NIM

Candadian, what's that

Awesome tutorial Wolf! :worthy:

Credits to the author of this article. So if you run msconfig > boot and enable "no GUI boot" option, you'll see faded aurora instead of lonely green progress bar during boot process. How to substitute this aurora with an image of your own choice is described in the article above. Here's the result of my tricks with ResHacker, imagex, PaintShopProX and mspaint, lol : download link Preview: Just replace windows\system32\en-US\winload.exe.mui and don't forget to save/back-up the original file. My file is taken from RC2 (X86), but i think it'll work on RTM as well, it's only resource file. Don't forget to enable "no GUI boot".

Windows Vista Services Tweak Guide v1.0 This guide is only recommended for power users. Inexperienced Windows users should NOT use this. It's also recommended that you have in-depth knowledge about network security. The guide is meant to be used with Windows Vista RTM build 6000. Beware: Disabling some of the services below may have a negative impact on your system/network security. I take no responsibility what so ever of any negative consequences these tweaks may have on your system, hardware or life. Use on your own risk. Disable the following services to improve performance and decrease RAM usage: Base Filtering Engine Disable if you don't use the Windows Firewall or use any other firewall. Basically it's not related just to Windows Firewall and it doesn't hurt to have it enabled. If you want to disable the firewall then do it in the GUI. Actually, once you get the hang of the Vista firewall its pretty neat and useful - its just hard to configure until you get used to it.) Diagnostic Policy Service Diagnostic Policy Service (part of the performance tuning foundation for Vista don't disable but you can set to manual) Distributed Link Tracking Client Function Discovery Provider Host Function Discovery Resource Publication Internet Connection Sharing Disable if you don't need to share your internet connection. IP Helper Disable to improve network performance and decrease RAM usage. Will also disable IPv6 connectivity over IPv4. Might be useful in the future. IPSec Policy Agent Disable to improve network performance and decrease RAM usage. Disabling will have a negative impact on network security. KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator Disable if you don't use MSDTC and/or KTM. Messenger Sharing Folders USN Journal Reader service This service is only available if Messenger Live is installed. Disable if you don't use Messenger Live's sharing folders. Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Disable if you don't use MS Shadow Copy. Disabling will have a negative impact on system redundancy. Network List Service Disable if you aren't connected to a LAN with multiple computers or if you don't share files or printers through your LAN. Network Location Awareness Disable if you aren't connected to a LAN with multiple computers or if you don't share files or printers through your LAN. Offline Files Disable if you only use local profiles and aren't connected to a domain. Portable Device Enumerator Service Disable if you don't need to syncronize data with removable storage (such as mp3 players. This will not affect third party applications such as iTunes, only applications using this service, e.g. Windows Media Player). Program Compatibility Assistant Service Disable if you don't care about compatibility issues. (Running applications in compatibility mode will still function.) ReadyBoost (no need to disable, does not impact performance and only works if you have the right device to use eg...USB key. Set it to manual instead) Remote Access Connection Manager Disable if you don't use dial-up connections and/or VPN-networks. Routing and Remote Access Disable if you don't need to route network data within a LAN or WAN. Secondary Logon Disable if you don't need to login two users at once. Security Center Disable if you can take care of the system security manually. Server Disable if you don't share files and/or printers through LAN. Shell Hardware Detection Disable to remove autoplay functionality on removable media. Tablet PC Input Service Disable if you don't have a Tablet PC. TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Disable. Totally useless if you don't use NetBIOS (NetBT). Telephony Disable if you don't use dial-up connections. Terminal Services Disable if you don't use Remote Desktop. Disabling will improve system security. UPnP Device Host Disable if you don't need to host UPnP devices. WebClient Windows Defender Disable if you don't want to use it. Though, consider using third party anti-malware application if you disable it. Windows Error Reporting Service Disable if you don't use error reporting. Windows Firewall Disable if you don't use the Windows Firewall. Though, consider using third party firewall (hardware, software or router w/ firewall). Windows Image Aquisition (WIA) Disable if you don't use a scanner and/or digital cameras. Windows Media Center Extender Service Disable if you don't use Media Center extensions. Windows Search Disable if you don't want to use the advanced windows search feature with indexing (Normal search will still function, but is alot slower). Windows Time Disable if you don't want the clock to syncronize automatically. Waste of resources. Update clock manually. WinHTTP WebProxy Auto-Discovery Service Disable if you don't use applications which use the WPAD protocol (most applications don't). Manually enable if you need it. Virtual Disk Set as manual if you don't use Disk Management in the Computer Management console. You can manually start this service at any time if you need to use Disk Management. Ok, that's all so far. If you have anything to add, just post a reply! Constructive feedback and criticism is also welcome.

