class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/iOS5-300.jpg" alt="ios operating system" />Learn all about iOS 5, the latest operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. If you’ve upgraded but aren’t sure what’s new, or are considering upgrading but want to know what you’re getting into, this manual from Lachlan Roy is what you looking for: “Using iOS: Your Guide to the Latest and Greatest Mobile Operating System.”

When Apple released the iPhone back in 2007, it was different to anything else on the market. It wasn’t the first touchscreen phone, but it was the first one to be so pretty. But as gorgeous as the hardware was, that wasn’t what made the iPhone so great, or what shook the cellphone industry. It was the software which made the iPhone what it was.

Now iOS 5 has been released, providing updates, tweaks and brand new features to make the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad even better and easier to use than before. Want to know what it brings to the table? Download this manual to find out.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/using-ios-your-guide-to-the-latest-and-greatest-mobile-operating-system">DOWNLOAD Using iOS: Your Guide to the Latest and Greatest Mobile Operating System

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the guide by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the password via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2. Simply share the guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ on the download page. Quick and easy.

 

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/iOS5-3page.jpg" alt="ios operating system" width="580" height="270" />

Download this free MakeUseOf guide to learn:

• What iOS 5 is, and which devices you can use it on.
• New features in iOS 5, from reminders to Twitter integration.
• Mastering the new, Android-style dashboard.
• Using the new messaging to send texts for free over WiFi, even from an iPod touch.
• Device-specific features, such as Siri.
• iCloud: what it is and what it does.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/using-ios-your-guide-to-the-latest-and-greatest-mobile-operating-system">DOWNLOAD Using iOS: Your Guide to the Latest and Greatest Mobile Operating System

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the guide by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the password via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2. Simply share the guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ on the download page. Quick and easy.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1016.png" alt="" />While Apple provides numerous ways for Mac users to customize and change hundreds of features and preferences – from desktop images, to the default Dock position, to advanced Terminal hacks – some third-party developers have provided even more ways to personalize, enable, and disable hidden functions.

Titanium’s href="http://www.titanium.free.fr/index.php?sid=edae21f46f6ac4b1e4b4800a719b92f7">Deeper personalization utility for Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion is one the best programs I know of to make tweaks to your Dock, QuickTime, Safari, iTunes, log-in window, Spotlight, and much more (we have also previously covered a similar program called href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-tools-to-keep-your-mac-in-tip-top-shape/">MainMenu). Some of the changes you can make with Deeper can also be done in the Preferences options of the Finder and other Mac applications, but let’s check out some of the unique hacks that can be done using Deeper.

General Functions

Deeper has over a hundred functions that you can customize on your Mac. In the General category, (I’m using the Snow Leopard version of Deeper for this review. The Lion version has some slight differences. Both downloads href="http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php">here) you can specify the default image format for screen captures, and where you want them saved.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1021.png" alt="Screenshot1021" width="580" height="559" border="0" />

Among the other functions, you can also select to have Deeper display one of a dozen animated backgrounds on your desktop. It’s like running a screensaver on your desktop as you’re working in any application.

Also, if you’re annoyed by those alert messages you get after downloading and opening an application, Deeper allows you to disable that message.

Finder Functions

Most of the function changes in the Finder category require you to restart the Finder in order to have the changes applied. Be careful, selecting some of these functions will immediately relaunch the Finder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1025.png" alt="Screenshot1025" width="580" height="361" border="0" />

In this category, you get options to make the background of the menu bar transparent, grey, or white. You can also show or hide the “Eject” and “Burn to Disc” functions in the drop-down File menu.

Another interesting change you can make is to the folder content previews for Quick Look. Selecting this option “allows you to display a transparent folder icon as well as the preview items located in the selected folder. When the folder contains more than one item, a small animation rotates the various previews.”

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1032.png" alt="Screenshot1032" width="580" height="337" border="0" />

Dock Functions

In addition to the existing options you have for controlling the Dock, Deeper provides even more. You can select to change the appearance of the Dock to a 3D with mirror effect or 2D transparency effect. You can also select to have the Dock show only running applications.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1018.png" alt="Screenshot1018" width="375" height="54" border="0" />

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1019.png" alt="Screenshot1019" width="348" height="50" border="0" />

In addition, you can lock the size of the icons in the Dock, as well as selecting and enabling what is called Single Application mode. This function works like iOS apps. When you click the icon and application in the Dock that is already launched, it will appear in the foreground and hide the other applications simultaneously.

Other Categories

The five other categories in Deeper include function changes that can be made in QuickTime, Safari, Mail, log-in, Spotlight, and several other native OS X utility applications. A few changes unique to Deeper include the ability to change the background image of the log-in screen of your Mac.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1026.png" alt="Screenshot1026" width="574" height="93" border="0" />

If you have one or more Macs that are publicly used, say in a school, Deeper can disable the Restart, Shut Down, and Log Out menu items in the Apple menu. You can choose a different Start-up Mode for your Mac – either Normal, Safe Mode, Verbose, or Single user.

