Make Money With Google AdSense

Interested in making money with Google?

Here's your complete guide to getting started along with some info on how to maximize your earnings, why some accounts are disabled and even alternatives to AdSense.

I'll even recommend what I believe is the best kind of theme to use for AdSense.

If you want to jump to the various sections, use the table of contents on the right.

What is Google AdSense?

AdSense is a nice way to monetize your traffic, and very easy to implement. It's one of top earners.

Google.com earns most of its revenue by allowing other website owners to advertise on their search results pages.

All this is managed through a program they call AdWords (pay per click marketing).

You see these ads displayed above the free/organic results and along the right side of the page on Google.com.

These are called Sponsored Results, and the advertisers are paying a certain amount of money per click for these ads.

It's an auction-based system that allows advertisers to compete for those spots. Whomever has the highest bid and most "quality" ad, gets the top spot and so forth.

Now you can earn a share of the revenue that Google earns from AdWords by displaying these same text or image ads on your site. When someone clicks, you earn roughly 68% of the click and Google gets the rest.

This program is called AdSense.

It's a great program that can help you drive additional income to your website -- especially if it's mostly content based.

So if you are one of those people that doesn't like the idea of paying for a site, this is an excellent way to earn your money back and then some.

Please make sure you read this entire article. AdSense is not a get-rich-quick scheme and it takes a lot of work to make money. Don't think that just because you join, you are guaranteed to make big money.

How Does AdSense Work?

The concept is simple. You display ads and get paid when people click and sometimes just view the ad (usually it's mostly clicks, though.)

How Much Can You Earn With AdSense?

The commission you receive per click depends on how much advertisers are paying Google for the particular ad. You will earn a share of that amount.  I've heard of earnings anywhere from 2 cents to $15 per click.

Getting over $1 is probably very rare, although it does happen from time to time. However, you will find that most of your earnings will be on the lower end of the spectrum.

It's important to note that I cannot estimate how much you will earn based on your traffic. People always want to know what the average amount is per click.

No one knows the answer to this except Google, so don't let anyone try to tell you any different. It would be impossible for myself or any AdSense publisher to give this information because the ads all cost different prices and we have no idea what advertisers are paying.

However, there are some niches that obviously pay more. So it is logical to believe that keyword phrases like sex, make money, etc. may earn you more per click since these are highly competitive keywords that are searched for quite a bit on  

The more competitive the search term, the more the advertisers pay and the more you earn as a publisher.

Even though Google will not reveal how much you are earning for each ad that is clicked from your site, you can still login to your account at any time and see the total amount of revenue you've generated that day, week, month, year, etc.

For example, if you see that you've made $12.60 today from 9 clicks then you can calculate that your average click-thru commission was $1.40 per click.  That's as detailed as their stats will get.  Also remember, that's only an average.  You won't know how much each specific ad brought in.

The amount you'll earn also depends largely on the amount of targeted traffic you receive to your own site, how well the ads match your audience's interests, the placement of the ads on your pages, and of course the amount you receive per click.

Ideally, you should create a site on a topic you know a lot about.  That way you'll have a much easier time creating a generous amount of content on that subject.

My Google AdSense Earnings

I have been receiving monthly checks from Google since 2003. My earnings are usually in the mid 4-figures.

My sites have been around for a long time and I have a great deal of traffic so that's a big reason why I earn 4 digits per month.

AdSense changed their terms and you can no longer show your earnings unless you show the finalized report. But just to be safe (they've been disabling a lot of accounts lately and I don't want to take that chance), I've blurred out my report from November, 2014.

I promote my sites on social media, create YouTube videos, get traffic from Google, etc. Making a lot of money with AdSense is all about numbers. The more traffic you have, the greater the earning potential.

My checks weren't always this large.  I think my first month's earnings in 2003 totaled less than $20. However, as my traffic increased, so did my checks.

You should also DIVERSIFY your income and earn money in other ways like I do with affiliate marketing, etc. Why? Because AdSense income is not stable. It fluctuates greatly from month to month.

Creating Your Website for AdSense

Before you even begin your site, make sure you've come up with a topic that you feel you know plenty about.  That way it will be easiest to write a lot of content. 

