USB Webserver is a bundled package of Apache, MySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin Mini Relay and software that allows a Web server to run from a USB stick. USB Webserver runs independent and leaves nothing on the computer, making it ideal for students, php programmers, beginners and businesses.
The program is free for everyone and very easy to use. But for the experienced user its possible to configure everything just the way you want it and its just as flexible as a “real” installation of these packages.

For more information check out www.usbwebserver.nl

Main advantages

• you always carry a fully configured webserver with you
• no need for internet acces to be able to try your php files
• no need to upload anything to be able to test
• only a small USB Stick is needed (128mb is more than enough)
• no need for any knowledge about webservers
• autmatic setup and configuration

Download

• Download link 1 (English)
• Download link 2 (Dutch)

Simply extract the files and place them on your USB stick or desktop, in fact… anywhere you want

Other information
USB Webserver has been created by a bunch of dutch people, and for that reason their website is in english… for that reason i translated their faq for you

Why can’t others see my site?
USB Webserver is running locally, meaning that only people in the same network server can see your website. You have to configure your router so people that are not in the same network can see your website.

OS tip for router configuration: For this you can look at the site portforward.com, it goes to port 8080. However, for bigger websites it’s advisable to choose a hosting provider.

When using USB Webserver I get error messages, but when i upload to my server it works.
UsbWebserver is set to the highest errors. You can change options at> apache> error type that you need to E_ALL & ~ E_NOTICE set.

USB Webserver can only run on my USB stick or can I put it on my computer?
USB Webserver runs everywhere, so on a USB stick and on your Computer or laptop. There is no difference.

Why doesnt the SMTP Server doesnt work?
A POP3 server usually only accepts a if the sender address is valid. You can change these settings in settings-> smtp.

What can I do with USB Webserver?
USB Webserver is a program that allows php files on your computer to perform, so you dont have to upload your files.

Can I only view my website with local host?
No, you can browser the computer name in the ICM the set port (default 8080) types.
For example: http://Computer_thuis:8080/index.php

How can I login to MySQL?
Same as usual, with the following information:
The username is: Root
The password is: usbw
The host: localhost

• avi
• divx
• xvid

The problem with all these file formats is that they usually aint supported by your dvd player and because of that you are going to have to convert the file so your DVD player will be able to play the file. To convert the file you can get lots of different software, but most of them are paid or hard to work with. Others have verry limited options, and are only able to convert file formats like .mov or .flv. I have been searching the web for a few hours and found the following piece of software:

ConvertXtoDVD (official download link)

Now ConvertXtoDVD is not a free application, but you can get a serial real easy here: link to serials This is a great piece of software that allows you to create a menu for your dvd, it sets up chapters for you, automatically inserts the subtitles (you do need them to be in the same folder as your movie file) and has lots of other features.

Key features are:

• Video formats supported: avi, divx, xvid, mov, mkv, flv , mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg-, nsv, dvr-ms, ts, ifo, vob, asf, wmv, realmedia, rm, rmvb, ogm, existing files from digital camcorders, TV/Sat, capture cards, etc. No external codecs needed like avi codec download More formats…
• Create DVD menus with different templates available, possibility to add background video, image or audio, have chapter and audio/subtitle menus
• Conversion advisor wizard, control of the conversion speed vs. quality
• Fast and quality encoder, typically less than 1 hour for converting 1 movie, and supports Multi-Core processors!
• Included burning engine with burn speed control choice of SAO or packet writing methods, supports all DVD formats
• Custom and or automatic chapter creation with markers and preview window
• Advanced file merging possibilities
• Audio formats supported internal and external: AC3, DTS, PCM, OGG, MP3, WMA and more… Select audio output format.
• Subtitles files supported internal and external: SRT, .SUB/IDX, .SSA, opensubtitles, dvbsub with color and font selection, and supports tags like italic, bold, turn on/off with DVD player remote control
• Video output for video standard (NTSC, PAL), TV Screen (Widescreen 16:9, Fullscreen 4:3) and DVD Resolution (Full D1, Broadcast D1, Half D1, SIF), or choose automatic for all choices listed above. Also convert video from NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC
• Video post processing settings like video resize-pad/cropping and de-interlacing options
• Works with 32 and 64bits edition of Windows XP, Vista, 7

Another big advantage is the converting time, convertation software takes MUCH longer than ConvertXtoDVD, certainly on my old and crappy laptop, it takes about 1.5-2 hours to convert (other software took me 6-8 hours for a single dvd sometimes). But alright, download ConvertXtoDVD and here’s a simple guide for your first movie burning project.

