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• The Windows Browser Ballot Screen Offers Web Browser Choice to European Users

  - by Matthew Guay

  Since March, our friends across the pond in Europe get to decide which browser they want to install with their Windows OS. Today we thought we would take a look at the ballot choices, some are well known, and others you may not have heard of. Windows users in European countries should start seeing the so called “Browser Ballot Screen” after installing the Windows Update KB976002 (link below). The browser ballot offers a dozen different browsers, including some you’ve likely never heard of.  They each have some unique features, and are all free, and here we take a quick look at each of them. Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer is the world’s most used web browser, as it’s bundled with Windows. It also includes several unique features, including Accelerators that make it easy to search or find a map of a location, and InPrivate filtering to directly control what sites can get personal information.  Additionally, it offers great integration with Windows Touch and the new taskbar in Windows 7. IE 8 runs on Windows XP and newer, and is bundled with Windows 7. Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Firefox is the most popular browser other than Internet Explorer.  It is the modern descendant of Netscape, and is loved by web developers for its adherence to web standards, openness, and expandability.  It offers thousands of Add-ons and themes to let you customize it to fit your preferences. The most recent version has added Personas, which are quick, lightweight themes to let you personalize the look your browser. It’s open source, and runs on all modern versions of Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Of course thanks to Asian Angel, our resident browser expert, you can check out several articles regarding this popular IE alternative. Google Chrome 4 Google Chrome has gained an impressive amount of market share during its short time in the market. It offers a minimalistic interface and fast speeds with intensive web applications. The address bar is also a search bar, so you can enter a search query or web address and quickly get the information you need. With version 4 you can add a growing number of extensions, personalize it with a variety of stylish themes, and automatically translate foreign websites into your own language. Opera 10.50 Although Opera has been around for over a decade, relatively few users have used it. With the new 10.50 release, Opera has many unique features packed in a sleek UI. It integrates great with Aero and the Windows 7 taskbar, and lets you preview the contents of your websites in the tab bar. It also includes Opera Unite, a small personal web server to make file sharing easy, Opera Turbo to speed up your internet when the connection is slow, and Opera Link to keep all your copies of Opera in sync. It’s a popular browser on many mobile devices, and version 10.50 has a lot of enhancements. Apple Safari 4 Safari is the default browser in Mac OS X, and starting with version 3 it has been available for Windows as well. It’s based on Webkit, the popular new rendering engine that provides great speed and standards compatibility.  Safari 4 lets you browse your browsing history in a unique Coverflow interface, and shows your Top Sites in a fancy, 3D interface.  It’s also great for viewing mobile websites for the iPhone and other mobile devices through Developer Tools. Flock 2.5 Based on the popular Firefox core, Flock brings a multitude of social features to your browsing experience. You can view the latest YouTube videos, Flickr pictures, update your favorite social network, and keep up with your webmail thanks to It’s integration with a wide variety of services. You can even post to your blog through the integrated blog editor. If your time online is mostly spent in social services, this may be a browser you want to check out. Maxthon 2.5 Maxthon is a unique browser that builds on Internet Explorer to bring more features with IE’s rendering. Formerly known as MyIE2, Maxthon was popular for bringing tabbed browsing with IE rendering during the days of IE 6.  Today Maxthon supports a wide range of plugins and skins, so you can customize it however you want. It includes mouse gestures, a web accelerator to speed up pokey internet connections, a content blocker to remove unwanted content from sites, an online account to backup your favorites, and a nice download manager. Avant Browser Another nice browser based on Internet Explorer, Avant brings a wide variety of features in a nice brushed-metal interface. It includes an integrated AutoFill for forms, mouse gestures, customizable skins, and privacy protection features. It also includes a Flash blocker that will only load flash in webpages when you select them. You can also integrate Avant with an online account to store your bookmarks, feeds, settings and passwords online. Sleipnir Sleipnir is a customizable browser meant for advance users that is quite popular in Japan. It’s built on the Trident engine and virtually every aspect of is customizable unlike Internet Explorer.   FlashPeak SlimBrowser SlimBrowser from FlashPeak incorporates a lot of features like Popup Killer, Auto Login, site filtering and more. It’s based on Internet Explorer but offers a lot more customizable options out of the box.   K-meleon This basic browser is light on system resources and based on the Gecko engine. It’s been in development for years on SourceForge, and if you like to tweak virtually any aspect of your browser, this might be a good choice for you.   GreenBrowser GreenBrowser is based on Internet Explorer and is available in several languages. It has a large amount of features out of the box and is light on system resources.   Conclusion The European Union asked for more choices in the web browser they could choose from when installing Windows, and with the Browser Ballot Screen, they certainly get a variety to choose from.  If you’ve tried out some of the lesser known browsers, or think some important ones have been left out, leave a comment and tell us about it. Learn More About the Browser Ballot Screen and Download Alternatives to IE Windows Update KB976002 Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Set the Default Browser on Ubuntu From the Command LineQuick Tip: Empty Internet Explorer 7 Cache when Browser is ClosedView Hidden Files and Folders in Ubuntu File BrowserSet the Default Browser and Email Client in UbuntuAccess Multiple Browsers from Firefox with Browser View Plus TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Play Music in Chrome by Simply Dragging a File 15 Great Illustrations by Chow Hon Lam Easily Sync Files & Folders with Friends & Family Amazon Free Kindle for PC Download Stretch popurls.com with a Stylish Script (Firefox) OldTvShows.org – Find episodes of Hitchcock, Soaps, Game Shows and more

