The only way to overcome this restriction temporarily is to press F8 during system boot.But this would have to be done on every boot which can become quite a nuisance.

Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider is another option. The software program makes use of a developer test option in both operating systems to load drivers which would otherwise be rejected by the operating system.

These drivers still have to be signed but not digitally which means that the operating system will accept the signatures that are provided by the software.

This option does come at a price though as it is required to disable UAC, the User Account Control, to run the program in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

How to use the program:

So how do I use it?
First and foremost; you are using this software at your own risk, we do not take responsibility for any damages to your system, but we do not believe it can harm anyone anyway. Secondly, User Account Control (UAC) must be disabled in-order to use this tool as well.

1. Go ahead download and launch the application from the link below. Inside its main menu, press on the “Enable Test Mode” button and follow the instructions on the screen. This will enable TESTSIGNING mode, which allows unverified system files to be loaded.

2. Now all you have to do is to add the unverified signature to the required system files. To do so press on the “Sign a System File” button from the main menu, and enter specific filename including full path. For example: if ATITool64.sys from C:\Windows\System32\drivers refuses to load due to driver signature enforcement, you should type: “C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ATITool64.sys”, and if you would like to sign more than a single file, just repeat this procedure until you’re done, and finally reboot.

After you enabled Test Mode and added signatures to the required system files, they should bypass Windows’s driver signature enforcement and load without any issues.

Is it worth disabling UAC for it? This has to be answered by everyone individually. Windows Vista and Windows 7 users who want to give the software program a try can download Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider from the developer’s website.

Related posts

• Microsoft Touchless (5)
• Aero Shake For Windows XP And Windows Vista (3)
• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows Vista Theme Customization (25)
• Windows Vista Taskbar Resize (1)

Virtual Router is another application released a few days ago as beta that makes use of the virtual Wifi options in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Unlike Connectify though it has been released at Codeplex which suggests that the program will remain free even after it has been released in a final version.

The program’s interface contains only a few options. The Start Virtual Router button being the most important. This button is only active if the computer uses a supported wireless adapter. Other options include changing the network name, password (recommended as the default password is always the same). Virtual Router uses WPA2 Encryption to provide a solid protection for the wireless network.

Virtual Router can be downloaded from the program’s Codeplex page. It is only compatible with Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 and requires a compatible wireless adapter.

Related posts

• Create Wireless Hotspots With Connectify And Windows 7 (17)
• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (7)
• Windows 7 System Recovery Disc (4)
• Windows 7 Like Taskbar In Windows XP (10)

All programs that are listed below are fully compatible with the Windows 7 operating system.

1. Web Browser Firefox

Windows 7 ships with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and while IE 8 is a perfectly fine browser it does not offer the same level of speed and extensibility that the Firefox web browser offers. Yes there are other web browsers, specifically Google Chrome and Opera, both excellent web browsers. The reason for not picking them is that Google Chrome feels – in many regards – like a beta browser with its missing extension support in the release versions while Opera’s way of handling extensions is not optimal for a good workflow. And Firefox is the only web browser that comes with extensions that we do not want to live without anymore, namely the security extension No Script, the password manager Last Pass, Greasemonkey and several SEO extensions.

Mozilla Firefox homepage

2. Desktop Email Client Thunderbird

Another sure pick for us. There are different email clients that work under Windows 7 with the most popular ones being Windows Live Mail (formerly Outlook Express), Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird with the first and third being free to use.

Some users might prefer to use an online email service like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail or Gmail instead. Our reason for sticking with a desktop email client are the following:

• Ability to access emails offline
• Ability to use different email providers and servers from one email client

Thunderbird offers the same advantage that Firefox offers: Extension support. There are hundreds of extensions for the email client which can increase the functionality tremendously.

Mozilla Thunderbird homepage

3. Media Player SMPlayer

Microsoft has really improved the media playback capabilities and other features of Windows Media Player. Especially the ability to playback additional video file types over previous Windows systems and the Media Player lite interface while playing videos are two features that increase the value of the player. One still has to install different codecs to be able to view unsupported video file types.