AdminPack.msi installs without error on Vista RTM computers but two DLL's, ADprop.dll and DSadmin.dll fail to register. Use regsvr32 to manually register those DLL's, otherwise Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC / DSA.MSC) fails to load correctly with "MMC could not create the snap-in" Steps to repro 1. Install 2003 SP1 adminpak.msi - there will be no errors or warnings 2. Under Administrative Tools, attempt to load Active Directory Users and Computers, Active Directory Domains and Trusts, etc. 3. You will receive: "MMC could not create the snap-in." 4. Close any of the snap-ins you tried to use. 5. Copy all text in the codebox and save as FIXADMINPACK.CMD 6. Run the script with elevated credentials to register all ADMINPACK DLLs. No restart required. 6. Restart the previously failing ADMINPACK snap-ins and they should behave normally. regsvr32 /s adprop.dll regsvr32 /s azroles.dll regsvr32 /s azroleui.dll regsvr32 /s ccfg95.dll regsvr32 /s certadm.dll regsvr32 /s certmmc.dll regsvr32 /s certpdef.dll regsvr32 /s certtmpl.dll regsvr32 /s certxds.dll regsvr32 /s cladmwiz.dll regsvr32 /s clcfgsrv.dll regsvr32 /s clnetrex.dll regsvr32 /s cluadmex.dll regsvr32 /s cluadmmc.dll regsvr32 /s cmproxy.dll regsvr32 /s cmroute.dll regsvr32 /s cmutoa.dll regsvr32 /s cnet16.dll regsvr32 /s debugex.dll regsvr32 /s dfscore.dll regsvr32 /s dfsgui.dll regsvr32 /s dhcpsnap.dll regsvr32 /s dnsmgr.dll regsvr32 /s domadmin.dll regsvr32 /s dsadmin.dll regsvr32 /s dsuiwiz.dll regsvr32 /s imadmui.dll regsvr32 /s lrwizdll.dll regsvr32 /s mprsnap.dll regsvr32 /s msclus.dll regsvr32 /s mstsmhst.dll regsvr32 /s mstsmmc.dll regsvr32 /s nntpadm.dll regsvr32 /s nntpapi.dll regsvr32 /s nntpsnap.dll regsvr32 /s ntdsbsrv.dll regsvr32 /s ntfrsapi.dll regsvr32 /s rasuser.dll regsvr32 /s rigpsnap.dll regsvr32 /s rsadmin.dll regsvr32 /s rscommon.dll regsvr32 /s rsconn.dll regsvr32 /s rsengps.dll regsvr32 /s rsjob.dll regsvr32 /s rsservps.dll regsvr32 /s rsshell.dll regsvr32 /s rssubps.dll regsvr32 /s rtrfiltr.dll regsvr32 /s schmmgmt.dll regsvr32 /s tapisnap.dll regsvr32 /s tsuserex.dll regsvr32 /s uddi.mmc.dll regsvr32 /s vsstskex.dll regsvr32 /s w95inf16.dll regsvr32 /s w95inf32.dll regsvr32 /s winsevnt.dll regsvr32 /s winsmon.dll regsvr32 /s winsrpc.dll regsvr32 /s winssnap.dll regsvr32 /s ws03res.dll

