Commands take effect right away.

If you are an experienced Cisco router user, you probably just groaned. However, I find that this concept escapes new users.
As you type commands into the configuration mode, they immediately take effect. For example, if we change the router’s name, we see that the very next line contains the new router name:
Router1#config terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. Router1(config)#hostname MyRouter
MyRouter(config)#^Z
MyRouter#
As you can see, we changed the router’s name to MyRouter, which was immediately processed. This concept applies to everything in the router’s configuration mode.

Changing Motherboards

This is not mine so I cannot take credit but Andy-S in the Hardware and Drive Support forum passed this one on to me – a must know tweak.

Before you swap out the current motherboard go to device manager and select the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller and select your current storage controller. Right click, select update driver and select install from a list or specific location. Click don’t search I will choose the driver to install and select the standard dual channel IDE controller.

This will prevent the inaccessable boot device blue screen. I have done this multiple times on different platforms with no problems.

Also I found that booting the first time with the new motherboard is best done in the Safe mode where XP will install the drivers it needs and at the same time you can install the new motherboard drivers from its CD.

This saved me doing a repair or a reinstall of XP. My whole system came right up and worked great and very stable.

Change the Registered Owner and Organization (All Windows)

If you entered the wrong registration information when you installed Windows you can change it and other miscellaneous settings such as ProductID and ProductName.

Open your registry and find the key below for your operating system.

Windows 95, 98 and Me:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion]

Windows NT, 2000 and XP:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

Modify the strings values of ‘RegisteredOwner’ and ‘RegisteredOrganization’ to equal the required owner and company names.

Settings:
Name: RegisteredOwner, RegisteredOrganization
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)

Free $25 for Signing Up with Revolution Money Exchange

Looking for a quick easy way to make $25? Well, how about getting paid $25 just for setting up an account with a new company that’s been called the “PayPal Killer”?

There’s been lots of recent buzz in the Blogosphere about a new company called Revolution Money Exchange which is well funded by VC’s like Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank. Their board of directors has internet pioneer, Ted Leonsis and Steve Case (co-founder of AOL) so you know it’s a legit operation.

For those of you who use PayPal, you know they charge a certain percentage on whatever transaction you make. For example, if you try to pay back your friend $100 for that dinner last night you have to give PayPal 3% or $3 of that $100. The nice thing about the Revolution Money Exchange is that they don’t charge you a dime!

Here’s a screenshot of my dashboard after I signed up and got my $25 free bonus. The signup process only took me a few minutes and I’m still waiting for RME to deposit a small amount into my bank account to verify and complete the entire account setup.

Their site is a little slow I’m guessing because of the popularity so you’ll need to be patient. The only caveat is you need to have a US address otherwise you don’t qualify for the bonus. I’m sure once they gain enough momentum, they will open it up for other countries as well.

You can also make up to $500 in referral bonuses if you invite your friends, family, co-workers, etc. The more people you tell about MoneyExchange, the more bonuses you can get. You will get a $10 referral bonus for each person who registers from your referral and is approved. And they’ll get $25 just for opening an account before April 15, 2008 May 15, 2008. I just got off the phone with their customer service department to confirm but it’s true, they’ve extended the $25 bonus for another month!

You can’t beat that deal since everybody wins! Seems to be a big price for RME to pay for each customer but they are banking on the future of you using their services.

After you sign up, make sure to click on their “refer a friend” link and start telling all your friends and family about this program. It’s a great way to make some easy money! Just remember the deadline is coming up quick (5/15/08) so get them to join asap. Enjoy!

Change the Menu Show Delay (All Windows)

Windows normally delays menus before they are displayed. For regular users this delay can become annoying, with this setting you to change the delay time or remove it altogether.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new string value, or modify the existing value, named ‘MenuShowDelay’ and set it to equal the delay you would like before the menus are shown as a time in milliseconds.

Log off or restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
Name: MenuShowDelay
Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Value: 0-999 (milliseconds)