The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program.  Also, the more content and traffic, the greater the earning potential. 

If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site. Don't expect to throw up a 10 page site and make $1,000 per month. That's unrealistic.

Now let's talk about building your website. 

Creating Your Site

Get a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your  pages. I highly recommend using WordPress to create your site because you just pick a theme and your site is up and running.

Once you have selected your theme, you can add AdSense ads by either using a free AdSense plugin or you can use the WordPress Text widget to easily add ads to your sidebar.

If you want to learn more about WordPress I have a video here.

How to Join AdSense

Once you have 20-30 pages on your site, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.

When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. You can opt to display text ads, image ads, or a combination of both. It's up to you.

You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages.  You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.

Tips on Succeeding With AdSense

Here are some tips for achieving success with Google AdSense.

Build Traffic

You're not going to make anything with AdSense if you don't have enough traffic. Please don't think this is some easy, get-rich-quick program. This takes work and it all starts with getting visitors.

Experiment

Test ad sizes, images vs. text, play around with colors, you name it. I personally like to have my ads match the background of my site so they blend more.

Some people prefer to make their ads stand out by using bold/contrasting colors, but that never worked well for me. I think it's because they look so much like ads.

Read a blog post I wrote where my readers and I discuss our best performing ad units/sizes.

To display the ads vertically along the right side of the page, just copy this code into your site and paste your AdSense code where indicated.

<table align="right" width="300>
<tr>
<td>INSERT ADSENSE CODE HERE</td>
</tr>
</table>

You can change the width of the table to suit your needs, just remember that it needs to be wide enough to fit whatever AdSense code you selected. You can also switch the alignment by changing the align attribute from "left" to "right."

Create Channels

Channels allow you to see what units are working best. So if you are adding an AdSense unit to your header, you should create a channel called (name itHeader, for example) so you can track its performance in your reports.

I think it's important to maximize your click through rate (CTR) so you can attract more advertisers (just my opinion based on logic.) So I remove channels/units that perform significantly lower than others.

Advertisers want to advertise on sites that will give them the most clicks, right? So it makes sense to optimize your account's CTR as much as you can.

So how do you create channels?

When you are creating a new ad unit, you are presented the option of creating a custom channel on the first screen...

Set Units to "Targeted"

When you target your custom channel units, you make them available to Placement advertisers who may want to advertise on your site directly.These advertisers pay more so you earn more per click.

It's super easy to set this up.

Just click "My Ads" from your account, then select "Custom Channels". Click the channel you want to target and click the box for targeting as illustrated below...

Avoid Free Hosts

I know times are tough economically and a lot of you don't want to pay for a website. But the facts don't lie. Successful website owners invest money. Period.

I have yet to open up a magazine and see a successful site featured hosted on Blogger.com or another free host. Never. And I've been out here since 1998.

If you want the search engines and people to take your site seriously, you have to own your site. And if you don't do this, I question your dedication.

Even if it means you have to wait and save your money for 6 months to buy a domain and hosting. I'd rather you do that then take shortcuts with free hosting.

The other problem with free hosts is they can remove your site without warning. This happened to a gentleman just last week who emailed me. There was nothing I could do. If you don't own your site, you don't own your income.

More AdSense Tips

Watch the video below to discover more ways to increase your AdSense earnings

Just remember, success with AdSense is all about how well you bring in targeted visitors to your website.

Best Designs / Themes for AdSense

People often ask me about the best theme or design for AdSense.

That really depends on your goal. If you want to add AdSense to your header then you should find a design that makes it easy to add the code.

I use the Magazine Pro WordPress theme on my hair site. It has a header widget built in that is large enough to fit the 728x90 unit so adding the banner was a breeze.

Changing to this theme more than doubled the earnings for that site because I was able to add the large, header unit. Larger units typically earn you more, especially when they have good, visible placement.

How Come I'm Not Making Much Money With AdSense

People often ask me why their earnings are so low and there are many reasons for that.

1. Not enough traffic

If your site has less than 500 visitors per day, it's going to be difficult to make much with AdSense. You have to remember that only a small percentage of people will click on your ads (1-2%) so if you have 500 people coming to your site in a day, that's 5 clicks.