Microsoft finally launches the long-awaited Windows Vista today, promising better security and improved search and claiming it will be the fastest ever adopted operating system it has released. But some users have already questioned the business benefits of upgrading to Vista, citing the relative stability and security of Windows XP and a lack of compelling features in Vista. Based on using the second beta version of Vista here are the five things to get excited about Vista for - and the five things you'll hate it for. Five things to love about Windows Vista Search or create virtual files - Forget directories, forget directory trees. Microsoft has integrated search throughout its new operating system, and you'll quickly come to wonder how you lived without it. You can search for all documents authored by John Doe, then save the search as a virtual file folder for later reference without having to physically relocate or make copies of all those files. Gadgets - In Windows Vista, Microsoft allows you to drag and drop Gadgets (think Widgets on the Apple Mac OS X desktop) to tell the time, calculate currency or tackle any trivial task you perform regularly that would be handier if it were always on top of your current screen. Presently, you can acquire Gadgets for your Windows XP machine from online sites such as Windows Live. In the near future, Microsoft says you'll be able to write your own Windows Vista Gadgets, allowing you to really personalise your desktop. Built-in diagnostics - Programs refusing to run, operating system crashes - Microsoft says these will be things of the past with Vista. So far, we've seen more dialogues, from explaining why an application won't run to warning us that there are driver conflicts that prevent our laptop system from going to sleep. For example, Vista will listen to your hard drive and report pending problems, giving you ample warning to back up your data. There's also a Problems Report and Solutions monitor where you can see what problems Vista has encountered, and then go online to find possible solutions. And have you ever noticed how Windows computers get slower with age? That's because files get separated from each other on your hard drive and require occasional defragmentation. Most of us never do it - in part because it uses too many system resources. In Vista, the process is automatic and runs in the background, so you won't even notice it. Need more oomph? Vista will find it for you - Need more RAM? How about borrowing some from that 256MB or greater USB drive? In Windows Vista, the new Windows ReadyBoost feature can swap flash memory with any large USB device. If your laptop has a new hybrid hard drive, the Windows ReadyDrive can improve your system's overall performance, battery life and reliability by taking advantage of the drive's built-in flash capabilities. New Windows SuperFetch can cache your hard drive's frequently used applications based on the frequency of use so that, for example, every Monday morning when you arrive at your desk for work, you can count on Outlook and your internet browser to launch quickly. Also, finally, there's a new feature called Low-priority Input/Output that should keep you productive: in Windows Vista, user applications will get higher priority with system resources than antivirus or defragmentation processes. Enhanced help - Help used to be limited to a few pithy sentences about the task you want to perform. Windows Vista changes all that. There are more options available within Help inside Vista. For example, you can initiate a remote-assistance session so that someone you trust can take over your PC remotely and diagnose a problem or perform a task for you. You can also go online and search Microsoft's knowledge base or contact Microsoft's technical support. One really cool feature, however, is labelled Do It Automatically. Here, a task such as checking the version of a driver will be automated, with your desktop going dark as a pointer arrow floats over the screen indicating what to click and where. From time to time, the pointer will stop and a dialogue box will require your input before it continues to perform the task. Although there are only 15 of these automated help sessions within the current Windows Vista beta 2 release, we hope Microsoft adds more. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Five things you'll hate about Windows Vista Your current hardware won't fully run Vista - Get ready for the media blitz. Get ready for the frustration. Although many computers in use today will be able to update and run the new operating system, they'll only be able to run it in what Microsoft slyly calls 'Windows Vista Basic'. In this mode, you'll have the ability to search files but you won't have 3D Aero graphics, live animation along the Taskbar or smooth streaming graphics on your desktop. Unless you buy a new PC sometime in 2007, or add a high-end video card and some extra memory to your current PC, you probably won't get the full visual Vista experience. Microsoft now says the basic interface experience has been updated and streamlined so you can work with your programs and files more easily than in previous versions of Windows. Vista's Aero graphics eat laptop battery power - If you're used to your laptop lasting on a long journey, you might want to reconsider upgrading to Windows Vista - that is, if you want the new Aero graphics features turned on. In our tests, a laptop running Windows Vista Aero had significantly reduced battery life compared to one running in what Microsoft calls 'Windows Vista Basic'. You'll sacrifice the 3D and smooth streaming of video but you'll make it to your destination with some battery power to spare. Unfortunately, changing from Aero to Basic is harder than it should be. User Account Protection - The User Account Protection feature has already had plenty of negative press. Although I understand what Microsoft is trying to do - protect the user from rogue software installs - I don't think the company has worked it out yet. In order to perform basic tasks, such as install or remove an application, even administrator account users must answer a series of pop-up messages, adding time to the process. Worse, whenever you are prompted to respond, the whole Vista desktop goes dark while the pop-up message remains on the screen, preventing you from doing anything else. This feature can be valuable if rogue spyware attempts to install without your permission but good internet behaviour will do as much. For most of us, the frequent appearance of User Account Protection on common tasks will be security overkill. Missing drivers and incompatible applications - Not having all the necessary drivers or not having software compliant with a new operating system is to be expected in the beta of a new OS but even after several months of developer testing, I was surprised to see a number of common drivers still missing from the public beta for Windows Vista. For example, I had to manually import several Acer TravelMate 8200 drivers from a Windows XP partition on the same drive. Troubled sleep - Microsoft claims that it has addressed the complicated issue of whether to put your laptop to sleep or have it hibernate when it's not in use. Instant Off, a new option on the Start menu, allows Windows Vista to take a quick snapshot of your system, then shut down completely, thus eliminating the occurrence of a hot laptop inside your backpack. After experiencing several false starts - literally, I was unable to resume my Windows Vista session as I'd left it - I discovered through Vista's Performance Ratings and Tools report that several legacy drivers, some installed by Vista during installation, were preventing the new Instant Off feature from performing correctly. Vista politely asked that I find updated drivers to replace those on my machine or remove them. I suspect a lot of people will encounter this problem in the months immediately following Vista's full release.

