not to Shut Down your Laptop, HOW...

That is not, repeat, not the proper way to shut down a PC. The proper way is to click Start, Shut down. (I know, it's ridiculous that after all these years Microsoft still forces you to use the Start button to end your computing session.) Alternately, you can press and immediately release! the power button, which will either shut down your PC or put it in sleep/hibernate mode, depending on how Windows is configured.

The only time you should press and hold the power button is if your computer is locked up and otherwise unresponsive. A five second press will usually force a "hard" power off, after which you should wait another five seconds before turning the machine back on. But if you do this all the time, Windows won't be able to perform its necessary shut down housekeeping stuff, and ultimately you'll muck up the OS.

Learn Your Laptop's Power Settings
My aunt recently told me about a problem with her new laptop: Whenever she'd step away from it for more than a few minutes, she'd close the lid. Upon returning, she'd open the lid, only to be faced with a blank screen and no response from the mouse or keyboard.

Want to know why? The default lid closing action for most laptops is to put the system in Sleep mode, and Windows is notoriously bad at waking up properly. That's why I advise most laptop users to use Hibernate mode instead, as it's much more reliable when it comes to waking up.

You see, Sleep (aka Standby) puts your system into a low power, off like state, allowing you to pick up where you left off after just a few seconds in theory, anyway. A PC in Standby mode continues to consume battery power, so it's not uncommon to return to a "sleeping" PC to find that it's just plain dead.

Hibernate, however, saves your machine's current state to a temporary hard drive file, then shuts down completely. When you start it up again, it loads that file and returns you to where you left off no booting required.

Both ends of the Hibernate process take a little longer than sleep mode (usually 10 20 seconds, in my experience), but you avoid any of the issues that can arise when Windows suddenly loses power. And as noted, Sleep mode is notoriously flaky. If your system refuses to wake up properly, you'll end up losing whatever documents and/or Web pages you had open. Consequently, I recommend using hibernate most of the time.

Dial2Do, Hands Free E Mail, Texting, and More
It's a proven fact: Texting while driving is insanely dangerous. Same goes for reading e mail, updating your Facebook or Twitter status, and so on. Do yourself and your fellow drivers a favor and keep both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road.

Easier said than done, right? Actually, no: If you use Dial2Do, all the aforementioned activities are easily said and done. This amazing service lets you send text messages, listen to e mail, add appointments to your calendar, and plenty more, all using just your voice.

Start by signing up for a free trial account. Add the special Dial2Do number to your speed dial, then call it when you want to do something. If that something is, say, send a text message to Bill, wait for the prompt and say, "Send a text message to Bill." Wait for the next prompt, then say what you want to say. When you're done, Dial2Do will transcribe your words into text and send them on their SMS way.

You can do likewise with e mail, though in addition to composing messages, Dial2Do lets you listen to those you've received. It works with a variety of third party services: You can dictate Facebook/Twitter updates, add appointments to your Google Calendar, send a note to Evernote, listen to local weather, and on and on. All this happens entirely hands free. Besides safety, there's another perk: If your phone lacks a keyboard, you'll find that dictating text messages is a lot easier than pecking them out on a numeric keypad.

If you haven't tried Dial2Do, you're missing out. The aforementioned free account limits you to creating personal reminders (which are delivered to you via e mail), but it comes with a 30 day trial for a Pro account. That's what you'll need for all the really cool stuff. Dial2Do Pro costs $4 per month or $40 if you prepay for a year. I typically prefer free stuff, but this is one service worth paying for.

Wi-fi Heatmapper

Analyze Wi-Fi signal strengths and make necessary adjustments to enhance network coverage. This free tool will display the best location for your WLAN router.

Some of us who connect via a router often face problems such as slow data transmissions and connection disruptions. All these problems point towards a badly situated router. With the Ekahau HeatMapper you can find the best installation locations to cover all rooms with radio signals in the best possible manner. The software also shows the security settings of all access points within the range making it ideal to trace unsafe and new networks.

A laptop is compulsory when using the tool since the tool itself requires you to be mobile to be able to measure signal strengths in different parts of the room. Also, it is recommended to import the blueprints or layout of the building into the program in order to simplify the measurement. The HeatMapper alternatively shows the measurement results and router location on a grid. CHIP tells you how to optimize your WLAN using this software. But before we start you will need to download this free utility from www.ekahau.com. You will find this tool under the products section.

STEP 1

Install the software on your laptop or netbook. Start the tool and select “I have a map image”. Now select the layout of your building and load it in HeatMapper.

Now if you don’t have an image or map of your apartment simply select
“I don’t have a map image”. The software should now show a grid layout with the centre point being your router access point.

Step 2

Place your router possibly at a place from where you often access your WLAN such as the living room or bedroom. Now connect the router to the socket; an internet connection need not be established as of now. It is best to start testing along with the laptop in the corner of the house or apartment. Click on the map where you are currently standing in-order to start the measurement.

Now walk slowly into the next corner of the building. Keep clicking on your current location continuously while walking. Walk to all rooms so as to draw a continuous line on the layout. End the walk by right clicking on the point you are currently standing on. You can undo the last step using the ‘Undo Survey” tab in case you misclicked.

HeatMapper will now position the found routers with details like names, SSID, channel number or encryption on the map and show where the reception of devices is the strongest with the help of color gradations from green to red. The device currently having the best connection with the Laptop is marked green. Once you are done marking the signal strengths around your house save the overview map by clicking “Take Screenshot”.

Step 3

You can now optimize the location of your router with the help of the reception map. The map basically helps you analyze the signals and setup access points wherever you find the signals to be weak. The red areas on the map show where the reception is bad. You can improve on the reception by moving the router around till you get a green bar.

Streaming music from Windows 7

Listen to your favorite music without having to carry your laptop from the living room to the kitchen. Share your music library on a wireless network.

While this workshop shows you how to stream music from one laptop to another, digital media such as videos and pictures can be accessed using the same method.

Step 1

First we’ll connect the server laptop to a wireless home network. This laptop has Windows 7 with Media player 12 and it has all the music, videos and media that you want to share. Right-click on the Internet notification area and select ‘Open network and sharing center’. Now, click on ‘Connect to a network’ and from the list of networks, choose the preferred one and connect. Enter the secure network key when prompted.

Step 2

Let’s create a ‘HomeGroup’. From ‘Network and Sharing Center’, click ‘HomeGroup’ and then ‘What is a network location?’. You’ll see a window with three options. Select the first one that says ‘Home Network’. In the following window, select what you want to share and click ‘Next’. Follow the onscreen instructions and Click ‘Finish’.

Step 3

In ‘Network and Sharing Center’, click ‘Change Advanced Sharing Settings’ and make the changes. Then go to ‘Media Streaming Options’ and allow people you want access to your files. Open Windows Media Player, go to ‘Stream’ and click ‘Automatically allow devices to play my media’. The content you chose to share is now on this network.

Step 4

To access this content on a client PC or laptop, first connect the machine to the same wireless network as the server laptop, using the procedure in Step 1. Vista users can right click and directly select ‘Connect to network’. Assuming that both laptops are in the same network, open Windows Media Player and see of you can find the shared server laptop in the left pane.

Step 5

To find shared media on the network and to share media from the client PC, in WMP, right-click on Library and click ‘Media Sharing’. Here, you can allow or deny access to other PCs and find the media you’re looking for. Click ‘Ok’ when you're done. Now, the server PC will appear in WMP and other functionalities will remain same. You’re now ready to play the music which is stored on the server PC.