You think that it’s easy to fix this problem by going to Registry Editor but you can’t! You get the error message “Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator“.

Folder Options and even Show Hidden Files & Folder is disabled! How frustrating! This problem is most commonly caused by a virus called “Brontok“. Brontok virus will make some changes to the system restrictions in order to hide itself from easy detection and also from easy cleaning.

Don’t worry, here’s how to restore your Windows Task Manager, Registry Editor, Folder Options and Show hidden files & folders.

Here’s a free tool called Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT) which is able to re-enables all what the virus had previously disabled, and gives you back the control over your own computer.

Remove Restriction Tool

Remove Restrictions Tool is able to re-enable:

- Registry Tools (regedit)

- Ctrl+Alt+Del

- Folder Options

- Show Hidden Files

and much more…

Small and easy to use. Make sure you boot in to Safe Mode to use Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT). Just click on the buttons and it’ll do it’s job.

[ Download Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT) ]

Source: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/

Just bought the Altec Lansing AHP524 Light Studio Headphone and I can say that it worth its price. Its only at Rs.690 at VEngineers Co Ltd. at Goodlands.

If you wanna spend less for good quality sound i would recommend you this one if you got a sound card that supports HD Audio.

At first, I’ve been hesitating between the Altec Lansing CHP524 but decided to go for the Altec Lansing AHP524 instead. I had to consider my budget though.

If you listen to music over a long period of time, its very comfortable tough and its a bit like the noise cancelling type. Not to forget to mention that it has no microphone attached thus there’s nothing hanging by unnecessarily getting on your nerves when you don’t need it!

Anyway, another great feature with this headphone is that it has an extremely long cable(10 feet) and a handy in-line volume control to adjust the volume without going on the keyboard to do so. Its very helpful to me as i could lie on bed just next to my computer desk and watch movies or listen to music without bothering myself much.

Conclusion:

Buy it if don’t wanna invest much on headphones but want quality sound!

For more info visit this review from Techgage:

http://techgage.com/article/altec_lansing_ahp524_headphones/

There are a lot of companies out there who are trying to improve your computing experience. Whether it is a bigger monitor, a faster processor, a better video card, or a larger mouse pad, most people are aware of how much time they spent at the computer and want to make the time there as enjoyable as possible. One upgrade that is overlooked all too often are the speakers.

A solid audio system can make a tremendous difference- it can turn gaming from just another boring shoot-em-up to a spine-rumbling, surround sound action fest. If you are not a gamer then you might enjoy improved sound quality for your digital music, surround sound movies, or the added bass of a subwoofer.

We will be looking at the FX5051 surround sound 5.1 speaker system from Altec Lansing. The new system was just released in order to round out their lineup as a high-end system with speakers and a subwoofer. Despite its being at the top end of Altec Lansing’s PC series the FX5051 is still relatively affordable for a serious computer sound system. There is extremely tough competition in the audio market though and some very good systems are available for a lot less, so let’s see how the FX5051 stacks up.

Looking at the system, it is pretty easy to get the basics straight- it is a 5.1 surround sound powered audio system. In case you don’t know all the terms, that means four satellite speakers, a center channel, and a sub woofer (this is the “.1″). The system is powered so it does not require an amplifier to drive the sub or speakers – this feature is a must for people who are not audio enthusiasts.

There is a lot more to the FX5051 system though; there better be given the price of this system and its relatively meager wattage numbers. The most important feature is that the system actually has two subwoofers! This is extremely counter intuitive because if this was a dual subwoofer system it would be correctly identified as a 5.2 system. The subwoofer configuration is actually two 6.5″ subs mounted in the cabinent facing one another. This “two-barreled” or isobaric design is used because it allows for the maximum amount of bass in the smallest amount of space. Because the two subwoofers are joined and act as one, this is a 5.1 system.

Another feature is handled by the dual mode switch. The two settings- 2/4 and 6- denote the number of channels the system is using at a time. Six channel audio will be for computer use with a USB connection, though the design does not require the user to have a 5.1 channel sound card so it will work with any computer. The 2/4 mode is for when you are using the system with your iPod, CD player, television, or any other product.

