You probably have heard of this program from a friend or from my earlier post. Remote Assistance is a very useful tool that comes standard on all Windows XP computers. In this post, I will explain how to invite someone to connect to your computer using RA.

This RA allows someone to remotely control your computer in order to fix any problems you may encounter. To access the program you must either find the file in the Start Menu, or make a shortcut by right clicking on your desktop, and going to New --> Shortcut. Then just copy and paste the following as the file location.

%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\rcimlby.exe –LaunchRA

You can call the shortcut whatever you want. Once you either have the shortcut or you have found the program in your Start Menu, open the program. Then click “Invite someone to help you”. Once you have done this, select the method of invitation and the Remote Assistance program should explain the rest. Once you have invited someone to assist you, you must then wait for the person to accept before continuing. Once connected, you may share control of your computer, send files back and forth, send messages to one another, and even chat using a microphone.

OK, I know the title is very confusing, but I have no idea what I should have called it. Basically, if you get either of these messages then this post is for you...

The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later.

Cannot delete <filename>: Access is denied. Make sure the dick is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

So if you have had one of these errors and you wish to know how to fix them, please keep reading. First of all, the cause of this problem is on the most part, a program or application that is trying to use or access the file you are trying to delete or in the USB you are trying to remove. All that you need to do is download and install Unlocker. What it does, is it finds all programs trying to access the drive or file you specify, and lists them. From there, you can either choose to unlock the file or drive or end the task that is using it. Simple. Now if or when you get this message, you can simply use Unlocker to solve the problem.

Have you ever been deleting old files off your computer and find yourself accidentally deleting a major project? No... well its bound to happen. That's why it is important to have a good and reliable file recovery program. I'm not sure about you, but I don't usually like spending money when I don't have to, so having a good and reliable file recovery program that is also FREE would be better. Well one day while surfing I found just that. It's called Recuva, and it is made by Piriform (the makers of CCleaner and Defraggler). Piriform's description of Recuva is:

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

So in other words, if you run out of luck and delete a file accidentally or for some other reason, Recuva can get it back for you. Even if you think its gone because you emptied your Recycling Bin, its not. I use Recuva my self and I'm not sure what I would do without it.

Image: http://www.recuva.com

In my last post, I explained how to connect your WiiMote to your PC with only a WiiMote, Bluetooth Dongle and BlueSoleil. But now you are probably wondering what you can do with your WiiMote once it is connected. Well the options are endless. One thing you can do is download the standalone programs found here and use your WiiMote as the mouse for your computer. This program allows you to use either the IR camera in the WiiMote, the motions sensors or the nunchuk attachment to control the cursor on your screen. Another thing you can do is look through some of Johnny Chung Lee's projects found on this site. A couple of his projects include turning a LCD into a interactive whiteboard. As I said the options or endless so just go to Google and try to find something that interests you. If you can't find anything you like, there is one more option. All the programs I wrote about in this post are very user friendly and come in a simple interface, but this last program is like the command prompt of the WiiMote. It is called GlovePie and can be found here. It is a free program that allows you to write scripts for not only for the WiiMote, but for most forms of input to your computer like a joystick or your keyboard. You can learn how to write GlovePie scripts on this site. There are some example scripts included in the download so you can try out the program right away. I have made a couple of scripts myself but I'll only upload my Windows Media Player Remote script that you can download here. E-mail me if you have any questions or if you wish for me to make you a script. My email is mattokraz@hotmail.com.

I currently have two computers in my home, one is Windows XP and the other is Windows XP Media Edition. After using WME I could not turn back to my plain XP so I tried to find a free alternative to reinstalling my OS. There are two main parts of the WME that make it different from normal XP: the visual style and the Media Center. For legal reasons, an actual version of WMC cannot be reproduced or shared in any way. I tried to copy all the program files needed to run WMC off one of my PCs and put them on my normal XP, but it gave me a message saying that WMC can only be run on WME. I guess it would be possible to get around that if you wished to, but it's too much work when it is possible to get a similar program free. So now to the goodies! You can download the visual style here. It has been a while since I downloaded my version of the visual style so I lost the original link to the download. I have not tested the one I posted here but I hope it is the right one. As for the Media Center, the alternative is called Media Portal. There are themes available for download on the site that can enhance the WMC feel. I hope these downloads will give you the Windows Media Edition feel you are looking for. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me.

Image: http://www.softpedia.com/...