Posts tagged Games
15 VISTA tips & tricks
Feb 15th
1. If you hate the look of Aero, click Start/Control Panel/Themes and you can choose a non-Aero theme, such as Windows Classic.
2. Windows Vista’s installer can detect serial-ATA (SATA) drives without the need to provide a driver diskette. Don’t bother creating a diskette for your SATA drives before you install Vista.
3. If, for some reason, the Vista installation gets interrupted due to an unintentional shutdown or reboot, start the computer without booting the Vista DVD. Windows Vista’s installer should pick up where it left off. If it does-n’t, then restart the installation over from scratch.
4. When you perform a search with Vista’s new, instant search feature, you can save the search in a special folder. This powerful feature allows you to create a virtual folder which, by default, is saved in your \\Searches\ folder. Every time you open such a folder, the search results are updated.
5. In Windows Vista, you can add additional clocks to the system tray. Click the clock, and then click Date and Time Settings. Click the Additional Clocks tab. You can add one or two additional clocks to the tray and select their time zones.
6. You can save your progress in most of the games included with Windows Vista—even the carry-overs from earlier versions of Windows.
7. You can create XML documents, which are more secure than regular text files or even word processor docs. Just create a document in a word processor, print it via the options menu, and select the XPS printer.
8. If you upgrade your graphics card in preparation for Windows Vista, be sure to get a new card with as much local memory as possible. Since Windows Vista renders everything—even the desktop and windows them-selves—as 3D surfaces, local 3D memory greatly improves performance…sometimes even more than a more powerful GPU.
9. Windows Vista games deposit their saves into a special directory, called Saved Games, in your personal folder. In theory, that will make upgrading to a new system much easier for gamers, who like to migrate their game saves.
10. When using the Help system, it’s usually advantageous to include Microsoft’s online database in your search. The online/offline status of your search is located on the bottom right of the Help window. You can click it to toggle.
11. The Games folder is a powerful repository of all things gaming. From within, you launch games, update games with the latest patches, enable parental controls to protect younger users from harmful content, and more. Invoke it by clicking Start/Games.
12. Several applications are available to help you tweak Windows Vista for maximum performance. They in-clude TweakVI (www.totalidea.com), TweakVista (www.tweakvista.com/tweakvistautility), and VistaBootPRO (www.vistabootpro.org). And don’t forget about Windows ReadyBoost, which lets you use a removable flash memory drive to boost system memory.
13. Do you use the icon in the upper left corner of system and application windows? A quick double-click closes the window (instead of a single click on the X at the upper right). Though Microsoft left the icon out in Vista, the function remains.—Sarah Pike
14. In Microsoft Windows Explorer, you can use column headers (Name, Size, and so on) to sort files. Savvy users may right-click on a column head to remove items or add some—say, Dimensions for images. There are around 45 such columns available in Windows XP. Windows Vista has well over 250, covering a multitude of metadata.—Sarah Pike
15. If you’ve become used to surfing your Program Menu to get to applications, you’ll be in for a shock when you first use Microsoft Windows Vista. The new Program Menu shows you only recently used applications and requires extra clicks to navigate to submenus. This can be very frustrating but, thankfully, the Search box Microsoft has added to the Start menu is a great replacement—as long as you’re an accurate typist. As quickly as you can type, it returns intelligent results in apps, files, even e-mail messages.
Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP
Nov 6th
To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP
after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition RC1, this file will resemble the following by default:
after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition RC1, this file will resemble the following by default:
[Version] Signature = “$Windows NT$”
DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0
[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7
[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone=”*”
The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file,relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart’s content.