Other notable additions are a wireless remote control, a control pod for quick adjustments, an iPod/MP3 player jack, and a headphone jack. The control pod can be used for making quick adjustments, like volume (master, center, and rear can be configured separately) or bass. It uses a combination of buttons and lights in order to handle a number of settings with limited controls. If this worked well it could be called elegant, but overall I found it to be a bit confusing and not nearly as precise as it could be. Luckily the included remote can be used instead.

Taking a closer look at the speakers we can see they are nice and small (3.2″ W x 2.3″ D x 7″ H) so tucking them away will not be a problem. If you actually want to hide them is up to you though because they are not exactly an eyesore. The speakers do not use replaceable speaker cable so you will be stuck using the included lengths, which means you only have some much to work with and cannot add your own cable if you want to place them further away. Another downside is that wall mounts are not included, though Altec will send you some if you request them. For the price of this speaker system I really would have liked to see the use of replaceable speaker cable, included wall mounts, and maybe even removable grills on the speakers.

The next part of the speaker system is control pod, a small device tethered to the subwoofer. This can be used as an alternative to the remote control when the user wants to make an adjustment. As stated earlier, the pod looks cool, but is somewhat confusing and is not very precise. The remote is really the best way control the FX5051 system.

The heart of the product is the subwoofer cabinet. As with other computer speaker systems, this is where the amplifier and subwoofer are placed and it has the panel to which the speakers are connected. Once everything joins up here a few cable can be run to the computer (one to the USB and then the speaker jacks). Also on this panel are an auxiliary input, which can be used for a device like an iPod or CD player, the switch which determine 2/4 or 6 channel mode, and the DIN input for the control pod.

Looking at the subwoofer cabinet we can see two things. First of all, it looks pretty cool. If you view it just right you can see the upside down subwoofer through the grill. The other thing consumers should note is that the cabinet is nice and small ( 9.8″ W x 9.8″ D x 13.3″ H), especially considering that there are two 6.5″ cones crammed in there.

Setting up the FX5051 kit is extremely easy- it is just a matter of making a few connections. The hardest part for a system like this is placing the speakers within the confines of the cables. This setup lends itself to a desk, which is good, but then the rear speakers are a problem, but this is almost always the case. Once everything is plugged in and powered up you simply need to make a few changes in the operating system and you are set. Total installation time should be under ten minutes.

Given the small size of each of the components, the FX5051 is surprising powerful. With a total continuous power of just 89W (RMS) this system has some kick to it, but its power depends more on efficient design than on sheer size or wattage. This breaks down to 12W/channel on the four satellites, 13W for the center, and 28W for the subwoofers. This may not seem like a lot of power, but what matters is not the number but the result, and the FX5051 does not disappoint. Testing found that the system can get very loud and the subwoofer is enough to product the bass for a good-sized room. The size means you cannot expect the system to produce the ultra deep bass or rumbling vibration of a something bigger like 10″ subwoofer but considering the user’s likely proximity to the system, it should be more than enough to anger the neighbors.

As for sound quality the FX5051 is good to very good- depending on the media- but is still behind some of the products from Klipsh, which still are very tough to beat. This is an area with which most buyers will be happy.

The system was also tested on a television. Here it also did well, but this is clearly not what it was designed for. The product has two main problems here- it can only operate in 2/4 mode and that no RCA converter is included so consumers will have to go out and buy one for a few dollars.

Conclusion

In the FX5051 Altec Lansing has a very nice speaker system. It is compact, performed well, and looks cool so in many ways it is a solid product. The problems with it are the price and the fact that there are so many other good systems on the market. Given its small size and power per watt the FX5051 is worth considering. Unlike some other systems, especially those built for gamers, Altec Lansing’s bass does not overpower the rest of the speakers (unless if you want it to) so you can really appreciate the surround sound.

(+)
- Compact
- Easy to set up
- Great Surround sound with any computer

(-)
- Not cheap

Want to rip a DVD? Ripping a DVD to xvid or divx avi is really quite easy, if you have the right tools. You’ll first need to download DVD decrypter and auto gordian knot (autogk). DVD decrypter allows you to rip the raw DVD video and audio data off of your disk drive, decrypt the CSS protection, and finally remove any other protection schemes, such as Macrovision. AutoGK is a package of codecs and a GUI interface that will take the raw DVD data through an AV processing pipeline to produce a single windows video file.