Burning your dvd

So when you downloaded ConvertXtoDVD you’r ready to go i would advice you to take the time to look into a nice menu, select the one you prefer and customize it, you can add sounds, titles, text, and backgrounds… so its worth looking into, but thats for another article i guess!

The actual burning proces is simple:

1. Download the movie if you didnt do that jet
2. Download a subtitle for the movie in the language of your choice (optional), a good subtitle source is: link
3. Insert the files in your project
4. Set up the dvd menu (titlescreen)
5. Start converting
6. Burn the project to a dvd (if you inserted a dvd during or before the proces it burns on that automatically)

If you have any specific questions about the titlescreen or the burning proces or whatever, lemme know by posting a comment of posting in the forum thread and I will get back to you as soon as possible and place a update here.

Printing a dvd cover / layar

Now that you burned your dvd you dont want it to just lay around, you need a nice casing with a dvd cover and layer! Again, after searching the web i found a nice piece of equipment fit for the job and best of all its free.

UndercoverXP (official download link)

“UndercoverXP is a small program to easily print CD and DVD covers. It supports JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP formats and can automatically scale front covers, back covers, front + inside, inlays, DVD Boxes, Digital Pictures and CD/DVD labels to the correct sizes. Other formats can be easily added via a graphical format editor. UnderCoverXP is written in C++ using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and doesn’t need a .NET framework or any other external libraries.”

Download that and i will explain to you how to burn a nice dvd layer, and a dvd cover. Getting these files can be done at several websites, the following list will provide you with just about any cover / layar you need:

1. Podnapisi
2. CDcovers
3. Freecovers
4. Mega-Search

Printing a dvd layer

When you’re going to burn a dvd layer you will need to get yourself some dvd layer sheets, these are usually a4 format printable sticker papers, with 2 precut dvd size stickers on them. You can get these at the bigger paper stores / webshops and you should just google for it. When you got the right paper follow these steps:

1. Open UndercoverXP.
2. Click the left or right white area and open the layar you downloaded before.
3. Select “DVD Layers” in the dropdownlist above the image.
4. Print your image, but before doing this you should select high quality and the correct paper type. (if you have those options on your printer)

Printing 2 layers at a time:

1. Follow the step 1-3 above to select the left or right image.
2. Follow the step 1-3 above again, but now select the other image.
3. Select the checkbox between the 2 dropdownlists to check “Print on a single page”.
4. Print your image, but before doing this you should select high quality and the correct paper type. (if you have those options on your printer)

Well thats that and you should have a perfect dvd layer now!

Update: Its possible that you need to change the format a bit so the print will cover the dvd size sticker, i recommend testing by printing a grey page so you dont waste your ink. You can change the format in “options –> format editor…”

Printing a dvd cover

Before starting to burn your dvd cover’s i

can recommend you to buy Glossy paper. Simply because you will get the best results than. Epsilon is a good brand for paper, it aint expencif and you can get it at allot of webshops. Burning the cover is easy:

1. Open UndercoverXP.
2. Click the left or right white area and open the cover you downloaded before.
3. Select “DVD Box” in the dropdownlist above the image.
4. If you’r image appears turned (read: horizontal) you should flip it 90 degrees you can do this by clicking “Options” in the menubar and than “Rotate” and than to do the job select “rotate left image clockwise” or “rotate right image clockwise” depending on your images location, It should show vertical now.
5. Print your image, but before doing this you should select high quality and the correct paper type. (if you have those options on your printer)

Final words

I hope this article helped you (i know for sure it would have saved me allot of time) and leave a comment if you have additional information or suggestions!

1. Transcoding
2. Recoding

Transcoding is  changing the codec realtime, during playback. It is a really cool option especially if you want to stream the video files. I have not gotten it to work though. I tried the following applications without success, but you may have the glory of getting it to work. It is defiantly worth considering. Anyway you should try the following aplications:

• TVersity
• PS3 Media Server
• TwonkyMedia Manager
• MediaTomb

Since none of the applications really worked out too well I decided it was just better to convert the videos with codecs which were supported by my devices (mainly my LG5000 which doesn’t support DTS). One pretty universal codec seemed to be AC3. In Ubuntu there seem to be various ways to transcode your videos, you can use scripts, terminal applications like ffmpeg, or applications. I tried the oh so glorious scripts, and ffmpeg. Every time something went wrong or something was missing. It nearly broke me down to tears. My last resort after trying streaming applications, scripts, and terminals was to use applications.

