Airtel Launched : invests $100m on network in Sri Lanka

Airtel invests $100m on network

Further $ 100 m to expand operations:

SHIRAJIV SIRIMANE

Sunil Bharti Mittal

Group Chief Executive officer Singtel Singapore, Chua Sock Koong presents an Airtel connection to Chairman / Managing Director, Hatton National Bank, Rienzie Wijetilike. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

Bharti Airtel Lanka Limited has invested US $ 100 million to launch its network in Sri Lanka. The company will infuse a further US $ 100 million to expand operations. Chairman and Managing Director, Airtel, Sunil Bharti Mittal, told the launch at the Colombo Hilton that they would also use Sri Lanka, to launch their 3G services in this part of the region.

Sri Lanka’s mobile penetration is at 50 per cent and the Indian Company, which is the third largest mobile operator in the world in terms of serving the population, sees great potential in Sri Lanka.

He said that Sri Lankan expatriate workers remit around Rs. 1 billion annually to Sri Lanka. “These are channelled through banks and we will soon introduce a facility to provide this service to Sri Lanka via Airtel,” he said. Airtel will launch this facility in India by the end of this month.

He said that when one per cent on the mobile penetration increases it has a major positive impact on the economy. Mittal said that with the announcement that Airtel would be launching operations in Sri Lanka there had been a sharp decline in tariffs by other mobile operators. “This is nothing new for us as we have already created a storm. The low tariffs will also contribute to economic prosperity,” he said.

He, however, noted that mobile tariffs in Sri Lanka are high in the region. The average call charge is around Rs. 5 in Sri Lanka and in India its half the price. Due to this, the average talk time in Sri Lanka is around 120 minutes as against 460 minutes in India. “Our aim in Sri Lanka is to offer the lowest call charges which would be as low as Re, 1,” he said.

Mittal, also stressed that customers in Sri Lanka are confused by several packages that are on offer. “We have also simplified this,” he said.

“We will be initially covering 60 per cent of Sri Lanka’s population and thereafter cover the entire island soon,” he said. In India, Airtel adds three million customers and 100 base stations every month.

The new CEO, Amali Nanakyakkara said that Airtel would be bringing many ‘firsts’ to Sri Lanka which include totally incoming free from any network. “In addition Airtel roaming tariffs would be 50 per cent cheaper than other operators,” she said.

Airtel would also bring new technology in Value Added Services (VAS) and also for entertainment and music. “These would be first for Sri Lanka as well,” she said.

Group Chief Executive officer Singtel Singapore, Chua Sock Koong that would be partnering Airtel, said that their international experience too would be an advantage for local Airtel customers. Customers would be able to have 200 roaming countries when they switch to Airtel.

What Kind Of Internet Connection We Have To Use ?

What Kind Of Internet Connection We Have To Use ? So, "whether Dial-Up connection is better or not" , is shouting in the mind of all the internet dreaming people.

According to a web report, I've found out this information, regarding our internet speed.

64 kbps connectoon - max. downloading speed will 8kbps
128 kbps connectoon - max. downloading speed will 16 Kbps
256 kbps connectoon - max. downloading speed will 32 Kbps
512 kbps connectoon - max. downloading speed will 64 kbps
1024 kbps connectoon - max. downloading speed will 128 kbps
2048 kbps connectoon - max. downloading speed will 256kbps

*due to 1:8 ICS ratio method

I've used Dial-UP internet connection for years and I know all the unbearable actions , a user have to face. Then I advised all the dial up users, give up that connection, don't tell any one to buy it. It costs more money, time and less result. There are many methods to use internet including WiMax. It's better to be late than never.

How to dual-boot Vista with XP (with XP installed first) - step-by-step guide with screenshots

Want to install Vista on your PC but don't want to get rid of XP just yet? Here's how to install it so you can dual-boot between them, in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide.

Page 1 - Intro ****************************************

Scenario: You want to install Vista on your PC alongside your XP installation, on the same drive. You have already installed XP. (If you installed Vista first, see our other tutorial on How to dual-boot Vista and XP - with Vista installed first.) Tutorial Summary: We're going to use the DISKPART utility on the Vista DVD to shrink the Windows XP partition on the hard disk and create enough space for an installation of Vista. We'll then install Vista and use the EasyBCD utility to modify Vista's bootloader to get XP loading properly.

