How to Make a Computer Operating System

An Operating System (OS) is how you tell your computer what to do. Whether the ones you have found don't measure up, or if you are a hobbyist wanting to have a creation to call your own, it can be a daunting task and it may take years to get your own operating system to be of any use. Remastering an existing Linux distro can also be straightforward and easy.

Steps:
1. Decide what you want your OS to do. Whether it is a fully capable OS with a GUI or something a bit more minimalistic, you'll need to know what direction you are taking it before beginning.
2. Decide if you would rather do it all yourself from the ground up, or if there is an existing kernel you would like to build on top of. Linux from Scratch is a project for those that would like to build their own Linux distro.
3. Decide if you're going to create your own bootloader or a pre-created one such as GRUB. While coding your own bootloader will give a lot of knowledge of computer hardware and the BIOS, it may set you back on the programming of the actual kernel.
4. While it is possible to create an operating system in a language such as Pascal or BASIC you will be better off using C or C++ and Assembly. Assembly is absolutely required as some vital parts of an operating system require it.
5. Start small. Begin with small things such as displaying text and interrupts before moving on to things such as memory management and multitasking.
6. Decide on your API. While this is a long way off it is a good idea to plan ahead. A good API to choose is POSIX, which is well documented. All Unices have at least partial support for POSIX, so it would be trivial to port Unix programs to your OS.
7. Decide on your design. There are monolithic kernels and microkernels. Monolithic kernels implement all the services in the kernel, while microkernels have a small kernel combined with user daemons implementing services. In general, monolithic kernels are faster, but microkernels have better fault isolation and reliability.
8. If you want an easy way, consider Ubuntu remastersys, Fedora Revisor, Custom NimbleX, Puppy Remaster, PCLinuxOS mklivecd and SuSE KIWI.

Tips:
* Do not wipe your hard drive completely. Use GRUB or another boot manager to dual boot your system with another OS until yours is fully functional.
* An alternative method of testing your new operating system is to use a virtual machine. Rather than rebooting your computer each time you make changes, or having to transfer the files from your development computer to your test machine, you use a virtual machine application to run your OS while your current OS is still running. Two such VM applications are VMWare (http://www.vmware.com) and the open source alternative bochs (http://bochs.sourceforge.net). VMware also has a freely available server product which should suit nicely.(http://www.vmware.com/products/server/) An easy one is sun's xVM VirtualBox. (http://www.virtualbox.org)
* Getting a copy of the Intel developer manuals from http://developer.intel.com/products/processor/manuals/index.htm is vital
* Use websites such as http://osdev.org and http://osdever.net to help you develop your own operating system.
* It is an excellent idea to keep a backup of the last working source, in case something goes terribly wrong with the current version.
* Consider developing it in a team; that way, less time is required and more problems can be solved and generally the OS may be better.
* It may be a good choice to make a completely new partition for developing the OS.
* You will not have a full system in two weeks. Start with an OS that boots, then move on to the cool stuff.

Warnings:
* Having your operating system carelessly written to the hard drive can corrupt it completely. Be careful.
* Be sure to implement security features as your top priority if you ever want to use it for anything.
* If you do something really stupid, like write random bytes to random I/O ports, you *will* crash your OS, and (in theory) can fry your hardware. For a demonstration, execute 'cat /dev/port' on Linux as root. Your computer *will* crash.

Things You'll Need:
* A good computer
* A CPU for the Architecture you will be developing
* Enough memory (RAM) for a Virtual Machine
* A 'Host' OS, used to develop the Assembler (and others) source code, also to build and package it, while it is in its early stages, eventually your own OS can be its host.

How to Turn a Windows PC into an Apple MAC

This tutorial will teach you how to make your Windows look exactly like a Mac. We all know how a Mac includes some pretty cool features, such as the dock and unique login screen and wallpapers. With this simple tutorial, you can learn how to make your Windows PC look just like one too.

Steps:

1. Download ObjectDock [1], a program created by Stardock [2]. This program will install a dock just like the one available on a Mac. To add icons to it, simply drag and drop. Follow the on screen instructions to edit any settings you may wish to modify.
2. 