For iTunes, you can disable the iTunes Store and Ping in the side menu bar, as well as enable half-star ratings. When this function is applied, you just have to click beside a point or a star to assign a 1/2 notation.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-22-at-7.13.04-PM.png" alt="Screen shot 2011 08 22 at 7 13 04 PM" width="467" height="124" border="0" />

There are a couple of dozen other functions you can enable with Deeper, including debug menus, setting the Help Viewer window to “floating mode”, and enabling the developer mode of the Dashboard. Deeper is clearly for Mac users who want to get more out of their computer. The application’s Help documentation explains every category and function, and it’s easy to restore functions to their default status.

Let us know what you think of Deeper. If you like it, consider giving the developer a donation. If you use another program like Deeper, let us know about it.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1016.png" alt="" />While Apple provides numerous ways for Mac users to customize and change hundreds of features and preferences – from desktop images, to the default Dock position, to advanced Terminal hacks – some third-party developers have provided even more ways to personalize, enable, and disable hidden functions.

Titanium’s href="http://www.titanium.free.fr/index.php?sid=edae21f46f6ac4b1e4b4800a719b92f7">Deeper personalization utility for Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion is one the best programs I know of to make tweaks to your Dock, QuickTime, Safari, iTunes, log-in window, Spotlight, and much more (we have also previously covered a similar program called href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-tools-to-keep-your-mac-in-tip-top-shape/">MainMenu). Some of the changes you can make with Deeper can also be done in the Preferences options of the Finder and other Mac applications, but let’s check out some of the unique hacks that can be done using Deeper.

General Functions

Deeper has over a hundred functions that you can customize on your Mac. In the General category, (I’m using the Snow Leopard version of Deeper for this review. The Lion version has some slight differences. Both downloads href="http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php">here) you can specify the default image format for screen captures, and where you want them saved.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1021.png" alt="Screenshot1021" width="580" height="559" border="0" />

Among the other functions, you can also select to have Deeper display one of a dozen animated backgrounds on your desktop. It’s like running a screensaver on your desktop as you’re working in any application.

Also, if you’re annoyed by those alert messages you get after downloading and opening an application, Deeper allows you to disable that message.

Finder Functions

Most of the function changes in the Finder category require you to restart the Finder in order to have the changes applied. Be careful, selecting some of these functions will immediately relaunch the Finder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1025.png" alt="Screenshot1025" width="580" height="361" border="0" />

In this category, you get options to make the background of the menu bar transparent, grey, or white. You can also show or hide the “Eject” and “Burn to Disc” functions in the drop-down File menu.

Another interesting change you can make is to the folder content previews for Quick Look. Selecting this option “allows you to display a transparent folder icon as well as the preview items located in the selected folder. When the folder contains more than one item, a small animation rotates the various previews.”

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1032.png" alt="Screenshot1032" width="580" height="337" border="0" />

Dock Functions

In addition to the existing options you have for controlling the Dock, Deeper provides even more. You can select to change the appearance of the Dock to a 3D with mirror effect or 2D transparency effect. You can also select to have the Dock show only running applications.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1018.png" alt="Screenshot1018" width="375" height="54" border="0" />

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1019.png" alt="Screenshot1019" width="348" height="50" border="0" />

In addition, you can lock the size of the icons in the Dock, as well as selecting and enabling what is called Single Application mode. This function works like iOS apps. When you click the icon and application in the Dock that is already launched, it will appear in the foreground and hide the other applications simultaneously.

Other Categories

The five other categories in Deeper include function changes that can be made in QuickTime, Safari, Mail, log-in, Spotlight, and several other native OS X utility applications. A few changes unique to Deeper include the ability to change the background image of the log-in screen of your Mac.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/screenshot1026.png" alt="Screenshot1026" width="574" height="93" border="0" />

If you have one or more Macs that are publicly used, say in a school, Deeper can disable the Restart, Shut Down, and Log Out menu items in the Apple menu. You can choose a different Start-up Mode for your Mac – either Normal, Safe Mode, Verbose, or Single user.

For iTunes, you can disable the iTunes Store and Ping in the side menu bar, as well as enable half-star ratings. When this function is applied, you just have to click beside a point or a star to assign a 1/2 notation.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Screen-shot-2011-08-22-at-7.13.04-PM.png" alt="Screen shot 2011 08 22 at 7 13 04 PM" width="467" height="124" border="0" />

There are a couple of dozen other functions you can enable with Deeper, including debug menus, setting the Help Viewer window to “floating mode”, and enabling the developer mode of the Dashboard. Deeper is clearly for Mac users who want to get more out of their computer. The application’s Help documentation explains every category and function, and it’s easy to restore functions to their default status.

