Today when I first booted up my computer, I got a message that Tiles expired.  I even paid $10 for additional features for a product that I thought was indefinite.  Does that mean i'll have to buy Tiles AND the features over again?  If so, Stardock's ripping me off.  Or do I just buy the program and all of my paid features will still be there?

Today when I first booted up my computer, I got a message that Tiles expired.  I even paid $10 for additional features for a product that I thought was indefinite.  Does that mean i'll have to buy Tiles AND the features over again?  If so, Stardock's ripping me off.  Or do I just buy the program and all of my paid features will still be there?

A few weeks back, I discovered by chance a combination of two different products which combined to be quite tasty (and quite a kick too).  As an experiment, I combined MioEnergy Green Thunder and PowerPak Electrolyte packs to make a healthier alternative to an energy drink but without sacrificing the kick.  Here is a picture I took.

So, you might be thinking that because it lacks carbs, sugar, and calories that it's some kind of diet energy drink, right?  Wrong.  Well, kinda wrong.  It does contain a few artificial sweeteners, 5 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of carbs, including 40 calories.  So it is in a way, kinda dietish.

Now comes the fun part, what makes it kick.  The MioEnergy packs in Taurine, Guarana, Ginseng, and 120mg of Caffeine (for 2 squirts), while the PowerPaks (2 of them) hold 4000% Vitamin C, all 4 major electrolytes (Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium) by contrast Gatorade only has 2.  7 different B vitamins, Zinc, Selenium, Manganese, Chromium and Boron.  These aren't minerals you'd find in your everyday Red Bull or Monster.

But what about the taste?  To me, it tastes like a flat Monster knockoff.  It really does taste like an energy drink (a watered-down one though), just without the carbonation.  It's goes down smooth like water or juice.

And the best part?  This beverage can be customized in different ways.  MioEnergy is the main product (the one that gives it it's kick), and the PowerPaks are to enhance the flavor and to help retain hydration better.  Marketed energy drinks do nothing but dehydrate you, but having all 4 major electrolytes in the same beverage helps cancel out some of the dehydration that is common with caffeinated drinks.

Another great benefit, which you won't get from standard energy drinks is that Vitamin C helps absorb Calcium faster, and calcium helps boost metabolism.  More so than from Caffeine alone.

If anybody's interested in trying it out, here's the link for the PowerPak Electrolyte Packets via Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Trace-Minerals-Electrolyte-Limeade-32-Count/dp/B001Y281R2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330544480&sr=8-1

These can't be found at most grocery stores, but MioEnergy can be found at most grocery stores, so no need to put a link for Mio.  There are also other flavors of PowerPaks available, but it might not taste very good with MioEnergy though.  I use Cherry-Limeade flavored packs.

The best part about all this is that you can customize how much or how little of each product you want, but proceed with caution.  Too much of either one can pose health risks, so try a small amount at first.  It's a shame that commercialized energy drinks don't allow for this kind of customization. 

It's also much cheaper to mix up a couple of Mio squirts and PowerPaks together than to buy a can of Red Bull or Monster.  ($4 for MioEnergy bottle/9 servings per bottle=44 cents, + $0.23/pack (out of 32 on Amazon) *2=46 cents.  Add the 2, and 16oz of THIS stuff sets you back at $0.90.  You can have *THIS* 3 times for the same price as ONE 16oz. can of Monster or Red Bull)  And this stuff's better for you too.

And another cool tip, MioEnergy can be added to more than just water.  I mixed some with Greek Yogurt and Protein Shakes too for an extra kick.  But don't add any to already caffeinated beverages.  It's can be dangerous to do so.

This may not be the best "healthy energy/sports drink alternative" out there, but it's a start.

Would you try this, or come up with some alternative customized beverage of your own to try and outsmart the competition?
Comments would be appreciated.

Here at WinCustomize, our objective is to stand out from other people, whether it be skinning, icons, logons, etc.  Something I do every year that very few people in the world attempt to make, is their own custom calendar (without templates and from scratch).  I have been doing this since 2004.  And my 2012 design is surely to stand out from all other calendars out there.  Most calendars are square-based, right?  Not mine.  I've decided to innovate and improve upon the existing calendar and designed my own Hexagon based grid.  All the graphics (including the background itself) are made by me.  The design is heavily based on my own "Glassphire" line of WB skins.  I decided to make my own background to avoid copyright issues


I'm debating whether I should upload this into the graphics gallery.  It would include the Word Document with all the placeholder graphics.  A user may modify the calendar for their own personal use, but uploading a customized version of my calendar as your own would be strictly prohibited.