Also, most clicks will earn you less than $1, so hopefully you can see that it takes a great deal of traffic to build up income with AdSense.

2. Not enough relevant ads displaying

Some niches have more, relevant ads that Google can display. This will drastically impact your click through rate. If the ads aren't relevant to your content then your visitors aren't going to click.

That's why it's important to make sure your site has a lot of content so you can help Google display the most relevant ads. Granted, sometimes there aren't relevant ads available, and there's nothing you can really do about that.

However, just having a few sentences with some images is not helping Google find the best ads because you have so little content.

3. Low paying niche

Let's face it. Some niches pay more than others. If you have a finance site, the ads will probably pay more than the ads on an entertainment site.

So the niche you are in plays a big role in how much you can make. That's why it's hard to estimate how much anyone can earn with AdSense. There are just too many different variables.

Not Getting Approved?

People often ask me why they can't get approved for AdSense. It's tough to answer because I do not work for Google, so I can only guess.

Many times it's because there are not enough pages on your website. I tell people to shoot for at least 20-30 pages at the very minimum, and make sure your content is very niche -- centered around ONE topic.

Google doesn't like sites that cover too many different topics because it's hard to target ads. The more focused your content is, the better.

In addition to more content, aim for longer articles (at least 700 words or more). Google does not like "thin" content sites that look as if they were created just for AdSense. Put some meat on those bones and make it look as if you put some effort into your website!

Also, check your grammar, spelling, layout etc. Remember you are partnering with Google and they don't like to see messy sites with poor/confusing navigation structures.

Getting Disabled From AdSense

Recently, a lot of publishers have been getting their accounts disabled for "fraudulent or potential fraudulent click activity."

This has frustrated a lot of AdSense publishers because many claim they have done nothing wrong and how in the heck does Google define "potential" click fraud?

No one really knows.

Remember, Google earns most money from advertising. The ads that appear on your pages are costing someone money every single time a click is registered.

Google monitors clicks very closely -- especially if your account is new.

So if they sense A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G out of the ordinary or feel you are getting traffic from places that may may produce bot/automated/fraudulent clicks, they will disable your account to protect their advertiser's money.

They used to disable when they confirmed fraudulent clicks, but now they will disable even if they see potential risk with your account -- whatever that means.

Then they refund the advertiser their money -- which is why you don't receive a check for money earned if you are disabled.

Unfortunately no one really knows exactly what the threshold is for determining your account has "potential fradulent clicks."

And to make things worse, their communication when you are disabled is automated and there are usually no warnings -- which is unfortunate and frustrating for people who have done nothing wrong. There's also no way to reach out for definitive answers and appeals usually fail.

Nothing is Guaranteed With AdSense

As frustrating as it is to get disabled from AdSense, keep in mind, Google never promises us anything and they will do what they can to protect their own revenue.

If that means disabling accounts they feel are at risk of producing click fraud, they will do it.

I know that's a tough pill to swallow and I can imagine it does feel horrible to get your account disabled, but when we all "accepted" the terms and conditions upon signing up, that is basically what we were agreeing to.

There are no guarantees with AdSense and we are all at risk of losing our accounts.

Now I do believe that the system has kinks, and I believe some innocent people are disabled, but that's why you cannot put all your income eggs in one basket. Google has to protect their advertiser's money.

No one is safe from getting banned... not even me... and it's just one of those things that comes with the territory if you decide to join the AdSense program.

Google will always safeguard their advertisers because they are their customers -- not us. And if they feel their money is being wasted on fraudulent clicks (even if it's only potential), they won't stand for it.

Back in 2012, Google began disabling a lot of accounts. I know because I got tons of emails of frustrated people. It was kind of odd how it all seemed to happen at once.

Watch the video below where I dish on the "The Google AdSense Scandal."

Why Your Google AdSense Earnings Fluctuate

I am often asked why AdSense earnings change so often and drastically

People always ask me why Google AdSense earningschange so much or why there's such a drastic increase or decrease in the click through rate (CTR) or RPM (revenue per page.)

