convert from NTFS to FAT and from FAT to NTFS

To convert NTFS to FAT, you need to back up the data from the drive, reformat the drive, and then restore the data.
Click the "Start" button on the taskbar. Followed which, right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage".

In the "Computer Management" window that opens, click on the (+) before "Storage"

Click on the "Disk Management" option.

Right click the drive you want to format and choose "Format" from the context menu. Here we choose the D drive. 

Using the File System drop down list, choose the file system you want to use for the drive. In this case, we are choosing a FAT file system.

The size of the drive you’re formatting dictates the choices available in the File System drop down list. Only those file systems that can handle the drive you’re formatting are listed.

Click on "OK"
And you are done with the conversion along with the formatting. Reboot the system for the effect to take place.

virtual memory

When Windows XP runs out of memory, the 128MB or 256MB or even 512MB that you have in your PC, XP needs to shuffle things around quickly. That shuffling is called paging, and it’s accomplished by copying blocks of memory out to your hard disk.

Think of it this way. Many different programs are running on your computer at the same time. Each needs memory in order to accomplish its tasks. When programs want more memory, they ask Windows to hand some over. When programs are finished with a chunk of memory, they hand it back to Windows. Your memory rapidly turns into a patchwork quilt of chunks, with Windows taking care of parceling out chunks of memory when they’re requested and returning them to the available pool when they’re no longer needed.

Everything goes along swimmingly until Windows runs out of chunks of memory. Suddenly a program wants more memory, but Windows has already handed out every single chunk. Windows solves the problem by taking a snapshot of a chunk of memory and tossing that snapshot to the hard drive. It then gives the chunk of memory to the program that requested it.

At some point, the program that originally had the chunk of memory wants it back. No problem. Windows runs out to the disk, retrieves the snapshot, sticks it in memory, and hands that chunk over to the old program. (I won’t mention the fact that bringing the snapshot into memory may, itself, force Windows to take yet another snapshot and send it out to disk. And so on. But you get the picture.)

The snapshots of chunks of memory out on your disk are called virtual memory. Virtual memory sits in paging files. Here’s where speed comes in. Windows works like crazy getting programs and their data into the computer. It also works like crazy keeping the virtual memory going. If your

virtual memory sits on the same disk as your programs and data, Windows has to hop all over the disk to keep all the programs going. On the other hand, if your paging file sits on a hard disk that doesn’t contain your programs, that helps solve the memory problem, simply because Windows can run faster if it’s juggling two different disks at the same time. The net result is that you should allow Windows to use all your fast hard drives for virtual memory (paging files), providing the drives have room available.

Program without an installation program

Sometimes programs — especially small ones downloaded from the Internet — don’t come with

an installation program. If you’ve downloaded one of these low-budget creations to your computer, create a new folder for it and move the downloaded file inside. (Be sure to scan any downloaded file with your antivirus program.) Then try double-clicking the program’s file. (It’s usually the file with the fanciest icon.) One of two things may happen:

✓ The program may simply start running. That means you’re done — the program doesn’t need to be installed. (Drag and drop its program icon to your Start button to add it to the Start button menu.) If you need to uninstall the program, just right-click it and choose Delete. These types of programs rarely appear on your Change or Remove a Program list.

✓ The program may start installing itself. That also means you’re done. The program’s installation program takes over, sparing you any more trouble. To uninstall the program, use the Control Panel’s Uninstall a Program option. But if the program comes in a zipped folder — the

folder icon bears a little zipper — you have an extra step. Right-click the zipped folder, choose

Extract All, and then click Extract. Windows automatically unzips the folder’s contents and places them into a new folder, usually named after the program. From there, you can either run the program directly or, if it has an installation program, run the installation program

Google launches landmark driving directions on Google Maps

Google India announced the launch of landmarks in driving directions for users of Google Maps.

Users can now navigate around locations using Google Maps on their desktops and mobile phones using landmarks like petrol stations, banks, schools, railway stations, bus stops, local businesses, traffic circles and signals.

India is the first country globally to get this feature on Google Maps.

Indians are more comfortable finding way on the streets using landmarks. Typically many roads in India are not marked with road signs and even if they are, the signs are not visible. In some cases people do not even know the road names.

For instance, a friend asks you for directions to your house for a new year party, or to that nice picnic spot you recommended to celebrate a new year's eve, you scribble some lines on a piece of paper or explain that they should take a turn from a petrol pump or a bus stop or a grocery shop. Google now enables this activity online and share with friends and family.

In India, Google has collected landmark data through user-created "Points of Interest" in Google Map Maker.

Google's new algorithm determines which of these landmarks are most useful for navigation, based on importance, and closeness to the turns that the user is making and other available signals.

With this launch, Google will now combine landmark data, counted turns ("the 2nd right"), intersection names, and road names, and try to use whatever information is most relevant and useful.

   

   Google is providing two kinds of landmarks - to identify where users need to turn, and to provide     confirmation that they're on the right track.

                                     

• Wireless charging

It's a pain to keep track of the chargers that go with cell phones, media players and other small electronics. It's even more annoying to stuff multiple power cords and adapters in your bag when you go out of town.

What if you could charge things without plugging them in?

          1.Powermat USA

            Each Powermat comes with a little white cube that sports a miniUSB connector the kind that goes into BlackBerrys and numerous other phones and eight different tips that fit the charging port on an iPhone, iPod, Sony PSP and other small electronics. Once you connect your gadget to the cube with the appropriate tip, you drop the cube onto the mat to start charging.You can skip the step of using the cube, but that will cost more money. Powermat sells plastic cases for devices such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and Nintendo DSi, along with special back covers for some BlackBerrys. All these let you charge the devices by simply plopping them down on the pad. There's also a small charging dock that fits an iPod or iPhone.

These add-ons run $30 to $40. But it is much easier to keep the special case on an iPhone and then simply drop it on the pad when you need more juice.

Each Powermat can charge three gadgets at once; magnets hold them in place. When you put a phone on the Powermat it emits a soft white light and a chirpy "zzwhip" sound to let you know it is properly connected. A somewhat opposite noise tells you when the connection is broken.Powermat uses induction to charge your electronics. Basically, when you drop a Powermat-enabled device on the mat, the two exchange a "handshake" using RFID, or radio-frequency identification technology. The mat identifies the device, determines how much power it needs, then starts transferring energy to it. Once a device is fully charged, Powermat will stop the electricity from flowing.

More important to me than the process was the speed, and Powermat charged my gadgets pretty quickly. It took about an hour and a half to refill an iPod Nano, an iPhone, and an HTC myTouch smart phone. That was about as long as it took when I plugged the myTouch and iPhone into the wall with traditional adapters. The iPod Nano needed even more time in a wall outlet, at a little more than two hours.