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• How To Personalize the Windows Command Prompt

  - by Matthew Guay

  Command line interfaces can be downright boring, and always seem to miss out on the fresh coats of paint liberally applied to the rest of Windows.  Here’s how to add a splash of color to Command Prompt and make it unique. By default, Windows Command Prompt is white text on a black background. It get’s the job done, but maybe you want to add some color to it.   To get an overview of what we can do with the color command, let’s enter: color /? So, to get the color you want, enter color then the option for the background color followed by the font color.  For example, let’s make an old-fashioned green on black look by entering: color 02   There are a bunch of different combinations you can do, like this black background with red text. color 04 You can’t mess it up too much.  The color command won’t let you set both the font and the background to the same color, which would make it unreadable.  Also, if you want to get back to the default settings, just enter: color Now we’re back to plain-old black and white. Personalize Command Prompt Without Commands If you’d prefer to change the color without entering commands, just click on the Command Prompt icon in the top left corner of the window and select Properties. Select the Colors tab, and then choose the color you want for the screen text and background.  You can also enter your own RGB color combination if you want.   Here we entered the RGB values to get a purple background color like Ubuntu 10.04. Back in the Properties dialog, you can also change your Command Prompt font from the font tab.  Choose any font you want, as long as the one you want is one of the three listed here. Customizations you make via the Properties dialog are saved and will be used any time you open Command Prompt, but any customizations you make with the Color command are only for that session. Conclusion Whether you want to make your command prompt bright enough to cause a sunburn or old-style enough to scare a mainframe operator, with these settings, you can make Command Prompt a bit more unique.   Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Use "Command Prompt Here" in Windows VistaVerify the Integrity of Windows Vista System FilesKeyboard Ninja: Scrolling the Windows Command Prompt With Only the KeyboardRun a Command as Administrator from the Windows 7 / Vista Run boxStart an Application Assigned to a Specific CPU in Windows Vista TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 How to Add Exceptions to the Windows Firewall Office 2010 reviewed in depth by Ed Bott FoxClocks adds World Times in your Statusbar (Firefox) Have Fun Editing Photo Editing with Citrify Outlook Connector Upgrade Error Gadfly is a cool Twitter/Silverlight app

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• Integrate Nitro PDF Reader with Windows 7