Unlike previous versions of Windows, there are differences in Vista between accounts with "computer administrator" privileges and the Administrator account. For instance, the Administrator account does not have User Account Control enabled. There may also be differences in the ability to remove restrictive file operations and object permissions, but Microsoft is still working out those details and does not expect to reveal them until RC1 and beyond. Finally, by default, the Administrator account is present, but it's hidden and disabled on all clean installs of the operating system. It's even possible to create an "administrator" account, with a lowercase "A." But that won't be the full-fledged Administrator account, it's just another account with computer administrator privileges. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figuring It Out You won't find the Administrator account in the User Accounts Control Panel. But the MMC-based Computer Management section of the Administrative Tools Control Panel does give you access to the Administrator account. By default, the account is disabled, but you can enable it there. Your obvious conclusion might be that all you need to do is enable the Administrator account, restart Windows and then log into the Administrator account. But that doesn't work. There's an added step that Microsoft hasn't documented and that isn't all that intuitive: Not only do you have to enable the Administrator account, you also have to disable all other accounts with computer-administrator privileges. And since Vista's clean-install setup program forces you to create a new user account with computer administrator privileges, everyone has to cross this hurdle in finding the built-in Administrator. Before you take any steps to reveal Administrator on your computer, please be aware that there's a bug in Vista Beta 2 that can cause you serious woe if you create a password for your Administrator account in Computer Management. The result of the bug is that you will be completely locked out of your Windows Vista installation. So, please follow the directions to the letter. I will show you how to safely add a password to your Administrator account. Start by booting your computer to Vista in your computer administrator account. Open the Administrative Tools Control Panel. Double-click the Computer Management item to open it. Authorize UAC by clicking the Continue button. Double-click "Local Users and Groups" to open it. Click the Users folder. On the right side of Computer Management, you should see icons for all of the user accounts created on your computer. The ones that have small red circles with an "X" through them are disabled. Click to select the Administrator icon, and then right-click it to open its context menu and choose Properties. Remove the check mark from the "Account Is Disabled" box and click OK. You'll need to restart your computer and follow one of the following two methods to access Administrator. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accessing Administrator: Method 1 For this method, you press F8 as Windows is starting up when the character mode part of the boot-up says something to the effect of "Starting Windows. ..." In a dual-boot environment, you can do that from the boot menu. Once the boot menu is showing, paused for your operating system selection, use the arrow or tab keys to select "Microsoft Windows" (the option that runs Windows Vista). Don't press Enter; instead, press the F8 key, and you'll progress to the Safe Mode boot screen. Choose the first option, "Safe Mode" and press Enter. After a time, Vista will show you the log-in screen with two options, Administrator and Other User. Click the Administrator icon. Running Safe Mode as Administrator both limits and extends your privileges. But for quick access to the Administrator account, this is about as good as it gets in Vista Beta 2. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accessing Administrator: Method 2 The second method allows you to log into the Administrator account just as you would any normal account. So you get the full-fledged Administrator privileges in a normal boot mode, not Safe Mode. There's a trick you need to know to make it work. And also something you need to watch out for. Start by enabling the Administrator account in Computer Management just as described above. (Remember: Don't set a password in Computer Management for the Administrator account.) The second step -- the trick -- is to disable any other enabled accounts with computer administrator privileges in the Users area. Look for account icons that lack the red disable mark. You should find at least one with computer administrator privileges. Follow the same steps to open Properties, but this time, click to add a check mark in the box labeled "Account Is Disabled." Double check that your Administrator account is enabled. Close Computer Management and restart Windows. When it comes back up, it will just load the Administrator account, since you haven't set a password. For security reasons, this method should only be used on a temporary basis. Your Administrator account should not be left enabled without a password. So, have a look around, but don't move in. And when you're done, I strongly urge you to re-enable your user account(s) and promptly disable the Administrator account. If your goal in accessing the Administrator account is to ditch User Account Controls, a somewhat safer way to do that would be to stick with your account with computer-administrator privileges (the one that is not named Administrator). Open the User Account Control Panel. Click the link there that reads "Change security settings" (in Vista Beta 2) and "Turn User Account Control on or off" (in Build 5472 and beyond). On the subsequent screen, you'll find an easy way to turn off UAC. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Living Dangerously There is another possible wrinkle on Method 2. It is possible to set a password for your Administrator account. The bug with setting the Administrator account is in the Computer Management part of the Administrative Tools Control Panel. But there's another way to manage user accounts: the User Accounts Control Panel. User Accounts doesn't display any settings for the Administrator account until you're booted into that account. But once you're booted into Administrator, it lets you set a password for it without any negative effects. So this is a work-around if you'd like to leave your Administrator account enabled. Enable it in Computer Management, and then set a password for it in the User Accounts Control Panel. It's important to protect it with a password that's not easy to guess or arrive at by trial and error. --------- by Scot Finnie

