Windows XP Recovery CD + ISO Recorder

I wanted to start the Windows XP Recovery Console from a CD, but I did not have the original Windows XP installation CD, neither did I have the i386 folder in my Windows installation folder. I found that in order to create a bootable CD, the rc.iso can be downloaded from here. The *.iso file cannot be copied directly on to the CD, instead it has to be extracted and burnt on to a CD. Any standard CD burning software such as Nero or Roxio can be used to do this. In case any burning software is not available, a free software to burn *.iso files is ISO Recorder.
Once the boot CD is available, the steps to boot the computer using this CD are as follows:
1. As soon as the power button is pressed, press the F12 key to access the boot list. This is the order in which the BIOS uses devices to boot. Ensure that the CD-ROM is selected to be above the hard drive in the boot list. Insert the boot CD into the CD-ROM drive. Save changes and restart the machine.
2. The computer should now boot using the Windows XP Recovery CD. Once the recovery menu is reached, press R to select the "Repair with Recovery Console" option.
3. Select the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4. Type the administrator password when you are prompted to do so. NOTE: If no administrator password exists, just press ENTER. This will provide access to the Windows XP Recovery Console.

Creating Numbered Equations in Microsoft Word 2007

I was trying to create numbered equations in Microsoft Word, so that the equation numbers would automatically update as I keep adding more equations. I found a very nice post on the MSDN website (link), which gives a step by step procedure for creating a customized equation type known as "numbered equation". Writing equations in MS Word is much more tedious than writing them in LaTeX, but if the report has to be made in MS Word, this is a worthwhile thing to know about.

Opening *.eps files with GIMP

I installed GIMP on my system and needed to edit *.eps files. On trying to open an *.eps file, I got an error which did not allow me to open these files since I did not have Ghostscript installed on my system. Even after installing Ghostscript, I saw the same error on trying to open the file. The solution to this was to add an environment variable in Windows to tell GIMP where to look for Ghostscript to open these files. The procedure for this is:
1. Right click on "My Computer" and select "Properties".
2. In the tab "Advanced", select "Environment Variables".
3. In the window on the top, click "New".
4. Variable name: GS_PROG
5. Variable value: C:\Program Files\gs\gs8.64\bin\gswin32.exe (This is the path of the Ghostscript variable on your system).
6. Restart GIMP.

Update (07/19/2011):
In Windows 7, there are 2 types of environment  variables - System variables and User Variables. System variables apply for all users, while User variables only applies for the current user.