NVIDIA GAMING

How to Update Your Graphics Drivers for Maximum Gaming Performance

A graphics driver is the software that allow your operating system and programs to use your computer’s graphics hardware. If you play PC games, you should keep your computer’s graphics drivers updated to get the best performance out of your hardware.
We have previously advised you to not compulsively update your drivers – most hardware drivers that come with your computer or through Windows Update are fine. However, graphics drivers for your NVIDIA, AMD, or even Intel graphics hardware are a big exception.
Image Credit: Carles Reig on Flickr

Why You Should Update Your Graphics Drivers

Updates to your computer’s motherboard, sound card, and network drivers don’t generally give speed improvements. They will often fix rare bugs – and maybe even introduce new bugs.
However, this is not the case with updated drivers for your graphics card, also known as a GPU or video card. NVIDIA and AMD both frequently release new graphics drivers that often give major performance improvements, particularly for newer games. With Intel getting serious about integrated graphics performance with their upcoming Haswell graphics architecture, they are now starting to release more frequent video driver updates, too.
Here is a snapshot of the changelog from NVIDIA’s most recent graphics driver package, released on January 5, 2013:

These sorts of performance increases in updated graphics drivers are not uncommon. While newer games like Far Cry 3 saw significant improvements (up to 38% on some hardware), even older games like Skyrim and Starcraft II saw a significant increase in performance.
NVIDIA may be overstating the performance increases you will get, and it probably won’t be as pronounced on older graphics cards. Even so, these are still significant improvements. Some newer games may refuse to run with old, unoptimized graphics drivers installed.
Of course, if you never play PC games on your computer and don’t care about 3D graphics performance, you don’t really need to update your graphics drivers at all.

Identifying Your Graphics Card

There is a variety of ways to identify your computer’s graphics hardware, including third-party system information utilities like Speccy. However, you can get this information right from the Windows Device Manager.
To open the Device Manager, press the Windows key to open your Start menu, type Device Manager into the Start menu, and click the Device Manager shortcut. (If you are using Windows 8, press the Windows key, type Device Manager at the Start screen, select the Settings category, and click the Device Manager shortcut.)

Expand the Display adapters section to see the manufacturer and model of your computer’s graphics card.

If you see both Intel and NVIDIA hardware on a laptop, your laptop is using NVIDIA’s Optimus technology to intelligently switch between its better-for-battery-life Intel graphics and better-for-gaming-performance NVIDIA graphics. In this case, you will want to update your NVIDIA drivers to boost your gaming performance.

Getting the Latest Updates

For some types of graphics hardware integrated into laptops (also known as notebook GPUs), you may not be able to get drivers straight from the manufacturer. You may have to get updated drivers from your laptop manufacturer, and they may not regularly release updates.
However, you can generally get updated graphics drivers from your graphics hardware manufacturer’s website:

• Download NVIDIA Graphics Drivers
• Download AMD Graphics Drivers
• Download Intel Graphics Drivers

You will have to select the exact model of your computer’s graphics card, which is displayed in the Device Manager window.
Some manufacturers may have update-checking utilities that automatically check for new graphics driver versions and alert you to them, such as the NVIDIA Update utility, which you can access from the NVIDIA Control Panel application (select Help > Updates) if you have NVIDIA graphics hardware.

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If you have older graphics hardware, bear in mind that it won’t be supported forever. Manufacturers eventually move older hardware to a stable driver release that they stop optimizing and updating. If your graphics hardware is five years old, it’s very likely that optimized drivers for it are not longer being released. How long your hardware is supported is up to its manufacturer.

How To Create a Shortcut That Lets a Standard User Run An Application as Administrator

Want to allow a standard user account to run an application as administrator without a UAC or password prompt? You can easily create a shortcut that uses the runas command with the /savecred switch, which saves the password.
Note that using /savecred could be considered a security hole – a standard user will be able to use the runas /savecred command to run any command as administrator without entering a password. However, it’s still useful for situations where this doesn’t matter much – perhaps you want to allow a child’s standard user account to run a game as Administrator without asking you.