Let us know what you think of Deeper. If you like it, consider giving the developer a donation. If you use another program like Deeper, let us know about it.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bartering.jpg" alt="money saving sites" />You may or may not know about the age-old practice of bartering, but there are several sites on the Internet that could possibly save you money through the process of exchanging goods and services in lieu of monetary compensation.

Say you have web design skills but you can’t afford to buy an iPad, well you just may be able to exchange your skills for that popular mobile device. Or maybe you have a Canon camera but you’re looking to trade it for a Nikon of a similar model. Bartering websites are similar to eBay in which ads are posted for items and services of exchange. Barterers contact one another and make an offer for those exchanges. Though there is some risk involved, it’s best to start bartering on a local level where you can meet the person you’re making the exchange with. But as you will see, there are bartering sites set up that can assist in making your exchange with other barterers across the country or even around the world.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites">Craigslist

As you might expect, Craigslist is not only a free and widely known place to buy and sell goods and services, but you can actually also barter items and services on there as well.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot625.png" border="0" alt="money saving sites" width="541" height="282" />

Simply find your local Craigslist homepage and click on “Barter,” listed under the “For Sale” section. Depending on the city or town where you live, you will find a whole host of offers. In my area, barter listings included a “Car for the weekend,” a “A Beautiful Honora Pearl Necklace,” “video services,” and “baseball/softball lessons.”

When you find an item or service you’re interested in, you contact that person and make the seller or buyer an offer. Likewise you can post your own sales. In using Craigslist, depending the what you’re bartering, you might want to set up an insurance payment via PayPal, cash or cashier’s check, that is acceptable to both parties. It’s also a good idea to barter on a local level, if possible.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.swap.com/home/">Swap.com

Swap.com is a very straightforward trading site that focuses on the trading of books, CD’s, movies, and video games. You need to be a Facebook member to register on the site. Once you’re a member, you simply create a “have list” and a “want list” of items. When you’re ready to swap, choose the item you want to trade and an email will automatically be sent to the other trader in the transaction. If the trader(s) accepts, you’ll get an email letting you know the trade is completed and you will then be provided the shipping address where you need to ship your item.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot629.png" border="0" alt="bartering online" width="580" height="221" />

The only cost associated with swapping on Swap.com is shipping costs. Similar to eBay, members of the site are rated by other members about how fast they shipped the item and if the item was what it was described to be.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.swaptreasures.com/home.do">SwapTreasures

SwapTreasures.com seems to feature almost any item you may want for trade – from antiques, to electronics, to video games. You can follow SwapTreasures on their Facebook and Twitter pages, but you’re pretty much on your own when it comes to setting up a trade.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/how-it-works.png" border="0" alt="bartering online" width="549" height="234" />

There are absolutely no sign-up fees or point systems for this site. You send or receive offers, set up the trade, and make the exchange. Each member has a membership page, and positive and negative ratings can be left about members. You can also do a search in your local area for wanted items.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.u-exchange.com">U-Exchange

U-Exchange, an international site for US, UK, and Canadian citizens, is similar to SwapTreasures. There are no membership fees involved. U-Exchange makes its revenue from advertising on the site.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot632.png" border="0" alt="bartering online" width="469" height="235" />

As with other bartering sites, you create or respond to items you want to trade and email contacts about the trade offer. You don’t have to be a member of the site to start making contacts, but the process of contacting registered members of the site is easier if you too are signed up. Listings for this site include items and services, bartering for vacation housing, and vehicle and boat trades.

You can use the site’s Google map and keyword features to search for local listings as well. Many of the listings that I linked to didn’t include photos of items up for trade. Providing a few photos as you would on eBay is one of the best ways to get your listing responded to. U-Exchange is not a very well designed site, but its listings seem pretty wide and varied.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.barterquest.com">BarterQuest

BarterQuest is the most well designed and active bartering site of the ones listed for review. Categories for trading items and services are varied, including cameras, furniture, sporting goods, video and computer games, and even gift certificates.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot633.jpg" border="0" alt="bartering websites" width="580" height="212" />

While the trading is absolutely free, you must have your account verified, which costs $9. However, this one-time verification fee is waived if you can get three of your friends to sign up on the site as well. You still can search the site before getting verified and begin making a list of the things you have to trade and another list of things you’re looking for.

BarterQuest uses a matching system to match your “have” items and services with your “wants.” The site also has a point system so that if you don’t have something of “equal value” to trade, you can use points as part of your negotiation.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot635.png" border="0" alt="bartering websites" width="580" height="153" />

One other great feature about BarterQuest are Clubs, which are focused on particular types of traders, e.g. freelancers, animal lovers, technology gurus, small business owners, book lovers, etc.

