What is the difference between System Restore & Last Known Good Configuration?

Both of these are used to restore the computer to a date in Past.

In Last known good configuration you cant manually set a restore point, the computer automatically restores the computer to the LAST time when your computer worked (Booted) Properly.

Steps to do LKGC (Last Known Good Configuartion)are:- Restart your system – Press F8 several times, you will get on to a Black Page which is called Windows Advanced Options – use the ARROW Keys to Choose Last Known Good Configuration (it is the 6^th Option from top), the computer will take 5-7 minutes and it would restore your computer to the last time when your system restarted properly.

In System restore you can choose any date from Past on which you had created a Restore Point and restore your computer to that particular date. You can only choose that date in Past on which you should have created a Restore Point.

What is Restore Points- It is advised that if your computer is working properly then you should be creating a restore point after every 15- 20 days.

So that whenever the computer has any problem you can restore your computer to a nearest date in past.

To Do System Restore

1. Go to Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2. When you click System Restore it would give you 2 Options

1 ) Create a Restore Point

2) Restore my computer to a previous date.

Click on Option 1) i.e Create a Restore Point if you are satisfied with the performance of your computer to save a restore Point.

Click on Option 2) i.e Restore my Computer to a previous date if there is a Blue Screen error or any other problem in your computer. 

How to repair the master boot record (MBR of a hard drive manually (quicker)

1. Put your original Windows XP CD into the cd drive of your computer. Restart your computer and hopefully it will come up and say press any key to boot from the cd.
2. If this does not come up you need to enter your bios and change the boot order or sequence. See How to get into Your BIOS and change settings.
3. A blue screen will appear and you are on your way..
4. You may need to press F8 to agree to the Windows Setup agreement.
5. After that the setup options will appear (see screen shot below).
6. Do not press ENTER as it will start installing Windows from scratch and you will loose all of your data on your hard drive.
7. Press the letter R on your keyboard to enter the Recovery Console.
8. When Recovery Console starts you will have to enter the number that corresponds with the installation you want to repair. For example if you have only one Windows installed on your computer then you would press the number one key. If you have two operating systems on your computer and you want to repair the second one then press 2.
9. Enter your Administrator password for that windows installation. You must enter an admin password here and if you do not, you cannot continue.
10. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type fixmbr.
11. You will be asked to confirm that you want to do this by pressing the Y key for yes.
12. Now your Master Boot record will be fixed.

Submit and Promote your eBooks to Millions of Visitors

Submit and Promote your eBooks to Millions of Visitors

When Your Salary Makes You Too Expensive

Q: What can I do when my salary history makes me really expensive in my current job market? I don't want to take a huge salary cut, but I am not having success interviewing.

A: Ironically, years of experience or having valuable expertise can sometimes put you in a tough spot and leave you feeling frustrated and discouraged. You cannot control where your salary history places you in the job market in your geographic location - other than to move. On the other hand, there are some actions you can take that may help:

* Find out if the reason why employers are reluctant to interview you is related to your salary history, as you assume. You may be right, but there might be other reasons, too. In any case, the best way to gather this information is to persist in asking for it.

* Since you may not get an interview if the employer uses salary history as a screen, try different ways to get in front of their key decision makers. Perhaps through networking or informational interviews, you may find a receptive senior-level contact. In that case, you can use that personal meeting to directly address their concerns about your compensation expectations, impress and interest them in your skills, and turn them into an advocate in the interview process.

* Try to target your job search on those companies who pay higher than the norm for your position. These might be local offices of multinational companies, or in an industry that has to pay more to attract talent (such as high-tech firms).

What's The Next Big Thing After Social Media?

Although social media is the hot topic of the decade, it obviously can't be the end-all for humanity. We are much smarter creatures than that. Everyone knows that technology is a swift changing animal.

As much as we love riding the social media bandwagon, there will come a day when the wheels will fall off. Nothing lasts forever; at least not in it's current form. So what comes after social media?

In The Beginning

To project what's to come after social media, we need to look at life before social media and what led up to it. We have always been social creatures. Our desire to connect with other people is integrated in our software (and hardware in some instances...). From the invention of language to the construction of roads, we have strived to connect ourselves with other humans since the beginning. Writing, fashion, the telephones, cars; they all were created to let us interact with each other.

Life 2.0

If you think about it, social media has been around since the dawn of the internet. In the early days of dial-up people were immediately drawn to themed chat rooms where they could essentially instant message strangers.

In 2003, MySpace kicked off the social revolution to the mainstream. MySpace introduced personal pages for each user, and added photos to the mix. This made things much more personal. We went from instant messaging with chat room strangers to an online community filled with real-world friends and family.

Today we are seeing social media fragment into various themes and functionalities. If you just want to post photos, get on Instagram. Like to share ideas, try out Pinterest. Want to mingle with professionals, LinkedIn's where it's at. Now that our personal lives are a click away, where do we go from here?

Where Do We Go From Here?

To peek into the future of where go from here, we need to think about future media technologies. One form of media on the rise is that of smart devices. Smart tv's, cars, and appliances are becoming more and more mainstream. By "smart" I am referring to devices that use data from the internet to create a better end user experience. These devices are in their infant stage, much like dial-up was when the internet first started.

