Using Windows “Safe Boot” To Diagnose and Repair Problems

When something goes wrong with Windows it can be very difficult to diagnose or repair, and there are times when booting your computer into Safe Mode just isn’t good enough.  Safe Mode, a special diagnostic mode built into Windows strips the OS of all drivers and start-up software and presents you with a very limited version of Windows in which to diagnose what might be causing a problem, and repair it.  Many Windows features simply won’t operate in Safe Mode so there’s not very much you can do.

Fortunately though there is an alternative and it’s in every version of the operating system (XP, Vista and Windows 7).  This is called “Safe Boot” and you can find it in the MSConfig panel.  To open this type msconfig into the Start Menu search box in Vista or Windows 7, or run msconfig from the run option in XP.

Under the Boot tab in the MSConfig window you’ll see the Safe Boot option as a tick box.  Turning this on will make Windows use the Safe Boot option every time thereafter.  When you want to stop using Safe Boot and return to starting Windows normally you’ll need to return to the MSConfig panel and untick this option.  There are also several other options here including Minimal Boot, which will take you into the full Safe Mode, but the standard option will normally be enough for most people.

The Safe Boot screen, as you can see here is a half-way house between the full Windows desktop and Safe Mode.  What you will find though is that most of your hardware drivers will be installed and working though your startup software will still be disabled.

So when might you want to use Safe Boot?  Occasionally you will encounter a problem in Windows that you will need to go into Safe Mode to repair.  As I mentioned earlier however Safe Mode won’t allow you to perform some Windows tasks, and this is where the Safe Boot mode is useful.  You may also suspect that your problems aren’t being caused by a hardware driver, but by software instead.  This diagnostic mode enables you to have a full Windows desktop where nothing loads at startup and where you can run and check programs individually to see what effect they are having on your system.

As I have already mentioned Safe Mode is extremely limiting, not just in the very low screen resolution that it gives you.  If you need to run full diagnostics on your copy of Windows, to see what’s going on under the hood, or if you need to test individual software packages in a safe environment where they will be able to run properly then Windows Safe Boot is the way to do it.

Remember though that you will need to turn off Safe Boot when you are done, or else Windows will start permanently in this mode.  I have found this to be a very useful diagnostic tool in Windows and it’s extremely underused because, frankly, many people simply do not know that it exists.  Hopefully you will find it useful too.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Print Covers using Undercover XP
Adding LDAP entries from the command line
4Chan Thread Downloader
Microsoft Security Updates March 2010
Improve Firefox Private Browsing With Private Browsing Window Add-on About the Author:Mike Halsey is a Microsoft MVP for "Windows Expert". He is also the author of Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out from Microsoft Press and the Windows 7 Power Users Guide, a how-to guide for non-technical Windows users on how to get the best out of Microsoft's new operating system, with step-by-step and quick guides. You can follow Mike on Facebook, Twitter or on his own website The Long ClimbAuthor: Mike Halsey MVP, Sunday January 22, 2012 -
Tags:msconfig, safe boot, safe mode, vista, Windows, windows 7, xp

You are here: Home » Tutorials Basic » Using Windows “Safe Boot” To Diagnose and Repair Problems

View the original article here

How To Make Thunderbird More Secure

I have been a user of the desktop email client Mozilla Thunderbird for the past five or so years. In that time, I have modified the default settings and behavior of the client to make it more secure against attacks and other malicious activities and issues. This guide acts as an overview of what I have done in those years. Please note that while it makes your email client securer, it does not make the program invincible. Common sense is still one of the most powerful weapons in a computer user’s arsenal.

I also have to say at this point that I’m not including add-ons in this guide. This guide only looks at the native options that Thunderbird offers. The majority of changes should also be applicable in other email programs.

1. Disable HTML messages

I get it. HTML messages look nicer. You can do all kinds of things with HTML messages that you cannot do with plain text messages. Plain text messages on the other hand only display textual contents and nothing else, which reduces the likelihood of exploits.

