Steps to maximize the life of your battery

Manage battery power more effectively in Windows
Make sure your battery gives the power you need, when you need it. Power Options in your Control Panel allow you to adjust the power management features of your notebook PC.
Tips for conserving battery power on notebook PCs
 You can manually change the power consumption of your notebook PC and conserve battery power.

• Reduce the brightness of the screen to the minimum readable level. Use the function keys on the top of your keyboard to adjust the brightness.
• Remove peripherals when not in use. External hard drives, CD-ROMs, Zip drives, PC cards, and other peripheral devices can draw power from your battery even when they are not in active use. Disconnect them when you have finished using them.
• Turn off the Wireless On-Off button when it is not in use. If your notebook has one, press the Wireless On-Off button so that the light turns off.

Battery care practices
 Battery cells suffer gradual, irreversible capacity loss over time. Such aging occurs more rapidly as temperature and discharge loads increase. Here are some suggested ways to minimize the capacity loss for your battery.

• Store Li-Ion batteries between 20°C and 25°C (68°F and 77°F) with 30% to 50% charge.
• Do not leave batteries exposed to high temperatures for extended periods. Prolonged exposure to heat (for example, inside a hot car) will accelerate the deterioration of Li-Ion cells.
• Remove the battery if the notebook will be stored (turned off and not plugged into AC power) for more than 2 weeks.
• Remove the battery if the notebook will be plugged into AC power continuously (via a wall adapter or docking station) for more than 2 weeks.

Note: Recommendations for battery use and storage are covered in the HP User Guides for each model.

Calibrate the notebook PC battery
Short discharges and recharges do not fully synchronize the battery's fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. This can result in the amount of power available in one cycle being less than expected or the battery meter being inaccurate.
Under normal usage, batteries should be calibrated a minimum ofonce every 3 months. Use the following links for more information on calibrating your battery

• Calibrating the Notebook Battery in Microsoft Windows 98, ME, XP, and 2000
• Calibrating the Notebook Battery (Windows Vista and Windows 7)

(Source: http://h20239.www2.hp.com/techcenter/battery/Battery_max.htm)

How to upgrade ASP NET MVC 1 apps to ASP NET MVC 2

Using Wizard for ASP.NET MVC 1.0 on Visual Studio 2008 SP1
Follow this post: "Migrating ASP.NET MVC 1.0 applications to ASP.NET MVC 2 RTM"

Manually Upgrading an ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Project:

• Change the project type to an ASP.NET MVC 2 project (Changeset 2)
• Update the root [~/web.config]: (Changeset 3)
• Update references to ASP.NET MVC 2
• Update to have a binding redirect from ASP.NET MVC 1.0 to ASP.NET MVC 2
• Update the [~/Views/web.config]: (Changeset 4)
• Update references to ASP.NET MVC 2
• Update project references to ASP.NET MVC 2 (Changeset 5)
• Add or update the CSS & JavaScript files based on [Breaking Changes] section: (Changeset 6, Changeset 7)
• New CSS classes were added in the Site.css file
• Helpers now return an MvcHtmlString object

Note: you can get the original source code from here. Or you can visit AspNetMvc2Samples public workspace in Assembla.

How to Install Windows 7 on HP DV2500

Yesterday, I upgraded my HP DV2500 laptop from Windows Vista SP2 to Windows 7. After installing successful (clean install, not upgrade), my laptop still had problems with Windows 7 compatible driver. There were 3 problems with Base system devices, and 1 problem with Unknown device. Besides, my ALPS TouchPad scroll was not function properly.
Fortunately, after "googling", I have found this helpful guide: General Windows 7 Upgrade Guide for HP Laptops. It helped me too much to solve the problems.
These are my step-by-step guide for busy one:

1. Fix problem with Base system devices: install Ricoh Card Reader Driver (sp37614)
2. Fix problem with Unknown device: install HP Quick Launch Button software (sp46731).
   NOTE: QuickPlay software (QuickPlay 3.7 v.6112) must be installed before Quick Launch Software
3. Update Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS driver: go to Nvidia site to get the latest driver
4. Update ALPS TouchPad driver: install this driver (sp45035)
5. Additional:
   Install HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth Wireless driver (sp46063);
   Install HP Wireless Assistant (sp45222) to activate Bluetooth.

How-to remove Visual Studio 2008 Pro manually?

I've installed Visual Studio 2008 Pro, then installed Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition (VWD) using Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0.
After few weeks, I decided to remove VWD using Revo Uninstaller. Unfortunately, I've deleted all registry items displayed in Revo Uninstaller's list. So, I cannot using VS2008 any more.
I've tried to remove VS2008 using built-in uninstaller but it's failed. After trying to search through Google, I have found this tool: Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.
Thanks God! Using this tool, I could remove VS2008 and then re-installed it successfully!