Recently in Ask Jake Category

"I got an error while trying to install software on my Windows 7 computer. This is the error message: Error 2738. Could not access VBScript run time for custom action. How can I fix error 2738?"

This error is common to software applications that use VBScript for some portion of the install process. Error 2738 is an error that means VBScript is not properly configured to run on your computer. I encountered Error 2738 when I installed Verizon Access Manager, but there are many other times it can occur. To fix Error 2738 you may need to follow slightly different steps depending on your computer configuration.

"I'm have a large number of music playlists. I want to print playlist files of my music so that I can keep a record of my music collection."

Depending on what you currently use to manage your music collection, printing playlists might require additional software. To print a playlist in iTunes, for instance, you simply need to choose the playlist and Print from the File menu. Windows Media Player does not include the ability to print playlists, so you need to use another application. For most playlist management, I recommend using MediaMonkey, which has a ton of features you can't get from either Windows Media Player or iTunes.

"I am looking for a voice recognition to text program for transcribing the audio in my interviews. Got any ideas ?"

In my own experience, attempting to use software to transcribe audio recordings has met with mixed results. If there's a large amount of industry specific jargon used, the software fails miserably, leaving you spending more time cleaning up files than you would have simply by transcribing the audio the old fashioned way. A better result is to send your audio files to a transcription service like CastingWords.com. The quality is generally outstanding and the turnaround time is generally faster than most of us could do it ourselves. If you do insist on attempting to transcribe your audio using software, here are a few tips.

"When I go into a file in one of my folders I get a message that comes up as, 'There are more than 500 fonts in the system. Reduce the number of fonts or the display may be incorrect.' I don't know why that should come up as I have not added any more fonts or done any thing with the fonts."

That error message is typically associated with one of two types of files, either a Microsoft Works Spreadsheet or Microsoft Works Database file. I have seen it happen with some Microsoft Excel spreadsheets as well. Even if you never actively add or remove fonts from your system, many applications add additional fonts to your computer. Why a spreadsheet application displays an error if you have more than 500 fonts is something of a mystery, because in theory the application could be written to ignore all but a specific group of fonts needed for the software to work properly. In any event, there are a couple of ways to solve your font problem.

"I have a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD105 (about 3 years old). I have an iMac which loads CD on the side (of the screen). What do I need to buy so that this smaller CD can be inserted?"

I'm not aware of an adapter I would feel safe recommending for inserting mini DVD media into any slot loading DVD drive like most iMac and MacBook hardware now uses. Rather than risk breaking your internal drive, you might be better off investing in an external USB drive to playback the mini DVDs from your camcorder.

"I am using two Samsung SC-MX20. They give me really good video in low light, however, Samsung uses MPEG-4 compression and this can be a real hassle (time consuming) to uncompress. I tried a USB video capture device but (of course) it drops frames. Since Samsung does not have a FireWire connection, would a PCI video capture allow me to take the compressed video and capture in AVI format? If so, which PCI video capture card(s) should I consider? I have tried searching the web, but it seems everything is more aimed at capturing TV to PC and I am not sure it that will work for me?"

Since the Samsung SC-MX20 camcorders record MP4 files, rather than capturing to tape, you should be able to optimize a setup that will get you faster editing by simply opening the files. There could be a scenario where you could capture over component video connection using something like a Black Magic or AJA capture card, but upgrading a few components on your computer may get you to where you want to be for less money.

"Can I connect a computer to a 46" HDTV and use split screen software to make it like four screens / monitors in one? I have a PC with XP, and a Mac with OS X Leopard 10.5. However if the solution requires a different OS, I can get a new system."

There are a number of ways to achieve displaying multiple screens on the same physical screen. If you were to run 3 additional operating systems in virtual machines on Windows, you would effectively get 4 unique screen displays. On a Mac running something like VMWare or Parallels you could increase the number of screens. While the technology to do this is certainly possible, you're going to run into some limitations beyond the operating system that may be frustrating for the result you attempt to achieve.

"I'm looking for a music re-mix program. I don't currently plan on recording my own music. I want something simple that will allow me to sample loops of pre-recorded music from my collection of CDs and MP3s and layer them together in tracks to create new 'musical collages'. In other words, take a James Brown song, create a loop out of one bar of a riff, add another loop created from a horn solo by Miles Davis, and continue adding tracks, layering, fading in and out, etc. just for amateur fun. Don't need pro quality features. Anything like that out there?"

There are a ton of application choices for sampling music from your person collection and building music collages. Prices for looping software range from free up into the hundreds of dollars range. While you could go with a pro tool like Propellerhead's Reason or Sony Acid, I would suggest starting with one of the more basic tools that get you started in creating your own loops and samples.

"With the economic down turn I am interested in free online TV. I have an HP Pavilion dv6700 (with an hdmi port) using Windows Vista. I also received a remote control with my laptop but am currently trying to find it. I have a 42" HDTV that I would like to connect to my computer. I also use the Harmony One all- in-one remote control by Logitec."

My questions are:

1. Can I do this?
2. Can I get HD quality TV over the internet?
3. Will picture quality suffer from moving from my laptop to a larger 42" HDTV screen size?
4. What is the minimum broadband speed needed and what is optimal speed?
5. Can use the remote I have?
6. Can you make a favorites list with the equipment I have or do I need a software program for managing the channels and movie downloads?

"Is there any way to get still photos from digital movies? I have a Sanyo camera and took some movies with it. It also takes still photos. Now I want to get still photos from the movies. Is there any way to do that?"

There are a number of ways you can grab still photos from a video file, but the one I find to be most reliable for all video formats is VLC Player. The software supports virtually every video format and makes it easy to choose the exact frame in your video you want to capture. Here's how to get a still photo from a video using VLC Player.

"Can I use a laptop webcam to video chat with someone using a Xbox 360 webcam?"

Windows Live Messenger support for the Xbox 360 is currently limited to text chats only. To video chat with someone on an Xbox 360, both you and the person you want to chat with must be signed in to Xbox Live and have the Xbox Live Vision camera connected to your Xbox 360. The steps for enabling Windows Live Messenger text chats are fairly straighforward.

"I want my Google Calendar email reminders to a different email account than my Gmail address. There doesn't seem to be an option in Google Calendar for adding another email address."

Google Calendar reminders are designed to be sent to the Gmail address associated with the same Google account. Currently Google Calendar doesn't support adding additional email addresses. There is a workaround to get your calendar reminders to another address, but you need to add a filter to Gmail to make it work.

"What is the best Windows fax application?"

The best Windows fax application really depends on how many faxes you send and how often you receive a fax. It also might depend on other software on your computer. If you only need to send a fax occasionally, I recommend using the free fax site FaxZero. It allows you to enter the phone number you want to send a fax to and upload a file to fax. If you want to receive a fax on your computer, you will need a different solution because FaxZero is only designed for sending faxes.

"I have a Sony Handycam with a hard disk drive / Memory Stick Pro Duo. I can upload videos from either onto my computer and they will play. The problem I am having is that when I try to import them to Windows Movie Maker, I get this warning: 20090731112533.mpg could not be imported. An interface has too many methods to fire events from. How can i remedy this?"

Windows Movie Maker is notorious for only working well with DV-AVI camcorder files and WMV files. Any other file format that works was a stroke of good luck. Your best bet for editing the file would be to use some other software, but if that's not an option here are a few suggestions for getting past the error message and on to editing your movie.

"Where do you get a wireless card for your computer and are they expensive? I have a laptop and a desktop almost never use the desktop computer"

Where you go to get a wireless card for your computer depends more on the type of wireless card you are looking for rather than whether you have a laptop or desktop computer. In most cases, the same type of wireless card will work for both. The first thing you need to determine is whether you are looking for a wireless card with a built-in connection or a wireless card that allows you to access your home wireless network.

"How can I keep my Outlook contacts in sync with Gmail contacts?"

If you want to sync Outlook contacts with Gmail contacts, there are two ways you can do it. You can do it the hard way, where you export your contacts from Outlook and then import them into Gmail. Or you can sync Outlook contacts the easy way by using software to keep the two contact lists automatically up-to-date.

"What are the best FireWire alternatives for my Mini DV video camera? My computer doesn't have a FireWire port on it, but I want to edit the videos I shoot. Is there something that I can use to connect my camcorder instead?"

FireWire cards have gotten cheap enough that buying one is often the most cost effective way to go. For laptops there are several PC Card and Express Card adapters available. For desktop systems, a PCI FireWire card is usually under $20. If you really don't want to go the route of purchasing a FireWire card, there is one solution that can solve your problem.

"Roxio Buzz came with my Gigabyte motherboard which I purchased with my ATI Radeon HD 4770 video card. I get this message "The display adapter does not meet minimum requirements",. I don't understand how Roxio cannot support a video card that came out only two months ago."

Roxio Buzz stopped being developed awhile ago, although it does still pop up in some bundles like the one you got with your motherboard.The software was a great idea when it first appeared on the scene as a way to quickly edit videos and upload them to YouTube. Most of the important features of Roxio Buzz are now rolled into the Roxio Creator software bundle. There are some possible explanations for why your new video card isn't supported, but there's no chance you'll see a fix released to solve the issue.

"I would like to find out how I can broadcast a live video stream on the Internet and what kind of software I need for this to be a success."

If you asked this question a few years ago, the answer to how to stream live video would have been extremely complicated and fairly expensive to implement. Today, if you're willing to put up with a few advertisements on your video stream, you can get started broadcasting your own live video stream in just a few simple steps.

"How can I embed a .wmv file in the HTML of my Web page?"

If you want to embed a WMV file in your Web page, you need to use some custom HTML code. There are a few specific parameters to set, to specify which Windows Media Player is used on the page, whether the file starts playing automatically or not, and how it displays with other elements on the page. You also need to consider compatibility issues for people viewing with different browsers and operating systems.

"I have an audio file that only plays sound from the left channel, which means I'm hearing nothing from my right speaker. Is there any way to fix this?"

If you're only getting audio from the left channel of an audio file, that means whoever saved the file stored blank information on the right channel. You can fix the file so that it plays across both the left and right channels, but you won't be able to create a true stereo experience isolating portions of the audio in either the left or right channel the way a commercial audio CD might. To fix the file, you'll need download some audio conversion software.

"I want to do some voice recording and I know I need a mixer and a compressor, but I'm wondering if you know which mixer built-in compressor combo might be best?"

Which mixing board with built-in compressor is best for your needs depends on a number of factors. You need to determine what your budget is. Do you need only one mixer channel with compression or multiple channels? Do you want portability or is this a mixing console you plan to install permanently? Those are all questions you need to think through before making a purchase. Here are some mixers with compression built-in at various price ranges:

Microsoft is officially not supporting upgrades from Windows XP to Windows 7, which means they want you to do a clean install. If you're like the average computer user, you have files stored all over the place and might be worried about missing something if you wipe your hard drive and install Windows 7. There is a solution for upgrading XP to Windows 7, but it will require one additional software application.

"I'm thinking about switching from my current Internet fax service to a new fax solution. Is there any way I can port my fax number the way I did with my cell phone when I switched from Verizon to AT&T?"

I mentioned switching from eFax to MyFax not too long ago. The one thing I couldn't do was take my eFax number with me. The rules for number portability with online fax services are different than the FCC number portability rules that apply to cell phones.

"I seem to be only able to have audio or video for the entire movie, no trouble editing just can't seem to have both. I would like to hear my daughter talking, but not all the time. Music as well."

You can segment your video so that audio only plays some of the time, but that requires splitting the video on the editing timeline each time you want to mute the audio to create clips from your larger video segment. Follow the steps here to customize your audio track.

"How can I delete a video if someone else uploaded it to YouTube?"

If someone else uploaded a video to YouTube, there is no way you can directly delete it. Only someone with access to the username and password for the YouTube account that uploaded the video can delete the video. If the video infringes on your copyright, if someone included you in their video without your permission, or if the video you want deleted violates the YouTube terms of service in some way, there are a few other actions you may be able to take.

"I downloaded an a movie and tried to play it in Windows Media Player. I can hear sound, but the picture is just black. Is there something wrong with the movie?"

Hearing sound from a video but not getting a picture is a fairly common occurrence. Playing a video file in Windows Media Player (or any other media player software) requires two software components called codecs. One codec handles the video portion of a movie file, the other codec handles the audio portion of the file. When your computer is only playing the audio, that means you have the required audio codec, but your computer lacks the necessary codec to make the file play properly. To solve this, you need to first identify what codec is required, then download and install the missing codec.

"I am considering buying a Lumix DMC-FT1. I want to be able to still use Movie Maker on Windows. Will I be able to do so with AVCHD-Lite which the camera records video in?"

AVCHD-Lite, which is a subset of the AVCHD format popularized by hard disk camcorders from Sony, Panasonic, and Canon, uses h.264 video coupled with AAC audio for recording movies. Neither of these two codecs is directly supported by Windows Movie Maker in either Windows XP or Windows Vista. There are 3rd-party solutions that work with varying degrees of success in allowing you to work with AVCHD video in both versions of Movie Maker, but for the most part you are safer in assuming AVCHD and AVCHD-Lite will not work with either the XP or Vista versions of Movie Maker. If you are willing to convert the files to WMV or MPEG-2 before editing, you have more options, but generally speaking if you need to convert the AVCHD video before editing, you are better off starting with an editing program designed to edit AVCHD. You have several choices you can make as alternative editors.

Each year I get several questions about photographing fireworks around the 4th of July and again around New Year's. I always intend to post an article on shooting fireworks photos, but the holiday seems to conspire against me and I never get it done. This year, I've managed to pull it off. While I can't promise you'll be the Ansel Adams of fireworks after reading these tips, I'm confident you'll take better photos than you did last year.

Jason Dunn over at Digtal Home Thoughts sees frequent questions about netbooks. In response he created a short video that walks through his answers to the 10 most common questions. Watch the video and read answers if you're thinking about getting a netbook. I hear many of these questions too and having the answers all in one place is a great help.

"I am trying to get music from my PC to my Xbox 360. The problem is that my PC is an older model so it doesn't have an Ethernet port. Is there any way to do this?"

There are basically two ways to get music files from your PC to your Xbox 360. Option one is to use your home network. If your computer doesn't have an Ethernet port, this option is out unless you feel comfortable adding an Ethernet port. Option two is to use physically transport the files from your PC to your Xbox 360 using some kind of storage media.

"I almost never need to scan documents, so I don't own a scanner. Today I need to scan in something I signed, can I just use my digital camera as a document scanner since a scan is a picture?"

There have been many occasions where someone needed me to sign a document and fax it back when I was no where near a fax machine or a scanner. In those cases, my solution has always been to take a picture, clean it up with photo editing software and upload it using an online fax service like MyFax. So the answer to your question is yes, but I'd also like to share something I found that makes it easier.

"I have a problem in opening my iTunes. When i double click the icon, a box written with "The iTunes library.itl file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have write permission for this file" came out and it prevented me from running my iTunes. What should i do?"