Microsoft, as you probably know, has spent a lot of time and millions of dollars to make Windows Vista more secure and ultimately to protect users from themselves. But you -- you've been using computers for years, right? You don't need any of this hand-holding. You were infested with malware that one time, but that wasn't your fault. And no one has noticed the eight toolbars in your browser whose origin you couldn't explain. Oh, and your significant other was very understanding about Blaster causing you to work 80-hour weeks cleaning up a software wasteland. You and your network are clearly ready for Vista without the locks. Here's how to fly with all the safeties off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Turn User Account Control completely off User Account Control, or UAC, is a new security feature that limits the authority of accounts users are running in, restricting them from entering protected areas or performing sensitive actions on the system. Briefly, users log on, whether they are power users, ordinary users or administrators, and are assigned a normal security token. However, when an action is requested that requires administrative privileges, a logon prompt is displayed and the user must enter credentials; at that time, an administrative security token is assigned to them that allows them to carry out the protected function. This really bothers some people, especially power users, who think they don't need to be protected from themselves. For the people who subscribe to that school of thought, it's relatively easy to turn off UAC entirely. You'll need to open GPEDIT.MSC, acknowledge the very UAC prompt you're trying to disable, and then disable everything beginning with "User Account Control" under Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Turn off data execution prevention Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature introduced in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and now in Windows Vista, that looks for malicious code trying to execute. If DEP's analysis of a process beginning execution makes DEP think the resulting code will cause some sort of unwanted activity, DEP intervenes and shuts the process down. It sounds good in theory, but too often DEP shuts down legitimate programs -- particularly third-party installers used by software developers that release their products for download off the Web. Equally too often, DEP fails to show any sort of warning or information prompt telling you it shut off a process, leaving you scratching your head, wondering why your machine is ignoring you. You might want to turn off Data Execution Prevention globally by issuing the following at an elevated command prompt (i.e., a shell running with administrative credentials): bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff (As you might imagine, it's almost as simple to turn it back on should you want DEP's protection back on your side. The following command will do the trick: bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOn) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neuter the built-in Windows Internet Explorer protections The new Protected Mode -- available in Windows Vista -- runs IE in an isolated security setting, working in conjunction with most of the other, under-the-hood, architectural improvements in Windows Vista. With Protected Mode enabled, Internet Explorer runs within a low-right environment no matter which user actually launched the process. Add-ins, like ActiveX controls and browser toolbars, subsequently run with low rights as well. This helps to prevent browser-based malware from latching onto your system through IE, which was a significant problem in previous versions of Windows. But maybe you want to surf with all caution to the wind, since you trust yourself. Or maybe some of the restrictions of Protected Mode, like having to open separate windows to switch between intranet sites and Internet sites or other cross-security zone jumps, drive you crazy. In this case, you can turn off Protected Mode by double-clicking the lower right corner of any IE window, and on the resulting Internet Security dialog box (shown in Figure 2), unchecking the Enable Protected Mode box. You'll have to restart IE to make the change effective. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Jonathan Hassell is an author, consultant and speaker on a variety of IT topics. His published works include RADIUS, Hardening Windows, Using Windows Small Business Server 2003 and Learning Windows Server 2003. His work appears regularly in such periodicals as Windows IT Pro magazine, PC Pro and TechNet Magazine. He also speaks worldwide on topics, ranging from networking and security to Windows administration. He is currently an editor for Apress LLC, a publishing company specializing in books for programmers and IT professionals.

ROFLMAO, now that's one nasty surprise :lol: BTW, welcome to the forums! :welcome:

K mate, please let us know if you got it for free :naughty:

He's not, he just modified his custom message when he did reached 100 posts

Only for U.S. residents Want a free and legal copy of Windows Vista, but don't mind jumping through a few hoops to get it? This just sounds too good to be true: get a free copy of Vista Business or Office 2007 Pro just for watching a couple of Microsoft propaganda videos. LINK

What do you think about this guys? Sometimes I wonder how they do it For the uninitiated, lucid dreaming is a phenomenon whereby a person who is asleep and dreaming realizes that he (or she) is dreaming, and continues to control the dream, acting out fantasies or gaining special powers all within the dream. I find it a wonderful concept - every night you enter a fake reality (your dreams) and have the opportunity to break out of it (just like Neo in The Matrix). LINK

First, I would try to use the System Restore option in Windows XP. It would be good if you know when this problem started happening. Check if you have restore points prior to date when the problems started. If Yes, restore the system to a previous state when your system worked as it should. If you don't have system restore enabled or you can't run the system restore because of any other reason then try to repair windows installation. If you're not sure how to do that here are some cookbooks or step by step tutorials which can help you do this safely.. Nice tutorial with screenies Another useful tut. One more here.

This sounds very rude. Are you sayin' that we should let the guys program all day, spending to much of free time for something like this and then when they ask a small donation, all you can do is turn back? :sigh:

:welcome: Welcome to the forums Sreejith..