• mkvdts2ac3 script
• ffmpeg terminal

Then finally I was saved by a single user who made this epic post:

You need an application called Avidemux! Once installed all you need to do to convert a mkv HD movie, with a DTS audio track, to a HD movie with a AC3 track are the following steps:

1. [in a terminal] “sudo apt-get install Avidemux”
2. Menu > Video > Avidemux
3. File > Open > YourVideo.mkv
4. On the left side, VideoMode – Copy
5. On the left side, AudioMode – AC3
6. On the left side, Format – MKV
7. File > Save > Select your location where you want the new video to be saved.
8. Wait a fair bit
9. ????
10. Profit

The great thing is that this software works at about any OS! So you can now do a Lan game over the internet with ALL your friends.

• Windows Download: link
• Mac (OS X 10.4+) Download: link
• Linux Download: link

Download and install it. Create a new network and make your friends join the same network. Host a game and let your friends connect to your Hamachi IP adress. And its as simple as that. I have hamachi running on my home game server. My friends just join the same network and we can play. No screwing around with portforwarding or other shit.

To find hamachi servers hosten by others go here:
http://www.planethamachi.com

How it works
If you would like to know HOW this works, please visit the Hamachi wiki, which is located here (link)

Hamachi on Linux
Alright so the linux version might not work for you, which means you will have to use wine and the windows version of Hamachi. I will explain how to make it work.

Using Ubuntu Hamachi and Wine will create a nightmare. Wine only handles one network interface (as far as i figured out) meaning it will use the Eth0 connection instead of the Ham0 connection. It wont use hamachi.. or will it? it does sometimes…

Open console and do the following:

Before continueing download the latest version of hamachi from to your homefolder

(you dont have to type the echo lines, but that way you can just paste everything

echo Enable Tunneling support

sudo modprobe tun

echo Add tun to your modules list
sudo gedit /etc/modules

echo Unpack and Install hamachi
cd ~
tar -zxvf hamachi-*.tar.gz
cd hamachi-0.*

echo installing
sudo make install
sudo tuncfg

echo Creating Base config
hamachi-init

echo Get the GUI
sudo apt-get install hamachi-gui

echo Start Hamachi-gui
hamachi-gui

I hope that works for everyone, if not please post here and let us help you! Ok moving on we need to do a bunch of stuff so there is a higher chance you can play games using Wine and Hamachi on ubuntu.

Edit your /etc/hosts file and add your Hamachi-IP and your computer name

For example: 5.5.14.14 Laptop2

sudo gedit /etc/hosts

If you did the above the following command should display your hamachi IP:

hostname -i

If it does you should be set to play games! If that still does not work i suggest deleting your wine folder and re-configuring wine with the following command:

winecfg

If at any point you can see other people, but they can see you try the following command(s)

hamachi go-online
sudo hamachi go-online

And that should do the trick!

From the Systems Preferences window (the light switch icon in the dock or Apple Menu -> System Preferences…) click the Print & Fax icon in the Hardware category.

Click the small + button to add a printer.

In the resulting window, click More printers… (it’s tempting to click IP printer, but this is for a printer directly connected to the network, not through another host).

At the top of the next window, use the pull down to select Windows Printing if it is not already selected. Select the appropriate Network neighborhood or workgroup (it will probably pick the correct one for you unless you have multiple workgroups).

A list of hosts should be displayed. Select the one attached to the desired printer and click the Choose button. The printers shared by that host will be displayed. Click on the one you want and select the printer manufacturer from the pulldown list at the bottom. Look for your printer in the resulting list, click it and then click the Add button.

The printer is now ready for use.

Didn’t see your printer model in the list? Wondering why there needed to be several thousand different printer models from every printer manufacturer in the world? Don’t despair. If you see a model that is close to yours, try it out. If it works, consider yourself lucky and enjoy printing. If you cannot find a preloaded driver that works, you can check with the manufacturers website for a Mac OS X driver for the specific printer and follow their instructions.