Fortunately problems with opening iTunes don't happen very often, but when they do a feeling of panic can set in. What if you can't access your music. There are a number of potential causes for this error, which makes it hard to narrow down the exact cause. In most cases the solution is one of two things.

While I've seen a few people use a Netbook as their only computer, for the most part people are buying Netbooks as a second more portable companion to their primary PC. For me the HP Mini I own has become the computer that goes everywhere, while my full sized notebook is the one doing all the heavy lifting for video editing and entertainment.

When you use two computers regularly, you suddenly realize how vital it is to make sure all your files are properly synchronized. In the early stages of using multiple computers I was constantly using convoluted solutions to retrieve files I'd left behind.A bunch of different software companies are creating tools to address this very problem, but most of the Netbook makers haven't jumped on board to include this necessary file sync component. HP is bundling Syncables with their new Mini 110 line of Netbooks, which you can see demoed in this video.

"Instead of a fax machine, if a document is scanned and saved can it simply be attached to an email and sent rather than using an online fax service? Providing, of course, that you have the email address for the destination of the document."

Emailing documents is definitely a viable option for replacing a fax, although there may be reasons why you would want to fax a document instead.

"Is there a way to record music from my computer's hard drive to an cassette tape deck?"

Recording music from your computer to a tape deck requires a few very simple steps. Aside from needing a cable with stereo RCA connections on one end and a mini-plug on the other end, all the software you need is probably on your computer.

"How does a Windows user upload to my public directory on iDisk?"

Uploading to an iDisk public directory is basically the same for both Windows and Mac users. For it to work properly you need to have the correct permissions set and there may be a password required from the iDisk account holder. Here's how to upload from Windows or Mac to a public directory on iDisk:

Every time I launch my browser the window is off-screen. I can't move it because I can't see it. How can I get my browser window back on my screen?"

Having a window open off of your screen can be infuriating if you don't know how to fix it. I once had my email program launching off-screen and thought it might drive me nuts. Fortunately, there's an easy solution to get your window back on screen with a couple of quick keyboard commands.

"If I have a playlist of songs in iTunes, can I import my iTunes playlist in Windows Media Player and have it work there too? Or do I have to recreate my iTunes playlist in Windows Media Player?"

There is not direct solution to export a playlist from iTunes and import the playlist into Windows Media Player. The two applications use a different structure for their playlist data and don't communicate. Fortunately, there's a workaround.

"When you rip a CD with Windows Media Player does the original file on the CD get deleted?"

The contents of most CD media is read-only, which means your computer or CD player can see the contents and play them back, but cannot change the CD contents or delete them. This means that short of scratching the CD or physically damaging it in some other way, you can't lose the contents of the CD. Ripping a CD with Windows Media Player (or iTunes or any other CD ripper) makes a copy of the contents of the CD in a different file format, without changing the contents of the CD.

"What type of file format does Windows Media Center use to record television?"

Windows Media Center uses the DVR-MS file format, which is an ASF container with MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio packaged in a slightly non-standard way. ASF is the same container format used for Microsoft's WMV video files, with the difference being that WMV typically uses WMV video and WMA audio. The files aren't recognized by many other media players and video conversion software frequently fails to convert the files to new formats because it's unrecognized.

"Where can you download RealPlayer for free to a computer?

RealPlayer is available for free directly from Real.com, although it takes some digging around to find the version that isn't merely a free trial of the RealPlayer Plus. For a page that goes directly to free versions for most operating systems, including Mac, Windows and Linux, try this page of free RealPlayer downloads. Keep in mind this free version still requires you to register with Real in order to use it and it lacks a few features.

"Can I play a Blu-ray disc in my computer DVD player?

The short answer to your question is you can only play Blu-ray media in your computer DVD player if that DVD player is a Blu-ray drive. If standard DVD players supported Blu-ray playback our entertainment options would be far easier. Instead special hardware is required for Blu-ray. Think of the leap from DVD to Blu-ray as something similar to the leap from a standard CD player to DVD. A DVD player can typically also play CD media, but a CD player can't play a DVD. Blu-ray presents a similar problem. For playback on your computer, there are additional challenges beyond just having the right hardware.

I don't normally delve into how to cancel services, but I wanted to cancel my eFax account and found the process frustrating.I'm hoping my experience will help you out too. If you recently upgraded to a new computer running Windows Vista 64-bit or Windows 7 (which is most new computers these days) you will find that the eFax software no longer works with your computer. I was okay with this because I could still send faxes using the eFax Web interface or via email, but after a couple of mangled faxes (the recipient informed me that the print was enlarged by several hundred percent), I decided it was time to try another solution. Ultimately I switched to a service called MyFax, but this still left me figuring out how to cancel my existing eFax account, so I wasn't left with two online fax accounts.

"How do I get TextAloud to work on my iPod Touch?"

TextAloud is a great text-to-speech software solution for Windows, but it does not currently offer a version that runs directly on an iPod Touch. Any files created with TextAlound on your PC should play on your iPod Touch, but the software isn't designed to work on cell phones or MP3 player hardware. Think of TextAloud as more like a companion to your iPod instead. Convert text from your PC to audio files, then copy those audio files to your iPod Touch for playback.

"I recently switched from Outlook Express to Gmail. Is there any way to sort my Gmail so that I can view unread messages only? It's confusing to see a mix a read and unread messages in my Gmail inbox."

Gmail offers many mail sorting options you can't get with a traditional email client, but sometimes that comes at the expense of things we are used to. You can filter by unread messages in your inbox, but it takes a little advanced search technique.

"I am a choreographer. I have videos of different dances I've made on two different DVDs. I want to make one DVD from these two. I also need the DVD to be able to be read by Mac, PC, and tabletop DVD player. I just bought a Dell Studio Laptop that came with Windows Movie Maker and Windows DVD Maker. Can you recommend a program that can extract the DVD files for me and then help me burn cross-platform DVDs?"

Windows DVD Maker can burn a DVD that will play on Mac, PC and set top DVD players. Unfortunately, Windows Movie Maker isn't a very good solution for combining videos from multiple DVDs with any kind of ease. I typically recommend using Roxio Creator to rip video clips from each of the DVDs and then recombine them. Here's how to do it:

"How can I record and send a Webcam email?"

There are several different ways you can send Webcam videos via email. If you have software like YouCam, you can record the video in the software, then send the video as an attachment to your email message. While sending a video attachment works, I don't recommend that method because video attachments in email are frequently rejected by the email service provider of the person you are sending the email to. A better alternative is to sign up for a free video email service designed to store the video for you and then email a link to the message recipient. More specifically, I recommend the free version of Eyejot.

"Is it possible to redirect emails from Outlook 2003 to be received in Gmail or Hotmail?"

You can redirect email from any version of Outlook to Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or any other online service. In most cases, you can also respond with the from address you normally use in Outlook, making it appear as though you were responding from your desk. To make the redirect from Outlook to your favorite email service provider, you need to make a few configuration changes for it to work smoothly.

"When I try to play m2ts files they cannot open and I have to right-click, browse for a program, and select Windows Media Player. When I do this the m2ts file plays only the video portion but not the audio portion. I have two questions:

Q2) What causes m2ts file to play only the video and not the audio?"

"I want to send pictures to Facebook from my cell phone. I've tried sending a MMS message to mobile@facebook.com but my photos never show up in my Facebook account. What am I doing wrong?"

You are right that you need to either send photos to Facebook in an email or MMS to mobile@facebook.com in order to get your pictures in your Facebook account. In order to be able to upload your pics to Facebook, the first thing you need to do is activate your account.

"I have an stand alone Fax machine that I use for out-going faxes. I would like to use my Cell as the phone line to hook up to this machine, thus being able to disconnect my home phone."

Back when most cellular phone service providers still used older analog voice signals, transmitting a fax over cellular was an easier matter. Older analog cell phone service supported the transmission of the DTMF tones used by fax to transmit messages. Newer digital cellular service no longer supports passing data via the required DTMF tones making fax via a standard cell phone connection virtually impossible without a third party solution. There are a couple of ways you can get around the limitation of digital cellular service by using a combination of a fax service and some of the features built into many phones.

"I just started uploading videos to my You Tube Channel. Then I copied the embed code and loaded the video to my Wordpress Blog. All works great except a ton of other videos are listed as thumbnails beneath mine and can be played on my blog. I do not want these videos on my site. How do I get them off and why are they attaching when I copy my embed code?"

Part of YouTube hosting your videos for free is recommending videos from other YouTube users in the files embedded on other sites. YouTube does have a feature for turning off these extra video clips, but they hide it because they really want people to watch as many YouTube videos as possible.

"Is there a way to make the Myspace music player stop playing (other than pressing the pause button) when you press play on a YouTube video on a Myspace profile page? Specifically looking for an autostop command of some sort."

It would be wonderful if Myspace and every other site online with more than one player on a page would automatically stop one player when a second one is starting. Nothing is more frustrating than having several players playing simultaneously. Unfortunately there is no real solution for this problem at the moment. Myspace doesn't detect another player being activated on the page, so both players will keep playing. The only solution to this problem for now is to not put more than one player on the same page.

"Where can I get free loops and samples for making music in Windows?"

In general, loops tend to work on any operating system. The companies that make audio editing software have standardized the file formats for looping. Just like you can play an MP3 in almost any media player, on almost any operating system, you can use audio loops in almost any music editor. One key thing to watch out for is the terms of use. Many times you can use loops for free as long as you aren't using them commercially, but the rules change if you want to make money. With this in mind, here are a few great sources of free loops and other music creation resources:

"Can you recommend a good fax app or online fax service for my MacBook with OSX?"

If you only need to send a fax with your Mac, my recommended solution would be to visit free fax site FaxZero. It allows you to enter the recipient of your fax and upload a file to send as a fax. If you want to receive a fax on your Mac, you will need a different solution because FaxZero is only designed for sending faxes.

"How can I convert my old vinyl records to MP3 on a Mac? You recommend SpinItAgain for Windows, but what can I use to convert vinyl LPs on Mac OS X?"

There are many audio recording apps available for Mac OS X, including the popular iLife application GarageBand. If you connect a record player or USB turntable like the Ion to your Mac, you can record vinyl using GarageBand as if it were an instrument. That method is complicated and filled with extra steps, so I don't recommend it. Instead, I suggest using CD Spin Doctor, which comes very close to offering the same ease of use I find so wonderful about SpinItAgain.

"I accidentally deleted photos from my digital camera memory card. Is there any way to get my deleted pictures back?"

I will warn you up front that there is no guaranteed method of recovering deleted files. When you delete anything, there's always a chance you won't get it back. There are solutions for recovering files and in many cases you can recover deleted pictures from your camera's memory card. You can pick from several choices in software for recovering deleted photos, but I happen to like Zero Assumption Image Recovery.

The first thing to do before attempting any photo recovery is to stop taking pictures on your memory card (until you've recovered the deleted photos). Every new photo you take increases the chance you will overwrite the portion of your memory card where that deleted picture was stored, making recovery almost impossible.

"I have a video card for my PC that is a PCI Express 16x form factor. Is it possible to buy an adapter to put the 16x card in an 8x, 4x or 1x PCIe slot? I don't have a 16x slot."

The short answer to your question is no, there isn't a way to adapt a PCIe 16x card to a PCIe 8x, 4x, or 1x slot. That's largely because using a 16x PCIe card in your computer is more complex than simply fitting it in a card slot and having it work. Each of the 1x, 4x, 8x, 16x and 32x PCIe slots actually transfers data to and from a seated card at different rates. A 16x card needs to have access to more data transfer than a 1x card, so it needs the larger 16x slot. A breakdown of the data transfer rates of each of the slots helps illustrate this:

"Are there any good free alternatives to Photoshop? I want something I can easily edit my photos with so I can do color corrections and retouch images, but I don't have a large budget"

This is one area I routinely spend money on because I find free alternatives to be less intuitive. For that reason, I use the "lite" version of Photoshop aka Photoshop Elements. If budget is a concern, there are plenty of photo editing apps capable of getting the job done. Based on a reader poll of best free photo editing software, GIMP and Paint.NET are the two most popular choices.

"How can I convert WMA to MP3 on Mac OS X?"

I've previously covered solutions for converting WMA to MP3 on Windows, as well as a method to convert WMA to MP3 with iTunes. Unfortunately, the iTunes method that works well for Windows users isn't an option with iTunes on a Mac. To go from WMA to MP3 on OS X, you need to enlist the help of additional software.

"How can I share media from my PC to my Xbox 360? I have a bunch of videos on my PC and I'd like to play them on my Xbox without having to copy the files."

There are two similar solutions for sharing both videos and music from a PC to your Xbox 360. Both require some basic configuration on your computer. One option is to download and install the Zune software from Zune.net. The other option is to use Windows Media Player 11 to stream movies and music to your computer. Older versions of Windows Media Player will not work, so you may need to use Windows Update in order to update your WMP software to the latest version. I went through the basics of this in an article on streaming DivX to your Xbox 360, but I'll also cover it here as a solution for all media types.

"I don't want to use the Adobe PDF Reader anymore. It takes forever to load and the updates always try to get me to install other software. Is there a free alternative solution for reading PDF files?"

There are dozens of free alternatives to Adobe Reader. You will likely still need Adobe Reader if you have any DRM-protected PDFs, but many of the PDF reading alternatives will work. I happen to really like one reader in particular.

"I just bought a new notebook computer. Can I move all the programs from my desktop PC to my notebook without needing to reinstall?"

The short answer to your question is, yes. Most of the time you can move programs from your old computer to your new computer. In some cases, when you move applications between two comptuers, installation will be required because of the way that particular application works. At the very least you will reduce the number of programs you need to re-install. The trick to making this work is you need to purchase some additional software to move programs between two computers.

"Can you send a Windows Movie Maker video using send a file on MSN Messenger?"

If you want to send the Windows Movie Maker project file (the ones with file extension MSWMM) using the Send a file feature of MSN Messenger, it can be done, but the person at the other end will have a hard time knowing what to do with it. The Movie Maker project files are meant for creating movies, not for playing back on another computer. If you want to send your finished movie to someone using the Send a file feature of MSN, you should have no problem. Before you send the movie, make sure you publish your edited movie from the timeline first, following some basic steps.

"What's the best way to run a Webinar?"

To run a Webinar successfully, you have to present your webinar with the same energy you'd give in addressing a room full of people, without getting any of the immediate visual feedback you get from facial expressions. This requires all the same skills required for public speaking, with careful planning to make sure your Webinar is a success.

The starting point for any Webinar is a carefully constructed outline on the topic you're speaking about. You can get a good idea of what to include in your outline by polling your own subscribers to see what they want to learn about. Once you've got a plan, running a Webinar is a simple process. Sign up for a Webinar service, schedule the Webinar, contact potential attendees and announce to the world. When the day arrives, arrive on time for your Webinar and present with practiced skill.

"What kind of modem do I need to connect my Xbox 360 to Xbox Live?"

