How to get thousands of beautiful desktop wallpapers with a click
NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32bit and 64bit)

While the Internet and computers have changed so much in the last ten years, one of the things that most of us still really like are great desktop wallpapers. And National Geographic has some of the best photographers and photography in the world - for those of us who like to use our desktops to display beautiful photographs, National Geographic is a treasure. And NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader makes it easy to download thousands of beautiful photographs from National Geographic.

If you love beautiful photography and you love desktop wallpaper, you'll love NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader. It's free. I works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 both 32 and 64 bit. It's freeware and it weighs just 713KB. The program does not install. You just download it to the folder of your choice and click to run it. If you want to create a shortcut to it on your start menu, right click the file you downloaded and choose "Pin to start menu". If you are running Windows 7, right-click the file and choose "Run as Administrator" when you run the program.

And one more thing - NatGeo Wallpaper Download will automatically detect your screen resolution and download the correct size wallpaper for your computer.

OK here's the program's author's description of NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader:

"National Geographic is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world.

Over the years, it has also been a great source of amazing photos and wallpapers that mesmerized people from around the globe.

Some of the most beautiful wallpapers have been placed online, on the National Geographic website, but due to their large number, downloading them has been a problem until now.

With NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader you can download over 5000 National Geographic wallpapers with just one click.

Future builds will add even more packs like: History, Adventure, Traveler, Sea Monsters, Seabed, Blue Earth, Green Earth, Forces of Nature, Lewis & Clark, Roar and many more! (As you can see, I have my hands full, so don't miss out on these great wallpapers when they'll be added!)

Be advised: Downloading wallpapers can take a while if you're on a slow (modem/ISDN) connection! If you're not using a high-speed connection I'd advise you to download the wallpaper packs one by one.

Usage:

Take a look at both categories (NatGeo Magazine Walls & NatGeo Website Walls)
Check the collections you'd like to download
Select the resolution for each collection (if you're not sure of your screen's resolution, press Get Resolution)
Select the download folder (if you don't want them being placed on the desktop)
Press Start Download!

Using the National Geographic wallpapers to create a screensaver

In Windows XP

Open Control Panel (from the Start menu)
If you're in Category View, click Appearance and Themes and then Choose a screensaver
If you're in Classic View, run Display
In the Screen Saver tab, select My Pictures Slideshow from the drop-down menu and click Settings
In the My Pictures Screen Saver Options window, click Browse, select the path you chose in NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader as download path and then OK to close the window
Press Apply and OK in the Display Properties window
See here the main steps described above

In Windows 7

Open Control Panel (from the Start menu)
If you're in Category View, click Change the theme
If you're in Icons view, click Personalization
Click Screen Saver in the bottom right on the Personalization window
In the Screen Saver Settings window, select Photos from the drop-down menu and click Settings
In the Photos Screen Saver Settings window, click Browse, select the path you chose in NatGeo Wallpaper Downloader as download path and then Save to close the window
Press Apply and OK in the Screen Saver Settings window
Close the Personalization window ..."

Note that Windows Vista users shouldn't feel left out. The instructions for Windows 7 also work for Windows Vista.

Have fun downloading thousands of beautiful photographs/desktop wallpapers from National Geographic using NatGeo Wallpaper downloader. Get more information and/or download NatGeo Wall paper Downloader (Freeware) from http://apps.nozavi.com/downloads/viewcategory/1

Why some programs no longer "autorun" from CD or USB flash drive
Windows 7 all versions

On earlier versions of Windows when you insert a USB flash drive, DVD or CD, Windows auto-run will automatically run or install the program. But on Windows 7, this is no longer true in most cases.

Because so many malcontents and miscreants have used this "autorun" feature to infect computers with malware and Trojans, Microsoft decided that Windows 7 will, by default, disable the AutoRun capability on some CDs/DVDs and USB flash drives..

