Are you looking for some nice simple to do Tips and Tricks for your computer? Below there are a some which can help you solve some simple problems with your computer or will help you to make things more easy. For example you can find tips for Windows XP, Vista or other tools or devices.

Copy protected images from websites
Normally is copying images from websites very easy. You simply right click on the image and you select 'Save Image As'. But what to do if some webmasters have 'protected' their images? Some webmasters 'disable' the right click function on their website so you can't copy the image. But this kind of security isn't a real security because there are several other ways to copy an image then by right clicking an image.
I will explain three ways to copy a 'protected' image.

Copy images via the page source
Every part of a web page is being explained in the page source. This is necessary because otherwise the browser, like Internet Explorer or Firefox etc., doesn't know how the page has to be published. The advantage for you of this is that also the images are described in here. You can use that information to copy the 'protected' image.
Simply go to the website where you found that 'protected' image and click in the menu 'View' and then 'Source'. (If you use Internet Explorer 7 or higher, you can make the menu visible by pressing the 'Alt' key.)
For example:
If we take this website, although I haven't 'protected' my images but that isn't important for the example, you see the top logo image with my website name in it. Oops I told you already "…the top logo image….", 8 out of 10 website call such an image their 'logo' or 'Top' and as you can see it is situated on the top of the page.
So I am quite sure that this image (and not only on my website) has a name something like 'top.jpg', 'logo.jpg', 'toplogo.jpg' or the same with the .gif extension. So what you do next is you search for such a name in the page source files you just opened via 'View' -> 'Source' (you can search manually or by pressing 'Ctrl + F' in the source file).

If you find the image in the source file, it is often located in something like 'images/logo.jpg'. Now you select this and copy it to your clipboard. Then you go back to that website and you paste it after the websites domain name. In my example it is 'http://www.about-your-computer.com/imgs/logo.jpg'.
Then press Enter and the image which was 'protected' is shown in your browser and now you can right click it and select 'Save Image As'.

Copy via dragging
The method from the example above is easy if you know the name of the image or if you think you know the name. Don't you know that name or don't you like searching the complete source file for images, then there is another way to copy the 'protected' images.

Click on the image you would like to have with the left mouse button (hold this button) and drag the image a bit. Your mouse pointer changes in a small circle with a stripe in it which tells you that the image cannot be dragged. Keep your mouse button down and press the Windows button + D. This will show your desktop.
Now your mouse pointer is changed in a white square with a '+' in it. This means that you can move the image to here. Simply release your mouse button. In Firefox the image is copied to your desktop and in Internet Explorer you will be asked if you would like to copy the file to your desktop.
Click 'Yes' and there is your image.

Copy via Printscreen
The ways I described above are very good ways to copy images that are 'right-click' protected. But there are websites which have a better security to protect their images. For example there is a security that transforms the image into a white pixel on your hard drive. If every single way you have tried to copy that protected image then there is still one way left, the 'Print screen'.
You only need a tool to edit images, like Paint which is standard in Windows XP, Vista, etc. You simply go to the website where you found that image you'd like to copy. Then press the 'PrintScreen' or 'PrtSc' key on your keyboard. Now the image is store to the clipboard of Windows. Now you open Paint (or another image editing tool) and you paste the image in this tool. Now the image can be edit and saved to your computer.

How to discover my public IP address?
This is a different address then your network (or internal) IP. The external IP is the address where you go online with. If you have several computers IN the network which have all their own IP's, they all connect to the internet with only one IP: the public or external IP.
more information…



Get Hotmail local
If you use hotmail you probably go each time you want to check your mail to http://www.hotmail.com. This isn't necessary because you can check your email also local on your computer, just like Outlook.
A program you can use to check your email local on your computer is called 'Windows Live Mail'. This is one of the new free Live-tools of Microsoft. You can get this tool here: http://get.live.com.



VISTA TIPS AND TRICKS

Shrink a partition
If you have created one or more partitions on your hard drive and a few months later you think "mmmmh this partition has to be a bit smaller", it is possible in Vista to shrink them. You can do this even with a 'system partition'.
more information…

Use ReadyBoost to speed up your computer
What is ReadyBoost and what is SuperFetch?
Microsoft introduces, using Windows, these new techniques, which have to speed up your computer which is used for daily usage.
How do these technologies work?
Do you really get a super system when you extend the memory using a USB stick?
The memory in computers increased dramatically since a few years ago. This is logical because there is nothing what makes a computer more stable and faster than extra memory. Microsoft wants to use that new memory maximum and equipped Windows Vista with a few techniques which have to take care of this.
more information…

Disable the User Account Control
To keep your computer safe and clean of viruses that's one thing which is very important for your computer. But you don't want to get bothered with annoying warnings from Windows Vista each time you install a program or when you make a change in Vista's settings?
more information…

Make a screen shot by using the Snipping Tool
Vista has a great tool to make screen shots very easily. This tool is called the 'Snipping tool'.
Using this tool you can make screen shots of your screen or a selection of it very easily.
more information…

Move standard folders like 'My Documents'
Vista doesn't have just one folder like it is in XP called 'My Documents' but in Vista there are several standard folders. If you like to use these folders but you don't want them on the standard location like on your C drive, it is simple to move these folders to a location for example on your D partition. You simply right click on the folder you like to have located someplace else and click 'properties'. Then on the 'Location' tab you can browse for a different location. For example: D:My Documents.
Using this way you can completely separate your system files and your user files. It is also recommended to create two partitions: C partition for Windows Files and program Files, D partition for all of your personal documents, photos, music, videos etc.

Please keep visiting this page because there will be more and more tips and tricks added often.Again, If you have some nice tips and tricks please let me know by sending them to articles@about-your-computer.com.