Enabling the Administrator Account

First you’ll need to enable the built-in Administrator account, which is disabled by default.
To do so, search for Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click the Command Prompt shortcut, and select Run as administrator.

Run the following command in the elevated Command Prompt window that appears:

net user administrator /active:yes

The Administrator user account is now enabled, although it has no password.
To set a password, open the Control Panel, select User Accounts and Family Safety, and select User Accounts. Click the Manage another account link in the User Accounts window.

Select the Administrator account, click Create a password, and create a password for the Administrator account.

Creating the Shortcut

Now we’ll create a new shortcut that launches the application with Administrator privileges.
Right-click the desktop (or elsewhere), point to New, and select Shortcut.

Enter a command based on the following one into the box that appears:

runas /user:ComputerName\Administrator /savecred “C:\Path\To\Program.exe“

Replace ComputerName with the name of your computer and C:\Path\To\Program.exe with the full path of the program you want to run. For example, if your computer’s name was Laptop and you wanted to run CCleaner, you’d enter the following path:

runas /user:Laptop\Administrator /savecred “C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCleaner.exe”

Enter a name for the shortcut.

To select an icon for your new shortcut, right-click it and select Properties.

Click the Change Icon button in the Properties window.

Select an icon for your shortcut. For example, you can browser to CCleaner.exe and choose an icon associated with it. If you’re using an other program, browse to its .exe file and select your preferred icon.

The first time you double-click your shortcut, you’ll be prompted to enter the Administrator account’s password, which you created earlier.

This password will be saved – the next time you double-click the shortcut, the application will launch as Administrator without asking you for a password.

SEE WHO LOGGED IN

How To See Who Logged Into a Computer and When

Have you ever wanted to monitor who’s logging into your computer and when? On Professional editions of Windows, you can enable logon auditing to have Windows track which user accounts log in and when.
The Audit logon events setting tracks both local logins and network logins. Each logon event specifies the user account that logged on and the time the login took place. You can also see when users logged off.

Enable Logon Auditing

First, open the local group policy editor – press the Windows key, type gpedit.msc in the Start menu, and press Enter. (You can also enable logon event auditing on a domain controller if you administer a network with centralized logins.)

Navigate to the following folder: Local Computer Policy –> Computer Configuration –> Windows Settings –> Security Settings –> Local Policies –> Audit Policy.

Double-click the Audit logon events policy setting in the right pane to adjust its options. In the properties window, enable the Success checkbox to log successful logons. You can also enable the Failure checkbox to log failed logins.

Viewing Logon Events

After enabling this setting, Windows will log logon events – including a username and time – to the system security log.
To view these events, open the Event Viewer – press the Windows key, type Event Viewer, and press Enter to open it.

Navigate to the Windows Logs –> Security category in the event viewer.
Look for events with event ID 4624 – these represent successful login events.

To see more information – such as the user account that logged into the computer – you can double-click the event and scroll down in the text box. (You can also scroll down in the text box underneath the list of events.)

If your security log is cluttered, you can click the Filter Current Log option in the sidebar and filter by event ID 4624. The Event Viewer will display only logon events.
Because this is just another event in the Windows event log with a specific event ID, you can also use the Task Scheduler to take action when a logon occurs. You can even have Windows email you when someone logs on.

FORGOT YOUR WIFI PASSWORD ? DONT WORRY!!

