~~~~~ Look up a computer term http://www.techterms.com/definition/guid ~~~~~ Toolbar shortcuts Right click on the taskbar and select toolbars... then New Toolbar... you can then go to any folder on your system and make a shortcut to it .. say for example Music.... then your taskbar will have a shortcut to Music >> When you click >> you get a list of all your music files in that folder and can select any song you want to hear. Pretty cool. http://lifehacker.com/273847/create-a-custom-windows-taskbar-toolbar ~~~~~ dism /online /get-features Run from command prompt to get a report. Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 includes a new command line utility to enable and disable Windows features. The Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM) is perfect for IT professionals and power users that want to manage Windows components without using the GUI. Since it is a command line utility it can be used in scripts to manage components. To enable a feature you need the full feature name as displayed on the previous /get-features command. The full feature name is case sensitive! Once you have the full feature name type in dism /online /enable-feature /featurename: and hit Enter. For example, to enable Media Center run dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:MediaCenter. To disable a feature type in dism /online /disable-feature /featurename: and hit Enter. For example, to disable Media Center run dism /online /disable-feature /featurename:MediaCenter. Enabling or disabling some features will require a reboot. If you are using the DISM command within a script and want to prevent asking to reboot simply append /NoRestart to the end of your command. ~~~~~ Simplify Cloned Machine Setups. Create a template installation then run sysprep /oobe /generalize /reboot /shutdown /unattend:scriptfile. Clone or copy this virtual machine file. When it launches, it will get a new SID and you can fill in the name. The reference for building unattended script files is at tinyurl.com/winunattend. Globally unique identifiers are also the basis of the GUID Partition Table (GPT). This is a hard disk partitioning scheme proposed by Intel as part of the Extensible Firmware Interface. It is used by Windows PCs as well as Intel-based Macintosh computers. GPT uses GUIDs to define the different partitions on a hard drive. Some examples include the boot partition, the file system partition, and the data partition. Each operating system that supports the GPT partitioning scheme uses specific GUIDs to label each partition. http://www.techterms.com/definition/guid ~~~~~ Ounce of prevention... The old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is a huge understatement when it comes to dealing with virus threats. Virus detection programs do just THAT... they DETECT viruses that have already infected your system. Some AV programs run all the time and monitor your files and will detect a virus infection EARLY... and most virus can then be removed. HOWEVER, there are some really NASTY viruses that can NOT be removed and formatting your system and starting over from scratch is the ONLY option you have. In these cases, EARLY is NOT soon enough. Almost every virus strain uses a different entry point to install itself and access your computer so it's impossible for anyone to develop a method to totally safeguard a computer. Most often you have to be "tricked" into executing a program that contains virus code. We know the obvious methods such as email file attachments, cracks and hacks from warez websites. Links to cute little animation cards and such, websites that popup a notice that you MUST download their viewer (or whatever) to access their site, view their media etc. Be smart and evaluate the risk of satisfying your curiosity. Some viruses find their way to your computer through other infected computers on over a network. These are the most difficult to prevent if you MUST be connected to other computers. Ok.. now that I'm scared is there anything I can do? Some of the most nasty viruses use a file they add called winlogonN.exe Notice the extra N. Winlogon.exe is a critical system file that is called at startup... even in safe mode... which makes it a prime target for viruses. Obviously a virus maker would want to activate the virus before the system can get to the point it loads any AV program that may catch or block it. Fortunately the file protection in Windows 7 called TrustedInstaller makes it rather difficult to modify, overwrite, delete or rename winlogon.exe... but I'm not saying it can't be done. Some virus programs use the trickery of using a similar name. A simple way to prevent this is to prohibit the virus from creating/copying a file named winlogonn.exe... but how is that possible? It's possible because the windows file system does NOT allow a FILE ... AND.. a FOLDER to share the same name. If you create a FOLDER named winlogonn.exe in your \windows\system32 folder.... you can not create a FILE named winlogonn.exe in the windows\system32 folder. Is that confusing? Just create a new folder in Windows\system32 and name it winlogonn.exe ...then if a virus wants to drop a file named winlogonn.exe ... it won't be allowed. This method can get rid of a lot of pesky viruses that keep coming back. For example, a common, rather harmless virus uses a file it drops called b.exe in the Windows folder. If you create a folder named b.exe in your windows folder... it can't come back. You can also use this trick to prevent a folder from being created if you create the file name first. Here is some info on a very evil virus you want to avoid at all cost. http://blog.trendmicro.com/virux-cases-escalate/ The damages viruses can cause is another reason to have an extra drive and to keep your clean healthy system cloned to it. And another reason to run StartupMonitor. And another reason to turn off the Task Scheduler. And another reason to be very cautions about running anything you didn't download yourself from a legitimate website. ~~~~~ Problem: I don't like my start menu and All Programs. How can I customize it? Solution: Right click on Start and go to Properties and uncheck the boxes to display recently opened... Now you have a lot of open space in your Start menu to PIN the programs you want quick access to. You won't have to open All Programs unless you want to run something you seldom use. You can also Sort the pinned shortcuts according to your liking. Advanced tip: You can't pin a folder or even a shortcut to a folder to your start menu like you can pin exe files to start menu or taskbar. BUT here is a tick... right click on a folder, use "send to" to create a shortcut on the desktop. Then put the shortcut in a permanent folder. Now open the folder the shortcut is in and drag it to start menu and drop it. NOW it's pinned to the Start menu. ~~~~~ Cool tool If you did a clean install or bought a new computer system, here is an online application that can make installing FREE software easy. Just select the software you want and it will be installed for you. About 70 applications to chose from, including Microsoft Security Essential, Ccleaner, Defraggler, WinRar and many more. http://ninite.com/ ~~~~~ Super Talent Announces First USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Transfers at 320 MB/s http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/super-talent-announces-first-usb-3-0-flash-drive-transfers-at-320-mbs/ ~~~~~ Smell of Fear Evidence that the smell of fear is real was uncovered by US scientists last year who studied the underarm secretions of 20 terrified novice skydivers and found that people appear to respond unconsciously to the sweat smell of a frighteneda person. Now the Telegraph reports that researchers hope a "fear detector" will make it possible to identify terrorist at check points. ~~~~~ Alert Alert Alert ! I want to issue a very strong warning to anyone who may be using a Seagate 7,200 rpm SATA hard drive Rebooting your computer WILL EASILY kill this hard drive. You had better turn it off then restart it. Until you flash the new firmware that fixes this deadly bug. It happened to me and I've found out that it has also happened to hundreds of other people. There is a bug known to Seagate that "bricks" these drive during reboots. (7200.11 bug) Your data can be recovered but it's complicated... and if your drive is OEM your chances of getting it fixed or even replaced are very slim... and you won't get your data back unless you study and buy some jumpers and adaptors, take it apart and do it yourself. Not a fun thing to be doing and requires a lot of time. This guy site the best instructions for the repair. http://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/Home If you Segate 7200.11 failed and you want to join the class action law suit, go here: http://www.kbklawfirm.com/seagate/Seagate-Barracuda-7200-11-hard-drive.php If you can't get Seagate to repair your "bricked" drive... or you don't want to wait on them or you rather not trust your data to them, I have a contact that will repair your drive and get your data back for a flat rate of $100. ~~~~~ Free stuff http://www.totallyfreestuff.com/ http://absurdlycool.com/ http://www.heyitsfree.net/ http://www.twitterfreebies.com/ ~~~~~ DistributedCOM error in Administrative Events Log The server did not register with DCOM within the required timeout. Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK. Expand Computer Configuration, expand Windows Settings, expand Security Settings, expand Local Policies, and then expand User Rights Assignment. Right-click Bypass traverse checking, and then click Properties. Click Add User or Group. Type Everyone, and then click OK. ~~~~~ Setup Windows to automatically log on a specific user Step 1. WIN+R (Run) type "CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2" and hit enter. Step 2. Under the Users tab. Uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer." Step 3. Click Apply. It will have a window pop up "Automatically Log On". Step 4. Enter the username and password(confirm password also) and hit ok. And everything is done, next time you boot up it will log in with the specified user account you entered in step 4. P.S. this isnt a smart thing to do for security reasons. ~~~~~ Run Windows Live Email in Background or minimized to tray (hidden icons) Can't be done under Windows 7.... that's what I finally concluded after a couple hours of research and testing all the possibilities I could find. This means that if you want to monitor your pop3 email account you MUST keep the huge Windows Live Email button open on your task bar all the time. I considered this UNACCEPTABLE and searched for alternative options POP Peeper is a FREE third party application that checks your email AND it runs in the hidden icon tray ! Primary Features Easy Setup - accounts are imported from your existing email client(s) Supports POP3, IMAP (including GMail, AOL, AIM, Netscape, FastMail, SMTP, GMail, Hotmail\MSN\LiveMail, Yahoo, Mail.com, MyWay, Excite, Lycos.com, etc. Read, delete, print and reply to Email without opening your email client Send email directly from POP Peeper from Address book Options to protect you from messages that contain viruses and web bugs Send, save and open file attachments Run POP Peeper off your portable storage device No account limit -- notifies you of an unlimited number of accounts Many ways to receive new mail notification: skinnable desktop alerts, audio, flashing scroll lock LED and more Specify how often all accounts are checked for new mail or set individual intervals for each account http://www.poppeeper.com/ Note: If pop peeper opens your email program and you have no email, it went to the JUNK folder. ~~~~~ How to upgrade Windows 7 rc to rtm Microsoft doesn't want you to do it but you can. I suppose they want to make sure you don't upgrade the pre release bugs... then call them for help. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/3075/how-to-upgrade-the-windows-7-rc-to-rtm/ ~~~~ Here is a reg tweak to modify the delay when you mouse over the open programs tabs on the task bar: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ;remove aero mouse over delay [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse] "MouseHoverTime"="0" ~~~~~ Windows memory management Vista vs. Windows 7 Opening 70 windows on identical systems side by side under Vista and Win 7 http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/84/ The major cause of problems when UPDATING from Vista to Windows 7 are programs like Antivirus, Firewalls, and the dozen or so programs that are loading when the system boots up. Save yourself a LOT of headaches and turn them all off and run Msconfig and uncheck all the boxes under startup. Then reboot and do the update. There are far less problems from people who do a clean install... where the hard drive is formatted first and Windows 7 is installed from the Custom menu after booting to the install disk. After the system is setup it can be customized to load programs automatically at startup. It's a really good idea to setup 2 or 3 programs then reboot and verify they aren't causing any failures. If you install too many, you won't have a clue about which ones are causing the problems. ~~~~~ The Upgrade version of Windows is actually a FULL version... it just doesn't boot without help, AND ANY Upgrade version will install ANY version of Windows 7 -- Home to Ultimate. If you have downloaded the Upgrade version of Windows 7 (like students with .edu email address are getting for $30) you can put the files in your "expandedsetup" folder into an iso with a program with a program like UltraISO. Then... * Download UNetbootin tool (free) from here: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/unetbootin/UNetbootin/356/unetbootin-windows-357.exe * Run the tool, and browse to the ISO image file and click OK. Verify it has selected the correct drive letter of your USB and click OK. That’s all! It takes about 15 minutes to finish. (Remember the boot sequence in your bios must be set to use the USB first when you are ready to install.) Windows installs in about half the time from USB... even the cheap ones read about 25 kb/s ...while dvd reads about 5 kb/s. If the USB will not boot it's probably because the usb device you used is not high enough quality. I have some that will and some that won't. Jetflash will work. After you have created the bootable usb with the Upgrade version of win 7 you can simply put the usb device into any computer -- set the bios to boot to it and go to CUSTOM install and install Windows 7 to a clean/new/formatted hard drive like the full version does. If you have deleted ei.cfg, when you install it will ask you which version you want to install. If