Buying a new windows laptop? Then this is worth a reading.

If you are going to buy a new windows laptop, then you might be interested in reading this.

In this post I will just touch the normal and common problems we face with windows laptops and the remedies I followed.

Here we go.

A. Once your laptop’s initial config is done(setting up the users for the first time use), DO NOT connect to internet or DO NOT install any software.

B. Restart your lappy, and set the BIOS admin password(May be you will have to press DEL button while your lappy boots). This will be helpful for protection from H/W tampering and misuse.

C. Always try to use the Genuine Windows. And keep it regularly updated.

D. Try to insure your laptop. Security from theft.

E. Some of the games are still supporting Windows XP. So you might wanna download this in case you are gaming fan.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

F. Partitioning the drives. ***This is the most common issue***
All windows lappys mostly come with a single MAJOR partition which will be used for both Windows and personal usage.

But its always recommended to have a separate partition for your personal stuff. Which will give you the freedom of completely formatting the windows partition if required.

So here is what we can do to create a new partition for our personal usage keeping the windows intact.

Right Click on My Computer > Properties > System Protection > Protection Settings (Click on Windows partition and click configure button)

Then take below two steps
1. Turn off system protection
2. Disk space usage > Max usage > Keep it around 80GB
3. Apply – OK

4. Run > diskmgmt.msc
5. Right click on windows partition > Shrink volume
6. Enter the new partition size you want to create in the amount of space to shrink. (Remaining space will be kept for windows partition, so be careful while choosing this value. I always recommend to have around 100+GB for Windows 7. So you might need to keep the “Total size after shrink” to equal or 112640MB ~110GB)
7. Shrink.
8. Now check your disk partition table. It should be having the freespace you want.
9. You can play around with that like what ever way you like.

10. LAST but important*********
Revert the first 3 steps we did to original. Keep the max disk space usage to 80GB. That should be fine.

Here is my new partition table layout.

Here we end with having our partition table and genuine windows as well as Linux.

Good luck.
See you again.

Thanks for your time. Comments are welcome.

Sandy-kun

Using a GSM Cellphone as a GPRS Modem

hi all,

we know that .. in todays our pals are facing much problem in connecting to internet in Linux using modems.The following will let you learn how to connect to internet using your GSM mobile and the GPRS connectivity.

Before starting i will tell you my system configuration

— Intel 2.66 AM64T on Intel 915 GVW, 512MB RAM, 160 GB HDD

— Ubuntu Edgy 6.10 + Gnome

— Sony Ericsson K320i

So here we goes….

Step 1:

First connect your mobile to your system through the USB connectivity.

And chose the option “phone mode” (If its available)

Step 2:

Now its time to configure your mobile, Open a terminal and login into root account there.

$ sudo su

# wvdialconf

ttyS0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 — failed with 2400 baud, next try: 9600 baud
ttyS0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 — failed with 9600 baud, next try: 115200 baud
ttyS0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 — and failed too at 115200, giving up.
Modem Port Scan<*1>: S1 S2 S3
WvModem<*1>: Cannot get information for serial port.
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 Z — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI — Sony Ericsson K320
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 4800: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 9600: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 19200: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 38400: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 57600: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 115200: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 230400: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Speed 460800: AT — OK
ttyACM0<*1>: Max speed is 460800; that should be safe.
ttyACM0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 — OK
WvModem<*1>: Cannot get information for serial port.
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 Z — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI — Sony Ericsson K320
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 4800: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 9600: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 19200: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 38400: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 57600: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 115200: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 230400: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Speed 460800: AT — OK
ttyACM1<*1>: Max speed is 460800; that should be safe.
ttyACM1<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 — OK
ttyACM0<Info>: Speed 460800; init “ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0″
ttyACM1<Info>: Speed 460800; init “ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0″

Step 3:

We will be getting the similar output as above…. when we wvdialconf

So after we need to identify at which port (or the device) the modem is identified. That can be found out by identifying the line

“ttyACM1<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI — Sony Ericsson K320″

and now open the file /etc/wvdial.conf

# gedit /etc/wvdia.conf

It will be looking like

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Baud = 460800
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = USB Modem
; Phone = <Target Phone Number>
; Username = <Your Login Name>
; Password = <Your Password>
New PPPD = yes

So in the above code we need to make some changes as per your mobile. Since the mobile is pointing to modem = /dev/ttyACM0, where as the wvdialconf returned /dev/ttyACM1 as the modem as shown above. So change the line “Modem = /dev/ttyACM0″ in the /etc/wvdial.conf to  “Modem = /dev/ttyACM1.

And we cant just keep the other fields empty, so just dial your service customer care center and find out the dial up number for your GPRS-Internet connection. And ask for any username and password (if they exists for your GPRS service). Fill that fields in the /etc/wvdial.conf accordingly.

If you are not having any username and passwd … wvdial will not allow you leave those fields empty, so just fill them with your own data like

Username = bob

Password = crank

And be sure to keep the following line, if you are not having any username and password.

Stupid Mode = 1

Once you are sure that you, configured your wvdial fine. You can dial-up your GSM modem by following.

wvdial

and you will be given your IP address and the server IP address displayed. You can hang the connection by just pressing the CTRL+C.

Hope you got it well.

Later.