The first thing you have to understand about AdSense is that how much you earn is directly dependent upon how much the Google AdWords advertisers are spending.

The ads that appear on your site are being paid for by the advertisers.

There is an auction that takes place where the advertisers choose a maximum bid. This auction determines what ads show on your site and the cost of the ad. As you can imagine, this can change drastically from day to day or month to month.

The only thing you know is you receive roughly 68% per click, but ad prices change all the time.

Here's another thing...

AdSense earnings are often seasonal -- meaning you may notice lower earnings during Christmas time or the summer months. If the advertisers are spending less, you are going to earn less.

So don't panic if your traffic is roughly the same but you notice a big drop. This is normal. It could be seasonal or just the fact the auction has caused prices to change.

So you should never come to expect a certain amount from AdSense -- ever. In fact, I hope you are not depending on this income because it will change often.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to diversify your income and find other ways to make money from your site.

How Do I Increase My AdSense RPM?

I briefly mentioned revenue per page (RPM) above. That is calculated by...

Estimated earnings / Number of page views) x 1000

And of course, your estimated earnings depend on how many clicks your ads receive. The higher your click through rate, (which is calculated by the number of clicks / Page Views), the more you are likely to earn.

An increase in clicks is also likely to improve your RPM.

Here's an example...

If your RPM is $4.00 that means for every 1,000 page views, you're earning $4.00 on average. So you could look at that number and estimate that if you were to get 10,000 page views that day, your RPM could be around $40.

Notice I said "could be." That's only an estimate because the amount you earn per click changes all the time.

So I'm hoping you can see why it's tough to estimate your earnings and you see how they increase and decrease all the time. This is normal.

Since we as AdSense publishers don't know what the advertisers are paying and we don't know how many people are going to click; compounded by the fact the amount you earn per click will change -- your earnings can bounce around.

Here's a video where I talk more about RPM and other ways you can use that number.

What's The Best Way to Increase Your Earnings?

Since you cannot control your clicks or how much the advertisers pay for the ads (which determines what you will earn per click), the best way to improve your earnings is to increase your traffic.

More traffic usually means you will have more clicks, so that will have the biggest impact.

The moral of this story is NOTHING is guaranteed with AdSense and the best way to control your earnings is to work on building more traffic.

Google AdSense Infographic

Here is a basic summary of key information that will help you get approved and manage your AdSense account.

VB code for best way for check Date is less then or Grater then Question :   What is the best way for date > or < Dim mMyDate as date Then we store date from perticuler tabel using Record Set like mMyDate=MyRst!Date_Of_Joining If mMyDate > now then Msgbox " Date_Of_Joining > Today" it is ok or we need to use format functione like If format(mMyDatem,"DD/MM/YYYY") > format(now,"DD/MM/YYYY") then Msgbox " Date_Of_Joining > Today" End if and one thing if we will use format(mMyDatem,"MM/DD/YYYY") > format(now,"MM/DD/YYYY") then result will be same or not? Answer (2)    The only correct way to test for formatted dates being greater or less than another is to format them in yyyyMMdd format.  _ For example, using the below with myDatem being 05/07/2009 and today being 04/07/2010, you would get 05/07/2009 being later than today which is clearly not the case. You must ensure the date values are left padded with zeroes for the months of January thru September and the day of the month < 10 and the way do to this is the use the yyyyMMdd format characters. _ If you were to format them as 2009/07/05 compared to 2010/07/04, the comparison would work correctly. _ Hope this helps. Answer (2)   If you have dates in the form of Date values (for example, if you retrieve  the value from a Date/Time field to a Date variable, or if you get the value  of the Now() function), you should compare them AS DATES:  * Comparison as dates if much faster than comparison as strings  * Conversion to formatted strings adds even more unnecessary  processing time  * String conversions can lead to incorrect results  In particular, the following statement:  ..  If Format(myDate, "dd/mm/yyyy") > Format (Now(), "dd/mm/yyyy")  ..  will give the wrong result approximately HALF THE TIME, because string  comparisons will compare the day number BEFORE comparing the month number or year number. Therefore, 29/01/1999 will be greater than 01/12/2010, because  29 is greater 01.  There is absolutely NO reason to convert dates to strings to perform  comparisons for greater than or less than.  However, you do need to be careful when comparing dates for equality. A Date  may be for any time of day. The statement:  ..  myDate = CDate("04/07/2010")  ..  will create a date/time value that is equal to:  ..  2010/07/04 00:00:00  ..  but the function Now() will return a value that may have any time value at  all. If you plan to do a comparison for equality, make sure that you  TRUNCATE your date/time value to only the date. While one way to do that is  to convert the date to a formatted string and then convert the string back  to a date, it's extremely inefficient. A much more efficient way to do it is  to use the various date/time functions:  ..  Dim today As Date  today = Now()  today = DateSerial(Year(today ), Month(today ), Day(today))  ..  In some environments, the Date() function MAY return a date/time value that  contains only the date (and an effective time of midnight). You should  verify that before using the Date() function without applying truncation to  the results.  Michael S. Meyers-Jouan

