Computerzworld » Linux

Tips for smooth browsing

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:07:44 +0000

1. Change text size while browsing

While browsing, you may come across web pages that use too small or too large a text size to be comfortably readable. To change the size of the text, click View and then Text Size. Click the text size that you’d like from the options available.

2. Open links in new Internet Explorer windows

When you right-click a link on a Web page, it will open in a new Internet Explorer window. Another way of doing this is to press the SHIFT key and then left-click the link.

3. Set a home page of your choice

You can choose which website you’d like to view—such as your e-mail account, a favorite portal, your organization’ s website, and so on—every time you start Internet Explorer. Go to Tools and click Internet Options. Under Home page on the General tab, type or copy-paste the URL of the website. Click Use Blank if you want to start with a blank page. Click Apply and then OK.

4. Type URLs quickly

When you’re visiting a website for the first time, you don’t need to type the whole www.thiswebsite. com in the Internet Explorer address bar. Instead, just type the name of the website (such as msn) and press CTRL and ENTER together. However, this works only with .com pages, not with others like .org, .net, or .in.

5. Navigate Web pages quicker

In a long browsing session, you may find yourself going back and forth between Web pages to revisit what you saw a while ago. To simplify this task, right-click the Back button to see all the pages that you’d seen before the current page, and click the one that you want to visit. Similarly, you can right-click the Forward button to see the Web pages you visited from the current Web page.

6. Clear the Web cache

Internet Explorer stores frequently visited Web pages in a cache, so that if they haven’t changed since the last time you visited them, they are opened from your hard disk for faster access. However, if the cache becomes too full, IE may become slow. To clear the cache, click Tools and then Internet Options. On the General tab, under Temporary Internet files, click Delete Files. Click the checkbox against ‘Delete all offline content’ if you want to delete content that you’ve stored offline. Click OK and wait for your cursor to change from the hourglass to the arrow icon again. Then, click OK.

7. Open and close new IE windows quickly

If you like to surf for long hours, here are some keyboard shortcuts to open and close new windows for Web browsing. To open a new window in Internet Explorer, click CTRL and N. To close each window, click the ALT key and the F4 key together; or click CTRL and W.

8. Create Desktop shortcuts to your Favorite websites

If you have websites in your Favorites folder that you like to visit very frequently, you can create shortcuts to them on your Desktop. Open Internet Explorer and shrink its size using the square icon on the top-right corner, so that you can see your Desktop. Click Favorites and go to the saved link for your website. Drag the icon for this website and drop it to your Desktop. Your shortcut is ready.

9. Rename or delete Favorites quickly

You can organize the links stored in your Favorites list without going to Organize Favorites. Open Internet Explorer and click Favorites. Right-click the link that you want to rename or delete; and choose the desired option from the menu.

10. Arrange your Favorites in alphabetical order

You can sort your list of links under Favorites alphabetically. Open Internet Explorer and click Favorites. Right-click and link and then click Sort by name on the menu.

11. Make your Favorites pages available offline

If you have some existing links in the Favorites list that you’d like to make available for offline viewing, click Favorites and go to the link. Right-click and then click Make available offline in the menu.

12. Turn off alert for permanently deleting messages

When you decide to delete messages in your Deleted Items folder in Outlook, you are asked whether you’re sure you want to delete these messages. If you want to turn off this notification, click Tools, then Options, and go to the Other tab. Click Advanced Options here, and click the checkbox against ‘Warn before permanently deleting items’.

13. Remove messages from Outlook as you delete them

If you’d like to clear your Deleted Items folder daily, click Tools, then Options and go to the Other tab. Click the checkbox against the option ‘Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting’. Every time you close Outlook, all the items in your Deleted Items folder will be cleared.

14. Determine when to mark messages as read

If you view messages in the Reading Pane in Outlook, you can decide when the messages that you’ve read should be marked as such. Click Tools, then Options and go to the Other tab. Click Reading Pane. Click the checkbox against ‘Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane’, and enter the number of seconds to wait before marking the message. Or, you can click the checkbox against ‘Mark item as read when selection changes’ if you want to mark the message as read when you move to another message. Click OK and then OK again.

15. Add or remove a column in Outlook 2007

In the main Outlook window, you can see lots of columns for your message list, such as Date, Subject and so on. To add or remove any of these columns, click View, go to Current View and then click Customize Current View. Click Fields. In the Available fields list, click the required field, and click Add or Remove.

16. Move a column in Outlook 2007

To change the order of columns that appear in the main Outlook window, click View, go to Current View and then click Customize Current View. Click Fields and go to the Show these fields in this order list. Click the required field, and then click Move Up or Move Down to change the field’s position.

Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick

admin — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:06:00 +0000

USB Linux installation enables you to install a portable Linux operating system on a flash drive or USB key no larger than your thumb. This portable Linux operating system can then be run from any computer that can boot from a flash device, allowing you to bring your operating system, desktop, applications, files, email, personal settings, favorites, games and more with you. It’s like having your own personal operating system you can carry in your pocket. Check it here.

Removing linux from your PC safely and restoring your MBR

admin — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:11:00 +0000

First of all you need to know where your Linux OS is installed to. that is what drive it is currently living on. Bear in mind that Linux formats the drive as HFS rather than Fat/Fat32 or NTFS. ( These are the file systems used by various Operating Systems).

So HFS Partitions are not seen by windows, so its hidden.

To remove the partitions of Linux in WindowsXP go to your ‘Control panel’ > Admistrative Tools > Computer Managment

Open ‘Disk Management’ and you will see your Linux drives recognised as ‘Unknown Partition’ plus the status of the drive. Bearing in mind you know what partition and disk you installed to it will be easier to recognise as the drive/partition where you had installed it to.

Once you have identifed the drives, ‘right-Click’ on the drive/partiton and select ‘Delete Logical Drive’

Once you have followed this through, you will now have free space.

This next part is very important. Once you have formatted the drive, re format it as your required file system type. either Fat32 or NTFS. Now the important part is coming up !

Fixing your Master Boot Record to make Windows Bootable again.

Have a Windows Boot disk with all the basic DOS Commands loaded on to the disk. A standard Windows 98/Me Boot Disk will work too.

Type in the DOS command :

e.g, from your C:\

fdisk /mbr

Or use your Windows XP run the recovery console, pick which xp install you would like to boot in to (usually you will pick #1)

then type: fixmbr. Answer Y to the dialoge.

Your master boot record will now be restored and Windows XP will be bootable once again. Your System will be restored with your original boot loader that you got with Windows XP.

Access Linux partitions inside Windows

admin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:31:00 +0000

If you dual boot with Windows and Linux, and have data spread across different partitions on Linux and Windows, you should be really in for some issues.

It happens so sometimes you need to access your files on Linux partitions from Windows, and you realize it isn’t possible easily. Not really, with these tools in hand – it’s very easy for you to access files on your Linux partitions from Windows:

DiskInternals Linux Reader has a Windows Explorer like interface, and can provide access to Ext2 and Ext3 Linux partitions from Windows. You can extract files easily from those linux partitions to your Windows partitions. You can’t use this tool to write on those partitions, though.