The title of this article sounds like a cheesy ad placement, but it's not.  Have users ever wondered what to do with a system with a ton of RAM, but not use nearly all of it (like me)?  I found an interesting editorial in my MaximumPC magazine about that.  The solution:  Create a virtual RAMDisk.  It's exactly what it sounds like; to use some of your system's RAM as storage.  And after using CrystalDiskMark for benchmarking, I can tell you...that it's WAY faster than an SSD.  It's about 6 times faster than the Vertex 3 i'm currently running.  The downside, you'll have to sacrifice your own system's RAM.  So that means, very few gigabytes of your system can actually benefit from 3000+MB/s Read & Write speeds.  Here's my results:



Don't believe it?  Try running "DataRam's RAMDisk" for yourself.  http://memory.dataram.com/products-and-services/software/ramdisk

Create a new Virtual Disk (if you have enough RAM) and then run CrystalDiskMark or other disk benchmarking tool and see for yourself.  My RAM is nothing special.  It's just DDR3-PC10600.  So it's not like it's high-end or anything.

This software is one valid reason why techies & end-users should upgrade their RAM.  But remember, you'll only be able to store a few gigs on it, so don't plan on installing games or Photoshop on it.

Here is another tip I would recommend:  For the most frequently used software (small programs such as web browsers), uninstall that program from your local disk (either HDD or SSD) and reinstall on the virtual RAM drive.  The virtual drive loads automatically after logging in (with the software I used anyway). Browsing speeds will skyrocket, regardless of what browser you use (unfortunately, streaming video isn't much faster).  Install other small, but frequently used programs as well to take advantage of ~3000MB/s disk read/write speeds!

And one more thing, it's not bootable.  I've already tried it.  Maybe other RAM Drive software could do this, but not RAMDisk.

Try this if your system has a ton of unused RAM, which just sits there and does nothing.  You'll greatly benefit from it (after installing programs to the VD).

It's just a fact of life.  Whenever newer techonlogies come out, we like to think of them as "the next big thing".  However, since the trend for technological advances has been accelerating at an alarming rate, i'd like to point out that SSDs may soon become obsolete.  The reason?  The masses won't want to invest in PC's anymore.  They will all be migrating to tablets and smartphones, which have no drives for storage.  Those devices only have built-in internal flash memory (similar to SSDs I guess) except those devices can not be upgraded to a larger capacity SSD.  And this is just one reason why the promotion of SSDs will fail to hit the mainstream.  By studying tech trends, I have come up with reasons as to why this is.

-> Not enough stores are promoting SSDs:  If brick and mortar chains such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy started to promote and advertise SSDs and the benefits they have over hard drives, SSDs might have increased sales.  But there is one problem with that now, SSDs are still too expensive.  And the majority of Wal-Mart shoppers probably don't even know how to open their PC without breaking something inside.

->More PCs need eSATA ports for the inexperienced:  The majority of consumer PCs sold at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and the like aren't equipped with eSATA ports.   And who in their right mind would run an SSD on USB 2.0?  You might as well run a hard drive if you're going that route.  If SSD makers decided to start reaching out to the mainstream market, they'll need to design somewhat larger and rougher, external SSDs that won't break if dropped, as the majority of typical soccer moms won't be opening up and fiddling around with the insides of a PC.  Connecting an SSD should be as easy as connecting an external hard drive.  And seeing how eSATA is only 3.0Gbps, they would only focus their simplicity on SATA II SSDs.  Casual tech users wouldn't need SATA III speeds.  And one more thing, make ALL SSDs bootable, whether internal or external.  After all, what good would an SSD be if you can't boot from it?

->The low capacities would turn-off consumers:   The inexperienced casual crowd wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference between a hard drive and solid-state drive, besides that an SSD is clearly smaller.  Most people do know about drive capacity size; that 500GB is bigger than 250GB.  Most people would not pay >$100 for a 60GB drive when they can get a 1000GB external hard drive for the same price, if not less.  And lets not even get to read/write speeds. 

