Tag Archives: folders

Archive VHS Tapes



If you have old VHS tapes that you’d like to save, here’s a relatively cheap and easy way to do it, without the use of a TV or separate monitor.

1. Find a  Diamond One Touch Video Capture unit online or in a store near you. I paid about $40.00 for mine.

2. Hook it up to your VCR as described in the instructions and then to your computer using the supplied USB cable.

3. Follow the instructions to install the capture software.

TIP: Guard the program shortcut with your life! Once you install the software, it’s very hard to find the shortcut if you move it. I’m a geek and found it hard to find. Warning!

4. Start the capture software. You’ll see a screen like this:

Diamond capture screen and menu
This is the menu that you DON'T want to see.

What’s wrong with this image? The green line across the bottom, that’s what. Down on the lower left is an X. If you see this kind of screen, hit the X and reopen the program. Maybe this is just on my computer but I have to restart the program in order to get rid of the green lines on the bottom.

Your screen should look like this:

Proper capture screen
This is what you should see before you start playing a tape.

Once you can see this screen, you’re ready to go.

5. Pop a tape into your VCR (could be Beta or VHS or camcorder, it doesn’t matter what you use as a source). Start to play it and you’ll see this kind of screen:

Video showing on one touch screen
The video on the screen with no scan lines on the bottom.

6. Once you can see this kind of image in the window, you’re all set. Use the VCR to control the tape, then record the bits and pieces that you want to save using the One Touch controls. The red button records what’s in the window, including sound if you have the cables set up correctly, and the black button (which turns red after you start recording) stops the capture.

7. In the Settings menu, shown here:

Settings menu
Here's where you adjust the settings.

This is showing the Record tab where you can set the file type (I use DVD for small file size) and save the files in a folder on my desktop. Set your preferences according to your tastes.

8. Once you have the tapes sorted and have saved the files that you want, rename them to keep track of them and then you can archive them to DVDs, etc. I prefer to change the files to either FLV or DIVX in order to keep the files as small as possible. If the video if very important, leave it was a DVD file and write it to a disc.

That’s it! Simple and cheap, without the pain of having to have a TV monitor cluttering up your desk or work area. Not only does this method capture fine quality video (depending on the source, of course), it eliminates the need for a video monitor. Alternatively, you can feed your TV output into this unit and watch and record live TV on your computer.

Thanks for reading! If you have questions or comments, write them below or follow me on Twitter: @_BrianMahoney



Change Your Desktop Icons – fast and free



Windows allows you to change your desktop to suit your personality or mood. With different color schemes and a wide choice of backgrounds and screensavers, you can pretty much tune the look of your desktop any way you want. Changing the icons for folders and shortcuts isn’t quite as intuitive as changing your desktop background but it’s not rocket science. Here’s how you do it.

1. Before you begin, download and install Irfanview (if you haven’t already). If you have read my blog before, you’ll know that I love Irfanview. It’s free and totally indispensable when you want to view a photo or do some minor editing on an image.

2. Decide what kind of icon you want. Windows has some icons already which you can access by right clicking any folder and choosing Properties then Customize then Change Icon. These are your typical icons, nothing too far out here. They are available in this location: %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll in Windows 7. But, let’s make our own, OK?

3. Find an image or a color swatch, anything that you suits your style. Open the image in Irfanview.

4. Select the area of the image that you want as an icon then left click your mouse and drag a rectangle or square to suit the size you want. (If you use GIMP, you can draw an oval or circle to make really different icons.)

5. Press your Control key and the y key at the same time to crop your selection.

6. Press the Control key and the s key to save your new icon.

7. In the ‘save as’ menu, click on the arrow to the right of the ‘save as type’ and choose ‘ICO – Windows Icon”, as pictured here.

showing save as icon
Save your selection as an ICO file.

8. Save the cropped image on your computer, preferably your desktop so you can find it easily.

9. Choose the folder or shortcut icon that you want to change. Right click it and choose Properties then the Shortcut tab. It looks like this:

shortcut tab
This is the shortcut tab, look for 'change icon'

10. Click the “Change Icon’ button and use the ‘Browse’ button to find the icon you created. Here is an icon I made of my own nose that I cropped from a photo on my desktop:

menu to choose icon
Find the icon you made and click on it then click 'Open'

11. Click ‘Open’ after you find it and then click OK all the way back.

12. Your newly created icon is now showing as the shortcut or folder that you chose originally.

There are many sites that offer free icons for downloading but why not make your own? Use pics of your kids, your favorite bands or movie stars, whatever you want. You can see that I made an icon out of my nose, as a matter of fact! I cropped a self-portrait and used it as an icon for a program shortcut.

That’s it. Have some fun with this and make your desktop your very own, not something from Microsoft.

Thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter: @_BrianMahoney