Easily Reveal Hidden Passwords In Any Browser

If you use autofill for your passwords in your browser of choice then you know it's easy to forget what your password is. As it turns out, tech blog Digital Inspiration shows off how to easily reveal these passwords using the developer tools. 

Whether you us a password manager like LastPass, or you just let your browser store your passwords, your browser will always block the password box from passersby seeing it by using asterisks. To remove the mask and reveal your password, you just need to do a few things.

Right-click the password box and select "Inspect Element." This brings up the developer console. On the line that starts with "input type=password" change the word "password" to "text." This will reveal your password. While you can always pop into your browsers menu screen to look up saved passwords (or into your LastPass profile), this is a far quicker way to see your hidden passwords

For Video please visit  http://lifehacker.com/5946529/easily-reveal-hidden-passwords-in-any-browser

Top 10 Computer Related Mistakes That Can Get You Fired

Even if you're not a programmer or an IT technician, mistakes you make on the work computer can get you fired. Here are the top 10 reasons.

In today's economy, people get fired all the time. Even a lot of good employees get let go because their company needs to downsize and make budget cuts. This is why you would probably really regret if you make a stupid mistake that gets you fired. Since today most of the jobs revolve around PCs, computer-related mistakes can get people sacked more often than you might think. Here are the top 10 things you shouldn't do if you are an employee who likes or needs to keep his / her current workplace.

1. Making the wrong comment on social media

Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites are a great place to make your feelings and opinions known. However, they can affect your career just as much (if not more) as your actions in the real life do. If you think that what you post on your private profile is your own business you may be partially right. However, public opinion will judge no matter where you shared your thoughts and if your workplace doesn't want to be associated with your image you will get fired. Just recently an English teacher from Texas got fired for posting a racist and offensive Ferguson-related comment on Twitter.

2. Accidentally shutting down the core business functionality

This happens very rarely, but when you somehow manage to stop your company from performing its regular work for more than a day, you are almost guaranteed to be sacked. How does this happen? If you are not from the IT department, you must be really unlucky to achieve such an accomplishment. Basically, you can only do this either by using a third party device such as a USB flash drive which is infected with some really nasty malware or downloading a malicious software from the Internet. Most often you will not have access to do any of these two actions, but if you do, be very careful about what you bring or download at work.

3. Treating every little thing like a huge disaster 

You know what happened to the boy who cried wolf too often, don't you? If you need a computer to do your job, you'd better learn how to handle the smaller stuff, because not every little incident is work impairing and you don't need to call someone from IT every time. Picking up a few things about how to repair or bypass certain errors can even make you an asset at work. Furthermore, not every little problem is the biggest one, so you don't need to get too alarmed when asking for assistance in case your display doesn't start up or you no longer have access to the Internet.

4. Not taking responsibility for your actions

This should probably be ranked higher on this list, but understanding this issue will eliminate the need for additional explanations on some of the following topics. When you are at the workplace, everything you do on your computer can be (and probably is) monitored. Especially if it's Internet-related, every website you visit will first go through the server which happens to keep logs about the activity. If your boss, the audit or the IT guys think that you are doing something suspicious, it only takes them a few minutes to check it out. So if you did something wrong like visited a website you shouldn't have, unintentionally downloaded software, etc., you will be better off confessing and admitting to it. They will find out it was you anyway, and (in this case) your honesty might be appreciated.