   Windows Blinds
   Download Windows Blinds [3], also from Stardock. This allows you to modify the theme of your computer. Once you have downloaded and installed Windows Blinds, download a skin that will make your PC look like a Mac[4]. You can modify any details of Windows Blinds by following the on screen instructions.
3. 

   CursorXP
   Download CursorXP [5]. This will allow you to modify your cursor in many different ways. To make it look like the Mac OS cursors, download the following set: [6].
4. 

   LogonStudios
   Download LogonStudio [7]. This program makes it possible to configure how the login screen looks for your computer. To use the Mac OS login download the following theme: [8]. Tweaks may be needed to be applied to the theme for different computers, but they can be easily managed by selecting the theme, once downloaded, and selecting the edit option.
5. After you have successfully downloaded and installed all of the software listed above, there are only a few tweaks left. Move the menu bar to the top of the screen like a Mac. Also, you may want to change the background to a more Mac appropriate picture.
6. These steps should have transformed your boring PC into a powerful Mac. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. [9]
7. Your end result should look something like this:
   

   After

Warnings:
I'm sure some of you have heard of the program FlyakiteOSX. While this program does have the capability of changing the way your computer looks to a Mac, i advise strongly against using it. I experimented with it and the results, while impressive, had some terrible side affects. It removed several DLLs necessary for Windows to run properly, thus making my computer very slow and unstable. In the end, I was forced to completely reinstall my computer's software to undo the damage.

Image Credits: Emergent Journey

How to Identify Unknown Files on Your Computer

Do you have files in your comouter that do not look familiar? Do you want to know what they are or how to open them? Do you want to delete them but you are not sure if removing them will affect your system? If so, then here is the best thing to do.


Steps:

1. Look at the file's extension and look for it in http://filext.com. The website has a database of known file types and could probably help you if your file has an extension
2. Use the linux file utility. If you have a linux based computer or you know someone who has, copy the file and try to identify it with the file utility. The program is easy to use, just type "file " at a console window and see if linux can identify it.
3. Download a Windows port of the linux file program and use it just like its linux counterpart.

Tips:

• Take note that linux commands, like the file command, and filenames are case sensitive.
• The file command does not actually need a file extension to work properly so you can still use it even if your unknown files do not have those 3 character extensions

How to Format a Hard Drive

This article includes the basics for high-level formatting a hard drive. Formatting saves lots of memory space and leaves you with a faster running hard drive.


Steps:
For Windows XP

1. If you want to save any of the data on the disk, back it up by copying it to a CD or another hard drive. Formatting will destroy ALL of the data on the disk.
2. Use the Windows XP CD-ROM to boot the computer.
3. Select the "Recovery Console" option.
4. At the prompt, type FORMAT C:

For Windows 9x (95, 98, Me)

1. If you want to save any of the data on the disk, back it up by copying it to a CD or another hard drive. Formatting will destroy ALL of the data on the disk.
2. Use a startup floppy (sometimes called a "boot disk") to obtain a DOS prompt.
3. Type FORMAT C:

For Linux or BSD

1. Boot from a livecd or diskette
2. Open a terminal window (usually something like xterm or konsole)
3. Log in as root by typing su and entering the password
4. Type mkfs.ext2 /dev/hdaxx where you change the ext2 by the filetype you want (e.g. ext2, ext3, reiserfs,...) and the axx by the letter of your drive and the number of the partition you want to format. (e.g. /dev/hda1, /dev/hdc32,...). Using the -j option (mke2fs -j) will create the ext3 (or journaled) file system that is much more resistant to the unexpected power loss.
5. Under Linux, you can also format the hard drive in FAT file system that is readable from Windows (use mkfs.vfat instead of mkfs.ext2). However such partition cannot store the root of the Linux operating system.

Tips:
* Partition(s) must be created on a drive before it is formatted.
* Give the process some time to complete. Install your operating system of choice, or use the blank disk for another purpose.
* For more secure formatting, there are programs available which write zeros or garbage characters over the entire disk, making the deleted information unrecoverable.
* C: and /dev/hda are your primary partitions. If you are trying to format another partition or drive, replace C: or hda with the appropriate drive letter, such as D: or /dev/hdb, for example.
* Advanced: Choose a good filesystem for your new partition. For Windows, NTFS is the best option. Linux and BSD are more varied. XFS or EXT3 are good choices. XFS has higher performance, while EXT3 has better recovery. Mac users should use HFS+. Solaris users should definitely choose ZFS. Dragonfly BSD users should consider HAMMERFS. Do not user ReiserFS as it was written by a murderer.