Bartering with strangers online may feel a little risky, but depending on what you’re trying to barter, the process could save you some money if you’re on a tight budget.

Let us know what you think of the online bartering system. Have you ever tried it? What were the results?

Image credit: class="vt-p" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=4115608">Shutterstock.com />
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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/intro6.jpg" alt="system restore not working" />When your computer works smoothly, don’t you wish it would always stay this way? Even if you exercise caution with the programs you download, regularly perform defragmentation and do other things to ensure your system runs at its best, problems may still arise without warning.

System Restore may work wonders and save your behind in those cases. If however you find system restore not working, there might be a number of things to check before you reinstall Windows. If you’re sure System Restore is turned on, but it’s still not working properly, try the following.

Run System Restore From Safe Mode

If you get any problems while running System Restore, or System Restore did not complete successfully, try running System Restore in Safe Mode. To run Windows in Safe Mode, restart your computer and press F8 (if you have Windows installed only). If you have a dual-boot configuration, select Windows and press F8 before the Windows logo appears. You can also make the system go into Safe Mode by typing ‘msconfig’ in the Start search box and enabling Safe Boot in the Boot tab.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/31.png" alt="system restore not working" width="566" height="381" />

When you’re on the desktop in Windows Safe Mode, type ‘System’ in the Start search box and press Enter when System Restore is highlighted. You should be able to run System Restore at this point. If System Restore works in Safe Mode, then perhaps your antivirus program or a corrupted file is preventing it from starting. You may need to adjust your antivirus program (like turn off Norton’s Tamper Protection feature) or perform scans before attempting to run System Restore again.

Sometimes, your System Restore files may also have become corrupted. You may have to use an earlier restore point (especially if you’ve tried the more recent ones without success), but if that doesn’t work, you may need to switch System Restore off (this will delete all your existing restore points), restart your computer and turn it on again.

Configure Disk Space Usage (300MB)

If you still can’t get System Restore to run properly, try adjusting the disk space allocated for System Restore since you might have run out of it. Microsoft href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions">recommends at least 300MB of free hard disk space and since System Restore might actually use up to 15% of space, you might look into increasing the allocated space or deleting old restore points.

To adjust disk space for System Restore, type ‘create restore’ in the Start search box and press Enter when Create a restore point is highlighted.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/4.0.png" alt="system restore does not wor" width="412" height="555" />

Now click on the Configure button and move the slider in the next dialog.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/4.5.png" alt="system restore does not wor" width="426" height="474" />

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/4.6.png" alt="system restore does not wor" width="421" height="472" />

To delete old restore points, you can use the option below the slider to delete all restore points and previous versions of files (which I would not recommend), or only delete older restore points while still keeping the last, most recent one. To do the latter, type Disk Cleanup in the Start search box, right-click on the first item and choose Run as Administrator.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/11.5.png" alt="system restore disabled" width="377" height="162" />

Now click on More Options, and then on Clean up.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/11.png" alt="system restore disabled" width="389" height="476" />

Try System Image Backup Programs

System Restore may have always worked for you, but if you’ve tried a lot of things and System Restore just doesn’t work at all, try performing system image backups. These will create an image of your system when it’s stable and performing smoothly so you can restore your machine to that state in case it runs into problems. Windows 7 already has a function for you to create system repair disks and images. Just type ‘repair’ or ‘system repair’ in the Start search box and follow the instructions to create a repair disk.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/13.png" alt="system restore disabled" width="411" height="514" />

To create system images, type ‘back up’ in the Start search box.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/62.png" alt="" width="409" height="552" />

Click on Create a System Image on the left of the window.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/12.png" alt="" width="316" height="224" />

You’ll be prompted to choose somewhere to save your system image so you can start saving the backup. To restore image backups, read href="http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-restore/89828-system-restore-doesnt-work-2.html">this.

You can also use href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-advanced-hard-drive-cloning-solution-from-clonezilla/">Clonezilla, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-prepare-yourself-for-system-restore-from-scratch/">Paragon’s Drive Backup Express or any of the excellent 5 tools in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-to-clone-and-copy-your-hard-drive/">this list.

If you would rather reinstall Windows, read href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-reinstall-windows-without-losing-your-data/">Jorge’s guide for reinstalling without losing your data.

Additional Consideration: Make Sure Restore Points Are Being Created

Just to be on the safe side, check regularly that restore points are being created because the last thing you want is to find out your System Restore function doesn’t work after your computer has gone awry. Type ‘rstrui’ in the Start search box. Click Next on the dialog and on the next screen, make sure there are recent restore points.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/10.png" alt="system restore not working" width="580" height="465" />

How do you deal when System Restore is not working? Let us know in the comments!