Due to the fact that I use Ubuntu linux i can not make use of Windows Media Player 11 acting as a UPNP server. There are various ways to setup this type of server but i found that nearly all of them sucked in some aspect, most often they were just to complex for what i was trying to do. I tried the following UPNP servers:

• Ushare
• TVersity
• MediaTomb
• X360MeditServe
• GMediaServer

TVersity provides the best all around solution, including transcoding. Transcoding is more or less the holy grail xbox wise. However i did not get it to work so i just plain abandoned trying it. MediaTomb looks like a real profesional method for sharing media using UPNP but it was just way to complex for my taste.

Finally i found ushare which is a small and simple upnp server which does what i want, when i want! In Ubuntu it is very simple to install all you need to do is entering the following command

sudo apt-get install ushare

After which you you need to edit the configuration file. The main thing you would want to chance is the server name and the media-location. I have specified more then one location but I don’t see those files. Anyway enter the following command to edit the configuration file in Ubuntu (Gnome, for Kubuntu enter kedit instead of gedit)

sudo gedit /etc/ushare.conf

When you are done editing the configuration file to your harts content save it and prepare for awesomeness! When you want to stream to your XBOX360 you need to add a little parameter (option) when starting ushare. Enter the following command:

ushare -x

That is all you need to do to get it to work. Might sound like it is complex in comparison to a windows installer, but it requires just a little bit more input and though from the users which in return yield a better working program. If you don’t get the installer to work feel free to post here. Here is the installer guide i used.

Installing

First open the terminal and type the following:

cd ~

wget -t5 http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/qucs/qucs/0.0.15/qucs-0.0.15.tar.gz?use_mirror=kent

This will download the latest version of Qucs, once that is done you will need to extract it:

tar -xvzf qucs-0.0.15.tar.gz

If you want to delete the Qucs source archive you can do so by using this, if not skip this next command.

rm qucs-0.0.15.tar.gz

Now you need to move the folder to where you want to compile it, if you don’t mind it being in your home folder skip this:

sudo mv qucs-0.0.15 /usr/src

cd /usr/src/qucs-0.0.15

Next move into the folder and download the dependencies required to compile Qucs:

cd qucs-0.0.15

sudo apt-get install libqt3-headers

Finally you can compile Qucs:

./configure

make

sudo make install

Once this is done (hopefully without any errors) you can run Qucs simply by typing:

qucs

That’s all, although I’d suggest adding a shortcut to your menu.

The following documents the relatively short process needed to get Internet Explorer 7 running on a Linux system. So far, I have found one (two) problems with this method: it seems transparent GIFs appear as filled-black boxes in IE7, and secondly (this is actually a good thing for me), this won’t give you the IE7 interface running in Linux, but rather the IE7 rendering engine inside the IE6 interface. What this means is that you won’t be seeing IE7 tabs or the RSS reader, but you will be able to debug webpages and fix layout problems.

Microsoft conditional comments do work, unlike the standalone version of IE on Windows, so you will be able to develop and test webpages across almost all major browsers (IE 5-7, Firefox, Opera) on one Linux box! Also note that we will avoid Microsoft’s Genuine Advantage download validation checks, so pure-Linux users will be able to finish the process without having to find a genuine Windows machine to download the IE7 setup file (the check is avoided legitimately, by the way).

First, install IE 6 (and optionally 5.5 + 5.0) using the excellent IEs 4 Linux installer. Consider donating to this project to say thanks!

Follow the instructions appropriate for your Linux distribution at http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Installation. You must at least install IE6; 5.0 and 5.5 are optional and up to you. I assume that you used the default installation path of ~/.ies4linux – if you didn’t, ensure that you use the correct directory in the upcoming steps.

Once you have finished following the instructions, you can test your IE6 installation by running the ie6 command.

ie6

I used a browser version check website (use Google, I don’t want to hotlink them) to test the currently installed browsers:

• firefox reports ‘Firefox 2.0′
• ie6 reports ‘MSIE 6.0′

Now for Internet Explorer 7:

To skip having to authenticate your copy of Windows at the Microsoft.com download site (since we’re on Linux and don’t have Windows…), make use of Google’s nicely customised IE7 installer; found at http://www.google.com/toolbar/ie7/. Download the file (IE7Setup_G.exe) and save it to a temporary folder.