Step 1: RIP

Put in a DVD and launch DVD Decrypter. Choose IFO (Information File) mode:

Now make sure you’ve selected a destination for your files:

Now you need to find which program chain to rip (PGC). Pick the one that’s the longest, or in the case of a TV dvd, the episode you want to rip:

Everything’s set up. Just click the green arrow and wait about twenty minutes, after which you will have a set of files which look like this:

VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_PGC_07 – Stream Information.txt
VTS_01_PGC_07_1.VOB

The whole ripping process shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.

Step 2: ENCODE

Launch AutoGK and select the first .vob that you just ripped as an input file, and set an output file name:

Now you need to select audio (choose the first one) and subtitles, if any:

If you’re ripping a TV, set the preferred size to 350MB, if you’re ripping a movie, choose either 700MB or 1400MB, depending on your preference:

Finally, click on advanced settings and choose MP3 VBR 128kbs:

Then click “add job” and “start.” After all this, you’ll have a log that looks like the following:

[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] AutoGK 2.26
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Job started.
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Input file: J:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.IFO
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Output file: J:\Output.avi
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Output codec: XviD
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Audio 1: Unknown language AC3 2ch
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Subtitles: none
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Format: .AVI
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Target size: 350Mb
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Custom audio settings: VBR MP3 with average bitrate: 128Kbps
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Started encoding.
[12/26/2005 9:07:27 AM] Demuxing and indexing.
[12/26/2005 9:08:30 AM] Processing file: J:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_PGC_04_1.VOB
[12/26/2005 9:08:30 AM] Source resolution: 720×480
[12/26/2005 9:08:30 AM] Found NTSC source.
[12/26/2005 9:08:30 AM] Source aspect ratio: 4:3
[12/26/2005 9:08:30 AM] Analyzing source.
[12/26/2005 10:28:40 AM] Source is considered to be hybrid (mostly NTSC).
[12/26/2005 10:28:40 AM] Looking for optimal hybrid thresholds.
[12/26/2005 10:28:45 AM] Found threshold of: 1.38
[12/26/2005 10:28:45 AM] Output will contain 38690 frames
[12/26/2005 10:28:45 AM] Decoding audio.
[12/26/2005 10:29:16 AM] Normalizing audio.
[12/26/2005 10:29:28 AM] Encoding audio.
[12/26/2005 10:31:57 AM] Audio1 size: 17,708,400 bytes (16.89 Mb)
[12/26/2005 10:31:57 AM] Overhead: 1,547,648 bytes (1.48 Mb)
[12/26/2005 10:31:57 AM] Video size: 347,745,552 bytes (331.64 Mb)
[12/26/2005 10:31:57 AM] Running compressibility test.
[12/26/2005 10:35:01 AM] Duration was: 3 minutes 4 seconds
[12/26/2005 10:35:01 AM] Speed was: 12.61 fps.
[12/26/2005 10:35:01 AM] Compressibility percentage is: 55.96
[12/26/2005 10:35:01 AM] Chosen resolution is: 560×416 ( AR: 1.35 )
[12/26/2005 10:35:01 AM] Predicted comptest value is: 73.79%
[12/26/2005 10:35:01 AM] Running first pass.
[12/26/2005 11:02:56 AM] Duration was: 27 minutes 55 seconds
[12/26/2005 11:02:56 AM] Speed was: 23.10 fps.
[12/26/2005 11:02:56 AM] Expected quality of first pass size: 76.04%
[12/26/2005 11:02:56 AM] Running second pass.
[12/26/2005 11:42:42 AM] Duration was: 39 minutes 46 seconds
[12/26/2005 11:42:43 AM] Speed was: 16.22 fps.
[12/26/2005 11:42:43 AM] Job finished. Total time: 2 hours 35 minutes 15 seconds
====================================================

Step 3: WATCH

You’re done. Delete all the non .avi files and enjoy the fruits of your ripping.