you bought a key to a lesser version you can't register/activate a higher version, such as Ultimate. There is another method to directly convert the files into a bootable iso which can be burned to disk. But the method dos not work for many people and I couldn't get it to work. ~~~~~ A lesser known feature in Windows 7 will save fortune 500 companies millions Windows 7 uses 17% less energy than Vista and XP. A typical household computer consumes $405 electricity per year. %17 reduction saves almost $70 per year PER computer... if you have 3 computers you could save over $200 per year to upgrade to Windows 7... so you would actually PROFIT at least $50 after paying $150 for the Windows 7 family pack. If you paid the energy bills for a company that runs 7,000 computers you energy bills could drop by a HALF MILLION dollars per year if they were upgraded to Windows 7. Many companies are replacing incandescent safety signs with self-sustaining fire (exit) safety signs and saving over $35 a year PER SIGN. That's $3,500 per year for 100 signs. If the entire nation (USA) changed over to this technology for the exit signs... it would save 70 million dollars a year in energy costs. I wonder... are there more computers or more exit signs? ~~~~~ I'll give anyone a FREE computer monitor if you can find any download / internet accelerator that makes ANY increase in speed in Windows 7. Yeah.. you have to pay shipping and that would be more than an older ctr monitor is worth. But Maybe I got your attention. BECAUSE I have tested SEVERAL download accelerator programs throughly and not one make any difference. Sure they can "fake" you into thinking they improve performance but I can do that without a program... just give me $29. Ok.. I'll show you how they trick you... first they show you the baseline test by doing something like displaying 50 images on a web page in 10 seconds. Then you run their program and do the test again.... what a surprise! It only took 2 seconds for the 50 images to load. The trick is that they are already download in your temp files folder and don't have to be downloaded again. Another example: go to Youtube and find something that runs about 2 minutes.. like Elvis Heartbreak Hotel. Load it and wait till it starts and you can hear the song/music. Time how long it takes for the pink line (that runs ahead of your position in the video) to get to the end showing the video is fully loaded. It probably it takes 30 to 45 seconds to load the 2 minute song. Now click refresh in your browser.. Wow was that fast! It downloaded the entire song INSTANTLY in your new "test." Obviously your browser had stored the entire video in the temp files and didn't download it again. Please prove me wrong. I will give you credit if you do. ~~~~ Working with the Windows Registry http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7security/working-with-the-windows-registry/ When anyone reports a problem with delayed startups and shutdowns the first suggestion is to check that "Administratitive Logs" Under Event Viewer / Custom Views These logs show errors with drivers and hardware. Atikmdag Error FINALLY resolved. I've been pestered by this error in my Administrator log under Event Viewer for 3 months and I FINALLY found the Ati drivers that fixed it: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ati_catalyst_vista_64/tech/ http://uploadbox.com/files/ab1b846f50/ ~~~~~ I had this warning about Wireless Lan Autoconfig in my Event Viewer "WLAN AutoConfig service has successfully stopped" What happens is when the WLAN Autoconfig service is on? It automatically searches for a better wireless connection every 60 seconds. If you are a gamer you will SEE the delay... and probably get KILLED... during the freeze that is temportarily encountered. I don't use a wireless router so I disabled this service under Administrative tools /services However.... It still logged the error message so I found this utility and made sure it wasn't starting turned off the background scans and it seems to have resolved that problem. http://www.martin-majowski.de/wlanoptimizer/ ~~~~~ "Buy Windows 7: Get Six Weeks of Your Life Back." Pretty good agrument for upgrading to Windows 7 Let's see if I can sum up the article.... the author spends 54 hrs a week on his computer -- at least four minutes per hour on average was spent unproductively waiting for Vista to do something --to regain its Wi-Fi connection, to clear me as an administrator for some critical process, to refresh a directory listing, to reboot a crashed Internet Explorer, to cancel a search that became lost in a forest of meaninglessness, or to decide again that the monitor on my laptop was the only monitor on that laptop. He sez: I've gained back some 385 hours of productivity per year. That's over six weeks of work. http://www.betanews.com/article/Windows-7-Vista-without-the-crap/1256137973 ~~~~~ My argument for runnig Windows 7 Do