Windows 10 Beta Trial “a component of the operating system has expired” error fix

a component of the operating system has expired

I hate Windows……I really really do…….

Long story short, as I am a beta tester for Micro$oft I previously installed a preview version of Windows 10. My life circumstances have changed since, so I haven’t been keeping up with its development, nor have I been updating the brand new HP PC I bought for it.

So today (Some time after the trial version has expired) I turned on the machine……BRICK…….nothing.

Couldn’t boot from disk, couldn’t boot from a USB drive, NOTHING but:

“a component of the operating system has expired”

The bottom line, if you want to reclaim your files and reinstall or upgrade, just boot into BIOS and set the date to JUNE 2015.

3 ways to save battery power in iOS7 on your iPhone that REALLY work!

iphone-battery-iconiOS 7 on the iPhone is really great, but it can drain your battery fairly quick. I have identified 3 ways to save power that REALLY work!

httpvh://youtu.be/wMu79khieC8

To get started, drag from the bottom of your iphone screen upwards.

ios7-iphone-power-save-tip-001This will reveal the Control Center.

ios7-iphone-power-save-tip-000In control center, the first trick to saving power is to turn off any transmitters you are not using. For example, BlueTooth or Wifi. If you use Wifi at work, but not at home, turn Wifi off at home to save power.

ios7-iphone-power-save-tip-002The next power saving tip is to turn down your screen brightness. The lower the better for battery life.

ios7-iphone-power-save-tip-003The BIGGEST drain on your iphones battery in my opinion is apps that are running in the background, that you are not using. When most of us finish using an app we press the home button to close out of it, but it is still actually running in the background. You need to “Terminate” the app out of your iphones memory for it to be completely closed. To do this, double click your home button, and see everything that is still open, running and in memory on your phone…..be prepared, there’s probably going to be a lot.

ios7-iphone-power-save-tip-005To terminate apps out of your phones memory, slide/push their preview windows to the top of your screen.

ios7-iphone-power-save-tip-006Once you have closed all of the apps your are not using right now, it’s time to get into the habit of closing all of your open apps using this method a few times a day. Before using this method, I would be looking for my charger by 3-4pm. Now that I terminate running apps through the day, I still have around 50% power left in my phone when I get home around 5-6pm.

TRY IT!

The Easiest way to download Youtube Videos

youtube-logo-smlI have just discovered the EASIEST way yet to download, save and keep videos from Youtube! Its SO easy that it is scary.

downloader

To use Flash Video Downloader you need to be using the Cool, Free, and really awesome Mozilla Firefox web browser. In Firefox, open the “Tools” option from the menu bar, then open “Add Ons”. Do a search for “Flash Video Downloader”, then click install once the plug in is found. Once it is installed, restart Firefox and you will now have a new “Download” button.

download button

 All you need to do when you find something you want to keep, is to click the download button, select the format you want, choose where you want to save the file, and download away!

HOW COOL!

Download, Save and Keep ALL videos on a Youtube playlist!

From time to time most of us see something on Youtube that we would like to download and save.

In my case this week, I found a Youtube channel that has the video broadcast from every NHRA drag racing event of the 2012 season. As my wife and I flew from Australia to attend the Sonoma round of racing, it makes a really great souvenir for us to have the video broadcast. The problem is though, Each days racing is split into about 9 or 10 pieces, and it was a three day event. Thankfully though, KMan2100 has arranged the videos into playlists, so they can be viewed in order.

download-youtube-playlist

Now, you could download the videos one at a time using the method described in my post about Video Download Helper HERE, but that will take a LOT of time. If you want to download all of the videos in a playlist quickly and easily, you need to make a download list, then download them all!

To do this, you need to be using the Firefox web browser. Its free, it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, and if you are not already using it, you should be. You can get it free HERE.

