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 | Vista Startup Sounds So, tell me, are you a new Windows Vista user? Or, maybe you've been using it for awhile now. Either way, do you like the way the Vista operating system sounds when you boot up your computer? You know, it plays that little song for you. All the Windows operating systems do it, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have to like it, right? Well, if you're one that doesn't care for the whole intro song type of thing, there's a way you can shut it off. Want to know how? Then read on! Now, before I go any further, I want you all to know that you're very lucky when it comes to this kind of thing, because originally, there was no way to turn this sound off in earlier versions of Windows. But, now with Vista, there is, so we might as well take advantage of it, don't you think?! Okay, to turn off the startup sounds that Vista makes, click on your Start button and in the search box below it, type in the word "sound" to create a search query for it. When your results come up, find the one that simply says "Sound" and click on it. Next, choose the Sounds tab. From there, look to the bottom of the box and uncheck the option that says "Play Windows Startup Sound." When you're finished, click Apply and then OK. That's all there is to it! Once you do that, you won't have to hear all those "sometimes annoying" sounds that play while your operating system is starting up. How great is that?! ~ Erin Was this tip helpful? Let us know by rating it here: Don't stop now! Make sure you keep reading to learn how you can easily set up parental controls in Windows Vista, find out how you can easily work with your AutoShape defaults in various MS Office programs and learn how you can quickly remedy the hibernation sound issue going on in Windows Vista. Also, be sure to stay safe by reading this week's security article thanks to Gary and of course, don't miss out on Amanda's Cool Site of the Day! Finally!!! Create Your Own Amazing Web Site!!! Awesome New Software Makes it Easy as 1-2-3 No Programming Required - If You Can Use A Word Processor, You Can Do This! Lowest Price Ever- Just $10.97!!!!! This JAW DROPPIN' Deal Will Leave You Saying "WOW!!!" Oh! This is just FANTASTIC!! I'm so excited - we've just found an amazing program that lets anyone and everyone create their own website! It's super easy to use and no web programming knowledge is necessary at all! If you can use a word processor, you can use our newest program - WebEasy 6! We've had version 4 and 5 and they were good, but this version 6 really takes it up to the next level! WOW! We're talking everything you need in order to create an amazing, professional-looking website! You'll be online with your own personal or business site in no time! First off, I want to stress you don't need ANY background in HTML, JAVA, or web programming - if you can use a word processor you can do this! It includes a whopping 120 pre-made, professional-looking templates! You're bound to find several that are just perfect for your needs, and if you don't they are easy enough to modify! It's amazing how well done this is!
As for the type of sites this can do, well - your imagination is really the limit! You can make a simple personal site to show off your family photos, you can build an information site about your favorite subject, you can create an online business complete with shopping cart, you can put together a "group" site complete with calendars, news, schedules, whatever! Pretty much anything you can think of, this can do - and probably already has a killer template ready to go! Oh, and using it is sooooo simple - all the tools are really easy to understand, so it's simple to add graphics, photos, text, flash animations, etc. Oh, get this - it includes an amazing 85,000 different photos, clipart, buttons, borders, animations, music, sound effect and more! Talk about having a custom site huh! WOW!!! What if you don't want to use templates at all? What if you're a more of a "from scratch" kind of designer? Well, once you see how easy it is to create a site from scratch, you may decide to go it alone! The tools are so easy to use - most of it is a matter of drag and drop! So, start from scratch, or use a template - either way the site you create is going to blow people away! OK, all that's great, but what do you do after it's built? Well, you can host your website though the publisher (a 1 click operation - now that's handy), upload to any number of free sites available online, or go for a high-quality paid hosting service of your choice. Easy! Once you're up and running, how do you let everyone know you're there? HA! This has you covered there too! This includes tools to help you optimize your site for a high rank in the search engines - and it helps you to submit your site to all the major search engines! It does it all! Now, most web site software is really expensive - GoLive and Dreamweaver both retail for $400 and MS Frontpage / Expressions is still expensive at $100! Why pay that much when this does pretty much the same thing? Your cost? Get this - just $10.97 ($50 retail) and US shipping is FREE! Is that amazing or what? It's a fantastic deal on some of the easiest, most powerful web creation software on the market - give it a try - you'll love it too! http://store.worldstart.com/ PS - Please note that this was a limited quantity deal (less than 200), so once these are gone, we're not sure when or if we'll be able to get more! Stuff has been sellin' like crazy lately, so get to the site early to get in on this one! Absolutely AWESOME Noise-Cancelling Headphones! Kill Background Noise By