this... open a command prompt and run this command: Winsat mem I got 15427.87 MB/s with 3 GB DDR3 and I7 processor. I don't know what it reports under Vista but Win 7 is better designed to take advantage of multi-core multi-thread processing. Device Manager / processor show I have 8 processors running. That's why video editing is done in less than half the time under Win 7 with I7 processors. ~~~~~ However, it looks like we have plenty time to waste: 8 Billion minutes DAILY are spent on facebook 8 billion minutes = 15,211 years ~~~~~ Windows 7 Freebies: Where to Get Giveaways Roundup from: CompUSA, Office Depot, Staples and Microsoft http://www.pcworld.com/article/174072/Windows_7_Freebies_Where_to_Get_Giveaways.html?tk=rss_news ~~~~~ Internet Explorer tip Hold Ctrl key and use mouse wheel to quickly / easily change text size. ~~~~~ Save !!! Save a lot of money by calling the services you subscribe to and telling them you want to cancel. Or even cancel and get a super sweet deal to sign up again. Sirius radio charges over $15 per month. If you cancel they will send you email and call you asking you to rejoin for $4 per month. This works very well with cell phone companies although you may have to wait till it's time for renewal. I just did it a few days ago with my cable tv/internet provider and got a better deal that also included some movie channels I wasn't getting before. This works at least 70% of the time on the first call with credit card companies. Call your credit card company and ask for a reduction in the interest rates... or 0% interest for the next 6 months -if you have debt that you can't pay off immediately. Since it cost the credit card company at least $200 to GET a NEW customer, they will "bend" easily to keep an old customer. Just say: "I have received several offers in the mail from other credit card companies with lower interest rates to transfer my balance. I want a lower rate on my card, or I will have to switch." If you don't get a reduction just call later. You may reach a more cooperative customer service rep. The game is over - Microsoft won. Windows 7 may have reached the top of the food chain because the "packman power pellets" created by companies that wrote software to run on Windows have all been gobbled up. Windows Security Essentials ate the last big one when it ate the AV power pellet. There are only a few crumbs left laying around like these: 1. A Backup program that would make a bootable backup. 2. A feature in email to bounce back spam so your address would be removed by the spammer... would be MUCH easier than trying to track and build a database of spammers and sort your junk mail for you. 3. A registry optimizer/defragger -- Regedit used to have a /fix and some kind of rebuild feature... I don't know where that went ? I've read that when you back up your registry it sorts and optimizes. Then, if you replace your original with your backup you have an optimized registry. 4. Improve the driver upgrade option to actually LOOK for new drivers rather than just say this one is sorta working... didn't find anything newer. 5. Option to remove/disable all your autorun options and bho's .. and turn off ALL scheduled tasks at once. Yeah you can do all that manually... but there should be a popup at every bootup asking "Do you want your computer to run fast and stable?" When you say yes it knocks out the crud. ~~~~~ Windows in a Box is a freeware utility which regroups all Windows applications, settings and functions to use them right away without browsing the control panel, start menu etc. Try it and be amazed at the features you have available to you under Windows 7. http://www.big-daddy-design.com/windowsinabox.htm ~~~~~ Why I think it's a BAD idea to partition a hard drive. At least 1 out of every questions posted on windows support boards are asking how do I get my partition back. 1. A partition is adding one more critical thing that can go bad and cause data loss either by accidentally deleting files or should a bad sector occur where critical partition data is stored... the ENTIRE partition and data on it is lost. 2. A second partition gives people a false sense that their data is backed up. Microsoft gives the impression that your data is backed up safely by putting your system image on another partition... however when the hard drive fails... and ALL hard drives eventually fail, the backup is lost too. 3. Huge hard drives are less than $50 ...that's probably about the same as it cost to pay for partition software. Partition software won't protect your data. An extra hard drive will. 4. It's easy to wipe out important data and even kill your host OS should partitions be expanded larger than your free disk space. Why it may be a GOOD idea to partition a drive. Simple answer: Because you can HIDE a partition easily and unless you know it's there no one would guess how to bring it back. Here is how to hide the partition: (Assumes you already have a partition.) Don't include quotes. WARNING: Do not do this to a SYSTEM drive or BOOT partition. 