LCD Buyer's Guide As of Thursday, Nov 23, 2006 News: Check out the new website!: lcdresource.com My goal with this guide is to bring you the most accurate, practical, and up-to-date information possible on Liquid Crystal Displays. I hope you as a reader find said info helpful. Read on, and enjoy! There won't be one question in here (that I can possibly answer) that I won't provide at least some kind of reply to, so if you have any concerns/suggestions/constructive criticism/need recommendations on what to buy, do not hesitate to ask! Everything is welcome. After all, that is the point of this thread. We are in dire need of reviews, so if you own any LCD, no matter the size, please post the model and how you like it. Thanks! ------------------------------------ Table of Contents: Criteria Types of Panels Aspect Ratios and Resolutions Technologies "Ghosting" Backlight Uniformity/Leaking Common Misconceptions Color Reproduction ---------------------------------------------- 1. Criteria ---------------------------------------------- Color gamut "Color gamut" represents the range of colors that can be displayed using combinations of red, green, and blue subpixels. Certain monitors must emulate the colors (by dithering or frame rate control (FRC)) to display the full 24-bit of today's graphics adapters. Black level (darkness of the color black) LCDs require a source of light to display an image. Most today use cold cathode fluorescent lights (CCFLs), while more expensive ones use LED. With either technology, the crystals have a hard time blocking the light. How well they can do this is quantized by the black level. This measures how many nits (candelas per square meter) are emitted when black is displayed. Lower the better for black. For white, you'd want the highest value possible. The low black and the high white brightness values will produce a high-contrast display, and that's what you're looking for in terms of colors. Response time Response time measures how long it takes for one crystal cell to change its state from on to off. Some types of panels are faster than others in this category. The lower value of time (usually milliseconds) means a quicker change. A high response time can cause blurry/streaky effects in motion. A technology called ODC (overdriving circuit) can assist in reducing these effects. Viewing angle The viewing angle measurement denotes how far to each side it is that you can still make out an undistorted image. This varies among panels as well, as do all of the above. On TN panels, the colors will invert when viewed at an extreme angle. VAs will generally just decrease in brightness with little color shift. IPS panels exhibit the fewest effects when viewing from a different angle. Input flexibility Many monitors come with both a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) and VGA (Video Graphics Array) interface. DVI will deliver a perfect pictures in terms of geometry due to its digital nature. VGA, analog, can sometimes be noisy or blurry. Generally the difference is insignificant on LCDs 17" or smaller. Ergonomics LCDs can be very flexible with physical adjustments. These may include height adjustment, tilt, swivel, pivot, and rotate (portrait/landscape). It shouldn't come as a surprise all measurements are biased when it comes to manufacturers' specifications. ---------------------------------------------- 2. Types of Panels ---------------------------------------------- The most important thing to consider is the type of panel in the LCD. (Please note that no guarantees are made regarding the accuracy of the scientific details on these panels.) TN (Twisted Nematic): Without an ODC (overdriving circuit), this type of panel offers the fastest pixel response time. This does however come at the expensive of viewing angles and color fidelity. Out of all TFT-LCD panels, the TN type has the lowest contrast. It is also a 6-bit color depth panel, meaning dithering or frame rate control (FRC) must be employed to reach close to a full 8-bit depth. Pixels in their active state on a TN are black, while in their inactive, white. (P-)MVA ({Premium} Multidomain Vertical Alignment): The liquid crystal (LC) cells on MVA panels are in their active state white, and in inactive black and are separated into four domains. This slightly improves viewing angle over TN-type displays (MVAs provide ~45 degrees). MVA panels also provide a high contrast ratio. Grayscale inversion is minimal on these displays. Response time is the second slowest in the industry without ODCs. MVAs and all derivatives hide details at a perpendicular viewing angle due to their multidomain nature. PVA (Patterned-ITO Vertical Alignment): Developed by Samsung, PVA is very similar to MVA. Viewing angles are very similar and inversion is minimal at wide viewing angles. Samsung is not clear on the true color depth of these panels. These panels deliver the slowest response time. S-PVA (Super Patterned-ITO Vertical Alignment): These types of panels deliver a full 8-bit color depth and have a structure split into eight domains. At wide viewing angles, they have less color shift and a lower black level than MVAs. According to Samsung, they have a higher contrast ratio and better response time than MVAs as well. S-MVA (Super Multidomain Vertical Alignment): Likely similar to P-MVA from AU Optronics, Chi Mei Optoelectronics has developed the S-MVA type of panel. These also include multidomain, vertically-aligned liquid crystals so that the cells stay in the same shape at different positions, increasing brightness at wide viewing angles. According to CMO, S-MVA improves viewing angles from conventional MVA types to 80 degrees in all angles. Like other types of panels, response time has gradually improved on these as well. IPS (In-Plane Switching): The IPS panel was pioneered by Hitachi to fix the problems that plague the VA and TN types. Like TN, most IPSes contain only a single domain, although DD-IPS (dual domain IPS) does exist. This technology sports the least distortion at wide viewing angles. Two transistors per each pixel are needed, so brighter backlighting is crucial and power consumption is higher than competing technologies, but response time benefits greatly from this. Color depth varies. One disadvantage is that a purple-black is now introduced in black colors at different viewing angles. S-IPS (Super In-Plane Switching): LG Philips LCD improved on IPS with their S-IPS technology. These offer a lower black level, higher contrast ratio, lower response time, and a wider viewing angle than traditional IPS technology. Color depth on S-IPS panels is 8-bit. The purple-black tinting still applies to wide viewing angles, but orange and red hues are greatly reduced versus other technologies at wider viewing angles. AS-IPS (Advanced/Enhanced Super In-Plane Switching): These type of panels are LG Philips LCD's third generation of IPS technology. This is mainly just a wieldy moniker for improvements in the front-end driving electronics, including ODC to reduce response time, and a dynamic contrast ratio technology, raising contrast up to 1600:1. The diagonal viewing angle is also increased to 178 degrees, from 170 on S-IPS panels. AS-IPS panels very often include much brighter backlights than S-IPS types. A-MVA (Advanced Multidomain Vertical Alignment): This is a new panel from AU Optronics promising contrast ratio and viewing angle performance comparable to Samsung's 8-domain S-PVA panels. These should be capable of true 8-bit color. Still, it is unknown if ODC will force them to dither. Still confused? Check out the Matrix of all Matrices. ---------------------------------------------- 3. Aspect Ratios and Resolutions ---------------------------------------------- Aspect ratio is a proportion representing width divided by height. Common aspect ratios are listed below. 