5. Using Real Data In Testing Environments

When testing a new program/system/project, you shouldn't use real data, especially if the information in questions is confidential. Even if it's much easier to use the data you have than to make up some new information, this action can and probably will get you fired. Test programs aren't protected as well as the ones in use, so the sensitive data is easier to steal. Furthermore, test projects usually involve cooperating with third parties which could easily leak the real information that you've been using.

6. Ignoring a critical security event

If you work in the IT department, then I don't even need to explain, but if you are just a regular employee who chooses to ignore a security threat who later turns out to be critical, you will more than likely be fired. So, if you see any kind of security notifications, let the guys in IT or your manager know. Furthermore, if you got infected by accident with some kind of adware or other type of malware, it's better to report it as quickly as possible even if it doesn't seem to be terribly aggressive. If given enough time, the smallest threat can become a huge problem.

7. Using work passwords on the Internet for your private accounts

When it comes to security, your work life and your private life need to stay completely separated so that you don't pose a security risk to your company. For a hacker, it is a lot easier to steal the passwords from your personal accounts, than your work ones. Furthermore, it is a lot easier for an individual to get targeted by a hacker than it is for a company, so why should someone who is after you personally also be able to affect your work life? If you are using the same (or almost similar passwords) at work as well as at home, change them as soon as possible and hope that no one finds out.

8. Using the resources available at work for your personal needs

At one point or another we've all used some of the resources available at work for our private needs: utilized a work computer to check on the flight information for the weekend trip that we planned, used a work phone to call a family member, etc. However, there are certain situations, especially when your workplace gets you access the information most people don't know, when you will get sacked for this reason. I recently read in a magazine about a guy who worked as an IT technician in a hospital. After hearing rumor about a certain celebrity being treated in the building, he performed a database search to check it out. A couple of days later, the information that the VIP was in the hospital leaked to the press and the management asked for the data about those who performed a database search for the celebrity name. Even though he never divulged the information to anyone else, he and every other person on the list got fired.

9. Spending more time procrastinating on the Internet than actually working

This is one of the most often occurrences and it generally happens over time. If distracting websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, 9gag, etc. aren't restricted at your workplace and you spend too much time on them, you will probably end up being let go. As I stated before, your online activity is very easy to verify and any audit can easily see you've been more occupied watching funny videos or being social than actually doing your job. Spending too much time on Internet distractions could be a problem even if you do your job properly, as management may consider that you have too much free time so you can work more or that you are setting a bad example for your coworkers.

10. Sending e-mails to the wrong personI know it sounds stupid, but it happens quite a lot, so be sure to check the address before hitting that send button. Once it has left your computer, there is no way the get back the e-mail that you've sent. What happens frequently is that co-workers diss their boss through e-mails but end up sending the text to the wrong person: either to the boss boot-licker or to the boss himself. Another version is mistakenly sending of personal e-mail (either hateful or embarrassing) to your boss or to a client. If he or she believes that it was an honest mistake, the boss may let you off the hook, but if your error alienates a client, you will very likely pay for it with your job.

Function Keys: From F1 to F12

Function Keys: From F1 to F12

'What are those F-keys for?' 'They're just dead space on my keyboard … ' 'They can function? No kidding?' - Yeah, these are the most common comments on the poor little F1 through F12 keys, initially intended as a set ofFunction Keys. So, if you make little of them either, you're most likely to misknow that the F-keys cater for special functions and may have various uses, especially in combination with keys like Ctrl and Alt.

Taking this, today I'm going to enlighten the default as well as the best features of these secret Function Keys that are, hopefully, to enhance your user experience and boost workflow.

F1 is commonly the button to hit for Help in any software application. If you press the key in the Windows desktop or when the Windows Explorer is working, it will open the Windows help and support center. Still, the combination of F1 + Windows Key (the one with the Windows logo on it) will show up the Windows help screen even when you happen to be working in a program and face some issues to figure out.

