Flashing a custom ROM to your HTC Touch Pro allows you to have an operating system that fits your likes and needs.  In many cases, custom ROMs strip out non essential preinstalled software as well as apply various performance tweaks.  In my experience, using a custom ROM is much better than the stock ROM simply because of performance.  The difference is night and day!  Touch Flo 3D does not lag, programs open faster, switching between programs is much faster, returning to the Today screen is faster, and overall system responsiveness is much quicker than before.

NOTE: These steps only apply if you have a CDMA Touch Pro.  These instructions WILL NOT WORK with a GSM Touch Pro*.  Also, if you to return your phone for any reason, you will have to flash back to the stock ROM and relock the phone.

Basically, there are three steps to flash a custom ROM to  your Touch Pro.

1. Unlock the phone to allow it to load and boot custom ROMs
2. Choose and download your choice of custom ROMs
3. Flash the custom ROM to your Touch Pro using the ROM Update Utility (RUU)

*If you have a GSM Touch Pro, the process is virtually similar except you will need to use a GSM unlocker and GSM custom ROMs.

Preparation

Backup your personal information using a program such as PIM Backup (freeware).  Also make sure your phone has at least a 50% charge.

Please read through this guide and download the all the necessary files beforehand. That way, you know exactly what you’re getting into.

Unlock Phone
You will need to use the HardSPL utility to unlock the phone.  This is a relatively simple procedure; all instructions and files needed to do this can be found here:

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=42503

Download and install Raphael_CDMA_HSPL_037.zip if you have a Sprint Touch Pro.  If you have a Verizon Touch Pro, use Verizon_HSPL_Package.zip.

Choose and download your custom ROM
There are many, many custom ROMs out there for the Touch Pro.  Here is where I go to find CDMA custom ROMs:

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=68

Look through the threads and find a ROM that you like.  Custom ROMs differ in their preinstalled software, system settings, performance tweaks, and more.

I chose to go with Yay 4 Juggs’ v4.0 ROM because of the increased page pool and a nearly clean slate of applications.  ROMs usually come compressed in a .zip file.  Extract the RUU_signed.nbh file to somewhere on your hard drive temporarily in preparation for the next step.

Flash Custom ROM
You now need to obtain the ROM Update Utility (RUU) which can be found here.  Extract the RUU folder to somewhere on your hard drive, like your desktop.  Then copy the custom ROM file (RUU_signed.nbh) to the RUU folder you just extracted.  For example, the RUU folder is at C:\RUU and the custom ROM is located at C:\RUU\RUU_signed.nbh .

Touch Pro bootloader screen while connected to PC via USB

Power off your phone by holding the power button down until you get this message:

“Power will be turned off, and you may lose data if you have not saved them.  Do you want to continue?”

Choose “Yes” and the phone will shut off.  Now, hold the down power and volume down button at the same time until you see the tri-color bootloader screen.  Then connect your phone via USB cable to your computer.  The picture to the right shows what your screen should look right before flashing.

Once you’ve got everything hooked up correctly, run the ROMUpdateUtility.exe program inside of the ROM Utility Updater folder (e.g. C:\RUU\ROMUpdateUtility.exe).  Follow the onscreen instructions to flash the custom ROM to your phone.  Reboot your phone at the end and you’re finished.  Enjoy the new custom ROM!

“Lapping” a CPU involves removing the IHS (integrated heat sink) from the processor.  Due to manufacturing variations, the IHS on processors may be slightly concave or convex.  This results in an uneven contact with the heat sink which degrades cooling by a moderate margin. 

 If you’re an enthusiast who loves to overclock, lapping your processor is a very good idea.  Not only is it the cheapest cooling upgrade you can perform, it is also the most beneficial when looking at the price/performance ratio.  The extra cooling may even allow you to overclock your processor further because of the increased cooling. 

