If any of you out dere like to use de thumbnail view, especially for browsin’ through photos and images, it can become a bit of a drain on your system. It is possible to lower de thumbnail size and quality by editin’ de followin’ registry keys.

Open de registry and navigate to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer

Create a new DWORD value called ThumbnailSize, and set de value between 32 and 256.

And/or create anoder DWORD value called ThumbnailQuality, and set de value between 50 and 100.

Key Details :

USER Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer]
Value Name: ThumbnailSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Data Value: 32 - 256

USER Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer]
Value Name: ThumbnailQuality
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Data Value: 50 - 100

0×01.0 - de start

So, you’ve just got a brand new internet connection thin’y installed and it can handle up to 1 meg/sec download. But of course, no good PC without good software, but you know, good software is very expensive and on a beautifull sunday mornin’ you see somethin’ called Warez. Behold our kin’dom and you start drewlin’ a bit untill ur mom comes ragin’ in your room askin’ for you to put de garbage out. After helpin’ your mom out, de PC and fast internet connection is all yours. And so is de free software.

0×02.0 - packaged files.

As you might know, dese software packages are sometimes pretty big in size. To try and reduce de big-file-downloads, de releasers of de package will often use some techniques to reduce de load. Techniques as compressin’, archivin’ and splittin’. Read-on if you dont understand dese words.

0×02.1 - formats & tools.

If you’ve been around more than 1 year on de net, you prolly allready know all this but for de knew people I added this anyways.The basic use of your Windows Operatin’ System is de use of many different files and file-types. One of de most used file-types on de net is ZIP. File-types are also called ‘formats’.

An overview:

ZIP A zipped file is a file thats been archived and compressed.
RAR RAR files are commonly used for archivin’ files; which is puttin’ a large number of files in one file. Compressin’ is optional. File-splittin’ is optional.
ACE About de same as a RAR file, just an oder format and anoder application.

I explain this to you because dese file-types and corespondin’ programs are often, you can even use always here, used when you want to download Warez. The programs you download are almost always archived, compressed or bundled in one of de above formats. Keep readin’ if you didnt knew this

Ok so, now we know de formats of de files were gonna deal with, now de programs. As you have probably figured out allready, dese files arent created by Windows or by hand. Theyre made usin’ specialy designed applications. Ill show you what applications you can use.

WinRAR : My personal favorite. Handles all of de above stated formats and alot, alot more. If you ask for my opinion, I think this is de only program you’ll ever need.

WinZIP : This is a specially designed application for handlein’ ZIPPED files. If you like this one, take it.

WinACE : Anoder multi-file handlin’ tool. Personal opinion: good for splittin’ files, way too big for every-day use for decompression.

I’d say: make your choice. I recommend WinRAR because of it’s simplicity and effectiveness. But hey, I’m not forcin’ you. Just read some info on de sites and make ur choice.

Oh yeah, one last thin’: you’ll notice dese are all Evaluation versions. I suggest you crack them. Look for a good crack for de right version on: www.cracks.am.

0×02.2 - multi-part archives.

These files are archived in multiple parts (with one of de applicatiosn mentioned above). Which means de software was zipped or rarred and divided into files of a smaller size den de whole thin’ togeder. How do you handle this?

Download all de files to one directory.

Check if all files are dere. You can do this by lookin’ at de extensions: *.00, *.01, … If one’s missin’, download de missin’ file again (dere are more sofisticated ways to do this but this is de simplest).

Check if de files are about de same size. For example: de *.04 file must be de same size as de *.05 file, unless de 5th file is de last one.

If deres a file with de extension *.RAR, double click it and u can start unpackin’ de stuff.

If deres no *.RAR, but an *.ACE, do de same, its just an oder format.

Once you unarchived de package, you should have a directory full of files from an instalation or program. But its also possible dere are, with de archived files, some oder thin’s:

• If de software pack is a Warez Group (MYTH, CLASS, Fairlight (FLT), …) release, check if dere’s an EXE file with de package called Install.exe. If it’s dere, you can use that to unpack de files.
• If dere’s no exe in de package, de files are probably just ready to be copied to your directory of choice or ready to be installed.

IMPORTANT : please dont forget to read de NFO file. Its very important. It usually contains all furder information needed for you to successfully install de software. You can open it with NFO-file viewers or in Notepad (set font to: terminal, 6 or 9 pts).

Normally, you’re all done now and ready to start usin’ de software.