The modem you will need to connect your Xbox 360 to Xbox Live is an external modem provided by your broadband ISP. Typically you will want to purchase a router to connect to the modem provided by your ISP, with your Xbox 360 connecting to the router. If you plan to use a wired connection to connect your Xbox 360 to the router, you need to connect the Ethernet port on the back of the Xbox 360 to one of the Ethernet ports on the router. If you want to connect your Xbox 360 using wireless, you will need a wireless router and the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter.

"How can I adjust the volume on the recordings I transfer from vinyl to my iPhone. The music I download from iTunes is louder than the music I transfer from vinyl. I am using EZ Vinyl."

EZ Vinyl, which comes with the Ion USB Turntables, is a feature limited product with very little ability to do your vinyl record collection justice. My first suggestion would be to replace EZ Vinyl with Spin it Again. That doesn't solve the problem of fixing the files you created already, but I do have a solution to that problem as well.

I had a Word document with extra font formatting buried in it. The primary font for the entire document was incorporated properly, but when I converted the file to PDF, the PDF properties kept referencing a second font. Somewhere a rogue font was formatting sections of my Microsoft Word file. I dug through all the sections of the Word file and found a few references to this other font, but I couldn't seem to eliminate it from the document. I was on the verge of tearing my hair out, when I realized, Find and Replace allows you to search for and replace fonts throughout your Word .doc and .docx files.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't care about an invisible font in a Word document, but it was keeping me from uploading the PDF I created into the Lulu.com print on demand service because this random font wasn't actually embedded in the document even though it showed up in the PDF. Read on to see how I solved the problem.

"Is there a good online calendar with email reminders?"

I'm a huge fan of Google Calendar for all kinds of solutions. You can sync Google Calendar with Outlook. Google Calendar is easy to share publicly. Google Calendars will link event locations to a map, making it easy to find where you need to be, not just when you need to be there. And it will also send you an email reminder if you need it.

"How can I remove duplicate calendar entries from Outlook?"

For some reason Microsoft never included a true duplicate removal tool for Outlook, so you have to use an alternate strategy, which involves either a whole bunch of clicking and deleting or an export process to clean up duplicates with additional software. Unless you have hundreds of duplicate items, it's generally easier to go the first route, which is simply to delete calendar events in a slightly manual way. You can get some additional help from the Find tool in Outlook.

"Is there a way I can turn off Facebook Chat when I'm signed into my Facebook account? I find it distracting to constantly have friends message me, but I like to remain signed in."

Facebook chat can be a great way to to connect with Facebook friends, but like other instant messenger programs, Facebook chat can get distracting. Fortunately, you can turn it off in two simple steps.

"How do I convert BMP to JPG?"

There are at least 1000 solutions for converting BMP files to JPG. Some of the options provide more control over conversion of BMP files to JPG. Some image converters work slightly better than others. Some image file converting software is easier to use than others. I'll start with the image editor included on your computer and then suggest some alternatives.

"I saw your video about connecting a Mac Mini to an HDTV. I've got a Mac Mini and an HDTV and I want to stream tv shows from the HDTV to the Mac (so that I can do HD screen captures). Is this possible?"

It is possible to record and capture HDTV with your Mac, although what you can actually capture varies depending on what your HD video source is (Cable, Satellite, over-the-air) and how powerful your Mac is. I'll outline a few potential solutions that should deliver some or all of what you'd like to do in streaming HDTV to your Mac.

"I have an ipod U2 20gb, which has gone corrupted. I don't have backup of the music in it - can i do anything? The iPod just does not turn on. iTunes says, it has detected an iPod that appears to be corrupt. My Computer option does not recognize the iPod. If it shows as an E drive, under the properties, I see zero bytes of data - I have about 1500 songs."

This is a common problem that seems to have more to do with a communication error between iTunes and iPod rather than there being something actually wrong with the iPod. A series of troubleshooting steps may be required to identify a solution, although in some cases the solution is to have Apple Care.

"I have outlook 2007. It runs an automatic pst backup. When it does, my computer slows down. Can you turn off the back up from Outlook?"

Outlook doesn't have an automatic backup feature built-in, at least not what I'd call a backup. If you back something up, you are making a copy of your data. The copy can be used to recover data if the original becomes corrupted or fails. Outlook does have a feature call AutoArchive, which is turned on by default. AutoArchive moves email messages from the Outlook PST file to an Archive PST file based on how old the email messages are. If you want to turn off AutoArchive, the steps are fairly straightforward.

"I have Home Vista on my new computer. I need to convert a sound file to CCITT u-Law 8000kHz 8Bit Mono to forward it to my 800# recording. I'm stumped."

The way I convert files to CCITT u-Law is to save them using Adobe Audition. Unless you have a reason to do a ton of audio recording, I wouldn't recommend that solution, because it's expensive. Most of the solutions available for converting sound files to CCITT u-Law cost money, but there is one solution that converts audio to CCITT u-Law for free.

"How do I convert an MP4 video file to WMV so I can use it in Windows Movie Maker?"

Dozens of free software apps and several commercial tools all use a similar core solution called FFMPEG to power video conversion. In most instances, you don't need to purchase software to convert from MP4 to WMV, because the free solutions work great. Out of all the video conversion options using FFMPEG, the one I like best is WinFF, because it has a simple interface and keeps the confusing choices to a minimum, while offering the powerful option of converting as many files as you can throw at it in one batch.

"What is the format used by Windows Media Center recorded TV? The program is saved in the all users TV recorded folder & plays back OK on the Dell computer. I'm having problems converting to a compatible format such as AVI or WMV using the AVS 6.0. Mainly a lot of pixilating when playing the DVD on our Nakamichi DVD-15 1995 vintage player. I convert using To DVD & Profile NTSC High Quality. I burn using ImgBurn or Roxio."

The format Windows Media Center uses for recording is DVR-MS, which is MPEG-2 video in a Microsoft proprietary file wrapper. If you have Media Center 2005 or newer, the easiest way to burn it to DVD (without all the extra conversion steps you cite), is to use the built-in DVD burning tool. For older versions of Windows Media Center, the best solution is MyDVD, which is bundled as part of most newer versions of Roxio Creator.

"I have recorded some tracks in Audacity using the project sample rate of 44100Hz. I also imported a track from a portable device at 16000Hz. All tracks sound fine when played simultaneously. However, when I want to insert an audio into the 16000Hz file, it is
distored. I have 2 questions:

1. Is there a way to integrate the two files into 1 track; and
2. Will I have a problem exporting mixed sample rates to CD?"

Mixing sample rates in an audio project can cause all sorts of problems with your final output. There is an easy fix to your problem, which is to simply resample one of the audio files so that it matches the other files.

"I just bought a Canon HF100 and want to get a new computer. I have always used PCs but am considering a Mac. I have spent days online researching the two options and cannot make up my mind. It seems that the Mac and PC options are both very slow and difficult. I want to record home video on HF100, burn raw AVCHD to standard DVD for permanent backup, do some editing and then burn to standard DVD in 1080 to watch on my PS3 without any noticeable degradation. Based on the simple things I want to do with my new camcorder, what do you suggest I buy and what steps should I follow to get 1080 to
standard DVD for PS3."

There's really no right answer here, both Mac and PC solutions will get you the result you want. AVCHD video files are more complex to edit than the tape HDV format and will take longer to work with as a result. Here's some suggestions to help narrow down your choice:

"Hopefully you can help me with this situation. I have a video file which started out as a .vob file and I converted it to .avi using Super.It was then stored on an 8GB USB memory stick. The stick is of dodgy quality and had a tendency to corrupt files over time. However, the video file played well on both computer and stand alone dvd players (via the USB port)
for awhile so I thought I could keep it there until I got around to burning it to DVD. Then all of a sudden the file stopped playing. I've tried every video recovery software I could get my hands on, but the ones that specialize in .vob files won't recognize the format and neither will the ones that specialize in .avi files. Both Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery and All
Media Fixer aknowledged the file and went through the motions of fixing it although their result is still unplayable. Any ideas?"

All Media Fixer typically does a good job of repairing damaged video files. There are some cases where salvaging a video file from a damaged drive is simply impossible at least in a complete state. There are a other solutions you can try, with the caveat that sometimes the file can be repaired, but you end up losing the portion of the file stored on a corrupted portion of the drive.

In going through the process of evaluating several of the various Identity Protection services I found it to be an incredibly confusing see of marketing materials. At the end of the day, all I really want to know is who will provide me the best coverage at a reasonable price. You are probably in the same boat. This stuff is confusing. As part of my comparison process I'm looking at Lifelock, TrustedID, ID Watchdog, IdentityTruth, and IdentityGuard. There are additional services, but these seem to be the best of the bunch. Check out my comparison checklist to see how these 5 companies compare.

"Is it possible to perform simple editing i.e.deleting part of a .flv flash video?"

FLV files create a kind of unique video editing challenge not readily solved by just opening the files in your favorite video editing application. The FLV format simply isn't supported by most video editing tools. You have two basic options for editing an FLV. Option 1: you can convert the FLV to another format and edit the converted file. Option 2: You can download an application specifically designed for FLV editing. In general I recommend going with editing software rather than conversion for a couple of reasons.

"Is there any way to play the movies from my AVCHD Camcorder in Windows Media Player? I keeps saying something about not finding a codec."

You can play AVCHD and other AVC h.264 files in Windows Media Player, but in order to do so you must purchase some additional software first. Windows Media Player supports many file formats through third-party solutions, AVCHD happens to be one of these that isn't supported as part of the core application.

One of the things holding many people back in moving from a desktop email client like Outlook to a Web-based email solution like Gmail is offline access. The ability to search email messages when there's no Internet connection is critical for some people. Being able to use downtime like airline travel can be a great way to get caught up on replies to outstanding messages. Gmail just enable offline access to emails. Of course to use it, you'll need to do a little configuration on your computer first.

My Outlook PST file is corrupt. I tried using scanpst.exe like you suggested, but I still can't recover my Outlook email. What other options do I have? I really need my email.

SCANPST.EXE is usually a viable solution. I'm assuming since you're writing that you don't have a backup of your Outlook data. Before you read any further, promise me that you'll commit to backing up your Outlook data in the future. Here's a fairly simple free way to backup Outlook automatically. If you prefer the lazy backup method, download True Image and automate your backup that way. Either way, start backing up today, so you do waste time attempting to fix your data problems when they happen in the future. On to the solution...

How can I play a Blu-ray DVD on my Windows computer? I know I need a new DVD drive, but what else do I need?"

To play a Blu-ray movie on your computer, there are several things you will need in addition to having a Blu-ray drive. Blu-ray requires fairly robust hardware for smooth playback, so you might need to upgrade some components in your computer. Blu-ray also requires software with the right codecs for playing Blu-ray disks. And if you are connecting an external monitor to your computer, your video card needs to be HDCP compliant in order for Blu-ray playback to work.

Software for Blu-ray playback

Software for playing Blu-ray is the easy part. Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra plays Blu-ray media. It has the bonus of also playing AVCHD camcorder files.

Marty writes, "I just installed a Sony DVD/CD re-writable drive with Nero 7 essential software. I downloaded a movie from iTunes and I can't get the software to burn it to disc. I would appreciate any help."

Any iTunes movies or tv show episodes purchased from the iTunes store will fail to burn to DVD. This isn't a flaw in your Nero DVD burning software, it's a limitation of the video downloads. Apple's copy protection on each of the files prevents making DVDs that would be usable in a set top DVD player.

"One of our associates was interviewed on a radio program, and the show was podcasted. I have saved the podcast to ITunes and burned a CD, but the show is an hour long, and we only want the last 30 minutes. Is there a way we can create a file or disc with only that portion?"

You can save a part of an audio file by first opening the file in an audio editing application and then deleting the portion of the file you don't want to keep. There are several free apps which will do the trick, but I like one in particular.

"I have a Gigabyte S-series motherboard (GA-945GCMX-s2). I also have a Radeon x1300 and a Radeon x1650 Pro. I was wondering, with these components, if I could crossfire the 2 cards, or what other components I would need to do so."

I can definitely see the appeal of the extreme graphics configurations enabled via CrossFire, although I haven't personally found a need for them. The key to an optimal CrossFire configuration is to have a motherboard with CrossFire support and two video cards that have matching memory speeds and engine clocks. If the two cards have widely differing clock speeds, you get a pairing at the lower of the two clock speeds. In most cases, this means you want two cards of the same model for optimal performance.

Keep in mind that not everything benefits from CrossFire. Only applications optimized for CrossFire will receive performance enhancements, which generally means 3D games.

This image shows an optimal ATI CrossFire Configuration based on chipsets and video cards:

Motherboard Requirements

Your motherboard needs one of the following chipsets in order to be CrossFire compatible:

AMD 580X CrossFire chipset
AMD 480X CrossFire chipset
ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset
Intel X38 Express chipset
Intel 975X Express chipset
Intel P965 Express chipset
Intel P35 Express chipset

For more complete details on CrossFire, AMD has an excellent FAQ

"How do I move songs from an external drive to iTunes?"

There are two possible answers to this question depending on whether you want the songs available in iTunes anytime the external drive is connected to your computer, or if you want the songs available in iTunes even when the external drive is disconnected to your computer.

Adding Music on an External Drive to iTunes

If the external hard drive is always connected to your computer and you simply need to add music from the drive to iTunes, the solution is quite simple. With iTunes open, go to File > Add Folder to Library and choose either the entire hard drive (if appropriate) or the folder where the music files are stored on the drive.

Copying Music from an External Drive to iTunes

If what you want to do is make music on the external drive available even when your computer is not connected to the drive, you'll need to take a few additional steps. The first thing to do is to copy all the music from the external drive to a folder watched by your iTunes software. This is typically your Music or My Music folder. Once you do this, you may have to either close iTunes and re-open it in order for iTunes to find the songs, or you may have to choose File > Add Folder to Library and select the folder you just copied music into before iTunes will recognize the songs.

"I have an Dell Inspiron 530s. I want to hook it up to my HDTV, and keep it hooked to my PC all the time, but it only has one VGA port. Is it worth it to buy a video card with DVI port, when I am not planning to watch movies from my PC. How big is the difference on video quality on HDTV with the VGA port only?"

There is no right answer to this question. In some instances, you will absolutely want to upgrade your computer's video card before connecting to your HDTV. In some cases, it won't matter. There are a few things to consider to help identify which option is right for you.

HDTV with VGA Input

If your HDTV has a VGA input coupled with RCA connectors for audio, you probably don't need to upgrade your video card. Westinghouse, Samsung, and a few other brands include a VGA connection on some HDTV models. This can be an ideal scenario when you simply want to use your HDTV as a monitor for your PC.

HDTV with DVI Input

If your HDTV has DVI input paired with RCA connectors for audio, you could use a VGA to DVI adapter from your computer and get a reasonably good signal on the HDTV screen. I don't recommend this method because you get a much cleaner signal when you're not putting a converter in the mix, but it should work.

HDTV with HDMI Input

If your HDTV has no VGA connectors and no DVI connectors, but does have HDMI connections for input, my best suggestion would be to purchase a video card for your computer with HDMI output. With an HDMI card, you can connect both audio and video to your HDTV with a single cable and typically get your video card to automatically detect the HDTV's native resolution, eliminating some of the common frustrations in connecting a PC to an HDTV.