You find the setting under View > Message Body As > Plain Text.

2. Disable JavaScript

The developers have removed JavaScript in Thunderbird 3 for emails completely. There is no option to enable JavaScript for emails. JavaScript for RSS feeds is enabled on the other hand. Thunderbird users who do not use RSS or do not want JavaScript in their feeds can disable it the following way. Click on Tools > Options > Advanced tab > Config Editor to open the advanced configuration window.

Filter for the term JavaScript and double-click JavaScript.enabled to set it to false if it is set to true.

3. Use SSL

You should furthermore make sure that all of your email accounts use SSL connections to protect against snooping and eavesdropping. Click on Tools > Account settings, and there on the Server Settings listing underneath each email account.

Check the help pages or contact support if None is selected under Connection Security. You also need to click on Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom of the listing to see if all outgoing servers are also using SSL for connections.

4. E-Mail Scams

Go to Tools > Options > Security > E-Mail Scams and make sure that Tell me if the message I’m reading is a suspected email scam is enabled. This basically checks back if the email is a known scam email and warns you if it is.

5. Master Password

If you are working on a multi-user PC or want to protect your email passwords from unauthorized access, you should consider setting a master password in the email client for that purpose. Anyone with access to the PC can look at all email usernames and passwords if they are not protected with a master password.

Click on Tools > Options > Security, and check the Use a master password box there to enable the option. You are then asked to enter a password which from that moment on will protect the password database from unauthorized access.

Thunderbird displays a form on start up that asks for that master password. The password quality meter visualizes the strength of the selected password.

6. Disable the preview pane

Thunderbird uses a layout with three panes by default. Email accounts and folders on the left, the email messages on the upper right, and the preview pane at the bottom right.

Email previews are automatically displayed when you select a message in the email client. You may want to disable that feature as it may be used for malicious purposes. Please note that this is unlikely, especially if you have disabled HTML messages and JavaScript.

The easiest way to disable the message preview pane is to press the F8 key on the keyboard. You can re-enable the pane easily with another tap on the same key.

7. Display All Headers

Email headers help you find out if an email is legit or fake. Thunderbird displays a compact version by default which cannot be used to verify an email address. You can enable full email headers with a click on View > Headers > All.

Please note that Thunderbird limits the space available for email headers on its page. You can scroll the page by holding down the left mouse button and moving the scroll wheel up or down.

Closing Words

Add-ons can furthermore improve security but that’s outside of the scope of this guide. Let me know if you are interested in a list of security related add-ons for the Thunderbird email client.

Have additional tips you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Print Covers using Undercover XP
Adding LDAP entries from the command line
4Chan Thread Downloader
Microsoft Security Updates March 2010
Improve Firefox Private Browsing With Private Browsing Window Add-on About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Saturday January 21, 2012 -
Tags:email client, thunderbird

You are here: Home » Email » How To Make Thunderbird More Secure

Click on the following link(s) to read more about Email

View the original article here

Load The Homepage When Firefox Opens A New Tab

When you open a new tab in the Firefox browser you’ll notice that it always opens up blank. Mozilla announced plans to redesign the new tab page in an upcoming version of the browser, but for now blank is all you get. While tabs open fast because of this, it is for some users not the optimal solution, especially if they have one page that they open very often in new tabs.

Lets say you open Google or Bing search, Reddit or Hacker News more than 50% of the time when you open a new tab in Firefox. Instead of having to load the search engine manually you could simply use the My Homepage extension for Firefox to have the browser load the page automatically for you.

The add-on works automatically after installation and restart of the browser. Whatever you have set your homepage to will be loaded when you open a new tab in the browser. Keep in mind that this can also be quite irritating if you have it set to open a page that you have open all the time in the browser.

This works best for pages that either provide a functionality that you use often, or pages that are updated regularly.

Please note that this will only load the first homepage configured in the Firefox options. The extension ignores the | separator to load multiple homepages in the browser.