In this guide, I lapped an Intel Q6600 G0.  Before lapping, I was only able to overclock the processor to 3.2Ghz maximum temperature under load was 70°C for Core 0 and 69°C for Core 1.  Ideally, you want to keep the CPU temperature below 70°C.  After lapping, the maximum temperature under load dropped to 62°C for Core 0 and 57°C for Core 1, a maximum decrease of 12°C - quite a large difference!  Because the temperature had dropped so much, I was able to bump the CPU voltage up even more and further overclock the CPU to 3.4Ghz. 

The picture on the left shows temperatures before lapping and the picture on the right shows temperatures after lapping the processor.

 Instructions

Lapping your processor is very easy and requires very little skill.  All you need is some 600 and 1000 grit sandpaper, commonly found at your local auto parts or ACE hardware store. 

IMPORTANT: Make sure you discharge yourself of static electricity before touching any computer component, especially the CPU.  Static electricity can permanently damage computer parts.  To discharge yourself, touch something metal, such as your PC case, or use an anti-static grounding bracelet.

First, remove the CPU from your system.  Clean off any thermal paste from the processor.  I like to use rubbing alcohol and Q-tips.

Then you will want to protect the underside of the processor from dust and debris.  To keep things simple, you can simply use a piece of paper cut into the shape of the processor.  

Tape the piece of paper to the underside of the processor using electrical or masking tape.  In the picture I used a cotton cleaning cloth, but paper is more abundant and will work just fine.

Lay the 600 grit sandpaper across a completely flat surface.  A wood table would not be the best surface to use because of the pits and valleys in the wood itself.  Instead, use a mirror or glass table top.

Turn the processor upside down and start sanding off the integrated heat sink using a side-to-side motion.  Do not sand using a circular motion, as this may cause the surface of the heat sink to be uneven.   After about 10-20 swipes back and forth across the sandpaper, turn the processor 90° and sand an additional 10-20 times. 

Repeat this until you have almost completely removed the integrated heat sink (as shown in picture).

Once you get to this point, switch your sandpaper to 1000 grit and use the same sanding process to remove the rest of the IHS. 

You’re finished when the IHS is completely gone and nothing but copper is exposed.  At this point, the lapping process is done. 

If you want, you can use higher grit sandpaper, such as 2000 grit, to finish the copper on the CPU to an almost mirror-like appearance.  However, that step is completely uneccessary and provides no performance gain; it is only for cosmetic purposes.  The picture to the left shows the CPU after it has been lapped with 1000 grit sandpaper (excuse the dust).

Install your CPU and apply thermal paste as normal.  If you wish, you can also lap your heat sink using the same process.  This probably will not help cooling as much as lapping your CPU, but there probably will be a gain nonetheless.

Remote Desktop is a great feature of Windows which lets you remotely control your desktop from a remote location.  Many IT professionals and users utilize this free feature in Windows 2000/XP/Vista.  Remote desktop is a huge time saver because you do not have to physically be at the computer workstation to control the computer.  Basically, this post will go over how to enable Remote Desktop as well as how to use DynDNS.com’s services to automatically update a chosen host name with the remote PC’s IP address.  The end result: you’ll never have to remember the IP address again.

Enabling Remote Desktop on a Windows PC is fairly straightforward.

For Windows 2000/XP:

1. Right click on “My Computer” and choose “Properties”
2. Go to the “Remote” tab
3. Check the box that says “Allow users to connect remotely to this computer”
4. Click “OK” at the bottom of the window.

For Windows Vista:

1. Right click on “My Computer” and choose “Properties”
2. Click on “Remote settings” in the left “Tasks” menu
3. Choose the radio button which says “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)”
4. Click “OK” at the bottom of the window.

The last step is to figure out what IP address the remote PC has.  If you’re connected directly to your modem and not using a router, you can view your IP address by going to http://www.whatismyip.com.  If you have a router, you will have to log in to your router to view the IP address.  You will also have to forward port 3389 to the PC you wish to remotely connect to.  Since there are many, many routers out there, you will have to consult your router’s manual or website for instructions on how to do the latter.

To connect to your remote PC, you will need to use the Remote Desktop Connection program.  This is typically found in Start -> Programs -> Accessories.  Once the program has opened, enter in the IP address of the remote PC which was described in the paragraph above.  Click on “Connect” and it should connect you to your remote desktop enabled PC.  If it asks you for a user name and password, use the credentials you usually use when you log on to your PC.