  - by Matthew Guay

  Would you like a lightweight PDF reader that integrates nicely with Office and Windows 7?  Here we look at the new Nitro PDF Reader, a nice PDF viewer that also lets you create and markup PDF files. Adobe Reader is the de-facto PDF viewer, but it only lets you view PDFs and not much else.  Additionally, it doesn’t fully integrate with 64-bit editions of Vista and Windows 7.  There are many alternate PDF readers, but Nitro PDF Reader is a new entry into this field that offers more features than most PDF readers.  From the creators of the popular free PrimoPDF printer, the new Reader lets you create PDFs from a variety of file formats and markup existing PDFs with notes, highlights, stamps, and more in addition to viewing PDFs.  It also integrates great with Windows 7 using the Office 2010 ribbon interface. Getting Started Download the free Nitro PDF Reader (link below) and install as normal.  Nitro PDF Reader has separate versions for 32 & 64-bit editions of Windows, so download the correct one for your computer. Note:  Nitro PDF Reader is still in Beta testing, so only install if you’re comfortable with using beta software. On first run, Nitro PDF Reader will ask if you want to make it the default PDF viewer.  If you don’t want to, make sure to uncheck the box beside Always perform this check to keep it from opening this prompt every time you use it. It will also open an introductory PDF the first time you run it so you can quickly get acquainted with its features. Windows 7 Integration One of the first things you’ll notice is that Nitro PDF Reader integrates great with Windows 7.  The ribbon interface fits right in with native applications such as WordPad and Paint, as well as Office 2010. If you set Nitro PDF Reader as your default PDF viewer, you’ll see thumbnails of your PDFs in Windows Explorer. If you turn on the Preview Pane, you can read full PDFs in Windows Explorer.  Adobe Reader lets you do this in 32 bit versions, but Nitro PDF works in 64 bit versions too. The PDF preview even works in Outlook.  If you receive an email with a PDF attachment, you can select the PDF and view it directly in the Reading Pane.  Click the Preview file button, and you can uncheck the box at the bottom so PDFs will automatically open for preview if you want.   Now you can read your PDF attachments in Outlook without opening them separately.  This works in both Outlook 2007 and 2010. Edit your PDFs Adobe Reader only lets you view PDF files, and you can’t save data you enter in PDF forms.  Nitro PDF Reader, however, gives you several handy markup tools you can use to edit your PDFs.  When you’re done, you can save the final PDF, including information entered into forms. With the ribbon interface, it’s easy to find the tools you want to edit your PDFs. Here we’ve highlighted text in a PDF and added a note to it.  We can now save these changes, and they’ll look the same in any PDF reader, including Adobe Reader. You can also enter new text in PDFs.  This will open a new tab in the ribbon, where you can select basic font settings.  Select the Click To Finish button in the ribbon when you’re finished editing text.   Or, if you want to use the text or pictures from a PDF in another application, you can choose to extract them directly in Nitro PDF Reader.  Create PDFs One of the best features of Nitro PDF Reader is the ability to create PDFs from almost any file.  Nitro adds a new virtual printer to your computer that creates PDF files from anything you can print.  Print your file as normal, but select the Nitro PDF Creator (Reader) printer. Enter a name for your PDF, select if you want to edit the PDF properties, and click Create. If you choose to edit the PDF properties, you can add your name and information to the file, select the initial view, encrypt it, and restrict permissions. Alternately, you can create a PDF from almost any file by simply drag-and-dropping it into Nitro PDF Reader.  It will automatically convert the file to PDF and open it in a new tab in Nitro PDF. Now from the File menu you can send the PDF as an email attachment so anyone can view it. Make sure to save the PDF before closing Nitro, as it does not automatically save the PDF file.   Conclusion Nitro PDF Reader is a nice alternative to Adobe Reader, and offers some features that are only available in the more expensive Adobe Acrobat.  With great Windows 7 integration, including full support for 64-bit editions, Nitro fits in with the Windows and Office experience very nicely.  If you have tried out Nitro PDF Reader leave a comment and let us know what you think. Link Download Nitro PDF Reader Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Install Adobe PDF Reader on Ubuntu EdgySubscribe to RSS Feeds in Chrome with a Single ClickChange Default Feed Reader in FirefoxFix for Windows Explorer Folder Pane in XP Becomes Grayed OutRemove "Please wait while the document is being prepared for reading" Message in Adobe Reader 8 TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Snagit 10 tinysong gives a shortened URL for you to post on Twitter (or anywhere) 10 Superb Firefox Wallpapers OpenDNS Guide Google TV The iPod Revolution Ultimate Boot CD can help when disaster strikes

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• How To Rip a Music CD in Windows 7 Media Center

  - by DigitalGeekery

  If you’re a Media Center user, you already know that it can play and manage your digital music collection. But, did you know you can also rip a music CD in Windows 7 Media Center and have it automatically added to your music library? Rip a CD in Windows 7 Media Center Place your CD into your optical drive. From within Windows Media Center, open the Music Library and select the CD. If you haven’t previously ripped a CD in Windows 7 with either Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player, you’ll be prompted to select whether or not you’d like to add copy protection. Click Next. By default, your CD will be ripped to .WMA format. The rip settings for Windows Media Center are pulled from Windows Media Player. So to change the rip settings, we’ll need to do so in Media Player. Click Finish. From within Windows Media Player, click on Tools from Menu bar, and select Options. If you are new to Windows Media Player 12, check out our beginner’s guide on how to manage your music with WMP 12. Select the Rip Music tab and choose your output format from the Format drop down list. You can also select the Audio quality (bit rate) by moving the slider bar under Audio quality. Click OK when you are finished.   Now, you are ready to rip your CD. Click on Rip CD. Click Yes to confirm you want to rip the CD. You can follow the progress as each track is being converted.    When the CD is finished you’re ready to start enjoying your music any time you wish in Windows 7 Media Center. Looking for some more tasks you can perform in Media Center with just a remote? Check out our earlier post on how to crop, edit, and print photos in Windows Media Center. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Using Netflix Watchnow in Windows Vista Media Center (Gmedia)Fixing When Windows Media Player Library Won’t Let You Add FilesStartup Customizations for Media Center in Windows 7Schedule Updates for Windows Media CenterIntegrate Hulu Desktop and Windows Media Center in Windows 7 TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 OutlookStatView Scans and Displays General Usage Statistics How to Add Exceptions to the Windows Firewall Office 2010 reviewed in depth by Ed Bott FoxClocks adds World Times in your Statusbar (Firefox) Have Fun Editing Photo Editing with Citrify Outlook Connector Upgrade Error

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• Active FTP client blocked by Windows Firewall on Windows 7

  - by Eli

  I have an application that runs as a service and contains an FTP client. It needs to connect to an FTP server that only supports Active FTP. When I attempt to get a list of files or download a file, Windows Firewall is dropping the incoming connection from the FTP server. (I don't believe we had this problem in Windows XP or Windows Vista.) Active FTP is the protocol that requires the the server to open a connection to the client on a port that the client specified. (http://slacksite.com/other/ftp.html) I know I could open up a large port range in Windows Firewall and force my FTP client to only use those ports, but I would have guessed that Windows Firewall would support Active FTP natively. Is there some setting that needs to be made in order to have Windows Firewall automatically detect Active FTP and open up the necessary ports as needed? Can I change that setting programmatically? Thanks. PS- I asked this question on StackOverflow, but was told I should probably ask here as well.