DiskInternals Linux Reader – Download

Linux Commands

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:40:00 +0000

Command	Description
alias	Create an alias
apropos	Search manual for keyword
at	Schedule a job to run in the future.
awk	Find and Replace text within file(s)
break	Exit from a loop
builtin	Run a shell builtin
bunzip2	Decompress file from bzip2 format
bzip2	Compress file to bzip2 format
cal	Display a calendar
case	Conditionally perform a command
cat	Concatenate files to standard output
cd	Change Directory
cfdisk	Partition table manipulator for Linux
chgrp	Change group ownership
chmod	Change access permissions
chown	Change file owner and group
chroot	Run a command with a different root directory
cksum	Print CRC checksum and byte counts
clear	Clear terminal screen
cmp	Compare two files
comm	Compare two sorted files line by line
command	Run a command – ignoring shell functions
compress	Compress file(s) to old Unix compress format
continue	Resume the next iteration of a loop
cp	Copy one or more files to another location
cron	Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab	Schedule a command to run at a later time
csplit	Split a file into context-determined pieces
cut	Divide a file into several parts
date	Display or change the date & time
dc	Desk Calculator
dd	Data Dump – Convert and copy a file
declare	Declare variables and give them attributes
df	Display free disk space
diff	Display the differences between two files
diff3	Show differences among three files
dir	Briefly list directory contents
dircolors	Colour setup for `ls’
dirname	Convert a full pathname to just a path
dirs	Display list of remembered directories
du	Estimate file space usage
echo	Display message on screen
ed	A line-oriented text editor (edlin)
egrep	Search file(s) for lines that match an extended expression
eject	Eject CD-ROM
enable	Enable and disable builtin shell commands
env	Disp, set, or remove environment variables
eval	Evaluate several commands/arguments
exec	Execute a command
exit	Exit the shell
expand	Convert tabs to spaces
export	Set an environment variable
expr	Evaluate expressions
factor	Print prime factors
false	Do nothing, unsuccessfully
fdformat	Low-level format a floppy disk
fdisk	Partition table manipulator for Linux
fgrep	Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed string
file	Determine type of file
find	Search for files that meet a desired criteria
fmt	Reformat paragraph text
fold	Wrap text to fit a specified width.
for	Expand words, and execute commands
format	Format disks or tapes
free	Disp, s memory usage
fsck	Filesystem consistency check and repair.
fstat	List open files
function	Define Function Macros
fuser	Identify process using file
gawk	Find and Replace text within file(s)
getopts	Parse positional parameters
grep	Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern
groups	Print group names a user is in
gunzip	Decompress file(s) from GNU zip format
gzcat	Show contents of compressed file(s)
gzip	Compress file(s) to GNU zip format
hash	Remember the full pathname of a name argument
head	Output the first part of file(s)
history	Command History
hostname	Print or set system name
id	Print user and group id’s
if	Conditionally perform a command
import	Capture an X server screen and save the image to file
info	Help info
install	Copy files and set attributes
join	Join lines on a common field
kill	Stop a process from running
less	Display output one screen at a time
let	Perform arithmetic on shell variables
ln	Make links between files
local	Create variables
locate	Find files
logname	Print current login name
logout	Exit a login shell
lpc	Line printer control program
lpr	Off line print
lprint	Print a file
lprintd	Abort a print job
lprintq	List the print queue
lprm	Remove jobs from the print queue
ls	List information about file(s)
lsof	List open files
m4	Macro processor
makewhatis	Rebuild whatis database
man	Print manual pages
mkdir	Create new folder(s)
mkfifo	Make FIFOs (named pipes)
mknod	Make block or character special files
more	Display output one screen at a time
mount	Mount a file system
mtools	Manipulate MS-DOS files
mv	Move or rename files or directories
nice	Set the priority of a command or job
nl	Number lines and write files
nohup	Run a command immune to hangup
od	View binary files
passwd	Modify a user password
paste	Merge lines of files
pathchk	Check file name portability
popd	Restore the previous value of the current directory
pr	Convert text files for printing
printcap	Printer capability database
printenv	Print environment variables
printf	Format and print data
ps	Process status
pushd	Save and then change the current directory
pwd	Print Working Directory
quota	Display disk usage and limits
quotacheck	Scan a file system for disk usage
quotactl	Set disk quotas
pax	Archive file(s)
ram	ram disk device
rcp	Copy files between two machines.
read	read a line from standard input
readonly	Mark variables/functions as readonly
remsync	Synchronize remote files via email
return	Exit a shell function
rm	Remove (delete) files
rmdir	Remove folder(s)
rpm	RPM Package Manager (was RedHat Package Manager)
rsync	Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)
screen	Terminal window manager
sdiff	Merge two files interactively
sed	Stream Editor
select	Accept keyboard input
seq	Print numeric sequences
set	Manipulate shell variables and functions
shift	Shift positional parameters
shopt	Shell Options
shutdown	Shutdown or restart linux
sleep	Delay for a specified time
sort	Sort text files
source	Run commands from a file `.’
split	Split a file into fixed-size pieces
su	Substitute user identity
sum	Print a checksum for a file
symlink	Make a new name for a file
sync	Synchronize data on disk with memory
tac	Print files out in reverse line order
tail	Output the last part of files
tar	Tape ARchiver
tee	Redirect output to multiple files
test	Evaluate a conditional expression
time	Measure Program Resource Use
times	User and system times
touch	Change file timestamps
top	List processes running on the system
traceroute	Trace Route to Host
trap	Run a command when a signal is set(bourne)
tr	Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
true	Do nothing, successfully
tsort	Topological sort
tty	Print filename of terminal on stdin
type	Describe a command
ulimit	Limit user resources
umask	Users file creation mask
umount	Unmount a filesystem
unalias	Remove an alias
uname	Print system information
unexpand	Convert spaces to tabs
uniq	Uniquify files (remove all duplicate lines)
units	Convert units from one scale to another
unset	Remove variable or function names
unshar	Unpack shell archive scripts
until	Execute commands (until error)
useradd	Create new user account
usermod	Modify user account
users	List users currently logged in
uuencode	Encode a binary file into 7-bit ASCII characters
uudecode	Decode a file created by uuencode
v	Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b’)
vdir	Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b’)
watch	Execute/display a program periodically
whatis	List manual pages by name
wc	Print byte, word, and line counts of a file
whereis	Report all known instances of a command
which	Locate a program file in the user’s path.
while	Execute commands
who	Print all usernames currently logged in
whoami	Print the current user id and name (`id -un’)
xargs	Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)
yes	Print a string until interrupted
zcat	Show contents of compressed file(s)
zip	Compress and archive file(s) to zip format
.period	Run commands from a file
###	Comment / Remark

How To Shutdown Linux on a Timer?

admin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:59:00 +0000

This is a relatively simple tip, but if you’re new to Linux you might not be familiar with it. I don’t believe there is a built-in feature for doing this within Gnome or KDE, but this uses the command line so it will work in any environment.

