August 2008 ~ pimp-my-rig reloaded

HOW-TO: Plug the Clipboard Security Hole

Do you find copy and paste to be a very handy tool? If yes, I share the same exact sentiment. But what if the clipboard (the limbo where the copied text goes to) is compromised by your browser? That very handy tool now becomes an annoyance rather than a useful utility, isnt...

ARTICLE: Unattended Windows XP Installation

dillagrarticle

Slipstreaming Service Pack 3 is a fairly simple and straight-forward task to do. With just a few strokes of the keyboard, slipstreaming is done. The distribution folder can now be used to install on a new machine Windows™ XP Professional with Service Pack 3 integrated.However,...

ARTICLE: You and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

dillagrarticle

What is ESD? ESD, short for electrostatic discharge, is the rapid discharge of static electricity from one conductor to another of a different potential. An electrostatic discharge can damage integrated circuits found in computer and communications equipment (definition taken...

REVIEW: Crumpler "Whickey and Cox" Notebook Backpack

dillagrreview

Travelling will impress on one the importance of having a very good travelling bag. I share this same experience. For quite a while now I have been on the lookout for a very good travelling bag that will fit my notebook, digital camera and a few other items. Please allow me...

REVIEW: Zalman ZM-MFC2 Multi Fan Controller

dillagrreview

The Zalman brand has become synonymous with silence. So it is fitting for them to breathe life into a product with the purpose of throttling fans. But the ZM-MFC2 is not just for throttling fans, it packs more than just that. Aside from that, the Zalman ZM-MFC2 did away with...

ARTICLE: ACPI Uniprocessor to Multiprocessor HAL Upgrade

dillagrarticle

Dual-core systems abound nowadays that it is virtually impossible not to upgrade to them given the nice performance offering they promise. What's more, the sweet deals out there make them even more enticing. The question now is: Is it that easy to upgrade from a uniprocessor...

HOW-TO: Add SWAP Space (Solaris)

dillagrhow-to

Although it rarely happens, sometimes a Solaris system would badly need more swap. But without a free device to use as swap, a file can be created instead to serve as additional swap space.This happens due to several reasons, but one most popular cause is the filling up of /tmp. The /tmp directory is allocated from the system's swap resources. This...

ARTICLE: Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 3

dillagrarticle

Have you ever had to install Windows XP on a number of computers? Did you also have to install the Service Pack 3 (SP3) after the install? That task seems easy but the job could be made simpler -- if SP3 is slipstreamed into the Windows XP install CD, two jobs can be cutdown...

ARTICLE: Limited Browsing (Internet Explorer Lockdown)

dillagrarticle

Microsoft Internet Explorer, MSIE or IE as it is popularly known, is the largest used and most commonly used browser. Embedding a browser to an operating system has been successful for a software giant like Microsoft. No wonder why most website designs and back-end code are...

HOW-TO: Enable AHCI on Intel Chipsets

dillagrhow-to, windows

After executing the procedure previously posted and having installed Windows XP to your brand new laptop, how would you like to turn on the AHCI that was disabled?What benefits does enabling AHCI bring? And what is AHCI in the first place? According to Wikipedia: The Advanced...

ARTICLE: Windows XP on Your Brand New Laptop?

dillagrarticle, windows

Is Windows Vista installed in your brand new laptop? If you hate the experience and you are interested in installing Windows XP, you have come to the right site for the instructions on how to get Windows XP installed instead.Most OEM laptop makers provide the option to downgrade your laptop to Windows XP so obtain the media from them if they provide...

REVIEW: G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

dillagrreview

The transition between DDR1 and DDR2 breezed fast that it seemed to have happened overnight. DDR2 took over as the mainstream memory and has since dropped prices. Dual channel memory modules are available in 1GB, 2GB and even 4GB kits.We got the G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ DDR2-1000...

TWEAK: Firefox Cache Tweaks (Move Cache, etc)

dillagrhow-to, tweaks

One of the many tweaks that can be done to make firefox faster is to move its cache to a faster, larger disk. This set-up can also affect the defragmentation level of the operating system disk, thereby improving performance.I have noticed this in my PC. Moving firefox cache to a different slice or partition performance has vastly improved as the partition...

HOW-TO: Add SWAP space from a file (Linux)

dillagrhow-to

It may often be necessary to add swap space to an existing Linux machine as the application or service hosted demands additional space.Swap in Linux is an entirely different beast from the /tmp. While Solaris or SunOS treats /tmp and swap as one. Adding swap can be done in two ways: [1] adding swap from a free partition; or [2] adding swap from a file....

REVIEW: Vantec UGT-ST350CB eSATA Cardbus Adapter

dillagrreview, windows

For the past year, the storage industry has had unprecedented figures in terms of gigabytes per dollar. Thanks to massive capacity drives sold at relatively lower costs. Not only that technology breakthrough such as perpendicular recording technology has given a big boost to...