AutoGK - THE tool for XviD / DivX conversion

This is a guide to use the very simple AutoGK to convert your DVD movies into ac3 or mp3 .avis with excellent quality final results.

Getting Started

To get started you will need a couple pieces of software:

AutoGK

K-Lite Codec Pack

DVD Decrypter

First, install DVD Decrypter and the K-Lite codec pack, and then install AutoGK. If asked to reboot, please reboot and come back to this guide.

Besides these pieces of software, you will also need:

-At least 12 GB of HDD space

-A working DVD-rom or DVD+-RW drive and DVD movie

-A couple hours or someplace to go while the program is processing

Ripping the movie to your HDD

Use DVD Decrypter to to rip the DVD to your HDD.

Click here to read the tutorial on How to Use DVD Decrypter to Rip a DVD to Your HDD.

When you have succesfully ripped it into .vob and with AC3 audio, please return to the guide.

To rip your subtitles (if you want any) use this great guide available here: Ripping Subtitles

Opening up AutoGK for the first time

Open up AutoGK and check out the GUI. It is very simple and straightforward. Also, it is conviniently divided into 4 Steps which are in order from Step 1 through 4 which need to be followed in that order.

Let’s go to Step 1 in AutoGK.
For Input File, provide the path to the Video_TS folder that you ripped previously.

For the Output File, select a place you will remember, such as the Desktop.

Step 2: Audio

In Step 2, the main audio track should be chosen by default but you have the option to select other tracks such as a Director’s Commentary track or a second or third language.

We will be fixing the settings in a later step so for now you are finished with the audio part of Step 2.

Step 2: Subtitles

If you ripped subtitles along with your movie before here is the option to use them.

Add the subtitle track or tracks from where you saved them when ripping. As of now the default is set to make the subtitles hardcoded (you cannot turn them on or off) but we will fix that in a later step as well.

Step 3: Select output size

In this step we are selecting the output size of your .avi. The Odefault is 2 CD’s which is equivalent to 1400 MB or 1.36 GB.

Here is where personal preference comes into play but I will give you the rules of thumb I follow when using this method.

If the movie is under 2 hours and has nothing spectacular (ie. a short comedy film) in terms of the audio then select 1 CDs (700MB) as the output.

If the movie is over 2 hours OR has a spectacular audio track or both (ie. Lord of the Rings Trilogy) then select 2 CDs (1400 MB) as the output.

If the movie is over 3 hours AND includes a spectacular audio track (ie. King Kong) then select 3 CDs (2100 MB) as the output.

Whichever you choose from the predefined CD outputs will be split into 700 MB pieces, so a 3 CD film will be split into 3 700 MB pieces.

If you do not want your movie split then there is an option for Custom Size (MB). If you do not want your movie split, then select this option.
For a 2 CDs movie, make the custom size 1399.
For a 3 CDs movie, make the custom size 2099.

Doing this will give you the same quality but will not split your movie into pieces.

Step 4: Advanced Settings

Now we come to the most important of all the steps, Step 4: Advanced Settings.

The first part of the Advanced Settings is the Output Resolution Settings. It allows to set the horizontal resolution of the movie you are using. There are a few options for this.

Auto width is the default and sets the resolution at automatic for what you inputed. I recommend leaving this option selected but will explain the other options.

Minimum width simply means that the movie will not be encoded at a horizontal resolution lower than you set.

Fixed width simply means the movie will encode at the horizontal resolution you set manually.

Maximum width means that AutoGK will try lower resolutions and then stop when it reaches your manually added max even if compressibility would allow the resolution to go higher. Using this method often gives undersized final outputs and I would not recommend.

I recommend using Auto Width but the choice is up to you now that you have the options.

Output audio settings

Output Audio Type is the next part of the Advanced Settings menu.

This is one of the most, if not the most important part of the whole encoding process so be careful during this section.

I will go through the options and then explain which one you should select.

Auto Audio gives you MP3 audio at 128 kbps VBR (variable bit rate) for a 1 CD output and AC3 audio for 2 CD or 3 CD outputs.

Original (AC3/DTS/MPA only) is the selection if you want high quality AC3/DTS/MPA audio with your movie.

