In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, there is a Security tab on the Properties dialog box for files and folders, allowing you to easily change permissions of files and folders.

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Svchost.exe is a process that hosts other Services to perform various functions. There can be multiple instances of svchost.exe running on your computer, with each instance containing different services. We published a post a while back explaining what svchost.exe is and what services are. See our post, Svchost.exe explained and demystified.

In Windows 7, you can use the Task Manager to view which services are running under each instance of svchost.exe. However, in Windows XP, you need to use the Tasklist utility (for Windows XP Professional Edition) or Process Explorer (for Windows XP Home Edition), which is a free program, to view this list of services. …click here to read more

You have probably encountered your share of errors in Windows. You think things are going fine and all of a sudden an error occurs and a Windows error code displays on the screen. What does the error mean? Generally, at this point, you have to go to Google and do a search for the error code, hoping you find an explanation that helps.

However, there are two free tools that make it easier to find out what the cryptic error code means. We tested both tools in Windows XP and Windows 7 and they worked in both versions. …click here to read more

We have previously written about how to reset your password in Ubuntu (Reset a Forgotten Password in Ubuntu) and about the benefits of creating a password reset disk and how to create and use one in Windows 7 (Create a Password Reset Disk and Use it to Reset a Forgotten Password in Windows 7).

This post discuses creating and using a password reset disk in Windows XP. The process in Windows XP is almost the same as in Windows 7, with a few differences.

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We have been using VMware Workstation to run several different operating systems easily on one computer using virtual machines. It has some nice features and it is fairly easy to use. However, there is a limitation of VMware Workstation (even in the latest available version) that we came across. VMware Workstation does not allow you to boot from a USB device. The VMware BIOS does not provide an option to boot from external media.

However, we have found a free tool, called Plop Boot Manager, that allows you to boot from USB if you are able to boot from CD/DVD using an ISO file or if you are able to boot from a floppy drive using an IMG file.

…click here to read more

If you have installed a lot of applications on your Ubuntu computer, you may have a lot of programs and services that are running by default every time you start your computer. This makes your computer’s performance suffer. The more programs and services running in the background on your computer, the slower it becomes.

There is a tool available for Ubuntu called Boot-Up Manager that allows you to disable programs and services from starting up every time you start your computer. You can also use Boot-Up Manager to enable a service to start up automatically.

…click here to read more