How to check if BIOS update is needed

We are always reminded to keep our softwares ranging from antivirus system to even games to be updated. The reasons can be either to make sure any security bug that might pose harm to the entire system is fixed up or it could be merely because the developers has new features or improvements on the softwares. The other essential part of our computer system that might be left out is BIOS. It probably does not need a regular update as much as other softwares but keeping it up to date will make sure your computer is capable of running the latest form of hardwares that might not be supported by current version of BIOS.

Do I need a BIOS upgrade?

According to Phoenix Technologies,

In most cases the only reason to get a BIOS upgrade is to add support for a new form of hardware you are adding to your system (such as a new CPU, or larger hard disk) that is not supported by your current BIOS. Most operating systems do not use the BIOS once the operating system is up and running, so you should not upgrade the BIOS in an attempt to fix a software bug unless the system/motherboard manufacturer has identified the BIOS as the cause of the problem.

BIOS Agent is a small useful software that is useful in detecting your BIOS version. All you need to do is just click on the "Get BIOS Info" on the bottom left and shortly after that, all information related to your BIOS will be fetched onto the screen.

With all information at hand you can simply cross check the BIOS version displayed in BIOS checker with the vendor's website.

If your BIOS needs to be upgraded, the installation is pretty straightforward like an ordinary software. It is advisable, however, to use an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) during the upgrade as a power failure might cause data corruption to the BIOS. Of course you don't want this happen because you will not be able to turn your motherboard on.

Speed Up Logoff, Restart & Shutdown Process in XP, Vista & Windows 7

You may notice the shutdown and restart process appear to be sluggish sometimes. This often happens when there are too many applications added to the Startup. Apparently the easiest way to speed up these processes is by reducing the number of applications in the startup. Some people just can't give up their applications in the Startup list. Luckily there is a solution to these sluggish processes.

SystemBooster 2009 is a utility that can optimize your Windows Logoff, Restart and Shutdown processes. It consumes very less memory and speedups Shutdown, Restart and logoff process for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP as well. It also allows you to remove Spyware Registry key and sub-key via its easy-to-use interface.

Requirements
You need to have .Net Framework 3.5

Download Link

Systembooster 2009 v2.1

How to Play .FLV Files in Windows Media Player

As we all know FLV files cannot run on Windows Media Player and what I usually do is to open the related files with VLC player. VLC player is no doubt one of the versatile media players out there that can run many different video formats. However not everybody is willing to install another video player; they rather stick to Windows Media Player (though it only plays few video formats). If you are adamant of using Windows Media Player to play FLV files, here's 1 simple solution.

PlayFLV plugin basically binds FLV files to Windows Media Player so when you double click on the FLV files it will open directly in Windows Media Player. This plugin is essentially easy to install. All you need to do is download the small plugin and double click the file. It will be automatically installed on your system and you should be ready to enjoy watching FLV files on your Windows Media Player.

Key features

• Plugin that enables Windows Media Player to playback FLV files
• Features all default functions, such as zooming, skipping and full screen view
• Creates file association: Double-click FLV files to play them in Windows Media Player
• Very lightweight plugin
• Free and open source

Download Link

Windows 7 Update: Download Windows Activation Technologies

With piracy becoming more prevalent nowadays, software companies in every industry is doing everything to curb this problem from getting worse. Microsoft has been investing large amount money to protect their products from being ripped off. In the latest development, Microsoft had decided to release an update to Windows 7 which will check if the copy of Windows 7 we got is genuine or not.

The Windows Activation Technologies helps Microsoft to confirm that the copy of Windows 7 that is running on a computer. In addition to that, Windows Activation Technologies also helps to protect against the counterfeit software risks. If you check in the Windows Update panel, you will notice Microsoft has published a KB article (KB971033) and is optionally available for update.

This update package is also available through Microsoft Download Center. When this update is being installed, it will perform a validation process to check whether the copy of Windows that is running on your computer is genuine. Please note, this validation is not going to affect Windows functionalities. The update process exits silently should no errors or exploits detected.

If a validation error is detected, you will be automatically directed to get more information on the net for resolving the problem. After the error is removed, you will be asked to key in a valid product key to activate the copy of Windows 7 running on your machine. If you skip the process, you will be reminded from time to time to get a genuine copy of Windows 7 for the computer.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Updated

As I was looking over the list of most recent downloads at the Microsoft Download Center I found a new version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor dated 31 March 2010. I'm not sure what changes this new version has as compared to the previous one (no change log), but there is one thing for sure. This little app will definitely help you scanning your PC for potential compatibility issues and lets you know whether you can proceed with Windows 7 upgrade options.