->Integration with the Cloud would mean less localized storage:  This is clearly happening already.  As more people (casual and techies alike) are migrating to tablets & smartphones with syncing services, there will be less demand for localized storage, which includes SSDs.  And Cloud-Based storage is significantly cheaper than buying and installing an SSD (and having to either install an OS or restore from a drive image).  Five years from now only a small, niche market will still run PCs with localized storage.  I'm pretty sure that as the years go buy, Cloud-based storage will become even simpler and more secure than it is now.

->Even if SSDs become affordable, it will be too late:  The prices of SSDs are still going down, but they aren't down enough yet for retailers to put them on shelves.  I would say if SSDs hit brick and mortar chains right now, they would flop, mostly because of price.  Only a few techies here and there would actually invest in an SSD from a chain store.  Most of us (like me) would buy them online.  Whenever SSDs do become affordable, even if it's a year from now, it will be too late, because the demand for Tablets & Smartphones will skyrocket and those devices would become more affordable as well.  Casuals would rather spend $300 on a device that can surf the web, e-mail, and chat rather than $300 on a device that only provides local storage (albeit, SPEEDY local storage) and can't do anything else.  And seeing how most people today are so lazy, they won't even bother cracking open their PC box open.  Heck, they're probably too lazy to lug their machines (even if it's a laptop) to their local Best Buy to have an experienced tech install it for them.

And i'm not going to even talk about businesses and SSDs. I'm only focusing on consumers this time.


My predictions of SSD obsolesce may be premature, but it just seems so sad that only a few of us are experiencing what next-generation computing SHOULD be like.  Basically the same thing we're doing now, except a whole lot faster.   Only niche markets, such as gamers, power users, and tech enthusiasts are enjoying the brilliance and wonder that is a Solid State Drive.  I love SSDs and I have two of them now.  In fact, i'm running my PC on my Vertex 3 as I write this article.

My suggestion to you is that if you haven't done so already, and have the money to afford it, buy a Solid State Drive.  Not only because you'll have a much faster PC, but because you'll support the drive makers putting much effort into making such drives, and that increased sales will mean more competition.  And more competition will lead to newer, faster, and better technology.  It doesn't even have to be an expensive SSD.  Tell your friends and show off your new configs so they too will buy SSDs.  The age of the PC hard drive is over (for boot drives anyway), but the age of the PC should always live on!

Long live SSDs! 

It seems there has been a lot of speculation about Windows 8 as of late.  Microsoft is trying very hard to "please everybody", but they seem to be forgetting certain markets.  From what I know, they seem to be mostly focusing on the mainstream/tablet pc markets.  Here are some things i'm curious about Windows 8:

-> How will Windows 8 benefit certain niche markets, such as desktop enthusiasts (such as myself), desktop customizers, power users, hardcore gamers, and large business users; as opposed to Windows 7?  Will there be any new overly hyped features that will benefit any of these users?  I personally think not.

->How flexible is the legacy desktop mode?  Will there be certain features stripped out as opposed to WinXP-7?  I understand that there will be the ribbon in Windows Explorer, and that should be a nice touch.  But is it skinnable and customizable?

->In Legacy Desktop Mode, will there be very many 3rd party Desktop Applications still being developed, which can be downloaded and installed locally, or will developers turn to "Apps" for tablets and smartphones more?  Most users I think would rather have the entire internet to search and download software instead of just running the limited "Windows App Store" embedded in the OS.

->Is it any faster than Win7?  Power users and hardcore gamers live for speed, and if this OS becomes resource intensive like Vista, it'll become an epic fail (for these markets).

->For those of us who aren't on the move (via Desktop PCs & Servers), will upgrading to Windows 8 even matter?  Windows 8 was designed for on-the-go people in mind, and those of us who prefer to stay home should probably stick with Windows 7.

->Will Windows 8 support a wide array of hardware?  Desktop enthusiasts and gamers love to trick out their PCs. Will MS either support a wide range of legacy AND new hardware, and keep drivers up to date?  Seeing how Microsoft's main market will be tablet & smartphone users, hardware upgrade options will seem to feel more limited than with past OS's.  (Whoopee!  I've updated my firmware, because that's always fun!)