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• Windows 7 - Windows Update won't update

  - by StickFigs

  I'm trying to update my Windows 7 Professional 32-bit edition and when I try to tell Windows Update to scan for updates it failed with the error code 0x80096001. I checked out WindowsUpdate.log and it appears this is the problem: Validating signature for C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab: WARNING: Error: 0x80096001 when verifying trust for C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab WARNING: Digital Signatures on file C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\WuRedir\9482F4B4-E343-43B6-B170-9A65BC822C77\muv4wuredir.cab are not trusted: Error 0x80096001 How can I go about fixing this? It looks like it's just this one (corrupted?) file that's causing the problem. Thanks! UPDATE: Upon inspecting the file mentioned in the error message it appears that the file does not exist! What does this mean and how do I get it back? UPDATE 2: Ok it appears that the file in question appears only for a split second when Windows Updating is trying to search (but fails) to find updates. So I guess the problem doesn't have to do with the file specifically then.

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• System32 files can be deleted in Windows 2008 but not in Windows 2003 [closed]

  - by Harvey Kwok

  I have been using Windows 2003 for a long time. There is a wonderful feature. I don't know the name of it but the feature is like this. You can rename or delete some important files inside C:\windows\system32. e.g. kerberos.dll. After a while, the deleted files will be automatically recovered. I think this is because those files are criticl enough that Windows cannot survive without them. However, in Windows 2008, this feature is gone. Instead, all the files in System32 are owned by TrustedInstaller. However, as a administrator, I can still take the ownserhip of the files and then delete them. Windwos 2008 won't recover the deleted files and hence the system is screwed next time it's reboot. So, I wonder why Windows 2008 dropping that wonderful feature. Was that auto-recovery feature also suffer from some issues? Does Windows 2008 have some other features that can prevent this type of disaster from happening?

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• attempted WUBI install corrupted Vista

  - by oliver zimmermann

  Tried to install WUBI through Google Chrome on my Vista machine. Got through the usual warning about running new software, selected "continue" and waited for a prompt about where to install WUBI. Never got one...waited about 30 minutes (computer still running fine)...decided to reboot and try again. OOOOOPS. Was not able to reboot Vista. Ouch. When I run a Vista recovery CD it tells me there is an "X:" drive on what used to be my C: drive and it cannot find a Vista install to recover. Anyone seen this ? It is making me very happy... THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

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• Windows 8.1 Search does not automatically select first search match

  - by Miguel Sevilla

  When I search in Windows 8/8.1 (start menu-start typing), it doesn't automatically highlight the search term. For example, if I'm trying to open the "Internet Options" panel and type the entire thing out in search, I have to down arrow or tab to the "Internet Options" search result. This is retarded. I'm used to Windows 7 style search where the first match is highlighted and i can easily just hit return. First match highlighting does work for other built-in things like "Control Panel", but it should work for all things in general, as it did in Windows 7 search. Anyways, if there is an option to enable this in Windows 8/8.1, I'd appreciate the tip. Thanks!

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• Stream Music and Video Over the Internet with Windows Media Player 12