Sony PSP 3000
Oct 27th
If the evolution of the original PSP ‘phat’ to the PSP-2000 ‘slim and lite’ was a small step, this is a shuffle. From the box, the PSP-3000 looks the same, but there are two key component changes – Sony has sourced a new LCD panel with a less reflective surface and a wider colour gamut and added a microphone. Both updates are welcome improvements, but it’s very much the same PSP we know and love. Sony launched the PlayStation Portable in 2004, so you’d expect a few tweaks since then. PlayStation 2 bares little resemblance now to its mark one version, so we can probably expect more subtle changes. And given the rate at which LCD panels in particular are developing, it’s not surprising that Sony has found an upgrade. The new screen is exactly the same size and resolution (420 x 272) as before, but it’s noticeably less reflective. You still can’t play in direct sunlight, but in normal light, the new screen picks up far less reflections than its glassy predecessor. It’s no scientific breakthrough on its own – a decent screen protector has a similar effect – but combined with the improved colour range and the new kid really does look better and despite the rumours, it’s no heavier on battery use. With Wipeout Pure running side by side on the last two generations of PSP, it’s possible to see the difference in the brighter primary colours of the anti-gravity craft as they scream around the track and when you take them outside, it’s the older model that’s plagued by reflections. And at the risk of sounding like a Persil ad, the new screen achieves whiter whites too. And the microphone? The tiny hole below the screen for the mic seems like an obvious addition that suddenly turns your PSP into a free Skype phone. It’s reasonable quality too, so our only complaint is that it should have come sooner and saved us all the expense of adding a Go!Cam. Aside from now being able to output a video signal to regular interlaced display devices and not just progressive scanning screens, the only other changes to the new model are cosmetic. The Home button has become a PSP button and the Sony branding has shifted from the right to the left. We couldn’t really have expected anything too radical so soon after the Slim and Lite release, but there are plenty of features that PSP fans have been asking for. Number one is an internal hard drive to replace the UMD drive. Just think of the extra storage capacity! You could have all your games and movies pre-loaded instead of carting around all those plastic discs. Number two would be an integral camera. We’ve got the mic now, so a cam would make PSP a great little free video conferencing device. There’s also a rather obvious space beneath the right hand buttons for a second analogue joystick.
NFS UNDERCOVER
Oct 18th
Need for Speed Undercover will be in stores on November 18th this year, we all know that, but what can we expect of the game that has been in development for the past 15 months? We can expect the Need for Speed for sure! Free roam, cops, damage, customization, lots of awesome cars, big story and the classic action-like driving! No, this is not a wish list for the next Need for Speed, this is Need for Speed Undercover!. Free roam is back! This time it’s a tri-city area consisting of Palm Harbor, Port Crescent and Sunset Hills Mountains. Each area is unique in it’s own way: we have commercial downtown, industrial harbor area and rural farmland area. All are connected with an interstate highway ring connecting all three together. It is a rather large area with the interstate loop taking about 8 minutes to complete at high speed. We won’t just be racing downtown and on highways, expect paths through factories, canyons, suburbs, construction sites, mountains and more. There will be plenty of shortcuts and alternative routes to evade cops and to help you further, pursuit breakers are returning (pursuit breaker is an object that when you hit it, it usually crashes down on cars following you). Time of the day is set to the so called “Magic hour” – around 6am when the light is low casting long shadows – which gives the game a slight yellowish tone, a bit similar to Need for Speed Most Wanted. One thing that I was quite impressed with Need for Speed Undercover was the driving physics. They took the physics model out of ProStreet, upgraded and tuned it. Cars now feel lighter to drive and stick to the road better, making the game easier to drive which ultimately results in higher speeds and what the title says, action driving. To make the handling even more action, they made performing stunts really easy! See cops coming at you? No problem, just hit ebrake and pull off a 180 spin – easily done from going backwards as well. Like drifting? Putting your car sideways shouldn’t be a problem, but keeping it sideways will require a bit of practice. But let’s hope you don’t like drifting too much – it is not a part of this game. Game modes consist of the standard circuits, sprints, canyon runs and the all new Highway battle which is essentially a one on one race on the highway against extremely dense traffic. Traffic is supposed to be more intelligent in Undercover: expect it to drive according to the speed limit, use blinkers when changing lanes and try to avoid the crashes made by you or your opponents.
Nitrous is back (this time with multiple shots) as well as Speed breaker (a feature in Most Wanted and Carbon where you could slow down the time to perform more extreme maneuvres) – which you will have to use all at once before it recharges again. Another feature that made it back is drafting – drive behind opponents and use the lesser drag to gain speed. And speaking of drag, it’s not one of the game modes in Undercover.
What we never had in a Need for Speed game is a good story line. Need for Speed Undercover will try to improve the series’ reputation in that area with a big and complex story line revolving around the player who is an undercover cop. His only contact with the outside world an agent played by Maggie Q, who is the main star of the game. The filming was done in Hollywood and is a combination of real film with digital effect applied to it which results in a very unique look. Check out the trailer to see what I mean. To progress through the stories you’ll have to play different missions which will be visible on your map. You’ll be able to select missions right from the map, or the old fashioned way by driving to the location of the mission.