Like i've stated in an earlier post, I won't be joining on the Windows 8 bandwagon.
How many of you plan to buy and upgrade to Windows 8?  And correct me if i'm wrong about some Win8 info.
Comments would be appreciated.

Okay.  I've been having this problem for a while.  I get a 0x000003b BSOD message after exiting my Maxthon Web Browser.  Today, I also got it while running scans for Advanced SystemCare 4 and Privacy Mantra.  I think there's two parts to this.  A) The BSOD occurs only when trying to clean my computer, and more importantly B) I think i'm stressing my 300W power supply.  A few days ago, I installed an external Hard Drive case (with an independent power source) and thus, consuming more power.  When I tried ASC4 & PM scans with the external HD case powered off, it didn't BSOD.  When it is on, it does BSOD.  I'm thinking that I need to upgrade my power supply.  But is this really the answer?  I don't wanna spend a fortune on a problem that might not be fixed.

I even uninstalled Maxthon, and it still BSOD'd.

Can anybody help me with this?  I don't wanna have to take anything out.  Any help would be appreciated.

All of us here at WinCustomize enjoy making our desktops look like our own.  But what about customizing & making our PC rigs our own?  Like with fancy lights on the inside?  Or custom decals on top of our notebooks?

It's hard to believe that a site like this doesn't have a PC Modding thread.  The purpose of this thread is to list the computer you've bought/built, and if you've upgraded it over time.  (Buying a new PC doesn't count as an upgrade.)  I mean, working inside the case & adding/replacing parts.  So in other words, this is a hardware geeks thread, more so than desktop customization.

So I'll start with my rig.

I bought an HP hpe-400f (a mid-range consumer Desktop PC) last November at a local electronics store.  Everything came stock.  No upgrades.  Wasn't too terribly pleased with boot times, or "crapware" installed on the machine.  And Hard Drive grinding is very annoying to me now.

Here are the upgrades i've made:

->Bought a 60GB Sata II SSD, an OCZ Vertex 2 and i'm using it as my Boot Drive.

->Installed a PCI-e Sound Card with 116db SNR ratio.  (Most motherboards come ~85db)

->Installed a PCI-e SATA III Adapter to accomodate next-gen SATA III SSDs. (My Mobo doesn't come with SATA III ports)

->Replaced the stock fan with a Blue LED lit one (for aesthetics)

Soon i'll:

->Add a Green 12" Cold-Cathode to light up the inside of my rig (again for aesthetics)

->Install a PCI fan to cool my video & sound cards (it'll be placed between the two)

->Add a 2nd SSD; a 128GB SATA III 6.0Gbps drive (partially to ensure that my add-in card is REALLY 6.0Gbps, not just 3)

->Possibly remove my hard drive from it's bay.  It's just a power-hungry, loud mechanical menace.  I really don't need a whole TB of disk space anyway. 

->Hopefully install 2 more Cold-Cathode lights on the inside-top part of the PC.  (My PC has a removable top panel)  But I might have to drill a hole near the edge to wire the molex cables through.  Not sure yet if i'm gonna do it.

So yeah.  I've upgraded my rig quite a bit so far, and i'm far from finished.  I still want USB 3.0 (not found on my mobo), and more LED lights.  A Lot more Lights. 

If you guys want, post some pics of your rig to show to the rest of the community.  I don't have all my LED/Cathode lights yet, so i'm gonna wait for now.

And here are some sites for PC Modding parts:

Xoxide: www.xoxide.com

Arctic Mod: www.arcticmod.com

Crazy PC: www.crazypc.com

And Amazon also has PC Modding gear as well.

Not it's time to REALLY make your PC your own, both inside and out! (Software, Hardware respectively)

I'm having an annoying problem, and it may have to do with Fences.  On startup, once the desktop loads, everything loads just fine except...I can't click on any Icons, or right-click to see a context menu.  But my Taskbar, Startmenu, and Explorer windows work just fine.  Tried uninstalling fences, and I could access my icons.  After I reinstalled fences, the desktop locks up again.  Killing Explorer and restarting it always solves the problem.  But...I don't want to have to kill Explorer.exe every single time I want to access my desktop.  Is there any way to fix this, while having Fences installed?  I bet another program is causing this, but I don't want to have to uninstall everything to figure this out.

Any help would be appreciated.