[HOW-TO] ZIP multiple files/folders to individual archives

Some time ago, my aunt asked me if I could recover some photos stored on her old laptop and forward them along to her. I could have sent them by Dropbox, but that would take some time to set up remotely on her new laptop. Since there were hundreds of images, I needed a way of compressing multiple folders containing several files for upload to the cloud. The simple but difficult method was going through each folder and manually executing archive creation with 7Zip, but that would take too long. I then discovered this neat little batch script that does the job with a simple double-click.

In the folder containing the subfolders that you want compressed, create a batch file, paste this in the contents and save:

for /d %%X in (*) do "c:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" a "%%X.zip" "%%X\"

The script uses the folder names as the file names and places the ZIPs at the same level as the folder. Execute by double-clicking on the batch file. Simple!

[HOW-TO] Open new Firefox tab to URL

With the latest version of Mozilla Firefox, opening a new tab brings you to a page that displays your most frequently visited websites. However, have you ever wanted to change this activity? Maybe you prefer to see your favourite search engine’s page when opening a new tab. It will definitely speed up your browsing by saving you a few mouse clicks. Whatever page you want to load, there is an easy tweak that you can apply without the need for a plugin which is always great! However, you will need to be running the latest version of Firefox in order to utilize it. I was able to execute this on Firefox 17.0.1 and cannot say whether or not it will work on older versions.

1. Open Firefox and type about:config in the address bar. Press ENTER.
2. Confirm that you know what you’re doing and proceed.
3. Do a search for browser.newtab.url and edit the string to reflect the website URL you wish to load. For example, http://www.google.com.
4. Click OK and the change takes immediate effect.

That’s it! Reversing this change is as simple as finding the browser.newtab.url string again, right-clicking on it and choosing RESET.

Disable Facebook’s theatre mode

You have probably been aware of Facebook’s “theatre mode” for viewing images since the last features upgrade about 2 months back. While I admire Lightbox-like image galleries, Facebook’s implementation does not seem quite as polished, in my opinion. Understandably, keeping the eyecandy to a minimum allows for faster delivery of the myriad of other scripts loaded upon visiting Facebook. At the same time, however, there should have been an accessible option to disable “theatre mode” altogether. Here, I will show you how this feature can be disabled using an easy-to-install Greasemonkey script.

If you have a web browser that supports Greasemonkey (for Firefox) or script importation (Opera natively supported; for IE; NinjaKit on Chrome; GreaseKit or NinjaKit on Safari), make sure that it is installed and activated.

Next, go to Userscripts.org and install the ‘facebook Photo Theatre Killer’ script and you are done! Wasn’t that easy? Now, revisit a photo gallery via your Facebook account and the annoying “theatre mode” should be gone.

Fix Facebook’s small font annoyance

At the start of November 2010, I noticed that the font size on Facebook was noticeably smaller than I was accustomed to seeing. For a while I put up with it, but it got incredibly annoying as the days progressed. So, being a fan of Firefox extensions and Greasemonkey scripts I began my search for an add-on fix.

I like to keep Firefox lean and fast, so tacking on another extension to the ones I already use was not my first solution. Thankfully, someone over at userstyles.org, a great site for Stylish custom scripts, had a simple fix for both Greasemonkey and Stylish users. Whichever method you choose, the fix works by simply overriding Facebook’s current font-size CSS. Nothing else is modified.

After applying the Greasemonkey user script, Facebook text was once again comfortable to read. Give it a try and you will immediately notice the difference.

UPDATE: I would not be surprised if the authors of FFixer decide to include this fix in their update to this awesome Greasemonkey script.

Get Ashampoo software with promo code [FREE Giveaway]

I recently got an e-mail from Ashampoo containing a special promotion, but was unable to post it until now. But here it is. By visiting the link below, you can download and activate full versions of Ashampoo’s great products without restrictions: Burning Studio 2010 Advanced, Home Designer, Snap 3, WinOptimizer 6 and/or Photo Commander 7.

Get Full Ashampoo Software for Free

Please note that I am in no way affiliated with Ashampoo or any of their partners and do not gain anything from this promotion. However, I am aware that a lot of people like getting free stuff and had to share this. Having used Ashampoo’s Burning Studio 2010 Advanced, I can say that it is one of the better media burning suites out there minus all the bloat that you would find in paid alternatives such as Nero and Roxio. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the other products since there has never been any personal necessity for them. Even if you may not be interested, pass this on to your friends and family members who might be. Enjoy!

Free tools to securely wipe hard disk data

There comes a point in your computer’s life when completely erasing the hard disk drive(s) is necessary. You might be putting the computer up for donation or sale or just want to wipe everything so as to start fresh. Wiping or securely erasing the contents of your hard disk is not necessary if you simply want to reinstall the operating system, but it should be done if you do not want that lucky recipient of your generosity being able to read your sensitive data. Here are a few free bootable tools that will do the job very well and probably relieve your paranoia.

Nobody should have access to your private documents without your consent. Securely erasing your computer’s hard disk before passing it on makes it extremely difficult for someone else to recover it. Simply sending a file to the Recycle Bin and emptying it does not guarantee that the data cannot be recovered. There are a lot of freely accessible software out there that can perform recoveries in such scenarios. The wiping algorithms employed in many of the applications mentioned below will, for the most part, permanently delete your sensitive data.

Get O&O Unerase 6 for free

Do you need to recover data that you accidentally deleted? Well, there is good news! I recently got this offer in my e-mail and had to share it. Have you ever heard of O&O? O&O is the same company that created O&O Defrag, an excellent defragmentation tool that competes with Diskeeper and PerfectDisk. For a limited time, you can get O&O Unerase 6 (a $29.95 value) for free by simply completing a quick form. The license code will be e-mailed to the address you specify in the form.

Here’s a quick excerpt from what O&O Unerase 6 can do:

Are your valued photos really gone? O&O UnErase 6 scans at lightning speed all Windows-recognized disks for recoverable data. Advanced options mean you can customize the search exactly to fit your needs using various filters. You can even search for specific text passages in deleted files. And thanks to the user interface in Windows Explorer-style, there’s no learning curve: O&O UnErase 6 is also perfect for novice users!

Get O&O Unerase 6 for free now!

Take advantage of this special offer before it expires on August 24th, 2010.