Warnings:
* Make sure that you format the correct drive, and that you have backed up any data you don't want to lose.
* Hard drives can have multiple partitions, so be sure to check which drive and which partition you're formatting. For example, a C: and D: partition may exist on one drive. It isn't unusual to have them exist out of sequence due to Microsoft's FAT and NTFS partitioning scheme. For example, C: and E: may be partitions on the first drive, and D: may be a partition on the second drive. If in doubt, you a partition tool such as Gparted or Fdisk to determine which partition is on which drive.

How to Budget Your Money Wisely

Before you can do any financial planning, it is important to examine your income and your expenses. When you spend more than you earn, you are heading for financial disaster. Calculate every cent you spend daily, no matter how small it is. Everything adds up.

Steps:

1. Calculate your regular income. Count income from wages, tips, interest on savings, child support payments, and any other source of income. Include that of your spouse also. Also consider more variable sources of income. Do you receive regular overtime or a large bonus? Is it guaranteed? Can you calculate average amounts by using past bank statements or pay slips? Try to be accurate and get to an average 'net' (after taxes) income.


2. Identify your expenses. First identify your large, predictable expenses. For most people these will be housing, taxes, insurance premiums, and utilities. Then for at least one month, record every daily expense no matter how small the amount. Save all receipts and expenses for one month. Ideally, you need to carry around a pen and small pad with you for one full month. Write down every amount you spend, what it is for and where you spend it. Many people underestimate these small but frequent expenses if they don't keep careful records. Also try to estimate a budget for large, infrequent expenses. These are things like house repairs, insurance deductables, and purchases like cars and computers. Convert these from estimates like $12000 every 10 years, to $1200 per year or $100 per month so you can compare them with the other expenses and income.


3. Compare income to expenses. Money coming in (income) and money going out (expenses). If your expenses are more than income, you need to take action! Which of the expenses identified above will be easiest to reduce?


4. Pay off debt and build savings. It is important that you commit to eliminating your debt as it will be difficult at first, but will get easier.

Tips:

• Don't rush budgeting. You need to figure out exactly where your money is being spent the most.


• If you find your expenses are extremely high, compared to your income, you have to cut back on some unnecessary spending.


• Very few people ever bother to budget, which is why so many people are in debt. Few really realize just how much they spend on worthless expenses.


• Try to categorize your fixed expenses (e.g., those expenses that don't change from month to month, like a mortgage or car payment) and your variable expenses (e.g., those expenses that can go up or down, like your utilities or mobile phone bill that depend on your usage). Since hidden or unmanaged variable expenses can eat away at your income, those might be good candidates for categories to monitor.


• You can also use the Internet to help you budget your money. Mint.com offers free budgeting web services that enable you to track all of your spending by downloading all of the transactions for you and categorizing your spend.


• To compute after tax income, try to estimate your actual tax liability from previous tax returns. Do not rely on your employer's withholding as an accurate estimate of actual taxes owed.


• Live beneath your means - do not overspend. Be careful about how much you spend on your everyday expenses. You may want to write down everything you spend in a month. Keep all your receipts for the month and then calculate to see how much you are really spending when you run out to the store to pick up some quick items.

Image Credits: Associated Content; AMTI

How to Create a Wireless Network

Computer networking is a great way to collaborate with other computer users in your home or office. While it is becoming increasingly easy for the basic computer user, it can still be a difficult, frustrating experience for many people.



Steps:

1. If buying router and adapter separately, ensure your wireless router is at least as new as your wireless adapter so that they use compatible standards (known as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n). For maximum compatibility choose Tri-mode or dual-mode 802.11b/g standards.


2. If you are not using Windows XP, check that drivers are available for the chipset of the wireless adapter for your operating system before you buy.


Set up your new router

3. If you want to share a broadband connection via a wireless router, plug the new wireless router into your internet connection point (filter/splitter if ADSL, directly into phone socket if DSL)


4. If you have one, turn on your broadband connection and existing external modem FIRST (wait for all lights to return to normal).