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Last week we asked how many backups you make of your important data. Most of you answered that you think 1-2 backups of your important data is plenty enough.

From the 297 votes collected, the breakdown was: 52% people make 1-2 backups; 34% people make 3-5 backups; 9% make no backups at all; 3% make 6-10 backups and fewer than 1% make either 10-19 or 20+ backups.

So, you can see 1-2 backups is the most popular amount for important data, followed by 3-5 backups.

This week’s poll question is: Which Operating System is Better? Linux Vs Mac?

We know full well that Mac is based on Unix and that there’s dozens of other amazing Unix flavours, Windows operating systems and numerous other operating systems out there to choose from. But if your choice were narrowed down to your favourite Linux or Mac OS, would you pick Linux or Mac?

Obviously, your answers could vary when considering the purpose of the computer – and some of you might really prefer neither. Have a rant in the comments and let us know what your choice is based on!

More articles about: operating system, os x, Reader Polls

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Sometimes I wish life has a rewind button that will let us go back to the past and undo all the damage that we’ve done – to restore everything to the ‘previous working state’.  Events in our life might be irreversible, but things are different in the computer world. You can restore your system to any previous state you want, as long as you have the necessary backups.

Windows users have “System Restore” that they can count on. But that feature isn’t the quickest way to do it. Meet SmartClose, a really tiny application that will help you to quickly take and restore snapshots of your system state.

Take This Tiny Tool

Other than long-term safety precautions, taking system snapshots is also advisable prior to software installations, especially for those who install and uninstall lots of software regularly. With a snapshot ready, one can cleanly erase the presence of a newly installed software. This method is better than traditional uninstallers which always litter the system with unwanted leftovers.

Looking at various system maintenance applications with DVD-size files, I never thought that SmartClose would measure less than 700KB. It’s small enough that you could put it in your Dropbox folder and install it on your other computers. The interface is also simple; just one small window with five menus. So everything is accessible from here.

With the program installed, we are ready to begin.

Snap Some System Shots

The first time you use the app, you will be guided by a wizard. Check the “Don’t show this introduction page again” box to skip it the next time you take other shots.

The first step of the wizard is to choose tasks to be performed before taking the snapshot. In general, these tasks are mainly about stopping every unnecessary computer activity before taking the system snapshot.

The wizard will also let you add applications to the “Protected Programs” list. The list contains critical applications that will not be closed due to their importance to the system.

The next step will let you choose the location to save the snapshot.

Before starting the process, you will see a window with a list of all the tasks. Click “Start” to begin.

Restore From A Recorded Shot

To restore your system using one of the snapshots, choose the second menu under “Create a system snapshot …“. You will have a similar wizard guiding you, but the steps go the opposite way from the first one.

The wizard starts by letting you choose which system snapshot you want to restore from. The default choice is the last saved snapshot.

Then it will relaunch all the closed applications. If there are some applications you’ve opened before running the restore wizard, click the “Uncheck Running Programs” button before clicking “Next“.

The wizard continues by asking you which components you want to restore.

Then you’ll see the list of tasks. Click “Start” to begin the restoration process.

To see how SmartClose performed, I took a snapshot of my system, installed several new applications, then restored my system using the latest snapshot. I found no trace of the applications I had just installed. So we can conclude that SmartClose would be a great companion for people who love to try out new applications.

Do you think SmartClose would be useful for you? Do you prefer to use Windows’ System Restore instead? Or do you use another better alternative? Please share your thoughts using the comments below.

More articles about: backup, pc maintenance, restore, system restore, system tools, troubleshoot

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SplashtopOS.jpg" alt="free netbook operating system" /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.splashtop.com">SplashTop, the company behind the instant-on operating system features of many current netbooks has recently released their Chromium-based complementary netbook OS for anyone to install. It’s lightweight, with Chrome built-in, and is pretty darned fast.

If you’re already running Windows, perhaps it’s worth taking a look as it’s designed to run alongside and get you booted into an Internet-ready session in seconds. You’ll also get the power of class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-chrome-web-apps-check">Chrome web apps.

Download & Install

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/splashtop-os-install-1.png" alt="free netbook operating system" width="570" height="410" />

Head over to class="vt-p" href="http://www.splashtop.com">SplashTop and down the latest SplashTop OS. It’s a small 2MB installation file, but once you launch the application it’ll download a further 312MB over your Internet connection.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/splashtop-os-download.png" alt="netbook operating systems" width="500" height="63" />

When THAT installation has finished, you’ll be given the option to import either IE or Firefox favourites as well as your Wi-fi settings, which is a nice touch. Restart the machine, and your boot menu will now show you a SplashTop OS option too. The boot-up is hardly instant, but it’s certainly faster than Windows.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/splashtop-os-select.png" alt="free netbook operating system" width="580" height="155" />

Features At A Glance

• The Internet, with Google Chrome.
• Chrome Apps.
• A sandboxed environment.