That’s where SMPlayer comes into play. The player uses binary codecs which are shipped with the media player. These codecs work out of the box and nearly every different video format is supported by this MPlayer variant.

SMPlayer homepage

4. FTP, sFTP and SCP client WinSCP

Webmasters need a way to upload, download and manage files that are hosted at a web hosting company. The usual way to do that is to connect to the web server with an ftp, sftp or scp client. WinSCP combines all three possibilities in an explorer like interface. It offers several additional features including Windows integration, integrated text editor, batch file scripting or sessions making it one of the few all-in-one clients for the Windows operating system.

WinSCP website

5. Feed reader FeedDemon

There are two basic options for selecting a feed reader. It can either be an online feed reader like Google Reader or a desktop feed reader. There are a lots of programs that offer desktop feed reading capabilities. This ranges from web browsers like Firefox or Opera over email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird to applications that have been specifically designed for the purpose like Feed Demon.

FeedDemon offers a comfortable way of reading news feeds. It comes with a lot of options that most other integrated feed reading solutions do not offer including the ability to create watchlists to monitor specific keywords. Many integrated solutions, like that in Firefox, felt like they were slowing down the web browser once a certain threshold was reached.

FeedDemon homepage

6. Data encryption software True Crypt

Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise come with the Bitlocker data encryption feature that can be used to encrypt data in those operating systems. All other editions of Windows 7 do not offer this feature. The alternative is True Crypt, a reliable data encryption software that can be used to create encrypted containers, partitions and even full systems.

True Crypt comes with an incredible set of features including:

• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
• Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
• Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password: Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.
• Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.

True Crypt homepage

7. Image viewer XnView

XnView is a fast image viewer for the Windows operating system supporting over 400 different image formats. It works extremely well even when viewing images in folders with thousands of images. It does offer basic image editing features like rotating images or exporting images in more than 50 different image formats, batch editing and renaming, slideshows or filter and effects. Another feature is Twain and WIA support.

XnView website

8. Image editor Paint .net

Windows Paint was redesigned by Microsoft in Windows 7. It now comes with a ribbon interface and improved functionality. It still lacks many of the features that most users would expect from an image editor. That’s where paint.net comes into play. The image editor loads fast and offers an advanced functionality that does not need to fear comparison with other solutions like GIMP or Photoshop.

Paint.net homepage

9. Text editor Notepad++

Notepad is a fast opening text editor in Windows. It is great for editing smaller text files but lacks features that make it as good when it comes to larger files or scripting languages like php. Notepad++ is an enhanced – but unrelated – Notepad clone that offers many interesting features including syntax highlighting, multi-document support, regular expressions, macros, plugins and auto completion. Best of all, it opens as quickly as Notepad in the operating system.

Notepad++ homepage

10. CD and DVD burning software ImgBurn

Windows 7 comes with advanced image burning options. It can for example burn ISO images without additional software, something that other Windows operating systems don’t offer. A third party CD and DVD burning software is on the other hand still a requirement for burning other image formats and creating custom data, audio and video CDs and DVDs.

ImgBurn is a free solution that is slightly more complex to use than many of the other burning software programs. It is however one of the most reliable and feature rich programs available for the Windows operating system and therefor our first choice when it comes to installing a third party burning software.

ImgBurn homepage

11. Audio player AIMP2

It is possible to play most audio formats in Windows Media Player. Users who prefer alternatives usually pick Winamp. AIMP2 is an alternative that comes with an excellent set of features and options. Chance is that if Winamp can do it AIMP2 can as well. The audio player is lightweight and uses less system resources than Winamp.

AIMP2 website

12. PDF reader Foxit Reader

Windows 7 users need to install a third party software to be able to view pdf documents. The natural choice for most is Adobe’s PDF reader. Experienced users on the other hand prefer different programs. This can be mainly attributed to the performance of Adobe Reader and security concerns.

