How to undelete files on Windows with Undela

Undela is Ctrl+Z files you've emptied out of the recycle bin.

Chances are that you've deleted a file by accident. Sometimes you're lucky enough to still have it lingering around in your recycle bin, other times you panic after realizing you emptied it three days ago.

             Undela is a Windows application that seeks to give you a second chance with your deleted files. Much like a similar app named Recuva, this app will attempt to analyze your free disk space for deleted data and display a result list of its findings. Once you find the file you're seeking in the list, you're just a few steps away from bringing it back to life. Here's how to get started:

Note: This recovery utility can only restore files that are in empty space on your hard drive or removable storage. This means you cannot have overwritten the space previously occupied by the deleted file with new things. This may be the case if you use a utility like CCleaner to overwrite empty space several times when using the cleaning function. If you're unsure about the status of the drive space, give Undela a try anyway.

Step 1: Download a copy of Undela for your Windows computer or laptop. The install process is super quick so you can get started right away.

Step 2: Open the app when the Installer is finished running and choose the drive you'd like to recover files on in the far left-hand pane.

 

Step 3: Click the Scan button at the top of the app to see a list of files that can be recovered on the far right. 

Tip: If you only want to look for certain file types -- say PNG -- you can adjust this setting in Options area. Just go to File > Options and check off the file types you're seeking.

Step 4: Once you've found the file(s) you're looking for, mark the check box(es) to the left of the filename(s) and then click the Restore button. 

 

Also worth mentioning is the file preview that Undela displays when doing its recovery magic. This is handy if you're not sure what the exact file name was of that picture you deleted on accident and don't want to recover everything just to find it. Just select the file name in the list and then press the Preview button (on the right-hand side of the toolbar) to take a look at it. 

 

Step 5: Choose the place on your disk space you'd like to place the recovered file(s). 

While serving as a handy tool to fix deletion mistakes, Undela can also help show you just how much information you thought was gone is still hanging around on your computer.

13 useful VLC keyboard shortcuts

VLC media player.

If you're like me, you enjoy doing things faster. Using keyboard shortcuts can help you spend less time looking for buttons or menus, and more time enjoying music and videos. So take a moment to become a more efficient by reading over these VLC shortcuts:

Space: toggle pause/play
F: toggle full-screen (you can also use Esc to leave full-screen mode)
Z: change zoom mode
Ctrl + Up / Down: Adjust volume up/down (you can also use mouse scroll wheel for this)
M: toggle mute
T: display time remaining/elapsed
+ / -: play media faster/slower
S: stop play
Ctrl + H: toggle control display
E: watch video frame by frame
V: toggle subtitles
P: previous item in media que
N: next item in media que


Interested in trying something new with VLC? Check out How to privately stream video, and don't forget to grab the newest version of VLC from Download.com.

Share your computer screen the easy way with ScreenLeap

 

A lot of instant messaging or tech-help software includes a feature for sharing your screen with other people. Unfortunately, not everyone uses the same applications, which requires one or more parties to download something in order to see the shared computer screen. Instead of worrying about creating new accounts or downloading software, ScreenLeap offers a super easy way to share your screen to any device, or look at someone else's shared screen. 
Note: This service requires Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which most users will already have. If not, it's a free download that is useful for other sites besides this one -- so it's not a waste of time to grab it.

To share your own screen:

 

Step 1: Head to ScreenLeap.com and click the giant green button labeled Share your screen now!
Step 2: If the Java Runtime permission window pops up, click Run.

 

Step 3: Click the link, or code, to copy it to your clipboard and send it to the person you're sharing with.

ScreenLeap pop-up window options panel.

You will see a small window pop-up that says your screen is shared. You can adjust the sharing area by selecting Share inside rectangle from the drop-down box, pause the sharing, or stop it completely from this window. There's also a viewer count in the top right-hand corner.

This is how your screen will look when you choose the rectangle sharing method.

To view someone else's screen:

Step 1: Click Join a screen in the top right-hand corner of the Web site.
Step 2: Enter the code you were given by the person sharing their screen.

This is how the shared screen looks on a Samsung Galaxy Note.

Step 3: View their screen on your computer, smartphone, or tablet.
So now the next time you have a relative with computer issues, or you need to share a presentation with a few co-workers, try ScreenLeap to save time on downloads and setup.

How to create a quote bank

Keeping track of the awesome quotes you come across can be a tedious process. You could write them down and try to keep track of where you wrote them; or you could start a Word document dedicated to being a quote bank. While both of these options are possible, they're not as useful as Quick Quote. This open-source app will allow you to input the quotes you love and easily search through them when it's time to use one.