Because of this change, some programs that automatically ran when a USB/CD/DVD was plugged into a Windows XP or Windows Vista computer, may, at first, appear not to work in Windows 7. If you insert a CD/DVD or USB flash drive and nothing happens on your Windows 7 system, don’t assume there is something wrong with the CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

What Windows 7 users should do:. Click on your start button, then click on Computer, and then right-click on your CD/DVD drive or USB flash drive - and select "Explore". Now find the program or file you want to run. You can start the program by double-clicking on it. This may not be as convenient for you, but sometimes you have to give up some convenience for extra security.

Three great tips for Google Chrome
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Google Chrome browser installed

EB hangs in there with Internet Explorer, but TC's default browser is Google Chrome. We both use Firefox occasionally. Firefox seems to have "grown" over the years and isn't quite the fast, sleek browser it once was - but Firefox is still a great browser. Anyway, if you, like TC use Chrome as your default browser - or if you use it occasionally - you'll fid these three tips very useful

1. Show recently viewed pages with a click
Did you know you can show a list of recently visited pages from the current tab? You can. All you have to do is right-click on the "Back" button and you'll see a list of recently visited pages. And as illogical as it sounds, this also works with the "Forward" button too.

2. Drag-a-tab
Did you know that Chrome lets you detach a tab and open it in a new window? It does! All you have to do is drag the tab outside the active window. And you can also add it back to the original windows too. Just drag it back and drop it.

3. Drag your downloads
When you download a program using Chrome, you will see it on Chrome's status bar (the bar along the bottom of the browser window). Did you know you can drag that download tab out of Chrome to your desktop or any folder on your computer? Also, you'll note at the far right edge of the download tab (which shows the file name) you'll see a little down-arrow. If you click that arrow you'll get options such as "Show in folder". "Run", "Always open files of this type" and "Cancel".

Walking the Taskbar - A Windows 7 quick tip
Windows 7 (all versions 32bit/64bit)

Here's a handy tip for those of you using Windows 7 and who like to do things without the help of a mouse. If you press the Windows Key + T - you'll shift the focus to your Taskbar. Once you've done that you can use your arrow keys to select a particular window or group and then hit Enter to run or launch it. To get out of this mode, just use your mouse or hit the Esc key. If you're a power user or if you just like to do things differently once in a while, you'll like this little tip.

A quick way to open a file or run a program with administrator privileges
Windows 7 (all versions 32bit and 64bit)

Want to quickly launch a taskbar-docked application as an administrator? It’s easy – hold down Ctrl+Shift while you click on the icon, and you’ll immediately launch it with full administrative rights. This assumes you're running Windows 7 with a restricted- administrator account, and most of you are unless you have set up a more restricted account for yourself.

Do you know how to change the way your computer's power button works
Windows Vista and Windows 7 (all versions; 32bit and 64bit)

Do you restart your computer more often than you shut it down? If that sounds like you, you can change the default Shutdown button to Restart your computer instead of shutting it down.

Here’s how:

1. Right-click on the Start button
2. Select Properties.
3. Choose the Power button action that you use the most, in this case “Restart the computer”. You can also choose other options like “Lock”, "Sleep", “Hibernate”, etc.

In case you're wondering what the difference between Sleep and Hibernate is, we'll tell you: Bears hibernate; people sleep. See? That was easy!

No really, here's the difference:

Sleep is a power-saving mode that allows you to quickly resume full-power operation (typically within several seconds) whenever you want to start working again. Putting your computer into the sleep state is like pausing a movie on your DVD player. When you resume, your movie continues from the point at which you paused it.

Hibernate or Hibernation, is a power-saving mode which was designed for laptops. You should know that Sleep puts your work and settings in memory and draws a small amount of power while sleeping. But Hibernate (or hibernation) stores all your open works-in-progress and programs on your hard drive and then turns off your computer. If you're using a laptop, you should use Hibernate (or Hibernation) when you know that you won't be using your laptop for an extended period of time - and you won't be able to charge the battery during that time.

So if you're using a laptop that is plugged in or a desktop, choose "Sleep". If you're using a laptop and you don't have access to a power source, use Hibernation / Hibernate.