One of the most popular alternatives is the Foxit Reader which opens PDFs much faster than Adobe Reader does.

Foxit Reader homepage

Got anything to add? Let us know in the comments.

Related posts

• Windows 7 Gmail Notifier (9)
• Create Custom Windows 7 Jumplists (11)
• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (7)
• Windows 7 Taskbar Tweaker (2)

The free software program Windows 7 Taskbar Tweaker is a portable application for the Windows 7 operating system. It can be used to modify several of the default options of the Windows 7 taskbar to speed up Windows 7, to be precise:

• Right-click on a taskbar item to either display jumplists (default) or the standard window menu
• Change grouping from grouping applications to not grouping them
• Change dropping items to the taskbar from pinning them to opening them
• Change the middle-click behavior from opening a new program instance to either closing the window or focusing the window
• Change left-click on grouped item button from opening the thumbnail preview to cycling through the windows.
• Disable the thumbnail preview

The new settings become available after clicking on the apply button in the program window. The software program is available for download at the developer’s website for both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows 7 operating system.

Related posts

• Windows 7 Like Taskbar In Windows XP (10)
• Create Custom Windows 7 Jumplists (11)
• Windows 7 Gmail Notifier (9)
• Preferred Filter Tweaker for Windows 7 (1)
• Microsoft Touchless (5)

Windows 7 did introduce some new features that can increase the productivity. Since my recent switch to the operating system I have discovered five that I like a lot as they help me speed up Windows 7 which increases my productivity throughout the day.

1. Taskbar previews

The taskbar has been completely revamped in Windows 7. It is now possible to stick applications to it, see the number of open windows and thumbnail previews or make use of jumplists. The features that I personally like the most are the thumbnail previews, as they allow me to quickly find the Firefox, Thunderbird or Internet Explorer tab that I was looking for and the new icons that show the amount of open windows and that display file transfers.

Especially the previews save lots of time. Think of Firefox with ten open tabs. If you wanted to access a specific tab you previously had to display the window again, locate the tab in the web browser and click on it. Now you simply hover the mouse over the taskbar icon, locate the tab and click on it to be taken directly to it in Firefox.

2. Libraries

If you are like me you store multimedia files in various locations of the operating system. They are located on various hard drives and in various structures. Vista and XP were highly inflexible by concentrating on the My Documents hierarchy for those files. This could lead to a lot of file searching or a lot of self-discipline and work to build a centralized storage location for multimedia files. Even then users could run into trouble if they ran out of hard disk space on their primary hard drive.

Windows 7 introduces libraries. Libraries are basically virtual folders that can display the contents of multiple folders in its folder structure. With that it is now possible – or shall I say more comfortable – to access multimedia files in one folder on the hard drive even if those files and folders that are displayed are spread over multiple locations and hard drives.

3. Aero Peek, Aero Shake and Snap

If you want to arrange two windows next to each other in Windows 7 you can do so by one of the windows to the right side and one to the left. They will automatically be positioned so that each is taking up half of the screen estate of the computer monitor. That’s the new Snap feature. It is also possible to move the window to the top to maximize it.

Aero Shake can be used to minimize all but the active window by shaking it around on the computer desk. Aero Peek finally can be used to peak through the windows to see the computer desktop which might be handy for users who make use of gadgets in the operating system.

4. Automatic recognition of digital cameras

Back in the days of Windows XP I had to install a software program for my digital camera so that it would be recognized by the operating system when connected. This was the only option to directly connect the digital camera to the system. I still had the option to remove the memory card and place it in a card reader but all of that meant more work than it should be.

Imagine my surprise when I first connected the digital camera to Windows 7. The operating system automatically recognized the camera and offered to copy the pictures that I had taken to the hard drive in a menu that was automatically be displayed. This was comfortable and without any pre-configuration on my part.

5. Windows 7 Homegroup

Windows 7 Homegroup makes it easier to create a home network and share files and printers with other users on the network. Setup has been simplified and takes only a few minutes tops to set it up. The shared folders and printers then appear in the places sidebar in Windows Explorer from where they can be accessed.