You sometimes may not want to open the homepage in the new tab. The developer has enabled the shortcut Ctrl-Alt-M for this. When you use the shortcut to open a new tab in Firefox, a blank page will be opened.

Firefox users can download My Homepage from the Mozilla Firefox add-ons repository.

If you are looking for something bigger, you may want to look at the New Tab King extension for Firefox which displays the most visited websites, recently closed tabs and other information when a new tab is opened in Firefox.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Print Covers using Undercover XP
Adding LDAP entries from the command line
4Chan Thread Downloader
Microsoft Security Updates March 2010
Improve Firefox Private Browsing With Private Browsing Window Add-on About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Sunday January 22, 2012 -
Tags:firefox add-ons, new tab

You are here: Home » Browsing » Load The Homepage When Firefox Opens A New Tab

View the original article here

Megaupload Fallout Continues, Filesonic Removes File Sharing

Megaupload, one of the world’s top file sharing and storage sites, has been taken down on request of US authorities on Thursday. Arrests have been made in various countries and assets as well as the service’s websites and servers have been seized.

No files were accessible anymore on the servers after the takedown, which had serious consequences for users who used the file hosting site for just that: to host their own files.

Users looking for a Megaupload alternative can check out our quick overview of file hosting services.

The Megaupload fallout has not ended yet though, as some file sharing sites have begun to change their business model, likely to avoid the fate of the service.

When you visit Filesonic’s website today you will notice an announcement on the frontpage that states:

All sharing functionality on Filesonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally

Users who try to download files see the following message instead on the Filesonic website:

All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.

If this file belongs to you, please login to download it directly from your file manager.

But FileSonic is not the only file sharing site that made changes to their business model after the Megaupload bust. Uploaded, another popular file sharing service, started to block visitors from the United States. Visitors from the United States see a blue landing page that tells them that the service is no longer available in their country.

Both file sharing companies are registered outside the United States. FileSonic operates from the Netherlands while Uploaded from Hong Kong.

Neither FileSonic nor Uploaded have released statements about the changes yet. There is no certainty that Megaupload’s takedown had anything to do with the decision but the proximity of events would suggest it did.

What’s going to happen next? It is likely that FileSonic will lose a good chunk of their traffic in the coming weeks. Users will move on and use other file sharing services to share files. It needs to be point out that this does not necessarily mean illegal activities. File sharing sites are ideal to share small to medium sized files with friends and family as well.

Users who have personal files on file sharing sites should consider making a backup of those files just in case. Services like Dropbox allow you to store files in the cloud, along with synchronization options and sharing.

Update: It appears that Fileserve has started to make changes as well. The file hosts affiliate program page is no longer accessible on the site, and according to Neowin, users are reporting that their accounts have been terminated. The message they receive when they log in states the following:

Unsuccessful login
Your account has been disabled due to violations of our Terms and Conditions

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Print Covers using Undercover XP
Adding LDAP entries from the command line
4Chan Thread Downloader
Microsoft Security Updates March 2010
Improve Firefox Private Browsing With Private Browsing Window Add-on About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday January 23, 2012 -
Tags:file hosting, file-sharing

You are here: Home » The Web » Megaupload Fallout Continues, Filesonic Removes File Sharing

Click on the following link(s) to read more about The Web

View the original article here

Hifix: Cinematic brilliance in your living room

Film buffs will often opt to watch a movie at the cinema because of the enhanced experience it traditionally offers, but there is no reason why a normal living room cannot be turned into a cracking entertainment centre.

So whether you are planning to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy in one day, settling down to enjoy a powerful, arty masterpiece or just relaxing to the latest Hollywood rom-com, kitting out your home can allow you to see films as the director and cast intended.

If you are passionate about cinema, avoid cutting corners in terms of technology, because it will haunt you when you are trying to enjoy films - you will constantly notice whichever flaw it is that you thought 'Oh, that'll never make a difference'.