5:4 (1280x1024 for 17" and 19"): Squarest of all the listed, thus maximum area. 4:3 (1600x1200 for 20.1") 16:10 (1680x1050 for 20.1", 1920x1200 for 24"): Resolution of most "widescreen" monitors 16:9 (1280x720, 1920x1080): True widescreen. No LCD monitors that I know of incorporate this HDTV resolution with one exception, this Westinghouse 37", but this is more of a TV due to its size. 16:10 is the commonly used one for monitors because it's a good compromise between productivity (Word documents anyone?) and movie watching. As for scaling quality, it first depends on if you tell your graphics card to do it, or your monitor. If you find your monitor's scaling is sub par, you can engage your graphics card's scaler. In addition there are a number of scaling modes, like 1:1 and fixed aspect ratio scaling. Many monitors deliver OK scaling when viewing photos, however text clarity can easily suffer. Games may not look very pleasing at lower resolutions. ---------------------------------------------- 4. Technologies ---------------------------------------------- Overdrive (Response Time Accelerator) Most commonly called ClearMotiv (ViewSonic), MagicSpeed (Samsung), Over Driving Circuit (LG.Philips LCD), and Response Time Compensation (X-Bit Labs). All of the above technologies bump the voltage to increase the speed of the transition (among other things in the case of ClearMotiv). When it goes too far (an overshoot), there can be noise, especially noticeable in subtle transitions or the dithering of TN panels. Tom's Hardware Guide does however have a rating for this overshoot phenomenon. X-Bit Labs has also cracked down on it in their recent reviews. "Widescreen" (16:10 AR) Usually widescreen means 16:9, but LCD monitor manufacturers use the moniker widescreen to refer to a 16:10 ratio instead, a compromise between desktop real estate and movie watching. While it may sound great at first, there are a lot of things to consider. Is widescreen all it's cracked up to be? The main problem with widescreen is the resolution itself. As you may know, LCDs can not change their resolution without a loss of quality, and most of the time it's a significant loss of clarity. CRTs can do this much better because they inherently have a Gaussian distribution of the pixels, and in the end it yields much better quality. Think of it like analog zoom vs. digital zoom. This means in order to get a good image on a widescreen monitor, you must run it at its native resolution, or deal with black bars on the edges. I'd say 75% of today's games still require you to edit a configuration file manually to achieve the widescreen resolution. Fortunately, many people have already done the grunt work for you. Here's a site that will help you configure your game to work with your widescreen LCD: Widescreen Gaming Forum But, not all games can support widescreen, even through the configuration file. For these, you'll have to settle with the black bars or scaling. X-Brite/OptiClear/Acer CrystalBrite These are special contrast-increasing coatings. Note, Samsung's MagicBright/MagicColor and BenQ's SensEye are not necessarily related to these, they are internal panel technologies. Anyhow, many people prefer the higher contrast of these coatings and say they look beautiful. One small note of concern is they could increase glare, but that'll depend on the ambient lighting surrounding you. HDCP High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. This will be mandatory for playing Blu-Ray/HD-DVD discs on Vista (or any other OS). You won't need it to boot into Windows though (not even Vista). HDCP can be used through the DVI port or through the HDMI port. It's hardly anything to worry about for computer monitors (very few have it), but you should definitely consider it for multimedia monitors and TVs. Hi-FRC (pdf) This is a new form of FRC (temporal "dithering") developed by Chi Mei Optoelectronics that makes up for the colors lost in conventional FRC (3 tones, (256-3)^3=16.2M). When a color value of 1 is requested, it is remapped to 0.25, 2 to 0.5, 3 to 0.75, and then 4-255 are created by the regular FRC method. The end result is 16.7M colors. ---------------------------------------------- 5. "Ghosting" ---------------------------------------------- Maybe you've looked at LCDs before, and find the colors great, the viewing angles good, but one thing you are especially worried about with your future purchase is the response time. There's a fundamental problem in explaining how good or bad the level of ghosting is. This may be the only way I can relate it to you: if you've ever used an aperture grille CRT and seen its faint lines but still love it regardless, the same thing will probably happen to you with response time. Obviously the first week you get it, that's the first thing you're going to look for, because for most gamers it's the obvious disadvantage. So you bring your LCD home, plug it in and play some Battlefield 2 on it, then turn around a bit, and you can see some smearing. At that point, you're probably already thinking of returning it and thinking you'll never be able to live with it. In reality, once you take your focus off scrutinizing the ghosting and start playing your game, you will find it to be an extremely small obstruction, if it is any problem at all. In the end, that's all that matters. It's also worth noting some people may not even be able to see it if they look for it. Unless you have a panel with an atrocious response time like 25 ms. (min), then it will be a minor issue. That said there are some people who may be especially sensitive to it. ---------------------------------------------- 6. Backlight Uniformity/Leaking ---------------------------------------------- Unfortunately, this can vary a lot per unit. If uniformity is bad, some places on the panel will be slightly brighter than others. This still occurs today, especially in cheaper monitors. However even more expensive ones have their share of duds, such as the VP191b/VP930b, which many users have had leaking issues with, along with some of the Dells. But like I said, this will vary per unit. The majority of the time, this is not a problem. ---------------------------------------------- 7. Common Misconceptions ---------------------------------------------- An IPS or VA panel is always 8-bit Just because the crystals themselves have the ability to twist that accurate does not necessarily mean the driving electronics can support it. Don't rely on this. For instance, the Samsung 970P and ViewSonic VP930b use a form of dithering/FRC. 16.7 million colors is a connotation for a dither-free 8-bit panel You cannot count on this measurement to be true among manufacturers. A lower-listed response time on the specifications is always faster This is very untrue. Manufacturers can measure the response time any way they so desire. Gray to gray, white to black and back to white, only the rise time, only the fall time, or any combination of those. One manufacturer's "20 ms." can be another's "4 ms." Beware. For example, the Samsung 940B is rated as 8 ms., but it reaches 35 ms. most of the time. Contrast ratios Usually the contrast ratios are grossly overrated on spec sheets and there's no telling if they're using the standard ANSI method. Viewing angles This is yet another inflated spec. 160/160 can mean 80/80 up/down and 80/80 left/right or 40/120 up/down and 90/70 left/right. You can't tell. Some manufacturers will list their method as CR>5 or CR>10, this means it maintains a contrast ratio>x at y angle. But there will still be immense distortion on some panels, particularly TN. It does not take that in to account. Bigger is better When you compare a 17" to a 19" which both have a 5:4 1280x1024 resolution, the 19" only has bigger dot pitch. This means your display will be grainier in general, though text will be bigger for the visually-impaired. Unfortunately, manufacturers are mostly only spending R&D on 19" panels nowadays, and some are even cheaper than their 17" counterparts. ---------------------------------------------- 8. Color Reproduction ---------------------------------------------- 6-bit LCDs can truly only produce 262,144 colors ((2^6)^3). Thus they must implement a dithering or frame rate control technique to simulate up to 16.7 million colors. These techniques still don't reproduce colors as good as 8-bit panels that don't use the dithering. More primitive forms of dithering can only reach 16.2 million colors (253^3=16,194,277). True 8-bit PVA and IPS panel LCDs can produce 16,777,216 (16.7 million) real colors ((2^8)^3). And to recap: not all PVA and IPS panels are driven by "true" 8-bit electronics, so they could still use dithering! As another precaution, LCDs do tend to have problems reproducing skin/subtle tones vibrantly. Source: Anandtech Forums