That’s it, basically. It’s not designed to replace Windows. It’s a simple no-frills approach to using the Internet. So why would you use it then?

Faster Boot Time

So you don’t have to wait for the bulk of Windows to load. It’s not just the time taken to show you a desktop either – once you’ve loaded the desktop, you often still have to wait for various drivers, anti-virus software, automatic update checks – all of which prevents you from doing your simple 2 second Internet search. If 90% of your netbook use is using a browser, then you really don’t need all the bloat of Windows. SplashTop provides a simple alternative.

Snappier Response

If you are running lots of background apps in Windows when you really just need the Internet, it’s a pain to close them all after a Windows restart just to get a quick speed up. On limited netbook machines, every ounce of computing power that you can squeeze out is important.

Sandboxes Security

You can’t download files to your hard drive, only to USB drives. While this might be annoying, it does provide a great deal of security by preventing browser based attacks – of which there are none for Chrome anyway.

Easy Reset

For security reasons or anonymity, there is a Restore Defaults option under the Enviromental Settings -> General screen. It will wipe everything, and restore the initial OS image.

Making Use Of An Old Computer

Okay, so you need to install Windows first, but then you can install the lightweight SplashTop OS for daily use as a basic Internet station.

Although I wasn’t able to make screenshots within the OS, here’s a short video from SplashTop to tempt you.

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryrBGjRx7v8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryrBGjRx7v8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

If you’re worried about trying this out on your main machine then bear in mind it unfortunately won’t work on a virtual machine (at least it wouldn’t for me). Don’t worry though, an uninstall option is added to your Windows installed programs list so it’s easy to get rid of if you don’t like it.

Conclusion

Despite apparently being powered by Bing, all my test searches using the browser bar defaulted to Google, so don’t let the Bing branding scare you off. It’s simple, lightweight, perfect for a quick browsing session on a netbook. It’s not going to replace your main Windows installation, and it’s not supposed to – it’s complementary. If you’re living in the cloud though, it’s a great way to simplify your computing experience.

Let us know in the comments what you think of it. />
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style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/mini3.jpg" />For the next 48 hours only, 360Amigo System Speedup PRO and Returnil System Safe 2011 (worth $60 together) are available as a bundle for only $15. Purchasing this bundle automatically enters you into the lucky draws to win a 250 GB ioSafe Rugged Portable and a license for Nitro PDF Professional worth $99.99.

Buy now from href="http://bundlelytic.com/fire-sale/">bundlelytic: fire sale.

This mini bundle, along with the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-apps-price-1-bundlelytic-charity-bundle-giveaway/">bundlelytic charity bundle was initiated by MakeUseOf in an effort to raise funds and awareness towards the victims of the recent natural disasters in Queensland, Australia. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Queensland Disaster Relief fund.

Although no longer featured, you may still purchase previous fire sale bundles: /> href="https://sites.fastspring.com/thedailybuggle/instant/bundlelyticfiresale">Paragon Partition Manager 11 Personal and novaPDF Professional Edition for $15 /> href="https://sites.fastspring.com/thedailybuggle/instant/bundlelyticfiresale2">EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard v.5.0.1 and Altaro Oops!Backup for $20 />
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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookappsthumb.gif" alt="best netbook applications" width="300" height="201" />Netbooks, and other small ultra-portable computers including Windows tablets, are well loved because of their small footprint and light weight. However, netbooks are far less powerful than the typical notebook PC, which means they can have trouble running applications that other PCs have no problem with.

This means that anyone who wants a snappy netbook needs to pick the best netbook applications. Finding and judging the best netbook applications can take some time, which is why I’ve handled it for you.

id="more-64386">

Best Antivirus: class="vt-p" href="http://www.cloudantivirus.com/en/">Panda Cloud Antivirus

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps1.jpg" alt="best netbook applications" width="513" height="318" />

Picking an class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-best-antivirus-programs/"> antivirus program for a netbook is tricky because of the limited system resources available. All antivirus software has the potential to become a real resource hog, because the process of shifting through files in search of virus signatures isn’t easy.

There are a number of relatively lightweight antivirus programs, however, and Panda Cloud Antivirus is at the top. It’s intuitive, quick, and provides solid protection. I will admit that this spot was hotly contested, however. If you’re not happy with Panda, try class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avast.com%2Ffree-antivirus-download&ei=AWxATaHJB4-ssAPbjt3yCA&usg=AFQjCNESA4PpFkxcFAbaMJc8XgBh0ftqXg">Avast! free edition or class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fsecurity_essentials%2F&ei=4WtATZ28DIK0sAOHxa2BCQ&usg=AFQjCNG-Ti_cvPq5cgZj9K9dV513GtNQ2A"> Microsoft Security Essentials.