Verdict:

I’m still discovering new features in Windows 7. Have not even touched some of the new tools yet, like the snipping or note taking tool. While the similarities to Vista are still very clear and dominant Microsoft managed to add and change features in Windows 7 that actually aid the user in completing tasks faster and with less knowledge required. Some of the features in this list can be emulated by installing third party software that provides that functionality.

If you have worked with Windows 7: What is your experience in this regard? Do you like other features that have not been mentioned in this article? Let us know in the comments.

Related posts

• Windows 7 Features Video (4)
• Unlock Windows 7 M3 Build Locked Features (0)
• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows 7 to ship in 2009 ? (17)
• Windows 7 To Launch October 22 (5)

You might be wondering why anyone would ever need multiple WLAN adapters on the same PC, well to be honest, you don’t need but its sometimes good to have. In any case where you’re connected to an existing wireless access point and want to connect to another network whether that be a separate access point or even set up an ad-hoc connection, Virtual WiFi will allow you to do just that. But perhaps the scenario that is more appealing is the idea of a mesh network. In a mesh network, every client becomes a repeater, growing the network organically as more clients connect. Virtual WiFi enables this, since every client can become an access point too.

Connectify is a first beta software program that makes use of the Virtual Wifi capabilities of Windows 7. Windows 7 users can use the Connectify software to share the Internet connection of their computer system through a secure WPA2 encrypted hotspot. Other computer devices with wireless capabilities can connect to the hotspot to make use of that connection.

The program is currently provided as a beta version after registration on the Connectify homepage. Configuration of the service requires the following steps:

To get started, click on the Connectify logo in the Notification Tray.

1. Select the Internet connection you wish to share
2. Choose a name for your new wireless network
3. Choose a wireless passphrase
4. Press the Internet Sharing button to turn on your wireless network
5. Now, from your other devices, you can see your wireless network. Choose to join it, and enter the wireless passphrase to connect.

It is expected that the public release version will turn commercial with the likely probability that free software alternatives will be released eventually. Connectify is only compatibly with Windows 7 at this point. The software can be downloaded from the Connectify homepage.

Related posts

• Virtual Router Turns Windows 7 Into Wifi Hotspot (6)
• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (7)
• Windows 7 System Recovery Disc (4)
• Windows 7 Like Taskbar In Windows XP (10)

Windows 7 shipped with DirectX 11 and Microsoft promised to deliver the new version of DirectX to Windows Vista users as well. Microsoft kept their promise and Windows Vista users are now able to download a so called platform upgrade for their operating system which adds DirectX 11 to it.

The easiest way to obtain the update is from Windows Update. The platform update will not only update DirectX but add a series of other improvements to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008:

• Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library – The Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library enables developers to take advantage of the advancements in modern graphics technologies for gaming, multimedia, imaging, and printing applications
• Windows Automation API – The Windows Automation API enables accessibility tools and test automations to access the Windows user interface in a consistent way across operating system versions.
• Windows Portable Devices Platform (Vista only) – The Windows Portable Devices Platform supplies the infrastructure to standardize data transfers between an application and a portable device, such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, or a portable media player.
• Windows Ribbon and Animation Manager Library – The Windows Ribbon and Animation Manager Library contains the following features:Windows Ribbon API, a command framework that enables developers to quickly and easily create rich ribbon experiences in their applications and Windows Animation Manager API, an animation framework for managing the scheduling and execution of user interface element animations

Additional information are available at the Microsoft Knowledgebase.

Related posts

• Windows Vista SP1 all languages released (3)
• Windows Live Movie Maker Updated (5)
• Windows 7 to ship in 2009 ? (17)
• Windows 7 OEM Activation Crack Already In The Wild (13)
• Windows 7 Milestone 1 leaked (4)

Further observation revealed that only old torrents were showing that error message. All new torrents were downloading just fine even if the compatibility mode was disabled. The solution to the problem was therefor an access problem of the new Windows 7 user account. More precisely a write access problem.