  - by DigitalGeekery

  A new feature in Windows Media Player 12, which is included with Windows 7, is being able to stream media over the web to other Windows 7 computers.  Today we will take a look at how to set it up and what you need to begin. Note: You will need to perform this process on each computer that you want to use. What You’ll Need Two computers running Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate. The host, or home computer that you will be streaming the media from, cannot be on a public network or part of domain. Windows Live ID UPnP or Port Forwarding enabled on your home router Media files added to your Windows Media Player library Windows Live ID Sign up online for a Windows Live ID if you do not already have one. See the link below for a link to Windows Live.   Configuring the Windows 7 Computers Open Windows Media Player and go to the library section. Click on Stream and then “Allow Internet access to home media.”   The Internet Home Media Access pop up window will prompt you to link your Windows Live ID to a user account. Click “Link an online ID.” If you haven’t already installed the Windows Live ID Sign-In Assistant, you will be taken to Microsoft’s website and prompted to download it. Once you have completed the Windows Live download assistant install, you will see Windows Live ID online provider appear in the “Link Online IDs” window. Click on “Link Online ID.” Next, you’ll be prompted for a Windows Live ID and password. Enter your Windows Live ID and password and click “Sign In.” A pop up window will notify you that you have successfully allowed Internet access to home media. Now, you will have to repeat the exact same configuration on the 2nd Windows 7 computer. Once you have completed the same configuration on your 2nd computer, you might also need to configure your home router for port forwarding. If your router supports UPnP, you may not need to manually forward any ports on your router. So, this would be a good time to test your connection. Go to a nearby hotspot, or perhaps a neighbor’s house, and test to see if you can stream your media. If not, you’ll need to manually forward the ports. You can always choose to forward the ports anyway, just in case. Note: We tested on a Linksys WRT54GL router, which supports UPnP, and found we still needed to manually forward the ports. Finding the ports to forward on the router Open Windows Media Player and make sure you are in Library view. Click on “Stream” on the top menu, and select “Allow Internet access to home media.”   On the “Internet Home Media Access” window, click on “Diagnose connections.” The “Internet Streaming Diagnostic Tool” will pop up. Click on “Port forwarding information” near the bottom.   On the “Port Forwarding Information” window you will find both the Internal and External Port numbers you will need to forward on your router. The Internal port number should always be 10245. The external number will be different depending on your computer. Microsoft also recommends forwarding port 443. Configuring the Router Next, you’ll need to configure Port Forwarding on your home router. We will show you the steps for a Linksys WRT54GL router, however, the steps for port forwarding will vary from router to router. On the Linksys configuration page, click on the Administration Tab along the top, click the “Applications & Gaming Tab, and then the “Port Range Forward” tab below it. Under “Application,” type in a name. It can be any name you choose. In both the “Start” and “End” boxes, type the port number. Enter the IP address of your home computer in the IP address column. Click the check box under “Enable.” Do this for both the internal and external port numbers and port 443. When finished, click the “Save Settings” button. Note: It’s highly recommended that you configure your home computer with a static IP address When you’re ready to play your media over the Internet, open up Windows Media Player and look for your host computer and username listed under “Other Libraries.” Click on it expand the list to see your media libraries. Choose a library and a file to play. Now you can enjoy your streaming media over the Internet. Conclusion We found media streaming over the Internet to work fairly well. However, we did see a loss of quality with streaming video. Also, Recorded TV .wtv and dvr-ms files did not play at all. Check out our previous article to see how to stream media share and stream media between Windows 7 computers on your home network. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Enable Media Streaming in Windows Home Server to Windows Media PlayerFixing When Windows Media Player Library Won’t Let You Add FilesShare Digital Media With Other Computers on a Home Network with Windows 7Share and Stream Digital Media Between Windows 7 Machines On Your Home NetworkLearning Windows 7: Manage Your Music with Windows Media Player TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Stormpulse provides slick, real time weather data Geek Parents – Did you try Parental Controls in Windows 7? 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• Access PC Settings Easily from Your Desktop in Windows 8 and 8.1

  - by Akemi Iwaya

  Accessing your system’s settings in Windows 8 is not exactly the most straight-forward of processes, so if you need to change your settings often, then it can be a bit frustrating. With that in mind, the good folks over at 7 Tutorials have created an awesome shortcut that will take all the hassle out of accessing those settings, and make ‘tweaking’ Windows 8 much easier. After downloading the zip file, extract the exe file and place it in an appropriate folder, then create a shortcut. Once you have the new shortcut set up in the desired location (i.e. desktop or pinned to the taskbar), accessing your system’s settings has never been easier in Windows 8 and 8.1! Special Note: If you are someone who runs files through VirusTotal before using them, be aware that two listings there (Commtouch and Symantec) will flag the file as malware. We had no problems on our system whatsoever and believe the malware flags to be false positives. Download the Desktop Shortcut to PC Settings, for Windows 8 & 8.1 [7 Tutorials]     

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• Use a Free Tool to Edit, Delete, or Restore the Default Hosts File in Windows

  - by Lori Kaufman

  The hosts file in Windows contains mappings of IP addresses to host names, like an address book for your computer. Your PC uses IP addresses to find websites, so it needs to translate the host names into IP addresses to access websites. When you enter a host name in a browser to visit a website, that host name is looked up in DNS servers to find the IP address. If you enter IP addresses and host names for websites you visit often, these websites will load faster, because the hosts file is loaded into memory when Windows start and overrides DNS server queries, creating a shortcut to the sites. Because the hosts file is checked first, you can also use it to block websites from tracking your activities on the internet, as well as block ads, banners, third-party cookies, and other intrusive elements on webpages. Your computer has its own host address, known as its “localhost” address. The IP address for localhost is 127.0.0.1. To block sites and website elements, you can enter the host name for the unwanted site in the hosts file and associate it with the localhost address. Blocking ads and other undesirable webpage elements, can also speed up the loading of websites. You don’t have to wait for all those items to load. The default hosts file that comes with Windows does not contain any host name/IP address mappings. You can add mappings manually, such as the IP address 74.125.224.72 for www.google.com. As an example of blocking an ad server website, you can enter the following line in your hosts file to block doubleclick.net from serving you ads. How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder? Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It

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• What directories do the different Application SpecialFolders point to in WindowsXP and Windows Vista

  - by Thorsten Lorenz

  Namely I have: Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData I am unclear as to were these point to in Windows XP and/or Windows Vista. What I found so far is that the ApplicationData points to the ApplicationData Folder for the current user in XP and the roaming application data folder in Vista. I would also like to know if there are general guidelines on when to use which.