Television

The first thing you need for watching a film is - obviously - a television and relevant media player, so make this your priority. Depending on the size of your living room, you may not need the biggest television around; pay more attention to how crisp the image is and the capability of the DVD/Blu-Ray player. A home cinema system would be a great idea too!

Sound

With your images in place, the next step is to sort out the sound. For many films, buying a full home cinema speaker set that includes rear speakers can make a stunning difference, so do not scrimp in this area. Any director worth his salt will use the music and sound effects on a motion picture to compound what is happening on-screen, so it is not just action film enthusiasts who will want to make sure the sound is perfect.

Light and other nice additions

Now that sound and vision are beautifully composed you can think about the little extras that will turn your living room into a genuine home cinema. This begins with having thick curtains that block out the light completely, while you should also ensure that nothing gets anywhere near your line of sight from seat to television.

The scope for adding luxury to your set-up is almost endless and largely depends on your budget; a mini-fridge is a popular choice, remote control lights are a nice bit of sci-fi decadence and recliners are arguably the most comfortable way to experience anything, not just cinema.So whether you are planning to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy in one day, settling down to enjoy a powerful, arty masterpiece or just relaxing to the latest Hollywood rom-com, kitting out your home can allow you to see films as the director and cast intended.

HiFix is the internet shop window for some of the world's greatest Hi Fi products like hi fi speakers, hi fi equipment, hi fi accessories, hi fi headphones, hi fi cables & many other hi fi systems from top brands like denon hi fi, sennheiser headphone, Mission Speakers & wharfedale speakers at affordable prices.

View the original article here

Megaupload Shuts Down, Arrests Have Been Made

The popular file hosting site Megaupload has been shut down by US authorities on Thursday, and the site’s leaders have been charged with widespread online copyright infringement. According to an US Department of Justice press release, Megaupload generated more than “$175 million in criminal proceeds” and caused more than “half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners”.

Seven members of the site and two corporations – Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited – were indicted by a grand jury in Virgina, and charged “with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement”.

Arrests have been made in New Zealand, were Megaupload founder Kim Schmitz and three others were arrested at the request of US officials. According to The Verge, a total of 20 search warrants have been issued in the US and eight other countries including The Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Australia. In addition, assets worth more than $50 million US Dollars have been seized as well as 18 domain names associated with the business.

Users who try to open the Megaupload website, any of the site’s inner pages, hosted files or one of the related domain names will notice that all connections time out. Megaupload, which has been listed as one of the top 100 sites at Alexa, and its cousin site Megavideo, in the sub 200 rankings, have been two of the most popular file sharing sites on the Internet.

The core question that many Internet users will have right now is if this will affect other file sharing services like Rapidshare as well.

If you read the Department of Justice press release thoroughly you will notice that much of it can be applied to nearly every popular file sharing site on the Internet.

A business model expressly designed to promote uploading of the most popular copyrighted works for many millions of users to downloadA structure to discourage the vast majority of its users from using Megaupload for long-term or personal storage by automatically deleting content that was not regularly downloadedA rewards program that would provide users with financial incentives to upload popular content and drive web traffic to the site, often through user-generated websites known as linking sites.

Will we see a ripple effect? What’s your take? (via Neowin)

Update: The Department of Justice website, as well as several music industry related websites are currently targeted by Anonymous as a response to the take down of Megaupload. More information here at The Next Web.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Megaupload Automatic Downloader
Megaupload Instant Download Helper [Google Chrome]
Megaupload Captcha Auto Fill
Bypass Megaupload Captcha And Wait Time
Megaupload Premium Link Generator About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Friday January 20, 2012 -
Tags:file-sharing, megaupload

You are here: Home » The Web » Megaupload Shuts Down, Arrests Have Been Made

Click on the following link(s) to read more about The Web

View the original article here

How To Enable Phone Notifications In Google Calendar

If you are using Google Calendar to keep track of things, you’d probably notice that you only get notifications on your desktop computer if you are on that computer and have the Google Calendar page open. That’s fine if you are working on your desktop most of the time, but won’t do you any good if you are not near the desktop. A laptop or smartphone could help you out here, as data can be synced across devices relatively effortlessly.