With Firefox open and running, select “Add-ons” from the “Tools” menu in your menu bar. The first Add-on you need is the one that takes all of the videos in the playlist and turns them into a series of links. It is called BYTubeD, Bulk Youtube Downloader. To get it, type “BYTubeD” into the search bar in the top right corner.

Click the “Install” button to the right of it when you see it in your “results” list. This will download and install it. When this is finished, go back to the search bar and type “Download Them All”. As before, click the “Install” button to the right to install it.

To make your new add-ons active you need to restart Firefox. To do this, simply click the text that says “Restart now”

Once you have clicked restart, you can close the Add-ons window, and any other windows that may have popped up.

And now the fun starts!

To get downloading, go to Youtube and find your channel, and click the playlist you want to download.

As you can see, there are 28 videos on this playlist. To download them all, open your “Tools” tab on your menu bar and select “BYTubeD”. It should be at the bottom. This will open a new window.

**BEWARE** – Not only does this window contain info for all the videos you want, it also contains the info for other playlists and videos that are on this page that you may not want as well! As highlighted below, you can see the Sonoma videos I want, but I am not interested in Phoenix or Gainsville etc etc…..

For the next step, you need to tell BYTubed which videos you DO want to keep. To do this, simply highlight them. To select multiple videos (Which is kinda the point of this article) hold down your control key, then click each one if your using Windows, or your command key and click if you’ve got a Mac. Once you have highlighted the videos you want to download, click the start button.

BYTubed will now chew through the playlist and open up a new web page with links to all your videos.

Now’s where the magic happens. To download them all, open “Download Them All” from your “Tools” menu in your menu bar.



All that is left to do now is to check mark (click the circles to the left of the names) the videos you want to keep, choose your download location (I usually download to my desktop) then click “Start” to watch those babies start loading down!


That’s all there is to it!

Download, Save and Keep videos from Youtube

download-helper-iconFrom time to time we all come across videos on Youtube that we really want to download and keep on our computers so we can watch at anytime, or to re-encode so we can watch and keep them on our phones or ipods and ipads to. A simple way to download videos is with Video Download Helper.

In order to use Video Download Helper you need to be using Firefox browser, so if you are not, you probably should be, and you can download it free HERE.

Now you have Firefox open and running, you need to get the free Video Download Helper Add On. To do this, select this “Add-ons” from the “Tools” menu in your menu bar. Once the Add-ons window opens type “Video Download Helper” in the search box in the top right corner.

video-download-helper-1

Video Download Helper should be the first result, so when you see it in the list, click the “Install” button to right of it. Once it has finished downloading and installing, you will need to restart Firefox to make it active. To do this, simply click the “Restart now” text.

Once Firefox restarts, you can close out of the Add-ons window and any other windows that have popped up, and you should now see a new icon in the top left.

This means you are all set to go! Now when you wake up at 2am and worry that Gangnam Style is going to be taken down and you will never see it again, you can open it up in Youtube, click the little black upside down triangle next to the colored logo (when its gray out it means there is nothing to download on the page – when its colored, there is a file it can retrieve for you) and select the quality of the file you want to download.

Once you have selected your preferred resolution and format, its just a matter of confirming with the “Save File” dialogue box, and your good to go!

Video Download Helper has a swag of other cool features as well, but we’ll cover those another time as I know you just CANT WAIT to go and run your new Gangnam Style video up on your home theater system!

Not sure what a pretty lady who can afford and appreciate a good cup of coffee has to do with horse riding though? Ahhh Who Cares……..Opp-Opp-Oppan Gangnam Style Baby!

How to Save your OS X Mavericks, Mountain Lion and Lion Install Program and make a Install/Boot DVD or USB key

OS-X-Mavericks-Header

UPDATE – **I HAVE TESTED THIS METHOD WITH OS X MAVERICKS AND IT WORKS GREAT!**

This tutorial was written using Mountain Lion as an example, but it works for Mavericks as well – just follow the same process

Just like OS X Lion, it is really important to save your OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks “Install File” BEFORE you install it. Without it, you can not make an install disk, and it is deleted automatically once you install your new operating system.

