How to use a cheap 2.5 drive as an Xbox 360 Slim drive

(Tips & tutorial on upgrading the Xbox 360 Slim 4G with a cheap 2.5 laptop drive – particularly to those who bought the 4G console in Singapore)
note: this is not for the faint of heart. it will get quite technical.
oh! and use at your own risk)

Out of a whim, i just got myself a new Xbox 360-Slim 4G Kinect bundle!
(And yes, that just killed what ever budget i have planned for my supposed small-form-factor PC gaming rig i have been daydreaming about)

Anyhow, i got the 4G version, not the 250G bundle. 4 Gigabytes (actually just around 3Gb) is fine for game saves and all but once you start downloading apps and game demos on the Xbox (like i did, the very day i got the console) – you’d know that it’s just not enough.

The official Xbox drive sells at around S$150~200. You can get it at 250 or 320Gb versions. That’s quite a hefty price for me. Thankfully, i found 2 alternatives: buy a cheaper ‘compatible’ Xbox drive (not the official Microsoft drive) or buy a much cheaper 2.5 (laptop) drive and set it up as an Xbox drive. We’ll we know which route i took.
(this post will probably be moot soon enough with the new Xbox coming out, but a friend ask me for details)

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Tools: Change Windows Live Writer Save Location (and sync it with Dropbox)

also: using mklink, symbolic links for Windows and OS X

I seem to be doing this a lot of times now: manually changing Windows Live Writer save location so it points to my Dropbox folder. I’m a huge fan of this two programs/services. I don’t know about the future of Live Writer but i’d probably be using it still for a long time. And, to those who have been using it for sometime now, would know that one of its biggest limitation is that it doesn’t allow you to change the location where it saves your local drafts/posts.

You can always go the slightly hard way (see link for the how to, in the next section). Set the links manually to Dropbox. i guess it’s the normal way, which isn’t really difficult, only a hassle.

So, to save myself of the same hassle every time – i’ve created a simple tool to automate it. I’m posting this app for anyone who might need it as well.

 

Here it is.
https://sites.google.com/site/mickeymicks/DropTo.Dropbox.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

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TIPS: 5 Easy Steps on how to organize your data on a Windows 7 PC

tags: Windows 7 tips, separate data and system files, organize libraries, save documents on another drive, preparation for SSD, Windows 7 Libraries

 

This is my attempt at telling people to STOP putting everything on their drive C. Of course, every one has their own way of organizing things – this is my way. Lol.
And, this is just one of the many ways to help you organize your Windows 7 PC.

It’s really good to separate your personal data files (documents, pictures, movies) from your system files (Windows OS files), especially these days when those files could easily grow to unmanageable amount.

In my case, i’ve always separated my system drive (where Windows resides, normally drive C) and my data drive/s (where all my personal files are saved). It’s a habit that i’ve developed since the early days of Windows 98SE. Can anyone still remember that OS?

It used to be quite a task to do that, but with Windows 7 (don’t know about Windows 8 though) – it’s just a breeze.

Why do it?

Here are some of the reasons i can think of right now: 

1. If you want to secure (a bit more) your personal files in-case your OS becomes troubled (i.e. virus, crash, corruption)

2. If you have a larger storage (a second drive, a second partition or even an external drive).

3. If you want to backup just your system files (or just your personal files)

4. If (like me) your planning to move your system to an SSD. woot woot.

5. If you want to make a better organization of your data (easier to find, manage and even share your files).

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Today is Stop SOPA Day

..haven't posted much for the last couple of months but i just need to post this one up real quick..


PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Today (Jan 18th) is Stop SOPA Day.
(thanks to http://richardneililagan.com for the vid link).

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How To: Create backups (ISO drive images) of a Disc

Disclaimer: You already know about software piracy so i won’t iterate the details. This post is not intended to condone it. It’s best that you just create backups of what you already own.
And by the way, this is more of a ‘Why’ than a ‘HowTo’ since the tutorial is too simple. Hehe

 

Drive images, specifically ISO files – is one of the reasons why my external storage devices are starting to stack up on my desk. These are the (virtual) software copies of a drive – usually a CD or DVD. Every important CD/DVD that i have, has a virtual copy. I started with the driver disks for my motherboard and video card. Then, with the installers for my major applications. They are backups I made because the physical disks are just so easily scratched and damaged over time.