Flipping A Switch! Really! Outstanding Listening Experience! PLUS Incredible Sound And Amazing Comfort! Just Wait Till You Feast Your Ears On This! Psst - Hey, wanna really (really) great set of headphones? Maybe the best you've ever tried? We just got an absolutely amazing deal on a brand new product! We have the new Sentry Noise Cancelling Headphones and these are going to absolutely blow you away! Let's get right to it and talk about the noise cancelling part. Now, I've seen noise cancelling headphones go well beyond the $100 mark, so yeah, I was a little skeptical too. I mean, could these be for real? So, I put them on and did some testing. I started by hooking up to my iPod (any MP3 player, stereo, CD player, etc will work with these), and flipped on the noise cancelling. WOW! Really seemed to work good, but was it just my imagination? So, I decided to try these WITHOUT the music and see what happened. I have couple noisy computer fans that I could easily hear with the iPod off, so I stood by those with my headphones on. I hit the Noise Cancelling switch, and just like that the fan sound disappeared! I strained to hear it, but it really was gone! I turned off the noise cancelling and I could easily hear it again, back on, it's GONE! WOW!! Talk about impressive! These work GREAT! Can you imagine how cool these are going to be? Just a quick flip of the noise-cancelling switch gets rid of droning, background noise! Just think about how fantastic these are going to be on your next plane trip - no more cranking the volume all the way up just to hear over the engines! Oh, and what about while working out? Wouldn't it be great to cancel out the sound of the treadmill, bike ect? What about if you're just in a noisy room? A flip of the switch and it's just you and your music! Oh, and think about it - since you don't have to crank up the volume to overcome background noise, these could literally save your hearing! OK, the noise cancelling part is absolutely fantastic, but just wait till you slip these over your ears! Amazingly comfortable! In fact, my wife had a set of Bose headphones (that cost 2X as much and weren't noise-cancelling), and actually switched to these! Not just for the noise-cancelling, but mostly because these were SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE! They feature really soft padding, a incredibly well designed and comfortable headband, PLUS the ear pieces on both sides actually swivel around - a perfect fit every time! Even if you don't need the noise-cancelling part, these are well worth it just for the comfort! PLUS, they sound absolutely amazing! You are in for a real treat first time you put these on! You're going to absolutely LOVE the full range of sound you get to experience! The lows are rich and the highs crisp and sharp! Close your eyes and you'll feel like you're completely engulfed in music! You may even notice instruments in your songs you never knew where there! The range is really incredible! Now, if you've shopped for noise cancelling headphones before, you know they can be pricey. Bose can go for $350, Sony for $400, JVC is a bargain and can be found for $90, Monster gets $300 - but wait till you see your deal! Your price? Get this, you can get these for just $28.97 and US shipping is FREE! Let me tell ya, for that kind of money you just can't go wrong! I know it sounds too good to be true, but just wait till you try 'em! You'll be a believer too! Check 'em out: http://store.worldstart.com/ PS - Don't spend hundreds on a set of noise-cancelling headphones - you've gotta give these a try! Super comfortable, sound great, and they cancel out background noise with the flip of a switch! Get your today! Q: A: We've done articles in the past on child safety for Windows XP, but we haven't covered much on this topic for Vista yet and that's what I want to change today! By the time you're done reading this article, your kids (or grandkids) will be doing their schoolwork on the safest computer in town. Let's check it out! Lucky for you, the parental control software you need for your computer came right along with your Vista operating system, so you don't have to worry about purchasing another program or anything like that. The controls in Vista are designed to help you manage what your children do while they're using the computer. You have total control over what programs your children use, what games they play, which Web sites they can visit and you even have control over the amount of time they can spend on the computer. To keep your mind at ease, everything is taken care of! To get to the Parental Controls section of Vista, go to Start, Control Panel and then select User Accounts and Family Safety. Next, click on the link that says "Set up parental controls for any user." Vista will then ask you if you want to continue since you'll be changing some components of your computer. You'll only be changing a few settings, so click Continue to move on. Now, the next thing you need to do is make sure all of your accounts are password protected. If you have more than one account on your computer, you need to create a password for each of them. If you don't, your children could log in to another account where the parental controls are not enforced and that just defeats the whole purpose! To do that, click on an account that doesn't have a password. Then click on the Yes button when it asks you if you want to ensure that all your accounts have passwords. You'll then be taken to the area where you can set up passwords for all of your accounts. On the other hand, if your accounts already have passwords, you can just skip past that part. When you're ready, click on the account