Some users on the other hand may not have an Android or iOS smartphone that they can sync their events with. Those users can however configure Google Calendar to send SMS notifications to their phone. This needs to be set up before the option becomes available.

Open the Google Calendar website and locate the options button in the upper right corner of the screen. Click on it and select settings from the context menu.

Switch to the Mobile Setup tab in the Calendar Settings menu. It should display the message that phone notifications are currently disabled for the computer. To enable them, you need to enter your mobile phone number and country into the form on the page. Once you have done that you click on send verification code to receive an SMS code that you need to enter on the same page to finish the setup.

It is not clear why Google is not using the existing mobile phone number, or even suggests to use it. Carrier costs may apply, and a link leads to the supported carriers.

Once done you are taken to notifications where you can configure SMS notifications for the following event types.

New Events: Receive a notification when someone sends you an invitation to an event.Changed events:Receive a notification when someone sends an update about a changed event.Canceled events:Receive a notification when someone sends an update about a cancelled event.Event responses:Receive a notification when guests respond to an event for which you can see the guest list.

It is not possible to configure SMS notifications for the Daily agenda though.

Each calendar has its own notification settings, and you may want to check the calendars listing to make sure they are all set up correctly.

Please note that this changes are valid for each calendar. Some users may want to configure SMS notifications only for specific events, and not all of their events in the Calendar. This is done by editing events directly. If the event exists, click on it and select edit event from the options.

Locate the reminders entry and switch from Pop-up to SMS there.

And that’s how you configure SMS notifications in Google Calendar. Have anything to share, success stories or stories where this did not work at all? Then post a comment below.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Google Calendar Firefox Extension
Google Calendar Gets Three New Features
Display Google Calendar in the Sidebar
Send SMS to your Girlfriend/Spouse for free with Google Calendar
Integrate Google Calendar Into Thunderbird About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Friday January 20, 2012 -
Tags:google calendar

You are here: Home » Google » How To Enable Phone Notifications In Google Calendar

Click on the following link(s) to read more about Google

View the original article here

Winning one Au Competition could be the change you?EUR(TM)ve been looking for

Changing your luck could mean a big change in your life, and the best way to do that is by entering competitions that give you the chance to win prizes that will do exactly that. Attempting to win a competition as big as the lottery would mean that your chances are slim and the odds against you winning are so great that it is unlikely that you would win it within a single lifetime of playing ever week. Those are tough odds to try and beat by any standard, but if you can try to enter into cash prize competitions that go live on a regular basis there is a good chance you will win more money than you could have dreamed of. All it takes is a small bit of effort on your part to make sure you get enough entries to improve your chances.

Living Australia means that you have become a part of one of the biggest booming economies of the world. There are so many chances to improve your life over there and winning an Au competition 2012 may just be one of them. Over and above your normal day to day activities you can take the time to enter as many competitions as you can. The more entries you make, the better your chances are of winning. The best way to do that is by going to places that offer you as many opportunities that you can handle to enter. You have plenty chance to get the winnings you have always wanted and you may even end up in a position where you won't have to work ever again. Winning cash would most likely be the only way to do that, but other prizes could help you lift the burden of your normal life, leaving you free to apply your finances to other aspects of your life that would allow you to change it on a permanent basis. You could use the money settle debt and free up your finances to change the way you live on a long term basis. The prizes you win could prove useful in that you would not have to spend the money you have to buy them.

Once you have them, you can spend the money you have on more important things that you might need. The best thing you can do is to get started with the sites that offer you the chance to win as many times as you like. Once you have access to all these competitions you can get started on changing your luck for good.