It was thankfully very easy to fix. A right-click on a temporary file or folder in the uTorrent cache folder and the selection of Properties opened a window with configuration possibilities. The Security tab at the top of the window lead to the access permissions for the selected file or folder. It displayed the access rights for various system users including the system administrator, the content owner (that’s the Windows XP user in this case) and the currently logged in user.

This can be easily changed by clicking on the Edit link to edit permissions for specific users of the computer system. All it takes is to select the current user in that new window and add write access permissions for that user. Once that is done the torrents will download just fine without errors.

The same write problem exists for other files that have been created in the previous operating system. If you are encountering write problems you simply need to add the write permission for the logged in user to be able to save the file.

Related posts

• uTorrent Error: Access is Denied Windows 7 (23)
• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows Live Movie Maker Updated (5)
• Windows 7: Download WinHlp32.exe to Open Help (hlp) Files (8)

The easiest way to find out if a Windows 7 edition supports creating a recovery disc is by pressing [Windows R], entering [recdisc.exe] in the form and hitting the [return] key. This will open the Create a system repair disc window prompting to enter a blank disc into the computer’s CD or DVD drive.

Booting from that disc will then offer the options outlined above. Users who do not have that option in their edition of Windows 7 or cannot boot into Windows 7 currently can download the Windows 7 System Recovery Disc from the Neosmart website where it is available as a torrent download. The torrents are powered by two 100 Mbit server and all the user that are downloading them currently.

Neosmart offer 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the system recovery disc for Windows 7. Downloading this recovery disc is an excellent option for users who cannot create their own system recovery disc and those who cannot access Windows 7 currently (but another computer system or operating system).

Related posts

• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (7)
• Windows 7 Like Taskbar In Windows XP (10)
• Windows 7 Gmail Notifier (9)
• Windows 7 Codec Package (6)

My initial though was that it was either a rights-issue or a read-only flag that was preventing the writing of the data to the hard drive. Both assumptions did not turn out to be true however.

It seems that uTorrent is having compatibility issues with Windows 7. The easiest way to fix those is to run uTorrent in compatibility mode. This can be done by right-clicking the uTorrent.exe file and selecting Properties from the menu. This opens the file properties with a compatibility tab at the top.

Checking the “Run this program in compatibility mode for” will make the application run in the selected compatibility mode. I have selected Windows XP (Service Pack 3) which is working fine. Others might be working as well but this has not been tested.

A click on Apply and Ok will close the window. The program will be launched from then on in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode which gets rid of the error message for now.

Related posts

• uTorrent Download Accelerator (20)
• uTorrent 2.0 Beta Released (1)
• uTorrent 1.8.2 Final (1)
• uTorrent 1.6 final released (0)
• uTorrent 0.9 Beta For Mac (2)

The installation itself can be initiated in the old operating system. Windows XP users need to select custom installation in the process as described in the sheet that comes with the disks of the operating system.

Installation went fine and I was able to boot into Windows 7 in no time. I did encounter two problems with hardware that was not recognized by the operating system. One of the devices was unfortunately my Linksys network adapter which meant that I was not able to connect to the Internet until the problem was fixed. I thankfully had the driver ready and the device was recognized and installed in no time.

After that it took some time to download the latest device drivers and software programs to the computer system. Firefox and Thunderbird backups could be restored with Mozbackup and the rest of the process went smoothly as well. Here are a few tips for a Windows 7 Upgrade:

• Make Backups of everything that you consider valuable. Think about programs that you would like to use in the new operating system and do some research to find backup solutions. Make sure those backups are accessible in the new operating system
• Have the most important drivers ready before starting the installation, those are usually for the network adapter, video, audio and everything else that is required to run the system initially.
• Make sure you have enough time at hand for completing the process. A smooth installation and initial configuration can take up to two hours and a lot more if you run into troubles.
• If possible have another computer system ready for downloading files or troubleshooting issues

Did you make the switch to Windows 7 already? If so, what was your upgrade or installation experience?

