I usually prefer to use the Microsoft Bluetooth stack (included with Windows XP SP2) instead of the WIDCOMM stack because it requires less recourse, is faster and also easier to use. The only thing missing is support for any Audio profile.
However, if you have a lot of HP notebooks or tablets, you normally can't use the Microsoft stack since it doesn't know the build-in "HP integrated module with Bluetooth wireless technology". But there is a way to do it anyway…
First, remove the WIDCOMM stack using Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. Next, restart you computer and open up "Device Manager" (execute Devmgmt.msc). The above noted device will appear as "Unknown device".
Next, open C:\WINDOWS\inf and open the file "BTH.inf" with Notepad. It will start with something like this:
; Microsoft Windows Bluetooth Driver INF
; Copyright (c) 2002 Microsoft Corporation
[HP.NT.5.1]
"HP USB BT Transceiver [1.2]"= BthUsb, USB\Vid_03F0&Pid_0C24
Duplicate the last line and append it so it then looks like this:
[HP.NT.5.1]
"HP USB BT Transceiver [1.2]"= BthUsb, USB\Vid_03F0&Pid_0C24
"HP USB BT Transceiver [Patched]"= BthUsb, USB\Vid_03F0&Pid_011D
Note that we only have changed the last characters to the PID (Product ID) of the Bluetooth device. If you have a new laptop the PID might have changed. You can get this PID by double-clicking the device and using the details tab.
Save the BTH.INF, go back to Device Manager and select "Scan for Hardware changes". The device should now start to install. It might happen that the device is after reported as having a problem. If this happens, simple right-click it, select "Disable" and after that "Enable" again.
That should do the trick and you can use the Microsoft stack with the "HP integrated module with Bluetooth wireless technology".
Enjoy!
Most people would recommend something like RightMark CPU Clock Utility for displaying the CPU temperature and Prime95 for stress testing. Only a few people seem to know that Matthias Withopf has created two small but great applications.
For getting the temperature from the CPU, use CPUTempWatch. It will display the exact temperature for each core (read directly from the internal Core 2 temperature sensor) and display it quite nicely.
To stress test your CPU, use Core2MaxPerf. Why? Because 100% load in Task manager does not necessarily mean that your CPU is really loaded. That happens because the Core 2 can optimize a lot of instructions and thus 100% in Windows is not necessarily 100% for the CPU.
If you don't believe me, just start Prime95 and use the RightMark CPU Utility to display the CPU load compared with the OS load. Only if Core2MaxPerf is active, you will see that both fields contain 100%.
Don't wonder, Core2MaxPerf is in German but easy to operate. Just download it and execute it (Note: If you see a message box on Windows Vista, try to right-click the EXE file and select "Execute with administrative privileges"). The only thing you need to configure is on which cores it should be execute.
Core2MaxPerf will then open a new window with exactly one button "Abbrechen" (Cancel) which allows you to stop Core2MaxPerf. The simple reason: If you have selected all cores even Windows will have problems accepting your commands because of the CPU load. With that single button ("Abbrechen" = Cancel) you can simply press Enter and it stops so Windows will return to normal operation.
There is currently no better CPU burn-in test than this program for sure!
Most sites today require you to enter a valid email address when you want to create an account with them. For those that fear that their email address will then be used for spamming, throwaway email addresses might be a solution.
At least if you get the second email about “V|@gra” in your inbox you really wonder where the heck the spammers get your email address. A common hypothesis: At least one of the sites that require you to enter your email address has sold it.
The simple solution for this:
Of course, this will render any “Forget your password? We sent it to you as email!” useless so you better have a backup of all your data present.
Now there’s a site that generates, upon request, any number of random numbers using quantum. The cool thing about this is that the numbers it generates are absolutely unpredictable. Whenever you need some random numbers, check http://www.randomnumbers.info/index.jsp.
Okay, the transmission of the random numbers is not secure, but that’s a different story.
I can’t remember how many times I tried out several file synchronization tools. Since I own both a normal desktop computer and a notebook it crucial to keep the files in sync or I’m suddenly stuck at the end of the world with an old file. At least one feature was missing from each of the products I checked. Either there was no preview (what will be done), no backup function (important file deleted by accident – nice) or no bidirectional synchronization (indeed, I usually change files on my notebook and want them to appear on my desktop).
Today I came across the program “ViaVersa Pro” from http://www.tgrmn.com/ which finally is the solution. Although it costs 60 bucks it offers all the features you need to keep any resource in sync. It offer a easily to understand preview what it will do, it can backup files before it deletes them and it offers bidirectional synchronization.
After several hours of testing with both a server connection (using VPN) and local desktop to notebook tests it really looks as this is finally the solution. They offer a 30 days trial version so you can test for yourself it’s worth the 60 USD. I will buy it for sure.
Do you download often a lot of files from the internet? Do you wish you could control how many downloads are active at one time? Do you wish to limit the download speed so you can still surf the internet while downloading? What you need is a download manager.
XI NetTransport (XINT) from http://www.xi-soft.com/default.htm is a download manager which simply makes downloading easier. Of course, there are many other (and more well-known) download managers available but from my point of view I never came across something better than XINT.
First of all, it can monitor downloads inside Internet Explorer so each time a download starts XINT is loaded and will execute the download. The first advantage you get from this: You can limit how many jobs should be active inside XINT (Tools -> Connection -> Max. Jobs). This way, you can easily click on all download links and XINT will execute them one after another. Also, XINT can be configured to store all downloads in a specified folder, no more “Where do you want to save the file” questions IE normally triggers.
And best of all, you can specify a speed limit (Tools -> Connection -> Speed) which allows you to continue to surf the internet while downloading without being bothered by your internet connection being at 100 utilization. For example, if you have a DSL connection with one megabit downstream, your download speed is at about 90 Kbytes per second. Simply set the Speed Limit to 30 Kbytes and activate Tools -> Obey Speed Limit inside XINT. This leaves 60 Kbytes for normal surfing.
A special feature I like much is that you can configure an unlimited number of proxy servers and XINT can transfer one download using different proxy servers at once. For example, some sites limit your speed by simply checking your IP address. That way, you will never exceed their limit of, let’s say, 8 Kbytes. When you download using different proxy servers, each connection has a different IP address (since it’s the address of the proxy) and thus you have a multiple of 8 Kbytes. Okay, some webmaster are likely to kill me for this but its cool anyway.