View the original article here

Hamster Audio Converter Is A Free, Easy To Use Music Format Changer

Sometimes you may download or receive music in a format that you cannot really use in all of your devices. Maybe it is a Flac file that your mp3 player cannot play, or an audiobook that you want to merge all of the chapters from. Hamster Free Audio Converter is an easy to use program for all audio conversion needs.

There are three steps to the process. You first start adding audio files from your computer. The program filters for audio files automatically so that only supported files are displayed in the file browser.

Each track is displayed with its current format, name and playtime.

Once you have added all audio files that you want to convert to the conversion queue, you can click on the next button to select the desired output format.

The program distinguishes between devices specific formats and general audio formats. If you are an Apple, Sony, Nokia, HTC or Samsung device owner, you’d probably select one of the available device specific formats right away to make sure that you can play the audio on the device in the future.

A slider is displayed to change the audio quality from normal to high or poor. There is however no indication of what that actually means quality wise. I would suggest to run a test conversion to see if the quality meets your standards.

Computer users on the other hand may prefer to select one of the available audio formats directly. Formats include mp3, flac, ogg, wav and aac among others. No quality options are provided for general format conversions, which is without doubt the biggest point of criticism.

You can select the merge files option to merge all queued files into a single audio file. This may for instance be useful for audiobooks.

A click on convert finally starts the audio format conversions. A screen is displayed in the end to open the folder the audio files were saved to.

Hamster Free Audio Converter is an easy to use program. It’s biggest drawback is the lack of quality settings for the resulting audio files.

The program is available for all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. The parent company has created a video converter and ebook converter as well.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Free Online Audio and Video Converter
Helium Audio Converter, Convert, Analyze Music Files
Hamster Free Video Converter
Looking For A Portable Audio Converter? Try FlicFlac
ISO Format Converter About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Thursday January 19, 2012 -
Tags:audio converter, windows software

You are here: Home » Software » Hamster Audio Converter Is A Free, Easy To Use Music Format Changer

View the original article here

Rejoice the Occasion of Love with Valentines Day Themes at Celebration Venues in London

Have you ever heard of the quote "To Love is to receive a glimpse of heaven"? This quote is not just a mere statement, but has a deeper meaning to it. Being in love is one of the most special feelings where you sense the connection with your beloved. All the lovers celebrate this connection of love every year on the special occasion of Valentine's Day.

The occasion of Valentine's Day is not only special for couples, but singles as well. After all, singles are always ready to mingle. Planning a huge Valentine's Day party in London is a perfect idea to enjoy this evening. There are plenty of celebration venues in London for a romantic party for all the couples and your single friends. Instead of arranging the usual cupid decorations and typical treat for your guests, organise a nice theme party for all. Choose from a wide range of following themes that signify the love and spirit of the occasion.

Romantic Red
Valentine's Day is the occasion of love and red is the most suitable colour to define romance. This official colour of love will add grace and elegance to the party. Ask the staff to make use of red decorations including red balloons, confetti, heart shaped cushions and red ribbons all around the hall. Arrange dim red lighting to give a romantic feel to the hall. Valentine's Day is incomplete without red roses, so, order dozens of roses for the party. Order a red velvet cake and strawberry punch in the menu. The main course will include various dishes in red colour. Ask the guest to dress in red and black costumes.

Matchmaking Party
Arrange a party to find best match for your single friends. Prepare some games including truth and dare, couple treasure hunting, grab your man, paper dance and more. These games will help the singles to interact with each other and find the best compatible partner. Also, prepare a brief questionnaire about their hobbies, qualities and career aspirations.

Honour the Historical Couples
This is a perfect theme for couples. Dress like famous couples from anywhere around the world. If you have a favourite Hollywood couple in mind or lovers from your favourite book, dress like them. Choose from a diverse range of options including Romeo and Juliet or Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. For decorations, use photos and posters of famous couples for the walls of the venue.

So, get ready for the occasion of love, passion and romance. Hire a perfect celebration venue in London and enjoy a great themed party with your love mate and friends.

View the original article here