the problem is that this DELL monitors has the same price as this NEC here in Croatia, although it's much cheaper everywhere else.. You can see by the specs that NEC offers much more for the same price..

Since I'm still using CRT monitor, it's time to upgrade to LCD I've got two monitors that are my favorites and probably will decide for NEC, but also would like your thoughts, comments and suggestions.. Thx.. Product Description NEC MultiSync 20WGX2 - flat panel display - TFT - 20.1" Device Type Flat panel display / TFT active matrix Colour ( the image may represent the product of a different colour ) Built-in Devices USB Hub Dimensions (WxDxH) 47.1 cm x 20.2 cm x 39.2 cm Weight 6.3 kg Diagonal Size 20.1" - widescreen Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch 0.258 mm Max Resolution 1680 x 1050 / 60 Hz Colour support 24-bit (16.7 million colours) Image Aspect Ratio 16:10 DELL monitor LCD 2007WFP 20'' TFT UltraSharp Wide 20.1 inch, Flat Panel LCD TFT (Active Matrix), Brightness: 300 cd/m

Well, it's really weird, to be honest I've never tried it also although it is free..I still found Unreal Tournament 2004 the best FPS so far. Can't wait UT2007 demo which will be available this Christmas :thumbsup:

If you open a folder you can see the list of links on the left side. Don't like what is there? What to change them or add something else? Easy, go to the C:\user\your_username\links folder. Put in any shortcut there you want or change any existing ones. These links are what show up on the left side.

Welcome Khan, hope you'll like it here :welcome:

They look awesome matey, I couldn't be happier that I am with this choice :thumbsup:

I've bought Harman/Kardon speakers and I can say that they're awesome... I've listened to both Logitech and Harman speakers at the store and I can only say GO for the Harman.. Sound of this speakers is absolutely amazing.. :thumbsup:

Yup it was useful several times in my company..