name you want to set parental controls for. You'll then see a list of settings and you can go through each one to set them up exactly the way you want them. For the Parental Controls option, make sure the On choice is selected. The next option is Activity Reporting. That one needs to be turned On as well. Next, you can go down the list and change the settings to fit your needs. You can do so for: Windows Vista Web Filter, Time Limits, Games and Allow and Block Specific Programs. Once you have all of those set up, go over to the right hand side of the window and you can change your settings for the Web Restrictions (you can set it to High, Medium, None or Custom) and you can turn on the Time Limits, Game Ratings and Program Limits controls if you want as well. When you're completely finished changing your settings and when you're satisfied they're set right for your children, simply click OK. Once you click OK, everything will take action! Now, everything is pretty self-explanatory when you're going through the settings, but if you'd like to read more about each one specifically, you can check out this Web site. I highly recommend you take the time to go through your parental controls, especially if you have younger children. Also, if your children use the Internet a lot, you'll definitely want to pay attention to the Web settings. With all the crazy stuff going around on the Web today, you need to take control and keep your kids safe. It all lies within your hands and with it being so easy to do, there's no reason why you shouldn't! ~ Erin Did you find this tip to be useful? Give us your opinion by rating it right here: Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below: AutoShape Defaults When you use MS Office Suite's drawing tools and create AutoShapes (for Office 2007, it's the Insert tab, Shapes button), do you find yourself changing colors and/or lines to the same setup over and over again? If you, let's say, find you're changing the fill color to purple and selecting a double line for the outline of several different shapes, I bet you're tired of repeating your work. I know I get tired of it! So, this question comes to mind: Is there a way to get the program to just draw the new objects with all the preset stuff? To be truthful, the answer is yes and no. For the first shape you draw, no. You need to draw the first shape and make your changes. Go ahead, fill it with color and then give it a blue dashed outline with a six point thickness. Make it just the way you need it. Now, if those are also the settings you'll want for other AutoShapes you're drawing in the same file, that's where the "yes" part of the answer comes into play. To set the AutoShape defaults for that particular file, right click on the shape. From the menu that pops open, select the Set AutoShape Defaults choice. Now, draw another shape. Do you see it? All your colors and lines are already changed to meet your needs. Yeah! Oh, and don't worry, the defaults only apply to that file. In another file, it's right back to the old standby of no fill color with a thin black outline. In other words, the defaults are file specific, not program specific. "Semi-permanent" defaults are useful, but not repeatedly annoying. Who would have guessed?! ~ April Enjoy this tip? Not so much? Tell us how you feel by rating it here: Save Big Bucks On Hard Drive Space! Ingenious Hard Drive Dock Pays For Itself! Best Way To Manage Your Extra Files! Here's one you'll really LOVE! Do you use external hard drives for your backups or extra storage? I know I do - well, I used to anyhow! We just found an item you're really gonna be excited about - it's got to be one of the best ideas I've seen for saving some big bucks in storage! It's a Hard Drive Dock and it's gonna be your new best friend! First - the problem: External hard drives are stupid expensive. OK, they are getting cheaper, but ever notice how an internal hard drive of the same size will ALWAYS be cheaper then the external version? Sometimes by a huge margin too! Of course, the internal drive doesn't need a fancy case, switches, or power cords like the external drive does, so it should be cheaper. Now, wouldn't it be great if you could use an internal hard drive outside of your computer for backups and extra storage? That's EXACTLY what this does! This cool little dock lets you use any SATA / eSATA hard drive just by popping it into the dock! (note - that pretty much covers any drive less than 4 years old - and quite a few older than 4 yrs) PLUS it works for regular 3.5" desktop drives AND 2.5" laptop drives - both sizes are covered! So, if you have an old SATA hard drive sitting in a drawer, in an old computer, or whatever - you can get some new life out of it by popping it into this dock! Think of it as an almost free external hard drive! On the other hand, if you're like me and take a lot of photos (or video), you can just buy a less expensive internal hard drive next time you need more space and plug it into this dock! Heck, I got a 300GB drive the other day on sale for $44! An external drive would have been easily three times that much! When you think of how expensive external hard drives are compared to internal drives, you can see this will easily pay for itself the first time you use it! Besides, since I'm just using these for backups and extra storage, why do I need some slick-looking case? I'll save my money, thank you! Plus, just wait till you go to store those internal hard drives - you're in for a treat!! You know how those external drives are big, bulky, and just take up way too much space? Well, when you use internal drives with this dock, you can just stick 'em in a drawer