Related posts

• Windows 7 To Launch October 22 (5)
• Windows 7 Released (5)
• Windows 7 RC To Final Upgrade Possible (7)
• Windows 7 Price, Upgrades And Preorders (15)
• Windows 7 Features Video (4)

Windows Vista will have been restored on the computer but the Boot Configuration Database (BCD) store has not edited to restore Windows Vista as the default booting operating system.

The computer will continue to boot to the Windows 7 Setup and then fail until the BCD database has been restored to its previous state.

To resolve these issues, select Windows Vista instead of the default Windows 7 setup when you see the boot entry menu and then follow the steps listed below.

1. Insert the Windows Vista Media into the drive and exit the Windows Vista Setup when its launched

2. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then right-click the Command Prompt icon, and then click Run as Administrator.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt and press ENTER

Drive:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All
Note: In this command, Drive is the drive where the Windows Vista installation media is located.

4. Restart your computer

This will simply make Windows Vista the default booting operating system. The Windows 7 upgrade issue itself is currently under investigation by Microsoft. An alternative would be to perform a clean install (see Clean Install Windows 7 With Windows 7 Upgrades) and use the Windows Easy Transfer tool to transfer user settings and files to the new operating system. (Thanks Dante for sending in the news)

Related posts

• Windows Live Movie Maker Updated (5)
• Windows 7 to ship in 2009 ? (17)
• Windows 7 OEM Activation Crack Already In The Wild (13)
• Windows 7 Milestone 1 leaked (4)
• View Photoshop PSD thumbnails in Vista and Windows 7 Explorer (12)

Another option is Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which can evaluate hardware and software on computer systems running either XP or Vista. That on the other hand does not help users who plan to buy or build a computer system.

That’s where the Windows 7 Compatibility Center comes to the rescue. The online service can check hardware and software for compatibility with Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. This can be checked using a simple web form on the main Windows 7 Compatibility Center website.

The user needs to select hardware or software from the pulldown menu and enter the name of the device or software in the form. The online service will display information about the compatibility of the hardware or software on the next page if the item is listed in the database.

A set of filters is available in the sidebar. Here it is for example possible to check 32-bit or 64-bit compatibility or select a specific compatibility level like items that are compatible and have the Windows 7 logo or only items that are not compatible. A quick series of tests revealed that not all software programs are available in the database. Popular third party software like Firefox, Opera or Putty are either listed as “information coming soon” or not at all.

Users can also browse the Windows 7 Compatibility Center by software or hardware category. Microsoft should consider adding popular software programs faster to the compatibility database for better evaluation.

Related posts

• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (7)
• Windows 7 to ship in 2009 ? (17)
• Windows 7 To Launch October 22 (5)
• Windows 7 to be released in 2010 (5)

However, Acer’s products tend to have some more polish and better aesthetics than Asus products. So they have successfully carved out a niche for themselves that is slightly above the Asus price range. Still, performance-wise, they are at more or less the same level.

Acer has already announced the Z5610 all-in-one quite some time back but live pictures of the device have been scarce to the point of not being there. But now that it has been spotted in the omlette du fromage land, we are quite impressed by it.

It has been about one week since Acer announced the product and now we have live shots of the device courtesy a French tech blog called ‘Le Journal du Geek’. Cool name you guys.

The Acer Z5610 is a touch enabled Windows 7 system whose claim to fame is its 24” HD multitouch screen. With 4GB memory, 320GB Storage and ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics, it is not going to kill the Sony Vaio line of all-in-ones but it is good competition for the rest.

Looks like it has other points of attraction as well, now that we have seen the live shots. The ambient lighting and the round edges look pretty good to me. I won’t go as far as Acer who calls it a “timeless piece” in their promo. But I am ready admit that it has the right looks and it looks like Acer is stepping up the design game as well. With an MSRP of $899, the price is just right too. It will of course sell for about $800 once it gets out but that’s what MSRPs are there for in the first place.