In the specific case of your Dell 530s, one advantage of upgrading your video card to either a DVI or HDMI card is that the card will typically come with it's own dedicated memory for graphics processing. This frees up some of your computer's memory for handling other computing tasks, which may dramatically improve the overall performance of your PC.

"I have a computer with an Nvidia GeForce 7600GT video card. It has two DVI connections. I have a Maxent HDTV that also has a DVI in connection. To use the Maxent as my monitor I plugged the DVI cable into my video card and then into the back of the TV. I change the input to DVI and all I get is a blue screen that says "no signal input". What could I be missing?"

When you connect your PC to your HDTV, there may be configuration changes required in the settings for your video card. Typically the "no signal input" message means one of three common things.

Troubleshooting No Input Signal

1) The first thing to verify is that your video card is actually sending any signal to the HDTV. If you have another display connected to the other DVI port on your video card, you may need to enable to the second DVI conection in the video control panel. It generally works better to set the DVI connection to your HDTV as a separate display rather than extending your desktop.

2) If you are sure that there is a video signal going to your HDTV, the second step is to verify the video card is set to the proper screen resolution for the HDTV. In some cases, this may require turning on some advanced settings. If the HDTV is a 720p model, it will typically either need a resolution of 1368x768 or 1280x720. This varies from brand to brand. If the HDTV is 1080p, typically the DVI in will always be 1920x1080.

3) The third possibility is your computer may require a reboot before the HDTV will see it. When the resolution of your video card gets changed, a reboot is sometimes necessary before the HDTV will recognize the new resolution being sent over the DVI cable.

"I just got a DVD drive for my computer. I have Windows XP and I can't get Windows Media Player to play any of my DVDs. What do I need to do to enable DVD playing in Windows Media Player?"

Windows Media Player requires a specific codec pack to be installed on your computer in order for DVD playback to work. There are several companies that offer this type of codec pack for sale.

One of my favorite codec packs for DVD playback in Windows Media Player is the Sonic CinePlayer DVD codec pack. According to their own tests, the CinePlayer codec pack uses considerably less CPU than competing products, which helps reduce jittery playback of your movies. While their results are certainly biased, I have tended to see similar CPU usage results, although I do also find Cyberlink's products to be quite reliable. Sonic also makes many of the DVD authoring tools used in making Hollywood DVDs, which may have something to do with their claim about getting better performance compared to competing codec packs from Intervideo and Cyberlink.

If you're feeling brave, this video shows you a way to enable DVD playback by editing the Windows registry. Keep in mind you can break Windows if you improperly alter entries in the Windows registry, so proceed with extreme caution if you choose to attempt this alternative.

"I purchased about 300 songs from iTunes. I just got a new Zune MP3 Player and I can't figure out how to get my iTunes songs on my Zune. I really don't want to have to buy all these songs again."

Unless you purchased songs from iTunes very recently as iTunes Plus files, your iTunes music purchases are locked down to only work with iTunes, an iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV. There are basically two ways to solve your problem - you can burn audio CDs of all your iTunes purchases and re-rip them using the Zune software, or you can get some help from software that simulates CD burning. Burning CDs can take an extremely long time, while using software works very quickly.

The first step in converting your files is to download SoundTaxi and install it.

Once the software is installed, you simply need to select which files you want to convert, choose a Zune compatible audio format like MP3 or WMA, and wait a few minutes for the software to make all the files playable on your Zune.

After conversion is complete, open your Zune software and import the converted tracks into your Zune music library.

"I installed a DVD burner to replace my old CD burner (which was not removed from the tower). Why is it when I want to burn CDs, both Windows and Nero chooses my old burner for the process instead of the new DVD burner? How do I fix this?"

The why part is slightly different depending on whether you are using Windows XP or Windows Vista when you burn DVDs and CDs. Vista actually has a drive properties setting that allows you to choose a default burner. Assuming the programs you use respect this setting, the burner you choose should always be the default. Windows XP defaults to using the burner with the drive letter closest to the beginning of the alphabet as do many programs. Depending on which problem you have, the solution is slightly different.

To change the default DVD burner by changing its drive letter, click Start and right click My Computer, choosing Manage from the list of options. In the Storage menu, choose Disk Management, then locate the drive you want to show up second in the list of available drives. Right click this demoted drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click Change, then choose a drive letter that's higher than your new drive. After you click OK on all open screens, you might need to reboot before the changes will be reflected in all your programs. This should force all applications on your system to view the new drive as default.

Setting the default DVD burner in Windows Vista is a little easier, although you may need to use the drive letter trick in some cases. To change the default, Click Start > Computer, then right click any of your burners and choose Properties. From the Recording tab, choose the drive you want to be your default recording drive from the top dropdown list. Click OK and in most cases you're all set with a new default.

"Where can I convert wmv to mp4 without downloading the converter?"

There are a number of online conversion tools that allow you to upload your video to their service, choose a format, and get an email with a link to download the converted file. I tend to find these services more frustrating than using a local conversion application, because you don't get the same granularity of control from an online service that you get from something installed locally. Still, the convenience of uploading to a service can't be overlooked. I've tried several different online converters and there is only one clear winner.

"My computer only has a VGA connection for video, is there anything I can use to go from VGA to HDMI for my HDTV?"

I'd typically suggesting purchasing a video card with DVI-out, rather than using your current VGA card, in part because the new video card will very likely also have additional video RAM, as well as being able to support native HD resolutions, but if you really need a VGA to HDMI adapter, such components do exist. My favorite source for HDMI cables and other cabling needs, Monoprice, is a good place to get what you are looking for.

Monoprice sells a VGA+RCA to HDMI solution that allows you to take both the video from your VGA connection and your sound card output, passing them through a converter box and outputting HDMI on the other side for about $40. I haven't personally used this device, but similar devices have been known to end up with audio and video slightly out of sync, so it should work well for displaying your computer screen, but might not be ideal for playing video from your PC.

"I bought a 64-bit computer with Windows XP 32-bit installed. Now I want to upgrade from 32-bit Windows XP to 64-bit Vista. I have tons of applications on here and I'd rather not wipe my hard drive and start over. Is it possible to do the upgrade or do I need to do a clean install of Windows Vista 64?"

Under most circumstances, this is the type of upgrade I'd never do. Too many potential headaches are likely going from Windows XP to Windows Vista in general. Switching to 64-bit compounds the possible problems. xyHD.tv has a straightforward tutorial on upgrading XP 32-but to Vista-64, with the catch that you probably want to install Vista 32 before you go all the way. Most important part of the process - backup your files before you begin. A good rule of thumb in any operating system install, but especially important when you're attempting something like this. Follow the steps to upgrade from 32-bit Windows XP to Vista 64-bit at xyHD.tv.

"How can I upload photos from iPhoto to my Flickr account on my Mac?"

There are several ways you can upload photos to Flickr from iPhoto, although several of them are convoluted. One way is to export photos from iPhoto to a folder on your Mac and then use the Flickr upload page to individually select each photo. Flickr recommends a $15 utility to automate the process, but you don't need to pay anything. There is a great free way to upload photos to Flickr automatically without ever leaving iPhoto.

Download Free Flickr eXport iPhoto Plugin

Requirements for using this are:

iPhoto �05 or newer
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer
Flickr account

After installing FFXporter, you may need to restart iPhoto in order to use it. Select some images in iPhoto, then choose File > Export from the menu. Choose the FFXporter tab. The first time you use FFXporter it will take you to a page on Flickr.com where you will approve it for use with our Flickr account. After that you can just sign in when you export files.

From the FFXporter menu, you can set preferences for the group of photos you are uploading and create a photo set if you need a new one. After exporting is complete, FFXporter can take you to your Flickr account where you can modify details about your photos or share them with more of your Flickr friends.

Maris writes, "Do you know any good digital cameras that record video as .avi files?"

Recommending a good digital camera is always a loaded question because there are many great cameras out there and everyone has their preferences. I use Canon digital cameras almost exclusively because I've never had one I didn't like. That doesn't mean Canon is the only brand that makes great cameras. And for every Canon lover, there's someone who will point to a Nikon or Pentax as being better in some way. For your specific request, there are a number of brands that could work. Canon digital cameras record M-JPEG video in .AVI container format, including many great point-and-shoot cameras like their Digital Elph line and the Canon G9. Nikon Coolpix cameras shoot video in an .AVI format. FujiFinepix digital cameras shoot M-JPEG .AVI video. Samsung digital cameras record MPEG-4 video with a .AVI file extension. I have owned a camera from each of those brands and the only one I find fault with is Samsung because the one camera I've owned from them shoots corrupted images about 1/3 of the time.

If AVI is a requirement, avoid Olympus, Casio, Kodak Easyshare, and Panasonic Lumix. Those four brands record video in QuickTime MOV format.

"I read your tutorial on how to sync Outlook Calendar and Contacts with Gmail and the T-Mobile G1, but you didn't cover syncing your Outlook mail with Gmail. I've got about 50 folders and 5 years of mail in Outlook. How do I get all that old mail into Gmail and keep both in Outlook and Gmail in sync?"

I didn't originally cover how to keep Gmail and my G1 in sync because at first I was attempting to continue using Outlook as a POP3 email client, while also accessing my mail from the Gmail Web interface and from my G1. This was a horrible idea from a time management perspective. Outlook treated all messages downloaded from Gmail as new mail, even if I'd already read it online or on my phone. The solution takes a couple of steps that require an initial upfront investment of time, that pays huge dividends later.

"I'm having trouble removing Norton AntiVirus from my computer. The error mentions something called Symantec, what can I do to get rid of this app?"

Symantec is the company that makes all the Norton products. While they've gotten much better overall, there are instances where it can be tricky to remove Norton from your computer. I had a brief experience with this in uninstalling a trial version from a recent notebook computer purchase. The best solution I've found for getting rid of stubborn Norton installs is an uninstaller made by Symantec - the Norton Removal Tool. While they claim it's for corrupted installs, it actually works great for simply removing Norton software from your computer without any hassles. According to Symantec, the tool works with Norton 2009/2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003 products, Norton 360 and Norton SystemWorks 12.0, which covers most of the apps you might still find in the wild.

Jenny writes, "How I can download the program RMVB player to the new G1?"

While the Android Marketplace features several media playing solutions for download, at the moment, there isn't a video player with support for RMVB. It's an orphaned format on the Android platform, just like WMV and Flash. With any luck, Real will release a player for Android. Their player for Palm and Symbian works great. Until then, you'll need to convert your videos to a supported format using one of the many possible free video converter software options.

Ryan writes, "OK, so I'm going to buy an Xbox pretty soon but I do not want to spend $100 dollars connecting it to Xbox Live, so my question is, can I hook up my Ethernet cable to a normal router, then connect the router to my my cable Internet source through just a normal cable wall outlet?"

I'm going to assume the $100 you want to avoid spending is for the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter. If you want the Xbox Live Gold membership, you still need to pay the required subscription fee regardless of what type of connection you use. You do not need to connect your Xbox 360 using a wireless connection. In general, I recommend using a wired connection either by simply connecting your Xbox 360 directly to a router using an Ethernet cable or by using Ethernet over Powerline adapters. In my experience, things like streaming audio and video wirelessly to your Xbox 360 work just fine, but online gaming is very likely to lag using wireless and you get a far better experience with a wired connection.

Billy writes, "Can you please point me to freeware that converts avi and mpeg videos to .vob so I can play them on my DVD player attached to my TV?"

I previously wrote about DVD making freeware back in September and further back in 2007 when I recommended a number of freeware DVD burning utilities. The same solutions still work great.

The solution I find to be the most reliable is to use SoThink Movie DVD Maker to convert your AVI or MPEG file to a DVD complaint VOB. After you create the files, use ImgBurn to burn your video to DVD for free. SoThink should work for burning the DVDs, but I've found it makes coasters about 50% of the time in my own testing, so rather than waste a bunch of blank disks, I use two applications instead.

What are this year's Black Friday deals?

Okay, so I'm stuffing the question box with this one, but I needed some way to announce all the great deals I've found so far this year. Many of these are very limited in availability and you won't see them posted anywhere else. I'm posting early as I find them, so check back, this list is a work in progress and will have many more updates as the week progresses.

Security Software Discounts

70% discount on VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware - when Black Friday ends, so does this offer. Get antivirus and antispyware protection for only $9.95 today only. Includes identity theft protection and anti-rootkit technology in addition to important protection from virus and malware outbreaks. This is the same company that makes top 5 rated Sunbelt Personal Firewall. You won't find any other commercial antivirus package at this price, so get VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware for $9.95 before the offer expires at Midnight.

Multimedia Software Discounts

Aplus Video to iPod Converter - Save 30% on this video converter, which takes most popular video formats and automatically converts them for your iPod. Includes support for the following formats flv,DivX , XviD , AVI ,RM, WMV , MPG, MPEG , ASF , and MOV. Output is automatically formatted for iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, or a generic mp4 format. Coupon code OFF-Q66I-PREM is required to get a 30% discount. This offer expires December 31, 2008.

AV Video Morpher - 50% Discount on video manipulation software. Produce Your Own Movies by dubbing your own voices into movies, adding effects, and then burning it all to a DVD. Remove Voice from Movies. Make any Actor Become an alien, ghost, or other character. Add audio effects to alter the voice of any actor. Make your own cartoons and movies by mashing up clips from existing video. To save 50% on AV Video Morpher, use coupon code AVNE-AVQ9 when you download AV Video Morpher.

SoundTaxi Professional - 25% discount on music conversion software. Convert your music files to MP3, AAC or WAV formats at 50x conversion speed. SoundTaxi Professional is incredibly easy to install and even easier to use. With just a few mouse clicks you can enjoy all your music on your iPod, Zune, or any other MP3 player, CD player, mobile phone or PC - without any restrictions. Download SoundTaxi Professional or Order SoundTaxi Professional now using coupon code RAMK-2N9T-PRO to save 25%.

Music Morpher Gold - do almost anything with music. Remove vocals, change music pitch and tempo, add effects, enhance music quality, mix multiple tracks, record, convert, rip and burn CDs, design CD covers and labels, organize music library, and alter your voice. Save 50% on Music Morpher Gold with coupon code AVNE-9DT9.

System Utility Discounts

Roboform Password Manager - 20% Discount. Roboform is the password manager I strongly recommend, so it's great when I can offer a way for people to save money on it. With RoboForm password manager, you remember one password, RoboForm remembers the rest. RoboForm memorizes and securely stores your online and offline passwords, so you will never forget them again. Enjoy easy, one-click logins to your online accounts. Save time by completing online registration and checkout forms with one click. RoboForm gives your passwords and other personal data extra security (strong encryption provided), portability, and complete manageability. You can save 20% on Roboform using coupon code ONE-889G-NET. The Roboform discount expires December 31, 2008

Smart PC Professional - With a few easy steps you can make your PC run faster, cleaner and error-free with the help of Smart PC Professional. And you can get it for 30% off the normal price. The software fixes stubborn errors, cleans-up space-wasting junk and debris, helping to make your PC more efficient and reliable. Special features of the new software ensure your personal privacy while surfing through the Web and protect your PC from information theft. To receive 30% off Smart PC Professional, use coupon code SMAR-HJNS-AFF. This offer expires December 31, 2008.

EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard - a complete range of data recovery software for all Windows platforms supporting Undelete and Unformat from various file systems including FAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS on most storage media types. Data Recovery Wizard offers precision file recovery in scenarios like accidental file deletion and quick disk formatting. Coupon code CHEN-Q66I-REGN gets you 50% off Data Recovery Wizard.

Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements Discount

Photoshop Elements packs in so many features you can do most of the image creation of Adobe Illustrator and image editing of Photoshop all in one package. I still like Sony Vegas better than Premiere Elements, but that's more a matter of personal taste. You can get Photoshop Elements 7 & Premiere Elements 7 for $50 off when you purchase them together. Use Coupon Code: adobe200850off and save!

If you don't need Premiere Elements, you can still save $25 on Photoshop Elements 7 with coupon code: adobe200825off

Both Adobe Photoshop Elements offers expire December 10, 2008.

"How can I sync my T-Mobile G1 Google Android phone with my Outlook contacts and calendar automatically?"

Knowing that Google provides a great free solution for syncing Outlook with Google Calendar automatically, I was extremely hopeful they had finally offered a solid solution for managing contacts between Outlook and Gmail. So far, Google's only automatic solution involves syncing Outlook with iTunes, which is great if you have an iPhone, but kind of inconvenient for an Android phone, especially since you need an iPod for it to work. After trying several of the free solutions, including GCalDaemon, which acts as a local server for your contacts, I concluded I'd rather pay for the reliability of an app I'd recommended in the past, CompanionLink.

"I love my Ion USB turntable, but I only get one track of audio. What am I doing wrong that it only records one channel? It has never worked properly so I have converted many LPs with only one track of stereo working. I have Windows Vista. Please help!"

Windows Vista detects USB audio devices differently than Windows XP, which means Vista improperly detects the Ion USB Turntable as a mono device instead of stereo. To fix the problem, you need to make an adjustment in the Windows Vista Control Panel.

To correctly configure your computer for recording in stereo, you need to open the Sound option from Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound. Click the Manage audio devices link, then click the Recording tab, select the Microphone USB Audio CODEC from the list of recording options and click properties.

From the Advanced tab select 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality). After clicking OK on all open screens, you're ready to record in stereo.

"I have a digital camera and I want to add a video from my digital camera to my MySpace page. How do I do that?"

Depending on how you want to accomplish getting your video on MySpace, you have one of two options. You can either upload the video directly to MySpace or you can upload your video to someplace like YouTube and embed the video on your MySpace page. MySpace makes it reasonably easy to use their upload tool. The only real limitation is file size, which must be less than 512MB.

Step one of the video upload process is to copy the file from your digital camera's memory card to your hard drive. You can either do this by connecting your camera to your computer via USB cable or by using a memory card reader to transfer the file.

The next step is to upload the video directly to MySpace, click the Videos: Upload link below your profile picture. Add a title, description, tag, and category for your video, then click Upload a video. Keep in mind that you will get your account deleted for uploading copyrighted material or adult content. Browse to locate the file you copied from your camera and upload.

When the process is complete, your video will be part of your profile videos.

MySpace supports the following file formats: .avi, .asf, .dv, .wmv, .mov, .qt, .3g2, .3gp, .3gp2, .3gpp, .gsm, .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .m4v, mp4v, .cmp, .divx, .xvid, .264, .rm, .rmvb, .flv, .mkv, .ogm. Because the list is so extensive, it should be almost impossible to find a digital camera video file they can't upload.

As much as I love gadgets and technology, I can easily live without most of it. I don’t need to take my music with me anywhere, athough I love the convenience. A home theater, while amazing, doesn't solve any pressing world problems. I even find myself stepping away from the computer to do more in the real world, knowing I can quickly check the status of my online business in a few minutes via cell phone. As I started thinking through the list of things I wouldn’t want to be without, I noticed a common theme – they all help reduce the complexities of attention and eliminate the need to rely on memory. Put more simply, these are technologies tha t help me increase focus on things I should care about by handling the minutiae. So what technologies can I not live without?

Turn-by-turn directions – Whether you plot your trip by typing your destination in Google Maps and printing a map, your car has a factory navigation system, or you drive with the help of a Tom Tom portable GPS, turn-by-turn directions are life changing. No longer are husbands berated for failing to ask directions. There's no need to invent excuses for being late to a meeting, because knowing how to get there means you won't be late. You can easily avoid the accidental wrong turn into the “bad part” of town. With a stable of companies mapping the roads of our world, getting from point A to point B is a simple matter.

Comparison shopping – I used to evaluate the offers in the Sunday cirulars looking for the ultimate rebate. No longer. Comparison shopping online makes it simple to find the best price on almost anything, including items available in the retail store down the street. Comparison shopping has the added benefit of driving prices down across the board because shoppers are a few clicks from the prices at hundreds of stores and can vote with their wallet to encourage best price behavior.

Online Search – So many parts of life benefit from online search. Finding a hotel near your next business meeting; researching the best college for your major; fixing a frustrating computer problem; Making a great meal from a list of available ingredients; Locating the answer to the bar trivia challenge. Before search jamming as much data in your head as possible was the key to avoiding a long research project. I remember doing research in the library, sifting through microfilm data by first reading summaries of what data was available and then scanning the files to find information. Now a world of information is a few keystrokes away. There's plenty of garbage in the search results, so the challenge has shifted from finding the information, to knowing how to pick the best information from the possible results.

DVR – I grew up with a neighbor who recorded movies by the dozens on VHS. He’d bring over boxes of movies for us to watch back before video rental stores were commonplace. In many ways my old neighbor was like having a DVR because there wasn’t really a due date and we could easily skip commercials on the few tapes that had them. Today, Tivo and the various service offerings from Comcast and the rest of the cable universe offer pause for live television and the all important time shifting that makes any time the right time for "must-see" TV. The time savings of commercial skipping coupled with freedom to avoid planning life around television events is liberating.

Automated reminders – For years I tried numerous paper-based systems for helping me remember to do things in a timely way. The achilles heel of this system is needing to remember to review the paper regularly and at the right time. Automated reminders eliminate this problem, by putting the reminders where they need to be – in my face before the event happens. Ever since I started adding reminders to Outlook, having them interrupt what I’m doing on my computer and appearing on my cell phone, I’m much less likely to forgot. Better yet, I don’t have to carry that data in my head, I simply trust my reminder system will work and use my brain for more pressing issues.

While there are plenty of other great technologies I love, these are the ones I’d be lost without. What technologies would you prefer not to live without

"I have a MiniDV camcorder that uses FireWire to transfer video to my current MacBook. I want to upgrade to a new MacBook Pro, but they use FireWire 800 which is a different connection. Can I still use my camcorder with my new Mac, or do I need to buy a new camcorder if I buy a new MacBook Pro?"

At least you're looking at the new MacBook Pro, which offers FireWire 800 as an option. The new 13-inch MacBook doesn't have any FireWire port. FireWire 800 is backward compatible with previous IEEE 1394 connections, including the one on your MiniDV camcorder. You simply need a new 4-pin FireWire (connection on camcorder) to 9-pin Firewire (FireWire 800) cable to connect your camcorder to your new MacBook Pro. Amazon currently sells 4-pin to 9-pin FireWire cables for under $20.

"With the recent announcement by Apple to use DisplayPort and not HDMI on MacBook laptops, how can I connect one of these new Macs to an HDMI port on my HDTV?"

Like many quirks in connecting external displays to an laptop, it's all about having the right adapter. I find it frustrating Apple didn't include an HDMI port on the new MacBook line, but the solution for connecting your HDTV via the DisplayPort is only a $13 adapter away. A number of online retailers offer DisplayPort to HDMI adapters, although so far I haven't seen them in any real world retail stores. In the short term, it may be tricky to track down the MacBook variation of this, which requires a Mini DisplayPort. Keep your eye on my favorite place to shop for this type of thing — Monoprice.com, which offers highly competitive prices on products I consistently find reliable. They currently offer full sized DisplayPort adapters for connecting to HDMI. Once available, a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter will connect to your DisplayPort on the side of your MacBook, then you use a normal HDMI cable to connect from the adapter to your HDTV.

DisplayPort is a VESA standard and handles both audio and video over the same cable, similar to the way HDMI works. This connection should support both audio and video from your MacBook, the same way HDMI would, although I haven't been able to verify that MacBook DisplayPort connections support audio.

"Adobe Premiere Pro 2 won't work with the AVI files created by my screen capture programs. Premiere 6 did this. I'm told it is an AVI 1.0 vs AVI 2.0 issue. How do I convert from 1.0 to 2.0?"

The AVI container format for video can be a highly frustrating to work with because it supports many different things. AVI Type-1 files require video editing applications to use DirectShow support to handle the video and audio interleaving. AVI Type-2 files work both with applications that use video for Windows or DirectShow for handling video and audio interleave. Converting between the two AVI types is actually a fairly simple matter.

My favorite choice for converting between AVI Type-1 and AVI Type-2 is an app called DVdate. It's primary features are centered around exposing date stamp information in video camera recordings, but it also quite handily converts AVI type-1 files to type-2 simply by opening the file and then saving it as the other AVI file type.

"I bought Sex and the City and bought a digital copy through Cinema Now. The card says I can copy onto a DVD but I can not figure out how to get it from the desktop to a DVD."

There are two possible solutions to your problem, depending on what kind of DVD you are allowed to burn with your CinemaNow purchase. Some CinemaNow purchases allow you to make a backup copy to DVD, which is just a digital copy of the file you downloaded to your hard drive. In this case, you'll burn a data DVD, either using Windows Media Player 11 or your favorite DVD burning application. If your purchase allows you to burn a DVD capable of being played in a set top DVD player, things get more complicated (and more expensive).

If your option is to burn a backup copy of the file, I highly recommend downloading the freeware application ImgBurn. With a blank DVD in your DVD burner, you simply add the CinemaNow file to your DVD burning project in ImgBurn and create a burned disk. This disk will not play in your set top DVD player, but you will have a copy of the file in case your hard drive crashes or you need to free up additional space.

If your purchase allows you to burn a DVD playable in standard set top DVD players, you need a special burner to make it work. CinemaNow support indicates you must purchase a Dell Qflix DVD Burner in order to burn the movies to disk. So to play the movie in your home theater you'll first have to shell out $120 on a burner. Unless you plan to buy many videos from CinemaNow, you might be better off jumping through a few hoops to connect your computer to your television instead.

I'm always trying to eek out a few extra minutes from my laptop battery at airports, airplanes, coffee shops, and the other random places I go where power isn't readily available. A few quick tweaks will generally yield as much as an extra hour of battery life.

1) Adjust Your Power Plan - most laptops have 3 basic power plans: High Performance, Power Saver, and something either called Balanced or the brand name's recommended settings. When you're on battery power only, switching to Power Saver slows down your processor and typically dims your screen, automatically reducing the draw on your laptop battery.

2) Turn off WiFi - WiFi is one of the biggest drains on your battery. If you're surfing you need it, but if you're just typing something, listening to music, editing photos, or any of the other offline activities you might do with a computer, you can get an extra 30 minutes simply by turning off your WiFi until you need it.

3) Dim Your Screen - Screen brightness is the second biggest culprit in battery drain. Lower your screen brightness to a point where you can still easily see but is far below maximum. I've found this easily extends my battery life by a minimum of 20 minutes. Setting your screen to turn off when you're not doing anything for extended periods is well worth it. When I do need to render video on battery power, I set this number to 1 minute so that more battery life is dedicated to necessary activities.

4) Go to Sleep - If your computer is inactive, letting Sleep kick in is a great way to save battery life. Most of the time your computer will wake up quickly when you're ready to refocus your attention, but while it's sleeping battery consumption reduces to a trickle. The important thing to remember is not to keep waking your laptop up until you actually need it.

5) Unplug USB Devices - All USB devices draw some power when connected to your computer. Things like your cell phone may even trickle charge drawing additional power from your battery. Keeping USB devices disconnected while you're on battery power reduces the overall drain.

Applying these tips to one of the power settings and then saving the changes makes it easy to switch settings without needing to make individual changes each time you switch between AC power and battery power. If guaranteed power is what you need, get a longer life 12-cell battery or carry a second (charged) battery with you wherever you go.

HP recently produced a video (which I was paid to shoot and edit) on understanding all the power options on your HP notebook. The video readily applies to extending battery life on almost any laptop. If you're curious about how to configure power settings on your laptop, this is a great introduction.

"What do you recommend for the best free DVD creator? One that lets you add a background to the menu and scene selections, etc.?"

I'm still searching for what I would call the "best" free DVD authoring software. Free DVD burning software is easy to find, but DVD authoring makes things more complicated. If you have Windows Vista Premium or Vista Ultimate, the bundled Windows DVD Maker is a solid choice. When I create DVDs, I frequently use Roxio MyDVD, which isn't free, but is reliable and offers plenty of customization. If pressed to choose a good free product, DVDStyler would likely be the one and only choice on my list, although I typically still recommend you buy something.

"I recently got a new computer and as I was setting up my email account I couldn't figure out what my email password is. Outlook Express doesn't seem to show my password on my old computer. Is there any way I can recover my email password?"

There are several steps you should take to recover your email password. First, go to the source. Check the site of your email provider and see if they have an easy automated solution for recovering your password. You may have setup a security question there, if so, use it. If you still can't find the password, look for a customer service number. If you're using a service like Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail, there won't be any customer service to call. My friend Leo offers some strong words regarding free email accounts and lost passwords. The third solution (which I have used on occasion) is to resort to password recovery software. For about $20, you can recover email passwords, recover Windows user passwords, find the BIOS password and CMOS passwords for your motherboard, and often find your password for online email services as well.

The solution I've used for this in the past for recovering a variety of passwords is
Spotmau Password Genius. It's currently priced at $19.95 and has successfully recovered passwords on the several occasions I've attempted using it. Unfortunately it does not have a free trial, but I suppose the company assumes you need a password and $20 is a small price to pay to get it back.

The trickiest part about Password Genius is you have to create a bootable CD from the download because it operates independent of Windows. The directions are fairly straight forward and instructions are included along with an app that handles burning the disk.

Once you create the disk, the software looks for passwords stored locally on your computer, and in several cases, I got it to find passwords I didn't think would still be there. There's no guarantee it will find every password, but I've had enough success with it that risking $20 is a fairly safe bet when compared with the frustration of being locked out of your account permanently.

Download Spotmau Password Genius

"My friend has a cool app on his Mac called Photo Booth for taking Webcam pictures. Is there anything like to Photo Booth for us Windows users?"