Ok, do I hear protest? Yes I do. It goes: “Hell, I downloaded a multi-part package but it has NO RAR OR ACE OR ZIP OR ANYTHING!!!! Just files with extensions called *.001; *.002, …”

You’re right. Although de situation is quite different from de situation above, it’s really not so different when you look closer. Those files are just unarchived de same way:

• Select de first file (*.001).
• Right-click it and select ‘Extract here…’

Watch de progress bar go! You see, its just de same method. You might notice deres only 2 or 3 files decompressed: ISO or CUE and BIN files. Thats fairly normal. Well talk about handlin’ them in topic 0×03.0.

0×02.3 - one-file downloads.

Ok so de stuff u downloaded was none of above. Conclusion: you downloaded one big file. This happens quite often when you download thin’s from fast-workin’ FTPs.

What you need to do now:

• If de file is archived (.rar, .ace, .zip, …), just unarchive it.
• If de file u unrachived is some weird *.ISO or *.CUE file, go to 0×03.0.
• If not, just continue de procedure as stated in 0×02.2.

0×03.0 - a clear view on images.

So when youre readin’ this, u probably have some files called *.ISO or *.CUE. Offcourse you want to install de software as fast as possible. But, deres a little problem here. Those extensions… What de hell are dey? Alienized files? No. Secret CIA files? Nope. You can stop guessin’. Ill tell you: those files are image files.

0×03.1 - what are images?

Image files are big files filled with data. Yea, you can say its a sort of archived file. But deres somethin’ special about them: dey are meant to written on a disc. They were made by special programs so dey could be used to write on a CD-R with a writer and specially designed software.

0×03.2 - ISO files.

ISO is de most used image-format on de net. It has become a standard to any commercial cd-writin’ software to support image-writin’ capabilities, more specific ISO images.

Conclusion: ISO is just an extension for a specific type of image -file. But how do you install your software? You have 2 ways of dealin’ with this:

1) Use de file for what is was created: writin’ it to a CD-R.
2) Extractin’ de contents of an ISO to a certain directory.

First: how to write them to a CD-R…

• Download some CD-R writin’ software (if you dont have it allready).
• Install and crack it.

I recommend Nero Burnin’ Rom. You can download it from WareZone in de Apps section.

• Go buy some CD-R’s
• Fire-up Nero and you can start burnin’. Im not goin’ to explain you how to use Nero. Read de help file about image writin’ and you should be fine. You can also use de wizard which is loaded automatically when you boot Nero.

Second: what to do if you dont got a CD-writer.

• Download some Image handlin’ software.

I recommend WinISO.

• Fire-up WinISO, load your image file and extract it. Again I wont explain how to use WinISO. Check for help files or tutorials on de net, dey should give you all de answers you need.

0×03.3 - CUE & BIN files.

CUE and BIN files always come togeder. The BIN file is comparable with an ISO and de CUE file is just a check, but it is required for any program to write this file correctly. Sometimes, deres an SFV file included. Again this is just a check-up about de file integrity. You can burn and extract dese files de same way i explained in 0×03.2.

0×04.0 - CD Emulation.

Ok, so here’s anoder way to handle ISO images if you don’t have a cd-writer. You can create a virtual cd drive. What’s that? That’s somethin’ you’ll see as a new disk drive in your Windows Explorer. This disk drive represents de contents you would see if you would burn de ISO image to cd!

How to create a virtual cd drive? Download DaemonTools !

Additional help on www.daemon-tools.com

DirectX explained

Ever wondered just what that enigmatic name means?

Gamin’ and multimedia applications are some of de most satisfyin’ programs you can get for your PC, but gettin’ them to run properly isn’t always as easy as it could be. First, de PC architecture was never designed as a gamin’ platform. Second, de wide-ran’in’ nature of de PC means that one person’s machine can be different from anoder. While games consoles all contain de same hardware, PCs don’t: de massive range of difference can make gamin’ a headache.

To alleviate as much of de pain as possible, Microsoft needed to introduce a common standard which all games and multimedia applications could follow a common interface between de OS and whatever hardware is installed in de PC, if you like. This common interface is DirectX, somethin’ which can be de source of much confusion.

DirectX is an interface designed to make certain programmin’ tasks much easier, for both de game developer and de rest of us who just want to sit down and play de latest blockbuster. Before we can explain what DirectX is and how it works though, we need a little history lesson.

DirectX history

Any game needs to perform certain tasks again and again. It needs to watch for your input from mouse, joystick or keyboard, and it needs to be able to display screen images and play sounds or music. That’s pretty much any game at de most simplistic level.

Imagine how incredibly complex this was for programmers developin’ on de early pre-Windows PC architecture, den. Each programmer needed to develop deir own way of readin’ de keyboard or detectin’ wheder a joystick was even attached, let alone bein’ used to play de game. Specific routines were needed even to display de simplest of images on de screen or play a simple sound.