like I do! I'm actually thinking about taking apart a couple of my old external drive cases to pull the hard drives for use with this - I'd love to save some space since I feel like I'm getting overrun with external HDs!!! Worried about speed? Well, this is just as fast as any external hard drive - it's USB 2.0, so it's really, really gonna move your data quickly. You get the same speed and performance of an external HD, without the extra expense and bulk! It's even hot-swappable! Finally, I think these would be great for getting data off other hard drives to copy over to your computer. My sister's laptop just died, so I took it apart and pulled the little hard drive out of it. Since this works with regular size and laptop drives, I plugged it into this dock and we copied all her old files and photos onto a new computer - now that's cool! Your cost? Just $39.97 and US shipping is FREE! No, it's not the cheapest thing we've ever offered, BUT I'll bet you'll easily save the price of this dock by the money you'll save buying internal rather than external drives! It really does pays for itself! http://store.worldstart.com/ PS - Note that there is a limited number of these available, so you'll have to hurry or you'll miss out! Don't get stuck with big, expensive external drives - grab one of these today! You'll love it!
Make Hallmark Cards Right From Your Computer! What A Deal Too!! WOW! We've featured lots of card-making software, but seriously, who makes cards better than Hallmark? And with Hallmark Card Studio you can make amazing Hallmark Cards right from your own home!! I don't know how Hallmark keeps out doing themselves again and again!!! Each previous edition of the software has been good- but not this good!!! So what does this software do? Basically, this it allows you make Hallmark cards right from your computer. Yes, they are authentic cards with even the "Hallmark" trademark on the back. The program comes with predesigned cards with pictures, graphics, and expressions. All you do is customize it (if you like). If you really want to make your card unique, they even have the ones where you insert your own picture (of course, you do this through your computer so it looks fantastic). And it is so easy to use!!! By far, I would say this is one of the easiest programs I have ever used! All you have to do is just point and click to create your cards. I was shocked!!! I mean could anything be any easier to use? Curious about what the finished product will look like once it is printed? Check it out! It was really awesome!
This program includes 10,000 different images, 5400 Hallmark cards, projects, and tons more! This gives you over 1 million ways to create your personalized cards. Personally, I really like that the cards are "pre-written". It makes it so much easier. I never have to rush through the store again looking for the perfect card. It really has saved me time!!! Of course, you can replace what they say with what you want to say (or add to it, modify, etc). Plus, people really dig you more custom message and what to know where you found such a personalized card. Oh, and it's not just limited to the printing out out-dated paper cards (that's so 20th century) - you can also send e-mail greetings complete with animated pictures and sounds! As if all the above weren't enough, this can also do scrapbooks, calendars, and even has a really good built-in photo editor! WOW!! And just wait till you check out the event planner! Never forget to send another card - this will remind you! How cool is that?? All this probably sounds really expensive!!! Relax!!! Your price is just $6.97 (retail $49.95)! Of course, if you live in the US shipping is FREE! Here's a link with all the info: http://store.worldstart.com/ Hurry on this one. Last time we sold this program, they flew out the door!!! And remember- the price will increase to $18.97 tomorrow!!!! Computer Speakers So, tell me, how well do you like the speakers that came with your computer? Are they internal or external? Do they work like they should? Are they a little disappointing at times? If you answered yes to the last question, it may be time for you to look for a new set of computer speakers. Sound is an important part of your computer experience and if you don't have good speakers, you can't enjoy it. So, if you're on the lookout for new speakers, I've got some suggestions that will help you out. To browse through them, all you have to do is check out the tip on our homepage today. It's that easy! Virtual Fish Tank I'm sure most of you have heard of this before, but just in case you never had the opportunity to have a virtual fish tank, I wanted to give you the chance. The cool site on our homepage today is called Virtual Fish Tank and yes, it's where you take care of the fish on your computer. If you like fish, but you don't want to deal with cleaning out the tank all the time, this is the perfect thing for you. Plus, it's just so much fun to feed your fish and make sure they have everything they need throughout the day. It's definitely something new to play around with, so give it a try sometime today! Here's the link you need: http://www.worldstart.com/ Enjoy! Vista: Hibernation Sound Issue Here's a quick one for you! Have you been having trouble with your sound being disabled in Windows Vista after you wake your computer up from hibernation? If so, you're in luck, because Microsoft has an easy hotfix for that issue. Let's check it out! If you're experiencing this problem, you've probably noticed a red X on the volume icon in your system tray. Plus, when you hover over the icon, you see a message that says "No Audio Output Device is Installed."
