I’m a man of multiple browsers and I’m sure many of you are too. Sometimes Firefox doesn’t always cut it and I have to move over to Chrome for a while. A big downfall with using multiple browsers is that your saved passwords and bookmarks on your favorite browser aren’t with another browser that you might switch over to every once in a while. This becomes a huge pain in the rear end, but the guys over at Tested mention a quick and painless way to sync your bookmarks and saved passwords using Xmarks. This powerful, yet simple plugin can sync bookmarks, saved passwords, and even opened tabs over multiple browsers and even over multiple computers. The plugin currently works with Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Safari. We recommend you give it a try.

via [Tested]

With all the glorious Quarter 4 games just around the corner, it’s hard to contain all the excitement, and it’s all slowly building as the release dates grow nearer. More often than not, there’s that one game that stands above the rest. That one game that we’re all counting the days until its release. No other game quite compares to this one’s anticipation in your mind.

Today we offer you a way to count those days without having to scratch hash marks into your wall, with the use of your very own lightweight and customizable desktop countdown timer! With just a few minutes, we’ll show you how to create an awesome and fully customizable desktop countdown timer that will count the seconds to any date you wish.

1) Head over to Phantim3′s homepage.
- There may be other applications for this purpose, but we’ve been using Phantim3 for a few years now without any compatibility or performance issues.

2) Click on the “Download” tab at the top and save the 604KB installer to your desktop or whichever download directory you prefer.

3) When the download completes, run the executable and follow the installation process to completion.
- The application’s default install directory is what we will be referring to for our later steps in this tutorial.

4) Once installed, run the application (from either its start menu or desktop shortcut) and you will be presented with a default countdown and theme, as pictured above.

5) Now it’s time to customize your very own countdown.
- Phantim3′s website offers a great tutorial page on creating your own skins and that’s the best place for you to start!

For the purposes of this tutorial, we have already thrown together a Call of Duty: Black Ops theme that we will use. If you want to use it, you can download it HERE (just extract the .zip to Program Files/Program Files (x86) > Phantim3 > Skins).

6) To enable your new skin, right-click in the default countdown timer and click “Choose Skin….” Then you may need to click “Refresh” to see your new theme, but just select the theme you want and click “OK.” Now, drag your countdown to where you want it.

7) Once you have your theme enabled, it’s time to set your countdown target. Right-click in the application again and click “Choose Date/Time…” and input the details.

8) You may also want to select “Run This Clock at Startup,” “Stick to Desktop,” and “Hide Tray Icon”

And, remember: this application isn’t restricted to just games. You can also utilize it for any movies, events, holidays, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Plain and simple, Dropbox is a freeware application that automatically syncs files over the internet and also to any computers that you own. This is a dream if you have multiple computers in your household or if you share files constantly with your friends. The one thing that makes Dropbox unique from a lot of other syncing and sharing services is the ability to simply drag and drop files into the Dropbox folder on your computer and have them instantly be available to any computer that you give permission to. Any file that you put inside the Dropbox folder will automatically be synced and monitored for changes, so each time a change is saved, it backs up and syncs the file again. Best of all, it works with Windows, Mac, and Linux, so you can share files easily across different OSes. They also have an iPhone app available for free as well.

In this quick tutorial, I’ll show you how to get started using this extremely simple application and what features are the most useful.

First, visit the Dropbox website and signup for a free account. You’ll initially get 2GB of storage space, but can purchase more in the future if you’d like. I found that 2GB is well more than enough to share docs, photos, and other relatively small files. After you signup, you’ll be prompted to download the application. You’ll definitely want to download and install this, since the application is the meat and bones of the operation. Once installed, a Dropbox folder will appear on the desktop. This is where you’ll drag and drop files for them to appear on your other machines. You’ll have to install and enter your credentials in the application on every computer that you want synced. However, if you’re on public computer, you can easily view your files through Dropbox’s web interface.

To share a folder with a friend, simply create another folder in the Dropbox folder and right click it and navigate to Dropbox > Share This Folder… You’ll then be taken to Dropbox’s website where you’ll enter in the email addresses of friends that you want to share this folder with. Once they accept your invite, they’ll now have access to the content inside that specific folder, as well as the ability to share their own files with you instantly. Nifty!

