A Techie’s Blog

Previously I had given you an overview of Ubuntu Linux. Now today lets try to install it on your hard disk. Don’t worry if you are a newbie and are running Windows. I’ll show you how to install it alongside with Windows. This means your Windows partition and all your data will remain intact and you also get the advantage of trying out Linux. After starting your PC, you’ll get an option to choose between Windows and Linux. Just select your choice through arrow keys and press Enter key. That’s what we’ll be doing here. But to achieve this we just need one thing and that is one free partition on your Windows. That means one of your drives like D: or E: should be empty and don’t contain any data. If they contain any data then you can move it to some other drive.

So lets start our adventure:

1) Insert your Ubuntu CD and boot from it. If you don’t have Ubuntu’s CD then you can order it for free from here. Or you can download from here. Now select the option of “Try Ubuntu without installing” and press Enter.

2) Now you’ll get a screen like this. Double click on Install.

3) Now just enter the appropriate information as asked by the installation process.

4) On this screen which asks for “How do you want to partition the disk? ” Click on “Manual”. We select here manual because we want to manually give the information related to partitioning and all that.

5) Now select the partition which you emptied previously. You’ll need t identify that partition by seeing its size and free space. You’ll not get here as C: or D: like in Windows. Now make two partitions from this, use one for / (root) and use another for “Swap”. / is where Ubuntu installs all the files for its funtioning. And swap is like page file in Windows. 2 GB of swap is enough.

6) After this whole preocess Ubuntu will ask questions like your Name and what password you would like to set. Password is compulsory in Ubuntu, you can’t get away without it like in Windows. And yes, remember your password as you would require it everytime you logon to Ubuntu.

That’s it now Ubuntu will install, time will depend on your PC’s configuration. After rebooting you will see “Grub” i.e. its a menu which asks you to which OS you want to start. Select your preferred operating system and press Enter.

This is how you can get the best of both World. Even if you have any problems in Windows you can always start Ubuntu and continue your work. Welcome to the beautful World of free open source software (FOSS).

Today I will show you a great site through which you can chat with your friends without installing any messenger on your PC.  Surprised? Don’t be, read on. You can do almost anything from your favorite browser like Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, etc directly without even installing yahoo messenger, Google Talk, Live messenger, AIM, ICQ, etc messengers. You haven’t done that right? But you will do this now, read on Read more…

This is my first post in which i am writing about mobile phones. If you are buying a new mobile or just wanna recommend a new mobile to a friend then this is the right place for you.

I will recommend a mobile according to a price group.

So here I start:

Under 5000 INR (100 $) – The best bet for this budget is Nokia 3110 Classic. Its some features are Bluetooth, Infrared, expandable memory by microSD card upto 2 GB, 1.3 MP, radio, etc. Check out its features from here.

Under 7000 INR (140 $) – Under this budget you should go for Nokia 6233. This is somewhat old model but I highly recommend you this model. It has very good sound quality. Some features are 2 MP Camera, expandable memory upto 2 GB, bluetooth, radio, 3GPP/MPEG4 video player, etc. But if you want a Symbian phone then Nokia N72 is for you.

Under 10,000 INR (200 $) – In this budget I would recommend you Nokia Xpress Music 5220. Features include expandable memory upto 8 GB, 2 MP Camera, MP3/MPEG4 player, Java, upto 24 hr music time and many others.

Under 13,000 INR (260 $) – You can go for Nokia N73 ME in this range. Feature set includes 3.15 MP Autofocus Camera, expandable memory, symbian, MPEG4 player, Document viewer, printing, etc.

That’s it, happy shopping.

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2009 can be used as an free alternative to Nero. Many of you all use Nero for CD/DVD writing. But if you don’t have Nero then you can also try Ashampoo Burning Studio 2009. This is a free version of Ashampoo Burning Studio 8 which requires commercial license.

You can also use this software for creating data disc in the form of DVD, CD or Blu ray. You can also use it for creating audio, video, SVCD, cover designer, copy discs, erase discs, etc. There are many more features which you can get for free. It also has an easy to use interface.

You can download Ashampoo Burning Studio 2009  from here. During installation select the option of  “Get full version key”. After the completion of installation, you will be redirected to the registration page to get the free license key.

Let’s build today a gaming PC in the budget under Rs 30000 (600 $). You can use this PC for entertainment, learning, net surfing, etc purposes. This will be based on Intel processor.

Processor: Intel C2D E7300

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L which is a P43 chipset based mobo

Graphics card: Palit 9600 GT

HD: 160 GB Hitachi SATA2 HD (with 8 MB buffer)

RAM: Transcend 2 GB 800 Mhz

DVD RW: Samsung SATA 22x DVD RW

Cabinet & PSU: Any local cabinet like Intex, Zebronics, etc with 450 W power supply

Monitor: Dell SE198 WFP LCD Monitor (19” Widescreen)

Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech combo

Speaker: Creative SBS A300

Depending on the place prices of some peripherals may change. Therefore I am not quoting separate prices of each one. You can also use BenQ E2200 HD but it will exceed our budget. This LCD alone costs Rs 11500. It means you have to add some 3000 more to get this LCD. BenQ is a full HD LCD monitor, so it is best for entertainment purposes. Also it is the best VFM.

Sometimes it becomes difficult to manually find the file which you are looking for in a file server. A file server is a PC attached to a network for the purpose of sharing files on the network. It means all the workstations attached can copy, paste, cut, modify all the files from the file server. E.g. a Z: on “My Computer”. File servers are used mostly for universal storage & use of the files, so that any files can be accessed from any PC on a local area network.

LAN search Pro is a good utility for searching files on LAN, and that also very fast. You can also use this software for using specific file types by using wildcards like *.mp3, *.gif, *.mpg, etc.It also allows you to perform actions like move, copy, rename, etc funcions.

You can customize the search area, search all hidden resources, network folders and so on with the help of LAN search pro.
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