Once you install the hotfix, you'll be in sound heaven once again. Hope this helps! ~ Ramachandran Kumaraswami Love this tip? Hate it? Give us your opinion by rating it right here: If you enjoy our tips, tell your friends. That's what keeps this newsletter growing.
Checking HTML E-mail Links Almost all the e-mails you get these days come in an HTML format. Those e-mails are the ones with pictures, links and anything else besides text. WorldStart's Computer Tips newsletter is an example of an HTML based e-mail. Those types of e-mails are great for making easy to read and visual based messages, but they also pose a security threat. That's a picture from an e-mail I made and sent to myself in Outlook Express. You'll notice that the link shows www.goodsite.com, but if you look at the status bar at the bottom of the screen, it clearly shows www.bad-site.com. If you were to click on the link, it would take you to www.bad-site.com. Pretty tricky, huh?! Internet Explorer: Both of the above pictures show the same e-mail. One is opened in IE and the other is in Firefox. The first step in checking the link is to right click on it. (Note: You can also do that for pictures that link to other sites). After you right click, go to Copy Shortcut (Internet Explorer) or Copy Link Location (Firefox). That will paste the URL of the Web site the link is taking you to. Here's another picture: As you can see, just like the first example in OE, the link that said goodsite.com actually pointed to bad-site.com. If you follow those steps for any questionable e-mails, you'll always know where the links will take you before you ever click on them. If the address looks strange or outright incorrect, don't click on it! It's as easy as that. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends! ~ Gary Did this tip make you feel secure? Let us know by rating it here: For stories, jokes, quotes and cartoons every day, sign up for our Just for Grins newsletter. I found this online calculator Web site to be very interesting. To get started, I recommend scrolling down to the Ready to Use section and taking the tour. It will walk you through the features for the calculator. What I love about it is you don’t have to press Enter to get an answer. Also, you can use multiple lines to do more than one step in a problem! To switch between styles of math you want to compute, use the drop down box on the calculator. Perhaps you need to do trigonometry or find a volume. If so, just switch it from Basic Math to whatever you need. You’ll find examples on the calculator as well. They're demonstrating how to put in the information so that you get the right answer. I would have been lost without the square root example! You can also find other kinds of calculators here: BMI, Unit Conversion, Home Loan, Video Game Prices, Web site Bandwidth and Web site Earnings, just to name a few. To use those calculators, just click on the links under the Ready to Use section. You can also share the calculators either via a link or you can embed them into your Web page. For more instructions on that, check out the Hassle Free Sharing section underneath the calculator. I’ve been using this calculator when I can’t find my own to do my math homework. I love it and I think you will too! ~ Amanda Like this cool site? No? Tell us how you feel by rating it right here: Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
February Wallpaper Here's February's wallpaper. It's all free, so enjoy!
All can be found here: http://www.worldstart.com/ Enjoy!
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Computer Tips [ Security Alert - Outsmart E-Mail Link Traps + Vista Sounds Better + Control What Sites Kids Visit ] 02/25/09
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Thanks for understanding that we need to prevent the nasties.