1. Run "Diskpart" from a command prompt. It will take you into the diskpart program. 2. type and enter "list volume" Suppose you have a partition F, it will show as NTFS format and be labeled PARTITION and is volume 3 3. type and enter "select volume 3" 4. type and enter "remove letter F" Reboot and you won't see the partition listed. To recover volume letter F follow the 3 steps above then 5. type and enter "assign letter F" and reboot. ~~~~~ EXCELLENT free training programs http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/training/windows.aspx#offers Windows 7 New Features Windows 7 for IT Pros: Troubleshooting Platform in Windows 7 Windows 7 for IT Pros: Using the DISM tool for Servicing Windows 7 Images Windows 7 for IT Pros: Implementing UAC in Windows 7 Windows 7: Easier, More Intuitive Navigation Windows 7: Introducing BitLocker and AppLocker in Windows 7 Windows 7: Setting up a Home Network Windows 7: Using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool for Servicing Windows 7 Images Windows 7: Windows 7 for Developers Windows 7: Understanding Volume Activation Windows 7: Finding and Organizing Information in Windows 7 Windows 7: Remote Connectivity in Windows 7 Windows 7: Using Windows PowerShell to Automate Windows 7 Management Windows 7: Finding and Organizing Information in Windows 7 Windows 7: Remote Connectivity in Windows 7 Windows 7: Using Windows PowerShell to Automate Windows 7 Management There is no 64 bit version of Silverlight and there is no plans to make one --so the excellent FREE training programs located here, do not work if you are running Win 7 64 bit... HOWEVER.... read on... Problem: Siverlight won't work on your 64 bit version of Windows 7 Solution: You can modify the shortcut path for a YouTube desktop shortcut, to use 32 bit version of IE in the \program files (X84) folder...but you would have to do that for EVERY site that uses Flash to view their media files. Modifying every site you visit would NOT be practical. Better Solution: Run Windows Explorer (Winkey + E) and go to \program files\internet explorer.....and rename it (F2)... just add an extra "r" on the end. (You can't delete it, TrustedInstaller doesn't allow it to be deleted.) Then go to internet explorer in the \program files (x86) folder, right click and select "Copy" then point to the \program files folder and right click and select "Paste" Now your 64 bit system is always calling the 32 bit version of IE. Should you want to go back to IE - 64 bit just delete the internet explorer folder in \program files and rename the internet explorer folder back. NOTICE.... IF you run the system file checker - sfc - it WILL undo your changes and put the 64 bit version of IE back into your "program files" folder. ~~~~~ Here is a link to a utility that will check a Win 7 product key for validity. If you have purchased a key on eBay or somewhere at a discount, you may want to check it before you get all set intall Win 7 and maybe have formatted your hard drive and wiped off Vista. http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/Windows-7-Product-Key-Checker.shtml ~~~~~ A little faster bootup time Run Msconfig and select the "boot" tab and check "NO gui boot" http://www.webtlk.com/2009/09/21/itwin-lets-you-share-files-between-two-pc/ ~~~~~ Problem: atikmdag.sys errors at logon Solution: Ati driver update doesn't put this new file in the \system32\drivers folder It leaves it in \system32\driverstore\filerepository folder. Manually copy it from the FileRepository folder to overwrite the one in the Drivers folder. (It's a good idea to search for atikmdag.xys first and verify the dates are newer in the FileRepository folder.) ~~~~~ If you run Msconfig and uncheck junk that gets added to your "Startup" menu and don't want to see it listed any more (until you run a program that shoves itself back into the startup menu) ...make this regfile and merge it. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ;clean disabled entries from startup [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg] ~~~~~ Problem: ATI EEU Client event error Solution: Google "ati eeu error windows 7" THEN download Windows 7 - 64 (or 32) Bit *CATALYS* Drivers for Radeon graphic adapters with uTorrent. The Drivers (just released) are compatible to this hardware: # ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 Series GPUs # ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 Series GPUs # ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series GPUs # ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4000 Series GPUs # ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3000 Series GPUs # ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 2000 Series GPUs # AMD 780G Chipset # AMD 780V Chipset # AMD 790GX Chipset Use it only for Windows 7