This is an updated tutorial,based on our first Windows XP/Vista dual-booting workshop. The main difference is that we're covering using both the latest version of GParted and DISKPART to shrink the Windows XP partition.

DISKPART can shrink NTFS partitions and it's certainly the more convenient option, but on some systems using DISKPART to shrink the volume will fail, with an vague "Access is denied" error.

This may have something to do with different disk controllers, as this was a problem on the AcerPower test system which has a SATA hard drive, but not on the VMWare system which uses a virtual IDE controller. So we'll cover both processes

EasyBCD has also been updated since the first tutorial was written.

This tutorial was tested on a VMWare Workstation 6 virtual machine and an AcerPower SK50.

Page 2 - Get Started - Using GParted *************

We assume that before you start this tutorial, you have backed up the drive (partitions and data) that will host the two operating systems.

Your first step will be to modify the Windows XP system partition to make space for Vista using GParted

The GParted Live CD ISO is available here – burn it to CD and boot the system from the disc. The version we used was 0.3.4-7. It's important that you download this specific version because we've found that the operation of GParted does differ from version to version, and we know 0.3.4-7 works.

Boot the Linux machine from the GParted LiveCD. Depending on your system, you should just need to select the auto-configuration boot option.

During boot, press Enter twice when prompted to select the keymap and language settings.

When the main GUI loads, right-click on the main Windows XP NTFS partition (depending on your setup, probably /dev/hda1) and select Resize/Move.

XP & Vista - Resize Partition

Use the slider to reduce the partition size and free up enough room to instal Vista (at least 10GB) and click Resize/Move.

XP & Vista - Resize Partition 2

The changes haven’t actually been made, they’ve just been scheduled to run. To commit the changes and resize the partition, click Apply. GParted will ask to confirm the changes – hit OK and away you go.

Page 3 - Get Started - Using DISKPART ***********

Boot the machine from the Vista DVD. Select the appropriate language and then "Install Now".

XP & Vista - Load Vista

On the product key page, press SHIFT + F10 to launch a Windows PE 2.0 command window. Then type in DISKPART and press enter to get into the DISKPART utility.

XP & Vista - DISKPART

Now type in LIST VOLUME - this gives you a readout of the volumes available on the system. Select the main Windows XP volume (probably Volume 0) by typing in SELECT VOLUME 0.

XP & Vista - DISKPART Volume

Now type in SHRINK. Vista will reduce the size of Volume 0 (the selected Volume) by around 50%.

XP & Vista - DISKPART Shrink

Once that is done, type in EXIT and EXIT again to get back to the Vista installation window.

Page 4 - Now Install Vista


If you used the GParted LiveCD to shrink the XP partition, you'll need to reboot the system from the Vista install DVD. If you've used DISKPART then you just need to continue the installation. Once the install gets to the install location, there should be at least two options: a partition marked as Primary and unallocated space. Select the unallocated space and click Next. The install will then commence.

XP & Vista - Install Vista

The Vista boot manager will take over the system completely, and Windows XP effectively loads via Vista. It’s all pretty seamless though, and you shouldn’t encounter any technical problems.

Page 5 - Modify Vista's Bootloader *************

Once Vista is installed and the system reboots, you’ll be presented with a boot menu with two options: “Microsoft Windows Vista” and “An Earlier Version of Windows”.

XP & Vista - Boot Menu

This is perhaps a little bit bland, so you’ll probably want to change it. Here’s where one of the new features of Vista comes in, and it’s not so terrific. In Windows XP if you want to modify the bootloader, just right-click on My Computer, select Properties, go to the Advanced Tab, and click Settings under Startup and Recovery, then click Edit. This opens a local file – boot.ini. It’s just a standard text file and you can change pretty much anything. Unfortunately it’s not that easy in Vista – you can still navigate to the Startup and Recovery settings, but all you can do is select which operating system is the default and modify the timeout settings.

To edit Vista’s boot manager you have to use the command line BCDEDIT utility. To access BCDEDIT, run the Command Window as an administrator and type in BCDEDIT.