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• How To Disconnect Non-Mapped UNC Path “Drives” in Windows

  - by The Geek

  Have you ever browsed over to another PC on your network using “network neighborhood”, and then connected to one of the file shares? Without a drive letter, how do you disconnect yourself once you’ve done so? Really confused as to what I’m talking about? Let’s walk through the process. First, imagine that you browse through and connect to a share, entering your username and password to gain access. The problem is that you stay connected, and there’s no visible way to disconnect yourself. If you try and shut down the other PC, you’ll receive a message that users are still connected. So let’s disconnect! Open up a command prompt, and then type in the following: net use This will give you a list of the connected drives, including the ones that aren’t actually mapped to a drive letter. To disconnect one of the connections, you can use the following command: net use /delete \\server\sharename For example, in this instance we’d disconnect like so: net use /delete \\192.168.1.205\root$ Now when you run the “net use” command again, you’ll see that you’ve been properly disconnected. If you wanted to actually connect to a share without mapping a drive letter, you can do the following: net use /user:Username \\server\sharename Password You could then just pop \\server\sharename into a Windows Explorer window and browse the files that way. Note that this technique should work exactly the same in any version of windows. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Remove "Map Network Drive" Menu Item from Windows Vista or XPDisable the Annoying "This page has an unspecified potential security risk" When Using Files on a Network ShareCopy Path of a File to the Clipboard in Windows 7 or VistaMap a Network Drive from XP to Windows 7Defrag Multiple Hard Drives At Once In Windows TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Enable DreamScene in Windows 7 Microsoft’s “How Do I ?” Videos Home Networks – How do they look like & the problems they cause Check Your IMAP Mail Offline In Thunderbird Follow Finder Finds You Twitter Users To Follow Combine MP3 Files Easily

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• The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010

  - by The Geek

  Even though we cover plenty of other topics, Windows has always been a primary focus around here, and we’ve got one of the largest collections of Windows-related how-to articles anywhere. Here’s the fifty best Windows articles that we wrote in 2010. Want even more? You should make sure to check out our top 20 How-To Geek Explains topics of 2010, or the 50 Windows Registry hacks that make Windows better Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know Awesome WebGL Demo – Flight of the Navigator from Mozilla Sunrise on the Alien Desert Planet Wallpaper Add Falling Snow to Webpages with the Snowfall Extension for Opera [Browser Fun] Automatically Keep Up With the Latest Releases from Mozilla Labs in Firefox 4.0 A Look Back at 2010 Through Infographics Monitor the Weather with the Weather Forecast Extension for Opera

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• Formatting of an XP/Vista dual boot machine now unable to boot up XP

  - by Shuvendu

  My laptop dual boots Vista Home Premium and Windows XP. I have Vista on the C drive and XP on the D drive. I formatted Vista and installed Windows 7 over it. Problem is that I'm now unable to boot XP. I've tried to boot with the XP installation disk, but no luck, the repair option is not available. What do I do to fix this?

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• windows xp mode for windows 7 - save text input language settings

  - by Gero

  When I change the 'default language' in 'text services and input languages' in windows xp mode from EN-US to DE-DE the settings are reverted with the next logoff / reboot - EN-US is the default language again. Is there a way around this behaviour? I'm using the default 'XPMUser' in windows xp mode. I also checked 'turn off advanced text services' and disabled the language bar and windows xp remembers these settings - just not the default language..

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• RDP problem with Vista and Windows 7 destination

  - by MadBison

  I use a server a home to host a bunch of concurrently running Hyper-V VM's with different OS's and software for testing. I have Vista on the laptop, all latest SP's and patches. The server is Server 2008 R2, fully patched. The guests are a mix of XP, Vista, Server 2008 and Windows 7. If I connect to the Win XP or Server 2008 guest using RDP, it is always good. Very quick, no speed issues. If I connect to the Vista or Win 7 guests, the response time is so slow it is unusable. Usually 6 or 8 seconds, and at times it is to long to measure! This happens from both the laptop running Vista, and the server running Server 2008 R2. Does anyone know what the issue is with RDP on Vista and Windows 7 destinations? I did read this: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/microsoft/remote-desktop-slow-problem-solved.asp and that is not the problem I have applied that change to all PC's.