VBR, MP3, kbps is the selection if you want to manually select the variable bit rate for your encode.

CBR, MP3, kbps is the selection if you want to select a constant bitrate for your encode. Constant Bitrate encoding is not ideal because it makes the whole audio track the same bitrate thus taking away quality from certain sections and taking up space in other sections that dont need it.

Now that you know the options, you can take the simple route and select Auto and be done with it. However, I would not recommend this. I recommend the following:

For 1 CD movies, select VBR MP3 and 144 kbps.

For 2 CD and 3 CD movies select Original (recommended) or VBR, MP3 and 320 if the movie is very long and needs additional bit rate for the video portion.

Codec selection

The next section of Advanced Settings is the Codec selection part.

For this you want to select XviD and you are done.

Subtitle options

Next we come to the Subtitle options part. If you selected to add a subtitle track earlier in the guide then you want to check both boxes, Display on forced subtitles and Use external subtitles. If you did not select a track earlier, do not check either box.

Checking the external subtitles option gives you the choice to turn subtitles on or off when viewing the movie and checking the forced only subtitles option forces necessary subtitles to be played during the course of a movie (ie. translation from language different than the main movie language).

Previewing

You can now choose to see a preview by selecting the Preview button. Be warned that a preview takes about 5-10 minutes to load before you can view it.

Hidden options

There are quite a few hidden options in AutoGK and they can be accessed by hitting Ctrl+F9.

When the hidden options menu pops up, you have alot of selections to choose from if you wish. I will go through these options and give some recommendations.

.mono is an option made for classic film fans. All classic films originally had mono audio but when moved to DVD they came with dual mono AC3 audio. By using the mono option of AutoGK you can free up space for video bit rate and improve quality. DO NOT select this option unless you are encoding a classic film.

.cartoon as quoted by the creator of XviD, “enables some mechanism in the motion estimation which drops (instead of encoding them) more macro blocks. The result is a more stable, a little less detailed image. Exactly what you need for cartoons like Futurama or the Simpsons.” In short, if you are encoding American style cartoons, use this, if you are encoding anything else (including japanese anime such as Dragonball Z) do not use this option.

Leave the .ivtc and .deint options unchecked unless you are an expert, in which case you would not be reading this guide.

.credits can be a very useful feature. It allows you to compress the credits to free up space for better bitrate for main movie. Inside the Frame Calculator type in the starting time for the credits and set the Quality to 40. Set the Framerate to whatever your movie is. (NTSC is 29.97 and PAL is 25.00).

.autocrop simply defines how sensitive the auto cropping will be. The higher you set the value the more cropping will be done. To disable cropping, set the value to 0

.aspect allows you to manually set the aspect ratio if you do not like a predefined 16:9 or 4:3.

.fps is mainly for HDTV 50/60 fps sources. Quoted from the AutoGK website “option is only useful for HDTV 50/60fps sources. By default AutoGK tries to restore 24fps FILM material from 60fps sources and if that is impossible then it leaves fps at 60 (50 fps sources are always left at that fps at the moment). So user can explicitly try and set lower fps. (Note: if you have a pure progressive material you may end up with shuttering video in the end when reducing fps. Use it only if you know what you’re doing)”

.sharpmatrix forces AutoGK to use sharp mpeg matrix no matter what. Use this if you are making a 1 CD encode.

The next three options are for experts only and should be left off.

.adjustsubs is a another useful option. If you have subs, check this box so AutoGK can put the subs exactly in the same position where they were in the original DVD.

.colorcorrection allows you to brighten up the picture of your encode if it is too dark. Most movies do not need this option and selecting it will slow done your encoding process by 20 percent.

.detect43 allows you the option to check if the aspect ratio is between 1.25 and 1.4 then AutoGk will crop the video to a perfect 4:3 so there are no black bars on your TV when viewing.

Starting the encoding process and finishing up

You are now done, and are ready to start the encoding process. Press Add Job and then Start. Do not hit Abort at all during this process or you will lose your encode and have to start over.

Once this is done, in 2-3 hours depending on your PC specs, you will have a nice .avi sitting in your HDD waiting to be played on a bunch of different players, such as Media Player Classic and VLC.
Enjoy.