Hello again, this is Kyle with www.Extreme-Days.com and today I have a cool little tip for everyone. If you’re not a geek, then this probably won’t mean a whole lot to you, but it can provide you with some very useful information.

If you have ever pressed: “ctrl+alt+delete” and chosen “task manager” then you know that you can monitor your cpu usage and all of the programs and applications currently running on your computer. Most people only use this when their computer freezes up and they don’t know what else to do to unfreeze it. Sometimes it is very useful to have a shortcut to this, either on you’re desktop or in you’re quick launch bar, but this can be difficult to accomplish if you aren’t very computer savvy. Now this is the part where I come in and teach you how to do this little task in a matter of 20 seconds. That being said, lets get started with this!

Below is a screen recording video of myself demonstrating this process of creating the desktop shortcut to the task manager. There is also text below the video that states what is happening in the video, if for some reason you would rather read through this instead of watch it.

First off, you are going to need to go to your desktop. I do this by using the keyboard shortcut, “windows key+D”. If you don’t know what the windows key is, it is in the bottom left of your keyboard right between ctrl and alt. Just hold that key down and press the D key on your keyboard at the same time, and you’re computer will minimize everything and show your desktop.

Now you need to right click on a blank spot and go to the tab that says, new, and then click on the tab that says, shortcut. This will pop a box on your screen that says, “This wizard helps you to create shortcuts, to local or network programs, files, folders, computers, or Internet addresses. Type the location of the item.” Below that there will be a box where you can submit text into. Click in the box and type, “taskmgr.exe” and then press next. Now there will be another box asking you to state the name of the shortcut. You can put whatever you choose in this box. In my case I’m going to put, Task Manager. Then just click finish and you will see a new icon on your desktop.

At this point you’re almost complete, there is only one more step if you would like to customize it a little more for your liking. To do this you need to double click on the shortcut you just created and you should see a familiar screen. In the top click, options, and in the dropdown list there should be a few things already ticked. If not, don’t worry they don’t need to be ticked. In that list there will be an option that says, Hide When Minimized. Just click that and you’re all set! Now when you minimize that window, it won’t show up in your taskbar, but if you look to the right, in your system tray, you will see a new icon there that shows the cpu usage on you’re computer.

Now whenever you want to see how much cpu you’re computer is using, you just need to look in the system tray and you will get an estimate of how much cpu is being used.

I do need to site one source for this. I found this information at Technet’s computer help site and I thought it was useful so I decided to pass it on to all of you!

If you think you have a tip or trick that is useful, then contact me and let me know! If I think its good enough, I might even make a video out of it!

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The jump from medium to hard is the biggest jump you will make in Guitar Hero. When you are making this jump I think that the first two sections are the hardest because you are getting used to the faster pace of the songs and using the orange button.

If you are losing your fingering during this time, try hard to pay attention to the groove on the yellow button because it can be a lifesaver! At first this is going to be really hard and you will probably just not pay attention to it, but after a while when you have gotten used to it a little more, you will find yourself using it.

Another important thing when you get towards the end of hard is your star power. This is a very important weapon and helps a ton! The best time to use it is when you find a spot that you just can’t get past. Usually this will be towards the end of the song, so you should have full star power by then. When you feel the time is right just pull up on that guitar and try your hardest to hit those notes! Most of the time this will get you through that part and you should be able to finish up the rest of the song.

There is no special exercise or some kind of way to get by a song. The only way is to practice! I know you probably practice and are about to throw your guitar against a wall and maybe yourself as well. Trust me, don’t do it! You just have to use practice or play the song a ton of times in a row. Just take it part by part on slow and keep repeating it until you get 65% accuracy. Then if you haven’t guessed already, just do the same on full speed. Once you’re done with that, move on to the next part and repeat the process.

You will know when you are ready to play the song for real because you can just feel that you can do it. I usually go through the tricky parts in groups after I have gone through the whole song in parts just for a little extra practice. Then I usually end up playing through the song in career mode a few times before I finally pass it, and that is a really good feeling!

Even with all this applied there will still be some songs that are just ridiculously hard and seem like you can’t get past them. I happen to be stuck on Knights of Cydonia at the moment, but I keep trying and getting mad and trying again. Even with all the practice and the star power used at the right time, I still can’t get past it. Sometimes you will come across these kinds of songs and is all I can say is to practice harder! Obviously I haven’t gotten up to the point of practicing hard enough, otherwise I would be past this song.

I want everyone reading this that has guitar hero to be able to participate as well. So if you have guitar hero 3 for ps3, xbox 360, or any other system that has the song “Knights of Cydonia”, I want you to register here if you haven’t already, and leave a comment on this post linking to a video of you trying to beat, or beating Knights of Cydonia on hard. I don’t care where this video is hosted just post the link and maybe a little input on this post.

I really hoped this inspired you to keep practicing until you don’t ever want to hear that song again!

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