Imagine seeing friend's comments about shows and movies streamed on your tv while you are watching that particular program. Picture your refrigerator sharing your families recipes with you, and letting you know what you need to make them. What if your car could recommend nearby restaurants and businesses that your friends are checked into, or highly recommend?

I think the future of social media is the progression of it moving off our laptops, phones, and tablets; and into everyday devices we use. This synergy between social media and the tools we use in our daily lives will create a richer experience, and ultimately connect us even more. If we will still call it "Social Media" is yet to be determined. Perhaps we'll have a different term for it, like "Social Devices". 

The power of business storytelling:

How many times have you stayed up late at nights to read a good novel? Or, maybe to watch an interesting movie that you couldn’t switch off? If you’ve experienced all of this, you tend to get enthralled by the power of good, engaging stories. Good stories can capture our imaginations, illustrate our ideas, arouse our passions, and inspire us in a way that cold, hard facts often can't. On the other hand, great storytellers can cut through the noise and can produce tremendous value for organizations at a very low cost. Telling a solid story is just as essential as developing a great product.

One of the best examples of great corporate storytelling was that of Google’s Reunion ad, depicting two childhood friends who were tearfully reunited following their separation during the partition of India and Pakistan. The commercial, that went viral within hours after hitting the web, explained how the two friends were brought together again by their grandchildren using Google search. The video hit the rights emotional chords amongst the audience and became a major hit in the ad world.

Another such example was Google Chrome’s ‘Dear Sophie’ commercial, which shows a father chronicling the life of his daughter by sending email notes, photos and videos of her as she grows up. It’s an uplifting (but not a sappy) story about a father connecting with his daughter using technology in a clever way. One of the best advertisements ever, it highlights all of Google’s products without making it feel forced on the viewer.

How to Change Your Mindset

1. Get the Best Information Only

Try to find the very best information in your field. Then focus on learning this information only. I personally learned that in any worthwhile field there is more information available as needed, especially in the internet. You have to narrow down the information input to the most effective. I personally believe that one of the critical personal skills today is not to find information, but to select the best information and avoid the rest.

The Good: Reading great books/information products and some great blogs. Everything else is a waste of time.

The Bad: Mostly not worth it are forums, getting books/information products without researching the field, 90% of blogs. From my personal experience, those are usually things that support procrastination and information overload. The reason is that only a tiny fraction of the information out there is taking you really forward. You have to develop the skill of identifying this kind of information. We are talking about the right mindset here; part of it is not to get sucked into the mediocre area. You want to align yourself with the best out there.

2. Role Model the Best People

Similar to #1 look for the best people in your field and try to model what they did right. Adopt their kind of thinking and mindset. Follow them. Of course, keep and only add what you think is right for you. That way you can actually improve and personalize their mindset to fit perfectly for you. It’s never copying, it’s taking what works for you by getting inspiration and quality input.

Now I realize that you can’t look into the minds of the best people in your field. But you can get plenty of information about how they are thinking, their advice, what they did. For instance if you are an entrepreneur or self-employed, here are the people that I role-modeled to a certain degree: Stephen Covey, Steve Jobs, Anthony Robbins, Michael Jordan (find more here). Reading biographies of people who inspire you is a great way to start.

3. Examine Your Current Beliefs

Examine your mindset by looking at your current belief-system. Are these beliefs supporting you? Or are there self limiting beliefs? You have to identify those possible blocks and turn them around. Because whether you know about limiting beliefs or not, they are working in your subconscious mind.

To uncover your beliefs ask yourself the right questions about where you want to go and what is standing in your way right now. The key then is to turn those beliefs around by declaring supportive statements on the same belief. To internalize these new supportive beliefs you can make use of affirmations.

4. Shape Your Mindset with Vision and Goals

A proactive approach to build your mindset is to clearly see where you want to go. Seeing a vision, images describing your end result clearly in your minds eye, will create a strong pull towards this end result. Then go on and break your vision into goals. It will shape your mindset to become conform with your vision.

Learn and adapt from your own experience and always try to look deeper for the real reasons why you get the results you are getting.

5. Find Your Voice

One of the most beautiful things is when you find your very own way, something what you could call finding your voice. Stephen Covey wrote a book about that and called it The 8th Habit (see a post from him about finding your voice):

To help you find this, answer these 4 question.

1.      What are you good at? That’s your mind.

2.     What do you love doing? That’s your heart.

3.     What need can you serve? That’s the body.

4.     And finally, what is life asking of you? What gives your life meaning and purpose? What do you feel like you should be doing? In short, what is your conscience directing you to do? That is your spirit.

Your voice is what you express 100% authentically, it is the unique thing that you can add to the world, because you are who you are. A great way to success and to develop the success mindset. Looking to find what is really you and being critical about every input you get should be part of your mindset. Stay open and flexible in your mind. Don’t judge too soon. It gives you something unique and helps you to build integrity.

6. Protect Your Mindset

One thing you have to do is to protect your mindset against the naysayers and people who want to drag you down. You also have to protect it against bad information and against overload (see #1). Keeping your confidence is a big thing. So please stay on the right path, look to improve yourself and to help others along the way. You can’t go wrong with that.