5. Plug your router into your PC with an ethernet cable


6. Turn on your new wireless router SECOND (wait for it to start up fully).


7. Go to your internet browser and type http://192.168.0.1 (Belkin), http://192.168.1.1 (Linksys), http://192.168.2.1 (Others) and enter your username and password for your router (often this is "admin" for username and "admin" or "password" for password)


8. Enable wireless capability (SSID) and enter your username and password given to you by your internet service provider.


9. Choose WPA (or WEP if your card cannot handle WPA) security and enter a passkey and write it down.


Detecting your wireless adapter


10. Note the manufacturer and model of your wireless adapter then plug it into your PC.


11. If your operating system does not recognise the wireless adapter then get drivers from any discs that came with the adapter or, failing that, from the internet.


12. In Windows XP, either right click on the .inf file and click install, or enter Device Manager and Update Drivers on the Unknown Device.


13. Once Windows XP recognises your wireless device it should appear in Network Connections and offer you a choice of routers to connect to within range.


Connecting to a network


14. Choose your router (usually the manufacturer name aka SSID), the security method and enter the passkey in order to connect to it. Use Auto DHCP unless otherwise instructed.


15. This should find the wireless router (click refresh until it does) and connect to the network through the new router.

Tips:

• Sharing files (or ensuring that your computers are really networked) and/or a printer in Windows XP, requires Print and File Sharing enabled on all computers.


• In Windows XP or Vista, go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections (click "Switch to Classic View" if you cannot see the Network Connections icon) > right click on your Local Area Connection ethernet adapter > Properties > check File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks > Click "OK"


• In Mac OS X, click on the Apple menu on the Menu Bar and click on "System Preferences...". Then, click on "Sharing". Then you may select which service that you want to be shared on your wireless network. For further support, click on the Apple Support Page link for sharing on your wireless network. Apple Sharing Support


• A passkey is not the same as a HEX key

Warnings:

• Turning on your equipment in the wrong order could cause your new setup to not work! Be sure to power on each item in order. It really does matter.


• Remember to set up your security settings to prevent unauthorized access to your network. WPA encryption is much more secure than WEP.


• Also remember to change the default passwords and usernames on your wireless router. Many wardrivers will travel around finding hotspots and then trying the default codes for that type of access point. This could result in you getting locked out of your own router and having to manualy reset your network.

Things You'll Need:

• 1 Wireless adapter/modem/receiver (internal or external)


• 1 Wireless access point/router/transmitter/hub/switch (always external) only necessary if you need to do more than communicate between two PCs in your house.


• Paper to write down your passwords (pens too)

Image Credits: Psln

How to Download Torrent Files Online

Are you tired of using Limewire, Frostwire, Bearshare, etc for all your needs? Sometimes these programs are too slow and many of the files uploaded are viruses which can destroy your computer. Torrents allow you to download much faster, safer and more efficiently. So this will teach you how to easily use and download a torrent file from the internet.

Steps:

1. Find a torrent program that will suit your needs, the most common clients are uTorrent, Azureus, BitTorrent, or Opera Utorrent is the most user friendly. You can also download torrents without the need to download any software, by looking at this WikiHow Article, which actually works through any firewall or school, ISP, company or third party throttling. There are plenty of other clients available as well.


2. Follow the instructions on downloading and installing your chosen client.


3. Go to a torrent site and search for a file you want to download (Isohunt is an example). If you can't find the torrent you're looking for, go to TorrentMoon.com and it searches hundreds of torrent sites.


4. Once you have found the desired file on the torrent site, click the "Download This Torrent" (or however they word it). Usually, the web browser's file download manager will ask what to do with this file. You want to open the file with your torrent program.


5. If it doesn't open that way, just save the .torrent file to an easy to locate place. Then open your torrent client and use the "Open Torrent" feature.


6. The download will start automatically. You may now go and do something to pass the time, because torrents do not require your attention and will download in the background.

Tips:

• You can close your torrent program and turn off your computer when you need to. Most torrent programs will resume download process automatically when you start them back up. If the download doesn't resume automatically, there should be an option to start downloading, by either right clicking on the file and choose "Start" or a button somewhere in the program.