Now, make a complete copy of your currently installed IE6 installation:

cd ~/.ies4linux
cp -r ie6/ ie7
sed ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie6 -e ‘s/ie6/ie7/g’ > ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie7
chmod +x ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie7

Go to your IE7Setup_G.exe download and use cabextract which should be installed from earlier (IEs 4 Linux instructions).

cd ~/yourtempfolder
cabextract IE7Setup_G.exe

ls -la shows:
15505200 Dec 7 21:21 IE7-Setup.exe

Extract necessary files:

cabextract IE7-Setup.exe
for i in wininet iertutil shlwapi urlmon jscript vbscript \
ieframe mshtml mshtmled mshtmler advpack
do
chmod +x $i.dll
cp $i.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system/$i.dll
done

chmod +x inetcpl.cpl
cp inetcpl.cpl ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system/

Now normaliz.dll and inetcplc.dll are needed, you can Google them, or use these links:

• http://www.down-dll.com/dll/normaliz.zip
• http://www.down-dll.com/dll/inetcplc.zip

Unzip both files and copy them to ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system/

unzip normaliz.zip
unzip inetcplc.zip
cp normaliz.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system
cp inetcplc.dll ~/.ies4linux/ie7/drive_c/windows/system

IE 7 is now installed but will have view pane corruption unless you switch the Wine container to use Windows XP as the operating system:

WINEPREFIX=~/.ies4linux/ie7 winecfg

At the bottom of the initial page, change ‘Windows’ option to ‘Windows XP’ and press OK.

Make a shortcut:

cd ~/bin
ln -s ~/.ies4linux/bin/ie7 ie7

Running ie7 and using the previous browser test site results in:

* ie7 reports ‘MSIE 7.0′

The article which I used for most of the options out there is from  techcitynic.com. However that douche could have been more accurate. Let me work down the list for you, so you don’t have to waste your precious time. I am sure you find more video editing applications using various search engines. If you know anything note worthy comment below!

• KDEnlive – Thank god, an application that is awesome! You can install this application with the following command: sudo apt-get install kdenlive
• Ffmpeg – I don’t know, i though ffmpeg was a bunch of small tools. I have a feeling you need this in all cases: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
• AvideMUX – I used this, and it sucked, it has about as many features as my dick. You can install this application with the following command: sudo apt-get install avidemux
• CinePaint – Used for retouching vidoes so i didnt use it
• Cinelerra – If it is not in the repositories it sucks
• Jahshaka – Looked cool, not in repositories
• Slideshow Creator – Thats not even a video editing program and not in repos
• LiVES – Not in the repos but looked decent
• Vivia – Looks like Windows Media Player, not in repos
• Kino – Not even going there.. worst application i used in 2009. Purge it with the following command: sydo apt-get purge kino

In the end i used KDEnlive, by the look and feel, and the name its obviously from the KDE software suite. But man this application packs a punch. It is a little but tricky to start so take a moment to see where the buttons are. Basically you start by importanting the stuff you want. For me that was video clip in mp4 format, a mp3 file, and a still image. The still image is a little bit tricky because i only wanted one single image. I ended up creating a slideshow with just one image and that worked fine. Make sure to select the FILE types you want when messing around with the import-image-slide thing.

The imported items are in the upper left corner in one the tabs (project tree). Then you can just drag stuff in the various video/audio bars and viola thats sorted. The stuff on the top has priority over stuff below it. This is important when mixing various video streams. I also ended up muting the video-clip audio and later on splitting and deleting the audiostream completly.

There are a few effects and transitions but i only used the fade to black, and fade from black effects. I am quite sure you can do a lot more with it but this was my first time so i was satisfied with how far i had gotten anyway. The export module was more then excellent aswell, a bit overwhelming with all the options but just pick the videocodec you want (divx) and tick the export audio and then you are done!

To sum all this up, kino sucks and kdenlive rocks hard. Make sure to grab it in case you ever want to edit a video!

Final result of my video:

Visit homepage
Review based on version: 0.9.95 (2009-03-03) Windows XP

The software is licensed under the GNU GPL so you are free to change the software as you like.

Apart from a friendly introduction to the software you basically select either two or three folders to compare and you are ready for business!
You can also use it to compare files but I have not used it for that yet. The comparing of the directories can be done through various methods, default is ‘binary compare’ which takes quite some times but gives the most accurate results.