However, the problem that most residential users run into is with their dynamic IP address.  Most residential internet connections are assigned a dynamic IP address which can change over time.  This means that everytime your IP address changes, you will have to use that new IP address to access your remote computer.

Why is that bad?  Well, if you have your old IP address and are unaware of the new IP address, connecting to your remote PC would be impossible.

DynDNS.com solves this problem by letting you choose a free host name to use and associate with your dynamic IP address.  Using DynDNS.com, you can create a host name, such as “myipaddress.home-ip.net” and assign that name to point to your IP address.   Now you only have to enter “myipaddress.home-ip.net” in the Remote Desktop Connection program instead of the IP address.

Then, using the DynDNS updater utility, you can automatically update DynDNS.com with your new IP address (if it changes).  Therefore, you only have to remember the “myipaddress.home-ip.net” address instead of the numerical IP address (e.g. 74.123.124.83).  You also will never have to worry about your IP address changing because the dyn-dns updater utility will automatically update your host name with your new IP address.  The updater utility is available on DynDNS.com and I would highly recommend to use the utility to update your host name with IP address changes.

If you setup a host name with DynDNS, you will never have to remember your home IP address again.  The updater utility takes care of the times when your IP address changes and updates your host name with the new address.  Therefore, using only your host name such as “myipaddress.home-ip.net”, you can connect to a Remote Desktop enabled PC even if you don’t know the IP address.  This process has been working for me for over a year with no problems at all.

Almost all of us have come to the point where we had to reinstall our operating system whether it be Windows, Linux, or MacOS.  Typically, it would take me about 2 hours on a good day to rebuild a machine by completely reinstalling Windows XP, all drivers, and standard software like Firefox, Office, etc.   However, restoring a system using imaging software such as Acronis True Image takes only 20 minutes.   While I don’t reinstall often, it is a pain when I have to.  This is where making an image of your PC can come in handy; you won’t have to manually restore everything because you will be able to restore an image.

Making an “image” basically means taking a snapshot (image) of all of the data on your hard drive and storing it in a file which can be restored at a later date.  The image contains your operating system (like Windows XP), all files which were on your computer when you made the image, and all configuration settings like your Windows product key, computer name, etc.

When an image is made, you can choose what to make an image of, whether it be a couple of folders or the whole hard drive.  Typically, the image is compressed to save space, and can then be stored anywhere you want.  It would be a good idea to store the image file on a separate hard drive, like an external hard drive, in the event that your main hard drive dies.  If that happens, you’ll still have your image in a safe place.

Once you have reinstalled the operating system on a computer, installed all the drivers, configured your settings, and installed your necessary software, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make an image.  Making an image takes roughly 20-30 minutes (or longer depending on how much data) and then takes about the same time to restore.

The imaging software I recommend is the Acronis True Image series.  Because of the intuitive backup and restore wizards, the software is extremely easy to use with lots of customization.  Another thing I really like about the Acronis True Image products is that it lets you create a boot CD which contains all of the same backup and restore utilities found in the main program.  This means that you won’t have to load the software onto the PC being imaged; you can just pop in the boot CD and make an image.  The image can then be stored in a variety of places such as a hard drive in the PC, a network share, and USB drive.

When the time comes to restore your image because of say, a virus or corrupted system files, the boot CD can be used to restore the image.  Just boot from the CD and use the restore wizard to restore your image to your hard drive.  You’ll then have a fully functioning system ready to go, in a fraction of the time it would take you to manually reinstall all of the software!  This is a fairly common practice used by many IT companies to cut down on time spent

Out of the box, the HTC Touch Pro is really an amazing device.  However, it still brings the infamous Windows Mobile lag with it.  While the lag is not as bad as previous Windows Mobile smartphones, it still is present and may bug people who notice the lag.

Slow tab scrolling in TouchFlo 3d, laggy scrolling in windows,  slow opening programs, slow opening menus, etc are all typical lag indicators.