Apple offers a ton of great apps with select versions of their hardware. Photo Booth is an excellent example of this, making a really useful addition to the built-in Webcam in Mac hardware. For Windows users, an app called YouCam offers many of the cool features of Photo Booth and goes beyond with many cool features you can't get from Photo Booth.

Download YouCam

Like Photo Booth you can record images with YouCam either a single image at a time or in bursts. You can also record video this way. There are a number of fun effects you can apply to photos and videos.

YouCam offers an upload to YouTube button, so you can go straight from recording a silly movie to embarrassing yourself in front of millions of people in a few short clicks. Emailing and printing are also part of the app.

YouCam integrates with your favorite video chat apps from AOL, MSN, and Yahoo to enhance video with animations, on screen drawing, and creative graphics.

One of the coolest things about YouCam is being able to extend it with additional downloads for more fun making personalized greeting cards or simply having fun with online video chat.

You can also share PowerPoint presentations via YouCam, making it easy to talk through a slide while someone watches on the other end.

Two versions of YouCam are available: one for $19.95 and one for $34.95. Most of the features you'd want to simulate Photo Booth are available in the $19.95 version.

Download YouCam

"I notice your guide on converting vinyl records to CD does not include the Ion TTUSB Turntable. Is that because you don't recommend it? Is there something better?"

Converting Vinyl Records (and cassettes) to CD was last updated before the Ion TTUSB turntable was available on the market. The software covered in the guide works great if you already have a turntable as part of your home entertainment system and you want to connect to your PC, but I hadn't taken the time to review the Ion, primarily because I didn't need one. I've more recently decided to purchase both the Ion TTUSB USB Turntable and the Ion Tape2PC USB cassette deck to put them both through their paces. I came to the conclusion that the hardware is acceptable but the software could use some help. Here's why:

If you already have a turntable, I'd stick with using it in combination with your computer's sound card and Spin it Again (which I cover below). If you don't have a turntable, the Ion makes a solid choice because the sound quality is on par with anything you might be able to find for a reasonable price in stereo components. In addition to USB, it also has RCA cables, so you can connect the Ion turntable to your stereo system when you finish converting records. The Ion will not sound good to the discerning ear of an audiophile, but most people don't have the ear to appreciate the difference between buying an affordable turntable and buying one priced on par with a new refrigerator.

Ion TTUSB Software Comes Up Short

The TTUSB ships with two software options, ez Vinyl Converter and Audacity. As a free multi-track audio editor, I frequently rave about Audacity and have written various Audacity tutorials. Audacity is included in the vinyl records conversion ebook, although I find using it to be more complex than many people would prefer. Still it's an acceptable way to record full length albums and divide them into individual tracks. The one thing Audacity does not do well is track down data about audio files because it's not linked to GraceNote or any other music information database. If you're willing to manually provide track information for each song on each album, Audacity will get the job done.

ez Vinyl Converter is billed as the beginner solution for converting vinyl records with the Ion Turntable. It seems that easy means you have nothing better to do with your time than sit and wait for your recording to finish because it can't automatically split the side of an album into tracks and I couldn't find a way to easily divide up a giant file with ez Vinyl Converter without opening the recording in something like Audacity later. If you want individual songs as their own files when using ez Vinyl Converter, you have to sit at your computer and start a new track by clicking a button when the record player moves to the next track. Add to this that the software won't work unless you have iTunes installed, because it automatically assumes everyone wants to use iTunes to manage their music, and ez Vinyl Converter is a major headache.

Ion Turntable coupled with Spin it Again

Spin it Again from Acoustica didn't exist when I wrote my guide on converting vinyl records to CD. Spin it Again currently rates as the best solution I've found for converting vinyl records with any turntable. If you want a great experience in converting your record collection with an Ion turntable, download Spin it Again and ignore the software that ships with the Ion.

Spin it Again automatically detects new songs on an album side, so you spend less time editing after you are finished. Spin it Again has built in tutorials to walk you through each step of the recording process. Spin it Again includes a great look up tool that seems to find track names and album information better than almost anything else I tried. Spin it Again also includes built in noise removal tools that eliminate the popping and hissing noises sometimes associated with old records.

If you've already mastered audio editing apps like Adobe Audition, Sound Forge, or Audacity, those apps also work with the Ion turntable, but you may want to consider Spin it Again because it makes the whole process infinitely easier. You'll save time tracking down album details, the process is streamlined because the software is optimized for automation. I've changed my allegiance to vinyl converters a few times over the years I've been writing about them, but Spin it Again is truly in a class by itself.

"I'm looking for a free solution to convert my edited AVI and WMV files to MOV for my video podcast. I know I can buy QuickTime Pro to save things as MOV files, but I'd rather use something free."

I tend to prefer MP4 files for video podcasts because they playback more places than MOV files, but maybe that's just me. QuickTime Pro is the solution I typically use for saving other video formats as MOV. Several video editing apps, like Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere offer the option to save video as MOV from the editing time line. If you're using something like Windows Movie Maker to edit videos, a free solution may be your best bet because QT Pro doesn't handle WMV files. Of the numerous free video converters available, I only know of one that reliably converts AVI and WMV files to MOV format.

"I am trying to install Google Calendar Sync, but when it begins to install, a message pops up that I must close Outlook first. I do not have Outlook open. Any suggestions?"

There are many instances where you will have closed the Outlook application window without Outlook actually being closed. I'm not sure if this is a problem with Outlook or a feature designed to make it load faster when you re-open it later, but I find it frustrating on a regular basis. Some manual intervention is required to fix the problem.

The solution is to open Windows Task Manager and end the Outlook.exe process before doing whatever you need to do without Outlook getting in the way. To end the Outlook process, open the task manager by holding down Ctrl+Shift+Esc. You can also get there using Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard and clicking Start Task Manager.

On the Processes tab, locate Outlook.exe, select it by clicking on it, and then click the End Process button. Once you've done this, you can proceed without being warned that Outlook is still open.

"I have ripped albums into Windows Media Player and have downloaded podcasts into iTunes and would like to keep the two separate, but WMP keeps picking up podcasts which makes streaming through my albums a pain, b/c all of a sudden Ira Glass is talking to me when I was in the groove doing homework to some good jazz music. Is there a way I can keep WMP from picking up my podcasts?"

There's two ways you could go about solving this problem. One way would be to create an Auto Playlist starting at Library - Create Auto Playlist in Windows Media Player. You'd then select only tracks you want to hear by genre or other meaningful details about the songs. This first method doesn't get Windows Media Player to ignore you podcasts. If you really want to eliminate the podcast files from being exposed to Windows Media Player, you need to have the software ignore the folder where the podcasts are downloaded.

Windows Media Player allows you to choose folders to monitor. It also allows you to ignore folders completely. Start by choosing Library > More Options from the WMP top menu.

Next click the Monitor Folders button.

Click Advanced Options then select the folder containing the files you want to ignore and click ignore. If the folder is not already in the list of monitored folders because it is a sub-folder of another folder, you might need to add the folder first and then ignore it.

Keep in mind that this only works if your podcast files are downloaded to a folder different than the one your music files are stored in. You might need to separate the podcast files to their own folder and change your podcast download preferences in iTunes for this to be a permanent solution to ignoring podcasts when playing back music.

"taskkill works great in XP Pro, but how do you accomplish the same thing on XP Home system?"

If you want to quickly kill off running processes from the command line in Windows XP Professional, taskkill.exe is a great way to get the job done. XP Home does not include this utility, only including the more limited tkill.exe instead. Microsoft does provide a free solution to this via their acquisition of the Sysinternals team.

One of the best tool collections from Sysinternals is the PsTools collection, which was originally designed to ad functionality to Windows NT and Windows 2000 administration found in newer servers. pskill.exe is bundled as part of that collection, offering a solution very similar to taskkill.exe for taking control of processes both on the local machine and for remote administration.

Here's a quick overview of how it works:

Usage: pskill [- ] [-t] [\\computer [-u username] [-p password]]
- Displays the supported options.

-t Kill the process and its descendants.

\\computer Specifies the computer on which the process you want to terminate is executing. The remote computer must be accessible via the network neighborhood.

-u username To kill a process on a remote system when the account you are using lacks administrative privileges on the remote system, login as administrator using this command-line option. If you leave out the -p option PsKill prompts you for the password.

-p password Specify the login password on the command line so that you can use PsList from batch files.

process id Specifies the process ID of the process you want to kill.

process name Specifies the process name of the process or processes you want to kill.

Download pskill as part of pstools

"A friend downloaded some television programmes for me. When I try to play them with Windows Media Player I only get the sound and no pics. What do I need to do to watch these programmes?"

Video files that play the sound but don't play the video are more common than you might realize. This problem is almost always caused by one of two problems. Either you don't have the required codec installed on your system to decode the video portion of the file you downloaded or Windows Media Player isn't properly associating the correct codec on your system in a way that makes viewing video possible. This is complicated by a huge volume of codecs out there. Here's how to get the file to play:

"What program converts Sony Digital8 Handycam tapes to digital files?"

Many programs will capture the footage of Digital8 (and MiniDV) tapes allowing you to convert them to digital files. One of the easiest to use is Windows Movie Maker, which is included with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. If you have minimal editing to do to the files, my favorite solution is to capture Digital8 tapes with WinDV and then save out the files to a smaller format using VirtualDub. No matter what method you use, make sure your computer has a FireWire port for capturing from the camcorder.

"I have read your guide on how to use an HDTV as a computer monitor and found it to be very informative. There is however one detail I am unsure of. This is Sound. If I were to plug my PC video card to my HDTV via a DVI/HDMI cable I would get pure digital visual but no audio correct? But if I were to plug it in via HDMI/HDMI from video card to HDTV would I get audio? Or do i have to buy a sound card with HDMI out to get surround sound?"

There are a several different ways to get audio passed from your PC to your HDTV. Depending on what hardware you have available, you may be limited to stereo audio, with a few cases where you can also get surround sound.

Stereo audio from PC

Stereo audio is going to be the most common scenario, because there still aren't many source video files you'll find online with multi-channel audio. Many HDTVs include one HDMI connection that also has stereo audio in via RCA connections, which would simply require a mini-plug out of your computer to the RCA connections on the TV, in addition to the cable for video.

Surround sound audio from PC to HDTV

If you have an HDMI video card that also includes audio support, you would get audio passed to the HD screen similar to what's available from any other video device. This is considerably more expensive than merely working with what's already in your system, but gives you something closer to a "real" home theater experience.

In most other cases, you'd need to pass audio from your PC to a home theater receiver with support for surround sound, while passing the video separately from the video card. You can find home theater receivers for under $200 that will give you acceptable surround sound specifically for this purpose, which is still cheaper than overhauling your computer to support audio over HDMI.

"I want to use my Xbox with my computer, but I don't want to use the TV screen. I want to use the computer screen instead. Is there anything that I need to get to enable this?"

As long as your computer monitor has at least one VGA connection, you'll need to things to have a great Xbox 360 gaming experience. First you need an Xbox 360 VGA cable. Microsoft makes the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable, which sells for about $40. There are also 3rd-party Xbox VGA cables for about $20. Ideally if your computer screen has two inputs, you can leave your computer connected to one, connect the Xbox 360 to the other, and then simply switch to the one you need.

"The .avi file has two audio tracks, Spanish and English. When I use a converter to get it ready for my iPod, it will use the Spanish track. How do I get a converter that I can chose which audio track to use?"

Since I don't know which converter you're currently using, I'll offer an easy solution that will get you the result you want without buying more software and an investment of about 5 minutes extra time. Before you covert the video file, open it in VirtualDubMod, modify the audio properties of the file, and save it without needing to recompress the audio. You can either save a copy with the Spanish track still there or overwrite the file and ditch the Spanish track altogether. Here's how it works:

I specifically like VirtualDubMod better for this because it does a better job of displaying audio tracks visually. VirtualDub will also work if you prefer, but the screenshots below are specific to VirtualDubMod.

First download a copy of VirtualDubMod and open your AVI file.

From the Streams menu choose Stream list, which opens a window like the one below. I don't currently have any AVI files with multiple audio streams, but yours should show several tracks here instead of the one in my screenshot.

I would do this in two steps to make sure you get the result you want. Disable the Spanish language track in your file by selecting it in the available streams list and clicking the disable button. Now select the second audio track in your list, which should be the English language track. Click Move up to make it the first track in your list. When this is done click OK.

From the File menu, choose Save As. Name your file and be sure to choose Direct Stream Copy in the Video Mode dropdown menu (this makes sure you aren't recompressing the video). Click the Save button when you've adjusted the settings.

Saving a two hour file this way takes less than 5 minutes, so the process should go fairly quickly. When finished, you should have a video file plays back the English language track by default. Convert this file in your video converter.

Tip: If you have a bunch of files to change audio tracks on, queue them up by checking the Don't run this job now box. You can then run them all by selecting File > Job Control from the menu.

"Is it possible to play WMA songs on a regular DVD or CD player?"

If your DVD or CD player includes WMA playback support (which many do, along with MP3 playback) you can simply burn a disk of WMA files using the burn feature of Windows Media Player to create a data CD or DVD. Often the player will list this as a feature on one of the many stickers they slap on the front of the hardware. If you removed the stickers, you might need to consult your model's documentation. This typically means you can fill the disks data capacity with songs, which can be many hours of music.

In cases where your DVD player or CD player doesn't include WMA support, you'd need to burn an audio CD from your WMA library. The downside to this is you're limited to the 72 minute maximum of audio CDs.

Unless you purchased WMA tracks that came with a restriction on burning them to disk, either method should get you the desired result of being able to play the tracks in a CD or DVD player.

"I have recently purchased my first video camcorder, a Sony DCR-SR55E. Are you able to offer me some advice on what video editing software would be good for a complete beginner?"

Normally I'd recommend starting with Windows Movie Maker, which comes with every Windows XP and Windows Vista install. While Movie Maker isn't a perfect solution for every video editing need, it's simple to use and will quickly get you from video on your camera to an edited file you can output for playback elsewhere. I particularly like the fact that Movie Maker gets you started without spending any additional money. Because your camera is a hard disk camera, Movie Maker is simply not an viable option, so you'll need to try something else.

Scott writes, "I've dropped my digicam (Casio EX-V7) one too many times, and so I'm looking for some kind of "armor" to wrap the camera in to give it some protection. Cameraarmor.com sells a kit for SLRs. I wonder if anyone sells something for the more common fixed-lens digicam like mine?"

In a world with what seems like thousands of different cases for the iPod, you'd think there would be more choices for protecting your digital camera from drops. As you point out, the digital SLR market has some great solutions to protect both camera bodies and SLR lenses from drops. I have yet to find anything that guarantees your camera won't get broken if you drop it, but there are a few solutions that should improve the chances if your point-and-shoot digital camera takes a fall.

The CamLeash I wrote about earlier this year is a good starting point. It fastens to your wrist and keeps your camera from dropping when it slips from your hand.