Best Browser: class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/chrome">Google Chrome

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: left;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/googlechromelogo.png" alt="netbook software applications" width="200" height="82" />Honestly, there wasn’t much of a contest here. Google Chrome is incredibly light on system resources and does almost everything that you could want a browser to do.

I have occasionally run into websites that failed to support Chrome properly, but you can always keep a backup of Internet Explorer installed for those very rare situations.

Best Desktop Enchancement: class="vt-p" href="http://www.360desktop.com/">360Desktop

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps2.png" alt="netbook software applications" width="580" height="198" />

Netbooks have small displays. This is a disadvantage that is common in small devices, and one that can feel very limiting. Fortuantely, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-indefinite-desktop-space-with-360desktop-windows/">360Desktop can help you get around this problem. No, it doesn’t magically make your display larger, but it does virtually enlarge it and provides the ability to scroll across it. This provides you with more usable space on the same small display.

Best Office Suite: class="vt-p" href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Google-Docs07.png" alt="netbook applications" />

The decision to include class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/google-docs-spreadsheets/">Google Docs as the pick for best netbook office suite, rather than OpenOffice/LibreOffice or any other contender, is related to the small footprint of Google Chrome. If you’re already using Chrome on your netbook, as recommended, it only makes sense to use Google Docs. This has a very low impact on system resources but provides common office suite functionality.

Best Image Editor: class="vt-p" href="http://lmadhavan.com/software/fotografix/">Fotograpfix

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps3.jpg" alt="netbook applications" width="500" height="433" />

There are a lot of image editing programs to choose from these days, but out of all of them I think class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-multiple-layered-image-editor-fotographix/">Fotograpfix is the best for netbooks. Although the program isn’t very pretty, and doesn’t match the functionality of GIMP, Fotograpfix does include all the basic image editing features. It’s absurdly light, as well – if Windows Task Manager can be trusted, it typically uses less system resources than Mozilla Firefox with a single tab open. That’s not bad at all!

Best Resource Monitor: class="vt-p" href="http://perso.accelance.net/~pesoft/trm/us_trm.html">TinyResMeter

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: left;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/netbookapps4.png" alt="netbook applications" width="150" height="92" />System resources on a netbook are important. They’re the entire reason I’m writing this blog post. With only so much to go around, you need to keep tabs on what is available and what isn’t.

TinyResMeter is a great way to do that. This light, customizable application provides information about your netbook without consuming much resources itself. It can monitor a huge range of  variables including not only common items, such as available RAM, but also more obscure information such as current hard drive disk speed. /> class="alignright" style="margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; border: 0px none initial;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ImpulseLogo.png" alt="best netbook applications" width="240" height="230" />

Best Game Platform: class="vt-p" href="http://www.impulsedriven.com/">Impulse

Steam generally takes the cake when it comes to gaming on a PC, but it can be a bit unwieldy on a netbook. Steam itself always runs in the background, and I’ve found that during sales the pop-up Windows loaded by Steam can take some time to appear on a netbook.

Impulse is a solid alternative that provides many of the same functions. Although the game selection and social networking features aren’t as good as Steam’s, Impulse has an advantage – it can be shut off completely, and you can still play the games you purchased. Impulse also has a good selection of obscure indie titles that tend to be less demanding on system resources.

Conclusion

Obviously, there is always going to be some debate about the programs that are best for netbooks. There are also a lot of categories of software – I covered those I think most relevant, but if you have a favorite program that wasn’t included here, please post it in the comments.

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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Format07.png" alt="computer file systems" width="280" height="188" />When you format class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-format-a-new-internal-hard-drive">a hard drive class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/format-usb-drive">or a flash drive, you prepare it for its use as a storage medium by an operating system. During this process a file system is set up and all information previously stored on the drive is removed.

You may have heard of computer file systems like FAT or NTFS before, but do you actually know what they do and which ones you are using? This article explains how they work and what their differences are. I also show you how to find out which file systems run on your drives.

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What Is A Computer File System?

Hard drives are divided into sectors of about 512 bytes each. Sectors in turn are grouped into clusters. Clusters, also known as allocation units, have a defined size of 512 bytes to 64 kilobytes, so they usually contain multiple sectors. A cluster represents a continuous block of space on the disk.

Operating systems rely on a file system to organize the clustered storage space. The file system maintains a database that records the status of each cluster. In essence, the file system shows the operating system in which cluster(s) a file is stored and where space is available to store new data.

Which File Systems Should I Know Of?