The good thing is, there are a few things tweaks you can perform to make the Touch Pro more responsive.  First off, you will need to install Advanced Configuration Tool on your phone.  Before you can install Advanced Config, you need to install .NetCF 3.5 which can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E3821449-3C6B-42F1-9FD9-0041345B3385&displaylang=en

Once you’ve installed .NetCF 3.5, download and install Advanced Config here:

http://www.touchxperience.com/en/advanced-configuration-tool/downloads.html

After you have installed the program on your phone, launch the program and make the following changes:

Under the “Perfomances” category:

• Change file system cache to 8MB
• Change file system filter cache to 131072
• Change Glyph cache to 32KB

Here’s what the configuration should look like:

After you’ve made the changes above, soft-reset your device for the changes to take effect.  Once the phone is booted up, enjoy the increased speed and performance from your Touch Pro!

To all you coffee drinkers out there, you’re going to love this.  Vietnamese style single cup filtered coffee is extremely flavorful that packs an extreme kick.  Think of this type of coffee as espresso, but instead of a shot, you’ll have a whole cupful of delicious, strong iced coffee at a fraction of the price you would pay at Starbucks for a “gourmet” cup.

You will need the following items and ingredients:

• Glass cup
• Single cup filter
• Coffee grounds - it is best to get dark roasted, coarse grounds.  Trung Nguyen and Cafe’ Du Monde make excellent choices
• Sweetened condensed milk - DO NOT get evaporated milk, they are not the same.
• Additional cup with ice
• Hot water (near boiling temperature)

First, pour about 1-2oz.  of condensed milk into the glass cup.  The condensed milk adds sweetness to the coffee to offset the bitterness.  You can use more/less condensed milk based on your preference.

Then, measure out your coffee and insert it into the bottom of the single cup filter.  Typically, I use 2 heaping spoonfuls, but this can be adjusted based on how you like your coffee.  More grounds for a stronger brew, less grounds for a weaker brew.

Here’s a picture of the coffee grounds in the filter.  Try to get the grounds as even as possible, but you don’t need to be perfect.  Note, the stainless steel filter is not inserted at this point.

Insert the stainless steel filter over the coffee grounds.  How much you screw the filter down will also determine the strength of your coffee.  Screw it tightly for stronger coffee or lightly for weaker coffee.  However, if you screw it down too tight, the coffee will take a long time to brew (over 10 minutes).

If you cannot screw the metal filter down because you used too much coffee grounds, then just set the filter in and give it a firm push.  This will compress the grounds and keep the filter in place while brewing.

Now, place the filter over your cup.  Add a small amount of hot water (near boiling temperature) to the filter.  About a 1/4 inch of water would be good.  Let the water seep through the filter until there is no water left.

Here’s what the brewing would look like in the initial stage.  After the initial 1/4 inch of hot water is finished brewing, you’ll have a small amount of brewed coffee as shown in the picture.  You’ll then want to fill up the filter to the brim with hot water, then put the top cover on.

Now, just sit back and wait for your coffee to brew.  This should take 4-5 minutes.  If your coffee is brewing faster, then you either need to add more coffee grounds or adjust the tighten down the filter.   If the coffee is taking longer than 4-5 minutes to brew, then you’ve probably screwed down the filter a little too tight.

Here’s what the process will look like after the coffee has finished brewing.

Stir the coffee and condensed milk until the condensed milk is completely dissolved.

Then, pour the coffee into a separate cup with ice.  You don’t want to use the same cup you used to brew the coffee because the overall temperature of the cup will be hot, which will melt the ice quickly.

You can either enjoy the coffee hot or cold.  I prefer cold because the coffee tastes smoother and the melting of the ice helps even out the bitterness.

Enjoy your full flavored, espresso strong coffee!  The key to getting the brew you like is to experiment.  Adjust the amount of condensed milk to adjust the sweetness.  Adjust the amount of coffee grounds to adjust the strength of the coffee to suit your tastes.  In my opinion, this coffee is more like a cold treat than a cold drink.  It is very, very tasty with a huge caffeine kick!