Unfortunately BCDEDIT isn’t an easy tool to come to terms with, especially as it’s purely command line-driven. So, a great tool to use here is EasyBCD by NeoSmart Technologies. EasyBCD offers a GUI frontend to BCDEDIT, and makes life much easier.

Once Vista is installed, call up the browser and navigate to the EasyBCD download page - download, install and launch the application.

To configure the bootloader go to “Configure Boot” – you’ll see the two entries, for XP and Vista. To change the name of Windows XP, just overwrite “Earlier Version of Windows” with “Windows XP” and click Save Settings.

XP & Vista - Modify Boot

Reboot the system and the changes are visible. You have a dual-booting Vista and XP system. That's all there is to it.

XP & Vista - Changed Boot

Open up Windows Explorer and there’s two hard drives – the primary disk running Vista and the secondary disk with XP installed. Restart the system and load up Windows XP, and the XP disk is now the primary, with the Vista partition running on the secondary D: drive

If you decide that dual-booting Vista and XP is not for you, EasyBCD lets you wind back the clock.

All you have to do is remove Vista’s boot manager – go to “Manage Bootloader”, select “Uninstall the Vista Bootloader” and then “Write MBR”. Restart the machine and that’s it – the XP boot loader is the only one left on the system and XP loads. You can then delete the Vista partition and use GParted to re-extend the partition to take up the entire disk, or the Extend command in Vista DISKPART.

What " Triple Boot" and "Virtual PCs" !

Triple Boot!
1) disconnect the Vista hard drive
2) leave the new blank drive connected
3) Custom install XP onto a partition that leaves 10 or 20gb free unpartitioned space
4) Reboot into XP to make sure things are fine.
5) Shutdown, power off, unplug power cord - reconnect Vista drive.
6) Boot with a Linux CD/DVD and let it create it's partitons on the free space on the new drive.
7) Nearly all Linux distros will be able to find both XP and Vista and add them to a bootloader (usually Grub) that will manage things just fine. And you get to play with alternative open-source programs :) --- if you want the hands-down easiest Linux, try Ubuntu. For something more challenging, perhaps Mandriva, Suse/Novell, or RedHat.

Virtual PCs
I suppose I should put in a word, too, for the "virtual environment" idea -- it is possible to install XP into a virtual environment on a Vista PC, using the free Microsoft software "Virtual PC 2007" --- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...c/default.mspx

I've dual, triple, and quadruple boot machines here at home, and enjoy virtual machines as well. They really aren't a big deal - it's simple stuff for the most part. Enjoy!
Best of luck

windows-xp-product-key-recovery

Windows XP and Vista Product Key Recovery

There are many programs available for extracting the product key from a Windows XP or Vista installation. The only problem is that they generally require the computer to be functional to run. These programs are useless if the operating system is corrupt and the computer will not boot into Windows. Fortunately, there are other options. This article explains how you can retrieve the product key with just the ntuser.dat file from the machine. You can also download a stand-alone version of my decrypter tool.

Windows Vista Users

I have been informed that this method also works on Windows Vista.

Translations

• Swedish translation of this article

Background Information

While this may not sound very useful to the average user, if you work with computers on a daily basis you have most likely ran into this problem: You have to perform a fresh installation of Windows on a computer with a corrupt operating system, and the product key has been lost. This method makes it easy to find.

Instructions

The first step is getting the ntuser.dat file from the computer. In most cases the easiest method is to remove the hard drive, and connect it to a working machine.

ntuser.dat is generally located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\(User Name)\ntuser.dat
Where (User Name) is the primary account - Most often it is ‘Owner’ or ‘User’

Now that you have the file, you need to be able to view it. I recommend loadhive.exe (Download it here) from matcode.com.

Just run the program and select the file. It will show you a message with more information. It is important that you do not close this program until you are finished viewing the registry, as it temporarily loads the file, and unloads it again when you exit.

Now run regedit. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE you will notice a new sub-key called NTUSER. Starting with NTUSER go to Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > Current Version.

In the right window, double-click on DigitalProductID. This is the entry that contains the encoded product key.