Snug-It cases from Delkin are one of the better choices I've found, if you can find one for your digital camera model. The are specifically designed to work without needing to remove the Snug-It from your camera, down to including a protective plastic screen over the LCD display on the back of the camera. Casing is made of a smooth silicone and if you happen to have a touch-screen camera, there's a hinge to make the screen accessible. Prices on Amazon range from about $10-15, while ebay pricing ranges from about $10-30 depending on the model of camera protected.

A second option with fewer model-specific options is Foarm cases. The cases are made of custom-molded impact dispersing foam, which seems like it might absorb impact slightly better than the Snug-It, while not feeling as great to hold in your hand. Foarm cases also expose camera features for the models they support, although there is no protective shield for the LCD. Buttons are recessed nicely in the design to prevent accidental pushing. Foarm cases are in the middle of the Snug-It price range at about $17 on Amazon.

The wrist strap is my favorite solution of the three, because it's the only one that keeps the camera from slipping from your hand, but if you prefer a case, one of the two choices here should help protect your camera if it drops.

I like taking nature photos while I'm driving. Often some of the best shots are gone before I ever get out of my car. Is there some way I can mount my digital camera to my car door safely, so that I don't miss any more great photos?

Several years ago, I ran across a great solution for doing exactly this. It's a tripod that mounts to your car window with a fitting that snugs down on both sides of the glass and has a tripod mount on top. Since this requires driving with your window down, it's really only useful in warm climates or when it's sunny out, but it's by far the best thing I've found. Assuming you keep your lens cap on while you're driving to keep the lens free of bugs and dust, you should be able to safely drive with a camera mounted this way at moderate speeds. I've even seen it done to mount the camera on the tripod and then put the window up to apply a tiny amount of pressure to the top of the camera to hold it firmly in place while driving. Of course, be sure you're paying attention to the road and not simply looking for photo opps. Ebay remains the easiest place to find them.

It's 11:02 Pacific by my clock so the time has come to give away the HP HDX Dragon. The entry process has been interesting. I'm still compiling the collection of freeware favorites by category, so I can present a reader's choice in all software categories. Some of the answers were very predictable and remained close to what the popular press recommends for free products. Other choices varied greatly and I learned about some new apps that I wasn't familiar with. I think the most interesting thing I learned was that some people took the last question on the survey 'Your favorite free DRINK' a bit too seriously. I put it in their for fun to see what the responses would be. More than one person emailed, concerned that they might be interpreting the question incorrectly. No survey was disqualified for an incorrect drink entry. It is time to announce the lucky person who gets the HDX Dragon. The lucky individual is Oz Hull. Way to go Oz!

Remember there are still several of these yet to come, so just because you didn't get this one doesn't mean you won't get one of the other Dragons. Be sure to stay tuned to either my email newsletter or my RSS feed as I'll be giving away a brand new Zune in June.

I'm thinking about getting a Mac as a second computer at home. I'm not sure I want to spend the money on a new Mac, because it might not get used much. Is there anywhere I can purchase a used Mac?

One obvious place to look for used Apple hardware is the online Apple Store. There are plenty of refurbished Macs available direct from Apple. Depending on what you're looking for, you can find great deals there. Sometimes refurbished means the computer was a dud in the first place, so tread with caution.

Another smart alternative is to look for a reseller specializing in used Mac computers. The trick here is to find a company with a good reputation and good customer service. It's also important to look for competitive pricing. One place you might look for a used Mac is DV Warehouse. The company has a long history of servicing the video editing industry with quality gear and they have one of the largest selections of used Mac hardware I've found online. More importantly, they score well with online shoppers according to their PriceGrabber ratings. If you're wanting older Mac hardware, DV Warehouse may be the only place to find the used Mac you need.

Before you decide on a place to make a purchase, do some research to make sure other shoppers were happy. Places like PriceGrabber (mentioned above), Shopping.com or eBay all have rating systems to give you an idea of what kind of shopping experience to expect.

I have to do a video project for school and I want to make a LEGO stop motion video. Is there any free stop motion software for windows that might help me?

If you have the patience to do it, you really don't need any special software to make a stop motion video. Since stop motion is effectively a series of still images organized to tell an animated story, you can build a stop motion movie by taking still images with any digital still camera, name them sequentially (which your camera will likely do automatically), then import them into a video editor like Windows Movie Maker with a duration of 1 second for 30 frame per second video or 2 seconds if you want 15 frame per second video. From there you can add audio and export the whole thing. While this method will work, it can be frustrating because you don't get a live preview. There are other alternatives...

Free Stop Motion Software

Simply grouping a series of still images will produce a stop motion animation, but achieving smooth motion is difficult because you can't live preview your next shot. One of the apps I find simple but effective for stop motion animation is the aptly named Stop Motion Animator, which works with any live video source, including a Webcam.

One of the key things that sets Stop Motion Animator apart is it's ability to do onion skinning with your stop motion. You can see the previous frame as you line up your next shot to make sure you get smooth motion. Stop Motion Animator also lets you play back your video at any point in the process, making it easy to verify you're getting all the shots you need. I've used the software successfully with XP, but Vista routinely crashes when trying to use it.

"How can I get an HP HDX Dragon for free?"

I haven't actually received that question from any readers (yet), but I'm offering a preemptive answer here because I'm sure you'd love to find out how you could get one of these sweet machines. If you've been following along on my blog, I've posted updates on each of the participants in the 31 Days of the Dragon giveaway to date. Today's the day I'm going to share the rules for my giveaway.

"I have a Sony AVCHD camcorder. iMovie doesn't recognize the camcorder files. How can I edit the files on my AVCHD camcorder with my Mac?"

AVCHD support has been inconsistent for both Mac and Windows users. The format varies slightly depending on whether your camera is from Sony, Panasonic, or Canon. For Mac users, software support varies depending on which versions of iMovie, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Pro you happen to be running. I personally prefer Final Cut Express to iMovie for editing on a Mac, but the correct version of either will work.

"I want to connect my Blu-ray player (PS3) to my monitor. The monitor only has a VGA input. What would I need to convert the HDMI out on my PS3 to a VGA connection?"

One of the key challenges in converting HDMI to VGA is maintaining support for HDCP, which creates a protected signal path from Blu-ray players to a monitor as a means of preventing copying. There are a number of converters that will connect an HDMI cable to a VGA port, but anytime HDCP is present, instead of rendering the video signal, you get a black screen on the monitor. To avoid the black screen, you need a converter that includes support for HDCP.

Michelle writes, "My aunt wants the Internet however she doesn't want a phone line and she doesn't want cable. Do you know of any internet installation with this kind of setup?"

Piggybacking Internet service as DSL over a phone line or high speed cable service are the two easiest ways to have Internet access, although they aren't the only solutions. Depending on where your aunt lives, there may be several ways for her to access the Internet without either of these more traditional Internet access solutions.

If your aunt has a cell phone, one option would be for her to add a data service plan to her existing cell phone plan. You'd need to do some research to make sure the phone she has will work for this, but essentially, in this scenario you simply connect the cell phone to the computer via either USB or Bluetooth and the computer uses the cell phone as a modem to connect to the Internet. For some phone plans, this can be a reasonable way to connect. In other cases, particularly in rural areas, this is a painfully slow way to get Internet access.

A second common option for connecting to the Internet, typically available in major metropolitan areas only, is wireless Internet service. You need a wireless card in your computer for this to work and then you have access wherever you are in the wireless Internet provider's coverage area throughout your city.

Another option would be to get Internet via satellite service. Most of the major satellite providers offer some kind of Internet service. This is likely the most expensive of these options and may not seem attractive if you are avoiding other services like DSL and cable.

"When you copy HD video from a camcorder to a DVD, do you have to playback on a HD-DVD player or will it play back on a standard DVD player?"

It really depends on the format you choose for your DVD whether the DVD you burn will play in a standard DVD player, or whether you need an HD-DVD player in order to watch your DVD creation. If you have an HD-DVD player, the method I describe for burning HD-DVDs on standard DVD media will result in DVDs that only play in HD-DVD drives. Your other option is to output your HD content as a standard definition video during the authoring process. Here's how this works:

• Import your HD video into your favorite video authoring program.
• Make any edits to the video, adding effects, transitions, titles, and anything else you want to include in the movie.
• Save the movie as a standard definition 720x480 file, either in MPEG-2 format or in the case of something like Windows Vista's Movie Maker, you'd need to save the file as a WMV.
• You then use the file you just saved in your DVD project

Keep in mind this method does not result in high definition video on DVD. You are saving your HD video as standard definition video and authoring a DVD that will play on any set top DVD player.

"How can I sync my AOL account with my BlackBerry device without using Outlook or any other email desktop client?"

AOL offers a wireless sync solution your AOL calendar and contacts without needing Outlook or any other desktop email client. Both Blackberry users and Palm users can benefit from this solution. All you need to do is install the AOL Sync software on your Blackberry and configure which features of your Blackberry calendar and contacts you want to sync with AOL.

For Blackberry owners, the major limitation is which Blackberry hardware is supported. AOL currently support the Blackberry 7280, Blackberry 7780, Blackberry 7290, Blackberry 7700t, and Blackberry 7520.

The version for Blackberry owners is free, while the Palm version is $25. You can download AOL Sync directly from AOL.

"I have audio files from my band's recording session that I want to put on YouTube. Every time I try to upload the files YouTube gives me an invalid file format error. I've tried both MP3 and WMA formats with the same error message. How can I upload my band's MP3 music tracks to YouTube?"

While YouTube may be among the best places on the Internet to find music by your favorite artist, it is not a music site. YouTube is a video site. The YouTube upload tool expects you to upload a video file format of some kind. YouTube specifically accepts MP4, MPG, AVI, MOV and WMV file formats. For your music files (or something like spoken audio from a speech) to upload successfully to YouTube, you need to convert it to a video format. Below are options that will make a video file with software from either a Mac or Windows PC.

Make a Photo Montage
If getting your music exposed to the YouTube audience is your primary goal, a photo montage may be the most cost effective route. Using software like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, you simply build a photo collage using your song as the back drop. Slap some transitions and effects on the photos for something a little flashier, then save out a video and upload to YouTube. Based on the way the YouTube audience tends to respond to these sorts of things, the more attractive the people in the photos you include are the better.

Add Video Titles with Lyrics
A slight variation on the photo montage is using the title and credits building tool in the video editing software to build some moving text. This could be the lyrics to your song or a clever haiku, but either way, you're giving the YouTube viewer something to look at other than a blank video while they listen to your song.

Add the Bands Album Cover
If you don't have any good photos or are simply feeling lazy, a single image of the band's album cover, or maybe your publicity photo, can be an easy way to have something visual to accompany your music on YouTube.

Combine Your Audio with a PowerPoint Presentation
For spoken presentations, coupling the recorded audio with PowerPoint slides may help visually tie the speech and concepts together.

Hire an Animator
If you have a budget (or live near a college campus) hiring an animator to make a video for your music will up the marketability of your YouTube presence. A great animation might be the thing that brings your band from obscurity to international fame and fortune.

Shoot a Music Video
Along the same lines as hiring an animator, if you can get a video made to go with your song, chances are it will fare better on YouTube. An ad in Craigslist might find you some videobloggers willing to work on a budget or if you've got deeper pockets, making a bigger production might be your ticket to a giant YouTube fan club.

The bottom line here is whatever you do you really need to convert your audio file to a video file and you might as well invest some time in making it visually appealing before you upload.

"I just got a new iPod Shuffle. All my music is currently in Windows Media Player, but I can't see it in iTunes. How can I transfer music from Windows Media Player to iTunes?"

If the songs you have in your Windows Media Player library are primarily stored in your My Music folder (or just Music in Windows Vista), you can automatically import everything into iTunes in a few simple steps. If you have music stored in other folders besides the My Music folder, you can repeat the same steps for each folder that has tracks you want to import. Follow the steps below to import your music to iTunes:

"When you go to System Config Utility > Startup it's difficult to read everything because the box is small. There's a shortcut to enlarge that dialog box so you can see everything in it. What's the shortcut on the keyboard?"

I'm not aware of a keyboard shortcut that will enlarge the System Configuration Utility, but you can turn on the Magnify function built into Windows. You can get most of the way there using the Windows key+U shortcut which launches the Windows accessibility interface. From there it's a single click to turn on the Magnify tool, which zooms the area around your mouse pointer. This is handy for interfacing with dialog boxes, but for some other magnification functions, I prefer another tool that's free from Microsoft.

The tool I like better for on screen magnification is ZoomIt, which is available from Sysinternals via the Microsoft TechNet site. After downloading and launching ZoomIt, you configure the shortcut you want to use to turn it on. You can then magnify your screen and use your mouse scroll wheel to zoom in or out as need to see the screen better. This comes in handy if you have failing eyesight or simply for reading Web pages that have fixed fonts that don't conform to the options in your browser for making them larger.
ZoomIt also includes some handy annotation tools for "drawing" on the screen and making notes when you want to call attention to a particular segment of the screen.

"I have a bunch of movie downloads on my computer. They look fine on my computer but lousy on my HDTV. Can I convert these movies to high definition with my computer so they look better on my big screen TV?"

While you certainly can convert a standard definition movie to a size that's native to your HDTV, there is no magic trick for converting a movie optimized for standard definition screens to high definition. When a movie is compressed for viewing at a specific resolution (like DVD quality at 720x480, for instance) the image data in that file is optimized for viewing at that size or smaller. Stretching that image to a larger dimension typically makes it look worse, although there are some pretty good hardware scalars built into DVD players that can do a decent job of making DVDs look better at larger resolutions.

My recommendation is not to convert the movie to a HD resolution, but to alter the way you view the file on the screen. The correct thing to do when you have a video that's optimized for a specific resolution is to view the video at that resolution, on whatever screen you use for viewing. Most HDTVs have modes that help you do this. If you downloaded a movie from the Internet that's 640x480, which is a fairly common size, the optimal way to view it on your big screen is to set the television in 4:3 mode or 4:3 with pillarbox mode. These modes typically have black bars on the left and right sides of the video, reducing the percentage of the screen used for playback of the video. This trick also works for television shows not optimized for your HD screen.

YouTube is starting to roll out higher resolution versions of videos on the site. What this means for viewers is text that looks crisp; improved sound quality; and video that loses some of those soft moments and blocky transitions we've come to expect from watching YouTube videos. There are two ways to get better video from YouTube, depending on whether you do or do not have a YouTube account.

If you happen to have a YouTube account, you can tweak your account settings to improve the way YouTube videos look. Go to your account settings and look for the Video Playback Quality link all the way at the bottom. This gives you three choices, which are basically let YouTube decide what to show you (which means you get ugly video), the slow connection setting (which means you get ugly video), or the fast connection option (which provides a slightly improved video experience).

If you don't have a YouTube account, the only way to get this to work is to use the secret handshake. When you get to a page with a video you want to watch, you need to tack some additional code on the end of the URL before you'll get the upgraded experience. Hopefully this is a short term fix, but in the meantime it's like turning a Man into a Mane with silent 'e'.