Acer has more up its sleeve though. It has been working on tablet PCs for quite some time now and we have been through the usual – rumor followed by leaked images followed by live images followed by official announcement. So what are these new devices?

Actually, if you weren’t told you would think you are looking at multiple units of the same model. But no, Acer has decided to bring out, not one or two, but three 11.6” netbook-tablet convertibles that look like copies of each other. They are called 1420P, 1820PT and1820PTZ. The point here is that this type of convertibles haven’t really caught on yet and there are good reasons behind that.

In the beginning, the software wasn’t up to scratch for a proper touch-based UI, the hardware was weak. Now that we have Windows 7, we will probably have better UI but the fact remains that tablets are still considered to be niche devices that are meant for the professionals. And the hardware is still not all that powerful to appeal to the professionals. Besides, they want a digitizer mostly, not just multitouch.

People might be looking for a nice multitouch surface that is bigger than their touchphones but the fact remains that these tablets are not what they have in mind. They are more of the MID crowd who are looking for better mobility and a more compact form factor. Taking it out, turning it, folding it, using it, unfolding it, twisting it back and stowing it away – too much work to get some quick reading or emailing done in the car or the bus. So it remains to be seen how Acer’s marketing team intends to push these devices.

Related posts

• More Multitouch Headed Your Way (0)
• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows Live Movie Maker Updated (5)
• Windows 7: Download WinHlp32.exe to Open Help (hlp) Files (8)

Paul Thurott discovered a way to perform a clean install of Windows 7 using Windows 7 Upgrade media and to activate it with just a simple tweak which can be applied in the running operating system.

According to Paul all that needs to be done after performing the initial clean installation of Windows 7 is the following:

After performing the clean install, ensure that there are no Windows Updates pending that would require a system reboot. (You’ll see an orange shield icon next to Shutdown in the Start Menu if this is the case).

Then, open regedit.exe with Start Menu Search and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/

Change MediaBootInstall from “1″ to “0″.

Open the Start Menu again and type cmd to display a shortcut to the Command Line utility. Right-click this shortcut and choose “Run as administrator.” Handle the UAC prompt.

In the command line window, type: slmgr /rearm

Then tap ENTER, close the command line window and reboot. When Windows 7 reboots, run the Activate Windows utility, type in your product key and activate windows. It should just work.

There you have it. An easy way to do a clean install of Windows 7 using an upgrade DVD. This is obviously only legal if you own a previous Microsoft operating system that’s supported by the Windows 7 Update program.

Related posts

• 5 Great New Features Of Windows 7 (15)
• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows 7 to ship in 2009 ? (17)
• Windows 7 To Launch October 22 (5)
• Windows 7 to be released in 2010 (5)

Everton from Connected Internet and I have created a Windows 7 blog some time ago where we closely followed the development of the operating system.

Here are the things that I personally like in Windows 7:

• Automatic digital camera (and other devices) recognition with proper actions displayed (e.g. copy photos from digital camera to the computer system). No driver installation or third party software needed to do that.
• The operating system feels more responsive and seems to run better on low-end hardware than Vista
• Better troubleshooting options
• The new taskbar. It takes a while to get used to the new features but they are very handy (e.g. pinning software to the taskbar) once you get used to them
• Light theme customizations without system file patching
• Search Connectors to search the Internet from within Windows Explorer
• Better 64-bit support (meaning developers who want a certificate need to provide 32-bit and 64-bit editions of their programs)
• Home Group feature for easier home network management and creation

Some say the differences between Vista and Windows 7 are not big enough to justify a migration to the new operating system. I say it solely depends on the situation. If you are happy with Vista or XP stick with it. It would make sense from a security standpoint to migrate from XP to Windows 7. There are other aspects that make a migration from XP to 7 desirable.

About the different editions that are available: Most users should be fine with Windows 7 Home Premium as Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate cater to a professional audience with features that are usually not requested and needed by home users (think of virtual hard disk booting, location aware printing, Windows server domain, remote desktop host, presentation mode or Branchache). Best of all it is a lot cheaper than the other two editions of Windows 7.