If the boot loader to your Windows Server 2008 machine gets corrupted or deleted for whatever reason, it really is a painstaking process to get it fixed.  The boot loader to my machine got deleted somehow while I was resizing partitions.  After scouring the web, I could not find anything on rebuilding the boot loader for Windows Server 2008.  All I could find were instructions to restore a Windows Vista boot loader, but luckily, the process for Server 2008 is similar.

Due to the lack of recovery tools on the Server 2008 installation CD, the boot loader must be rebuilt manually.

For this guide, I’m going to assume your installation has a drive letter of C:.

Insert the Server 2008 installation CD into your DVD-ROM.  Restart your computer and boot from the CD.

Choose to repair your computer, then open the command prompt.

At the command prompt, use the following commands:

c:
cd boot
bootsect /nt60 c: /force /mbr
bootrec /rebuildbcd

After using the “bootrec /rebuldbcd” command, you will be prompted to accept a Windows installation.  Accept the installation, then wait for the process to finish.  Once it’s done, reboot your comptuer and you should have a boot loader ready to go.

If you do not have a “boot” folder in the system C: drive, then copy the “boot” folder form the Windows installation CD to the C: drive.  Use the following command which assumes E: is your DVD-ROM

mkdir c:\boot
copy e:\boot\* c:\boot\

Afterwards, just use the boot restore commands to rebuild the bootloader.

I received my CMMG AR-15 14.5″ midlength upper receiver this past Saturday from Evil-Black-Rifles.com. Don’t worry, the website looks a little shady/primitive, but the service is good. I received the upper in a little over a week after I had placed my order. They also seemed to be the only one to have the particular model I wanted in stock. This upper is a complete upper receiver, which means it has all the parts already installed and all you need to do is pin it to your lower receiver.

The main reason I chose the CMMG upper was because of its features and price. The complete upper ran $550, not a bad deal and right at the price point of other close mid-level competitors such as Bushmaster, Stag, DPMS, etc. What sets CMMG apart is its mid-level price with high-end features. Here is the one single thread that helped me the most in deciding exactly which brand to get:

“So you want to buy an AR-15, huh” @ Officer.com forums

Some of the more notable features include:

Chrome lined barrel, 4150 steel
1:7 twist
M4 Feedramps
5.56 Chamber

The chrome lined barrel helps in preventing rust and prolonging the life of your barrel, with the disadvantage of reducing accuracy very subtly vs a stainless steel barrel. On the flip side, chrome lined barrels are very easy to clean and don’t need to be cleaned as often. 4150 steel is higher grade, mil spec steel used in combat rifles given to our troops in Iraq. Some mid-level brands use 4140 steel, a slightly lower quality.

The 1:7 twist allows the rifle to shoot heavier rounds. The original M16 had a 1:12 twist which would only stabilize rounds up to about 55gr. A 1:9 twist barrel (like most mid-level companies offer) could allow you to shoot heavier 75 and 77gr rounds, but the stability is iffy from brand to brand. However, the 1:7 twist will stabilize the heavier rounds just fine which makes it perfect for anti-personnel/home defense rounds.

M4 feedramps are debatable as seen in the forum post I linked to. I’m right on target with the author of the post, “if they will prevent one stoppage in 1k rounds, and cost ME nothing extra, I want them.” However, if you end up finding a good deal on an upper without M4 feedramps, don’t let it be a deal breaker. Many people have reported no problems without M4 feedramps, but if you’re getting a new rifle, why not get the latest tech?

A 5.56 chamber will let the AR-15 shoot .223 as well as hotter 5.56 rounds. On the contrary, you should not be shooting 5.56 out of a .223 rifle. This is because 5.56 rounds are loaded to higher pressures than standard .223. If you were to shoot 5.56 out of a .223 rifle, you could potentially damage the weapon. The advantage of 5.56 vs .223? For the most part, accuracy is slightly better with the 5.56 and the velocity is slightly higher. Bottom line: I want to be able to shoot hotter loads should I need the stopping power in case of emergencies like a home invasion, WWIII, 2012, zombies, etc Better to be safe than sorry and better to have it and not need it rather than to need it and not have it.