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• Windows Server 2008, IIS7 and Windows Authentication

  - by Chalkey

  We currently have a development server set up which we are trying to test some Windows authentication ASP.NET code on. We have turned on Windows Authentication in IIS7 on Windows Server 2008 R2 fine, and it asks the user for a username and password as excepted, but the problem is it doesn't appear to accept any credentials. This code for example... Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load Page.Title = "Home page for " + User.Identity.Name End Sub ...always returns an empty string. One theory we have is that we dont have Active Directory installed as of yet, we are just testing this by logging on via the machine name not a domain. Is this type of authentication only applicatable to domains (if so we can probably install Active Directory and some test accounts) - or is it possible to get the user identity when logging in using the machine name? Ideally we would like to be able to test this on our local machines (Windows 7 Pro) using our own accounts (again these aren't on a domain) and IIS but this has the same issue as our dev server. Thanks,

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• Install windows XP alongside Windows 8

  - by user01

  I have a 64 bit (AMD)CPU but it has 32 bit Windows 8 installed. Could I somehow trickily install another Windows XP 64 bit alongside to that ? I want to do this because I almost never use the Windows 8 apps & majorly use this machine for java development. So I would like to run a lightweight OS implementation. Additionally, With 64 bit version of Windows XP, I would be able to take advantage of my 64 bit CPU. So, how do I do it? (I hope there's some way to do this:)

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• Difference between genuine Windows and Pirated Windows [closed]

  - by Murtaza

  I always had This question in mind, that basically what difference does it make by installing a pirated windows, beside the fact that its un-ethical I myself use Genuine windows, but just for a test I installed pirated Windows7 Ultimate 64-bit on another laptop and one laptop has been installed with same Genuine windows. But I can't observe any difference between these two, both windows gets updated by microsoft and all are same, can someone point out the difference? And if any viewer doesnot know the answer, and wants to know it, you can vote-up so it can be viewed by more users and get answered. Thankyou.

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• Have a legitimate Windows 7 license and the Windows 7 key but don't have the DVD

  - by sonicboom

  I just booted up my 'old' PC that's been lying around for the last two years. I have Windows 7 on it and I'm looking to format the drive and do a fresh install of W7. I have the key for Windows 7 in a text file. However I don't have the Windows 7 DVD or image. So is there any way of burning off a Windows 7 DVD considering that its the operating system I'm currently using? If not...well I have a W7 key, will this key work with any W7 DVD or is it particular to the W7 image that came with the key?

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• RDP problem with Vista and Windows 7 destination

  - by MadBison

  I use a server a home to host a bunch of concurrently running Hyper-V VM's with different OS's and software for testing. I have Vista on the laptop, all latest SP's and patches. The server is Server 2008 R2, fully patched. The guests are a mix of XP, Vista, Server 2008 and Windows 7. If I connect to the Win XP or Server 2008 guest using RDP, it is always good. Very quick, no speed issues. If I connect to the Vista or Win 7 guests, the response time is so slow it is unusable. Usually 6 or 8 seconds, and at times it is to long to measure! This happens from both the laptop running Vista, and the server running Server 2008 R2. Does anyone know what the issue is with RDP on Vista and Windows 7 destinations? I did read this: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/microsoft/remote-desktop-slow-problem-solved.asp and that is not the problem I have applied that change to all PC's.

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• Connecting a network printer via a Thecus N2100 - works in Vista, not in Windows 7

  - by Jon Skeet

  I have a Lexmark E250d printer attached to a Thecus N2100 NAS. On Windows Vista I've managed to configure this using an "Internet" printer port with the URL of http://thecus:631/printers/usb-printer. I can add a printer in a similar way in Windows 7, but it never manages to print the test page. If I go to "Configure Port" in Vista, it just has "Security Options" - on Windows 7 it's asking about Raw mode vs LPR mode etc. On Vista I'm using an E250d-specific driver from Lexmark; on Windows 7 there's a Microsoft E250d driver, or a Universal PCL XL driver from Lexmark... I wouldn't expect this different to be related to the problem, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. (Lexmark doesn't have a Windows 7 E250d-specific driver as far as I can see.) Any suggestions? I was thinking of upgrading my main laptop from Vista to Windows 7, but I'd really like to get this sorted first... EDIT: If I connect to http://thecus:631/printers/usb-printer via Chrome while capturing with Wireshark, I get this response: HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:47:23 GMT Connection: Keep-Alive Keep-Alive: timeout=60 Content-Language: C Transfer-Encoding: chunked Content-Type: text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 0 No idea what that's meant to be doing... EDIT: On further consultation, this would appear to be the Internet Printing Protocol which is layered on HTTP. Printing a test page successfully from Vista posts to that URL. Will attempt the same on Windows 7...