Those are the main features, but they do not cover all the game has to offer. I’m sure a lot of you are a bit worried right now whether there is any customization in the game: yes there is! Autosculpt is back, they are also promising separate bumper and sideskirt kits (along with full body kits), there’s improvements to the paint system allowing you to paint different areas of the car (just the bumper for instance). Performance tuning is in as well. So is damage, but it is pretty much just visual. But like always, we won’t get a perfect game this year. There is no rear view mirror, no dashboard camera (they did center the hood cam though), no split screen. Photomode is back but I wouldn’t be hoping for replay mode (I will try to get an official answer whether replay is in though). Cops are in, but don’t expect to drive in a cop car, although that could be in one of the multiplayer modes (which haven’t been revealed yet).
It seems that with Undercover EA took the best features of the previous games and put them all together into one game which could as well be called Most Wanted 2. And as Most Wanted was one of the best Need for Speed games, Undercover could as well turn out to be one cool game!
HP Pavilion Slimline s3330f
Oct 11th
High performance is something that you don’t expect from notebook PCs. So it all boils down to choosing a good enough desktop to meet all your high requirements. Although custom built PCs are preferred my most but service is something that they miss out on. Branded PCs have come a long way and now offer desktop PCs at price matching their custom built PC counterparts along with service. HP introduced the slimline series of desktops some time ago and they have become a rage. The HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f offers great performance at an affordable price.
HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f specifications :
* Dimensions : 4.2″ x 13.9″ x 10.9″
* Platform Technology : AMD Live!
* Processor : AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ / 2.8 GHz
* Chipset : nVidia nForce 430
* Memory : 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
* Hard Disk : 500GB SATA II 7200 rpm
* Blu-ray/HD DVD player, DVD burner
* Wireless Keyboard,mouse
* 802.11b/g wireless connectivity
* TV tuner * Remote Control
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* Approx. price : $1000
The desktop is extremely well priced at just $100 considering the fact that is also houses a HD DVD/Blu-ray drive. The slimline series from HP has witnessed extremely good desktop PCs which have small dimensions as one can make out from the name. The PC is good for Home entertainment purposes and the higher model can also be termed as a gaming PC. The S3330f is based on AMD Live! Platform which was released by AMD some time back. nVidia nForce 430 is the chipset which it uses. The desktop uses 2GB RAM, good enough for most tasks. Some of the frills include wireless keyboard and mouse which complement this entertainment PC quite well. Also it has a TV tuner card to enable you to watch your favorite TV channels on your PC and also record stuff. The cabinet of the desktop is very slim. The exterior has been well designed and polished which gives a cool look which will make your friend’s go jealous. The cabinet can also be laid down flat if you like it that way, giving you more flexibility with your limited space. Wireless capability is another plus point. Remote controls have now become a standard with any desktop PC coming with a TV tuner pre-loaded. Performance is the stronghold of the s3330f desktop. The sheer speed of the AMD processor blows the competition away. The processor is way ahead of the competition when compared to the processors that come in similarly priced desktop PCs. The nVidia 6150 SE is good enough for casual gaming and can run all the latest games. The HP Pavilion Slimline S3330f is one the perfect desktops that I have come across. It delivers high performance at a low price. It even has a HD DVD/Blu-ray drive which makes it future proof. There is hardly anything negative about it. So what are you waiting for, grab one!
Intel brings DirectX 10 to integrated graphics
Oct 11th
Intel has been boasting of DirectX 10 support for its various integrated graphics options for some time now, but it’s only just recently gotten around to actually releasing a Vista driver that brings its GM965 and G35 Express chipsets up to speed. Of course, NVIDIA just couldn’t help itself from getting a few (more) digs in at Intel’s expense, and it’s now kindly provided a few benchmarks to show just how badly Intel’s integrated DirectX 10 solution stacks up against the bleeding-edge DirectX 10-ready games it now ostensibly supports. They couldn’t find a single game that was able to crank out more than 5 fps, even at a lowly 1280 x 1024 resolution and with the usual graphics intensive settings turned off. Then again, 4.4 fps in Crysis is pretty much par for the course.