This is quite simple to implement. You will need to open the command line to use this, but don’t fear! You don’t need to know anything about how to use the command line. In fact, I’ll even tell you how to make a handy little button for this.

If you’re comfortable with the linux terminal, you might already know that you can type halt on the command line and your computer will immediately shut down. Well, halt has a sibling command called shutdown which has a little bit more intelligence and features built into it. Shutdown is the command that we’ll be using here. First you’ll need to bring up your terminal.

If you’re running Ubuntu go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Now you should have a command prompt. Here’s an example of the command if you want to shut down in 30 minutes:

sudo shutdown -h +30

Sudo means you need to temporarily become admin in order to shut down the system – so you will be prompted for your password. -h tells shutdown that you want to halt the system as opposed to restarting it. +30 means you’re specifying 30 minutes on the timer. The other way to specify the time is to say exactly what time you want the system to shutdown. It’s in 24-hour time, so if you want the system to shutdown at 9:30PM, here’s the command:

sudo shutdown -h 21:30

Again, this will probably ask you for your password. If you want to cancel the shutdown, you can try typing Ctrl+C in the terminal where you issued the shutdown, or if that doesn’t work then you can manually issue a shutdown cancel like this:

sudo shutdown -c

Linux shortcuts

admin — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Keyboard shortcuts

CTRL + B Moves the cursor backward one character.
CTRL + C Cancels the currently running command.
CTRL + D Logs out of the current session.
CTRL + F Moves the cursor forward one character.
CTRL + H Erase one character. Similar to pressing backspace.
CTRL + P Paste previous line and/or lines.
CTRL + S Stops all output on screen (XOFF).
CTRL + Q Turns all output stopped on screen back on (XON).
CTRL + U Erases the complete line.
CTRL + W Deletes the last word typed in. For example, if you typed ‘mv file1 file2′ this shortcut would delete file2.
CTRL + Z Cancels current operation, moves back a directory and/or takes the current operation and moves it to the background. See bg command for additional information about background.

Command line shortcuts

In addition to the below command line shortcuts, it is also helpful to use the alias command that allows you to specify a keyword for frequently used commands or mistakes.

~ Moves to the user’s home directory.
!! Repeats the line last entered at the shell. See history command for previous commands.
!$ Repeats the last argument for the command last used. See history command for previous commands.
reset Resets the terminal if terminal screen is not displaying correctly.
shutdown -h now Remotely or locally shuts the system down.

Reset forgotten root password in Linux

admin — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:43:00 +0000

Forgot your root password?? No problems, this is how you can reset your root password:

For this press e when GRUB selection menu pops up. Now write the following as parameter: init=/bin/bash
Now press Enter. You will get a # prompt. Now write the following command to change your root password.
#passwd
Now enter your new desired password twice.
Reboot your system & now you can login to your system as root with the newly set root password.

How to Uninstall/Remove Linux & run only Win XP?

admin — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:40:00 +0000

This is how you can delete/remove Linux from a dualboot system with Windows XP.

First take out your Windows XP bootable disc & boot your system from it. Then enter Recovery console by pressing R. In the recovery console prompt type the following commands:
FIXMBR
FIXBOOT

The GRUB will be overwritten & Windows will restore MBR & its bootloader. Just boot your system & windows will start automatically.

Now Right click on My Computer icon on your Desktop & click Manage. Click Disk Management.
Now remove all Linux partitions (These partitions don’t have any label & have unknown filesystem).
Now create new partition(s) in the free space. Format those partitions in FAT32/NTFS & now you can use them under Windows.

You can also try some awesome utilities like Partition Magic, Gparted to do the same.

Connect to Gtalk, Yahoo messenger on Linux

admin — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:37:00 +0000

To connect to Yahoo or Gtalk from Linux you need to install any multiprotocol Instant messaging client like: ‘Kopete’ or ‘Pidgin’

Kopete >> http://kopete.kde.org

Pidgin >> http://www.pidgin.im

Download them from the above links & install them.

To configure kopete for yahoo/MSN/ICQ/AIM etc:
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/kopete_kde_instant_messenger

To configure Pidgin for Yahoo/MSN/ICQ/AIM etc:
Click Accounts >> Add/Edit. On the new Accounts window click Add.
Select the Protocol like Yahoo, Google Talk etc. & fill in other required details.

To configure Kopete for Gtalk:
http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57557

To configure Pidgin for Gtalk: http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/
answer.py?answer=24073&ctx=sibling