 

Why You Need to Make Disc Images?

To avoid hair-pulling frustration over a slightly scratched DVD that just won’t continue loading because the damage was enough to cause a ‘redundant cyclic error’ or some other obscure problem – I simply create backups of every important disc I have: from driver discs, installers, games and sometimes even video discs. Their ISOs can easily be loaded as a virtual drive – appearing as if physical drives on a PC.

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Quick Tip: Keep Offline in Yahoo Sites when logged in Yahoo Messenger

I used to ask how some people are able to know that i'm online even when i've already set that i'm invisible to that particular person (ehem.. suffice to say, i wasn't in the mood to chat with that particular person. haha).

It was actually, easy when your using Yahoo! Messenger. Although you can set your invisibility for a contact or group of contacts but there are simple ways to see if your online or not. One way is by just logging-in to yahoo mail and on your address book or e-mail you'd see the bright-yellow smiley (sometimes yellow dot) right next to a contact that is online. Viola! You’re exposed!

You’ll see similar indications through out Yahoo Websites. So you see, you’re not necessarily invisible to certain contacts.

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Simple (and Inexpensive) Ways to Speed-up Your Computer (PC)

PART 1 – EASY

With computers and computer components getting cheaper and faster almost everyday, people tend to forget that there are a lot other ways of speeding up their computers without spending a lot on the latest parts or upgrading. So, if you’re one of those who just want a little more boost on performance, i have a few tips. Starting off from the simplest down to the bit obscure, here are the things that i use over the years get a little more from my hardware: 

1. Clean up your desktop.

This is probably the quickest way: try cleaning up your desktop (nope, not the table where you put your computer). Basically you’d want to remove (or just move) the files and shortcuts that are littered on your desktop. Windows would actually take some processing time just to process and display the icons for these files and links. So to reduce that, delete them or just create a folder on your desktop and put all your desktop items inside that folder. When you need those files, just open up that folder from the desktop.

 

If your desktop is like the smaller image above, then it’s time to do some de-cluttering. The above is actually pretty tame, with only having icons halfway through the desktop. I’ve seen people’s desktop full to the brim, i meant, to the edges. You can always use folders on your desktop! So, put most of your desktop files inside folders.

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Kindle 3 Collections Editor

About a few weeks ago, i got my Kindle 3!

Now, i’m just addicted, not sure if to the Kindle itself or to the books i’m reading – it’s just too seamless.
With just a short period of using it, i can say: I love my Kindle!

I plan on posting a review on Kindle. I know there are already a lot out there but i’d be focusing on my experience as a non-US user. But that’s for later.

One minor complaint i have is that i don’t have an easy way to edit my collections. Kindle users know about this: you’d have to do the editing of your collections on your device which would be quite tedious especially when you have a number of e-books. I wished there was an easier way.

Thanks to a forum i read, i was able to make an editor to update my collections. Now, I’m sharing it!

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Using iGoogle for Facebook, Twitter, G-Mail and Yahoo!Mail

iGoogle isn’t really something that most people use for their everyday computing (social networks and mail). Most people don’t even know what it is or notice it at all. Well, here’s a a quick tip for those people..

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Another Shortcut menu from the Toolbar

The standard Windows Start Menu has never been enough for me, even with the enhancements in Vista (haven’t tried Windows 7 yet). I’ve always wanted another sort of “Start Menu”. The closest way i could do this, without installing anything new was with the use of toolbars.

Check out the following sample of this “sort of Start Menu”

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Create a folder or file with a blank name

I have learned this sort of Windows trick many years ago and have one particular use for it (naming a toolbar).

The folder would look like this..

The folder above looks like it has no name, but it actually does (of course). The name is a special character that looks like a space (remember that you can’t use just a space as the folder name).

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