How to Access Your Router If You Forget the Password

Routers protect their web interfaces, where you can configure their networking, parental control, and port forwarding settings, with a username and password. These default passwords can be changed to protect the router’s settings.
If you’ve forgotten a router’s password – or if you acquired a used router and don’t know its password – there’s a way to reset the password. You may also be able to forward ports without knowing the password.
Image Credit: tnarik on Flickr

Find the Default Username and Password

Before resetting your router to its default settings, you should first try using the default username and password to log in. You’ll need these anyway if you plan on resetting the router to its factory default settings. There are several ways to find this information:

• Read your router’s manual. Different models of routers – even ones from the same manufacturer – often have different username and password combinations. To locate the default username and password for the router, look in its manual. (If you’ve lost the manual, you can often find it by searching for your router’s model number and “manual” on Google. Or just search for your router’s model and “default password”.)
• Look for a sticker on the router itself. Some routers – particularly ones that may have come from your Internet service provider – ship with unique passwords. These passwords may sometimes be printed on a sticker on the router itself.
• Try a common username and password combination. Many routers use the password “admin”  (don’t type the quotes) and a blank username, a blank password and “admin” as the username, or “admin” as both the password and username. You can find a fairly comprehensive list of default usernames and passwords for various routers on RouterPasswords.com.

Try to log in with the default credentials after finding them – it’s possible the router was already reset or someone never changed its password. If they don’t work, continue to the next section – you’ll need the default credentials after resetting the router.

Reset the Router to Factory Defaults

Routers come with a button you can press to reset the router to its default factory settings. This resets any configuration changes you’ve made to the router – forwarded ports, network settings, parental controls, and custom passwords will all be wiped away. You’ll be able to access the router with its default username and password, but you may have to spend some time configuring the router again, depending on how many changes you made to its configuration.
The exact process (and location of the reset button) will vary from router to router. For best results, you should consult your router’s manual for any model-specific instructions. However, the process is generally very similar on most routers.
First, look at the back (or perhaps the bottom) of the router. You’ll see a special button labeled Reset. This button is often located in a depressed hole, known as a “pinhole,” so you can’t accidentally press it.

To reset the router, you’ll generally need to press this button and hold it down for about 10 seconds. After you release the button, the router will reset itself to the factory default settings and reboot. If the button is located in a pinhole, you’ll need to use a bent paperclip or another long, narrow object to press and hold it.
Once you’ve pressed the button down for long enough, you can log into the router with its default username and password.

Image Credits: William Hook on Flickr and DeclanTM on Flickr

How to Forward Ports Without Knowing the Password

Do you just want to open the router’s web interface and forward ports for a server, game, or other type of networked program? If so, you don’t necessarily even have to know the password. This trick is also useful if you’re using someone else’s network and don’t have access to the password.
This works because many routers support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), which allows programs on your computer to “ask” the router to open ports for them. If UPnP is enabled on the router, it will automatically open the port.
If a program supports this option, you’ll generally find it in its connection settings alongside the port configuration. NAT-PMP, which you may also see, is a similar way of automatically forwarding ports that fewer routers support.

If you use a program that doesn’t include integrated support for UPnP, never fear – you can use a program like UPnP PortMapper to quickly forward ports from a desktop application. You can forward any ports you like.

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Once you’ve reset the router’s settings, you can log in with the default username and password and change its password from its web interface.

ANDROID SAFE MODE [SAFE]

How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode

On your Windows PC, you can boot into safe mode to load Windows without any third-party software. You can do the same on Android with Android’s safe mode. In safe mode, Android won’t load any third-party applications.
This allows you to troubleshoot your device – if you’re experiencing crashes, freezes, or battery life issues, you can boot into safe mode and see if the issues still happen there. From safe mode, you can uninstall misbehaving third-party apps.

Booting Into Safe Mode

To reboot into safe mode on Android 4.1 or later, long-press the power button until the power options menu appears.

Long-press the Power Off option and you’ll be asked if you want to reboot your Android device into safe mode. Tap the OK button.

On older versions of Android, long-press the power button and then tap Power Off to turn off your device. Turn on the phone or tablet by long-pressing the power button again. Release the power button and, when you see a logo appear during boot-up, hold down both the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. Continue holding the two buttons until the device boots up with a Safe mode indicator at the bottom-left corner of its screen.