In my case I used the application (and I am not done yet) to compare two folders with movies. Directory A is roughly 500 GB and directory B is roughly 300 GB. There are a lot of duplicate movies and I want to do a nice clean up. Preferably move all movies from directory B to A so I have one master list and use increased free disk space for series.

First I changed the compare method to just use the date’s from the files themselves (creation, modified etc.). This method is bloody fast, but the software lists it as unsafe. Anyway instead of ~10 hours of comparing I went to ~10 seconds of comparing. Talk about time saving options! The results may not be 100% but I know my files well enough to not need the binary compare.

A list of folders is compiled and after each folder a green/red/black icon is shown to visualize if the folder is in that directory. Green means its there, Blacks is that it isn’t there, and red means kdiff3 wants to merge.
The first time I just kinda went for it and let kdiff3 automate everything! I just hit go and waited to see what was going to happen, not to much later an error occurred (after 6 files) I don’t recall the problem but it wasn’t a large one.
Kdiff3 went back to the folder overview and showed which folders had been moved and the status, including the error.

To my surprise the folders had been moved to the wrong directory, instead of files from B going to A its was directory A going to B. That’s what happens when users are too lazy to read the freaking manual OR your software isn’t user-friendly. In my case, I am just going to blame the software.. Alright not that big of a deal, in the initial screen I just switched the directories and redid the compare. This time I decided to do a bit more of a manual merge, in the folder overview you can manually move one item by using the f6 shortcut. This is a bit more time consuming but well worth it seeing as it gives full control.

My conclusion is that kdiff3 contains underutilized potential and with just the right amount of work it could become a very nice, professional software packet saving thousands of hours of work across the world.

Install Requirements

sudo apt-get install firestarter dhcp3-server

Configuring NICs
Make sure that your internal network card is assigned a static IP address in a range that you will use for you internal network.
To do this, go to System -> Administration -> Networking. Once there, go into the properties for the network card you will use for your internal/routed network (it will quite likely be disabled) and set it up as you deem necessary.
As a basic example, set the IP address to 192.168.0.1, and the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. Leave the gateway empty.

Small Fix
To fix the problem where Firestarter cannot locate the DHCP daemon init script: From within a terminal type and run the following command (creating a symbolic link to fix the mis-reference; this is a simple alternative to editing Firestarter’s init script).

sudo ln -sf /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server /etc/init.d/dhcpd

This fixes the problem where Firestarter will sometimes say something along the lines of “An unknown error occured” when DHCP is enabled within its configuration. Sometimes the firewall will start anyway, but DHCP will remain off.

Configuring DHCP
Configure the interfaces on which DHCP will be listening Edit your /etc/default/dhcp3-server file (using a text editor running as root, or by logging in and running “sudo vi /etc/default/dhcp3-server”). The only variable in there by default is “INTERFACES”, which will have a null value. Set it to your internal network interface. For example:

# Defaults for dhcp initscript
# sourced by /etc/init.d/dhcp
# installed at /etc/default/dhcp3-server by the maintainer scripts
#
# This is a POSIX shell fragment
#
# On what interfaces should the DHCP server (dhcpd) serve DHCP requests?
# Separate multiple interfaces with spaces, e.g. "eth0 eth1".
INTERFACES="eth0"

Write the file and exit.

Run Firestarter
If this is your first time running Firestarter, the wizard should appear. If not, simply click Firewall -> Wizard from within Firestarter.
Select your external (Internet-connected) device when it asks, and make sure to specify whether or not the address is obtained via DHCP. Click the “Forward” button, check the “Enable Internet connection sharing” box, select your internal network card, and check the box for “Enable DHCP for local network”. Drop down the “DHCP server details” and enter the range of IPs you would like for it to dynamically assign.
Make sure they are in the same range as the static IP you set for your internal network card, also, for the DNS server field, you MUST supply an address – “” will *NOT* work. Simply look at your /etc/resolv.conf file if you need inspiration.
Click “Forward”, check the “Start firewall now” box, and click “Save”.

Conclusion
It took me a while to pinpoint the causes of various small problems I was having getting it to play nicely with DHCP, but I finally got it down and figured I’d share my experiences. Please let me know if you have any suggestions (I know I clumped everything together for that last step, but c’mon, it’s a wizard… It’s pretty freaking simple).