Once you have purchased Mountain Lion or Mavericks, your purchase/price button will turn into a “downloading” button.

mountain lion download screenA short time after, your launchpad may spring open and show you the downloads progress.

mountain lion download progress screen in launchpadYou can leave it open and watch the progress if you want. Close it up when your finished watching, or when the file has completely downloaded.

**CRITICAL** – When the file has finished downloading, a window will pop up and ask you if you want to go ahead and install the new software. QUIT THE INSTALLER IMMEDIATELY! This can be done by clicking the file menu and selecting the “Quit” option.

mountain-lion-install-begin-now

Don’t worry, you are not going to loose the program you just bought, you are just telling your computer that you want to install later. Once you have closed out of the installer, open a new finder window, then open your “Applications” folder. Inside this folder you will see your OS X Mountain Lion or Mavericks Install File.

mountain lion installer in applications folderRight click and “Copy” the installer file, then “Paste” it onto your desktop.

save your mountain lion install fileOnce the file finishes copying to the desktop, you can go back into your applications folder and double click and run the installer, if you are ready to install your update.

If you want to make a bootable install DVD disk or a USB Key, the easiest way to do this is with Disk Maker X (Formerly called Lion Disk Maker).

LDM_GemGo to the Disk Maker X web site HERE and download the latest version of the program. Once downloaded, unzip and run the program.

TO MAKE A DVD DISK:

With Disk Maker X open, select Mountain Lion to make a Mountain Lion DVD, Or Mavericks to make a Mavericks Install DVD.

lion disk makerOnce you select your Operating System, the program will try to locate the install program automatically. It doesn’t matter if it uses the one in your Applications folder, or the one on your desktop. In my case, it found the one on my desktop.

lion disk maker location confirmThe next step is to tell Disk Maker X if you want to make a DVD or a USB key. Keep in mind, if you want to make a DVD you will need a 8.5gb Dual Layer DVD, and a Dual Layer DVD Burner, as the installer will not fit on a single layer 4.7gb DVD.

lion disk maker dvd or usbClick “Burn A DVD”. Disk Maker X will ask you to select your Burner.

choose dvd driveYou will now be prompted to insert a disk, and begin the burning process.

burn disc now

TO MAKE A USB KEY:

With Disk Maker X open, select Mountain Lion to make a Mountain Lion USB or Mavericks to make a Mavericks install USB key.

lion disk makerOnce you select your operating system, the program will try to locate the install program automatically. It doesn’t matter if it uses the one in your Applications folder, or the one on your desktop. In my case, it found the one on my desktop.

lion disk maker location confirmThe next step is to tell Disk Maker X if you want to make a DVD or a USB key. Keep in mind, if you want to make a USB Key you will need a 8gb thumb drive, due to the size of the installer. Click “Create a Boot Disk”.

lion disk maker dvd or usbNext, Disk Maker X will ask you about your Thumb Drive. In keeping with the recommendations of the makers of the program, we will select “8gb USB Thumb Drive”.

(My understanding is, that this option will completely erase the entire USB drive, and ALL existing data will be over-written. If you have a larger drive, which is divided up into partitions, and you do not want to erase the whole drive, use the “Another kind of disk” option. IF this is incorrect, or there is also another reason, please reply in comments.)

You will now be asked to confirm your drive selection, and its location.

usb selectOne last warning! Your thumb drive will now be erased COMPLETELY!

final warningDisk Maker X will now begin crunching files to make your USB Installer.

usb creation in progressDuring this process, particularly towards the end of the process, a lot of new windows and “Get Info” dialogues will pop up, and disappear. This is normal. This is just your computer acknowledging the creation and mounting of new drives and volumes.

Once it is all completed, you will hear Homer yelling “WooHoo!” and see your new USB drive ready to go!

Finished!

homer-woohoo