Troubleshooting in Safe Mode

While in safe mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear at the bottom of your screen.

In safe mode, you’ll only have access to the apps that came with your device. Apps you’ve installed will be disabled and any widgets you’ve added to your home screens won’t be present. Try using your device normally after booting into safe mode. If your issue – freezing, rebooting, crashes, battery life issues, or bad performance – is solved in Safe Mode, the problem is with a third-party app you’ve installed.
While apps are disabled, you can uninstall them normally. Open the Settings screen, tap Apps, locate the app you want to install, tap it, and tap the Uninstall button. if you’ve installed any apps recently, you should probably try uninstalling those apps first.

After uninstalling the apps, you can try installing them one at a time to identify which app is causing you problems.
If you’re experiencing major problems with your device, you may want to skip all the troubleshooting and restore your device to its factory default settings. You’ll lose all the data on your device – so make sure you have everything backed up – and you’ll have to reinstall any apps you’ve installed. To do this, open the Settings screen, tap Backup & reset, tap Factory data reset, and follow the instructions on your screen.

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To exit safe mode, restart your device normally. (Long-press the power button, select Power Off, and then long-press the power button again to turn it back on.) Your Android phone or tablet will boot and load third-party software as normal.

win 8 task manager :D

How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8

The Task Manager in Windows 8 has been completely overhauled. It’s easier-to-use, slicker, and more feature-packed than ever. Windows 8 may be all about Metro, but the Task Manager and Windows Explorer are better than ever.
The Task Manager now manages startup programs, shows your IP address, and displays slick resource usage graphs. The new color-coding highlights the processes using the most system resources, so you can see them at a glance.

Launching the Task Manager

The Task Manager can still be launched in the traditional ways. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete from anywhere and you’ll see a link to launch the Task Manager.

You can also right-click the taskbar and select “Task Manager.”

Managing Processes

The Task Manager’s default interface lets you easily view and end active applications, without any clutter getting in the way. It shows both Metro-style apps and desktop apps.

Click the “More details” button and you’ll see much more information. Resource-usage statistics are color-coded – the darker the color, the more resources used.
You can expand an app to see its windows, if the app has multiple windows.

The list of processes is divided into three sections – apps, background processes and Windows system processes.
If you’re not sure what a processes is, you can right-click it and select “Search online” to search for it in your default search engine.

System Statistics

The Performance tab shows slick graphs of your system information. You can select either of the options at the right to see more information. The new interface shows much more information than the old Task Manager showed.

You can actually see your system’s IP address without digging through the Control Panel. This used to require a lot of clicks.

You can still open the Resource Monitor application in one click. It hasn’t been updated in Windows 8, but it shows even more information than the Task Manager does.

App History

The Processes tab only shows each process’s current resource usage. The “App history” tab shows how much CPU time and network bandwidth each Metro app has used, so you can identify the resource hogs.

Startup Programs

The Startup tab shows the applications that automatically start with your computer. Windows finally has a way to easily disable startup programs. Windows also measures just how long each application is delaying your startup, so you can make informed decisions.

Users

The Users tab breaks down your system’s resource usage by user account. You can expand a user’s name to view that user’s processes.

Advanced Process Details & Services

The Details tab is the evolution of the old Processes tab on previous versions of Windows. It doesn’t have a pretty interface – although application icons have been added. It exposes exposes advanced options not found on other tabs, including process priority and CPU affinity. (CPU affinity determines which CPU a process runs on, if your system has multiple CPUs or a CPU with multiple cores.)
The Services tab has been prettied up and now includes an option to quickly restart services.

You can click the Open Services link to use the Services application, which contains the advanced options you won’t find in the Task Manager.

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The new Task Manager is a huge step up, both in features and presentation. It’s particularly exciting that average users finally have a way to manage their automatically starting programs.