Step 1: Download Quick Quote from Sourceforge and extract the RAR file to a convenient location.
Tip: You can place these files on a USB drive, which will allow you to use the app on any computer with a USB port.

 

Quick Quote has a fairly simple interface, focusing more on functionality than beauty. The search feature will allow you to look at quotes by their author, title, tags you added, and date. The split pane will show the content of the quote on the left and the title and author on the right.

 

Step 2: Click File and then New Quote. You can also press Ctrl+N.

 

Step 3: Enter all of the information for your quote. The name textbox is for the name of the work, or a name you want to assign to the quote. As for date, you can choose to use the date of the work the quote came from, or today's date if you're collecting quotes for a paper.

 

(Optional) Step 4: To find one of your quotes, simply put in the tag, title, author, or date. Results will appear in the right-hand pane; double-clicking on a result will display the quote on the left.
Tip: You can select and copy text from the area on the left to make using the quote easy.
If you ever need to remove a quote, you can search for it and then choose Delete Quote from the File menu. The app does allow you to edit quotes if you made a typo, but this can be a little buggy so it's better to just start fresh. 

How to privately stream video with VLC for Windows

VideoLAN (VLC) is an awesome media player that offers many features to its users for no cost. One of these features is the ability to stream videos across the same network. The steps are a little lengthy your first time through them, but are totally worth the time. So here's how to watch a synced video at home or work so everyone can enjoy it at the same time.
If you don't already have it, you can download VLC for free.

Setting up the server:

 

Step 1: Open VLC and then open the Media menu. Select Stream from the list of options.
Step 2: Click the Add button under the File tab. Browse to the file you'd like to stream. Note that if you wish to stream multiple files in a row, you'll first need to create a playlist file. If this is the case, you'll want to select that playlist here.

 

Step 3: Press the Stream button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
Step 4: In the new window that appears, click the Next button.

Steps 5 and 6.

Step 5: Open the drop-down menu that is labeled New destination. Select RTP / MPEG Transport Stream from the list and click Add.
Step 6: Now you'll have to enter the local IP address of the device you'd like to allow streaming to. The base port can be left at its default.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each computer that will need access to the stream.
Tip: If you want to watch the video on the computer you're streaming from, you will need to add it using the same directions provided in steps 5 and 6.

Steps 7 and 8.

Step 7: Uncheck the option labeled Active Transcoding under the Transcoding.
Step 8: Click on the Option label. If you're having trouble seeing this button, it's because it looks more like a heading for a new area than an actual button (a flaw in the VLC UI). Hint: It's near the bottom of the window.

 

Step 9: Under Miscellaneous Options, check the option labeled Stream all elementary streams and SAP announce. Enter a name for the stream in the text box next to SAP announce and click the Stream button in the bottom right-hand corner.

Setting up the client:

 

Step 1: Open VLC and click on the Show playlist button. If you don't see this button, you may be running an old copy of VLC.

 

Step 2: Expand the menu for Local Network and select Network streams (SAP) from the list.
Step 3: The stream you set up will appear in this list under the name given in step 9. Select it and hit play to begin streaming the video.


How do you stream videos at home or work? And what video player is your favorite?

Transfer Windows Phone photos to a Mac

The Nokia Lumia 900 phone features a camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

I have to believe there are at least a few Mac fans who also happen to own a Windows Phone. Even if I'm wrong, I suspect that anyone raised on the "think different" mantra will be curious to see what happens when a Mac and a Windows Phone (literally) hook up.
The frustrating answer is that nothing happens when you connect a Windows phone to a Mac. To transfer anything on or off your Windows phone using a Mac, you must first install Microsoft's Free Windows Phone 7 Connector app. 

Once installed, you'll have an iTunes-like interface for syncing content on and off your phone. Personally, I couldn't get my music or videos to sync to the phone with this tool, but I did have success importing images from the phone's picture folder onto my Mac.
Microsoft even allows a level of manual and custom control over how photos can be imported. Photos will be pulled into iPhoto by default, but you can designate a preferred program or opt to manually transfer images.
To see the process unfold, check out the embedded How To video, as well as the step-by-step gallery.

Get your Windows Phone photos on a Mac (photos)

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Update: A number of you have also pointed out Microsoft's free cloud storage service, Skydrive, as a solution for transferring photos back to a Mac. Because Windows Phone will automatically back up your pictures to Skydrive, you can later download them to any computer, Mac or PC.
Ideally, you should take advantage of both solutions. Linking your Windows phone to a Skydrive account for automatically storing your camera's photos and videos is an invaluable solution for backing up your media online in case your phone is lost or stolen. But when it comes to quickly transferring your phone's photos and videos to your Mac using a method that integrates directly with Apple's iPhoto software, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Connector software is my preferred tactic.