Another feature that I found useful was the Public folder inside the Dropbox folder. If there is a file that you want to share with users that don’t use Dropbox, simply put a file in the Public folder, right click it and navigate to Dropbox > Copy Public Link. This will give you a link to send to anyone that will allow them to download the file to their computer.

Those are the basics of Dropbox. If you already have experience using this cool little application, we would love to hear some of the ways that you use Dropbox and any tricks/tips that you might have! Shout ‘em out in the comments.

[Dropbox]

If you haven’t read Part I of our two-part Spring Cleaning series, read it here.

So, you’re tired of your PC gasping for fresh air and/or you want to start charging rent to those spiders that have built their webs running from your GPU to your RAM. No problem. With about 45 minutes, you can bring your PC back to its full cooling and airflow capabilities and if you prefer, you can take a little extra time to manage some of those internal cables that are beginning to resemble a botany class gone wrong.

For best results, you’ll probably want to take this outside or at the very least, do it near an open window, as there will be a lot of loose dust flying around.

First of all, you’ll need a collection of tools and aids to complete the job:

• A can of compressed air.
• A rag or brush to clean fan blades.
• A screw driver to disassemble your PC.
• About 45 minutes of free time.
• A dirty PC.

Step One:

Disconnect PC’s power and peripheral cables from the rear and remove the side panels, as well as the front panel so that you have as much access to internals and open air as possible.

Step Two:

Next you’ll be removing all of your case fans to clean the filters (if applicable) and blades, to improve their performance and audible levels. It’s also important to focus on any heatsinks such as the CPU and chipset heatsinks, as their cooling performance will be equally hindered by any dust buildup.

Once you have your fans and filters out, use your rag or brush to clear the dust off the fan blades and hit each one with a few blasts from your canned air. If you use filters on your fans (which we highly recommend) then you’ll find that the easiest way to clean them is to just run them under some running water until clean, and always remember to dry them before reinstalling them in your case.

Step Three:

Remove your GPU to clean its fan and heatsink. Most GPUs have a large plastic heatsink shroud that covers most of the heatsink, making it hard to clean, so just spend a little extra time hitting it from different angles with the air duster until dust stops flying out. Sometimes the plastic shroud is removable, so be sure to check if yours is that way before you begin.

Step Four:

Clear out any dust that has settled on the bottom of the case and caught in any small areas or corners. If you want, this would also be the perfect time to do some in-case cable management to not only make your case look more tidy, but also prevent cables from restricting airflow. Most cases offer holes in the motherboard mounting plate that allow you to feed your unused cables back there and hide them out of sight and out of your fans’ flow zones.

Step Five:

Congratulations, you’re finished cleaning! All that’s left to do now is reinstall your fans, filters, GPU and put your case back together. Once that’s all done, plug your PC back in, fire it up and enjoy a quieter, cooler and better running PC.

Reader Patrick writes:

I recently let a friend borrow my LCD TV. When it was returned to me I was presented with new little scratches on the screen itself and one large deep scratch. How would I get these out? HELP ME OLIVE!!!

I’ve heard of a lot of ways to remove and fix scratches from an LCD screen, some myth and some actually true, but we think the fellas over at Hackosis have a couple of good ways to fix a dinged up screen. One is a quick-and-dirty method involving petroleum jelly and the other is a more thorough, permanent fix involving lacquer. Keep in mind that it’s extremely important that you use a microfiber, antistatic cloth when cleaning/fixing an LCD screen. Anything like paper towels with large fibers will scratch that sucker right up.

Having PC issues? Need recommendations on what new piece of hardware/software or PC video game to get? Need relationship advice? Send us your question and we’ll answer it!

Here at the Olive, we’re no strangers to HD video and playback, and after being annoyed by Windows 7′s inability to display thumbnails or detailed information of our .MKV HD video files, we decided to do something about it. Some research revealed to us DivX’s Tech Preview, which adds this functionality to Windows 7 free of charge. So, we decided to put together a quick tutorial and share the information! Read on after the jump.

All you need to do is grab the 1.66MB installer. download DivX’s 1.13MB DivX Plus Codec Pack. Once the download finishes, run the installer and follow through the steps until it’s complete (as you run through the installer, it will download the components you choose to install). After the installation is finished, you may have to restart your PC to see the changes, but the changes took effect immediately for us. Enjoy your detailed information and great looking thumbnails!