F2 will allow you to quickly rename the selected file or folder. Just highlight an item, press the F2 key, and, after you type a new name, click outside the name box or on the Enter key. F2 can also help you out whenever you deal with Microsoft Word: Alt + Ctrl + F2 opens document window; Ctrl + F2 displays the print preview window.

F3 - In the desktop, pressing the F3 key will bring up the Find Files feature, while on most browsers this would be an instant way to launch the Find bar. Again, working in Microsoft Word, Shift + F3 will turn a text from upper to lower case or toggle between capitalizing each word.

F4 - Applying the versatile F4 will drop down the Address Bar menu in the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and repeat the last action in Word. If you press Alt + F4, the combination will close whatever window is open at the front, which is actually the safest straightforward way to shut annoying pop-ups right away.

F5 - In all known modern browsers F5 is a refresh key. Besides, in PowerPoint, it could be a rather handy shortcut to start a slideshow, while in Microsoft Word, it would open Find, Replace, or Go to window.

F6 - Like F4, it takes the focus or cursor to the Address Bar in most browsers and highlights the current address, allowing you to go to another website without moving your mouse up to that line. You can also use the F6 key to toggle between the menu items of a program or cycle from window to window with dispatch.

F7 actually doesn't offer any functionality in Windows but is commonly used as a spell checker in Microsoft applications. Along that, the F7 function key will turn on Caret browsing on Mozilla Firefox, the feature that places a movable cursor in webpages letting you navigate them only with arrow keys.

F8 will perform a pretty helpful function during the computer's boot up process: hold down the F8 key while booting your PC and it will enter the Windows Start Menu, commonly to access Safe Mode.

F9 - Still seeking for something significant, F9 doesn't offer any common uses in Windows. Yet, it may be essential in individual programs (for instance, the key refreshes documents in MS Word), so to find it out, open an application's Help file and search for 'Function Keys'.

F10 activates the menu bar (the bar at the top of the screen with File, Edit, View, etc. tabs) in most programs. Press F10 to highlight the first menu choice and then use the Arrow Keys to navigate the menus. F10 + Shift is similar to right-clicking on an object that opens up the context menu.

F11 switches on/off Full Screen mode in most Internet browsers or, pressed together with Shift, adds a new sheet in Microsoft Excel.

F12 - Just as F7 and F9, the F12 function key got its name for being in the F-keys row. That's it. The key can't offer any valuable functionality in Windows, while brings up the Save As dialogue in Microsoft Word or opens a new document if held down simultaneously with Ctrl.

How to update or slipstream an installation of SQL Server 2008

This article describes how to update or slipstream a failed installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 by using the latest Cumulative Update (CU) or latest Service Pack (SP). Use these instructions when you cannot install SQL Server 2008 because of a known issue in the Setup program. The "SQL Server 2008 Setup hotfixes" section lists the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that describe known setup issues and explains how to obtain the latest update.

There are two situations to consider:

• You attempt to install SQL Server 2008. You encounter a setup failure, and the setup files are installed on the computer.
• You want to proactively avoid known setup issues by using an update setup.

It is recommend that you update or slipstream the original SQL Server 2008 by using Service Pack 1 because Service Pack enables to update the entire product. A CU that is based on the original SQL Server 2008 release can only update the SQL Support component.

For answers to frequently asked questions about slipstreaming, see the SQL Server 2008 Slipstream Frequently Asked Questionstopic on the following Microsoft Web site:

http://blogs.msdn.com/petersad/archive/2009/04/24/sql-server-2008-slipstream-frequently-asked-questions.aspx

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When you run the original release version of SQL Server 2008 Setup, the Setup program copies itself on the local computer, and then re-runs from the local copy. Therefore, if there is a later version of the support files on the computer, the Setup program will run these updated files. Therefore, you can update the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files before you run the Setup.exe file.

Starting from SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1, you can update SQL Server 2008 by using the slipstream infrastructure. When you install Service Pack 1 by using the slipstream procedure or install to an existing SQL Server 2008 installation, an entry is created for the Service Pack in Add or Remove Programs. You can uninstall the service pack by using this entry.

