Featured Articles - The Best of How-To Geek

Convert DVD to MP4 / H.264 with HD Decrypter and Handbrake

Are you looking for a way to convert your DVD collection to high quality MP4 files? Today we are going to take a look at using DVDFab HD Decrypter along with Handbrake to convert DVDs to MP4 using the H.264 codec….

Andrew Gehman Mar 24th, 2010

Move Window Buttons Back to the Right in Ubuntu 10.04 / 10.10

One of the more controversial changes in the Ubuntu 10.04 beta is the Mac OS-inspired change to have window buttons on the left side. We’ll show you how to move the buttons back to the right.

Trevor Bekolay Mar 23rd, 2010

Rip and Convert DVD’s to an ISO Image

If you own a lot of DVD’s, you might want to convert them to an ISO image for backup and easily playing them on your media center. Today we take a look at ripping your discs using DVDFab, then using ImgBurn to create an ISO…

Brian Burgess Mar 23rd, 2010

Installing the Updated XP Mode which Requires no Hardware Virtualization

Good news for those of you who have a computer without Hardware Virtualization, Microsoft had dropped the requirement so you can now run XP Mode on your machine. Here we take a look at how to install it and getting working on…

Brian Burgess Mar 22nd, 2010

Create a Bootable Ubuntu 9.10 USB Flash Drive

The Ubuntu Live CD isn’t just useful for trying out Ubuntu before you install it, you can also use it to maintain and repair your Windows PC. Even if you have no intention of installing Linux, every Windows user should have…

Trevor Bekolay Mar 22nd, 2010

Turn Non-Resizeable Windows into Resizeable Windows

Are you frustrated with Windows app windows that can not be resized at all? Now you can apply some “attitude adjustment” and resize those windows with ResizeEnable.

Akemi Iwaya Mar 22nd, 2010

Create an iTunes Account without a credit card

iTunes Store offers a large variety of free content, but to download it you have to have an account. Usually you have to enter your credit card information to sign up, but here’s an easy way to get an iTunes account for fre…

Matthew Guay Mar 19th, 2010

Map a Network Drive from XP to Windows 7

We’ve received a lot of questions about mapping a drive from XP to Windows 7 to access data easily. Today we look at how to map a drive in Windows 7, and how to map to an XP drive from Windows 7.

Brian Burgess Mar 18th, 2010

Use Autoruns to Manually Clean an Infected PC

There are many anti-malware programs out there that will clean your system of nasties, but what happens if you’re not able to use such a program? Autoruns, from SysInternals (recently acquired by Microsoft), is indisp…

Mark Virtue Mar 15th, 2010

Play Your Favorite DOS Games in XP, Vista, and Windows 7

Want to take a trip down memory lane with old school DOS games? D-Fend Reloaded makes it easy for you to play your favorite DOS games directly on XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Matthew Guay Mar 12th, 2010

How To Skip Commercials in Windows 7 Media Center

If you use Windows 7 Media Center to record live TV, you’re probably interested in skipping through commercials. After all, a big reason to record programs is to avoid commercials, right? Today we focus on a fairly simple a…

Andrew Gehman Mar 10th, 2010

Convert a DVD Movie Directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard 2.9

Are you looking for a way to backup your DVD movie collection to AVI? Today we’ll show you how to rip a DVD movie directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard.

Andrew Gehman Mar 9th, 2010

Geek Fun: Virtualized Old School Windows – Windows 95

Last week we enjoyed looking at Windows 3.1 running in VMware Player on Windows 7. Today, let’s upgrade our 3.1 to 95, and get a look at how most of us remember Windows from the 90’s.

Matthew Guay Mar 5th, 2010

Install XP Mode with VirtualBox Using the VMLite Plugin

Would you like to run XP Mode, but prefer Sun’s VirtualBox for virtualization? Thanks to the free VMLite plugin, you can quickly and easily run XP Mode in or alongside VirtualBox.

Brian Burgess Mar 5th, 2010

Share a Printer on Your Network from Vista or XP to Windows 7

The other day we looked at sharing a printer between Windows 7 machines, but you may only have one Windows 7 machine and the printer is connected to a Vista or XP computer. Today we show you how to share a printer from either…

Brian Burgess Mar 4th, 2010

Find your computer’s location with Windows 7 and Geosense

GPS enabled smartphones make it easy to get directions, weather, and many more location based services since they automatically know where you are. With Geosense, you can bring this functionality to any Windows 7 comput…

Matthew Guay Mar 3rd, 2010

Geek Fun: Virtualized old school Windows 3.11

What’s a geek to do with VMware, extra hard disk space, and RAM to spare? Why fill it with all the operating systems he can! For the fun of it, we take a look at virtualizing a classic version of Windows. …

Matthew Guay Feb 26th, 2010

How To Run Ubuntu in Windows 7 with VMware Player

Would you like to use Ubuntu Linux programs, but prefer the convenience of Windows 7? With VMware Player, you can install a full copy of Ubuntu and integrate it with your Windows 7 computer for free….

Matthew Guay Feb 25th, 2010

Add Images and Metadata to Windows 7 Media Center Movie Library

If you use the Movie Library in Windows 7 Media Center to access and view your movie collection, you know that the interface leaves a little to be desired. Today we are going to show you how you can add movie cover art and me…

Andrew Gehman Feb 24th, 2010

How To Personalize Windows 7 Starter

Microsoft removed many of the personalization options in Windows 7 Starter, the cheap edition for netbooks. There is still a lot of stuff you can customize, though some of it is hidden, so here we’ll show you how to m…

Matthew Guay Feb 24th, 2010

Automatically Mount and View ISO files in Windows 7 Media Center

Do you have a hard drive full of ripped movies in ISO file format? Are you looking for an easy way to play them in Windows Media Center? Today we show you how to configure Windows Media Center so you can automatically v…

Andrew Gehman Feb 23rd, 2010

Create an XP Mode for Windows 7 Home Versions & Vista

One of the cool features in Windows 7 is XP Mode. However, it’s only available for Windows 7 Professional and above, leaving Home Edition and Vista users out of luck. Today we’ll show you how to create your own XP Mode to…

Matthew Guay Feb 23rd, 2010

Stupid Geek Tricks: Tile or Cascade Multiple Windows in Windows 7

If you’ve got loads of windows open, and would like to tile or cascade just a couple of those windows, it’s a pain to minimize them, then unminimize the windows you want to tile, and then choose Tile from the taskbar context …

Lowell Heddings Feb 18th, 2010

Automatically Start Windows 7 Media Center in Live TV Mode

Do you use Windows Media Center primarily to watch Live TV? If so, you may want to avoid a few clicks or keyboard strokes and automatically start Media Center in Live TV mode.

Andrew Gehman Feb 17th, 2010

Run XP Mode on Windows 7 Machines Without Hardware Virtualization

One of the neatest new features in Windows 7 Professional and above is XP Mode, but not all machines are capable of running it. Today we show you how to use VMware to run XP Mode on machines without Hardware Virtualization….

Matthew Guay Feb 17th, 2010