UPDATE:

“Wanted to let you guys know that this DivX Plus Tech Preview of MKV on Windows 7 was graduated to the main software line, and can be downloaded for free from the DivX website:
http://www.divx.com/software/divx-plus/codec-pack/

In the latest DivX Plus Software for Windows, you’ll still get the free Media Foundation MKV splitter and thumbnails, as well as the ability to stream MKV files to an Xbox 360 via Windows Media Center Extender.

Hit us up on DivX Labs if you have any questions.”

[Thanks, Porfitron!]

It’s that time of the year, folks! Okay, it’s been that time of the year for a couple weeks now, but we can guarantee that a majority of you are still slacking in getting your PC in tip-top shape for the hot months ahead. So, we’re here to bring you a two-part series on spring cleaning your PC. This first part involves the software side of cleaning out your PC. You most likely haven’t defragged in years and there’s probably random, unused files just sitting their collecting dust. Your desktop is probably cluttered with random icons and your media files are most likely strewed all over the place. All of this can wreak havoc on your PC’s speed and agility, but I’ll be listing off some programs and techniques for getting your PC back to how it should be.

Image Credit: awjmfotos

Programs-Be-Gone

Get rid of any programs that you no longer use. That nifty greeting card creator that you made your Mom’s birthday card with two years isn’t going to delete itself. For Windows XP, simply navigate to Start>Control Panel>Add or Removed Programs. For Vista and 7, go to Start>Control Panel>Programs and Features. Deleting any unwanted programs you might have will most likely free up a lot hard disk space that you never knew you had. If you’re not sure what something is, it’s best to just leave it alone and not delete it, but a simple Google search will most likely let you know what it is and what it does.

Registry, Cache, and Temp Files, Oh My!

Files that are out of sight are definitely out of mind. The registry being a big one here. Most likely, your PC has tons of unused registry, cache, and temp files just sitting there for no reason. This happens when you delete programs that used to be on your PC (which is what we did in the last step), but the registry files get left behind. Luckily, there are simple tools that easily remove these unwanted files without screwing up your PC, which is probably what would happen if most people manually went into the registry and just started deleting things (the Windows registry is a tricky place).

CCleaner is still our favorite tool for this. It’s extremely user-friendly and even if you don’t know what everything is or means, CCleaner automatically selects what is recommended, so all you have do is press the big, green button. Best of all, CCleaner is absolutely free.

Lately, people have been recommending nCleaner. Essentially, it can do the same things as CCleaner and it’s also free, but I’ve noticed that there are a lot more menus, which makes it easier to get lost. Whichever you choose, CCleaner or nCleaner, both will get the job done.

Organize, Organize, Organize

This is a key component to having a clean PC and ultimately a clutter-free mind. Organizing all your files and maintaining frequently accessed folders like the Downloads folder is not only essential to having a clean PC, but also makes it easier for you to find stuff in the future. There are several tools that automate the organizing process like Hazel for Mac and Belvedere for Windows, but I personally like to organize myself. I put all my music in the Music folder, all my movies in the Movies folder, all my docs in the Documents folder. Sure, it takes longer and can be monotonous at times, but at least I know where I’m putting all of my files and seeing where I put all of my files helps me to better remember where they are for future reference.

Update Those Relics

Some of your programs most likely have an auto-update feature or give you a notification when a new version is available for download, but not all have this handy feature or it’s possible that auto-updates are turned off. I personally use FileHippo’s Update Checker to make sure all of my programs and drivers are up to date. What it does is check what programs and hardware your PC has installed and then checks its own online database of programs and drivers to see if it has a newer version than what you’re running. After it finishes checking, it’ll send you to FileHippo’s website where you’ll be presented with a list of all the programs and drivers you need to update, along with a handy download link.

As for Windows itself, most users have auto-updates enabled, so that’s not too much of a problem, but if you’re not sure what your update settings are, you can simply navigate to Start>Control Panel>Automatic Updates in Windows XP and Start>Control Panel>Windows Update>Change Settings in Vista and 7. I personally tell Windows to notify me of updates, but let me choose to download and install them, but of course, you can have it any way you want, it’s your PC.