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• Test All Features of Windows Phone 7 On Your PC

  - by Matthew Guay

  Are you developer or just excited about the upcoming Windows Phone 7, and want to try it out now?  Thanks to free developer tools from Microsoft and a new unlocked emulator rom, you can try out most of the exciting features today from your PC. Last week we showed you how to try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC and get started developing for the upcoming new devices.  We noticed, however, that the emulator only contains Internet Explorer Mobile and some settings.  This is still interesting to play around with, but it wasn’t the full Windows Phone 7 experience. Some enterprising tweakers discovered that more applications were actually included in the emulator, but were simply hidden from users.  Developer Dan Ardelean then figured out how to re-enable these features, and released a tweaked emulator rom so everyone can try out all of the Windows Phone 7 features for themselves.  Here we’ll look at how you can run this new emulator image on your PC, and then look at some interesting features in Windows Phone 7. Editor Note: This modified emulator image is not official, and isn’t sanctioned by Microsoft. Use your own judgment when choosing to download and use the emulator. Setting Up Emulator Rom To test-drive Windows Phone 7 on your PC, you must first download and install the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP (link below).  Follow the steps we showed you last week at: Try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC today.  Once it’s installed, go ahead and run the default emulator as we showed to make sure everything works ok. Once the Windows Phone Developer Tools are installed and running, download the new emulator rom from XDA Forums (link below).  This will be a zip file, so extract it first. Note where you save the file, as you will need the address in the next step. Now, to run our new emulator image, we need to open the emulator in command line and point to the new rom image.  To do this, browse to the correct directory, depending on whether you’re running the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows: 32 bit: C:\Program Files\Microsoft XDE\1.0\ 64 bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft XDE\1.0\ Hold your Shift key down and right-click in the folder.  Choose Open Command Window here. At the command prompt, enter XDE.exe followed by the location of your new rom image.  Here, we downloaded the rom to our download folder, so at the command prompt we entered: XDE.exe C:\Users\Matthew\Downloads\WM70Full\WM70Full.bin The emulator loads … with the full Windows Phone 7 experience! To make it easier, let’s make a shortcut on our desktop to load the emulator with the new rom directly.  Right-click on your desktop (or any folder you want to create the shortcut in), select New, and then Shortcut. Now, in the box, we need to enter the path for the emulator followed by the location of our rom.  Both items must be in quotes.  So, in our test, we entered the following: 32 bit: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft XDE\1.0\” “C:\Users\Matthew\Downloads\WM70Full\WM70Full.bin” 64 bit: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft XDE\1.0\” “C:\Users\Matthew\Downloads\WM70Full\WM70Full.bin” Make sure to enter the correct location of the new emulator rom for your computer, and keep both items in separate quotes.  Click next when you’ve entered the location. Name the shortcut; we named it Windows Phone 7, but simply enter whatever you’d like.  Click Finish when you’re done. You should now have a nice Windows Phone icon and your fully functional shortcut!  Double-click it to run the Windows Phone 7 emulator as above. Features in the Unlocked Windows Phone 7 Emulator So let’s look at what you can do with this new emulator.  Almost everything you’ve seen in demos from the Mobile World Conference and Mix’10 are right here for you to play with.  Here’s the application menu, which you can access by clicking on the arrow on the top of the home screen, which shows how much stuff they’ve got in this!   And, of course, even the home screen itself shows much more activity than it did in the original emulator. Let’s check out some of these sections.  Here’s Zune running on Windows Phone 7, and the Zune Marketplace.  The animations are beautiful, so be sure to check this out yourself. The new picture hub is much nicer than any picture viewer included with Windows Mobile in the past…   Stay productive, and on schedule with the new Calendar. The XBOX hub gives us only a hint of things to come, and the links to games now are simply placeholders. Here’s a look at the Office hub.  This doesn’t show up on the homescreen right now, but you can access it in the applications menu.  Office obviously still has a lot of work left on it, but even at a glance here it looks like it includes a lot more functionality than Office Mobile in Windows Mobile 6. Here’s a look at each of the three apps: Word, Excel, and OneNote, and the formatting pallet in Office apps.   This emulator also includes a lot more settings than the default one, including settings for individual applications. You can even activate the screen lock, and try out the lift-to-peek-or-unlock feature… Finally, this version of Windows Phone 7 includes a very nice SystemInfo app with an advanced task manager.  We hope this is still available when the actual phones are released. Conclusion If you’re excited about the upcoming Windows Phone 7 series, or simply want to learn more about what’s coming, this is a great way to test it out.  With these exciting new hubs and applications, there’s something here for everyone.  Let us know what you like most about Windows Phone 7 and what your favorite app or hub is. Links Please note: These roms are not officially supported by Microsoft, and could be taken down. Download the unlocked Windows Phone 7 emulator from XDA Forums – click the link in this post to download How the unlocked emulator image was created Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC todayGet stats on your Ruby on Rails codeDisable Windows Vista’s Built-in CD/DVD Burning FeaturesWeek in Geek – The Slick Windows 7 File Copy Animation EditionGeek Fun: Virtualized Old School Windows – Windows 95 TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Get Better Windows Search With UltraSearch Scan News With NY Times Article Skimmer SpeedyFox Claims to Speed up your Firefox Beware Hover Kitties Test Drive Mobile Phones Online With TryPhone Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, 3/23/10

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