To verify whether a service pack is installed correctly, run the SQL Discovery report that is available in the SQL Server 2008 Installation Center. You should see the features are version 10.n.xxxx, where n represents the service pack version. For example, 10.1.xxxx represents Service Pack 1.

How to update an installation of SQL Server 2008

When you try to install SQL Server 2008 from a DVD or from a network share, the installation fails because of an issue with the release version of the Setup program.

The following steps describe how to update SQL Server 2008 Setup when a Setup issue occurs:

1. If the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files are installed on the computer, you apply a CU or a hotfix to update the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files, and then rerun the Setup program from the DVD or the network share.
2. If the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files are not installed, see the "Proactively running setup" section.

To determine whether the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files are installed on the computer, view the entry by using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel in operating systems that are earlier than Windows Vista. In Windows Vista or later versions of Windows, view the entry by using Programs and Features in Control Panel. To apply a CU or a hotfix and run the Setup program, follow these steps:

1. If a fix is available through a hotfix, download the CU or the hotfix, and then install it on the computer by running the .exe file or by using the command line. The package detects the SQL Server 2008 Setup support files on the computer and then applies a new version of the SQLSupport.msi file.
2. Run the Setup program again from the DVD or from the network share. The Setup program detects that a later version of the SQLSupport.msi file is available on the computer, and the Setup program runs from the local version on the computer instead of from the DVD or network share.

Limitations

The following limitations apply when you update the Setup program or use the slipstream procedure:

• Important You must uninstall a failed installation if the Summary.txt log file indicates that you must uninstall.
• If you use the slipstream procedure to upgrade an installation to a Wow64 installation, you must perform one of the following additional steps:
  • Specify the /Action parameter on the command line in addition to the /x86 parameter.
  • On the Options page of the Installation Center, select x86.
• If you add features to an instance that already has the database service installed through slipstreaming, the installation may fail. To work around this issue, you need to add feature by using the original SQL Server 2008 source media or upgrade the instance to SP1 and then use the slipstream infrastructure.
• When you copy slipstream packages, use paths that do not contain spaces. If you specify a location that contains spaces for either /PCUSOURCE or /CUSOURCE parameters, a failure occurs with slipstream setup.

Proactively running setup

There are two methods that you can use to update an installation of SQL Server 2008. We recommend that you use the first method because of the following benefits of the slipstream infrastructure:

• You can quickly update to SQL Server 2008 SP1 in a single installation.
• Reduce the restart times.
• Improve the overall setup experience.
• Avoid known setup issues.

To use these methods, the administrator must obtain the updated SQL Server 2008 Setup support files by downloading the latest CU or hotfix, or service pack. For information about the Setup fixes that are included in the latest hotfix and for information about how to download the hotfix, see the "SQL Server 2008 Setup hotfixes" section. After you obtain the updated SQL Server 2008 Setup support files, use one of the following methods. 

Use the slipstream procedure to update SQL Server 2008

This method allows you to update the entire product when you run the SQL Server 2008 Setup program after following one of the following procedures:

Procedure 1: Basic slipstream steps

Follow the following steps to create a slipstream drop that you can use for installing the original media and a service pack at the same time.

1. Install the following prerequisites for SQL Server 2008.
   • .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 for SQL Server 2008 Express Edition
     You can obtain the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 from the following Web site in Microsoft Download Center:
     http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5b2c0358-915b-4eb5-9b1d-10e506da9d0f&displaylang=en
   • .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for other editions
     To download and install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
     http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=120550
   • Windows Installer 4.5 
     To download and install Windows Installer 4.5, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
     http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=49112
2. Download the service pack package that matches you system architecture. For example download the x64 package of SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 if your system is an x64-based system.
3. Extract the service pack by running the following command: 
   SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-x64-ENU.exe /x:C:\SP1
4. Run the service pack to install Setup files on the computer. You will receive a Setup Support Files dialog box if the Setup support files have not been installed. You can also run the following file to install the setup support files: 
   C:\SP1\x64\setup\1033\sqlsupport.msi
5. Run the Setup.exe file from the SQL Server 2008 source media by specifying the /PCUSource parameter. For example:
   Setup.exe /PCUSource=C:\SP1 

For More Information please visit https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/955392