So here is the steps anyway.

Once you start the check, it checks thoroughly for compatibility.

Once completed, a report will be generated notifying you if your PC meets the system requirements. If any known compatibility issues exist, it will guide you on what to do to before installing Windows 7 on your PC.

Though the Advisor runs on both Windows XP & Windows Vista, it can evaluate PCs running Windows 7 editions as well to see whether users can upgrade to a better SKU of the OS.

The download is only 8.3 MB and can be downloaded by using the following link.

Download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Updated

As I was looking over the list of most recent downloads at the Microsoft Download Center I found a new version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor dated 31 March 2010. I'm not sure what changes this new version has as compared to the previous one (no change log), but there is one thing for sure. This little app will definitely help you scanning your PC for potential compatibility issues and lets you know whether you can proceed with Windows 7 upgrade options.

So here is the steps anyway.

Once you start the check, it checks thoroughly for compatibility.

Once completed, a report will be generated notifying you if your PC meets the system requirements. If any known compatibility issues exist, it will guide you on what to do to before installing Windows 7 on your PC.

Though the Advisor runs on both Windows XP & Windows Vista, it can evaluate PCs running Windows 7 editions as well to see whether users can upgrade to a better SKU of the OS.

The download is only 8.3 MB and can be downloaded by using the following link.

Download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

How to Disable Windows 7 Auto Update Restart

Windows 7 automatic updates is an important feature to keep your computer updated and secure by installing security patches & the latest bug fixes. While it keeps your computer away from any common threats, the process can be somehow annoying especially when it persistently nags for a computer restart/reboot. You can delay the process up to 4 hours but there isn't an option to disable it. Fortunately it can be easily disabled through Local Group Policy Editor.

1. Click the Start menu and type in "gpedit.msc" in the search box and press enter. The Local Group Policy Editor will popup.

2. On the left pane, expand to "Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > WindowsComponents" and select Windows Update.

3. Double click on "No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations" option.Change the option from "Not Configured" to "Enabled". Click OK & close Local Group Policy Editor. So no more Windows restart after automatically installing updates.

8 FREE Online SEO Tools to Check Complete Site Statistics

Pagerank & Alexa ranking are not the the only factors that people will look at when analyzing the strength of a website. There are many elements come into play including but are not limited to basic on-page optimizations, domain age, inbound links, number of indexed pages in search engines, backlinks from social mediasphere (i.e. Digg, StumbleUpon et al) and xhtml, css validation.

Advertisers of these days are more concerned on how a website evolves; whether they are artificially boosted (blackhat) or naturally developed. I came across a few useful FREE SEO websites that provide thorough analysis as I hang out a lot in DP forum. Some of the websites are now buried deep in DP archives and I couldn't find a way to dig them out as most of them resided in threads totally unrelated to SEO things. So I decided to collect and list them (SEO tools that I still remember vividly) in this post.

Here is a list of FREE SEO tools.

1. Website Grader - This website provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.

2. Xinu Returns - Find out how well your site is doing in popular search engines, social bookmarking and other site statistics.
Note: I've seen websites with similar framework and template so I presume Xinu run on a similar script.

3. URL Trends - Features Pagerank, Alexa, number of baclinks from Yahoo & Google and many more. Fast at delivering result.

4. IwebTool - Provide pagerank prediction, in-depth analysis on backlink information, multi rank checker, website speed test and few more analysis.
Note: Pagerank prediction doesn't work most of the time.

5. SEO Book Tool - Features Search Analytics Tools, Keyword Research Tools, Competitive Research Tools, Link Analysis Tools & Search Engine Ranking Checkers.

6. SEO Digger - SEO Digger is a decent keyword gathering and research tool but what it really helps me with is determining a given site's overall theme and keyword focus. Apart from a list of search queries, wordtracker and overture results are also determined (keyword popularity calculated by Wordtracker.com). Data is also CSV-exportable.

7. QuarkBase - Provide overall stats related to social media popularity, traffic details and technical information.

8. Check Page Rank of Internal Pages - This is one of my favorite SEO tools and particularly useful after every pagerank update. The only downside is, it only registers 100 entry before it comes to a stop.
Note: Sometimes it's not responding but that is the only working Internal Pagerank checker I found so far.

There are many great FREE SEO tools out there but not listed here. If you find them to be useful and would like to share with our readers, please don't hesitate to add up your favorite SEO tool by commenting this post.