Start with the basic video like this one I did on turning clips sideways in Windows Movie Maker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlqqlS8CDv4

Now tack &fmt=6 on the end for a much clearer picture and slightly sharper sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlqqlS8CDv4&fmt=6

Six little characters and it's like stepping out of a fog. Supposedly there's an even higher quality setting achieved by adding &fmt=18 to the end of the URL instead of &fmt=6, but so far I haven't seen a video where this makes a difference.

You can also build your own high quality embeds using my YouTube code generator.

"I have a Palm Centro from AT&T and it doesn't have Google Maps like the Sprint version. Is there any way I can get Google Maps on my Centro?"

AT&T is hopeful that you'll pay the monthly fee for TeleNav instead of using the Google Maps app. Fortunately, Google is happy to let you download the Palm version of Google Maps for free. Just go to mobile.google.com from your phone's browser and locate the link for the Google Maps Download. It installs either on your phone's memory on on a card and then you get Google Map functionality that's indistinguishable from what your friend's with Sprint service have. That's one fewer feature separating your Centro from an iPhone.

Photo by totalAldo

"I want to connect 2 external monitors to my laptop, but it only has one video port. Is there some kind of add-on I can get to connect a second monitor"

There's plenty of evidence to indicate that using two screens is more effective than one; at least up to a certain point. There's also a strong indication that those two monitors need to be the same size, since your visual receptors seem to get confused by screens of different sizes. A recent Utah study indicates that using 2 20-inch monitors allowed people to complete tasks 44% faster than using 1 18-inch monitor, making a pair of 20-inch screens from Dell for under $600 sound like a steal. Since many people I know have switched to using a laptop as their primary machine no matter where they are, the trick of using two monitors (at least when docked) can be crucial.

The trick I use for connecting 2 external monitors to my own laptop is to connect one to the external video port on my laptop and a second monitor gets connected to a DisplayLink adapter. The adapter connects via USB allowing you to extend your desktop to another screen. They are sold under a variety of brand names which makes the adapters a little tricky to track down, but a quick search of eBay for USB to DVI Adapter turns up several options that are basically the same thing under several different names. DisplayLink also links to several online stores, although they do a lousy job of labeling which country each store serves.

Bookmarks are one of the worst implemented features in the history of the browser. You need special software to tell you when Bookmarks expire. Most of them are immediately forgotten, making a Google search more useful. They're like a breadcrumb trail you can't easily follow, because it becomes cluttered with too many crumbs. There's no easy way to recall your favorite links without digging through a mess that even when categorized in folders is still a mess. That is until Firefox came along with Bookmark keywords.

You may still bookmark things never to return again, but using bookmark keywords, you'll have lightning fast access to the pages you visit regularly. It's so useful, I'd argue that bookmark keywords are a reason to switch to Firefox all by themselves. To really harness this feature, you also need to download a handy Firefox Extension called OpenBook. Here's how to harness the power of Firefox Bookmark Keywords.

With Firefox installed on your system, download the OpenBook extension, which allows you to show more fields as you add a new bookmark. Once OpenBook is installed, go to Tools > Add-ons and click on the Options button for OpenBook.

This allows you to customize the box that pops up when you add a new bookmark. The image here is my chosen configuration options, you may find something else you prefer. The key thing is to check the box next to Keyword textbox.

Go to a page you want to bookmark. jakeludington.com is a great choice! ;) Type Ctrl+D on your keyboard or Bookmark this Page. Your dialog box will show you the site name, url, and a blank keyword box. You can but any string of characters in that keyword box. I chose my initials, 'jl' for the example. Click OK to save the bookmark.

Now it's time to demonstrate your new power. Navigate away from the site you just bookmarked or open a new browser window. Go to the address bar (F6 can get you there) and type jl (or whatever you put in as the keyword). You're automatically taken to the site. No digging through your bookmarks, no typing the full URL. You can configure literally hundreds of these keywords to save you time. Here's how I use some of them:

g = Gmail
gd = Google Docs
tm = Techmeme.com
nv = Newsvine.com

I have a longer list of places I type in frequently, but that gives you an idea of what you could do. Typing two characters is always faster than typing the full url or reaching for your mouse and pulling something down from a list. A similar principle can be utilized anywhere in Windows using ActiveWords.

Windows Vista took what seems like a giant leap backward in Disk Defragmenter software from what was available in Windows XP. I believe both versions are a feature-limited version of Diskeeper, however, the Windows Vista version is so hobbled as to render it practically useless. Even though I run the Vista Disk Defragmenter software weekly, two alternatives (Diskkeeper and DiskMagik)showed my drive remains highly fragmented. This means the Vista Disk Defragmenter isn't doing its job, which ultimately means my computer's performance is suffering.

Here's what the interface for the Windows XP Disk Defragmenter looks like:

"I've been a PC user for years and recently got a new Mac. I know I can map a network drive between two Windows computers, but how do I share files with my Mac?"

Mapping a network drive is frustrating even between two PCs. The drive map occasionally gets disconnected and you can't always get the stuff you need do to permissions issues. I prefer to use a secure sharing method Brandon recommended called FolderShare. It's currently the easiest way I've found to consistently share files between my Mac and Windows machines at home (or from anywhere). Microsoft is the creator of FolderShare, which means it's not likely to go out of business anytime soon. It's also free, making it a highly cost effective way to share files. Here's how to set up FolderShare.

Installing FolderShare Support

Before you can share files with FolderShare, you need to install a small utility on each computer you want to access, which you download from FolderShare. After installing the utility, it will prompt you to setup an account. Repeat this step on both the Mac and PC you want to access files from.

You define which computers get access to FolderShare and which files are shared in your trusted network, meaning that any files you share will be accessible only from your login credentials. After installing the utility on each computer, you can define resources on each computer that stay in sync with each other.

All the connections to FolderShare are encrypted, so there's no risk of anyone else access your data (unless you're stupid and choose an easy password). This increases security if you're connecting over a wireless network, because the encrypted data will not be sniffed the way it could be if you were merely mapping a drive. And the reliability of the sharing is far greater than what you get with mapping a network drive.

Another useful feature is the ability to share files securely with friends. In addition to sharing files with your own computers, you can choose to share specific files with friends, who then get the same encrypted access to the files you specify. This comes in handy if you collaborate with people in other cities, or if you simply want to share files easily with someone else. Four permission levels make sure you only allow the access you want to files, Reading, Adding new Files, Changing and Deleting Files, and Changing Permissions on Files.

"I have about 4 years of email in Outlook and I want to upload it all into my new Gmail account. I suppose I could forward all my mail, but there's got to be some other way of getting it in there. How can I move my Outlook mail messages to Gmail?"

There are several software solutions for helping you migrate from Outlook or Outlook Express to Gmail's online storage. I've used a couple of utilities to do this in the past, but my most recent attempts with these tools failed. Gmail seems to have changed settings making Google Mail Loader and gExodus both fail. Then I remembered another handy way of moving mail - using IMAP as a means of syncing email between two accounts, which I used to do as a method of access my mail across multiple computers. Here's the safest way to make the IMAP transfer work.

Enabling IMAP in Gmail

Step one of the Google migration is to enable IMAP in the Gmail interface. To do this, first click on the Gmail Settings link (at the top right of the page) after logging into Gmail from your browser. Next click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP link and scroll down to enable IMAP. Save your settings change.

Adding Your Gmail Account to Outlook

Next you need to add your Gmail Account to Outlook as an IMAP account. Google provides a good list of steps for doing this right below the IMAP toggle, but I'll cover it here as well.

From the Outlook menu choose Tools > Accounts and create a new account. Input your name, followed by full username@gmail.com address and password. Be sure to check the box to manually configure server settings or additional server types.

Make sure the account type is set to IMAP.

On the Advanced settings you need to set the incoming IMAP server to 993, with SSL encryption. The Outgoing SMTP server needs to be set to 587 with TLS encryption.

Making a copy of your Outlook Email

After you setup IMAP access for your Gmail account, you can start adding mail to it. Select a folder in your Outlook Personal Folder that you want to add to your Gmail (like Sent Items, for instance), right-click the folder and choose Copy (Do Not drag and drop or you will alter your Outlook folder hierarchy).

This last part requires patience and is best done at a time when you don't need Outlook for awhile. The sync process can take a very long time if you have lots of mail. For the large folders in your Outlook, save this for something you do before quitting for the day, so you aren't frustrated by an inbox that's busy.

When it's finished copying, you will get an error message like the one below because Gmail doesn't use a folder hierarchy. This is normal. What was a folder to you in Outlook will now be a Label in Gmail.

Finding Your Outlook Mail in Gmail

After the sync is complete, you may wonder why you can't easily see your Outlook mail in Gmail. That's because Gmail has it conveniently sorted away by Label in the the All Mail section. If you scroll down the left hand side of the Gmail Web interface, you should see a list of Labels like the one to the left of this paragraph. Clicking on any one of those labels in Gmail will reveal email messages with that label (all the mail that is in the folder of the same name in Outlook).

Cleaning Up Gmail and Finding Your Mail

As you can see, the Labels aren't necessarily very clean when going from Outlook to Gmail. What was once a subfolder of my inbox with podcasting related mail, now has the unfortunate label INBOX/Podcasting. This is easily fixed by clicking Edit Labels, and renaming each of the labels to something less cumbersome.

If you had a bunch of folders imported to Gmail, this may take a couple of minutes, but it gets the job done and you only need to do it once.

Once you get everything moved to Gmail, you can safely close the IMAP account in Outlook without having any impact on what's stored in Gmail, making all of your old Outlook messages instantly available anytime you log into Gmail in the future.

Sherrie writes, "I'm using Adobe Photoshop Album Starter 3.0. This program always opens and stores any photos I access with my PC. I have tons of photos stored through this program and lately when I open the program it will show me the thumbnails of my photos stored, but they look fuzzy, and when I click on one(to enlarge or manipulate it) a small info box appears and says that the file( and then gives me the file name of the photo) is missing. I can't figure out how it's missing if it is showing the thumbnail!. I tried the suggestion on this site, only problem I can't find the file for the photos unless I go through Adobe Photo Shop and it doesn't have the option choices mentioned here. Is their any possible way to recover these lost files or restore them to Adobe?"

Adobe's entire line of photo organizers can be confusing. The reason the thumbnail shows up is because Photoshop Album builds a small database of all your photos, storing the thumbnails in the database to make it easier to display them. This database contains every photo tracked by Photoshop Album up to the last time you used the application. The image looks fuzzy because it can't find the real file on your computer, so instead Photoshop Album stretches the thumbnail it stored to the default display size. While that's useful in understanding what's going on, it doesn't help you find you photos, so let's dig deeper and figure out where they went.

Photoshop Album imports your photos into your My Documents\My Pictures\Adobe\ folder with some additional subfolders by default. If you move this photos to another folder, Photoshop Album can no longer find the photos. If you delete the folders from your computer, the photos will also no longer be available in Photoshop Album. And occasionally the Photoshop Album database gets messed up and simply can't find photos even when they are still there.

The first place to start is by verifying where Photoshop Album stores photos it imports from your digital camera. You do this by opening Photoshop Album and choosing Edit > Preferences from the menu. Click on the Camera or Card Reader link on the left and then look for the Save Files In: section on the right. This is the location where Photoshop Album stores your files.

Now that you know the location where the files should be, you need to browse to that location using Windows Explorer to verify the files are indeed still there. Assuming this is a default location in your My Pictures folder, you can do this by clicking Start > My Pictures and then drilling down in the Adobe folder. If you are storing pictures in some other folder, simply browse to whatever that folder happens to be.

Once you verify the photos are still on your computer, you can point Photoshop Album to the missing photos by clicking the Browse button and navigating to the location where the photos are stored.

If for some reason you have deleted the folder containing the photos, you may be able to recover them using something like Zero Assumption Image Recovery.

"Every time someone in my Outlook contacts list changes jobs or gets a new phone number I have to make changes to my contacts. In some cases, I lose track of contacts because they didn't let me know they changed career paths. Is there any tool to I can use to update my contacts automatically?"

Unless you're telepathic, you'll have a hard time keeping up with anyone who doesn't tell you when their contact information changes. Those people who drop off your radar can be hard to track down later, although occasionally you can find them via sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace. While it won't cover 100% of your contacts, Plaxo is the free solution I use to keep up with the changes in my own contacts list. Plaxo has an add-on for Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, and Mac Address Book, making it a viable solution for almost any personal information manager.

For each contact you have who also maintains a free Plaxo account, you get automatic updates anytime they change their address, job title, email or phone numbers. Of the hundreds of people in my own contacts list, about 30% of them use Plaxo. These also seem to be the most active members of my contacts list, so maybe there's a connection between frequent change and the use of Plaxo.

To automate your contact updates, first go get a free Plaxo account. You may be surprised how many of your contacts are also using Plaxo. Once you've signed up, you can optionally contact those contacts in your address book who aren't currently using Plaxo and attempt to convince them to sign up. Keep in mind that many people won't accept - as I've mentioned in the past, it took me years to sign up for Plaxo. Now I'm a convert.

"What does NBKeyScan.exe actually do? It looks like it is part of Nero 8 BackItUp utility."

BackItUp is the utility bundled as part of the Nero 8 suite designed to setup automated backups of files, folders and important data on your system. NBKeyScan.exe is a specialized part of versions of BackItUp optimized to function with external drives that support a one-step-backup type function. The NBKeyScan.exe utility adds some specific controls for external hard disks to offer a drive power down feature and the ability to launch BackItUp and run a back up operation from the drive by pressing a button on the front of the drive console. While this is possibly a useful feature, it's by no means a required feature of the application and can be safely turned off if you don't need the functionality of making quick backups by pressing a button on the drive.

"If I shoot video in 1080i mode with my camcorder can I output later in 720p?"

Most consumer high definition camcorders shoot video in a 1080i mode, usually 1440x1080. The format the camcorder records video in does not dictate the format you output from your editing software. If you start with your 1080i video in your favorite video editing application (for HD editing, I typically recommend Pinnacle Studio or Sony Vegas) you can export several versions of the video when you are finished. Most video editing applications offer either outputting your video as MPEG-2 1080i, which is the same format you started with, or they give you a number of additional choices.

"I saw your article on playing RMVB files for Windows users, but how can I play RMVB files on my Mac? QuickTime won't play RMVB files. iTunes won't play RMVB files. What can I do?"

The solution for playing RMVB files on a Mac is almost identical to the solution for Windows users. You need to download an additional software player that supports RMVB playback. At the moment, Macs are basically limited to one RMVB playback option - Download RealPlayer. The Mac version of RealPlayer is the only thing I've found that consistently plays RMVB files. In addition to playing RMVB files, the Mac RealPlayer also supports downloading videos from places like YouTube, DailyMotion, MySpace, MetaCafe and many others, which comes in handy if you want to save online videos to your hard drive and convert them for playback on your iPod later.

Download RealPlayer for Mac

Bonus Tip: If you want to play RMVB files and burn them to DVD, sign up for a free SuperPass trial. You get RealPlayer Plus as part of the trial package and you can always cancel before the end of the trial.