The prevalent Windows file systems are FAT (File Allocation Table), FAT32, and NTFS (New Technology File System).

Briefly, NTFS supports a file size of more than 4 GB, partitions can be larger than 32 GB, it better manages available space than FAT or FAT32 and thus causes less fragmentation, and it comes with a number of security-related features including on-the-fly file encryption.

Compared to NTFS, FAT file systems take up less space, they perform less write operations to the drive which makes them faster and a better fit for small flash drives, and they are cross-platform compatible. The biggest drawbacks of FAT and FAT32 are a partition size limit of 32 GB and a file size limited to 2GB or 4 GB, respectively.

A new file system predominantly used for flash drives is exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table), also known as FAT64. Like NTFS it supports files larger than 4 GB, partitions larger than 32 GB, and its file management avoids fragmentation. At the same time it is fast and optimized for mobile personal storage and handling media files.

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Which Operating Systems Can Handle These File Systems?

While FAT and FAT32 are recognized by almost all operating systems, formatting a drive with NTFS used to be a sure way to make the device unusable outside Windows. Meanwhile, NTFS read/write is supported natively by most Linux distributions. A  class="vt-p" title="Enable NTFS read/write on Mac OS X 10.6" href="http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090913140023382">hack is available to enable NTFS read/write on the Mac OS X version 10.6, however, it appears to be unstable, hence the use of  class="vt-p" title="MacFuse to read/write NTFS on Mac OS X" href="http://code.google.com/p/macfuse/">MacFuse is recommended. exFAT on the other hand requires drivers for both Windows XP and Linux, while it is supported in the latest versions of Windows Vista (SP1), Windows 7, and Mac OS X.

Why Is Cluster Size Important?

If you have ever formatted a drive, you will know that you can choose the allocation unit size, also known as cluster size.

Depending on the cluster size (from 512 bytes to 64 kilobytes) a single file can be stored in one or across hundreds or thousands of clusters. When a file is smaller than the actual cluster size, the remaining space is lost, a phenomenon known as wasted or slack space. Thus a large cluster size will lead to a lot of slack space, if lots of small files are stored on that drive. Choosing a small cluster size on the other hand means that large files are split up into many small pieces. This in turn can slow down the drive as it takes longer to read the respective file. In other words, choose the cluster size wisely.

How Can I Find Out How My Drive Is Formatted?

The file system is listed in the drive properties. Go to > Computer, right-click on the drive you wish to examine, and select > Properties from the menu. The > General tab shows the > File system.

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To find the cluster size of a NTFS drive, use the keyboard shortcut > [WINDOWS] + [R] and the Run window will open. Be sure you run the task with administrator rights. Type  > cmd into the text line and click > OK. Then run the command > fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo [drive letter] and hit > Enter.

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In Windows XP and Windows 7 you can also view and change the cluster size using third party applications, such as class="vt-p" title="Easeus Partition Master" href="http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm">Easeus Partition Master.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in these:

• class="vt-p" title="NTFS Formatting in Windows XP" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-optimize-usb-drive-with-ntfs/">How To Optimize USB drive with NTFS [Windows XP]
• class="vt-p" title="Fix Corrupted Windows NTFS Filesystem with Ubuntu" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-corrupted-windows-ntfs-filesystem-ubuntu/">How To Fix A Corrupted Windows NTFS Filesystem With Ubuntu
• class="vt-p" title="Make Corrupt USB Flash Drives Work Again" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-corrupt-usb-jump-drives-work/">How To Make Corrupt USB Jump Drives Work Again
• class="vt-p" title="Working with NTFS Drives on a Mac" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/macnifying-os-x-introduction-and-working-with-ntfs-drives/">Macnifying OS X: Introduction and working with NTFS Drives
• class="vt-p" title="Work With Linux Partitions From Windows" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/work-with-linux-partitions-from-windows/">How to Work with Linux Partitions from Windows

Which file system do you prefer on your storage devices and why? Did you ever run into trouble using NTFS and how were you able to fix it?

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style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/360amigo.jpg" />Unfortunately, your Windows installation isn’t going to remain fast, speedy and well-behaved forever. Nothing quite beats a fresh installation, but if you’d rather not go through the process of restoring all your documents, drivers and personal settings then maybe href="http://www.360amigo.com/">System Speedup Pro from 360Amigo can help.

It does what it says right on the tin – checks your PC for known problems affecting performance and attempts to restore some of the speed you once had to your tattered operating system. We’re literally giving away 25 copies (worth almost $500!), so read on to find out how you can win!

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Features

href="http://www.360amigo.com/en/features">360Amigo System Speedup Pro is the commercial branch of the company’s System Speedup product, and features a number of improvements over its free counterpart. Both versions are compatible with most recent versions of Microsoft Windows including 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista and 7.