The linked forum thread at Officer.com should help you a whole lot in deciding which upper to get. I’d advise you to look through the different brands, weigh the pro’s and con’s, price and performance, then make your decision. However, if you’ve got tons of cash and want the best, just get a Colt.

Here is my completed AR-15 rifle

DPMS lower receiver with DPMS lower parts and DPMS 6 position stock
CMMG 14.5″ midlength upper receiver with permanent phantom flash hider
YHM A2 flip up rear sight (known as a BUIS - backup iron sight)

Lately, I had taken up a growing interest in firearms and decided to purchase an AR-15. I’m kind of a cheap-o, so I went with the DIY route.  Now, I know building a firearm is a lot more complicated than say, breaking apart cheap mobile phones via online tutorials, but rest assured that I did my own research. Basically, the AR-15 is divided up into two parts - the lower and upper receivers.

The lower receiver is made up of 3 main items:

1) Stripped lower receiver - basically a hunk of metal with holes and openings, no moving parts
2) Lower Parts Kit (LPK) - contains all the parts you’ll need to complete the lower and assemble the trigger, trigger guard, hammer, magazine catch, and bolt catch
3) Stock - these all vary in styles, from fixed A2 style to 6 position collapsible stocks

I found my DPMS stripped lower receiver at a local gunshow. I would strongly recommend that you check out a gun show before ordering online/locally. Usually, there are some decent deals around and you won’t have to pay the FFL transfer fee as you would if you bought it online. By the way, the only part that is regulated by the government is the stripped lower receiver. This means that background checks and laws apply to lower receivers the same way they apply to fully completed rifles, pistols, etc. On the plus side, once you have the stripped lower receiver, you can order/buy all the other parts without any hassle and have them shipped directly to your door.

For the lower parts kit and stock, I went with DPMS. This was because I got a good deal at SportsmansGuide.com on the parts and I was trying to keep things as cheap as possible. I ended up paying $50 shipped for the LPK and $50 shipped on the 6 position stock.

Putting the lower receiver together is not very difficult, but it can get frustrating at times. I used this guide from the AR15.com forums from start to finish. I recommend that you print out the guide first, lay your parts out as shown in the diagram, then begin assembling the lower. No special tools are needed, however, you will want to have some punches to punch in the roll pins. You can just get the standard pin punches, no need for specialized roll pin punches if you want to save some cash.

I started putting together the lower without any punches, but when it came time to punch down the trigger guard roll pin, I was wishing I had one. Trying to improvise, I used my Swiss Army multifunction tool to hammer in the pin. After at least 15 minutes, I had finally gotten the pin in, but left the trigger guard all scratched up from my barbaric hammering. Not only that, but when you have to drive the bolt catch roll pin in, you will wish you had a punch. There is not enough clearance between the pin and the rifle to McGuyver something to drive the pin; you must use a punch!

Other than that, the rest of the process went fine. Only thing is, I’ll need a CAR wrench to tighten down the stock, but it should be too big of an issue. Here are some pics of the completed lower:

After seeing the unusually high price tag of a Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter, I almost had a heart attack. $99.99 retail. Let me say it again, FREAKING $99.99; is Microsoft out of their mind? I mean, routers and wireless adapters cost much less than that! Luckily, there is a way to create an adapter with a La Fonera wireless router.

Basically, the La Fonera is loaded with a third party firmware called DD-WRT. The firmware allows you to put the Fonera into client bridge mode. This basically lets the Fonera connect to your home wireless network and pass that data through the ethernet port to your Xbox. Its kind of like one of these Linksys gaming adapters, but cheaper and with more capabilities.

Here’s the full guide:
http://fonerahacks.com/index.php/Tutorials-and-Guides/Xbox-360-Wireless-Adapter-Using-the-La-Fonera.html

NOTE: You must have a La Fonera with DD-WRT firmware loaded onto it before this will work. If you need help installing DD-WRT to the Fonera, see the guides here