Shun Your PC of All Evil

We’ve all heard the V word before. While it’s more than likely that you’ll know if you have a virus simply by the way you’re PC is acting, spyware and adware are a different story. These little fellas can stake out on your PC for weeks before you even notice. They can slow down your machine and even get a peak at personal information. Viruses and spyware/adware alike, there are numerous programs out there that are great at getting the job done. First and foremost, you should have an anti-virus program running at all times in the background and run a virus scan every couple of weeks (or every couple of days for the paranoid users). For this, I turn to AVG, who offers a free version of their Anti-Virus program. It’s just as good as those other security giants like Norton and McAfee, but it’s not a resource hog and like I mentioned, AVG is absolutely free.

As for spyware, adware, and most malware in general, there are tons of free programs dedicated to ousting these little critters. Ad-Aware, Spybot, Malwarebytes, the list can go on and on. Microsoft’s own Windows Defender actually does a decent job too at keeping the bad stuff out.

Defrag That Son of a Gun

After you got all of the unused programs and files off of your PC and are all updated, it’s time to defrag the hard drive. After several months of data being put on, moved around, and taken off several times over, the hard disk can become “disorganized” and data is spread out all over the place. This forces the hard drive to take longer to seek out information that you need and sometimes the drive will slow to a crawl. Defragging is basically the process of squishing all of the data together in a tight space, that way seek times are reduced. This needs to be done every few months to ensure a decently defragged hard drive at all times. I would recommend not using the built-in defrag tool that Microsoft provides in Windows. Stick with a free, third-party program like Defraggler. It analyzes and defrags a ton better than the on-board Windows defragger. Also, be sure to allow enough time for the defragging to do its thing. I would recommend to start the defrag right before you head off to bed and leave it be for the night, that way its not getting disturbed while it’s working. Hey now, PCs have feelings too.

Now it’s your turn! Tell us some of the ways that you clear the clutter off of your PC to bring it back to life.

Read Part II of Spring Cleaning Your PC here.

One weekend project I had recently completed was connecting a family member’s computer to a television in another room. While this sounds dead easy at first, there were some problems with the particular setup that I was dealing with. First and foremost, this is a standard-def television that has limited connections and the PC doesn’t have S-Video, so it’s not as easy as just slapping on an S-Video cable and calling it a day. Also, the setup that I use must be simple. While I’m technically capable, said family member is not. So, I can’t do anything too complex. Join me after the break for a quick tutorial on getting your computer connected to a TV, despite there being several blocks in the road.

While there were a few setbacks, one thing I was granted with was that the quality didn’t need to be crystal. So long as a picture is there, the family member is happy. Thus, I was able to accomplish the task relatively cheaply and easily. Sadly though, if you want crystal-clear picture and sound, you’re better off purchasing a HDTV.

Setting out, you’ll need only a couple of parts:

- VGA to TV converter
- Extra VGA cable
- RCA cable
- 3.5mm to RCA converter/splitter

The setup is quick and easy. You’ll need to first disconnect the VGA cable from your computer monitor and plug it into the VGA to TV converter, leaving the other end plugged into the computer. Connect the extra VGA cable to your computer monitor and then the other end to the converter. This way you can use your TV and monitor both.

Next, add the Yellow RCA cable to the converter and power it up. Take the other end of the Yellow RCA cable and plug it into your TV. Change input and check for a signal. Everything with video should now be set.

For audio, plug the 3.5mm splitter into your PC, one end of the split connects to your computer speakers. The other goes to the 3.5mm to RCA white/red converter. Connect the white/red RCA cables into the RCA converter, and the other end into your TV. Check for sound.

Congrats, both video and audio should now be working. You’re well on your way to setting up an HTPC. Some future recommendations would be to utilize a remote or wireless keyboard/mouse, and connect your PC to the internet (most likely it already is) to stream movies, music, television shows, etc. If you’re experiencing any problems, please let me know in the comments and I will do my best to respond!

Jakob Griffith writes for the popular hacking blog HackADay.com and also stops by Tech Olive every now and then to help out and write DIY and how-to articles. You can visit his personal development blog at kobaj.net.

It’s very apparent that netbooks are known for not being all that powerful. They’re great for portability, checking your email and surfing the web, but when it comes to heavy information processing like playing HD video, you’ll have to look elsewhere, or do you?

One of the biggest cons with my netbook was that it would barely play my HD collection, but that was until the guys over at PC Pro showed a fairly simple way of accomplishing it by using the ever-diverse Media Player Classic and the CoreAVC codec. CoreAVC is known as one of the fastest software decoders out there, and when it’s coupled with one of the best video players, Media Player Classic, you get the ultimate video player for your netbook. Mind you, CoreAVC will cost you $10, but there’s also “other ways” to get it, of course.