Related posts

• Windows 7 To Launch October 22 (5)
• Windows 7 Features Video (4)
• Windows 7 (7)
• Microsoft To Cut Standard Applications from Windows 7 (8)
• Host A Windows 7 Launch Party And Get Windows 7 Ultimate For Free (12)

The program needs to be installed before it can be used to audit the system. A scan takes less than a minute to complete.

The results of the system audit are displayed in two tabs for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 systems with the 32-bit report displayed by default.

Each report is divided into the three sections System, Devices and Programs. System analyses general issues the user might run into, for example if Windows Aero is supported or if a custom installation is required (for Windows XP systems). The hardware of the system is analysed under Devices again with information if hardware is compatible with Windows 7. Programs finally takes a look at some of the installed programs and displays if they have issues running under Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor can be helpful for users who are already running a computer system with another Microsoft operating system. It on the other hand does not help users who plan to build a PC on their own or purchase a system. A false positive was listed in the report on a Windows XP SP3 test system. Missing Windows Aero support was one of the issues that were found by the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which seems highly unlikely considering that an Ati Radeon HD 4870 video card was installed in the system. The software can be downloaded at the Microsoft website.

Related posts

• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows 7 System Recovery Disc (4)
• Windows 7 Like Taskbar In Windows XP (10)
• Windows 7 Gmail Notifier (9)
• Windows 7 Compatibility Center Released (6)

• Deployment Platform
• Planning Deployment
• Testing Application Compatibility
• Developing Disk Images
• Migrating User State Data
• Deploying Applications
• Preparing Windows PE
• Configuring Windows Deployment Services
• Using Volume Activation
• Deploying with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
• Migrate Already: Why You Should Migrate To Windows 7 If You Are Still Waffling
• 8 Common Issues in Windows 7 Migration
• 9 Things You Should Know About Windows 7
• Can’t We All Just Get Along? Running Windows 7 in Mixed Environments
• Integrating Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2
• The Good Computing Seal of Approval: Windows 7 Certification

The majority of information are provided with system administrators in mind, not the end user who wants to install Windows 7 on one or two computer systems.

The Windows 7 deployment ebook has a total of 332 pages and can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft website.

Related posts

• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows 7 to ship in 2009 ? (17)
• Windows 7 To Launch October 22 (5)
• Windows 7 to be released in 2010 (5)
• Windows 7 Released (5)

The Bing search connector can be downloaded at Bing’s community portal. It comes as a osdx file that needs to be executed after download. Windows 7 will automatically install the Bing search connector which becomes then available in Windows Explorer.

The search provider is usually listed under the Favorites menu in the left sidebar. A search is performed by typing in the search phrase into the Windows Explorer search form in the right header of the window.

Search results are then displayed in the Windows Explorer window from where they can be opened and accessed. Additional federated search connectors for various online services are available at Redmond Pie.

Related posts

• View Photoshop PSD thumbnails in Vista and Windows 7 Explorer (12)
• Microsoft Page Hunt (3)
• Microsoft Bing (5)
• Join The Experiment: One Week Of Bing Only Searching (17)
• Bing Visual Search (10)

Windows 7 users who try to open help files with the .hlp extension that require the Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) program might be in for a surprise though. This is actually a change that Microsoft has implemented in Windows Vista.

Users who want to view .hlp files in Windows 7 need to download the Windows Help Program WinHlp32.exe separately from the following download locations:

Windows Help Program 32-bit and 64-bit

WinHlp32.exe is required to display 32-bit Help files that have the “.hlp” file name extension. To view .hlp files on Windows 7, you need to install this application.

A genuine validation will be performed before the download can be started. The Help program seems to be the same for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7.

Related posts

• WinShake Adds Aero Peek And Share To Windows Vista and XP (2)
• Windows Media Player Light (2)
• Windows Live Movie Maker Updated (5)
• Windows 7 Wallpaper (6)
• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (7)