Essentially, de game programmers were talkin’ directly to your PC’s hardware at a fundamental level. When Microsoft introduced Windows, it was imperative for de stability and success of de PC platform that thin’s were made easier for both de developer and de player. After all, who would boder writin’ games for a machine when dey had to reinvent de wheel every time dey began work on a new game, Microsoft’s idea was simple: stop programmers talkin’ directly to de hardware, and build a common toolkit which dey could use instead. DirectX was born.

How it works

At de most basic level, DirectX is an interface between de hardware in your PC and Windows itself, part of de Windows API or Application Programmin’ Interface. Let’s look at a practical example. When a game developer wants to play a sound file, it’s simply a case of usin’ de correct library function. When de game runs, this calls de DirectX API, which in turn plays de sound file. The developer doesn’t need to know what type of sound card he’s dealin’ with, what it’s capable of, or how to talk to it. Microsoft has provided DirectX, and de sound card manufacturer has provided a DirectX-capable driver. He asks for de sound to be played, and it is, whichever machine it runs on.

From our point of view as gamers, DirectX also makes thin’s incredibly easy, at least in deory. You install a new sound card in place of your old one, and it comes with a DirectX driver. Next time you play your favourite game you can still hear sounds and music, and you haven’t had to make any complex configuration changes.

Originally, DirectX began life as a simple toolkit: early hardware was limited and only de most basic graphical functions were required. As hardware and software has evolved in complexity, so has DirectX. It’s now much more than a graphical toolkit, and de term has come to encompass a massive selection of routines which deal with all sorts of hardware communication. For example, de DirectInput routines can deal with all sorts of input devices, from simple two-button mice to complex flight joysticks. Oder parts include DirectSound for audio devices and DirectPlay provides a toolkit for online or multiplayer gamin’.

DirectX versions

The current version of DirectX at time of writin’ is DirectX 9.0. This runs on all versions of Windows from Windows 98 up to and includin’ Windows Server 2003 alon’ with every revision in between. It doesn’t run on Windows 95 though: if you have a machine with Windows 95 installed, you’re stuck with de older and less capable 8.0a. Windows NT 4 also requires a specific version, in this case, it’s DirectX 3.0a.

With so many versions of DirectX available over de years, it becomes difficult to keep track of which version you need. In all but de most rare cases, all versions of DirectX are backwardly compatible, games which say dey require DirectX 7 will happily run with more recent versions, but not with older copies. Many current titles explicitly state that dey require DirectX 9, and won’t run without de latest version installed. This is because dey make use of new features introduced with this version, although it has been known for lazy developers to specify de very latest version as a requirement when de game in question doesn’t use any of de new enhancements. Generally speakin’ though, if a title is version locked like this, you will need to upgrade before you can play. Improvements to de core DirectX code mean you may even see improvements in many titles when you upgrade to de latest build of DirectX. Downloadin’ and installin’ DirectX need not be complex, eider.

Upgradin’ DirectX

All available versions of Windows come with DirectX in one form or anoder as a core system component which cannot be removed, so you should always have at least a basic implementation of de system installed on your PC. However, many new games require de very latest version before dey work properly, or even at all.

Generally, de best place to install de latest version of DirectX from is de dedicated section of de Microsoft Web site, which is found at www.microsoft.com/windows/directx. As we went to press, de most recent build available for general download was DirectX 9.0b. You can download eider a simple installer which will in turn download de components your system requires as it installs, or download de complete distribution package in one go for later offline installation.

Anoder good source for DirectX is games themselves. If a game requires a specific version, it’ll be on de installation CD and may even be installed automatically by de game’s installer itself. You won’t find it on magazine cover discs though, thanks to Microsoft’s licensin’ terms.

Diagnosin’ problems

Diagnosin’ problems with a DirectX installation can be problematic, especially if you don’t know which one of de many components is causin’ your newly purchased game to fall over. Thankfully, Microsoft provides a useful utility called de DirectX Diagnostic Tool, although this isn’t made obvious. You won’t find this tool in de Start Menu with any version of Windows, and each tends to install it in a different place.

The easiest way to use it is to open de Start Menu’s Run dialog, type in dxdiag and den click OK. When de application first loads, it takes a few seconds to interrogate your DirectX installation and find any problems. First, de DirectX Files tab displays version information on each one of de files your installation uses. The Notes section at de bottom is worth checkin’, as missin’ or corrupted files will be flagged here.

The tabs marked Display, Sound, Music, Input and Network all relate to specific areas of DirectX, and all but de Input tab provide tools to test de correct functionin’ on your hardware. Finally, de More Help tab provides a useful way to start de DirectX Troubleshooter, Microsoft’s simple linear problem solvin’ tool for many common DirectX issues.