• There are other torrent clients (programs) that can be used so do your research on these also. The most popular torrent programs are uTorrent, Azureus and BitTorrent.


• When looking for torrent files, try to find ones with plenty of Seeders. When searching for torrents, you can often sort the results by seeds, simply by clicking on the seeds column header.


• Seeders (Seeds): Are people who have a complete copy of the torrent's files and are only uploading (sending) data to the people who are downloading (peers).


• Leechers (Peers): Are people who have a portion of the torrent's files while they are downloading they are actively uploading to help other download more quickly.

Warnings:

• Downloading torrents can slow your computer down depending on well your computer performs. Recommended specs for each client vary, but on average you should have at least 512 MB of RAM and a 1 GHz CPU. You will also need space for the files you want to save.


• In certain jurisdictions it is illegal to download content through peer to peer networks such as bittorrent. There is a program which blocks certain IP addresses from communicating with your computer and can help protect you while downloading. PeerGuardian can be found at: phoenixlabs.org/pg2or.


• Keep your anti-virus program and its definitions fully up-to-date, downloaded software from 'sharing' sources carries a high risk of infection.


• Downloading torrents can slow your overall internet connection down if you don't properly tweak your upload rate. DSL and Cable modems have problems downloading if you're uploading at your maximum rate. Set your clients maximum rate to 80% of your maximum upload rate if you can adjust it. If you set your upload rate too low, your downloads will slow to a crawl.

How to Hack a Windows User Account Password

This article will teach you how to delete user account passwords on Windows and change them without knowing the users' passwords. Please note that this tutorial works only for Windows Operating Systems.


Steps:

1. Go to Start, then Run. Type in "cmd" (without the quotes). A black screen will appear.


2. Type in "net user" (without quotes). It will give you a list of all the user accounts on the computer.


3. Use the arrow keys to choose the user account name that you want to change. Here is an example: The net user you chose is "geekman" (no quotes). You will type in an asterisk "*" (no quotes) after "geekman" (without the quotes). It will ask you to type in a password. When you type in a password, you will not see the new password being typed in because it is invisible. For security reasons, it will ask you to retype the password. After you retype the password, press Enter.


4. To find the start button "*" (without quotes), press and hold the shift key, then press the number eight key (8). It's just above the letter "U" and the letter "I" buttons on the keyboard.

Tips:

• If you are doing this as a trick, and you change a user's password without the user knowing, tell him or her the new password afterward.


• Be careful to not mess up the user's settings.

Words of Warning:

• Never try this on a public computer (such as a school or work computer)


• Have fun, but don't get caught.


• This only works on admin accounts.

Image Credits: SoftPedia

How to Reinstall Windows XP

Here is how to reinstall Windows XP if you have the recovery disks provided to you when purchasing your computer. This will speed up your computer drastically and remove any viruses that may be infecting your computer.

Steps

1. If you have a Windows XP CD (a Dell "Operating System" CD will work fine) place it in the CD drive.
2. Restart your computer.
3. When it says "Boot from CD..." press Enter.
4. Wait for the CD to load, then follow the on-screen instructions.
5. When a list of partitions is displayed, choose the largest one and press D (NOTE: This WILL delete EVERYTHING on your hard drive).
6. Follow the instructions to delete.
7. Press "F" to format the clean hard drive. (May also be "L" depending on your revision of Windows XP). A quick format will be sufficient unless you have spyware, malware, and/or viruses.
8. Select "NTFS file system and delete old files".
9. Wait about an hour for the drive to format (times may vary depending on the size of the drive and if you chose quick format or not).
10. When the drive finishes formatting, follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows (it displays the keyboard keys and actions on the bottom of the screen).
11. When it finishes installing, it will start up normally with a clean hard drive.
12. Note that my instructions are vague and could be different depending on the type of computer that you have.
13. Additional Note: You are able to do a re-install of Windows Operating System without formatting the hard drive. If this is the case, a backup won't be necessary unless you absolutely see fit to do so.

Tips

• Make sure you read all of the on-screen instructions for every step!!!

Warnings

• All information will be lost, so backup anything you want to save on CD's!

Image Credits: GastonCaba