So, let’s get started. You’ll need three things for this quick project:

• Media Player Classic
• CoreAVC ($10)
• HD Videos encoded in h.264 or AVC.

1. Go ahead and download and install Media Player Classic (MPC). Any true geek should already have this installed anyway.

2. Now, install CoreAVC. Go ahead and uncheck Haali’s Media Splitter when you get to the Choose Components screen. You’ll only need the codec.

3. Once installed, go to the CoreCodec directory in Start>All Programs and select Configure CoreAVC.

4. The only changes you’ll need to make to the codec is setting Deblocking to Skip always and set Deinterlacing to None (Weave). Then, hit Apply and then OK.

5. Open up MPC and go to View>Options. A new window will pop up. Select External Filters on the left side.

6. CoreAVC Video Decoder should already be showing in the list, but if it’s not, go to Add Filter and find CoreAVC Video Decoder in the list and double-click on it. It should now be in the list. Then, make sure Prefer is selected, which it already should be.

7. After that, select Output in the left-side menu. Make sure DirectShow Video is set to EVR (Vista/.Net3). Click Apply and then OK.

8. Close and restart MPC to make sure the new settings apply.

You’re all set to go now. Play your favorite HD video and it should play without much trouble. Mind you, it won’t play perfectly, but audio will stay in sync and the video will barely skip. I should also note that playing HD video on your netbook will use up every single resource, so don’t plan on doing anything else except watching that movie.

“What’s the point of playing HD on a 1024×600 screen?”

For me personally, my whole collection is in HD and I’d rather not convert every video I have to make it play nicely with my netbook. For others, they usually like to connect their netbook to a larger display.

“Are there any other alternatives to CoreAVC? I really don’t want to spend $10.”

Luckily, there are free alternatives that are just as good as CoreAVC. The Shark007 codec has been said to work well for HD playback on netbooks.

“What about battery life? Won’t HD playback drain my battery like crazy?”

Surprisingly, HD playback doesn’t suck much out of netbook batteries. Using the Asus Eee 1005HA, I managed to still have 72% of the battery left on a 1 hour, 30 minute, 720p movie with screen brightness at 75% and both WiFi and Bluetooth off. On a normal 15.4″ HP laptop, the battery died before I could even finish the movie. Now, that’s saying something for netbooks.

“Will this work with online HD content like YouTube?”

Unfortunately, no. The codec only works with HD video played in MPC.

Netbooks –as convenient as they are– lack a bit in the performance category, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for less in productivity and overall experience. You can get a lot of power out of these applications without using a whole lot of juice. The best part? They”re all completely free of charge. Here’s a quick list of the top applications that have proven useful for me during my netbook journey.

Daemon Tools

Probably one of the most useful tools that a netbook user could use. Since netbooks don’t have the luxury of an optical drive, Daemon Tools is there to save the day. If you need to install something on your netbook that requires a disc, you can easily create an image of the disc on your desktop PC and then pop the disc image on a flash drive. Then have Daemon Tools open it up on your netbook by right-clicking the system tray icon and navigating to Virtual Devices > No Media > Mount Image and then find the disc image to open it. Walah!
Download

Google Chrome

If you’re using Firefox on your netbook, consider switching to Google Chrome. I found it to be less sluggish when I have multiple tabs open and Chrome simply takes up less resources.
Download

GIMP

It’s obvious that most netbooks don’t stand a chance running Adobe Photoshop. You could get by with Photoshop Elements, but to me it’s either all-out Photoshop or no Photoshop. Instead, GIMP does everything I need it to when doing on-the-fly edits. Better yet, try out GIMPshop, which resembles Photoshop even more.
Download

OpenOffice.org Suite

Why pay for a second license to Microsoft Office (if you already have it for your desktop, that is) when you can simply and easily get away with a free productivity suite that works just as well. OpenOffice.org is a great addition to your netbook. Heck, if you like it enough, you could ditch MS Office all together.
Download

VLC Player

Your netbook can make a great portable media player, but you obviously need a solid media player to make this happen. VLC Player has you covered. It’s a very lightweight application that will play pretty much anything you throw at it. We also suggest Media Player Classic, which plays HD video more smoothly than VLC, but that’s really not a huge factor when you’re deciding which player to use for your netbook, since most netbooks don’t play nice HD video.
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