We want the information in bytes 52 to 66. You can use the chart below for reference. We need the 15 sets of numbers where the 1’s are located.

0000  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0008  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0010  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0018  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0020  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0028  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0030  00 00 00 00 11 11 11 11  ..
0038  11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11  ..
0040  11 11 11 00 00 00 00 00  ..
0048  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..

******** Link ***************
0050  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ..

Now that you have the 15 byte encrypted code, you can type it into my decrypter tool:

Web-based version

Windows XP Key Decrypter Tool

Downloadable stand-alone version (exe)

Windows XP Key Decrypter Tool

Just click ‘Decrypt Code‘ and you will have your 25 digit Windows XP product key!

Troubleshooting

If you cannot find the DigitalProductId key in the file you loaded earlier, try the software hive located here:

\%SystemRoot%\System32\config\software

Load it the same way as before. Under regedit, it will generally create the new entries here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE_00 (although the loadhive program will tell you where it puts it).

Final Notes

• The decrypter tool ignores spaces and dashes, and is not case-sensitive.
• If you cannot find ntuser.dat, make sure you can view hidden and system files.
• If you are not sure which user account to select, I recommend searching for all ntuser.dat files on the drive, and using the largest one.
• Do not attempt to open your own ntuser.dat file with Load Hive, because it is already in use, and you already have access to your own registry
• If you cannot find the proper key with the data you need, try the alternate hive file, mentioned in the troubleshooting section above.

NOTICE!

Please do not ask me how to retrieve the product key from your Windows CD - it is not possible. Also, please do not ask general Windows questions here. The comments below are only for discussion of this particular retrieval method. If you have Windows questions, or questions about product keys in general, search Google.

Bill Gates: Leaves Microsoft

Bill Gates: Leaves Microsoft

Bill Gates: Leaves Microsoft

Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, who is the harbinger of new phase of software industry, has spent his last day at office on Friday.

Paul Allen, who teamed up with Gates to start Microsoft in a garage in the year 1975, is amongst those who has bestowed special honor to his childhood friend at a gala dinner party.

After decades of devoting time to Microsoft, Bill Gates has taken the decision of turning his attention on a full time basis to the philanthropic ‘Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’ that he has established along with his wife.

More news about Bill Gates has been inferred from quite a number of sources. According to them, he is leaving Microsoft in order to fight with a ‘fast-changing’ computer era. Also he wants to remain aloof from the growing challenges from Internet juggernaut Google and also longtime rival Apple that make Macintosh computers. .

3 people will essentially fill the void that Bill Gates is going to leave behind at Microsoft.

Gate's job as chief software architect is being handled by Ray Ozzie.

Craig Mundie inherited Gate's chief research and strategy officer duties, while Steve Ballmer is CEO at the software colossus that is based on Redmond, Washington.

Bill Gates continues to hold the post of chairman of the Microsoft board of directors and its largest shareholder.

Bill Gates is leaving Microsoft at a crucial juncture when "cloud computing" is shaking the packaged software foundation on which the whole of prosperity and fortune are dependant.

Cloud computing refers to a trend in which firms like ‘Google and Salesforce.com’ are giving opportunities to all the people to use programs on the internet instead of installing and maintaining software on their own machines.

Competition between two companies like Microsoft and Apple is quite common in Silicon Valley. The culture-shifting popularity of Apple's iPods and iPhones is credited with rising interest of the people for the Macintosh machines.

In order to compete with Apple's market-dominating iPods Bill Gates’ Microsoft have started selling of Zune brand MP3 players in the month of September 2006. However the devices have lost popularity.

Microsoft has failed in a recent bid to buy ‘Yahoo’ for almost fifty billion dollars in order to combine online resources to remain fit to fight out the competition with Google in the blooming internet search and advertising.

Microsoft’s server and tools division along with its entertainment unit, that sells Xbox videogame consoles and gaming software, turns out to be quite profitable.

Bill Gates is expected to maintain the ears of Microsoft leaders. He conferred upon them a legacy that includes focusing in-house teams on what Bill Gates expects to be major technology trends, such as an "Internet tidal wave."

"At some point the firm has to take the essence of what made Bill Gates successful and make sure that is preserved," said Rob Enderle, the analyst of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.